facts about COFFEE!

Prevention, August 2010, page 22

Visit with Dad and Mom Childs

Also thankful to be able to visit with Dad and Mom.  Mom is not doing very well and talks more and more of Heaven every day.  Dad is doing ok!  Would love to have more company (I think) but he is committed to taking care of Mom EVERY second of the day!  Praise the Lord for the great example they have been to us!  We are thankful to have parents like this.

Annual pic with Evangelist Dwight Smith’s children

Billy, Nathaniel, Peter, Timothy, Christy holding Andrew

I am soooo excited to hold new baby Andrew!  Praise the Lord for his unique appearance into this world.  We are thankful for the opportunity to spend the night with Dwight and Amber on our way to OH for a conference on Revival.

Pics of Mesa and Tiger swimming

believe this or not……

My parent’s transformer box was ‘hit’ by lightening on Monday! Billy and I were not at the house, but we were stuck up town getting some things worked on on Billy’s cell phone. So, we waited out the bad storm at the mall. However, my parents said that the lightening and noise was so terrible! Mesa couldn’t get close enough to my dad though. We were just glad everyone was ok! We made it home just in time to take these pictures and to see the lights turned back on!

Stillwater, OK

Sunday was our first time back in Stillwater, OK.  Feels like home really, but we are so excited to spend some time here with Pastor and Mrs. Hardy and all our dear friends at Bible Baptist Church.  Check out their website if you get a chance…stillchurch.com.  Their new theme is really neat about ’still’ being a CHURCH!

typing from a new MAC

Yes, that’s right….this is the first post posted on the new MAC that the church in Lubbock gave us.  WHAT A HUGE BLESSING.  We have been praying for a new computer, but specifically a Mac for about 3 years now and here it is!  We are rejoicing and wanted to share with you how good God is!  Many of you remember that our computer crashed about a year ago and recently we lost all sound (and had several people try to restore it, but to no avail).  Isn’t it neat to have a need…trust God for it….and see that need met?  Well, it really is!

we have babies in Heaven

It has taken awhile for me to type about this, but I believe the Lord has given liberty to do so.  In March, Billy and I found out we were expecting our first baby.  What a thrilling day it was for me, but Billy was in denial.  So much so that he made me go to the Dr. that day to really make sure the home test(s) were correct! So, that afternoon we verified that truly we were expecting.  Wow the thrill.  They did however make sure to let us know that we needed to return for our first ultrasound visit to ‘verify’ the pregnancy.  The next 4 weeks went by extremely slow…extremely slow!  We had no idea what to expect at the first visit, but quickly learned that it was very simple.  During the ultrasound we saw a yolk sak, but no fetal pole (which would be the heartbeat).  So, we all thought it might be a little early to see the heartbeat.  We returned a week later for another ultrasound.  This time we saw 2 yolk saks….that’s right…TWINS!  but still no fetal poles.  Still thinking we were early, we waited 2 weeks to check things out again.  The next ultrasound was simliar…no fetal poles, but the yolk saks had grown.  (It was possible that the twins were hiding).  So another 2 weeks was recommended.  In the meantime we had blood drawn for toxin levels, but those came back normal.  A week later I miscarried both babies.  I was alone, Billy was washing Mesa and my Daddy kept calling me on the phone…it was a whirlwind experience and very scary.  Through the night I passed several clots of blood (the first though actually looked like 2 matching saks).  So, I believe those were the babies.  The babies officially were in Heaven 12 weeks into the pregnancy.  The tests didn’t tell us how long they lived and due to no toxins in the blood it is possible they lived close to the time frame (of course, no real way to tell).  Many of you already knew of this trying time in our lives, but I tell you, this has been the darkest trial of my life.  For several days I could not think straight…sure, hormonally I was ‘off’, but I was Spiritually as well.  I never doubted God’s goodness or His plan for my life, but I did wonder what He was trying to teach me by taking these babies home.   A couple of weeks prior a dear friend’s baby went home to be with the Lord and the comforting thought of the twins and Emma playing together was such a sweet thought…also the thought of them knowing my nephew, Wilson was super sweet to me.  However the sadness has been overwhelming.  We have received several sweet notes and cards from many of you and I want to thank you so much.  I have not had the words to reply, but my gratefulness is large.  I have been in awe at those who have written that I haven’t had the privilege of meeting yet, but thank you, thank you…each time I opened your cards, I cried.  For you to write someone you didn’t know was the most thoughtful thing ever to me.  Keep praying…I have stayed in Georgia to recouperate until this week.  I am thankful to Westbrook Baptist, Clovis, NM (Pastor Furgus Tunnell) for being so thoughtful and understanding…I have felt no pressure and have felt quite at home.  What a great week to jump back into my duties next to Billy.  In further posts, I’ll share what the Lord has been and is teaching me.  I may never know what the Lord’s full desire is through this, but I know I want to learn all He has to teach me!

other turkey pics

Billy's turkey with 'da man (my Dad) and the famous call box

Daddy's turkey with Billy (Billy's to the left...in case anyone wondered)

my Daddy’s turkey

Kris Stephens, Daddy, Billy and Kris's dad Charlie

BILLY’S FIRST TURKEY

Praise the Lord!!!  Billy killed his 1st turkey along side my Daddy in Alabama.  It weighed about 22lbs and was the best eatin’ turkey ever!  We had family over the following Monday for a turkey feast!  Mesa has even enjoyed it as a ‘treat’!

The special trip was with a dear friend of ours from Crooked Creek Baptist Church in Athens, GA (Kris Stephens).  They met over in AL for a 3 day hunt at some family property of Kris’s.  What a great time they had together!