Personalized FingerPrint Trees

This is what the picture looked like at the wedding before guest arrived. We printed out fingers and our daughters in red. I made them look like birds. I had it in the frame with NO GLASS. I laid out the colored inks, wipes, and a extra fine sharpie pen for the guests to sign as they arrived. 

This was on an 18 by 24 paper with matte. 

After the wedding, this is what the picture looked like. We used a variety of greens for our guests. 

Starting the tree, I use pencil. 

I add the details with a thin permanent marker. 

Then I finalize the image with enough branches to support your guests. 

 These are some finished works I did for friends to use as examples. 

These were done on 9 by 12 paper. 

PRICES

these prices are for artwork only. 

The frame, matte, ink and maker are not included. 

$60 for 18 by 24

$40 for 9 by 12

*additional charges apply for shipping. 

Good Food and Dreams... remembering Shannon.

Pure Honesty right this second...

I was thinking about my late husband, Shannon Seaton, who passed almost 5 moths ago. He left a hole that I am finding hard to fill. I know God gives me peace and comfort, but if I am just being honest here... the hole Shannon left is not gone. Not sure if it will ever be till I see him again in Heaven. Maybe, that's the point. All holes will be filled when we go Home. Maybe it is those holes we have here on earth that drive our vision to Heaven...

I started this blog ONLY because of Shannon. He encouraged me so much creatively. He never denied me in that way. He was my greatest fan and full support. He wanted me to show my art and faith to the world. He was the one that researched differnt blog sites for me and pushed me to start. That is the incredibleness of him. He put my dreams before his own. When I really got into my blog, I would stay up late nights at times and Shannon would go to bed before me just waiting up for me to get done, "I'm almost done", I would say, "Just one second"... seconds later.... "5 more minutes...."... then snores from him. He would try to wait. But he never complained. Even the thrifty fashionista aspect of the LostSock blog... he was the photographer behind the scenes. He WANTED to take pictures of his girls dressed up. He loved to do this on Sundays after church. He was so amazing. I started to feel guilty as I spend time on my blog. I knew Shannon always had the dream of traveling Texas and visiting every burger and BBQ joint in the state and giving his own critique of each one. I started his blog page for him, hoping he would want to do one too.

Shannon loved LaWaffalata

downtown Mineola the most.

He was a man with a big appetite... and this is a "tea room" kinda place.

But this never stopped him. He always left full and happy. It was always the first place he would call on the weekends to see what their specials were. We went to different cites to eat burgers that were on the "Texas Monthly Burger Fame" list.

He said nothing beat the Hangover Burger East Texas Burger had that one New Years Day.

(he was not hung over... just had good taste).

These pictures below were taken by Shannon as I encouraged him to start blogging.

He had excuses not to, but I told him..

 "Just start local first, no big commintment, then go from there.".

The "specials" at LaWaffalata.

Our last mean together at LaWaffalata...

never would have known.

My meal on left, the Slider

Shannon's meal on right, the burger special.

                                                       Below is Shannon and Maisy

eating at East Texas Burger (joined to LaWaffalata). This is their favorite dinner spot, cause unfortunately, LaWaffalata is not open for dinner. Shannon always wished it was.

This was another burger at LaWaffalata that Shannon took a picture of...

He liked avacado, bacon, and grilled onions on his burger with the jalepenjo cheese bun.

Shannon would always make me run out and check the special board outside LaWaffala to see what they were having, but by the time I would run back to the car, I would forget. So, I got smart one afternoon and just took a picture!

Shannon also loved Kitchen's Hardware and Deli.

If the specials were not so special sounding to him at his first choice,

we would go to the Deli.

He often made reservations on Friday nights here too for our date nights.

He loved thier steak!

Every time we go to Kitchen's for lunch,

Shannon would ask for the "secret sauce".

It is just a kind of horseradish ranch suace the regulars that know about it put on thier saltine crackers. We never knew what it was, but all the old men that come in regularly would have it and one day Shannon just asked what it was and tried it. He asked for it every time after that.

The girls Madelynn and Maisy eating the "secret sauce" on their saltines.

