A Wintry Day...and a good E-Book

Today is the First Snow of the season.

Officially - winter has come to Wyoming. Well, I suppose it won't stay long, but this morning was quite blustery. With the swirling snow and driving winds, it could be the middle of January.

So to celebrate the First Snow, I have given the kids a snow day. They could barely wait till it was light enough outside, to rush out and try to build snowmen, forts, and snow angels. After an hour or so, they were back inside - covered in snow and wanting a snack.
So I made some homemade hot chocolate and dug out the marshmallows I had been saving for a treat. They loved it!
Now, my idea of a perfect snow day is not to actually go out in the snow, but to curl up in a comfy chair with a good book! :)

I am totally in love with traditional books. I love the feel of the pages, the smell of paper, and the the memories that  some books bring.

But it is the age of E-Stuff, and yes - I have started buying some e-books. I actually love them. Especially when I can get them for a good price! Who doesn't love a bargain, right?!

You can get Kindle books and read them on any PC or smartphone with the Kindle App. I read mine on my desktop, or on my phone while I wait on my kids' music lesson.

Today there is a great deal on Sally Clarkson's new e-book, "10 Gifts of Wisdom". It is priced at $0.99 cents today only!
I snapped up my copy to read later. I so enjoy Sally Clarkson's gentle way of writing about the importance of home and teaching our children about Jesus.

"Home can be one of the most deeply transformative places in the world, a refuge where hearts are shaped and God is known. " -Sally Clarkson

You can get your copy here:


Here is another book by Mrs. Clarkson that I want to get - someday! :)



I hope your day is warm and sunny and full of good books!

A Country Girl

There is no way around it - I am a country girl.

I have lived my share in the city, and often in small towns, but I always feel most at home in the country.

 

 

I enjoy seeing my daughter carry her pet chicken around.

 

 

I enjoy cows standing on the road in the rain.

 

 

 

I really find it relaxing to hang clean laundry on the line in the summer.

 

I enjoy taking walks with my kids in the coolness of early evening, down a dirt road.

 

 

                                                               I find cows amusing.

 

 

I like to watch my baby watch the chickens.

 

I am glad my kids can hang over fences and watch Dad work cattle.

 

My heart goes pitter-patter when this handsome Cowboy rides past me, swinging his rope.

 

 

 The road home is always pretty...

 

 And the flowers in my yard seem to be shouting praises to God.

 

 

The rambling old rose bush harks back to a day where life was slower.

 

 

 

 And the wild roses that grow along the creek are so delicate and pretty... blooming unnoticed, mostly, but still being as pretty and sweet-smelling as they can be. Just because that is what The Creator told them to do.

 

 

The sinking sun streams over the snowy white clouds, shooting streaks of brilliance into the wild blue yonder. It makes one look up. Sometimes I just need to stop and look UP.

 

 

Note: All the photos in this post were taken with my phone. Minimal editing done.

Making Our Home a Haven

Recently I have found several sweet, old-fashioned websites that encourage women to be homemakers. Housewives. Mothers. The one who makes the home a pleasant place to be.

That's what I desire.

I want to put my energy, time and skill into making our home a beautiful place to be. A place where my husband can relax, our kids can be encouraged, and anyone who comes through our doors will be refreshed and blessed.

 

So I am learning to step back and re-evaluate my priorities, my plans, and my habits.

I want to find joy and pleasure in being a housewife. In doing my daily tasks with a sweet attitude and making our home a haven.

 

Today I washed all the dirty clothes in the house and hung them out to dry in the beautiful fall breezes. The sun brightened them and the wind softened them, and the clean country air freshened them. I enjoyed hanging them up and then taking them down when the sun and wind had dried them.

Some friends graciously brought me a special lunch of all my favorite foods, and a movie. So I folded the fresh, sweet-smelling clothes while I watched the movie with them. It was such a pleasant treat!

 

Later, the sun was sinking in the west, casting golden rays of sunlight through the trees and bushes.

I enjoy the beautiful, crisp, fall days we are having. Despite the fact that it is just a portent of Old Man Winter, I cannot help but revel in the warm sunshine and deliciously cool breezes.

