Under His Wings

I shared these thoughts with my MOPS friends in the newsletter"The Announcer". It sums up my feelings of the tragic shooting in Binghamton NY, near my hometown and all the other violence and unrest in the world today. The shooting really shook me up. My mom drove past the Civic Center less than 24 hours before the shooting. I walked around the area countless times throughout my life. The teacher killed was the wife of one of my former doctors (a ear/nose throat specialist). My thoughts and prayers are with the victims families, the surviors, the emergency personnel who responded and the whole community. What a shock! Adventures in Mothering Because He Lives "How sweet to hold a newborn baby and feel the pride and joy he gives, but greater still this calm assurance this child can face uncertain days….Because He Lives" Bill and Gloria Gaither Copyright 1971. As I sang that song on Sunday in church, those words brought tears to my eyes. I chose the song in ...

I've made the habit of praying with my little ones before they go to bed. It's been a big lesson for me listening to my 6 year old son Nate pray. First he prays he doesn't have any bad dreams. Then he proceeds to tell God what is on his mind. Tonight he told God he couldn't wait to taste the cake I made today. He doesn't usually eat chocolate stuff, so it will be interesting to see the answer to that prayer. One Saturday night recently he was telling God he was looking forward to going to God's House the next day because it was a good thing to do. My prayer is that his tender heart for God will grow and stay with him all of his life. That's a prayer for all 3 of my kids.

I had a wonderful day celebrating my husband's birthday today. Tim and I went to our boys' "Special Person Day" at school. Then we met Tim at work at 2:45 and went to a playground with the kids. We took a nice walk, ate beef stew and watched a video for a while. Yesterday was the 12th anniversary of our first date. Tim walked up to me after the morning service and told me he wanted to get to know me better. Hmmm! Sometimes I wonder if regretted that statement LOL! I read the journal of our first month together. It is still amazing to me how long I waited for Tim (I was 27 when we met) and then how quickly things happened after we started dating. It only took about 2 1/2 weeks to know we wanted to get married. We were married about 5 months later. Tim was the man I had been looking for. I'm more convinced of that now more than ever. He's a loving, caring, patient husband. He's a wonderful daddy too! I'm so thankful God sent him to me.

I came across one of my friend's blogs today. I totally forgot I had one. I haven't posted since September. I have some updates since then. My mom just went to her endocrinologist and thryoid surgeon this past week. She is still cancer free. She's even on lower doses of thyroid hormones. However, she was just diagnosed with a sinus condition. Part of it is a deviated septum plus she has a blockage in the front top part of her sinuses that will require surgery next month. Again, it was found in a test not specifically for her problem (swollen lymph nodes), but it showed up. Another happier update, I now have over 350 on Facebook. I have found some more relatives, some college friends, some former neighbors and my mom even joined! It's been so neat catching up with people I haven't seen in years. Some of them are shocked I even remember them. I'll be more faithful in updating this blog

I was feeling pretty down earlier this afternoon. I felt like a really bad mom. It didn't last for long as my 2 younger kids gave me a "kiss attack" as Nate called it. Both Nate and Anna showered me with kisses. It must have been for at least 5 minutes. Nate said he loved me no matter what. Honestly, sometimes I feel like my kids don't love me. They frustrate me to no end at times, but I am so glad I have my kids. I really miss them when they are in school. It's hard to believe how quiet it is without them. I love my husband too! He was away at a church men's retreat last night. I realized how much I appreciate him. We just celebrated our 11th anniversary a couple of weeks ago. He has brought so much joy into my life.

I was a bit hesitant to do it, but a few months ago I joined Facebook. Now I'm so glad I did! I now have over 100 friends on my list. I have some of my MOPS forum friends, but most of the friends I've found are either from the church I attended growing up, the Christian school I attended or my high school classmates. I even found some of my cousins (actually my dad's cousin's kids). Many of the people I haven't seen in years! Many great memories have been coming back. Cool! I was even more hesitant in joining MySpace, but I've kept my friend list to those I know. Both of my brothers are on there. It's been neat to get back in touch with friends and family and get to know some of my newer friends better. I'm going to continue my search.

Today was a blast from the past for me. Growing up my main mode of transportation if we wanted to go anywhere when my dad was working was the county transit bus. My mom did not drive until I was 19. I didn't get a car until after college. Even sometimes after I had a car it was just easier taking a bus to the nearby city. I had not been on a county bus in about 11 years when my car broke down after I got married and my husband wasn't home from work yet to take me to the store I worked at. Tim didn't have any "e time" left to bring me the car because being the great dad he is took what was left yesterday for Elijah's birthday. Even if he did, I would have had to take him back to work then go back and get him later. I thought I needed to go downtown anyway to go to the library, so I might as well catch the bus as it goes to where my husband worked. It was SO nice! One of my friends was on her way to the library, so I was able to ride over with her. I spend ne...