God ALWAYS hears our prayers!

Last night, Isaac wanted to go for a bike ride, so off we went. He was on his bike and I was walking. There's a church about a block from our house and he loves to ride in their parking lot and also go down the ramp on their sidewalk. I had to get on him for zipping right into the road and tried to show him how to go down the ramp and into the tiny parking lot. He said he couldn't stop in time to avoid the road. I explained that a car might say the same thing about why they hit him. He was upset with me, but I told him I'd rather him be mad at me than hurt, or even worse. He wasn't wanting to listen real well and in his 6 year-old mind, he just didn't see any danger. I decided we'd better head back towards home and away from the highway. In an all-boy fashion, he takes off on his bike with his legs out, carefree. I chuckled because I've never been able to be so carefree. Then I started to pray that God would just put a hedge of protection around him as he goes through life so carefree.

No sooner that I'd prayed that prayer, he rolled right through the stop sign at the intersection on our street. And there it was...a car! They had been there, behind a big bush, and were getting ready to turn, when thankfully, they saw him. I screamed his name and took off towards him. The car went on and waved as they passed. It wasn't dramatic, no screeching of tires to stop. But still, there was my carefree child, my baby, and a car. It could have been a different scenario. I was crying, although Isaac didn't seem to see what the danger was. Moments after it happened, my friend Deb was walking down the street and stopped to talk. I was pretty shaken up, so we talked, and she gave me a hug and prayed with me. I told her about the prayer and how I'd just finished it when the car came.

Needless to say, he won't be riding the bike for a few days. I sincerely hope he's learned from this. I know I have learned. I learned that God hears our every prayer. I knew that before, but this just drove it home!!

Spring Break Fun - Part 2! Lincoln's Boyhood Home

Our other adventure last week was to Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial in Lincoln City, IN. We found it quite interesting to watch the short film, wander the trails, see the cabin memorial, have a picnic at the beach (!!!), and just enjoy our day. We went with our good friends Mary and Ryan, which made the day even more special.

Andrew, Isaac, and Ryan standing outside of the visitors center. The walls were made of Indiana limestone and had really cool scenes on them.
Looking at the grave of Nancy Hanks Lincoln, Abe's mother, who died of milk sickness.

There is a real working farm here (in season). This is the chicken coop, which were the only animals on-site for our visit.

A replica cabin, which you can go inside of in season.

The actual cabin site

A train track runs through the walking trails. Mary and I were on the other side from the boys when we heard the whistle and took off!

Love my boys!

We had wanted to go to a real beach on spring break, so we were quite surprised to find out there was a beach at the park! After lunch, we played there for awhile. Ryan was the only one to get more than his feet wet...haha! That darn slippery dock!

Spring Break Fun!

The boys were off of school this past week so we decided to go and have some fun. On Monday, Court took the day off after working the men's walk over the weekend. We took the boys out for breakfast, which we rarely do. Afterwards, we went for a "drive." We were actually headed to French Lick to the Big Splash Waterpark Hotel, but they had no idea. Court told the boys he needed to run in and use the bathroom, and Isaac kept saying, "Can't we just go home and get our swim trunks and come back?" They were quite surprised to find out we'd already packed them and we were there for the day! We had so much fun...well, except for the one time Andrew convinced me to go on the toilet bowl waterslide. As we swirled around and around the bowl part, I was convinced we would pop over the side. Then, we swirled down to the hole, which felt like a straight drop. I know I was screaming loudly. After the ride was over, Andrew was hysterical. He said I screamed, "Lord Jesus, please come back NOW!" :-)

We had a great family day and loved not having any kind of schedule. The only bad part was we ate a big breakfast purposely so we didn't have to take time out for lunch at the waterpark. When we left, we went out for pizza and Isaac realized it was supper time, but we hadn't had any lunch. He basically wouldn't eat it until we convinced him it was lunch and he could have supper when we got home. I guess not all of us enjoyed a day without a schedule.

MDA Shamrock Appearance

Yesterday was an exhausting day for us. First of all, we did a lot the 2 days before due to spring break (more on that in another post). Plus, I still struggle with facing things I never wanted to face in life, being in a "club" I didn't ask to join. Most of the time, my faith is strong and I rely on God to carry me through. But, I'm human, and sometimes it just hits. Especially when there is so much in one day.

