Where has the last year gone!

I can't tell you how many times I have wanted to get on here, but as most of you know; our family schedule is a little busy. Ok, so that is an understatement. I have to admit that this past year has been one full of ups and downs. We started the year off with spending a lot of our time at MU dealing with one of my many medical issues. I say this as I am laughing. If I have learned anything this year, it is that everything has its purpose and reason. In Feb I had surgery in my thoracic region, they had to remove portions of 2 muscles to release the nerve bundles that were restricting the use of my left side. To this day the surgery was a success.
Our next journey would be as we stood by my papa's bed and just watched helplessly as cancer stole his life. To this day it is so hard for me; I just can’t believe he is gone. He was a man of few words, but when he spoke you listened. Our boys adored papa Jack, and I was so thankful that they had the chance to say goodbye. It was in my papa's final hours that I gained a new respect for my big sister. Wendy sat quietly and tended to our papa every need. She was at his bed side until he took his final breath. She was the best nurse he could have ever asked for. I just watched in awe of her. I quickly realized how I had lost touch of the importance of your family that was given to us by God. In the days after our Papa passing, we all worked on pictures to remember his life. I thought for days of what I would say at his funeral, I thought of the last prayer we prayed with him, with his children and my grandma by his side. I know he is looking down over us right now.
Just as we felt that life was starting to get back to normal, or as normal as ones lives can get, we lost yet another family member. My dad’s brother, my God father, our Uncle Greg. I have never seen my dad so broken. You could see it in his eyes. I like to think of my dad today as one of my best friends. Every surgery that I have had and he could be there, he was there. Bringing me lunch or drink from Sonic. But how could I be there for him? Darren and I didn’t even hesitate, and we drove to Neosho to be with my mom and dad. Again, this was another moment, that I decided family is too important, and never again was I going to miss the little things, I want to be there, for my kids to be there, for my family to be there.
A year ago, we were told that my mom’s brother, my Uncle, only had 6 months to live. Cancer was taken his life. Remarkably, he is still with us today. I take every chance I can to take the boys to play with their cousin and just hang out with my Aunt Kristi and Uncle Mike. They amaze me with their strength, and their love. My Aunt too was by my papas side helping my sister take care of him. She was so selfless. She is a true inspiration to me. I know she has her days, that they have their days, but they are so determined to make the best of every situation, they have inspired me, to be a better person!
Every day is such a blessing. I have the amazing opportunity to work every week with the kids at our church, to go to kid’s camp with Dakota, to coach our boys in soccer and basketball and watch as Darren coached them in baseball. I am so blessed to have the things that we do have. To have my not so ordinary family. To all of you, I love you. To my friends new and old, I love you! You each have a special place in my heart. I hope that you all take this moment to step out of your comfort zone, and embrace life, embrace the ones who make you who you are. Make this Thanksgiving mean something, it is so much more then eating a big lunch, it is being with those that mean the most to us....

It has been way too long!

I found this devotion on judgement and thought it was something we all needed to read. I hope you all get a little something out of it.

"1 Corinthians 4:5 Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.

We came across this powerful story and wanted to share it with you.

There was a man who had four sons. He wanted them to learn to not judge things too quickly, so he sent them each on a quest to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away. He sent his first son in the winter, his second in the spring, his third in summer and his youngest in the fall. When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe what they had seen.

The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted. The second son said no – it was covered with green buds and full of promise. The third son disagreed, he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen. The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfillment.

After hearing all his son’s responses, the wise father replied, “Sons, you are all right — because you have each seen only one season in the tree’s life. But you cannot judge a tree, or a person, or anything else by only one season. Most things can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons have come to pass”.

I think each of us has judged someone or something prematurely, and we have also probably experienced the pain of being judged that way. Lord, forgive us! We need to give each other the benefit of the doubt! We need to look closely enough and long enough to see the big picture before we rule things out. God does that for us all the time. There’s so much work to be done!"