Nicholas James (1:17): September 2010

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Nicholas turns 4...a day of rejoicing and sadness

Happy Birthday to my sweet Nicholas. We have had four blessed years with you my little miracle!

I wish I could take credit for that awesome cake but our friend Cheryl honored us with this. She even put his verse on it!

He doesn't look too thrilled does he?

Sweet girls!

Singing Happy Birthday.

Uncle Keith and Aunt Marty.

Yes, she will hurt me for that picture but it is worth it.

My three dearest friends minus one.

It has taken a while to post this because I just couldn't bring myself to think about it. Nicholas' birthday is always a special event. Full of laughter and praises with friends that are so dear to us. Nicholas' 4th birthday party was no exception. This time though, I believe with all my heart, that the Lord brought us all together to not only celebrate Nicholas but to also celebrate our friend George. You see, George went to be with the Lord the next day.

George's beautiful wife Kay. Please keep her in your prayers.

We love this woman!

George and Todd

George and Chris.

Thank you Lord for giving us that night with George. We love you George. We will be forever blessed to have called you friend. We miss you and our hearts ache to see you again. Our peace comes from knowing that we will indeed see you again. Until then my dear friend......

Monday, September 13, 2010

Air Show 2010

We went to the Winston Air show for the first time a couple of days ago and had a BLAST! I didn't know it would be so much fun to see all of the planes. Watching the kids faces had to be the best part of it all.

Below was what welcomed us to the show. Three Harrier Jets! WAY TOO COOL!

Upside down plane....

We know this Trike! Todd was there displaying his Trike.

The water version....

Do you hear the Top Gun music playing in the background?

Ok...so we see the pilots boarding the jets and run over to watch. They start their engines. Very, very loud! Thirty minutes later and no hearing left, one jet starts to move. What they don't warn you about is that when the back of the jet faces you....you get hit with debris and hot air!!! That is why I dropped the camera suddenly!

The Broken Gift

In August of 2008, I felt led to begin writing a book about our journey with Nicholas. The purpose of the book was to be twofold: First, I felt a strong sense to intimately share with others our journey of faith. It was my desire that people who were facing tremendous “life storms” as I call them, to see that God is faithful in all circumstances. Secondly, and much more selfishly, I wanted to present Lisa with the ultimate gift, a book about her son.

I began praying that God would open the doors if that were to be His will. I shared this with only one person, Chris Lewis, and asked him to be in prayer with me. Before I gave God the chance to answer me, I had already begun writing. Five months later, I had written six full chapters. During the process, I would occasionally email Chris a copy for his input. Unfortunately, he was a bit too encouraging, and the process continued.

Chapters six and seven began to slow me down. I was beginning to feel that my writing had become more about me than anything else. Additionally, I was becoming concerned that the book was taking on the form of a journal. I knew from research that journal style books were not welcome in the tough world of book publishing.

Chris had a friend in publishing who agreed to read my manuscript and give me advice. His advice stopped me cold in my tracks. It was just as I had suspected, the manuscript was too much of a journal. Strangely though, I was relieved. I had become increasingly frustrated during my writing sessions and now I could just stop. No more writing.

A short time later, I decided that I would share with Lisa the fruits of my secret, double life as an author. I printed the manuscript off in its entirety and gave it to her to read. I had dreamed of presenting her with a paperback book with a picture of her son on it, but this would have to do.

Fast forward to today. The original intent of the book has not changed. I want people to see Jesus when they see our family. I want people to know there is hope. I want people to understand that God is bigger than our circumstances and brings us through them for a reason.

With that in mind, I decided that Nicholas’ blogsite is a great way to still get my “journal” out there, into the hands of people who may be touched by our story. Each week I will add a new chapter.

To read The Broken Gift, click on the chapters below.

Chapter 1 Code Blue
Chapter 2 Back to the Beginning
Chapter 3 New Relationships
Chapter 4 The Arrival
Chapter 5 Life Goes On
Chapter 6 Surgery