every captive thought

What a great weekend we are having!  We had an awesome family day yesterday, then church tonight followed by dinner with 4 of our close friends, Chris, Sarah, Denni and Brian (Miah and Amber couldn't be here).  We always come away from our time with these friends so cheerful and encouraged.  They were our first friends to the hospital when Jude was diagnosed.  And they have been true friends to Brad for years.  We are blessed to have them in our lives. Our pastor, Tommy is doing a marriage series right now and tonight's message was great.  If you have time to listen to it, you won't regret it.  Click here .

Ok, so seriously, I had no idea how much of my blogging time BSF was going to cut into.  I love it though.  It is such a challenge...and exhausting...but I feel like it is something the Lord has called me to do and each week, as He enables me, I am so grateful that I get to be a part of.  It is something that is so totally out of my comfort zone and what I feel like my abilities are, that I know it is Him.  It is such a privilege to get to sit with these other women once a week and then to get to teach these precious children.  I'm thankful.  However, it is far more difficult than I had anticipated.  It is stretching me, and that is good. Something that I had not expected was what I would learn about my own children through this...particularly James.  It is one thing to just drop your child off at the door and go on to your own class.  But to be in the class with him and see how he interacts with other children and adults...it's interesting...

Today Brad and I took the boys to the pool.  James tried out a new swimsuit. He loved having his Daddy there with him. Because he does fun stuff like this... Over and over again...   Until James is tired. Mommy just sits on the side with Jude because he is a little freaked out by all the action. He feels much safer here...strapped into his car seat and under the shade. James was exhausted and ready to go home for a nap.  Brad and I realized this is a really nice perk to going to the pool! After naps we were off to church.  And Jamesie got to see his girlfriends. I think I need to go a little easy on the sunscreen.  At least we can tell it's working.

We went to church tonight and as always the message was a blessing.  But tonight was the first time since I have taken the boys to the nursery that I was able to relax, focus and not have my mind on how they were doing.  And that is all because Jamesie had the love of his life in the nursery with him...Dannie Honey...Dr. Honey's daughter.  She helps out in the nursery and he promoted last week to her class!  He was SO excited to see her.  He even put on some of his Daddy's cologne so he would smell extra nice for her.  (We won't tell him the impossibility of the 10 year age difference). Weird look because he's eating whole wheat bunnies The summer series Tommy is doing is about Moses. It has been fabulous! Tonight's message was about the golden calf and how that applies to idols in our lives.  Oh my gosh, he said some things we really needed to hear.  Here are a few of his main points that were so thought-provoking (*'s from the message, pa...

I hope your Easter was a wonderful as ours.  We went to church with my Mom and Dad then had an Easter egg hunt and lunch.  We enjoyed our time celebrating the resurrection of our Lord and spending time with family.  Nana hung out with the boys in the back while the Easter bunny (aka Dad and Brad) hid the eggs in the back yard. James was all hopped up on cough syrup and therefore totally relaxed and chill.  All he cared about once we let him outside was  opening each egg and eating as much candy as he could.  He didn't get the whole concept of gathering up all of the eggs first and then eating later.  I bet next year when he has a little competition from Jude he will be a little faster on the gathering part. We have our appointment with Dr. Regueira tomorrow (the oncologist).  Jude should have his first round of tests tomorrow unless it has to be put off because of his ear infection.  We are praying for a good appointment, good test results...

Strange how one month can seem like a year.  One month has changed our lives.  One month ago today we saw Dr. Ross walk into the room...the look on his face told us everything.  One month ago we heard him say to us, "Your son has cancer."  One month ago we sat with  Dr. Honey and cried as she told us the plan for Jude.  One month ago we were admitted to the PICU with our 6 month old son. One month ago we were terrified, shocked, and sad.  One month ago the Lord ran to meet us in the Valley Of The Shadow Of Death.  One month ago we didn't know where we would be today.  Today we are hopeful, encouraged, and blessed....still shocked and sad at times...but at peace.  I can truthfully say that we are at peace.  Jude's prognosis is good...no, it is great!  We are hopeful and know that the Lord is faithful.  We have fabulous doctors that we love and trust.  Doctors that have become our friends through this crisis. We wen...

