Traditions...

Good Friday morning to you!

This is our typical day, where in our family, everything is "tradition." Libbi still hasn't quite caught the gist of things, so we will let it slide...

Speaking of Libs, she had me awake early. Non-traditionalist that she was being (instead of sleeping in) we were playing at five-something. It's difficult to be frustrated by such cuteness. Seriously. She has two huge teeth in the front, along with about six others in various stages. Did I mention she has curls forming?

Cade is my "stick-to-task" manager. Almost to the point of annoying, but again-the cuteness factor. I'm a sucker for my kids!

Our tradition holds that we put up the tree and decorate everything. Every color imaginable. Each year we find new and exciting ways to celebrate the risen and coming King. Yes, there will be cookies, movies, and music.

With my almost-walking ten month old-this could get interesting. 😳

I pray this holiday season has a wonderful start of the joy for you and yours. I'll try to capture some pictures to share. If you stand around here too long, you are likely to lose your Achilles heel as Libbi is proficient and deadly with her walker. The little tooth-filled smile is quite healing.

So I told you I had some exciting news coming in a previous post...well i do! Not only have I begun the guest blogging with pinxwear.com but I have also finished the editing of my book! Yeah! (fist pump happening here!) Yes, I have a few things to review before it gets sent back. Prayerfully considering titles and covers. Whew! I never thought I'd be here to this point. Exciting!!!

My bio and selfie (I despise these)...along with my first contribution is up and available for review over at pinxwear.com. Check it out and let me know what you think!

My little cuteness is up from her early morning nap, so I must go.
Much love to you all,

Erin

Thanksgiving...

Thanksgiving. Thankful. Joy. Blessings. Humility. Family. Friends. Encouragement. Food. Fullness.

These are just a few of my favorite words to describe this thank-filled holiday. It's one of my favorites. Actually: they ALL are my favorite. ESPECIALLY the fall/winter. Is there anything better than curling up with a good book, a blanket, and a warm, steaming, cup of coffee? Blessings in itself! Imagine it! The cold wind, biting outdoors while the rest of the world wraps up warm to wait. Wait out the long winter months. Chrysalis-like. Can you see it? Its a wrapped gift that we save until Spring. How can we not like Spring too?

I don't have my presents purchased yet, but my list is growing by the day. Some decorations have made their way out of the dusty storage room. Funny how the very first thing I do to commence the coming holidays is bring out the music. The praise. The happy. The festive.  It puts me in the right frame of mind. Thankfulness.

Here is a photo bucket full of my thankful. From years past to years present...and in no certain order.

For a good Christian School for my son to learn and grow. For two years they worked to fashion Cade into the likeness of Him. The giver of all good things.

For a boy who has learned the difficult way that life isn't always a box of Chocolates, but he does enjoy the smooth and silky goodness on occasion.

For friends that see us through. Carry us. Love on us.

For family we love much in our hearts and share over a distance.

For the obedient heart of my man; listening to the Lord.

For my precious promise: Libbi. Not the daughter I thought I'd have from my womb, but the one born in my heart.

For the heart of my man-child. Seeking the Christ-child.

For the forced smiles and camera struggles this picture represents (and the people in it).

For memories worth a thousand words. Precious. Priceless.

For do overs, and new starts. For this crazy family I'm privileged to call my own.

For life.

 

God is good. In the good times and the bad. And all the in between. For this we have a reason to praise. To be thankful.

 From our hearts to yours...Happy Thanksgiving!

You Can't Fix Broken...

This past week, we enjoyed a wonderful visit from my sweet friend Sarah. She brought her family down for a quick weekend visit. Fast and furious. We LOVED it!

Prior to their arrival, Cade picked some flowers to display in a watering can. His artistic nature shines through at times, making this mama proud. He is like me in so many ways. Needless to say, he found his flowers-picked off my front planters. Perhaps I should share with him my resources. The stores I use. We could go together. Be on the same page, or something like that!

