Heaven has another angel!

Please be in prayer for the Fodrie family - their sweet little Sydney Grace was born January 7, 2010 with Trisomy 18 and went to be with God at 2:07 am today. She lived an amazing 20 days and was able to come home to be with her family and friends and be surrounded by their love. This is a joyous day that she is playing in heaven completely healed but is a very hard day for the parents, friends, and family she left behind.

A mother and father should not have to bury their baby. I pray God gives them strength and courage for the following hours, days, months, and years.

You can read her story at www.amazingsydneygrace.blogspot.com, she is an absolutely adorable little girl.

Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them,

for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

Luke 18:16

I WARN YOU THIS IS AN EXTRA LONG POST BUT VERY GOOD ONE . . .

I received this e-mail yesterday from a very dear friend (with her permission) who seems to know the message I need to hear for the day without me ever telling her.

"A Boost for You"
Hi, thought you might need a boost today. Copied these for you. Be blessed and know I'm praying.
THE COURAGE TO OBEY
Joshua ultimately took on a God-sized task, the mantle of leadership with courage. Any uncertainty was replaced by boldness and resolve. He placed his faith in God, who had never let the people down. Joshua fully expected the Lord to be true to His word again and deliver them to the Promised Land.
I do not know what challenge you are facing, but I do know that God will enable you to tackle it bracely, calmly, and victoriously. Whether you are a woman in a painful marriage, a family man contemplating a return to school, or a person in the clutches of a dreaded disease, God says to you, "Be strong and courageous" (Joshua 1:7)
Joshua's courage was based upon years of seeing God's faithfulness. Whether you've been a Christian for 5 minutes or 50 years, you can have the same confidence. The Bible promises that He is sufficient to meet your needs and see you safely through your journey until you reach heaven.
"You can be sure that God will take care of everything you need." Phillipians 4:19

Dr. Charles Stanley - In Touch Devotional Magazine
PERSISTENCE PAYS Luke 18: 1-8
Jesus told His disciples that htey should always pray and not give up. "Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to loose heart." Luke 18:1
Have you been praying for God's help in some area and He seemingly hasn't reponded yet? Are you just about to give up? If so, don't listen to the enemy's voice - JUST PRAY ON!
Father, I come to You again. I will not give up because I know that You hear my cries. Amen
- Open Windows

Eagles in the Storm
Did you know that an eagle know when a storm is approaching long before it breaks? The eagle will fly to some high spot and wait for the winds to come. When the storm hits, it sets its wings so that the wind will pick it up and lift it above the storm. While the storm rages below, the eagle is soaring above it. The eagle does not escape the storm. It simply uses the storm to lift it higher. It rises on the winds that bring the storm.
When the storms of life come upon us and all of us will experience them, we can rise above them by setting our minds and our belief toward Jesus.
The storms doe not have to overcome us. We can allow God's power to lift us above them. God enables us to ride the winds of the storm that bring sickness, tragedy, failure, and disappointment into our lives. We can soar above the storm. Remember, it is not the burdens of life that weigh us down, it is how we handle them. The Bible says, "Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on the wings like eagles." Isaiah 40:31.

During our journey with Aiden, I prayed consistently to give me the chance to meet him and let him come home. While in the hospital I knew God would give me that chance to have my sweet little son in his home surrounded by the love and prayers of many. I admit my faith in that faltered when we were changed to "Comfort Care" and moved to a different area of NICU but God prevailed and gave me the greatest doctors and nurses that allowed for us to come home.
God gives us what we need when we really need it and we must believe in that no matter how difficult it becomes or what tragedies come.

Those who know Him are Blessed everyday! He gave me my miracle and for that I am Greatful.

So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham,

the man of faith.

Galatians 3:9

Tennessee Christmas Continued . . .

I'm not the slightest bit prejudiced but I think I have the most adorable boys. I have found a new hobby (thanks to Stephanie, Sarah, and Claire loaning us their cameras), I love taking pictures of these subjects, most of the time they are easy.

