A MUST Read Book!!

I just picked this up yesterday, and finished it last night.

This is an amazing recount of a visit to Heaven, by a four year old little boy!

IT WILL STOP YOU IN YOUR TRACKS!!

It's a quick, easy read, and you won't want to put it down! PLEASE take the time to get this and read it!! You won't be sorry you did! And i'm guessing you will want to buy copies for everyone you know! LOL!!

My mom's surgery went smoothly, and she is recouperating nicely! Thank you for your prayers!! While she was in surgery, I ran next door to the walmart to pick up a few things and saw this book. That yellow cover and the little boy is what caught my eye :) Once i picked it up and read the back, I knew I HAD to read it! LOL My Mom is next in line for my copy, then my husband, then my daughter Calli wants to read it, and I'm hoping I can get my 14 yr old son to read it also!

Colton's (the little boy on the cover) recount of Jesus, and Heaven is unlike anything you have read or heard before. It will give you such amazing hope, renew your faith, and give you a visual of heaven that is hard to grasp from the bible - although all the descriptions ARE in the bible we can't always get our brains wrapped around it! From a little boy's mouth... in childlike terms, you WILL be able to see it! It will give you goosebumps, and leave you in awe!!

God is sooo amazing! And this story is such a blessing to each and every one of us! Don't wait till you "get around to it" ! Go get it TODAY!!!

Here's a link to a Christian online bookstore that has it for 8.99. I paid 13.99 at walmart. And i think the family Christian stores have it on sale this week, if you have one close by. Regardless of the price - IT'S WORTH IT!!! :D

http://www.christianbook.com/heaven-is-for-real/todd-burpo/9780849946158/pd/946158?kw=the%20book%20heaven%20is%20for%20real&event=PPCSRC&p=1020037&cm_mmc=MSN-_-Titles-_-heaven-_-the%20book%20heaven%20is%20for%20real

Weekend of Blessings

Good Morning!

Still no pictures! Sorry 'bout that!

Although I'm not sure what I would put a picture of here even if i could? LOL Probably pics of lots of amazing women that I met this weekend!

The women's conference was tons of fun and totally exhausting! lol

It was incredibly organized, down to the minute! And my 14 year old son was right. It did me a LOT of good! :D

I was absolutely blessed to be surrounded by my girlfriend's large family this weekend. They think of it as their girl's weekend away, and all her sisters, and their grown children, and her mom come - and turn it into one big slumber party! Full of laughter, 10 conversations going at once, ,snacks, reminiscing, sibling rivalry, and more laughter :) And each one was comfortable in who they were, in their own skin and so REAL. I loved them immediately! :D

Yes, my weenie shyness was still there, but it eased up after the first day - how could it not when you are surrounded by such loving accepting kind people?!

The conference sessions and lessons were great! And oh boy did they feed us! ugh. too much!! :)

God is soo good!

I feel like He reeled me back in, and put me back on the path where i need to be. He gave me new direction, and renewed hope. And He gave me a word. BE INTENTIONAL.

And ya know... i just gotta say... when God speaks to you, well... at least when He's spoken to me.. it's always been short, sweet and succinct! But you know in every cell in your body what He is referring to! There is no doubt. No questioning - did He mean this? or that? Ok, maybe I need to rephrase that. LOL As there have been many many times I have questioned, and not understood. But that is usually when i am asking for an answer, and sometimes the answer isn't all too clear! BUT, the times He has told me to do something, it is always loud and clear!

BE STILL

REACH OUT

SPEAK TO HIM

a few examples... short, but very clear! And sometimes intimidating!! LOL! But even in the shortness of the command, the Holy Spirit infuses you with complete knowledge as to what he's referring to. Right?

Well, BE INTENTIONAL covered a whole lot of bases!

First and foremost, i need to be intentional in my teaching of my children, my parenting in Christ. This is a place that i feel i fall down a lot! Not being raised in a Christian home, not having examples of how to rear my children in the word of God. We DO... don't get me wrong. It's just not consistent, and I don't always feel like i'm doing it "right". I know i could be sooo much better at it, but just dont know how! So anyway.. He said it all. I need to be intentional in my teaching! :)

I need to be intentional in my walk with Christ.

I haven't been for the last several months. I've let everything else get in the way!

And last but not least, I need to be intentional in developing covenant friendships/fellowship with other women in Christ.

We NEED relationship. First with Him, and then with others.

Going to a big church, that's the first thing that goes missing! And unless you intentionally set out to find a group of women to do bible study with, pray with, laugh with, you never will!

And I haven't. And He showed me this weekend what i've been missing! Loud and clear.

So was this weekend good? Oh yes.

Am I glad i went? Oh my gosh, yes!

Was I blessed? Absolutely!! :)

Did I get the rest i needed? Heck no! LOL!!

Am i complaining? Absolutely NOT! :D

I can sleep any time! :D

Speaking of which - I need to go jump in the shower and get ready to go! My mom is having surgery on her knee this morning. She tore her meniscus a couple months ago - long story as to why the surgery is just now happening, so i wont go into it! Please say a prayer for the surgeons, and for her swift and complete healing!! Her name is Toni. :)

Thank you friends!! Thank you for your encouragement, your love & your friendship!! I am so lucky to know you!!

xoxo

Bren

Update

Quick little update to my ranting last week!

Praise God and thank you for your prayers!! Calli is improving hugely on the antibiotics!

We even had to go back to the doctors on Friday! Turns out she DID have strep also, even though she tested negative. Has her mama's genes apparently ;( And I needed to get that documented in her chart. One look in that kids' throat and there was NO doubt! Anyway, she is getting soooo much better!!! Hallelujah!!

Her stomach issues are still there, just not as severe. We have to wait until the end of June (they were completely booked and we're on the cancellation list to get in sooner) to retest to see if the H pylori is gone, or whether they need to do another round.

In the meantime, we just want to get her healthy and her poor little immune system beefed up!!

She made it to the last three days of school, first day back she was still feeling pretty yucky, but she pushed through it and was able to be there the entire day. She had to take some tests she missed, and is freaked out that she missed two questions that she just didn't know. I told her dont worry about it baby!!! We're all just happy she made it back - and so is her teacher!!

So school is officially out for the year!

It has been about 40* and raining here for the last week, off and on. Doesn't feel much like summer yet! LOL!

I'm heading out to a women's conference this afternoon, for the weekend. A friend invited me to go with her. I was a little hesitant... as I won't know anyone, and I know I will feel really awkward! But, trying to force myself out of my own simple comfort zone, as I know it will bring me closer to God. And boy oh boy does my attitude need some work! Being stuck at home with Calli for the majority of the last several months, I have a bad case of cabin fever, and probably what some would call a bad case of the mommy overloads!

LOL My 14 year old son told me last night he thinks getting away will be "good for you mom" !

:D What a wise young man he is! :D

So... i'm off to pack. No clue what to wear, or what to pack. No clue if I will be able to overcome my shyness around all these people I don't know? Gotta tell ya... there is a sense of dread, and resistance. What a weenie, right? But there is also excitement, and looking forward to stepping out of the boat and trying!

The first night they are doing a "Let's Make a Deal" purse game.... ugh... what in the world do i need to put in my purse??!! Anyone?? Ideas? Help!?

:D

xo

Bren

Sporadic Blogger & Sick Calli

Well I think that should be my new name, when it comes to my blog!

Things have been tough since about November.

I'm good at keeping my chin up, and can always find positive in just about any situation!

But, you do get worn down.

Emotionally. Physically. Spiritually.

So you just don't feel like shouting to the world what all is going on in your little world! Ya know?

Anyway... a quick little update.

My camera is broken - so no pics today, or for a while! :(

My youngest daughter, Calli, has been ill since November.

Very severe stomach pains, and cramping and nausea and vomiting. :(

LOTS of doctors visits, too many ER visits, and not enough answers!

We "wasted" three whole months with a doctor that had an ego the size of Russia, and his office staff were as inept as the size of his ego! Not a good situation! Finally fired him, and found another doctor... had to wait 5 weeks to get in to see him. But, praise God - on the first visit, they did 5 different tests, including a thorough ultrasound, xrays, stool tests and a few others. They were able to eliminate soo many of the possibilities! We spent two weeks doing an agressive flush on Calli's system, and then prepped for a colonoscopy and an endoscopy.

Her pain was constant, but would flare up for 4 or 5 days and keep her doubled over in pain... and then it would just ease up enough for her to function reasonably well.

Do you know how hard it is watching your little (and getting smaller by the day) daughter be in pain for that long??

Let me just tell you... it is THE MOST HELPLESS horrible feeling in the world!

Mommys are supposed to be able to make it all better!! :(

Anyway, she had those procedures done, and they figured out what was going on.

She had a bacteria in her stomach called Helicobacter pylori. Something that is extremely common!! But 80% of people don't show symptoms or even know they have it. ?

So why does it affect the other 20% so horribly??

I have no idea. I asked that question of the specialists and they didn't know either. Their guess is something about DNA.

Anyway, they put her on 2 weeks of doubled up antibiotics, and an acid blocker. Her stomach was already so trashed, with the beginnings of a peptic ulcer. :( Add on peppermint oil to help with the nausea and vomiting, and probiotics. She was taking a pill like every 2 hours through out the day, as they all had to be spaced apart.

Geez. We prayed over her. We laid hands on her.

We kept hoping to see some improvement after the 2 weeks.

Nope.

Ok.. so.. it's not unheard of for this bacteria to take two huge rounds of antibiotics, to kill it off. We were just hoping for the shorter version! :)

Then she got that RSV hummer of a virus that was going around.

Really??

Like she hasn't already dealt with enough?

Two weeks of it... and thankfully she didn't get it all that bad!

She was feeling much better last week. She had her birthday party on Saturday. (can't believe she is 9 !)

And then... on Sunday night she was feeling kind of yucky. By monday morning she sounded like she had croup, and had a fever of 103.

Off to the doctor we went.

Dumb doctor told me - oh it's nothing. Just give her some ibuprofen!

????!!!!!????

*ok.. sorry... insert a little momism here. Moms KNOW their kids! I knew that morning what it was on it's way to being. Doctors NEED to listen to moms! I am a mother of 4 - not a new mom who freaks out over the tinest little thing! Hellooo!*

And of course, by wednesday it was horrible. So back to the doctor we went yesterday.

Now, they have her back on antibiotics (this is not good for her system, you know that right? But what choice do they have?) AND she has pink eye to boot!

omgosh

My heart is breaking for her.

She is so miserable. :(

She's been fighting all this junk for months, and she is just exhausted, the poor baby! :(

And that cough is horrible. I know how much i hurt when i had it a few weeks ago. You never stop coughing, and ya just want someone to shoot you and put you out of your misery!

And she's so little. And it's just wracking her poor little body. :(

Arrrggghh. And I feel sooo dang helpless! I just want to make her feel better!

I wouldn't trade being a mom for ANYTHING.

But as you moms know, sometimes it just plain sucks!!

You don't sleep when your kids are this sick. The worry factor is off the charts. I'm sure i'm not the only mom who hits this point?!

She has missed a ton of school. And he last three days are next week. Praying, praying she will be well enough to go for that last 3 days. She's missed all the fun stuff this last week. Parties, yearbook signing, field trips. :( Hoping we can get her back on the road to recovery this weekend! So she can have those last few days with her friends!

Prayers for her would be wonderful!!

xoxo