Family Pictures 2008

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU Erica for the great pictures once again! Our friend Erica took these great pictures of our little family! She has been such a blessing to us, as she has captured so many beautiful memories for us on film. The pictures below are some of Jaxxon's 1 year old pictures that Erica took for us as well. We are so grateful and thankful for these precious pictures! Can I get a "What, What!"

Details. Prayer.

Hubby was suppose to come back from Georgia today. He didn't. They want him to stay longer. He doesn't know when he will be home. I am very sad. My kiddos are taking it hard! We are thankful and grateful that my Mom is here! I will be going into surgery Tuesday afternoon. Oh, and my little something that is suppose to happen the 18th is now going to happen Tuesday morning before my surgery! Whoo-Hoo! Keep checking back to see what all the excitement is about.

Please be in continued prayer for me. As I stated before, my doctor thinks that I could be losing blood slowly someway, somewhere, somehow. The plan was to get my blood taken again, take some pills for 4 weeks, get my blood retaken, then see the doctor and go from there. Things have changed. After I got my blood taken, the doctor called me right away about them. The results showed that my levels have dropped even lower. She wants me to get an IV of Iron and see a Hematologists. My insurance is a booger and with the holidays I can't get into see one until Jan. 5th. My doctor didn't like that it was so far off, so she wants me to get my levels taken this coming week again. If they have dropped any lower, it will be moved to an emergency level. I will probably have to get a blood transfusion. She said that they will probably do tests on my intestines and such to see if I am bleeding internally or something somewhere. I do feel like I am getting weaker. I am tired and dizzy too. She told me that this is something to really watch because I could have a heart attack if there isn't enough blood to pump, along with other really important things. As far as the mass. I saw my surgeon Tuesday. He said that the mass was not cancer! Thank you Jesus. But that he scrapped tissue and cells from the whole area around where it was sitting in my leg. He said there were Pre-Cancer cells. He has ordered for me to go get an MRI scan of my entire body to see if there are any other little growths growing. He said that he doesn't want to scare me, but my blood issues could be telling us something. That there could be a little growth growing somewhere that has turned to cancer. Again...waiting for insurance to clear things---urgg and ugg.

I am having a hard time with my hubby being gone longer and I having surgery on Tuesday with out him here. Thank God for MaMa's right!?!? My Mom has been a blessing! Huge, Huge blessing! I also ask for prayer for my MaMa. I can't post anything about my MaMa right now, but I just ask that you keep her and our family in your prayers over the next month or two.

Proud Parent

My son Christoffer is in the Spelling Bee. He is excited and very proud of his self. I have to say this MaMa is pretty darn proud too!! He won out of his class competition. In January, he will be in the School competition. Then if he wins from there he would go district, then state, then regional, and then finally National. He is in 4th grade and he will be competing against other 4th through 8th grade students. He has had to go to a couple of meetings early in the morning before school and will have to go to a few more this coming week. He has been studying hard with his NaNa. Please pray for my little one. He is super excited about this. Pray that his mind will be a little sponge. He is worried about his nerves. Pray that he will remember to be calm and not rush. We are so proud of you Christoffer! You are going to do great.

What I have to tell you next is....Christoffer made it on Honor Roll! This is the first year that he has been eligible for it. They don't start Honor Roll and Principle's List until fourth grade. Now that he is aware of it, he has set himself a goal. He really wants Principle's list this next time. He has been working really hard. Once again....I am a very proud MaMa!!

Sunday Story

Here is a sweet story. I really hope you have time to read it, its long, but worth the time. I don't know if its true, but it speaks a mighty thing, powerful, and is just simply precious.

To Meet Such a Man

I sat with two friends in the picture window of a quaint restaurant just off the corner of the town-square. The food and the company were both especially good that day.

As we talked, my attention was drawn outside, across the street. There, walking into town, was a man who appeared to be carrying all his worldly goods on his back. He was carrying, a well-worn sign that read, 'I will work for food.' My heart sank.

I brought him to the attention of my friends and noticed that others around us had stopped eating to focus on him. Heads moved in a mixture of sadness and disbelief.

We continued with our meal, but his image lingered in my mind. We finished our meal and went our separate ways. I had errands to do and quickly set out to accomplish them. I glanced toward the town square, looking somewhat halfheartedly for the strange visitor. I was fearful, knowing that seeing him again would call some response. I drove through town and saw nothing of him. I made some purchases at a store and got back in my car.

Deep within me, the Spirit of God kept speaking to me: 'Don't go back to the office until you've at least driven once more around the square.'

Then with some hesitancy, I headed back into town. As I turned the square's third corner, I saw him. He was standing on the steps of the store front church, going through his sack.

I stopped and looked; feeling both compelled to speak to him, yet wanting to drive on. The empty parking space on the corner seemed to be a sign from God: an invitation to park. I pulled in, got out and approached the town's newest visitor.