They have kids' menus that you can color on too. Fun for them... and me too.

This was our very last mean at Kitchen's only days before Shannon past.

He never got the nachos but wanted to try somethign new.

His regular was the Shilou Plate.

He was going to do a section in his Beans, Bacon and Chopstick blog

about what I ate. He was fascinated by my food. He always teased me because I ate the oddest things.

This is my cripsy chicken salad with ranch and blue cheese crumbles. Not that weird.  

 Shannon's Blog... dreams left undone.

    http://beansbaconchopsticks.blogspot.com/

I hepled him with the name, made the design. A week before he passed, we ate at a couple of his favorite places downtown Mineola, Texas (our home town). I took pictures of his plate before he ate, posed him fork in hand and even the girls too. I wanted him to want to start blogging. But the passion just was not there for him He dreamed my dreams for me more than his own. I wonder if God made him to dream through me? I don't mean this selfishly... I mean, Shannon was a behind the stage man. He wanted to go unnoticed. He was humble down deep. He loved to see me shine. He revamped a vintage trailor to be my art studio. I never worked in it cause I didn't want to go out away from him to work. So, he moved all the stuff out years later and changed out dinging room we never ate in to my art studio. He never questioned my dreams. I was a grain of sand, he was my clam. I was a lump of coal, he was my mine. He brought out the best in me.

And now i am here.. with my blog... withough him. Still going... still dreaming.

I remember only a few days before he passed, that Friday night we were blessed with a date night to go see a friend act in a play and go eat dinner. Shannon always wanted an old car. That was one dream we had toghether. We promised one day we would do it and stopped road side many times to check out cars and consider. But that night we had our date... He almost broke his neck when he saw an old truck on the side of the road for sale. He pulled over, got out, stood on the side rail, peeked in. He just stood there dreaming. I remember looking at him and thinking, "Man, that is the most handsome Shannon has ever looked, standing there with dreams twinkling in his eyes, all passionate and sexy (sorry)". I did not tell him this though. But the way he lingered there on that truck, dreams in his eyes, passion inside.

But then let it go. Then he walked back to the car so we could drive back home to our little girls and our bed. He let them go... His dreams.

Five days later, he left us to something bigger and grander.

The place that holds all dreams.

That puts life into perspective for me, truly.

What dreams do I have that are not important? Which ones do I need to let go to God?

I know God took Shannon from me, and here I am lonely as i've ever been.

I have dreams not of finding another mate, bruildig another love, hope for a father figure for my girls to grow with. The desire to make new memories and move on to a happier place.

But, then I wonder... are these just dreams of MINE...not dreams of HIs.

What are dreams anyways?

Shannon lived to make my dreams grow and they produce fruit still and give life.

He left a earthly home that was not completed. I am here to finish the work

while he goes on to get things ready for us in our eternal home that will never fall.

His dreams are done. I just wonder if he is cheering us on form the cloud of witnesses.

"Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us (loved ones we lost),
let us also lay aside every encumbrance(dreaming dead-end dreams in vain), 
and the sin (selfishness) which so easily entangles us and
let us run with endurance the race that is set before us (God's dreams),
fixing our eyes on Jesus (seeing clearly eternity),
the author and perfecter of faith (He wrote our life, beginning to end),
who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."…
Hebrew 12:1

Is he seeing us from the grandstands, a witness from the clouds,
 trying to steer us to follow the dreams of eternal value, cheering us on?

I pray that I make the right choices,
and follow the ones that will lead to eternity and branching roads of opportunity

rather than chasing the selfish ones in vain that lead to dead ends.

 I pray we all do.

Thank you God for giving me Shannon for 10 years.
Thank you for his encouragement to nurture my creative dreams that magnify your presence.

He was so unselfish to dream through us, just watching from backstage and behing the camera lens...

You are greatly missed my love.

Your Forever Girls

Tabitha, Madelynn, and Maisy

A blog post dedicated to my best friend...

http://thelostsocklife.blogspot.com/2013/07/my-best-friend.html

Always Kiss Goodnight, Ephisians 4:26

Ephesians 4

"26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down on your wrath,... 

32 and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you."

