Table for 12

I saw my first 2 episodes of TABLE OF 12. I ran across it on Netflix.

This family had a set of twins, another set of twins and then sextuplets!

Yes, I'm aware that the show isn't new, but it's new to me, and I was instantly interested in the show because we have some things in common:

**We both have large families.
**We both had our kids close together.
**The mom and I both stay at home.
**The parents actually like having a huge family.
**They also have a child with cerebral palsy.

YET THEY HAVE 5 MORE KIDS THAN ME!!! WOW!!



I've only seen two episodes so I'm not expert on the show but a few things struck me that I really liked.
I was never a fan of the Jon & Kate plus 8 show because there was so much negativity going on it the episodes I saw. The parents relationship was hard to watch on that show and...we saw how that worked out.

The Table for 12 couple seemed so genuine.

The main thing about the show that fascinated me was to see how the kids interacted with their sister that has cerebral palsy. They include her, carry her around and love on her. That's the way it is with Miles. If one kid is watching a movie then they make sure that Miles is watching the movie with them. They do that on their own. They include him. I think the episodes I watched highlighted that special relationship very well. I will admit that I teared up a couple of times about what the siblings had to say about their sister. It was touching.

I saw these episodes several days ago...I've been planning on watching a few more...However, keeping up with 5 kids doesn't allow for too much TV watching. I guess that means that the Table for 12 couple never gets to watch TV!

Sew What's Up?

I've been sewing a lot lately. It's been great therapy! It's cheap, there's no calories, I get to give away the finished product, I feel creative, and I can do it at home. I like to couple sewing with funky beats from Pandora. Right now I'm jamming to Get Down on It from Kool & The Gang.

Sew...what's up with you?

Are you up to anything creative? If so what is it?

Testimony

More than ever I know that God has a plan for Miles, and that there’s nothing I can do to hinder that plan or to speed that plan up.

In February Miles was so sick that the hospice nurses told us that Miles probably only had a few days left to live. That was the first time anything like that had been said about him. He was on oxygen 24 hours a day. He was on heavy doses of pain medication. He had stuff pouring out of him that looked and smelled like death. He was constantly asleep or crying in pain. It was the worst thing that I’ve ever had to endure. Every day seemed like 3 days. Randy and I were planning a funeral in hushed tones. Every time I bathed him I wondered if I was preparing his body for burial. Every time I kissed him goodnight I wondered if it were for the last time. I cried morning, noon and night. I even woke myself up one time because I was crying in my sleep. I got to the point that I was praying that he would die so he could finally be pain free.

BUT GOD…

But God had other plans. Without any antibiotics or steroids all the junk in Miles’s lungs cleared up. His heartbeat returned to normal. He no longer needed help with the oxygen. He no longer needed pain medication. For about a month he felt great, looked great and sounded great! The hospice nurses have been more than amazed! In their words it is “scientifically impossible” that he could have clear lungs. Miles didn’t just sound better than he did. He sounded completely clear. Miles’s lungs haven’t sounded completely clear in years! (not that I can actually remember him sounding completely clear!) Miles went from looking like he was going to die to looking like he was going to get up and start running around the house!

At this point I have no idea what God is going to do. About 2 weeks ago Miles started getting sick again. A week ago he began to get really congested and has even needed some pain medication here and there. Something has changed though. I’m not fearful. I’m not upset about it. I saw Miles was getting sick and out loud I said to God, “I trust you.” This morning Miles’s face was covered in crusty mucus and his lungs sound like trash, but I’m not scared. I’ve given Miles to God and I’m happy to take care of Miles as long as I have him. However, I don’t feel like it’s my job to keep him alive. I have real and true peace that passes all understanding.

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to have a normal and relatively easy life. Then, I think about the people in the Bible. They didn’t make it into the Bible for having a normal and relatively easy life!

Will Miles live?
Will Miles die?
Will Miles be totally and completely healed?
With God all things are possible!

For to Miles, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. ~Philippians 1:21

SWAGGER WAGON

I LOVE THIS COMMERCIAL!

