I.AM.NOT.READY!

We are three and a half weeks away from school starting and I have been looking forward to this day for the last year .. I.AM.NOT.READY!

JackJack has been waiting to join his brothers in school and they actually have been wanting him to join them, but now that the days are getting closer and closer. I.AM.NOT.READY!

I think it is mainly because of the hustle and bustle, homework, driving 20 mins one way to get them there, parent teacher meetings, making 15 lunches per week, meeting new teachers, making new friends all overwhelms me and it makes me want to hide under the cover for another 5 weeks, because just the thought of it makes me scream .. because I.AM.NOT.READY!

So when we get back from vacation, I will refresh the kids uniforms, start inventory and ironing, start the hunt of buying new socks, underwear and shoes - it will be right in my face, because the week we get back, we have 2 parent orientations and meet the teacher nights and then we jump right into school and I.AM.NOT.READY!

School's out!

We have 10 weeks of summer, 10 weeks of crazy, 10 weeks of laughs, 10 weeks of I'm bored, 10 weeks of stay in the house (too hot in TX), 10 weeks of cleaning the house from top to bottom, 10 weeks of when are we going to Kentucky, 10 weeks of counting down to the 1st day of school and JackJack joining the other 2!

and we are headed to our new drink station every week of the summer!

Whohoo!

Back again ..

Wednesday we head to the hospital so #1 son can have a sedation MRI. The surgeon wants to check the tumor site to make sure nothing is growing back or forming anywhere else in his brain.

It's been 2 years since we spent 2 weeks in the hospital and J had 2 surgeries .. and we are SO grateful for son's healing, but when we have to go back for the MRIs  .. those two weeks of memories just comes flowing back to the forefront of my mind.

I will NEVER forget what God did - the healing, the providing, the talks, the disbelief, the shock, the snow and ice, the doctors, the other families, the hospital bills, the LOVE shown by members of our church and community - the MIRACLE!

No matter what words we heard, the tests performed, the medicine incorrectly given, the extra nights in ICU, the heart murmur - God WAS there and He will be with us tomorrow as well.

Even when it doesn't feel like God is there - no doubt, He is. He will always be there ... no matter what the situation, the problem, the people, the doubt, the disbelief, the words, the darkness - HE IS WITH US - HE IS WITH YOU.

What Jesus did ....

Besides Christmas, Easter is one of the most glorious days in my Christian life. I LOVE Christmas and adore Easter, but as I age, have begun to appreciate even more what God did for me and for YOU. When I sit back and think that Jesus was born to die. He died for me. He took my sin. He hung on a cross. FOR ME. I shutter inside just thinking about it.

The life God gives us is not a dress rehersal .. this is it. Jesus was born for a purpose, he died for a purpose. So we could live forever WITH God. But while I am on earth, I want to fulfill my purpose, do the job God wants me to do, be the woman, wife and mom He wants me to be. Fulfill my purpose. Living out my thank you to Jesus for loving me enough to do what he did.

If you don't know Jesus, have questions, want to know more, do not want to be judged because you don't know where to go, what to do - you can start here.  http://needhim.org/

God Bless you - I pray that you can come to know Him and what He did for me and YES even for you!

2012 ....

As many other people you know have shared, I can't believe another year has come and gone. My father used to say, "be careful, if you blink, you will miss something". I totally agree. 2011 was the year to get through. We made it through the year, but I can't tell you much about it except we were busy and it seemed the like the "wheel" would never slow down. There was ALWAYS something to do, ALWAYS somewhere to be, ALWAYS something marked on the calendar .. 2012 will be no different, but this year I intend to be intentional about what I am doing, spending time with my family and making memories and treasuring every .. single .. day.

The kids are older and the memories of toddlers and preschoolers are fading in my memory, but I want to capture each moment, each smile, each disappointment, each tear and learn from them, help the learn from these situations and have more teachable moments. More time with God, more time for God, more time doing what He's intended for us to do.. all of us .. the whole family.