Everybody hurts. That was the beginning thought of my day today. I learned late last night that some dear friends of mine had lost another loved one. I'm sad for them. My heart aches for them. They have already been through so much in the last decade and even though my friendship with them isn't what it used to be, it doesn't mean that the pain and the hurt they are experiencing isn't real for me too on some level. These friends were a big part of my life growing up and made a lasting impression in my heart . They were the most real people I have ever known in my life. They weren't fake like others sometimes are when you are going through tough times. Sadly, over the years we lost touch somewhat but they have always been in my thoughts, heart and prayers. Just because we didn't see each other or talk often doesn't mean that they were any less meaningful to my life as I've grown up. As an adult, I can look back and really appreciate who they were in my life at that time. Maybe that's one reason why I'm sad......knowing they are hurting and therefore my heart is hurting too.
I'm so sorry for your loss.
I love you guys.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
Blessed Heart
I wanted to share a couple of little stories about how God is showing me that He is really real. I mean, I know He's real but sometimes I feel like He is so far away. I've always heard the saying that if God seems far away then you are the one that moved because He is always there with arms wide open. And down deep I know that, but there are still those days where I'm thinking, "Ok God, are you there? Do you see my life down here?" "Helloooo, are you paying attention?" .....not in a disrespectful manner I will add.
I recently heard a brief testimony from a DJ on a local Christian radio station where she was feeling really alone and was asking God if He was really there? She knew she hadn't been living a life that she should and was at the end of her rope. She had been in the bathroom upstairs and went downstairs to the kitchen table. Her daughter came up to her a few minutes later and put her tiny little hand on her mom's knee and said "Mommy, you are not alone. God loves you." The DJ was sorta freaked out and asked her daughter if she had been upstairs and heard her mommy in the bathroom and her daughter said no and that she had been downstairs playing the whole time. So, she then asked her daughter "Who told you to say that to mommy?" and her daughter replied "God put it in my heart and told me to tell you". When I heard that I just started crying and I thought "how awesome for God to use a child to simply tell us what He wants us to know about Him. Such simple truth. "
I was driving down the road and started praying and told God that I wish He would "speak" to me that way so that I would know that I wasn't alone. Which I know I'm not, but I think all of us goes through times when we may be filled with people around us that we know and love but at the same time, still feel alone. Anyway, David had to work last Sunday so I decided to take the kids to the church that we had previously been attending for the last 8 or so years. We haven't been there in a while because we would like to find a church closer to our home and in our community. But I wanted to go and so I took the kids and dropped them off at their Sunday school classes. Boogs immediately noticed one of his school friends , Emerson and they were so excited to see each other. They are like best friends.
I went into the sanctuary and found a seat towards the back and sat down by myself. The time came for thelet's all shake hands, hug and share our germs "meet and greet" time and I noticed Emerson's parents sitting two pews ahead of me. They turned around and we saw each other and were like "Oh hey girl, how are you? Good , good to see you...etc". I told her about Boogs being excited to see Emerson in his class. She then looked at me and said "You are such an answer to prayer. " and I kinda thought "Huh" and then she told me that , that morning Emerson had been crying and upset about going to church because none of his school friends were in his class and he really didn't have anyone to play with. And here we were coming on this particular Sunday after we hadn't been in a long time. I just knew it was a total God thing and what she told me blessed me so much. I cried almost the whole rest of the church service just thinking about how God really does care about us and cares about the cares of our heart, even the heart of a child. I was so blessed by that.
Then, the other night, David was on the phone with someone from work and Pudgie needed a diaper change so I sat on the floor in front of David and was changing his diaper. I wasn't really talking....I was just listening to David talk to his co-worker and I heard Pudgie start saying "Hi" and he was waving. I looked down at him and he was staring up towards the ceiling and kept saying "Hi" and was kinda jibbering like he was talking. I kept on with the diaper change and when I was about finished, Pudgie then started saying "Bye-bye" and was actually waving good bye....again looking up towards the ceiling. His eyes never came off of the ceiling until I was done. I was looking at him and asking who he was talking to and he was pointing to the ceiling and doing his baby talk. I just thought Wow. A few minutes later , he was standing in front of David at the couch and I looked at him and said "Pudgie, where's Jesus?" He then raised his arm and pointed his little finger up towards heaven and actually looked up towards heaven when he did that. And I have asked him several times since then "where's Jesus?" and every time he points up and looks up. I have to tell you that we have never asked him that before or pointed upwards and said Jesus lives up there or anything like that. We have never done that so I know and I truly believe that He was seeing and talking to Jesus. Doesn't that make your heart full?
