Heaven

I've been thinking quite a bit about Heaven lately... just in the past two days I've had dear friends walk through seemingly unbearable circumstances.  The loss of a newborn and the unexpected death of a family friend. As I've walked with these friends and listened to their tears, it stirs my heart... both in pain for them and their loss and bringing my own feelings of loss and grief back to the surface. This past Friday marked a year for us learning that our fourth child would not be living with us here on earth, that we would have to wait until Heaven to hold our baby, to know this baby.  It is so odd  that a period of time can feel like it was such a long time ago and then in some ways feel like it was just yesterday.  In some ways it seems like just yesterday- I can remember so vividly the appointment, I can still picture the nurse who was in the room with me.  I can still recall where I was during several phone conversations I had that day. Yet,  in other ways, it seems so very long ago.  A very long year full of tears and hard decisions, of clinging to Scripture and promises found there.  The path of grief  feels especially difficult because there is no end in sight.  It's not one of those things you can walk yourself through by looking ahead and saying " I only have to make it this far and then it will be over..."  It's also unpredictable because there is no set order to how we grieve.  Some days angry, some days weepy, some days indifferent, and some days all three within a two hour time period. For those of us who like a little order in our lives, this unpredictability is especially tough!

But for all the things I don't know or understand about this part of life, there are some great Truths that I do know.  I know for sure that I long more for Heaven. Yes, partly because I believe that our baby is there- alive and well- before her Creator. That in Heaven we will be together.  But even more than that because of what the Bible says about Heaven "...they will be his people and God himself will be with them and be their God.  He will wipe every tear from their eyes.  There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."  Revelation 21:3-4  I can hardly even imagine- no pain, no crying, no mourning, but even more than that it says that God himself will be with us there.  It is sometimes easy to ignore Him and fill our lives with other things that seemingly satisfy, but here is the hope of eternity that those who repent and believe can be "with God Himself."

I also know that on this path- this path that I believe God has very lovingly and Sovereignly ordained for me-I am not alone.  The Bible also says about Jesus that "He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering."  Isaiah 53:3  He knows and understands and even when I do not, when I cannot, He is with me and "with everlasting kindness, (He) will have compassion on me" Isaiah 54:8.

When I do not know what else to do, what to say to these friends, what to tell my own hurting heart, these are the things I call to mind.  The hope of Heaven, the reminder that our days here on earth are fleeting and temporary, that this is not our home and that one day I will be with God himself (holding my sweet little baby in my arms!)

Railroad Park

A couple of Saturdays ago, we headed out to Railroad Park.  (it is downtown off of 1st Ave S) and was such a great incorporation of  green space in downtown!

It is very close to a railroad switchyard and our boys were fascinated by the trains coming in and out.

 There is a paved trail all around the circumference of the park and it was great for bike riding (or jogging to keep up with bike riders!)

 There are also some very unique playground and fitness items that our kids had a blast playing on.
Not every day you get to play on parallel bars at the park.  Abby showed us many fancy tricks, including the mermaid!

 I'm not sure what you call this little machine, we called it the "running man" and they thought it was hilarious to run on.  Their little legs ended up going all sorts of directions!

 This huge spider web was the highlight for every kid in the park.  It was packed full of kids!  They loved being able to climb all over it!

 When we left the park Nathan said his favorite part was seeing the trains and airplanes.  Because downtown is so close to the B'ham airport we saw 6 or 7 airplanes take off and fly right over the park.  This little boy with the enormous eyes was in heaven.  He paused mid-sentence and watched one fly overhead!

 This was another fun climbing adventure!

 We called these the "dip baby dips" and while plenty of kids were zooming in and out of these on their bicycles, we made ours settle for the big wheel!  I'm not quite ready for bike jumping and ramping!

 Pause to check out an airplane that is flying overhead!  These dips were pretty fun to run through, too!

 speaking of running, the park really is a little boy's dream b/c not only do you see trains and airplanes, but there are very fun and unusual surfaces to climb and run all over.  Our boys ran up and down these a ton- for the mother, it is a little unnerving, Jay is good at reminding me that these types of accidents waiting to happen adventures are good for little boys!

 coming down full speed ahead!!

 taking a break to see a train pull in!

 it really was so cute to see how almost every little boy (and a lot of their daddys) took off from whatever they were climbing on to run up and watch when the trains come by.  All of these boys were on that semi-circle climbing and took off in a long row when this train pulled out!

Our kids have already mentioned going back to this park, so if you haven't gone, I would definitely give it a try!

Diamondhead 2010

We always spend New Year's weekend with my parents and my brother and his family.  My kids (well all of us really) look forward to it because they don't get to see their cousins a whole lot.  We always have such a great time together!

Here they all are:

nathan-3, Jacob-5, Jon Wesley-4, Abby-7, Peyton- 18 months, and Kayla- 7

 We always joke that on any given day our girls (Abby and Kayla) or our boys (Jacob and jw) or Jay and Jason could be matching and not even know it.  My mom buys us a lot of the same things and Kayla and Abby love to match while we are together!

The weather was warm enough for us to go outside to play and PLAY we did! 

 we climbed trees...

 played in the leaves...

 opened lots and lots of presents...

 this was a result of one of the girl's unfortunate aim...

 and played some backyard football...

