Shiny Sinks on Thankful Thursday

A couple of years ago, I briefly joined The Fly Lady groupies. I should have stayed with her. My home would be wonderfully clean and organized and I would not still suffer from CHAOS (Can’t Have Anyone Over Syndrome.) However, it became a little overwhelming for me, so I jumped ship or should I say flew the coop.

The first rule that I learned with the Fly Lady was to SHINE MY SINK! It is amazing how much nicer your kitchen stays when you make sure that your sink stays empty, shiny, and clean. I shared this simple rule with my favorite person whom I share all things with. He took over the task with fervor and has made sure that it stays shiny each and every day since.

Therefore, on this chilly, rainy Thankful Thursday, I am thankful for a husband that SHINES MY SINK! Thanks to him, I rarely have to clean-up the kitchen after cooking a meal or after a baking frenzy. Ladies, sometimes we expect roses, poems and chocolates. But, there is something incredibly romantic about a man that loves you enough to shine your sink!

Perhaps this bit of advice needs to be added to the traditional wedding vows…”I _____, take you ______, to be my wedded wife. To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish 'till death do us part. And hereto I pledge you my faithfulness and I promise to shine your sink each and every day as long as we both shall live.”  ;)

We might be amazed how many marriages might be saved/improved/strenthened  if the husband learned this little secret, and if the wife showed him how much she appreciated it! Thank you, Clark Presson, for shining my sink. This is one of the trillion and one reasons why I love you so much!

Make a U-Turn

Clark opened our past Sunday evening service with the following scripture and thought. I am so thankful that I serve a forgiving savior! To see more of our worship service visit us at www.factv.org.

This scripture talks of a merciful God…

Isaiah 55:7 “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”

When I am driving in my car, sometimes I wait until I get lost before I turn the GPS system on. Usually it quickly says, “As soon as you can, make a U-turn.” It doesn’t say in 27 miles make a U-turn. But, make one as soon as possible. Tonight, we serve a God that is still in the business of allowing us to change course. It doesn’t matter which way you have headed or how far down the road you have gotten. My God still has mercy tonight, and he will ABUNDANTLY pardon whatever it is in your life that you need to be forgiven of!

March 2011 Briefing on the life and times of the Pressons.

Can you believe it? I. can. not. March has come and almost gone! This post is mainly miscellaneous info that only people that really love us would be interested in reading. So if you’re not a sister, aunt, grandmother or cousin then please feel free to skip to the next blog.

We started our month with our first FAC Mommy & Me Consignment Sale. I was astounded by the wonderful job that my “committee” aka Sarah Stafford, Kerri Hebert, and Falon Erickson did on organizing it. M&M cleared over $1,700. AWESOME! We had so much wonderful help, incredible things for sale, as well as so many creative vendors. I am already stock piling items for our next sale.

I had surgery this month, and had to do mucho resting. Clark and the boys, as well as Mom & Dad, took such good care of me. I received SO much good food from many that love me! I am blessed and spoiled. There is a fine line between the two of those.

I got a little stir crazy after awhile, so Mom sent over the antiquated VCR for extra entertainment along with several VHS movies. Anne of Green Gables and I got to spend many wonderful hours together! We shared many laughs and tears, even though I have watched it so many times that I practically have the script memorized. A “few” other of my favorites that I watched while recuperating were: Sleepless in Seattle, You’ve Got Mail, An Affair to Remember, Princess of Thieves, Roman Holiday, Emma, Sense and Sensibility, and Father of the Bride. I can tell you are jealous.

Avery and Riley brought home report cards with all straight A’s again. Super Proud Mom! Landry is graded with E(excellent), G(Good) and S(Satisfactory). He brought home almost all E’s and E+’s. However, there was one pesky little E-. It caused much sadness for my little overachiever! Clark tried to explain that an E- was something to be really proud of, but Landry could not understand how anything with a minus would be considered good.

Avery, Riley and Landry ALL lost a tooth this month! This was Landry’s first tooth to loose. Of course, it made me a little sad. He was hoping for $30 from the tooth fairy. He has high expectations in most areas of life. Poor tooth fairy! I save all of their teeth. I’m sentimentally silly like that. Each Sunday night I pack Landry a small entertainment bag for church. SOMEHOW one of the boy’s teeth got put into the “toy” bag. Landry was very surprised to find a tooth in the middle of his army men and crayons. I am still laughing about it! I am so glad it didn’t end up in a snack bag!!!

Avery won 3rd place in his first ever Science Fair. He will now take his (and…cough, cough…Clark’s) project to Competition at the end of the school year. We were excited that he won. I am already worrying about next year’s project. It is a BIG academic task! We have EIGHT weeks of this school year left. Summer is almost within our grasp.

As you know from an earlier post, Lisa & Randy have moved to Tennessee. We have all been spending Randy’s money to decorate their home. I must say that I enjoy helping spend his money! Their house looks SO nice! And I am so happy that they are here! We had lots of fun with Chad, Jordan, Amy, Brad and the kids while they helped with the big move. I got to give Cooper lots of kisses. He is such a cutie…. I would really like to keep him. And I got to give him his first little haircut/trim. Sometimes being a great-aunt has great perks.

