Sunday, April 6, 2008

Sacrifices

I can't let today pass without writing about it. As I mentioned in my last blog, today marked a year since my friend and high school classmate, Adam McSween, was killed in Iraq. Me and Leigh were talking about it in the car on the way to services today, wondering whether anniversary dates must be harder on families than other days. You know, where days like his birthday, their anniversary, a year from the last day she saw him, and today harder than say, any other day. Any day when the kids are both sick or she's just lonely. I don't know. But it led me to think about Jesus' "anniversary dates", you know, His birth/death/resurrection dates. I think probably Erin and all widows are probably remembered more by the world on anniversary dates, just like Jesus is remembered more on days that the world has deemed anniversary dates like Christmas, Easter, ect. Just like God wants us to remember EVERYday Christs' death and resurrection, we need to make more of an effort to remember our military and their families who are daily paying the most extreme sacrifice for our freedom. Just what was on my mind and I hope that you will take a minute nnow to aknowledge all the sacrifices that have been made so you can have the very life that you are living now. Thank God for sending his Son and thank our military for our freedom.

Friday, April 4, 2008

Catching Up

Whoo! I don't even know where to start! I don't think that I have posted yet that I got ten inches cut off my hair. I have always, even as a small kid, hated getting my hair cut. Now those of you who know me and see me regularly may find this hard to believe since you can't tell by looking at me that I have much of an attatchment to it, but I do. This time I went to Leila (sp?) this lady that goes to our congergation and her family has been good friends with ours for years and years. She did an awesome job and even put some "style" in it. As soon as I can, I am going to put some pictures up.
March is one of my favorite months! In the south it is a beautiful month when everything starts turning green and blooming again and the weather is almost always perfect! On top of that, it brings with it one of my most favorite things....March Madness! I LOVE March Madness! I love filling out my bracket, I love all of the great games on TV, I love the "Cinderella's" and the upsets, and, this year, I loved that Tennessee's men and women were involved! YAY! I have lost quite a few hours of sleep but have enjoyed most every minute of it (not the one where Tennesssee's men got beaten out in the Sweet Sixteen, obviously...nor the part where NONE of the teams that I had picked to get to the Final Four made it :^/ but all the other minutes!). Now, the Lady Vols are playing in the Final Four on Sunday and I am real excited! March Madness is a great way to keep occupied until football season! ;^)
On the 25th of March I was supposed to go down to Biloxi, MS to spend some much needed time with my friend Ashley and her family and get some much needed, good old fashioned vitamin D at the beach. Ashley was one of my very best friends (and actually still is!) in college and her husband is in the air force. They have two beautiful children, a little girl, Charlie who is 2, and her little boy, Colin, who just recently turned 1. They recently got their orders to move to England for at least three years so I needed to spend some time with them! Early Monday morning (I was at work) I felt a fever blister coming up. It was weird because I haven't had one in years and the last few times I have had one, I had actullay been sick. I didn't feel bad but I could definitely feel the fever in my lip. By the time I woke up for work Monday night it was a full fledged fever blister. That Tuesday was also supposed to be our monthly "Girl's Night" and we were supposed to be having Mexican...one of my favorites! By Tuesday night my fever was 102 and even though I wasn't feeling bad, I knew I couldn't go. Nor could I go to Mississippi. I was bummed but Leigh took good care of me and I slept a lot. I left on Thursday, the 27th, and drove down to Ashley's and had one of the best times of my life until I came back Sunday. I will be sure to put some pictures up soon, I promise!
I think that my hair cut, March Madness, and my trip pretty much sums up March for me. I hope that March was as wonderful for all of you as it was for me and that April is even better for all of us! The last thing I am going to add is my own little prayer list, thinking that maye you could take a minute to life these people up as well! Consider yourselves caught up! ;^)

Lisa (Gotkiewicz) O'Neal- Lisa is my best friend, like a member of our family. She has been having some health problems for the last two years and just found out what the root of them are. She will be having a surgery in the early part of May and hopefully (after a very painful recovery ;^( things will start to finally get better for her!
Audrey (Strange) Dawkins- Audrey has been my friend my entire life and she is pregnant with their second child, who is due in May. Audrey was diagnosed with diabetes while we were in high school which makes pregnancy more of a risk for her than most. Please keep these last few weeks of her pregnancy in your prayers that all will go well and everyone will be healthy as can be!
Melissa (Lee) Hicks- Most of you are familiar with either Melissa or her story so I am not going to re hash (see her link on my page if you need updating!). Melissa is pregannat angain and had her first ultra sound last month and everything looks GREAT! Praise God! However, this is obviously a very emotional time for her and she is currently going through some other major life changes (husband working a new job in another and her and her daughter have moved back in with her parents until her husband moves back and they can find a new house!), please lift their entire family up as often as you remember!
Erin, Lilly, and Gweneth McSween- Erin was married to my friend from high school, Adam McSween. Adam was a Navy demolition expert that was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq on April 6, 2007. Obviously, Sunday will be a year and will be terribly hard on Erin, the girls, Adam's family, and all who knew and loved him. Please take ever chance you get to pray for them on that day and take an extra moment to remember all of our military and their families. Who can imagine what our world would be like without them and their sacrifices.