Betrothed

Last week our son, Zach, asked Christina Prince of Holland, MI if she would marry him. We are pleased to announce that she said, “Yes.” They have been dating for over 2 years, with some of that time being spent many miles apart. From their first date in October 2006 to now, it has been fun to watch and hear of their growing relationship. They were both students at Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, MI when they met. She has been here to visit several times and we have enjoyed getting to know her better.

Now begins the work of trying to make it all come together. I know that it can be a rather stressful time – location, dates, photographer, flowers, invitations, etc…
My advice to Zach is to be praying and asking God to help it fall into place. Don’t allow the stress of planning your special day effect your relationship with the one you love.


Many years ago there was another man “pledged to be married”. Joseph, “a righteous man”, finds himself in a difficult situation when he finds out that Mary is pregnant. What should he do? How did this happen? How does he still protect Mary? The laws at that time could call for her stoning. Now that’s stress!
Then God breaks through in a dream and an angel tells Joseph just what he should to.

What an example of faith both Joseph and Mary are to us. It is hard to even imagine what feelings they experienced through all of this.
Fear Excitement Praise

Joseph “did what the Lord had commanded him.”
Mary said, “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said.”


The last two weeks has been so busy for me. I am, to be honest, struggling at times as I feel the stress creep into my life. Our tree stands in our living room carrying only some of it’s lights. Our entry has boxes of ornaments and lights waiting their final placement. There are those special gifts yet to be found and the cookies that are still in their most early stages – like in the bags of flour and sugar!
Maybe it’s because Thanksgiving was so late. Maybe it’s because we haven’t done anything for Advent here at home this year to remind me daily of the most precious birth ever.
I don’t know. But, what I do know is that I want the rest of this Advent time to be different for me. I don’t want to be stressing on things that really aren’t all that important. What gets done, gets done. What doesn’t, doesn’t.

This is what REALLY matters.

“Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you, He is Christ the Lord” Luke 2:11

Father, help me keep my eyes on you. Always and forever!

Welcome to December!

I love a good snowstorm!
We've had about six inches so far. I was so glad to hear on the radio that our school district had a two hour delay because of the snow. This is the view from my front yard this morning. It's still snowing and rather windy. When I turned back to look at my house getting ready to take the picture, the wind was blowing into my face. It's the kind of wind that on a day like today makes you catch your breath. I wish that I had more time to really bundle up for a walk and head down to the river which is behind those trees. Maybe tonight Dale and I will break out the snowshoes and do just that. I love going out in the evening with our way being lit just from the snow.
But, for right now, there are things that I need to do. I'm thankful for the extra two hours to put away my Fall things, now that Thanksgiving is over, and start getting out my Christmas decorations.
Woohoo!!
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Give Thanks to the Lord, for He is Good. His love endures forever. Ps. 118:1

I have been blessed in so many ways. I could change the famous quote of Elizabeth Barrett Browning to “How am I blessed? Let me count the ways.”

I would start with the blessings of God Himself and the salvation that is found in Christ alone.
“Praise, (bless) the Lord, O my soul,
And all that is within me,
Praise His Holy name,
Praise the Lord, o my soul,
And forget not one of His benefits.” Ps 103:1-2

From there would come the blessings of family: parents, brothers, sisters, children, daughter-in-law, grandchild :) aunts & uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews….etc.
Always and forever…family.

There’s my church or spiritual family which consists of many wonderful people whom I love dearly and whom I love serving our Lord with. They are people who hold me up to our God in prayer and who count on me to do the same for them. There are the teens that I love working with, who help keep me young and excited about what God can do in a life.

There’s our friends, our health, our jobs, our home...

Our Thanksgiving plates were full and soon so were our stomachs. We had an abundance at my parent's house and they were glad to be able to share it with others. Then we also went to Mom & Dad Vinson’s for a later dessert.









“Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Praise Him all creatures here below.
Praise Him above all heavenly hosts,
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.”
by Thomas Ken

I am blessed!

From Generation to Generation

“We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, His power and the wonders He has done.” Ps. 78:4

These hands are mine. One with my Grandma Grace and one with my grandbaby Ruth Elizabeth. They are a picture of this verse from Psalms. A picture of one generation having an impact on the next for the glory of God.

