Happy 13th Birthday Nathaniel Thomas!

(Side note: Nate picked this song on the player to go along with his b-day message...a little heavy metal:) but I like it.  Nate, I pray that you always see your need for Christ as this song speaks)

As mothers we can't help but relive every moment possible of the birth of our children.  As Nate's birthday approaches, I take a walk down memory lane.

My thoughts quickly trace back to the birth of my precious little boy.  I was 36 weeks and 6 days when I started with contractions.  I had a fever, some sort of virus in my body which brought on contractions that were coming hard and strong.  Off to the hospital we went.  I was feeling quite miserable.  The nurses started to hook me up to all sorts of I.V.'s  getting me situated in Labor and Delivery with hopes of hydrating me and a little Tylenol and I would be on my way home to wait another three plus weeks to deliver.  As standard, they hooked me up to the baby monitor and this is where things got a little scary.

After several tries, they were having a hard time getting my babies heart rate.  Eventually, the heart rate would show up every once and again but it was extremely high.  It would pop up and then disappear, which was indicative of a unsafe, very high heart rate.  With that, the doctors and nurses began scurrying around.  It very much seemed like a fog, but I remember them questioning me and asking when I started with the fever and how long had I been sick.  I began to slowly take in that we were in a serious situation and our baby was at risk.

I remember seeing my sister come in the room and with a sweet but concerned look on her face say that everything was going to be okay and that I was receiving the best care.  My sister was working in Labor and Delivery at the time.  As the urgency continued, my aunt Barb who was with us for every birth came in and with her reassuring way calmed us down.  Aunt Barb told me that Nana had everyone praying for us and the baby and that people had gathered at her house(which was the family hang-out) to pray for us.  That gave us great comfort.

We did not know the sex of our baby and did not want to find out.  The doctor came in and did an ultrasound which showed, from everything that they could see, that the baby looked okay.  He teased me in saying he knew what we were having and did I want to know.  We passed up the opportunity.  I was then put on a ice bed....yeah, full body ice bed because they wanted to get my fever down and the tylenol wasn't doing the trick.  I laid on the ice bed and my fever did start to come down.  After many hours of the baby's heart rate bouncing around in the very, very, very highs they grew quite concerned and decided to induce me with Pitocin aka fire water which I have a love/hate relationship with.  

Apparently when babies get virus' in the womb it is a very dangerous situation that can take their life or cause numerous complications in their lives.  This I knew.  Right then, in the middle of all this hoopla going on and the scurrying of the doctor and nurses, Bob and I prayed.  Let me just say that I am a worrier.  I can worry about anything and everything.  It's a sin in my life.  But at that moment, I will NEVER forget how the presence of the Lord came over us like nothing I can ever explain or do justice in explaining.  It was almost tangible.  We prayed to Him and begged Him to keep our precious baby safe and alive.  I remember praying no matter what complications this child has Lord let your will be done, I trust you.

It's amazing 13 years later and I sit with streams of tears falling down my cheeks.  Not because of the pain of remembering the struggle but because God drew near to us in that very moment, His presence was upon us and His peace came in to our hearts.  I never want to forget that moment....because our faith, my faith deepened in a whole new way.  A "memorial stone"moment for our family.

Joshua 4:5-7
And Joshua said to them, "Cross again to the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel.  
Let this be a sign among you, so that when your children ask later, saying, "What do these stones mean to you?" then you shall say to them, "Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crosse the Jordan, the water of the Jordan were cut off, So these stones shall become a memorial to the sons of Israel forever."

Our Sovereign, Majestic, All-Powerful, God allowed us the privilege of birthing a beautiful little baby boy, who was born healthy.  For the first 24 hours he was kept in the nursery for observation and under the lights because his temperature was very low.  This was the way God wanted Nathaniel's story to begin and we are so thankful and will NEVER forget His grace, His love, His mercy for us and for Nate.

