Lemons to Lemonade

Meet Baby Silas Ferraro

Our friends Tony and Angela delivered their first child...Silas Augustus Ferraro on Sat.  He is beautiful (or handsome if you will)...and nearly 9 pounds and 21 inches long.   (Notice the Clemson onsie!) Here he is, only one day old, with my husband Richard.

Women of Faith at the Honda Center

 

 My friend Jeanne and I went to Women of Faith this weekend (along with 15,000 other women)  It was terrific.  Lots of ladies buying books and T-shirts.  Lots of laughter and tears...such an inspiration!  Next year it's going to be on 9/11-12.  Anyone want to sign up?

 

Sandals Marriage Retreat "Relax into LOVE"!

Sandals annual Marriage Retreat was spent in the desert this year.  It was titled "Relax into Love" and it was just that.  Thank you Matt and Tammy for providing such an amazing time for 150 couples!  We went to the desert on Thursday night and spent the night at the DHS house.  Then we played golf at the Marriott Esmerelda Celebrity Course.  It was beautiful.  We got a relatively late start and could only play 9 holes due to the heat, but it was still special.  The weekend started with a wonderful fruit/water basket for our room, a dozen red Roses from my sweetie, and a delicious dinner.  Then we heard from Matt about how God wants our marriages to be.  After that, some balloon popping, quirky dancing, and a fun dance party.  Richard and I then spent some time under the moonlight by the pool.  It was a great time.  On Saturday we had a great breakfast with our friends we don't see too often anymore, Tony and Angela.  Then into the "classroom" for more marriage training!  We met our group.  Us and four other couples met in break out sessions between talks.  It was truly relaxing, and a great way to remember what our marriage and life are all about!   More pix!

Good Grief!

Richard and I just spent the most amazing day in Las Vegas learning more about the GriefShare program we "facilitate" in our home on Thursday nights.   It was lead by a lady named Jody who has such a passion and heart for the "Care" ministries.  We spent 8 hours in training and have seen so many examples of how this is truly God's program.  We also learned about the ministries for divorce, children of divorce, before you divorce, and the stories of hope and joy in the dark places that many people find themselves in.  We ourselves have seen many come in to our home, broken and hurting...so badly that they cannot even speak.  Then after awhile, a little spark of joy enters their heart.  It is such a blessing to us to see how the Lord can work in situations that really seem so hopeless.  Maybe...if anyone is reading this and know of someone suffering...please give us their contact information.  We will call them and invite them.  It's really a word of mouth thing.  There are alot of hurting people out there...Thanks...God Bless!

Barbara Johnson

Barbara Johnson, 1927 - 2007

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Friends:

We've learned that our dear friend Barbara Johnson died on July 2nd

of Central Nervous System Lymphoma. She had been fighting this cancer

since 2001. Amazingly, Barbara authored 4 books during her battle

with this disease.

Barbara is dearly loved by GriefShare groups around the world. Her

gracious participation in the GriefShare ministry has touched untold

thousands of people with the hope of healing through Christ.

Bill Dunn and I met Barbara in southern California to tape the

GriefShare video segments. The Barbara you see on the videos was

identical to the off-camera Barbara. She was warm, upbeat, genuine

and funny. We had a great time with her.

You can learn more details about her life and death at this website:

http://www.barbaraspatulajohnson.com/

Even though Barbara has joined our Lord in Heaven, her ministry

continues through her GriefShare video segments, her books and the

many other expressions of ministry she engaged in throughout her long

and productive life.

We have all benefited from her ministry.

Grief Recovery

  This is my grief recovery group.  We hold a 8 week workshop twice a year.  All of these ladies have lost their husbands.  Some as recently as Sept and Oct of this year.  God is working and blessing them all.  It's tough to have to learn how to live again after the loss of our mates.  Notice a couple of them are smiling.  There are tears ... and that's OK too!  We are blessed to have each other!