Thanksgiving ~ [noun]: thanksgiving : the expression of gratitude, especially to God

I cannot let November go by without making a new post. November is one of my favorite months ~ I love Thanksgiving ~ Christmas is around the corner ~ and my favorite...our Anniversary is this month. November 22nd, we will be celebrating 25 years!

Our marriage is such a Trophy of God's Grace. I guess all marriages are. These last 25 years have been some of the hardest...yet sweetest that I have known. I am so thankful for a husband that has loved me unconditionally, spoiled me rotten(er), and yet has been strong and stubborn enough to put me in my place and keep my feet on the ground. :-)

We were married in my parents living room that afternoon by a Pastor named Elder Quinton Looney. We have laughed over his name many times ~ because that certainly did set the tone for our marriage! :-)

I love this photo. Little did we know that 9 months later Lee and I would become believers and followers of Jesus Christ. If you have never placed your faith in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life in Heaven and a peacefully abundant life here on earth, then click here to find out how you too can be saved. Then 1 month later, on September 9th, the Lord would call my father home to Heaven. 

God has been so good to us over the years and I have much to be thankful for. And since November is National Adoption Month ~ I would be remiss to not mention one of the greatest blessings God has ever given us ~ the adoption of our beloved son, Samuel Lee Shelton. 

This picture was taken the day Samuel's adoption was final ~ June 4th, 1995

Thanksgiving

[Source: Wikipedia]

• Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada as a day of giving thanks for the blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year. Several other places around the world observe similar celebrations. It is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States and on the second Monday of October in Canada. Thanksgiving has its historical roots in religious and cultural traditions, and has long been celebrated in a secular manner as well.

Something else I am thankful for is Forgiveness. The Bible mentions forgiveness in one form or another approximately 116 times - but the concept is there many more times. This meme came across my Facebook feed recently ~ and I LOVE it:

Oh how often I have sinned against my Heavenly Father - and He has forgiven me "as far as the east is from the west" for the inexcusable ~ time and time again. 

As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

Psalm 103:12



~Visits & Conversations~

Samuel and I had some great visits and conversations this past month, as did Tay and I. I love both our weekend visits w/Dad and my special visits on Tuesdays either by myself ~ or sometimes with Tronna or Ariel ~ or both :)

I love the look on Lee's and Samuel's face both in this picture. Lee looks like he is saying, "This is my son! I am SO proud of him!" (he concurred :) ) And Samuel, just looks plain....happy. He is at peace and full of joy! God's grace is evident in his life ~ of which I am so thankful for!




One conversation with Samuel I am particularly thankful for was on Veteran's Day. We were discussing how he was merely 26 days away from his 18th birthday and 26 days away from leaving home and joining the military (unbeknownst to his father and I) when his sin was revealed.  I expressed how sorry I was that Dad and I were so set against him joining (right or wrong, we had our reasons) and wouldn't really give opportunities for open dialogue about it. One of our many FAILS. But here was Samuel's response:
"No, Mom. I'm GLAD God stopped me from going! I'm GLAD I got caught! The military would not have been good for me! Besides, NOW I am in the LORD'S Army ~ And that is SO much better!"

♥ I just LOVE him ~ This son of my heart ♥



The other conversation that am very thankful is below:

Dear Family,                                         October 2014

Hope all is going well at home. Everything is going good here. Our computer teacher is gone for most of the week. She gave us a big assignment to work on while she is gone. She expects for us to write a 4 -10 page “opinion” on a whole PACK of papers she gave us to read. I'm looking forward to getting started on this project. Mike said he would help me with spelling and stuff like that. :)

Hope that this week went by fast for you guys with “Billy” (we kept our Pastor's dog while they were traveling for a week – p.s. No comment...LOL – actually by the end of the week we – us, Sandie, and Billy were all tolerating each other quite well...) It sounds like he is really trying your patience. I don't blame dad for not wanting another dog.

