If God keeps on blessing and blessing!

It's all about......

It is always wonderful to visit with friends of long ago, and it just seems like there have been an abundance of them lately, one way or another. Jim and Jocelyn stand out as sent here to us from God, just at the time when we needed them most. They remain in my life still today as friends extraordinaire, Jocelyn and I going way back to when Jim and I were first married, and having to break up that friendship when we moved to Izmir, Turkey. Throughout the years God has brought people into our lives that have been very special. He knew that going into a foreign country was going to be a unique, sometimes lonely experience for us, so He went about preparing new friends for us to have while we were there.....sure, just while we were there.

It was about a year when he brought another special couple to us. Yes, they were among others, but there was something very special connecting us with them, gluing us together. Actually, more than one epoxy, but if you ask her, Pat would say there was one main one, and that would be our son Jim, aka Jimbo. Her husband Jimmy was in the delivery room the morning he was delivered after a long, complicated labor, but she was the one who stepped in there when she arrived in Izmir, and felt a special bond with this baby we had joyously welcomed into our world. Children have a way of changing everything don't they?

We spent a lot of time with Pat and Jimmy that first year of his life. Then came Christmas. We had spent the first and second years somewhat alone, stories unto themselves. But, this year found us decorating, and preparing for the beginning of a traditional Christmas of our own. Ohhhh..... hear that? Traditional. Not a happy word drifting within the confines of our family so much nowadays. Guess it's not too terribly bad, though. It lasted about 40 years or so. I don't remember specifics, but knowing the outcome, Pat probably joined with me in preparing for Christmas, since they spent the night with us to be able to join in with Jimbo's Christmas morning as a *grown up* one year old.

Meet our friends, Pat and Jimmy Sasser today........