In Christ Alone our Hope is Found

I know a little girl...   Who started out looking like this... And this... Who rolls her eyes back into her head and sighs when she eats strawberries and whipped cream Who jumps up when she heard the pastor say that Jesus is alive again and whispered with wide eyes, "HE'S ALIVE!!!!" Who runs to me and says, "I have very bad news." Then with such expression and emotion she will tell me something that is distressing to her or she will tattle on the big kids if they are doing something that she knows that I wouldn't like. Often she ends with,  "Actually!!" (with her hands up in the air) Who runs to me and says, "I have fantastic news!!!" Then she will tell me something that she thinks is amazing. It often ends with actually too. Who can dance extremely well. Like for real. It's surprising.  Who doesn't like dirt anymore. If she spills, gets wet or if I take her off the counter with wet hands, things go bad quick...

This picture came up on my memories yesterday on Facebook. It brought instant tears - Not a cry that makes you smile and a few tears come out of the corners your eyes, but a cry that needed to be done alone. I saw these two boys in this picture and how young they are here melted my heart. It's hard to believe that they are men already - 18 and 22 today. At this time, we were 13 months out of relapse. Micah's surgery was March 25, 2010 and this was April 9, 2011. This past March marked 10 years cancer free for Micah. I have been meaning to write about it, but the words aren't there. I can't find them yet. In April 2011, we were still living 3 months at a time from scan to scan. We had started the healing process that took years to complete, but we were still very broken and tender. Seeing this picture immediately put me back there. The one boy suffered physically, mentally and emotionally, but yet the Lord spared him emotional baggage once he was through the phy...

We have done a lot of driving and some walking during this quarantine time. Now that's it's getting warmer, we plan to do more walking. I love taking pictures and tend to just post them on Facebook. My blog has been sorely neglected. I am going to start posting my favorite pictures here again. The kids and I went for a walk in St Thomas and ended up at the old rail station in the middle of town. I got some great pictures. (Tessa 4, Grace 9, but 10 soon, Siah 14 in two weeks, Natalie 16, Micah 18)  (Josh isn't here, but he is turning 22 this week. We are not complete without him.) This picture of Tessa makes her look like she is 18 months instead of 4. (:  Port Stanley Tessa had a pinata for her 4rth birthday on March 29th. She hit it once, but couldn't bare to break it, so she just pulled the strings at the bottom to get the candy out. I love this look on her face.                     ...

There are lots of things that touch me lately - Some are beautiful and some are sad. Here are my top 3 from this week. 1. There was a wedding that was supposed to happen in May, but they moved it to April before more restrictions could be put into place. Since there are only 5 people allowed in one place at a time, this wedding consisted of the bride, the father of the bride, the groom, the photographer and the pastor. Pastor Joel served as the pianist and the officiant. The photographer was also the witness. The photographer and the groom are cousins. They are also 2nd or 3rd Ken's cousins. Their parents are Ken's 1st or 2nd cousins. Whatever. We are related.  😉 I watched a video from the ceremony and it was so beautiful. It moved me deep inside and I messy cried. I cried because the church was empty, but more because it was special. The simplicity and purity of the ceremony was something I had never seen before. 2 people, a father, a pastor and a photographer. All the no...

One day, we will look back at this time and wonder what we were feeling. I am going to start putting stuff down. It won't be beautiful. It's just going to be jots and thoughts  This is what was going on April 2, 2020 Gas prices 66.9 School cancelled since March 23 until May 1st at least Self-distancing measures on the rise. Tape on the floors at grocery stores and other stores to help distance shoppers 2m (6ft) from each other. Limited number of people inside stores, therefore lineups outside the store doors. Non-essential stores and businesses mandated closed. But they are allowed to deliver and do curb pick up.  Parks are closed.  Major league sports have been put on hold. Movies have delayed releases.  Concerts, tours, festivals, entertainment events - cancelled. F amily celebrations, holiday gatherings - cancelled. People are getting married in the middle of the week (I know of 2) or moving their dates up before more restrictions come. Churc...