Happy Birthday Littlest One!!

My littlest isn't very little anymore. She turned six yesterday. She's smart as a whip and keeps us in stiches all the time! Happy Birthday, sweetie, you will always be my littlest one!!

She was very excited...from the cupcakes at school to dinner out at Red Robin she was having the time of her life!! Then, when you thought she was just about to pop from all the attention we took her on an "errand" to Walmart and got her a new bike for her birthday. I'll post a picture soon!!

Tomorrow is the "friend" party and it promises to be a thrill...we have bright pink hairpieces, make-up, and nail polish. It's all glamour, all the time!!

Im sure we'll take tons of pictures of the glamour girl party too!!

Just Enough Grace

I got an email the today from a friend needing a title for her upcoming devotional book. It got me thinking. What do I think of, what comes to mind when I think of Heather? The thoughts and memories are numerous but what came to mind today is "Grace." Four children grace to be exact.

Let me explain.

As moms of many (we have eight kids between us) we get lots of comments, especially when we travel together...from the outburst emitted by a dear little old lady, "STOP THE BREEDING" to the sweet comment from the couple sitting next to us at lunch, "Your children are such a blessing, they are so well behaved!"

Far and away, however, the most common comment we get is "I don't know how you do it. I could never ___________." That blank gets filled in with many things. I could never homeschool. I could never teach. I could never get them all to piano and soccer and AWANA. I could never deal with four children.

I once heard Heather respond to that comment in a way that has never quite left me. She said it simply. God doesn't give us "fourth baby" grace until we have that fourth baby. Or fifth. Or sixth. God gives us the grace we need to deal with whatever our situation is at the moment.

God gives us just enough grace to deal with whatever it is we face right now, but yesterday we could never imagine being able to handle. He gives us just enough grace to deal with an alcoholic father, just enough grace to raise a special needs child, just enough grace to look cancer in the face, just enough grace to survive an unexpected job loss. Just enough.

God gives us just enough grace to remind us He is with us, always. He gives us just enough grace to let us never forget He is sovereign. He is good, all the time. He gives us just enough.

And that's enough.


Thanks, Heather, for being like a sister to me and for always being a light that points me in the right direction.

About Weeds and Life...

I had a really great day today.

I slept in. Really slept in. Seriously, I think it was around 10 a.m. when I finally rolled out of bed for good (I love a good book and warm covers on a Saturday morning!)!

We took the kids to the park. Dug in the sand some...threw some balls around...flung some frisbees. It was beautiful, not too hot, but definitely shorts weather.

Nice!

Came home, jumped in the pool (which was REALLY cold!! Brrrrr!!). Josiah lasted the longest in the polar bear water. Then we walked home. (Tim had to take the car because of his leg but I WALKED both to and from. More steps in my day. Are you proud of me??)

Got home from the pool and walked in the gate and noticed the weeds. Not the two weeds in the front yard that I pulled on the way in...The FOREST of weeds in the backyard...seriously, it was a forest.

HOW, you might ask, did this take me by surprise??

I never come in the front door, which is really on the side of the house behind the gate. I always go in through the garage. (except late last night when I came home with Sarah in Tim's car and realized not only did I not have the garage door opener, I don't have a key to the house, but that is a blog for another day).

So, feeling in a good mood, and not quite ready to leave the beautiful sunshine of the day, I grabbed a pair of gardening gloves and a shovel and went to work.

Now, weeds are a problem for any contientious homeowner...especially if you have an HOA...but weeds are much more than that for us. Weeds can be a death sentence to my daughter. She is allergic to, I am not kidding, 23 of the 24 common allergies in Arizona. She gets asthma from these allergies. She doesn't play outside a lot.

I started thinking about this as I was pulling these weeds. A good friend of mine, Heather once wrote about how weeds are like sin in our life and how hard it is to pull them out. I can't remember all of what she wrote anymore but this is immediately what came into my mind as I tried to pull these demons out of my yard. The first thing that I thought of was how deadly these weeds were to my children. Isn't that so true of our lives?? The sins we commit as parents are, quite literally, deadly to our children. I am forever hearing things I say (usually when I'm angry) come back out of the mouths of my children.

