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Happy 16th Birthday!!!!!

Written by admin on . Posted in birthday, family, Kerri, Love. No Comments on Happy 16th Birthday!!!!!

Justin Bieber who? Today is all about Kerri!
Saw that today was Justin Bieber’s birthday and truthfully I really am not concerned.
What I am concerned about is that today is my daughter, Kerri’s 16th Birthday.
Sixteen years ago I remember every detail of that special day and with it brings so many mixed emotions.
Primarily, it reminds me that your children grow up way too quickly, as she is the youngest of our three.
But there is something different with this one because with Kerri I know it won’t be long before
she, too, like my other children, will be grown and headed off toward full independence. I know that’s supposed to happen, but oh does that hurt. Like most parents, I look back over my children’s adolescent years with nothing but fond memories and realizing that one can never turn back the hands of time.
Never one day have I ever seen Kerri with a bad attitude.
Never one day have I ever seen Kerri treat someone unfairly.
Never one day have I ever been disappointed in her actions.
Never one day have I ever not seen her honor God.
Never one day have I ever not seen her honor her mother and me.
Never one day have I ever thought she’s on the wrong path.
Never one day have I ever seen her not be concerned about helping others.
Never one day have I ever heard her use bad language.
Never one day have I ever not seen her jubilant smile.
Never one day have I ever not been blessed with her life and spirit.
Never one day have I ever seen her not love Jesus.
Never one day have I ever felt worried about how she would turn out. Well, except for one thing!
She told me once when she turned 16 she wanted to start dating boys and I only have ONE THING to say…..
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Well, at least I got that out of my system.
Kerri, Happy Birthday Girl! You are the bright and merry star!
I love you more than all the stars in the sky!
I love you more than all the french fries at McDonald’s!
I love you more than all the cars on the freeway!
I love you more than all the birds that chirp!
I love you more than all the sand along the shores.
I love you MORE THAN YOU WILL EVER KNOW!
Love Dad

A Tribute to my Dad

Written by admin on . Posted in dad, family. 1 Comment on A Tribute to my Dad

Dallas, Dad and DudleyPing Pong Championship…. Guess who won??? The gentleman on the right!! We are all really good at going through the chow line.

Dear Dad,

Happy Father’s Day to you…. I tried calling but got an answering machine… Just wanted to make sure that you know YOU’RE THE BEST DAD IN AMERICA…

Thank you for ALL YOU’VE ever done to bless all five of us children.

The food in our tummies…
The monies that we spent..
The games that we played…
The gas in our cars…
The cars that we wrecked…
The sermons that we borrowed…
The jokes that we heard…
The clothes that we wore…
The bills that you paid…
The house that we lived in…
The fish that we caught…
The spankings that some of us deserved (Ha)…
The trips to St. Louis…
The travels to Norman…
The letters that you’ve written…
The tears that you’ve cried…
The dog named Rowdy…
The first set of Golf Clubs…
The first mini-bike…
The large fish you put in mother’s tub (Ha) …
The wisdom…
The advice…
The laughter…
The love…
The Church that you led…
The people that you baptized…
The example that you set…
The way you loved mom…

And most of all……
The Jesus that you pointed us towards.

Thank you dad…
You are the best.
And as you’ve always said… You’re number one… right after me… (hahahahahaha)
I love you.
Your son……. Dudley !!!

P.S. Thanks for my name… what were you thinking?

Grandpa and Bullfrogs

Written by admin on . Posted in dad, family, frogs. 4 Comments on Grandpa and Bullfrogs

My cousin, Jimmy, posted the above picture. This might look like just a bunch of bullfrogs, but to me, it’s much much more. My grandfather, Grandpa Jim, died when I was about 4 years of age, and I never got to really know him. He was a powerful preacher and church builder back in the days of the Great Depression. When my cousin posted this picture, he noted that my grandfather is on the far right. My Aunt Ann, who recently passed away, is in the lower right hand corner. My grandmother, Millie, is third from the left. And… DRUM ROLL PLEASE… my dad is the smallest child on the bottom of the picture in a white t-shirt. Hahahahahahahahahahahaaha… And his brother, James, is the other boy standing next to dad.
I know that most of you will probably now have a much lower opinion of where I came from, but hopefully you won’t hold it against me.
If you click ON THE PHOTO… You will be able to take a closer look at both my family and the frogs. My cousin, Jimmy, told me that the reason they all look unhappy is that it was EARLY in the morning and that someone had been froggin’ all night long and woke everyone up just to take this picture.
I really have NO point to this story except to show you this CRAZY picture. And one day soon… In heaven… I will get to ask my Grandparents MORE about this picture and the kid in the white t-shirt.