Nate, we love you so very much and are blessed by you. God has a purpose for your life.  Your love and deep conviction in honoring and glorifying God is evident in your walk.  Your love for Him radiates all around you.  I love your beautiful heart.  I love how loyal you are to your friends and family.  I love how sensitive your are to the things that matter in this life.  We pray that you will always seek after what is right and pure and what God calls you to.   You my son, were born for an almighty purpose, to glorify your Lord and Savior.  We love you so very much!  Happy 13th birthday Natey boy!!!

Your favorite verse(and mine too!)

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:38-39

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who love me and gave himself for me.
Galatians 2:20

cousins:)

cute boy

Nate and Danny on our Joni and Friends Mission trip

goofy

you love the beach and ocean

buddies for life!

the sibs

me and my boy

visiting the pre school in Africa

Africa-the orphanage

best buds and brothers too

Nate, Eliud, Robbie, and Dad in Africa

We love you and can't wait to see what God has in store for your life!!!

I love this kid!

 Nate has not played baseball for years....probably since 1st or 2nd grade.  He just really didn't have the desire.  This year he really wanted to play and I was the delinquent one that missed sign ups.  So, with him pleading for me to help him get on a team I signed him up late.  Only to find out there was a waiting list......ugh.....I felt like the world's worse mom.  He had wanted to play and reminded me but it just slipped right out of my ADD brain.  So, needless to say, I apologized to him for my forgetfulness. He, of course, "no problem mom".

We got a call to say they had some drop-outs and that he would be placed on a team!  We were thrilled,(I was redeemed)!  We thanked God for giving Nate this chance to play!

Nate practiced and practiced, a couple runs to the batting cages and playing in the back yard and he felt ready to go!

He had a great year! He was hands down the most handsome catcher or player for that matter in the league!(I know....but I'm his mom, it's my blog and I can say that;)

The team lost every game but one.....but they had heart! For example, the last game(mind you they only won once)they were losing by many runs and were getting ready to be pulled from the game because of the mercy rule. His team was in the outfield and after many scores that inning the pitcher caught a fly ball and the boys all ran in and slapped him and high-fived each other.  I seriously almost cried( I know....but I'm his mom and I'm a sap).  These boys had heart! They were not down because of some mercy rule, they were excited because somebody actually caught a fly ball...which was not a usual occurence on this team.  Okay, back to why I was crying, how cool is it that they still were pumped even after a blow-out season and 6 games called because of the mercy rule. These kids were in the game for the right reason and despite the scores and losses they were still fist pumping each other, their attitudes spoke volumes.

 Nate was one of the driving forces on the team and made this momma very proud by being the team encourager.  His coach pulled Bob aside and spoke so kindly about Nate and what a nice young man he was.  This boy melts my heart, his love for Jesus shines through Him and he is such a joy!  He loves to have heart to heart discussions, tends to see things as black or white(but we're working on this).  The one night I was driving him to his game I looked over and he had a necklace with a wooden fish on it that read JESUS!  I said, "are you wearing that during the game" he said "Yeah, mom".  I love his boldness, what a blessing he is to our family!

Oh Noooo he didn't!

The return of the "cup"!

WARNING: Some might lose their stomach over this...it might be enough to put you over the edge...I don't know, I'm getting used to this sort of thing(look at previous posts). However, not all would expect to find this at the dinner table! He got a talkin to about this one! ahhhh, grossssss, totally inappropriate to have while we are eating. He, of course, even after our little discussion, still didn't see the problem with this. Boys, whatcha gonna do?!

Melissa, how are you feeling about adopting my kids now?! :)

My cup overfloweth! (pun intended)

It was Wednesday afternoon, exactly one day before leaving for Ohio to attend the homeschool convention, which I was sure was going to solve all of my parenting and homeschooling woes. A lot to do and so little time to get it done. Nate and Gracie had to be at practice at the same time (of course 2 different places at one time), then pick each one up at the same time to quick rush them to church then run back home to get packed and 5 million other loose ends to tie up before the next day. So typical for me. My head was spinning!