 

Sometimes life is crazy and everything is a whirlwind and I feel like I can't think straight... those days happen. But I don't want them to happen often. I want most of my life to be a steady, pleasant round of household duties. So my kids can be grounded and I have time and energy to teach them the important things in life.

 

So that I have time to be there when they need me to read a story, bake a cake, take a walk, or soothe an owie. It is important to me that my kids have memories of mama making supper, reading stories, working cheerfully around the house.

 

 

How do you make your home a haven?

 

I used a cheap clothesline from the store, but someday I would like to have one of these. :)

 

Angry Birds Cake

Happy Birthday to my son, Franklin!!

What a blessing God gave us with him.
He was born on a warm summer day in June...the bees were buzzing around my snowball bush, and  I lay looking out at the pretty summer flowers, and feeling the refreshing breeze blowing softly through the open window.

     

I remember holding him on that beautiful day in Missouri - basking in the wonderful after-glow of childbirth. You know, after the labor is done, your midwife has left, you're done with the phone calls, (before texting days!) and it's just you and your sweet, new baby!

10 years,, 6 houses, and two states later...here we are!
Franklin Joseph was named after his paternal grandfather - who went to be with Jesus less than a year before Frankin was born. I often wish he could hang out with his grandpa Joe Schrock. What a great guy, who loved to fish, hunt, camp and was looking forward to the day he could have a grandson to do those things with!

Franklin loves Legos, dinosaurs, and anything with wheels. Engines, machines, gadgets. What a kid!
He is getting handy on  a horse, and helps his dad out with riding and chores. But his first love is engines.

Jenni and I tried making him a 3D Angry Birds Cake today...not professional by any means, but quite cute, nonetheless!

Happy Birthday, Son!

 

Here's some cool Angry Birds' items for your next party!

 

 

 

 

What is Really Important?

What is important to you?

I was thinking of this recently, in a moment of reflection. It's so easy to float through life, just doing the things that need to be done, planning and working and yes, even taking some 'down-time, so we don't get 'burned out'. 

We go to church and sing praise songs, we agree with powerful messages, we lay down in our beds at night and say a quick prayer before falling asleep. We may get up early and pray for an hour before we start the day. We may read three chapters of Scripture daily - at any cost.

 We may make a commitment to raise our kids in a Godly home - foregoing all the modern entertainment and distractions that are easy to provide. We home school. Or we find the best Christian/academic school possible, and send them there.

We go to marriage retreats, women's retreats, and men's retreats. We read great biographies of Godly people. We devour adoption blogs and dream of making a difference.

We spend less time on Facebook, so we can be better mothers/wives/husbands/fathers/students/Christians.

We read Godly mothering blogs, books, and magazines, and we feel guilty that we are not teaching our kids three languages and that they can't recite the Sermon on the Mount and play at least one instrument proficiently. We look around at our house and wonder if what we're doing really matters? And what are we really doing, anyways? The house looks like a whirlwind swept through - and we just cleaned it up!

My friends - what are we doing? And does it matter?
I have felt the guilt. I have tried the supermom-superwife-superChristian road. It doesn't satisfy. We are not meant to live a copy/paste life, taken from the pages of some book, blog or friend. We will fail, and fail miserably.

Photo credit to Rose Miller.

 

 We are created for one purpose, and one purpose only: To love and be loved by our Creator. To honor Him and His Name on this earth. To love one another.

What is the greatest commandment? A lawyer asked this of Jesus one time, many hundreds of years ago. And Jesus answered:
"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Matthew 22:37-39.

This is what it all comes down to, my friends.
Do you love God?
Do you love your neighbor?
And are you passing that love along to your children?

 It doesn't matter so much if they can't say the Sermon on the mount by memory - if they love God.
It won't hurt them in life to never have studied Latin - if they love God.
They won't care if your home looked like a Pinterest home - if they know they are loved. 
They may not know more than one language their whole lives - but if they love their neighbor, they don't need a language to get that love across!

    You may only be able to snatch moments here and there for reading the Word of God, but if you love God with your whole heart, soul, and mind - your family will be blessed.
    It may not be in God's plan for your family to adopt, go on a mission, or even be on the VBS committee. But if you love your neighbor as yourself, you will find plenty of opportunities to love on people - starting with your family.

