38

So today I turn 38 years old... seems like a big number, but honestly I have to say these years have FLOWN by! I can't help but wish my momma was here.. to hear her say Happy Birthday, to get that hug and kiss only she can give that warms you from the bottom of your feet to the tip of your head.. to hear her voice, to see her smile, but most of all to hear I LOVE YOU BABY!

I know on your birthday it's usual to focus on your own life.. but I've always thought about what my mom was going through the day she had me... Just 21 days before my birthday my momma and daddy were celebrating my brother Randy's 1st birthday and awaiting my arrival.. my daddy JUST KNEW I was going to be a girl, and he picked out the name Angela (meaning Angel or messenger of God) Christine (meaning Christian or follower of Christ)...mom always told me about how he talked to me, sang to me, kissed her tummy and told me how much he couldn't wait to hold his precious baby girl and how I would be daddy's girl for the rest of my life)... then, 4 days later, he was killed by a drunk driver and momma lost the love of her life, her soulmate, her best friend.. 2 days later she buried the father of her children, her 1 year old baby boy, and soon to be born little one... 15 days later, here I come... I can only imagine the joy and sorrow she felt that day... I was a baby girl, just like he said, and she gave me the name he had picked months earlier (remember this is before sonograms and technology to tell you what you were having).

Words can't explain how blessed I always felt to hear her tell the story of my daddy's love for me.. of course those that know me, know I would cry like a baby, yet at the same time, the love I have for the daddy I never knew became so deeply rooted in my soul that I could feel his love all the way from Heaven every day of my life.

As I grew up and married my soulmate, the love of my life, my best friend.. AND became a mommy.. her strength through this tragedy always made me realize that I could make it through ANYTHING that life could throw my way. It made me hold tighter to those I love, made me love deeper and never let anger or bitterness build in my heart.. realizing that you just never know when someone you love can be taken from you.

It is something I think of often when thinking about losing my momma just 9 days after giving birth to Brandon. I think about how excited my mom was when I found out I was pregnant with our "SUPRISE" little guy.. even though I myslef was in SHOCK! How she so sweetly washed and folded all of the clothes that we had for our newest son, how she talked to my tummy and rubbed on it and told Brandon how she couldn't wait to become a Grammie again...

I have to admit that in that time of losing momma and having Brandon, I have never in my life felt the Lord's presence in such a tangible way.. He was my ROCK, my comforter, my shelter, He wiped away soooooo many tears, He whispered to me that everything would be ok, He wrapped me in his loving arms in a way I had never felt before... I was so broken, and it proved true the verse that says God draws near to the broken hearted, those who are broken in spirit. It's then I realized that he did that exact same thing for my momma the day I was born.

So I count all of my blessings each day.. another year I have lived and loved, my boys, my baby girl I never dreamed would be in my life, my family, my church family, my friends, and those I try and show the love of God to each and every day hoping they can see even just the smallest glimpse of him in me.

My handsome Daddy
Me and my BEAUTIFUL Momma

Life

To: YOU
Date: TODAY
From: GOD
Subject: YOURSELF
Reference: LIFE

This is God. Today I will be handling All of your problems for you.. I do Not need your help. So, have a nice day.

I love you.

P.S. And, remember...

If life happens to deliver a situation to you that you cannot handle, do Not attempt to resolve it yourself! Kindly put it in the SFGTD (something for God to do) box. I will get to it in MY TIME. All situations will be resolved, but in My time, not yours.

Once the matter is placed into the box, do not hold onto it by worrying about it. Instead, focus on all the wonderful things that are present in your life now.

If you find yourself stuck in traffic, don't despair. There are people in this world for whom driving is an unheard of privilege.

Should you have a bad day at work; think of the man who has been out of work for years.

Should you despair over a relationship gone bad; think of the person who has never known what it's like to love and be loved in return.

Should you grieve the passing of another weekend; think of the woman in dire straits, working twelve hours a day, seven days a week to feed her children.

Should your car break down, leaving you miles away from assistance; think of the paraplegic who would love the opportunity to take that walk.

Should you notice a new gray hair in the mirror; think of the cancer patient in chemo who wishes she had hair to examine.

Should you find yourself at a loss and pondering what is life all about, asking what is my purpose? Be thankful. There are those who didn't live long enough to get the opportunity.

Should you find yourself the victim of other people's bitterness, ignorance, smallness or insecurities; remember, things could be worse. You could be one of them!

Now, you have a nice day....And always remember... I LOVE YOU
~ GOD

Teething

So my sweet sweet little princess has not been too happy at all =0( She has been a cranky pants lately, and after some searching... mommy and daddy discovered she has two little teeth poking through! It's nice to know why she has been so "NOT HAPPY" but at the same time, baby orajel can only do so much!! There have been times I didn't even answer my phone because I knew the person on the other end would not hear ME at all...lol!!! One of those things where you wish you could make it all better, but you know your job is to PRAY PRAY PRAY for the pain to ease, and to try and make her as happy as possible! She has been super attached to mommy.. and I once again have to say THANK YOU LORD for my amazing husband who understands that there are many things that pay the price for her crankiness... the house, the laundry, the dishes... my attitude...lol (YA, I know.. but constant crying can wear on even the most patient of us...lol!) yet he comes in from working all day, and has done some dishes, done some laundry, swept some floors, or just held our crying little Angel and gave her those "magic kisses" that Daddy has! I take for granted soooooo many times that I have such a wonderful husband. I love you baby!!!! I don't tell you often enough how much I appreciate YOU... just being YOU! I am blessed WAY beyond what I deserve when it comes to the hubby area ;0) You are my rock, you are the man most women would love to have, and I'm soooo glad you're ALL MINE!!!!!!

