And the wheels are falling off....!

Okay, so here's the problem. This little pumpkin (who is not Lexie Beth, just looks like her) is SIX today. SIX, PEOPLE! My precious, adorable, Bubbsy is SIX years old.

The thing is that I gave birth to him, yesterday. I'm sure of it. This tiny 6lb. 6oz., little smidge who took a whopping 18 hours to deliver, and was terribly jaundice, couldn't possibly be riding bikes and swimming now.

Or, think again.

Training wheels are off folks and just last night Brendan was zooming down the hills in the back yard at absolute full tilt, smiling all the way. He had not an ounce of fear in the process.

While my heart can't seem to recover from the shock, I am grateful to the Lord for every minute with Brendan. Mike and I are better Christ followers because we've been allowed to parent, know, and love this boy, our son.

Brendan, today you are six. You love Jesus with your whole heart and are not afraid to tell others about him. You are suprisingly articulate and unbelievably smart. You are dearly loved by all of your grandparents and the best friend Gabriella could ever have. You fight for her and take care of her and Lexie. I'm so proud. You love toast with peanut butter AND jelly and sometimes pound out three whole slices in the morning! You crack up at Tom and Jerry, and enjoy country music. You love history and learning about countries, presidents, and flags. Your favorite person in the world is your Dad, although you have a tender spot for your Mama, too. Thank you for loving me, Brendan. Thank you for being obedient. I pray that you will love Jesus EVERY single day for the rest of your life. I pray you continue to develop a fervor for God's word that will not be taken from you. Grow humbly. Every. Day.

I treasure you,

Mom

Its the first again

You see what I have to work with.....It is impossible to get these goons to look the same direction.

Don't even get me started about having them clean at the same time.

First and Fifteenth club is still under way. Beth Moore, who I adore and who seems to have as many deep rooted weeds in her past as I do mine, is an incredible Bible teacher and has been the catalyst of some monumental growth in my life in the last few years. She challenged her blog readers to memorize a new scripture verse on the first and fifteenth of every month. I love it and I'm casting aside the notion that I can't remember references and I'm running for the finish line. TWENTY FOUR VERSES in one year.

My first of July verse has everything to do with FREEDOM! The battle cry of my life in Christ, the reason my Savior died, my own personal fourth of July celebration.

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by the yoke of slavery."

Galatians 5:1 (NIV)

Christ set me free from the chain of death. I will stand firm in that freedom and have asked the Holy Spirit today and everyday, to point out any area of my life where I am giving an inch back to the enemy. No turning back, NO. NO. NO. NO! No turning back.

The Power of a Year

Is this beautiful little girl REALLY the tiny, chubby cheeked little baby they handed me in the Westin Lobby four years ago?

Its been a quick year, I tell ya. So very, many changes have happened in Gabriella this year and as we are now almost a month past her fourth birthday, it is high time we look back over God's miracles.

Gabriella has a rip roaring year, from barely putting two words together to full sentences. A year ago we interpreted EVERY thing she said to someone else and that was IF she was willing to converse. Fast forward to her second MRI in December, a snowy and scary ride to the Children's Hospital, and another confirmation from a specialist. Gabriella's speech and language issues were a result of something greater than typical childhood lag. But this appointment helped us resolve in our minds to help her rehab quickly and to make up ground lost. January brought a brand new therapist into our lives and a trip to a nationally recognized and method published Apraxia specialist in Detroit. Mike and I both mark this as the turning point in our year.

This specialist gave us HOPE and a new way to communicate with Gabriella. We needed to begin building pathways in her brain for spontaneous speech. Ask better questions and give her answers to say in response.....etc.....To make a long story short, God allowed our prayers and begging for answers and direction to finally make visible headway. Glory to Him who is able.

That brings us to her 4th birthday.

Gabi is talking and conversing intelligibly with everyone. She has the SWEETEST spirit and compassion for others that moves my heart. She is protective and tender with her siblings. She likes hot cocoa. Every morning. She wants her music on and her door open at night. She likes a stuffed tabby cat named "Pretty Kitty" best. Gabi likes tomatoes and princess fruit snacks. She can ride a bike with training wheels and can point out Africa and Guatemala on a map. She knows the story of Jesus and is developing more and more curiosity about the things of God. (May He claim her as His soon.)

In short, she is absolutely a gift from God. She touches my heart in a way that I can not seem to put into words. I would not love her more had she sprung from my womb. Gabriella, your stubborn spirit is a gift from God. He created you to stand strong and fight. May you do that for His kingdom all your days. You are a blessing I will never stop counting and thanking God for.....Grow strong in Jesus, Baby. Mama loves you.

Overheard

This evening we spent some time weeding and rototilling in the garden. Mike and I went waterskiing last night and we are both a little sore, so any bending over or major rotation gives pause for consideration. Anyhow, I was picking the strawberries and doing my best to remove the crab grass population from the row and I overheard Brendan and Lexie Beth talking.

Lexie- "Bair-wee, peees."

Brendan-"Here ya go, Lex."

Lexie-"Num. More Bair-wee, peees."

Brendan-"Well, Lexie. I don't have a MAGIC WAND, but I can give you another berry."

I laughed out loud. What a hoot!

Hello...again...hello.

A la Neil Diamond.

