Well, my dad summed it up as he and mom were heading out for home this morning. “This was a successful trip! Sarah got lots of loot, the Saints won the Superbowl, and I got to spend the weekend playing with my grandkids!”

It was a great weekend!!! The Lord blessed my sister with a wonderful baby shower, multiplying to her beyond what I could have hoped! Thank you friends and family! Thank you Target for great sales at the right time, and thank you Father, most of all!

And after 30 something years of watching the Saints, wonder of wonders, they made it to the Superbowl and WON!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!

So last night, I wondered…is it wrong to be excited about such a temporal thing? And of all things to actually pray that they would win? Well, I don’t know, but to God be the glory, may He shed His grace on New Orleans, and may it rise from the flood of sin and depression that has held it down and experience true revival. God is a God of miracles!

Well, my dad summed it up as he and mom were heading out for home this morning. “This was a successful trip! Sarah got lots of loot, the Saints won the Superbowl, and I got to spend the weekend playing with my grandkids!”

It was a great weekend!!! The Lord blessed my sister with a wonderful baby shower, multiplying to her beyond what I could have hoped! Thank you friends and family! Thank you Target for great sales at the right time, and thank you Father, most of all!

And after 30 something years of watching the Saints, wonder of wonders, they made it to the Superbowl and WON!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!

So last night, I wondered…is it wrong to be excited about such a temporal thing? And of all things to actually pray that they would win? Well, I don’t know, but to God be the glory, may He shed His grace on New Orleans, and may it rise from the flood of sin and depression that has held it down and experience true revival. God is a God of miracles!

Upon seeing my neatly folded laundry all in an unfolded heap, the conversation went like this:

Mommy (pointing to the pile): Savannah, did you do that?

Savannah: Yes!

Mommy (very disappointedly): Oh, Savannah…

Savannah: Atchuawy, Bu-yee did it! (Actually, Buddy did it!)

Savannah got a camera for Christmas – a real one that takes real pictures! So here is a glimpse into our holidays from Savannah’s point of view (and who ever else may have picked the pink camera up). Enjoy!

To all of you who keep checking and finding nothing new, I dedicate this post. We love you all! Thanks for keeping up with us!

The last few months have been among the most difficult in our lives as Savannah and Caleb were both very sick for two months, and in the midst of that, we lost our third child through a late term miscarriage on October 7.

I’ve thought about catching up on blogging about all the wonderful events of our year, Savannah’s second birthday and Caleb’s first, our travels and fun times, but for some reason I couldn’t do those until I shared about our difficult things…so with this comes a commitment of fun posts and pictures to come.

For now, I want to publicly bow my head before you and the Lord:

Thank you Lord for healing my children from the whooping cough. Thank you Lord for Your provision of grace and strength to be there for them in the sleepless nights, total exhaustion, and fearful inadequacy. Thank you Jesus for the prayers of friends and family. We felt them so keenly. Thank you for the meals, the gifts, the flowers, the words, the cards, the labors of love all heaped upon us as love gifts from You. Thank you Lord for our parents who stood by us to help and even are sick also because they stood by us.

Jesus, thank you for sharing our little Benjamin Riley with us, even for just 19 weeks. Thank you keeping him at your right hand. Thank you for loving children and receiving him. We can hardly wait to see him in your glory, and most of all, we can hardly wait to see You face to face. We praise You Lord for completing Your perfect will in us. Even though our little boy never walked on this earth, we thank you that you have made his life a testimony of Your love and grace. Thank you God that before he was formed in the womb, You knew him. Thank you that he is fearfully and wonderfully made, and fully alive in You for all eternity.

Here are some verses the Lord has given us and a song also. We love you all! Thank you for loving us!

“He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in His bosom [our Benjamin], and shall gently lead those that are with young [Chris and I]. Is. 40:11

“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint.” Is. 40:31

Wordless Ones

In Your loving arms we lay
This wordless one so new
The incarnation of our love
We dedicate to You.

Hopeless yet so full of hope
We make a solemn vow,
Not knowing why his time has come,
Not even knowing how.
And though it seems we try and make
A promise that is true
We really only claim for him
The promise that is YOU.

The holy sleep that falls so deep,
A blessing from above,
Has now embraced our little one.
In simple trusting love
We offer You this little child
Who was ours for just awhile;
How could we keep him back from You
When you gave your only child?

Michael Card
Adapted by MKH