We Will Get Through It, Because Of HIM

He will hold our hand or carry us as we move through the next two weeks of this nightmare. Yes it is a nightmare, my husband stated this the other evening and I agree.

The Christmas Season is to be a season of celebration with family, of the Birth Of Christ. Our family is devastated this Christmas season with the loss of a Brother and Father all within two weeks. Both deaths unexpected and crushing our spirits. Yet I have a firm belief that these two fine men are with our Lord and will be helping him to get us through the holiday.

My Mother in law believes that Jim and John were meant to be together and I believe this was God's will. It is comforting to know that a son was awaiting his father as he passed into the next life. OR that this father went to be with his son who had passed into the next life. This next life is with our Lord.

We wondered about John's religious strength and when his apartment was cleaned out, my husband was comforted to find bibles and religious books that John had. Yes, he believed. When it comes to thoughts of religion and Jim my father in law, there is no doubt that he believed. Last spring when my husband had some meetings with the Bishop in Katy Texas my Father in law went with Mike. I believe he was very proud of my husbands journey with Christ. Jim wanted to be a part of it, even in this small way. And when he took Mike to the airport and embraced him, Jim told Mike he was proud of him. This was the final time Mike was with his Dad in person, how wonderful it is, that this memory will be with Mike forever, thanks to God.

We carry on a photography business that was started in 1921 by Mike's Grandfather and passed on to us by Mike's Dad in 1982, we have worked diligently to continue this tradition and it was a given that we just do it, no need to be proud of that. But to watch as your son became a Deacon and very involved in the church, yes that made Jim proud.

As Jim attempted to deal with his son John's death he turned to his minister Harold and more than likely turned within, to our Lord for comfort. Jim called me and told me he had talked with Harold because he wanted to help Nancy, even at this time he reached out to God through Harold to help his wife of 58 years, get through the funeral for John.

Alas it was not meant for Jim to be with Nancy at their sons funeral, but it was his desire to help her through it. I hope she knows that.

Jim and John will be present in our hearts at the funeral but I would rather think of it as a Celebration of their lives both separate and together. We will get through it, it will be tough, but how fitting that it will occur during the season of Christ's birth. Christ who was sent to us as our Savior. It gives me much comfort to know that John and Jim are with our Savior and as the Christmas season passes they will be with us in our hearts.

Yes, HE will hold our hand or carry us as we move through the next two weeks and I am glad HE is here for us. And I know PEACE will come.

Just From My Heart

God created man and woman, in addition, he created all of our pieces and parts. Thus this enables us to have a place in our hearts for memories! Every day we are able to tuck away memories and then we can go to this place and take out a memory to help us or cheer us or just because.

In our business we state we create "memory insurance" through our photography and yes I believe we do, however it is what is in our hearts that is the essence of our memories. Our senses enable these memories with seeing a photograph or video, smelling a fragrance or even hearing a song, a verse or scripture that trigger the memories we have.

Bob Hope was famous for his song "Thanks For The Memories" and if you really listen to this song it is what it is all about.

I also think that if you ever have to be with a person that has Alzheimer's it is amazing that they still have their memories that they do refer to daily.

Recently my dear brother in law passed away and to help us, my husband and I have been retrieving memories from our hearts, of John. We can enjoy these with laughter, with tears and with much love. The loss is impossible to measure but the memories we have retrieved, cushion this loss.

Yes, I believe we should thank God, that he has allowed us to have a place in our hearts for our memories. Think about it and take out a heartfelt memory today.

May GOD BLESS You John, You Will Be Missed, But ALWAYS REMEMBERED, We Love You Dearly.

Memories

Well it has been awhile but I am back and ready to share some more.

I was walking through the house very early this morning about 3:45 AM, yes very early! And I was thinking about my life, remembering and recalling the good, the bad, and the ugly! It is mostly good and I think I was in this frame of mind because of several things that have happened recently.

A dear friend of mine and I are involved currently with an event that is going to take place next week and she asked me yesterday just how long I have been a part of it, I thought about it and realized it had been 24 years! Golly gee, it should make me feel old but honestly it seems like just yesterday that I got involved.

This triggered my thought process as to my family, my marriage and our business through the years. My how the years have flown by.

My husband is now a Grandpa and I get to enjoy his fantastic grandsons, two really neat sons and one super daughter in law with him. I am blessed to have my Mom and Mike's parents still a part of my life and I have many great nieces and nephews. My siblings (four sisters and one brother) continue to amaze me through their work ethic, great parenting skills and the ability to survive many challenges which have been related to health, business and even horrendous family issues. I think that is a hat's off to my Mom and Dad. And daily I continue to remember my wonderful Dad who is now in Heaven, he is missed greatly by all.

My marriage is now in its 23rd year, it seems like we just went to Gatlinburg to make our vows and yes as my Dad has said marriage is like driving through the mountains; many ups and downs, some straight and some curvy roads and eventually you come out on top to a road that leads you to the future with your spouse. I think about this and find it neat that we drove through the mountains to get married. And yes we have driven these marital roads and continue through the mountains, ours is a unique marriage because we are together almost 24/7 through our love, business and our most valued involvement with God. Mike is studying and is currently a Deacon in the REC Anglican Church, with the goal of becoming a Priest eventually and serve the children of God. I am blessed and proud to be a part of this (and don't think this portion of the road has not had its curves and ups and downs).

