The Prayer Warrior Gets Some Beautiful Armor

Have you ever received a gift that just touched you to your very soul? I got one of the most touching and amazing gifts I have ever received in my life this past weekend.

Most of you know that over the last two or three years God has really turned me into a heavy duty prayer warrior for him. Now before you think that I am bragging let me say right up front that I am not. What I mean to say is that God has captured my heart in such a way that my life is an ongoing prayer re pore with him. Often even when I am sleeping he is talking to my spirit. It is both a wonderful and difficult thing for me. Wonderful in that I love the time that we get to spend talking with each other. It is personal and it is tender and life changing. It is difficult in that I often learn and hear more than I know what to do with or how to process. I am very often in way over my head.

I have been blessed to be able to head up our prayer team at EMC for the last couple of years. These are a group of amazing people and God uses them to teach me and his church just how powerful the power of prayer is. We have seen incredible things happen because of their dedication and prayers. I have been blessed to work prayer on a Tres Dias weekend. I saw lives change including mine because of that privilege. I have been blessed to pray in many wonderful and amazing and extremely difficult situations. I am by no means a master.... but prayer is the greatest calling of my heart.

The reason I say all of that is because you need to understand how very much prayer is my life to understand how much this gift touched me to my soul. I am by no means a materialistic person. Having and giving things really does not impress me very much. The kind of gifts that I like to receive are gifts that I know someone really thought who I am before they bought or made them. Those are the kind of gifts that show it was about blessing me and not just about giving a gift.

My friend Beth gave me an incredibly gift this past weekend. She has been working on it for over a year. It is only the second time I ever remember receiving a gift that touched me so deeply that it brought tears to my eyes and left me speechless. I still am emotional just thinking and looking at this gift.

Beth gave me a tallit. A prayer shawl. Armor for the prayer warrior to wear when she is in deep prayer and mighty warfare. She made it herself and she had Tamara's mom-in-law monagram it with the words I usually always sign my writings to the prayer team with " Love, Pray, Serve" along with a cross and the words "Our Father" written around the shoulders. It is the most beautiful prayer shawl I have ever seen.

This gift honored me by celebrating one the greatest loves of my life....Prayer.

I had to publically thank her and I had to show you this beautiful gift she blessed me with. It will have a place of honor in my prayer room at home and it will get used often.

Thank you Beth. You blessed me by knowing what the greatest love of my heart is. I love you dearly! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. It touched me to the depth of my soul.

Check out this beautiful gift. The pictures don't do it justice.

Tammy

P.S. I love all of you!!! Blessings and Merry Christmas!!!

My Tallit Prayer Shawl

Pray like this... Our Father....

Make a difference. Love, Pray, Serve

Happy Birthday Nipper And Happy Fall Y'all

Nipper's 11th Birthday

Well, I finally decided to come back an revisit my lonely blog. I would like to thank whoever got me hooked on FaceBook for the fact that my blog is getting ignored. FaceBook is addictive and if anyone asks you to join....shut your computer down and run away as quickly as you can.....Just kidding! I've been busy and not taken any time to write and I'm way behind on my updates. This blog is about Fall and Nipper's birthday. There are many more things to come soon .....I hope.

Have you been enjoying the fall this year? I have just been mesmerized by the foliage. It has been so beautiful that I have taken to keeping my camera in the car so I can take some pictures along the way. Everywhere I go I am just taken in by the beautiful colors. It makes me realize what a masterful artist our Heavenly Father is.

Here are a few photos of the fall colors in my neighborhood.

Our house in the sunlight

Isn't that pretty?

These maples are beautiful every year

Nipper in my birthday present...a new swing

Yesterday was Nipper's 11th birthday and I just want to say what all of you already know...I love my little guy with all my heart and I'm very thankful for him!!! He has had a rough year this past year and I am thankful that God allowed him to get better and allowed me keep him a while longer. I appreciate every single day!

Below are some pictures of Nipper with his new bone and toy. He was very excited. You can say to Nipper...I have a "present" for you and he gets so excited and starts jumping up and down. He knows exactly what that word means. (Could be cause he gets lots of presents....).

Can I bite this?

Tasty!

Tennis ball barbell....a good workout!

Nipper's new bone

Chewing away...

Look for a blog on my birthday beach trip in the near future.


Tammy

NIPPER UPDATE #2

Isn't he precious?

Want to play rope?

All smiles


Several of you have asked me lately how Nipper is doing so I thought I'd give you a brief update.


I took Nipper to the vet last Friday for a re-check on his head and to have his liver enzymes tested. Nipper has had a liver problem for several years and I have to have his enzymes tested every few months. He got a really great report. Dr. Moore said the place on his head looks fine. It is still pink and there is still a small knot there but it doesn't seem to be causing him any problems. He has also not had any problems with limping since we treated him with the ointment. So he is pretty much convinced that the problem was an infected gland. At this point we are just going to leave it alone unless he starts to have problems with it again. Nipper seems to be feeling fine now and is back to his silly puppy dog self. Most of his hair had grown back in on his face where they shaved it...so he is about back to my little handsome guy again.


