The spirit echos still

Today, seven years ago, the greatest woman I know went Home to be with Jesus. It's a day I won't ever forget. My mom is a woman I will never ever forget.

On Sunday we had a student in our youth group lose his own mom to non-Hodgkins lymphoma, just like my mom. I had been following their blog for a few weeks because I wanted to best know how to pray for their family, pray for his mom, pray for him. Last week I read a post that took me back directly to the last couple of weeks with my own precious mom. I quickly hid myself in a bathroom stall and cried. It's so amazing how grief can hit.

About three weeks ago I read a verse in Hebrews 11 that captivated my heart and made me think about my mom. It's verse 4 and says, "Although Abel is long dead, he still speaks to us by his example of faith." There are so many things my mom was an example in. She was one of the most kind, humble and giving souls you'd come across. She was queen of hospitality and knew how to make any and everyone feel comfortable in our home. She rejoiced when we rejoiced and cried when we cried...okay, and even at most Hallmark commercials and when missionaries spoke too.

Yet, more than anything, her example of faith still speaks to me. She loved Jesus. She loved Him with a child-like faith. She loved Him when everything was going well and she continued to love and trust Him when she was so sick with the cancer that absolutely ravaged her body. She didn't want to leave us here but she wasn't scared to die. She knew her Lord and she knew He would be there to take her Home. Her legacy of love...for Christ, for my dad, for Andy and I, and for those around her lives on and it always will. I am a better person because of her.

She had a laugh that was contagious and everyone recognized without even having to that it was coming from her. She had a way of burning rolls in the oven most of the time and laughing at it still. She had a way of rearranging furniture every few weeks. She had a way of cheering loudly for her son. She had a way of loving her man. She had a way of making me feel more loved and at home than any other person on the planet ever has. She had a way...a way I long to have myself.

"Her children stand and bless her. Her husband praises her. There are many virtuous and capable women in the world, but you surpass them all! Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised! Reward her for all she has done." Prov. 31:28-31

Momma,

You are a woman to be praised. While I miss you terribly, I am so glad you have received your Reward in Him. Thank you for still speaking to us by your example of faith. I love you!

Forever,

your Kimberly

(Friends, please also pray for the Howell family I mentioned above and for the Jacobs family too...a friend who lost their baby at 34 weeks)

God of great wonders!

This picture of sweet Reesie was taken just a few moments ago...
This was of her last year...

You see, on this day last year at this time of day, I was lovingly surrounded by family and friends. I was watching a tv screen that told me what part of the open heart surgery my baby girl was in. I was just waiting for a kind nurse to come out and let me know that everything was going okay. I was praying for an amazing surgeon named Dr. Mendeloff.

The picture above actually isn't of her on the day of surgery. It's the day after. I don't have any of her after her surgery that day because I, in wonderful fashion of a mother who loves her child desparately, passed out when I saw her with all the million tubes coming out of her body, and had to be taken to the E.R. Nice, huh?! Thankfully, I sat down realizing it was happening and didn't hit my head on anything.

Can I tell you the one of the things I remember most about that day and the couple of days before hand? I had never felt the truth of Philippians 4:7 which tells us "you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus" until this time. I wish I could explain it but I can't. But it was totally supernatural. I literally felt carried by the Lord because of the prayers people were praying on our behalf.

I mean, let's be honest, I am a (not proud) worrier. I love my kids more than life itself and thinking about something happening to one of them scares me to death. Here is my normal day to day life: when I walk down a flight of stairs carrying one of my daughters I think about what would happen if I tripped. When I drive through stoplights with the girls in my car, a lot of times I think about the horrendous possibility of an accident. God has rescued me from a lot of my fear, but there are days where these thoughts creep in. So to be completely at peace on a day where my child was being cut open, her tiny heart stopped and operated on,
and then prayerfully it starting again...well, it's nothing short of a miracle.

And that is the God we serve, a "God of great wonders!" (Ps. 77:14)

Father, today we celebrate the life of precious Reese Ellery Mills, that you have given us not just once but twice. And we celebrate that you are a God of miracles...big and small! You deserve all praise! Thank you.

Kid of His heart!

I have been overwhelmed lately for the love I have for my children. Sometimes I feel like my heart might just explode I love them so much! And there have been many times over the past few weeks where I feel like time is slipping by, not in a bad way, but in a way that reminds me that life is precious, and without Christ, it isn't permanent.

