"I love my life." Sunny Rich 10 years old 12/11/13

Well, here I am for my yearly blog;) I'm terrible. I know. Thank goodness for Instagram...for all of us sporadic scrapbookers, random bloggers & spotty journalers;) Just plop that pic up on that phone, hashtag that thing & voila, my kids will have a KODAK moment type memory of this crazy, busy childhood of theirs. Hence the name of my post. Sunny said that out of the blue last night while I was cooking dinner. Warmed my heart & stirred my soul just like the veggie soup I was standing over. Made me tear up & take a little time to stir a little slower & savor the moment. Hence me taking the time to type today. As I slowed down I thought about how fast time can get away if you let it. In the past 9 months the sis & the parents moved to town (!), Bella & Sarah Claire turned a year old (!!), Christian finished elementary school (!!!), Sunny started piano, us girls went to a Phillip Phillips concert, paid a little visit to Savannah & San Diego with my favorite boy, coached a soccer team, started teaching yoga, sent my Sunny to the vegas strip (with Mimi & Grandaddy of course), sent my guys to Guatemala, jumped in the pool with all my clothes on with some frans, fell in love with HeArT shaped sunglasses all over again, went to the Fox to see Jack Johnson & the Nutcracker (not at the same time), decorated a wedding with the bestie, saw the HOLLYWOOD sign, shot a gun, & ate a steak, all for the first time but, again, not all at once:) Now, here I am eating some of last nights better-the-next-day vegetable soup, excitedly wrapping the variety of presents for next weekend & watching for this afternoons yellow school bus to drop off my favorite 5th grader. I'm so happy for Christmas as always. This year is bittersweet because we will be missing some who can't be here celebrating with us because they'll be celebrating Jesus' birthday with Him instead. So thankful for reminders that our days here are numbered and that once over, we will spend our days there with Him. Some days are tougher than others but if we are still here to see the days that's a blessing in itself & means God has more to add to our story & He'll see us through...whether it's one of those tough or terrific days. "You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You." Isaiah 26:3 I've been reminded of this verse lately, one of my favorites. Our seasons differ, we move on to the next chapter, friendships change, we lose family members, we lose confidence but can get it back, only to lose it again, we find ourselves on the mountaintop and in the valley. Change is inevitable. And, therefore, so is our need for Christ. The only constant. Justin tells me I am the 'most ever-changingest human being" he knows:) Whether it's a furniture rearrange, not being to sit in one place, or shuffling around the dishes in the cabinet and giving them fresh new shelf homes. The mercy in God calling me to "be still and know" is such a precious gift to me because it's so difficult for me to do. I'm so reminded at this time of year especially of the beautiful way He loves us. Unconditional. Constant. Completely. Never changing:) I'm glad I got to take this time and catch up with all of you! Don't count me out completely BUT there is a chance it will be 2014 before we talk again. So, in that case I hope everyone has a joyful, healthy, thankful, relaxing, very Merry Christmas and a wonderfully, exciting Happy New Year!!! <>< april

Playin' Catch Up!

Long time no see, imagine that!;) Today is Wednesday, March 13, 2013. 10 months have passed. Time is a literally a flash. I turned 30 the day after my last post and was welcomed in to the 30 club with a surprise birthday dinner, a very Happy Mother's Day, sweet time with family and friends, and C had his first birdie...all in the month of May!! June sailed in as the celebration of life continued for the big 3-2 for 1 of my favorites, Stephanie Dianne Harper, then, we soared over to the lake for a weekend with the fam then a little further over to San Fran for our 10 plus 1 year to grow on wedding anniversary...truly one of my favorite places on earth with my favorite person on earth...then made our way back, almost home, to PCB for a week of youth camp with more favorite faces and, of course, made time to play a little more golf! Blazing July tore through our calendars and days like the happy hot streak that it is with 4th of July togetherness, Braves fandom, COKE factory visitin', 4 teeth in 48 hours pullin', Ava lovin', soul sister summer travelin', time with the trampoline and the tall creepy mouse, back to school dinners and all that golf leading to Christian's first tournament!! As the kiddos rolled out to school, August rolled in and life continued with work, ballgames, more golf, birthdays and precious moments with Jesus to thank Him for this ocean of grace we are swimming in. September and October kicked off soccer, cheerleading, football games and some cherished down time with cousins and a cruise to the Bahamas and car ride to Elijay and Dothan for 2 of my favorite family outings, the Peanut Festival and picking those apples:) Chilly November and December warmed us up with the arrival of beautiful Bella and sweet Sarah Claire, a weekend trip to the mountains, and Uncle Mick getting over the hill, Thanksgiving with our loves and too many Christmas parties to count to thankfully celebrate the birth of Christ! And now here we are, with the year 2-0-1-3...a little hard to believe. A visit with Mickey, the sis movin' to town and a purple baby shower fit for our mini little princess, SelahBelle, still bakin' in Aunt Steph's oven:) I think birth of new baby pics trump everything so we'll just stick with those for this portion of the post:) That gets us up to the present! Today is notable because it's 2 of my dear friends birthdays, Erin and Janel. Erin is a one of the most down to earth, grounded, strong, Christian women I know. She inspires me with how she does everything with her heart, from raising her kids, to coaching cheerleading to loving Jesus. Thankful for her friendship. The other special woman in my life celebrating her big day is Nella. Janel and I met on the set of an O'Charley's commercial in '04 and our sense's of humor fell in love at first laugh. We both seem to be goin 90 to nothin' in opposite places at this point in life so we rarely get the opportunity to spend time together but whether it's a text, phone call or one of our cherished sushi dates, I soak up every second. With Janel we can talk about everything from love to loss and theres always laughter...laughter is the best medicine, it's so good for the soul and that's exactly how I would describe my friend Janel, she is good for my soul and definitely a blessing. Well, like always, I promise to make it less than a year between now and my next post:) So much to say right now about what God's doing in this life...hopefully I can fill you in ASAP! Right now it's time to put on the leggings and get my meditation on...yoga in half an hour! talk soon... april <><

