And Baby Made Three........

Eleven years ago our lives changed forever on December 29th at 7:47 in the morning. After years of monthly highs and lows, science projects, pills, frustrations and the most devastating loss we had ever experienced, God blessed Lee and me with an incredible gift: Margaret Winters Black. In a moment's time, our family grew by one and my heart felt like it could not possibly contain all the love I felt for this tiny new life. What an amazing thing a baby is! And what a huge rush of emotions such a tiny thing can cause! Love, joy, wonder, pride, optimism, exhaustion, fear, doubt, depression. But the greatest of these is love.

We did as all new parents do......... we prayed, we read books, we asked trusted friends. But ultimately, we simply did the best we could. Sometimes that worked and sometimes it didn't and when it didn't, we tried to learn from our mistakes. Despite our messes, God is gracious, and he has taken that helpless newborn baby girl and grown her into such a beautiful young lady. She loves God. She loves us and her brothers and sister. Of course, we are still very much in the process. There are still good days and bad days...... mountains we've made it over and mountains yet to climb. But I am so thankful for the blessing that we call Maggie. And I'm praying that the next 11 years don't go quite as quickly as the first ones have. 

Make New Friends, But Keep The Old (The Saga of Macaroni Man)

Once upon a time, long, long ago, my youngest sister made a Christmas ornament. A Gingerbread Man-shaped piece of cardboard decorated with glued-on macaroni. Because we were such a creative family, we named him "Macaroni Man." MM became an integral part of our Christmas decorating each year and even though he lost a little more macaroni every year, no tree was ever complete until he had been hung in his place of honor....... front and center on the tree. This tradition continued for almost 15 years until, alas, one Christmas, MM was nowhere to be found in our decorations. We seriously grieved. And every single time one of us looked at the tree, "How in the world could we have lost Macaroni Man?" was the cry. The next two Christmases had a gingerbread-shaped hole. When the third Christmas season rolled around, I was working as a nurse in our local hospital and was asked to make some kind of festive table display for our waiting room. I was busy that day at work trying to finish up some charting, so one of my co-workers offered to unpack the boxes of decorations and supplies that I'd lugged in from home. I will never forget what happened next. From the Nurses' Lounge, I heard, "WHAT IN THE #$@% IS THIS THING??" I did not even have to wonder. Every fiber of my being knew exactly what I was going to find when I ran into that room. Macaroni Man! He had come back to us. Apparently, he had gotten mixed in with some older, unused ornaments and had been in with our Christmas decorations all along. I immediately called my mom and dad and sisters and we all got together that night for a special "Hanging of MM" celebration. All was right with the world again. That year, as we took down the tree, we found an old ornament box and made it the official storage place for MM forevermore. Over 15 years have come and gone and still MM is the most-loved ornament on my mom's Christmas tree. He will be the first thing my kids look for when we have Christmas there tomorrow.

All that rambling story was to set the stage for this. I have always looked forward to our family's having a Macaroni Man of our own. With four children, we've definitely had our share of wonderful, hand-made ornaments over the years, but nothing that has screamed, "I am the one." Until yesterday, that is, when Maggie brought home the winner. About a week ago, Mags told me that she needed an empty soda can for to make an ornament at school. I gave her one and never gave it a second thought. Who would have imagined that an empty Diet-Pepsi can could be transformed into this beauty? I introduce what will forevermore be known as "Can-ta Claus."

Hark!

Those angels, that multitude of heavenly hosts, had such an timely word for us today: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill to men......."  I think God must have looked forward in time to see what a crazy, frenzied mess we would make of such a holy time. He gave those angelic messengers the perfect phrases to remind us where our focus should be. Looking up........... giving glory to God. Looking in............ allowing God's peace to calm us. Looking out............ offering goodwill to others. I know for me, though, during this last week or so before Christmas the challenges seem to hit from all sides. At school, the final week before the holidays is filled with so many projects and parties that it can seem all-consuming. Church musicals and services intended to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas still require a great deal of time and work in the middle of an already much-too-busy time. And shopping....... well, that's definitely an outright challenge to that "goodwill," isn't it? This season, however, I am determined to show my kids that the instructions given to the shepherds still apply to us today. Merry Christmas!

