Five!

Andy has been slowly rubbing off on me in various ways ever since I met him. The first was with country music. The most recent . . . running. Running has always been something that I have declared to be on my list of hated things. In times past, I have had to run, but I have never enjoyed it. I'm slow, I don't like to be sweaty, I get bored, and the list goes on. I use running as an exercise tool, but really don't get too much out of it. I do it because I have too. My max has been a couple of miles, although this past week I surprised myself with how far I could run - 4.25 miles! I admit, I had no plans to run that far but was just trying to keep up with a friend and somehow it just happened. It actually got me a little excited thinking that with just a little more effort I could run 5 miles - that just sounds like such an accomplishment. So, yesterday I tried . . . and failed. (To my credit, there were some physical issues that were holding me back.) Today, I was feeling much better and decided to try again. (I'm still not exactly clear on why I've decided to torture myself like this.) Well, I did it! 5 miles - on the treadmill, no less! Talk about boring! (Although I did have Rachael Ray and TLC to keep me company.) I'm still slow (it took me just under an hour), but I did it! I don't know if this little obsession for distance will last, or if I will be content to settle for an occasional five mile run. I do know that I did enjoy pushing myself and the feeling of accomplishment that I got when I was finished. Although I'm pretty sure that I'll never get to the point where I love it as much as Andy, at least now I can relate a little because I'm pretty sure that completing 5 miles classifies me as a runner!

(Photography credit goes to Emma Lee!) :)

Happy Easter

Andy came up with this cute way to teach the girls the five miracles that happened at the cross. It must work, because days later without any review they remembered them all. Hope you all had a happy Easter!

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A Week in Review

Whew! What a great week we had! It was a perfect vacation (by my standards - Andy has a completely different idea of what a perfect vacation is but I'm pretty sure he enjoyed himself this week too!) We ended up not having wifi and hardly turned on the tv, instead we did my favorite things - family outings, hanging out and talking with my best friends, staying up late every night to play an assortment of games, and of course the "beachy" things involving sand and water and the Ocean City boardwalk, and then the "Eastery" things like coloring Easter eggs and an Easter egg hunt on the beach. Like I said, "Whew!" :)

Day One
The morning started out with Andy accidentally hitting Emma Lee's loose tooth, causing it to only hang out by a thread. There was a lot of blood and a lot of tears and one scared little girl. She seriously cried almost straight through 3 hours. She wouldn't talk; she wouldn't eat; she was miserable, and so was Mommy! Andy doesn't do teeth things - for some reason he's really freaked out by it, so if anything was going to happen it was up to me. As a kid, I always let my teeth dangle and hold on until they eventually just fell out without any effort at all. I also experienced some of my not-so-patient-siblings having my dad pull out their teeth and vowed that I would never do that to my kids! Because I know how Emma Lee is, I knew that she wasn't going to just forget about it or be happy until it was over. So, I did it. I pulled her tooth. I called her into the bathroom, and sat her down for a talk. I explained that I was going to pull her tooth out and that it wasn't going to hurt too much and that it probable wasn't even going to bleed anymore. She was a little upset, but I think I sealed the deal when I said that it was good practice for getting her ears pierced (which she really wants to do) - it will hurt a little at first but she will look like such a big girl after it's finished. I gave her the option of me pulling it out with my fingers or tying some dental floss around it and pulling it out that way. Through her tears she got out a pitiful little "Let me think about it for a minute." and then choose for me to use my fingers. (I'm pretty sure at this point I was more scared than she was.) I asked her if she wanted to hold one of my hands while I pulled it out with the other one, but she asked for Kerri. Kerri was called back to hold Emma Lee's hands and to offer comfort. Kerri was trying hard to fight back her own tears because she was scared for Emma Lee but she grabbed Emma Lee's hands and squeezed them in her own. My first pull didn't get it out. Teeth are slippery little things, but it easily came out with my second attempt. Emma Lee almost immediately started laughing, and all was right in our world again. :) The tooth fairy even managed to find her that night!

 












Day Two
Being the second day of non-stop rain, we decided to head off to an indoor bounce place to let the kiddos run around and wear themselves out. It worked, and they had a lot of fun in the process!

Day Three
The sun was out and everyone was restless to get to the beach! Even though it was chilly, the girls insisted that they had to wear their swimsuits. While the rest of us were comfy in our jeans and sweatshirts, my two crazy little ones didn't complain once about being cold. We also toured the boardwalk and went swimming in an indoor pool and relaxed in a big hot tub. We ended the night with coloring and painting Easter eggs.

Day Four
An even prettier day! We planned an Easter egg hunt on the beach for the kids and had fun snapping a billion pictures (or so) while they found them all. We then spent some more time soaking up some sun on the beach.

