Give Thanks

I wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! God is so good and we have so much to be Thankful for!

We are at home with all of our children except for Tim. He and Naomi went to Wisconsin to visit with her sister and family.

I cook a turkey, (not really my favorite thing to do) along with dressing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls, and we have pickles and olives. We also have various desserts which usually includes pies (thanks to Sara Lee).This year our bird weighs 21 pounds. He is currently cooking and I pray he tastes really good!

We usually just spend a quiet laid back day at home. We usually have our Thanksgiving Meal in the evening. Growing up we usually ate about 2:00, but I do not like the stress of having to get up early and getting everything together by then. I like to be able to enjoy my family instead of being Stressed Out, so it works out better to eat later.

We spend the day just having a lot of fun! We play lots of board games,card games and Wii. Tonight we will have to get out the Wii Fit! I haven't been on there for a while so my trainer is going to let me have it! Why do I put up with this electronic person who tells me how fat I am?

I want to say Hi to all my Family in Virginia. I miss you all and wish we were there to share Thanksgiving with you! G-Ma(my mom), Thanks for all you do and for what a Blessing you are to all! Corrie(my niece), you are the absolute best! How could we continue on with family traditions without you? Hi to all my brothers and sisters and their spouses and all my nieces and nephews and great nieces and nephew! Yep, I have a whole lot of relatives back in Virginia!

I hope you and your families have a Blessed Day!


I love this song and thought it is appropriate for today!


Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his love endures forever.

1 Chronicles 16:34

 

The Word of Our God Shall Stand Forever

The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

Isaiah 40:8

 

Birthday Season

Life is definitely starting to get a bit more busy around here. With the Holidays approaching and a Wedding in early January, I am starting to feel a bit stressed. Also while trying to prepare for all of that, we have several birthdays to celebrate. I need to start making a list of all the things I need to accomplish, so that  I can keep track of what I am doing. I would like to do all of this with great joy, but right now I am feeling stressed!  I really need to get better organized.

Birthday Season is in full swing here at our house!  November is a big month here! Four of my boys have November Birthdays and Faith also had a November due date.

We probably should just have one great big birthday party in November, but it is so hard to do, since all of the other children have their own Birthday Month. They all get their own cake. I have usually let each child pick out a cake from Walmart or Sam's Club. As they get older many of them have decided that they would rather have me bake the cake.

Matthew starts off the birthdays for November. Matthew is now 12! Wow! That is really hard for me to believe.One more year and we will have another teenager around here!

Matthew is one our Artsy children. He has always enjoyed drawing and also making crafts. He is the kind of kid that you need to save paper towel rolls and toilet paper rolls for his many creations. He has recently become interested in making Videos.  He uses his younger brothers and sisters as his actors. They are so cute and imaginative! He has also made neat videos featuring each of the children. He picks out some great pictures of the kids and adds music to them,  He also adds credits at the end. It is really cute!

Next up is Timothy. Tim is now 21!  Tim is the one who I have shared before, was healed from Leukemia. God has truly touched his life and I look forward to all that is in store for Tim.

Tim is getting married at the beginning of January. He is the first of my children to get married! Naomi is his Fiance, and we are thrilled to be adding her to our family!

Tim is in his second year at Eastern Kentucky University. He also works a full time schedule at DQ. He is a really busy person right now. Naomi is graduating from Eastern in December. She is hoping to get a job after that and help Tim get through school.

This is Banana Cake that Tim requested. Not very pretty, but very Yummy!  Don't they make a beautiful couple?

Did you notice that we used the same candles for Matthew and Tim? We just reversed them! That doesn't happen very often.

Please pray that I can prioritize and get organized. I really want to enjoy these next several weeks. I do not want to be stressed, but be filled with Joy!

The LORD is my strength and my shield; 

my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. 

My heart leaps for joy

and I will give thanks to him in song.

