your grace finds me

My Facebook Status from last week read...
"This has definitely been a week full of yucky things....Monday, Dave's Uncle Jim, 77ish years old (who is like a grandpa to us and the kids) fell 12 ft. from a ladder. It was a scary scary call and a rush to the ER, but the Lord definitely cushioned his fall and he walked out of the hospital the next day with a concussion and broken arm. Miracle. I am currently laying in bed hardly able to even move...bronchitis/pnemonia...can't remember a time I've been this sick. And today, my mom was in emergency surgery for about 8 hours due to complications after a heart cath and echocardiogram (sp?) she had earlier this week. She lost all blood flow to her leg because of a collapsed artery and blood clots. She is out of surgery now, and recovering. Please pray that her leg doesn't have any neurological damage and recovers 100%. "

I don't like broadcasting all of our struggles all over the internet.  I don't want to complain publicly or post things to make people feel bad for us.  But I do know that there is a huge support system in social media. I've seen that first-hand in several situations.  So sometimes I'm slow, and don't say much right away, and sometimes I debate many many times as I'm writing a post and delete it 10 times.  But I also know that God can use the circumstances of our lives to bring glory to Him.  I know that when I'm weak, He is made strong.

And I can't make a post like that and not conclude it with more...

As heavy of a month as it's been, it is so good to see God's hand in every part of it.  I could sit and go on and on about how stressful and tiring, and hard this month has been. But yet I know it doesn't compare to what others are facing. And part of the struggle is just overloading my own plate, plus dealing with life when it happens on top of that.  I could give my sob stories and complain and make you feel really sorry for us.  But yet, you probably have the same stuff going on, wrapped in different packages. We all do.  But what I don't want to miss is God's faithfulness and grace.  Because all you have to do is open your eyes, and it's there. It just finds us.

Uncle Jim's fall was scary...but he is doing GREAT!  Arm in a sling, and that's all.  

My mom had some serious scary complications in the hospital...emergency surgeries, fear of permanent damage to her leg.  But she left after 2 days, she's home recovering well and doesn't even need physical therapy.

Sydney returned to the hospital with a fever.  A scary thing when your immune system has no ability to fight anything off.  But it went away quickly and she's doing well.  

The Lord is doing amazing things through the bone marrow drives that are taking place in so many places.  There are little and big drives happening in Michigan, Kansas City area, Newton, and Wichita all done by family.  And now friends who have just followed Sydney's story are beginning to step up and hold their own small drives where they live too...Kansas City and California and probably other places too.  I just know God has a big plan for this.  Our prayer is that Sydney's match is found.  But I know that many other lives could be saved because of these efforts as well.  

Our cars are fixed! Praise God!  After praying and not knowing the answer...the big dilemma about whether to continue fixing them or not.  It stinks to have to dip into what we've saved for a new car, to fix our old ones.  In the end, it all worked our perfectly and the Lord showed us once again that he will provide ALL the time.  Both are fixed, and we didn't have to dip into our savings one bit.  That still baffles me. I told you that one of Dave's jobs paid the exact amount that we needed to put a new engine in his truck to buy us LOTS more time before he needs a new one hopefully.  We did this thinking that we might still need to head down the direction of a new family car. Then when we took our SUV in, the guys at the station said that they were pretty sure it was their fault from the fixes they had done the month before and they would take care of it.  We are so thankful for their honesty.  This is a brand new place we just started going to and we have been soooo impressed with them!  We are so thankful for God's hand in every detail.  We're glad He had a plan when we didn't know what plan to go with.