 Sometimes we need to get off our knees, and get a drink for our toddlers.
 Close the Bible and open a book to read to the little ones.
 Put down the duster, and pick up our babies - just for snuggles.
 Stop running around for others - and take our kids on a walk.
 Leave the house a mess, and go sit on the couch with our husband.
The house will always be there - waiting to be cleaned, but we never know when our family may be gone.

It is imperative that we love our children. Our spouses. That we teach our children to love God passionately. He doesn't need our sacrifices. He wants our love. He is our Bridegroom - desiring only our deepest devotion and affection. All of life and it's frantic hurrying and scurrying must fade away as we gaze into the face of our Beloved. That doesn't mean we must be hermits to be still. When we love our family - we are loving Him.

 Brother Lawrence said: " I can sit at the feet of Jesus just as much amid the clattering of pots and pans in the kitchen, as I can while at prayers." (And he was a monk.)

We need to come back to the important thing in life - loving God.
We need to have a deep, passionate love for God, and pass that on to our children.
We need to learn that being holy does not mean being unreachable.
This, my friends, is what is important.

 

 

4 weeks of Bed Rest

Today I shall give you an update on the home situation around here. It may be boring to some of you - so feel free to pass. :)
It's been 4 weeks since I was put on bed rest.
Really? In a way - it doesn't seem that long, on the other hand - I feel like I have been laying on my couch the whole summer.
I have been laying here all of August.  That's a long time, baby. Of course, I have been under restrictions since the first week in July, so I haven't really been 'normal' since then. 
After 4 completely normal pregnancies, I never figured it possible to have such a complicated pregnancy. 
Boy, was I wrong! I guess it's true when they say that 'every pregnancy is different'!  
Am I depressed? No.
Well, ok. It does seem long. Some days I struggle with boredom and/or loneliness. But I can say that the grace of God has been abundant. I feel so blessed to still be carrying this baby.
They didn't give me much hope, back at 9 weeks when I was in the ER.
Or at 12 weeks when I had another ultrasound.
Or at 18 weeks. 
But here I am: 27 weeks, baby is measuring normal size, and from all appearances is a healthy, growing baby! Thank you, God!
I am being taken care of by my wonderful, amazing family: my handsome husband, my sweet kids... they  all pitch in and run the house, fix me food, and care for my hobbies (chickens/garden) while I can't.
                                      Beautiful flowers from My Cowboy and the kids.

Then there's my kind friends.
1.  My friend Karmen drove over an hour one day to visit me. She stocked my fridge and freezer with food, loaned me a stack of books, books on tape, dvd's, and her laptop!! and she placed her adorable baby boy on my lap, so I could snuggle with him. Sometimes it's the little things in life....

2.Then my friend Jodiann drove up another day...also an hour's drive. (yeah, we kinda live far from anyone) She brought loads of delicious food, goodies for the kids, books, books on tape, and of course, conversation! She also did a big stack of ironing, and cleaned out my fridge!!! Ok, there are seriously only a handful of people in this world who I would allow to clean out my fridge. Jodiann is one of them. :) It was really, really bad, too. Thanks, Jodi! Every time I walked past the fridge for the next 2 days - I opened it, just to admire the clean-ness of it! lol!

3. One Sunday Phil & Katie drove up.  1.5 hour drive for them. They brought some of the kids' friends along, which was a nice surprise. They also brought food, and conversation, and Katie made popcorn! :) I am a huge 'popcorn-on-Sunday-afternoon' freak, and we've been missing the cord to our popper for several weeks. So when she asked what I was hungry for, I said popcorn. :) I loved it.

4. Gretchen (Cliff's boss' mom) brought a yummy meal one day. (The best brownies ever!) She lives in town, and has a pretty full schedule - I was honored that she took time to make a homemade meal.

5. A neighbor, Kaley, who I had only met once or twice, offered many times to pick up anything in town that we needed. One evening she brought milk and cereal for us. She's a good American. A good neighbor.

                                                    Flowers from my mom.

6. Then there's my cleaning girl, Heidi, who comes every week and deep-cleans my bathrooms and kitchen. She doesn't even like to accept pay - even though she drives 3 hours round-trip. Her mother sent a delicious meal yesterday - thanks, Karen!

7. There has been various friends and neighbors who have offered help, and there are many friends who pray on a regular basis for our family and this baby. It is all much appreciated. On Sunday, My Cowboy came home from church with food for our freezer...lots of food from friends. And a book from yet another friend. 

