Eventful Thank You's. Serve...

This morning as I sit here pondering an event today.... I cannot help but be found with thank you's on my lips and in my heart.

At 8:30 a.m., the pro shop here at our highly secure gated community will be welcoming individuals on behalf of our family. And while I do not have a golfing bone in my body and have always been honest about it, I do so love many individuals who do. While I will be at the physical church building, they will be teeing off and sharing stories and creating new memories together. For that, I am thankful. My presence at such events are not necessary for them to carry on.

Our two youngest sons attend public school. They are out of school today. Again, I am met with gratitude. Travis is quite the golfer at age thirteen. He will be playing today with a man who our family holds close even though we do not necessarily agree with him on numerous issues. What we do agree about is priceless. His love for my daddy and my mom for years created a love for my husband, sons, and myself just as deep if not deeper. Our sons see this man as a grandfather figure since their grandpa's passing. Again a gratitude that cannot be fully explained.

There's a man who will also be playing in the event today. He came into our lives most unexpectedly and yet, came as no surprise to God. Our relationships with him are ones that have gone the gamut from bad to good and in-between. It has been over a year now since he and my mother have been dating. As I've mentioned on Life in the Moments before, his presence in our lives has been one that causes many many interesting moments for us all. One thing I know I can say without question, he loves my mother and my mother loves him. He will be playing along side of my mother today.

I remain grateful for the conversations that my daddy and I had over the time in-between his dash. Even more so the ones that were difficult and beyond raw. I am thankful that he shared me with his desire to see my mom, his wife over 43 years plus at the time, move on after his passing. It wasn't just his desire as I've also shared here. He knew she would find a man within six months that she would either marry or would love like that. I am thankful for his love for my mother. There are truly no words that do it justice.

There are many others who will be playing today. They will be remembering all the golfing events my daddy, their buddy, got together over the years. Always knowing that the real purpose of the events was not golf. It was to share God's love in a way that was outside of a building. A way that God truly used as a ministry in my parents lives and helped bring countless individuals to Him as a result. Only God could do that..... my daddy knew that as does my mom.

The bench on hole #1 is in memory of my daddy. I am grateful to those who had it placed there. For I have heard story after story of individuals sitting on it and receiving shade while there. That sitting on the bench does not just remind them of him.... but The One whom he served.

I, like my daddy, believe that life's moments are better spent serving Him and others on His behalf. It is a privilege, responsibility, and untold blessing.

How can you serve Him by serving others today? Make today's moments count!