New Friends

Remember before Sophie Kate started school when I talked about the possibility of her maybe making some new friends and maybe possibly being invited to some friends birthday parties and stuff like that?  Well, I never thought it would come this soon but SK was invited to 2 parties last weekend.  

These are children that are in her new preschool class.  They are all so unbelievably sweet and gentle with her.  

They were all so excited to see her, it really touched my heart.  They are so genuine in their thoughts and feelings and I saw that come out with each one of them when they were talking to SK.  They are not capable of being fake or "putting up a front" like we as grownups do from time to time and that is so refreshing.  I didn't have to wonder if they meant what they said, y'all they were the real deal and it meant the world to me.

These are some of SK's new preschool friends.  They are so darling to me, they have no idea how they have touched this mama's heart by just being themselves.  

 
What a beautiful thing their friendship is...

...just beautiful.

Romans 12:10 "Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves."

Thanks for checking in on us. 

Deeper Still

A little over 3 years ago, our family was hit with an unexpected, unforeseen storm that threatened to devastate us so completely that we would be unable to recover from it.  

Not only did the storm come through and like a tornado level everything we held most dear to us, but it continued for the ensuing year and a half.  There were times that we could almost see through the rain only to find ourselves under a deluge once again.  

When would the clouds part, when would the sun shine again?  Even if it did, it wouldn't feel the same...how do you move forward when there is no healing?  How do you come out from under something that never seems to lighten?  How do you deal with and live with the pain everyday....because we walk by faith not by sight.


By sight my pain is unbearable, by sight my daughter is to be pitied and felt sorry for, by sight some might even make fun of her.  By sight she is not able to accomplish and live up to all that society deems important and worthy.  Praise God that this earthly journey is not all there is.


By faith she is here for a greater purpose, by faith I know I will hear her sweet voice one day, by faith she will change lives (she already has), by faith what satan intended for evil and for harm, God is weaving into goodness and joy.


There is no easy answer, there is no "quick fix" to make everything better and like it was prior to November 3rd 2007 and there is no option of doing this without God...we would fail miserably.  I attended the Deeper Still women's conference this weekend and what a blessing it was.  


Kay Arthur told us that Jesus was not be "added" to our lives as though He were an accessory but that He was to be our life...meaning that we are to have a change of mind that embraces what the Kingdom of God is all about and that we are to make the necessary changes.  Our lives are to line up with the Word of God.


Priscilla Shirer challenged us to live in the "God margin."  I loved this one...she said God is calling for everything we have, we are to hold nothing back and once we take that step toward the call God has on each one of our lives and we step beyond anything we ever thought we were capable of well, then we know that we are in the "God margin."  We can only get ourselves so far, but when we are obedient to God's will and His hand is upon what we are doing then we will see the impossible become possible, but only in the "God margin."


Lastly, Beth Moore urged us to rediscover the lost art of treasure, as Mary, the mother of Jesus did in Luke 2:19 "But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart."  One point Beth made that I want to share was "We'll miss our most expensive treasure if we look past the hardship and pain."  She shared Isaiah 45:3 with us...in that verse the Word of God says, "I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who summons you by name."  


Can there really be treasures in the darkness?  This verse paints such a beautiful picture to me...it has compelled me to discover some of my own treasures in the darkness.  The most obvious to me is Sophie Kate herself, she is a treasure, by earthly standards she should not even be alive.  The change in my boys, their hearts are so tender toward their sister.  It is a treasure to see how they love and care for her.  Do you know that the divorce rate is even higher than the national average among the parents of special needs children?  My marriage is a treasure, this man that has committed his life to me and these children of ours is a treasure.  


I am not sharing all these things to brag on us, but to brag on our God.  We have been in the "God margin."  We have been to a place where we had nothing but the hope we have in Jesus.  Our marriage has been under the type of stress and strain that could have caused permanent damage and it is not because of anything we did that it didn't completely fall apart.  It is because the hand of God was at work and when He is at work the impossible becomes possible.  

May I never be stagnant and halfhearted in my relationship with my Savior, but always long to go "deeper still."

Thanks for checking in on us. 

Last Weekend Wrap Up

I promised more pictures from our Thanksgiving trip to my parent's house and now that it is December we can bring on those cute Christmas outfits...