T3. Turning 30 Tomorrow:).

So I know I fell down on the job but I promise to fill in where I fell ASAP:) This has been an awesome birthday..I am so very blessed and happy and thankful! In the meantime, HAPPY MOTHERS DAY:)

Pep talks, Prayers and Patience

Sooo...it's Tuesday. I started a little post on my phone last night before I went to bed because Sunday I had decided if God thought a day of rest was a good idea then so do I:) But..in the middle of last nights post attempt it was revealed there was still more "rest" and less "post" in me..I fell asleep mid post..so yes it's Tuesday. Well, we survived Sunday's festivities and boy was it ever festive.. 1 ziplining tree top adventure course, 2 birthday parties + 2 hours of promised post pool time, 3 total hours of driving, 4 loads of laundry and a high 5 for having dinner on the table at a somewhat decent time;)

Then, yesterday's time was spent with morning dr appt in ATL, golf practice, grocery shopping, soccer game, homework and a visit paid to La Fiesta since dinner would not have been on the table at a decent time without their help! We didn't win and I didn't take any pictures (the following pics are thanks to Uncle Joey and Aunt Angel from an earlier game this season) so I know that makes the soccer stop sound like a total bummer HOWEVER I can truly say that was one of my top 10 proud mama moments in all my days!! Let me tell you why:)..

Sunny and Christian have been on the same soccer team this season. It's been so much fun watching their brother sister camaraderie during practices and games. This is Sunny's first year and she is my competitive little one and runs up and down that field like she owns it. Christian has played a couple years of Upward soccer and one year of city a few years ago so this was relatively rookie territory for both of them. Christian has found his place in the goal throughout the season and has grown to absolutely LOVE and take pride in that being his position. He's my less intense, more laid back child for the most part so at times I've wanted to get up off my sweet little quilt and show my not so sweet side and tell him to jump in front of that ball before it hits that net!! But, don't worry, I didn't.

So anyway, if they've won a game this season, it has only been one. They have a relatively young team and most of the players have never played together so it's been a little trying. I started to become a little lax with my pregame prayers and positive pep talks thinking they were probably losing steam too so lets just get this last game out of the way and maybe 'get 'em next year!'

So yesterday they got out for their game and I went to park the car..Christian said he was going to ask his coach if he could pay him $10 to let him play the entire game as goalie and Sunny just talked about how excited she was that this was a playoff game. Hmmm maybe my impatience had given up on prayers and pep talks but my little players were still hoping to pull through.

I got settled on my quilt and looked for my pregame thumbs up from my favorite first and fourth period goalie and my 'Sunny smile' shining at me from mid field. Here we go... Within the first 10 minutes atleast 5 times that soccer ball tried its best to touch the back of that net but #19 was not going to let that happen. I have never in all my days seen Christian so determined and fearless. I literally started crying. Yep right then and there..I was a mess:) I looked for Sunny and it was a little hard to find her simply because she was like a little purple flash darting up and down the field like a magnet to that little black and white ball!

It was such a sweet moment. I learned something really cool. That morning I had a dr appt and wasn't feeling too great from it and looking even worse. I had literally been praying for rain all afternoon so I wouldn't have to go to the game because I just didn't feel like it. I never prayed to feel better or prayed for their game. I had simply let my focus get on me and only me and allowed my impatience take the lead. It was such testament to the fact that it's not my timing but His and just when I take my eyes off Him and look at the negative instead of looking for the positive I remember why I am just a person and He is all powerful:)

Had it rained, or had I just not gone to their game I would have missed all their relentless efforts to do their best whether they are in first or last place. It was such a neat moment that I realized I can't give up, just when I think it's time to give up on someone or something, God always knows something I don't. It reminds me of a verse I read last year while I was sick, Job 12:12 '...and with length of days comes understanding' Sometimes that's just what it takes, time. We may be winning, losing, healthy, ill, happy, or sad in certain seasons and day to day life can at times seem redundant but God is always working in and around us, it's just up to us to remain patient and keep our head up with pep talks or put our head down for a little prayer:)