Weekend

Wow. If you ever get a chance to go to Family Life Today's Weekend to Remember conference, do it. Joel and I had the best time. It was exactly what we needed to re-energize ourselves about our roles as husband and wife. The Lord really ministered to us and did amazing things in our marriage relationship. We would want to go again in a few years, and I'm praying that all of my friends will be able to go with their husbands one day. The Gaylord was so fabulous, by the way!!!

Before we left on Friday afternoon, we had another surprising event in our family. My dad began having chest pain, exactly like the pain he'd had the previous Saturday with his heart attack. In fact, it was worse this time. So Joel and I ended up going to Dallas really late on Friday, missing the conference sessions that night, because I just could not leave town until knowing that my dad was ok. It is the weirdest thing. We went through some roller coasters, he had another cath done (poor guy) and from that, the doctor believed that it was not cardiac pain. But when elevated blood enzymes revealed that it had to be a problem with his heart, they did another cath, this time, putting a stint on another artery. So he's had TWO attacks in less than a week! It is discouraging for him, I know, because he felt SO wonderful all week after last week's incident, really watching his diet and everything, and it still happened again. It's such a fresh reminder that God is in control of what happens to us, regardless of how secure we feel or what doctors tell us. God has given us two miracles this week in protecting my dad's life, and we consider ourselves extremely blessed.

Almost the Weekend....

Tomorrow Joel and I leave for a Weekend to Remember conference (Family Life Today) at the Gaylord in Grapevine. I am SO EXCITED!!! My parents are keeping Jonah, and I am ready for what the Lord has for us as we get more intentional about our marriage relationship. There are times when you are filled with anticipation because you know the Lord is going to do something, and this week has been just that; I am just expecting that He has a gift for us this weekend, and that excites me.

Tonight was our monthly staff wives meeting, and it was such a blessing. We all shared what challenges we've faced recently and how God has been faithful to us in the midst of them. It was so encouraging to hear people's stories of God's goodness, and I felt like I grew so much closer to those women tonight. I wish that having those kinds of nights was more of a regular practice in my life.

Speaking of God's faithfulness, I am just blown away by His care of my dad and protection of his life this week. My dad is feeling absolutely great. I also am grateful for the way he protected us emotionally during the waiting period. As we waited to know how bad it was and how extensive of a procedure he would need, our waiting room was filled with peace. My mom set the example of living by faith and not worrying about what "might be" and instead trusting that if the worst happened, God would give grace at that time. She just lived in God's presence in the moment. She was a peaceful, faithful woman. And I'm so thankful for that. I really love how God protected me from so much that I think Satan would love to have done in my thoughts, getting me to succumb in fear. Satan didn't get far with that this week in our family, thanks to God.

Following our weekend trip, Jonah and I will leave on Tuesday to go visit my brother and his family in Kentucky. Jonah has been talking about Na-Na (Nathan) and Tucky (KY) all week long. We are excited! We will be there through April 1st, so it might be awhile before I blog again. But I will definitely post an update on our trips when I get back. Please pray for safety traveling!

Quick Update

The procedure went well this morning, YAY GOD!!!
One of his main arteries was 99% (did you hear me, 99%) blocked. The doctor said he was a very lucky man. Of course, we know God just was taking care of him big-time. We have been amazingly blessed today. They were able to put a stint in it and fix it rather quickly. He's feeling ok, still in the ICU. Please pray for his recovery and continued health. He's going to have to make some major life changes to avoid more heart problems in the future, because of his diabetes and high blood pressure.
I'm so thankful my daddy is alive today.

Pray for my sweet daddy

Just wanted to let you know that my dad has had a heart attack. He's been in the hospital since late afternoon. He is ok right now (EKG normal) but he has elevated enzymes that show injury to the heart and the existence of blockage. We just don't know how extensive that blockage is in his heart. We will find out tomorrow morning when he has a cardio-catheterization. There are several possible things that can be done, depending on what tomorrow's procedure will show, and these options include a baloon stint or bypass surgery. Best case scenario would be if it were little blockage in one of small arteries and they could just give meds and not have to do either of the other options. But we're mostly hoping that all three arteries aren't blocked so we can avoid bypass. There are definitely signs that point to heart disease. He has a family history of it, he's diabetic (and that hasn't been doing so well the last month), and he has high blood pressure.

I beg you to pray for him. Ask for his healing! I want my daddy to be ok. I hate he's having to go through this. Because he's still in some pain and is taking certain medication, he can't be in a regular room tonight. They'll be moving him soon from the ER to the ICU for tonight. Please pray for me. You can imagine the scariness. I really don't want Satan to win in my thoughts.....pray for me to battle fear and anxiety, through the Lord's strength. Thank you, friends, for your prayers.

Jonah's Prayers

This week, Jonah's mealtime prayers have gone like this:

"Dear God" (Jonah repeats)
"Thank you" (Jonah repeats)
"for" (Jonah says, "five")
"the food." (Jonah repeats)
"Amen!" (Jonah shouts)

Seriously, every time we say "for," he says "five"!! It's one of the cutest things he has yet done! I love it. He's starting to like numbers and counting now too. Crazy how fast he's growing and changing.

Here are some pics I said I would post from our time playing at the Bergs' on Saturday morning. Thanks, Courtney, for sharing.

BIG BOY!

Jonah peepee-ed in the potty today!!!! It is a big accomplishment in our world. This picture was taken last week when he thought it was fun to sit there but not actually do anything in the potty. Today, something came out! Yea!!!

