Officer "Lazarus"

I saw this story on my local news, but it actually happened not too far from my home-town in SC. In fact, it happened really close to where I went to college, in a little town called Seneca.

A police officer had a heart attack and was rushed to the hospital. He went for over an hour without a measurable heartbeat. As his family was being brought in to say their final goodbyes, a nurse felt a slight heartbeat. The ER crew did more CPR, shocked his heart, and got him into surgery where he crashed twice on the operating table.

This man LIVED!!! He was given the nickname "Lazarus" after Lazarus in the Bible who was brought back to life by Jesus Himself. You can read his whole story here and here, or you can watch the story for yourself on the Today Show tomorrow morning.

Can you imagine what his family must have felt...to be told that their husband and father had died. That they should begin to make final arrangements and say their last goodbyes. Then to be at their most broken moment, and find out that there is still a heartbeat...that their husband/father is ALIVE! I can only imagine what God has planned for this man's life. No one knows how long they will live...only our Father in Heaven knows this. It makes me wonder just what God has in store for me.
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord. "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

You know I love a bargain!

I've never been ashamed to admit how much I like saving money or using my coupons. I've even been known to call my mom after leaving the store to tell her exactly how much I saved on particularly good days. So I just have to share this bargain because so many of you live really close to me. You might be able to take advantage of this.

Ok, here's the deal. I got all these diapers at Walgreens for $14.98. If you live near me, this is the Walgreens closest to our church. Right now they are running a deal where if you buy a Jumbo pack of Huggies, you get a trial size of Walgreen's diapers for FREE!! The Huggies are marked down to 9.99 each. Not a great deal, but cheaper than some places. Then you need to get the Walgreens savers booklet located at the front of the store. On the next to the last page there is a flyer where it says if you buy 2 of the same type of baby product you can deduct $2 from your total. Then I used a $1.50/1 coupon on each pack.

The Huggies were $19.98 for 2 packs.

Take off the $2 promotion, making it $17.98.

Take off 2 of the $1.50/1 coupons, for $3, making it $14.98.

The trial packs were $3.97 each, and were Free.

Total savings: $12.94

Total spent: $14.98 plus tax.

That makes each diaper about 14 cents apiece.

I don't know if this deal will work in all states, but it works for me!!

I'll have a snow day please....hold the snow!

I've mentioned before how much I love snow days.

Today we had another one. Only we had even LESS SNOW this time than the time back in November. Last time the light dusting earned us a 2-hour delay. Even less snow got us a whole day off!

Unbelievable!!

I am just hoping that other parts of the county got more than we got here at our house. Now, don't get me wrong. I know most other jobs don't get this kind of luxury, so please understand I'm not complaining. I got to spend a wonderful day with my son. But today just didn't make sense.

We actually were supposed to be doing some testing today and then watch parts of the Inauguration. My class and I have had some wonderful discussions this year about the elections. I had to be fair and "unbiased" in my conversations so as to "not promote a particular candidate".

I'm sure we will have a lot to discuss tomorrow.

A Miracle in the Skies

I'm sure by now (unless you've been living under a rock) you have all heard about the plane crash in New York City yesterday. Everyone survived and there were very few injuries.

Yet, hardly anyone has mentioned what I consider the real reason this "miracle" happened. Sure, there was the pilot who managed this amazing crash landing. But I believe there was someone else in that cockpit...someone more amazing! God was flying that plane yesterday. God allowed those people to walk away with scratches or less. God allowed the situation to present itself so that very few people even got wet!

Yes, there was a miracle in the skies over New York yesterday.

But I'm looking forward to an even better miracle in the skies. I'm looking forward to the day that our Lord returns for us. The Bible tells us in I Thessalonians 4:16-18
For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words.

Oh, what a miracle that day will be!

Do you know your Birth Verse?

A while back I got an email telling about a website that will tell you a Bible Verse that matches with your birth date. For some reason I thought of it yesterday and looked it up so I could share it here.

You put in the month and date that matches your birthday, and then a Bible verse appears so that the chapter and verse go along with the day you put in. It is really neat how the verse, in my opinion, seems to match yourself. At least it did for me, anyway.

Here are some special dates for our family and the verses that match.

My birth verse is John 5:30:
By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.

My husband's verse is Romans 8:1
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Quinn's verse is Joshua 1:9
Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.

And our wedding anniversary verse is Matthew 6:21
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Check this out...see if your verse is a perfect fit!

Happy 1st Birthday, Quinn!!

I can hardly believe that this day is here. January 9, 2009....my baby is 1 year old today! It truly seems like it was just yesterday that I was finding out I was pregnant. It seems like just yesterday I was looking at a sonogram of a little "peanut" and wondering what this child would look like. It seems like just yesterday that I was looking at myself, at my hugeness, and wondering when this baby would ever get here.

