The Day Amy was Born

Today is our first-born daughters birthday. October 8, 1973, Amy Denise Cashion was born to us. We were only 24 years old when she came into the world. Bill was pastoring his first church in New Hill, North Carolina. We were so young, so scared and inexperienced. I can remember the first few days after we came home from the hospital we handled her like she was a fragile doll (the doll part was right) We didn't want to break her. It wasn't long before we realized that she wasn't breakable. Amy was only two weeks old. I was in the kitchen cooking dinner. Bill was lying on the sofa with a terrible headache. We still were in the mindset that SOMEBODY had to be watching Amy at all times. Bill said, "just put her in her stroller beside the sofa and I will keep an eye on her." We were such novices. It wasn't that she was going to get up and run away. Well, actually, she almost did. Even at two weeks old, Amy could have some really good temper tantrums. She was long in body length and she could stretch that body out stiff as a board when she was mad. That particular night when I was cooking and Bill had the headache, she chose to pitch a fit. Strollers weren't like they are today-all enclosed. You could let the back of the seat down and it was open behind. All of a sudden as she stiffened those little legs out and screamed bloody murder, I heard Bill yell real loud and she had done a backflip out the back of that stroller.
She wasn't hurt at all. Of course were devastated that it had happened. It certainly taught us one thing - she wasn't as fragile as we thought. She was a tough cookie. From that time on we made sure she couldn't flip out the back of that stroller but we sure had to let her scream a lot.

It is hard for us to believe that today - October 8, 2008, she has matured. She no longer kicks and screams when she doesn't get her way. (I don't think she does!) She has matured into a beautiful Christian woman and pastor's wife. She is a Bible teacher and loves the Lord with all heart. God is so good. Amy is the mother of four of our grandchildren, McKenna, Bailey, Avery and Quinn, and wife to Jeffery. Jeffery is pastor at Life Song Church in Lyman, SC. God is blessing their ministry and their church with growth.

I hope that this is a very special day for you, Amy. It has been a fast 35 years. Continue serving God. Continue being a blessing to those you serve. Continue loving the Lord God with all your heart.

Why is Meme so silly?

I am just grandchild crazy. I think after all these years, I just suddenly realized what a nut I am when my grandchildren do the least little neat thing.

I can remember when my kids were growing up that we called my Mom and told her everything they did because we loved to hear her cackle. She was a laugh-er.
O.K., this is all making sense to me now. I am a cackler. It's Mom's fault.

Yesterday, Amy and I talked on the phone and she shared with me that one and half year old Quinn had finally started saying "Meme". I said, "uh-uh!!!" She said, "yes, she does, LISTEN. Oh yeah, she said it. I screamed bloody murder and Bill came running in here to see if I had a cardio-infarction. (tee-hee) She is saying (or at least trying to say everything that everybody tells her to now. She loves getting chuckles. "Little Miss Show-Off!! She even tries to say GAMECOCKS! (cock-cocks) Anyway, I got to thinking how much I have loved the little advancements my grandchildren make and I am going to scream every time. They think I am super silly and I think they like it.

I love that Morgan , my oldest grandchild is excelling at Volleyball. She's tall and beautiful and likes BOYS!! NO, that can't be!










I love that Madyson, is a cheerleader at her school. You Go Madyson! She's a beautiful girl too. She is a blondie with a cute figure.






I love that Ashlyn is such a good singer and is so loving to me. She is my beauty who I often call "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm" with her cute freckles. She just recently accepted Christ as her SAVIOR.





I love that McKenna is doing great in her all female class at school. She is gorgeous and is such a helpful girl. She can cook, clean and take care of Quinn.









I love that Bailey always cares about how she looks. She is destined for the fashion world. She is beautiful too, inside and out.










I love that Avery is so mischievous and can do anything she tries to do. She is so funny. I have laughed at her all her life. She is such a cutie with her perky personality. One little side note- McKenna, Bailey and Avery led one of their neighbor girls to the Lord. That made me so happy.








Then lastly, there is Quinn. She is full of life, exploring all around the house.
She is a teaser and really knows how, at one and 1/2 years, to totally wrap you around her finger. That's o.k. I love it. Hey, Have I told you she can say Meme?

What is it about fall?

What is it about fall that even on the warm days that there is still a hint of autumn in the air? You can just feel it. There is nothing better than the colors of autumn and the smells of autumn. It is my favorite season. As hot natured as I am, the coolness of autumn gives me hope that I MAY BE COOL AGAIN.

