You Light Up My Life

If anyone ever says, "Why be on Facebook?", you all have given the reasons. Throughout my day, to have received such beautiful wishes and thoughts, makes this "young" woman beyond amazed and grateful! I am so thankful for God's blessings in my life, and you all are right at the top of the list of those blessings! Thanks so much for boosting my self esteem and putting such joy in my heart.

Yesterday was my birthday, and I must tell you the embraces of words, hugs, messages, phone calls, cards, surprises, coffee time with girlfriend, dinner with other girlfriends, gifts, serenades and unmerited favors made for “my day” to be one of the sweetest, most blessed days EVER.

How can I say thanks enough? My heart is filled to overflowing with gratitude . Facebook has a special way of helping us stay close to each other.....and at times like this, it makes the day so much sweeter. Please forgive me for not being able to respond to each of you yet as I'm working on a project that has kept my shoulder to the wheel yesterday and today.

My first surprise of the day was whn my godson, Owen, his brother, Henry, and Mom Bernadette showed up at my front door before heading to school. There are no words adequate to express the profound love I have for this family, and, quite frankly, the love I receive back from them.

Then it was “birthday” breakfast with my sweet sister and mother-in-law – a “usual” each year. We laughed, cried, and sincerely “knew” God is up to something in our lives. Karen gave me a beautiful Willow Tree angel holding a bird and her words were “As you go forward, I see you “soaring into a new freedom with great strength like you have never known” Isaiah 40:30. The angel’s name was “soar”. I accept those words so deeply into my heart. Then it was special time with a dear friend -- laughing and celebrating life. My sweet friends from my community took me to dinner last night with cupcakes afterwards. I love these ladies so much! We are the "never tire, never quit women of Hyde Park"! We've made up our minds "we're not givin' up until we're taken up"!

In this season of life, I have found that the rarest and most valuable treasures of life are those friends and family that we do life with. We have choices with who we hang out with, and God has made it so easy to choose the cream of the crop. I am so blessed with the gifts of friendship that far exceed silver and gold. All of you, my precious friends and family, are the most treasured possessions I have. I thank God for each of you who made me feel like a queen!

"I thank my God every time I remember you." Philippians 1:3

To all my family and friends.....thank you for humoring me, tolerating me, encourating me, celebrating me, but most of all....for loving me. I’m smart enough to know, that God used you to brighten my day and life. His mercies came to me via YOU and I’m so very grateful.

Looking for Love in All the Right Places

Getting to celebrate life with my special loved ones and friends in Tulsa brings such joy to my heart. Here's what my World of Love's "right places" looks like:

I have precious friends in the community where I live. We laugh, celebrate life, many of us pray for each other and share meals with each other. Several of us are the face of Hyde Park and we represent our community to guests that stop by to visit us. Love in the right places!

My Life Group meets in my home every Tuesday. We share our triumphs and tests, we pray together, celebrate together and do life together. The latest triumph was the birth of this precious baby girl, Ragan Rainey. We prayed for her Mom & Dad to be blessed with her, and indeed they have been. Her two grandmothers attend my Life Group (yes, that's them having received their coronation bouquet) -- so of course, that little girl had no choice but to come into this world with God's blessings. Love in the right places!

I have the most wonderful "family of friends" at Church of the Madalene where I have attended for over 16 years. The women in this church, The Women of the Madalene, are par excellence. They are the most giving, loving and caring women ever! To them, there is no task too great or small when it comes to serving God and His people. Serving with them is truly an honor. Love in the right places!

As if having a family of friends at one church isn't enough, I have a host of friends at Life.Church, which is just a half block from my home. I love serving with these precious people who rock my world (literally) every weekend. I am a part of the Host, Chazown, Baptism, and Operations Teams. Being fully devoted followers of Christ is all about "loving in the right places" -- and the greatest blessing of all is witnessing so many people coming to Christ at each service. Last Sunday, at our Jenks campus alone, over 150 people were baptized in water. Love in the right places!

Then there is my precious godson and his siblings. They are my Tulsa family -- I love these kids and their love for me blesses me so much. All of them have February birthdays -- so of course it's the Month of Love for them AND me. Owen, my godson, is a treasure beyond words to me. He sits by me in church, snuggles close to me, puts his arm around me or holds my hand. Yes, I feel kisses from heaven each time. Love in the right places!

My dear Mom-in-Law lives here in Tulsa. Mom has been such a dear friend to me for 55 years now -- 5 years before my Sweetheart and I married. She has encouraged, prayed for and loved me like a daughter. Last Sunday, Valentine's Day, we had a "Sweetheart" lunch together at Olive Garden. Of course, we talked about the two men that were our loves for a lifetime and because of the richness of those loves, we can be so thankful they're no longer in our past....they are in our future! We'll be with them again one day. Love in the right places!

