VALENTINE'S DAY!!

This is one of my favorite times of the year. Not because of any material gain. Although, it could be an added bonus. But, just setting aside a time to acknowlege and have a celebration of Love itself , to me is truly AWESOME. Recognizing all the wonderful people I love and cherish, and reflecting and communicating with all those I am privileged to be loved by, thrills my very being. I love the idea of love. I love everything love represents. I love being IN love with a significant other/my husband and everything that it entails.

Valentine's Day is also a special anniversary for my husband and I. This was the day we officially began courting one another. This happened after growing up and serving together in the same youth fellowship at the same church, then becoming good friends and confidants. My life changed after Valentine's Day 1967 that began my life's destiny. I regret nothing or would I change anything in my tranformation from being a singularity to a plural with William L. Pullam. By the goodness of God our plural has gotten bigger and bigger. He has richly enlarged our territory, and I am thankful.

Whenever my husband/pastor has the opportunity to introduce me publicly, he always borrow some of the lyrics of a song produced in the 50's that was sung by Sam Cook. The crowd always anticipate the words because he never fails to include them in his narration. I also have the words in print, matted, framed and it's one of my cherished posessions. Here are a few of the words.

You are the Apple of my Eye

my Cherry Pie

my Cake and Ice Cream

My Sugar and Spice

and Everything Nice

You are the Girl of my Dreams!

He has treated me as though I am everything that is good in his life. I have always felt loved through the good and throughout our struggles. But most of all, I thank God for His love and the awesome love displayed by my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ over 2000 years ago. John 15;13

Thank you for the Beautiful two dozen Roses

that reflects the beauty of our relationship

and

our Eternal Love

I love you William with my Whole Heart. You mean so much to me and there is non that can compare. Thank you for your Love and Respect. I'm yours forever and a day.

Happy Valentine's Day

to all

of my Loved Ones and Dear Friends

Be blessed

1 John 4:7

Finally Got Me!

I have done amazingly well not contacting any winter illnesses this season. Usually in early fall my sinuses act up really bad. I am very happy it didn't happen this time. We took our annual trip to Vegas the first week in November. My Mother was ill the whole time we were there as the result of her taking her yearly flu shot days before we left. I thought I was destined to get sick by being with her all week. It never fails that after being on a plane, I get a cold but neither incident caused me any trouble. During this past Thanksgiving at least 3 people that arrived for dinner had colds and I dodged the flu bullet again. While preparing for Christmas 2008 to be at my house, everyone called me at least once a week and DEMANDED that I stay healthy so our Christmas festivities would be accomplished. Christmas Day arrived and I was on top of my game, cheerful and energetic. As I greeted guests that showed up for the opening of gifts and dinner, every other person that came into my home had a cough or cold, including my Mom who hadn't gotten over her flu symptoms since Vegas. She was on her third round of antibiotics from her doctor. After a lengthy time of opening gifts with 25 persons in attendance, my kitchen crew and I put dinner on the table. Someone was missing from our circle of prayer. It was Kevin. It was his turn to say grace. I went to one of the bedrooms to look for him and he was shivering in a chair under a blanket. It turned out that he was in the begining stages of the flu with a 102 degree temperature. Kraig also had a cold, Kraig's baby son had a temperature and was throwing up, and Mama is still coughing. After Kraig and his family goes back home to Houston, my husband comes down with the same virus the baby had, but it's coming out the other end. STILL, with all of that, no problems for me.

I was concerned about my Mother because she again went to the doctor for the same cold since November and it is now January. She had a chest xray and more medicine to take. Still I had no symptoms of a cold. Now, we are days before getting on a plane to go to the inauguration. I am praying "please Lord, don't allow me to get sick" I didn't want such an exciting time to be tainted in any way. The Lord granted my request. I had a wonderful time, a great flight there and back.

BUT, ten days after we deplaned our fight back home here in Texas, It Finally Got Me. A sore throat, coughing, hot and cold flashes, body aches, upset stomach, no voice, speaking at a whisper, and a lot of drainage.

