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Thursday, September 15, 2011

First Stop: Preschool


I know the timing of this post isn't terribly original. I've seen tons of status updates on Facebook and in blogland the past few weeks about "back to school" and "first day of school." So I thought I'd be tricky and wait until MID-September to write about it. :-)

Jack has been excitedly chattering all summer long about how he can't wait for September. He told the store cashier, the baby on the playground and the bum on the corner that he is going to "Say-wem Acad-ummy in Septemmer."

And then September came.




I'm not very sentimental (and just for the record, Aunt Penny, I WILL cry at your funeral, so don't give me any more grief!), so when the morning of Jack's first day dawned, there were no tears from me. I dressed Jack in his favorite bug polo, slid on his Buzz Lightyear backpack (purchase last minute from a second-hand store, as I did a dance to the gods of thrift) and loaded him and Jude in the BOB.

Because really, what better mode of transportation to start your educational journey than the world's coolest double stroller?

(As I pulled up to his class, all Jack's classmates were saying, "Whoa, cool stroller!" Jack said, "Yeah, it's our BOB." And I thought, this stroller admiration from your peers isn't gonna last long, buddy, so soak it in while it's here. Because I am NOT pushing you to high school!)



Jack was so excited to look around the classroom he couldn't look at the camera. And really, with a cool cubby complete with your name on a dinosaur placard calling, who can blame him?

As I walked away, there were no visions of the day he was born flashing through my mind. No tears on anyone's part. No sighs of "my baby is growing up." I'm just not that kind of girl.

All I could see as Jack zoomed away toward the train table was the apple of my eye, surprise of my soul and joy of my heart taking his first steps on what I hope will be a fantastic journey of learning to love learning.

And I think I know how God felt when he looked down on his own son and said, "You are my Son, chosen and marked by my love, pride of my life." (Luke 3:22, THE MESSAGE).

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Baby News (and NO, not my own!)

When this sweet little angel was born, she was perfect. True, her heart wasn't textbook perfect. Leah had a tumor, discovered through a series of events that only God could have orchestrated.

I know many of you have been praying for Leah, and I thank you. I truly believe the prayers of people in several states (and three countries that we know of!) made a huge difference. Because I have great news: the tests from her biopsy have come back, and the tumor is benign!

That means no chemotherapy, and most importantly, NO HEART TRANSPLANT!

Doctors still have to figure out how to get the tumor out of Leah's heart, as it's in a rather delicate place. But that is doable and will be figured out shortly.

And here's another little angel I'd like you to meet:

Remember my Scottish friend Debra? You can read her story here. She is an amazing woman of faith. That faith carried her through the death of little Samuel.....and it believed that this next little man would someday arrive.

This Christmas, Debra will give birth to another son.

Another reason to rejoice: a close friend from church is also pregnant after suffering from miscarriage.

On a day where everyone is rightfully remembering, so do I. I remember the lives lost, the heroes who made me proud to be an American, the radical ripping apart of the innocence of the U.S.

But today, I also remember that life, thankfully, moves on. I remember that God is faithful during our darkest times -- during time of terrorist attacks, of planes altering history, of babies dying too soon or being born with scary tumors.

Yesterday was my Uncle Mark's funeral. He was only 52 when lymphoma took his life. His son was only 3 months old when SIDS stole that life.

That's the life we lead here on earth. Great men and women, and even babies, die. Evil reigns. Planes crash. Our children get sick, leaving us helpless to do anything but beseech the Creator for mercy.

Yet I remember that God never gives just enough grace. He gives an ABUNDANCE. He gives love, and hope for the future, through these babies.

So today, I pause to thank God for his enduring faithfulness. As an American, as a military wife and as a mother, I am in awe of the Author who is continually writing the perfect story for us all.