May Day

  Well we made it through Brinley's birthday again. She would be four and somehow I can picture that she would have been begging to ride the bus to school with Haley, learning to ride her bike with no training wheels, roughing her brother Nathaniel up one minute only to mother him the next. All things that I'm missing out on here but hope to catch up on one day in heaven. 

  Her birthday wasn't nearly as hard this year as last. I was super excited to help in planning a graduation party for a friend of mine. When the date was decided Eric took one look at it and mentioned that we couldn't because it was Brinley's birthday. I know that he was trying to protect me from something that had potential to be difficult but I reminded him that we can't let life stop forever even on those special days. As we packed up the kids and some food for the party I was so thankful for the decision that we made. Of course I missed making over her on her special day but spending my energy serving someone else for the day just made it easier. I believe wholeheartedly that God designed us that way. When we glorify Him through serving others, when we dwell less on our own situations, maybe it helps us to be a little less miserable. 

  Please be in prayer for my "blog friend" Kristy. I don't know how to link in my text but her blog is in the list on my sidebar. It is called "Waiting for Happy." This girl has spoken volumes to me in what it means to trust that God is faithful no matter your circumstances. I was thrilled to find out that she named her new baby girl Hope as we have plans to use that as a middle name for our impending arrival. I immediately wrote to her I was so excited to share. We chose that name because the words hope and joy are so tangible to our family now that we have lost a loved one. These words have new meaning to us, and so we continue to choose to search out hope and joy every day here in the meantime.