Time Away

Dear Friends,

Good Morning.

I am writing this note to let you all know that I am needing to take some time away from my blog so that I can concentrate on my new baby and family. I really appreciate all my friends online.

Your stories and thoughts are highly valued. The Lord willing, I will be able to return to blogging soon. Please keep me posted as all of your comments are such an encouragement to me as well. I don't often get to share that with you all. You are in our thoughts and prayers.

Blessings,

Sherry

Pretty babies, skirts and beans

I am happy to report that little Miss Patience is sleeping 6 hours a night, is nursing vigorously, and has little or no tummy ache--praise God! She is sleeping soundly on my lap as I type, she seems to know I am her mommy and will not sleep unless I am there--which is wonderful in many ways, especially when I lay down at night and as soon as she is tucked in beside me, she settles into deep sleep until it is time to get Daddy ready for work.

I set up everything the night beforehand--a shirt is ironed and ready, pants, undies and socks close at hand, coffee pot (we keep one in our bathroom) is filled and ready to brew. I even have packaged danishes that I put on the counter to go with his coffee. This way, if the baby needs attention, my dear husband will still have everything in place. Then we sit and admire the baby together, pray together, etc. before he makes the trek through dense traffic for an hour to work.

He was commenting this morning as he was holding her just how fun it is to get to know another person--to have the fun of watching her discover her world and who she is. What a wonderful man he is--he has shared so many sleepless nights with me, watched and worried and taken counseled and corrected and laughed over so many cute antics. We are still watching even the oldest of our children discover more of life and who they are. It is nice we can be part--to wake up after an afternoon nap and find our grown children asleep with the younger children, our home is just a nice retreat from the big, wide world.

We have 6 little girls now, 11 years old and younger, which means lots of giggles, squeals, skirts and hand-me-downs, which are getting pretty threadbare, so our next project is to search for appropriate clothes--so my oldest girls have volunteered to begin the search. It takes time because we are pretty careful how our children dress.

Gracie told me today of a free water park in our town--so in a couple of days she is helping me to take the kids to get wet and have some fun. She is working for a church preschool right now, so she will also be finding other neat things for us to do this summer.

We have been doing math every morning, which is a good a good use of our time, as well as reading the book Sodom Had no Bible by Leonard Ravenhill. This book stirs us up and inspires us to pray longer and better.

This morning we spent time looking through family photos. It was good to enjoy some sentimentality, but I was reminded why I am leaving my scrapbooking days until I do not have babies and toddlers!

We ate corn bread in milk for breakfast, then had the left over corn bread with beans and rice for dinner. What is it about such a simple meal that is so satisfying? We have a freezer filled with other things, but beans and rice was just what we needed.

A praise report

I have shared how my daughter recently developed seizures. Well, she was attending a youth conference this past week and wanted to praise and worship God, but as soon as she began, she fell over and hit her head on the arm of a chair. She talked to the Lord about it, and He told her not to worry or fret, that He is just as blessed when she worships sitting down, so she continued to worship Him in that way until the last night of the conference, when she told the Lord she would really like to worship Him standing up, and He told her she should go right ahead. This time she did not fall over--and she has not had a seizure since--and it has been over a week and a half since she has had any seizures whatsoever!

But that's not all! It seems she and our other kids have been witnessing to a young man over the past year or so, and we have all been praying. Well, he told God at the beginning of the conference he was not sure whether or not He existed, but if Anna could praise and worship God without having a seizure, He would take it as a sign and give his heart to Jesus--and when he saw Anna praising and worshiping, he actually dedicated his life to God (Anna was totally unaware of this young man's prayer) and received the gift of salvation--hallelujah!

Anna is convinced of her total healing--praise God! She is also thankful for the good things God was doing through her trial. Everything works for the good--Romans 8:28.