We recently got to meet our granddaughter Ruth, who was born October 19th. What a joy to see our first grandchild. Those of you who are already grandparents, know what I mean. It is an emotion that is difficult to adequately put into words. When Josh first handed her to me I felt waves of emotion – thankfulness, joy, & praise to the giver of life.
It was so much fun to watch Lauren and Josh with Ruth - the seeming ease at which they have settled into the roll of “mom & dad”. To see them snuggling, talking and playing with her is heartwarming.
So, I’d like to introduce you to Ruth Elizabeth Vinson, my granddaughter.










The last morning we were together, I had time alone with Ruth Elizabeth. As I held her out before me in my arms, I prayed for her. I asked God’s blessing on her life and wisdom for Lauren and Josh as her Mom & Dad. I asked that God would use her to impact others for His kingdom. As I prayed quietly aloud, she stopped any moving around or fussing and just stared at me as though she were listening. It was a precious time.

Saying “good-bye” was never more difficult. We knew that it was time to go and I couldn’t keep the tears from coming.

Life is precious.

Family is a gift.




I wonder, will I have a granddaughter that will sit with me and hold my hand when I’m 90 years old? Who will smile if I forget her name?
Will I have made an impact on other’s lives like my grandmother did on mine?

I pray that this will be able to be said of Ruth –

“I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother, Lois and in your mother, Eunice and I am persuaded, now lives in you also.” 2 Timothy 1:5


To read more about my grandmother see blog entry - June 22, 2006

Meet Grandbaby Ruth

October 2, 1976

In some ways it seems like such a short time ago. It was the day that I committed to love and cherish Dale for the rest of our lives. It was a day that changed my life forever. I will always be grateful to God for leading us to that point as we stood before our family and friends to pledge our love for each other.

Parts of that day I remember so well, others are gone forever. The night before the wedding I remember realizing that this would be the last night in "my room". I was saddened by that thought.
I remember waiting at the bottom of the stairs of the church after the others had headed up. I remember waiting at the end of the aisle with Dad as we prepared to walk down toward Dale. I was so nervous! I even remember sighing with relief after Pastor Mooney pronounced us "man and wife".

We thought we were ready.

Boy, did I have a lot to learn, we both did. I'm so grateful for all that God has taught us in our years together. That day we thought that we were so in love - that we could never love each other more. But, I was wrong. As we have matured and grown our love has changed. It too, has grown and matured. We understand each other so much better, can "read" each other without a word spoken at times. We are comfortable with each other, but still are wanting more for our lives and time together.
We went out to a local restaurant to celebrate on the 2nd and as we talked, Dale mentioned that he doesn't remember thinking about what this time in our lives would be like. We knew we wanted a family and that I hoped to be able to stay home with the boys. But, we hadn't thought about what it would be like to be "empty nesters". Zach is still in college, so this is really his home yet, but for the most part he is gone. So, it's just the two of us. It took a while to get used to that. But, now it is a time that we enjoy. Oh, don't get me wrong, we love having them home. It's just that now we've fallen into a routine, a good routine, that works for us. It really is less stressful once the kids leave! We enjoy being together, even if it's just sitting on the porch.


I look at this picture and I see two people who now seem so young. Where did that couple go? Where did the 32 years go?

What would I say to them?

I'd tell them...
keep their eyes on God. He is the only one who can get you through the difficult times, and all marriages have them.
Learn to let go of all the little things that really don't make a difference anyways.
Don't sweat the small stuff and be willing to forgive the big stuff.
Never let go of your dream to spend your lives together enjoying the time that God gives you.
Have fun, work together, pray together, live life together, dream.

I need to go... and sit by the "sweetheart of all my dreams".

Summer's End

I can not hardly believe that it is September 1st today. But, I just ripped August from my little calendar and there it was!

Saturday we went to an Amish Auction. There are several held each year in Wisconsin. One is always the Saturday before Labor Day. They sell hundreds of quilts of varying sizes, baskets and beautiful furniture.






They also have an area where people can bring in things that they want to be auctioned off. We again brought a load up. We’ve been going through things in the house & garage packing up things that we no longer need. Dale had a large amount of tools and miscellaneous items. We put it out in the field along a fence line and the second auctioneer sells these items while another one is under the tent top selling the quilts. In about 2 weeks we will get a check in the mail for our total, minus the 12% that the Amish use for their school. The Amish do all of the selling at the auction and providing of delicious food. They also sell baked goods and homemade noodles. It is always such an interesting clash of cultures – the Amish buggies all lined up, the women in their plain dresses and men in solid colored shirts, little boys with the bowl-cut haircuts and the little boys & girls running around barefooted. Then there’s us. It causes me to pause and think about what we have and what we really need.















