I love Christmas!

New this year...

5 handmade ornaments...

reflecting our children's families and Tom and me!

Grayson Girls...ladies small group!

Wonderful Christmas Party!

We missed you, Cheryl, Bev, Cynthia, Peggy...

Sierra Leone Mission Trip 2009

Promoting Sierra Leone and

Dominican Republic mission trips for 2009.

Just 2 of 29 trips scheduled.

Mom and girls...less Allison

Sal, we missed you terribly at Thanksgiving!

Leonie

We were blessed recently to have

a young lady from Germany

spend the weekend with us.

She fit right in with family and friends!

Love you, Leonie!

A favorite place

This bridge, about 3 blocks from our home, has become a favorite spot during all seasons over the last 34 years. I look forward to driving over it almost daily! :)

From My Utmost for His Highest, Nov 20: "When once you realize all that it cost God to forgive you, you will be held as in a vice, constrained by the love of God!"

Treasures

Quilts from left to right...
The squares for the 4 on the left were done by mom's mom in the 50s to early 60s. She died before she got them quilted. Friends or family have finished them for me throught the years. The one in the middle with the snowman was done by tracing and coloring the pictures from a farm coloring book, then ironed over with wax paper. I believe there are still 2 quilts that Mamaw Medearis started that need to be quilted. The burgandy lap quilt was done by either dad's mom or her sister Aunt Chee. And I won the one on the right in dad's family reunion drawing this summer. My goal is to wear them out while I'm alive to enjoy them!

6:55am...DART RAIL from Plano to Northpark!

Race for the cure!

25,000 to 30,000 people!

Students wear pink in support of breast cancer awareness!

My Friend, Titus!

Catch up on "The Life of Titus" under my favorites.

The Quilt

This is a well-worn

quilt that was made by

my grandmother.

My aunts said most of the

fabric was from

old dresses of grandma's.

Some was from bright colored

feed sacks.

I feel so blessed that

my name was drawn at

our summer family reunion

to receive this treasure.

Grand kiddos!

Coming up:

Choir Jam Session for Christmas Music

Ladies Small Group

Grayson County Jail Bible Study

5K Walk - Race for the Cure for Breast Cancer

Seed Sowers Prison Ministry Meetings

Camping Get-Away for Tom and Me

We Walk for Stacy!

Lots has been happening.
Our daughter and her children from Houston were here
for a week while her husband cleaned up after Ike.
She had the opportunity to visit with
many friends and family.
xxx
Plans are underway for Sierra Leone 2009.
Our team from this year had an evening of fun,
and several intend to make the return trip.
xxx
Tom has been asked to be part of
a 6 man construction team
to South Africa in February.
We are praying toward that end.
xxx
Our pastor's wife had her first

chemo treatment and she is doing well.
A bunch from the church will be
walking a 5K in her honor on October 18th
(t-shirt above).
xxx
My students will be taking 6-week exams
Wednesday. Unbelievable!
This school year is flying!
xxx
Seed Sowers Prison Ministry
is preparing for our fall banquet.
God exceeded our expectations last year.
We anticipate a great night
November 14th.

The Arbor

From our daughter in West Texas:

This is a picture from our back yard. Rob built this arbor last year out of wood from an old swingset that someone threw out. The morning glories have just been amazing during this fall weather!

Another Busy Week!

Neat things have been going on around here...

***~***

Friends Steve and Cathy came for a visit.

They are in from the

United Arab Emirates.

While they furlough they'll be staff missionaries at

Union College in Tennessee.

It was great the see them.

***~***

We celebrated birthdays for 2 of the

granddaughters - Hunter, 10 and Harley, 4.

***~***

Eleven more volunteers were trained last Saturday

for prison ministry.

God just keeps on blessin.'

***~***

Our choir has started working on music

for Christmas.

I love the holidays!

I usually load Christmas CDs in the car

in October, and no,

I don't get tired of them.

***~***

We had great services at the

county jail last night.

A full house!

***~***

I had the opportunity to speak to the

Fellowship of Christian Athletes

on our campus this morning about

prison ministry.

I'd say there were close to

50 faculty and students.

They plan to be involved in a couple of our

Seed Sowers projects this fall.

A real blessing!

***~***

Our pastor

is doing a book signing tomorrow

morning

for

Live Forgiven.

Soon there will be nearly

200 small groups

from our church

doing the 6 week study simultaneously.

Be sure to click on

Pastor Jeff Warren

under my favorites for details.

***~***

Things are in the works for

Sierra Leone 2009.

We can't wait!

Back to Work!

What a busy week!
Back to work on Monday after 11 weeks off.
New curriculum this year, so plenty to do.
Lunches out with various co-workers to catch up

on each other’s news.
Seed Sowers Prison Ministry meeting Monday evening.
Open House at school Tuesday night.
Sierra Leone planning meeting Wednesday, followed by choir.
Whew!

***~***

We've had some long overdue rain here this week.

It reminded me of our time in Colorado...cool!

The Hummingbird above was one of

several outside our cabin at Yellow Pine Ranch.

***~***

Lots of odds and ends to do tomorrow.

I hope to do a little relaxing.

FBC Van Horn Youth

I had the opportunity while we were with Rob and Julie to speak to some of the youth of their church. What a great group of people! They spent 4 days this week involved in "Mission: Van Horn." They ministered to folks all over town. True servant's hearts.

Rob and Julie

Rather than travel straight home from Colorado we drove south through New Mexico to El Paso, then 120 miles southeast to Van Horn, Tx. Our daughter and her husband, Rob, rolled out the red carpet as always. This was the first time Beck's parents had been in their home. One evening they invited a few friends over for an informal share time of our Sierra Leone mission trip. God raised up several prayer partners from Van Horn leading up to our trip. What a blessing!!

Groom, Texas

As we traveled northwest across Texas toward

the family reunion
we decided to take a detour to Groom.
Here the tallest cross in the Western Hemisphere
stands at 190 feet high.
It is visible from 20 miles in any direction.
There is also a path with a series of statues that begins with
Jesus before Pilate and ends at the empty tomb.

It is quite moving!

43rd Annual McCray Reunion, Cuchara, Colorado

Recently 58 family members converged on Yellow Pine Ranch in Cuchara, Colorado for our (Beck's dad's) annual reunion. It was wonderful to visit with family from Colorado, Texas, Idaho and Hawaii. And after weeks of Texas heat...WOW!!...the cool temps were great! Some of the highlights:

16 of us met for breakfast near

Des Moines, NM

as we traveled up from various places in Texas.

From there we caravaned to Mt Capulin (volcano) for the

opportunity to take in an amazing view.

A drive along the Highway of Legends from Trinidad

to Cuchara.

Excursions to Blue Lake and Bear Lake.

A bear entertained us on the side of the road.

Other bears strolled through the ranch at night turning over

trash cans, drinking from the

Hummingbird feeders

and leaving paw prints on our car.

Family meals for the whole group of 58 with great food.

My name was drawn to win a

well-worn quilt made by

my grandmother

over 50 years ago...a treasure!