Pay it forward

Okey dokey, I have seen this around and since my love language is gifts and words of affermation, I am excited to do this.

I will send a hand made gift to the first three people who leave a comment on this post requesting to join the PIF exchange. All the gifts will be made and sent out sometime soon within the year. How exciting to not know when your surprise package will arrive. What you need to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog. This exchange is only open to those with active websites or blogs. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS PROMISE TO POST THIS SAME 'PAY IT FORWARD' MESSAGE ON YOUR BLOG, WHICH MUST BE ACTIVE IN ORDER TO PLAY. YOU WILL PAY IT FORWARD TO THREE PEOPLE WHO COMMENT ON YOUR BLOG. Recap: The first three people who comment, commit to the PIF thing. The gifts are supposed to be hand made. I know a lot of you are probably thinking that you can't get in on it because you aren't "crafty" enough. If you really want in on it but don't find yourself crafty enough, I am sure it would be okay to support someone you know that has a handmade crafty kind of business. Buy a gift from them.

Got it?

So hurry and be one of the top 3 so you can get a "sussie"

I am so excited to pass this on to my blogging friends! Take care and have a blessed day!

Lovin' this weather!

This week was Spring Break and although I am not teaching anymore, and the kids aren't in school full time I thought it wouldn't be any big deal. But not having to wake up two mornings this week and have to go somewhere has been a nice break!

Thankfully the first three days were beautiful and we have spent A LOT of time outside! We have some wonderful neighbors on either side and across the street that all have kids. The neighbors to the left of us, the mom and have become very close. We are the same age, but her kids are older than mine. In fact when we moved in, her youngest was younger than Andrew is now. That is hard to believe. The neighbors on the right have a son who just turned three, and a baby six weeks younger than Kaitlyn. We also have kids the same age as Andrew across the street, so we all where outside playing the other day and had a blast. Andrew began riding his big boy bike he got from Santa and went so far and had so fun. At first he was going slow, but by the end was really going fast...now we just need to learn to steer!! :)

Andrew had is four year check-up and Kaitlyn had her nine month check-up..a little late. Andrew is right on track, took his hearing and vision tests and did great. He had to get four shots...and that was hard on me. He hadn't one where he was old enough to know what was going on, and he just was crying and asking to go home...it was hard on me. He did not let me take the band-aids off, they had to fall off and wouldn't sit in the tub until they did...drama--wonder where he gets it. Kaitlyn got two shots, but the Dr. is slightly concerned that she is not crawling or pulling up so we are going to have Sooner Start out to evaluate her. I am sure that it is nothing, but everyone knows Satan and the things he can do. I had a wonderful Bible Study the other night though and was encouraged and loved.

Here are some pics of us enjoying the great outdoors, hope everything is going well, love to you all!

My precious angel!!

Jordan, Michael and Andrew playing football

Where did all the time go? Oh, BTW, I know that he does not have his helmet on, but it got too small from when we first bought it...and I was next to him the whole time.

She loved watching her big brother!

Playing golf at Grammy's

Here is a video of my little rider!

Where joy and sorrow meet

I wish I had come up with this phrase, but my good friend Molly was thinking of a song that they sing in Singing Churchwomen. This describes what some precious friends have been going through lately.


This past week I had some friends bring home a baby girl, but bury a baby boy. sorrow I had some friends have a baby boy and baby girl JOY I had some sick kids on my hands sorrow They are now feeling better JOY I miss talking to my mom horribly sorrow She is in heaven and always here for me to talk to JOY Our friends burried their seven year old son sorrow They are finding God in all aspects JOY I just read on a "blogger friend" blog that a baby she had planned and loved and waited to adopt, the birth mom decided to keep her baby. sorrow Wonderful study on Fireproof the movie and One on One. JOY



And all of that has been this past week! The Bible is full of verses that talk about joy and sorrow.



Romans 11:12-13 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.



1 Thessalonians 16-17 Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.



What does this mean, is this "Just life"? Yes and no. Yes, things like this happen in life, but as Christians our sorrow doesn't define us. The scripture speaks about finding God's will in the sorrow, keep praying and allow God's joy to overcome you. We can know that God is love, He loves us, and that is where we find our joy. I know I have blogged about this a lot lately, but I feel so heavy for friends that are being afflicted. We need to pray for one another, love one another and encourage one another.



And bottom line, know that without a doubt God will overcome and in our sorrow, he will meet us with His joy.



My biggest source of joy:

My 10 month old!

I am finally posting about my little girl! She is an absolute joy. She is the smiley baby and smiles at everything and everyone. I am so in love with this girl! She is very snuggly and loves to be center of attention and is very verbal..wonder where she gets all that? She is eating very well, is in a big girl car seat and loves taking baths with her brother. Her new things are to wave bye-bye and we do start them young in our house because if you say touchdown, she holds her hands up above her head! The young lady she is with in one of the pics is our babysitter and very good friend, Allison! Easy name to remember. The baby she is with is her bff Harper, my bff Carri's little girl. They are about 2 months apart in age. Harper just turned one...and it will be Kaitlyn's turn soon! Amazing. Again, she is a joy...sorry it has taken so long to post about my precious girl!

