Nashville, Tennessee, Feb. 22, 2014, 5:25 p.m., C.S.T.~

Dear Journal~

I am still new at this journaling thing, but I have seen my best friend, Martha Morgan, and her daughter, Alaska, doing journals, so maybe I would try to take a whack at it.  Please forgive me if it comes out sounding strange or contrived ...

We had some wild weather roll through the Nashville metro area the other night.  High winds, large hail, flooding rains, and even the threat of tornadoes; you could hear the sirens blaring; it's what woke Pedro (my husband) and myself out of a peaceful slumber.  We rolled Pedro, Jr. and Esperanza Maria (our teenage kids) out of bed, and we all hunkered down in our saferoom until the "all-clear" was given and the threat of severe weather passed.  No damage here, but Alaska and her mom lost their roof; they're now staying with Bindu (her boss at the convenience store) until their roof is repaired.

I'm just glad they're okay; it could have easily been a lot worse.

We have had a rough weather year, especially this winter.  We've had a very cold, hard winter with lots of snow, and nwo we have already have several rounds of bad weather.  Makes me wonder what spring is going to be like ... I pray it isn't a bad season in terms of storms and especially tornadoes!

Church is going well ... more members have joined, so our membership has eclipsed the 3,000 member mark.  More faces to get to know!  *Sigh*  But it IS great to see growth; lots of young people have joined.  We have four services on Sunday (two in the morning, two in the evening), one on Wednesday (plus a seperate service held at the gymnasium for the teenagers if they don't want to sit with us in the main sanctuary), and a weekly Saturday dinner-on-the-grounds.  We have classes for families, singles, women, men, and even boys and girls, to help them grow as Christians.  And of course, the nursery is still doing a booming business.

God has been very good to Christ Community Assembly of God Church!

I am praying all these blessings continue!

Work is going well for me: I have been employed at Mom's Diner for over five years, since the kids were younger (Pedro, Jr. was 10 and Esperanza, 11).  I love working for Joe Maluccia and his wife, Carmelita; they are fair and are very good at what they do to keep customers (and emoployees) happy.  I plan on continuing to work at Mom's Diner for as long as I am able.  I also love the customers; they make me want to keep working there!

And, of course, if it were not for Mom's Diner, I would have never met my best friend, Martha, and her precious daughter, Alaska.  I am glad that things have improved for them both; they have really struggled these past two years, since she lost her husband, Brent.  Brent's death really floored Alaska hard; Alaska can now talk about it without falling apart, but I can still see it in her eyes that she misses her daddy very, very much.  She and Brent were extremely close with each other; they had such a strong, loving relationship.

Well, I am getting ready to head to work; I work until 11 tonight (closing).  I pray I make some decent tips; my car is starting to act up (I think it is either the starter or alternator); I could really use the extra dough. Take care and may God bless you as much as He's blessed me over the years!

~Rosemarie.  :)

*To be continued!~