Home Sweet Home

We’re finally home. We have been in seven states in the past week and I’m glad to be back home. Emma did great. She did not even whine once the whole trip. We made it home yesterday evening in an impressive 10 hours and 45 minutes. With a long McDonalds stop to play. Soon after we got home, we were paid a visit by some of the kids in the youth group. They brought milk and cookies with them. Very thoughtful.. I continuously thank God for bringing us here and blessing us so greatly.

Ok, the last few days of our trip:
We went to church with Adam’s parents Wed night and spent the night with them. Thursday, we had lunch with Adam’s grandmother and then traveled back to Birmingham. Thursday night, we had dinner at my friend Kristen’s house. Kristen is my best friend from high school and elementary school for that matter. I have known her since sixth grade. Our friend Jana also came over (also since sixth grade). All of our kids got to play together. Jana has two, Kristen one and one on the way (she's having a girl woo whoo.. And no, I don’t give in to peer pressure. We sat around at marveled at how much our lives have changed. Most people are not fortunate enough to have friends that they’ve known their whole lives. Thank you again God for blessing me so greatly.
Picture one: Jacob,Jayden(Jana's kids)Emma,Camden(Kristen)
Picture two: Emma,Kristen,Camden
Picture three: Emma and Camden

Today, I kept Connor Whitaker because Rachel had the baby. I’m about to do another post of the baby so their family can see pictures of him.

Have a great night.

All my love,

Dana

Funny thing Emma did:
She stood up in a chair and said to Adam, "Look daddy, I'm going to bust my tail".

On our way

I don't know if you could call this a restful vacation but we're having a good time. We made it down to the beach and were able to spend one day on the beach. We enjoyed seeing some of our friends and Emma really enjoyed getting to play with her old friends. We saw some of the teenagers and parents from Panama City and were glad to see them doing well. Emma has taken to calling the teens in PC "the old teenagers" and the ones from West Virginia "the new teenagers". We're now working our way back up the map. We are spending the night at Adam's parents in Enterprise Alabama and going to church with them tonight. Tomorrow night, we will get together with some friends of mine from high school and spend the night at my parents house. Then Friday, we'll be going all the way home. I'm so glad that I think of it as home already. I could be really cheesy and put in some song lyrics here but I'll spare you. Hope you all are having a great week.

The picture of the pregnant girl is my friend Pam. Isn't she cute!!

Love from above,

Dana

More pictures from the ceremony

Vacation

We are making a stop on our way to the beach. We are in Adam's sister's class room in Prattville, AL. This has been our first chance to get internet access. Our trip is going well. We traveled all day Friday and made it to my nephew's football game. The first picture is Emma with him after the game.My grandparents celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary by renewing their vows. It was a really sweet moment and the family enjoyed being able to get together. We are missing everyone in West Virginia and have enjoyed the text messages and phone calls we've gotten to keep us updated on everything. We have already had some interaction with hurrican refugees and have some neat stories to tell about how God works when we get back. I will share them with everyone when we get home. Just a little reminder to the Heart to Heart girls, keep up your prayer journals :).

I will post more pictures Wed. night when we get to Adam's parents.

Love from Above,

Dana

This past weekend we went to Summit in Columbus. It was a really great trip. I had been under the impression that it was a youth rally but it was really a sort of family rally. The numbers were low which is somewhat dissapointing because I thought it was a great event. There are very few things that families with young children can go to and worship God and know that their children are well taken care of. They had a great child care section and Emma had a ball. Our group was the largest group there and that was quite a boost for us. The group did great and I was so proud to be a part of them. There were several times that I would see specific kids going to great lengths to make sure another kid didn't feel left out. They do a great job of loving each other. And, since the Bible says that "they will know us by our love", that's a huge deal. And it's working, Linda went and seemed to have a great time and felt really welcome. I'm so excited about all of this. I do believe that this group of kids are going to change the world.

