Another Blessed Weekend...sort of...

This past weekend I got to spend time with my best pals...Jeremy, Jamie and Brent. We flew Brent in from Charlotte since Saturday was going to be a rough one for him. Jeremy and I have both had our own share of struggles lately as well, so we comiserated, laughed, and enjoyed the wonderful friendships God has blessed us with in eachother.

We travelled to Seguin to see Jeremy's directorial production of CINDERELLA. Even tho I missed over half of it (dumb Austin traffic), it was still ADORABLE!

We ate BBQ in one of Texas Monthly's top ranked joints, saw Indiana Jones (yipes!) and sang at the top of our lungs to random songs from each ipod in the car. GREAT fun!

Oh! And check out the Super Awesome gift Jamie and Brent made for "Mr. Hailey" from all of us. With 4th grade craftsmanship like this, how could he NOT be honored?!?!?
It says: JEREMY Always Remember To dream dance sing play imagine

Now, real low point of the weekend....Friday night my throat starts to feel swollen. Take some ibuprofen. Feel better. Can't breathe real well and don't sleep much tho. Saturday we go in and get me some allergy medicine and throat lozanges. I progress thru the day having more and more difficulty swallowing and feeling like my throat is closing up. Sunday I can't stand it any more. I tell the gang "I want to go home" as I fight tears welling up. I'm pretty certain it's Strep Throat. (remember our first encounter with that, Mel?) I leave immediately (and tearfully as I am not yet ready to say goodbye to my friends AND can't even hug them since I assume I'm contagious.) I drive 4 hours home and straight to the doctor. Yep. Strep. I get 2 perscriptions and go straight to bed. OH! But we are having a bon voyage party for my friend Tanya who is leaving for Japan on Monday at my house that night! WHAT??? Joe, bless his heart, did everything. He cleaned, he cooked, he hosted. I said hello, sat pathetically a little away from our friends and went to sleep while everyone was still here. Oh...and I cried 2 more times. Once at the pharmacy and once when I told our friends I have Strep. I must have been really sick to cry so much. But now I'm on the mend and back to work. 8 more school days!!!

One more thing. In my support group we read something that applies as much to me as it does to Brent or Jeremy or any of us facing difficult things in life. I wanted to share it with you all too. It's a quote about the sovereignty of God.
"His plan includes all promotions and demotions. His plan can mean both adversity and prosperity, tragedy and calamity, ecstasy and joy. It envelops illness as much as health, perilous time as much as comfort, safety, prosperity and ease. His plan is at work when we cannot imagine why, because it is so clear and pleasant. His sovereignty, though it is inscrutable, has dominion over all handicaps, all heartaches, all helpless moments. It is at work through all disappointments, broken dreams, and lingering difficulties. And even when we cannot fully fathom why, He knows. Even when we cannot explain the reasons, He understands. And when we cannot see the end, He is there, nodding, "Yes, that is My plan."

Because HE Lives

This song touched my heart this morning. I have had a good 3 week stint with no downward dips in my emotions. Yesterday was a little tough, but I powered through! This morning we got to the verse about newborn babies and I realized how true the words I sang were.


God sent His son, they called Him, Jesus;
He came to love, heal and forgive;
He lived and died to buy my pardon,
An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives!

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow,
Because He lives, all fear is gone;
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living,Just because He lives!

How sweet to hold a newborn baby,
And feel the pride and joy he gives;
But greater still the calm assurance:
This child can face uncertain days because He Lives!

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow,
Because He lives, all fear is gone;
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living,Just because He lives!

Mother's Day...THE PREQUEL

So...my sweet boy and our best friends did something incredible this weekend...we hid. It being Mother's Day and all, Amy and I didn't want to deal with the inevitable emotions we would face. So we packed up Friday and headed to Dodd City, Tx. population 419 (or 423 this weekend). Our friend Reagan (same one who got us in the Macy's Parade in November) has a log cabin in the woods that he offered to us. It was the most fun I have had in SO LONG!!! I expected a fun weekend, but this was just plain AWESOME!

There is way more to say that I can write here, so let me run through it in list form (ala Happy List):

Happies from the weekend:

1. Eating a fried food feast in Windom, Tx at the Feed Sack

2. 4-wheelers in an open meadow of wildflowers

3. Floating in a boat on a secluded pond

4. Campfires in the dead of night

5. climbing the side of a house

6. breakfast outside in the cool of the morning

7. kissing in the barn while the rain pours down

8. chocolate cobbler!!!

9. dragging a boat on an old mattress

10. buying a cowboy hat

11. watching arrested development all piled up on one huge bed

12. cows that follow you

13. and most importantly...KNOWING GOD WILL MAKE NEXT MOTHER'S DAY EVEN BETTER...no matter what that means for the 4 of us

Here are some pics from the trip. Enjoy!

Taylor

Many of you know that when I first moved here I attended church with Melanie at North Richland Hills Church of Christ. Yes, it WAS big. Yes, I DID feel lost in the crowd. But it was also a place that let me explore being a leader and find where to belong within a congregation. I left there 3 ½ years ago to be with my sweetheart at Woodland West. I didn’t know that I would end up at RHCC again many years later.

RHCC is a great place if you are in need of help. And right now, I am! My good friend Amy and I joined a support group last week at RHCC. It is called the Hannah Group and it is for girls suffering with infertility or miscarriage. If you know anyone in that category, get them out here to Hannah Group! We have only been once, but it has already been a huge blessing to both of us.

I have a “friend” (I’ve never actually met her) named Taylor. She has been through infertility and now has a baby on the way. Unfortunately, little Nathan has a rare affliction called Trisomy 13. He will never see his house because IF he is born, he will only live a precious few minutes. Taylor is one of those amazing people who seem to have faith despite all odds. Her story, emails, blogs and friendship daily brings me encouragement and hope.

Last night she had a post that absolutely changed me. She was talking about Narnia and how Lucy explains to Mr. Tumnus that Aslan is not a tame lion. And she goes on to explain how God is not tame, but is always good and faithful. But here is what really stuck with me…she said she feels like she is walking in the rain. No sunshine. No happiness. In fact, she can’t remember the last time she felt happy. (been there!) But she says when she stops to think that Jesus actually DIED for her…she can’t feel sorry for herself. In her words, “Christ didn’t go to the cross with a smile on his face either. But the SON did rise again.”

These past few days have felt normal for the first time in a long time. I know the pendulum will swing again soon, but for now I am content and that’s enough. We have decided to go ahead with InVitro and pray that God allows that 30% to be an afterthought for us. If he wants us to adopt, we will. I feel really good about that option too.

Continue to pray for us. And if you are interested, read Taylor’s Blog. She’ll strengthen your faith, just as she does mine. http://tstapes.blogspot.com/