Communication is the most important thing in a marriage. When you communicate, you respect the others' feelings. Even if you are communicating something that is wrong, you are still communicating.  In my walk of faith and marriage, I have learned 1 thing:

If I cannot talk to my husband or my Heavenly Father,

 then there is something I am holding back or hurt by... and it needs to be addressed ASAP!

Because, if the flow of communications stops, the relationship dwindles.

There were times in my 10 years of marriage, that I needed to tell Shannon something that was eating me up inside, but I fought it. When the night came, I just could not sleep without telling him. There were times in our marriage where one of us was doing something very wrong, and it was not talked about for a long long time. This made a giant hole in the marriage. 

Finally, when it came to the light,

 it took longer to heal because it took longer to reveal.

It was slept on too many nights!

I remember Shannon and I had an old headboard with a big piece of wood on it and we did not really like it. We wanted to carve this phrase into the wood to remind us every night that if we could not kiss, then we were doing something wrong. Whether it was pride of who won an argument, or one fell asleep without the other because one wanted to stay up late and watch television, or one ate too many onions! Whatever... There were some times we stayed up too late in bed just talking and talking and both of us fell asleep without a kiss. I think that is excusable though. But, If you pretty much practice this rule, things are good. Just be careful for the kisses not to be insincere and ritualistic. These can hide things.

This same rule goes for our relationship with Christ. No, we cannot "kiss" him, but a kiss is a physical act of showing love. So, a spiritual act of showing love is prayer and time with God. If we cannot do these things, then there is an error in the relationship that needs to be addressed ASAP! Or else, your walk and relationship with Him is slowly dwindling. This problem will lead to many many other problems in your life! It will effect every area. The Bible says in Matthew 6:33

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." So apposed the that, if we do not seek Him first, all these things will be subtracted unto you!

Also, the Bible says the GREATEST COMMANDMENT is “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind".. Luke 10:27. So, he is Commanding us to Love Him first, our "kiss" for him every night is to talk with Him, lay it all down.  

The bedroom is a sacred place. It is a place of rest and intimacy all at one time. We cannot do either one without the other. We cannot love our spouse fully and properly without first loving the One that made us for each other and joined us together. How can you ignore that? 

Being perfectly honest is best...

 

Above Artwork and Phrase

by Tabitha Seaton

My best friend & husband of 10 years passed away over 4 months ago unexpectedly. During the mourning process, I am trying to make sense of what was left behind and what I learned from our time here together on earth. We had an amazing marriage! We shared much more than some do in an entire lifetime and I know I was blessed with him. There is no denying he was the one God planned for me. I know this because I prayed for his arrival months before we met in Art Class at Sam Houston State. After many pointless and painful relationships, I decided to do something I had never done before. My heart was worn, so I gave it to God. This was the best thing I had done in my life at that point.  I put my love life in the fully hands of Christ, because love in my hands always failed. I decided to see love through His eyes and trust what He knew I needed, rather than what I wanted. After all, HE MADE ME and MADE a PARTNER for me.

We married and had 2 beautiful girls, Maisy  (2) and Madelynn (6). We got along marvelously, shared in tasks around the house, worked together well. He made me feel beautiful everyday and special in some way. We hardly ever fought... If we did it ended in laughing and love. We were perfect for TOGETHER... But not perfect individually. Shannon always seemed to have a high self esteem. He was an only child, had a lot of encouragement, was cultured. gifted, and talented. He was a drama teacher and actor occasionally himself. All of these things he did wonderfully... and he knew it too! So did I, he had every right to have high esteem... He also was a great artist, a great musician, a great writer, a great singer, speaker, debater, organizer, lawn keeper, decorator, bowler, tennis player, driver, historian, pop-culturer (is that a word? Shannon would know), house keeper, child bather, navigator, cook.... & the List goes on. We tended to be a competitive couple!  All his bragging led to me having to show him up often and bring him back to humility. My point is, Shannon did not seem to lack confidence in any area of life... I said "seem". He wanted to appear to others as confident. He wanted others to see his polished best. But he was also a good actor. He hardly ever spoke words of self doubt out loud to me, but I had clues. 

I often felt like our marriage was a fairy tale. No bumps, no bruises, scars, or tests. More laughter than tears. It seemed perfect...

I remember very specifically hearing a talk show on the radio while alone in my car about a married couple that had a specific bump they overcame. I though, " I will never have to worry about THAT, our marriage is perfect! But God, is it? Will you ever give us reality, a bump, character, hardship, anything?" Well, God was listening. That exact bump that radio couple had, that bump I thought we were invincible of.. the one area I felt totally secure in, it was the exact specific "bump" we hit in owr own marriage. (Note: The kind of bump we met has no importance, reason, or life to mention, so I will leave out too personal details.)
Till then, our marriage was a beautiful show... a happily ever after play. Only, I was the one in the audience clapping and loving every minute of it.  I was entranced by the spotlight and not worried about backstage and what was hiding behind the curtain. I was seeing the mirage of our marriage. I would soon find out that Shannon was working hard to put on this play, but it was about to get real, just like I asked for...

Shannon loved acting, obviously he made a living teaching others his passion. He directed more than acted himself. But when he did act, he felt confident in the light. He absorbed it. It gave him a confident high. He loved the applause when he was IN character. But, not many people knew this, he loathed the moment after curtain close where the audience came to tell the actors "good job", "will you sign my program?" Or whatever they say. He never wanted to crack out of character.

Although Shannon loved the light when he was acting, when the curtain closed, costume came off, and makeup was removed, my humbled friend was not perfect... He was perfectly real. . This always mysteriously intrigued me about him, cause he always seemed so confident all the time. But, this was an act. He had been hiding his shame & dark flaws from me to keep me happy, cheering, and loving him. But, in the end... when I saw behind the curtain, it did the exact opposite. It hurt. My happiness was in knowing him honestly, being included in his reality backstage; no coverup, no lies, no front, just HIM, Shannon Seaton. This man I admired much more than the strong, confident hero he was playing.

I thought our marriage was "perfect" before the bump, but the bump was what shook us to reality. Raw reality was more beautiful than spotlight fantasy. No matter how much honesty can sometimes hurt a person, it has a freedom beneath. If we let the hurt of the painful truth Go to God, He will supernaturally strengthen the bond and fill your hearts with a forgiveness for the bearer of the pain. This takes time though... Our hearts are human. When we are hurt, we retreat and build walls. This shuts out more than just the one that hurt us... it shuts out GOD! (see Matthew 6:14-15) It took a year of hiding my pain from the audience of our marriage to truly move past it. Being backstage with Shannon took some soul searching. It was a giant change, a leap into reality. When I began to expose it through writing and art, God began making my heart stronger. In turn, I opened it back up to Shannon and The Lord strengthened the trust and bond between us even more than before. 

The last year of marriage, the curtain was closed, spotlight was off, and our it was REAL. I found more honesty over perfection. More humility over pride. A curtain to the Heavens was opened that we never knew was there & God filled our home with His light. It humbly brought us to our knees as a couple. We realized we couldn't do marriage without him. He was our third chord.
 "Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken." Ecclesiastes 4:12

In this year. We learned more about God, each other, ourselves, love, forgiveness, honesty, sincerity, grief, healing, trust, and the refreshing spirit of human imperfection linked with the deep thirst for the Perfecter.  If there's no perfect people, there's no perfect marriage. But there is a perfect God. With faith, there is a bond that holds two imperfect people together perfectly, but without it... Every marriage, every person fails. Nothing is strong enough without it. In reality, It's not about being perfect (cause NOBODY is), it's about being perfectly honesty with each other. 
God says, " "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made PERFECT in WEAKNESS."
Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." 
2 Corinthians 12:9

I thank God for allowing me to have His beauty and heavenly light in my marriage that exposed truth... while the earthly curtain was closed. I do not regret Shannon's leaving, cause I know it was perfect timing from the Perfecter. He left when our love was at it's highest point. There were no secrets... just reality. I loved a man that was great at many many things. But those things did not impress me much. It was his real imperfections that drew me closer in the end. I know God sees us that way too. For when we boast in our weaknesses and expose truth, it allows God to show his strength and take control. In the wings, behind the earthly curtain, there is a greater spotlight for a greater glory that is eternal beyond this world. 

