A Visit with Great Friends!

We had a great visit for the past few days with our great friends the Thompson's. We enjoyed lots and lots and lots of great conversations...and stayed up WAY too late...but LOVED every minute of it! We took the kids to the park and had a picnic, ate out some Moe's mexican together, and the kids played for hours on end! It was truly such a wonderful visit.

These friend are our college, seminary, and ministry buddies...we've been friends about 14 years! What a true blessing!! We had our children in seminary together and they have been friends every since.

Anli and Andrew have been friends fron the moment they were born...

(Anli is the oldest...and the biggest! I had some big babies! Both the girls were well over 9 pounds each. The other baby in the photo is our precious friend Moriah! The three of them were seminary babies together.)

They all have grown so much, but the memories are so very sweet! We loved getting together with friends who know us so well and whom we love so dearly. The bond of Christ runs so deep with this family and it was great to spend time in fellowship together.

You know it was fun...because the only photos I took were those right before they left! That is so unlike me...but we were having too much fun together that I simply forgot and enjoyed the moments!

The Story of St. Patrick

Today people all over will be wearing green and looking for pots of gold at the end of the rainbow. But, who was St. Patrick and how did this holiday actually start? I was doing some research and found this article from the History.com. It really sheds some wonderful light on the man behind the holiday. I thought I would include some of the information I found interesting:

Who Was St. Patrick?

St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, is one of Christianity's most widely known figures. But for all his celebrity, his life remains somewhat of a mystery. Many of the stories traditionally associated with St. Patrick, including the famous account of his banishing all the snakes from Ireland, are false, the products of hundreds of years of exaggerated storytelling.

Taken Prisoner By Irish Raiders

It is known that St. Patrick was born in Britain to wealthy parents near the end of the fourth century. He is believed to have died on March 17, around 460 A.D. Although his father was a Christian deacon, it has been suggested that he probably took on the role because of tax incentives and there is no evidence that Patrick came from a particularly religious family. At the age of sixteen, Patrick was taken prisoner by a group of Irish raiders who were attacking his family's estate.

They transported him to Ireland where he spent six years in captivity. (There is some dispute over where this captivity took place. Although many believe he was taken to live in Mount Slemish in County Antrim, it is more likely that he was held in County Mayo near Killala.) During this time, he worked as a shepherd, outdoors and away from people. Lonely and afraid, he turned to his religion for solace, becoming a devout Christian. (It is also believed that Patrick first began to dream of converting the Irish people to Christianity during his captivity.)

Guided By Visions

After more than six years as a prisoner, Patrick escaped. According to his writing, a voice-which he believed to be God's-spoke to him in a dream, telling him it was time to leave Ireland.

To do so, Patrick walked nearly 200 miles from County Mayo, where it is believed he was held, to the Irish coast. After escaping to Britain, Patrick reported that he experienced a second revelation-an angel in a dream tells him to return to Ireland as a missionary. Soon after, Patrick began religious training, a course of study that lasted more than fifteen years. After his ordination as a priest, he was sent to Ireland with a dual mission-to minister to Christians already living in Ireland and to begin to convert the Irish.

Bonfires and Crosses

Familiar with the Irish language and culture, Patrick chose to incorporate traditional ritual into his lessons of Christianity instead of attempting to eradicate native Irish beliefs. For instance, he used bonfires to celebrate Easter since the Irish were used to honoring their gods with fire. He also superimposed a sun, a powerful Irish symbol, onto the Christian cross to create what is now called a Celtic cross, so that veneration of the symbol would seem more natural to the Irish. Although there were a small number of Christians on the island when Patrick arrived, most Irish practiced a nature-based pagan religion. The Irish culture centered around a rich tradition of oral legend and myth.

So, there is the story of the man behind the holiday filled with green clothing, pots of gold, leprechauns, and parades! I hope you enjoy your St. Patrick's day today!

Back in the Routine

After 2 weeks of being WAY off our routine, we are working on getting back in the swing of things! We attended the funeral of my grandmother on Wednesday and Thursday of last week. I was honored to read a portion of Proverbs 31 at the service. It was beautiful and wonderful to have family and friends there with us as we celebrated Honey's homegoing. After the service, we were blessed to enjoy a catered meal by the church at Honey's house where all our family gathered together. It was a wonderful time of fellowship since there were those who live far away and we enjoyed catching up together.

