A Place of My Own

Happy Christmas!

December 24, 2010 at 11:40 pm (Good Stuff)

Luke 2:1-14

1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. 8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

Dear friends,

No matter how, or even whether, you celebrate this day, I pray that you will believe upon the Saviour whose birth we celebrate, trusting only in Him for your salvation. Merry Christmas!

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The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

September 12, 2010 at 9:49 am (Good Stuff, Me)
Tags: Bella's Birthday, Eclipse, Movies, The Twilight Saga:Eclipse, Twilight

Ok…for those of you who don’t know me that well, I am a HUGE Twilight fan. Yes…some would call me a Twi-Mom and that’s just fine with me. Tomorrow, September 13th, is “Bella’s” birthday – not Kristen Stewart – the character she plays. Yeah I know…ANYWAY, they have allowed a re-release of Eclipse across the nation in celebration of her birthday. When it was released, Nicholas was in the hospital and Miranda was at camp. I came home to watch it with my best friend. Nicholas and Miranda have never seen it.

We found a theater, in Greenville – about 40 minutes away – that was playing it at 7pm and 10pm last night!!! So we hopped in the car at 9:00 – yeah PM, and drove to Greenville to watch it. Including us, there were 6 people in the theater. It was AWESOME!!! I think theaters will be playing it through the 16th, so if you haven’t seen it yet, or would like to see it AGAIN 🙂 , search for a theater near you for showing times.

AND…by the way, they have set a release date for the dvd…December 4, 2010. I personally think it is ridiculous to wait so long to release the dvd, but I guess they are waiting for the Christmas holiday, so I will right there, at midnight, waiting in line to get my copy.

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Long Time No See

September 5, 2010 at 12:45 pm (Uncategorized)

No…I haven’t dropped off the face of the earth! I have been SO busy and facebook has been an easy way out for communication! I’m trying to get back into the blogging, so every now and then you will see my random thoughts, things going on with the family and pictures.

Brian is 25 now and Kailey is getting ready to be 2 YEARS OLD! Nicholas has just started his SENIOR YEAR at school. Miranda is beginning her sophomore year, she’s in color guard with the marching band, she got a solid cedar, electric/acoustic fender for her birthday last year and has been busy playing and writing, and she just finished driver’s ed. I just started my second year of teaching 7th grade language arts and social studies and I love my job! John is working so very hard – as usual. He is the glue that holds us all together.

And thank you to the few who come everyday even though I haven’t been around. You are awesome! See ya around!

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1 Year Celebration

October 17, 2009 at 1:45 am (Family, Good Stuff, My Grandchildren)
Tags: birthdays, Family, grandbaby, growing up, Kailey, My Grandchildren, thankful

On Saturday, Ocotber 10th, we celebrated the 1 year birthday of my granddaughter Kailey. I tell ya…It is crazy that one year has already passed in her little life. She has such a huge personality and she is just beautiful. I wanted to share some pictures with you guys. You won’t believe how much she has grown!

Grandmama loves you Kailey!

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Checking In

October 2, 2009 at 11:55 am (Family, Growing, Kailey, Me, Misc, My Children)
Tags: Family, grandbaby, John, Kailey, Miranda, praises, thankful

It’s been a while since I posted, so I thought I would let you guys know what is going on with the Griffin family.

I started work in my new job as a 7th grade Language Arts and Social Studies teacher at the middle school I attended. It is so wonderful to be back where I grew up. I am actually teaching the children of some of the people I went to school with – and that is hilarious. You can look at some them coming down the hallway and be able to say, “Hey! I know exactly who your mama or daddy is.”

Nicholas has had a REALLY great start to the school year. He has been struggling with a sinus infection for a few weeks, but he is getting better. We actually went and played tennis last night. He went to Chapel Hill on Wednesday – his weight and his lung function were down, but we contribute that to the sinus infection. He has a new special “friend.” Her name is Ashley and she is good medicine for him.

John is working hard, as usual. After a long, wonderful life of service, his truck passed away and we had to purchase a new car.

Miranda just celebrated her 14th birthday. She got an electric, acoustic Fender. It is solid cedar and it is gorgeous!

Brian and Heather are doing well also. Heather has a new job and is LOVING it. And it is so hard to believe that Kailey will be a year old in a few days. She is growing up SO fast.

SO…we are all doing well. We haven’t fallen off the face of the earth. I have just been so busy. I’m going to try to do better. If you have a Facebook, look me up and friend me. You can definitely keep up that way. We are so thankful that Nicholas is well and that everything is going along smoothly. Thanks for checking in.

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July 20th, 1985

July 20, 2009 at 1:20 am (Family, Growing, My Children)
Tags: birthdays, Brian, growing up, My Children, praises, thankful

On July 20th, 1985, I was given a most precious gift from God. He gave me my son, Brian.

I had been in labor for 12 hours with no pain medication and the doctor was telling me I had to push. I didn’t want to…I was too tired. I had been having labor pains all day on the 19th so they wouldn’t let me eat anything for fear that I may go into labor – I was weak from not eating anything. Needless to say everything came out alright – no pun intended. 🙂

When we become parents, especially for the first time, we are so scared; scared that we will do something wrong, scared we’ll feed them too little or too much, scared they will get sick or hurt and we won’t know what to do. All I had to do was look at that beautiful little face and a lot of that fear went away. All I knew was that I loved him and he was mine. He was perfect.