My sweet girl...I love this picture of her.

Sophie Kate's elf joined our elf family this year, her name is Abigail.   I think her little braids are very appropriate since our little SK likes to rock the braids from time to time too.

 

Crackers for four elves...check, water for four elves...check, magic snowflakes sprinkled over four elves...check, 3 super excited boys...triple check. 

My boys being boys...

Off to the woods with PawPaw...

Love having you in my life G-man, you make me laugh every day.

Sophie Kate and her cousin Emma Claire

Those girls love their matching clothes. 

This is what happens to the boys after multiple days in the woods...

 

Tis the season for multiple cute Christmas outfits and SK can now be seen in and around town rockin' her different Christmas looks.

Looking forward to the Beth Moore conference this weekend in "the Ham."  Hope y'all have a great weekend, thanks for checking in on us. 

Our Thanksgiving

The trip to my parent's house is not a familiar one to me.  It's not my childhood home that I drive to each Thanksgiving and Christmas season.  I feel as though I need to explain myself...you see we were in the same house the first 15 years of my life, but since then my parents have moved a total of 8 times (I think).  It's a running joke in our family that my parents will be announcing their next move any day now.  So it's not the house or the road there that is so comforting and familiar to me...it's the people inside the house.  

On this particular day, Thanksgiving day, in addition to my own family,  it's my mama and daddy, my sister and brother-in-law, my nephew, my niece and my aunt who make up those people I have known most if not all my life.  It's those people, not the house, that have provided years worth of cherished memories for me. 

When I see them, I am reminded of my grandparents who are no longer gathering with us in this life but are pouring out their thanksgiving at the very feet of the Most High.  I am also reminded of my cousin and her family and my aunt and uncle who were celebrating Thanksgiving out of town this year. 

Our kiddie table...

  
Another first to report for our girl...certainly not SK's first Thanksgiving but it was her first time to eat from the Thanksgiving table.  

She had dressing w/gravy and sweet potato casserole.

And this is what she did after she had her fill...

Caught her mid yawn, so funny!

One of Sophie Kate's favorite spots at my parents house is their front porch.  The only thing that could make it better is someone to hold hands with and talk to...

Aunt Betty and Sophie Kate

I am so thankful that everyone was healthy enough to travel this year.  Several of Sophie Kate's friends have been in the hospital lately and some even over the Thanksgiving holiday and my heart goes out to those families who may have been separated in some way.  Also, some of SK's friends are spending their first Thanksgiving in the arms of Jesus and my heart has been heavy for their families this week as well.

Our family has so much to be thankful for and I felt it in such simple ways...nothing complicated or manufactured just the simplicity of being together, playing with cousins, the genuineness of heartfelt conversation and good ole laughter.  It did my heart and soul good and that was just Thanksgiving day.  I have so much to share from our trip to Mimi and Pawpaw's house...the picture taking has reached unhealthy levels...hope y'all can handle it.

Thanks for checking in on us.

Thanksgiving

Somebody please tell me there is a difference between this picture...

and this picture...

Because the first picture was taken with my "old" camera and the second picture was taken with my "new" camera.  I'm having so much fun with it, looking forward to learning about all the bells and whistles. 

It really doesn't matter which camera I use for SK, she's darling to me through any camera lens.

Sweet sleeping baby...

Preschool has been going really well for Sophie Kate.  She is loving it, she is having fun there, making friends.  It's just been such a positive experience so far.  Everyone associated with this program has been so kind and welcoming to our girl.  

Here she is before school one morning...

This is what made me cry real tears today...

We're looking forward to a short school/work week.  Looking forward to spending time with family and eating some good food.

Our family is so blessed, as long as I am with them this week, I'll be happy.

Thanks for checking in on us.  Hope you and your family have a blessed Thanksgiving.

SK says it way better than I can...

 

1 Chronicles 29:13 "  Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name."

Things that make me happy

by Sophie Kate McManic

-A good nights sleep

-The warmth of the sun on my skin and my face

-My brother Cooper reading a book to me

-Someone to pay attention to me and talk to me...I hear you and I love to be included

-To be tickled by my brother Jacob 

-My new Sunday School class

-My cutest bob on the block

-To be carried on my daddy's strong back

-Having my brother Grey sing me a song

-To take a nap in my mama's arms

-Being at home

-Nurse Kelly

-Spending time with my family and friends

-My new preschool class

-Sitting in my rocking chair looking at the Christmas tree lights

-My sweet new boots...check 'em out...