In my home, prideful perfection is rejected and humble honesty is expected. 

SuperTab, the autobiographical comic of my life and testimony.

Let's get this clear right off the bat...

I do not think of myself as a SUPERHERO!

But, since my life has been transformed by the grace of God,

I know that I have powers beyond myself.

So, from the point I spiritually transformed,

I put on a "red cape" of righteousness.

Here is my testimony...

(FYI, to see images larger & more clearly, 
simply click on them and view slideshow...)
Have fun!

He begins our life before we are even born!

I had a roof over my head and parents that loved me.

But, my room was falling apart from termites eating my walls and our roof was leaking when it rained.

Not to mention, that scratching sound in my walls when I slept

(later found out there were roaches breeding for years).

I guess as a kid, you don't realize money being an issue.

I was happy enough... I learned to focus on the fun times and just keep going.

My parents always had enough money to give us a small bi-weekly allowance.

With the money I got, I would buy stuffed animals or jokes.

This filled me with love and laughs.

My mom found ways to get some cash creatively.

She loved to collect coupons, box tops, or cans for recycling.

My dad collected other things...

Like a room... or two... or three... of electronics and gadgets.

I think we were the first people in the neighborhood to own a home computer...

or ten!

 

 

After I got skinny, MaryAnn invited me to her Birthday Party. 

This was a sign that my life was about to change. 

The gymnastic monkey bar swinging girl that once made fun of my stinky hair was finally accepting me...

 

 

 

 

 

 

To see a blog post dedicated to Mrs. Raines, go here...

http://thelostsocklife.blogspot.com/2013/03/mrs-rainesshe-rained-love.html

 

(above and below were designed to go side by side)

  

 

High School was a hard place to be.

Just like above, I could not seem to find a place to fit in.

I did not have a lot of confidence in my abilities except the fact that I was creative.

But most of the creative types were into things I did not want to do. 

 

(above and below were designed to go side by side)

 

I found a cheap way to express myself creatively...

THE STINKY STORE!

 

Thrifting did keep me somewhat occupied...

but i failed to get active in other positive school activities.

Out of boredom I found entertainment in my ever-changing crushes on boys.

Growing up in my teens, heartbreak was no stranger.

I had my share of mean boys that left me lonely and lost.

God was watching over me and keeping me safe throughout these wandering times...

Going to college gave me a new lease on life.

After dating jerks and pervs and users...

I was needing to change something.

I needed to quit picking the guys I thought I wanted

and trusted my love life in the hands that made my life...

soon after this...

I met him!

Shannon Seaton from Mineola, Texas (where is that?) in an art class called

Mask and Puppetry.

The class was... well..... InteRESting

Well, Shannon was not really the type of guy i was used to.

I come from a line of punks, so he was going to take some getting used to.

They always made the first move,

Shannon was shy, gentlemanly, and patient.

As friends, Shannon and I made lots of fun memories.

Playing cards, going out to eat, shopping, laughing...

But the friendship could only last so long...

New feelings started to arise...

But a decision had to be made.

Go away to the college of my dreams, or stay planted in the place I was...

I stayed planted!

My dreams changed!

and we ended up getting married, moved to Mineola, and having a family...

skip over a few years...

and...

Shannon was my best friend. But, when I moved, I left all my good girlfriends behind.

I was lonely and in need of friendship of the female kind.

I needed a friend, but not just any friend. A strong Christian friend.

So, just like I prayed for a husband, I prayed for a friend.

I met Micah!

and amazing Christian Woman...

God answers prayers.

Even when I was apart from Micah,

her positive words lingered in my heart.

Those lingering words touched my imagination and fired me up!

I was volcanic...

A new lesson for my art room was born!

The Keith Haring Semiotics Posters...

http://tabithaannthelostsock.blogspot.com/2012/04/keith-haring-semiotics-posters.html

I really wanted to go. Little did I know this trip would be my "volcano"

and Satan was going to do all he could to stop me.

