It's been a few weeks since I've updated my blog so lets see if my memory serves me well again this time. Memorial Day weekend ended up being a very busy weekend for Amy and I. Friday after school we drove down to Bluffton with Terry and Laurie for Brendan's open house. Enjoyed hanging out with Brad and Michelle and their kids. Boy did we get a little rowdy in a game of dice when the numbers started getting pretty high :) Saturday we headed to breakfast with the family and then headed for home for Nicole's open house. Come that Sunday morning Amy was beyond cranky from the over stimulation and it's a good thing I've got a great support group to keep me in line or I would've skipped church that day. It's always good to have those people in your life who tell you to quit making excuses and get your butt to church!
I've been done working for a few weeks now and still struggle with balancing school, Amy, and God. I can't see how I managed to add work into the mix when I was working. I'm still a little stressed with school, but God still keeps me calm and sane. School's got its good days and its bad days just like with everything else. I wasn't too happy with my last months C as my final grade, but it just makes me strive for a better grade this month.
In the few weeks since I have stopped working I can feel myself growing closer and closer to God and that is possibly the best feeling (that and being a mother) anyone can possibly have. He's just really shown me that I have to stand my ground on my beliefs and I can't budge or else satan is going to come creeping in and knock my tree over. I've really enjoyed being able to go to Church every Sunday and Wednesday now even though I don't get there every Wednesday like I should. I hear people say they need to go to church, or they have to go to church, even that they know they should go to church. But, for me it's that I want to go to church. I want to go and learn and grow. I want that fellowship with those of like mindedness so I can be uplifted and purified. Church just challenges me week after week to live more fully in God and walk closer to him, so satan doesn't have the chance to put a stumbling block in my way.
The best thing next to Jesus is the JOY I get out of watching my daughter grow, get cuter and even more stubborn as the days go on. It's amazing how much she changes in looks month by month, and even how much her actions and personality changes month by month. She's definitely getting faster on me that's for sure, the little bugger gets from the from of Grandma and Grandpa's house out to grandma by the road in the time I glance at my screen. She loves to be chased and to chase me around the yard as she laughs in happiness and joy. Though her favorite things to do while outside is play in her pool, eat the dirt from the flower pots, and ride on the tractor with grandpa.
With father's day coming up I want to take a moment to talk about two very special men in my life that are both grandfathers to my daughter, one's a grandfather to me and both I see as very wonderful father figures, Terry and my grandpa Alvin.
Since my grandpa is older we'll start with him. There's no greater love by man on earth than that of a grandfather. My grandpa has taught me soooo many things over the last 20 years of my life. Even though at the times that he was teaching me I may not have always understood his reasoning, but I sure do now. He knew when it was time to use tough love, when it was time to just be loving and when there was a time to just be the big teddy bear he really is. Although he's a little gruff on the outside he's the biggest softy you will probably ever meet (of course I'm partial). I don't know that I will ever love an earthly man more than I love my grandpa.
Now we come to Terry....oh what do we say about him :p Well, he's a trouble maker, a teaser, very sarcastic, oh wait we're supposed to be talking about what makes him so great not his flaws haha :) Terry is the best grandpa I could have ever asked for, for Amy to have. When I watch him and Amy interact it melts my heart every time and brings me back to my childhood with my grandfather. Terry is just the picture of what a grandfather should be. To see his face light up when he comes home from work and sees Amy is just priceless. I love to just sit back and watch the two of them play and run around outside together; whether it be on the tractor taking a tractor ride or just taking a stroll around the yard. I just couldn't contain my smile tonight as I watched him dancing in the dining room with Amy to some old country songs. I don't think you could ever capture the love he has for her with just a single picture because everyday that love changes. I thank God for bringing him and Laurie into my life and for giving Amy the best grandparents a girl could ask for.
Watching all the love that people bestow on Amy makes me smile. I know she'll never have a lack of love no matter where life takes us. We will always call our precious church of Alto our home :)
The thing that still has me in awe is the welcoming I've gotten from Terry's family. From day one of meeting them all it was as if I was instantly part of the family. Outside of my own family of course I've never felt so comfortable with a group of people that I can be 100% myself around. They've just shown me the love God has through their own outreaching of Amy and I. I can honestly say I love every single one of them like I've known them my whole life. There is a quote that says, "The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life. Rarely do members of one family grow up under the same roof." I feel that way about Terry's family. God's just really blessed Amy and I by bringing us to such a loving church, giving us such a loving family to grow close to and for giving us the gift of his precious blood for our sins. Have a blessing filled weekend!