I am down sick with viral pneumonia.  It's awful.  I can't remember being this sick for this long.  But I've been warned this could take a good 2-3 weeks to fully recover from.  To be honest, I didn't quite believe my doctor when she told me that.  I thought she was just being cautious and conservative. Inside I thought "oh give me 3 or 4 days of rest and I'll be fine." But here we are on day 6...and each day has seemed as hard as the day before.  This is coming during the busiest time of my year with my business and just life in general. It's hard to have to cancel things and feel like I'm inconveniencing others.  It's hard to make myself rest.  It's hard to sit on the couch when my husband doesn't allow me to get up.  It's hard to need help and have people bring meals. And it's super hard to send my kiddos off to play elsewhere.  It's all so very humbling. BUT, I am soooo thankful it's not worse.  People are dealing with such awful sickness and disease.  Pneumonia is no biggy.  I can sit on the couch, cuddle with my kids, get our daily reading minutes in, I can dry tears and help with arguments, I can tell my husband thank you a million times a day. It's when I get up and walk across room that makes me feel like I just ran a marathon. That's the hard part. To know my lungs are so sick inside, and that it's wiping my completely out.  I hate that I can't do much at all, and what I have tried to do, it ruins me for the rest of the day. But my husband is the biggest blessing ever!  (and to be honest he completely humbles me and makes me realize how yucky my heart can get when he's sick and I'm stuck doing everything).  He has cooked, cleaned, gotten kids in bed, grocery shopped, taken off work when he could, pretty much everything!  I am so grateful and so blessed that he's mine.  And we are so thankful for the friends who have been so willing to help us out with meals and kids. 

I needed a break.  I really did.  My prayer the last month was for rest.  I've been pleading for some time away with my hubby...we've needed it so badly.  I've been longing for December when our calendar looks much less tiring.   Could it be that God has to slow us down when we choose not to ourselves?  Pneumonia is no fun.  But yet, it has slowed us down.  I am seeing God's grace in it. Finding time to sit and read with my kiddos isn't such a struggle.  I have no energy to get mad or yell or discipline (it's hard at times to even talk normally), so I've been communicating in a much calmer way than usual. HA!  I've gotten to some of my "sit down" computer work that has haunted my to-do list for a long time because it's hard to find time to sit down.  I've gotten some much needed, relaxing couch time with my sweet husband. 

But as I read back on all of that...I feel silly and embarrassed for feeling like this is such a big deal.  I want to just delete it all and just say "I'm fine", because I am.  I'm begging for rest and fast recovery from pneumonia, knowing that in 2-3 weeks I should be back to normal.  While our niece and her family are fighting cancer.  Longing for normalcy and a full night's sleep, and no hospital stays and fearful of every bad germ that comes her way.

The hard days are packaged so differently for each of us. 

But what remains constant in all of it...is His grace. 

His never-ending faithfulness.

God is good.  Even when tough things are going on.  Hard life stuff.  Sickness. Accidents.  Financial decisions. These are the things in this life we have to endure.  They are the things that He uses to draw us closer to Him, to show his power, to prove his love to us, and to show us that through all the yucky things...He is God.  And He is Good.  His grace finds us through it all.

Have you heard this song from Matt Redman?  It's one of my favorites these days...

 

"It's there in the shadows of this life, on the mountain tops, in the every day mundane, in the sorrow and the dancing...It's the same for the rich and the poor, for the saint and the sinners...From the creation to the cross, from the cross into eternity...your grace finds me."  

I don't have to search for it.  Because He finds me.

I want to begin and end each of my days, the good and the bad, realizing that His grace finds me through it all.  May we breathe His grace in and out.  Because it's the most amazing grace of all.

And in the end, it's all we really need.

And after a heavy month...I'm thankful to look back and see it was His grace that found us.

Taylor's 7th Birthday {a "glamping" party}

It has been one. crazy. month.  About a week before Taylor's birthday, we weren't really even sure yet what we were doing We hadn't had any time to even think about it. But maybe you know by now that I work best under pressure.
 She talked about not doing a theme at all because she couldn't think of one.  I was totally fine with that.  But then she started throwing out some ideas...but nothing was sticking for her.  So I got online to show her some ideas. I've seen camping themed parties before and always thought they looked fun.  We love to camp.  And we have kids that love to camp.  She loved the idea of it and we decided to go with a girly twist.  The actual term is "glamping" (glamorous camping).  I don't know if that's a real word, but there are definitely lots of references to it online.
We had already decided that we'd let her have her first slumber party, so we thought this theme fit perfectly with that!

