Sweet Pepa

My grandpa passed away a couple of weeks ago, and although it's a little late in coming, I don't want to miss the opportunity to remember him in my writing.  He had been battling Alzheimer's for several years and we knew he was nearing the end, so it didn't come as a total shock to our family, but we still grieved the loss of such a wonderful man.  He loved Jesus with all he had and I'm so thankful for the hope that gives us in facing death.  The hope- the certain expectancy, not just a fervent wish- that we will see him again.

It was quite an ordeal to get our little family to the funeral what with travel requests, a broken down car, and hotel shenanigans.  (I mean, the hotel story really is worthy of it's own blog, but we'll see.)  Once we made it, though, we were so glad to be there.  I could only imagine if Pepa were there to greet us and hear all we went through on the trip, he would have said, "Oh, golly!" and hugged us even tighter.

Pepa loved telling stories, and that is just about all we did once we were with the rest of our family.  Stories of the turtles in his backyard.  They would come to Pepa every morning for food, and even chomp on his toe.  He and the turtle both went flying that time.  Stories of how much he loved his wife.  Everyone knew it.  There was no question that Mema had captured his heart right from the beginning.  Stories of his faith.  He loved to sing hymns, teach Sunday School, and spoke about the Lord to everyone.  Just ask the repairman who came to Pepa's house for a job and left as a follower of Jesus.

Generally speaking, I don't have the best memory in the world.  My memories tend to be connected to a picture or sound or smell.  This has held true as I have remembered my Pepa.  I picture him in his tan coveralls that he wore all the time.  I picture him outside under his covered patio, sitting at his wrought iron table with a coffee mug.  I hear his deep voice.  It was the best true bass voice I have ever heard out of someone I knew personally.  I hear him telling the story of how he met Millie, the pretty girl his preacher encouraged him to pursue.  I smell mouthwash.  I'm sure it was only Listerine, but it was a powerful smell when he came close to kiss your cheek.  The thing I will miss the most, the thing I coveted for so many years, is hearing him in his room just before bed praying for me by name.  His deep and steady voice, speaking out loud prayers for his loved ones.  I know that sweet man with his kind and gentle heart prayed for me every day of my life until his brain would no longer allow him to do so.  And I believe with my whole heart that the Lord listened to every prayer and that my life has been blessed beyond measure, in part, because of those prayers.

Sweet Blessings

If I am this bad about blogging without kids, let me just go head and call this one- I'm going to be terrible about blogging once we have kids!  I won't overload you with too many foster details all in one post, but wanted to start getting some of our recent happenings in writing before I get too far behind.

The short story is that we are finished with our homestudy, paperwork, inspections, and classes, and are working on the reading list while gathering supplies.  We had told our agency that July 15th was the earliest date we would be available to be put on the placement list, but that date doesn't really mean anything.  They are still processing on their end, and now The Hubs has a work deadline in early August that we are going to try to finish before going on the list.  So, we did a lot of work in a short amount of time and now we wait.

Remember that amazing group of friends who came and helped us get the house ready for kids?  Well, that same group of wives in our Bible Fellowship threw me a foster mommy shower!  It was the best thing ever!  They were so thoughtful in the preparations and our time together meant more than they will ever know.  They gave us toys, books, and gift cards since we don't know any specifics about the kiddos yet.  I also got the chance to explain some of what fostering will look like and answer questions.  And... I cried.  I'm not even prego!  Then there was a sweet time of prayer for us and the precious little ones that will be coming our way.

We are so thankful for such supportive friends who are ready to be called to action!

Wonderful hostesses and friends!

You can't tell me that's not impressive.
But I can tell you it was delicious!

So many little details that made it extra special.

Are you kidding me? So cute.

Cards with Scripture for our prayer time.
I told you it was well thought out.

Perfect gifts from my hostesses.
Check out this great Bible.

Fantastic start to our collection.

Can't wait to play with these.  :)

I'm sure Tim is eager to put this to use.  Ha!

Gift cards are awesome!

Thanks again to all our amazing friends for walking this road with us.

Glad you were curious enough to read.  

Goose Creek

The Hubs and I recently returned from a trip to Goose Creek.  We went to visit the Emory family with five college students, Team Reams, and their seven month old, Baby E, in tow.  15 people sleeping under one roof, and it was awesome!

We had so much fun I don't even know where to start.  How about the beginning?  We arrived on Saturday evening to a wonderful meal cooked by the amazing Brett.  In fact, amazing might be an understatement.  Yall, she cooked all our meals for the whole week.  I know I said there were 15 people sleeping in the house, but very rarely were we the only ones eating in the house.  Brett rocked all the meals and even pre-made food for when she was going to be gone on vacation at the end of the week.  I think it's safe to say we were spoiled.  (Somehow I didn't manage to get any pictures of her.)

