Tagged!

So I have been tagged by my friend Lisa and I am supposed to do 7 random/weird facts that maybe no one knows about myself and then tag 7 other people...so here goes...

1) I often use the wrong words in the wrong context totally sounding confident when talking to people. The latest one I can think of is when I was on the phone with a friend and used the word "gabs" when meaning to use a word that meant a large number...then caught my mistake and said no I mean "gads"...but I think I was actually going for gobs.=)

2) I pretty much have a song for everything and really like to sing them! I also like to dance...it can be a pretty scary combo...because I wouldn't say that I am that good at either of them!

3) My favorite place in the world is near an ocean.

4) I am totally, totally claustrophobic. In fact I just about couldn't play Laser Tag with my boys the other day. I about had a full fledged panic attack until the man was nice enough to say they could leave the garage door contraption open for me! (Since our Home School group was the only one there.)

5) I really, really like to shop...for anyone!

6) I LOVE birthdays.

7) One of my favorite things in the world is my baby's little feet. There comes an age for me that they lose their "cuteness"...5 or 6...somewhere in there...but up until then I LOVE little feet.



So now on to you other ladies that get to participate...I am to tag 7 of you and I know some of you have done this before so I won't get you again...so here goes...MOM, Laura K, Velma, Lori, Sharon, Christine, Jill...YOUR IT! And I look forward to reading your 7 things, I like knowing these random facts about people!=)

Our 2nd Annual Fall Fest

The "Fall Fest" at DTS is a great night! Students and their families gather in the "quad" on campus for an evening of food, games, music, bounce houses and fellowship. This past Friday we attended our 2nd annual Fall Festival and it was a blast!=) Here are some highlights...









The Fall Fest has also become a "marker" for me on my journey of faith. You see, last year the fall festival was held on the night before Abby and I returned to Grand Forks for all of our medical testing. That morning I had attended my first ever DTS Chapel and heard Chuck Swindoll speak. I walked into that Chapel that morning with so many unknowns and with many feelings of being overwhelmed, but determined to trust the Lord no matter what.

Some of the unknowns were: What is the mass that my doctor felt at the time of delivery? Am I going to be okay? Does Abby have craniosynostosis? Where will we have her surgery? How will this all work out? Will she be okay? Will Brent find a job? What about our medical insurance? What is going to happen with that? Where are we going to go to church? How am I ever going to be able to get connected with 4 little ones and a brand new baby? Where am I going to take the kids to the doctor? How am I going to teach my kids school? And I am sure there were many more...

Some of my overwhelming feelings were: Scared, lonely, tired, frustrated, broken hearted...

As I said before, I was determined to trust the Lord amidst my circumstance. And looking back, I can see how wonderfully He was caring for and providing for all of our needs. Even as I was walking through this time, I could see how He was there with us in all the details. And although there were many uncertainties, there was an overall peace that reigned in my heart and mind as I was reminded of His truth...

"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace which surpasses all comprehension will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1

"Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance, and let endurance have its perfect result so that you may be perfect and complete lacking in nothing." James 1:2-4

The last verse was the inspiration for this blog, and the trials we faced were my motivation to start it. And the message that Chuck delivered that morning in Chapel caused me to weep. The first thing that he said that morning was..."When God has an impossible task, He takes an impossible person and crushes them." Tears immediately started flowing down my cheeks. Boy did I feel "crushed" at this time and I cannot with words describe to you the hope the message that followed gave to me. It reminded me of the purpose in my suffering, in my brokenness. It was exactly what I needed to hear.

That morning the Lord also assured me that we were supposed to be here. Chuck said, "If you can be happy doing anything else (other than ministry) go do it. If you cannot, that's how you know it is a calling." I know that I cannot. I know that I want to for the rest of my days on this earth serve the Lord full time in whatever way he sees fit. And my husband feels the same way. So even though our circumstances were out of control (or so it felt) I had a confirmation that we were where we should be. And knowing that brought a great deal of peace.

So, after that wonderful morning of worship and a fun family night at Fall Fest, I packed and prepared for my 3 day trip to GF with Abby. To the surprise of us all, the 3 days turned into 11 days, because of extra medical tests I had done. These tests brought good news, the doctors said I looked good...there was no sign of the mass that my doctor had felt! This was such a praise! However, the CT that Abby had confirmed our suspicion that she did have saggital craniosynostosis and would need to have surgery to correct it. Once again, we faced one of our children needing to have neurosurgery. Here is one of the prayers I journaled during the "wait" (her surgery was not until December 11) for my precious Abby...

Oh God how I praise you for Abby! She is fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works and my soul knows that full well- Oh God as she faces this surgery, Lord protect her, protect her body from harm from the Procrit. Please protect her body from harm from the surgery. Oh God, guide Dr. Fearon's hands. Lord have me cast aside all speculation and walk this broken road with faith and joy. Thank you for Abby, please let us keep her. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen


As a mom, it is so hard to hold tightly to your child with an open hand. In fact, what I just typed is impossible for us to do without the Lord. I recognize that my children are His and that I have given the privilege of being their mom. There are no guarantees for how long or short of time this will be. And with facing this surgery, I faced the possibility of not getting to keep my Abby and having to trust God and trust in His promises with the life of my child. I have found that it is easy to say that my children are the Lord's and harder to open my hand and trust no matter what.

And now, one year later to see how God has been so faithful. How He has cared for us, cared for Abby, and how He has stretched and grown us in so many ways. We give Him all the praise, all the glory, and all the honor. And we continue to trust Him with our lives and with our care. We still have many challenges today, but we know that God is Faithful. And in this we place our trust.

