If You're Going to Skim...Go Straight to My Fourth Point

I was gracefully reminded by my father today that I had not only fallen off the blog wagon, but was the bearer of wheel tracks right 'cross the face.  Hmmm....'tis true. 

But, as always, good excuses abound. 

Firstly, I've been stuck in a house with 3 people whose ages don't even come close to my own age if added up together.  Therefore, the last thing on my mind has been blogging, because I've just been trying to refrain from curling up in the corner and poking hot needles in my eyes.  Keep in full mind, that I love the children dearly and profusely, but only being exposed to those 3 same faces for days on end is enough to make anyone start sucking their thumb and calling for their mama. 

Snowmeggedon struck SouthWest Arkansas this past weekend, and though some of you Northerners would scoff at our few and mighty inches, it was enough to send us Suthenuhs raiding the bread aisle at Walmart and confining ourselves to our homesteads.  We know sweat.  We don't know about this snow stuff.  (Case in point:  After thoroughly soaking through our first pairs of measly thin knit mittens and gloves while playing in the snow, I resorted to coating the boys' hands in socks.  Yes, socks.  Because we usually don't have a need for those thick thinsulate gloves whilst we're swatting mosquitoes.)   

On to my second excuse.  We lost our power during Snowmeggedon.  Now, granted, it was only out for 8 hours, but, I'm still recovering from the frozeness that overtook my toes during that time.  Plus, I had to trek to my van in the snow uphill both ways and barefoot to charge my phone, and that just made me grumpy.  And my grumpiness about the whole ordeal has unfortunately persisted....

Thirdly, I don't appreciate the constant bundling/unbundling of snow clothes.  Oh, to just have snow suits and snow boots...easy on, easy off.  (Listen to me assuming those are easy on/easy off...those ski getups could be like Fort Knox to get in and out of, but for my rambling purposes, I'm going to pretend they go on smooth as butter.)  But, since our warmest clothes consist of fleecey pajama bottoms and an assortment of camouflage parts and pieces, it was a little ridiculous all the layering and tucking that had to be done just to send the boys out for a romp in the snow.  And then they'd want to come in because the socks on their hands were sopping wet, and they needed a new pair.  I was popping Tylenol by the handful after all of that....

Fourth, and most importantly of all, I have been totally and thoroughly sobered by the news of a dear fellow blogger that has suffered majorly at the hands of an imperfect human body this week.  Joanne Heim, some know her better as The Simple Wife, had a stroke yesterday.  And now she is lying in a hospital bed in very critical condition.  Her 9 year old daughter found her at home, and in the blink of an eye, the lives of that entire family have been turned drastically upside down.  Everything that they knew was changed in an instant.

Joanne is only 38.  Thirty-eight.  And everything about the happenings have left me in a strange swirl of emotions.  I don't know Joanne personally, but I know people who do.  Their pain must be so much more deep than mine, yet I find myself grieving for her and her family.  Joanne is a blog friend of mine, and one that always had such uplifting and encouraging words for me the times I exchanged words with her.  She loves Jesus with every fiber of her being, and she is such an amazing advocate for marriage, family, and spreading the Word.  Joanne's husband, Toben, has been updating her blog here, and you can also follow @tobenheim on Twitter for updates on her progress.

Please pray for Joanne.  Please pray for her daughters, Audrey and Emma.  Please pray for Toben.  And the host of family and friends that are aching for her.  I know with all of my heart that Joanne would want this situation to glorify Jesus, and she would plead with the Father for whatever outcome gained that result.  I am praying for healing, but I also find myself beseeching the Lord for His good and perfect will to be done. 


(I'm not posting pictures today for my Photo Project.  Frankly, I don't have the energy to fight my internet service and Blogger to wait on the upload.  Perhaps tomorrow......)

Grieving

I can remember her handwriting. 

Every time she signed their assignment notebooks where I had scrawled out their night's homework assignments, she would sign it with these really loopy letters.  Almost bubble-like. 

I also have 3 or 4 Christmas ornaments that hang on my tree each year that she gave me as teacher presents.  And I still have a couple of candles that were part of the gifts. 

One of the baby outfits that was my favorite of Keaton's was given to us by her.  It's been in his baby box since he outgrew it almost 10 years ago.

And now I'm going through my house looking for the things that hold little reminders of her.  A bookmark that was signed by her.  A picture drawn by her daughter when she was in my preschool class.  A scrapbook of my teaching days which holds pictures of her at various school events.

Because last night her earthly body failed her.  And today her new and perfect body is dancing with Jesus. 

I taught at the same private Christian School for almost a decade.  And I had the privilege of teaching every one of {Sarah's} children.  Some of them multiple times.  And it was just that...a privilege.

{Sarah} was a beautiful, soft-spoken woman.  She was always laughing.  Always smiling.  It always made me giggle that even years after I had taught her children, I was still "Mrs. _____" when she saw me out in public.  Never just "Amber."  I used to joke with her that even in Heaven, when we'd meet on the Streets of Gold, she'd greet me with "Mrs."

And now she's gone.

And I'm having a strange time processing it all.  I'm grieving for that blessed woman that I used to know so well, but haven't seen in ages.  I'm grieving for those sweet angel babies who have lost their mama, but their faces are still those of the ones that used to sit in the desks of my classroom.

And I'm sad.

Very very sad.

And am looking forward to the day when I can hug her neck in Heaven, and hear her say, "Well, Mrs. ___, so glad you finally made it!"


** Please please please lift up {Sarah's} family to our Jesus.  I cannot imagine their grief and anguish at this hour, but I do know that our Lord is holding them close.

Wanna Know Something?????

My God is freakin' amazing.

Know how I know?