There are so many dreams and prayers I have for my girls. Greater than any heart's desire I have, is my desire to see each one of them come to accept Christ into their life and to love, walk and experience Him all the days of their lives. I desire for them to be healthy and safe. I desire for other's to come to know Christ because of the way they love Him. I desire for them to be blessed with godly husbands who put them second only to the Lord. I desire for them to be blessed with children and knowing what it is like to love one of your very own. And I desire, very much, to be there for all of it.

I feel like God has been teaching me so much lately, drawing me close to Himself, and reminding me that He loves me as my Daddy too. And He desires, perfectly desires, what is best for my life. His Word has brought so much fulfillment to my soul lately. I can hear Him speaking to me, as a Father to a daughter.

Psalm 119 is the longest psalm there is. It is the very center of the Bible. And in my mind, both of those truths are not an accident. Why? Because the entire psalm is about the richness, the life, the eye-opening truth, the wisdom, the comfort, the steadfast faithfulness, and the joy that is found in God's Word. His Word!

I have gone back to Psalm 37 over and over again over the past two months. It's like I'm a teenager again reading a little note Jase wrote to me. I want to soak it in. I want to see if there is any hidden meaning. I want to remind myself of the friendship and love between us. This time it is a friendship and love between my Savior and I. I feel like change is coming. I hope it is because my heart desires it. But no matter what change or what sameness (again, not sure that's a real word) might be I will, "Put my hope in the LORD. I will travel steadily along His path" (Ps. 37:34). Because just like my heart's desire for my children, I know He too desires wonderful and eternal things for me.

Let the alarm clock ring.

Before we get into the fun news about my precious children let me give a shout out to all the Pioneer women of the 1800's. An odd shout-out I'm sure but seriously, how on earth did these women keep up with the duties of laundry and dishwashing without our modern appliances? I have such a hard time keeping up and I have machines to help me out.

And not to toot my own boring horn, but...did you know the girls' playroom is actually nice and tidy. Yes, you can even walk in their with your eyes closed and not kill yourself. My kitchen is even somewhat clean!

Alright, onto what everyone is truly interested in: Ashlyn, Laney and Reese. Our Ashlyn Jean started 2nd grade (2nd grade, I tell you!) last Monday. She has a great teacher and we still absolutely love her school. She didn't get placed in the same class as her best buddy, Avery, but they play at recess and in their LEAP class. She does have several friends in her class. Can you believe how cute and mature she is? In other big news, we bought Ashlyn a new bike...one without training wheels. She tried it for the first time Saturday evening. Then tonight we went out for the second time and the girl is a pedaling machine, quite at ease without any training wheels or Mommy or Daddy holding on. It's amazing! She has some Fancy Nancy in her as she told Jason after we got home that tomorrow we should make a cute paper chain finish line so they can race and break through it. She also has started a babysitter's club where she wants to watch babies in our house for friends (while we're here of course) and then give half of the money to children who don't have a lot of money. Sweet, isn't she? (I told you she takes after her mother...I'm totally kidding! That is God's work in her little heart.)

Laney Hope started her pre-K class today at her Mom's Day Out. Again, we totally
love her school too. She came out so excited about her first day. Her teacher, Ms. Jennifer, was also her teacher last year and was pumped to have Laney back. She said Laney even volunteered to be the prayer leader for the day.

We'll wait and see if she volunteers to answer questions related to her letters. I have to tell you, if you begin talking about letters her eyes begin to glaze over within seconds. The other day after we picked Ashlyn up from school I mentioned that while they play school at home Ashlyn will have to help teach her her letters. I said, "Because Laney wants to learn her letters." She just looked at me and a huge grin broke out..."Mommy, you want me to learn my letters. I don't want to learn them." At least the girl can write her own name and her sisters. Oh well, she is extra cute so that will take her places! Actually, she's quite smart...just doesn't want to put that in front of having fun. She really is maturing so much since turning four. I love seeing her perspective on things.

And let's not forget sweet Reesie, who also had her first day at MDO today. Oooooh...she is too cute for words! And speaking of words, I get comments every other day by people who are in wonder over how clearly she speaks and her vocabulary. It really is quite amazing. She can very precisely sing her ABC's and you can often hear her telling Buckner, or one of us for that matter, to "be diet!"(aka, quiet).

She's forever petite, but doesn't let that stop her. She often wants to crawl up into the van on her own and then into her carseat. I'm exhausted watching her. And the girl is always ready for a snack. She weighed a little over 20 lbs. at her 18 month check-up and is almost 22 mos. so she's got to be close to 22 lbs. now! She usually talks refers to herself in the third person saying "Reesie wants that", etc. I could absolutely eat her up!