Mason Carter Noah Nance

Our dear friends, MaryBeth and Jason Nance lost their son last week suddenly. He was seven, was going to be eight in April. He has an two older sisters, Jenny who is 12 and Michaela who preceded him in death in 95, who was stillborn. He was an absolute delight to know and to be around. We missed out on the oppurtunity to see him very much since we live so far apart, but the time we were together he was full of life and joy. The comments I have read talked about his presence, his joy and his laughter. He loved sports, baseball especially. Every picture I saw of him was with this amazing huge smile and twinkle in his eye that boyish mischief was just around the corner. We got to hold him when he was only months old and the joy of being his godparents. The world no longer has a shining light, but heaven has an AMAZING angel. What a blessing Mason was in this world, what an impact he made in his short little life. We love you Mas, and can't to see you soon!!

God is my strong tower

My heart is a little heavy tonight. Since everything with my mom, I have become a "blog stalker". Here are people that I have never met and now some of them are my friends on Facebook, and I talk about them like I know them! They have become a part of my life, but through all of these blogs I have been encouraged in my grief, inspired by their dedication and love to God, and uplifted by their stories. There are several links to those blogs in my sidebar, please check some of them when you have a chance. Kelly's story has a FANTASTIC ending, and Jenna's baby is doing so well. And then of course, Angie whose story has touched lives all over theh world!

Some not so well, there was a little girl Cora who three weeks ago was diagnosed with cancer, and is now with the Lord. She was only 10 months old. I was devastated. Just the day before she survived a surgery, and now she is dancing with Jesus. It doesn't seem fair, nor right. Of course, way too young. She and Kaitlyn were only weeks apart. I guess that is why it has really hit close to home. I KNOW, KNOW, KNOW that God is going to do something good from this, I KNOW He is. Her parents love Him and He promises to work all things good for those who love the Lord. This situation is the absolute farthest from good, but God will create something good and will meet their needs, for their lives will never be the same.

I guess this death brings fear out of me again. I am thinking, okay God I have conquered the fear about my mom, but please don't take my little girl, so then I am fearful all over again! It has made me hug my sweet precious one a little closer. I look back too and think, oh my goodness, she is already this old, have I taken enough pics, written enough down, and her baby book, it has even begun!

So all of this to say, refer to last post! I was rereading it and I have to remember, don't have peace in abstract things, but in the fact that the will of God (even though we don't even come close to understanding it) knows better than we. And when all of the whys come up, we stand on what we KNOW, not on what we FEEL.

Another reason for my sadness is that this Wednesday marks one year since Lauren's death. Lauren was a magnificent youth in our church who would babysit Andrew. She was on her way home after picking something up from her dad's office with her brother and lost control of her car. It was devestating and our youth are still realing from it. Please be in prayer for them, for her parents and her brothers. The family is all so completely dear, and very close to us. In fact, Kaitlyn's middle name Michelle is after Lauren. The boy Colton I have asked prayer for is in the same class that Lauren was, so please pray for the class as they are dealing with everything. (BTW, Colton is doing very well).

Sorry for the long, sad post, but it feels so good to share this with others. Please know that through this fear (which I know is from Satan), this saddness I still see God's magnificent glory, His unending love and His hand upon all of us. Tomorrow will be a new day and new time to see his Glory shine in new and amazing ways!

I love you all and thank you for walking this journey together!

If God loved me, then...

With this month being the "month of love" I started to think about God's love for us. Now I know that that is a MASSIVE subject that could be an entire course in seminary if needed be, but I wanted to cover just one subject. It being, if God loved me why didn't He...(fill in the blank). Isn't funny that at times in order for us to love and follow God, things have to be a certain way? But God has ABSOLUTELY no conditions, He loves us where are, He loves us b/c of the way we are! For example, when my mom was first diagnosed I told God that I would never talk to Him again if He didn't save my mom, but as her death came near I realized that I could not survive without God, and in a tearful prayer begged Him to keep from bitterness.

I met with a dear friend of mine who has experienced a loss in her life and we were talking about how sometimes people who pray for healing, or for someone who is ill thinks, "well God is loving and kind so of course He is going to heal this person". Well, we then talked about, why do some people die? Why did my mom die? Or this little three year old I found in the blogging world, or little boy of someone I found in the blogging world. Did God just not listen to those parent's/child's prayers? Did He not love them enough? ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!! Think about these things:

1. God can see the bigger picture. He could see that a bigger purpose was going to be taking place than just these deaths. That people could be saved, or things that we don't even see could happen due to these untimely deaths. Also, His purpose had been complete in these lives. Weird I know since some of them were only children, but they had been complete.
2. Do you think that God didn't love His Son, heck no! He loved Him more than anything, but He knew His death would bring eternal salvation and although it pained Him more than anything, He allowed it to happen to allow his perfect plan to happen.
3. Everything on this life is a drop into the water compared to heaven. We are here on Earth to learn more about Him, and spread His word to others who don't know Him so we can all go to heaven. This is just a gateway to our Eternal life!

Which leads me to my last thought. Why does God save others like serial killers and allow my mom to die an early death? Well, these killers need to know Jesus, and be saved. Wouldn't you want them to have an oppurtunity to be saved than to die not knowing Jesus? My mom knew Jesus, loved Jesus and was ready to go home, these others aren't. So God is going to wait to take them so they can be saved.

So in this season of love, remember God DOES love us, and has a perfect plan for all our lives, we just need to accept it without conditions.

Love to you all!!!!!