Thanks for stopping by, hope your weekend is wonderful.

Christmas Decorations

The Holiday season is fast approaching, I can't believe that Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away.  My fondness for decorating early for Christmas manifested itself in our house this weekend.  Christmas is probably my favorite holiday if I had to choose one and I have always thought that one month isn't long enough for all the work that is put into decorating one's house for Christmas.  

I think I said this last year around this time in my defense..."I was not raised this way."  We always decorated the Friday or Saturday after Thanksgiving when I was growing up.  In fact, I don't remember us doing the shopping thing (to my mother and sister's dismay I'm sure) but I do remember us pulling out all the decorations and putting up our tree.  Those are wonderful memories for me.  

Celebrating the birth of our Savior was always forefront in my childhood home, we knew what Christmas was all about.  Yes, Santa came and dropped off presents each and every Christmas Eve, but it didn't end there.  I remember spending time with family and wonderful meals and my grandparents and their love for the Lord.  

I so enjoy a lighted Christmas tree when everything else is dark, I always have.  I like getting out the decorations and seeing my grandmother's things or something my mom has given me that we used to set out in our home when I was a little girl.  It brings sweet memories to my mind.  I like having new traditions now with my own family as well.  The kids are always excited to get the Christmas decorations out.

I think back to when my dad had surgery around the end of October.  I can talk about it now and share b/c it was years ago but it was a very difficult time for our family, my father had never been ill.  I was privileged to be able to care for him.  I was able to stay at the hospital with him and hope I was of some help and comfort while my mom was able to rest up for when my dad came home.  

So many of you have been through the same type thing with a loved one.  We were worried, scared, unsure...you know all of those things.  It was just an emotional and stressful time.  On my way back home I distinctly remember telling Chad that I wanted to put our tree up.  I don't know, there is just something calming and comforting to it.  Maybe it was seeing those ornaments and such from my childhood, I'm not sure, but that's what I wanted to do...so like the first or second Saturday in November we did just that. 

Fast forward at least 5 or 6 years to the Christmas of 2007, the year our little girl was born.  Before Sophie Kate was born a friend of mine who also has a December baby (SK's due date was Dec. 7th) was telling me what a sweet time of year it was when her little one was born.  Sitting up with him late at night feeding him with the Christmas lights on all around them, sweet memories...I couldn't wait.

For the month of November 2007 our baby girl was in the NICU, things were never going to be as they had been, we were changed.  I spent as much time as I possibly could at her bedside, rarely to never missing an opportunity to be with her, to bond with her, to let her know we were there.  Chad graciously allowed me that time with our daughter even the many late nights I spent there with her.

One November night however I did not return for that late night visit, we decided to put up our Christmas tree with the boys.  We needed that, our boys needed that...not the Christmas tree necessarily but the normalcy, the time spent with just mama and daddy...mama and daddy needed that time with them too.  It was bittersweet, but more sweet than bitter.  More sweet b/c we had hope and it wasn't the hope that everything would be ok if Sophie Kate got better, although believe me we prayed fervently for that.  It was the hope we have in our hearts that even if Sophie Kate was never healed this side of heaven that we were going to be ok.  Because of the birth of Jesus followed by His death and Resurrection, we have nothing to fear on this earth.  

Our boys in front of our Christmas tree, December 2007

Our little Charlie Brown Christmas tree this year.

SK likes looking at the lights on the tree more than I do I think.

Christmas is a beautiful time of year, the lights and decorations are so festive, but what makes it truly beautiful is the birth of our Savior.  Our pastor has been bringing us the Word in his Sunday morning series on Table Manners.  Just talking about taking Jesus with you wherever you are this Holiday season, whether it is in welcoming folks into your home or in being a guest in someone else's home.

1 John 3:18 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

No matter when our Christmas decorations go up, His love and His truth should go with us wherever we find ourselves this Holiday season.  

Thanks for indulging me in my Christmas tree memories.