My Wonderful Husband

This is a recent picture of my wonderful husband, Travis. The afternoon that I took this photo, he was outside for at least 30 minutes, wrestling and playing with Sam, Kara and our nephews while I made dinner. This is a regular occurrence at our house....Travis helping with the children to make it easier for me. This is just one of the reasons that I love him so much.



I've been meaning to post about this for months, so this is a good time for it. In May, soon after Mothers Day, Travis surprised me by taking me to this beautiful bed and breakfast. We had a meeting in a nearby church, drove part way back with the kids to meet my mom for, what I thought, was the afternoon. We would finish the second part of the day alone for the evening service. After we dropped them off, Trav suggested this quaint little town nearby for a cup of tea before we went back for the evening service. As we were walking up the sidewalk, he asked what I would think if we were to stay there for the night and the next day! I was SO surprised, of course. I couldn't believe that he was able to pack MY clothes without me knowing and get them into the van that morning while we were getting ready for church. Wow! The B&B was in New Berlin, PA. We had a beautiful room and a delicious breakfast the next morning. We tried to sleep in, but of course, kept waking up from about 7:00 on. I guess that's the curse of having children! =) Here are some pictures from our time there.













Honey, I just wanted to thank you publicly for the many ways that you love me. You are more than I could ever ask for. I love you. Happy EIGHTH anniversary!

(Maybe our ninth will be on the other side of the world?!) =)

Some recent Pictures

A Great Perspective

I spent the day at my cousin Jami's viewing. At the same time I've been thinking about yesterday's election. If you can spare 5 minutes, check out this link....john piper's view on the election. This has been running through my mind all day. It helped me so much with my view of our place in the world in general.

http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/1473_thoughts_on_voting_and_politics/
Make sure you scroll down the page to get to the second video.

My sweet cousin

Last week my cousin gave birth to her first baby....Jenna Leann. After a planned c-section, Jami was not feeling well at all and the doctor found that she needed a blood transfusion. They gave her 2 units of blood and, though she still did not feel well, at least was able to make it home. She and her husband, Josh, took their new baby home, but last evening (Sunday), Jami fainted at home and was rushed to the hospital. She passed away sometime during that time, and they could not help her at the hospital. She was somewhere around the age of 30 or 31. First, I want to praise the Lord that Jami knew Him as her Savior. The Bible says, "I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die." These are the words the Lord used to comfort me so often while my dad was sick in the hospital. I was rocking my little Kara tonight before bed, and those words came rushing back to my mind. I have been so concerned for my aunt and uncle (Jami's parents) and my other cousin, Michelle (Jami's sister), and my heart has just been broken all day for them. I am so glad that God promises He will never leave us or forsake us, that we can cast all our care on Him, because He cares for us.
I wanted to show you a picture of my sweet cousin, Jami. She is pictured here with my dad and my Uncle Jack (another of our uncles).

I have always had a special relationship with Jami and Michelle. The three of us are so close in age. I have tons of memories of playing and getting in trouble at Grandma and Grandpa Slye's house. We played the penny game on the stairs guessing which hand the penny was in and moving up a step for every right answer =) (I know, boring...but there wasn't much to do!) We broke the bed one day by jumping on it and got in A LOT of trouble for that! We spent a week one summer swimming in their neighbor's pool...such fun! They always had cans of soda in their fridge (who wouldn't like that as a kid?!). As we grew older, Jami and I had lots of stories to share about our classrooms. We had both studied elementary education in college. Jami was a much better teacher than I ever was though! She even won an award for the best student teacher during her senior year at Clarion University! One of my favorite things about Jami was her great sense of humor and the way she told stories. She made me laugh harder than anyone with her storytelling. I can't share the whole thing here (a little on the risque side), but her story about the crockpot made me cry with laughter. A bunch of us cousins stood around the funeral home at my grandma's funeral listening to her many stories to pass the time at the viewing. I'm just so sorry that this week I'll be attending HER viewing.
The last and most important thing I wanted to write about was Jami's love for Christ. Jami married a man named Scott about 9 or 10 years ago. Scott was not a Christian and after a few years of marriage, left Jami, treating her very badly. Through that experience I never once heard Jami speak hatefully about Scott, but rather, turned her attention and focus to her Savior, Jesus Christ. Over the next few years, while going through her divorce, Jami talked so much about how God was meeting her needs and she maintained such a joyful spirit. She continued to come to all the normal family gatherings, only this time by herself. You would never have known the pain she was going through. A few years ago, at a Bible study, Jami met a wonderful Christian man named Josh. The Lord gave her a wonderful gift in Josh...an opportunity to be married again. 10 months ago they found out that they were going to have a baby. As with most pregnancies, everyone was so thrilled that God had given Jami this treasure. Please pray for little Jenna, not even 1 week old and without a mommy.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share my thoughts. I know things were a little random. The body of Christ is such a gift. We covet your prayers for our family. I, personally, covet your prayers as I try to minister to my family members who are so heart-broken. I would love to hear any promises from Scripture that you would like to share.