You Don't See That Every Day

15 days into the new year. I'll share with you some of what has been happening around here. It was a rough week last week. And it is going to be tough for a little longer, emotionally. I had planned on writing here at least weekly, but then we had some kick-in-the-stomach moments that derailed my plans. We got some news that sent my thoughts to tumbling, like towels and sheets in the dryer -- you know how they get twisted and turned around and fall all over? That's what the thoughts in my head were doing, and I couldn't make sense of them. All I could do was pray for the people affected even deeper by the latest events. So forgive me if this post doesn't flow well, or if it rambles. A week into the New Year we heard that the son of a family in our church, had died. He was 19. In our viewpoint that was not the time to go to heaven. And my mama-heart hurts for his mama, who now has to face each day without her firstborn. I drive by their house and tears come to my e...

Happy New Year! I'm looking forward to a great year. We had some highs and lows in 2015. We'll have some of the same in 2016, I'm sure. But for now it is a big open slate, ready to be written on. I've decided to try again and make some goals for myself in this coming year, and I'll share them with you. 1. Read through the Bible. I haven't done this in a long long time. My 10 year old brought this up, wanting to do it, so I decided to come alongside and do it with her. 2. Run a 5k with each of my family members this year. This means each of my children and my husband, NOT my siblings/extended family. Although that would be awesome. I've done 5k's with my brother, a niece, a sister-in-law and my aunt, (and a marathon with my niece!) but I would love to see more of my extended family exercising. If a 5k challenge would get them moving, I'm up for it. And you know who you are! ! 3. Acknowledge family member's birthdays. I tried one year to s...

Merry Christmas from all of us! Christmas came even though I wasn't fully "prepared". ((I'm planning on sending those cards and letters out ..... this week. )) I did get the gifts all taken care of in time. So my little family had our Christmas party the Eve before. My kids went all out this year. I was so proud. Now that they are able to work some, they have some spending money. And this year they bought gifts for each sibling and parents. So the 7 of us - times that many gifts (at least one per person) meant we had a lovely pile under the tree. It was so fun to see them give each other the gifts they had spent time and thought on. I think it was one of my favorite moments. And I did get the house (mostly) cleaned. Our company didn't seem to mind the dust bunnies too much. We had a blast with the cousins! The Mr.s family arrived on Christmas afternoon and the games began. The teasing, the jokes, the good conversation, the jostling of 13 of us in ...