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Showing posts with label Friends. Show all posts

A "Perfect Blend of Friendship" Award  

Posted by Cyndi Lou in ,

And the award goes to.... me and 5 of you lucky blog readers/girlfriends out there, if I still have 5 left-- blog readers that is! (I know I have 5 friends left, but I am not sure they still read my blog!) :) I know, I know, I have not posted in over 3 weeks, so there is NOTHING to read... that is CRAZY!! I think I hear the 'blog police' sirens NOW!! :) October has been crazy busy and I have been sick a couple of times too, including RIGHT NOW!!! (I digress....)

But, nonetheless, a childhood friend of mine, Trina, blessed me with this award, so I am going to answer the questions on the questionnaire and then tag 5 of my girlfriends who blog so that they can be blessed as well. The questionnaire questions are below:

1. Do you have the same friends since childhood?

Yes & No is my answer. I have a few close girlfriends that I still keep in touch with from childhood. We moved around a lot, which was hard for me. I made new friends wherever I went, which is part of the reason I don't meet a stranger today and I am not the least bit shy! But, I am reconnecting with many of my childhood friends on FaceBook. It is GREAT to see where they all ended up and to see that many of them still love the Lord! That is awesome.

But, I DO have 1 childhood girlfriend who has stayed close and who has endured all of the moves with me, as well as all of the boyfriends, squabbles, church retreats, summer camps (@ Ridgecrest, NC), high school, sappy movies, sappy songs, college, getting married, and finally becoming a mom! Her name is Karen Shaw and she is one of the most wonderful women you will ever meet! I have such AWESOME memories of growing up and MANY of them, if not almost all of them, include Karen! I can't imagine growing up without her. She is such an awesome blessing from the Lord and she was given to me at such a young age!! I didn't even know how much she would bless me over my lifetime, and she still is blessing me to this very day!! And, through FB, I am able to be blessed by several other awesome ladies who I grew up with in church, like Trina T., Tonya L., Sharon L., Cindy B., & Meg G.

2. What do you value most about your friends?

I value their uniqueness and quirkiness. I value their love for the Lord! I REALLY value their ability to make me laugh, even on the worst day. I value that I can be silly with them, laugh out loud with them, or be crazy and let loose with them! I value that I can cry in front them or say something totally absurd in front of them and they still love me and they don't pass judgement. I value that they are real and transparent with me, even when it hurts sometimes. I value that they are such beautiful women, both inside and out!! I value that they would be at my home at 3 AM if tragedy struck, no questions asked!! I value that they pray with me and for me. I value that they all bring different viewpoints and opinions into my world and they make me think. I value that they each love their family and their friends passionately! I value that our precious children are growing up together!! I value that they are my true "HIDERS"!! I value them so very much and I don't tell them often enough how truly special they are to me!!

3. Are your friends your sounding boards?

YES!! They are!! Are you kidding me??!! You can ask Shana, I usually will ask them their opinion and input on almost any topic. Yes, I take it to my Heavenly Father and I pray, but sometimes, a victory, or a big decision, or just something that happened in the middle of an ordinary day needs to be shared with them or talked through with my girlfriends! They are awesome sounding boards and many times, it takes a long time to listen to me and a lot of patience! They are awesome at doing both-- listening and having patience.

4. What is your favorite activity to share with your friends?

A girls' night out, a girls' weekend away, or a great bible study evening where we worship, get in His word, study, praise, and then pray!

Now, I am passing this on to 5 friends...

1. Jennifer J.
2. Shana F.
3. Tammy H.
4. Terri R.
5. Meleia B.

-- NOTE: There are several more ladies who I would like to tag, but I was asked to only tag 5. So, that's where I stopped. I know these girls will get you 'tagged' as well!! :)

(I will go to your blogs girls and post comments so that you will know you have been awarded!!)

Have a blessed day my sweet sisters in Christ who are some of the best friends a girl could ask for!!

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Living In The Middle: 'Stick With It and Push On Through!'  

Posted by Cyndi Lou in , , ,

Well, some of you have asked me why I haven't posted an update on our March Of Dimes (4.2 mile) March For Babies walk yet from this past Saturday. Well, today is the first day since the walk that I can actually type without a muscle hurting!! :) No, really, I am kidding. It wasn't THAT bad...


