Marilyn's Mussings

I have lived in Montgomery, Alabama, Topeka, Kansas, Amarillo, Texas, Vancouver, Washington, Yakoto, Japan, Dover, Delaware, Prattville, Alabama, Columbus, Mississippi, Wellington, Alabama, Jacksonville, Alabama Anniston, Alabama, back to Montgomery, Alabama, Gadsden, Alabama, and now Birmingham, Alabama. Every time I move my heart breaks for the friendships I have to leave. We always say we will keep in touch but the truth is life carries us on to the busyness of the day and all that screams to be handled in the immediate present. Last week I was reminded of the hope that friendships remain. I had lunch with my dear friend Judy from JSU. She was in town with her husband and we took a couple of hours to catch up. I didn't know Judy well until not long before I left JSU but my spirit bore witness with hers and I will always cherish her friendship. Then I spent the afternoon with Susan, my roommate from Mississippi State. Susan and I lived together, were in each other's weddings

I love a good fiction book and Karen Kingsbury can write them faster than I can read them. I have dear friends who have been so involved in her books about the Baxter family that they have had to stop themselves from requesting prayer for them! I knew this was a family I needed to spend some time with so during my move I became acquainted with the Baxter family. It all started with the Redemption series. I was a little out of touch with my "real" friends so bonding with them was easy. There are five books in the series. One of the saddest things about fiction is getting involved in the lives of the people in the book and then leaving them when the book is over. Not so with the Baxters! As soon as I finished one I dove right into the next! Then, I found that at the end of the Redemption series, there was yet another series about the Baxters! The Firstborn series which included five books also! I just finished the last of those five books and I am now completely involved in

More than thirteen years ago, Jerre and I were in Nashville and went by the LifeWay store. A real treat for me! While there, I happened upon a new in-depth Bible study written especially for women. It was by someone I had never heard of, but the title tugged at my heart: A Woman's Heart, God's Dwelling Place. A friend of mine had done a few studies for women at church so I asked her about leading that particular study. My motive was purely selfish. I wanted very much to do the study. She agreed but sometime along the way, God moved her and left the study in my care. Oh my! What a journey we have been on since! God used Beth Moore and that particular study to stir something in me that He is still stirring! I pray He never stops! Since then, we have done study after study. As fast as Beth Moore could write them, we were studying right behind her. In between, we would go through A Woman's Heart and Breaking Free again. Then other women authors' studies became available.