I will post photos as I get them from my uncle Craig of our time together at Honey's house. We are all looking forward to being together again soon in Hilton Head for my cousin's wedding! We all grew up going to Pawleys Island each summer since my great-grandparents had condos there. Seeing everyone together brought back those wonderful memories!

On Friday and Saturday, we rested. It had been a busy and emotional week for our family and since we were just recovering from the flu we were exhausted! We were so thankful that we didn't have any plans for that weekend so that we could just rest. We did manage to find some time to get out in the rain for our free scoop of Bruster's Ice cream and a little shopping! But, mainly we stayed at home relaxing together.

This weekend we are excited to have some of our favorite friends coming to spend a few days with us on their spring break! We just can't wait to have some time to catch up together. So, it's not exactly back into the swing of things completely...but that's just fine with us!

It was beautiful...

I miss you Honey...

Yesterday my precious grandmother passed from this earthy life into a glorious new day in heaven with her beloved Jesus. I was named for my grandmother and the two of us have been connected in a special bond my entire life. But, who wouldn't love her? This 5 foot ball of love, humor, kindness, servanthood, joy, and fight was my greatest mentor. She taught me to pray when I was old enough to speak. She has been my constant companion in prayer as I have traveled on mission trips (her dream) to Africa, India, and Poland.

Frances Cole was a light to every life around her. She was the one who took meals to the nuns!!! She served those who are servants! She read her Bible every single day of her life and prayed for missionaries and "the poor people" all across this world. She cooked meals tirelessly for anyone and everyone who was in need...whether she knew them or not. She could dance a mean jitterbug...and her favorite...the "Sumter Jump."

She was one of my best friends. I know many can not say that their grandmother was one of their best and closest friends, but mine was! As a teenage I proudly wore every piece of clothing she didn't want anymore. I couldn't wear her pants...but I sported everything she gave me with pride. She had style!

My grandmother took me with her to jazzercise...and she could dance circles around me! When my parents divorced I stayed with her all day while my sweet mom returned to work. She would let me play tennis, swim in her huge pool, and I have precious memories of my fabulous Honey sitting in a chair sunning by the pool writing her "correspondence." She loved to write letters and was an amazing writer. She made you feel like she was right next to you telling you all the news!

Every single day I wear a ring that my parents made me from her diamond necklace given to her by my grandfather. It is priceless to me! She gave me the most beautiful golden bow ring when I turned 13 and it waits for Anli on her 13th also. For graduation she presented me with a ring made from her father's watch fob and I cherish each of these keepsakes she has blessed me with through the years. Each woman in our family has an identical cross that she had made by a jeweler for our family. She was the first to wear that golden cross...and there are very few days you will EVER catch me without that gold cross around my neck. She has instilled a family love that goes deeper than most every experience. She invested deeply...and her reward is just as rich!

There's not enough time to talk about how precious my grandmother was to me. It was truly quite special to have her as one of my best friends. I was on my way to see her and hug her one last time yesterday, but I missed her by about 15 minutes. I think my heavenly Father knew that this one might just be too hard for my heart. So, I have memories of her that will last a lifetime until I can hug her neck in heaven. She is with the Jesus she loved for a lifetime. She taught me how to pray and to love Jesus. She was the most amazing grandmother, mentor, and friend. No other name suits her better than our sweet "Honey." You can see the cross around my neck...and my grandfather's ring around hers. The past two years she placed his ring on her necklace. Every one of us has this cross and the necklace too. It's a reminder to me now more than every that the cross of Jesus Christ is the foundation that lasts forever!

We can't wait to be dancing with you in heaven!

Update

Well, we are finally back into the swing of things...almost! Today we were able to go to church and enjoy worship together. They girls were so glad to get out of the house (finally!) and I was thrilled to be back with my Life Group ladies! I miss them so very much when I am away.

We have been home this afternoon resting a little from being out and about this morning. The girls seem to be doing well and they will just have to get their energy back. Please pray for my family as my grandmother is in the hospital with kidney failure. I may be heading that way tomorrow morning to be with her and my family. I am super close to my grandmother! I am named for her and I stayed with them while my mom went back to work. She is like my other mother! To stay here tonight is hard, but I know it is best and by the time I could get there she would be sleeping and I would have to go to a family members house. So, tonight I will be here and hopefully heading that way in the morning.