Sunday morning we rearranged the house and had church.  The Emorys have started Hub Church right in their home and have a wonderful group of people meeting in their home.  They were ordaining their first elder that morning, so it was special to be with them and get to pray over he and his wife.  We're continuing to pray for you, Marcus and Allisha!  We were also able to hear the heart behind Hub Church and the thing that continues to stick with me the most is this: standard of living is not equal to quality of living.  This is something we know and believe, but it's great to have a concise way to say it and help keep us in check.

We spent our afternoon at the beach, which I was admittedly skeptical about, but ended up loving every minute of it.  This will be hard for some of you to believe, but the weather was so nice I had goosebumps... on the last day of June.  Who knew?!  (Sadly, I also have no pictures of the beach because I left my camera in the car.)

Monday we cleaned up a park and then passed out flyers in the neighborhood that evening to let them know about a park party the next afternoon.  It was really rainy the whole time we were there, but on this particular day, the radar showed storms all around us that would divide as they came to Goose Creek and reconvene on the other side.  Our God is big.  Christin did a wonderful job setting up the project and is probably one of the hardest workers I've ever had the pleasure of sweating next to.

Pulling weeds

Power washing... who needs a ladder?

Painting

What's a park party without snow cones and cotton candy?

And a bounce house, of course!

Tuesday morning, most of the team worked at a home to remove the back porch to make room for a new one and got completely drenched in the process.  I told you it rained a lot.

We played lots and lots of games.  Nothing like some good, friendly competition to bring out the fun in the Emory house.  I absolutely loved so much quality time with so many people!

We also had group devotions every night.  Different people lead us each day and it was a great time to reflect on how the Lord is moving among His people.  One night in particular, Tim shared about our obedience to the Lord through foster care and all the unknowns that go along with it.  After group time was over, one of the Hub Church men sat with us and told us of his family's journey through foster care and adoption.  Then he offered Tim his number so they can stay connected and encouraged.  We went to bed that night with very full hearts!  We had been praying for a man that Tim could turn to in hard times.  Jason, you had been prayed for and we are so thankful for you!

Wednesday, after making a stop by the local food pantry and possible future home of Hub Church, we got to go see Charleston.  So much history!  It was lots of fun riding around town and experiencing a new place.  And, of course, we got rained on again... the adventures just kept coming.

Anyone know this reenactment?

I want a porch like that.

Did I mention it rained?

Thursday was the Forth of July and we had lots of time to relax and play.  The boys bought (too many) fireworks because there are no laws about where to shoot them off in Goose Creek.  Needless to say, I was slightly on edge that night, but everyone made it through... eyebrows and all!  It was a really fun night with lots of games, neighbors, food, and laughter.

There were so many small, sweet things that happened throughout the week.  It was such a joy to be with the Emorys again.  We have missed them!  It was good to just sit and catch up.  They are such a special family.  They love each other well and their home is filled with so much happiness and laughter.  I've never been in a more hospitable house.  One of our students observed that they have really great attitudes and don't let much get to them.  Like the way that Sid cracked jokes as he cleaned up the GALLON of blue paint that spilled in his trunk, or the way Stacy couldn't talk because she was laughing so hard after getting soaked by the rain, not to mention how eager Wes, Will, and Bonnie were to share their home (and even give up a bed!) with us.  Bon Bon and I even got to sneak off for a fro yo date.  :)  The Emorys live out their love for God and love for others like we have been learning about at our church.  What a great example of Matthew 22:37-39 they are!  I know it wasn't really a vacation, but this is the most time The Hubs and I have gotten to spend together in a while and we loved it.  Two years and counting!  It was wonderful, as well, to hear the students talk about what they took away from our week in Goose Creek.  I'm so thankful they were obedient in the call to go and that they were listening while they were there. 

Speaking of two years, that's the span of time between the last two pictures I have with Bonnie.  Check this out:

Two years ago

Two days ago

We returned home on Friday and after all the students were picked up from the church we headed home.  As we drove I said, "Oh no!  We never made it to Mepkin Abbey!"  We grinned at each other and said together, "Guess we're just going to have to go back."

Glad you were curious enough to read.

Honeymooners To The Rescue!!!

Whew!  If I don't blog today, it's quite possible I might not have the chance again until after we are finished with all our training.  Everything is going really well, there's just a lot involved!

Let me first say that we LOVE our agency.  They are awesome.  We have now been through two weeks of training classes, which have been super.  It has been overwhelming at times and a lot to process, but we are really thankful for this time of preparation.  The information is so beneficial and really has helped us feel equipped to be foster parents.  We have learned that all children in the foster care system have experienced trauma of some kind and our job is to try to make them feel loved and secure each day.  We've been learning strategies on how to handle the behavior that could come our way.  I could go into much detail, but really it's best explained face to face.  Plus, the more we talk about it, the more it gets ingrained into our brains.

