Going to Church

I grabbed the camera to capture this picture of Ellie Kate and Ross walking over to church yesterday morning. You can see her little Bible in her hand behind her back. She loves her daddy and she loves going to church. She told me the other day that she was going to "talk to all the peoples" and I'm sure she did.

Not for the squeamish...

We recently went to visit some of our neighbors. They were very gracious to let us come over and see their horse, Chief. We also got to see their snake, Lois. Now if you know me you know that I am an animal lover. However, my love does not extend to snakes. I do not know how Ellie Kate was so fearless around Lois. She is a pet and is completely harmless or else Ellie Kate would not have been around her. EK first wanted to "walk" Lois. Then she wanted Lois around her neck. I did not post those pictures because it would absolutely give you the hibby jibbies. So on our visit we learned two things.....1) Ellie Kate is a cowgirl and 2) she is also a snake wrangler. Don't worry. We have had several discussions with EK about how Lois is the ONLY nice snake. She knows that other snakes are dangerous and as she says, "They hurt me". As you can probably guess, Emmett was content just chillin'.

Tagged

http://teammichaelbryant.blogspot.com/ , has tagged me to share ten things with all of you that I'm not afraid to admit. The rules are:

1) Link to the person who tagged you.

2) Post the rules on your blog

3) Write 10 random things about yourself (see below).

4) Tag 6 people at the end of your post and link to them.

5) Let each person know they have been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.

6) Let the tagger know when your entry has been posted.

Here goes.........

1. My husband and I only dated two months before he proposed. I obviously said yes and we married five months later.

2. Ross and I met in a piano bar called Stray Cats. Since my dad is a veterinarian, I told him that it was a humane society:)

3. As a little girl I had a very heightened fear of Jaws. (That's right, dunna....dunna....dunna..dunna..dunna..dunna..) I was so scared that I would not get into the bathtub unless my mom came into the bathroom with me. As Ellie Kate would say, "He scare me."

4. I grew up as an Alabama fan, but converted to Auburn when Ellie Kate was born in 2006. My baptism followed shortly after when we moved to Opelika.

5. I can sleep. Not just normal amounts of time, but for hours on end. Ross calls them miniature comas. Of course, since having children I don't get to do that very often anymore. Naps...one of my favorite passtimes.

6. I use to have a BIG crush on Conan O'Brien. I thought he was hilarious and completely silly. Then Ross entered my life. (Ross just said in the background,"Be careful little fingers what you post.")

7. I have never been able to tolerate someone touching my pinkie toe. I grin and bear it for pedicures, but other than that my pinkie toes are off limits. My guess is that when I was little my parents got carried away with the "wee, wee, wee, all the way home" when they played "this little piggy went to market."

8. I love true crime shows. Usually the ones on Investigation Discovery and A&E are my favorites. This worries my husband since most of these shows have some forensic angle to them. I think it makes him nervous to think that if I ever did anything to him I could probably get away with it. Yeah, he sleeps with one eye open.

9. I found a letter that I had written to santa when I was a little girl. It was addressed to the South Pole. I also thought when I was little that all dogs were boys and all cats were girls. So where are all of the cogs and dats?

10. It is physically impossible for me to run above snail pace. Although I swing my arms with extreme velocity, it does not help me run any faster. In high school, on my softball team, my nickname was molasses.

Now I am going to break the rules. I won't tag anyone specifically. I'll just ask any other bloggers who read this to consider themselves tagged.

Ellie Kate and Butler

"This is a flower."

"Let's shake on it."
Silliness.
"Buttchler!"
Sweet Little Man

We have really enjoyed the beautiful fall weather. Thankfully we have plenty of room to play outside. Ellie Kate loves Butler and he seems to feel the same way about her. Of course, we do have to be careful since he is such a big puppy. She calls him "wild man". Meanwhile, Emmett is just chillin'.

It's a bird. It's a plane........

No, this isn't Ellie Kate's response to election day. This is Ellie Kate playing outside last week and looking up in the sky to see a "wocket ship", as she says.

Today

Do you ever reflect? I'm not just referring to the good memories that are easy to revisit. I'm talking about the ones that pop up unexpectedly and you quickly make an attempt to occupy your mind in order to forget. Yesterday could have been that way for me. Today could be much the same. Okay here it goes. Today is an eight year anniversay for me. It is definitely not one that most would dare to write about. I think blogs can be deceptive that way. Sure I will post the pictures of my precious children. I will share all of the bright spots. You will be able to read about every wedding anniversary, every birthday, each family gathering. But this anniversary is different. This memory is not perfect. This post will not contain any snapshots.

Eight years ago today, I told my mother goodbye. She hugged me. She told me she loved me. I prayed with her, but I felt no emotion. My eyes did not well up with tears. I simply watched her go. That night I sat in a strange bed with my knees pulled up to my chest, my arms wrapped around them as if I were hugging myself. I saw no familiar faces. I did, however, read a familiar verse on the bulletin board above my bed. Matthew 11:28, "Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." I let that verse sink in as much as it could. Like I said, I was completely emotionally numb. It had taken years for me to arrive at this place. That verse in Matthew would prove to be a lifeline for me. You see that place where I sat without anyone or anything familiar to me was in Arizona. It was my first night in a treatment facility for an eating disorder.

I have not revisited those memories in a longtime. There's just something about an anniversary, any anniversary, that can bring reflection. So here is what has occurred to me now. I live a blessed life. From having an amazing husband and two beautiful children, the details are endless when I count my blessings. Make no mistake, the situation in which I now find myself was also not reached by chance. I have also not been accompanied by luck or wishful thinking. The difference in today and eight years ago is simply the affect of the Lord's healing power in my life. I knew Him then and I know Him even better now. He has taken my very worst, most undesirable weaknesses and used them for His glory and my betterment. I brought Him bitterness and despair. He has given me joy and triumph. He did not see my pitiful state and cast me aside. Instead He walked with me thru some of the most difficult days and moments of my life and held me close during the process.

After experiencing the freedom of walking with the Lord, my everyday ordinary life doesn't seem quite so mundane anymore. Am I perfect? No. Do I live on a constant mountaintop? Absolutely not. I, however, have seen the goodness of the Lord and it only makes me want to seek after Him more. So today when I'm changing a diaper or washing a dish and I have one of those moments of reflection, I will be reminded of the Lord's faithfulness to me and count it a blessing to continue seeking after my gracious Savior.