When I was in Middle School and High School I loved to journal. I'd write faithfully for a week or two and then miss a few days. They were always really busy days, or I would have written in the first place. So, being the recorder I was, I felt a desperate need to catch my "Dear Diary" up with all the latest and greatest happenings. In fact, so great was my desire to record life's great daily happenings that I would feel guilty for not writing and that would actually keep me from starting the next entry at all. Somewhere around my senior year of high school (shortly after I'd given my life to Christ) I started journaling. Not as a way to record life's daily events-though surely I do that too, but rather I began writing to my Heavenly Father as a prayer. Not with "thee's or thou's or even bless so and so's or even me, rather I just began to assume (rightly) that He had been with me through the day, no need to recount the day unless I wanted to talk to Him about parts of it.


This change was wonderful for me.

Another great step in this journey happened at Moody. I became fascinated with a guy on my brother floor (Mike's floor) named Brad. Brad was a writer, actually now he's a chaplain, but that's neither here nor there. I watched him write during chapel from nearly start to finish. He couldn't possibly be taking notes because sometimes he'd write through the worship. He didn't seem disconnected from the world like some wierdo as he was just as personable as the next. He just seemed to enjoy this little book he carried from here to there.


To make a long story shorter, Brad and I sat next to each other on occasion and I asked him to explain to me the method to his writing madness. I can remember two or things he said to me that day, but the one that is pertinent to today was that I should feel no OBLIGATION to my journal. If I made it there that day to write, GREAT! But if my heart wasn't connecting with the pen and paper before me, then to move on. I didn't need to catch up my journal with all the great events, I could just enjoy recounting right where I was. This obviously is true of writing to my Father. I don't need to catch Him up as if He wasn't right there with me, He was and is a part of every breath.

So, just like my journal. Let's start from today. Its been a busy few months, I'll try to catch you up as we go, but let's enjoy the journey from here,

Dear Friend.

First and Fifteen- Verse 10

Here we go again. This was Beth Moore's verse this time. Interesting timing and it seems straight from the Lord and I'm claiming it as my own.

Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy. 1 Peter 1:8 NIV

One of my all time favorite verses is Hebrews 11:1.
"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."

Sometimes I ask myself if I'm sure. Am I sure of what I hope for. And after a few seconds of pondering my soul shouts back with a resounding, "Yes. I love him, so. I'm so changed and it couldn't possibly have been me doing the changing. So many times, he's worked with me, through me, in me. So many times all there is left is the knowledge that he loves me." I'm ready to give an answer today for the HOPE that is within me.
The living, risen, powerful King Jesus Christ inside me, a relationship with the lover of my soul.

Its raining today.

Its raining here today, and the deluge could not feel more appropriate. While the earth receives what the Father has decided it needs, our hearts are heavy and our cheeks are continually wet.

Last Saturday we lost a dear friend and mentor, Dr. Dan Hasty.
I've never written a tribute and I'm certain I'm not even in the top 100 people experiencing grief because of Doc's home going. But it would be an injustice to not build a memorial, if nowhere but here and in my heart, to a man who has deeply touched 4 out of 5 of my family members.
Doc entered paradise on Saturday morning and as sure as the rain falls today, our friend hugged our Lord Jesus immediately. Doc taught many adult classes, but shortly after Mike and I moved here, we joined the Spiritual Gifts class that Doc was so famous for. We spent over ten weeks learning and absorbing all Doc taught us about the importance of the gifting of the Holy Spirit, the unity and strength of the body of Christ working together, and evaluating and processing through our spiritual gifts.
(Both Mike and I are Pastor/Shepard first, depart for our secondary gifts, and then scored together with teaching as our third. I remember Doc laughing with us about the irony of having a husband and wife with the same spiritual gift. I can't thank the Lord enough for the opportunity to have studied under Doc. I will thank him again when I see him because putting my finger on something I'd wrestled with has opened such incredible doors in my life and my heart.)

Dr. Hasty also spend a gazillion years leading our Cubbies program. Bless his heart, some days he must have come straight from his dental practice to our kids. Never one to miss a teachable moment, Doc has taught literally 1oo's of kids about the word of God. But my gratefulness will stem especially from his love, care and teaching of Brendan and Gabriella. Doc praised Brendan's enthusiasm for God's word and triggered great home conversations. Bubbs was forever asking, "When I sing 'Peter, James and John in a sailboat', Dr. Hasty asks if Jesus got sand in the nail marks in his hands. What do you think, Mom?" and other great ponderings.

As a matter of fact, one of my favorite memories with Doc was when I took Bubbs to his dental office for his preschool dental check up. Brendan (literally) flipped his lid. Wouldn't sit in the chair; wouldn't let Doc anywhere near him. Threats were to no avail---adoration had ended and he was just not sitting in Doc's chair. So, that weekend in the hall of church Doc told Brendan to open his mouth and Brendan let him peek around in his mouth and told me to just bring my paper by the office. Bubbs' teeth looked great. :) What a guy.

And Gabi. Well, let's just say that Doc set her in his lap and helped her obey on more than a couple occasions, or so I've been told. He was always teaching and was ALWAYS adored.

I've had 4 or 5 recent conversations with Doc that have blessed my heart. Words of affirmation and encouragement...and somehow, when they came from him, they just held more weight.

And now, what's left to say except that my heart is broken for my sweet friends who lost a husband and father. Our prayers for them are endless these days. Never far from our minds.

But heaven gained a true Christ follower. I take much comfort in knowing that this great teacher has finally met THE GREAT TEACHER and has never been more joyful, I"m sure. Jesus wrapped up in his saving arms one of his beloved, and how much sweeter the reunion will be for me when the Lord calls me home to see Doc there as well.