I know I haven’t been a perfect mother. I’m sure he will agree with that. And I surely don’t deserve him. He has grown to be a wonderful man that I am so proud of. He has a wonderful wife and they have given me a beautiful granddaughter.

Brian, on this day, your 24th birthday, I want you to know that I love you more than you will ever know. I couldn’t imagine my life without you. I am sorry for all the times I wasn’t there for you. I hope you know that I am so very proud of the man, husband, and father that you have become. Have a wonderful birthday. You deserve every minute of it. I love you!

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The 4th of July

July 4, 2009 at 1:08 am (cystic fibrosis, Family, Growing, Holidays, My Children)
Tags: Amie, cystic fibrosis, faith, Family, Holidays, life, praises, thankful

Everybody always likes the 4th of July holiday. After all, we are celebrating the Independence of our country…right? Some people have birthdays on this day so that gives them something extra special to celebrate. By the way, happy birthday Nancy! I love you!

The 4th of July holiday holds something different for me. Fifteen years ago today, John and I were at Pitt Memorial Hospital with Nicholas. We had been agonizing for months; wondering what was wrong with our precious little baby. Due to my suspicions as a mother of what he may have, we had been through several doctors and were feeling helplessly at the end of our ropes. We could see that Nicholas was getting worse and no one would listen to us. We were not in a relationship with Jesus Christ at the time so we had no peace…no comfort.

After 6 months of trying to get a doctor that would test Nicholas for cystic fibrosis (cf), Dr. Taylor came in the room at 1pm on July 4th, 1994 and told us what I knew all along. Nicholas had cystic fibrosis. See what I didn’t realize was that even though we were not acknowledging that God was in our lives, He was there all along. He had been with me my whole life preparing me for what we were about to go through as a family.

Most of you know that my mama and daddy had been foster parents while I was growing up and we had Amie with us for a while. She had cf and we learned all about the disease, medications, and physical therapy with her. You can read more here (You should start at the bottom and work your way up. Later, as an adult, one of my first jobs was with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. God had been preparing me for this day. He had been with me through all of it and He is still with me today.

As I look back and see the steps along the roads of my life so far, I feel blessed to be able to see the proof of what my mama and my grandmother had always told me – “everything happens for a reason.” For whatever reason, God has chosen me and my family to fulfill a task for him. We may never know what it is. We may never know who it is for. We may be doing it now. It may take years, months, a day, an hour, a moment…All I know is that where ever we go He is with us. Whatever we go through, He is carrying us. Whatever is in store for us tomorrow, He has it under control.

As you celebrate this 4th of July, be thankful that we have an independent country. Pray that our country can stay this way and recover from its burdens. Be thankful for your family. Be thankful for your health. Celebrate your life. I thank God for the many blessings He has bestowed upon our family. Things could always be worse than what it is. We are thankful for the time we have been given. Tell your family you love them today. Reach out to the ones you don’t see everyday and tell them you love them too. Celebrate every moment.

Happy 4th of July everybody. Thanks for checking in today.

Love in Christ…Robin

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Making Pancakes

June 27, 2009 at 9:18 am (Good Stuff, Misc)
Tags: faith

Six year old Brandon decided one Saturday morning to fix his parents pancakes. He found a big bowl and spoon, pulled a chair to the counter, opened the cupboard and pulled out the heavy flour canister, spilling it on the floor.

He scooped some of the flour into the bowl with his hands, mixed in most of a cup of milk and added some sugar, leaving a floury trail on the floor which by now had a few tracks left by his kitten.

Brandon was covered with flour and getting frustrated. He wanted this to be something very good for Mom and Dad, but it was getting very bad.

He didn’t know what to do next, whether to put it all into the oven or on the stove and he didn’t know how the stove worked! Suddenly he saw his kitten licking from the bowl of mix and reached to push her away, knocking the egg carton to the floor.. Frantically he tried to clean up this monumental mess but slipped on the eggs, getting his pajamas white and sticky.

And just then he saw Dad standing at the door. Big crocodile tears welled up in Brandon’s eyes. All he’d wanted to do was something good, but he’d made a terrible mess. He was sure a scolding was coming, maybe even a spanking. But his father just watched him.

Then, walking through the mess, he picked up his crying son, hugged him and loved him, getting his own pajamas white and sticky in the process!
That’s how God deals with us… We try to do something good in life, but it turns into a mess. Our marriage gets all sticky or we insult a friend, or we can’t stand our job, or our health goes sour.

Sometimes we just stand there in tears because we can’t think of anything else to do. That’s when God picks us up and loves us and forgives us, even though some of our mess gets all over Him. But just because we might mess up, we can’t stop trying to ‘make pancakes’ for God or for others. Sooner or later we’ll get it right, and then they’ll be glad we tried…

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“Me Lord”

June 24, 2009 at 3:46 pm (Family, Good Stuff, Growing, My Children)
Tags: growing up, Miranda, praises

This is my beautiful, talented daughter, Miranda. This is the second song for which she has written the lyrics and the music. We are very proud of her. Share it with your family and friends. You can find this and other pieces of her work as they are created at www.myspace.com/mirandagriffinmusic