Andrew was asked to make an appearance on behalf of the MDA (Muscular Dystrophy Association) in Terre Haute. They wanted him to go to Lowe's and talk to the employees and thank them for selling the shamrocks. The MDA has expanded their shamrock sales through the end of March this year, due to lower sales due to the economy. As always, Andrew did great and always manages to come up with something profound to say. He's a natural! He wanted the cashiers to know that MDA pays for all the camp fees for the kids, and he is looking forward to going this summer. And also that you can't always see what a person is dealing with everday. Wow! The store manager said he wished he'd arranged for a newscrew to be there because he knew that would increase the shamrock sales for sure!!

After this, we also had a couple of appts. at Riley Children's Hospital, where we heard a couple of dreaded words...progression, and surgery. Then we went to visit my family and the kids enjoyed playing with their cousins. However, mom just started chemo for stage 4 colon cancer. I overheard her talking to my Isaac about losing her hair in the next couple of weeks. He just looked at her funny in typical Isaac fashion and ran off to play.

I never wanted any of these scenerios to happen in my life. However, I know that God has a plan. I used to always think God doesn't give you more than you can handle, but I've come to realize that thinking is wrong. He doesn't want us to handle it ourselves. He wants us to rely on Him to get through. And boy, do I rely on Him!

Out of the mouths of babes...

Several years ago, I was driving to work on a cool fall morning. My boys were with me and we weren't too far from home. Out of nowhere, wham! A deer ran into the highway and hit the front corner of my vehicle. As if that weren't enough for it, it bounced a little and it hit the front of my van, killing it this time. I was panicking! My 5 year old was crying asking if it was a reindeer I just killed. My colicky 6 month old was already having his morning cry. I put the vehicle in park and got out. I have no idea why I jumped out, just instinct, I guess. Anyhow, there was a semi behind me, and he stopped and walked over to me as I was getting out. We went towards the front to assess the damage.

As we approached the front of the vehicle, the deer that I thought was dead stood up!!! At this point, I was about to pee my pants thinking the thing would attack us. Instead, it just hobbled off, badly injured, through the ditch and back into the woods. The truck driver called the police for me while I checked on the boys. Meanwhile, a family friend who lives nearby was also behind us in traffic. She said to come to her house to settle down and wait for the accident report.

An hour and a half later, we were back on the road. There was quite a lot of damage, but the vehicle was driveable. In fact, there was a large crack down the front and it looked like a chunk of deer fur was stuck in it. I took the youngest to daycare, then headed to work. I was the director of a Christian preschool and this was one of our biggest, busiest days of the school year. It was the day of our Thanksgiving Feast, where students from both age groups come for lunch and bring their parents, grandparents, etc. Thankfully, we had a wonderful kitchen crew lined up, and a great teaching assistant who held down the fort until I could get there. My oldest, Andrew, was in preschool at the time and was so worried about missing the feast. We walked in just as the kids were getting ready to sing a couple of songs. Apparently everyone had been told about our morning as they clapped when we came in. Oh brother! I then hear roaring laughter from some of the volunteers. Turns out, Andrew told them, "We are late because my mom has hair in her crack!"

WHAT? Why on earth did my husband's child say this? :-) Needless to say, I had to explain our morning, and everyone was just about in tears laughing. Oh kid...someday this story will come back to haunt you!!

Card Shower for Megan

I know there are people who read this blog, even though there aren't any comments. (Ahem...) :-) Anyhow, I was asking a friend today how a local girl, Megan, is doing with her leukemia treatments. She said she is in in 5th and final round of treatments and is about to lose the tiny bit of new growth she's had of hair. She's had such a good outlook all along. She loves decorating her room while she's inpatient. Whether you know Megan or not, would you please take a moment and send her a card? She is a beautiful 4th grader with the biggest brown eyes I've ever seen.

Here's her address: Riley Hospital for Children 702 Barnhill Drive Indianapolis, IN 46202 c/o Megan Snyder Rm 5134

Thanks and God Bless!~