One thing I often pray for is that my girls will not only be best friends as adults but also all through their childhood. I am so thankful for how the Lord is in answering that prayer. They dearly love each other and are the best of friends. Here is a picture I stumbled upon the other night before bed. Ashlyn was reading to Laney and Reesie.

Here is the view from the front.

Well, I am off to that b-l-e-s-s-e-d thing called laundry again.

Good night, friends!

Here is one last pic to bless you all with some sweet dreams:

My Girl Turns 7

It's been almost three weeks now, but our precious Ashlyn Jean, has turned 7 years-old. I know every mom says it, but where has the time gone? Ashlyn thought about many, many different options for her party and finally settled on having it at our house with a school theme. Here are the girls waiting in the bounce house for everyone to arrive. Are they not the sweetest things ever?
Here are the lockers Daddy helped make for the girls. It was Ashlyn's idea and Jase was the man in action to make it happen. Ashlyn decorated each person's locker just for them. Event
planning could definitely be in her future!

Thanks to Miss Haleigh, she had amazingly cute school cupcakes!

She does great at loving each thing her kind friends gift her with!

Here is P.E. They were trying to throw objects into a small washer-pit hole.

A school party for Ashlyn would absolutely not be complete without art class...I'm telling you,

the girl has skill!

Ashlyn, Laney, and their good friend, Meagan!

Hello 7!

My sweet Ashlyn, There isn't a single thing we would change about you. You are simply an amazing, talented, kind, thoughtful, and faithful little girl. You are every parent's dream and we are beyond thankful the Lord blessed us with you. Thank you for being such a sweet daughter and sister. We pray that your heart for Christ continues to grow and that others come to know Him because of you. We LOVE you, LOVE you, LOVE you!!! Love, Mommy and Daddy

Family Vacay

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Let me warn you...if that's true you are about to have 20,000 words flying out you. We left last Friday and came back Monday from one of the best vacations I have ever been on. I can't remember enjoying myself more. It was so nice to get away from responsibility, leave behind work worries, connect as a family, enjoy each other as husband and wife, have fun with a friend, and take in God's beautiful creation.

Here are the girls as we started our road trip to Possum Kingdom Lake. A precious family from church let us use their gorgeous (an understatement) lake house. Thank you Haywoods!

We road on their mule a ton while we were out there!

We fed the horses carrots every single day...

We swam and played at the pool. I love this next pic of Laney...it captures

her perfectly!

Daddy and Ashlyn jumping of the "cliff" into the pool. Yes, I did it too, but I'll spare the pic of me in my bathing suit. Ashlyn is our little adventure queen!

One of my very best friends in the whole world, Jen, joined in on the fun!

We love her dearly!

Yes, Miss Laney is actually swimming short distances on her own now.

Yahoo...I love it! So proud of her!

Ashlyn loooved the Hummer golf cart. Daddy even let her "drive."

We rented a pontoon boat one day. Jase and I dream of one day owning a

lake house with a pontoon boat...it was amazing to live the dream for a few hours. Reesie loved it so much it tuckered her out for over an hour.

We had to make Ashlyn get off the tube. She loved it!

Laney's favorite thing was just floating in the water...

however, after much coaxing, she enjoyed the tube ride too!

A family pic in their backyard. Amazing view, right?!

My beloved...

Goodbye Haywood lake house! We hope to be back soon. Seriously, it took

everything in me, not to cry coming home. I loved it that much!

July Fourth Weekend

We had a full, but relaxing fourth of July weekend. Every year our entire neighborhood puts out little American flags in front of each house. I anticipate it for days. We started Friday night by having our friends, the Moore's, over for dinner. Daniel, Carrie, and Alli go to church with us. In fact, Daniel and I work together. The girls couldn't get enough of precious Alli and passed her around several times so they could all hold her, including Reese. Here are the girls before they headed out for their Fourth of July Parade. They met up with the Lee family. Jase took them so that I could have a few childless hours to rest my ears :0) and clean the house.
We spent the rest of the evening at the Lee's neighborhood pool and then barbecued at their house with more of our friends from LifeGroup. And even though I didn't get pics of the fireworks we even got to see those too. We are so thankful God has blessed us to live in the USA!

Laney, Reese, Ashlyn and Jackson

Lauren and Rowdy (and baby!)

Drew and Emily (my amazing hairdresser!)

Chad and Amanda (thanks for hosting us)

He's gotten even better-looking with age! Jase throwing washers.

The girls before church on Sunday.

We were able to cap off the weekend by having Pastor Genesis in our home. He has some neat ministries in Cameroon. If you're one of my facebook friends check out his stuff.