Although, there is no reason to feel joyous over how bad I am feeling at this moment, I am grateful that God was merciful and granted me the gift of sustained health. He allowed me to remain healthy so that I could fulfill the duties that were set before me, and my desire to take an unhibited trip to Washington, New Jersey and Philadelphia without any obstacles of feeling bad.

Thank you God! Please say a little prayer for me that I don't linger to long with this cold. I have no doubt that I am in his keeping care and healing hands. Until I'm feeling better, stay healthy, and I'll blog at you soon.

On my way back to Bed. Love you all.

The Inauguration? I'm Almost Speechless!

We are back in Texas from the bitter cold of Philadelphia Pennsylvania, Newark and Jersey City New Jersey, and Washington D.C. We had a fabulous time visiting each place. We are still in awe of being a part of history in the making and having the opportunity to probe into past history. It was thrilling to glimpse artifacts of America in her infancy and chronological records of events in Philadelphia.

I am speechless and there are no words to capture the essence of our experience at the Presidential Inauguration. Not only could I not believe I was really witnessing such an illustrious celebrated occasion, but that I was truly there in the flesh. Great God Almighty!! The consensus expressed in all the news programs about the feelings, reactions of everyone in attendance and the aura of the event was 100% accurate in the many emotions felt by my family and I. I thank God for the opportunity, experience, and for simply allowing it to be so. Thank you God.

My husband and I were blessed to have the companionship of our son Rev. Kevin and his wife LaTonya on our trip. We had a great time of bonding and fellowship. I am certain this will be one of our greatest family memories.

Surely, there were many great moments. One of the highlights for me was having the opportunity and privilege of meeting my first born blog son, Pastor Lance Mann. As soon as he arrived at our meeting place in Newark, I realized how TRULY excited I was. My husband and Pastor Kevin greeted him first with a declaration, that if they hadn't brought me over to meet him, they wouldn't have been able to return back to Texas in peace. Lance was then introduced to my daughter in law LaTonya. He turned to look at me. I asked him if he knew who "I" was. With a great big smile on both our faces, he reached out his arms to embrace and annouced me as Momma V! This happened two days after the inauguration, before seeing and touring any of the other sites and cities. If nothing else had happened after meeting my Lance, I would have returned home very happy and satisfied. He did not disappoint me, he met my every expectation of him. He felt just like family, a fine young man. We had a great time of fun and fellowship. He showed us a few sites, took us to Jersey city to see the New York skyline and Lady Liberty. He also took us to a fantastic place to have lunch called Je's. It was the best meal we had the entire time we were on our trip including our meal of the famous Philadelphia cheese steak. Thank you Lance for everything. I love you.

This is a picture I took at a funeral of one of our beloved Deacons standing in front of our church a few days ago. I just wanted to show off "Momma's Babies" on my blog. Has nothing to do with my trip. They are (L to R) Mr. Keith Lloyd (33), Rev. Kevin Lanier (37), Rev. Kraig Lowell Pullam (30). They are so beautiful.

Dad, Mom and the Boys!

On to the Inauguration trip photos ...

I hope you enjoyed viewing just a few of MANY pictures we took. Wish you all could have been there with us. I hope some day I will have the opportunity to meet the rest of my blog family.

P.S. I was also excited to see Will Smith's (Fresh Prince of Bel Air) neighborhood and the basketball court that he played on in West Philadelphia. I saw the Rocky Balboa statue and Patti LaBell's childhood home also.

I said, I was ALMOST speechless!!!! (lol)

My grandson,

Kai Livingston Pullam age 5

son of Kraig and D'Ani (Dee) Pullam.

Blessings to each of you

Up Up and Away, We're Off....

......to see the Forty Fourth President of the United States, Barack Obama inaugurated on Tuesday January 20, 2009. I thank God for being able to witness such an awesome, historical event in the life of our nation. I can hardly contain my excitment.

I have prepared myself for a rigorous day of events since we will be lodging in Philadelphia prior to leaving for DC early Tuesday morning and getting to the site of the inauguation which will include a bus there and another shuttle. We will do the same getting back after the swearing in.