Thanks for your prayers! Our family certainly appreciates it!!

Weekend catch up...

On Thursday of last week (before the flu hit our house!) we went to the library and the park after we finished our school for the day. Anli had been studying the catalogue system of fiction and nonfiction books so we headed over to the local library! The girls were thrilled to go and check out some new books.

When we got there, I realized I had forgotten my card and so we went to the desk to show my ID so we would be able to check out their books. Weeeellll, it seems that I had a FINE! I don't mean a little $1.00 fine either. It was a HUGE fine! I couldn't imagine that. I came to find out that over the summer last year we had checked out 30 summer reading books for the program and they were all a week late...um...you do the math!

So, we had to pay that huge fine in order to check out the few books the girls wanted...and I didn't want to be on the "hit" list for the library! After that we had a great time there looking over reference books and I realized that since Google hit our lives...my girls had NO idea what an encyclopedia would be useful for finding!!! That's all I used to have at my house!

The girls had the best time looking up information about dogs, cats, sea shells, sharks, dolls, horses, etc. We looked at encyclopedias for about 30-45 minutes and Virginia asked if she could check THOSE out instead of her books! I told her that you can't check out encyclopedias...and she was disappointed. Never fear, my parents have the WHOLE set at their house. It was just funny to come face to face with a generation gap...Google vs. Encyclopedias!

After we finished there, it as such a nice day we headed to FBC Woodstock's park and had a BLAST! We enjoyed swinging for a long time and then we headed home to make dinner!

That night we had "kid date night" where each of us spends an hour or more doing something with our "kid" for the evening that they enjoy! It's a time where the "girls" get to split up and have we have one-on-one time with them. One girl gets to go out (we have a $10 limit) and the other girl (for that week) has to do something for free. Then, the next week that switches!

Anli and I went to Starbucks for some hot chocolate and hot tea. We sat outside because it was very nice and we just talked. Well, I did a whole lot of listening, and she had a great time talking! She gets it honest:) It was wonderful to just to sit with her and get to watch her smiles, hear her heart, and just enjoy her for who God made her!

Being with both of them 24/7 I don't always have this kind of time just to enjoy them! Jay and Virginia stayed at home and played on the Wii Fit. They did competitions and enjoyed hanging out together! They love "kid date night" and I pray this will help Jay and I get to really know each of our girls' hearts and lives better. I pray this will continue for a lifetime...maybe even it will extend to "grand kid night" one day!

I highly recommend taking kids out one at a time to get to know their hearts better. It doesn't have to cost anything (which is why they alternate free outings. We don't want it always to be about going out and spending money. Fun outings can be free and FUN!). Maybe you can only do one child a month...start where you can and enjoy something your CHILD wants to do. Maybe you and your husband want to do this together with the child. We don't have the childcare available for that in this season, but maybe one day we will do that sometimes! But, the important thing is to get to know your child as the person God made them!

Anli is a super organizer! She loves to make things organized and she must have gotten on a spree after her bath that night. She took her bath in our bathroom and when I went to get ready for bed that night...I found the organization fairy had visited! She organized the basket of magazines on the floor...

and our shower caddy. I don't know how she was able to reach all of that. I love the rag placement! So sweet...

and she even rearranged my memory verses on the wall. She is precious and one of a kind! Thanks for the organization Anli...I'll see you on Mission Organization one day I bet!

Fever Free!

So far, we have been all completely fever free for a day! We are getting better all the time, and I was even able to get up and fix breakfast for myself and the girls today! Jay was here, but it felt good to be up and out of the bed for a while. Our energy is still not where we would like it to be, but we are at least feeling lots better.

We are hoping that we will be able to get out and enjoy some of this gorgeous weather for the next few days! It's hard to believe it was snowing on Sunday and tomorrow it should be in the 70s. We may not be able to do any hiking this weekend, but I know I'm going to be ready to spend some time outside for sure.

Thanks again for all the calls, cards, emails, ecards, gifts, and offers of help to our family! You are a blessing to us in so many ways!!! Have a great weekend...

Who Needs Tamiflu...