Next time you see Randy ask him to rock it out for you. : )

My Day

This is what I'm doing today:

Get all of Miles's stuff done. (I'll spare you the details.)
Shower and get ready for the day.
I don't have to do Spencer's school today because he decided yesterday that he wanted us to Double Up so we did both days yesterday!
I'm volunteering at the school during lunch time so the teachers can have a lunch without kids today.
I've got to find someone to pick up 3 of my kids from school today because I have an appointment at the same time.
I'm going to go to the church and set up the 3rd & 4th grade classroom for Sunday.
I've got to take Spencer to the ear, nose and throat specialist to get a granuloma removed or a consult to get it removed. I'm not sure what all that entails. (I had taken him to the doctor this week because it looked like a mole that he has on his face had turned black but the doc said it wasn't a mole...it was a granuloma.) Whatever the heck that is.
Then I've got to get back home to pick up kids or drop off kids and go to the grocery store because we're out of Everything!!!

And that's what I'm doing today.

Holland

I read this poem several years ago. I've continue to think about it on and off. It's so true.

WELCOME TO HOLLAND

by
Emily Perl Kingsley.

c1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley. All rights reserved

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.

Coffee...

My friend Jesse put something on Facebook today that totally cracked me up. He said, "When someone says "I don't like coffee" I just hear "I hate babies, Jesus and feelings like love & happiness." That made me think about when I started liking coffee.

I've always liked the smell of coffee, but I didn't actually like coffee until I was 26 or 27. When I was pregnant with Miles, Randy and I got to go on a mission trip to the Czech Republic. We were there for 10 days. I want to go back! Like right this minute!
Everyday while we were there our group and the people that were leading us around would stop for coffee sometime in the late afternoon. I don't remember what day into the trip Randy and I decided to try the coffee, but we've been drinking it every since. We're not crazy coffee drinkers that have to have it before conversations in the morning. We actually don't even have it everyday. Although I've been having everyday lately. : )

Soon after we returned from the Czech Republic we went to K-Mart and bought a coffee pot, cute mugs & creamers. We went back home, put all our children to bed, opened up the box, set up the coffee machine, made coffee, drank coffee and THEN an hour later we were still awake and not tired at all. THEN an hour later we were laughing wildly while we jumped on the trampoline at midnight. Yeah, I was still pregnant at the time! HMMMM....do you think the coffee was making us stay up??? We literally had no idea that coffee would do that to us!

Well, recently I realized that Randy had been avoiding coffee. Then the other day he ordered Decaf at a restaurant. I asked him what the deal was and he told me that he didn't like the jittery feeling from coffee so he hasn't been drinking it. I also feel the same way. I only have a tiny little cup of coffee when I drink it in the morning or else I get the "crazies."

Because I get the crazies & because Spencer has been drinking coffee with me in the mornings I have been making it weak. 1.) So I wouldn't get the crazies. 2.) So Spencer wouldn't get too much caffeine. 3.) So I could drink more.

When I found out that Randy wanted decaf and I've already been making the coffee weak I went ahead and switched from

to this:

Half-Caff!!! That should have worked right???

Well, here's the deal. Since purchasing the Half-Caff I've gone from making very weak coffee to making really strong Half-Caff and now I'm actually drinking more caffeine than I was before! Thus, making the purchase useless.

Speaking of coffee...Look what Randy surprised me with yesterday...

What a man! I love him! He makes me feel loved!

AnyWho...Me Likey the Coffee Jesse! and babies and Jesus and feelings of love & happiness!

Still thinking about it...

Big Big Decision for me to make!

I've seriously been considering trying nurse care again. For those that remember my Psycho Nurse Experience you'll know why this is such a big deal to me. You may think that "Psycho Nurse" is too harsh of a term, but it's my blog and my experience so the name "Psycho Nurse" stays. : )

I could have been getting help from a nurse all this time, but I've enjoyed taking care of Miles. However, these last 6 months have been draining physically, emotionally, spiritually and mentally. I think both Miles and I could benefit from some help. I've been debating and praying about this for a month. I've needed some things to fall into place before deciding to do it, and all of them have gone through.



Today I made a call and have at least started the process. I don't know how long it will take, but I'm not in a hurry really. I'm planning on having someone here from 8 in the morning until 12. That's 20 hours a week. It's not really going to give me any extra time, however, it will take a lot of work off my plate. I will be homeschooling Spencer while the nurse does all Miles's morning stuff. For example: catheter, enema, breathing treatments, shaker, food, bath, get him dressed, diapering, brush teeth, hand splints, medicines, standing frame lotion, clean up. I do these things in between what I'm doing with Spencer. So like I said, it won't give me extra time, but it will be so nice to have all those things done. A good thing about these hours are if the nurse can't show up for the day it's really not going to be that big of a deal. I will still be at home so I will do the work for the day.