Thank you all for asking about him and for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers while he was sick. It means the world to me that you care enough about me to worry about him. :o)


I love you guys,


Tammy


P.S. Nipper got a great report on him liver enzymes...2 of the 3 that they always check where in the normal range. That has not happened in several years.


Now that he is better I'll show you some of the pictures. Can you see why I was worried?


Doesn't that look awful?

My poor little guy!!

He still wanted to play....

Getting better.....

And better.....

Much better now.....

Feeling fine and ready to play

Handsome as ever!!!

I REALLY AM IT!!!

I got tagged by Shana.....

Rules: Each player answers the question themselves. At the end of the post the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leaves them a comment letting them know that they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person that tagged you know when you've answered the questions on your blog.

10 years ago I:
1. Was 30 years old (where did the time go?)
2. Had been married 5 years
3. Was skinny too Shana :-)
4. Got my dog Nipper for Christmas
5. Thought 40 was old (not anymore!)

5 things on today's "to do" list:
1. Go to work
2. Feed and walk Nipper
3. Get groceries
4. Iron clothes for tomorrow
5. Update my blog

5 snacks I enjoy:
1. Ice Cream
2. Chips with ranch dip
3. Cereal
4. Chocolate (anything)
5. Cookies

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire:
1. Pay off my house
2. Buy a beach house
3. Pay off my parents houses
4. Pay on the building fund at EMC
5. Travel a lot

5 places I have lived:
1. Dalton, GA
2. Stone Mountain, GA
3. Vinings, GA
4. Atlanta, GA
5. Rocky Face, GA

5 jobs I have had:
1. Vet assistant at Dalton Animal Care - I was 12
2. Sales clerk at Baskin Robbins
3. Sales clerk at Proffitt's
4. Customer Service Rep at World Carpet
5. Customer Service Rep at Oriental Weavers


The rules say I have to tag 5 people.
So I'll tag:
1. Marilyn
2. Cyndi R.
3. Tamara
4. Brandi
5. Jennifer

CASTING CROWNS

Last Saturday night we went to see Casting Crowns at the world famous Dalton Trade Center. I know, I, too, was amazed that we could get tickets to this most famous place...but we did.

We had a total of 27 (I think that is right) from EMC attend the concert. Several from the youth, the 30's & 40's...and a couple of those rocking 50's. It was great fun. Several of us met early for dinner at Chili's....it was great but they are soooooo slow. Then we headed over and got in the big long line. The doors were to open at 6:00 with the show starting at 7:00. We were in line by about 5:15 and it was already long. Thankfully, they decided to open the doors a little early and we were able to go in around 5:45. We had general admission tickets so we all rushed to the front to get seats. We ended up in about the 12th & 13th rows I think. We had really great seats. The ushers did get onto us several times about saving seats....but in the end we all ended up together on these two rows. (We only made about 6 people feel so guilty for sitting in our row and taking up our seats that they moved.... 6 out of 3000 to 4000 people is not bad is it???) Oh well, we just like to be together don't we guys?

The warm-up band was a group called Four Days Late ( we had several ideas about what this name meant and some were not good....haha). They are friends of Eric & Angie's from college. They were great! And they are a true rock band.....LOUD!!!! But we really liked them a lot. We are hopeful that since J103 sponsored the concert that they will start playing some of their music. Request them if you think of it.

Then after a break it was time for Casting Crowns. What can I say except they were awesome and we love their music. They put on a great show. Everyone had to stand up and sing along. It was so good to see so many people of all ages supporting Christian music.

We all had a great time. It was good to see great show and hang out with our friends. Below are some of the pictures from our evening out.


The long line

Lacey nursing Laura who got stung by a bee

Waiting for the show

Sarah & Keith

Keith & Tamara

Marisa & Jon

Marilyn & Kurt

Jennifer & Wade

Four Days Late

They were sooooo loud!!!

He was jammin'

Watching the show

Casting Crowns

Praising God

She was good!!!

Love the words in the background

They Rock!!!

We had a rockin' good time and were home by 10:00. Don't you just love small town America?

Tammy

FEAR - UPDATE

Update: I took Nipper back to the vet last Friday. He had finished up his meds on Thursday. Our vet, Dr. Moore, checked the place on Nipper's face and said that it was not as hard as it had been before. He wanted us to stop the ointment and watch the place and see what happens over the next several days. If the place begins to get red or infected looking or begins to swell up we have to start the ointment again. He did say that since it had gone down some and was not hard like before that he still believes it is a gland problem. That is much better than him thinking it is a tumor or cancer any day!!!!

