A New Perspective

It seems somewhat ironic that a little over a month ago Cliff took this picture at the Grand Canyon on our 30th birthday trip to Vegas. Cliff has a new perspective. He says the most significant realization of this experience is that we are "so not in control." Like at all. Let me give you some background... After several months of increasingly frequent and intense migraines, Cliff ended up in the Neuro ICU at Vandy. The cause of these headaches? A tumor in the pineal region of the brain that is blocking spinal fluid from draining properly. WHAT!? I almost asked the doctor if he was kidding. Not Cliff, not us. Seriously? After 2 nights in the hospital, Cliff was sent home on steroids. After a follow up with his neurosurgeon, Cliff is scheduled for a Third Ventriculostomy this Friday, September 14. Dr. Sills (Mississippi State graduate and football team doctor) will use an endoscope to go into Cliff's brain and poke a hole in his third ventricle. This will relieve the pressure created by the spinal fluid. While he is in there, Dr. Sills will try to biopsy the mass so we can determine what it is and how to proceed. The doctors have no reason to think it's malignant. But of course we won't know until they get a piece of it. At this point we don't need anything...but we covet your prayers. Prayers for a complete healing and recovery and prayers for peace. The verse that is giving Cliff strength, peace and hope is Hebrews 11:1. You can read it at the top of the blog. Please feel free to leave words of encouragement! We will keep this blog updated for all of you that love Cliffy!

April Showers Bring May Weddings and Babies!

I'm excited for this April! And May. And June. And July. And August. I feel like so many big moments are on the way.

April
April brings another sister and nephew into my life with Sarah and Tripp officially joining the Jones family. I'm so happy for Gage, Sarah and Tripp and pray that God will bless their new little family.

May
After two years of graduate school, I will graduate with a Master of Education in Organizational Leadership and Communication from Belmont University. I've loved the program. Meeting interesting and wonderful people from all walks of life. I'm blessed to know each of them.

May also means another addition to my family...Adam Majors will marry my cousin Allyce Wilbanks. I'm predicting wedding of the year!!!

June
In June, I will have another neice. Rosey Kate Clark is sure to be a bundle of joy and I can't wait to see Mary Logan as a big sister!! What a precious and perfect little girl Mary Logan is, can't wait to see what Rosey is like! I have never seen a happier girl than Mary Logan Clark. She is the definition of love.

July
Wow. July. Cliff and I will be 30...are you serious? 30???? Let's be honest, I look barely old enough to be a high school graduate. I do have gray hair and my knees hurt. But other than that, I have no idea how I got here. 30?????

Even though I can't wrap my brain around 30, I do get to share it with Cliffy Jones, who has loved me since I was 19. Happy 10 years.

August
In August, my sweet nephew Henry will be one year old and of course it's only sweeter because he shares his birthday with my mom (his Gigi) who will be 50-something and still flippin' fabulous. I've loved watching my sister Ashley and her hubs Davis with baby Henry. They are such good parents and my inspiration for when I have kiddos.

So...here I am taking a deep breath and gearing up for the incredible months to come.

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom. - Marcel Proust

O give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting.- 1 Chronicles 16:34

Summer has arrived...

It's hot in here! Or it was last night in our house. 81 degrees at bedtime. No A/C is not working for me (or my hair and makeup). Repairmen come today. In other news...how cute is this picture?!

Casey's Choice - Candles

Are you ready? Write this down. The best candle out there is Kirkland's Cobblestone Candle in Vanilla Brown Sugar. I consider myself somewhat of a candle connoisseur. I've tried yankee and glade and many others, but this is the best. It burns evenly, lasts a long time and smells like fresh baked cookies all the time. Guaranteed.

The Reason

Today I stopped in the midst of stressing that I don't have my Christmas lights out yet or the first gift wrapped and under the tree. My house is a wreck (if you know me at all, you know that's not really possible - but messy for me none the less). My pastor asked in a twitter post recently, "Are you ready for Christmas, or are you ready for Christ? There's a difference." Let's remain ever mindful of the true meaning of the Christmas season. We celebrate the birth of Christ and anticipate His return! Don't get caught up in the hype of it all - it's the enemy out to get us.

Blue Like Jazz

An excerpt from Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller:

All great characters in stories are the ones who give their lives to something bigger than themselves. And in all of the stories I don't find anyone more noble than Jesus. He gave His life for me, in obedience to His Father. I truly love Him for it. I think the difference in my life came when I realized, after reading those Gospels, that Jesus didn't just love me out of principle; He didn't just love me because it was the right thing to do. Rather, there was something inside me that caused Him to love me. I think I realized that if I walked up to His campfire, He would ask me to sit down, and He would ask me my story. He would take the time to listen to my ramblings or my anger until I could calm down, and then He would look me directly in the eye, and He would speak to me; He would tell me the truth, and I would sense in His voice and in the lines on His face that he liked me. He would rebuke me, too, and He would tell me that I have prejudices against people and that I need to deal with that; He would tell me that there are poor people in the world and I need to feed them and that somehow this will make me more happy. I think He would tell me what my gifts are and why I have them, and He would give me ideas on how to use them. I think He would point out very clearly all the ways God has taken care of me through the years, all the stuff God protected me from.

Life is Hard

Life is hard. I'm 100% confident no one reading this blog can disagree with that statement. Just to name a few culprits that make life challenging:

-Money
-Work
-Family
-Expectations regarding all of the above (to make a certain amount of money, to obtain a certain amount of material possesions, even if you can't afford them, to have a great job and a nice office and lots of time off, see your family often and make sure everyone is getting along)
-Our selfish sin nature (It's all about me)

These can be especially challenging for those of us who try to handle all of life's problem's ourselves - those of us who are independent/perfectionist types who want to do things our way and oh by the way I want it done perfectly. That's actually my personality type - in my grad school class we did some leadership personality typing and my personality is one that leads to stress - I want things done my way, right now, perfectly. Oh and by the way, since no one else can do it, I'll do it myself. Yikes. Am I really like that? Ewww.

I'm not sure that I have a point with all this, but if I did, it would be that I think the most important lesson (and probably the most difficult)to learn on my journey as a Christain is that I can't do it alone. And that includes my interactions with my family, at work, earning a living, etc... So to approach any difficult situation without consulting God or having Him be apart of our every thought and action is asking for more trouble.

Our preacher once said that we view God as a member of our Board of Directors of life. We want His input and value His opinion - but do we always follow His guidance? Do we always obey? I would have to back up a step further and ask - do I always seek His guidance? No.

So to get to the point, whatever you're dealing with right now - and I know you are. All of us (as my preacher also says) are entering into a storm, in the middle of a storm, or just coming out of a storm. Offer it up to God. Ask Him to take control and give you the patience, grace, peace and strength to handle any situation.