God is with Us

Do you find that it is difficult to let go of your children at different times? Perhaps it is difficult for you when the school year begins and you hand your child off to their teacher for 8 hours a day. Summer camp approaches and you can hardly imagine not seeing your little darling for 2 weeks. I have this fear of letting go at different times. In the end, my fear is really sin, because it is a lack of trust in our Lord. I am afraid to let go for fear that something could happen. Our Sunday School lesson yesterday was really powerful. I cannot do it justice, so I will not try. However, one of the points was that a disciple is called to let go or give away EVERYTHING we have. We have to be willing to give the Lord all that we own, including our relationships and loved ones. We must love Him above all things. One of my fears is that I will lose my husband or one of our children. In reality, they are not MINE but HIS. I have to trust Him to provide and care for them, and if He calls them home, then I will trust His plan but grieve mightily. Even as I write this I fear that it is foreshadowing. Isn't it funny how Satan tempts us to not trust? He plays mean mind games.

I am sure you wonder why I am telling you all of this. It's a bit heavy for a Monday morning, isn't it? Well, our youngest daughter was invited to library time today with a new friend. She was so excited, and I was very excited for her. We arrived early so that I could get my library card before telling Hurricane goodbye. Story time began before I was finished, so Hurricane went in with a friend. Once I was ready to leave, I could not get in the room to tell her goodbye without interrupting the whole story time, so I left without telling her goodbye.

At first, I was excited to shop alone for our groceries, but then my mind starting playing tricks on me. I started missing our youngest. Sometimes she whines and keeps me from concentrating, but she is my precious constant companion. She was not with me on a day we are normally together and I missed her. Then I began to worry. What if yesterday's lesson was meant to prepare me to let her go? What if she is in an accident on her way to her friend's home? We live on a steep mountain, and accidents do happen. I trusted my new friend, but I still began to worry, so I prayed for Hurricane's safety. Again, I had to confess my lack of trust. I kept praying for her as I ran my quick errands. Finally, I was ready to climb back up the mountain.

Just as I started my car, a huge firetruck came whizzing past me in the general direction of the library. I worried a little more. What if my fear was justified? Would I see her in some awful accident? I drove forward, hoping to find out why the fire truck was called. Again, I was troubled by my worry. We are told that the Lord takes care of us. Why can't I fully trust Him sometimes?

As I rounded the corner to go up the mountain, I saw in my rear view mirrow a car that I believe was my new friend carrying her daughters and my Hurricane. My eyes welled up with tears as I praised God for showing me that HE is real. He ALONE is our Great Protector. He loves Hurricane much more than I do. I climbed the mountain and watched her car climb behind me. I will pick up Hurricane in a little while, but the Lord allowed me to see her safely up the mountain! He hears our prayers, even when we are not full of faith.

Our Sweet Baby Angel

We had quite a scare this weekend. Our little angel, Hurricane, was put to bed on Saturday night and then came downstairs asking for milk. DH & I were selfishly looking forward to a date night with a movie a friend had loaned us. We asked our little Hurricane to go back to bed. As she walked up the stairs, she tripped and fell. We heard a loud cry. Bless her heart. DH reached her first and picked her up. Blood was pouring out of her precious mouth. We realized she had bit her tongue. I tried to look at it, but I wanted to pass out. She had bit it all the way across with multiple lacerations. It would not stop bleeding. Thankfully my dear friend rushed over so that I could ride with DH to the Emergency Clinic.

I was panicked by the time we arrived at the clinic. She was continuing to bleed, and we were all very afraid. It looked horrifying! The nurse brought us a pale pink tongue-colored ice pop for her to put on the tongue. You do not want a color that will mask the injury until the doctor has seen it. I sang songs like "Jesus Loves Me", prayed, and cried. DH kept telling me I needed to be strong for our sweet baby. The doctor finally came in the room. He examined her tongue and assured us she is going to be okay. He explained that she had a moderate wound and that it actually had good placement. We praised God that it was not severe (Trust me, you do not want to see anything more severe than this!). He said that he would not try to put stitches in in since it was not clipped on the side and that it would heal on its own. We thanked the Lord over and over that she is okay! The bleeding finally stopped after 2 ice pops. She came home on a diet of very soft foods only and no salt. Her tongue has healed in amazing ways. Thank you, Lord!

A Merry Disney Birthday

Wow! What a fantastic week we had! Our baby girl turned 4, so we had to fete her in many ways. It's tough to be a December or early January baby. Everyone is so caught up in the frenzy that we call December, so these birthday boys and girls are often overlooked. DH and I decided when Hurricane was born that we would do all that we can to celebrate her well.

So, on December 20, we joined the rest of America at the Magic Kingdom. I was set on seeing the Christmas parade this year while we have annual passes. Unfortunately, we did not move quickly enough, so we entered the gates with a mass of humanity pushing through with us. I've never seen the park so packed!! It was unbelievable. We were thankful to not have to eat any meals there because I am not sure any of the restaurants had space for our party of 7.

The great joy in having annual passes is that there is no pressure when we go to the parks. Of course we WANT to do as much as possible, but when Dumbo has a 2 hour wait, we skip it and wait for our next visit. This day was spent tousling through the crowds more than it was spent riding rides.

Our little bit LOVED the movie Tangled and asked for Rapunzel dolls for Christmas and her birthday. What a thrill that Rapunzel and Flynn were at the park! We endured an hour and a half wait and then took some fun pictures with them. It was worth it to see the smile on her little face.

The 3pm Christmas parade was really cool with all of the characters in Christmas attire.