"And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live." Deuteronomy 30:6

but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.
2 Peter 3:18

Monday, May 21, 2012

Eli is 5!!!!

Elisha James is now a whole hand!! It is hard to believe that it has been 5 years since I gave birth to him. He was my first rainbow baby as he came after 2 miscarriages. Eli was the first child that I cherished a little more since I had now experienced loss. Eli was the first one that I wore. I had 2 different hotslings. He was the first one that I had to figure out to do things while I nursed LOL. The 2 and 3 year old weren't going to wait too long. :) His pregnancy was filled with issues. I had a large subchoronic hemorage during the first trimester, so I spotted a lot. Then, at 33 wks I was put on bedrest due to preterm labor. I was put on meds every 6 hrs, and even had shots in the hospital 3 different times to stop labor. Then, he was my only scheduled induction (docs feared we wouldn't make it to the hospital b/c we lived 40 min away), and he was born 2.5 hours after it was started. I read a book :). His labor was the first time I experienced issues with an epidural. (It ended up being my 2nd to last one as the last 2 have been natural.) Eli has done things to his own beat from conception. haha!!

Eli.... your name is said quite often throughout the day. You are usually in the middle of whatever is going on, whether it be good or bad. :) You are the life of the party. You are hilarious, and oftentimes without meaning to be! You brighten up multiple peoples days because I share your humor with others.

You are all about sports, and it doesn't matter which one. We have been playing baseball a lot lately in the yard. You also love football. You are still a true Alabama fan, much to your father's liking. You are a good athlete and most sports come naturally to you. You love to be outside even though you are sweating within 2 minutes.

You love boots!!! At the moment you own snow boots, black cowboy boots (that you call brown boots, not sure why!), and fireman rain boots. The fireman boots are worn most every day. If I would let you, you would wear them to church! Most of the time they are on the wrong feet, but that is just you! :)

You are a lover of band-aids. They cure amazing things! You love angry birds and the wii, and if I would let you, you would play all day! You play army with Josiah and pretend with Katie. You love to help with Joy Schelle and Timothy. You are a very proud big brother. I believe you and Joy will be conspiring together very soon! You plan to teach Timothy everything, except to love. According to you, Timothy is going to teach you how to do that! :D

You are very excited to be starting kindergarten in a few weeks. (Our summer break was April and May.) It is hard for me to believe that you are starting school! You will be our class clown.

Eli, you bring a smile to my face just thinking about you! You try my patience more than your siblings many days, but you also have so much life that you bring to every day. I love when you sit next to me and lean up against me. Your random hugs are awesome! I am learning to let go and love you more, and God is blessing.

I am excited to see what God has in store for your life over this next year. You are growing in so many ways.

Father God, thank You so much for adding Eli to our family! Thank You for the privilege and honor of being his mother. May You continue to draw him to You. May You bless him over this next year. I pray that You would wipe out his bad dreams and fill his dreams with peace. Plant seeds in his heart and water them, bringing him closer to giving his heart to Jesus. I pray that You would mold him and prepare him for Your calling on his life. He is a fireball, and I pray that he would be a fireball for Jesus!! Help me be the mother he needs. Show me how to teach him and disciple him. Thank you again for such an awesome middle son! In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.


You cheered for Katie Jo and Josiah. You are the next one to get to play a sport, and you are very excited! We are hoping you get to in the fall.
 You pull for Eli Manning since his name is the same. For a while you even pointed to the T.V. and said, "there I am, Eli Manning." LOL
 Dad's dream :) Could very easily be yours as well.
 Exhausted. This rarely happened, and never happens now.
 You went through a phase where you wore a belt everyday no matter the clothing. The belt wore out and had to be thrown away!
 You caught it!

 You rolled the ball back and forth with Joy Schelle
 Snow boots!
 These were Katie's boots. We called them your pirate boots. They bit the dust in the fall after so much wear.
 Had to pose with your new football for your Christmas picture!


 Proud of his puzzle abilities :)

 Basketball!
 The cool dude
 The crazies!
 Big brother to a brother now!

 You are a police officer directing the traffic. (notice the boots!)

 This is how you took your picture. Yep, upside down! That is how you roll! LOL

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

He is still there...

We were driving to church Sunday morning. I wasn't in the best place because it was raining, so it was highly possible that we wouldn't make it to the cemetary. I was frustrated with myself because I had forgotten the flowers that I wanted to put in Janie's vase Saturday while we were out and about. Plus, it was baby dedication Sunday. We dedicated Joy in November, so this wasn't my first time to participate in dedication since losing Janie Beth, but it was different being on Mother's Day.

As we were driving, I noticed that the storm clouds were moving, but the clouds behind them were not. The bright white clouds with the sun's rays surrounding them were standing firm behind the storm clouds. They weren't moving. It reminded me of something God taught me not too long after Janie Beth passed. The sun is always shining behind the storm. Just because it is storming doesn't mean that the sun has left. It is the same with life. When the storms of life come, the Son is still shining behind the clouds! Just because life is hard and dark and the storm is raging, it doesn't mean that the Son has left us. He is standing firm behind the clouds.

Sometimes the storms of life clear up all at once. Those are amazing!! But, usually it is like the clouds on Sunday; the storm clouds slowly blow away and reveal that white, fluffy, bright clouds behind full of the Son's rays. That is what God is doing in our lives. He seems to be slowly moving the storm clouds away. They are still surrounding us, but there are now glimpses of white clouds and blue skies. I don't know how long it will take for the sky to clear and the sun to shine, but I do know that it will be in God's perfect time. His timing is not my timing, but it is perfect timing!!!

God even met me at church (imagine that!?! :)). He knew I needed a reminder that He was there, even though He had met me as we drove into town for church. We stand to sing the welcoming song, and it is none other than "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms"!!! My song through Janie's journey. The name of my blog. I cried! God cares! He sees the little things. Jesus hugged me through that song. What a special way for Janie Beth to be a part of Baby Dedication. We dedicated Timothy (yes, he was born, and I hope to blog about it soon! Our Easter baby) and all 5 of his siblings were mentioned from the pulpit. Janie Beth is a proud big sister!

God is still there!

Thank You, Abba, for caring about the little things. Thank You for knowing what I need even more than I do! I didn't even know I needed that song. Thank You for the storm clouds because it is in the storm that I draw nearer to You. Thank You for the white clouds and the sun that shines because they show me that there is hope; the storm will not last forever. I love You, Father! Thank You, Jesus, for hugging me. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen