How much bliss can one girl handle?

I would say I am a lucky girl, but I know better. Luck isn't even in the equation. Only God could create a life this perfect. I am blessed!

Today I went to work. That's nothing unusual, but today I realized during my prayer time (on the way to work) that I need to remember to say THANK YOU for my job more often. So many people are out of work & searching for a job. I have the PERFECT job for me. Ideal hours, ideal environment...and to top it off, I love what I do! I love it when God reminds us that He's in charge of everything, right down to those tiny little details that He could so easily brush over. I COULD be working in another job that I love, but with crappy hours....or a job with great hours that I hate.


After work, I came home & emailed my class parents to remind them about the things they signed up to bring to the Easter party tomorrow. Again, I realized how fortunate I am. So many people around the world live without such things. No computers, no internet access, no way to purchase frivolous items for a child's school party. We are so richly blessed to have all these things available to us.


After picking up my kids at school, I came home and worked in the yard with my husband, who had jury duty today & wasn't selected. The boss told him to go home if he wasn't selected for the jury. You see, my extremely dedicated husband puts in so many overtime hours that he routinely has to "burn time" because he's accumulated too many hours on his time card. The state will only allow you to have so many hours of "comp time" on your records. My sweetie routinely pushes the envelope on that limit so it's not uncommon to see him show up at the house by the time I get home from work. I'm so grateful for a hard working husband who has no issue with keeping a job & providing for our family.


After we worked in the yard, we all had egg salad sandwiches & chips. Yum! Again, one of those things that I take for granted so often. We have food to fill our tummies. We have the knowledge & ability to cook the food. We are so much "richer" than so many others.


After supper, Larry & I went for a walk around the neighborhood in this beautiful weather & then I spread a blanket in the front yard & layed out there reading a book for a while. Wow. Thank you God for the perfect day to do such a thing!


Seriously, how much bliss can one girl handle? I can only say Thank you, Lord.

Samuel's 10th Birthday

My sweet boy is turning 10 today. That's double digits. That's a decade. A decade since his birth (click the word 'birth' for the story of that day, written a couple years ago). It seems like just yesterday, he looked like THIS!

Of course, it seems like he should still be THIS small, too!



Ha....is it any wonder people used to ask if they were twins!!??

He doesn't follow Larry around with a toy lawn mower anymore....in fact, he's just about tall enough to run the big one, now.

How quickly the time goes by. I'm trying not to sleep or blink too much. I know that, all too quickly, he'll be heading off to college & my sweet little boy will be gone. For now, I'm trying to remember to always enjoy the dirty hands & the stinky breath, the torn up tennis shoes & holey-kneed jeans. I'm excited that I have someone else in the house to buy chocolate pudding cups for and a reason to know what a Webelo is! It's amazing to see this little 'stinker' annoy his sisters to death & do his best to make their lives miserable, only to turn around & give them gifts on their birthday & Christmas that come straight from his heart. I love that he still comes to cuddle with me as often as he can & relishes every moment that he can sing a silly song to his mama.

For a million reasons, I love you sweet Samuel! I hope your upcoming year is as sweet as the last one! Happy 10th birthday, my beautiful boy!

My favorite blogs! (Well, at least the top 15.)

Obviously I've got QUITE a list of blogs in my righthand sidebar. Feel free to take a peek at all of them. Some of those folks post daily, others only once in a while. Some are personal friends, others are people who I stumbled upon at some point, usually through a friend's links on his/her blog. Some are blogs to chronicle the life of a cancer patient, a family with triplets or quadruplets or an adoption journey. Others are just funny! Some are inspiring & still others make me think. Although I don't watch much TV, I do spend a lot of time reading. I read books, too, but I love to read blogs & feel like I'm living life with the people who are writing. I guess, in some way, that's how I feel about the people who read my blog --- like I'm sharing life with them. What a sweet connection you guys are, my blog family so to speak.