I don't know how much sleep I will get between leaving Texas EARLY Monday morning and arriving in Philly early afternoon of the 19th. We get our rental car and go to DC to pick up our inauguration tickets at the Congressman's office there before 6 p.m. Afterwards, back to Philly that evening. We then go back to DC at 2 a.m. by bus for the event on the 20th (gates open for ticket holders at 9 a.m.), then finally that evening back to Philly. We will be there the rest of the week. I already know that the best seat in the house is at home in my cozy chair and heat. But, we wanted so much to be there and the Lord opened a door and we were one of the 250 who won the ticket lottery offered in South Texas. It took us a week to finally believe we actually won.

I wanted so much to meet a couple of my blog sons while in the area but so far it is not looking very promising. I hope something works out though. You have my cell phone number, call me.

I'm asking my blog family to please be in prayer for my husband and I along with our son Pastor Kevin and his wife LaTonya as we travel by air, bus, shuttle, car, and possibly a train (lol). I am in great hopes that this will be an unforgetable experience, one that we will not soon forget.

Matthew 19:28-30

Blessings to each of you.

A Kraig's kind of gift? Yeah, sort of.

Well, it's been a while since my last post. I have been pre-occupied with many things and preparations for the holidays. I do hope and pray that your holiday season was a blessed one and filled with family, friends and all the wonderful blessings of life that are "free" Happy New Year to each of you. Thank you Pastor Rhone for your concern and for checking on me.

My husband and I were riding along in our Escalade truck reflecting on our 2008 Christmas blessings yesterday afternoon. We always end up reminiscing on one of our Christmas' past and remembering our 3 young boys at home and how excited they would become. As parents it was a blessing to see them at times wanting to do more giving than receiving. I must admit that one (Kraig) was more prone to this than the other two at Christmas. This is really kind of strange since one of the other two (Kevin) that didn't have an overall giving spirit at this particular time of the year, was the one most giving all the rest of the year. Kevin is known as the "benevolent one" in the family. My son Keith? He LOVED getting new toys but would be upset if Mama didn't get what was to his approval like a puppy or pet snake (lol).

My husband asked during our conversation "do you remember the gift Kraig would give to you every year"? I chuckled and said (to his amazement) "I still have it in a box on a shelf in my closet, I will always keep it". Kraig was about 5 to 7 years old at the time. We had ordered a book entitled "Women of the West". Every year for my birthday, mothers day, and without fail Christmas for about three years in a row, he would pull it off the shelf, gift wrap it, and present that same book to me each time with overwhelming joy. The thing that was most amazing to me was watching the anticipation on his little face wondering how I would receive his gift, if I would like the gift, how proud I would be of the giver, and most of all anticipating my physical response of appreciation to him. Of course, each time my responses to his gift was exactly what he had desired. Although, at first I worried...is his memory so lessened that he doesn't remember from one event to the next that he gave me this SAME gift before? Then I would wonder, of all the hundreds of books we own, why THIS particular one? My husband asked "I wonder why he insisted on giving you this same book each time you had a holiday?" I thought about it and answered, there could be multiple reasons. Maybe he saw a need, or he was so pleased with my response and appreciation, he wanted to witness the thrill his mother would get by receiving the same gift I seemed to love each time before.

Just think about it. Those of us who exhort the true meaning of Christmas should NEVER become anesthetize of the joy and celebration of the "gift" that is represented in our Christmas season. The Master has made it possible for us to be offered this same gift over and over again because He sees the need, He is blessed by our appreciation, and it is a manner of praises to God when we are thrilled through our words, deeds and physical responses of "The same Gift"

I anxiously look forward to Christmas of 2009, and all the days and seasons that preceed to rejoice in "The Gift" and it's Benefactor.

And thou shalt have joy and gladness;

and many shall rejoice at His birth.

Luke 1:14

House Church

In the era in which I grew up, it was not uncommon to see a HUGE family bible (free gift with purchase of encyclopedias) being displayed on the coffee table in the "living room" or the place where you would receive guests. Being there on the coffee table served as a badge of honor that (1.) the family placed high regards and was mindful of the importance of higher learning and education (it indicated encyclopedias were in the home) and (2.) the family was a bible believing Christian family. One of my weekly chores was to dust that area. I am confessing, for the first time (before God and Mama) that I NEVER removed that big bible before dusting the coffee table. I just dusted around it :-). We as a family never had family devotion using THAT bible. From time to time my parents would gather us together to review the Sunday school lesson or just share stories from the bible. There was no doubt to all friends and family that we were a staunch church going bible centered family.