This time I will do things differently.
Of course I will be nice, but I won't be looking for a friend.
If a nurse doesn't work out for our family I will change to another one.
If it doesn't work out then I will just do it all myself again.

I was talking to Rachel about this the other day. She said that it sounded like I was expecting them to send a Carnie to my house. : ) Hopefully that won't happen. I've just been praying. I know if it's the Lord's plan for me to have some help from a nurse that He has the perfect one planned out for us. I would love prayer about this situation. This is a really big deal for me. I would not even consider getting nurse care for a very long time. Randy and I felt extremely violated by the previous nurse. I've had time to heal and I know I'm at a place where help would make a lot of difference in my daily life.

I will keep you updated.

Nook

Recently my awesome friend Jennifer gave me a NOOK. It's Barnes & Nobles version of the Kindle. I have wanted a Kindle for YEARS! I've now had the Nook for a few weeks and I can't believe how much I love it! It's small enough to fit in my purse so I can take it with me all the time. When I'm waiting for Joey to get to the car I can pull out the Nook and read. The other night when Randy had to "run into Lowes" I had something to read. I'm plowing through books with this thing!

Yesterday I was looking through Barnes & Nobles "Steals 'n' Deals" and I found something incredible! For .99 cents I was able to buy 25 Favorite Novels! For .99 cents I bought 6,262 pages of the classics! How is that possible??? The books are:

Pride & Prejudice
Sense and Sensibility
Emma
Mansfield Park
Persuassion
Anne of Green Gables
Anne of Avolea
Anne of the Island
Pollyanna
Little Women
Little Men
Jo's Boys
Jane Eyre
Wuthering Heights
The Call of the Wild
The Secret Garden
A Little Princess
Tess of the D'Urbervilles
The Scarlet Letter
The House of the Seven Gables
Wives and Daughters
Sons and Lovers
The Scarlet Pimpernel
O Pioneers!
My Antonia

It amazes me that I can own all of those books for just .99 cents. I can pull out the Nook from my purse and instantly be able to read these incredible books. My girls love some of these books too so it's been fun for them to use. Joey even did some laundry the other day to earn enough money to buy a Star Wars book for the Nook, which he ended up reading within 2 days! : )

Anyway, I'm thankful for the gift and have enjoyed it very much.

Awww!

What is this feeling I have?

Is. It....?

Could it possibly be...

I think it is.

I...Feel....Normal.

Oh My God in Heaven! I feel Normal!

WIll it last? Don't know. As I click PUBLISH NOW will the feeling go away and my life turn back upside down? I don't know. Miles has been feeling good the last several days. Will he crash again? I have no idea.

However, I do know that right now, in this moment. I feel normal. I feel like myself. My world feels right and good. I have some Yellow in my Blue if you will. (E)

IT FEELS GOOD!



I'm going to hurry and go shave my legs while all is right with the world.

Ramblings...

I don't really have much to say, but I can't stand that vomit picture on the previous post so I'm just trying to take up some space so I don't have to see that photo when I check out my blog to see if anyone commented. : )

Spring Break is here. We have nothing planned and that in itself is lovely. I went to bed at 11:30 last night and the kids were still up doing whatever they were doing. It's 9:33 in the morning and they're all still asleep so I have the beautiful sound of silence going on in my home. Even the dog is still snuggled up on top of the boys sleeping.

I love a good schedule. If I had to pick schedule or no schedule I would pick schedule, but it's so nice to get a break from it too. Randy and some of the kids went to go eat ice cream at 10:00 last night. They had so much fun. Those are the kinds of things you can do without a schedule. I do feel bad for Randy though in times like these. We keep him up way too late and he leaves for work when we're all still asleep. We may go to San Angelo one day this week. We love making day trips there. It's only a little over an hour to get there. We like to go to all the shops downtown. Also, they have the best thrift store called Christians in Action. It's the size of a Wal-Mart but filled with strange and wonderful and cheap things. I don't even like to go to San Angelo if I can't go to that store. One time I went there Randy bought me a bulk of greeting cards. For about $40 he bought almost 2,000 cards! I had so much fun sorting them into categories. I have them in my storage building and when I need a card I just go get one. I'm covered for all Birthdays, Bar Mitzvahs, First Communions, Weddings, Pastor Appreciations, Thanksgiving...and Many More! : ) Just knowing that I have them makes me very happy!