                                         Psalm 28:7

 

An Update From The Pregnancy Prayer List

Update: Ange has updated her blog and has pictures too!  Stop by and see her beautiful babies!


I have heard from a friend of Ange's that she gave birth to her twins girls by c-section on Friday or Saturday. She said that one of the girls was about 4 1/2 pounds and the other was over 5 pounds. From what I hear, the babies are doing well, but will probably be in the hospital for 1-2 weeks! Praise God for these precious new lives!

Could you all go over to Ange's blog and leave her a sweet note of encouragement. I know that she would really appreciate it. I suspect that she will not be blogging very much for a while, but I look forward to seeing pictures of those precious baby girls! Please Pray that they will grow healthy and strong quickly. Please also pray for Ange as she recovers from a c-section and jumps into the role of mother to 9 plus newborn twins!

 

Wednesdays For Wyatt ~ Week 3

Today is the third Wednesday for Wyatt. It is quite simple to participate. All you have to do is copy and paste this post on your blog,and then go to Danielle's blog to link up with MckLinky. Once you do that, your all set to win a great giveaway.


From Danielle

So far, we are up to 1,443 signatures! Lets try to keep them steadily rolling in.

For those of you who are not familiar with my family and what we are trying to achieve, here’s a brief run down...

Our son Wyatt was diagnosed with a fatal condition at our 18 week ultrasound, but chose to carry him to term. We waited to meet our son with love, all the time praying we would get to see him alive.

On June 1, 2009, Wyatt made his way into the world by c-section. To our amazement he had a faint heartbeat and was breathing! He died two minutes later, but I’ve clung to the two minutes my son and I breathed the same air since his passing.

Upon calling to get a copy of Wyatt’s birth certificate, I found out he was listed as a stillborn. You would assume it was a mistake (like I did), but there was no mistake. According to the definition of live birth in Tennessee my son was not “alive enough” to be deemed a live born baby. His two minutes of life has gone unrecognized by my state, and I intend to change this piece of legislation so I can solidify the validity of my son’s short life.

Wednesdays for Wyatt was created to help spread awareness for a law that needs to be changed, as well as to generate more traffic to my petition. So if you’re reading this, thanks for taking the time to help our family!

This contest will be open today only. I will close MckLinky down sometime before midnight, so make sure you get linked up ASAP to make sure you are entered to win this giveaway! Thanks for helping everyone, and good luck.

 

Miracles

Candace from Living With Faith has asked me to share about miracles in my life.

What is a miracle? 

The definition from the Merriam -Webster"s Online Dictionary for Miracle is:

1 : an extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs
2 : an extremely outstanding or unusual event, thing, or accomplishment

I believe that God has created many miracles in my life but most people probably would consider most of them small miracles.

First and foremost I consider my children miracles.  Many of us take having children for granted, but many people struggle to bring biological children into this world. I have lost 2 children to miscarriage and 1 to stillbirth and I know the pain of loss. I also know the joy of bringing 10 living children into the world with God's Help. I also know people that have adopted children and consider them miracles in their lives.

I consider that I was born is really a miracle too.I am the youngest of six children and my mom had a life threatening situation between child 4 and 5. She had an ectopic pregnancy that was in the ovary and it caused her ovary to burst. It took a while for them to figure what was even wrong with her and she almost died. Her regular doctor had been out of town and she was seeing another doctor. Finally her doctor came back to town and pretty much knew what was wrong with her. He helped save her life. Her case was put into textbooks because it was so rare. Please remember this was probably about 50 years ago.

They told her that she should not have any more children, but ended up having 2 more including me. On a side note, many years later she had a hysterectomy and when the went to remove her ovaries they couldn't believe that she had an ovary that burst. They were expecting to find a lot of scar tissue but they did not.

I find simple things in day to day life to be small miracles. A child that finally gets a math problem that we have gone over and over again, or a child that can write his own paragraphs on his own with out tears, well those are miracles to me.

