"Maw Maw sad"....

We are on our way to the hospital where they have called the family in for Grandpa S. Please pray that he won't have to suffer, and pray for his family. We have had a few days to get somewhat ready for this time, but it won't be easy now that it looks like the time has come to say good-byes.

He is alert today and knows everyone which is a blessing! We are taking the kids to see him, in hopes that he will be able to talk to them. He always perks up when he sees them, and hasn't been alert at all any of the times we have been there over the past week.

Update:11:10PM Thursday. Just returned home from the hospital. Grandpa is starting to having 25-30 second periods where he isn't breathing every couple of minutes. He doesn't seem to be in any pain though. He wasn't alert at all while we were there, but Carter kept going up to the bed and just watching him. Once whispering, "I love you Grandpa". We talked on the way home about how Grandpa would probably be going to heaven soon to be with Jesus. He just nodded and said, "Like Jill did". He still remembers her singing to him before she got so sick, and he remembers going to visit her in the hospital. I said, "Yes, baby. Like Jill did." He said, "Maw Maw sad."

Wise beyond his years.

It was a new beginning.....

...I was in the fourth grade. We were getting a new student. That happened often, why was this time different? Why was the teacher giving us instructions on how to treat this new little boy? Then he walked in. He looked different than the rest of us.....and I'll never forget how scared he looked. Why would a little ten year old boy be scared to go to school?

Our school was an elementary school in a very small town. No stop lights, no high school. Everyone knew everyone else....and everything about them. People on their front porches waved to cars as they passed by.....they still do that. These were all things that made our town quite charming, really.

We lived on the top of a mountain. A beautiful mountain with tree lined roads, where overlooks provided breathtaking views of the valleys below, and where everyone who lived on this mountain had the same color skin.

....until that day in the fourth grade.

His mom looked like us, but his biological father, who wasn't in the picture, obviously didn't. I still remember going home and telling my parents we had a new little boy in our class and he was an indian. I don't remember if someone told us that or if I came up with the conclusion on my own, either way, I was clueless. My dad set me straight on the facts, but then went on to tell me not to treat this little boy any different than anyone else in my class, to make him feel like he belonged.

Our class quickly made friends with this charming little boy, who had the most beautiful smile, the most adorable dimples. He was just one of us. We went on to finish elementary school, and on to the high school a town away. We graduated and went on to live our lives.

I've always wondered what that little boy had to endure outside our sheltered classroom in that elementary school. At that time he didn't really "fit" into either race. White or black. I'm sure he has faced many difficult challenges in his life.

I still see him now and then, and he is still just as charming, with those same adorable dimples only now we compare pictures of our children and talk about "back when".

As I watched the election coverage into the wee hours of the night, the man I voted for didn't win. However, this morning I choose to begin praying for my newly elected president. I pray for God to guide his path, I pray that our new president will turn to my God in prayer for strength and guidance as he makes decisions for our country. I pray for his wife and two beautiful little girls as they begin their new and very public life.

I also can't help but wonder if this new president, whether or not he shares my beliefs, didn't grow up somewhat similarly to my childhood friend. Did they face some of the same challenges? I'm sure they did. I'm sure he felt like he didn't fit in to either race many times throughout his life.

For those children both then and now, I hope this victory is very sweet. I hope this helps move our nation forward in the quest started so many years ago not to see the color of someones skin, but to see their heart. I hope my sweet childhood friend who has grown into a kind successful man, claims his part of this victory. For he was truly a pioneer, though he probably didn't know it or want to be, simply by showing people in this tiny southern town kindness and friendship whether it was returned to him or not.

...I pray that this great nation moves away from seeing only faces, and toward seeing souls that need to know salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ. Because after all is said and done, that's all that really matters, and that's the kind of place I would love to raise my children in.

update: I just found this on the LPM blog. Every American needs to read it.
And, I heard this on Moody radio today:

"This election was not about elephants or donkeys but about The Lamb. Let us cry out to the Lord not cry out at each other."

What if His people prayed?

