Where to Begin.......

Ina Lou Miller
August 29, 1928 - December 25, 2008
A true Proverbs 31 Woman.

A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.
Her husband has full confidence in her
and lacks nothing of value.
She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.
She selects wool and flax
and works with eager hands.
She is like the merchant ships,
bringing her food from afar.
She gets up while it is still dark;
she provides food for her family
and portions for her servant girls.
She considers a field and buys it;
out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
She sets about her work vigorously;
her arms are strong for her tasks.
She sees that her trading is profitable,
and her lamp does not go out at night.
In her hand she holds the distaff
and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
She opens her arms to the poor
and extends her hands to the needy.
When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
She makes coverings for her bed;
she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
Her husband is respected at the city gate,
where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
She makes linen garments and sells them,
and supplies the merchants with sashes.
She is clothed with strength and dignity;
she can laugh at the days to come.
She speaks with wisdom,
and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
"Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all."
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

On Christmas evening we lost a dear person to our family. Ina Lou was B.J.'s grandfather's wife of 12 years. She has been a wonderful wife and caretaker to George and a blessing to all of the family. The passage above truly does describe her. She is a woman I aspire to be like. Lou will be deeply missed. We are so thankful we had a wonderful Christmas Eve spending time with George and Ina Lou before she was called home!

The last two weeks have been so crazy. I will do a little back tracking in an attempt to catch up on all the happenings.
December 13th BJ and I headed to Dallas to run the White Rock marathon. BJ. ran the full, I ran the half. The weather conditions were not optimal (windy, hot and humid) but we made it! Our dear friends, Fred and Blythe, win the award for the best spectators, toteing us around Dallas, and cheering us on!
BJ worked in Fort Worth the following week. Since I am out of school for a while, I stayed with him and had the opportunity to do some Christmas shoping and catch up with old friends from college. It was a much needed visit with some friends I hadn't seen in a while for me! I miss them so much! While we were there, despite some icy weather we made it over to Dallas to watch our Mavericks play some basketball. Vacations like this make us both miss living in the DFW area.
Zachary's (BJ's nephew) 8th birthday was December 20th. He had a Red Raider party at their house! It was a lot of fun.
Christmas eve lunch went to Post to celebrate with the Miller side of the family. We spent Christmas eve back in Lubbock at his mom's and then Christmas morning we went over to his sister's house to watch the kids open their presents from Santa.
We then jumped in the car and went to Amarillo. We had a very nice Christmas and meal with my family before we recieved news that we needed to come back to Lubbock to be with BJ's grandmother. My parents fixed lobster, shrimp and pork tenderloin! YUMMY!

We are reminded especially at times such as these, how blessed we are with great family and friends. To never take for granted shared meals and hugs from those we love!