Full of Joy

Last weekend, Chuck and I spontaneously decided to take the kids on a little getaway. We’ve had a long, emotional, and tiring summer so we needed some time together alone as a family. On Thursday afternoon we headed down to VA where Chuck’s family has a house. A long car ride with two toddlers is NEVER enjoyable, but we finally rolled into town and stopped at one of our favorite dives- Cook Out. It’s cheap, it’s yummy, it’s NUT free, and oh yeah, it’s cheap! Dinner went rather smoothly and my heart was full as I looked around the table and saw all of us enjoying a dinner out. Chuck and I were extra joyful because it was the first restaurant Basye has been able to eat out at due to her allergies! Plus, Jase was doing amazingly well at potty-training and even announced to us during dinner he needed to go. Please don’t roll your eyes- this is a serious victory people! Our table of 4 was cheering and clapping and celebrating like it was Christmas when Jase got back from the restr...

Samuel is the son of my wonderful friends Nic and Jessi. Samuel has a brain disorder called ACC , but it's certainly not what defines him. What defines him is Jesus- who fearfully and wonderfully made him. That Christmas season he was three and a half. I started helping Jessi by driving Samuel to different therapies he was involved in so she didn’t have to drag her pregnant self, or baby girl out of the house multiple days a week. I didn’t realize at the time how God was using Samuel to fill me. Each day I spent with him, my heart fell more and more in love. On the days I picked Samuel up from school, I would anxiously wait in the car until I saw his teachers marching the class outside like little toddler ducklings. I’d get out of the car and walk to the edge of the side walk where we would meet. I’d be so excited for Samuel to look up, recognize me, and smile that infamously Samuel smile. Oh that smile! It would light up his whole face, all the way to his sweet...

We've been living in our new house for over three weeks now! It was fun to be all moved just in time for Halloween. That was the day I heard the door bell ring for the first time. It had been too early in the day for Trick or Treaters, and we had friends coming over, but not for another hour. I assumed somebody was arriving early. (Can we just stop and take a minute to bemoan early arrivers ?!) Even though I wasn't ready for early guests, I gave myself a pep talk to calm down. The extra roll of toilet paper wasn't out yet in the guest bathroom- no one likes to be caught without the extra roll, the apples hadn't been sliced, Basye needed to be changed- nobody likes to arrive at a stinky diaper house, Jase needed to be changed out of his PJ's (a story for another day), and the dessert wasn't made, but I would handle those early arrivers . This all flashed through my mind in just a few seconds. As I waited at the top of the...