A prayer by Billy Graham’s aired by Paul Harvey:

‘Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and
to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, ‘Woe to
Those who call evil good,’ but that is exactly what we have done. We
Have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We have

Exploited the poor and called it the lottery.
We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.
We have killed our unborn and called it choice.
We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.
We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self esteem.
We have abused power and called it politics.
We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ambition.
We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.
We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.

Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us
From every sin and Set us free. Amen!’

I copied this from Laurel's site and wanted to share it.

The Red, White, and YOU!

...I saw a cute idea a kid in Oregon had for his Halloween costume on the news tonight. He was dressed as a ballot box. A hole was cut out on one side for Obama and another for McCain. The people he trick or treated put candy in the side they wanted to vote for. How cute is that? Here's a pic...Not so cute were the results of his mock election. However, I refuse to believe its validity since one person could have put 75 tootsie rolls on one side. Just sayin...

On the topic of the election though, I'm sure that unless you live under a rock in the middle of nowhere, you know it's tomorrow. GO VOTE!

I know, I know, I know, the lines will be long, you have to work, you're so busy, you have to drag kids with you to the polling place, blah, blah, blah.... I myself would give a hefty donation to a candidate who could get early voting legalized in Alabama (unless they also were in favor of abortion....that's a line I don't cross). I have tried to think of any possible valid excuse to vote absentee, but didn't come up with one that was, you know, true!

They didn't have a box on what qualified as absentee titled :Possible nervous breakdown when toddler destroys polling place, Or: Mother with broken foot who seriously overdid it this weekend would very much like to not stand in line holding 17 pound 7 month old and wrangling 29 pound 2 yr old.

I have very vivid memories of the last presidential election in which I stood in line, OUTSIDE, in the COLD RAIN, AND was late for work....but I voted! This year will no doubt be the most exciting ever! I will be hauling my offspring in for the event.

I do plan to dress them in adorable patriotic-colored outfits and have Carter toting an American flag in hopes that some sweet soul will have mercy on me and let me pass them in line. If that doesn't work, maybe I'll pinch them or something in hopes that the wailing will do what the cuteness could not. I'll let you know which works. (kidding! I probably won't pinch them!)

Most importantly, I hope that every American has agonized and prayed about the vote they will cast tomorrow. I know every American won't because our current state as a nation proves that we don't address many decisions...most decisions, with prayer. Another thing I do know, whether the results of the election go as I wish they would, I know that my God will be the same God when the results are in as He is now....as He will be forever. I know that He already knows the outcome. I know that whether He blesses our nation as a whole or not, He does bless His children for their obedience. And, I know that while I am a citizen of the United States, I am first and foremost a citizen of the kingdom of God. Signed, Sealed....and one day, Delivered!

Costume Contest...

...so I'm thinking, with today being Halloween, why not take a trip down memory lane, revisit Halloweens past and share our favorite, or most horrible, costumes?

Fun!

I know that my title says "contest", but the only prize will be the joy you have in knowing you have provided others with an entertaining comment, or maybe even a costume idea, or at the very least, a good laugh at someone else's expense....goodness knows, I'm always up for THAT! (right, Brooke? haha!)

So, since it's my blog and my idea, and since I may very well end up being the only participant (please NO! participate with me!!) I'll start!

I'm actually sad to say, I don't really remember very many of my Halloween costumes from the past. I'm sure this would devastate my mother, because she tended to put quite a bit of work into what our costumes were each year.

I remember the year I was in 1st grade and my sister was in Kindergarten, we were Miss Piggy & Kermit. My mom handmade the costumes...right down to the masks! (thanks Crystal for emailing me the pic!) They looked great, but that Miss Piggy mask was the hottest thing I've ever had on my face! Whew! Maybe that's where my claustrophobia (and other issues that may or may not have come from being Miss Piggy) came from?

I remember being Pippy Longstocking one year, Lord knows I have the frizzy hair to pull those pigtails off! I also remember the costume from the pic I'm going to show you. I have no idea what we are supposed to be, I can only guess some sort of alien being or maybe some sort of preview of the characters from Yo Gabba Gabba? In that case, we were before our time I guess! Either way, Mom and her sewing machine were obviously on strike this Halloween. I do remember the nasty face paint involved in this costume and how long it took to scrub it off! (I'm talking Brillo pad kind of scrubbing!)