I went to bible study this morning at church.  It is a monumental undertaking to get myself and the boys ready, loaded, and to the church by 9:00am.  I am sure this is a breeze for most people.  I struggle.  Never mind the amount of clever negotiating I had to do to get Jamesie out of his Spider Man muff muffs before we left.  I promised him cake and sprite when we got home if he would just put his sneakers on for heavens sake.  Mothering at its best.  It worked.  I'm not proud. I also told him he could wear Brock's hat.  Works like a charm.  I can get him to wear anything by telling him it was Brock's.  And after the mountains I moved to get there "on time"...we were early.  Go figure.  Do you get extra points in heaven for being early to bible study?  I hope so. James woke up from nap time with a hairdo that was a glorious mixture of Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and Justin Bieber.  He was 0% amused that I wa...

I hope you had a good weekend. James did a little painting on Saturday morning with Uncle Andy. I enjoyed a relaxing afternoon with all the girls. Today we woke up late and had to make a mad dash to get ready for church. Which meant double duty for Brad...occupy James while shaving. I have to say...the multitasking was impressive. And after another day of no napping and his refusal to go to bed, we are trying a different tactic with James. We are letting him wind down in bed with us while we watch tv. It's a John Wayne movie...Eldorado...he should be asleep in seconds. I know I will be. Jude is up here with us too. I hope your week goes well! Psalm 9:10-Those who know Your name trust in You, for You, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek You.

This morning before church, James was playing with one of his new toys, "Scout". Scout has a button on his foot that you can push and he yawns and plays lullabies. Every time James pushes that button and hears him yawn he takes him and puts him in bed. So cute. We went to church this morning with Mom and Dad. The real miracle was that all four of us were ready in time for me to make everyone pose for a picture. Christi and her family got into town this afternoon! James asks for "Bwok" all the time. He even talks to him on the phone. He is so excited to have his buddy in town! Usually I am not particularly fond of the day after Christmas but I was excited to see my sister today. Also, I don't like for our Christmas decorations to be up for one second past Christmas, so Brad and I got them all taken down and put away during the boys nap time! Woo-hoo! On to the new year!

I hope that your Sunday was as wonderful as mine! We finally went to church as a family. I felt brave enough to try this since Jude got his 2 month vaccinations AND because I know him well enough now to know that he will be quiet through the service. It was so nice to be there all together again. After church, we had lunch with Nana and Papa. Jamesie helped his Daddy move firewood around to the porch. He is such a good helper. But then he needed to take a break. Such hard work is exhausting. Then tonight we had dinner with some good friends. I grew up with Matt and have gotten to be good friends with his sweet wife Laurie. Tonight we ate over at Matt's parent's house where I spent a good amount of time in high school. Such good memories. The James' had a good time playing together as always. Bradley has the entire week off (WOO HOO!!!) and he is sweetly taking the feedings for me tonight. So nighty night! I'm getting some sleep for the first time in several ni...

The other day I posted about nothing being too hard for the Lord and Him giving us the desires of our hearts. Last night at church I got the follow-up to this message through Tommy's sermon about "how do you follow a God you don't get to see?" He talked about what happens when the answer is no? Do we doubt? Do we think that we are being punished for something we've done wrong? The verses referenced were 2 Corinthians 12:7-10. Paul was given a thorn in his flesh to keep him humble. The Lord grows us the most when we are humble and broken. He wants us to get to the point in our faith where we will accept that "His grace is sufficient for us and His power is made perfect in our weakness". God's grace is enough, it is adequate, it is sufficient. 'Yes or no, Lord, Your will be done'. So although the Lord may say no to some of my desires...He is answering my deep down desire to bring Him glory...for His will to be done. Paul asked the ...