When in doubt, post pics

Yikes. Has it really been 13 days since I last posted?? It's not that I'm at a lack for posting ideas....I have so many thoughts swirling around in my head -- as well as recent happenings that I'd like to share -- but it seems I never have the time to get them down. And when I do have the time, my mind is blank.

Go figure.

However, to keep myself in the groove a bit...I will share a few photos from our recent Mexico Night with some kids from our church. :) Joe and I were in charge of games...and whoooeee!! Talk about exhaustion! It was great fun....but we were totally and completely wiped by the end of the night. :)


Doesn't she look festive? :)


Me and one of the results of "Dress-A-Cactus"
(AND, but the way...Joe MADE that cactus. From our old carpet roll!! Yeeuh!


Little Senor :)


Two of my favorite boys :)


And this one's a freebie....can anyone guess who's in the Chuck E. Cheese suit??
(though you may already know from my facebook....:D )

He Will Carry Me...

This song has been on my heart and mind today...

He Will Carry Me
by Mark Schultz

I call, You hear me
I've lost it all
And it's more then I can bear
I feel so empty

You're strong, I'm weary
I'm holding on
But I feel like giving in
But still You're with me

And even though I'm walking
Through the valley of the shadow
I will hold tight to the hand of Him
Whose love will comfort me
And when all hope is gone
And I've been wounded in the battle
He is all the strength
that I will ever need
He will carry me

I know I'm broken
But You alone
Can mend this heart of mine
You're always with me

And even though I'm walking
Through the valley of the shadow
I will hold tight to the hand of Him
Whose love will comfort me
And when all hope is gone
And I've been wounded in the battle
He is all the strength
that I will ever need
He will carry me
He will carry me

And even though I feel so lonely
Like I have never been before
You never said it would be easy
But You said You'd see me
through the storm

And even though I'm walking
Through the valley of the shadow
I will hold tight to the hand of Him
Whose love will comfort me
And when all hope is gone
And I've been wounded in the battle
He is all the strength
that I will ever need
He will carry me
He will carry me
He will carry me

Fixing my gaze

About a month ago, my sis-in-law gave me a little pin like this one, to remind me of my Hopie. I pinned it to the outside pocket of my purse, so I would see it often and be reminded of my little one in Heaven.

Today, I realized it was gone.

I literally felt like all the air in my lungs had been sucked out of me in that moment. And I was at work. Of all places. I haven't really let myself react yet...I forced myself to "forget" about it (if that's even possible) and go on with my work day...put on a happy face. Maybe I can look for it later.

But it sucks. Bad.

I know it's just a pin....and I can find another one and it's no big deal...but just the fact that it even fell off!! It made me so mad! I felt like it was such an attack from Satan....Lately I've been avoiding thinking and even praying much about my precious baby because I don't want to cry...or because I want to cry, but I don't have time to cry. (Who even chooses to make time to cry? Apparently I think I can...) Looking at that pin would often get me through a tough moment when I thought I was going to lose it...or would make me think of Heaven when I was getting caught up in something infuriating at work. As you may have read in this earlier post, I have been looking for something to remind me of Hopie on a daily basis -- but something a little more permanent -- a bench, plant, tree, or piece of jewelry. That pin was tiding me over until we decided on something even better. And now it's gone.

I guess this is just a reminder as to why we are called to

"..fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."
Hebrews 12:2-3

Thank you Jesus, that You know grief's deepest pain and the sorrow of death. You alone give me strength and hope. May my gaze be continually on You...

Proud as a Peacock

I've been a bit lax in my posting lately...I have thoughts bumping around in my head that I want to share, but I need to get them organized first!

However, to provide some kind of blog fodder, I will say that I was SO PROUD of my husband last night...really and truly proud. He was in the process of making a Bible Pictionary based on the chapters we've been studying out of Isaiah for Bible Study. He has spent HOURS choosing words, deciding on whether or not to make pictionary cards or not, and finalizing the layout (after accidentally deleting his entire project in Word -- he had to get creative with the pages he had printed out and make it work! Yet another reason I was proud of him. :) ). Last night, while cutting out the cards and atempting to laminate them in our handy dandy little laminater, the page got stuck. And I mean STUCK. No pulling or prodding could loosen the little bugger.

Now, if I had been in that situation, I would have been raving mad. I guess it's the red-headed temper in me. I would have been yelling and stomping and declaring how dumb this whole idea was anyway and WHY did I ever waste so much time on this...no one will even appreciate it...yada yada yada. But you know what he did? He remained calm. The ENTIRE time. Hardly even complained or banged things around. In fact, he even FIXED the darn thing.

I was amazed. I told him how proud I was of him...but I don't think he came even close to understanding how much my heart welled up with love and pride for him in that moment...so I thought I'd share it with all of you, so you can be proud too!

(I had wanted to share photographic evidence...but my lovey isn't too keen on that sort of thing. Although I think I could have gotten away with it...but I didn't want to irritate him -- especially after all that he'd gone through!!)