My Grandfather

On Monday, February 6, 2007, my grandfather turned 89 years old. It was an emotional birthday for him because over the past 5 months, his health has been declining and he faces the reality of the fact that he may not live to see 90 years old.

Emmett Wilson Barker was born in 1918 in West Tennessee. He spent the majority of his life as a dairy and crop farmer. My mom says she can remember going into the barn on a Saturday afternoon/evening and my grandfather would have the UT football game on while he was milking cows. My grandfather actually attended UT Knoxville for 2 quarters before he had to come back home and help on the farm (and get married). He has 3 children- Emmett, Nancy and my mom- Phyllis. Last, but not least, he has a spunky, beautiful wife of 70 years named Rebecca Barker.

I am so thankful to have such loving grandparents like I do. Oh to be married 70 years and for my husband to still want to hold my hand. I pray that God will continue to bless their lives.

(Picture from July 2006 at 70th Anniversary)

My life

Well, I had tried to make it a New Year's resolution to blog at least once a week. I would read entries from C and B and think, wow, they always have great things to write about. So I would ask myself...ok you want to write every week...what do you want to write about? Hmm, well, ahh, nothing. Nothing...nothing to write about.

My other New Year's resolution was to not drink carbonated drinks. I copied this from B and have stuck to it. Do I feel better? I guess, but now I am off my caffeine addiction and am trying to drink more water. I am at day 32 so I guess it is a habit now and I don't crave a coke at all.

So back to my other resolution to blog weekly. I can't believe that I have been blogging since 2005. To me, it is very therapeutic. Some people are very outspoken in their blogs, some witty and humorous. Some use it to express what God is doing in their lives. I guess I like to do all of the above. :)

So here is my first random entry so bear with me...

BOOKS- I love to read!! I is relaxing to me. I get it from my mom. Over weekends or holiday breaks, my sister, mother and I will pull out 2-3 books each to read. I have found, though, that reading can be obsessive. I like to read before I go to sleep and when I wake up in the morning. If I read too long, then I don't have time to read the Bible. I even enjoy listening to books on tape and prefer that, at times, to the radio. Once I find a particular author that I like, I will read every book he/she has written. That is good, but I have also found that many authors get into a book pattern and every book they write follows that pattern. Boy meets girl, boy and girl like each other but don't let the other know, something happens that could potentially separate boy and girl, boy or girl gets saved (if you are reading a Christian fiction), boy gets girl. And yet, I still love reading those books.

I used to read those trashy novels but God convicted me about that I found the joys of reading Christian fiction. It is so nice to read a story where the gospel is laid out and where people's lives are affected by their beliefs. I am thankful that God gave Christians the talent of writing and that there is an audience for their books.