Pumpkin Patch

We had a good time visiting the pumpkin patch this year. I think Luke found the biggest mambo jambo pumpkin they had. It would take a month of Sundays to carve, so we had a smaller one he carved this morning...

Carleigh found the perfect one for her. I thought the green one was a pretty pick for Em, and Cora's is the smallest one of the bunch. The kids always have a ball on the barrel train. Cora is beginning to sit up and looked adorable amongst all the pretty pumpkins. Emma enjoyed being outside feeling the wind against her beautiful skin.

7 months old

Today Cora is seven months old! YIKES! It's flying by faster than I thought it was. So, what is the little bundle doing you ask? She is beginning to do the army crawl, rolls all over the floor, jumps like a crazy girl in the Johnny Jumper, blabs all day long, makes a spitting noise with her tongue and lip, nurses like crazy, eats pretty well, grabs for everything and puts it in her mouth, smiles at most everyone who looks at her, sucks on her little big sister's toes, holds the same sister's hand, feels at home in her big sister's arms, laughs at her brother, throws some pretty substantial fits, fights sleep with the best of 'em, likes to ride in the car most of the time, enjoys stroller rides usually, and has the cutest belly laugh you ever heard! I know I'm missing much, but that's a good summarization.

Your Hands

"Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NASB)



If you've never checked out our sidebar, you should. There are all kinds of wonderful things and a plethora of information there just waiting to be read. At the end of the sidebar is a little thing called the verse of the day. It's really quite amazing to me that every single time I read that verse it speaks the exact thing I need at that moment. I'm having a hard time with this one. The one that says, "Rejoice always..." I can almost get the rest of it, but the "rejoice" part is throwing me for a loop. I guess I'll just keep trying. (I started this post the other day when this was the verse of the day.)



Last night, as Kelvin wrote this morning, was a rough one. Really none of the past serveral days have been very lovely. I don't know how I get through the days sometimes. It is ripping out my heart to watch Emma cry out in pain with her face twisted and anguished. I really do know how I am getting through...only God is big enough to carry us right now. These are the darkest days of my life. I guess God knew what He was doing by giving us our little surprise bundle, Cora. She seems to be the comic relief we need in this continual tragic story of Emma's life. (Well she and Luke. He never seems short on hilarity.) We are doing a study with our small group learning about the God of the patriarchs and His different names. I haven't taken the time to find the Hebrew name, but we were encouraged to give a name to what God is for us right now. He is the "God who carries me" for my life right now. There is a new song out by JJ Heller that is my new favorite. Funny how music ministers to me, huh? Click here to hear the song is you wish. My favorite line is I know You hate to see me cry/One day You will set all things right.

One day...

Your Hands by JJ Heller

I have unanswered prayers/I have trouble I wish wasn't there/And I have asked a thousand ways/That You would take my pain away/That You would take my pain away

I am trying to understand/How to walk this weary land/Make straight the paths that crookedly lie/Oh Lord, before these feet of mine/Oh Lord, before these feet of mine

When my world is shaking/Heaven stands/When my heart is breaking/I never leave Your hands

When You walked upon the Earth/You healed the broken, lost, and hurt/I know You hate to see me cry/One day You will set all things right/Yea, one day You will set all things right/

When my world is shaking/Heaven stands/When my heart is breaking/I never leave Your hands/

Your hands/Your hands that shape the world/Are holding me, they hold me still/Your hands that shape the world/Are holding me, they hold me still/

When my world is shaking/Heaven stands/When my heart is breaking/I never leave You when...When my world is shaking/Heaven stands/When my heart is breaking/I never leave...I never leave Your hands

Emma's Hurting

Emma did good for a few days(relatively speaking), but yesterday evening and last night she was in constant pain. There was a particular moan and facial expression that Christy had in the last 2 or 3 contractions during the delivery of all four children. It meant she was at her pain threshold. I recognized the sound and sight with Emma last night. Morphine isn't cutting it.

Please pray for her complete relief of pain.

Kelvin

Faith Tested?

(Author warning: Kelvin)



Has your faith ever been tested?Don't answer too quick...that's a big question.



First, let's look at what we are asking. Are we saying "faith" as in total belief in God, or "faith" in his abilities? For "tested" are we looking for an opportunity to pass or fail, or simply "tested" in a manner that makes one stronger? Who do we think is doing the testing: God or Satan? Do we really believe in having our faith tested, or did we just grow up hearing the adults say it in church?



I often hear comments about our faith being tested when people mention Emma. It seems so odd to me when people say this, but I usually just nod my head in agreement. I suppose I see it a little different...so, here are my answers to the questions posed above.



All of us are tested in every sense of the word: does God exist, can he do what is written in the Bible, etc. Tests can be meant to prove us as failures or to make us believe God is one. So, who does the testing? I'll say Satan with access granted by God.



Have we been tested by raising a beautiful baby girl named Emma whose mind and body are poisoned by the cruelest of diseases? Are we tested in that we can mourn a child we still hold? Are we tested because we have made initial funeral arrangements for our little girl? Friends, let me be as clear now as in anything I have or ever will post on this blog. For the ever present question...

"Has your faith in God been tested by what you have been through with Emma?"

...I offer a resounding...

"NO!" Our faith has not been tested, it has been FORTIFIED!!!

Emma was not sent to test. She was sent to prove. We all despise war and the losses which come out of it. But without war, we have no heroes. We love our heroes. In her fight against Batten Disease, Emma has given our community dozens, if not hundreds of heroes to celebrate. Her work is not done yet and it won't stop for generations (feel free to take that as a challenge to outdo a child whose skill set only included saying "a", "uh-oh" and "daddy"). She introduced us to the wise words...


"We do not have a soul, but instead are a soul that has a body"


Emma is a wise soul who has taught many.


Tested? I don't get it.

Flashback Friday

I know it's Tuesday, but I wanted to do a Flashback Friday last week and didn't get around to it. So, here it is. I like remembering Emma when she was the spunky little thing she was born to be...

I wish I would have taken more pictures.

Country Mouse or City Mouse?

(Author warning: Kelvin)

So, which one are you, a country mouse or a city mouse? I bet you immediately know the answer, without hesitation.

Do you favor condos or cabins? City parks or hay fields? Sushi or a pig roast? Lexus or F350? Food Network or Outdoor Channel? Tour de France or NASCAR? A walk in the park or "going muddin"? Do you have a butcher, or are you a butcher? Fine museums or a "fine" tractor? Starbucks or the old percolator? Christmas at the Galleria or the day after Thanksgiving in a deer blind? Neon lights or twinkling stars? A water fountain or a trickling Hill Country stream? Picasso or a sunrise?

Me? I am a little of both, a country mouse with a city house, if you will.

On the subject of mice, have you ever observed a mouse that recently ingested rat poison? Do you remember how they initially stumble around due to lack of senses and blindness? Next they lay down with epileptic shaking and stare into space. And you saw how they just continue to writhe in pain to the point that you actually feel sorry for the mouse. They squeak and gurgle as their intestines turn against them. Remember all of that? Welcome to Battens Disease.