When I was outside on the screen porch this morning there were several large V’s of geese heading South over our house. Behind us is a river and just up the river a little it has an area that is very wide. As a kid we used to call it the Mill Pond, although there has never been a mill on it. In the Fall the geese like to congregate there. So again this morning I heard the familiar sound of the geese.

The quiet, unhurried time on the porch with my Bible open speaks to me of Summer.
The calling of the geese speaks of Fall.

When asked which season I like best, I would tell you that there are things that I love about each of them. But, honestly, it’s summer that I love most.
I’m gearing myself up to getting up early tomorrow morning to go back to work at a local high school. I’m trying to decide when I’ll bring out my Fall items for the house. I’m just not quite ready to let go of summer. So I made a light summer lunch of a ham & cheese mix that I put into a pita. It’s great for a hot day like today. I was in the pool twice and also sat outside and read.
It has been a lazy day, a summer day. I loved it!

I’ve loved my walks with my Mom three times a week. That has now ended.
This week it seems that many things start – work, youth group, planning suppers ahead of time. Oh, and as Dale reminded me – it’s the start of the football season.
Oh,boy. Can't wait.

But, it is a new season.
God has helped me to prepare for it.

I feel ready.
I think.

Rockin' the Corum!

This is the flyer that Zach put up for his Sr. recital last Thursday. Dale and I headed out on Wednesday so that we would have time to drop off some needed furniture at the apartment that he had recently moved into with 3 other guys. It was nice to see the neighborhood where he lived. I love being able to picture in my mind what he’s talking about, to be able to “see” his world. We went to a nearby place for lunch called Marie Catrib. They have an interesting cuisine which is a combination of Lebanese and Yooper flavors. (Upper Michigan for you none Midwest folks) It was quite different from anything around here.

Thursday we helped Zach move some of the sound equipment from one building on the campus to the Student Union where his concert would be held. Both sets of Grandparents were able to make it to Grand Rapids along with Sharyn & Lori (Dale’s 2 sisters) and Peter, our nephew.




Christina, Zach’s girlfriend, did a wonderful job of planning and making the food for the reception. Our family helped by bringing bars, breads and some fruit. I’m so thankful for Christina’s willingness to do that for us and Zach, of course. She had a delicious assortment of food that the college students greatly enjoyed. We had them grab some food before Zach started playing. It made it feel more like a concert at a coffee house than a recital. There was a lot of food so that also gave them more time to eat!













Zach did a terrific job playing. He played 14 songs. Eleven of them were ones that he had written. A bass player and a drummer accompanied him on most of the songs. I really liked how they sounded together.



You could tell that he was comfortable in front of the almost 100 people who were there. The head of the music department said that it was one of the best attended recital/concerts ever. I also liked that fact that he had to write up information about each song, so that helped us to understand the meaning behind the lyrics on some of them.



I sat in the back and not only thoroughly enjoyed watching Zach, but I was also watching others watch Zach. It was unlike a “coffee house” in the fact that no one was talking. Everyone was totally focused on him. At the end of the last song there was an immediate standing ovation – even by his professors that were there.
I don’t know where he gets it from.
Well…I guess I do. His musical ability is a gift from God. He has an unusual ability write music and play notes that come from somewhere inside of his head.
What a gift. Our prayer is that he continues to use that gift to give glory back to the one who gives “a new song”, God Himself.




On Friday before heading home we went to Holland, MI and made a stop at Veldheer’s. It’s a tulip farm. We had been there is Spring a few years ago and saw the millions of tulips in full bloom. Now, in the Fall, the bulbs are for sale. So I wanted to pick some up to plant at home. That should keep me busy for a good part of a Saturday!











It was a fast 2 days. But, it was a wonderful 2 days. To able to share in Zach’s accomplishments with family and friends is something that stirs deep in a mom’s heart. I am so thankful for everyone who came and helped make that night so special.

If you’re interested in hearing some of his new songs go to:
www.myspace.com/zachvinson