A Friend

Ok, over the past couple of years, in my bible studies, quiet times, and at church, one theme has stood out to me. I'm sure it's always been there and I've just been too dense to really comprehend it or maybe God has really just spoken to me about this because he knows it's what I need. Anyway, it is the idea that Jesus is a "friend". Why has this been such a difficult concept for me to grasp over the years? Why hasn't it hit me in the face the way it has in the past couple of years? I have no idea. Like I said, it's probably been told to me over and over for my entire life,(Ex. hymn: "What a Friend we Have in Jesus" DUH!) but just lately it seems that every where I turn, there is something there about it. Today, I was looking at this website and it had Christian jewelry. There was a necklace and the title was "Friend". I clicked on it thinking it might be something that you would give to a friend that is in a bible study with you or shares your beliefs. Who knows? Anyway, it is a necklace that is an ancient Greek monogram of "Jesus". It comes with this poem/scripture attached.

'I rule the heavens,

I made the earth

yet I stopped in wonder

to dance at your birth

I hung the stars

I placed the moon

yet I look forward

to long talks with you

I am your Healer

comfort I send

Redeemer,

Messiah,

yet...I call You Friend.

'John 15:13-15, Proverbs 18:24



And BAM, here it is again. I love thinking of Jesus as a "friend". Who better, right? I love thinking of Jesus "dancing at my birth". What a crazy-wonderful image. I know that, as children, we are taught this, but it hasn't been until I had this epiphany, at a Beth Moore bible study, that he really is a friend and that I should talk to him that way. This has changed me and has changed the way I pray and seriously the way I think of him. I've always prayed and loved Jesus, but when you stop and think of him and talk to him as a friend, it completely changes your relationship with him. How elementary, I know. This just proves how much room for growth exists in my world. I might have to order myself this necklaces. Here's a pic.

A Journey for the Wood Family

It has been way too long since my last post. I think I say that at the beginning of each one, but lately, I haven't been able to find the time to post. There's definitely been quite a bit going on that I think is worthy of a blog to document for myself. I'm warning that it's going to be long and most of it isn't that interesting. I just want to look back later on and remember all of it. Let me start out with a couple months ago and work my way to the current.
As many of you know, we had a miscarriage in August. We were told that we needed to wait 4 months before trying again. Four months sounded like 4 years to a person that longed to have another baby growing in her. So, being the good listeners that we are, we were good for 2 months. I was so anxious to get pregnant and am not a very patient person to start with. Also, things with Marc's job were kinda up in the air. We could possibly be moving, which meant he was going to have to go somewhere and Jarrett and I would have to stay in Lubbock until the end of the school year. Of course, the first thing that I thought was..."how in the world will we get pregnant with us living in two different places?" I was definitely not wanting to wait until summer. Remember the lack of patience mentioned before??? So, we decided not to prevent, but not to necessarily try either. Well, on December 9th, I was late, but hadn't "felt" pregnant, but thought what the heck. My pregnant friend, Micha, actually told me that she had a test left over and brought it to me so that I didn't have to "waste" money. (Waste was my word because I was sure that I wasn't pregnant.) I took the test. I tried to stay busy for those long 3 minutes. When I went back in, there was only one line. :( I wasn't too upset because I didn't think that I was pregnant. For some reason, I didn't throw the thing away. (Hmmm...God is so good.) I just left it on the counter. About 30 minutes later, I walked back past it and something caught my eye. It was a very faint second line. I thought I was imagining things. You know when you look at something for so long and your eyes start playing tricks on you? Of course, I had to rush to the drugstore to get a digital one just to make sure. It wasn't even a minute and the stick flashed PREGNANT. I was still in disbelief. I ended up getting a blood test the next day to make sure. We were still very cautious as to telling people. It wasn't that I didn't want to shout it from the rooftop. I just felt very protective of the baby and myself. I know the more people praying, the better, but I knew that if something went wrong, there would be less people to have to tell. This thinking is probably crazy, but it was my thought process at the time. After letting myself believe that I was actually pregnant, the waiting began. I had to make it to my first sonogram at 9 weeks, and then I could relax is what I kept telling myself. So, we went to that sonogram and everything looked great. It was a huge relief. I began telling more people, which was a good thing because I was already showing a little. By my 12 week appointment, I had let the doubts and worries start creeping in again. When I heard that little heart beat, I burst in to tears. I bet Dr. Burke thought I was crazy. It was music to my ears. To further alleviate my worries, she did a quick sonogram and said everything looked great. Around this time, the nausea went away and I felt human again. I felt so great that I really didn't feel "pregnant" until I started feeling the baby move. With Jarrett, I felt him move around 18 weeks, but once you know what it feels like, it comes so much earlier. I started wondering if I was really feeling it at 14-15 weeks. It was such a great feeling. I think God knew that I needed that reassurance. I've had my moments of freaking out since then, but I am doing much better these days. Today, March, 26th, we found out that I have a healthy baby boy growing inside me again. I couldn't have received better news. I was starting to think that it might be a girl, but my main concern was that it was healthy. Marc, on the other hand, knew that it was a boy and was completely pulling for it to be one. He was grinning from ear to ear when we found out. We are thrilled and can't wait to welcome another little boy into our crazy world. Marc says that we are keeping this name a secret, just like we did with Jarrett. This is so hard for me. I'm not good at keeping my mouth shut. I guess I'll have to be for 5 more months though. I am due August 14th. I must like being pregnant during the hottest time possible.

