Exhausted July 30, 2008

Truth be know I am far too tired and it is far too late to blog anything that makes sense but so many people have been so kind and giving and generous and blessed us so much with your prayers and thoughts and food and gifts…. and so many of you have walked with us through our posts that I have to at least put some events and thoughts down here today.

 Today has been full of tough decisions.  We spent a long time at the funeral home crying and deciding on caskets, etc.  I have never done this before so again I have learned so much.  Then we went to the cemetery to make more decisions and cry.  There has also been laughing as we share funny memories (Tom was a prankster) and Toby (my brother-in-law has a nack at making fun of all of us:).

Then we went to the church to meet with Daniel Inabinet, that was very emotional as we shared memories and discussed the service.  And then this afternoon we went back to the funeral home for the viewing with family.  That was a very hard but sweet time as a family.

Tonight we had lots of wonderful visitors and have spent some time with the boys and on the computer replying to many friends’ precious comments.  So now off for a bit of sleep.  We are humbled and overwhelmed at how much people are loving us and taking care of all of us and our needs during this time.  We cannot say thank you enough!

Overwhelmed July 29, 2008

Emotionally exhausted, drained, so sad, yet overwhelmed by love.  This is a smidge of what we are feeling currently.  I have never lost a loved one this close to me so this is a strange, difficult new experience.  It is a bit overwhelming thinking of ever doing it again and yet it is inevitable.  Mark, Kimberly and Pat have been down this road too many times it seems.

You can check out Mark’s blog for details on the arrangements.  How completely amazed we have been how in the last 12 hours we have been loved on in amazing ways.  I received the phone call that Tom had slipped away and within 20 minutes I was by Mark’s side and it takes almost 15 minutes to get to Pat and Tom’s house.  That is how quickly friends moved into place to free us up to grieve.  Within three hours unbeknowst to me not only were my children being fed and entertained but friends fell upon my house and straightened (forgive my clutter!), cleaned, scrubbed, folded, washed bedding, reorganized my house to prepare for out of town guests.  Then to top it off they mowed the yard!

All day long we have received food, emails, text messages, phone calls.  God is so good to us and we are so undeserving but I promise these huge gestures bless us so very much.  What a testament to God’s grace.  Not one gift, card or phone call is unappreciated.  It keeps us going so thank you.

Please do continue to pray for our strength, especially for Pat, Kimberly and Mark.  They are going on months of very little sleep and the grief is hard.  Also as a momma please pray for little Eli.  We took him to the doctor tonight b/c he has a very, very bad cough.  Apparently it is just a cold thank goodness but of course I worry about him:) 

So thanks be to God for all the support from those that love us and love Him!  I just kept thinking of Tom today enjoying the sunshine of the Lord while fishing with his dad.  What a sweet picture!

It’s finally here! July 26, 2008

I can hardly stand it, I may jump out of my skin!!!

Tomorrow morning at 7:15am we will travel with over 50 other people to Newspring Anderson campus.  We have been praying and hoping for at least two years.  This is so amazing and exciting!!  God is great and greatly to be praised and incredible and faithful and alive and working…

And I am so thankful for the chance to shout His praises!  This is the beginning of Newspring Florence.

Check-it-out!! July 24, 2008

Granted, I probably have a very, very minor readership.  And quite possibly most of you know my dear friend Cookie Cawthon.  But I just have a feeling that someone needs to read this.  Cookie is an amazing writer… but more than that an authentic, fiery, fun, sassy friend.  Truly her greatest passion besides her goofy hubby and absolutely precious mini-me girls… is her Savior.

She started a series about her journey to this passion for her Lord.  So good, so authentic.  Take some time and check it out.  It is currently a three part.  Here’s the link to the first one…

http://www.cookiecawthon.com/2008/07/from-there-to-here-part-i.html

Fill Me Up July 24, 2008

Most of my day was spent scurrying around preparing as much as possible for our busy weekend.  You know the drill… pack for the beach, pack for the car trip, pack for snacks in the car, pack for snacks on the beach, pack for the hotel, pack for on the bus, pack extra clothes….  I did get a lot done but we did not end up leaving for the beach until after 2pm.