It's been 4 days since Nipper has had any ointment or medication. He is doing well. The place does not appear to have gone down any more than before...but I am wondering if it may have always been as big as it is right now but covered with hair. He has always had a big brow above his eyes...and this place is right where his eyebrow is...I think. It's hard to tell since only one side of his face is shaved. I guess I will just have to wait and see how it looks once the hair grows completely back in. He seems to be feeling good and he has not been limping since we started the ointment 2 1/2 weeks ago. The place on his face is pink and does turn red occasionally...but usually when he is up running around...so I think that is just the blood flowing into his brow.

I am hopeful that he is fine. I will be watching his every move until I know for sure.

Thank you for praying for Nipper and for me and for asking about him. Most of you know how in love with Nipper I am and I appreciate you sharing my concern for my little guy. You are my true friends and I know I can can share my heart with you anytime. I will keep you updated as we go along.

I love you guys,

Tammy


Are you ever afraid? I don't mean just a little bit afraid....I mean mind numbing, life consuming fear? Do you ever have a problem with trust? Do you ever doubt that God can or will do the right thing by you?

That is where I have lived my life for the last three weeks.

Nipper has a place that has come up on his forehead that our vet has been treating for three weeks. They are not sure at this point what the problem is. They seem to think that it may be a gland but it has also been mentioned that is could be a tumor or cancer. It looks like a big red knot right against his left eye. He was also limping on his left front foot. Our vet Dr. Moore said that if this is a gland it could be what is causing the limping since it is on the same side.

They put him on a two week course of antibiotics and anti-inflammatories and they did not seem to help much at all. As you might imagine during these two weeks I was consumed with worry about Nipper. My mind ran the whole gambit of thinking ...what if this is something more serious than a gland? What if this is a tumor? What if this is cancer? And the very worst thing of all...What if this is what takes Nipper from my life? It was consuming to my whole thought pattern every single moment.

During this time I poured my heart out to God every waking moment. And God in is graciousness reminded me over and over of all the times that he had protected and healed Nipper. There have been many times that Nipper has been sick with dangerous things. There have been many times that he has done crazy things that could have killed him. During every single thing God has protected him and allowed him to be healed. He has given us wonderful doctors and staff who have treated and taken care of Nipper when he was in need. He has over and over been Nippers healer.

During this time my precious Father constantly brought calming scripture into my mind when I was afraid. He even brought the song....I am the Lord his (I know it's usually your but I heard his) healer to my mind constantly. That would calm me for a little while and then my fear would return.

I took Nipper for a re-check after two weeks of meds and there was very little improvement. Dr. Moore called me and said that he was now concerned it could be a tumor and wanted to remove this place. Talk about putting fear into my heart....that really did. I told him he could praying that if it was a tumor or cancer that we had caught it early. Shortly after that Dr. Moore called me again and said once he had sedated Nipper and shaved his forehead he found about six small spots instead of one and one additional place close to the other eye. Seeing several places made him more convinced it is a gland problem so he didn't cut the place out. That was a huge relief to me.

He decided to do another two weeks of the anti-inflammatories and antibiotics and he added an ointment to be rubbed on those spots every day. The ointment is a deep follicle flush to clean out any bacteria that may be clogging up the gland. The ointment does seem to be making a difference. After a couple of days Nipper stopped limping and the place on his head seems to look better. It is not gone but I think it looks better. He still has four more days of meds to take and then he will have to go back for another re-check.

I do not know at this point if Nipper is okay or not. I know that my heart hopes for the best and I know that God has the power to heal him. I know that God has healed him many times in the past. I know the memories and the scripture and the song to calm my spirit came from him. I even know that God will never take Nipper from me until it is time for him to go.

YET....I AM STILL AFRAID.

Do you ever feel this way when facing something that is a great fear in your life? Like loss...of anything that you love with your whole heart. Be that an animal, a person, your job, your dreams...or whatever it might be. Are you ever consumed by what the loss of this _______ would do to your whole life? Do you trust God to have full control of the things that mean everything to you?

Give me your thoughts.

Tammy

A Lifetime Of Service...A Dream Trip Reward

Dewey & Jo holding the Italian flag

July 27th was a very significant day in the life of our Dalton EMC church. This was the final Sunday that Dewey was our Pastor. Dewey had been approached the previous fall about running for the District Superintendent position of our denominations Southern Conference. After seeking God and the counsel of his family and mentors Dewey resigned our church last November.