Of course, my first thoughts were "Oh gosh, somethings going to happen to me or Pudgie and this is God's way of letting me know that He is there." Isn't it terrible that the worst is what I automatically thought? Anyway, I have been so blessed and amazed at that. I know, some people might dismiss that story as "Oh, he's heard that somewhere else" or something excuse like that......but I'm telling you, it's not just some story. He is real and loves us and He cares about us and He wants to know us on a personal level. If he knows when a sparrow falls, He surely knows and cares about each of us.
I just wanted to share how God cares about revealing Himself to us sometimes when we doubt our faith or doubt if He really is there and listening. He is! He wants that personal relationship with us.....that's what it's about.....a relationship, not a religion. He loves me and He loves you and He wants us to trust Him.
Loves,
:)
I recently heard a brief testimony from a DJ on a local Christian radio station where she was feeling really alone and was asking God if He was really there? She knew she hadn't been living a life that she should and was at the end of her rope. She had been in the bathroom upstairs and went downstairs to the kitchen table. Her daughter came up to her a few minutes later and put her tiny little hand on her mom's knee and said "Mommy, you are not alone. God loves you." The DJ was sorta freaked out and asked her daughter if she had been upstairs and heard her mommy in the bathroom and her daughter said no and that she had been downstairs playing the whole time. So, she then asked her daughter "Who told you to say that to mommy?" and her daughter replied "God put it in my heart and told me to tell you". When I heard that I just started crying and I thought "how awesome for God to use a child to simply tell us what He wants us to know about Him. Such simple truth. "
I was driving down the road and started praying and told God that I wish He would "speak" to me that way so that I would know that I wasn't alone. Which I know I'm not, but I think all of us goes through times when we may be filled with people around us that we know and love but at the same time, still feel alone. Anyway, David had to work last Sunday so I decided to take the kids to the church that we had previously been attending for the last 8 or so years. We haven't been there in a while because we would like to find a church closer to our home and in our community. But I wanted to go and so I took the kids and dropped them off at their Sunday school classes. Boogs immediately noticed one of his school friends , Emerson and they were so excited to see each other. They are like best friends.
I went into the sanctuary and found a seat towards the back and sat down by myself. The time came for the
Then, the other night, David was on the phone with someone from work and Pudgie needed a diaper change so I sat on the floor in front of David and was changing his diaper. I wasn't really talking....I was just listening to David talk to his co-worker and I heard Pudgie start saying "Hi" and he was waving. I looked down at him and he was staring up towards the ceiling and kept saying "Hi" and was kinda jibbering like he was talking. I kept on with the diaper change and when I was about finished, Pudgie then started saying "Bye-bye" and was actually waving good bye....again looking up towards the ceiling. His eyes never came off of the ceiling until I was done. I was looking at him and asking who he was talking to and he was pointing to the ceiling and doing his baby talk. I just thought Wow. A few minutes later , he was standing in front of David at the couch and I looked at him and said "Pudgie, where's Jesus?" He then raised his arm and pointed his little finger up towards heaven and actually looked up towards heaven when he did that. And I have asked him several times since then "where's Jesus?" and every time he points up and looks up. I have to tell you that we have never asked him that before or pointed upwards and said Jesus lives up there or anything like that. We have never done that so I know and I truly believe that He was seeing and talking to Jesus. Doesn't that make your heart full?
Of course, my first thoughts were "Oh gosh, somethings going to happen to me or Pudgie and this is God's way of letting me know that He is there." Isn't it terrible that the worst is what I automatically thought? Anyway, I have been so blessed and amazed at that. I know, some people might dismiss that story as "Oh, he's heard that somewhere else" or something excuse like that......but I'm telling you, it's not just some story. He is real and loves us and He cares about us and He wants to know us on a personal level. If he knows when a sparrow falls, He surely knows and cares about each of us.
I just wanted to share how God cares about revealing Himself to us sometimes when we doubt our faith or doubt if He really is there and listening. He is! He wants that personal relationship with us.....that's what it's about.....a relationship, not a religion. He loves me and He loves you and He wants us to trust Him.
Loves,
:)
Friday, January 28, 2011
Giveaway!
Hey ya'll! Just wanted to let you know that a friend of mine is having a Build-A-Bear Giveaway on her blog!! Click on this link --->Rachel's Giveaway! <---to go check it out!
Have a fun day ya'll!
:)
Have a fun day ya'll!
:)
Monday, January 24, 2011
Good News
Ok ya'll. I have some good news I want to share!
