Birthday Tribute to Tyrel

Happy birthday, Tyrel! Tomorrow, you celebrate the day you were born as our first grandchild.  We were so proud of you. That first Christmas, we bought you camouflage overalls. I guess we were reinforcing our goal for you to be tough and rough. Little did we dream of how that would evolve!! I'm recollecting about the time you were fishing in our backyard with a stick and string. PawPaw tied you a hook on it and sent you out to a little body of water puddled from our creek to entertain you. PawPaw left and 11 fish later, I marveled at how I had really unhooked those fish and put 10 more worms on! I still don't know how that happened, but I know it was the beginning of a little guy doing things in a big way!

I also recall the time you spent making humps and  bumps for your four wheeler around your house. And then you invited me to ride in a little red wagon behind you. By the end of that ride, to the amusement of all the family, I was flattened out in a little red wagon and you were having the time of your life! I should've known better than to crawl in beside you a year ago when you wanted to take me for another ride in your rebuilt, Chevy pick up with the racing engine. I don't know how many donuts I survived in that hay field, but when we rumbled back into the driveway, I was pretty sure you'd taken a few years off my life.

 But you know what, Tyrel? After every wild adventure with you, you always grin and ask, "Are you OK, MawMaw?"

I'm OK. OK with you being the caring, giving, loving, affectionate young man that you are. I'm OK with the way you reach out and give hugs and let us know you really care. I'm OK with the recent choice of a sweet girl to share your life with.  She's precious and compliments you so well! I'm more than OK that you prayed for her and God gave us Marleah!!...

You're a young adult now, making life choices on your own. It'll probably be a wild ride! (Hang on, Marleah!!!! ) That's who you are. Unpredictable, fast and adventurous! I think I'll watch from a rocking chair!  Love you, Tyrel.....

Beverage: Established 2017

I loved our recent visit to West Virginia. One of the highlights of visiting was to enter the door of Tyrel and Marleah's new home.  I was also privileged to be a part of their fresh enthusiasm for experiencing the Christmas Season.  I loved sharing cookies and milk around the open fire and the warm feeling of love and hope that I felt just watching them start to make memories in their little home.

I particularly like the signs I see portrayed in homes that says "Established" and the year of the marriage. Definition: "to install something permanently; to introduce and cause to grow and multiply."

One such sign is displayed in Tyrel and Marleah's little home, (created by Marleah)In September, they permanently vowed to introduce a new phase of living.  Their chance to grow. To learn. To love. To multiply. At a beautiful, unforgettable  setting in Seneca, Missouri, witnessed by several hundred people, these two were eternally bound to each other and to God to fulfill God's design of the establishment of a home. 

Recently, at our Oklahoma home, I painted the front door. The porch just lacked pizzazz. It seemed like whatever I displayed, something was missing. So, guess what? The door is now red and it has changed the entire personality of the front porch!!

This is the new Beverage establishment's front door.  What does it tell me about this sweet couple who lives within those walls?  It tells me they're expecting happiness and merriment to encompass them. It tells me they're ready to bless others. I walked through that door and yes, I felt hope, heard laughter, witnessed love and connection.  

I'm so happy for this oldest grandson. I know Tyrel spent a lot of time praying for his future, and selectively chose Marleah because of her wonderful character, her devotion to God, and her love for adventure.  

 I have not  personally seen a Jewish "mezuzah", but I am impressed by what I know about the reason they are displayed on the doorpost of every Jewish establishment. 

It is a parchment that quotes Deuteronomy. 6:4-9. " Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart,, and with all thy soul, and with all my might. And these words, which I commanded this day, should be in thine heart: – and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine  hand, and they should be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house and on thy gates." 

I think that sign of establishment that hangs in their new house has a double meaning. My prayer is that the above challenge will be written upon the door posts of that little wood frame house in Arbovale, WV.  

Here's to the new Established Beverage 2017 household! May your door draw others to it by the things that you stand for. May your sons and daughters find security within your walls. May your laughter spread to your neighbors. May your adventuresome spirits be overshadowed by angel wings!  May your lives be full of God's love!