I've been feeling crafty lately. It's helped me to keep my mind off the doom and gloom around here. I've been making aprons. I won't talk too much about that now because I may write a post on it soon.

I had a friend call me today to tell me that she dreamed about Miles all night. He was talking and adorable. That's the third person that has told me they've dreamed about Miles and he was walking and talking. The way things are looking I would not be surprised if that's what ends up happening. I have come to the place where I know nothing. I don't know what God has planned for Miles, but I know He's big enough to make those plans happen with or without me. I'm all for Miles walking and talking! Bring it on!

My friend Jennifer brought me over a special surprise on Saturday! She gave me the NOOK. It's Barnes and Nobles version of the Kindle. It's so cool. Joey and I have been trading it off back and forth. It makes reading convenient. Plus it made me feel loved. You can get through anything with friends, family and a church like mine!

I guess that's all for the rambling.

Roller Coaster!!!!

I've never really liked Roller Coasters. I enjoy going to Six FLags. I enjoy a lot of the rides, but I don't like the big roller coasters.

It's not that I'm afraid of...

I just don't like the feeling I get when I ride them. I don't like being scared. I don't like the feeling of my stomach bottoming out. I don't like leaving the seat. I don't like hitting my head. I just don't like it Sam I Am.

It all started back as a child at the West Texas Fair and Rodeo. My step-dad made me ride THE ZIPPER with my brother Chris. I had already taken a good look at the ride and decided that I wasn't interested in it. This picture doesn't do The Zipper that I rode justice. This looks like a nice and clean ride.

This ride looks like it's been maintained, painted and put together by some fine engineers that really care about safety.

The Zipper I rode looked like it was put together by this guy.

I really didn't want to get on the ride. I cried. I pleaded. I was given an ultimatum: Get On The D@*^ Ride or You're Going Home!

SO I got on the ride.
Yep, I hated it. I actually hated it more than I thought I would hate it. It wasn't that I thought I was going to die. It was that I KNEW I was going to die! I actually heard parts rolling around in the cart with us. The door kept flapping open a little. I was being turned upside down against my will. I was holding onto my little brother for dear life. I was hoping that his life could be spared. When the ride was stopping we were the ones to get stuck at the top while everyone else was getting their freedom. I'm not sure why this happened but we were skipped when we made it to the ground. They had to make it go around once more before they let us out. I was mad as a hornet when I got out. I was white as a ghost and my knees were shaking. Nope, not my thing.

I did ride roller coasters after that, but I didn't like it. Several years ago I was at Six Flags with Randy and one or two of the boys and I had a revelation...I Don't Have To Go On the Roller Coasters If I Don't Want To!!! It was so freeing! I didn't care if they wanted to go on them, and I didn't mind waiting in line with them. I just didn't have to go on them if I didn't want to. Six Flags became fun for me again!

Well, for the last 5 months I have felt like my life is a ROLLER COASTER!
Miles has almost died so many times right before my eyes.
He's turned colors.
He's had so much trouble breathing I could hear him in the other room.
He's been in terrible pain.
The hospice nurses told me at one time that Miles probably only had a few days to live.
That was 3 weeks ago!
His lungs have been slushy with pneumonia.
They've also been clearer than they've been in years.
He's been on crazy doses of pain medication.
He's also had days where he looks completely fine.
He's been on oxygen for 24 hours a day.
Some days he doesn't need it at all.
One day his heart could beat so fast it seems it will beat right out of his chest.
The next day his heart rate could be normal.
Today he's smiling and having the best day he's had in months.
A couple of days ago his hospice nurse quadrupled his pain medication because she saw him in so much pain.
Today he's pain free.
When I get up in the morning I feel like this:

I don't know what to expect. In the mornings I don't know if Miles is going to be in pain, covered in mucus, barely breathing, dead or feeling great and alert. I really have no idea.
It's like I'm being forced back into THE ZIPPER even though I already declared that I hate roller coasters and that I don't want to get on.

This Roller Coaster with Miles makes THE ZIPPER seem like:


The Ups and Downs the High and Lows...I hate it. I want off.

I've decided that God obviously has a plan for Miles. I've also decided that there's nothing I can do to hinder that plan or to speed up that plan. I just wish that God would clue me in on part of the plan so I don't feel like this everyday:

Jocie & Melody

I overheard the cutest conversation between Jocie and Melody the other day. They were in my room brushing their hair before school. I was still laying in bed and pretending to be asleep. : )

Jocie (matter of fact) : I'm praying for Joey today because he has his TAKS test today.