As I started getting the weeds out of the ground I would rake them out of the way and be amazed how many still remained. Sometimes we have to work out a few of the "smaller" (as if there are smaller sins) and "easier" to pull sins to reveal that there are even more and more that we need to work on. Not that we can remove our sins by ourselves, Christ did that on the cross once and for all, but we do need to recognize our sin and ask for forgiveness for them. And, even then, we need to be ever vigilent and accountable to not fall back into old patterns of sin.

I found it interesting that some of the weeds were easy to pull, and some were, well, not so easy. Some took a shovel, both hands, and all my weight to pull out. Isn't that just like sin? Some are so deeply ingrained and imbedded it takes A LOT of work to remove them from our lives.

I also noticed that the weeds that had come through the "weed guard" (ironic, huh?) were harder to eradicate because while the weeds came up through the weed guard but the shovel wouldn't go down through the weed guard to pull it up! Isn't that similar to how we do "things" to make us seem like the good church-going Christians we feel we "should" be and, in the process, make it harder on ourselves and others to be accountable to staying away from the sinful issues in our lives because admitting our problems would make us seem "less" somehow in our fellow brother and sister christians eyes??

I'm certain I'm not doing justice for all the thoughts that went through my head while I spent TWO HOURS of EXHAUSTING WORK eradicating the jungle of weeds in my yard...but through the same number of hours spent in prayer and confronting the Lord on the sins in my life and the thoughts in my head I feel just a little more tidy (like my yard), while knowing that I have a long way to go. My yard needs a landscaper, and so does my soul. Fortunately for me, the Great Landscaper, is ready and willing to give me a makeover and HE'S ALREADY PAID THE PRICE!! Isn't that great news?!?

I'm off to bed, I'm EXHAUSTED, have a blessed Sunday!!

Healing Promises Blog Tour!!

I am SUPER excited to be a part of the "Healing Promises" by Amy Wallace Blog Tour!! Amy has been a friend of mine for many years and I had the priveledge of reading one of her very first manuscripts for the Defenders of Hope series. I feel I have walked this journey with her in prayer and it is SO EXCITING to see this lifelong dream of hers come true!

Much like the first book in the series, I found this to be an exciting story that I couldn't put down. It was, at times, very difficult to read because I have had many dear friends and family who have had to deal with cancer. Amy's story weaves the beautiful truth of God's goodness, even in the midst of crisis, and the reality of facing that trial as a human who struggles. I found this wonderfully told story to be honest and uplifting. I came away knowing God is good, all the time.

I had the opportunity to interview Amy about her latest book, Healing Promises:

What inspired you to tackle the difficult issue of cancer in your new book Healing Promises?

Two very different situations stirred my soul and led to writing Healing Promises and tackling the difficult issue of cancer.

The first was sitting in my Sunday school class and listening week after week to the prayer requests for family and friends battling cancer. God pricked my heart to pray for them. Something I desperately resisted because I’d prayed for a friend of our family’s as he battled cancer for three years. Attending his funeral rocked my faith to the core and I struggled to pray for a long time after my friend died. But God wouldn’t let me away from the reality or the pain of cancer.

The other situation that stirred me came from a question I posed to the amazing Secret Service Agent I interviewed before I wrote Ransomed Dreams. I asked what a federal agent would do if he was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. My expert advisor said that many agents would end the battle fast. I knew then I wanted to explore how a Christian federal agent would handle a life-altering medical diagnosis. And I knew that diagnosis would be cancer.

Healing Promises is dedicated to the friend my family and many others asked God to heal for three years. Ken Whaley and his family showed me in action that even when circumstances don’t go the way we prayed, God is still on His throne and He is very, very good. Always.

I have found that once you face a diagnosis of cancer, people come out of the woodwork that have been touched in some way by the horrible beast, either themselves or a loved one. Has writing Healing Promises opened any unexpected doors to ministry for you?

