Give Thanks: Day 5 - Church Family

We are thankful for our Hillcrest Baptist Church family. We are thankful that God led us to such a wonderful church that has been everything we have needed it to be just when we needed it most. It has been a source of love and understanding. The Children's Ministry has been such an excellent resource for both Matthew and Gabe. Matthew's teachers reached in and pulled out the Matthew we know and helped him to grow as a person. He has made such HUGE strides having such wonderful people surrounding him and believing in him. He looks forward to going the church and seeing his teachers and being with his friends. That's enough to make any parent feel thankful. Gabe has had a slow start but he makes strides everyday. I love seeing how much he is loved by those who keep him. They take care of him and play with him. We tell them things we are working with him on at home (like learning concepts and skills), and they will work with him on it in the nursery also. They care so much about the progress he makes. They rejoice with us when our boys accomplish goals and milestones. That is very special to us that they care so much. We love them for that. We have been blessed to make some great friends and form relationships with people who have "been there before". It helps to know that others have walked the paths you are on, that they made it through and that they are praying for you. We are honored and humbled to know that we have an army of prayer warriors ready to pray at a moments notice. We are also thankful for the opportunities we have been given to serve through our church such as the choir and Mission Friends. We are thankful for groups like our Sunday School class and MOPS that provide opportunities to fellowship and build relationships. We just can't thank God enough for leading us to Hillcrest Baptist Church.

Give Thanks: Day 4 - Family & Friends

We are thankful for our wonderful family and our friends that feel like family. It may sound cliche, but we don't know what we would do without them. They are always there when we need them. They love us and support us. It makes all the difference in a bad day and a good day to have someone to talk to about problems. We always know that when those days come we are just a text or phone call away from being covered in prayer by an army of prayer warriors. Family and friends like that are truly a blessing from God. It's amazing how God has brought so many wonderful people into our lives. We love you all and are thankful for each of you.

Give Thanks: Day 3 - Our Children

Today we are thankful for our children. God has blessed us with two beautiful boys: Matthew and Gabe. Parenthood changed our hearts and life in more ways than we can ever express or understand. There are places in your heart you don't even know exist until you experience the love and happiness that comes from being a parent. Matthew and Gabe are so alike and so different at the same time. They are sunshine on cloudy days. Those sweet boys are truly a blessing. When it seemed that they would be our only two, God had other plans. Now here we are on our adoption journey. While we haven't had any children placed with us yet, we know it is in the works. We don't know who the child is or when it will happen, but God does. We know that God already knows the child that will one day join our family. To us they are our child already. Maybe there is more than one child meant to join our family. Whatever the case may be, we trust God. We love them and are preparing our lives for them just as we prepared for the births of Matthew and Gabe. We are thankful that God has blessed us so much as parents, and we are thankful for our children... ALL of them.

Give Thanks: Day 2 - Jesus

We are thankful for Jesus, our Lord and Savior, who left Heaven and became flesh. He lived as a man and was temped as a man, but led a sinless life. He paid the ultimate price for our sins. He was a spotless and pure sacrifice. He endured the cross, died and rose again to not only pay the price for our sins and overcome death but to also give us Hope.. hope of an eternal life spent with Him in Heaven. Even now He intercedes on our behalf. Nothing we could ever do, no good deed, no charitable act could ever earn or be worthy of the grace that we are shown through Jesus. We are thankful that we do not have to the face the fate that we deserve, that as Christians saved by the blood of Christ we are forgiven.

Give Thanks: Day 1 - God Seeing Us Through

We have so much to be thankful for, it's difficult to know where to start. We are especially thankful to God for seeing us through our recent trial. As many already know Mike had a heart attack earlier this week. As scary and stressful as it was, we know it could have been much worse. We are thankful to God for seeing us through, for keeping His hands of protection on us, for guiding the doctors' and nurses' hands and decisions. We are thankful for our supportive and loving family. We are thankful that my mom was able to keep the boys and get Matthew to school, and that her coworkers are so understanding and supportive that she was able to leave at a moments notice. We are thankful that my dad was able to go with me to Dothan. We are thankful for our prayer warriors. We are here to say that prayer works. We have had MANY occasions to prove the power of prayer in our lives. NO ONE can get enough prayer or pray enough prayers of their own. We are thankful for all of our friends who came, called, texted, sent Facebook messages and/or commented on our updates. We are thankful that God has put sooooo many wonderful people in our lives. Every single one of you is a blessing to us, and we are thankful for you. God bless.

Preschool: Week One? Success!!

Matthew had a GREAT first week of school! He's adjusting well and learning so much. He has already made great progress. He is learning how to behave in a classroom environment, take turns, share, use computers and anythings and everything else he will need to be ready for Kindergarten. Plus he is having fun doing it. We are so thankful for those who are teaching him and working with him. God  has been planning and working everything out to get us to this very point. Thank you to all of our prayer warriors who have been praying with us. Our prayers are definitely being answered. We look forward to the school year ahead, knowing that God has brought us this far and that everything is in His hands. He makes all things work together for our good. Praising Him for a good school week and the hope that it gives us that everything is going to be fine.  :)

Jeremiah 29:11-13
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

First Day of Preschool

A new chapter begins today. Matthew spent his first day at school. He was excited to get ready and happy to stay. We went in with him expecting we might have to walk him to his room the first day, but instead Matthew came up to us in the lobby and gave us kisses, told us "bye" and that he'd see us soon. He was so happy. We left hearing him being introduced to new friends. So proud of our big boy. I think it was harder on us as parents knowing that our baby was growing up before our eyes.  Truth is, he was more ready than we were. We anxiously counted the minutes until it was time to go pick him up. It was a beautiful sight to watch him come walking out that school door. He got in the truck talking about how he played with "the boys" and that they are his friends. He also said he played on the computer. His Daddy asked if he had fun, and he said "Yes, lots of fun".I asked if he likes his teacher and with a huge smile he said "Uh huh". When asked if he wanted to go back tomorrow, he said "I go back tomorrow. I go to my school tomorrow." It was like music to our ears. He LOVES going to school.