I think this was the most fun cake yet!  But I think I've said that before.  I got almost all of my ideas from a mixture of online "glamping" parties and google images.

 

 

We had a gift station that had their pillowcases and fabric markers to decorate,

Seconds before we lit the candles, Nana and Papa, and our Michigan family called in to Facetime.  So they got to help sing 'Happy Birthday' and watch her blow out her candles.  She was enthralled at the campfire on her cake.

Later, after all of our non-sleepover guests left, and Mason headed off for a sleepover with his cousin, we did smores...

decorated pillow cases...

watched movies and made a god's eye yarn craft...

The tent was definitely the highlight.  We put up a canopy that we use when we camp, and then just started clothes pinning fabric and sheets all over.  We added mini bunting, Christmas lights, streamers and hanging ball lanterns in the center.  It came complete with the stench of campfire smoke leftover from our bluegrass weekend in September. 

Taylor was the first one asleep.  About an hour and a half later the rest of them fell asleep about 1am. I really hated to tell them they really needed to get to sleep, but at 7 years old, with church the next day, I didn't think I should let them go until they wanted to. 

It was pure joy watching these girls together.  3 of them are from her class and her cousin fit perfectly in with all of them.  They got along sooooo well and were so excited about every little thing.  They did each other's hair, played dolls, Daddy served them popcorn, and they were all so polite and sweet.  I honestly wasn't sure what to expect from a 7 year old sleepover, but we enjoyed it so much!

a big month of soccer

 We have had a blast watching Mason play soccer for the past 6 weeks.

 Dave is coaching again which makes it even more fun.  His patience with those 5 year olds is pretty outstanding.  At any given practice you could probably see over half the team doing something completely different than what they were supposed to be doing. It was quite comical at times.

 We went an entire indoor soccer season scoring zero goals this spring.  But we have made quite the turn around in outdoor.  Although they don't really keep score and announce a winner, I'm pretty sure they won all but one game.  And they scored lots of goals! It was especially fun to see a handful of different kids score...it was pure joy watching their reactions!

I'd say that many times games are one based on the goalie. And this particular game, it wasn't too hard to score on this goalie who got distracted and left the goalie box.  His foot even got stuck in the net and he couldn't get it out when he saw the other team coming to score.  It was a little sad and a lot hilarious.

 And while we're on the topic of soccer, we also made quite the trip to Indianapolis to watch our nephew play in a soccer tournament.  With a sister fighting cancer, his world has kind of been turned upside down.  He and Dave have a special bond and Dave really wanted to support him at this tournament, since it was only 11 hours away...as opposed to 16 to their home in Michigan.

The trip was originally just going to be Dave and I.  We didn't think it sounded one bit fun to have kids ride for 11 hours just for a day and a half of soccer.  But plans fell through and after our plans changed 15 thousand times in the few days before, we finally decided to just pack them all up and take them along.  To be honest, it wasn't one bit fun.  Until we were out of the car.  We used to travel so well, even with a 3 and 4 year old on an 18 hour trip to Florida.  But this baby of ours does NOT like to travel.  So he has decided to make us all know about it.

  But as awful as the car ride was, it was worth it to see this guy play soccer and hang out with him and his mom for a while.  Unfortunately, the weather caused the tournament to be cancelled on Sunday, so we only saw his 2 games on Saturday.  Such a bummer too, because being the #1 team out of Michigan in that age range, I'm pretty sure they could have won the whole thing!

 

 Mason has loved playing soccer just like Jeremy.  When he scores goals, the first person he wants to call is Jeremy or Uncle Jason.  And this past game, with his 3 goals, Jeremy taught him that he had a "hat trick".  Mason thinks "hat tricks" are pretty cool now. 

Just some tidbits

 Holy smokes that was a long blogging break.  Definitely unintentional, but I guess it just has to be that way sometimes.  I'm hoping I can get back to some posts soon...because I miss it

Life is pretty insane right now.  It's definitely one of those months that I feel like I'm treading water, okay, I mean drowning.  We are WAY too busy.  Why is it so easy to get that way if you aren't intentional about setting those boundaries to keep it from not?  I'm in that mode where I can't even think into the next day, just trying to survive the current one. I'm shocked that I've showed up everywhere I'm supposed to be, because some days I don't even know where I'm supposed to be until the morning of, or an hour before. 