My nephew, Evan, turned FIFTEEN, and my great-niece, Hailey had her 4th birthday party with us in Tennessee. My beautiful niece, Meaghan, celebrated her one month wedding anniversary. I hear she and Derek are becoming pros at the married life.

April is just a few days away. It will bring with it a whole new set of events. Some good and some bad. I am thankful that the Lord walks with us through each and every day. Although, the future is a mystery to me, it is not to Him! Farewell to March 2011!

The Pine in the Desert

If you are a reader of Presson Ponderings then you know that I am a huge fan of my husband! He often opens our Sunday night services. You can find all of our services archived at www.factv.org, and you can watch live also! Clark spends much time in prayer over what the Lord wants said at the opening of each Sunday night. So many times the Lord lays things on Clark’s heart that is directly for our family. So, I thought I might start sharing some of them. This one is from this past Sunday night, and I am so thankful that God specializes in my impossible situations!!

Do you believe that we have a God that specializes in the things that are impossible?

Isaiah 41:13 tells us.
“For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.”

And how is he going to do that?
Verse 18 & 19. “I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together.”

These types of trees are evergreen trees. They are not natural to the desert. The desert brings forth cactus, the bramble and thorn bush. But He says that he is going to put in the desert the fir, and pine and box tree. These trees require much water and moisture.

Verse 20 “That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the LORD hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.”

Now when you create, you take something where there is nothing and you make something out of it. Up to this point maybe your life has been a desert, and all that it has been generating are the things that the desert generates. But He can come in tonight and can create and plant something in your life that will never die. It will be FOREVER life!

Short Post With Exciting News on Thankful Thursday!

Today is St Patrick's Day.  Landry has been calling it "Pinch Day" for weeks now, and all three boys left for school in their pinchless green.  It is also Thankful Thursday!  I have one HUGE thankfulness to share... MY SISTER, LISA, IS MOVING TO MARYVILLE!!!!  I am beyond excited about this!!  It has actually been "in the works" for a couple of years, but it is happening TOMORROW!  I have not lived in the same state as any of my siblings for over 16 years, and I am so glad that she is going to be so close!  As most of you know, Sis (Lisa), is thirteen years older than me.  People that do not know us well have always mistaken her for my mom!  She is someone that I admire so much.  My sister has a relationship with the Lord that is strong and true.  Her heart is full of kindness, and she gives herself fully in any situation.  She loves my boys even when they are full to the brim of energy! She helped take care of me when I was little, and STILL helps take care of me! LOL!  It is going to be so nice to have her within minutes of our family.  Although, we are so thrilled to have her and Randy with us, we are sad for those that she is moving away from.  I know it is going to be such a big change for them, and sometimes change is hard!  Clark and I have been praying for all of them while they make new adjustments. 

Here is a picture of Sis and me many, many years ago!

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, I will leave you with my favorite Irish Proverb...

It is a reassurance to my heart since I have 3 sons...

"A man loves his sweetheart the most,

his wife the best,

but his MOTHER the longest!

Have a wonderful Thankful Thursday!

The Compliment of an Introduction

Many years ago, my husband and I were attending General Conference with a "mere" 20,000 other Pentecostals.  The conference was awe inspiring in message, song and fellowship.  However, it was unlike the unerasable memories of conferences past when I roamed the halls looking for friends from far and near, and hoped that my parents did not know I was not in the auditorium.  This particular year, I was in the hallway trying to convince an exhausted 3 year old, and a fussy infant that they should be quiet during their marathon of church services.  I was losing the battle.  During the midst of hiking up my skirt for the umpteenth time after having toddler Avery pull it down again, and trying to clean the remnants of milk that came back up from infant Riley off my dress, I noticed a particular young man.  He was surrounded by a pack of Pentecostal Youth.  He was tall, handsome, and had beautiful red hair.  The air around him seemed to pop with personality and fun.  The young people hung onto every word, and laughed along with his expressive stories.  His demeanor was self confident, but yet kind.  On the outside looking in, I knew he was the life of the party, a much sought after friend. 

Suddenly, the young man quieted the crowd around him, and pushed ahead down the corridor.  He wrapped his arm around a man and led him back to his crowd of admirers.  "Hey, everybody, I want to introduce you to somebody.  This is my dad!"

His statement was spoken with such excitement and pride that he could have been introducing the president of the United States.  The youth welcomed the father with as much enthusiasm as they had the son.  This particular incident went straight to my overly tired motherly heart.  I wondered what this father had done to earn such love and admiration from his vibrant son.  What a high compliment to give a parent.  How wonderful he must have felt as he walked away from that crowd.

I often think that I am blessing my heavenly father with my gifts of praise, tithes and offerings, good deeds and works.  Are my times of fasting, prayer and Bible reading really touching him? Though all of these works are well and good, perhaps he is longing for me to introduce him to the crowd around me-the busy mom in the grocery store, the college students at the library, the parents of the children that I teach, my friends on Facebook.  So, "Hey, everybody, I want to introduce you to somebody. This is my dad...my heavenly father."  I know he will love you like no other.  No matter how many times you makes mistakes, he will welcome you home with open arms.  He will provide for you, shelter you, and be your closest friend.  His grace is astounding, and he will do anything to call you His own.  He has already laid down his life just for you.  So, meet my father.  Your life will never be the same!