'Looking for the pastor?' I asked.

'Not really,' he replied, 'just resting.'

'Have you eaten today?'

'Oh, I ate something early this morning.'

'Would you like to have lunch with me?'

He replied, 'Do you have some work I could do for you?'

'No work,' I replied. 'I commute here to work from the city, but I would like to take you to lunch.'

'Sure,' he said with a smile.

As he began to gather his things, I asked some surface questions. Where you headed?'

' St. Louis '

'Where you from?'

'Oh, all over; mostly Florida '

'How long you been walking?'

'Fourteen years,' came the reply.

I knew I had met someone unusual. We sat across from each other in the same restaurant I had left earlier. His face was weathered slightly beyond his 38 years. His eyes were dark yet clear, and he spoke with an eloquence and articulation that was startling. He removed his jacket to reveal a bright red T-shirt that said, 'Jesus is The Never Ending Story.'

Then Daniel's story began to unfold. He had seen rough times early in life. He'd made some wrong choices and reaped the consequences. Fourteen years earlier, while backpacking across the country, he had stopped on the beach in Daytona. He tried to hire on with some men who were putting up a large tent and some equipment. A concert, he thought.

He was hired, but the tent would not house a concert but revival services, and in those services he saw life more clearly. He gave his life over to God!

'Nothing's been the same since,' he said, 'I felt the Lord telling me to keep walking, and so I did, some 14 years now.'

'Ever think of stopping?' I asked.

'Oh, once in a while, when it seems to get the best of me But God has given me this calling. I give out Bibles. That's what's in my sack. I work to buy food and Bibles, and I give them out when His Spirit leads.'

I sat amazed. My homeless friend was not homeless. He was on a mission and lived this way by choice. The question burned inside for a moment and then I asked: 'What's it like?'

'What?'

'To walk into a town carrying all your things on your back and to show your sign?'

'Oh, it was humiliating at first. People would stare and make comments. Once someone tossed a piece of half-eaten bread and made a gesture that certainly didn't make me feel welcome. But then it became humbling to realize that God was using me to touch lives and change people's concepts of other folks like me.'

My concept was changing, too. We finished our dessert and gathered his things. Just outside the door, he paused. He turned to me and said, 'Come Ye blessed of my Father and inherit the kingdom I've prepared for you. For when I was hungry you gave me food, when I was thirsty you gave me drink, a stranger and you took me in.'

I felt as if we were on holy ground. 'Could you use another Bible?' I asked.

He said he preferred a certain translation. It traveled well and was not too heavy. It was also his personal favorite. 'I've read through it 14 times,' he said.

'I'm not sure we've got one of those, but let's stop by our church and see what we have. I was able to find my new friend a Bible that would do well, and he seemed very grateful.

'Where are you exactly headed from here?' I asked.

'Well, I found this little map on the back of this amusement park coupon.'

'Are you hoping to hire on there for awhile?'

'No, I just figure I should go there. I figure someone under that star right there needs a Bible, so that's where I'm going next.'

He smiled, and the warmth of his spirit radiated the sincerity of his mission. I drove him back to the town-square where we'd met two hours earlier, and as we drove, it started raining. We parked and unloaded his things.

'Would you sign my autograph book?' he asked. 'I like to keep messages from folks I meet.'

I wrote in his little book that his commitment to his calling had touched my life. I encouraged him to stay strong. And I left him with a verse of scripture from Jeremiah, 'I know the plans I have for you, declared the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you; Plans to give you a future and a hope.'

'Thanks, man,' he said. 'I know we just met and we're really just strangers, but I love you.'

'I know,' I said, 'I love you, too.' 'The Lord is good!'

'Yes, He is. How long has it been since someone hugged you?' I asked.

'A long time,' he replied

And so on the busy street corner in the drizzling rain, my new friend and I embraced, and I felt deep inside that I had been changed. He put his things on his back, smiled his winning smile and said, 'See you in the New Jerusalem.'

'I'll be there!' was my reply.

He began his journey again. He headed away with his sign dangling from his bedroll and pack of Bibles. He stopped, turned and said, 'When you see something that makes you think of me, will you pray for me?'

'You bet,' I shouted back, 'God bless.'

'God bless.' And that was the last I saw of him.

Late that evening as I left my office, the wind blew strong. The cold front had settled hard upon the town. I bundled up and hurried to my car. As I sat back and reached for the emergency brake, I saw them...a pair of well-worn brown work gloves neatly laid over the length of the handle. I picked them up and thought of my friend and wondered if his hands would stay warm that night without them.

Then I remembered his words: 'If you see something that makes you think of me, will you pray for me?'

Today his gloves lie on my desk in my office. They help me to see the world and its people in a new way, and they help me remember those two hours with my unique friend and to pray for his ministry. 'See you in the New Jerusalem,' he said. Yes, Daniel, I know I will.........