Tomorrow, I'll be heading to Post Oak Lodge for the Christ the King ACTS Retreat -- Thursday thru Sunday. I was once a retreatant, but now I'm on the leadership team for the retreat. We've met every Monday for the last three months in preparation for this weekend where women will come and be made to feel like princesses -- daughters of the King. It is a weekend like no other I've ever witnessed. Encounters with the living Christ that causes all of our hearts to melt in His presence. We come to know the true meaning of loving God with all our hearts, souls and minds. Love in the right places!

AND, if all this LOVE in Tulsa weren't enough to bless this heart of mine, I'll be heading to Seattle on Monday for a feast of love with my family there for two weeks, and then back for a week with my Texas family -- no shortage of love there because it's "Love in the right places"!

People ask me "Why are you so happy all the time -- after all, you live alone, you're a widow, you have to handle life and all it gives you by yourself?" I think by now, you know. I'm still here. I'm not done with living. I celebrate each day with as much gusto as I can. Life isn't a destination. It's a beautiful, wonderful, living-life-large JOURNEY of finding love in all the right places. I recommend living this way -- self pity, whining, and complaining is not found here on this journey -- it's all about an attitude of gratitude each and every day! It's finding love in all the right places!

I See Me As God Sees Me, and I'm Amazed

Don't try to convince me otherwise.
I've seen way too much evidence that God is NOT dead, and He sees me right where I am today, and I know His love for me is vast.
I've experienced way too many of God's blessings, and I know they didn't come to me by happenstance or coincidence.
I've been loved so much that it's the story of my life.
And, I want it to be the story of your life as well.
I want it to change everything -- including how you look at God, and yourself, and other people.
I want you to live in confidence that when God looks at you, He sees beauty.
He sees value.
He sees hope.
He sees a precious treasure beyond compare.
And when you're hiding, or when you feel so beaten down, and you can't see anything clearly, He's still hard at work, crafting for you a beautiful future.
He sees you. He loves you.

We are SO loved by ALMIGHTY God -- doesn't that AMAZE you? It sure amazes me.

We Ran.....Because We Could!

My husband's Memorial Service was on Friday, and on Sunday, we ran the Tulsa Route 66 Marathon in his honor. He was paralyzed during his final weeks of life, so we celebrated that we COULD run/walk.

Over 25 of us showed up with our red "Run for Ron" t-shirts. It was the 5th marathon in 55 days that our son, Ryan, ran, but this time, in honor of his dad. He started out his 26.2 mile run at 7:30 am. Our oldest grandson, Braden, ran the half-marathon (13.1 mile). The rest of us started our 5K run/walk at 8 am. We were all running/walking with such passion -- so appreciative that we could.

Once we completed our 5K, we rushed to cheer for Braden as he crossed the Finish Line from his half marathon in his personal best time ever. He told me that he felt his Papa pushing him all the way.

When we went to meet up with Ryan at Mile 16 to cheer him on, we waited and waited. We thought we may have missed him, but in reality, we were at the right place at the right time, as Drew -- a member of my church saw us, stopped a moment to pull out a large photo of my husband. He was also "Running for Ron".

Then we got the call….a man had passed out just in front of Ryan. What marathon runners don't do, is stop running mid-way through a marathon as it seizes up their legs, but Ryan stopped to help him. When it was apparent he was unconscious, Ryan held his feet and prayed while others were performing CPR for over 16 minutes. He stayed until the ambulance took the man away. Later we found out the 27-year old man passed away during that time. We knew it was providence that Ryan was there, and even that my Honey was probably there to greet him when he reached the other side. We cheered for Ryan as he crossed the Finish Line -- not his best time because of the delay -- but God's best time, which IS the BEST time.

I was interviewed by the Tulsa World newspaper reporter about our "Run for Ron". As an exclamation point to our efforts, that article and photo ran in the paper the next day. The next words are the caption with the picture and the next section is the article. The other photo is Drew Martins, from my church.

Photo caption: "The Run for Ron Family takes a moment for a group photo at the finish line of the Route 66 Marathon. The family had many members run in various races to commemorate Ron Wuerch, who died Tuesday of cancer."

Article: "While many runners said the wind slowed down their times at the Route 66 Marathon on Sunday, one group found the wind to be anything but adversity. 'We were giving thanks for everything in our life and the wind was like a fresh breath of air,' said Donna Wuerch, whose husband Ron passed away last week.

Wuerch's daughter Staci, son, Ryan and grandson, Braden - who ran the marathon and half-marathon respectively - and a host of extended family members and friends, were decked out in 'Run for Ron' t-shirts.

"This is our way of saying, 'thank you' for our legs, our lungs," Staci said. "Dad had a lot of issues due to cancer, and we just thought it was a nice way to honor him and thank God for our blessings in our life."

Among those running for Ron Wuerch was 32-year-old Gracie Updyke, who pushed her 15-month old son Ryan in a stroller over the 5k run. Runners came from as far away as Canada to support the cause, Works of Mercy, and the Wuerch family.
By LYNN JACOBSEN World Sports Writer