So here is my entry into the First Annual Down On The Farm Prizeless Halloween Costume Contest!
I'm the one in yellow. I bet you can't guess from the couch what decade this one is from! haha! My favorite part about the picture is my sister's (in green) expression! How cute is it?! She still makes that same face when she gets mad. It may be a little less cute at 31 than at 3 though:) You can click to make it bigger if you want to see it up close & personal...you know, if you want to try to achieve this level of Halloween greatness for yourself next year!

What is your all time favorite or most horrid costume? I'm dying to know!

Or if you have no interest at all in sharing a story, then just enjoy this little cowboy & indian in all their Halloween cuteness!

Little Green Pumpkin II

Once upon a time there was a little boy who was so sad that his Little Green Pumpkin had met an untimely end. Of course, this is thanks to his furry dog friends. What was the little boy to do? The big pumpkins on the porch, they did not appeal. They were heavy and fading, they'd just lost their zeal!

Little did the boy know, two princesses would depart to the Pumpkin Patch yet again, his best interests at heart! Miss Lisa & The Girl and another friend or two, looked high and looked low until one was found that would do!

Photo courtesy The Preacher's Wife Cell Phone Cam

The little boy was so happy! He couldn't wait to get home
to perch his new pumpkin friend in its very high dog-safe home!

The End!

Thank you so much Lisa and The Girl! You made one little boy very happy!

Man Down....

As the wife of a firefighter, I couldn't possibly count the number of times I've sat up and listened to the scanner after my husband left on a fire. I always say as he leaves....Don't go in!! Don't go in unless there is somebody trapped! Don't go in!!! I stand at the door of the garage and pray over him and the rest of the firemen as they answer the call.

Today as I stood at the sink, I heard a news bulletin. A fireman killed in the line of duty. My heart sank. In our county. Oh no. I immediately called my husband to tell him what I had heard.

A little later my friend and former pastors wife, Angela, called. This fireman was from the town where they now serve, and this family are members of their church. Chris, her husband and the local church pastor, was with the family at that time. She asked that we remember this family in prayer. How broken hearted they must be tonight. She also asked that we remember the fire chief as well.

The fireman was 24 and the fire chief had the duty of going to tell his family what had happened. I can't begin to imagine how broken this man is.

Please remember this family, this fire chief, this church, and this town in prayer!

Cody Renfroe, 24
photo courtesy WHNT

Just do it!

(See Update Below!!!)

Okay go HERE or read THIS and then join me as I pray! Baby Stellan is coming tomorrow morning at 9:30 AM CST, and I can barely breathe just thinking about how this mom feels, or this dad. I have been following their story for months, but even if you haven't go read it, and pray!

We serve an awesome God! Remember, There Is Hope!

Go on....hurry!

UPDATE:I copied and pasted this from MckMama's blog! Praise the Lord!

Big Mac, MckNugget and Small Fry joyfully announce that they now have another brother!!

Our long-awaited little MckMuffin has finally arrived...

Stellan
entered the world this sunny fall morning
at 10:19 am, CST
weighing 6 pounds, 10 ounces
and measuring 19 inches long

As you can imagine, there is a lot going on here at the hospital. Please thank God with us that little Stlellan is here and be in prayer for these first hours of his precious life.

The NICU attended the birth--which went very smoothly--and Stellan is with the NICU team now. MckMama is recovering and, in spite of a pretty low blood pressure, is feeling well. She has seen Stellan only briefly, but Prince Charming has been back and forth between her and baby Stellan. When she is stable, she'll be wheeled on her bed down to see their new baby.

Details on exactly how Stellan is doing as well as photos of the sweet baby will be forthcoming. But, let's just say that Stellan got a 9 and a 9 on his APGARS and the NICU team has yet to find a single thing wrong with him...

Happy birthday, sweet Stellan. You are God's miracle to us and you are finally here!!!!

Little Green Pumpkin

....Once upon a time there lived a little green pumpkin. The little green pumpkin lived among the big beautiful orange pumpkins in the pumpkin patch. Little Green feared he would lead a sad life for he knew that he would never grow to be big, beautiful and orange before the people stopped coming to visit the pumpkin patch this year.