While we were in Columbus, Jan flew in and Emma and I went and picked her up at the airport. Since we've been back in Vienna, she's been spending a whole lot of time with Jason. In case you don't know, Jason is a guy that works at OVU that I introduced her to. Yes, that was me patting myself on the back. This will be interesting to watch.

Now an Emma update... Well, that terrible twos stage probably wasn't really the terrible twos because it didn't last for very long. She's back to her sweet little self. We had her two year old check up last week. Yes, it's two months late but give me a break, we just moved. She was 36 and 1/2 inches tall and weighed 30lbs. She is in like the 98th percentile for her height. Guess she's going to be tall like her daddy. For the grandparents.. Sorry, I haven't taken many pictures of her this week but I'll work on that today. In the one I posted from Summit, her head is turned away. Funny things she's said... Well, I'm not sure this is funny but when I picked her up from her class at Summit, I asked her if she had fun and she said, "Yeah, I had fun playing with the boys". Also yesterday, she came up to me and pulled out her ears and said, "look, I'm a monkey". Then, a few minutes later, she said, "I figured I'd be a monkey". Who knows? She keeps us laughing. I have the best job in the world. I thank God that I'm able to be at home with her and not miss these precious moments.

Yesterday, we went to the park to meet people from this Mom's club that I've joined. We really enjoyed it and I'm really excited about all the events that this group does. They do all kinds of service projects and field trips and stuff. And, it's a chance for me to meet some people out side of church and do a little reaching out myself.

Tonight, we are having Heart to Heart with the teenagers and I'm excited about getting a chance to discuss things that are on their hearts.

We are going on vacation this Friday and will be gone a week so it might be a while before I update. But I'll try to add some more pictures soon. Hope all of you have a wonderful week.

Love from above,
Dana

Today was a good day. I heard from my family down in Alabama and got the update on hurricane Katrina. My parents lost electricity at both their home and buisness and a tree fell on my sister's house. But, all in all, the damage wasn't too bad and most importantly, they all are safe. I thank God for that. Emma and I went to the store and then, while Emma was napping, I had a little chat with my friend Pam. You know how every now and then you make those friends that you know love you just the way you are and you can totally be yourself and know they won't ever think badly of you? Well, Pam is one of just a couple of those people I have in my life and I always enjoy talking to her. This evening, the teens came over to watch a movie. Linda, a new girl came. She is also going to Summit (that's the youth rally we are going to this weekend). Linda just showed up at class Wednesday night and Lindsey stepped out and made an effort to get to know her. I believe that that is a big part of why she came back. Also, Lindsey brought three girls with her tonight. That girl is on fire with the reaching out stuff and I'm so proud of her. The rest of the teens did a good job welcoming Linda too. Anna told me that she is bringing a friend with her to church with her tomorrow night. Is it just me but does all of this "Fishing for Men" get everyone excited? I have this theory, the water that never runs dry that Jesus talked about... I think maybe part of what he was talking about was bringing others to him. I think a fire is starting that is going to spread..
Anyway, my day ended the best way possible. Emma went to bed with no fuss at all and when I laid her down she said, "Momma, I love you sooo much. You're my best friend". It doesn't get any better than that. Life as a child of God is awesome!! I hope your tomorrow is wonderful.

Love from above,

Dana

Are we following Jesus?