He put doubts into my mind...

and fear in my bones...

But, God's perfect love released my doubts and fears!

I went...

It was amazing from the start.

It was like God opened up Heaven on earth!

I learned how to truly open up and worship Him in Spirit.

I learned how to meet with Him in my "Secret Place"...

Things were going to be different for sure. I was not sure how the family would take this new change...

I felt as though I was a different person...

This night is what created this book...

This book was orchestrated by my Father.

I took His lead and was His apprentice.

INSERT LOST SOCK PAGE HERE

Life flowed from this point on...

But I have not caputured it in illustrated from.

Although I have cointinued Creationg for my Creator.

My art gets me through every phase of my life.

When I am feeling crazy, it keeps me calm.

When I am happy, it helps me express it.

Some circumstances came up in the Summer of 2011, after the birth of my 2nd daughter, 

 that shook my world.

In one day, my trust took a crash.

Things that I never thought would happen... they did.

Satan can touch any area of your life if you let him.

And all it leaves behind is hurt and deception.

Somebody I love was pulled into the darkness, and when they came out...

it left me deeply confused and deceived.

I live and dwelled in the sadness for an entire year

When it was too hard and I was too stubborn to forgive,

God gave me a supernatural dream.

I went to a MegaChurch as a bistandard sitting as far up as I could.

I was hoping not to be noticed and just wanted to watch.

I didn't feel at home like I would at my own church.

The preacher was talking about leaving your burdens at the water and washing clean and was encouraging everyone to come down to the water to get cleaned.

I decided I was not ready to forgive and let go quite yet. I was not going to participate and was about to leave.

When all of a sudden, I looked up and God had brought the water up to my seat. The water was defying gravity and fighting my stubborness. I got soaked by the wave!

After I woke up, things seemed different. I was ready to get past this hold I had on things.

Despite ME not being ready, GOD was ready.

If I wouldn't put effort into walking down to get soaked and forgive,

He was just going to bring the water up to me.

Planet Shannon is gone now.

It took me a while to want to fix it as a team.

I wanted it to just be God and me...

But, God made me realize what a wonderful husband he gave me.

With God, we are growing stronger...

 

After our family was healing back together...

I decided to do a lot of re-retail therapy.

I became a thrift-a-holic.

But it was for a good purpose. 

I felt like with what God did with my life and my marriage was bring them both back to life in a renewed way. They were things that had lost their value and I wanted to reclaim value in all parts of my life. 

I see thrift stores as a cemetary for clothes that have been given up on. 

I want to rescue them and give them a new purpose. I will appreciate them even more than the original owner ever did. I will make them new and bring them back to style.

This makes me feel good... and I want it to be my legacy, just like my Mom made it for me.

(currently working on filling in the gap here...)

.

It took my Faith and my art to pull me out of the pit of sadness and doubt.

My faith art helped me heal. I incorporated the experience and feelings I traveled though into my art to help me come to a point of moving past the pain. When I started letting go and pulling out the pain for something good...

God took over. He turned the ashes into beauty.

Although what happened was born from Satan, God can take any situation and turn it around for His plan.

He can do anything as long as we trust Him.

The images below are linked to my process of healing...

God gives us gifts in times of pain to soothe our spirit.

Madelynn was my heart's music and she gave me peace.

She is a precious gift from God. 

http://tabithaannthelostsock.blogspot.com/2012/04/healing-through-hurt.html

The Sky is Falling

http://tabithaannthelostsock.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-sky-is-falling-by-tabitha-seaton.html

sometimes when your world falls apart and the sky is falling,

it can be a beautiful thing.

If we are willing to let go of the past we can find peace waiting in the wings...

(click on image to see bigger)

It always helps me to see my problems the way He sees them...

He always has a greater plan.

We need to count our blessings in times of hardship. 

When you can't seem to count, start with thanking him for your 10 fingers & 10 toes.

Life is all about making the choice to see the positive in life. 

Sometimes we need to renew our prescription to see our glass half full.

http://tabithaannthelostsock.blogspot.com/2012/10/prescription-of-peace.html

As long as we keep a solid foundation, 

NOTHING can tear us apart!