Let's just say that "traditional" parenting will not be our goal.  This is going to be stretching for me.  I come from a you-should-do-it-because-I-told-you-to kind of mindset, but these children will not understand that.  I'm really excited to see how the Lord is going to use this to grow compassion and love in me.  The Hubs, with his lack of experience with children, now feels confident about being around kids because of the things we have learned.  And we both are excited to see the other being a mommy or daddy!

The worst thing about our classes is the chairs.  Yall, seriously.  After an all day Saturday class my tailbone was bruised.  I'm talking, I can't bend over and it hurts all the time.

The "short list" of things we still need to do (and the reasons you may not see us for the next couple of weeks):

• rearrange two rooms so that we have a kid room and an office/music/guest room
• another week of training classes
• a health inspection by the city on Wednesday
• find a doctor and get physicals
• a fire inspection at a time TBD
• create a floor plan with escape routes
• make a daily schedule
• come up with house rules, consequences, and rewards
• read three books
• plus some other things I'm forgetting at the moment.

And all this needs to be done BEFORE they will do the homestudy for us.  We have learned that once we do the homestudy there is a processing time of four to six weeks.  After that we should be open for placement!

The only reason the above list is as short as it is, is because we have spectacular friends who gave up their Friday night for a baby-proofing party.  They made quick work of some of the stuff we have needed to do around the house.  Without a doubt we have THE best and most supportive friends and family around.  Before we go one step further, we have to acknowledge and thank them...  Thank you Karen and David for lunchtime debriefs, installing smoke detectors, the booster car seat, and the movie that will make me cry every time.  Thank you Josiah and Ashley for giving up your Friday night right after Ashley got back from vacation with a wicked tan to install bike hooks, secure pictures to the wall, move heavy furniture, cover outlets, and install a fire extinguisher.  Thanks Joel for letting Josiah borrow your drill, and by extension, letting us borrow your drill.  Thanks Jordan and Caitlin for changing doorknobs, making the pictures level, getting the desk through the door after taking the door off it's hinges, and figuring out where to hide the cleaning products.  I wish we could pay you in more than cookies!  Thank Rusty, Ali, and Ethan for bringing the saw over to cut some shelves, the mama talk in the back porch rockers, the bassinet, and diapers.  Thanks to everyone for the kind words, encouragement, support, and prayers.  We couldn't do any of this without you.  For real.

Hanging bikes = more room in the garage to store baby stuff.

Jordan changing out doorknobs.  Some needed locks, some didn't.

Ashley and Caitlin helping me sleep better at night, knowing a kid can't (easily) knock these pictures off the wall anymore.

David installing the first of three smoke detectors.  Are you up to code?

Don't you have to take the door off it's hinges for all desks to fit through?  Probably not.  They even have smiles on their faces!

Trying to put the fire extinguisher in a safe (and not too noticeable) place.

Remember that time Josiah put up the fire extinguisher in the kitchen and I bought the wrong size so we have to get another one?  Oops.

I kind of feel like we're moving.  Thankfully it's just a little bit of disarray that should quickly go away!

See?  Smoke detectors.

This was the list we started with on Friday night.  The shelves and books part will be done tomorrow.  Oh, and did I mention how thankful we are for Caitlin's help?!

 We're ready for more!

Glad you were curious enough to read. 

Forgotten Memories

Have you ever suddenly remembered something that you didn't even know you had forgotten?  A certain sight, sound, or smell suddenly brings back a memory that has been safely tucked away for years.  This happened to me last week as I sat with my sweet Granny.  For those who don't know, I spent last week helping my parents take care of my grandmother.  She is nearing the end of her battle with dementia.

One night, after she was asleep in bed, I found her Bible and began to look through it.  The well-worn state of it was what originally attracted me, but as I began to search through it, memories began to surface.  Unlike me, who likes thing too particular to leave items loose and falling out of a book, my Granny had several things stuck in between the pages of this worn book.

A bulletin, a card, a note, a bill envelope, and then a nail file.  And suddenly I was picturing my Granny at her house instead of the assisted living facility, sitting in her recliner with the end table next to her stacked with word search puzzles, her Bible, the TV remote, and a dish of hard candy whose contents had been sitting long enough to become one big piece.  I never would have thought of it on my own, but when I saw the nail file, I remembered that she always had them sticking out of her Bible and word search books.

As I continued to look through I found a bulletin from a church my dad worked at 13 years ago and then a homemade card that I had sent to her.  The card I don't remember, but it has my name on it, and looks like the poor drawing skills of my childhood.  (They haven't improved.)

I was struck by how loved I have been in my life by not only my Granny, but the rest of my family who learned to love from her.  She taught us that faith is important and lived her life full of love for God and family.