I feel like one of the biggest miracles in our lives is the life of our son Timothy. Tim was diagnosed with Leukemia in 1993 at the age of 4. The first couple of months were a bit rough, but I strongly believed that God was with us and was going to see us through.

Tim had very aggressive chemotherapy for 2 1/2 years. He also had radiation to his brain. He had strong chemo drugs injected into his spine. It was a grueling 2 1\2 years but I know God's hand was on Tim. There were times during his course of treatment that it was expected that he would get very sick. After the first few months he never became seriously sick. Yes, he had ups and downs. He did have some issues with vomiting. I am not saying that it was a piece of cake. The steroids made him very moody and we were not overly fond of him during those times, but we still loved him and would do whatever it took for him to get well.

He was hospitalized just a few times. It always seemed to happen on the weekends. Anytime he would run a fever we had to take him to the hospital. The few times that it happened, it always seemed to be on a Friday. They would admit him and watch him for a few days. It ended up that he usually just had a virus like any other kid. He usually would be discharged by Monday. I really believe it was the Hand of God that kept him from getting so seriously ill. We know other children that were hospitalized  quite a bit more than Tim was.

To make a long story short, Tim will be turning 21 soon and he is getting married in January. He is in his second year of college and also works pretty much a full time schedule. He is working hard and doing a great job! God's hand has been on his life and I am so thankful .

Tim and Naomi

So I encourage you to look at life a little differently and see what could be a miracle in your life. God cares about every detail of our lives. He can make what seems impossible, possible. He is in the miracle business today. Sometimes our miracles are really big and brings a lot of attention. Other times they are small and we need to pay attention or we might miss them. Let's remember to give God glory for these small miracles as well as the big ones.

 

Please Pray

You may remember my friend Ange who is Mother to 9 and expecting twins. Well, I got an email from her husband last night saying that she was in premature labor. She had been admitted the night before. I do not know much information right now, but the email said that the babies will probably be born in the next 1-6 days. Her due date is not until December 23rd.

Please be in prayer for Ange and for those baby girls. May the Lord be with Ange and let her have those babies in His perfect time, and that it would be an easy and safe delivery and that she would remain healthy and strong. Also that those sweet  babies will be born healthy and strong without need of medical intervention. Lord please minister to her family at this time as they meet the newest members. Also Lord please meet all of the needs of this family.

 

WalkingWith You ~ Thankful

Walking With You was created by Kelly at The Beauty of Sufficient Grace to help support those who have lost a child. Together we share our stories, helpful information, scriptures, encouraging words, prayer requests, and more.

From Kelly:

This month we are focusing on our gratefulness for the gifts we were given and the ways our lives were changed by the lives of our babies. I know that many people are busy, so this can be as simple or in-depth as you wish. I hope you will link your own post with us, sharing ways that you are thankful. I do think that reflecting on gratefulness is very valuable...especially in the throes of grief. Grief is big and consuming. The simplicity of counting our blessings refocuses a grieving heart from the giants of pain, sorrow, and hopelessness to the hope, comfort, peace, and eventually joy that waits for us on the other side of the valley. The comfort that waits for us in the arms of our Savior.


I have so much to be thankful for! Even in the midst of all the pain there have been so many things to be thankful for.


While we were still expecting Faith we learned that she had Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS). All the love and prayers from family , friends, and our church were such a blessings. We were given so much hope about Faith's future. We knew it would be a very rough beginning, but we believed that she would survive. Our world came to a crashing halt to find she had passed away before she was even born! We certainly needed all those prayers more than ever!


Another thing I am thankful for is the medical personnel that was present the day Faith was born. My doctor is the absolute best! She is so loving and caring and she means the world to me. She had tears streaming down her face as she delivered Faith.  It was so comforting that she really cared!


The nurse I had that day was also the best! I know that God arranged for her to be there that day! She was just so good at what she does. She took great care of us and spent extra time with us. It really makes a world of a difference when you have a nurse that is good at what she does and is also so loving and caring.


