14 Years of Wedded Bliss!!

Tommy and I are celebrating our 14th wedding anniversary today. We were married on November 25, 1994. That year November 25th fell on the day after Thanksgiving and I was so thankful to become Mrs. Tommy Worthey. I continue to thank God daily for giving me such a wonderful man of God to be my husband! Tommy and I did not have a big fairy tale wedding, but he will always be the man of my dreams. We did however have a fairy tale romance:) He literally swept me off my feet. We eloped to Gatlinburg, TN to get married in the "Chapel in the Valley". We went to Gatlinburg last year with some friends to celebrate Thanksgiving and found out that our little chapel had been torn down and replaced by the very resort where we were staying. I was very sad that Chase was not able to see the actual chapel where Tommy and I became husband and wife, but it was a beautiful resort and we had a great week with our friends!! I have to tell you Tommy has gotten alot more romantic than he was when we first started dating...I remember the night like it was yesterday that he told me that he was falling in love with me. He already had our entire life together planned out, and then he looked at me and said "I did ask you to marry me didn't I?" I said "No, you haven't", so he asked and of course I said "YES". When we went to pick out my engagement ring, we bought it and our wedding bands at the same time, so as we got back in the car, Tommy hands me the box and says "Did you want this now?" Of course I did...Like I said he has come along way since then!! I give him a hard time about how he proposed and how he gave me the engagement ring, but the truth is I remember every detail of that night, it was the most romantic day of my life and Tommy is and will always be the love of my life!! We didn't have a very long engagement and as I said we decided to elope, so the 5 months that we dated, he would leave sweet notes on my car windshield for me to find as I was leaving for work, and we had so many waiters and waitresses asking us if we were newly engaged...They could tell just by the way we looked at each other and the love in our eyes. I am so thankful that after 14 years, we still look at each other that way! He has done alot better these last 14 years, he even hired a quartet to come and sing for me, but I will save all those details for our 100th post blog. I am going to turn this over to Tommy now and let him write his comments on our anniversary, but first I would like to say one last thing:
Tommy, thank you for marrying me, thank you for being a wonderful husband and father, thank you for all the things you do for me, thank you for all the ways you make me a better person! I love you with all my heart now and forever! Happy Anniversary - Sugar Lips
Love ~Heidi


Well, I’m going to start off by making a strange statement. It’s hard to believe that Heidi and I have already been married for fourteen years and at the same time it is hard to believe that we have only been married for fourteen years. Now let me explain that statement before you misunderstand. Most of you know that I am a few years older than Heidi. I met her when I was 24 and she was only 12. I taught the youth in our Sunday school and Heidi was one of my students. She always stood out from the other kids because she was so cute, funny, sweet, kind, faithful, and mischievous. I guess you could say she was like the Sunday school teachers pet. Anyway, Heidi was 26 when I asked her to marry me, so we had known each other for 14 years before we got married. Heidi was always close to me and my family, so it just seems like we have been family for a lot more than 14 years.It would take too long to tell you all the details, so let me just make it brief and say that it was only two months after my first wife died that I asked Heidi to marry me. I knew people would not understand us getting engaged so soon after losing a spouse, so I told Heidi we would keep it quiet for a while. Well, I made it for about a week and then I told Heidi I can’t do this any longer. So we decided to tell the world and let them just deal with it. So we did, and as I guessed, people thought that I was either on the rebound or going through a midlife crisis or something. In reality I knew all along that God had placed Heidi in my life for this purpose.When Heidi and I got married I was surprised to see that she had a title of a song that we had claimed as ours engraved inside my wedding band. It is a song by George Strait called I Cross My Heart. Here are the lyrics:

Our love is unconditional
We knew it from the start
I can see it in your eyes
You can feel it from my heart
from here on after
Lets stay the way we are right now
And share all the love and laughter
That a lifetime will allow

Chorus:

I cross my heart
And promise to
Give all I’ve got to give
To make all your dreams come true
In all the world
You’ll never find
A love as true as mine

You will always be the miracle
That makes my life complete
And as long as there’s still breath in me
I’ll make yours just as sweet
As we look into the future
Its as far as we can see
So lets make each tomorrow
Be the best that it can be

Chorus

And if along the way we find a day
It starts to storm
You’ve got the promise of my love
To keep you warm

The words to this song are still special to both of us and still just as meaningful. Heidi and I are still as in love as ever. On our first wedding anniversary I bought Heidi a wedding band to match mine. On hers I also had a song title engraved. I picked out a song that I felt suited the way I feel about Heidi. It is a song sung by John Michael Montgomery titled Heaven Sent Me You. Here are the lyrics:

I've never seen blue eyes filled with so much love
I never thought I'd find out what I found in your touch
Someone up there must like me 'cause I'm Lookin' at the proof there's no doubt about it
Heaven sent me you
Heaven sent me you to make my life complete
An angel from above to watch over me
What makes it even better
Is you feel the same way too
There's no doubt about it heaven sent me you
Every moment that we share will live forever in my mind
Every memory that we make
Are sure to outlast time
I know when I hold you close I'm holdin' Love that's true
There's no doubt about it
Heaven sent me you
Heaven sent me you to make my life complete
An angel from above to watch over me
What makes it even better
Is you feel the same way too
There's no doubt about it heaven sent me you
There's no doubt about it heaven sent me you

This song still rings true to me today. I never had any doubt and I still never doubt the fact that God sent Heidi to me. She is like an angel sent from heaven to love me and encourage me and support me. She is my cheerleader and greatest fan. I don’t know what my life would have been like without her, but I know it has been like a piece of heaven here on earth with her.
Heidi, thank you for marrying me and putting up with me all these years. I love you with all my heart and I will love you for all eternity. You are the love of my life and my dream come true.
Happy anniversary cookie-face.
Tommy

Operation Christmas Child

We are doing Operation Christmas Child at our church, as I am sure that many of you are...This is such a great program from the Samaritan Purse!! It shows the love of Christ to so many children around the world, who would otherwise probably never experience Christmas or get to hear the good news of Jesus Christ!! We have done this in the past, but this year was particularly fun because Chase is older and understands so much more about how much she has, and how much others do not have!! She was so excited to fill a box for a girl her age with all kinds of "girly" things...from a hairbrush, and headbands to notepads and cool pens!! We also got her a toothbrush and toothpaste, candy, chapstick, and a word search book. We had so much fun shopping for them...We also did a box for a boy in the age range of our grandchildren which is 1 to 5 years old. We got him a small football, a stuffed animal, a cute toothbrush with toothpaste, playdoh, and a slinky!!

While we were shopping Jacob (our 2 year old grandson) called me, he asked me what I was doing, so I told him that I was shopping for kids that didn't have any toys and that we were going to buy things to send to them!! As I am telling him all this I am thinking he probably doesn't understand what I am talking about, but he was so cute! He just said "that sounds like fun Mimi"

Apparently he did know what I was talking about :)

As part of the process you can add a note and picture to your box, Chase wanted to write her own note and put her picture in the girl box. We had her to pray for the child that would receive this box as well.

Chase with her box and all the goodies!!

Chase adding all her goodies to the box!!

Chase praying for the children who receive these gift boxes!!

I wanted to thank Tara Dew for giving me the idea to post about Operation Christmas Child on our blog...It has been such a blessing for us to be involved in this process and we hope that by sharing our experience it might be a blessing to others!! Thanks Tara for the great idea!!

Ministry Update...Exciting Days!!