I can't wait to see my family again. I really look forward to having good visits with you. Last week's Saturday visit was one of the best ones ever. I like having heart-to-heart talks like those.

In my Bible reading today I read Proverbs 14:27 “The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.” This really struck me because of the way I was living before I got caught. I was in the snares of death.

Well, it's almost time for 1:00 pm dayroom so I'm going to say goodbye. Love you guys so much.

                                     Your Son,

                                        Samuel

                                           Lee

                                         Shelton

Dear Mom & Dad,                          November 19, 2014

I love you guys so much. I want to start by saying Happy Anniversary! It is so cool that I will be able to celebrate it with you guys on this Saturday. I hope you guys have another 25 years of love and happiness. Mike is making me a card to send you.

                                         Love,

                                        Samuel

                                        Shelton

Other tidbits/answered prayer I am thankful for in recent months concerning Samuel:

Samuel told us this morning that he finally got to get out and help shovel snow! (he crazy). Anyway, he said when he got outside, one of the CO's came up to him and told him that he had specifically asked for Samuel ~ because he had observed him working in the kitchen on Saturday and had noticed how quickly and efficiently he works! That made his day! God is good!

~~UPDATE FROM Thanksgiving visit 2014: ~~

We had a GREAT visit with Samuel and Tay today. We all shared many of the things we are thankful to the Lord for. Samuel shared a couple of things that just continue to amaze us as we witness God's blessing and favor. They may seem small...but again, even the smallest of things are very big to us right now.

1) Samuel has to miss working in the kitchen for lunch time on Saturdays for our visits, though he still gets paid for them. After a couple of weeks of this, he went to the CO in charge and explained that Saturdays are the only day he gets to see his dad, but on the other hand he didn't think it was right to knowingly keep missing his lunch duty and still get paid for it. The CO said he would discuss it with the head CO, and they came back to him and said that he is too good of a worker and that they didn't want to lose him and they will work around him to do whatever they need to keep him!

~God is so Good~

2) He has been wanting to get a part time tutor job and the tutor instructor came to Samuel and told him that she really wants to hire him part time and what does Samuel need to finish so he can do that? He told her he needed to finish his last module, Employability (this is one of many life-skill modules they have to finish for credit while there). She asked him why he hadn't written and asked to take it. He explained that he had written and asked to take it on three different occasions, but that it still wasn't happening. She told him that SHE would take care of it this week and make sure he got his module in so he could start working for her as soon as possible. 

~God is so Good~

3) One of the other inmates had looked very familiar to Samuel ~ they are on different quads so they only see each other in passing or across the room during visits. The young man had the occasion to see Samuel though the other day in the kitchen, and went up to him and asked if he knew where they might know each other from. Samuel couldn't think of where and the young man asked him, "Aren't you and your family the ones that sing hymns in the visiting room? Samuel told him he was, and he said, "I want you to know my family thinks that is really cool that you guys do that. Many have noticed." Anyway after talking a while longer ~ they realized that they had played basketball against each other ~ each for different Christian schools. Yes this young man is a Christian too....

Which prompted me to ask, "What is it..WHY is it that so many young Christian men are incarcerated?" (We have met several Christians). When we were finished with our lengthy discussion, here was the conclusion as Samuel stated, "Because we have raised a physically, emotionally, and spiritually lazy generation who are lukewarm and smothered in entitlement." Bingo.

(p.s. Please don't be offended ~ we know this isn't true of everybody)

After the above discussion, I excused myself to the restroom and had a good cry. I asked the Lord, "How can be my heart be SO broken and SO full at the same time?" His GRACE continues to whisper to my soul, "ALL things WILL work together for good, according to MY purposes." If I didn't believe that with my whole being ~ I surely would wither up and die.

~God is so Good~

And from our visit with Tay today....