I am thankful for my loving Savior that has been with me through all of this and has brought comfort to me and is in the process of healing my broken heart. I could not live without Him!  Thank You Lord, for loving me and taking care of me and carrying me along the way when I couldn't take another step!


I am thankful for Faith being a part of my life. Even though the grief I have experienced has been very tough, I am a better person for Faith touching my life. She is a part of me and she will not be forgotten. There is not a day that passes that I have thought of her too many times to count. I miss her so much!


I am thankful for my Husband that has walked beside me through all of this!  He has been there for me and just held me when that is all that he could do. I have been blessed to have had this man in my life for over 26 years.


I am thankful for those that have had the courage to talk about Faith with me. Most people are afraid to bring up her name. It means the world to me to be able to talk about her and to her someone mention her name. She did exist, she is my daughter!


I am thankful for the people that remembered just last week that it was a year ago on October 28th that she was born. Those people sent me notes and cards and it meant the world to me.


I am thankful for the living children I have. They are real blessings!  Even though life can be quite challenging at times, I am thrilled to have each one of them in my life. There is a lot of great joy that comes with having children.


I am thankful for many friends I have made through the blog world and especially the ones that have experienced a similar loss. I am so sorry that any of us have had to become a part of this club, but I am thankful we can share our grief together and just be there to support one another.

Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.

Worship the LORD with gladness;

come before him with joyful songs.

Know that the LORD is God.

It is he who made us, and we are his ;

we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

 Enter his gates with thanksgiving

and his courts with praise;

give thanks to him and praise his name.

 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;

his faithfulness continues through all generations.

                                                            Psalm 100

 

This is The Day Which The Lord Hath Made!

Just Praising God for a new day! I am SO Thankful for Him Loving me and taking care of me! He is so good to me!

This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm 118:24

 

Does Anyone Else Have Trouble With This?

I am just curious, do any of you have this problem too?

It is quite embarrassing but I can't seem to find a cure. It also seems to run in families or at least mine, and I don't like it!

What is the problem you might ask. Well here goes. I almost always fall asleep in church. It does not seem to matter how much sleep I do or do not get, I still fall asleep. It does not matter how interesting or lively the speaker is either, I still fall asleep .I am not proud of it, but it is just the truth.

I remember when I much younger seeing my Mom take a nap during church. (Sorry Mom) We would tease her about it endlessly. I also remember my Uncle (My mom's brother) getting in a good nap during church. So, as you see, it must run in families!

For me it has not been just limited to church services. When I was in college, I had a terrible time staying awake. I would try to take a drink with me to class to help me stay awake. It seems as though when I am somewhere that I have to sit and listen to a speaker for more than 15 minutes I become overly drowsy. It is so miserable to not be able to stay awake when you really want to!

I try different things to try to ward off the drowsiness.  I find myself moving around a lot to stay awake. I keep and arsenal of Iced Tea flavored Ice Breakers to suck on to help keep me awake. They come in lemon, raspberry, and peach. They are just tart enough to help keep me awake. So that is what seems to work the best.

I know that I am not the only one at my church with this problem either. My Hubby has a bit of trouble with this also, but his seems to come more from lack of sleep. I have often seen other heads bobbing around a bit too.

There is a man that often sits across the isle from us that sleeps really well during church! (Now I can see those of you who are reading this and go to church with me will be looking for him next Sunday!) It seems as though the minute the pastor starts the sermon this man will nod off. I do not think he even knows about my sleeping habits because his eyes seem to be closed through the entire sermon. Bless His Heart!He does not have young children at home anymore so I always wondered if he is overly tired or it runs in his family too.

I would so love to overcome this problem, but I am not sure that there is any remedy. I apologize to my Pastor for my behavior. Please know that it is not anything personal, and I really do enjoy listening to you. I do hear most of what you say thanks to my Ice Breakers!

And for all of you finding yourself nodding off during church, just remember, you are not alone!