Happy Easter

Hey there friends!  I hope everyone is having a fabulous Easter weekend.  The weather has been pleasantly hanging around in the 60's to low 70's here in Georgia, and we are loving every minute of it.  

I haven't done much decorating this year, but I just wanted to show off our little Easter tree from last year...

 
Keep in mind, it is sort of hard to get a family photo with the three of us...our arms are only so long....he, he.  ; )  So, we usually just take turns taking pictures with the baby when we can catch up to him...

 

At the church Easter egg hunt, our baby just wanted to climb the stairs...so cute!

 

So, from our little family to yours, we hope you have a Happy Easter. 

Book Review: I Still Believe

Hey y'all!  This is a book that I read a few weeks ago, and I just wanted to do a quick review to share...

I Still Believe
Jeremy Camp with David Thomas
212 pages
2013

I listen to Contemporary Christian music pretty often, but until I read this book, I had no idea that Jeremy Camp had lost his wife to cancer.  

The book just sort of jumped out at me when I was walking around the Lifeway book store.  Who could say no to those baby-blue eyes?

 via tyndale.com

Jeremy takes you on his roller-coaster of emotions as he works hard for his dream of becoming a musician, along with following his heart to find his true love.  As I was reading the first part of the book, when he was foregoing his passion for football and practicing playing the guitar instead,  I just kept thinking he would get his "big-break."  It was funny that it didn't really work out that way.  It seemed to be more of an extremely slow process of hard work, sacrifice, and determination.

His hope of finding love also comes to fruition, but only for a short time. Even when he and Melissa got married, they both knew that she was very sick.  One of the Bible verses that they kept leaning on was, "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."  Jeremiah 29:13.  

Even though he endured so much pain, the legacy that Melissa left him helped Jeremy to keep going and to pen some of the most heart-felt and uplifting lyrics that you could ever come across.

Reading this book was not an easy journey, but certainly one that was worth my time.  I believe that even non-Christians can find some little nuggets of hope and comfort as they turn these pages.  Please let me know if you are able to check it out!  : )   

What Cancer Cannot Do

What Cancer Cannot Do

Cancer is so limited...
It cannot cripple love.
It cannot shatter hope.
It cannot corrode faith.
It cannot eat away peace.
It cannot destroy confidence.
It cannot kill friendship.
It cannot shut out memories.
It cannot silence courage.
It cannot reduce eternal life.
It cannot quench the Spirit.

~Author Unknown

A good friend of mine showed me that poem the other day, and I just wanted to share it with y'all.  Have a great day.  : )

Change of pace...

Do you ever feel like you're just stuck in a day-to-day routine?  I feel that way sometimes.  However, this week really threw me for a loop!   I was on my way to drop my baby off at daycare on Monday morning, when he started getting really sick to his stomach.  As you can imagine, our normal day-to-day routine quickly got changed. 

The next two days involved a doctor's appointment, lots of carpet cleaner, and countless loads of laundry.  When this morning rolled around, I was very thankful that my husband was willing to stay home from work with the baby (he was feeling a lot better, so I didn't feel too guilty).    

I'm usually not a morning person, and I try to keep things as dark and quiet as possible while I'm getting ready in the morning.  But this morning, I acutally took the time to stop and enjoy the unique sounds of coffee brewing, and a little pitter patter of feet across the kitchen floor. 

All this really got me thinking about how our plans in life can change so abruptly.  Sometimes the changes are good, such as a new job, a new relationship, or an unexpected weekend getaway.  But other times, a sickness, a family fight, or even the loss of a loved one, can really make an ordinary day become extremely difficult. 

So, whatever you are going through this week, whether it be a good change or a not so good change, please be encouraged and know that you are not alone. 

CPS - 3

Hey there friends, I hope everyone is having a great Saturday.  : )

Today I got to take part in a very important and very unique Cancer Research Study.  It is called the CPS - 3.  It is a cancer prevention study by the American Cancer Society in which their goal is to one day be able to detect cancer with a simple blood test.  

What was required of me?  An online survey that I filled out this week, and about twenty minutes of my time this morning.  They had me fill out a questionnaire and they took a blood sample.  I was just amazed at how easy it was!  

Who can participate?  If you are between the ages of 30 to 60, and have never been diagnosed with cancer, then you can be part of the study.  If you want to check out their website, you can CLICK HERE.

As a follow up, I will need to complete a survey that they will mail to me every two or three years.  This will be on-going for about the next twenty years.  

A few questionnaires to fill out, and a small blood sample.  If that is all it takes to help save lives....sign me up!  

   

The Memory Keeper's Daughter

The Memory Keeper's Daughter

Kim Edwards

2006

448 pages

This is quite a unique book. Those Amazon Book Reviews are addictive. I just love to read them, especially the bad one-star reviews. They can be so funny!

Then, I start reading the additional suggestions listed under, "Customers who bought this item also bought." That is how I came across this book.

Even the book's cover was intriguing!

As her debut novel, Kim Edwards didn't shy away from some weighty topics. This captivating story of boy and girl twins separated at birth is a real page-turner. Set in the 1960's, the new mom-to-be did not even know that she was pregnant with twins. In a sincere effort to protect his wife Norah, the husband David, who is also a medical doctor, doesn't ever want her to know that their baby girl was born with Down's Syndrome. Instead, Norah has to face a life-long grief of the "death" of their daughter. The nurse is quickly and quietly told to take the baby girl away to an institution.

The book then takes an uplifting turn in which the nurse, Caroline, decides to secretly keep the baby and raise her. Caroline's compassion and love for this new baby bundle in her arms is simply amazing! This is the part of the book that really stuck with me.

I have read a lot of other book reviews in which the book is described as slow-going and overly detailed. However, I did not look at it this way.

If you too, are intrigued by family history, mystery, and darkly hidden secrets (even in a fictious manner), then this is the book for you. Please let me know if you check it out! : )

Life Rules

I wrote something similar to this a while ago on my other blog, but I also wanted to post it here.  With all the "Live, Laugh, Love" signs everywhere, I wanted to write my own "Life Rules" list...

Open doors for people

Volunteer

Appreciate your family

Take naps

Give really good hugs

Bake cookies

Stop and ask directions

Go back for seconds

Turn up the volume

Look people in the eyes

Hope you enjoyed these.  Do you have any special "life rules" that you want to share?  If so, please feel free to leave a comment.  : )  Hope to talk to you soon!

Nature as my Nurturer

"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul."

~ John Muir

Isn't it nice to just go outside and take a walk, or sit in a rocking chair on the front porch? The outdoors have always been comforting to me. There have been many times at night when I am trying to wind down and relax, that I will just go outside and stand in the driveway and look up at the stars. Looking up into the vast expanse of sky makes me feel like my problems and hurts start to get a little smaller.

My baby, who is now two, would sometimes get so upset and worked up when he was an infant that I would just bundle him up and go walk around the driveway at ten o'clock at night. There was just something about being outside that would calm him down right away, and it was such a nice distraction. I'm sure my neighbors probably looked out their windows and thought....Been there, done that. Ha! : )

So, give it a try. The next time you feel overwhelmed, just try to get outside for a few minutes. I hope this will be a comfort to you.