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A joyful day- the welcome home of a soldier!!!

September 2, 2010 – 10:53 pm

Wow….where to start…??!!  I guess I’ll give you a little background first.  Lucas is my best friend’s baby brother.  I’ve known him since he was 2 years old.  I remember when I first met Miranda that Lucas LIVED for the movie the Jungle Book.  Remember that Miranda?  Fast forward LOTS of years.  Lucas signed up for the National Guard.  He’s stationed in Iraq right now.  That’s probably the hardest and most bitter-sweet thing a family can go through.  To be SO proud of that person for serving our country but at the same time feeling grieved because your loved one is going overseas.  It’s never easy.  Over the summer his family got a phone call.  His mom got a phone call right before church.  His military vehicle was hit.  It was hit by an EFP.  He was in a line with many military vehicles and his truck was targeted by the enemy.  There were 4 men on board.  God was with these men that day because what could have been or maybe even should have been the worst case scenario turned out for the good.  The EFP hit the engine block directly and that alone stopped the weapon from going thru the truck further.  The men were shaken but unharmed!  I remember looking over at his mom during church after hearing the news and my heart sunk.  It could’ve turned out sooo differently!!  I guess it wasn’t until THAT moment that I realized exactly what every man and woman who serves our country lays out on the line EVERY SINGLE DAY!!!  From that moment on my heart has been burdened for all who are stationed overseas and across the world.  They quite possibly are the most selfless people alive.  I feel like the very least we can do when we come across a soldier is thank them.  They’re out there for you and I.  They risk everything so we can sit at home and have freedom.  So Lucas, from me to you…. THANK YOU little brother!!!  I love you and we are praying for you!!

 

 

 

Patiently waiting………

 

Yeah, this is what Caleb thought of my taking pics!!! :P  Little turkey

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m not sure who this soldier is but he came in on the same flight as Lucas.  Soldier, on behalf of my family, THANK YOU for doing what you do!!!!

 

 

Lucas greeting his godchild and nephew Caleb.  He wasn’t so sure at first but he warmed right up and then didn’t want to let go!!

 

 

And so while Lucas has been in Iraq he had some people behind the scenes doing work on his truck.  I think they put a lift kit, new tires and new rims.  It was a total surprise to him

 

 

 

 

So after leaving the airport Lucas decided he wanted to surprise his neice at school and be the one to pick her up.  I am so glad I was there to capture this because baby girl was TRULY surprised and elated!!!

 

 

Kylie was sooo excited it moved her to tears!  I love you Bug!

 

Today was truly awesome.  I love this part of my job.  I LOVE capturing the happy times.  I want everyone who visits and reads this blog to take 20 seconds and leave these soldiers some love because they TRULY put their life on the line for you and I!

God Bless!

Dawn

By Dawn | Also posted in Family, Personal | Comments (17)

Manic Monday

July 12, 2010 – 4:39 pm

I think there’s a song in there somewhere….  Anyways, today I’m gonna talk about feeling better.  I think in order for anyone to feel better they should start with feeling better about themselves.  I don’t know very many truly confident women.  Sure, we’re confident in some areas, not so much in others.  For me, despite how much of a funk I can get into, I’m confident in my Faith.  I’m confident I’m a good mom.  I’m confident I’m a good friend.  I lack in other areas.  I’m not so confident about self image, my career, my purpose in life to name just a few.  So, what do you guys do to help build your character?  We should all look to God for that of course because he is our Creator and he loves us.  He wants us to be confident thru Him.  But I think there are other things we can do to help ourselves.  I’m no counselor but here are some things I’m going to do to help ME.  I’m gonna work on building ME and the REAL me.  Here’s what I wanna do:

1.  I want to focus less on stuff and more on Life.  I want to do more things with  my kids.  Although I know I’m a good mom, sometimes STUFF can wait.  Chores can wait, clothes can wait, phone calls and emails can wait.  This all kind of goes hand in hand with my purpose.  Surely my purpose here (or part of it) is to be the mother God called me to be.  I want to spend less time washing dishes and scrubbing floors and more time playing Monopoly and reading bedtime stories.

2.  I want to work on feeling better about the outer me.  I want to sit at my desk less, stand at the sink less, drive in the car less and get outside.  I want to exercise in whatever form I can get it.  That’s the good thing about having kids, you can kill two birds with one stone.  I want to go to the park and play a game of baseball with the kids, I want to go for walks and ride bikes with them.  I want to swim while I can and run outside while it’s not too cold.  I want to sweat!  Sweating makes me feel good!

3.  I want to work on feeling better about the inner me.  I want to learn to take a compliment.  I want to be more confident in the person God’s calling me to be….whoever that is.  I want to be a better learner so I can be a better teacher.