Saturday started off very soggy, but the rain moved out of the way for us just in time. The whole gang was there. Our dear friends, Wade and Jennifer, and their precious girls, showed up to walk with us. Well, they were kind of 'obligated' since they had volunteered to walk with us about 2 months ago. In that same conversation from 2 months prior, we all agreed we would do some training to 'get in shape' before the big day, but how much training did we accomplish? Well, that would be NONE!! We had not trained one teeny, tiny mile!!! But, we were planning on walking 4.2 of them Saturday, all at ONE TIME!! Did you READ that last part- ALL AT ONE TIME?? I think we were INSANE!!


"The Walk" (meant to be an endearing term) started at 10 AM and the kids were SO EXCITED!! My 2 were walking and running back and forth (they hadn't figured out that doing this would add up to about 6 miles before it was over). Wade and Jennifer's 2 were riding in the stroller! (They really ARE smart girls!!) Okay, so the beginning was tough because, well, we had 4.2 miles left to go!! The end was PROMISING, because we could 'see the proverbial light' at the end of the tunnel - the FINISH LINE! But, the MIDDLE, well that was an ENTIRELY different story!
You see, we realized we were 1/2 way there because there was a stinking sign there to tell you this FABULOUS NEWS!! It read, 'You are at the 2 mile mark!' Well, that didn't do us much good, because that is when you realize that you are at the 2 mile mark of the famous 4 mile Dalton 'Loop'! So, here are your choices when you are smack dab in the MIDDLE of the BIG 'Loop':


- You can turn around and go BACK to the starting line- which is JUST as far away as it would be to just keep on going, hence being at the 1/2 way point.

- Pass out right then and there and pray that some kind friend in a car driving down Tibbs Rd will have mercy on you and stop and pick you up and take you to the nearest hospital. (I know some of you saw us walking and had pity on us! You told me so yourself!!)

- Stop right there to take a break and ask your walking buddies to finish the race and come back and get you! (One member of our team, who will remain nameless, actually asked us to consider this, but in the end, changed his/her mind and marched on to finish the race.)

- Or, just 'Stick With it and Push On Through' until you cross that finish line!!


  • Well, if you turn back, you waste all of your energy on retracing your steps and you have accomplished nothing.
  • If you pass out and pray for someone to come and get you, well you pretty much just gave up on finishing the race!
  • If you stop there and wait for those who stick with it to finish and come back and get you, well you miss 1/2 of the journey of just getting to the finish line! You spend all of your time 'waiting on the sidelines'!
  • OR, you can take a moment to realize that you are directly in the MIDDLE and the only way around it is to 'stick with it and push on through' until you cross that FINISH line! Well, thankfully ALL 8 of us chose to cross that FINISH line! And, shin splints and sore muscles aside, we are all glad we did!!! It was such a WONDERFUL feeling of accomplishment to know that we DID IT!! We finished the race and we didn't come in last place!!
It was an amazing feeling to come together for one cause to raise money for the March of Dimes and for the millions of babies' lives that have been touched over the years!! Our team raised around $725.00! That is FANTASTIC!!! Thank you so much to those of you who gave so generously to our walk! We are so very grateful! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!!


Thank you to Wade & Jennifer and the girls for being troopers and walking with us! Also, thank you to Joe and Anna Grace and Austin for sticking with it and for putting smiles on their faces even though I KNOW they didn't feel like walking Saturday morning--- well, Anna Grace mostly rode in the stroller!! But, you get the point! Finally, we are so grateful to God that Anna Grace is a healthy, happy 6 year old little girl who has no long term effects of being a premature baby! All the time, God is Good and God is Good all the time!!!


On a serious note, one family team walking Saturday had about 25 immediate family members, extended family members, and friends walking. They wore bright red shirts with initials on the front and their personal family relationship to the child printed on the back (mom, sister, dad, grandma, aunt, friend, etc.) You couldn't miss this large team. I wondered which child was born premature that all of them would be out walking for this event. I wanted to meet this child with such an awesome family and support system. So, I asked whose initials were DL and was that child walking today? The response I got, from the mom, no less, was this, 'His name is Daniel Lynn and he is not here today. He was my son born 12 weeks premature weighing 1 lb. 5 oz. He only lived 3 days and then he died. We walk in his honor every year so that other families don't have to go through what we went through.' My heart broke for that mother. I cannot fathom her pain. Now, THAT is the essence of STICKING WITH IT AND PUSHING ON THROUGH my dear friends!!!!

Whatever you are in the middle of today, STICK WITH IT AND PUSH ON THROUGH! I PROMISE you that you will be glad you did! We are SO glad we DID!!

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