Right now, God has allowed me the ministry and privilege of mixing my tears and prayers with people who have fought cancer by putting one foot in front of the other and holding tight to Jesus.

I cautiously look forward to what God is going to do through me as people read and discuss Healing Promises. I say cautiously because the battles fought and lessons learned through the writing of Healing Promises left my soul raw. More than dealing with the issue of cancer, Healing Promises tackles the even more universal issue of where is God in the midst of our pain and suffering. Can He be trusted? Is He really good?

If God allows me the privilege of helping people rediscover the reality that God is good even when life hurts so much that we struggle to pray, then I’ll lift up tear-filled eyes and praise Him even more.

How has writing the Defenders of Hope series changed you as a mother?

Researching kidnappings and the things parents fear most has made me more vigilant with my children and more dependent on Christ. It would be easy to live afraid given all the real-life stories I’ve listened to and read. But instead of cowering in fear, I’m learning that God is in control and is with us in every painful step of our personal storms. I don’t understand why evil happens, but I cling to the fact that God is good and I find rest there.

What is the hardest part of being a writer?

The hardest part about being a writer is fighting the lies the enemy whispers at every turn. Lies about my worth, my ability and the importance of other’s opinions. But praise God, there’s an answer for every lie. And that answer can be summed up with remembering who I am in Christ and that He has called me, not according to my works, but according to His purpose and grace which He granted all of us in Christ before the beginning of time. (Paraphrase of 1 Timothy 1:8-9)

Tell me about some exciting things coming up for you in the future...I know you have other projects in the works...when can we expect a new book from you?

Enduring Justice, the third book in the Defenders of Hope series, should hit the store shelves spring of 2009. This is Michael and Hanna’s story and focuses on a painful secret and a racially motivated killer. When circumstances simplify the options to fight or fear, Michael and Hanna learn that the difference between executing vengeance and pursuing justice is their choice to heal.


To find out more about Amy and her books, visit her amazing website at www.amywallace.com where you can sign up for her newsletter, read the first chapter of each of her books, and much much more!!!


About the Author in her own words:



I'm a wife, homeschool mom, writer, speaker, Bible study leader, and avid chocoholic. Those are the hats I love to wear, but who I really am is a daughter of the King learning to live and love with laughter.
Long and deep

I grew up all over the world. As a military brat (and often the bratty form of that moniker) I moved every three years of my life. During my school years I hated all the moving and constantly changing social situations. I mean, middle school in and of itself was bad enough—moving only made it worse. As an adult, I look back and see more positives than negatives though. The crash courses on cultural awareness and fast friendship 101 are lessons that still serve me well.

Home for me was Louisville (pronounced Lu-a-vul), KY. That’s where we always transitioned to for a time and where I ended up graduating from high school and college~ GO CARDS! What moved me from Louisville to Georgia was a gorgeous blue-eyed missionary named David. We met and married in ten months time and started a whirlwind romance that has been much like a supersonic roller coaster. Lots of exciting high points~ three so special their names reflect the gifts they are to their mommy and daddy.

But like every good roller coaster, for each thrilling high, there are crashing lows. Those have names too~ addiction, miscarriage, marital separation, job losses, diabetes issues. This probably sounds funny, but after over twelve years of struggles we’re thankful for “normal” marriage issues like how night owls and early birds ever get to bed at the same time. What brought us to the healing place we’re enjoying now were beloved friends who never gave up on us, the prayers of God’s people~ including our three incredible daughters, and a few amazing ministers/ counselors who have held out the truth and given us tools to walk with God whole, full, and healthy.

This is where my life and writing journey intersect. As God worked in my heart and my home, He also started planting tons of stories in my head. After September 11, 2001 I felt the overwhelming urge to write down the stories bouncing around my brain. Out of that national tragedy came a literal dream that wouldn’t let go. It included FBI characters and a deep desire to give tribute to the agents who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to see our country both protected and healed. The story I wrote in about six weeks also required me to walk through my greatest fear, that of losing my precious children. These two different plot lines converged to create a story entitled Ransomed Dreams.