8. Last but not least:  when I was first put on bed rest, the first person to call me was my brother. The next day another brother called. I am so blessed to have loving brothers and sisters that care about me, and faithfully call and help pass the time. I just wanna give a shout out to my siblings... Jerry, Jason, Darrell, Jane, Carol, and Rose. What a wonderful family I have! 
Of course, my mom and Cliff's mom keep track of me too.

Are you still with me? :) Ok. All that to say: How could I possibly be depressed?!? I have wonderful, caring friends, loving family, and an awesome God. My needs are provided for, my wants are catered to, and I have the privilege of carrying daughter number 3! 
I can be nothing but grateful. 

                                                 ~27 weeks pregnant~

Stillness.

"The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. I bless the LORD who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. I have set the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption. You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore."
Psalm 16:5-11

     It is amazing what just a week of stillness will do for your spirit.
     I never wanted to be stuck on the sidelines - especially not in the middle of a busy summer, while trying to prepare for a new baby! I don't enjoy giving orders from my couch all day. However, there is an element of stillness that is hard to experience when life is rushing along at break-neck speed!
     
     But now.

     Now I am restricted to my couch or bed for 24 hours a day. I haven't washed dishes or walked to my garden for a week. I am not allowed to buy groceries or make the beds. I cannot toss a load of laundry from the washer to the dryer - let alone hang them on the line to dry in the warm summer sunshine. I cannot jump in the truck and go put out salt with My Cowboy, or even fry his eggs in the morning.

     While my flesh and soul cries out to be able to serve my family - I have been learning what it means to be still. Quiet. 
     Sometimes you will hear a pastor or someone in a church service encourage everyone to "quiet their hearts before the Lord". I always think to myself; "How am I supposed to do that?"  There's the toddler tugging at my skirt, the person behind me poking buttons on their cell phone, and the sudden siren outside the window. It's pretty much impossible to really get quiet before God in a public place. At least  for me. I try - I really do. I can definitely praise Him in a crowd. I can pray to him. I can hear from Him, certainly. But get really still before Him? Quiet my heart? No. Not really.

     This forced stillness of body has given time for reflection. For soul-searching. Thinking. Reading. ( I would like to sound spiritual and say praying, but I have spent a lot more time in reflection, meditation, and reading, than I have in prayer.) And it's been good. I am taking time to see the things in my life that I would secretly like to ignore or dismiss as unimportant. Like how impatient I can be with my children. (It just happens once in a while, and after all, that's life, right?)  Or how self-serving my conversations can become. (Oh, you have stories and feelings and happenings in your life, too? I really only want to talk about ME!)
    I am ashamed when I think how much ME there is left in me. While I can brush it aside in daily busyness, I cannot avoid it when I have nothing to do but lay in bed and think about every word I say all day. Every phone conversation, and every family interaction. 


Then I said; "Woe is me, for I am ruined!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I live among a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts."
                                                          Isaiah  6:5   

When I see the King, I see myself for who I really am. The Light shines on my heart and reveals the innermost parts that I don't want to acknowledge. I am irresistibly drawn to the Light.  I am repulsed by my own uncleanness. That is a good thing - for only when I see my need for redemption and grace, can it be given. When I repent of my sin, I can be forgiven. When I see a lack of power to overcome sin in my personal life, I can humble myself and come boldly before the throne of grace to receive mercy and grace.

Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.  Hebrews 4:16

I am thankful for this time of stillness in my life. It is certainly not my chosen path, but already I can see that it will be an invaluable time of learning, growing and instruction in my life.
 I can echo the words of the Psalmist, when he says:

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore."

Note: I am on strict bed rest for complications with my pregnancy.

Behind The Scenes...

...of a real life mom.

I read a quote recently that went like this:

                        "The reason we struggle with insecurity is
           because we compare our behind-the-scenes
           with everyone else's highlight reel." 
                                                                                 ~Steve Furtick

I have to agree. So often we see some one doing something cool, something crafty, something artsy, something frugal, and we go: "Wow! I wish I could do that! All I ever do is cook, laundry, change diapers, cook, and clean up. I must be boring, or not very talented, unorganized, un-frugal, etc, etc."

