Arrows in the hands of a Warrior

This past year for our extended family has been excruciating and painful to say the least. Gut wrenching and searing pain might be more accurate. On September 3, the evening before my 27th birthday, my 18 year old nephew died. And while that might seem tragic to people who didn't know him, to those of us who knew him, saw the power of God in him, it is devastating. At the moment I received the call telling me, I fell to my knees sobbing and the only thing running through my head, "When there's pain in the offering, blessed be Your name."
At his funeral my 17 year old niece, Daniel's sister Belle, spoke. She shared this passage from Psalms 127.

³ Sons are a heritage from the LORD,
children a reward from him.

⁴ Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are sons born in one's youth.

⁵ Blessed is the man
whose quiver is full of them.
They will not be put to shame
when they contend with their enemies in the gate.

She shared that Daniel had not just been an arrow but he had been an arrow on fire, igniting all those around him in the quiver. And while it might seem that he didn't hit the mark, he did hit it. And he plowed the way for those coming behind him.

And soon, Belle will be launched, out of the quiver, on fire. And she is the most amazing person I know. Instead of allowing this past year to rob her of her strength and purpose, she is passing through this 'valley' and becoming a truly mighty woman of God. She just finished running a full marathon, 26.2 miles. She wore Daniel's initials on her arm band and dedicated the race to him. For the last two miles of the race she wore life tape, a piece of red duct tape with the word 'life' written on it symbolizing that abortion takes away the voice of unborn babies, over her mouth. Daniel's dedication to the cause of life knew no bounds. And neither does Belle's.

Our society today tells young people, you don't have to be responsible for your actions, you can do whatever feels good. She stands for truth and righteousness. There are those who have said, 'just give her a few years of college and she'll change her tune'. I do not believe that will be the case. She is strong and grounded in her faith in God. Storms will come, some already have, but she will be victorious through God.

Belle, I am so proud to be your aunt. I pray that I will be able to lead Little Peanut just as your mother lead you. And Mama Lily, I love you so much. I can't thank you enough for your friendship.

The Difference Between a Good Hair Cut and A Bad Hair Cut is...

not two weeks. More like 3 years in this case. He did this to her. He was disciplined like this. Sigh. He cut 3 inches off of one side of her hair. She's never had a hair cut before. That was three years of very hard hair growth. I'm not happy. Poor girl. She's going to be in a wedding this summer. Besides the fact that she's bald on one side of her head. He's also not allowed out of my sight today.

Leftovers

These are a few pictures that got left out of all of our Spring break posts. Enjoy!

Awesome Find

See what Nathan and I found today? I'm so excited. 'I've been wanting an entertainment cabinet for awhile but we don't want to pay store prices.
This one is from Pottery Barn and costs $1200. I don't think so.
This one is from Target and cost $450. I still don't think so.
We found this at an 'accidental' yard sale. It's been homemade and is very sturdy. No where near as awesome as Belle would have made it but still pretty nice. And it was only $40. It has two more shelves for the side and one big shelf for the large t.v. side. I'll post more pictures later.
Here's the before.
Here it is primed.
Any guesses as to what color I'm going to paint it?

New Best Friend *updated

"you got a friend in me. you got a friend in me." ~name that movie. Grasshopper got a mosquito bite that he kept scratching and it got infected. Nathan and I cleaned it out but he wouldn't leave the band aid on it so we had to use drastic measures.

Dress Up

...takes on a whole new meaning.
This was all her own doing, by the way.