First of all, those that have read my blog from the beginning know that my dad has been battling cancer for about 8 years now. Every 3 months he has to travel to Houston to M.D. Anderson Hospital to meet with several Dr.'s and have tests run etc. The type of cancer that he has can't be treated with traditional chemo. He basically "lives" with cancer. Since he has started seeing the Dr.'s at M.D.A., they have started him on an experimental chemo. Well, so far it seems to be working. He was just out there a few weeks ago and they told him that his lymph nodes had shrunk down and the spots in/on his lungs had either shrunk or disappeared! Isn't that awesome news!!! Praise the Lord!!!!!
Secondly, some of you may know that our third child, "Boogs", is an extremely picky eater. He didn't use to be that way. But as he got older, he slowly stopped eating the food that he normally did. His diet basically consisted of....and I'm not kidding.....peanut butter sandwiches. That's pretty much it with the exception of a few other things like: eggs, yogurt, cheese, mashed potatoes, McDonald's nuggets (only) and french fries and fruit. Of course anything sweet too. No hot dogs, macaroni & cheese, spaghetti....nothing. If you look at the foods he was eating, they were all smooth textured food. I don't know if that has something to do with the trauma that he had to his front tooth when he was little or if the speech delay has anything to do with it....I don't know. I just know that at every meal I was making a peanut butter sandwich. Now, before you start shaking your head and saying "I wouldn't do that. My kids will eat what we eat or they'll go hungry", know this. We tried that approach on many occasions. He even went for about two days without eating anything and one morning we were on our way to school and he was dry heaving because he was soo hungry. I felt terrible and like a very bad mom, so I swung into Chick-fil-a and got him some hash browns and a fruit cup. I told myself that I would never make him go through that again. We just tried to encourage him to try new things but to no avail.
Well......a few weekends ago we nonchalantly started talking about how baseball season was coming up. We were talking about how his muscles needed to be strong so he could hit the ball hard and that he needed to help his muscles grow in order to be a good baseball player. Well what do you know.....that triggered something in his little mind and he decided that he was going to try what we were having for supper that night! AND he has been "trying" new things ever since!!!! ISN'T THAT AWESOME!! PRAISE THE LORD!!!
I know some people might think that's not a big deal. BUT to a mom who cares about the well being of her child and what he/she is eating it is everything!! I can't tell you how excited I have been that he has been trying new foods. Everything from spaghetti to grits to hot dogs, mac n cheese, cucumbers, green beans, corn, rice, cereal, pizza, homemade chicken noodle soup, turkey, potato salad and the list goes on! And bless his heart! He sure does try it! It may take him an hour or two to eat his food because he is not sure about it and he chews it very slowly but he does eat it!!! And the cutest thing that he does is look at us, hold up his arms to show us how his muscles are growing so big! I'm am so tickled!!!
I would also like to share that I am starting a new blog. It is called "Losin' My Lubs". This new blog will be about my journey to lose some weight. I have said over and over that I need to lose weight but I have been lacking in motivation something serious! I thought that if I journaled what I was feeling and going through that it would make me be accountable to myself and to whoever else wants to read it. If you decide to go on my journey with me then I would ask a few things of you.
First, please pray for me. Pray that I will be strong and not lazy. Pray that I will make healthy decisions and choices in regards to food and exercise. Pray that I will not listen to the lies of the one who wants to destroy me.
Secondly, encourage me. Let me know if you are reading by leaving me a comment.
Thirdly, please don't judge me. This will be new to me and I need encouragement, not someone who will tear me down and discourage me. If you are going to make in fun of me, then I ask that you please not read what I post. Losing weight is a battle, hence the name "Battle of the Bulge". I want to win and be victorious over it. Knowing that I have friends who are praying for and encouraging me will make it a lot easier during those tough times or plateaus.
I haven't worked out all of the details yet.....weight goals and such. For now, I'm just trying to get into the habit of eating healthy and making the right choices at every minute of the day....literally minute by minute for me.
I hope that you are having a blessed day!! :)
First of all, those that have read my blog from the beginning know that my dad has been battling cancer for about 8 years now. Every 3 months he has to travel to Houston to M.D. Anderson Hospital to meet with several Dr.'s and have tests run etc. The type of cancer that he has can't be treated with traditional chemo. He basically "lives" with cancer. Since he has started seeing the Dr.'s at M.D.A., they have started him on an experimental chemo. Well, so far it seems to be working. He was just out there a few weeks ago and they told him that his lymph nodes had shrunk down and the spots in/on his lungs had either shrunk or disappeared! Isn't that awesome news!!! Praise the Lord!!!!!