As for the crazy world I mentioned earlier, Marc's job has been a little crazy, to say the least, lately. Marc has been transferred to Roswell, NM. He moved over there at the beginning of February. It hasn't been fun at all. He comes home every Friday and leaves with me crying on Sunday. I thought it might get easier, but it hasn't yet. We have had our house on the market for the past couple of months. We went into contract on it a couple of weeks ago and then that fell through. We are currently under contract now and I'm praying that everything works out the way it's supposed to. I don't care when it sells, just as long as Jarrett and I get to live back with Marc full time come summer. We are still in limbo because there have been rumors of openings in Lubbock. We'd love to stay here, close to family and friends. If that door closes, then we will know that God wants us in Roswell and that's where we will go. I'm just ready to know one way or another. Also, with this move (whether we stay or go), I'm hoping to get to stay home next year with my boys. I'm looking so forward to it. Now that I have it in my mind that that is going to happen, I will be completely heart broken if it doesn't work out. I think I would give up anything to make it work. We'll see. I'm definitely praying hard about all of it. I know God is going to take care of us and we just need to trust His timing in everything.

His timing is perfect, no matter what we think the perfect time is for something. I should know. I just now thought of the perfect example. The baby we lost in August was due right around this time. This could've been a really sad time for us, but instead, we find out what we are having with this pregnancy and that everything is looking great. Not that I don't still ache for the baby I lost, but we are so excited, and finding out that this one is going so well eases that ache. I will never forget that precious baby and one day will get to hold her (I'm just guessing) in my arms. And on that note, I'm out. If you're still reading. Love you all!

Mother of the Year! Yeah right!!!

I just logged on at school! Could this just be a fluke thing? Maybe I will actually get to occasionally blog on my conference. Y'all might get to hear from me more often, unless they tear it away from us again. Just thought I would share how excited this makes me.

I do have something funny to tell about this morning. This all happened after we got to daycare. I have gotten into the habit of undoing his seat before I get out. That way, he can get out of his seat and be waiting on the real seat when I get to that door. (We are usually running late.) Then I grab him and we go. TODAY, I unbuckled him but when I got out, I hit the lock button out of habit. (I do have keyless remote, but I normally drop them into my purse, so I manually lock the doors too.) So, I got around to his side and the doors were locked and my keys were in the ignition. It wasn't running, thank goodness, but they were in there. So, I go back to my side and yell for him to get into mama's seat to "drive". He loves doing this, so he starts climbing up there. In the process, he has found a bowl of cereal and spills it climbing over the seat. He then proceeds to pick up each piece individually. I'm sure he was worried that he would be in trouble for spilling and not picking them up. Finally, he gets to my seat and I tell him to push the buttons. He knows how to push the lock side down, but he doesn't realize the other side does something as well. I'm trying to get him to do it when he just happens to reach up on the door and slides the lock over to unlock it and I yank the door open. SUCCESS!!! Luckily, it was only about a 5 minute ordeal. It could've been a whole lot worse. I'm so glad that I had unbuckled him before I got out. I can't imagine the trauma (to both of us) that that would've caused. Note to self, take keys with you even if you are just running in AND teach him how to push the unlock button too. OR, just be more careful. Hmmm...what a concept.

I Know, I know...

Ok, so we'll start with the pictures because I'm too blogtarded to get them to move. Any assistance would be appreciated for next time. Thanks!

This was the first time that it was cool out and I got to put him in some of the fall clothes that I bought a month ago and have been dying to put him in them.

I guess he's Peter Parker here, since there's no mask. Check out the muscles!!! Caleb and Jarrett at Lake Amistad.

My little red raider.

Is he seriously sleeping like that? Mean ol' mom wouldn't take the life jacket off and he couldn't stay awake. Maybe it isn't as uncomfortable as it looks. :) It really does fit when he's standing up.

My handsome hubby at the cabin in Ruidoso.

So, it's been way too long since the last post. I just never can find the time to blog. I probably shouldn't admit this, but we used to be able to blog at school and now we can't, so there's no time at home. Anyway, I had planned on blogging all summer long about the different things going on and traveling, but I never got around to it. Then, I decided that I would post at the end of August about the entire summer and post pics from all of it and I didn't get around to that either. So, here I am posting now and don't have much to say. We had a great summer. Marc and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary in July. We took and "anniversary" trip to Ruidoso in June for a weekend of "us" time and then we spent most other weekends at a lake or just hanging out. We went several times to Lake Allen Henry with Marc's fam and to Lake Amistad (sp??) with mine. Jarrett turned 2 in August. Where has the time gone? I can't believe he's no longer a baby and now becoming a little boy.