I let it go. You can't fix broken like that. No matter how ugly those mums look now, its going to take some time. Time to heal. Time to simply be broken a while.

Cade has to see a surgeon today. He has a hernia in a delicate spot. Perhaps if he wouldn't have joined gymnastics. Maybe it was Soccer. T-ball? My mind works constantly trying to figure it out, only to be met by the doctor suggesting that perhaps he was born with it. Okay. I can reason that. What I didn't count on was Cade's reaction to this. Just this simple surgeons visit has him angry. Not just a little, but slap-yo-mama-bad. Yes. You read that correctly. He slapped me. Hard.

My wonderful man-child is growing up. He hates to be called anything "big and strong, or soft and cuddly." Okay. So what is left? Grumpy? Just kidding.

His heart, or so he told me last night, is angry. Furious. Full of questions and a whole lot of little-boy-scared, he crawled into our bed last night and asked us to pray. Pray for peace, for wisdom, for healing, for courage. My heart secretly broke as I had to take a sideline position. This mama can't pull out her superwoman costume and fix a broken like this. I wouldn't try. The Lord is working, and mending a hurt that began three years ago. Cancer makes an enemy of families and friends alike.

Yes, my little boy is growing up. He is learning to wield his sword against the powers of this dark world. To fight the invisible evil ever present in every day.

This mama was proud. Is proud. To hear him repeat the words of hope in his bed as he lay his head down is healing. For him and for me. Yes, you cannot fix broken but God can.

The mums? They'll return in the fall of next year as we anxiously await the changing colors. Yes, they'll be there, perhaps better than ever. The unprovoked pruning was probably just the thing they needed.

Cade will be the stronger for it. Lots of hugs, kisses, bribes, and encouragement will go a long way for his sort of brokenness. The God who lives is drawing Him near. Teaching Him to trust Him. This is simply the first of many that Aaron and I will stand close by and watch as God works as only He can. Cade has put his everlasting hope in the Savior who saves. It is only natural that God begin to develop Cades hope in Him, not in me or my faith or in Aaron or his beliefs.

I'm not going to lie. It hurts. Seeing Cade learn such a big-boy lesson is not easy.

"For God hath not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7)."

We will let Him work. Let Him fix broken as only He can. In the mean time we will use what we have. Whether it is little or much. Broken or whole; to offer Him what He deserves. All of us. Surrendered. Worshiping. On our journey to complete wholeness.

I'm Back!

Good Morning!

It's SO good to be back to writing again. I sorta took the rest of the summer and the early part of fall to regroup and just enjoy the last bit of summer!

What a refreshing couple of months its been. Beware: this post will be  a photo bucket and info overload...just to catch you up!

For starters, everyone is well and embracing this wonderful FALL weather! Hello jacket season!

I'm super excited to share with you that coming soon, I will be guest blogging on pinxwear.comblog! The founder is a sister in Pink's dream business to help others who have walked, are walking, or will walk through Cancer. What a ministry! Check out her site! It's a one stop shop!

Here are a few pics from our time at a Pumpkin Patch a couple of weeks ago:

For some reason, they dumped on here together, but such is life! Here they are...The two grainy pics are from a Paul Baloche Conference I was blessed beyond measure to attend! The first, obviously a concert photo, and the second was Mr. Ed Kerr- So delighted to sit and be taught by a Keyboard genious!

Lastly, the family came to visit in Oct. What a blessed time it was! My beautiful family...and then, me and my love.

Blessings to you all, I look forward to writing and chatting with you soon.

Remember: "The same love that set the captives free-is calling us all by name-calling us to the cross." -Paul Baloche

***Please forgive the spelling errors, and the picture drop. For some reason, I cannot spell check, or edit my page (????) as I have tried for two hours now. So sorry!!!

Take time...

Hurry...

The persistent yet invisible word-burden that always seems to infiltrate every barrier I put up.
The kids. Aaron. Church. Ministry. Needs. Have to's. Should have's. Want to's.