I know. I have felt that feeling too often. I look at my friends blogs or FB posts of beautiful gardens, artsy paintings, delicious dishes, fun outings with their kids - and then look around my house and see this:

And this:

                                             
                                                     (At least I made my bed! ) :)

       And I think; "Man. What am I doing wrong?? How come I work all day and still can't get on top of things? "

     The problem is, I am asking the wrong question. I should be asking myself what I did today? Well, the answer to that is easier... I got out of bed at 6 am to make breakfast for my Man. I cooked three meals a day, (my husband comes home for lunch, yay!!) I fed/watered my chickens, I watered my garden, and pulled a few weeds. Then I did a couple loads of laundry, baked some bread and maybe sat and read 5 or 10 books to my preschooler. Maybe I talked to my daughter about the book she's reading, or listened to my son explain his invented paper airplane. I sat with my husband and discussed life. I called a lonesome friend.
     Ok, this is not an actual diary of any particular day - just an example of an ordinary day for me. I do have cleaning/organizational disfunction, I will freely admit that. But my thought is - we do ourselves no favors by comparing ourselves to someone else. And maybe we bloggers do no one any favor by always and only showing our 'highlight reel'. That's fun and tempting to do - I do it on this blog all the time. But the behind-the-scenes is not as glam, not as artsy, and certainly not as photo-friendly, but alot more real.
     And we live real lives. Ok, maybe no one else lets their house get as messy as mine before cleaning it, (yikes!) but we probably all have some areas that we struggle with. I want you to know you're not alone, and there is hope. Messy rooms can be cleaned...

 ...and the most important things in life are not things anyways, right? :) The smiles of happy kids, the relationship with your husband, most importantly the relationship you cultivate with God your Father - these are the things that matter in Life.

Valentine's Day in the Life of a Ranch Wife.

My birthday falls a mere 4 days before Valentine's Day. I always loved that as a kid - because my dear, sweet mom would (almost) always make me a heart-shaped cake for my birthday. I loved it. I think it started the love of valentine's day in my life... I have always loved the pink ~ the flowers ~ the candy ~ the lacey, girly, sweetness that is unique to Valentine's Day.

But little girls grow up.

Fall in love with the man of their dreams.

Marry and bear children.

Learn to clean a house and clean up her soul.

Learn what true love is...

...Then they hear a calf bawl.

At 2 am. Seriously. 

I sat up in bed - trying to figure out why there was a cow right outside my window. 

"And the window must be open, it's so loud! Why would My Cowboy open a window in the middle of the winter?"

I know - my thoughts were less than coherent. But in my defense, it was 2 am. Seriously.

I got up and walked out to the kitchen, trying to figure it out... As the light from the laundry room shone out through the crack in the door, it hit me; there was a calf in my laundry room. I cautiously peek in the door, and sure enough - a new calf lay there, bawling piteously.

Where was My Cowboy??

I tiptoed gingerly around the calf - trying to avoid getting my toes smeared with new-baby-calf-slime. What in the world do you do with a calf that acts like it is dying? And the noises coming from that calf were amazingly loud. In the quietness of the night, it was deafening. 

I ran to the kids rooms and quickly shut their doors, hoping that they wouldn't wake up.

Back to the calf...

I didn't want to bug My Cowboy, in case he was in the middle of pulling a calf. (he probably didn't have his phone on him anyways.) So I did the only thing I could think of - grabbed a rag and rubbed that baby hard. Hoping to coax it to live. I had no idea what was wrong with it - but it sure seemed like it was dying - with its neck stretched out stiff, and its eyes glassy.

Finally, 40 long minutes later, My Cowboy showed up. By now I was getting slightly deaf from the incessant bawling. (Slight exaggeration)

Cliff said that it was already born and laying on the snow till he went out for his first check of the night. Pretty cold night for a wet baby to be laying on the snow! He tried drenching it with colostrum, etc, but to no avail. He took it out in his truck to the barn, and awhile after that it expired. Poor thing. Till all was said and done, he finally came to bed at 4 am.

So, my friends, while you were eating heart-shaped pancakes with cute lil heart-shaped strawberries, I was fixing a big plate of eggs for My Cowboy, and his Wranglers were already smeared from hours of wrestling with baby calves.