7th Heaven!

It is over. After 6 very long years of Auburn's owning the state's bragging rights, the Crimson Tide in no uncertain terms has snatched them back. Tonight's 36-0 shutout over the Tigers was the perfect ending to a fairy-tale undefeated season. Who could have ever predicted at the beginning of August that we would be playing next weekend for the SEC Championship as a 12-0 team? 

May this be only the beginning and Roll Tide Roll!

Giving Thanks!

A big pet peeve of mine is how early the stores begin "setting up" for the next holiday. Valentine's Day displays go up before New Year's Day. Easter up in January. Halloween in August, etc. But what frustrates me even more is that on November 1st, the stores skip right over Thanksgiving and go straight to Christmas. It's like no one even acknowledges it as a holiday. 

I love Thanksgiving. I love that the weather has (usually) begun to get colder. I love the sounds (LOTS of family laughter) and the smells (food cooking, fall candles, spices, etc). And I love the traditions. We always spend the day with Lee's family eating WAY more than ought to be allowed and catching up on the past year with relatives we only see once a year.  Then, we head back home for my absolute favorite thing. A fire in the fireplace, hot chocolate, s'mores (no matter what the outside temperature) and Christmas music galore (love you, Ray Conniff singers!) as we drag out all the bins of Christmas decorations. In my mind, it is officially time to look forward to Christmas........ but NOT before!

What Day Is It?

That’s my answer to most of the “big” questions lately. “Are you happy?” “Are you sending your kids to school next year or homeschooling them?” “Are you serving right where God wants you to be serving?” and so on and so on. 

These are definitely some crazy, confusing times. Still there are some constants and those make all the swirling things bearable.

"In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." (Proverbs 3:6)

Part Of His World.......

Lee and I got back this afternoon from our trip to Tennessee. He's usually there Wednesday - Saturday every other week, but since it was my birthday week, we took two extra days and we spent the whole week. He had more writing days and I had lots of "me" time........ for reading, visiting with friends, taking pictures and working on catching up my family scrapbooks. I enjoyed seeing where he writes, meeting some of the people who work at Word, and being there when he finished writing every day to hear all about his new songs first-hand. (instead of by phone or email)

We got home, loved on the kids (who were SO glad to see us...... for about 5 minutes....

then they were ready to go down the street and play with friends) and then settled in to watch the Bama-LSU game. Roll Tide.

It's been such a good week.

A Change of Seasons

It appears that change is occurring in more than just the colors of the leaves on this Election Night. Thank God, that no matter what swirls around us, we can always claim this promise:

"True, the grass withers and the wildflowers fade, but our God's Word stands firm and forever." (Isaiah 40:8)

Lost and Found

October 31st is my least favorite day of the year. But not for the reasons you think. I was raised in a Christian home and went Trick-or-Treating every year from birth to age 14. I loved dressing up, and REALLY loved all the candy. Even when I passed the age when it was "cool" to go out door-to-door, I wanted to be the one who gave out candy at our house. 

Fast-forward many years. Lee and I had tried (without success) for a long time to have our first baby. Finally, we began infertility treatments, and we were thrilled to learn after a few months that we were pregnant. I had been a Labor and Delivery nurse at this time for over 10 years, so we knew that making it to 12-weeks was an important goal. We'd be able to breathe a little easier and let our guard down some. So we decided that we would not share our good news until we reached that point in the pregnancy. We had several office appointments and on early ultrasounds we were even able to see and hear the baby's heartbeat. We hit that all-important milestone of 12 weeks and immediately began to tell our family and friends. Life was good.

A little over a week later, on Thursday, October 31st, I had a "routine" scheduled office appointment. Except it quickly became anything but routine when the nurse (who was completely decked out in a Flintstone's "Pebbles" costume) could not find the baby's heartbeat. Working at the hospital, I knew all the office nurses, so she spent extra time with the Doppler machine. Every minute that passed, I grew more anxious. Of course, she was constantly reassuring me that there was nothing wrong, but I think, looking back on it, I knew. So I'm lying there, thinking, "Oh God, I've got to call Lee and tell him," and all the while a nurse in a one-shouldered animal print dress and a large bone in her hair is spreading more and more cold ultrasound gel on my belly. It was at that point that I started hating Halloween.

