Christian Momma

After 16 years, I love him more now than I did the day I said “I DO”

Happy Anniversary Kevin!!  I love you!

My oldest turns 13 today!  WOW!

The one thing he has been begging for since his 12th birthday was a Facebook account…I guess it’s time to set one up for him!

Happy Birthday Michael!

Father’s day has come and gone.  We kept busy with church, a church-wide luncheon, and a church meeting, that I didn’t really have a lot of time to just sit and think.  It’s probably a good thing.

Every time I think I’ve made it through the grief, I realize once more that my dad is gone and miss him all over again.  So, I made it through Father’s day…but the past couple of days, I’ve been down…I’ve been having lots of thoughts about my dad.  It saddens me that my twins were the age I was when my grandmother died, but I don’t remember her much at all.  I just want my boys to remember him.

He was such a great man of God.  I miss him so much!

“Save a Place for Me”  Matthew West

Don’t be mad
If I cry
It just hurts so bad, sometimes
‘Cause everyday it’s sinking in
And I have to say goodbye all over again

You know I bet it feels good to have the weight of this world off your shoulders now
I’m dreaming of the day when I’m finally there with you

(Chorus)
Save a place for me
Save a place for me
I’ll be there soon
I’ll be there soon
Save a place for me
Save some grace for me
I’ll be there soon
I’ll be there soon

I have asked the questions why
But I guess the answers for another time
So instead I pray, with every tear
And be thankful for the time I had you here

(Chorus)

I wanna live my life Just like you did
Make the most of my time Just like you did
And I want to make my home up in the sky Just like you did
Oh, but until I get there…
Until I get there…

(Chorus)

I had 2 little (and when I say little, we are talking 2 pounds each!) boys!

Happy Birthday Daniel!!

Happy Birthday Andrew!!

I was reading Soliloquy’s end of year review that she wrote and thought…I wrote something like this last year, I should do it again!  Thanks Soliloquy!

So…Let’s begin, shall we?

January

I felt God’s direction about Vacation Bible School.  It was the beginning of January that I realized that God had been calling me to be the director of VBS for 2009.  I had helped run it in 2008, but the call to lead was stronger than the year before.  So by the end of January, it was decided that I would be the director of VBS.

February

Daniel and Andrew turned 4 and I celebrated my 35th birthday.  There was that LONG gap of my internet time.  From the moment that we decided to drop the DSL line and get the Cable line…December through February!  WOW, I remember being so upset that it was taking so long and we would get the run around!

March

The stress of VBS was in full force.  My dad struggled with clots one big one that he had been hospitalized for that ran from his groin to his ankle.  I was so happy that he was able to get that taken care of and sent home.  Kevin and I started our online search for a house.  Our intentions were to get a house big enough that my parents could come and stay when a kidney would become available for my dad, since dad’s Kidney doctor was down here by us.

April

I was so excited to be joining in on the A Woman Inspired online conferences!  My dad’s kidneys were getting worse and the doctors were moving forward with getting dad ready for dialysis and his kidney transplant.

May

God began speaking to me about a ministry that my heart had desired to work with.  At the time (May) I didn’t mention the ministry and I really hadn’t mentioned it much since…things just recently came to pass.  I was speaking of the Ladies Ministry at our church.  God had began to open the doors for me to work with that ministry.   I also began writing about the Road to a Kidney and the feelings regarding my dad and a kidney transplant.

June

We were packing up our place and getting ready to move into our new home.  What an exciting time!

July

Michael turned 12.  We had a 4th of July party in our new home!  My dad had to have open heart surgery in July.  It was a triple bypass.  How hard that was to know that my dad going into this surgery would cause his kidneys, that weren’t functioning properly, to completely stop working.  It was extremely hard for me to be there and see all those tubes he had when he came out of surgery.  At that moment, I had realized just how hard it was to watch my dad struggle and be in so much pain.

August

VBS month!  Wow, it was such a whirl-wind and a blur!  I was so happy when the week was over!  The day after VBS, however, I jumped right into working on the Women’s Ministry Retreat.

September

Noah turned 9!  We had the Women’s Retreat and I had so much fun!  I enjoyed every minute of getting all the things together as well as participating.  I started my research on 2010 VBS’s…I was overwhelmed again.  While praying for which program to run the next year, I felt God telling me my time as the director was over.  I was actually very relieved at that, but decided to pray more to be sure it just wasn’t my will.

October

An amazing month.  How I realized that distance doesn’t matter when God is involved and how God was using technology to minister to someone first hand!  My dad’s feet had began to turn purple from lack of circulation.  I had mentioned it to a pastor/friend who had mentioned it to a pastor/friend of his who just happened to be having revival services at his church…streaming online!  So I was able to get online with Larry Silverman’s church (who, by the way are STILL in revival and stream their services online) and hear them pray for my dad while having my cell phone up to the speakers of my computer so my parents (who were on the phone) could hear the prayers for my dad.

November

Unfortunately, my father passed away at the beginning of November.  It was very hard to watch him die.  My heart was split from being happy that he was no longer in pain to being sad that he was no longer with us.  I still struggle with this!   Kevin celebrated his birthday, it wasn’t much of a celebration time (sorry honey!) since it fell between my dad’s viewing and his funeral.

December

Our first Christmas without my dad had it’s moments, but we all had a pretty good time.  We celebrated this Christmas by having my mom spend Christmas Eve/Christmas Day with us.

As an overview, the beginning of 2009 was really great, the ending, too many deaths in the family!

I am looking forward to a new year!  Happy 2010!!

Happy New year to all my followers!!

May the Lord Bless you throughout this new year!

Merry Christmas!

May your day be filled with wonderful memories with family and friends.  And may you remember the reason we celebrate this Christmas season.

For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

God Bless you and your family!

It’s Black Friday!!   Kevin and I are out shopping…getting all those sales, yes we are one of those crazy people that go out at 3 am!!   The boys are with my mom…they went home with her and my sister after Thanksgiving yesterday, we will see them on Sunday!  Yep, that means a Kidless weekend for us!!

Have a wonderful day!!

I just wanted to wish all my readers (the both of you) a wonderful Thanksgiving.  I hope you enjoy all the turkey (if that’s what you are having) and fixin’s!

If you have the chance, please remember that this is our first holiday without my dad…these next few weeks are going to be hard on not just me, but my whole family.

I was surprised this morning by a knock at the door… A package arrived for me at the door.  Want to know what was in the package??

Sweet!

I was surprised!!

15 years, 4 boys, 3 states and 8 moves later, I love this man more today than I did the day I married him!

And the card…yeah I had tears!!

Happy 15th Anniversary Kevin!!  I love you!!