Sometimes it takes hardship in marriage and family

to realize the truth... We are all full of flaws and weaknesses.

It is only in weakness that we can see His strength.

Our love is full of flaws and no matter how hard we try, it is selfishly conditional.

Even Peter, Christ's closest disciple, betrayed him three times. Jesus told him this at the last supper, but Peter did not believe Him. Peter did not plan to betray Christ or want to. When we marry or have children, we do not plan to disappoint them... but it will eventually happen. Jesus loved Peter and loves us anyways. This all teaches us that no matter how much we think we love someone, human love will fail. But that is why we need God's love to bind our hearts.

Only Christ is flawless and can perfectly love.

Through Him we can learn to love each other in an eternally perfect way.

That's was life is all about... Trusting the Creator over His Creation.

If we were all perfect, Jesus's loving sacrifice would be meaningless. 

Forgiveness is a requirement for survival.

I am seeing the color come back to my family every day...

http://tabithaannthelostsock.blogspot.com/2012/10/family-portrait.html

TO BE CONTINUED...

_______________________________________________________________

 

Last time I typed here it was 3/1/13.

It is now 3/6/16... 3 years and 5 days later.

Since the healing of my marriage, my then husband of ten wonderful years joined our Father in Heaven on June 18th 2013. We had just renewed our vows after 10 years as a symbol of beginning new together. We were starting the Summer together as a blessed and joyful family. It was a wonderful morning. Shannon was excited about working in the yard. He had told me only a week before that working in the yard was his time of worship. Before he began working, we ate breakfast as a family on the front porch. Soon our oldest daughter Maisy (then 6) was upset and scared of the bugs on the porch so we told him it was time for us to all go in. There we saw him from the front door on his hands and knees pulling up sticker burs by the curb. He had tried for months to kill them with spray, but they just stubbornly stayed. So, he was going to pull them by hand. Us girls went inside and I gave Maisy some ice water to take out to him. She did. I am so glad she did. That was the last time she saw him. We got busy in the house playing and creating. Maisy couldn't find her IPAD so I went out to ask Shannon if he had seen it around. He knew where it was and told me, so I went back in to get it for her. That was the last time I saw him. Time passed and we had been thinking about lunch. I had not heard any lawn equipment noises in a bit, so I went out to the back to holler for Shannon. HE did not answer. It wasn't unusual for me to call out for him and he didn't answer. He thought it was funny the way I yelled out his name, "Sheeannon"! He would tease me about my accent and I thought he was just pulling my leg this time, like all the times before. But I didn't see him, so I went back through the house to the front yard. Again, I called "Sheeannon"!. No answer. So, I walked to the side yard and up the driveway and saw him laying under the tree on his back. I thought he was taking a rest and I kinda was tickled at the thought of it. I thought it was sweetly childish for him to lay like a little boy looking up at the sky. So, I came closer and noticed he was not asleep. I tried to wake him up... He was gone.  I knew it. In my panic I screamed for help. A sweet woman heard me from across the neighborhood. She worked with both of us at the school & her husband was our daughter's principal. She helped give him CPR as I called 911. God shielded the girl's ears from my screams because they never heard me from inside. I am grateful for that. EMS came to pick us up. I watched him from the front of the ER car praying to God, "Lord, Hold Shannon in your arms, hold him in your arms, hold him...". I kept repeating it. A peace that passes understanding overtook me. I heard to lord say to my heart, "Tabitha, I am holding him. You do not need to pray for him anymore." I knew it was true, but the ER tried to revive him. It was too late. He was gone. Our girls Maisy and Madelynn were now left without an earthly father.

The season slowly ended. God held me too, but His hand extended from Heaven to Earth to comfort me and my girls.

I am here three years later with a different life. I want to share how God has taken care of us through this journey, but need prayer for the time and courage to draw out the rest of my testimony. If anyone is reading this, I pray you will give me words of encouragement to help me muster the guts to do it. My spirit tells me it's time to share. If It is GOd's will, I know He will give me the time to work and complete the story.

In His Glorious Name,

Tabitha Morgan