We continue on with our Photography studio and it too is full of memories and we continue to preserve memories by capturing images that will last a lifetime! It is an ever changing business with the introduction of digital imaging and the influx of many self made photographers, it is my hope that the art of photography will not be lost because of this.

We brought to life in the past year a new entity THE McCLURE GUESTHOUSE, and it is also full of memories and will continue to make memories for the guests that stay. In the past year there has been a couple that got engaged, numerous senior and wedding portraits photographed, wedding nights for newlyweds and family gatherings. There have also been dinners, bridal & baby showers some meetings and a wonderful grand opening event. The home was built in 1872 and we restored it to share a bit of history with the community. I loved the home the minute we viewed it back in the late 90's and purchased it within 30 minutes of viewing it. After moving out we determined it deserved to be renovated for the future. And for people to enjoy and make memories.

I guess you can see why I was up and had this going through my mind,and yes there are so many more thing I could write about but it would be a book. I am looking forward to a great 4th weekend coming up, our SPIETH daughters are coming home for the annual 4th gathering, we have been getting together for about 12 years and we love it and them and all of their families which includes spouses, children and main squeezes! Yes all around us through many challenges in the past, present and future ( I am sure) you can see there are memories and yes they most generally are blessings! I challenge you to think of your memories and relish them, and have a great day!

Just Another Day?

Yesterday was my hubby's birthday. I won't tell his age but he is experienced with celebrating. His day began with a loud Happy Birthday greeting from me, followed by the suggestion that he get up since it was going on 8 and there were photography sessions beginning at 9:30. Yes, this year he did have to work

:(, but only till noon.

We then came home and got ready to head to Evansville for church at Trinity Anglican, our new church home. Before leaving he did watch a bit of the Big 10 Tournament Illinois/Ohio State game, he tore himself away from watching and tuned into the radio during the drive. Alas Illinois lost, but there is "always next year"!

We arrived at our new church Trinity Anglican and went in. Mike was greeted by numerous "Happy Birthdays". Mind you we have only been attending this church since February but this most certainly is now our church family and the wishes were genuine! And they even brought out a beautiful birthday cake made by one of the parishoners during fellowship, what a neat surprise!

Our Church life has been in a state of upheaval since the middle of November, when the Stringtown Rd. church took yet another path of alignment, this time to Greek Orthodoxy, and we did not opt for a new path this time. It has been a very sad three and a half months for us, with this turn of events, and no real warning from the clergy & vestry, they just did it. We felt abandoned and it has hurt deeply, especially since we supported the Priest down many paths, searching for his ideal religious preference. Don't get me wrong, he is a great and gifted human being, but he has not found just where he wants to be yet, I wish him and his wonderful family much happiness. And for all the others that either followed or set out on a different path, we will miss them and are so thankful they were a part of our life for a while.

Our new church family is made up of really nice, new friends and some friends from the Stringtown Rd. church who had left at another time. We are happy to be with them again. The Holy Spirit is with them all and they are a loving church family group, wanting to share the Love of Christ with everyone.

Church is on Saturday evenings at this time and we really feel at home here. Father David is a wonderful, caring, giving priest; this church is blessed. They have opened their arms and hearts to us.

Mike is going to meet with two Bishops in a couple of weeks and we hope he is received as a Deacon in the Reformed Episcopal Church. Mike then can serve as a Deacon, assist Father David and Bishop Wes, to help the church grow and a goal is to establish new churches in the area.

So as Mike begins another year in his life, he is on a new path that God has guided him to and it is good. What a wonderful way to start this next year! We are so excited and no, this birthday was not "just another day", I believe it was a great birthday.

Happy Birthday Mike! It is going to be a grand year filled with the love of God and our new church family!

A Wonderful Ending and A Great Beginning!

Wow what a year 2009 was. CHANGE was the word our President used and CHANGE is what I have lived this past year!

We became a true "family" business with no external employees. A good thing I think considering all that we had been through in 2008.

We are now proprietors at last, of The McClure Guesthouse after 30 months of restoration and three months of shopping! That definitely has made it so I don't go out of my way to "shop till I drop" and my husband was a peach through all the shopping, God Bless him! He knows just about everything when it comes to purchases for a Victorian home. We also now get to be the "housekeepers" and it is fun. Mike has learned to even make square corners when making a bed. It has taken him a long time but he can do it! We are still revising and revamping to get things just right. We get to go and take down the Christmas decor and clean up after we had guests during the holidays. We look forward to sharing the house this year. It is a dream that has come true and I am glad we have preserved a bit of history for Olney.