I had mentally prepared myself all day to not stress about time.  This is hard for me.  We did pretty well.  I tell you what … nothing quite fills me up like the beach.  The sound of the waves, the sand, the shells, the wind.  It just brings peace to my soul.  Somewhere deep inside.  I’m smiling thinking about it.

My favorite time on the beach is late afternoon between like 4 and 7pm.  It was so fun to share that with my boys today.  I love it when the waves rush back into the ocean and they leave a trail of all those little seashells… the ones that are alive and so many different colors.  And when they realize the water is leaving them they poke themselves up into the air like little flags and suck themselves back into the sand.  It was so fun to show the boys how to dig them up and then watch them scurry back into the sand.  We compared colors and sizes and talked about our amazing God who makes such incredible fun things for us to enjoy.

What a strange, sweet season this summer is in my life.  So much going on externally and internally but these beautifully, sweet moments and memories that keep me going… and help me to regain focus on what is true and important and lasting.

We try to have a devotion with the boys most days.  Some weeks are more consistent than others.  But this summer we have begun the habit of calling it our Focus time.  The time we take to remember where our eyes and hearts needs to be centered.  What our Focus is for that day, that week and for our lives.  The extraordinary gift of this afternoon with my three little joys on the beach helped me regain my Focus. 

Thank you Father:)

Road Trip July 23, 2008

Exciting stuff going on this weekend!  I have been quiet and absent and busy!  We have fun stuff to look forward to over the next few days.

Tomorrow we are going to the beach to spend the night.  Hopefully should be fun:)  Saturday we have a cub scout outing to Wild, Water and Wheels.  All day water fun!

Then the absolute icing on the cake is a group road trip to Newspring Anderson and Greenville campuses.  We are taking a bus trip from Florence Swamp Fox Theater early Sunday morning and trekking it, with kids and all up to Anderson campus of Newspring Church.  We will attend the 11:15am service and then travel down to the Greenville campus for a catered lunch and some behind the scenes experience of how a video campus will work.

Then around 2:30pm we will head back to Florence.  We are all looking so forward to it.  I know of at least four families with children going.  So the couples and singles will get a dose of family fun.  The bus has a dvd player and a potty, so we should be good:)  It is so cool that we are actually seeing other people, some  excited and some just interested, getting on the bus to see what Newspring is all about:)  God is so good!!!

Oh by the way…. if you want to get on the bus with us, let me know or email Michael Brown and let him know by 5:00pm tomorrow.  I promise, it will be worth your while!  Road Trip!

Out of commission July 18, 2008

Obviously I have been very absent for about a week.  Sunday night I went to bed with a migraine, but was hoping I could properly medicate, sleep long and outrun it.  Not so much.  It did come and go in spells but Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday night were particularly awful.  Mark was so patient.  Two nights I went to bed at 6pm.

So I have had more sleep this week than I think I have had since college.  The funny thing is I still don’t really feel rested.  What is up with that?  Am I so sleep deprived that it takes MORE than five days of good sleep to refill me?  Yes it is after midnight and I am still up.  My internal clock is now a little wacked but it is also b/c #1 I am a little addicted to this form of communication via the internet and #2 b/c I still have some vicious tension in my right shoulder that I can’t seem to shake.  But praise the Lamb my migraine is gone.

