Saturday, August 21, 2010

Life is good....

Well, another year has passed. Turner is now 5 years old and we have somewhat started kindergarten. He is the funnest child. Truly, a joy to live with. He brings happiness (Tait should have been his name) wherever he goes. Trace just turned 9 a couple of weeks ago. He is still a kind and quiet child, dear to my heart. He is now in the fourth grade and loves to be the singer on LEGO Rockband. Time is passing quickly! Tolar is a sixth grader and now attending Emmanuel Christian School. I continue to homeschool his brothers. God has taught me so much in the weeks past as He lead us to put Tolar in school. It was a struggle to discern what God had for us. It was to let go and put him in school. He is so happy and enjoying his days. We have truly seen the goodness of God in this situation.
Chuck is now on staff at our church, Ridgecrest Baptist Church, as of January 2010. God has been so good to us. He loves doing what God has called us as a family to do! It took a few years, but God was preparing us for full time ministry and it has been worth the wait. We are thankful for what God is allowing us to do as a family. Plus, Chuck gets Fridays off:) Ok.....we will enjoy it while we have it. Praise God! As I write, I am at SAMC with Chuck, who had a colon re section on Monday (it is now Saturday). Again, all has gone as expected and Chuck is recovering wonderfully. Our boys have been with friends and family. They have been well looked after. Chuck will be here for another couple of days and then be home a week or so. It will be four months before he can pick up heavy things and play roughly with the boys. This surgery was necessary to remove the almost 20 inches of his sigmoid colon that was eaten up with diverticulitis. He should be healthier now and able to eat more of the foods he enjoys, without getting sick. We look forward to getting him home (hopefully by Tuesday) and things getting back to normal. I am so thankful for friends who have helped us out this week and prayed for us. We are so blessed by God. He provides for our every need!



We started keeping a friend's puppy, Mr Jones, last September while she worked. That way we had puppy with no commitment. I thought it was a perfect arrangement. Well, We all fell in love with that little dog. What matters most though, is that Chuck fell in love with that little dog. Short story....My friend decided to not keep the dog since she was never home. She asked if we would be interested in buying him from her....so Chuck went and got the dog. Mr Jones is like one of the kids. We adore him. Thankfully, Starla and Donnie Wells have been generous enough to let him hang out with their Bruner while we have been up here at the hospital.
Five nights sleeping on a hospital bed.....you get used to it! And I have loved the food here. Before we leave I am going to hunt down the cook and hug her. Seriously!



Quickly going back....God allowed me to go with our high school seniors and college students to Costa Rica in June. Amazing life changing trip. God amazed me how He worked everything out and provided for all our needs. I slept on a top bunk in a room with 11 girls.....taking cold showers (we shared 2) and it was wonderful!

So much God is doing in and around us.......I am always in awe that He, the creator of the universe, speaks to me and allows me to join in on what He is doing. In fact everyday I am learning more and more about His wonderful ways and learning to "let go...He is Big Enough". It is not about what we are or are not "doing" it is truly about our hearts and our willingness to follow Him.