Ok, I know I've been on a kick of serious posts but you guys are going to have to stick with me for one more. I was talking to my good friend Hannah Hunsicker tonight. She gave me the screen name for her xanga and I thought I'd go take a look. I wanted to share with you a line from one of her posts ( don't worry I got her permission). "Isn't it great how "christians" are always the nicest, most kind, and happy individuals. Hah, too bad that was complete sarcasm." Now, let me give you a little back ground on Hannah. She grew up going to church with her parents. But in the past couple of years, she's decided that people in the "world" act more like Jesus than people in "church". I'm guessing but, I think maybe Hannah isn't the only person that feels this way. Ok, I'm not totally guessing because I've felt that way before myself. It was about a year ago that I told Adam I was going to write a book called, "If these are the people going to Heaven, I'm going somewhere else". So what made Hannah feel this way? Well, I know that a big part of it has to do with experiences she's had with church people.. People that she considered very good friends and had a some what spiritual relationship with for whatever reason distanced themselves with her. The very people that had taught her certain "rules about Christianity" broke them. And because she saw them judge others she feels sure they will do the same for her. And, to top it off, she works at a restaurant and "Christians" are notorious for being incredibly rude and cheap.. So, here's my question? Do we act in ways where when people are around us they think, "man I'd rather spend eternity anywhere else but than with them". Seriously, how many times have we pushed someone away because we said one harsh word, because we intentionally excluded some one or simply because we are so focused on ourselves that we don't take the time to reach out to someone else. My favorite line of all times if from an old DC Talk CD "The greatest cause of Atheism is people who proclaim Jesus with their mouths and walk out the door and deny Him with their lives". If we are followers of Jesus, should we at least look a little like him?
Something to think about

Lord, please forgive me when I've fallen short.
Please help me be Jesus to the world.
God, thank you for Hannah, please surround her with Christians that will show her your love.

Love from above,

Dana

Terrific Two's

Terrific Twos

Since I have shared some of the more challenging moments we’ve had lately, I thought I would share some sweet ones. Emma has this “I love you” thing down. I bet she says it 20 times a day. Sometimes, she says, “I love you sooo much”. Adam gives us both kisses and hugs and tells us he loves us when he leaves for work. For a while now, Emma has been following him to the door saying she needs more hugs and kisses. Recently, she has begun saying, “Momma needs more hugs and kisses too”. Isn’t it amazing the need even a two year old has to see her parents loving each other. We both had a laugh the other night when she got up into her chair while I was fixing dinner and exclaimed, “Delicious!!” I was also touched when I snuck up on her playing with her dollhouse and she was making momma and daddy dance. Yes, I love being a mommy.

Thank you God for blessing me so greatly!

Love from Above,


Dana

Terrible Twos

Ok, Emma has officially hit the terrible twos. In the past week my little angel’s body has been invaded. I think I will refer to it as her first adolescence. She is definitely wanting to state her independence. She’s not quite big enough to slam a door or roll her eyes but she can sure put out a mean scream. After two big battles today, both about going to bed, one for nap, and one for the night, she is quietly laying in her bed looking like my little angel again. All of the sudden, she wants to do everything by herself, get into everything she’s not supposed to, and really let me know about it if something doesn’t go her way. Today, she wrote on her dresser with a Sharpie marker (yeah, those Mr. Clean magic erasers aren’t quite as good as they say) To go anywhere, I have to allow an extra hour to get there because she wants to pick out her own clothes, put them on herself, put on her own shoes, turn out the lights, open the door, get in her car seat, shut the door, and buckle herself in the car seat, all by herself. None of these things she can actually do by herself so I have to wait until she actually tries it and sees that she can’t do it alone, and she surrenders to needing my help. And, we have done this repeatedly. Even after all of this, I still have this over whelming love for her and I know my life is so much more wonderful than it was before she was in it.


There are quite a few lessons I could take from this. One being humbleness, yes, I had heard other mothers talk about temper tantrums but since my little Emma had always pretty much pleasantly obeyed, I thought we were above that (man I knew better than that). But, what I’m really wondering is, how often do I seem like a two year old to God. Running around messing things up, trying to handle things myself and then whining to God when it doesn’t go my way. And what’s worse, I do these things over and over again. All the while, God is standing there patiently waiting for me to figure out that I need to surrender to him and give him the control. Then, he picks me up, pats me on the head and lets me rest in his love.

God thank you for showing me in such a wonderful way my need for you. Please help me to rely on you!

One thing is for sure, I’ll be resting in his love tonight. After wrestling with a two year old all day, I’m too tired to do anything else.

~~Dana~~