The weekend before last I drove over to Opelika to visit with some friends and I spent the night at Crystal & David's house. Calista and her 4 year old daughter, Emma, drove down from Cartersville, GA and also spent the night at Crystal & David's. Marian also joined us Friday evening. We packed up a picnic dinner and walked over to the park. Emma immediately headed for the play ground. The rest of us sat down to eat our sandwiches and grapes and to chat while Emma played. Well, next thing we know, there is a group of boys between 8 and 10 years old that came stampeding towards the picnic area. It was like the Tasmanian devil had just swept by...they caught us all by surprise. Once the dust had cleared we saw that Emma had wandered over and had been standing right where the boys had just stampeded through and she had been knocked to the ground and her knees were scraped and bleeding. We all sat there for a second stunned at what had just happened. Emma had a look on her face that said "What just happened???". Calista picked Emma up off of the ground and checked out her wounds. She cleaned her up and Emma went back to playing.

I have felt like Emma this week! I feel like I've been caught in the middle of a stampede of one thing after another being thrown at me and I was left thinking "what just happened???". After a while those things add up and after some hard blows, I had reached my breaking point. I couldn't take any more. The breaking point came at about 3:45 this afternoon. When I left work at 4:00, I had a choice. I could go to a friends house and complain and cry and whine about every thing that has happened this week. OR I could go home and let my Father pick me up and let him clean me up so that I can go back out there and face what comes next. The choice was easy! Going to my friends house and complaining, crying and whining would accomplish nothing except make me feel even worse! I emailed a few friends and simply asked them to say a prayer for me, I left work and I came home. I dumped my stuff on the couch and went straight to the chair and sat. No TV, no lights, no one at home...just me and God. He checked out my wounds and He cleaned me up. Now I'm ready to go back out and "play"!

I very easily could have taken the other path of complaining and crying and whining to a friend but that did not look appealing to me at all. I don't say that to say "Look at me! Look at the choice I made." I say that to encourage any one who may read this that the next time you feel like you've been run over, go straight to God. He is THE Healer! He is THE Provider! He will, without a doubt, heal your wounds and clean you up and provide you with the strength to keep going. Then, when you finally do talk to your friends, you'll have a much better story to tell about what all has happened and how God fixed it and made every thing better.

Now go play...

Six years ago today, I stood in the delivery room as my sister gave birth to her son. Since that day, my nephew has been one of the most important people in my life. I love that little guy so much!

I’m a numbers and date person. I remember family and friend’s phone numbers and birthdays very easily. I don’t know where I store all of the information away because when it comes to remembering some other things, my memory stinks. I am thankful, though, that I am able to remember birthdays. Birthdays are special. Birthdays are the day when God brought someone special and unique in to the world for a specific reason and purpose. I believe it is important to remember and celebrate a person’s special uniqueness. I believe it is important to encourage and recognize people on their birthday...whether it’s with a simple “Happy Birthday!” or with some big extravagant party.

Jesus’ birthday was one of the most important days in the history of the world! Everyone knows what Jesus’ specific reason and purpose was and everyone celebrates his birthday in one way or another. His birthday and life is the perfect example of how important a birthday is. Yes, Jesus’ birthday and life are very significant and although none of us will ever come close to having the impact on the world that Jesus had, we are still God’s children and our life here is important to Him. So, I try to remember to say “Happy Birthday!”...
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HAPPY 6TH BIRTHDAY SEBASTIEN!! I LOVE YOU VERY MUCH!!
God blessed us beyond what we could ever have imagined when He brought you in to our lives! You are a very special person with great potential! Keep your eyes focused on Jesus and your life’s possibilities are limitless!

Love,
Aunt Nahna