I realized that Nate did not have the "necessary" baseball equipment, well, let me back up, we had already been to the sporting goods store earlier that day....trying to find this "necessary" item but to no avail. I was pinched for time and overwhelmed with the choices. Many shapes, sizes and styles. I paced back and forth between the aisles and then just went for it. Did I mention that I was pinched for time??? I asked the college-age salesman....which "one" is the most comfortable? (don't judge me).........I was desperate people!!!! I believe my children could have disowned me in that moment.

Fast forward to 5pm, the aforementioned item does not fit and apparently, according to my boys, I had bought the "necessary" equipment that might fit Shaquile O'Neal. Soooo knowing that he had to be at practice by 6pm, I said to the kids, "hop in the car" we are running back to Dick's Sporting Goods to get the proper size. I run out to the car to see my kids looking at me with fear in their eyes....."what...what....ohhhh noooooo"......"are you serious....really?" One of my sweet, precious, children had started the car with the remote start and left the keys in the car which locks automatically! I thought I was gonna looooooose it! I walked away.....knowing that if I didn't I would not be saying loving things to this child. I turned around after somewhat getting control of my anger and saw all 4 of my kids frantically working on the car with every type of plumbing paraphernalia they could find. Thankfully, we had a vented window on the side that was open. I couldn't help myself but laugh at the site of them all working on this window. I resolved that there was absolutely nothing I could do at this point but make it a picture moment and jump in to help with this predicament. After about 20 min. and 5 scratches on the car, I was able to hit the button that puts the windows down and retrieve the keys. Yeah! One catastrophe solved.....onward we went....back to the store to solve the previous mentioned dilemma!

"yup, they are in there...I can see the keys, mommy!"

discussing how they were going to go about this

trying with a coat hanger first....

the scratches that came from the various implements used

that is a piece of copper pipe....is that a problem?

working together....Robbie guiding him on how close he is to the button.

What's wrong with this picture?

I came home the other day and I found this magazine, and was curious as to what took place...as you can see the cover is off.

This is one of those health/excercise magazines that I had been given a subscription to and usually they have some glamorous, flawless, re-touched, inaccurate picture of the "total woman" which I believe is a complete fabrication of what that woman really looks like. Usually, I receive the mail and take this and turn it over and put it away on my desk until I get the chance to browse through it.

So off I went to begin my little search...I found out that Nate had seen the magazine when the mail came in and informed me that the picture was inappropriate so he took scissors and cut off the cover.

A little history....from the time that our boys were little we have been teaching them to "bounce" their eyes off of inappropriate pictures or those people who choose to barely wear clothing(which unfortunately is the "in" thing) Dr. Dobson gets the credit for this idea and we have really tried hard to instill this into all our children especially our boys.

I praised Nate on making such a wise decision. But, it made me very aware that I am not always on the alert and looking out for such things that could possibly provoke my children. Here, as a mom I think that I am trying to teach them everything I possibly can on how sin can ensnare and how we need to constantly be on guard...yet it sneaks in...here, there...it can't be contained. We can't put our kids in a bubble and nor would I want to. How would they ever be able to take a stand on their own in what is right....if they don't get exposed to them. (now, grant it...didn't make me feel good it was a magazine I had). Nate made the right decision.....I was proud of him for that...and yet I know that he will not always make the right choice....none of us do. But God promises this:

1 Corinthians 10:12&13

So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

And oh how we pray, that God would convict our childrens heart and that he would penetrate the very depths of their souls...that they would know how desperately they need a Savior...and that it would deepen their relationship with Him.

I love this boy so much and he reminds me of what it is to love Jesus. His deep sincerity and desire to serve Christ is evident in his life and I pray that it would never waver and that he would continue to let his light shine!