So before I start getting caught up on posts, I'll leave you with a few random tidbits...

*I haven't been to the gym in months.  Everything I had worked for for 4 months is gone. Total bummer.  School started, our routine changed, we had to start waking up early, so my 11pm gym visits weren't working anymore.  And the good-eating habits went right down the drain along with the workouts. I WILL get back there.  I just don't know when. 

*My sweet hubby gave me a gift certificate to my favorite spa/salon for my birthday and I'm beginning to think it will be 2 years before I can actually get there.  {sigh}

*Both of our cars began having major problems in the same week.  We drive OLD cars, and are soooo determined to never go back to a car payment.  But it's so hard to know where that line is as to how much money you continue to put into cars...money that could be used to help buy a new car.  But we are thankful that the Lord is helping us feel confident in the decisions we are making.  In the mean time, you may hear me coming from blocks away. {another big sigh}

*I'm teaching Mason's Pre-K Sunday School class. It's my first experience with any age under 1st/2nd grade.  I love it!  I LOVE the curriculum our church has switched too...even if it does mean I can't cram as easily on Saturday nights.  It's Gospel-centered and the kids are experiencing the New Testament in a way that I only wish I could have when I was little. 

*Gavin is now on a no egg, no nut, no wheat, no dairy diet.  His eczema had gotten to be the worst ever, it was like sandpaper, bright red, and he was miserable.  I had a meltdown one night, feeling like a helpless mommy who couldn't find anything that helped him.  So we took drastic measures and eliminated everything from his diet...and he was 100% cleared up in 2 days flat.  Best skin he's had since birth.  Now to figure out who the culprit is...it's proving to be more challenging than I had thought.

*Taylor turned 7 yesterday.  A week ago, she had no idea what kind of party she wanted.  And I honestly hadn't had any time to think about it myself.   We decided on a "glamping" theme (glamorous/girly camping)  and pulled off her entire party in about 3-4 days.  I was surprised at how fun the theme was!  It was perfect for her first ever slumber party.  I'll show you pictures soon! 

*Mason is playing outdoor soccer with Daddy as a coach.  He is loving it!  And he's so fun to watch.  

*We are now an "oiling" family.   I guess some people would consider that a bit "tree-huggerish". Ha! But with some of the ongoing stuff that we fight often (allergies, eczema, migraines, asthma), I was totally up for trying them. We are using DoTerrra essential oils and I LOVE them.  I don't think they are the answer for everything, for us, anyway.  We are still learning what they work for, for us, and what they don't. But I do know that we've fought off strep two times and Gavin's spell of pneumonia was very short lived compared to the first time he had it last spring before using essential oils. My headaches go away so much quicker and I am currently dousing everyone with On Guard on a daily basis to begin fighting all the yuckiness already going around.

*I'm in the beginning stages of organizing a bone marrow drive here locally.  And my sister-in-law will be having one in Wichita.  Are you on the bone marrow national registry list??  Our niece, Sydney, needs a bone marrow transplant and there are currently only 20 live donors in the nation who match her initial criteria...that is NOT a lot.  And once those 20 are tested (if they can be found), it's not a guarantee they will be an exact match.  There's a chance she may need more options. What if YOU are an exact match????  We want to bring awareness to this registry and get people on it!  While we search for a donor match for Sydney, there's a good chance other lives may be saved as the registry grows.  Stay tuned if you're local!  And if you're not local...and want to get on the registry, you can go to bethematch.org, read more and request a kit be sent to your house.  All you are doing is a cheek swab for them to know your tissue type, you do not donate until you are an exact match for someone needing a transplant.  They will send a kit to your home, and you can send it back...it's that easy. 

Sorry for no pictures, I promise I"ll post some soon!  Okay, I take that back.  I HOPE to post some soon...but no promises.