As we have walked down this difficult path with Granny, I have found myself not knowing what to pray.  For a while I was simply praying for peace for her, but then a friend of mine sent me a scripture one day and as I read the context of it, I knew what to pray for:

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

But thanks be to God!

He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:56-57

My prayer now, is for Granny's victory.  She belongs to Jesus and I know she is all too ready to be singing His praises when she is victorious over the sting of death.  

December to Remember

I have simply had to resign myself to the fact that I am not a consistent blog writer.  No matter how badly I would love to write more, I just have not found the time to do it, and I'm learning to be ok with that.  I also understand that I am probably the only one who thinks about this and is disappointed by it.

With all that being said, it is finally time to catch up on our December happenings.  We had the most epic December 1st ever, and the rest of the month lived up to the first day.  Seeing as we have already made quite a bit of headway into January, though, I will just give a few highlights of the month:

• Christmas with the Cave parents- we visited their new home and got to enjoy a weekend with them.  We helped around the house a bit and were able sneak in a date night while the parents were out partying. 
• RealLife Christmas party- (that's the college group at our church)  we had some delicious snacks, played a rowdy round of Bunco involving a whoopie cushion, and did the annual white elephant gift exchange.
• Quality Time with the neighbors- our neighbors invited us to their church's Christmas show.  It was pretty impressive, but we were mostly glad to have them over for lunch and get to know them a little better.
• Three Trees- this is one of the best events our church holds all year.  Over 300 families came to pick out Christmas gifts for their children.  The whole church shows up to volunteer and it is awesome!
• Open House- we decided to hold an open house, which was a lot of fun but not very well attended.  We planned it too close to Christmas, so most people were already out of town, but we LOVED getting to have friends over to visit for an afternoon.
• Christmas Eve- we prepared lunches in the same area I lead worship every week.  A large group of people from our church came down and we fixed boxed lunches to take to the people in the community who are homebound.  We loved it!  We also went to our church's candle light service, made ninjabread cookies, and created our *fingers crossed* first annual singing Christmas card.  (Be sure to make it all the way to the end of the post so you can see it!)
• Christmas Vacation- unlike the movie, it was completely wonderful.  We rented a one room cabin, watched a zillion movies, did a 1,000 piece puzzle, hiked, and rested a lot.  We came home ready to tackle another year.  
• Twin set #2 arrives in the world- bridesmaid two of four from my wedding gave birth to twins on the 29th.  Happy family!
• Christmas/New Years' with the Speegle parents- my parents came to the visit the same day the babies arrived, so we left them at the house and took off on a quick road trip to see the new parents and little ones.  Once we got back we were still able to go to the theater, a Chinese lantern festival, hit up the movies, and eat some steak and black eyed peas... their good luck, you know!

Whew!  Just thinking back to all this wears me out a bit.  January has proven to be much more calm so far.  Here are some picture evidence of last month:

Glad you were curious enough to read.

Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Dear December,

Can the rest of your days be as fantastic as the first was?  I would appreciate it.  We started the day with David and Karen at the parade.  It was awesome.

Karen and David live so close, we just walked from their house.  The weather is unusually warm after all.

We got there early and found a good spot to wait for the parade to start.

We brought yummy breakfast and games to keep us occupied.  The other three were first time parade goers, but I knew the greatness of what was coming.

There were fancy stepping bands.

Excellent balloons of all kinds, including, Mr. Potato Head himself.

There was the loudest band of the day.

And the Batman.

This guy caught a ride on the roof of a golf cart at the end of the parade.  His legs were too long to fit inside, naturally.

Ian Kinsler rode by and even waved at us!

The balloon handlers delighted the crowd by running in circles to spin their charges.  It's one of my favorite parts of the parade.

Another highlight was the entertaining singing of "The World Famous" Cowboy Band.  Always fun to have the ole Alma Mater around.













Seeing as today is the first of day of your great month, we were able to begin our Advent calendar.

This is a very special, home-made one just for the Hubs, who absolutely loves having this kind of calendar each year.

He was very excited to open the first envelope.

Inside he found that each day will hold a scripture reading to focus our hearts on the birth of our Savior, and a song that we will dance to... right in the kitchen!













A pretty wonderful start to the day, I would say.  But not even close to all that this marvelous day had in store for us.  The afternoon held a prayer meeting at our house.  I got to gather with a few of the girls from our newly marrieds group at church to pray for our hubbies.  It was a great time and something we plan to do on a regular basis.

After the ladies left, we had one last adventure to go on before the end of our festive day.  Our city did their annual Christmas Tree lighting, which also includes opening up Santa's Village.  We enjoyed getting to be part of our new community.

December, you've got two happy campers on your hands.  We have had a most excellent day and are looking forward to what the rest of your days will hold.

All tuckered out but ready for more,

Tim and Sarah