On the Sunday after Christmas, we went to the Dixie Stampede in Pigeon Forge. The boys were chosen out of a sold out crowd to chase the chickens. They had a blast, Skeeter (the redneck reindeer hunter) ran with Mason at the end because he was the smallest of the 4 children running and according to the announcer "this is the biggest sandbox this kid has ever seen." They missed winning by 4 feet, short legs didn't help and the other 2 boys were bigger and older, but of course ours were the cutest.

The boys had to take a picture with one of the female riders, don't you love the outfits - one piece polyester jumpsuits.

The view from the porch overlooking the mountain, what a gorgeous sight.

We left on Monday and this ended up being the coldest day, driving down the mountains there were isicles everywhere, it was absolutely amazing.

My mouth is filled with your praise, declaring your splendor all day long.

Psalm 71:8

You would have been 2 months old today

Dear Aiden

You would have been 2 months old today. It feels like yesterday that we were at the hospital waiting for you to arrive. Laying on the operating table, my prayer was to be able to hold you and hear you cry. Immediately after the doctors took you, you were rushed to the NICU and for several hours the only sight of you I saw was a few pictures. I was told as soon as I came out of recovery, they would take me to see you, that was the longest 2 hours of my life.

I saw you for the first time, you were absolutely beautiful. From my bed they wheeled me in on, the only part of you I could really touch were your sweet feet, they were so soft and long. To be so tiny you were long, you weighed 2 lbs 10 oz and 14 inches long. All I could do was be amazed by the miracle I had in front of me, God had given me an early Christmas present and it was GREAT!

You changed my life in so many ways in your short 32 days. You brought me closer to God in an indescribable way and my Faith in His plans for us has grown. I have become closer to old friends and made new ones. All of this will never replace you but helps in my healing and trying to understand.

I started back to work this week and it seems so strange to be there because I had so many ideas of what it would be like after you were born. I pictured me holding you on the couch while the boys opened presents during Christmas, watching the fireworks in the sky on New Year's Eve, and working from home after the first of the year. My plans of what should have been are so different from reality but my plans were not God's plans. He knew and continues to know what is best and He added a very special Angel to Heaven on December 8, 2009.

You are in my thoughts every moment of every day. I want to hold you and feel your sweet skin against mine, those memories I hold dear in my heart.

Happy birthday my little Angel!
Mommy loves you always.

In every thing give thanks,

for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you

1 Thessalonians 5:18

Tennessee Christmas

This year instead of doing the normal holiday outings such as Christmas Eve at the Bray's, Christmas day at my mom's, and day after Christmas with my dad we decided to go for something different. And thanks to a very dear friend (Tisha and her family), we went to the Smoky Mountains. We have always been with family during the holidays so this was very different for us. We left on the Tuesday before and drove halfway, driving with 2 active little boys for 10 hours at once is a lot. On Wednesday we drove the remainder, stopped to get some groceries, and arrived at the cabin at dark (we were not in a hurry).

Luckily there was still some snow from the prior week to entertain the boys for a little while on Thursday. We drove around just amazed at the glory that God had created and shared with us.

Before we left the house another friend gave me the idea of leaving a note for Santa to know where to find us (Thanks Carey). So Hunter wrote him a note saying "We are going to Tennessee for Christmas. Please find us there." So we were covered when the boys asked any questions about their presents plus we brought "Christian" (our Elf on the Shelf). We walked into the cabin and Christian was already there to the amazement of Hunter & Mason.

As you can tell by the picture, we had a "Charlie Brown" tree, Hunter and daddy found a tree that had fallen and cut the top out of it. I had brought some lights and beads for decoration and we made a tin foil star for the top. On Christmas morning, the boys woke to find some of their toys and a note from Santa saying he could not bring all the toys to the cabin since it was so far away but he had left them at their house for when they returned. He also told them they should continue to be good and obey mommy and daddy because he could go back to the house and get those presents left. Santa drank his milk and ate most of the cookies that were left.

We played around the house for awhile then drove to Cade's Cove to view more of God's splendor.

More from our trip to come. . .

This was a very memorable Christmas, we had Hunter & Mason in our arms and Aiden in our hearts. We miss him very much but know that he was celebrating Jesus' birthday in Heaven and having the best party of all.

From the lips of children and infants

You have ordained praise. . .

Psalm 8:2