Fall 2010

One week...

We made it a week! Everyone is still accounted for and the bills have been payed on time. Paul is working a lot, but says he is having fun. In his words it's an "experience." Everytime I talk to him I always ask what he ate that day just to see if he is going out of his food comfort zone at all. Yesterday I asked him what was for dinner and he said "I don't know...but it was good!" That made me laugh!
Lauren and I are hanging in there. Trying to keep ourselves busy. Yesterday she came down with strep throat. Our weekend plans have been rescheduled and we are having a quiet weekend at home.

Here we go...

I did it. I said goodbye to my husband and put him on a plane to Europe.
 Lauren handled things really well up until she wanted to look out the window at the planes. We had a discussion about how people got on the plane and how big the seats were, ect....then it happened. Big alligator tears that turned into one of those hiccuping, whole body sobs. I am so glad that Paul was past security at that point and couldn't hear or see her. He would have had a break down. The crying lasted for an hour! Oh, how my heart hurt for her!
 We had friends that had invited us over for the afternoon. I wasn't sure if we should try to keep busy or just go home. Well, we went to our friends house and let me tell you...it was incredible. They made us steak and baked potatoes! After dinner they brought out a  DQ ice cream cake to celebrate Lauren's birthday that had been the day before. Lauren was so excited that they remembered her birthday and they did such great job of distracting us from what was such a yucky day. It was so nice to be loved on and to be with people who understood that being seperated from your spouse for an unknown amount of time is not easy. God is so awesome! I was so worried about what how Lauren would handle it today and God just took care of it!

World Traveler

So, the big news in our house is that my husband is leaving in two weeks for Europe. His job is sending him to help out in Cologne, Germany and possibly Amsterdam. Family is not allowed to travel with him since it is a short term relocation. We think he will be gone for about two months. I'm sad that he won't be here, but very excited for him to have this opportunity. I've always wanted to show him the places where I grew up and now he will get to see some of it! I will admit that I am dealing with a bit of jealousy! I want to go too! We might be able to visit him, but airline tickets are so pricey right now. Sigh...maybe we will become overnight millionares!
I am a bit worried about how Lauren is going to handle this. She is the ultimate daddy's girl. We told her that he was going to go to Germany to work for awhile, but I don't think she quite understands that she and I aren't going. We'll see how it goes. He will fly out the day after she turns five.

Just a nugget of wisdom...

Here is a little excerpt from a book I'm reading: Girl Talk by Carolyn Mahaney and Nicole Mahaney Whitacre. This is Carolyn's response to "If you could raise your daughter all over again, what would you do differently?" This answer kicked my butt!

I wish I had trusted God more.




For every fearful peek into the future, I wish I had looked up to Christ instead. For each imaginary trouble conjured up, I wish I had recalled the specific, unfailing faithfulness of God. In place of dismay and dread, I wish I had exhibited hope and joy. I wish I had approached mothering like the preacher Charles Spurgeon approached his job: 'forecasting victory, not foreboding defeat.'. . .



As women, aren't we all vulnerable to fear, worry, and anxiety? And few areas tempt us more than mothering. But faith must dictate our mothering, not fear. . .Faith toward God is the foundation of effective mothering. . . Success as a mother doesn't begin with hard work or sound principles or consistent discipline (as necessary as these are). It begins with God: His character, His faithfulness, His promises, His sovereignty (pg 65).



Even in the most trying situations with our daughters, we have much more incentive to trust than to fear, much more cause for peace and joy than despair. That's because, as Christians, we have the hope of the gospel.



The gospel begins with bad news. It confirms the fact that we are all sinful, rebellious creatures. . .But the gospel doesn't leave us with bad news. The message of the gospel is that Jesus Christ has come to save rebellious sinners: mothers and daughters (pg 66).