We really are thankful to have Devonte as part of our lives now. He makes us laugh and we are thrilled at the growth we see in him! We love to hear him pray. He is a very thankful young man for all that God is doing in his life. Please keep praying for him and his family. His family has a lot of very serious needs/issues. He is excited that he got moved in with a new celly, Scooby :-) Scooby has a TV and that does help the time go by faster. Tay also got a job in the kitchen as Samuel did, and that helps the time go faster as well!! Plus they get paid ~ it's only a little, but it's something!

Here are pictures of Tay and his celly, Scooby:

Devonte                        Scooby  

Our latest letter from Tay:

Dear Godparents,

Hey how are you guys doing? I hope everything is going good. I want to start this letter off by saying I love both of y'all. I want to let you guys know that I wouldn't have wanted no other Godparents. I thank God so much for giving me the best Godparents ever. I thank you guys for everything you and Dad do for me. My time is going so fast because of you and dad.

I'm so happy that God been blessing me so much. I can't wait to see what God got plan for us when I get out. I feel that this is my way out of Milwaukee and I really hope my Momma leave too.

It will take some time to get use to everything (he's really worried about what us country folk eat... LOL)

I'm happy that I got a Dad in my life. I feel like it's hope for me now. I give all the thanks to God, He is the reason for everything happening. I hope that Zakhee change his life. I will try to be a good role model for him.

I'm really happy that I open my heart to God. I can't wait to show everybody how much I change.

I will try not to call so much, but it will be hard (he really tries hard to be frugal). So I will end this letter by saying I love both of y'all.

                                    ♥Miss Y'all

In my last letter to him, I sent him a picture of the types of food we eat ~ just to set his mind at ease! 

~Blessings~

We are so thankful also for the opportunity to go home to Ohio for the first week of November ~ Thanks to the generosity of my husbands nephew, Charles and his family. My husband was 
able to deer hunt every day ~ nearly all day long! I visited with my Mom and some friends throughout the week and had a very special time!

We got MEAT, Baby!!

This hunting trip helped breathe life back into my husband, of which I am very thankful.





On the Saturday before we came home, we got together with Lee's side of the family for the FAMILY FEAST!! His family has always included my Mom in their get-togethers ~ something for which I am very thankful. They have been incredibly supportive of us and we love them dearly!

Our niece Tabitha, and her niece Nadia (our grand-niece)

My Mom

 Our niece Amber and her son, Davyon

Thumper's (Charles) wife Trisha and my Mom

Our grand-niece Isabella

Lee and his brother Jack and his wife Loretta

 Our niece Kazmine - holding Isabella

Thumper, Trish, Connor, Tyson, and Celsey

Our grand-nephew Michael

Doin' the Duck-Face Thing :)

Celsey

Lee's sister Rita and her grandbaby, Nadia

Our grand-niece Chasity

Lee's sister Rita and her daughter Tara and her boyfriend Carlos,

 and her son Kaden, and daughter Nadia

Lee's sister Rose

Our grand-niece Kazmine

And Lee's brother, Larry's family (who couldn't be there):

It's a little dated...cause that adorable little baby is now TWO!! So, L-R: Peyton holding Lawrence, Jared, John, Bryce, Larry, his wife, Brandy, and Madisen

Lawrence Edward Shelton II (he just turned 2 this week!)  ♥him!!

And I must mention Lee's beloved Mother, Dixie who went Home one year ago on November 30, 2013 ~ We all miss her so much and are so thankful for her and a life well lived!

Samuel just wrote a song about her:

I Remember Grandma

This last year's been so hard

With the loss of Grandma this year

I didn't know how much it could affect a man like me

But feels like life will never be the same again without her.

CHORUS:

But Thank You God for the times we had

For the times we were happy and the times we were sad

I just wanna say Thank You for the times we had together

Could You give her a hug for me tonight?

I always remember her with a smile on her face

That could light up any gloomy day

And a voice so soft - it was like a gentle breeze in an open field

And every time I feel the wind blowing

I'll remember the good times we had.

CHORUS

I'll never forget the way she gave

Her time, her life, and all she had

She poured it all out on us

To teach us the way to live.