I have been planning to wait until we know something definite before I posted anything, but we are just so excited about what the Lord has been doing these last few weeks! As many of you know we started sending out Tommy's resume around August. We haven't really gotten much response, questions here or there, also one church emailed and asked for a tape then nothing. It has been a frustrating process to say the least. We also sent applications for a house parenting job in Texas at a privately-funded, Christ-centered, child care facility. We looked over the website and it just sounded like something that we would love. Anyway, we sent those in and again heard nothing.

As Tommy's graduation is drawing closer and closer...I have to admit I have been getting alittle worried...I am sure just like the disciples on the boat when they woke up Jesus because the storm was raging and the waves were crashing in the boat...Jesus is asking me "where is your faith" because He knows I have seen Him perform miracles in our lives, I have seen Him provide for our every need. And He continues to provide...

Two weeks ago we received an email from a church just an hour away from Newnan, we had sent Tommy's resume to them and they were responding to tell us alittle about the town and about the church and wanted Tommy to respond if he was still interested, of course we were and he replied. We received a call from them today (Nov. 13th), requesting a tape of Tommy preaching, so we are getting all that together to send to them tomorrow. We are so excited about the possibilities...And before that we received a call from the child care facility in Texas and we have an interview with them in December. They are flying the three of us out for the interview, so we will have a chance to check out the town and the facilities. We are so excited about both possibilities...please pray that the Lord will give us clear direction, especially if it comes down to making a choice between these two ministry opportunities!!

God is so good!!

We are just in awe of what the Lord is doing in our lives...Please keep Tommy in your prayers as he only has a few more weeks of school. He is finishing up his final papers and preparing for final exams.

Praise the Lord!!

In Deuteronomy 6 it says: Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." (Deut. 6:4-9)

This has always been and is our prayer for our children and our grandchildren!!

We even have the privilege of teaching the love of Christ to the little ones left in our care, here is a picture of Isabelle praising the Lord!!

She is so cute...without fail when I say Praise the Lord her sweet little hands go straight towards Heaven!!

Isabelle has been so cute today, here are a couple of pics of her playing with Tommy...she will stare him down...it's so cute!! They both end up laughing so hard!!

Kit Kitteridge...An American Girl!!

This was a bitter sweet halloween for me!! Chase is 12 years old this year, so as much as we all enjoy the fun time of dressing her up and taking her trick or treating. I think there does have to be a cut off age, so we had decide a while back that once she became a teenager, no more trick or treating!! So this was Chase's last year to trick or treat!! Chase has loved American Girl dolls, since she was about 6 years old...she got her first American Girl doll on her 8th birthday!! Kit Kitteridge, Kit is a 10 year old girl who grew up during the great depression!! (That is the wonderful thing about American Girl dolls you not only get a doll to be your friend and take with you where ever you go, but these dolls come with books and stories and they tell you what it was like to live in their world when they were 10 years old). Chase at the age of 8 could tell most people more about the great depression than they had ever known. Anyway, they came out with a movie this year about Kit Kitteridge and so Chase decided for her last trick or treat experience that she wanted to be Kit and take her doll around for the fun too!!

This year has been different in more ways than one! Not only was it Chase's last trick or treat experience it was also the first time that Tommy or I have not gone trick or treating with her!! Chase's good friend Brittmarie lives in a nice neighborhood that all participate in handing out candy and so like last year we were going to go with Brittmarie and her mom...Well at the last minute Chase dumps me to go with Brittmarie and her brother and some other kids in the neighborhood!! They had a great time and were being very safe!! Tommy and I visited with Brittmarie's parents and then we headed home...Chase spent the night with Brittmarie, so I still haven't gotten a chance to raid her candy yet!!
Brittmarie's dog, Tucker was alittle jealous that no-one was taking his picture!! Tucker is dressed as a Westie:
I have to say even though I am a little sad about Chase not trick or treating anymore...I am excited about what comes next...Maybe we will enjoy handing out candy...I haven't done that in 12 years!! Or maybe we can have a fun fall festival at our house for all Chase's friends!! I don't know, but I am sure we will have lots of fun deciding what we will do next year!!