"God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." 1 Corinthians 1:9

"Now may the God of all hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13

How about you? What is it that you place your trust in? If you are reading this, I am praying for you. That you may know this hope, this peace no matter what joy or pain this life may bring, no matter what trial or hardship may come your way. That even in the face of death you could have peace. That you would be able to have this confidence that Paul writes of in Romans...

"For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

And that you would truly know the love that Christ Jesus has for you.

"O Taste and see that the Lord is good; how blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!" Psalm 34:8

Our Curious Abby

My kids all LOVE Curious George. It is one of their favorite cartoons to watch and one of their favorite movies. In the last month, we have watched Abby become our own little curious monkey. Just like Curious George, she is in the middle of everything, seems to be into everything, leaves a little (or big) mess wherever she goes, and is often REALLY being curious when quiet or out of sight!

One of the places she seems the most "curious" about is the toilet. She loves to dip toys in the water. Gross I know. I try very hard to keep this from happening, but with 3 older siblings that all use the bathroom, inevitably at some point and time during the day the bathroom door is left open. And Abby often makes a bee-line for the toilet water!

Another favorite thing for her to explore her curiosity is with our school "boxes". We have 2 different sets that fall into this category. Each of the kiddos have a school box with crayons, markers, scissors, etc. Abby LOVES to find these and dump the contents on the floor. This happens close to every day. She also loves to pull our subject "boxes" (our IKEA boxes) off of our IKEA bookshelf and dump out the different bags or containers that I have neatly organized and put in the perfect place!:) Glitter glue and the bag with the sequins/buttons seem to be the ones she is most curious about.

While the things I have mentioned before are definitely areas of curiosity, coming in at the top of the list of "things Abby is curious about" has to be our kitchen pantry cupboard. She visits this cupboard at least 10-20 times/day, depending on how much we are home! She loves to crawl in here and find a snack of some sort. Her favorite is the fruit snacks. But she has been known to grab cereal, crackers, etc and dump the contents of these bags as well. At this point, you might be asking where am I when this happens? Usually right there with her, just a few seconds behind sometimes. She is a quick one I tell ya!;-)

Here is a little photo shot I did of her "feeding" her curiosity the other day...






Ah!! Success! Fruit snack in hand...and how can mom possibly say know to her sweet Abby? Well, I have to. Often. Or this cute little girl would consume 20+ packages in one day!

Here she is at another time in the cupboard again...this gives you a better idea of what our little pantry looks like...



Abby is curious alright! And I love that. Did I mention she climbs? Anything? Well she does. And she LOVES to eat crayons and bite the tips off markers. She also loves to climb on the dishwasher and take clean and dirty dishes out and then run as far as she can before I can grab her! She is our little monkey! She lights up our house and adds to the excitement around here. We have a lot of it! That is for sure.

I LOVE YOU my sweet little curious Abby!

Lizzy Has Glasses!

About a month ago Brent and I notice that one or both of Lizzy's eyes seemed to be pulling in. After a visit to a pediatric eye doctor, we learned that Lizzy needed to wear glasses. One of her eyes is weaker than the other and hopefully with these corrective lenses it will strengthen her eyes and eventually help them to work together. They are hoping that she "outgrows" this by age 8. He told us that 25% of the time surgery is required to fix this eye condition.

So as of today, our Lizzy Joy is sporting the new look of glasses! She was very excited to get them and has no problem (so far) with keeping them on...so we have been excited about that!:) Here she is with her "new look"...





We think she looks pretty cute!;-) She REALLY wanted to get a bright red pair and they were adorable, but they just didn't seem like they would go with as much stuff. Lizzy asked her grandma if she would get them for her birthday...so we'll have to see! They would be adorable!! No pressure though mom!:)

When Things Get "Scary"...

There seems to be a "thing" in our home that has recently become "scary" to my 3 oldest kiddos. The "thing" is our air purifier and the "scary" is the snapping noise it sometimes makes. We have had our air purifiers for almost a year now and they have on occasion made this "scary" sizzle-snapping noise do to taking in a lot of dust at once. Until just recently this went unnoticed by my children. However, one day last week (I think?) they were all playing in their bedroom and all of a sudden came stampeding out. Drew then informed me that there was something very strange, very wrong and very scary in their room and we had better check it out.

After a quick look and a description of what they had been hearing, I knew it was the air purifier. So I explained to them that sometimes it makes this sizzle-snapping noise because a large piece of dust or something in the air goes into it. This satisfied the boys, but Lizzy stood there a little bewildered and eyes still big, so I knew she had her doubts. Since then, she has made many comments about the air filter "not being very scary". Totally meaning that of course it IS still very scary.

So today we came back inside and were getting ready for the girls to lay down. Lizzy had ran off to the bedroom to get her pull up and all of a sudden she came running down the hall with her pants around her ankles screaming. I knew right a way it was that "scary" air purifier. So I hugged her and reminded her what the noise actually was, which was of ZERO comfort. And she insisted that I come with her to put her pull up on. I did of course and here was our little conversation...

ME: Lizzy, see honey it was just the air purifier. That is not scary. There is nothing scary in here.

LIZZY: Oh, there's not?

ME: No there isn't. But when we are scared, who will always take care of us? Who is always there with us.

LIZZY: (very emphatically) God!

ME: Yes, that's right. We do not have to be afraid because God is always there for us. So Lizzy, what can you do when you are feeling scared. (At this point, I thought we were totally on the same page...)

LIZZY: (very emphatically and with big eyes) RUN!!

Oh I laughed. Because that is what we all want to do when we are afraid. I was going for "pray"...but her very honest answer sure did make me smile. And it let me know how I can be praying for little Lizzy. I do pray that as she grows, that she would learn to trust and have a peace that reigns in here heart because of Jesus. She is SO much fun and pretty much always catching me by surprise. I love you my sweet, sweet girl!