The greatest example of how to live - is my Grandma

I woke up with these words on my heart this morning...

"This is the most sorrowful thing of my life...but yet I am 

thankful beyond words." 

That is GRACE. Yes, God's been good in my life.

Thankful for my friend, Loretta, who posted this song on my wall today...

~And some final inspiration & fun....~

Lee's Dad, Otis, and Mom, Dixie

An earlier picture of them

My dad, John DeWeese

Doin' the Duck face before it became popular! :)

This is SO Samuel! I sure miss my grocery-carrier-in-er! :)

Enter....Tay.

Before I tell you who "Tay" is - I have been wanting to give a 6 month update on our situation. It's actually getting closer to 7 months - on the 17th.

Where to start...

As I take a deep breath and ponder the last few months my heart is overwhelmed. Overwhelmed with joy first and foremost...but also overwhelmed with missing my son - and life without him here.

I am oh-so grateful that we get to see him on a weekly basis. But I miss him every day. I miss his smile and his laugh and his wonderful sense of humor. I miss him jumping up to pick up something I have dropped or to be the first to open a door or do a 1000 other wonderful little things that were so special and made me love him more than words can express. Most of you know I feel. You're mothers. Or fathers.

But...back to the joy part.

I will not lie...these last months have been the hardest of my life. But they have also been...the sweetest. I love this quote by Adoniram Judson:

“You are now drinking the bitter cup whose dregs I am somewhat acquainted with. And though, for some time, you have been aware of its approach, I venture to say that is far bitterer than you expected. It is common for persons in your situation to refuse all consolation, to cling to the dead, and to fear that they shall too soon forget the dear object of their affections. But don’t be concerned. I can assure you that months and months of heart-rending anguish are before you, whether you will or not. Yet take the bitter cup with both hands, and sit down to your repast. You will soon learn a secret, that there is sweetness at the bottom…

We are drinking deeply of this cup - and it is true - the sweetness is at the bottom. It is always at the bottom. God wants us to tip our heads back and drink deeply of the cup He has handed us called life...and we will find that we can

Taste and see that the LORD is good! 

How blessed is the person who trusts in him!

Psalm 34:8

So HOW are we finding joy in a situation that is heart-breaking at best? 

GOD IS FAITHFUL.

Yep. It's that simple. He has shown Himself faithful in a million little ways. And some pretty big ways as well. Over the last few months He has:

• Provided for our every need. We lost 1/3 of our income when Samuel left, and somehow He has allowed us to remain in a home we can't afford (on paper). He has provided in countless ways through God's people to meet financial and material needs in our lives and in Samuel's. There are many added expenses when one goes to prison. Gas, phone charges, commissary, daily necessities. He even had to have a new Bible bought and sent in. He can't have anything that isn't completely new sent straight from the merchant. But God has raised up some very caring and generous people to help us help him.

• Met us in our grief and is slowly but surely lifting our heads and letting us find purpose and meaning in this season of our life.

• Taught (or is teaching us :-)) there will be an "afterwords." Do you know who He has taught us that through? Samuel. His confidence and trust in God has been unwavering. Oh, he's cried himself to sleep plenty of nights. But He says over and over again that "God is in control" and he knows that He has a perfect plan for him. And he doesn't want to miss any of it. We don't either.

• Used our church to be an incredible support and blessing to us. When this situation first happened we were so....lost. Our (now) Pastor's wife was coming to our temporary home to tutor Samuel in algebra and Pastor would come along and visit with us during that time. When my husband told him we didn't know where we would end up going to church or what we would be doing (we wanted to dig a hole and hide in it and never come out...) he said, "Well. You have to go somewhere! You might as well come to Anchor!" So we did! And are we sooo glad we did!! They have loved us, wept with us, rebuked us, exhorted us, prayed with and for us, laughed with us, and have gotten us through this time in the way the New Testament church is supposed to do. To God be the glory. 