Because there is this person running around my house like a banshee.  He's fighting with his brothers and dog-piling his daddy.  He's watching too much Spongebob and not brushing his teeth when I tell him to.  He isn't putting his dirty clothes in the laundry room, and he spent yesterday afternoon in trouble for pinching his little brother because he didn't make the first putt with the toy golf clubs.  He's knocking the pictures off my walls by throwing balls in the house, and when he cleaned his room yesterday he just stuffed everything under his bed.  And today he threw a Montana-sized fit over doing 4 math problems.

And my God is freakin' amazing for every last second of it.

My sweet friends, a miracle has taken place.  I'm sure that someone will try to explain it away with medicine.  And diagnoses.  And science.

But I choose to just praise Jesus.

Because my redheaded ragamuffin is as ornery as ever.

And I wouldn't trade a second of it for all the quiet moments in the world.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Just a brief update:  Sawyer is doing UH.MAZE.ING.  He even was cleared by his doctor to play in his baseball tournament on Saturday.  SawDog played 3 games and rocked it.  He's a champion, for sure.  We will be going to Children's Hospital this Thursday for an appointment with his neurologist, and we are just trusting Jesus for more good news and an excellent prognosis!  Thanks again for your prayers!  Oh how they were heard!

Good Stuff. Good Good Stuff.

I've walked through many seasons of my life.

Seasons of intense faith with eyes fixed forward on The Word. 
Seasons of valleys that were narrow.  And hard.  And cold.  And dark.  With a blindfold the whole way.
Seasons of middle ground.  No mountaintops.  No crevices.  Just middle ground.  Me and God.  Doing our thing.

But let me just tell you that I have been hurled head first into unknown territory this past week.

I've never been surrounded by so many prayer warriors in my life.  Let me rephrase:  I've never been surrounded by so many prayer warriors that were praying for me and for my family.

Up until now my walk with my Jesus has been just that:  MY walk.  A walk that Jesus and I shared together and we would sometimes involve the husband or a friend here and there or my family.  But never has my walk with Jesus been joined by heaps and mounds of Jesus-lovin' folks.

Our church family has extended their love to our family like nothing we've ever experienced before.  Our friends are genuinely concerned, not just Lee-Press-On-Nails concerned.  And the knowledge that there are people on every corner of this globe praying for our precious Sawyer through this blog and some of my other web-related connections is enough to make me do the ugly cry.

I stand of awe of my Precious Jesus.  He's healing my redheaded rascal, without a doubt, because we asked Him to.  Because YOU asked Him to. 

He is Jehovah Rapha!  The God Who Heals!

And my socks are blessed off that you walked this road with us and are able to be a part of such an amazing miracle.

Thank You isn't enough for what your prayers and thoughts have meant to us. 

I'm praying heaps and mounds of blessings are dumped all over your noggins, my sweet friends.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Update on Sawyer: 
~~ Our little man had a really good night last night.  He responded fabulously to the new pain medications that the doctor prescribed, and he was able to rest peacefully and comfortably.  Today the mobility in his neck has increased ten-fold and continues to show vast signs of improvement.  We are just beside ourselves with the evidence of healing miracles!

Jim-Dad Is On His Way

If you've hung around these parts for anytime at all, then you are familiar with this fella.

JIM-DAD

Well, Dear Ole Jim-Dad jetted off on an adventure yesterday.  He packed up his newly purchased cargo pants (because someone told him that that's what true "adventurers" do); laced up his brand spankin' new walking shoes; loaded up his fanny-pack (yes...a fanny pack) with enough batteries for his camera to rival Chernobyl; and boarded a plane.

A plane that is taking him somewhere he's never been before.

A plane that will place my daddy, in his shiny new cargo pants and New Balance tennis shoes, right on the soil where his precious Savior walked a couple of thousand years ago.

Jim-Dad will be walking by the Sea of Galilee touching the same sand that nurtured Jesus' rugged sandals.

He'll meander through the Garden of Gethsemane placing his fingers on the same rocks that supported Jesus' elbows as He prayed.

He'll walk the roads.  Smell the smells.  Taste the tastes.  And breathe the air.

And I know he'll never be the same.

And I'm so completely and ecstatically happy for him.

And just a'might green with envy.

~~~~~

If you think to do so, please lift a prayer or two up for not only the safety of Jim-Dad and the group he's traveling with, but also for the hearts of the people that they will come in contact with during the weeks they are there.

I covet your prayers for him.  And I know he would, too.

Quiet

I have my post ready to go for the next day in our vacation fun, but I'm going to hold off on posting it.

Last night, our friends, Tim and Sandra, who we have spent a good portion of this trip with, found out some tragic news regarding a close family member.

So, in respect for their loss, I'm going to take a break today.

Please pray for Tim, Sandra, and their families back home in Arkansas.

My Heart Hurts

For a precious daughter of Jesus that I have never met. It hurts for her and her family.

My sweet friends, Lisa and Wes, have a beautiful niece who is battling for her life. I have prayed for this sweet girl for a year now. My heart has smiled when the good news came and my heart has cried when the news was bad.

Her family is hurting. Because they are watching their sweet angel prepare herself to meet her Jesus.

And my heart hurts. It hurts for Hannah. And it hurts for her family.

Please pray. Please pray.

(Hannah's Aunt Lisa detailed her story here. And you can read here what Lisa had to say today.)

Prayer

I've visited many a blog this morning and have been overwhelmed by the number of posts that say the same thing: Pray for Harper. Harper is a sweet baby girl that is brand new, but who is struggling for her little life. Her mom, Kelly, is a fellow OBU alum and a blogger that I love to visit with. Harper's parents have tremendous faith in our Great Big God and are trusting the Lord to heal her tiny fragile body. Please take a moment to visit Kelly's blog (by clicking on the above picture link) and read of Harper's updates. And please pray for Harper.