We survived that loss and the next year, God blessed us with a completely "normal," healthy pregnancy. A godly woman at our church had told us after our miscarriage, "You won't understand this now, but one day when you're holding the baby that God IS going to give you, realize that you wouldn't have that baby if you had not lost this baby.

We never forgot those words and she was so right. On that Halloween Day many years ago, it was hard to see past the pain, the frustration, the "why's." Now, looking at our four children, I simply cannot imagine life without any of them.

So, the irony is not lost on me that tonight as we were out walking with the kids while they begged for candy, Lee got an email saying that he had in essence "had a miscarriage." See, his songs are his babies. And he's been working on a project for several months now and it has been a healthy, exciting pregnancy. So, tonight, on this Halloween night, once again, we have been mourning a loss. And feeling pain and frustration. And asking, "why?" But even in the disappointment, there's a part of me wondering what God is up to and looking forward to the "baby"  that Lee will get to hold because he's had to let this one go.

As I've been typing this, the date has changed. It is now a brand new day.

I'm Ready For My Close-Up

I have a beautiful family. I live in a beautiful place. I love taking pictures. A couple of years ago Lee and I splurged on a nice Olympus digital SLR and I have had so much fun learning (mostly by trial and error) what I can do with it. It came with a basic (14-45mm) lens. A year or so later, we "upgraded" and purchased a new (40-150mm) telephoto lens.

Well, since next week is my birthday week, I splurged once again, and bought myself an early present......... a new (70-300mm) lens. It came in the mail yesterday, so of course I had to test drive it in the backyard. Here are a few "far" and "near" pics:

I'm thinking that I'll be posting a lot more extreme close-ups from now on.............

I'm Not Sayin', I'm Just Sayin'...........

Think this might have anything to do with the gender confusion issues facing our young people today?

Win-Win Situation

Today is my assigned day for Friday Treats for Elijah's 4th-grade class. We are supposed to follow pretty strict guidelines for providing "healthy" snacks. This is what I just made to take them:

Healthy? Not so much. Festive and fun? You betcha. (to quote one of my new favorite people) I mean, come on, people. We're heading full-speed ahead into the holiday season. If that's not a good enough reason to celebrate with our kids (even if it "sugars them up" a bit in the process) then what is?

I'm counting on two things happening when I deliver these to the class this afternoon:

(1)  I'm going to get lots of cheers and forever be known as "the-cool-mom-who-didn't-bring-a-veggie-and-dip-tray"

and

(fingers crossed)

(2)  I won't be asked to bring Friday Treats again.

Well....... at least not for E's class anyway. There are still 3 other classes to be the "Cool Mom" for, though!

Making Mole Hills Out of Mountains

Where does it all come from? I mean, I know we have a big family. But can 2 adults and 4 small children really make this much laundry???? Just in case you're wondering what I'm doing today............

Anabel's First Field Trip!

Today I went with Anabel's first-grade class to the Weeks Bay Estuary. (An estuary is where "rivers meet the sea.") She was SO excited to be going on her first official field trip. Because I was going with her. Because she got a new "Field Trip T-shirt." Because she knew there were lots of neat things to see there. But, most importantly, because she got to ride on this:

First, we took a tour of the inside exhibits. Every kind of local animal specimen that you can imagine was there to see......... either stuffed, preserved in alcohol, or dried. Here are some pics of things we saw:

After looking, touching, smelling, etc. for about an hour, it was time to head outside. We set out to walk to the end of The Boardwalk to see all the interesting things that we could find on the way to the Bay. Here are some neat animals and plants:

We had a great time. We laughed, and skipped, and told secrets, and learned some cool things about where we live. Anabel has a GREAT class! And a cool teacher!

Finally, it was time to load back on the "Cheese Wagon" (I taught Annie a new term today!) and head back to the school. I had a great time sharing the day with her. And the very best part for me? We did not have to use this:

COSTumes!

