gobble gobble

Happy Thanksgiving! I have much to be thankful for this thanksgiving! In fact, a friend of mine and i were talking about thankfulness today. She has experienced the life change of cancer and commented that she used to complain more before cancer. Now, after having walked through cancer, she chooses to be thankful instead of complain. She's a survivor and has a whole different perspective on life and circumstances. May we choose thankfulness on this and the days ahead!

Here's a picture of me and my little pilgrim at his 1st grade thanksgiving play!

Beauty for ashes

I know it’s been awhile, but much has happened since I last wrote. We officially purchased a home, and it’s exactly what I’ve been praying for. I had been praying and waiting on God to provide a home as close to Butler as possible in order to be more accessible to the students with whom I seek to minister.

He provided! In fact, I was painting the garage last weekend and heard the Butler football team score a touchdown as our house is a block from the stadium. I am incredibly thankful for the Lord’s provision!

We haven’t moved in yet because I’m having some renovating and painting done, but I am hoping to be in the house by Thanksgiving.

I also am having some landscaping done and consulted with a friend from church who owns his own landscaping business. I don’t exactly have a green thumb, so I left the design up to him. Not too long ago, he showed me the plans for the front yard, which will be absolutely beautiful. More importantly, they included some dogwood trees and hydrangeas, both of which have great significance in my life.

Erik and I were married at the home where he grew up in North Carolina. We had an outdoor wedding and the dogwoods trees bloomed the very morning of our wedding. They were stunning and a picture of beauty for ashes on a bittersweet day: sweet because I was marrying Erik and bitter because my sister had died a month and a half prior to our wedding. I was so devastated and in the midst of great sorrow. God provided a wonderful reminder for me that day, that I would one day rise from the ashes of grief and that He would one day be back to make all things right.

I also love Hydrangeas. Aren’t they lovely? Erik knew I loved hydrangeas and the night he proposed to me, I was surrounded by bouquets of hydrangeas.

So when my friend, the landscaper showed me the plans for the new house, I almost cried. What a gift from the Lord since moving from our old house was so hard to do. It was such a step of faith for me to leave the home that Erik and I lived in. All the memories! He is giving me a constant reminder that He indeed is the one who gives beauty for ashes!

Apple Pickin'

I love this time of year! Cooler evenings, apple orchards and yummy warm cider are a few of my favorite things. We took our annual trip to the apple orchard and the refrigerator is loaded with more apples than we can possibly eat. Any good apple recipes out there?

Here are my little men having some apple orchard fun!

First day of school

The boys are back to school. Jensen is now attending Alex's school and it's great having them at the same place. Jensen came home from the first day of class and said, "I love it mom!"

He made a friend. (THANK YOU LORD!) He had been feeling a bit anxious about going to a new school. Thanks to Ellis, his new friend, for making school a fun place for Jensen!

Doesn't that hold true in all of life? New situations or circumstances just aren't as scary when you've got a friend to do it with you! Thankful for all those who are in this journey with us!

My dream

Have you ever had a dream that was so real it took you awhile to realize that it was just a dream?

I did just the other night. In fact, I had a very vivid dream that I don’t think I’ll ever forget. I don’t typically remember my dreams, but this one was hard to forget. I realize it might seem kind of weird that I’m talking about a dream in my blog. I mean, it is just a dream, and aren’t most dreams kind of wacky?

There was something different about this one, though.

Erik was in this dream. I rarely dream about him, but each time I do it’s a gift because for a few minutes I am with him again. (I know, you think I’m crazy, but for those who have lost someone you love, getting to have a few seconds with your loved one, even in a dream, is a gift.)

We were sitting together talking. The scene was heaven, although all I saw is Erik. In fact, I couldn’t even tell you anything descriptively about heaven because the focus of the dream was the content of our conversation.

Erik was sharing his viewpoint of the trials and struggles that he had on earth from the vantage point of being in heaven. He talked about how all the trials that made life really hard were over for him. While on earth, the struggles seemed like they would never end, but now from his viewpoint he could see that they were temporary. They were over.

It was almost like a pep talk for me. “Kel, keep running the race (as it talks about in 1 Corinthians 9:24 relating the Christian life to that of a race), keep trusting God, keep fixing your eyes on Him because heaven is a reality and one day you are going to be here. I know the trials of life seem endless, but one day you aren’t going to struggle anymore, too.”

What a great reminder for me, for us all.

Sophie

Sucker. Do you see it written on my forehead? You can’t miss it. It’s there in flashing neon colors. SUCKER! That’s me.

Tears were pouring down Alex’s face as he cried, “Can we keep her mom? PLEASE, we can’t just leave her here!” I completely caved! We are now officially owners of one Beagle mutt named Sophie.

Sophie was a stray that attached herself to Alex while on a bike ride at a local park. She had no tags, and after asking others around the park, we learned that she had been running around the area for days.

I told the boys we could take her home, but that we were going to fervently look for her owner. We posted signs all around and began waiting to see if anyone would claim her.

I waited three weeks with no phone calls from anyone missing a dog. So, I decided it was time to take her to the vet. After spending a bundle of money on the pup for examinations, vaccinations, and medications, the owner called. I couldn’t believe it. I was starting to get attached to this mischievous little creature, and I knew the boys would be crushed!

After a couple of conversations, the owner decided to let us keep her. He had bought her just a month prior to her escape, and it sounded like he wasn’t really up for the task of taking care of her.

So, Sophie is now ours. She’s extremely lovable and lots of fun. She is great with kids, but hates men. Hilarious!

She’s also A LOT of work! She’s a shedder, which drives me absolutely crazy! She also thinks she’s queen of the house, and her goal in life is to claim a spot on the couch. One day I walked in the kitchen to see her on top of the kitchen table!!!

She is learning, though, and the boys have been remarkably responsible in helping out with her. They adore her, and she’s even started to capture my heart, too.

Being a dog owner is an adventure that came a lot sooner than I expected. Doesn't life bring a lot of the unexpected?

Father's Day

Last Father’s Day, I started a new tradition for the boys that I hope to continue each year. In light of the fact that Alex and Jensen will one day be fathers (Lord willing), I get them a gift for Father’s Day. Some years they will get the traditional fatherly gift i.e. last year they each got their first watch. This year, I decided to get them something a little different.

I was thinking about what a great dad Erik was. He was such a “hands on” dad. Some of you know this, but when Alex was born I think an entire week went by before I actually changed his diaper for the first time. Erik also LOVED playing with the boys. He loved having fun and was so fantastic with children in general.

So this year, I got the boys a gift they could have fun with to remember that their father loved to have fun with them. They were absolutely thrilled when they opened their double barrel water guns. What fun they have had with them! Oh, how Erik would have loved getting to blast them with water guns!

I also spent some time talking to the boys about how their dad loved Jesus more than anything. Although he was fun, it was his love for Jesus that made Him a good dad.

I know Father’s Day is over, but to all the dads out there………Go have fun with you kids because you can and because life is a gift!