There was a little boy in a land nearby who loved green. He was going to the pumpkin patch called Down On The Farm (seriously!) and made sure his mom dressed him in his green hat, his green shirt, and green boots for the trip. He looked very fashionable indeed! He met up with his buddies for a fun day of play. The little boy, his mom, sister, & friends kicked off the day of fun with a hayride to the pumpkin patch. The ride was bumpy and dusty but filled with friendly conversation and great anticipation of the upcoming search for just the right pumpkin. The little boy and his Uncle Clay looked high and low for the perfect one. They looked over all the beautiful orange ones, but they just wouldn't do. The little boy had a special pumpkin in mind so he looked and looked until he found just the right one. "Here it is, Mom!" he said with glee. "I found a green pumpkin just the right size for me!" So back on the wagon with his friends and his loot, his mom and his sister and a kitty cat to boot!After the ride the, the little boy joins his big cousin Rachel and the rest of his buddies to paint their pumpkins. The Little Green Pumpkin was so excited, not only was he going to a new home, he'd finally have a beautiful face! Though not quite the beauty Little Green Pumpkin had imagined, he loved his face all the same, and sat in the sun with the big pumpkins to dry. He watched as his new little friend explored the rest of the farm with his mom, sister, & friends. The little boy loved feeding the animals. They fed cows, chickens, donkeys, turkeys, and goats that were up real high. They rode the cow train, the trikes, the combine slide, and played in the corn bin. Even the little boy's baby sister had a good time!

Even though they were having such fun Little Green Pumpkin couldn't wait until time to go home. The little boy picked up Little Green Pumpkin and away they went. He just couldn't believe he was going to a new home!

He had visions of big beautiful fall displays, dreamed of centerpieces, and decorated hall ways! He was placed on the front porch with the Big orange pumkins and beautiful mums. He loved greeting visitors and overlooking the little boy as he played. But Little Green Pumpkin went missing one day. The little boy looked and he looked, his mom helped him too. What could have happened, Little Green, where are you?

They searched and searched, but this all came to an end, when they discovered Little Green Pumpkin had met their furry dog friends. "We'll miss you, Little Green Pumpkin", the little boy said, as he sadly looked on. He wished his pumpkin friend happiness in his heavenly pumpkin home.

The End.

Pedicure Please?

There are certain times in life when a girl likes to be prepared .....with a good pedicure. I mean, you know, those times when your tootsies are on full display for all the world to see. Ladies, I know you're with me. I'll bet there is rarely a woman go into labor these days who hasn't had a proper pedicure. We all know that summers are a must and count as one "event", meaning your toes must be well kept all summer. Then there are weddings, vacations, and holidays....no matter what time of year.

So, now I have a new event to add to the list, well, in my case anyway. Dinner. Last night Kyle was gone on a house fire, so for supper it was just me and the kids. I was having soup and feeding Lilah baby food, Carter was having one of his favorite gourmet meals: Chicken nuggets, cheese, and apple slices. I was set for an easy night.

Carter decided he needed more cheese so I went to the fridge to get it for him. When I pulled the drawer where I keep it, I met an unusual resistance. So, of course, instead of investigating further, I just pulled harder.

Bad idea.

Turns out, that drawer was caught on the lid of one of my very favorite Pampered Chef dishes. The Deep Dish Covered Baker. It's a beautiful cranberry color and both the dish and lid are stoneware so it's pretty heavy. Plus it was pretty much full. So, when I jerked that drawer open I ended up jerking the stoneware baker out of the fridge as well.

It crashed into a heap of stone, chicken, and soup onto the ceramic tile of the kitchen floor. But, not before hitting my foot.

Hard.

The kind of hard that you know is gonna be bad. The kind of hard that makes even those with a high pain tolerance wail like a child (and scare their children silly).

I did manage to gather myself enough to tell Carter to stay in his chair, there was glass everywhere. My next thought was, "oh no, my Deep Dish Covered Baker! We have a covered dish lunch after church on Sunday!" (that would be in my Paula Deen voice,....ya'll!)

I bet your wondering what all this has to do with pedicures.