4 kids. Halloween. That means 4 costumes that will be worn twice each. First to our church Fall Festival on the 26th, and then to trick-or-treat on the 31st. But oh my goodness........ when did the the basic child's costume price become $30.00?? And that's at Target!

I've done some "scoping" at Good Will and a couple of consignment shops, but there's just not a lot of choice in the sizes that I need.

Still searching...........

1 Down, 3 to Go (or Only 26 more weeks!!)

Today the kids received 1st Quarter Report Cards and I'm thrilled to report that they all four made straight A's! The older three have always done extremely well in school, so we wanted to celebrate with them when Anabel added her grades to the mix. We took them to their favorite Japanese restaurant (a real budget-blower for a family of 6!!) to show them how much we appreciated their hard work. A fun time was had by all!

Money Matters

On Mondays and Tuesdays, I pick Anabel up from school first and then we scoot across to the Intermediate School to get the older three. I love that time of talking just with her. Here's today's conversation............

"Mom, I sure wish there was a game we could play at school where they passed out books to everybody. Then, the winners would be the people who opened up their books and found $1000! But, I'd like to win it ten times so I would have $10,000. (I was very pleased with her math skills!) And you know what I'd do with $10,000? I'd buy us a new house in Tennessee near my friend, Glory. Then, if there was leftovers, I'd buy you and Dad a new car. Then.... if there was leftovers, I'd buy Target. 'Cause it would be so cool if you wanted a snack and you could just go in a get a bag of popcorn and while you were there, you could get clothes if you needed to. And then.... if there was leftovers, I'd buy Disney World..... 'cause that's my favorite place."

Sounds like a plan to me!

In Sickness And In Health (A Bump in the Road)

I finally gave up fighting "The Crud" yesterday and just spent most of the day in bed. I can't remember the last time I've missed church because I was sick. The kids? Sure. But me, not so much. This I just couldn't shake, though.  I can handle the snotty-then-stuffy-nose and the cough, but it's the fever that has just done me in. Aches. Burning hot then freezing cold. Yuck.

I had hoped that it would be a one-day-and-then-it's-gone kind of bug, but that was not to be the case. Lee was wonderful to take over all my usual duties with the kids and around the house. I am very thankful that if this had to happen, that it happened during his time here. I'm not sure how we would have worked it all out if he'd been writing in Nashville. But bless his heart, he jumped right in and juggled getting all four kids to their schools this morning and back home again, too. A good friend even made soup for our supper. I have felt loved and well-cared for.

I've also noticed the past two days just how any little change in routine messes with my kids. Seeing Mom or Dad not feeling well just kind of freaks them out a little bit. They are all usually really flexible and "go with the flow" kind of kids, but something about my being sick had them worried. They made me cards. They prayed for me. They were even quiet while I slept! I'm hoping to be back to "normal" for them when they wake up in the morning. 2 days is definitely enough down time. And let's not even think about the laundry.............

Feed A Fever, Starve A Cold?

But what if you've got both? Yuck. Can't breathe lying down. Can't stop the runny nose sitting up. Hot under the covers. Cold with them off. I told Lee I'd sleep on the couch tonight (because I knew I'd keep him awake with my coughing, and I know how hard it is for him to rest well on Saturday nights anyway) but I should have said that I would "stay up all night in the den" since there hasn't been any sleeping going on. 

We go to church in separate cars since Lee has to be there earlier than we do, but I've already decided that I'm just dropping the kids off when it's time for them to be there. Then I'm coming back home, taking some MAJOR drugs, and going to bed until I feel better. Or until I have to get the kids ready for school tomorrow morning. Moms are NOT supposed to get sick! Let me say again........ Yuck.

As Of Today...........

we're NOT in good hands anymore. Allstate notified us several months ago that they would no longer be providing "wind" coverage for our county. Our agent was quick to offer that there were "options." This turned out to be coverage provided by a third party that Allstate contracted with............ at almost twice our current rate. Seriously.  Our premium rate was going to increase from $2800/year to $5200/year for the exact same coverage!