From typing the words “THE END” on my first novel, there was no turning back. I’ve tried a few times over the years to quit, but God's calling to share my heart is too strong and the stories too loud to ever think I could walk away. Since completing my first novel, I’ve written two more novels for moms, two novellas, a fairytale for my princesses, and a growing collection of short stories. Four of those short stories have been chosen for publication, three were published in 2006. And my first novel, Ransomed Dreams, released in April 2007. If you'd like to learn more about the stories behind the books and read a chapter excerpt please visit www.defendersofhope.com

While married life and writing have been exciting journeys, my favorite part of it all is being a beloved child of my Heavenly Father. My heart is to share my awesome Daddy with the wonderful people God brings into my life. Even though life is hard, I've learned God is good. I know He has good plans for each and every one of His children.

Here’s to the journey. May you seek and find the One who fashioned you by His hand and lovingly calls you by name.


Purchase Ransomed Dreams and Healing Promises at www.amazon.com

When did my babies GROW UP?!?!?

When Heather and I first met the girls were 2.5 years old. Toddling around, getting into things, getting underfoot. The boys were 1.5yr and 9 mo!! It seems like only yesterday. I can still picture in my head the day we sat in my living room while the girls played in the bedroom.

Then I BLINKED!!

This is what happened.

I know it happened, but WHEN did it happen??? More importantly, who gave them permission to grow so fast??

It sure wasn't me!!

 

 

 

 

The Princesses!!

 

 

 

People Watching....(or why you should be early)

I have more pictures to post but I'm too tired right now...jet lag sucks!! LOL!! I'm glad I planned for a day to do nothing and nap if needed because it was needed!! My kids need naps too, and because of that have been bickering all day, which is making me crazy...I've alternated between wanting to burn their tree house down (because they were making "rules" to try to control each other in regards to the tree house) and wanting to take an Ativan and just go to sleep until they have to go to bed!! Problem is...the Ativan is in the suitcases that didn't make the transition to the Phoenix plane last night and are being delivered to my house SOMETIME today...so I guess I better just go get a blowtorch!! (JK...don't call the fire department on me!!)

Back to people watching...the real reason for this post...

I took my four kids, our four bags (yes, I managed to pack us all into four bags and I'm pretty proud of that...even prouder that I had enough room to bring home all the awesome hand-me-downs that my kids got from our awesome friends that we visited in Florida!!), all their carry-on's (why do kids feel the need to have 800 things to entertain them on a plane and then all they do is beg me to buy the movies??) and get in the security line at the Orlando airport. This is where I found my amusement.

Some people were very bored (well, duh, standing in line for an hour is boring...but you never really see that level of boredom when people stand in line for an hour to go on Big Thunder Mountain)...Some people were angry...some people kept checking their watches, then their boarding pass, then their watches again...as if that would change the time it said so they wouldn't be late.

I sat back and laughed. Don't get me wrong...my kids don't like standing in line anymore than anybody else but we got there two hours early and we were going to make our plane without having a coronary.

I floored a lady who was REALLY late for her flight...flying alone with one child and more carry on luggage than I thought one person could carry...(I wondered if she had a ticket for the TWO GIANT stuffed Mario Brothers that she had with her)...I let her go in front of us. She said no the first time...then I told her, "really, it takes us an eternity to go through security for all five of us...go ahead..."

Then the really funny (sad) thing happened. People got mad at me. For letting her go ahead of me. I wasn't making them any later...she was traveling with a sick child (he had just come from the hospital and I wondered if he was there on a Make-a-Wish but I didn't ask)...and I gave her the gift of a little grace...and people got angry...sigh...

They also had to shut our line down for awhile and this caused all sorts of reactions...They called out "BRAVO" and all the lines stopped cold...now, I assumed this was because somebody had something questionable and the TSA agents would prefer that we not push on and let the bomber on the plane (I have a fairly wild imagination when in comes to flying) and I was quite content to stay right where I was as far away as possible from said bomber with his over 3 oz. jar of hand-lotion-that-might-be-a-bomb.