I'm always happy to find that one of the blogs in my blogroll has a new post, but the ones below are the ones that I'll spend a few more minutes reading...making me late to wake the family up or late to leave for work or late to go pick up the kids. The ones that make me say "YES! ___ has a new post!" You'll enjoy them too!

Alyssa & I met online in the latter 90s. We were in an online moms' group together & both of us were trying to conceive 2nd children at that time. She's passed me up in that area, but even if she's got twice the number of kiddos, we still see just about everything eye to eye. And her photography skills are amazing!

Amber & I also met online....can't even really remember HOW now, but we did. I was still living in the fishbowl at the time we met (that is, living life in a ministry family) so we had that in common. Even though Larry & I aren't in vocational ministry right now, Amber & I could totally get together for a weekend slumber party and have a blast hanging out. She is a hoot and she writes a great blog full of both humor & inspiration. So glad I know you, girlie! (And I should also add that Amber created my header above! Isn't she talented??!!)

Angie is an amazing lady. Last winter, someone turned me onto her blog. Her husband was in his final months of life with a brain tumor. Her almost daily blogs told the world how he was doing. Her raw & touching posts made me feel like I was sitting at his bedside with her. Since he passed away last March, she's kept the blog going & watching her work through the grief & loss has been heartbreaking at times and incredibly honest & touching. She is the widow of Brian, mom to two precious boys and she is doing great! Her life & her heart go into every post. So glad we've become online friends.

Angie S. ..... Wow. What more can I say? Reading her blog *always* moves me, ALWAYS inspires me. I preordered her book months ago & can't wait for it to be released. I'm looking forward to that box arriving with the pretty Amazon.com smiley face on the side. Angie's blog began during her pregnancy with Audrey Caroline, a baby girl that received a fatal diagnosis inutero. Her words captivated the world and her transparency allowed us all to live those hard days with her. What an honor to walk through those days with her family. And yahoo....Angie's expecting again!

April's blog came to me through links that someone else posted on their blog. They were in the middle of adopting a little boy from Taiwan when I started reading. What joy to be able to watch that process unfold & to be able to "go with them" to Taiwan when they brought sweet Harrison home! Ironically, after all that time of reading & following & commenting, we found out a "small world" connection. The man who was my youth pastor throughout Junior High & High School works with her at the church where she serves as the children's ministry director!

Darcy somehow found my blog in early 2007 when we were planning our trip to California. She emailed me & offered to mail me maps of Disneyland so that the kids could start planning which rides they wanted to ride, which shows to see, etc. With her incredibly kind & generous gesture, we became fast friends. It's been 3 years since we were in California and we've talked a thousand hours via email & facebook since. Darcy & I are so very much alike it's not funny. We could live in the same town & have so much fun! Maybe one day!

Kelle's blog....wow. I can't even explain how much I love her blog. It started only a few weeks ago when I read her daughter's birth story. Sweet Nella was born with Down Syndrome. Kelle & her husband were unaware of this prior to the birth so it came as quite a shock when they layed baby Nella on Kelle's chest for the first time & she saw those sweet eyes for the first time. The birth story post was SO intense & SO full of emotion. Every post since then has relayed the way they've come to terms with Nella's diagnosis...and come to love that extra chromosome. So sweet!

Kate McRae is a precious 5 yr old girl who is fighting cancer. Her parents are pretty special folks. I'm so honored to follow them on the way & pray for them often.

Sweet Lisa! Lisa began attending our church somewhere during the years that Larry & I were at Rose Heights (where he was on staff). Although we did not know each other at all, we had heard each others' names through the grapevine of church friends. I found her blog first, I think. We followed each others' blogs for a long time before Larry & I ended up coming back to our (current) church home. Although we got to spend part of 1 year together at church, Lisa & her family have moved to Missouri now, so it's back to following each other via blogs. Sure will miss seeing her in person, but we'll make do! It worked for a long time before we met face to face!

Lots of Scotts and Steece's Pieces are both blogs written by the mothers of multiples. Specifically, triplets & quads. I don't know the moms at all, but I do know Ann! (She has triplets too!)

McMommy is hilarious! She says all the things that all of us moms think & feel, but don't or won't put into words. She is a brilliant writer & always cracks me up!

The Rockstar family is so fun to read about! They've got a few biological children & a whole crew of adopted children. Every post is honest & inspiring. So glad I stumbled upon this blog!

Susie is one of the world's best young moms! Two years ago I began reading her blog, shortly before she lost her 2nd child to a birth defect. His condition was fragile throughout all of his short life, but her trust in the Father's hand was what drew me back to her blog over & over. Susie has become a friend since that time. I get to live vicariously through her because she is an American living in a far away place as a missionary. Such a cool life!!

He never lets go.

Landmarks

I am what you might call 'directionally challenged'. Unless you're asking me how to get out of my neighborhood or how to get to my church, there's a good chance I'll give you screwed up directions. I don't like driving long distances. Around town is one thing, but any great distance requires a navigator. Usually, one named Larry. When I give directions, I give them by landmarks. You know, go to CVS & take a left. Go down past Walmart & turn right. Please don't give me north/south/east/west directions. I'll never reach the destination.

Similar to my directional skills, I find myself going through life living by 'landmarks' as well. Those big moments or major memories that stand out....the ones that we gauge everything else by. The ones that form the timeline of our lives. Things like "ABC happened the week before grandma died." or "DEF was before we moved to the house on Main Street, but after we lived in the apartment."

It struck me this week....is today a landmark? Will my family look back & say "that happened right after XYZ." (note: XYZ=things that happened today)

We don't know if today will be our last day with our spouse or our children. We never know when a car wreck will occur or when someone will have a heart attack or when a terminal illness will strike. Will you still be alive tomorrow? Will you remember this day for the rest of your life, whether for good or bad reasons? Life is uncertain. Scripture tells us that our days are like grass (Psalm 103). We grow for a short time & then we're gone. We are not promised tomorrow.

Is today a landmark day in your life?

Book Review: Beautiful Mess The Story of Diamond Rio

I've got to be honest. BookSneeze (formerly Thomas Nelson book review bloggers) sent me this book MONTHS ago. I've tried. Really, really tried. I love biographies that tell a "God story". I love to see the testimony of God's grace & divine leadership in a person's life. Seriously, those are some of my favorite books. But no matter how much I tried I could not get "into" this book.

I tried to read it in bed & in the bubble bath (my two favorite reading spots). I tried to sit upright & recline on the couch. Location didn't seem to change a thing. The book was very boring to me.

Perhaps it's a "guy" book & my being a non-guy effected my acceptance of a wonderful story. But the on & on & on details just seemed to drag for me and I couldn't get excited about finishing it.

I'm sorry Diamond Rio. I liked you as a band, but your book was not my favorite. Maybe someone else will enjoy it. I'll just keep looking up your old songs on youtube.

To learn more about the book review program I am in, click the link in my sidebar or go to www.booksneeze.com.

3 years

On February 18, 2006 our family grew by 2. Many of you began reading my blog at that time to follow along as our newly-larger family meshed & stretched in those early days. The 13 months that followed were so many things. So many emotions...

Happy, yet unbelievably sad.

Fun, yet undeniably tense.

Growth, while stunningly painful.

Hope....comfort....mourning....loss.

When I think back to the morning of March 16, 2007, my eyes well up. I envision sweet Kourtney curled in my lap with big ol' tears running down her cheeks telling me how much she wanted to stay. I remember seeing Andrew climb into the SUV without looking back, ready to embark on a new adventure. I see the truck pulling away. I feel my heart breaking all over again. I remember falling into Larry's arms and sobbing until my sides hurt while standing in the front yard. I watched as my in-laws pulled away & drove home and knew it was really over.

I have no doubt that we made the right choice. We filled those kids with more Jesus in the time they were with us than they'll probably get in the rest of their lives. We loved them deeply, held them closely, walked through life with them. But it still hurts like heck. It's hard to believe that they've been gone for three years now.


If you don't know our story of growth & then loss, the easiest way to catch up is to read this post, then this one (part 2 to the first one).