My husband has a saying right now, "We are done playing church!" What he means by that is that we are done putting on sweet christian faces and giving lip-service to God and man, pretending to love them both while keeping our white-washed sepulchers ...well, white-washed! LOVE is an ACTION! Love doesn't throw your brother under the bus. Love doesn't kick them when they are at their lowest. Love gets dirty. Down and dirty. On their level. In the trenches. And loves them UP and OUT. We've learned a lot about love this past year-and-a-half. And we were some of the most filthy, empty, self-righteous, judgmental white-washed sepulchers out there. And we were in good company. I know our Father has to be grieved and sickened by how we treat each other...all in the name of "maintaining a christian testimony" before the world. A world who isn't fooled one bit and wants nothing to do with that kind of Christianity. Sorry for the rant. As I said, we are done "playing church" and that kind of Christianity and are day by day learning how to truly love and serve our fellow man... And THAT'S where Tay comes in....

We would like to officially introduce you to our Godson, Devonte L. Walker!

Devonte, or Tay, was Samuel's first cell mate when he was moved to Racine. They had met each other up at Dodge, and Tay was excited to have Samuel put in his cell while he was on intake at Racine. They were cellmates for about 2 months and became very good friends - and brothers :-). Tay is from Milwaukee and is a little more... street savvy and he and his friends could tell Samuel was not - so they made sure they had his back. That won us over from the beginning. 

Samuel and Tay really enjoyed their time together, and Tay would tell you that he and his friends were amazed at Samuel's cheerful countenance and outlook on his situation. They were not only cellmates, they found that they were brothers in Christ and enjoyed many conversations together about the things of the Lord. They also were able to attend Bible studies and chapel together and played in the band and sang together. Tay and his friends also thought Samuel was pretty funny and would love to hear stories about living the "country life." But it also made Tay hungry for something he has never known....what it is like to have a father, a dad to do things with and learn things from. But more on that in a minute.... :-)

Soon Samuel would learn of Tay's financial situation - and that he hadn't spoke to his mother on the phone for quite some time, so he asked if Tay could use his own phone minutes to call his mom once or twice a week. We didn't mind at all, and it made us all happy to know that he could talk to her. Tay was very grateful.

Soon Samuel realized that Tay hadn't seen his mom in months as well, and asked if there was any way I could go to Milwaukee and pick her up and bring her down to see Tay. So, I called Tay's mother, Tronna, introduced myself, and asked if I could come pick her up and take her to see her son. She had already been approved to see him, but doesn't drive, and if I said she was thrilled - that would be a gross understatement! :-)

That first visit I will never forget, and words cannot express my joy at not only being able to take her to see her son (we do it on a regular basis now), but I have had the privilege of sharing my testimony with her and sharing the gospel with her several times. Tronna is a very simple and sweet woman. I love her dearly. Please pray for her. She has 5 children, Deon, Devonte, Lillie, and Zakhee. Her second oldest, Martrell, was killed in 2009. Living in downtown Milwaukee has not been good for her boys. They are considering moving to the Whitewater area to get her children off the streets. We are trying to help her. 

     (L-R)- Tay's sister, Lillie and her 3 boys, Tay's brother Zakhee, and his Mother, Tronna



I now have picked up another girl from Milwaukee, Ariel, and her little girl, London, and have taken her to see her boyfriend while her car has not been running. Again I have had some wonderful opportunities with Ariel and she is very special to me as well. These are all part of our lives now, and I wouldn't have it any other way. It broke my heart when Ariel said she has never roasted a marshmallow over a bonfire. We will definitely have to remedy that! :-)

                 Ariel, Lonnie (Fetti), and London

                                           London Nashae

Love this 
Cutie Pie ----------->
:-)












To continue the story about Tay...

One day after Samuel had been in Racine for a little over a couple of months, we got a phone call on a Saturday afternoon from Tay to thank us for helping him and his family. While it was not necessary, we appreciated his thoughtfulness. This would also be the phone call that would change our lives.