Melody (matter of fact) : I'm praying for Miles.

Jocie (a little irritated) : Well, if Joey doesn't pass his TAKS test then he can't even go to the 8th grade!

Melody (a little exasperated) : WELL, if Miles doesn't get better then he can't even go to school! And he needs to go to school so he can learn more about God!

Jocie (matter of fact) : Miles already knows about God.

Melody (matter of fact) : Well, he needs to learn more about God than just people praying for him!

They were actually arguing over which brother needed more prayer that day. So cute.


Why is one girl in a t-shirt and the other in a sweater???

Precious Jocie

Last night Jocie sat down in Miles's room and wrote him a letter, but she wrote it to Miles from God's perspective. I saw her working on it and after awhile I heard her sniffling and then later crying. I didn't interrupt her. I just let her work out her emotions. When she was done she brought it to me so I could read it. No shocker here...but I cried like a baby. When she brought it to me I was in the bathroom getting Miles's pain medications pre-made for the night. After I read it she started crying so hard and told me that she was scared that Miles was going to die. I sat down (on the closed toilet) and we held each other and cried and talked for a long time. She has such a tender heart. Here's her note to Miles:

Dear Miles, I hope you get better. I've been praying for you so much. I feel very very sorry. I truly know that deep down in the bottom of you're heart you love me. I see you every day and I know how you feel. I can't stop thinking about you. I pray that you will be able to run, and jump, and walk, and talk, and tell how you feel. I will keep you safe through a fire, a tornado, a earthquake, a hurricane, and every other dangerous in you're life that may hurt you. Once again I hope you get better. You're Creator God XOXOX


Later she put the paper in our jar. It was a very special time together and I think it helped her to talk it out.

My Sweet Spencer

A couple of hours ago I wrote my previous post, and all those things are still going on, but at the same time I'm not only Miles's mom. I'm also Joey's mom and Spencer's mom and Jocie's mom and Melody's mom.

We live very close to a Dollar General. The kids really enjoy walking over there as soon as they get a dollar. However, Spencer LOVES going over there. After we got our schoolwork finished today I gave him a couple of dollars (something I VERY RARELY do) so he could go over to Dollar General. He went over there while I went to pick the other kids up from school.

When I came back home there was a note in the entry way from Spencer that read: To Mommy, I put 3 boxes around the house and stuck stuff in them. When you find them all you can open and have what's inside. From, Spencer

Does this kid know my love language or what??? Gifts & Surprises!!!
Here are the boxes! He made them!

He made them out of Leggos!!! That means extra points for creativity!

Here's Spencer after I found all three boxes. How adorable is that face?


And what happened to be in the box??? My favorite candy!!! They only come around at Easter time and I tend to eat way too many of them! Cadbury Bunny Eggs! You either love them or hate them. I love them. I haven't had one this season so I was pumped!


What a special treat. I'm a blessed woman. My days lately are the hardest and sweetest days I've ever had.

Mini Update

Man, where would I begin if I tried to lay out the details of my life right now?

There's plenty of heart wrenching things I could tell you. It's a heavy tale with mucus, blood, oxygen, drugs and sadness.

Maybe I will write down the details soon. Maybe I won't.

At the same time there's a wonderful tale with love, gifts, food, van, visits and singing.

The hospice nurses have said that Miles probably only has a few days left. A mother's heart does not process this well. I've had so many people check on me, do nice things for my family and come by to love on my sweet son. With each act of kindness it feels like ministering angels coming to heal my soul.

This is the worst thing I've ever had to do. Miles is now on pain medication 24 hours a day. For about an hour last night he was only taking in breaths about every 5 seconds. I'm pretty sure the other day when I got him out of the bath he stopped breathing. He turned completely white and limp. It was so frightening.

I love him so much. I can't imagine not having him. The other night I crawled into bed with him and fell asleep with my head on his shoulder. I was just laying there holding him and wanting to soak him into me so I could keep him forever. I just wanted to feel him so close to me.

PLEASE PRAY FOR US! We need PEACE. I need PEACE. My husband needs PEACE. My 4 other children need PEACE. My sweet Miles needs PEACE in his body.

