Duane and I had the honor of attending the most incredible memorial service we have ever seen yesterday. Our son in laws mother passed into glory after after being diagnosed with cancer last month. For three hours we heard story after story about this amazing lady. Her legacy leaves a rippling effect far beyond the ten children she birthed. She poured her life out for her children and then for her grandchildren but she didn't stop there. She lived by the verse "Let the little children come" and as children came into her life she loved them and poured her life back into theirs. She served her family, she served her Awana children, she served the Chinese church here, and she served anyone and everyone that came across her path. She served.
As Duane and I looked around at the packed church with close to 400 people and standing room only we were in awe. All these people were here because her life touched theirs. Her small frame, maybe only 5ft tall, left a legacy that filled this church to the rim!
The entire drive home we talked about this service. Arlene wasn't anyone famous, she didn't live her life in the public forum but lived her life behind the scenes serving the Lord Jesus and serving others. She was welcomed into heaven and heard the Lord say, "Well done they good and faithful servant". 

Legacy....

It's a word that I chose last year to strive towards. I don't just want to live life I want to live a legacy life. Duane and I talked on the way home and wondered what our memorials would look like. Are we touching more lives than just our own family. Are we serving like we could be?
One of the most powerful quotes I heard yesterday was..
"You're not ready to live this life until you're ready to leave this life."
Am I living this life like I am ready to leave this life?
We have never walked away from a memorial service so amazed and inspired. I wish I had been blessed with more time to know this precious lady and learn from her. Heaven is rejoicing with her presence today and those here are encouraged and spurred on to live this life differently, to live a life of servanthood, to love unconditionally, to let our lives decrease so that His may increase, and we are reminded that we are to live a life the world views as backwards. The world says to strive to be greater but God says, the first will be last and the last will be first. I want to live backwards. I want to love hard and love all. I want to serve unconditionally. I want to live this life like I am ready to leave this life.❤

Four years of Joy

Yesterday we celebrated four years of life with Shandie Rhylin. Her name means "God’s Gift of Joy" and she truly does bring us so much joy!

I went into my pregnancy with some fear. I was in the middle of some chronic health issues and dealing with an autoimmune disease, I had hemorrhaged the last three births, and I was 43 years old. I didn't consider my age a factor at all but when dealing with the medical field your age can definitely make things tricky when I preferred to go completely natural and your health provider wants you to do every test imaginable! I was probably his worst nightmare as a patient because I said no to everything! 

I had a wonderful pregnancy with Shandie and ended up going two weeks overdue with her. My labor and birth was uneventful and I didn't hemorrhage with her! I pushed her into this world without the doctor being in the room and our sweet nurse caught her.

This brown eyed, curly haired beauty has been such a blessing to our family. She is all things girlie! Tutu's, baby dolls, ribbons and bows, and she lavishly shares sweet kisses with everyone she loves! The Lord has mighty plans for Shandie's little life! I absolutely love this tiny girl and am so grateful that God chose me to be her mama! 

HaPPy BiRtHdAy SHANDIE!!!

 

Memories

The other night my son pulled up my blog and we sat and had a walk thru memory lane. I started this blog in 2008. In the nine years since I've had three more babies, we've had three children move out, two get married, four grandbabies were added, we endured years of chronic illness and the stress that comes with that, we will soon have our fifth high school graduate, we started a home based business, and we relocated our entire family to a new state. Those are the most memorable and biggest of our memories over the last nine years but there has been so many smaller and equally special memories to fill in the space between.
I am so grateful for memories. The good and the bad. The ones that bring laughter and even more so the ones that still cause the tears to flow. No matter how much suffering you went through, you never want to let go of those memories. The hard times refine you and mold you into who you are even more so than the good times.
As our children grow and one by one leave the nest I find that I am on a mission...a mission to create more memories. To create memories that our children can carry with them as they start their own families, memories that I can think back to when the day comes that the noise and laughter of our busy home quiets down, and memories that can be shared and passed down with the generations to come. I want to create a legacy with our memories.
With 2018 just around the corner I am thinking about the bucket list I want to make for our new year and the memories that are just waiting to be created. I will continue to snap pictures of every smile and laugh and I will look for the moments that need blown on to create the spark that will turn into a fire of memories. We will gather together on Sunday evenings for our family dinners and laugh together, I will document life and I will purpose to create moments that will birth into legacy memories. I will hold the moments, and pursue the little things because these are the things that the greatest memories come from.

“Nothing is ever really lost to us as long as we remember it.” 
 -- L.M. Montgomery

Multitude Monday

1331. Date with my mountain man

1332. Snow covered ground

1333. New grace, new memories, new year

1334. Flamingos and grandson's

1335. Rainbow juice

1336. Bedtime stories

x

1337. Heartstrings being tied
1338. Small bodies snugged up next to mine
1339. The warm house on a cold day
1340. A warm glow from the salt lamp

Long nights and early mornings

The night was short and the morning came early. I had spent the second night in row up caring for kids that were throwing up.
I walked out of my room to find that one of the cats had thrown up in my hallway. I cleaned it up and headed into the laundry room and threw in a load. Then I headed upstairs to the bathroom to find a dog had left me a lovely pile on the bathroom rug. I cleaned that and then went out and surveyed the mess in my house. Two days of stomach flu can wear on a house!
Some would say that this sounds like a bad night turned into a bad day! Several years ago I would have viewed this situation as terrible! This morning I found myself praising the Lord for His goodness and for reminding me how far I've come! Just a few short years ago missing out on two nights of quality rest would have left me wiped out, exhausted, and most likely I would have ended up sicker than my kids! My adrenals were so weak and my body fragile. Today my body is in a completely different place!
I am only 18 months into my health journey with Plexus and I have come so far, but I know I have more layers of healing to go. I look forward to seeing where I am next year!
Despite how my day started I am so grateful for the Lord allowing me the opportunity to see just how far He's brought me! ❤