But no...people were MAD!! I mean really mad...threatening to take out the TSA agent and her supervisor MAD!!

One lady said, " I pay all this money for a ticket, you should let me through"...In my mind I was thinking, maybe if you slipped them $20 they will just shoot you right here...I mean really, do people think they take these security precautions just to prove they are more important than the rest of us??

Another man came up and yelled at the poor girl (who couldn't have been over 20) who was in charge of our line..."you have to let me through, I'm late for my plane"...He didn't just raise his voice, he yelled at her so they could have heard him on the fourth floor.

To her credit she just calmly kept repeating "they're not letting anyone through, I'm sorry."

At one point I turned to this guy and, risking any further opportunities to spread gentleness and kindness in this world, told him to shut up. I told him my theory on the fact that if someone indeed had a bomb at the front of the line we were much safer where we were... and did he want to die?? I told him the poor girl was just doing her job and to be quiet.

Amazingly enough, he was. Quiet that is. I suppose there was an equal chance that he would just haul off and hit me but he was being really rude to the poor TSA agent who was just doing her job.

And I did tell him to shut up in my nicest I'm-a-teacher-and-I-do-mean-business-buddy voice.

I did find some companions in the crowd as well. Two moms, traveling together, with at least four VERY small children between them, two very large strollers and all the peraphenalia that goes with babes in diapers, just looked at me and smiled...they knew...and they had gotten there at least two hours early as well so they were calm...even with babies crying and people shouting all around them. They let the lady-with-the-sick-kid-running-late-for-her-plane in front of them too.

We made it through the line in a mere 45 minutes and had plenty of time to buy drinks for everyone to take on the plane. Then, right after we got seated on the plane, they grounded us!! There was some hold up in Atlanta so they wouldn't let us take off. People started panicking all over again. I mean really....there was a good chance that we wouldn't make our connection and how is freaking out at the stewardess going to make that better??

The answer is, it's not. I called my husband and had him checking on later flights just in case. And they handed out FREE headsets!! It's amazing how happy I can be when I'm given something, anything, for FREE!!! We made it to Atlanta with just enough time to grab my kids and RUN down the gateway with 2 minutes to spare before they called our boarding zone. We made it to Phoenix on time (although our luggage had to take a later flight!) without too much ado about nothing.

All in all, it was still easier than driving across country for five days with all my kids in my car!!! LOL!!

I guess the moral of the story is, unless you like stress (and people secretly laughing at you in their heads) get to the airport early.

Bring a book...buy yourself a cup of coffee...and spend a few minutes amused by the poor people creating ulcers by waiting until the last minute to get to the airport.

You'll be glad you did.

Florida...Here we come!!!

We were blessed with being able to manage a trip to Florida (finally!!) to visit our best friends who moved there a little over a year ago!

Here are my weary travelers scarfing down a "Chick-fil-a" picnic in the airport in Atlanta. I was very glad we didn't have to brave the train and change terminals during our layover!!

 

The three little puppies snuggled up together...We got in at midnight on Wednesday, and when we put my two girls down H. was already asleep in her bed. When we went in sometime much later, her bed was made and she was on the floor next to them.

 

Here are the three princesses after their royal treatment at the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique!!

 

 

Here is the only group picture that we have so far...We are at Krispy Kreme somewhere down in tourist land near Disney...

 

The reason we don't have more group shots is because the boys are being less than cooperative about having their picture taken...

 

This little man is LOVIN' the "goduts" though...no worries there!!

 

 

What's in a name??

My friend Laurie tagged me with this fun little quiz!! She thinks she's unique....I'm either extremely unique or I'm dead and so are all of my relatives!! While there are over 200,000 people with the first name of Sally, according to this there are 0 people with the last name Datria. Except I know of at least 5 so that can't be right...it is really unique though, we've done some family history searching and there are less than a dozen traceable sources of the name Datria in the United States.

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 0 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?