When you hubby brings home THIS??? Yesterday, Jay got up and fixed our breakfasts, gave us our meds, and then had to head up for staff meetings. He left from there and went shopping for some goodies for his girls. He came home with coloring books, jello, new toothbrushes (we have to change our every day so we don't give ourselves the flu again!), and EXTRA dark chocolate truffles. Let me tell you that we have ruined our children...because they are growing up on LINDT chocolate...extra dark that is! Our girls even want dark chocolate on their smores...or smears as my family calls our concoction.
As I walked into my dining room this morning...I saw this! I tell you he is one mighty good man. I'm just glad he has a fun night out with friends planned for Thursday night! Sweet thing washed and folded little girls' clothes!

OK, I mentioned that the girls were having to take Tamiflu capsules. Well, I had to give you a visual of what they are having to swallow! Virginia has NEVER taken a pill to swallow in her LIFE and this is her first! She has taken it with no problems at all. Last night and this morning she swallowed it on her first try...go girl! I'm amazed at those girls...they ROCK!

Now to the update...we are all fever FREE this morning! The girls slept through the night without us having to give meds in the night for fever. They got up and went into the playroom for a few minutes, then came and climbed in the bed. We are all still sounding terrible and coughing pretty bad...but we are GOOD! We are on our way to a full passport to the "land of the living" again! Wohooo!

Thanks to SO many of you who have called, emailed, sent ecards, gifts, and offered to clean my bathrooms, run errands to the store (and leave things on our doorstep...good idea, my friends), and even risk their lives to come over and care for us while Jay is at work. You are all too kind and it's amazing and humbling to know that we are so loved and supported! But, know that we are getting better every day and today we may even get to walk around and get out of this bed a while! We'll see...

Fun Saturday!

On Saturday we had so much fun! Our taxes came back that day and we were able to take a little bit of the money and get "prize" while most of it went to pay off medical bills from all my tests! We headed to the mall, because Virginia had a gift card to Build-A-Bear and they wanted to go there! While we were there, we got to see Bearemy! We had never seen him before!
That night we headed over to our friends house for a fun dinner and a "casting" party! Now, this casting party was to make a cast of husband and wives' hands. I had seen this on my friend Jen's blog and couldn't wait to be a part of it! A lady named Mandy came to her house and took casts of our hands held together and then will pour the plaster into the molds we made then she paints them so that they have a patina look to them.

When it was our turn, it took a while to work it so that both of our wedding rings would show. Also, we had to make sure that we weren't squeezing hands because that makes them look old!

This is about 3 minutes into our casting! Our friend Shannon took this from the floor. Jay has that red faced look! We had to stay in one place for at least 3 or more minutes...which is longer than you think when you have to be completely still!

This is the little bucket full of the mold. It was really cool because it was BRIGHT pink when it was poured into the bucket, but turns white when it is ready. Here we are almost finished because you can see it is almost completely white.

When it is hard, we pulled our hands out and here is our mold! You can even see my engagement ring. I can't wait to get it back on Friday!!! I hope it turns out well and will be something we treasure for a lifetime.

We all did laugh that our kids will be looking through our stuff after we have passed away into glory..and wonder what in the WORLD they are going to do with these HANDS:) We laughed at what their spouses will be thinking...do we REALLY have to put your parents hands out on our table:) We will enjoy them for years to come! It was a great night of good food, good fellowship, and doing something really neat together!

Morning #3...

Well, this has been the sight in our home since Sunday morning. Thankfully, we have a king size bed where all three of us can be together. We're still running fevers and coughing like crazy...but I think today will be a better day. I sure hope so since Jay has to go back to work today for all his staff meetings. He sure has been the most AMAZING nurse to these three sick girls! WOW!

It's hard when mom gets sick at the same time the kids do. But, when you have a daddy like ours...all is well! He's been a non-stop servant to us all and we can't thank him enough.

Sunday afternoon while we were feeling quite horrible (our first day of the flu), God did bring us a little get well card to our window! We got to enjoy a wonderful snow storm outside our window while we were bed ridden. It was awesome and picked our spirits right up!
I had to take Pacey out for a walk in the afternoon since Jay was at church all day on Sunday (from 8am-7pm straight!) and Anli was dying to join me to see the snow. You know Virginia is sick when she said she would rather stay in the bed than see the beautiful snow...poor girl!

They say that the normal run for the flu is 4-5 days...so we are on day 3 right now. I am truly praying that today will be a better day than the previous ones! It is still really hard to get us to eat anything and this is the girls first time to have to swallow a large capsule!