My poor foot was still hurting. I thought that if I sat down it would be better in a few minutes. Then I started feeling nauseous. The weird wavy kind of nausea that I have only felt a very few times in my life. The kind of nausea that I have only ever felt when I have broken a bone.

Sure enough. I have two fractured metatarsal bones in my foot and a dislocated something or other. So about the time I flop my poor foot up on the table to be x-rayed, my inner Paris Hilton ('cause really, don't we all have one of those?) was really wishing that I'd have gotten a pedicure sometime in the last couple of months....or at the very least last week when I polished my toenails with my sandals on because I was in a big hurry, that I'd at least have bothered to go back and polish my little toe, which couldn't be seen or polished with my sandals on. It was seen today though in all it's unpolished glory, right next to the other four bright coral ones. That is so not hot!

Also not hot, is the lovely "boot" that I will be sporting for the next several weeks. Have you ever walked in ski boots? You know how they kind of throw you forward? This does the same thing. Plus, it really puts a kink into the platform shoes I was planning on wearing with my hottie Halloween costume. Dern. Guess that will have to wait til another year.


hahahahaha! ...as if!

These boots are made for walkin'....

....and that's just what they'll do! With temperatures getting cooler by the minute, I can’t help but get in the mood for all things fall/winter. One of my favorite things about the cooler seasons? Boots! I love them! For myself and my kids! There is nothing cuter than a toddler kickin’ about in his favorite pair! (Click to continue reading)

Tyler...

So it's Wednesday night and I'm sitting here trying my best to blog. I keep wondering if Tyler went to Awana tonight. I have almost called to find out a few times, but decided not to. Tyler is my 2nd cousin. He's in the 5th grade at the same elementary school I went to. He's probably the sweetest most laid back kid I've ever been around. I seriously think he's a Horse Whisperer. He loves my kids and would play with them tirelessly for hours given the chance. He has one of the most adorable smiles I've ever seen. One of Tyler's best friends was killed in a 4 wheeler accident a year or so ago. Tyler was supposed to go with them that day but changed his mind at the last minute. His 22 year old brother, Derek, was killed in a car accident early Saturday morning.

Tyler was staying the night with his Gran (and my Aunt Linda) when the accident happened. My Aunt Wanda (Linda & my mom's sister) called early Saturday morning to tell me what had happened and I went to tell my mother. Nobody knew how she would react because she was close to Derek. So I went to tell her. She did okay. Once she settled down, I went next door to Aunt Linda's to sit with them for a while. As I was getting my kids out of the car, she met me at the door to tell me Tyler was there and he didn't know yet.

They were waiting to tell him until his parents got home from the hospital and taking care of some other things. He played with the kids and told me about every song that came on CMT. He couldn't get over the fact that I never listen to country music. I told him I'd introduce him to TobyMac and Third Day. He laughed. He thinks I'm old.

A lady came to the door that I didn't know. Tyler beat me to the door. As she started up the steps he said, "Something happened to Derek." She didn't know anything had happened. She said, "What happened?" Tyler said, "He died."

As his Gran came from the back of the house I mouthed to her, "He knows", she asked him who told him and that's when he said, "I heard you talking on the phone last night." Only then did he break down. I thought my heart would burst. Watching that poor sweet baby cry and thinking about him lying there all those hours wondering what had happened and when someone was going to tell him was just about more than I could stand.

Derek's funeral was Monday. Please help me as I pray for God to intervene with this family. I pray that He can give them comfort they so desperately need and that they will turn to Him in their grief. Please lift up Derek's parents, Greg & Lynn Jeffery, his sister, Shaylynn, brother, Tyler, his grandparents, and friends. I ask that you also pray especially for his girlfriend, Tiffany. She is expecting she & Derek's child early next year.

Aunt Linda lost another grandchild, Jill, earlier this year. They all need your prayers.

I know that there are many prayer warriors out there, thank you in advance for your prayers!

John Deere Black & Blue

.....that's been the color around here as of late. Not John Deere Green like the song says. Not even on a hot summer night. In fact, it was a very rainy, stormy Wednesday and I'd just hung up the phone telling my sister that I had no intention of going anywhere with two babies in the driving rain.

Wrong.

