The Title-less Post

I couldn't really come up with a title for this post. My creative juices have not been flowing lately. Not that I have any creative juices to begin with, but whatever.
Its been a tough couple of weeks! It's funny to me how I can look back at my previous post just a few short weeks ago and I can tell I am on a mountaintop. But, such is life, we also go through valleys as well. Mainly, my journey through this valley is due to the fact that I can't get over the sadness that we weren't able to go to Hilton Head together. And, THAT stems from the sadness that since school started almost 2 months ago, my sweet little foursome-of-a-family has had VERY little time together! I kept thinking to myself that we would plan a little trip over Sadie's Fall Break, so that was making me feel better...until we realized that Sadie's Fall Break is NEXT week and NOTHING has been planned. :( Not to mention, the funds are definitely not available for us to take a little trip, if ya know what I'm saying....

I'm not in some deep dark depression or anything like that. I just notice a little bit of sadness looming over me. Family vacation to some, is just another trip...another time to go to the beach after you've been several times with your extended families all summer, etc. Our family vacae is much different. We have gone since Sawyer was just 1 year old! And, I can attest to the fact that every single year has been better than the previous. And, every single year has been perfect. How does it get better than perfect? I don't know, but somehow it does! We eat up every single second we get on that vacation and we don't take one second for granted. We make memories that get us through the whole next year until we get to go back again. We take hundreds, and I mean HUNDREDS of pictures and I carefully document each one in a photo album that sits in chronological order in our entertainment center. We get our annual "family photos" made on the beach that we have hung all over our house. And, we stay on this vacation until we just can't come up with any more excuses to not come home! We extend it the whole way home, detouring every chance we get! I think the hardest part of not going this year was feeling like we lied to our kids. We've had them pumped up about going to the beach ALL. SUMMER. LONG. And, then we just didn't go. That will hurt a momma's hurt to see the sadness in their eyes as they kept asking how many more days until we leave for the beach??? Just for me to say..."I don't think we get to go this year". Very hard to explain to a four and five year old. Ok, I am moving on...

On the other hand, I am extremely thankful for Fall!!! The weather changing has me very excited! I love going to Football games in jeans and long sleeves! I love the kids being able to play outside anytime they want to! Dennis and Sawyer went for their first hunt of the season this past weekend and of course, Sawyer loved every minute.

Updates on kiddos:
Sawyer is lovin' Pre-K. He has made lots of new friends and he is SUCH a good boy! He has only gotten in trouble one time and that was because he was talking on the rug. I can't complain about that! Especially for a little boy! He is coloring so much better and he is doing really well at learning to write his name...legibly. ha ha
Sadie is obsessed with school, just like I knew she would be. She is already reading, which blows my mind. She loves, loves, loves her school. I love it when we are at the football games and she goes running up to ladies and gives them the biggest hugs and then she'll introduce me to them. They all love on her like crazy and it is so wonderful! I met her PE teacher and her computer teacher the other night. They all know her by name and I love that. She is really having a great year and I don't have one complaint.

That is all for now. I am choosing today to focus on my blessings and I am going to trust that despite the sadness, God always has something GREAT right around the corner. Stay tuned with me to see what that is... :)

Great is Thy Faithfulness

Love this song. It has been so special to me for so many different reasons. We even had it sung at our wedding because we love it so much. Anyways, I truly feel that God's faithfulness to me has been astounding these last few weeks. I know that some have said to me that this is just a "season of blessings" for me and my family. I hope not. I would love to feel this close and in touch w/ God at all times; not just for a season. I don't really consider it a "season of blessings". To me, it's more of a deeper relationship that I feel with my Savior. Maybe a closeness that I have never felt before. I've been trying so hard to turn to God first. He needs to be my source of strength. If I can get to the point where this is my FIRST instinct, I will be where I need to be. I think it just takes practice. I think it takes discipline. But, I think once you've got it, you've "got it", if that makes sense. The other morning, Sadie was crying before she left for school. I knew it was nothing serious. I knew she was just tired and cranky. But, did that make it any easier to watch her walk out that door with huge tears coming down her face? Um...no. I seriously wanted to come back inside and cry my eyes out, worry, get mad at God, etc. But, instead, I went straight to my room, got on my knees and prayed for her. Like, earnestly, intently prayed for her. It's amazing how much better I felt when I was done. I honestly wasn't worried anymore. I laid it at God's feet and I let go. Sure enough, when Dennis called me after he had dropped her off, he said that she was perfectly fine and hadn't cried since they left the house. I immediately thanked God for being faithful to my prayers. God never changes. (Thou changest not) He never stops caring about the small things. (Thou compassions, they fail not) Thank. You. God. Another thing I have tried to start doing is when I am faced with a decision, whether it be big or small, I try to ask myself..."is what I am doing considered Christ-like?" If so, do it! If not, don't do it! Simple, huh? Yeah, not so much...But, I've got to start somewhere. If we are created in God's image, and we are called to be like Christ, I believe every single thing we do/say should imitate Him in some way. I'm not putting myself on a pedastal in ANY way, but I am trying so hard to learn how to be "different". These are the few things that have come to me over the past few weeks. I believe that if we are faithful in our walk with God, we will see over and over again that God has always got our back! When Dennis and I were in Atlanta this past weekend, I accidentally left my stuffed puppy dog that he gave me for my 18th birthday. I have slept with it every single night since he gave it to me. He surprised me with it at Planet Hollywood in Nashville on my 18th birthday. He had the waitress (which happened to be his cousin, Anita) bring it to our table with a diamond bracelet around the puppy's neck. How sweet is that? Anyways, I have slept with that dog for 16 years! That thing goes everywhere with me. It wasn't until we got home from Atlanta that I realized I had left it in the bed in our hotel. I was DEVASTATED! At first, I panicked (see? still learning...) Then, I texted my friend Shelly that was still at the hotel in hopes that she could get the front desk people to go upstairs and find it. They didn't. So, I called the next day and begged the lady to please have someone go and look. They called back to say that they checked, but didn't find anything. I was so sad. I prayed and prayed that God would work it out. I'm SUCH a sentimental person and those types of things mean SO much to me! I mean, heck, I still have a Snoopy stuffed animal that my dad gave my mom when they were 18! Sure enough, a sweet man from the hotel called me later that night and told me that my puppy dog was found on a different floor of the hotel while the staff was putting clean sheets on the bed!!!!!! He even offered to Fed Ex it to me for FREE! Great is Thy Faithfulness! So, whether I am in a "season of blessings", or whether I'm just figuring out what it means to really practice my faith in God on a deeper level, I am enjoying where I am and I am in constant prayer that I can continue to go deeper still.