Count Your Many Blessings...

name them one by one. Count your many blessings see what God has done. This hymn is one of my favorites. I have been reflecting on this chorus the last few weeks with our recent news and it is so true, God has given us all so many blessings to be thankful for and do we ever thank Him enough for what He has given us? As I look at my family, I have a wonderful husband that allows me to stay at home who provides for us financially and is also the spiritual leader of our home. I have 3 amazing kids who are healthy and beautiful. God is so good all the time. It is so easy for me to complain when things aren't going right or when when my plans aren't God's plans. He has been teaching me about my control issues and my plans recently. The past several months have been a real roller coaster ride for me. God chose me to go on a mission trip, get my dad back on the right track(which I am still working on), and put the desire in my heart for another baby. This hasn't been any small feat, but God, time after time, over and over, has pulled me through all of this. The mission trip was way out of my comfort zone, evangelizing to people, living in conditions that were not what I was used to, eating food that was just plain disgusting, but He did, he provided everything that I needed. He was my source of comfort and protection. The same goes for my dad. He lived with us for 4 months and put a strain on our marriage. I was stressed all the time and all I really wanted was for him to do better and get a job so he could be on his own two feet and not bug me anymore. But it wasn't until I heard Pastor Phil's message on poverty and the poor did I really get it. I wasn't going to help my dad with money or food(although we have helped him tremendously with finances), the way I needed to help him was with spiritual things and giving him more of my time. Yes, he did live in our home, but alot of the time he would just stay in the bonus room and just come out for food, ect. I needed to spend more quality time with him instead of just trying to ignore the fact that he was living in our house and there was nothing I could do to change him. That's it, I am always so wrapped up in"me" wanting to do things on "my" time that my control issues were getting the best of me. I found myself in the same situation when my heart's desire was for another baby. We had been trying to conceive for several months and it just was not happening! I couldn't figure it out and what was going wrong. I spent months agonizing over it, thinking that there was something wrong with me and Brent kept telling me, it is all in God's timing. I knew all of this and would proclaim it, but the sweetest thing is when I let go and let God take over it happened! It is so sweet to know that even in all our faults and short comings, God doesn't give up on us! He is so gracious and merciful. He is so good to us! With all this said, let me recap the past month. I had my 33rd birthday. We went to Carrabba's with Brent's family and my mom cooked me a special b-day dinner before they left on the cruise. Oh, did I mention that I almost ate a whole pie by myself? Yes, that's right, I did. My mom made me my favorite pie, it is some goodness. I should have taken a pic of that beauty! One of my favorite b-day presents is a necklace that B got for me. It is a hand-stamped mommy necklace and I love it! Like I said before, we had been trying for several months to get pregnant so I had one pregnancy test stuck under the cabinet and when B went on the crazy 32 mile AT hike I decided to take it. I was on day 26 and really early but I thought, what the heck, I am going to take it anyway. I did and sure enough it showed up positive! It is so funny to me because it's like I am in shock every single time I take a test! You would think by the 4th positive reading that I would be used to it! Not so much! I sat and sat and sat on the toilet. It was a Thursday and Brent wasn't supposed to be home until Saturday night. What was I going to do? I knew that the next week we were going to Pigeon Forge for 2 nights and I could surprise him then but could I keep it a secret that long? Yes, I did! It was the longest 7 days of my life!!! I wanted him to have a good surprise so I went and got a white onesie and had baby e monogrammed in green on the front. I also put it in a box and wrapped it! So here we go, we are off to Pigeon Forge the next Thursday to go shopping first and then check into our room. I couldn't shop! What? I was so nervous, anxious, and excited, I couldn't do it! I told Brent that we should go check into our room and then maybe later we could come back and do some shopping. We got to the room and I told him that I had him a present to start our weekend off the right way. Well, you girls know what he was thinking, some kind of nighty, see through, lingerie! He opened it and the look on his face was to die for! I didn't have my camera out then because I would have given it away. But he was so happy and excited! Here he is a few minutes later. After that, we were able to relax, and have fun, and yes, SHOP! We came home on Saturday and we gave each of the kids their own bag of goodies that we had gotten for them. After they opened and tried on all their new clothes, Brent told them there is one more special present. He told them to go to the bonus room and he handed them the same box that I gave to him. They opened it and Emma said, "oh, baby e, a shirt for Edan!" Brent said "no, think about it, We have big e and pointed to Eli, and middle e, and pointed to Emma, and little e, and pointed to Edan, and who do you think could be baby e?" Brent pointed to my tummy and their eyes turned into saucers! Eli and Emma both started jumping up and down and screaming! They were both so happy! We were able to tell our moms and dads the next day after church during lunch. Everybody can't wait to have another baby to hold and love! So after writing ALL this, do you count your many blessings? Do you see what God has done in your life over the past few months? I know that I can count of 5 right now. My hubby and my 4 precious E's...Count your many blessings, name them one by one. Count your many blessings, see what God has done. Thank you, Lord for all the blessings you have bestowed upon me and my family.

Our Shining Star

It is amazing to me how time flies. I can't believe that my precious big E is approaching 10! This year has been a challenging one for Eli academically. He is learning new skills at such a fast pace I can barely keep up with all the work. From multiplication to algebra to telling time to measuring mass to division to learning how to read an encyclopedia, thesaurus, and dictionary to getting ready for the TCAPS. Whew! After that being said, I can honestly say that Eli has worked very hard to excel this year and he has proven to us that he can do very hard things! We are so very proud of him! He has kept good grades and his behavior has been good. He is such a great big brother to Emma and he is amazingly in love with Edan. I would like to recap what has been going on with him for the past few weeks. At school, Eli's class did a unit on cultures and without his teacher's leading, he came home and called Brent on the phone to ask him if he could get some of his Africa things together so he could show his class. The next day, Eli wanted me to come to school and watch him do a presentation on Africa. I was a proud mama that day! Eli is also turning into quite the sports fanatic! I surprised Brent and Eli with UT men's basketball tickets for Valentine's Day. This was the first time Eli had been to a basketball game and he was so excited! Every morning and afternoon he turns ESPN on and marvels at the basketball, so for him to be inside Thompson Boling Arena with all the fans was a dream! As we were leaving the game he told us that being in the big arena and climbing up the stairs to find our seats made him nervous. How sweet! Finally, the 3rd grade curriculum incorporates new things in special arts. In music class Eli is learning how to use and play the recorder. Amherst uses a system called Recorder Karate. As Eli learns the songs he is awarded a colored belt. Eli has definitely been a over-achiever at this! He signs up before school to go and get belts! So far, he has earned 5 belts and already has the next song learned and memorized! He went to school early this morning to play 2 songs for his music teacher, Mrs. Holliday, and she told him that he was her newest shining star! She also told him that out of all the 3rd grade, he was one of the few that had a purple belt! Wow Eli! I am totally amazed at how well you are doing! You may be your music teacher's shining star this year, but you will ALWAYS be Daddy and Mommy's shining star! We give all the praise and honor to the Lord!