One of the things I missed when we left in the states in 1985 to go to the mission field was the changing of the leaves. We got to Costa Rica in December of 1985 to study Spanish for a year before we went to our country of service - Venezuela. After completing the intense year of study, we were anxious to go on to Caracas, Venezuela. We were ready to settle down and begin our missions career. Little did we know that suddenly the doors to Venezuela closed to missionaries and it took another year and 3 months to get our visas cleared to go in. Needless to say, it was devastating to us. We had, however, a wonderful ministry while we continued living there to thousands of refugees who had fled Nicaragua because of the war. The time was not lost.

Back to fall and my reason for this post. When our visas weren't granted and we ended up staying so long in CR, I found myself really missing the fall weather that we had in South Carolina. I especially missed the changing of the leaves. Hailing from the upstate of South Carolina, I grew up loving fall with its smells and colors.
My Mom must have sensed that I was homesick or, actually, I probably told her a dozen times. You can imagine my surprise when I went to our post office box one day and pulled out a package from home. In it, my Mom had sent us fall leaves - beautiful reds, yellows, and oranges all neatly between waxed paper and ironed out in a beautiful collage. I cried. It made my day. I kept those leaves for the longest time. A little bit of home and a little bit of fall all in one envelope. What could be better?

Where Does Time Go?

I used to hear my Mom say, "Don't wait to do that. Time passes so fast" She often said that after she turned 50, time seemed to fly by. I can relate to that. Today our middle daughter, Missy, turned 33. I can remember so vividly when she was born. But, let me back up a little. I became pregnant with Missy in 1975. Even though this pregnancy wasn't planned, it had gone great. I had no morning sickness. Actually, I used both my pregnancies as an excuse to eat. (for which I am still paying for until this day.) Remembering back to one particular day of that pregnancy this comes to mind: I had worked at the NC Dept. of Revenue and returned to work for about 3 months after our first daughter, Amy, was born. I had made lots of friends at the Revenue Dept. and one Saturday decided to go up and visit one of my revenue friends for the day. We had a great visit but toward the end of it, I began to cramp so much but only in one side of my stomach. I told my friend that I had better go because I felt like I was going to be sick. It was only about 5 miles back to my house. When I got home and pulled in the carport, I could not even get out of the car. I was in horrific pain. I literally leaned over the horn and blew it to get Bill's attention to come out and get me. Being 3 months pregnant brought so much to mind that the pain could be. I thought about tubal pregnancy. "Was I miscarrying?" I told Bill that I had to go to the hospital. By then, I had begun to vomit and was in such pain that I could not even stand straight. When we got to the hospital, the doctors did blood work and examinations to try to determine the source.
The doctor came in looking pretty somber and said the blood work showed elevated white count but that even still, with my being pregnant, they were not able to determine exactly what the problem was. He told Bill I was going to have to undergo exploratory surgery to determine the exact cause. Well, that scared me to death.
He said they were going to have to cut me longways down the middle of my stomach.
I was living in the "old days" when they hadn't even heard of laparoscopic surgery.
Long story short, when they got in there, they found that everything was fine with the baby, but my appendix were about to rupture and that was the problem all along.
You know, they took those appendix out sewed my tummy back up. The doctor came in and told us that I more than likely would have some bleeding and there was a slim chance that I would lose the baby. BUT I DIDN'T!! She's 33 today. Can you believe they can cut you open so near to your unborn and take something out and your baby never be harmed? God must have really wanted me to have her, right? (Jer. 1:5 "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I set you apart for my holy purpose. I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations.") Jer 29:11 (NIV) "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Let's fast forward to September 5, 1975, the DAY Missy was born. I had been in hard labor but had only dilated to a 3 after several hours of being in the hospital. Finally, though, I reached a point that they said they could give me my epidural.
Well, wouldn't you know it? As soon as the epidural started, the CONTRACTIONS STOPPED!!! STOPPED, I SAY!!! The doctor came in and said,(as he rubbed his head lamely) "I guess I will go on home for dinner and be back in a while to check on you."
About that time I wanted to start screaming "don't leave me." I DON'T WANT TO HAVE THIS BABY BY MYSELF. Actually, I wanted to call him some names.....some BBBAAAADDDD names. Next he said, "I believe while I am gone we will just turn the anesthesia to the epidural off and see if your labor will start back. And with that, he walked out the door. It took about as long as it took for him to get to the elevator to go to his car and I started hurting. He didn't even hear me yell. His stomach was growling. Guess what, it took long enough for him to get to his car and "I DILATED TO A 10....10 I say!!! That's a 10 without anesthesia. The nurse sent someone to try and catch the doctor. I was screaming bloody murder with pain. I hadn't had Lamaze. I didn't know how to breathe. In fact, I held my breath. I screamed for the nurse to TURN THAT ANESTHESIA BACK ON. In her nice little "nursey" voice she informed me that she could not do that without a doctor's order. At that point, the beast came out in me...! I grabbed that NURSEY by the nurses uniform and told her in no uncertain terms that I could care less about orders and that I WAS GOING TO KILL HER IF SHE DIDN"T TURN THAT JUICE BACK ON. Bill was there with me and he even had a hard time holding me back. I guess I wasn't really going to kill her. I just felt like I could. This is a Christian who is a preacher's wife shouting "kill,kill!!!
You know, I don't remember much after that. She was born; I didn't have to hurt anybody. Thirty-three years later, she makes me laugh, makes me cry, blesses me in every way. I am so glad I didn't have to go to prison after she was born. It would have been awful for someone else to get to raise her. I love you Melissa Diane Cashion Bryant.