Love? Oh yes. Not as pretty, but just as true.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I had been planning to go to town yesterday for some cool Valentine's Day treats for my kids. I wanna be the fun, cool, mom too. But when my littlest one came down with a cough/fever, I decided to stay home. So I made some funny mustaches  for my kids' drinks at lunch. I wished for red punch, but all I had was water. You know what? They didn't even notice what they were drinking. They were enamored with the 'staches! What do mustaches have to do with V~Day?? No idea. It was just something cute I had seen on Pinterest, and was about all my brain could scramble up after a 2-am calf ordeal. (In my defense, I did make red finger jello. It was quite well received. :)

Love? Definitely. Not pink - but love.

In the afternoon I worked on my cinch some more.

The cool frame My Cowboy made for my birthday gift. Is he talented or what?

 Here I am stringing the cinch.

Weaving the diamond.

 The kids were doing whatever it is that kids do. I let them have a holiday from school.

 

Done with my first cinch!

               Several mistakes, but overall I am pretty pleased for  my first try. I am definitely hooked.

 Do I like to celebrate Valentine's Day? Yes. Do I like to get flowers and chocolate and cards? Yes. But when life happens, and my child is sick, and my husband is working his tail off day and night for us - I don't waste even one moment on regret or disappointment. Life is now. Life is to be enjoyed. I sit up late when the family is sleeping, to wash My Cowboy's smeary, caked-on-filth coat.
                                                   Love? uh-huh.
He wanted to go to town and get me flowers, but had to work. It's all good.
                                                Love? you bet.

 I played a game with the kids. I made dorky little mustache straws, and we ate red jello. I hugged my husband, ignoring the odor of afterbirth, and we shared a smile and several good laughs... we are family, we all love being together, and no matter what day it is, we love living this life together. We said: "Happy Valentine's Day!" to each other, because we love each other. We have many celebratory meals, days, and moments throughout the year where we give each other presents, special meals, and fun memories. When a holiday slips by unnoticed - it's ok. Seriously.
                                      Love? Oh, so much love.

Happy Valentine's Day!

7 Years Ago Today... (or: the birth of a son.)

The day began calmly enough... a few small contractions, not too painful, not too intense. But as the day wore on, the pain and exhaustion became almost unbearable. 18 long hours later, our 3rd child -and second son - was born.

We named him Andrew Wayne. 

My Cowboy wanted an Andy. I stipulated that only if his full name was Andrew.

But it was shortened to Andy pretty quickly.

He was 9 lbs, 9 oz.

That is a big newborn, just in case you don't know. He didn't fit in newborn sized clothes, because at 24 inches long - his little legs couldn't even stretch out.

He was an exceptionally good baby.

He was a rambunctious little boy, as soon as he could walk. Which was soon. He had me worried for awhile, because at 6 months he couldn't even sit by himself. My friends told me it was because he was so chubby. It must have been - because at 7 months, he began to sit up alone. A week after he learned to sit alone - he started crawling. Bam. At 9 months he was walking. Everywhere.

I distinctly recall 2 times where I thanked God for sparing his life...

1. Someone forgot to latch the baby gate by the stairs, and he rolled his chubby little self all the way down a steep set of stairs that had concrete at the bottom. I rushed over and when I got to the steps, he was laying perfectly still on the next-to-the-bottom step - looking up at me with very wide-open eyes. Perfectly unharmed. Thank you, Jesus!

2. We lived in a small trailer park, right next to a busy highway. One day while playing outside with the kids, he some how managed to escape my wary eye, and it took me 5-10 min of running frantically hither and yon, (with visions of semi-trucks and kidnappers in my head) till I found him, playing calmly under a bush. Oh, thank-you Jesus!!!

Today - he plays with angels and saints, and since its his birthday, I thought it deserved a

 THANK-YOU JESUS!!!!

Thank you that Andy is safe.

Safe...to play with kids and Jesus, all day.

Safe...never to worry about sickness or pain.

Safe...I never have to worry about kidnappers.

Safe...I never have to wonder if he will love Jesus.

Safe...never to be rejected, misunderstood, or hurt.

Safe...Always safe with Jesus.

I thank God so often that one child is forever safe.

Happy birthday, my son. I miss you. I love you. I can't wait to see you.