I'm happy to say, though, that I shopped around and was able to find a much better deal by going with an independent agent who did not have any loyalties to a "big name" company. Our homeowner's premium increase was only $50/month over our current rate. AND, because he was able to find us such a better rate on our automobile policies, we are not paying any more (total) than we have been paying. Yea God! That is definitely an answered prayer!

On The Grow!

We moved to Fairhope from Tennessee in January of 2001 for Lee to serve as the Worship Leader for a new church start called The Church On The Eastern Shore (COTES).

Our first Sunday here, about 50 people gathered in this office building for worship. (It now houses an insurance agency and a real estate office.)

We've made two more moves since then. One, across the parking lot to this larger building that we rented. 

Then, a couple of years later, our church "merged" with another area church of about 200 members, and we moved to the property that they owned. We've been building on that land ever since and just this past year, moved into our second sanctuary.

This past week, we found out that on the list of "The 100 Fastest-Growing Churches in America," we are #49! We now have over 2000 members and are baptizing new Believers weekly. Someone asked me yesterday, "What's your secret?" I immediately said, "I hope that WE have nothing to do with it. God is doing amazing things."

Today, I had to drop some forms by the insurance office that was once our church building. As I looked around and remembered clearly that very first Sunday, I just had to wonder what the next 8 years will bring.

"God can do anything, you know -  far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!" Eph. 3:20

(The Message)

Chasing that Proverbs 31 Woman!

Today was "Walk Your Child To School" Day for my children. All four of them. 2 different schools. 2 different meeting places. Same time.

Today was stormy. Here is a radar image of our area:

 

That long line to the right of Mobile? Just passed through Fairhope. 

But I've really been trying to work on those godly-woman qualities that I've been learning about in my "Marriage Without Regrets" study. This week's lesson has been on the woman described in Proverbs 31:10-31. You know the one, I'm sure. And while there is nothing specific in those verses about walking to school with your children in the rain, I know my children (the ones who are supposed to "rise up and call me blessed") appreciated it. They laughed. They played in the rain. Hopefully, they will remember it as a good thing when they're grown and wanting to blame me for something.

Now I'm back home, dried off and working on another "project" for another member of my household. Apparently, in a cleaning fit last week, I threw away Lee's new (and unread) "Singing News." I should have dug it out of the garbage last night, but there were other things going on......... homework, a baseball practice, and a report due Thursday that requires pictures, props, costume, etc.......... did I mention it stormed this morning? So, there is now a magazine "baking" in my oven. That ought to be worth a "rising up and blessing" from Lee. Hey...... whatever it takes. I'm in this to win it!                                 

Lunch plans!

I'm so excited that I'm getting to hear Ron Hall and Denver Moore speak at a lunch today. Their story is an incredible testimony of how God weaves our lives together while we're here on Earth. If you haven't had a chance to read it, I highly recommend it!

                                                                                  

As an update: Here's a pic of Denver Moore (L) and Ron Hall (R) signing books after the luncheon. Over 900 people attended! Can't wait to hear how much money was raised for The Waterfront Rescue Mission.

Wild Creatures (who love animals!)

A few weeks ago, my kids got to attend a program called, "Creatures of Creation" which is a "non-profit, donor-supported ministry which aspires to glorify God by providing educational and entertaining family resources and outreach programs that focus on God's amazing creatures from a Biblical perspective." In other words, learning about God through fun with animals.

They came home talking non-stop about all the cool critters that they'd seen, heard, touched, and learned about. They also told me that they'd had a picture made with an alligator, but I'd forgotten all about it until a friend brought Annie a copy of their picture today. Apparently, this 7-foot-long beauty is Auggie:

I'm glad they got this "up close and personal" learning experience, but I still wouldn't want to run into Auggie in a dark alley. Well, you know what I mean.

She's A Little Bit Country.............

I visited with the kids today after school while they were eating their snacks, then I came in the den to check my email while they got started on their homework. In the ten minutes that I've been in here, I've heard our youngest, Anabel, age 6, singing no less than 4 different country songs. And I do mean singing. All the words. With feeling. I've heard, "What Was I Thinking?," "She's In Love With The Boy," I Hope You Dance," and now, she's belting out a moving rendition of "Don't Think I Don't Think About It."

Should I be worried or impressed? Impressed, right?.............right?