Tried to lay low today and avoid stress and sunshine to get me on the right track.  Actually made it to the grocery store and the library without too much stress.  We were so glad to see our Nonny (Anna Pitts) at the library.  She always makes our visits productive and super fun.  And we always leave the library with almost 30 books.  Not kidding:)

Due to my headache I missed the Newspring meeting on Thursday night.  I was soooo bummed, but all said it went great!!  I hate that I missed out on meeting the rest of the staff, but hopefully within the month they will all be permanent fixtures in this lovely city.  And as Mark said, “Watch out David, she will be your shadow.”.  David is the children’s minister and I can’t wait to get started loving on the children in Florence.  Newspring has such an amazing children’s ministry and I can’t wait to wow kids and their parents to Christ.  Church like they have never experienced!!  Mark said about 80% of the folks at the meeting he had never met or heard of before.  That gets me super excited.  Well actually I already was, but even more so now:)

Lastly, sometimes I annoy myself at how often I check the computer.  But really through email and facebook and blogs I am able to communicate with my family and friends all over the world, that I never would be able to maintain relationship with any other way.  I connected with three great friends from high school and college tonight.  People really special to me that I had completely lost touch with.  But the conversations we shared tonight through the internet have made my life richer!  Not to mention that with the size of my family I could never keep up with everyone, any other way.  Thank the Lord for this tool!

Quality time July 12, 2008

Do you know what your primary love language is?  Early on in our relationship, before engagement even, Mark and I read the book The Five Love Languages by Dr. Gary Chapman.  Good stuff.  It talks about how we all have a love tank but there are different languages that can be used to fill it up.  They are quality time, physical touch, words of affirmation, acts of service and giving gifts.  You usually have a primary language that you speak and receive.  A worthy read. (By the way that may be the only book we ever read together, so don’t think, “aahh look they read together!”

Anyways my primary love language is quality time.  Mark’s is more acts of service or gift giving.  So we have had to learn to be very deliberate on filling each other’s tanks.  Quality time with my hubby right now is pretty hard to come by, especially on the weekends.  He spent last night with his dad and when he came home this morning I was packing the boys and the car to go to the beach all day so Mark could rest.  Imagine my delight when he said he had enough sleep and would go with us.  The boys and I were so excited!

What makes it even more special is that Mark HATES the beach.  He hates the sand, the water the heat, the wind, all of it.  But he helped me pack up, drove all the way (even with traffic and despite the fact that he drives back and forth to the beach just about 3 times a week already), he dug holes in the sand with us, ate a picnic lunch (he despises sand in his food), took the boys out in the water, and lost his treasured sunglasses in the waves!  We stayed over 3 hours and  then packed it up and went home.

He then made us omelets for dinner.  And he gets to go to church with us tomorrow!!!  The best thing about it is he did it all with such a willing heart, no complaining.  Although I know during the majority of the day he simply was doing and there because he loves us and it made us happy.  My love tank is very full!

It also convicts me to try harder to meet his needs and find ways to fill his tank.  Isn’t it amazing how when we get filled up we can then fill others up?  Although we don’t always have the luxury of getting filled up.  Thank goodness the Lord will fill us up, any time, any day, any way we need!  He is so faithful!  And I am so thankful for my Mark:)

Summer Fun July 11, 2008

I’m trying to be a more “fun” mom.  The boys and I ran a few grocery shopping errands in the rain the other night.  They were so, so good and as we were unloading it stopped raining and they wanted to play in the puddles.  My initial reaction was, “No way!  I don’t want to have to give you a bath tonight and if you puddle splash then you will definitely need a bath.”  But thankfully, fun mom stepped in and said,”Let them play! What harm is a little mud and water going to do!”

They had a blast:)  While I unloaded they splashed and laughed.  They also unfortunately skipped rocks all over our neighbors driveway so we had to pick up the rocks before going in for bathtime.  Even that was fun though.  I think our neighbors might have thought I was crazy, but I am so glad I let them.

Hopefully these are the memories that will stick and not my meltdowns:)

Many moos:) July 11, 2008

Today was Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-Fil-A.  If you dressed up like a cow you received free food.  We are all about free food so since it also goes along with my attempts at being a fun mom plus the need to plan inside activities until Haig can swim again…. we went all out.

It was fun.  A little stressful as all things creative are for yours truly, but it turned out well.  I am not so good with needle and thread but we survived:)  The kids loved spending time at Chick-Fil-A, the food was of course great, we got lots of attention and we met some other families that dressed up as well.

I hope they do it again next year:)