The first time I entered my in-laws small home, stairing me in the face, was their wood framed family altar. On top was placed a beautiful silk scarf with gold fridge and their family bible. As a young teenager, courting their son at the time, I was truly impressed by that. It scored points towards my goal of a potential "Christian" husband which had always been my desire. I wanted someone as much like "my" Daddy as possible. As a daughter, I realize how blessed I am to be able to say that and to also have received. Since then, their home has been beautifully renovated and it's more than doubled in size. All the children are gone and the family altar as well. We have never come together as a family there without prayer and devotion of some sort.

This causes me to wonder...is there a church in your house? Are family, friends, neighbors members of it, or are some still not saved? This was a desire of Philemon but yet he had a wicked servant. This servant did wrong towards his master and ran away. As the story goes the prayers of Philemon followed his servant, (as I'd hope my prayers would always follow my children). The servant eventually heard the preaching of Paul. He not only returned to his master with a changed heart but also a beloved brother and another member to the church in Philemon's house. I LOVE THIS STORY!

I realize that I can move ALL common affairs into my home with deliberate holiness, diligence, kindness, and integrity. More is expected of a church than an ordinary household. Internal love must be warmer and unbroken, and external conduct must be sanctified and Christlike.

Let us pray that He will give us grace to go forth from our "House Church" and shine in this world to the glory of His name.

"The Church In YOUR House"

__Philemon 2

God be Praised!

Eat, Drink & Be Merry....

........without gaining pounds.

It's that time of the year again. So, enjoy your family and friends. Don't lose what you have gained (lost weight). Continue to make healthy choices (Fitts and Kevin) while celebrating this holiday season.

Here are some tips from dietitian Versie Larkin of Monroe, La.

• Eat smaller portions
• Avoid second helpings (good luck)
• Limit alcohol (good luck to me)
• Eat appetizers made with fresh vegetables
• Eat something before the party or family gathering
• Don't fast before the party; it could cause you to overeat
• Select baked, grilled or broiled foods rather than fried
• Remove the skin from chicken and all visible fat from meat
• Take small bites and eat slowly
• Drink extra water - it's an effective appetite suppressant
• Be selective. If you don't really want it, don't eat it. Don't waste calories
• Look at every bite of food before you eat it; that provides a mental connection to how much you are actually eating.

With a little bit of discipline and some planning, you can get through the holidays. Remember, moderation is the key.

HOLIDAY CALORIE COUNTER

Favorite Food Item - Calories

Cranberry Sauce ( 1/2 - inch slice) - 86

Deviled Egg - 141

Greens (with Hamhocks) - 200

Spinach Dip (2 oz.) - 246

Pound Cake (1/16 of cake) - 250

Mashed Potatoes (with gravy) - 254

Eggnog (cup) - 304

Baked Ham (4 0z.) - 307

Roast Turkey (dark and light with skin) - 344

Macoroni and Cheese - 350

Chitterlings (Cup) - 398 - 614 (depending upon preparation)

Buffalo Wings (8 oz.) - 513

Cornbread Dressing - 541

Sweet Potato Pie - 548

I have just added the calories of each item I KNOW will be on the menu that I plan to eat. One plate adds up to... 2,539 calories. Wow! I will have to compromise something.

This is the most dangerous time for gaining more weight. I hate to rain on your parade and time of festivities. As African Americans, being overweight is a major concern because it is a contributor of diabetes, heart disease, stroke and some forms of cancer. So, take some simple steps towards eating right this season. Be careful with that Sweet Potato Pie!! Also those Chitterlings (Doc. Spoon & Me).

Have a Happy, Merry, Safe, and THANKFUL good Time.

Umm, I'm hungry now, think I'll get something to eat.

Enjoy!!