As most of you know, we found out this summer that we were expecting and couldn't have been more excited. At the end of August, I miscarried. This is probably part of the reason, ok all of the reason, for my delay in posting. It has been one of the toughest things that I have ever been through, but I feel like we are probably stonger because of it. That "probably" didn't sound too convincing, did it? Anyway, I am making it day by day. I definitely have my days that aren't so good, but that is to be expected. I am staying super busy and that is helping a great deal. This summer, when I got the call asking me to coach again, I was worried but excited. I didn't know everything that was going to happen, but God has a reason for everything and He knew that I would need this this year to help me through all of this. I am loving coaching and didn't really realize how much I missed it. Who know's how long I'll stick it out, but I'm having a great time right now. I work with such wonderful people and am blessed by them.

Ok, now I'm just going to post a whole bunch of pics because it has been so long. There is even one of Jarrett in his Halloween costume. He doesn't have on the mask, so you'll just have to wait until the real deal to get the full effect. I don't know how many pics the blog will hold, so I might have to have a 2nd one of just pics. We'll see.

Such a Fun Day!

Wow, it has been FOR-EV-ER (is that from The Sandlot???) since my last post. I just haven't had much to say lately. But today, was a really fun day and I thought I would talk about it. Some of my fabulous co-worker friends, their children, and Jarrett and I all headed to Roaring Springs for a fun day in the sun. I know you are asking, "Roaring Springs??? Where's that?" I thought the same thing. I'm not completely certain where it is because of the mock speeds that were taken to get there. (JK, Kristen) Anyway, it's about an hour and a half to get there and you would not believe how gorgeous a place this is. It doesn't look like west Texas at all. It is a natural spring and pool from that spring. There is a beautiful waterfall and trees everywhere. Who woulda thunk it? Only an hour and half from here and there it is. Jarrett and I had so much fun with the girls and their kiddos and can't wait to get together again. Pictures will follow soon. I didn't take lots, but some of the others did and as soon as I get my hands on them, they will be here. Thanks again, girls for a super fun day.

Will you marry me?

Three years ago, today, Marc asked me to marry him. It's kinda a funny story. His birthday is on April 22nd and he was planning on asking me then, with our friends and family in town to celebrate his birthday. Who would have thought he would choose his b-day to do it? Not me. I had been waiting for every holiday, birthday, valentines day, etc... for the previous 4 years and nothing ever happened. (Yes, I did say 4 years.) So, we had friends and family coming in to town. Marc's house was a mess and I was there cleaning it. Well, he chose to be out with his friends because Wednesdays, back then, were his boys nights. I'm sure you can imagine the thoughts going through my head because I was cleaning HIS house (a wifely duty) while he was out and about. The longer he was gone, the more irritated I got. When he got home, through tears, I let him know how I felt. I didn't think that I should be acting like his wife without being his wife. If he wasn't going to ever do this, then we need to talk, etc.... I'm sure I probably said a lot more that you can use your imagination. I had no idea what he had planned. Well, in an effort to get me to quit freaking out and in fear that I was going to break up with him, he left the room while I was bawling. I figured he was getting Kleenex. He comes back with Kleenex and a box. He says, "Well, you kinda messed up my plans for Friday, but I guess its ok." I couldn't believe it. He then proceeds to get on one knee and says, "Mika (maybe Breck, don't remember???) Decker, will you marry me?" I began crying harder, if that was possible, and said, "Are you serious?" and "YES!!!!!" It really is a sweet story to me, but still makes me laugh. I always asked him what he was going to do the next time to make me stop crying? He couldn't really top that one. Even though he was a little slow getting there, I wouldn't change a thing. God has blessed me way more than I deserve with this man that is such a wonderful husband and best friend. Marc, I love you now, more than ever.

Here are our engagement pics. They are black and white from the newspaper. Man, we look like babies to me.

Whew! What a morning!

Ok, it is days like today that I really stop and appreciate Marc, my husband. He went out of town yesterday for a hunting trip. Last night wasn't a big deal because Jarrett and I just hung out and did the usual night time routine. BUT, we didn't have to be anywhere on time either, unlike this morning. Ahhhh!!! We even got up a little earlier this morning, but for some reason we piddled. We rocked for a little while, I had to take a shower, we ate breakfast, and then we had to get both of us ready. I don't think that I realize how much Marc helps me in the morning. Even if it is just getting Jarrett dressed or shoes on his feet. Every little thing helps. I need to stop more often to tell him that I appreciate how much he does for me. Alot of the time, I think I dwell on the times when I need help and he's not there. I need to quit taking him for granted because I know that he helps me a lot more than other dads and I need the thank the Lord for blessing me with such a wonderful husband and daddy for Jarrett.