JesUs

Before U were thought of or time had begun,
God stuck U in the name of His Son.


And each time U pray, you'll see it's true,
You can't spell out JesUs and not include U.


You're a pretty big part of His wonderful name,
For U, He was born; that's why He came.


His great love for U is the reason He died.
It even takes U to spell crUcified..


Isn't it thrilling and splendidly grand
He rose from the dead, with U in His plan?


The stones split away, the gold trUmpet blew,
And this word resUrrection is spelled with a U.


When JesUs left earth at His upward ascension,
He felt there was one thing He just had to mention.


'Go into the world and tell them it's true
That I love them all - Just like I love U.'


So many great people are spelled with a U,
Don't they have a right to know JesUs too?


It all depends now on what U will do,
He'd like them to know, But it all starts with U.

Halloween =0)

Hallelujah Night was a success!!! Lots of candy, lots of fun.. and some ADORABLE pics!

Brandon =0) What a cutie!!


G.I. Joe... oops, I mean G.I. Gavin


Two happy brothers =0)


Cutest lil Cowgirl in the WORLD!!! Miss Ellie


Forrest Fire Chief Gabe.. and Fairbury Fire Chief Brandon


Hold on to those hats boys... those Firetrucks go FAST!!!!!!!!!!!!


Lil Cowgirl Ellie holding on to Daddy.. not sure what to think of Brandon the Fireman


How cute are they!


Lil Ellie warmed up to the young blue-eyed Fireman


Brandon was eating it up!!! He ADORES Miss Ellie!!!!

Happy Autumn

H A P P Y A U T U M N!!!



The 7 Ups!



1. Wake Up !!

Decide to have a good day.
'This is the day the Lord hath made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.'
Psalms 118:24



2. Dress Up !!


The best way to dress up is to put on a smile.
A smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks.
'The Lord does not look at the things man looks at.
Man looks at outward appearance,
but the Lord looks at the heart.'
I Samuel 16:7




3. Shut Up!!
Say nice things and learn to listen.
God gave us two ears and one mouth,
so He must have meant for us to do twice as much listening as talking.

'He who guards his lips guards his soul.'
Proverbs 13:3




4. Stand Up!!




. . . for what you believe in.
Stand for something or you will fall for anything.
'Let us not be weary in doing good; for at the proper time,
we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good...'
Galatians 6:9-10



5. Look Up !!


. . to the Lord.
'I can do everything through Christ who strengthens me'.
Philippians 4:13




6. Reach Up !!
. . for something higher.
'Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and lean not unto your own understanding.
In all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path.'
Proverbs 3:5-6





7.. Lift Up !!
. . your Prayers.
'Do not worry about anything; instead
PRAY ABOUT EVERYTHING.'
Philippians 4:6







A POSITIVE THOUGHT



If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it.
If He had a wallet, your photo would be in it.
He sends you flowers every spring, and a sunrise every morning.

Whenever you want to talk, He'll listen.
He could live anywhere in the universe, and He chose your heart.
What about the Christmas gift He sent you in Bethlehem ;
not to mention that Friday at Calvary .
Face it, He's crazy about you.



I thought this was mighty special, just like YOU.
Pass this on and brighten someone's day, and remember . ...


God answers Knee-Mail!








Wishing you a Blessed day!!!

Sickness

So for the past almost MONTH, we have had some sort of illness going through the house.. from coughs, to sinus infections, to fevers, to Influenza A, to just the plain old body aches and just when you think they're gone... somebody else pops up with another "symptom". Last week, out of the 9 people that live here (our family makes up 6, my brother going through a divorce makes up the other 3 with his kids) there were 7 out of 9 people sick in this house =0( Talk about sick and tired of being sick and tired!!!! I seriously had a medication and fever list... times to give the meds, and times to take the temps and record them... and I was even struggling to keep my mind clear enough to do this since I was one of the sicklies too!!! Yesterday (Sunday) we had prayed and prayed that we would all finally be together in church... oh so close, but didn't happen. Sheldon began running another fever Sat. evening, and Sunday morning was running a high temp again. So he stayed home (though he was on call and still had to go make rounds for work!!) with Brandon who has the horrible cough that sometimes will seriously go on for over 5 minutes NON-STOP and the breathing treatment DID NOT HELP.. it actually made it worse!! Lil Miss Hollynd has not run a fever, she has just had the runny nose, croupy cough and has not been the sweet little girl we know she is ;0) BUT.. Praise God.. so far today I have gotten 3 kids on the bus so far, and 2 left to get on the bus at 11:47. Could this be the day? The hubby is working his early morning day.. he sounds AWFUL but he is fever free so far!! So I'm once again praying and believing that the sickness is GONE GONE GONE! And I don't think I'll answer the phone if the school calls...LOL!!!!!!! Hopefully it's back to the land of the living =0)
Here's a few pics I did manage to snap... usually I'm a camera crazy woman but I don't think anybody was "camera ready" these last few weeks.. but here's a few I did manage to take =0)