Mr. & Mrs. S

“Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or are hungry or cold or in danger or threatened with death? No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.” ~Romans 8:35-37

This scripture is so fitting for us right now. Although Randy and I often feel like everything in our life that can be shaken is being shaken we continue to see God show our family favor. There have been many small kindnesses shown to us that have really added up. There have also been some BIG things that have happened that has helped to make this sad time in our lives full of love and sweetness. For Instance:

While I was at the hospital with Miles in Ft. Worth during December Randy had gone to Lowes one day to buy some materials for a job he was working on. While he was there he saw his old principal from Lincoln Middle School. Let’s pause and remember how long ago Randy was in middle school. It was over 20 years ago! Not only did Randy recognize him, but he also went and said hi to him. This is something I would probably never do! He’s like that though. Anyway, he went up to Mr. S and introduced himself and explained that he used to be one of his students at Lincoln. The man was glad to see him although they did not know each other back then. Mr. S asked if Randy had a family and Randy told him that he was married and had 5 kids. They chatted for a minute and then Randy said goodbye because he had to go buy the materials for work. As Randy walked off Mr. S called back to him and asked, “So, how is your family?”

Considering where we were at the time Randy thought that was very interesting. Since Mr. S asked, Randy told him about how sick Miles was and that we were in the hospital in Ft. Worth. Mr. S said that he would pray for Miles. Randy thanked him and then went about his business.

Later that day Randy received a voicemail on his cell phone from MRS. S. The message asked Randy to please call her back because she heard about our family. Randy called her back and she was very kind. She wanted to know the other kid’s names and ages and stuff like that. Randy finally asked her how in the world she got his cell phone number because he had not given it to Mr. S and we don’t advertise. She asked, “Are you really going to make me answer that?” Randy said, “I guess not.”

Anyway, she asked if her and Mr. S could come over to our house that evening so they could meet him and the other kids. He said they could come over, and they did. The couple came to our house and talked to the kids. They asked if we had a “place of worship” and before they left they gave Randy an envelope with $300 cash in it! They had felt like God had directed them to do it and they were obedient. Before they left Randy asked Mrs. S again how she got his number but she basically said, “If I told you I would have to kill you.” I guess the $300 bought his silence because he didn’t make her divulge her sources.

I was so impressed with how brave they were. They didn’t just find out where we lived and drop an envelope in our mailbox. They came to our house and talked with our family, and I’m sure they were prepared to invite us to church if we didn’t already have one. It was so generous of them! You know everyone can use extra money in December! Randy was able to buy groceries and to give some to the kids to spend on Christmas presents. They had a lot of fun with that. Most of all though it made us feel taken care of! These people were complete strangers to us and yet they were used by God to make us feel like he was still so close to us.

THEN about 2 weeks ago I was doing home school with Spencer when my cell phone rang. It was Mrs. S. She started to explain who she was and I told her I knew who she was and I was able to thank her for her generosity. (I still had not met her and we hadn’t heard from them since that night.) Well, she told me that her and Mr. S had still been praying for our family and they felt like they were supposed to OPEN UP SAVINGS ACCOUNTS FOR ALL OF OUR CHILDREN!!! Do I need to remind you about how many children we have? FIVE! Yes! FIVE!

Today Randy met Mr. S at the bank while the savings accounts were being opened! Several times Mrs. S said that she wished they could have put a 100 times more money in there than they could, but that hopefully it will grow into more. They plan on adding to it here and there. Also, the kids can add their own money to the account. This definitely had Joey’s wheels turning! Poor Jocie though, she just “didn’t get” why you would want to money in the bank that you couldn’t spend! She was cracking us up. She was so confused with the whole thing. Melody was asking if buying Baby Dolls was a good reason to pull money out of her savings. (No) Joey tried explaining the whole process to the girls after Randy and I had given up. I wish I could have the whole conversation recorded because it was so humorous.

Anyway, I’m so thankful for Mr. & Mrs. S for their faithfulness and their generosity. I feel so inspired by them. Their obedience has made us feel taken care of by God. I think it’s so neat that the Lord used perfect strangers to show us his presence in our lives. Yesterday I saw a book called “God Winks.” It looked cheesy so I didn’t buy it, but it was about these sorts of situations where God shows up in “coincidences” to show you His love.

Thank you Lord for that sweet WINK! Use me to WINK for you!!!

Happy Love Day!

Happy Valentine's Day my Lovely Friends! Here's a sweet picture of my Valentine!

All You Need is LOVE

This is one LOVED little Boy!