We are looking to a new venture in our church life. For four years we went to church in Evansville, Mike was ordained there in 2006 as an Anglican Deacon and we made many wonderful friends. In late November this Anglican Church ceased to exist and now we are pondering just what to do. I am certain that God has a plan for us and it will come together as we start this new decade. We were fortunate last Sunday to be at my Mothers and we attended a lovely Anglican Church in Woodstock Illinois. It was a 90 minute drive, but then that is what it was to St. Andrew's in Evansville. However it was a lovely drive as the snow was everywhere and oh so beautiful, truly a Gift from God to us. It was great to commune with God in church and in nature!

Christmas this year was such fun!

Christmas Eve lunch with Brad, Jeff, Reagan, Emery and Lynden was great and we were Snuggified!

Then we did a bit of Christmas eve shopping here in Olney. Christmas Eve evening we watched the Mass from Rome with Pope Benedict and then headed to bed.

We set out Christmas morning for my sister Betsey's home in Naperville. Our "Garmen Lady" directed our travel on a new route which took us very close to the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery where my Dad is laid to rest. We visited his grave and then went on to Betsey's where we arrived an hour early, I hope they were not mad, but that allowed us some personal time with just their family before the other 15 arrived. All in all there were 24 of us together for a glorious family holiday. It was a new beautiful venue this year at Betsey's home but quite spacious and my Mother loved it! No stress for her this year. As we left that night to head to Mom's the snow was falling and made for a perfect ending to a great Christmas!

On Saturday afternoon we headed to Chicago with my sister Patti and her family up from Florida. We went to the Water Tower area and walked around enjoying the stores and it was snowing. We had hot chocolate from the Hershey store and then all 6 of us piled in a horse driven carriage for a ride around the city. Quite magical if you ask me, not only for the sights but also since the horse was able to take us all on. We laughed so much and as we always have, enjoyed each others company! Although many miles separate us the love we have binds us together.

When we got back from church on Sunday, Frank was helping determine that Mom's computer had a virus and needed the "Geek Squad". My sister Maureen was there the whole time we were and being with her is always a joy. She has some health issues but thanks to Kathy yet another sister of mine, Maureen will see the Dr. and Physical Therapist this new year to get her back on track!

Sunday evening found 16 of us at Hackney's a Wenger/Ward family favorite through the years. As always we had their great onion loaf and most of us had Hackney burgers. Again we laughed and had great family time and believe it or not I was the chauffeur for Mom, Mike and Maureen. They actually trusted me to drive in the city!

Monday was our annual family meeting for Mom and children only, so the spouses got to go shopping without us. After the meeting, I ended up going to our favorite shopping mall Old Orchard with Patti and family, we found Mike and had lunch at Noodles, so good! I went over to see my sister Kathy's beautifully redecorated house while the others went to see 2012, and then that evening we went out for yet another fine dining experience with 10 of us. It was great and a fitting end to our last night with the family.

We headed home Tuesday and arrived in time for Lynden's second birthday celebration. Yet another houseful with Scherer's, Spieth's and Wilson's.

Back to work Wednesday and Thursday morning and then our New Year's Eve festivities with our two wonderful Grandsons. What a great way to end the year and begin the New year with these sweeties.

Yesterday Mike and I did our annual after Christmas trek, this year we went to St. Louis and shopped. Not to the stores we always shop at but we went to The Bose Store, The Art of Shaving, Teavana, Trader Joe's and World Bazaar all unique shops that got a bit of our money. We start the New Year with some neat things. I am so lucky to sit hear as I write this and listen to our new Bose Wave Machine give us great music. {Thanks Mom!}

We are blessed in so many ways! Yes this year our Christmas/New Years Celebrations were what it is all about GOD, family and friends.

May yours be too!

Have a Happy Blessed New Year!

FAMILY

Family is an essential part of my life. I am blessed to have 5 great siblings. Tim is my favorite brother and KathyPattiMaureenBetsey is (are) my favorite sister(s). [How would you really choose just one to be your favorite, when they all are really special and unique to me]

I have also been blessed in my life to have 21 great aunts and uncles and 30 pretty neat cousins. Then there are 12 really wonderful nieces and nephews. And of course 4 wonderful grandparents and then my own very special parents. And in heaven now are, all of my grandparents, eight of my aunts and/or uncles, two of my cousins and my very special heavenly angel, my Dad. They reside there and watch out for all of us still here on earth. And I have no doubt that they all are in heaven!

Now to my Spieth side, besides my wonderful husband, there are two step sons,one step daughter in law, two step grandsons, two brother in laws, one sister in law and one nephew. Along with my great mother in law and father in law. The men on this side rule as you can tell! And all of these Spieth's are blessings and still here on earth.

So as you can tell Family is an essential part of my life.

But you must never (and I don't) take them for granted, because in the blink of an eye they may be gone from this earth never to be an earthly being in my life. To me it is important to reach out and touch base with them to let them know how much they mean to you! It only takes a minute and in this day and age with land lines, cell phones and Internet my family is just a "touch pad" away.

So as was a saying when I was young be sure to "reach out, just reach out and touch someone" special [a Family member, perhaps] to you today. After all Family is what you are blessed with no matter how large or small it is. And I am so very thankful for my family! I just may reach out and touch them today!