 Uncle Jason made it rain leaves and they had an absolute blast playing in them!

 Needless to say, by bedtime we had 6 very exhausted kiddos on our hands.  Here they are snuggled up watching Tom and Jerry before bedtime!

Uncle Jason, Aunt Valerie, Kayla, Jon Wesley, and Peyton... come visit us soon!!

Saying Goodbye...

Over 15 years ago, I met a girl on my freshman hall. She lived 3 or 4 doors down from me and was so outgoing, funny and just a little dramatic. Most of my memories of her that year involve her sitting in the hall at some obscenely late hour talking on the phone to her "sister." With each passing year at Samford our friendship deepened. We were often doing the same things; going on beach project, leading Bible studies, dating our future husbands, going overseas, breaking up with our future husbands, having lunch together, on-campus aerobics, dating our future husbands again... well, you get the picture. Fast forward a few years and we got married within 3 months of each other, we were in each other's weddings, we were in another Bible study together, this time one for newlyweds. Fast forward again and we had our first babies within 2 months of each other, our second babies within 10 days, our third within 3 weeks and we became neighbors. A little over five years ago we moved in two doors down from her and her family.

It naturally happens when you have so much in common with someone and so much history together that you spend a lot of time together. Our kids have become best of friends and we have shared so many hysterical memories over the past years. Most of them involve her doing something crazy like falling off a treadmill while running on it, or her stroller rolling into a lake (with her baby in it) while we were warding off wild ducks, but there is also just a sense of community that comes from hanging out while our kids play in the yard and ride bikes. We have seen the best in each other and the worst.

Nathan and Sarah Kate- they were 5 months old

Abby and Joshua and friends at their soccer game

Jacob and Andrew in last year's snow!

This is the morning we told them goodbye. We went to where they were staying and played for a little while.


We made scrapbooks for them- here is Joshua looking at his

It is still amazing to me that the Lord knew from the very first time I ever met Jennifer, that she would be one of my very best friends. He knew we would have countless play dates together, potty train kids together, walk through deep valleys together, go on hundreds of neighborhood walks together, keep each others kids, and be "marriage counselors" for one another. He knew that I would be a better wife, mother, and friend because Jennifer was a part of my life.

Well, just before Christmas Jennifer and her family moved out of their house two doors down. It was probably one of the saddest days of my life. She and I stood in her kitchen and sobbed together. Later we tried to pray together, but it really ended up with more crying. We watched the big container truck come and all their earthly possessions be loaded inside. Last Tuesday, Jennifer and Brian and their 3 precious kids got on an airplane and moved to Australia. They are going to work with college students and share the Gospel with those who might otherwise not ever hear.

some of our sweet friends at the going away party

Saying goodbye was very difficult. The airport was one of the saddest things I've ever seen. 20+ grown-ups standing around and 18 of them were bawling their eyes out! I'm super thankful for today's technology. We have been able to talk on the phone several times already (our kids have even talked to each other) and we can facebook and skype.

I wrote this verse for Jennifer in a journal I gave her before she left and I will continue to pray it for them during their time in Australia (all 8-10 very long years of it)

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is

on me,

because the Lord has anointed me

to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the

brokenhearted,

to proclaim freedom for the captives

and release from darkness for the

prisoners,

to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor

and the day of vengeance of our God,

to comfort all who mourn,

and provide for those who grieve in

Australia (Zion)-

to bestow on them a crown of beauty

instead of ashes,

the oil of gladness

instead of mourning,

and a garmet of praise

instead of a spirit of despair.

Isaiah 61:1-3

I know that Jennifer and her family would appreciate your prayers- they have a lot of "new" right now. BUT, they know beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are exactly where the Lord wants them and they can stand on the promises of Him who never changes.

December Fun!

We had a very full and exciting December!  One of the highlights was having some of the girls from Abby's class over for a b'day party for Jesus.  It was so much fun to be around them and have them in our home and especially to get to share the story of Jesus with them.  We did a couple of crafts and ate pizza and cupcakes!

 We got to spend lots of extra time with this little pumpkin while her mommy and daddy were moving their stuff and cleaning their house!

 We had some of the crafts left over from the party so one of their first mornings out of school Abby and I did them with the boys!

 These were the salvation bookmarks we did at the party with Abby's friends.  They are similar to the bracelets but waaaay more involved and time consuming! 

 Of course we made our annual batch of Christmas cookies and this year daddy got to be in on the fun!

 Nathan was in charge of sprinkles while Abby and Jacob put the icing on.  He was very good at loading those cookies up!!  Maybe a little too good!

 On Christmas day Mimi and Gramps, and Uncle Shaun came to our house and we all celebrated Christmas together.  It was so much fun for the kids to hang out with Uncle Shaun!

 Mimi and Gramps surprised Jacob (and Jacob's mommy and daddy!) with a new drum set.  It quickly became his favorite gift!

 building legos with Daddy on Christmas morning!

 Nathan's new big boy bike!

 Abby's new globe.  She had been asking for one and was super excited to get it! (this might be proof that being a nerd is in our genes!)

 It was Nathan's turn to put baby Jesus in the manger on Christmas morning!  Still my favorite part of the morning.

We saw my family the next weekend.  Pics of that to come!!