Millsaps Graduation and Mother's Day

Last Saturday, Kurt and I attended the graduation ceremonies at Millsaps College in Jackson. Kurt used to work with a ministry there called Millsaps Christian Fellowship before we moved to Tupelo. Some of our beloved students were graduating, and we simply did not want to miss it. Our ministry functioned as an RUF and housed a diverse group of believers -- some Catholics, some Methodists, some Episcopals -- who, we hope, all espoused the same belief that Jesus Christ alone (and nothing else: not Jesus + baptism or Jesus + good works or Jesus + fill-in-the-blank) is the only way to Salvation (See Ephesians 2:8-10). Millsaps is a school that is starved for truth and functions on the next whim or popular ideology in the name of Tolerance, so the students need an anchor of true Theology, which we suggested to them is found only in God's holy and inerrant scriptures. We had a wonderful time seeing our friends.

Kurt, Asela, Brian, and me

Kurt, Rob, and me

Me, Julia (My favorite), and Kurt

The next day we drove to West Point after church to spend Mother's Day at my grandparents' house. Kurt's parents joined us as well. My grandmother has been the best mother to me that I could ask for. If I had prayed for a mother, I'd have only listed half of Grandmom's qualities and thought they'd be the best I could get. But God gave me more than I could ever ask or imagine in Martha Braddock. When God calls me to be a mother, I hope to live in her likeness to my children. Hopefully I will since I am named after her and we are so much alike. I love you, Grandmom!

Me, Grandmom, and Leslie

Kurt's mom has also been a wonderful mother to me. As some of you know, my birth mother left my family when I was 9 years old. She hasn't done much else since then. Growing up, I prayed continually that God would give me another mother in my mother-in-law. Not only has He done that, but also He has given me a dear friend. Barbara Cooper is different from my grandmother, but it's a good different. She is wild and crazy and never meets a dull moment or a stranger. I love her generous and compassionate heart, and I hope Kurt and I can model those same qualities to our children some day. We will have wonderful stories (more like legends) to tell our children about their sassy grandmother, but I hope she will be around for years to tell them herself! We love you, too, Nicole Kidman look-alike.

Grandmom, Me, Kurt, Nicole Kidman

When this picture was taken, Barb said, "You better make me look like Nicole Kidman in this picture!" Done.