My plans were very much changed, thanks to a very large, 5 or 6 pound metal hay baler, a two year old, a six month old, and a pack & play. If you're thinking this is a bad combination, well, you are so very right! A really bad combination indeed!

My sister had just called to say that she was coming by to visit for a while and like any self respecting southern woman I had to do some tidying up in the guest bathroom before she arrived. I laid Lilah down on her back in the Pack & play so she would be "safe" from Rambo who was playing nearby, and went to clean the bathroom which is a total of maybe 10 steps away.

No more than 2 minutes go by before I hear the most horrible scream/cry! (It was so loud I wasn't even sure which kid it was!) I stepped around the corner to see Carter peeking (and looking incredibly scared) over the rail at Lilah who was lying there screaming with a big metal hay baler lying right beside her head and two very big knots already starting to come up on her forehead!

I barely had her picked up before I had my cell phone in hand and was calling the pediatricians office (which is programmed in my phone, I may not have Poison Control programmed, but Dr. Jeannie is there!

They asked a bunch of questions and told me to bring her in immediately. I hung up and called my sister to see how far away she was, and asked her to go with me since at this point it was painfully obvious to me, her, Carter, probably Lilah and any neighbors within a 2 mile radius, that Mom had lost any and all sense by the way she was running around and screaming in a state of panic.

People, Carter did not so much as COUGH until he was 18 months old! He did have the little driving off the brick steps incident, but he didn't look like this after! I was not at all prepared to be carting my 6 month old to the hospital with head injuries!

So Crystal gets there within minutes and helps me load everything up, because I'm still running around like an idiot, and she asks me if I want her to drive......I tell her no, I'm too nervous for you to drive! (what???) She obliges me, hopefully praying for all our lives, and gets in the backseat where I tell her to keep Lilah awake at all costs. She did a great job! Lilah was screaming her little head off all the way there. Partly due to her injury, but she was also plenty ticked off at her Aunt Crystal for keeping her awake via wet wipes on the face, neck, and eventually even her poor little feet. She wanted to sleep so badly!

Remember I told you it was raining? It was really raining hard! We get almost to Chatt. and as we are passing the last exit before you go around the river we pass at DOT truck with a flashing sign that says "CRASH AHEAD". I can see the traffic starting to back up just ahead of me....it was too foggy to see any further! So, I switch to the slow lane, get over onto the entrance ramp to the interstate and back all the way down the entrance ramp!

We take the road over the mountain, then the streets downtown, and just as we are about to enter the tunnels at the ridge, there is another traffic tie up. Well, by this time, I'm getting scared. It's been almost an hour and I've had it with these people who insist on slowing down and getting in my way, and heaven forbid stopping for traffic in the rain while I am trying to get my baby to the xray machine!!!! I try merging into traffic and this woman would not let me merge. At least she wasn't planning to let me merge.

But I played the I am driving a bigger vehicle than you and I am blowing my horn and flashing my lights at you like a desperate crazy person and if you don't stop I am about to run your car right off the side of this ridge card.....and, well, she let me merge. Thanks lady.

Anyway, we finally make it there and I leave sis and Carter to get out of the car while I dash inside with Lilah. They are waiting for me when I walk in....no waiting! I ADORE THEM! They do a quick neurological assessment then xrays and within mere minutes tell me that there is no skull fracture, and if anything just a very minor concussion, and not to worry unless she starts puking. The Dr told me that I should expect to see some very nasty bruising in the front and back (the hay baler opens up so it got both front and back of her head) of her little head over the next couple of weeks.

Whew! Praise the Lord!!

Would you believe that by Saturday the bruising was all but gone? That girl has got one hard little head! Other than the ride to the doc, she cried (screamed) when she woke up in the nursery at church that night and I wasn't in there with her, but that's all! She played and cooed all the way home, so I thought she was good to go to church that night. (I know! I'll be sending in this post as an entry to the mother of the year contest....along with all the others.)

Anyway, that hay baler is still laying on top of the dryer where I put it over a week ago. Carter knows where it is and hasn't asked for it once. It's one of his very favorite toys, but he was terrified that he'd hurt "my wiwah" with it. After everything settled down he said, "Mom, I put the hay baler in the gate." He was putting his baler, and probably next his tractor in the pack and play and was about to climb in there with Lilah to play in the "gate". Poor thing, he sure didn't mean to hurt her!