He Knows My Name by Maranatha Singers

What a joy to know...He Knows My Name.

God is Working

As many of you know, Bill and I served for about 13 years as missionaries. One of the delights of serving a church full time now, is to be allowed to take several overseas volunteer mission trips. I, personally have not taken one recently, but Bill and Katie have taken several. They have been back to Venezuela, the country of our mission service several times. This past month, 20 of our students and adults from Bethlehem Baptist, went for a week to Venezuela, specifically, The Valley of Tuy, which is right outside the capitol city of Caracas, to work in an evangelistic week. They did door-to-door witnessing, street witnessing, outdoor puppet and drama programs etc. At night they had meetings in the churches. It was a very successful week all the way around. Two Hundred Sixty-Six adults gave their lives to Christ. The Venezuelans normally do not count the children until they have had an opportunity to talk to their parents and talk to the children one-on-one, so, there probably is a much larger number if the children were figured in. God really blessed their time. Even if one precious person had made a decision for Christ, it would have been worth it.

I am writing all this to say the following: God is not only working overseas but He is also working in the lives of those who went overseas. Recently, I asked Bill if he realized how many of our people were contemplating full-time mission service or full-time Christian service, such as pastors, Christian ministry workers etc. We began counting and we counted, and counted, and counted. We have at least 12-15 people who have expressed a desire to follow the Lord's leading toward the goals of Christian service. That just made me want to shout. God is so good. I especially have been blessed as I have watched God work in the lives of young people. He is still working, Folks. He is still in the business of calling out those whom He wills to special ministry.

One of our young men, a recent high school graduate, has astounded us with his ambitious approach to missions. Besides going on trips overseas all the time, he has established a ministry right here in our surrounding community with Hispanics. He began by getting involved in their soccer games. Then he started sharing Christ with them after the games. He got involved in their everyday lives. Last night, sadly, he was with one abused Hispanic Mom as DSS (Department of Social Services) came to take her child to a safe place so that the Mother could find shelter for herself and the baby from the abusive father. He is already doing missions work. Nothing deters him. In the middle of all this, he has learned to speak perfect Spanish. Wow, what a calling God has placed on his life and DOUBLY WOW, what a wonderful servant he is to the task God has called him to. This is just one of many testimonies like this. God is working. People are answering His call. Matthew 28:19,20 is being fulfilled. How exciting!!!

Will you pray as you read this for those with whom God is dealing? These short term mission trips are definitely making a difference in their lives. Pray that they would continue to be open. Pray for parents who might not fully understand the depth of a "call" from God. Some of these kids parents aren't nearly as dedicated to God's work as the kid is. We serve an amazing God. He can make them understand. Pray for the Holy Spirit to surround the students with His presence as many of them begin college for the first time. The key is to keep them faithful to the Lord as He continues to speak to them.

L O S I N G

Well, I am on another diet. I say another because I have probably lost and gained more weight in my life than I could count. As most of you, I recently spent about five months in a wheel chair. Needless to say, being in the wonderful church we are in, so many delicious meals were brought to me. Being the person that I am, I JUST HAD to eat everything they brought. Now, I am not blaming them. They were wonderful to me. This is one of the most giving and reaching out churches we have ever been a part of. I just realized, though, that I am totally undisciplined when it comes to my eating.
Recently, my grandchildren were here and I overheard one of them call the other a LOSER! It kind of got to me thinking how those words could hurt. The more I thought about it, I realized that in my case, I want to be known as a loser. I want to be a loser in the sense that people can actually SEE what I am losing.

After healing and getting out of the wheelchair, I quickly realized (after I tried to walk carrying more weight) that I had to lose. Normally, I wouldn't want to be a loser. Now that's all I want to be. I have been dieting for a month and I have lost 20 lbs. I am at a point right now that I am at a standstill. I know I am going to have a day soon, though, that I will lose more weight. I am doing the South Beach Diet. It has been one of the easiest I have ever done.

SOOOOO, call me LOSER. That's all right. I am always going to have the positive thought that you mean that in a nice way. As the saying goes, "we say the nastiest things in the nicest way."

So, for the first time in my life, I WANT TO BE A LOSER!