All our pharmacies (Rite Aid called the ALL) were out of the tamiflu liquids, so the girls have to take a capsule! They take it in applesauce and have done amazing! Virginia had a little trouble the first 2 times, but hung in there like a champ. That is hard to do...especially when the capsules are large! Be careful out there, because as our doctor said the flu vaccine didn't work against type A flu...so we are all at risk! Trust me it's not too fun.

Oh no...

On Sunday morning, I woke up feeling TERRIBLE! I was achy, had a fever, and cough. It came from out of nowhere! I quickly made a call for my Life Group and then scribbled out some instructions for someone to lead for me...very last minute.

Jay was just about to wake the girls up when they stumbled in looking like I felt. They were burning up and coughing like crazy. We all battled headaches, no appetite, and fevers all day. I just had the feeling we had the flu.

So, I knew that there is only a 48 hour window to get the meds that stop the virus from replicating so you kick it much faster. So, we loaded up today and took the girls to the Dr. They did the flu test...and it should have had to set for 10 minutes. Dr. Heaven checked it after 4 minutes and they were CRAZY positive!!! She looked me over and told me I better head myself over to my doctor today...ASAP.

We all are in the bed now and as long as we are on Motrin or Tylenol, we feel OK...but the minute that stuff wears off...we feel like death. We are on strict rest for a week and so we will not be going anywhere the rest of the week. The way I feel right now...that sounds just fine!

My sweet husband had to be at church ALL day yesterday and texted me all day to check in. It was a little hard to care for the girls like I wanted to feeling as bad as I felt but we managed. Today, he stayed home all day to care for us and has done a wonderful job.

I have never had the flu in my life! I hope you don't get it either!!

Pondering...

I have been devouring books recently. God has brought so many amazing books my way and I have just been feasting on the lives of those I respect in the faith. To say I have been challenged is quite an understatement. I'm kind of over TV...and I never really was into in the first place. God has been working out idleness in my life and working reading and conviction deep into the fabric of my days.

There are so many things I am pondering right now...it's nearly impossible to write about it all. But, here is snapshot of some books that God has brought my way:

The Art of Compassion - This is a project begun by Martin Smith (of the group Delirious) who brought together artists for the purpose of writing songs and putting together a CD about the poverty around this world...and doing something about it. The artists all were released from their contracts with their labels in order to do a project where they would give 100 percent of everything earned to the poorest of this world...to show and share the love of Christ with them. Then, each artist wrote a chapter of this book sharing what God has taught them about being an active part of justice and compassion and giving.

This book has shaken me to the core. It has exposed selfishness, laziness, greed, and apathy in my life towards those God challenged us to take care of in His Name. He defined for us the type of worship He desires...to care for those in need...not to bring more songs and sacrifice. You need to read this book.

I Kissed Dating Goodbye - This book challenges those who are single(and those of us who are not anymore) to strive for complete purity in our lives. It exposes the lies of dating and encourages everyone to live every area of our lives for the complete glory of God. Excellent book...Elizabeth Elliott loves it...enough said!

Feminie Appeal: Seven Virtues of a Godly Wife and Mother - WOW! This book is by Carolyn Mahaney who is married to C.J. Mahaney of Sovreign Grace Ministries. She is truly amazing! She and her daughters write a blog that I find the most biblical one out there right now for women...Girltalk. It is wonderfully challenging and does not trample the things of God underfoot for the sake of being witty and hip. I'm just at the start of this book...but it is good stuff.

Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross: Experiencing the Passion and Power of Easter - This a compilation of 25 sermons from some amazing men...including John Piper, Charles Spurgeon, John MacArthur, John Owen, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, J.I. Packer, Joni Earikson Tada, and lots more. It's a powerhouse of conviction, exhortation, and pure passion for Jesus Christ.

Instructing a Child's Heart: This is the follow up to Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp. This is another amazing resource for parents. Jay and I are going through this together.

I'm in prayer about a few things...one of which is blogging. I'll share more...perhaps...perhaps not. Just praying over some things I am seeing as blogging takes over the world it seems. I don't know...it just seems like that familiar voice of God is tackling yet another frontier of my life.

We only have a vapor here on earth...Lord, please make this vapor life poured out like a drink offering.