Weekend in Bartlesville

We returned last night from a really fun weekend in Bartlesville. We had a good visit with Joel's family. Jonah talks about them all the time and gets so excited to spend time with Nanny, Ert (Eric), Jen, and Sruh (Ciera). He had a blast, and we had fun watching him have so much fun. Jonah loves playing outside in her back yard. In the photo of him outside, he is raking the leaves. Only you had to stand back because he just swung it around and around very dangerously! Uncle Eric taught him how to make a lizard noise that always ends with saliva on everyone. If you ask him what sound the lizard makes, don't say I didn't warn you. Unfortunately, Joel's mom got a really bad migraine that made her horribly sick and in bed all day Friday, so we didn't get to spend as much time visiting with her as we thought we would. She and her mother and Ciera were planning a trip to West Texas next week for Ciera's spring break to take Joel's grandmother to see some of her family, but Grandmother decided this week she didn't feel like going anymore. Candy wanted to still take Ciera somewhere, so they decided to come see us! So they'll arrive on Saturday and be here through Wednesday of next week. So that will make up for some of that time lost this past weekend to sickness! The Azalea Trail will be going on then, so they will really enjoy getting to see all of the pretty Tyler flowers in bloom. My mother-in-law is a gardening queen, so she'll love all the flowers.

We also spent time with sweet friends this weekend. On Saturday morning, we went to see Jeff and Courtney Berg and their two sweeties. I think Courtney got some better photos of the kids, so as soon as she sends them to me, I'll post some on here. It was fun seeing Jonah and Jackson together....they seemed to pick up right where they had left off! They are buds still. It wasn't a long enough visit with them, but hopefully they'll come down to Tyler soon on a fun family trip!

That afternoon, I was able to spend some time with another friend, Emily Glenn. We hadn't really planned on getting together, so it was a good surprise. Actually a sweet gift from the Lord. She knows about miscarriage, and she was so helpful for me to talk through it with me, share her experiences more, and listen. She has so much wisdom. It was perfect. And I love how God knows exactly what we need when we need it, and He'll bring it. We don't even have to plan for it! Emily is a girl that I had just started to connect with right before we moved to Tyler, and I was sad about missing out on that friendship. But I found out this weekend that they are moving to Texas....they are looking to move somewhere in the Dallas-Ft Worth Metroplex. I'm so excited! They will be really close.

Then Saturday night, we went to dinner with our friends from our Tuesday night Bible study group there. We ate at Garfield's and went to the Gregorys' for dessert and stayed out way later than intended, just chatting away with the girls! I don't really know what the guys were doing in the other room, but that's what the girls did. Just sat and talked and laughed. It was very refreshing. It was fun seeing everyone's beautiful babies! Rusty and Chandra Roush, who moved from Bville to Stillwater a couple weeks before we moved, came to join the dinner as well. It was really fun to see them! I'm going to keep pressuring Chandra to start her own blog and give us all the fashion advice we need. =)

We ended the weekend with a wonderful visit back to our "old" church there. Seeing the MacIlvaines was so good, and we just always love every chance we have to get back there for a Sunday. Jonah took the nursery by storm. He acted like he had never left, he just marched around the building like he owned it. He was so comfortable going into the nursery. It was fun. He hasn't slept on that trip there or home in a long time, but this time, he was tired on the way home! He konked out before we even left Bville, I think! This morning, he woke up sweetly asking for, "Nanny?" It made me sad. He really misses her!

Coming to Bartlesville....

To friends in Bville, we are headed your way tomorrow and will be there through Sunday. Let me know if anyone wants to get together. Just email me, if so. Would love to see anybody I can!

Dare to be Dangerous

The title of today's post was the theme of our women's retreat held this weekend. The fellowship was sweet. There were so many precious, godly women who I enjoyed getting to know very much. And then I had my girls....some fellow young-uns (twentysomethings)....and we just laughed so hard all weekend long. It was a sweet gift from the Lord to get to know a couple girls from my community group better, as well as some fellow staff-wifers that I've been wanting to spend more time with. I had FUN with those girls!!! And there's a lady I met that I will have to hunt down and beg her to be my friend, she was that cool. She loved God, was completely real, and very smart and funny. And had really cute hair. Which wasn't the most important thing. But still, I loved her hair. =)

Our senior pastor's wife was our speaker, and wow, God really used her in a big way to shake us up, challenge us, and definitely not just keep us comfortable in what we know. We really were taught how to engage in our community (or whatever relationships we're a part of) to bring people to Jesus. God answered prayers, like He loves to do, and we were blown away by all of the practical ideas He put on each of our hearts to do for people in order to show them Christ. This is an area I have needed to be challenged in, and I definitely want accountability in living this way. I think I've mentioned on this blog before a little book by Lynne Hybels called Nice Girls Don't Change the World. I want to post an excerpt from that book, because it really captures what this retreat was about. It's so hard to share what all God did this weekend (it usually takes me a while to process it all), so I thought this might sum it up better:

The definition of a dangerous woman: "A woman who shows up with everything she is and joins the battle against whatever opposes the redeeming work of God in our lives and in our world. A dangerous woman delves deeply into the truth of who she is, grounds herself daily in the healing and empowering love of God, and radically engages with the needs of the world. My move toward the realm of dangerous women was prompted by the realization that I was living without passion, energy, dreams. Inspiration came from dangerous women I met along the way. From college students and empty-nesters. Young moms and grandmothers. From women crossing lines of age, race, and culture. Women mentoring one another and sharpening skills. Women volunteering time. Raising money. Thinking creatively. Taking risks. Reinventing their lives. Following their God-given dreams. Dangerous women. World-changing women. That's what I want to be and that's what I hope you will be. All of us. Together."

Another quote from Lynne: "Never doubt that a community of thoughtful, committed women, filled with the power and love of God, using gifts they have identified and developed, and pursuing passions planted in them by God - never doubt that these women can change the world."