Getting here was the hard part. I remember wishing all of Christmas 2007 that Quinn would make an early arrival, since I did not want to go back to school. But Quinn decided he did not want to come early, or even on time.

January 8th, 2008 was a Tuesday. I had spent the day at school teaching my children, and waddling up and down the halls. My classroom is as far from the main lobby area as it can be and at this point, 5 days overdue, I was miserable. I remember as soon as I got home from work, I changed clothes and started walking. I was NOT going back to work the next day. I walked through the back part of our subdivision and up and down the huge hill, and then back around the block. When Buddy got home, we walked that far again, and then went out to eat at our favorite restaurant. I remember he said to me, "We won't have many more nights that are just the two of us. Let's go out one more time."

We came home from dinner and I was exhausted. I fell asleep on the couch and then went to bed about 9:30. Buddy was sleeping in the guest room, because apparently I snore while pregnant....and I also kept the house so cold he had to sleep in a toboggan hat! Anyway, our little dog Tillman sleeps with me and he wouldn't settle down. I remember he wouldn't settle down that night. Somewhere around midnight he got off the bed and scratched the door...his signal for wanting water. I let him out to the kitchen and he scratched his dish...his signal that the dish was empty. When I bent over to get his dish, my water broke! I truly believe the Lord allowed Tillman to get me to the kitchen so I could make a mess on the kitchen tile, and not our mattress!

We got to the hospital around 12:30 am on January 9th, and I got put on a penicillin drip due to being positive for Group B strep. I labored for 12 hours! Yes, 12 hours. Around noon or so we started pushing, but nothing was happening. I kept trying for about 2 hours. The doctor came and realized Quinn was facing my inner leg, not the floor, and worst of all, his heart rate plummeted every time I had a contraction. After a short discussion with the doctor, we realized that I was going to need a C-Section. This was 2:30, and by 2:55pm, January 9th, I heard the most wonderful words in the world, "It's a boy!"

I'm telling you....I am one blessed Mama! With Quinn being my first child, I'm not sure what I was expecting, but apparently the Lord decided to give me the easiest child ever. Quinn was not a crying baby. He wasn't fussy. He was very pleasant and easy going. I can remember 5 distinctive nights of him being absolutely inconsolable. 5 nights....out of a whole year. He was sleeping through the night by 7 weeks (the week before I had to go back to work!) He met all his milestones for his first year at the right times. He (so far) has not gone through the "stranger anxiety" so he easily goes to any adult we need him to be with...even those he meets for the first time.

Here are some pics of him through-out this year. Isn't he the sweetest??

Quinn, I am so glad that I have been given the chance to be your Mama. I am so lucky that you are my precious gift from God. Your Daddy and I love you so much. I am looking forward to celebrating your first birthday with you!

Love,

Mommy

Hello 2009!!

Well, it's finally here...2009. I wonder what this year will hold?

Buddy and I stayed up until midnight, like we always do. Then we spent the day being a Clemson Family...all decked out in orange so we could watch the Tigers play in the Gator Bowl. We lost to Nebraska, which was a shame since it started out as a really good game. Quinn looked so cute in his orange overalls.

While I am waiting for our traditional New Year's Day meal of pork, collard greens, and black-eyed peas to finish (are we Southern or what?), I thought I would write out my New Year's Resolutions for 2009. I do this every year--hopefully I will keep them this time!

#1. I want to grow closer to God through daily devotions and prayer time. I can honestly admit that I have not been as faithful at these things as I should be. I want to get back on track this year.

#2. I want to become an even better wife and mother for my family. These two guys mean the world to me, and I want to do everything I can do to be the best woman they both deserve.

#3. I want to lose weight and better my own health. They say it takes 9 months to put on "baby weight" and 9 months to lose it, but here we are a week from Quinn's birthday and I am still carrying around extra pounds. I have a goal in mind, which I do not wish to share here right now. When I meet this goal, I will share all!

#4. I want to keep up with paperwork at school (grading papers, student forms, etc), so I can have more family time. This is just an area I have struggled with since becoming a teacher. I do great for a few weeks, then life gets hectic, and the next thing I know I am buried under mountains of paperwork. Then I have to bring it home and try to catch up on the weekend, but feel like I should be spending that time with my son and husband. If I could get into a better habit at school, I could do my school work AT SCHOOL...imagine that.

So there you have it folks...my four resolutions for this year. I really want to keep all of these this year, especially the first one. If I can keep God number one in my life, everything else will just fall into place.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart

and lean not on your own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge Him,

and He will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 3:5-6