Happy birthday, Ella!!

My First

Six years ago today, God changed my life in a MIGHTY way.

He entrusted me with a baby girl, made me a mother and blessed my world.

I'm so thankful that He gave her to me, I'm thankful for who He's making her to be!

My first, my gift, my joy, my pride. You're a little piece of Heaven here by my side!

 

Happy birthday, to the one who first called me "mom"!

Ella, I love you with my whole heart

Glory days...

My youngest brother came up from Auburn the other night to have dinner with us. He’s 3 months into the first semester of his freshman year. We were so glad he could make the time to come visit. And, what a great time we had talking to him and listening to his stories. We laughed and laughed. I was so thankful to hear how much he was enjoying himself, to hear about the friends he had, bible studies they were doing and sermons that they listened to in their free time. Be still my heart! I couldn’t have been more pleased to hear how being down there wasn’t a huge temptation to rebel and do bad things, but that he hadn’t ever spent so much time in the word as he does now. Thankful. My prayer for him, long before he ever left for college was that when he got there the Lord would literally FLOOD his life with people that loved Jesus and lived for Him. Not just people that talked a pretty talk, but lived it out. That he would be surrounded by men that walked closely with the Lord and had a working relationship. Oh, did He ever answer that prayer!

But, still, listening to his stories about late-night adventures, early morning study sessions, date parties, hanging out, going to bed whenever you wanted, getting up when you felt like it, nights of uninterrupted sleep and figuring out what independence looks like made me a little nostalgic, and for a moment, feeling rather old and a little sad. Seasons of our life go by so quickly and the older we get the quicker they come and go. It made me sad to think that my time at Auburn was over, the sorority life was a distant memory and that life of seemingly no responsibility and just enjoying your friends and learning and building relationships had come to a close. A breath. It was literally a breath. And, like that, almost 8 years later (ouch!) here I am.

The Lord is an awesome teacher, I’ve said it before. And, this particular night after Zach had gone back and I was left to reminisce about those “glory days” the Lord showed up again. As I was laying with Matt on the couch watching TV and our two little angels were quietly sleeping in the next room, He gave me such a vivid picture and flooded my mind with the feelings and thoughts that I had at 19. I wanted to get married and have babies. I dreamed of this man that I knew He was preparing for me and what our life would look like together. On the same note, there were many times that I worried there wouldn’t be a man for me or that maybe I had missed him because I wasn’t paying attention. He reminded me of the passion I had for being a mother, to rock babies, change diapers and spend my days cuddling and loving. Now, I loved my college years and I can honestly say I didn’t wish away a single day, but like any normal girl we worry about what the future looks like. And, I was no different.

In that moment it hit me that everything I had wanted at 19, he had given my in excess by the time I was 30. Like He promises, blessings overflowing into my lap. And laying there, beside Matt on a couch too small for two adults, was awesome. Because it meant he had to hold me a little closer so that we both fit. The fact that he’s a tad frugal and won’t turn the heat on until the last possible minute was perfect because we used the super-soft oversized blanket my grandmother had given us to keep warm. And, the two littles sleeping in the other room were perfectly healthy, perfectly happy and had perfectly taught me a little more of how my Father in Heaven loves me. Answered prayers.

Now let me veer here for a moment to say that this isn’t a “fluff” piece on what a wonderful life looks like and how perfect mine is…it’s not. Real life is hard and on any given day that man laying next to me at some point had inevitably made my blood boil with anger like no one else could and those two sleeping “angels” if you walked through the door at just the right time would be aiding me in a loss of patience and sanity that could only be described as something you’d see in a scene from Poltergeist (though I haven’t seen it). What it is though, are moments where we find some clarity and become thankful for the things we often take for granted. Those moments, that the Lord uses to reveal to us how faithful He is and the way that He has answered our prayers. Yes, college was fun. Yes, I miss it sometimes. But, in the words of Edwin McCain, right now, “I could not ask for more.” There’s no greater encouragement than that you get from seeing your prayers get answered. What a testament to how He loves us, cares for us and shows His goodness and faithfulness in our lives!