4.  I want to work more.  I’ve been in a funk about not working lately.  I want to push myself harder and know that I can stand on my own two feet.  After years of not working and being a stay at home mom I kinda struggle with where my position is on that.  Although I’m actively working in bringing my kids up I feel inadequate in the sense that I’m not the “bread-winner”.  I want to change that.  Any stay at home mom can relate to that.  It feels good to know we can balance the two.  I plan to get out and shoot more and book more Scentsy parties. (Yeah I’m kinda addicted to the stuff)

5.  I want to figure out the real me.  The me I feel like kinda got buried while I’ve been shuffling through life since having kids.  Again, any mom knows sometimes we wake up, feed kids, get them off to school, go to work (or not) get home, do homework, dinner, baths, and bed.  We wake up and repeat again the next day.  My kids are getting a little older and a little more independent so I’m not really sure where I fit in sometimes.  I want to figure that out.

Okay I guess that’s it.  I read a scripture the other day that I want to share.  It applies especially to stay at home moms.  I like it.

Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders are in vain.  Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.  In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat-for he grants sleep to those he loves.  Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children are a reward from Him.  Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one’s youth.  Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.

Psalm 127: 1-5

Here’s a pic taken by Mel.  I thought it was fitting.  Reflecting.  There are more headshots she did for me that I’ll share in tomorrows post so stay tuned.

By Dawn | Also posted in Personal | Comments (2)

Tossing and Turning

July 12, 2010 – 1:47 am

That was the title of today’s sermon.  So I knew it would be good when Pastor started his sermon this morning by saying, I was walking outside last night at 10:30 and God gave me a word for someone in this church today.  Yeah, pretty much always a good sermon if God’s got a word for someone.  And man oh  man, what a great one it was.  We started by reading in the book of Job.

Job 7:4  When I lie down, I say, When shall I arise, and the night be gone?  and I am full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of the day.

Mmmmm hmmmm, hit the nail on the head huh?  Yup, pretty much.  Sooooo, do your problems have you tossing and turning at night?  Do your problems have you so sick you lay awake at night and wish for morning to get here?  Well if they do then you should take comfort in the story of Job.  His whole life as he knew it was gone in an instant and he suffered much.  BUT he never cursed God.  He chose to remain diligent and faithful.  And if what the scholars say are true and the book of Job is the oldest book in the bible then Job indeed had no scripture to fall back on.  He leaned solely on his faith.  Wow, what a great man!  You all know the story of Job and in the end he was blessed with double portion.  He chose to stay with God and in turn was blessed.

The word he had for us was simple but powerful:

I’ve seen your tossing and turning.  I’ve seen your pain.  I’m here for you!

I told you guys yesterday about a song I’ve been listening to, also by Britt Nicole.  I’m gonna post the lyrics, it’s another I think you should google on YOUTUBE and listen to.  It’s titled Have your way

Feels like i`ve been here forever,
Why can`t you just intervene?
Do you see the tears keep falling?
And i`m falling apart at the seams.
But you never said the road would be easy,
But you said that you would never leave.
And you never promised that this life wasn`t hard,
But you promised you`d take care of me.

So I`ll stop searching for the answers,
I`ll stop praying for an escape,
And I`ll trust you,God, with where i am,
And believe that you will have your way.
Just have your way.
Just have your way.

When my friends and my family have left me,
And I feel so ashamed and so cold.
Remind me that you take broken things
And turn them into beautiful.

So I`ll stop searching for the answers,
I`ll stop praying for an escape,
And i`ll trust you, God, with where i am,
And believe that you`ll have your way.
Just have your way.
Just have your way.

Even if my dreams have died,
And even if i don`t survive,
I`ll still worship you with all my life.
My life.
Whoa-oh..

And I`ll stop searching for the answers,
I`ll stop praying for an escape,
And i`ll trust you, God, with where i am,
And believe that you will have your way.
Just have your way.
Just have your way.

I know you will.
I won`t forget.
Whoa-oh
You love me.
Have your way.
Yeah

 

So yeah…. sometimes that’s easier said than done but God simply must have his way.  Let that song minister to you!

Pastor also said something in church this morning that I liked so much I wrote in the front of my bible.

If you give up on God, who do you have to hold on to?

Moving on to our day:  Today included a game of Monopoly with the kids after church and then a birthday party for my cousin Mallary.  She turned 9 and had a small get together.  She’s also having a small slumber party where she’ll be painting ceramic teacups.  I’m sure she’s having a blast as I speak.  :)  Here are some shots from our day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Dawn | Also posted in Family, Personal | Comments (0)