'I shall pass this way but once. Therefore, any good that I can do or any kindness that I can show, let me do it now, for I shall not pass this way again.'

'Father, I ask you to bless my friends, relatives and e-mail buddies reading this right now. Show them a new revelation of your love and power. Holy Spirit, I ask you to minister to their spirit at this very moment. Where there is pain, give them your peace and mercy. Where there is self-doubt, release a renewed confidence through your grace, In Jesus' precious Name Amen.'

New Do.

Here is my new do. I got a haircut and style for an early Christmas gift from my Mom. Thanks Mom! This is my first "Mommy" haircut, as one of my friends stated. I have to agree. I feel different. All grown up. Now is the real trick---trying to figure out how to do it. Fun, Fun! My hubby comes home the 14th. Surprise, Surprise Honey!

What Love Is.....

What love means or is to young kiddos ages 4 to 8 years old! I hope and pray that they all remember these answers when they are married and are older! Really made me think when I read some of these.

'When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love.'
Rebecca (age 8)

'When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.'
Billy (age 4)

'Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.'
Karl (age 5)

'Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.'
Chrissy (age 6)

'Love is what makes you smile when you're tired.'
Terri (age 4)

'Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.'
Danny (age 7)

'Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss.'
Emily (age 8)

'Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.'
Bobby (age 7)

'If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate.'
Nikka (age 6)

'Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday.'
Noelle (age 7)

'Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.'
Tommy (age 6)

'During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore.'
Cindy (age 8)

'My mommy loves me more than anybody You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.'
Clare (age 6)

'Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.'
Elaine (age 5)

'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford.'
Chris (age 7)

'Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.'
Mary Ann (age 4)

'I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.'
Lauren (age 4)

'When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.' Karen (age 7)

'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross.'
Mark (age 6)

'You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.'
Jessica (age 8)

And the final one: The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there.When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, 'Nothing, I just helped him cry'

Reading.

Only great minds can read this! This is weird, but interesting! This is another forward that was sent to me. I couldn't resist putting it on here. I thought this was neatO and fun!

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too

Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can. i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh ? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling wa s ipmorantt! if you can raed tihs forwrad it

Poem.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SILAS!

We have been so honored and blessed to get to know you little guy! You have changed so much and you have changed me in a way I can't explain. You are such a blessing, not only to your family but to all who you meet! We love you! Can't wait to celebrate your birthday with you on Saturday!

On a different note. Here is a little something that I thought was interesting. A friend emailed it to me.

Twas the month before Christmas

When all through our land,

Not a Christian was praying

Nor taking a stand.

The politically correct police had taken away,

The reason for Christmas-no one could say.

The children were told by their schools not to sing,

About Shepherds and Wise Men and Angels and things.

It might hurt people's feelings, the teachers would say

December 25th is just a "Holiday".

Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, checks and credit

Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it!

CD's from Madonna, an X BOX, an I-pod

Something was changing, something quite odd!

Retailers promoted Ramadan and Kwanzaa

In hopes to sell books by Franken & Fonda.

As Targets were hanging their trees upside down

At Lowe's the word Christmas - was no where to be found.

At K-Mart and Staples and Penny's and Sears

You won't hear the word Christmas; it won't touch your ears.

Inclusive, sensitive, Di-ver-is-ty

Are words that were used to intimidate me.

Now Daschle, Now Darden, Now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzen

On Boxer, on Rather, on Kerry, on Clinton!

At the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter

To eliminate Jesus, in all public matter.

And we spoke not a word, as they took away our faith

Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace

The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded

The reason for the season, stopped before it started.

So as you celebrate "Winter Break" under your "Dream Tree"

Sipping your Starbucks, listen to me.

Choose your words carefully, choose what you say

Shout MERRY CHRISTMAS, not Happy Holiday!

Tid-Bits.

HAPPY 13 Months Jaxxy! You little Monkey You!

I haven't heard anything back from Biopsies! Stink! We are missin' Daddy over here! Thank God for Nana's! I am just thankful and enjoying these days with my Mom and Kiddos! Any guess yet on what's happin' on the 18th? Excited that I recieved my first Christmas card in the mail today! Nothing much else to report. Sorry. Just tryin' to keep in touch, posted, and updated! Love to you all!

Still Waiting.

I haven't heard anything yet from the doctor. I figured it would be Tuesday before I did. I will keep you posted. I am just feeling so blessed to have my Mom here with me during this time. I had to take my sweet hubby to the airport this morning at 3:00am for his 5:00am flight to Georgia. He will be gone for 2 weeks. He comes back Dec. 14th. I have foot surgery on the 16th. But what is most exciting is what's going to happen on the 18th! I can't tell until the big day comes--so please keep checkin' in!