...and on a completely different note, one more thing before I sign off for tonight. Our local high school played their most fierce rival tonight. No one in town wants to miss this game because you can always count on there being some "drama" involved. Tonight was no exception! The stands were packed, the crowds were cheering (and screaming and hollering), my two little hornets were dressed in their adorable hornet gear (not that you could see it under their coats and blankets but you know Carter does like to pick his own duds these days!) and best of all.....

.........the hornets beat the bisons 21-8!

Just had to get that in there, you know, in case a bison happens by :)

National Day of Remembrance

As many of you know, October 15th is the National Day of Remembrance for pregnancy and infant loss. This includes all babies who have died because of miscarriage, stillbirth, SIDS, or any other infant death. I didn't know this until I saw it on Bring The Rain, a blog I read as often as I can. Angie, the author of Bring the Rain, and her family have experienced some very devastating losses in recent months and she asked that anyone who wanted to share any losses they had experienced and that others pray for those precious ones who shared their personal experience.

After some of the comments I received on my birthday post a few days ago, I decided to participate on my own blog. I lost my first baby on March 24, 2003 at 8 weeks. This baby would have been due on November 14, 2003. I lost my second baby on April 11, 2004 in the 4th month. This baby would have been due on my birthday, October 9, 2004. The D&C was done on April 11 which is my MIL & my nephew, Chase's birthday(and later my niece Maggie, in 2007).

I think of those angel babies often. I have ultrasound pics and a couple of gifts I received for the second baby. I never look at them, but I know where they are....just in case I want to someday.

On this day of remembrance though, I also want to remember a baby that wasn't mine, but that still profoundly affects my life. I know that he always will.

On July 14, 2003, as I was lying in bed, my husband's fire department radio went off. I held my breath as I heard the call going out. An infant, unresponsive. I started praying. I heard the address go out. It was 1/4 mile up the road from my house. Then I heard one of the firefighters in a panicked voice say that no one in the all volunteer department knew how to perform CPR on an infant.

I'd never performed CPR on an infant, only adults, but I had been trained in how to do so. I had a brief (I say brief because all of the things up to this point took about 2 minutes to unfold) discussion with God as I jumped in my car, mainly complaining how in the world could this be happening, when I'd just lost my own baby a few months before? I can't do this, God! His response? YES YOU CAN! GO!!

When I got there, I remember parking and running down the road. I kicked off my flip flops so I could run faster. I met a fireman, crying, falling to his knees, as I started into the house. I could hear screams, begging, pleading.

"Oh dear God, Help me!"

When I got to where the baby was lying on the couch his grandmother was draped over him sobbing. I pulled her back and said, "let me see if I can help him." She said, "no! you might hurt him!" I grabbed both of her hands and said with a calmness that came straight from God, "look at me, I promise I won't hurt him, let me see if I can help him!"

As I did compressions on the baby, I had the grandmother helping me breathe, just because I could see that she needed so desperately to be doing something....just as everyone else in that room did. I continued CPR, praying....I could hear those young parents screaming, sobbing, begging, pleading, in the background. A local paramedic arrived just moments before the ambulance and took over CPR, then carried him to the hospital in the ambulance.

I don't know how long this all took. It seemed like hours. As I walked outside, one of the firemen handed me my shoes. I went home and cried....for that baby, for those parents,... for my baby.

Jayden Kyler went home to be with God that morning. I don't believe he felt my compressions, I believe God had already taken him home. I went back to the grandmother's house the next day. I didn't know them, I just felt like I needed to tell them how sorry I was. What I didn't expect was for that precious grandmother to stop her conversation and greet me as I walked in. To apologize to me for screaming at me, and to thank me profusely for trying to help baby Jayden. I didn't expect that broken mother to hug me, again, thanking me over and over.


I felt like such a failure, to that precious baby....to my own, yet God showed me in those days following Jayden's death that He didn't always promise to answer our prayers as we see fit, but as He sees fit.......and in His time.