Secondly, some of you may know that our third child, "Boogs", is an extremely picky eater. He didn't use to be that way. But as he got older, he slowly stopped eating the food that he normally did. His diet basically consisted of....and I'm not kidding.....peanut butter sandwiches. That's pretty much it with the exception of a few other things like: eggs, yogurt, cheese, mashed potatoes, McDonald's nuggets (only) and french fries and fruit. Of course anything sweet too. No hot dogs, macaroni & cheese, spaghetti....nothing. If you look at the foods he was eating, they were all smooth textured food. I don't know if that has something to do with the trauma that he had to his front tooth when he was little or if the speech delay has anything to do with it....I don't know. I just know that at every meal I was making a peanut butter sandwich. Now, before you start shaking your head and saying "I wouldn't do that. My kids will eat what we eat or they'll go hungry", know this. We tried that approach on many occasions. He even went for about two days without eating anything and one morning we were on our way to school and he was dry heaving because he was soo hungry. I felt terrible and like a very bad mom, so I swung into Chick-fil-a and got him some hash browns and a fruit cup. I told myself that I would never make him go through that again. We just tried to encourage him to try new things but to no avail.
Well......a few weekends ago we nonchalantly started talking about how baseball season was coming up. We were talking about how his muscles needed to be strong so he could hit the ball hard and that he needed to help his muscles grow in order to be a good baseball player. Well what do you know.....that triggered something in his little mind and he decided that he was going to try what we were having for supper that night! AND he has been "trying" new things ever since!!!! ISN'T THAT AWESOME!! PRAISE THE LORD!!!
I know some people might think that's not a big deal. BUT to a mom who cares about the well being of her child and what he/she is eating it is everything!! I can't tell you how excited I have been that he has been trying new foods. Everything from spaghetti to grits to hot dogs, mac n cheese, cucumbers, green beans, corn, rice, cereal, pizza, homemade chicken noodle soup, turkey, potato salad and the list goes on! And bless his heart! He sure does try it! It may take him an hour or two to eat his food because he is not sure about it and he chews it very slowly but he does eat it!!! And the cutest thing that he does is look at us, hold up his arms to show us how his muscles are growing so big! I'm am so tickled!!!
I would also like to share that I am starting a new blog. It is called "Losin' My Lubs". This new blog will be about my journey to lose some weight. I have said over and over that I need to lose weight but I have been lacking in motivation something serious! I thought that if I journaled what I was feeling and going through that it would make me be accountable to myself and to whoever else wants to read it. If you decide to go on my journey with me then I would ask a few things of you.
First, please pray for me. Pray that I will be strong and not lazy. Pray that I will make healthy decisions and choices in regards to food and exercise. Pray that I will not listen to the lies of the one who wants to destroy me.
Secondly, encourage me. Let me know if you are reading by leaving me a comment.
Thirdly, please don't judge me. This will be new to me and I need encouragement, not someone who will tear me down and discourage me. If you are going to make in fun of me, then I ask that you please not read what I post. Losing weight is a battle, hence the name "Battle of the Bulge". I want to win and be victorious over it. Knowing that I have friends who are praying for and encouraging me will make it a lot easier during those tough times or plateaus.
I haven't worked out all of the details yet.....weight goals and such. For now, I'm just trying to get into the habit of eating healthy and making the right choices at every minute of the day....literally minute by minute for me.
I hope that you are having a blessed day!! :)
Thursday, January 13, 2011
What's In A Name?
For as long as David and I have been together, we've always had little nicknames for each other. Before we ever started dating, my sister, friends and I called David, Big Dave. Then after we got married David and I just started making up our own names. Besides the usual names like baby, honey, sweetie....we've come up with some fun names. For years we have called each other Lover Lips or Lover Lover and have been made in fun of (in a good way) plenty of times because of it. We have some pretty funny friends.....HAHA Facebookers! But that's just what we've always done. Well, since we've started having kids and especially within the last year, we have started calling each other "Ma" & "Pa".
We've also had nicknames for the kids. Mimi's name came about after our 3rd was born because he couldn't pronounce her real name so he transformed it into Mimi. Bud's name started out as Little Man but as he's grown up, it has morphed into Bud. Now, Boogs' name started out when he was a baby. For some reason, David started calling him Boogie Bears. I have no idea why but we all loved it! It has moved into Boogs as he's gotten older but occasionally you'll hear one of us call for our Boogie Bears. And then we have Pudgie. He wasn't really a pudge as a baby but for some reason it just fit with him. He is also so stinkin' darn cute!!!
All of our nicknames mean something special to our little family. We don't expect others to understand and there are those that think we are silly but we don't care. It makes us who we are as a family!
Well, this year for Christmas, I didn't really have a wish list or anything. I felt blessed and content so I didn't really need or want anything in particular for Christmas. This made it hard for David when it came time to shop for me. He was at a loss.