My Beautiful Mother

Written by admin on . Posted in Bible, family, Mother. 1 Comment on My Beautiful Mother

I was able to visit my mother this past Tuesday in Fresno, California. We were eating a little Mexican food and my handsome father snapped this photograph. I don’t get to see my mom much because she is so active in HER church that she rarely visits MY church. I LOVE that about my mother. She has always set the perfect example for me. As a young man I remember her sitting in church EVERY WEEKEND with a BIBLE in her lap, taking notes as dad preached. That visual has directed my life to keep the word of God a priority and to soak it in as much as possible. I’m sure she heard dad preach thousands of times, and each time she was like a sponge, carefully listening to the voice of God being taught by the Holy Spirit in truth and wisdom. I hope and pray that I have been that example to my children and to the Shepherd of the Hills Church. May we all continue to study, learn, memorize and apply the word of God. Thank you, mother, for being the “World’s Greatest Mom”. I love you!!! Dudley

Mom and Dad

Written by admin on . Posted in children, dad, family, mom. No Comments on Mom and Dad

Dallas, Dad, and Dudley
Mom, Kayla and Kerri
Ask Dallas who won????
Dad getting ready to pray for our Thanksgiving meal.

Had a chance to go see my parents over Thanksgiving and I just wanted to thank the Lord for my parents and all they have ever done for me in both word and example. I truly am a blessed man to have such Godly parents.

Most of you know my dad and how great of a preacher he is and probably most of you do not know much about my mom. She is a SAINT!!! 🙂 and she is the one who held our family together. My mom is funny. She is beautiful and delightful. She is wise and she is the worlds leading mulitasker. She was the one who dressed us and got us to church on weekends, fixed all our meals and made sure we always behaved.

I just want to tell you that I PRAISE GOD for my parents and I hope that I can be the same for my own three children.

Hopefully each of you will take time over these holidays to reflect on your families and to express your love and appreciation to them.

Dudley

Happy 75th Birthday DAD

Written by admin on . Posted in dad, family, Kerri, mom, renee. 2 Comments on Happy 75th Birthday DAD

Mom, Pops and Merri Kerri at CPK…..
3 generations of extremely beautiful women!
In just a few days… on August the 3rd, my father will turn 75 years of age. As someone who has idolized my father from day one, it’s difficult to imagine that Pops can be 3/4 of a century young. Yes, I said young! For you see… in earthly terms, we see things from an earthly perspective. Yet from an ETERNAL viewpoint, 75 years is shorter than a blink of an eye. My dad is YOUNG in comparison to how long we will live in Heaven.

Recently, my mom and dad came down to L.A. from Fresno to perform a wedding and stopped by for a brief visit. We went to CPK… and I took a couple of pictures of Mom and Dad… Renee and Kerri… (Renee does NOT like to have her picture taken… so PLEASE don’t tell her that I posted her picture on the blog)

I’m going to do something I probably shouldn’t do… but I would like to invite you to send my dad a birthday card… I mean after all, how often do you get a chance to tell my dad “Happy 75th?”

Dad… Happy Birthday… I’m planning on coming to visit you on YOUR day… I have a special gift…. you’re going to like it… Can’t wait to see you… hug you… love you… and hand you your special gift… (remind me, and I might post what the gift is…. and yes it looks quite simple… but it’s a unique gift…hahahahahaha)

Dad… We love YOU… and Happy 75th!!!

Address:

H. Dean Rutherford
Northside Christian Church
2709 E. Nees Ave.
Clovis, CA 93611