Jayden's family is still such a blessing to me. I don't see them without getting a big hug! I can't tell you how much joy it brings me to pass by their house now and see a swing set outside....with 2 beautiful little boys playing, and a smiling Mother watching them nearby.

I know there was a time when that mother didn't think she would ever smile again.


But she did.


.......in His time.


Please feel free to share your own experiences with your comments. Do so anonymously if you wish. Also, please join me as I pray over each comment. Thank you!

The Bible Story Man & John 3:16....

...When I was in first grade, I was taught by the same teacher that had taught my dad 20 years earlier. Pretty cool, huh? Also cool is the fact that every single day we said the pledge of allegiance and prayed, and learned John 3:16...in class ....in a public school!! We also had a man, Mr Turner aka The Bible Story Man, come once a month and tell us a Bible story using his felt board, his loud and thrilling voice, and songs that were printed on cards of all shapes and sizes so we could sing along.

I'm telling you this for a couple of reasons. I know that alot of people who went to the same school I did read my blog and I'm not sure I've told them what I'm about to say about the man I know they'll remember with the same affection I do, and...I have another point that I'll be getting to in a minute.

Now, in the county where I live there is a ministry called Bible Release Time. The church I attend is literally in the back door to the school in our community. Once a week at several schools throughout our county kids grades 2-6 walk to the church to learn about Jesus. How awesome and amazing is that?? I don't get to help out with Release time these days, but I used to make Thursday my off day from work so I could participate, and I can't begin to tell you the blessings I received in this ministry.

Something else....Mr Turner, The Bible Story Man, he comes once a month to Bible Release Time!!! I KNOW!! The first time he came I was like a kid. I was so excited! The entire time he was trying to set up his stuff I was babbling on about how I remembered him coming to my school as a kid, and on and on. And you know what else? He still sings those same songs...

"Stop and let me tell you what the Lord has done for me....Stop and let me tell you what the Lord has done for me!........." This one is printed on a stop sign.

And the Go song,...and the Extra song...and on and on! (if you were a kid then and remember this, I know you are singing along! I just know it!)

The guy who was in charge of BRT at that time was giving me some of the strangest looks the entire day. I sang super loud, gushed each time I talked with Mr Turner, and was pretty giddy in general the entire day! (if you know me, you know that I am not giddy nor a gusher, but I'm sure everyone there that day remembers this pretty vividly if you want their numbers.)

Anyway, all of that to say this, it's amazing how things we learn so very young stay with us for our entire lives, isn't it? These last weeks in Awana, we have been working on learning John 3:16. I have the Kindergarten class, so this is a pretty big verse for them and is broken down over a few weeks. As we were doing our lesson this last week something hit me that I'd never thought to ask them.

"How many of you know how to tell someone...anyone!... about Jesus?"

They all just looked at me.

I went on to tell them that John 3:16 was really all they needed to begin telling someone about Jesus, about how to be saved.

So often when I think of witnessing to someone, my mind goes to Romans 10, or a number of other scriptures throughout the Bible, but here is this verse.....this verse I learned in FIRST grade...this verse that I am helping these kids learn who are in Kindergarten, so simply explains the way, the truth, the very path to eternal life.

I almost had a shouting moment right there in the midst of those little 3.5 foot bundles of energy! Were it not for the fact that the girl helping me was out of the room at the moment, and I might very well send all 13 of these little ones running from the room in sheer terror (they are already on the fence as to whether they are afraid of me or not!)....I probably would have!

They were pretty excited about being able to share Jesus with others. I hope they are acting as little missionaries to everyone they see this week using their newly learned Bible verse!

On that note, have you watched the news lately? I have, and I can't help but think of how quickly things are coming to pass right before our eyes that signal Jesus' return. It's true, we know not the day nor the hour, but with that said, do we really want to miss an opportunity to share the message of salvation with a lost and dying world? Do you? Do I?

During times that we are living in whether my Jesus comes tomorrow or in a hundred years, I ask myself.....How can anyone make it through one single minute of one day without knowing Him?

I pray that I never miss an opportunity to serve my God. I pray that I will share the name of Jesus with everyone I meet just as we are called to do. Please! Help me to do this, Lord Jesus!