Who knew there was a spiritual lesson in "Finding Nemo"???

Yes, I said "Finding Nemo." Everyone who knows me or who has read my last few posts know that the last two years have been really rough for our family. Medically, financially, spiritually, emotionally.....just really rough. I was watching "Finding Nemo" the other day with Brady for the first time in a long time. We got to the part in the movie where Dory begins to sing, "Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming." She's encouraging Nemo's dad to continue on, no matter what and keep swimming until they find Nemo. It's a catchy little tune....if you haven't heard it, you should check it out. =)

Anyway, it's been stuck in my head now for days. I'll sing it randomly to make the little man laugh. Ever had a song like that? I'm sure your song is much more mature than mine....and not from an animated movie. But I digress....

Moving on....I was reading a book my BFF gave me last week, and in that book one of the ladies quotes the scripture that says, "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death..." She was remarking in the book about how much she and her friend had been walking, travelling, etc. They made the spiritual connection that they had never thought of the fact before that the scripture doesn't say, "Though I stop and lay down in the shadow of death...."

God doesn't want us to wallow in our trying times. There will be an end to the valley, and we have to walk through it to find the other side. He doesn't want us to get in the middle of it and just quit. He wants us to walk THROUGH the valley...and He's with us all along the way. He wants us to..wait for it....just keep swimming.

So what valley are you walking through today? Have you stopped trying to move through it? Are you just laying down in the valley of the shadow of death? My hope is that on those days when I don't want to try anymore...when I am too tired to continue the journey through....I'll think of the silly little song from the movie. And just keep swimming....=)

Experienced parents....Age old problems....

We have often prided ourselves on how easily our two youngest children have always gone to sleep.  Emily was difficult to get to sleep as a baby, but now does fine as well.  However....Brady, who has always gone to bed easiest of the 3, has just now decided to challenge us, and we are about at our wit's end!!

This is the situation.  When Aubrey passed away, obviously there was an upheaval in our daily lives.  People were coming and going, mommy and daddy weren't always here to put him to bed for naps, bedtime was at different times, etc.  Since that week, he insists upon being rocked until he falls asleep.  Once he's asleep if I move AT ALL, he clutches me and begins to cry, not wanting to be put in his bed.  We moved him to a big boy bed, thinking that may help solve the problem, because then we could lay with him and comfort him to get him to go to sleep.  That's what I now have to do at naptime in order for him to nap.  This process sometimes takes up to.....an hour and a half.  When he wakes up at night, the only person that can get him to go back to sleep is poor Greg, who goes to work most mornings exhausted.  Since he's in a big boy bed now, if we try to just let him cry it out, he gets out of bed and bangs on the door, all the while yelling at us to "open the door!"  We have the two girls to think of, and we don't want them waking up all hours of the night, so we have quite the dilemma. 

You would think that this being our third child, we would have the sleep thing mastered now.  And we did.....so we thought.  ;)  Any suggestions?

One month ago today...

...was the last time I saw Aubrey.  Where has this month gone?  Did I just live through all of that??  This doesn't seem to be getting much easier for me.   I have to pray that over time the pain will lessen.  I told mom the other day that I'm not exactly sure WHY this has affected me the way it has.  All I know is that I would LOVE a glimpse into heaven....been struggling lately with trust, faith, hope.  Like I said before, I HAVE to believe in what I've known my whole life.  Without that belief...I have no hope of ever seeing again those that I love - my dad, Aubrey, other family members/friends....the end of this life just CAN'T be the ....end.  Right?

I didn't mean for this blog to be one in which I am down in the dumps all the time.  It won't always be.  =)  That just seems to be where I am living a lot of the time right now.  Those of you who have been through grief....tell me this will get better!  Tell me that I won't always worry every single second when my mother is alone.  Tell me that whenever I think of Aubrey I won't always remember first the last image I have of him after he had passed away in the hospital.  Tell me that someday this will be a distant memory, and when we think of this time, all we think of is fondness and thankfulness that we got the time with Aubrey that we did...however short.

On another note....I am SO excited the events of the afternoon/evening!  A wonderful friend from church gave me a sweet gift when she saw me at the visitation to treat my mother for a dinner out.  So....this afternoon mom and I are going to a Christmas Cottage event at the fairgrounds.  Those of you who know us well know that we LOVE Christmas - decorations, shopping, music...will be different this year, but maybe it will help heal?  Then after that we are going with two of our friends to Maggiano's to eat fabulous Italian...and lots of it!  No Weight Watchers for me this evening! 

My sweet husband will keep the kids tonight so I can have a much needed girls' night out.  We've got a busy weekend planned.  Em has soccer practice tonight and a game tomorrow.  Greg and I have a meeting tomorrow afternoon and are singing in a wedding tomorrow night.  Then of course Sunday's services, and we go to sing at the Davidson County jail Sunday night for our annual "Jammin' at the Jail" concert.  Should be a busy, but fun weekend. 

Hope all of you have a great weekend as well.  Hug your family, and tell them how much you love them!!