Day Five
Headed back to the boardwalk and had a fun time pedaling a surry around. Of course, we had to head back down to the beach later on. The girls even splashed around some in the freezing water.

Day Six
Sad goodbyes. Lots of memories made. Looking forward to our next adventure together - whenever that might be.  

 

Remembering Memories We've Made and Making New Ones

I'm so grateful for three of my very best friends: Rachel, Eranda, and Christina. I love these girls so much! They have seen the good and the bad (and sometimes the very bad) of me and they still like me - amazing, really! We met in 1998 in college in Maryland. Rachel, Eranda, and I were all just starting as freshman, and Christina had the . . . um, . . . privilege to be my RA. (And I have repeatedly apologized for everything I put her through!) We hit it off, and in spite of us all living in three different states (soon to be four) and through all the other changes that have happened through college, grown-up life, marriages, babies, and everything else, we have managed to stay close. One of the great things about us is that it doesn't matter if it is two of us, three of us, or all four of us together, we get along great individually and all together. We try to make sure that we get in at least one visit every year, although the more we fit in the happier we are! Every now and then, I like to spend some time going through the pictures we've collected over the years and relive some of the good times we've had. Of course, it is even better to make new memories together, and that is just what we're about to do! We're leaving today to get together for a week at the beach (with our families tagging along). What could be better than that?! Not much!

Baby Steps

With a hop

and a skip

we have moved two steps up!

Two steps closer to getting our referral. Two steps closer to traveling to meet our little boy. Two steps closer to bringing him home. Two steps closer. They are baby steps, but I'll take them!

Not Quite

They might not wrestle, they might not play rough, they might not try to figure out how everything works, they might not be obsessed with a ball or a car, they might not enjoy yelling for the pure joy of making a loud noise, BUT . . .

Here's proof that my girls are not quite 100% girlie girls.

 Obviously, they do like to play in the mud.

A Milestone

Yesterday marked a spiritual milestone for me. Twenty-five years ago, on March 24th, I made the most important decision in my life - I accepted Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior. Even though it was a long time ago and I was very young, I remember everything about that moment as clearly as if it had just happened. Growing up as a pastor's daughter, I was practically raised in church and knew all the right answers. On that day, however, it all came together. I realized that I had to make a personal decision for myself to ask Jesus to forgive me of my sins and to take charge of my life.

I thank my parents for the role that they played in my spiritual life. Their end goal was not that I become a Christian - that was just the starting point. They modeled, discipled, and encouraged  me to make my faith in Jesus a part of my daily life and a deciding factor for every decision I make - whether big or small. I also thank Andy for being such a spiritual encourager in my life. He prays for me daily and promotes my growth in my walk with Christ. Also, even though they don't realize it, Emma Lee and Kerri greatly impact my spiritual growth. Nothing makes me want to model Christ more than the knowledge that they are constantly watching and learning from me.

Although twenty-five years as a believer should bring great joy and excitement to me (and it does), I have to admit that my strongest reactions are ones of sadness and disappointment . . . in myself. Twenty-five. Twenty-five years of being a Christian. Does my location on the map of my journey with Christ match how far I should be after twenty-five years? I feel like after that long I should be so much ahead of where I actually am. These feelings and a talk with Andy led to my searching the Scriptures to develop a plan for this next year. What spiritual changes do I want to see in my life this year? I don't want to look back in the next year or decade or after another twenty-five years and be in the same place that I am right now.

My number one goal is to become a stronger "ambassador for Christ" (2 Cor. 5:20). Whoever I come in contact with should know (because I make it clear through my words and not just my actions) that I represent Christ. 2 Cor. 5:16 says, "Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh." I must not evaluate people as people but as souls destined for either heaven or hell. I can't meet someone, have a nice conversation with them, and walk away thinking what a nice person they are. I must look past their "flesh" to find out if they know their eternal destination. 

Witnessing is probably my weakest point in my Christian walk. I have met many people who irritate me because it seems like all they do is talk "Christianese," and sometimes it comes off as more of a show than being based in sincerity. Many times in the past, I have used this as an excuse for myself because I wanted to avoid becoming someone like that. I have often relied on the thought, "Well, my actions can show people that I'm a Christian, I don't have to come right out and talk about it." However, if I really believe that I know the only way to be saved and many of the people I come in contact (however briefly) do not have this knowledge, shouldn't I share it with them and not leave it up to their wild guesses or imaginations? I know that there is a balance between these two extremes, and I don't think that with my nature and personality I have to worry about going overboard - it has merely been an excuse. It is my prayer that for the rest of my life God will use me to help lead others to Him.