The first gift was a Personalized Baby's First Steps Baby Shoe Sculpture by Lenox. We have one for each of the other three but we hadn't yet gotten one for Pudgie, so he had my sister order it so that I wouldn't see it and she was going to wrap it and then he would surprise me with it for Christmas. All with BLUE accents and Pudgie's stats on it!!
Unfortunately, I saw the shoe way before Christmas. We had gone over to Allison's to help her out one day and she (not thinking about it) had left it sitting on her kitchen table in the box and I saw it. I was soo excited, but I didn't say anything because I knew it would crush David. See, he tries so hard to surprise me with things and somehow I always find out what he's trying to surprise me with. Anyway, I kept my mouth shut but Allison noticed that the box was out, gasped.....which made me look at her because I thought something was wrong and she asked me if I had seen the box. I couldn't lie. I had to confess that I had seen it and of course, David was disappointed. I felt so bad for him! But that didn't stop his wheels from turning!
He got me this time!!!
He surprised me with this on Christmas morning and I cried!! I would have NEVER thought of doing this! Isn't he the sweetest!!!!!!!
This was my most favorite Christmas present this year!!!! Thank you "Pa" and I love you so much!!!
We've also had nicknames for the kids. Mimi's name came about after our 3rd was born because he couldn't pronounce her real name so he transformed it into Mimi. Bud's name started out as Little Man but as he's grown up, it has morphed into Bud. Now, Boogs' name started out when he was a baby. For some reason, David started calling him Boogie Bears. I have no idea why but we all loved it! It has moved into Boogs as he's gotten older but occasionally you'll hear one of us call for our Boogie Bears. And then we have Pudgie. He wasn't really a pudge as a baby but for some reason it just fit with him. He is also so stinkin' darn cute!!!
All of our nicknames mean something special to our little family. We don't expect others to understand and there are those that think we are silly but we don't care. It makes us who we are as a family!
Well, this year for Christmas, I didn't really have a wish list or anything. I felt blessed and content so I didn't really need or want anything in particular for Christmas. This made it hard for David when it came time to shop for me. He was at a loss.
The first gift was a Personalized Baby's First Steps Baby Shoe Sculpture by Lenox. We have one for each of the other three but we hadn't yet gotten one for Pudgie, so he had my sister order it so that I wouldn't see it and she was going to wrap it and then he would surprise me with it for Christmas. All with BLUE accents and Pudgie's stats on it!!
Unfortunately, I saw the shoe way before Christmas. We had gone over to Allison's to help her out one day and she (not thinking about it) had left it sitting on her kitchen table in the box and I saw it. I was soo excited, but I didn't say anything because I knew it would crush David. See, he tries so hard to surprise me with things and somehow I always find out what he's trying to surprise me with. Anyway, I kept my mouth shut but Allison noticed that the box was out, gasped.....which made me look at her because I thought something was wrong and she asked me if I had seen the box. I couldn't lie. I had to confess that I had seen it and of course, David was disappointed. I felt so bad for him! But that didn't stop his wheels from turning!
He got me this time!!!
He surprised me with this on Christmas morning and I cried!! I would have NEVER thought of doing this! Isn't he the sweetest!!!!!!!
This was my most favorite Christmas present this year!!!! Thank you "Pa" and I love you so much!!!
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Happy New Year
Just thought I'd share some pictures from our 2010 year. It was filled with fun and blessings! We can't wait to see what God has in store for us in 2011! I hope each of you feel as blessed as we do!! Such special times!:)
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Merry Christmas!!
To you, and you, and you and you and whoever else, MERRY CHRISTMAS from our clan to yours!!
We had a wonderful day celebrating the greatest gift ever given, Jesus Christ!!
We enjoyed being together as a family and watching the snow fall! Yes, it snowed on Christmas Day here in the South! Not enough to stick in our neck of the woods but other parts of the state saw several inches. This was the first time I have ever seen snow on Christmas day! Truly awesome!
I haven't gotten much sleep the last few nights so I'm going to bed now so......
MERRY CHRISTMAS to all, and to all a good night!
:)
We had a wonderful day celebrating the greatest gift ever given, Jesus Christ!!
We enjoyed being together as a family and watching the snow fall! Yes, it snowed on Christmas Day here in the South! Not enough to stick in our neck of the woods but other parts of the state saw several inches. This was the first time I have ever seen snow on Christmas day! Truly awesome!
I haven't gotten much sleep the last few nights so I'm going to bed now so......
MERRY CHRISTMAS to all, and to all a good night!
:)
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