Different Views

My View

His View

Flashback and Verses

 Yesterday we were headed out to our house to write scriptures on the framing before drywall goes up.  When we were planning and dreaming of building the two things I wanted to make sure we did was to bury a bible under the foundation and choose scriptures to write on the walls.  I imagine myself living in this house and thinking of the verses behind the walls.

We actually were able to write verses on our current home and our first home.  There was one house in between those, and it was the house Andy grew up.  Although there may not have been scriptures on the wall studs, there were plenty of bible readings and teachings and prayers that filled the walls of those rooms through the years by Andy's parents. 

Thinking of the verses we wrote this weekend made me go searching for pictures of our first home.  Oh, the memories.  I loved that house!  This was my first house as a newly married woman.  I was so young and excited and filled with love for our new life ahead of us.  Next week we will celebrate our 14th wedding anniversary.  I can't believe how the years have flown by. 

That house holds so many precious memories for me. 

This is the house that we watched being built and planned and hoped and dreamed....

This is the house that held our wedding presents that we delighted over when we returned from our honeymoon.

I remember waiting for Andy to arrive home from work and trying to make sure a nice dinner was prepared and the house was picked up.  These pictures were of a few special occasion dinners.  I loved "playing" house and found such joy in laying out pretty plates and nice napkins for Andy.  :)

I remember Andy's first birthday in this house shortly after we moved in.  His mom gave me the recipe for refrigerator pie, which was his favorite dessert. : )

I remember spending HOURS in the yard working on our landscaping and enjoying the fruits of our labor. 

 I remember this bird bath that was gifted to us by a dear friend of Andy's mom.  She has since gone to be with the Lord, but this bird bath now sits in front of our current home and just the other day all the kids rushed to the window to delight in watching a bird bathe itself.

This sweet house is where we began our life together.  A home where we dreamed of the future, but had no idea what the future held.

Our future held ups and downs, joys and sorrows, and 4 wonderful blessings from the Lord.

Here is a picture of Andy over 14 years ago writing a verse over the doorway of what was soon to be our first home.

So yesterday, here we were again, covering our home with scripture.

I know that most of you (if not all of you) reading this blog can't take a sharpie and go write on your wall.  So maybe for you it's praying a certain verse in a room, or framing a verse to put on a wall, or what I often do, writing a verse on a sticky note and sticking it where you want it.  : )

Feel free to scroll through these verses.  

I wanted to include them here so that I could look back on them and remember what's covering our walls. : )

Ellis's Room

Davis's Room

We memorized Psalm 100 last month. 

 (This was new for us, other than school and church, but the kids did wonderfully!)

Davis memorized Psalm 100 almost before anyone else.

Drew

Knox

and entrance to Ellis's room and boy's rooms (Jeremiah 29:11)

Home school Room

Loft

Kids' Bathrooms

Master Bedroom

Master bath

Kitchen

Dining Room

Living Room

and Romans 8:28 (between kitchen and family room)

Living Room

Front Door

and Joshua 24:15

Breakfast Nook

Pantry

Side door

(which I am thinking will be our main entrance/exit)

Do you have a favorite verse?  Maybe a special verse that you've clung to in certain seasons?

If so, I'd love for you to share them with me.  I am so encouraged when I hear how God's Word has been a powerful instrument in someone else's life, because I know it has been in mine.  :)

Knee news... & PUMPKINS!

So this morning I got a call from the nurse about the results of the MRI of my knee.  Since my knee has continued to hurt I decided it was time to make another appointment to see my Orthopedic doctor.  I honestly thought that he would say we just haven't given it enough time to heal, but he ordered another MRI so that we could compare it from my one in June to see if there had been any healing.  This morning, when the nurse called, I thought she was going to say that there was little to no difference and that I just needed to be patient and realize that injuries can take time to heal.

Instead, she said that the MRI shows that I have further cartilage damage (which wasn't even the main injury), and my doctor is recommending surgery.  That's not what I expected.  So I just repeated, "surgery?"  Then she said "OR...".  Oh good, there's an "or".  She said, "or... the doctor said you can never run again."

"Never...like... never again in my life?"

"Yes," she quickly responded.

I asked her what she meant by that.  Did she mean I could never run recreationally, or train for a race, or does she mean I can't run with my four kids.

When it all comes down to it, that's what I'm most concerned with.  I want to be able to play with my little ones.

A love of running was very new for me.  It just developed last summer when Ellis turned one.  Running was many things to me.  It was a time where I felt like I was doing something for me, a time where I could push myself to get faster and stronger.  It was a time where I would plug my earphones in and enjoy some great praise and worship early in the morning.  It was a time of making some wonderful new friendships, with ladies I would have otherwise never met.  It was a time of appreciating and enjoying God's beautiful creation as I had the opportunity to run in many different locations.  It was for me a passion that I was excited to explore.

As I look back over this past year of running I had a lot of wonderful moments experienced in a short amount of time.  I was able to run 3 half marathons.

I was motivated to do my first half marathon to raise money for a friend in our home school group who is adopting a son.  With the help of friends and family we were able to be a part of helping to bring their son home.  And this family actually leaves this coming Friday in order to embrace their son and bring him home!  It's been a long, faithful, prayerful road for them.  I can't wait to rejoice with them!

 My second half was last minute.  I had a friend who had planned to run her first one with a close friend, and that friend got sick at the last minute, so I was able to jump in to run beside my dear friend for her first half.  Since mine was the month before I was so excited to be able to cross the finish line with her and to remember the many wonderful feelings I had when I completed my race.  It was a wonderful day!

 My final race was local.  It was the Tallahassee half.  My training had been on and off so I was really nervous, but the race began and I took off and had one of the best runs of my year.  I really enjoyed this race, and the best part is that I had my 4 sweet babies holding up signs as I entered the stadium for the final lap to the finish.  I PR'd and placed in my age division.  I felt such a sense of accomplishment.  There were other shorter races sprinkled throughout the year, and I have nothing but wonderful memories of each of them.

When I think about the fact that running may be in my past I am sad, but when I think about these special moments I know I have a lot to praise God for.

This morning, before my day got started, I was reading in Romans and wrote these verses down...

"And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance character; and character, hope." -Romans 5:3-4

An hour later I was thinking of this verse as the nurse was giving me the MRI results.  There are a lot of unanswered questions that I have at this time, but in two weeks I will sit down with my doctor and talk them through.  And I know that he has my best interest at heart, because from the back porch of our new house, I can see the side of his house, so we are soon to be neighbors. :)  It's completely a coincidence that I was referred to him.  (Although, I tend to think many things aren't coincidences, but God opportunities).  :)  He told me at my last appointment that he would have to fix my knee or move.  :)

So I don't know what my future holds in terms of my knee healing.  I did think about a quote that Knox shared in his class this week for his presentation.

"I don't know what my future holds,

but I know who holds my future."

Amen to that!

That's what I plan to cling to. :)

This week we made our annual visit to the pumpkin patch.

Here's a few pictures.  Enjoy!  :)