Tay had been to chapel that morning, and part of the message encouraged the young men that if they did not have godly parents, to find a godly couple and ask them if they would be their Godparents. To say that we were humbled and moved that Tay asked us to be his Godparents would be another understatement. We also were impressed that Tay called his Mama and asked her if she would mind and what she thought about it before he called us. We talked it over and prayed about it - but pretty much knew from the first moment that this is what the Lord would have us to do.

I don't know how to describe our relationship with Tay in any other way than it was 'love at first sight!' Actually it would be a bit before we would "see" him and got to know him quite well on the phone until we were finally approved to be able to visit him. We now visit him and Samuel every Saturday and Tuesdays if we can. We were initially told we could not see two inmates on the same day, so we would go on Saturdays to see Samuel and back on Sundays to see Tay. One of the CO's caught what we were doing and told us that we had been misinformed ( I called the prison to ask about that, and then just to make sure, I talked to the front desk Sargent to double-check ...and they BOTH told us we had to visit on separate days... :-/ ). So we were thrilled to find that we could visit both of them on the same day! But oh - those chairs - it's hard to sit in them for four hours. But at least we can get up - because we have to go out of the room and be cleared to come back in again... :-) (all we can do is smile and obey...). It is truly worth it. Every moment.

Lee and Tay have really taken to each other and it has been beautiful to watch. Tay calls us Mama and Dad and we know that we will be part of his life until the Lord takes us Home. When I got off the phone with Tay the other day, I asked my husband, "Can you believe that we are involved with downtown Milwaukee ex-gang members? And... aren't afraid?" :-) God has done a wonderful work in our hearts and has been teaching us much about love... :-)

I keep telling Tay I can't wait to have all of his cute black babies running around our place....he just laughs. :-) Tay is a thoughtful, respectful, wise young man and we are thrilled at the prospect of he and Dad doing things together and being part of his life when he gets out next year. Tay has never fished. Or worked in a garden. Or rode on a riding lawnmower. We write back and forth and talk to him several times a week. We make each other laugh and we pray with and for each other very often. We love him very much! This indeed is another fruit God has brought out of this very hard thing. But we are grateful to the Lord and are excited about future ministry opportunities! Here are some pictures of Tay from "before"...

I would be remiss if I did not once again mention our church, Anchor Bible Church, who has gotten right on board with our "ministry" to the young men at the prison and their families. We now have several inmates that call us Mama and Dad and several that we are praying for daily. Many of them jump on the phone to say hello and more than once we have been able to call one of their family members while they were on the phone with us to convey a necessary message for them. They are very very grateful even for those small favors. These are young men that we know nothing about but love them anyway. Young men with nicknames like Fetti, Manman, Mo, and several of Samuel's friends, Corey, Harville, Watford, Daley, and Enneper. 

Many of these young men are having daily Bible studies and/or devotions together and encourage each other to "keep looking UP." Our church is planning on doing services there when our Pastor gets approved to do so... (If I have never mentioned it before....the prison system is very S - L - O - W). They also pray for us and these young men and the women whom I have opportunity to tell that God loves them very much and wants to have a relationship with them. Then, on my Birthday, our church gave me the best present of all...they informed us that the church had decided to help support our "ministry" financially --and well, to say that we were surprised, humbled, and thrilled - would be -- you guessed it -- another HUGE understatement! 

GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME!

When we left the Camp, we were told by someone at camp that we would "never be in the ministry again." And that there is no hope for someone like Samuel (and by association - us).

Those that have said there is no hope for us - well... are right. Outside of Jesus Christ, that is. But HE is everything we struggle to be: KIND. MERCIFUL. COMPASSIONATE. LOVING. And He has a plan. And we are smack-dab, right in the center of it. He heaps Grace upon Grace on us, His children who are willing to, by His grace, "bow the knee." 

Our First Couple of Letters from Tay...