It pushes, and pushes and pushes some more.

The language of Hurry always brings friends along with it. Failure. Frustrations. Overwhelming. Just to name a few.

Mirrored in the eyes of the precious two gifts I've been entrusted with, I see my reflection. An unsettling image. One that I don't want duplicated.All too often I have seen and ignored in great detail the damage that this five letter word does when I refuse to lay it down.

Their disappointed faces at my too quick and too ready responses.

Their sadness at my all too often "Schedule" we live in.

So today I decided to be brave.

Pray a courageous prayer.

"Change MY heart."

I asked the Lord to help me to lay down the Hurry-burden, along with it's friends. To find the beauty of now. The perfect picture of grace by the moment.

It began with sitting humbly at the Saviors feet. Where mercy and grace are free. Second chances are given. And "Super-Moms-In-Training" learn a very important lesson...forgiveness freely dispersed by my sweet little blue eyed boy, whose mohawk isn't too tough to forgive his mama when she asks.

We have since completed 30 min of "mad-house-cleaning", swinging outside, watching a movie, doing each of us our own devotions, playing with Libs, picking peaches at Nana's, and now we are enjoying the delicious smell of fresh cobbler in the oven.

Want to see the miraculous? The taste and see that He is good moment?

I've accomplished everything on my "schedule", all the extra's with the kids, and even have had time to spare! God is good. Always. Even when this Jesus-girl stumbles along learning to Take Time...

Moving forward....

It's sort of a numbing pain.

I was putting up the lawn mower deck and (since it was raining, wet, wearing sandals and well...you get the picture). I stepped down hard on the deck pedal, and yeah...my foot slipped off. In the wrong direction. Not a good combo. The pedal collided with the inside of my ankle. Directly on the bone. It hit a vessel and quickly swelled to a nice little purple knot. Very attractive.

Then numbness.

It feels the same way on the inside of me as well. Only not so funny this time.

Sherry went home, dancing. She is fully healed and fully alive in her spirit. Normal is now sorta like limping along, knowing that one day you will feel again and operate in a somewhat familiar way. More wary. More teary. More like living with a deeper revelation of life, because of pain.

I've struggled with knowing how to write. I want to pour out my thoughts. Shout out my anger and frustrations. Sob out buckets. And even laugh at some fond memories I have. Such an up and down of emotions, clearly NOTHING close to what I know her family, and dearest friends are feeling. The amazing thing about her, is Sherry let others win.

We are grieving. Random memories flood in and fill my eyes. Darn it, I'm just sad and learning how to move forward.

I refuse to step on one more lego.

Seriously.

After a sleepless night with my princess, I awoke with my prince's toys underfoot.

I wish they'd send forth warning signs like: "DANGER...Step to the left" or "WATCH OUT...." Argh.

Sherry has been heavy on my heart this morning. So heavy. I'm reading Psalm 23. Over and over.

Like the lego fiasco, I am reminded once again of the Lord's ability to take us into uncharted territory. Through dangerous toils and snares. Over mountain highs and valleys low, because it is HE who stands ready to defend.

He is confident of HIS ability to protect and guide even in the danger zones.

Even over lego strewn floors.

We as friends can only walk so far. Oh how I wish it was further.

I swallowed tears encouraging a friend this morning. I burst forth in tears over the legos. Little princess bit mama on the shoulder with her razor sharp teeth. Tears only smarted.

He is near. The LORD is near.

I'm calling on Him.

He is near to all who call on Him.

Join me this morning in walking with our friend. With ALL our friends going through trials.

Go the distance with them. Shoulder to shoulder, and arm in arm.

Allow the tears to flow.

Tears water the ground, that cushions our feet, on the path that leads us to the Father.

Come Lord Jesus. Comfort. Guide. Protect and do what only You know to do.

You are good.

When there is nothing good in me, Lord.

You are Good.