The actual election for the DS job was not scheduled to be until this past June. We were blessed that during the time between last November and July Dewey remained our Pastor. This was a tender and sweet time for our congregation. God showed up in many wonderful and significant ways. There was such an anointed spirit on the church during this time. Our services were filled with powerful preaching, music, and the power of the Holy Spirit. It was a time of renewal, healing, and restoration for our Pastor, our families, and the church as a whole. It has been a special time for us and I feel like God brought the final cap to a healing that had been coming for about two years. We are now a true family in every sense of the word. I am so thankful to God for giving us this special time. It will always be a treasured time in my life.

Dewey and Jo have worked in ministry for over 35 years. They were our leaders for 16 of those years. They have been faithful servants to our Father and to us for a very long time. I know all of us have many precious memories of them over the years. It wouldn't take long for any of us to come up with a Dewey or Jo story I'm sure. Don't they just make you smile or laugh sometimes? Does anyone talk to you like they are your Father better than Dewey?? (That voice and hair make you want to spill your heart don't they?) Can anyone talk you into doing anything better than Jo?? (Beloved, can you??? smile, I love you....you are so wonderful). It is like Harry says....when Jo says "could you?" you say to yourself...why didn't I already do that? I know also that every single one of us can think of a time that they have stood with us during a difficult or wonderful time. They are a huge part of us and they have shared our lives for a very long time.

Over the years we have often heard Dewey & Jo mention that one of their dreams has always been to visit Italy. We have heard them mention the places they wanted to go and we have seen that far away look in their eyes when they talk about going there. Our church family decided that as a way to honor them for their time with us that we would try to raise the money to send them on their dream trip to Italy. We set a goal of $7000 and we had only 3 1/2 weeks to raise that amount. It was such a fun time. Every day e-mails were going back and forth with everyone wanting to know how much we had raised. Everyone gave so generously and with great love. God greatly blessed and in the end we were able to raise $10,770. It still just amazes me. God is so good!!!

The 27th was a big day. It was a day filled with many emotions. Mike roasted Dewey in the greeting... (three-ring binder, blended worship, old Episcopal priest...enough said). Dewey preached his final sermon to us as our Pastor. We had the table and a time of worship. Then to to finish out the day we had a time to honor Dewey & Jo. Renny prayed for Dewey & Jo at the kneeler surrounded by their family and our hearts. Then we saw a wonderful video that Earl made from the photos that the congregation has sent in of their memories of Dewey and Jo over the years. Then Glo presented a 12 piece setting of the "Feeding on the Word" china from the women's ministry. Then Lynn presented Dewey with some official DS glasses....glasses and sunglasses like Laurens. That was funny! We gave our Thank Yous and our blessing and then the real fun started. We presented them with some beautiful wind chimes that Ronnie & Brenda had found in Kentucky. The chimes are supposed to sound like distant church bells and they are supposed to sound like our church chimes. May they remind them of us every time the wind blows. Then it was time for the big trip presentation. Brad started the music (an Italian march) and then several of our friends came marching in with posters that showed different places in Italy. They marched up onto the podium briefly stopping to show Dewey & Jo each one. Then came Laura with the basket of travel brochures and Italian goodies. After that their grand kids came in holding the Italian flag. While they were still trying to figure out what was going on ...we yelled and told them they were going to Italy. Sandy finished us up by presenting them with the large Publishers Clearing House Check with the value of their trip on it.

It was the first time I have ever seen Dewey speechless and I don't think Jo's feet have hit the ground yet. (I'm pretty sure she still goes home and wears that Italian flag every day). They were greatly surprised and honored and we hope they never forget the depth of our love for them. From what I hear plans are already in the works for a trip next spring or fall. We also had a lunch after the service and everyone enjoyed hanging out and eating together. It was a great day of celebrating our friends.

Tammy

A special note to my precious friends (family) Dewey & Jo,

Dewey & Jo (Maximus & Alexandria Alexis), I truly love both of you more than mere words could express. I am thankful that I have been here for 14 of your 16 years. I am even more thankful that we have become really close friends over the last few years. You know my heart and I know yours. You are both such incredible warriors for our Father and being friends with you has shown me who he is in a deeper way. You are both my hero's!

I know that God is going to bless both of you as you go forward in this new endeavour that he has for you. I know that he still has big plans for you because our Father knows he can count on you and our Father doesn't think small. I know that he is going to continue to use you to show the world who he is.

I'm also so thankful that you get to stay here with us!!!

I Love You Both,

Tammy

Dewey & Jo with Renny

Renny praying for Dewey & Jo

Glo presenting the china

Opening the china

Still opening the china...

The Feeding on the Word china

The "Official" DS glasses

Opening the wind chimes

The wind chimes with stained glass cross

The Italy posters

The presenter and more posters

They just said "ITALY" !!!!

Sandy with the big check

How much did you say???

Wonder where I can cash this?

We're going to Italy!!!

Don't they look happy?

Praying

Jo & Dewey saying Thank You

The Grand Kids

Jo wrapped in the Italian flag

Dewey & Jo holding the Italian flag