5K Logo and Race Name

The committe planning the Palmetto Hearts upcoming 5K met last night and we had a really great time working out some important details.... like the NAME of the race! Without further adieu, the race will be named:

Palmetto Hearts 5K Run & Walk

We felt like it was important to get the name of Palmetto Hearts out there so that people would start recognizing it (the name of the organization) and in turn know what the organization is working for.... kids with Congential Heart Defects.

The date of the race will be Saturday, April 14 so PLEASE go ahead and add it to your calendar now. We will be looking for volunteers to help on race day with registration and awards and of course I would love to see all of my friends and family running (or walking as the case may be) in the race. It is going to be a family friendly race so strollers are welcome and we would LOVE to see lots of heart kiddos join in the race as well!

The design of the actual shirt is not finalized, but the logo we are going to use for the race has been decided. You are the first people who are going to get to see it!





So, the winner who submitted this logo (you know who you are) will receive a FREE race t-shirt once we have them printed. I will contact you once they are printed and get it to you.

Now the logo is probably going to be modified a little bit, colors etc, but this is basically what it will look like. You know you want one.... so start training NOW for the 5K. All early bird registrants will receive a t-shirt with their registration.

My specific job with the committe is selling sponsorships for the race, who will in turn be getting their logos on the back of the super-awesome race t-shirt, so..... if you or someone you know might be interested in buying a sponsorship for our race PLEASE let me know. I will begin selling race sponsorships in August, and it is almost here!

I will be keeping you posted on the planning of the race and I will also add a link to the race website once it is up and running so that you can go ahead and get your registration in early!

"Normal" Baby Sick and 5K Update

If you read the last BLOG post and wondered what was going on, Anna Grace has been "normal" baby sick as I like to refer to it. She had a little cold and it turned into an ear infection. She "let us know" she was sick by staying up all night Thursday night crying, which of course prompted us to take her to the doctor Friday morning with the diagnosis of an ear infection and a round of antibiotics. Now, it is no fun for anyone to stay up all night with a crying baby, but hey, it is "normal" baby sick so I'll take it any day of the week! It is her very first ear infection and she is 18 months old now - an ear infection was bound to happen at some point. As soon as she started taking her antibiotics she was fine. Her little cold is still running its course, but she is acting like her old self again. Hooray for Amoxicillan :)

So, you may remember about a month ago I posted a contest on my BLOG for the naming of a 5K race that I am helping to plan. I recived several submissions and I am heading to the committee meeting tonight to vote on the name of the 5K race. The 5K race is to benefi an organization called Palmetto Hearts (www.palmettohearts.org) which helps support families who have children with congenital heart defects. The person with the "winning idea" for the race name will received a free race t-shirt once we have them printed. I will post the winning idea here tomorrow.

Are You Listening

After a tough night last night with Anna Grace being sick and crying, this was a welcome post by Jon Bloom over at Desiring God. You can check out their website here Desiring God.

I Cry to You and You Do Not Answer Me
June 24, 2011 by: Jon Bloom

I cry to you for help and you do not answer me; I stand, and you only look at me. You have turned cruel to me (Job 30:20-21).

These words came out of the mouth of the man God considered the most blameless and upright on earth at the time (Job 1:8).

Thank you, God, for these words! Thank you that the Bible is so guileless. It says it like it is, and sometimes just what it feels like. Most of its heroes are unvarnished and clay-footed. Sometimes they wonder if you’re cruel. That’s a mercy to all of us shortsighted, weak, doubting, clay-footed stumblers. There’s hope for us.

Can you identify with Job? You cry out to God in your affliction and you see nothing change. It seems like he’s just standing there watching you writhe. It feels cruel.

But this is not, in fact, true. What is true is that God is doing far more in our affliction than we know.

For Job, he did not know that he was putting Satan to shame by trusting in God despite his desolate confusion. He did not know that his experience would encourage millions for millennia. And like Job, we do not know what mind-blowing designs God has in store for what may feel unbearable and appear cruel today.

But we do know this: God was answering Job when it seemed he wasn’t. And God was remembering David when David cried, “Will you forget me forever?” (Psalm 13:1). And when Jesus cried, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46), God had turned his face away from our sin, only to raise his Son from the dead to undying, unsurpassed, and eternal glory.

Your suffering may be inscrutable today. But in reality it is preparing for you “an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17). Take heart and hold on.

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you (1 Peter 5:10).

Understanding Suffering

Every person on this planet will suffer. Some will suffer more than others and some less, but each persons suffering will be hard, tough and trying in their own lives and in their own ways. Suffering normally leads to questions like these: Why does God allow suffering? What does suffering accomplish? Am I being punished for sin because I'm suffering? These are all good questions that need to be addressed.

I feel Mark Discroll does a good job in this 10 minute video giving us 10 points on suffering. These points are true and I would consider them to be of sound doctrine and Biblical.

(If you have trouble with the video starting and stoping, try clicking play and then pausing the video for a few minutes. This will let the video stream to your computer which should allow for a smoother playback.)

Vacation Bible School

This has been an exciting week for our family. This week our Church is hosting Vacation Bible School. In case you don't know what Vacation Bible School is, it is an outreach program of our Church where children are invited to come for the week from 9:00 am until noon and there are many activites planned to share with the children about Jesus. At our Church children can start attending Vacation Bible School at 3 years old, but since we were in Charleston at MUSC last summer when Zachary was 3 he was not able to go. So, this is Zachary's first year of attending Vacation Bible School. Now, I really have been out of touch with Vacation Bible School since I was a child. What I do remember about Vacation Bible School is hearing some Bible stories, singing some songs and making a craft. Well.... that was a LONG time ago and things at Vacation Bible School have changed!!!!!

From what I could gather from my 4 year old, in one room there is a Bible story around a "campfire", and then they go to another room to play games "Pass the Pony" I beleive is what he called it, and then they go to another room to learn songs and then they go to the Sanctuary for some serious kid craziness. I don't know exactly what transpires in there, but when I went in there today to pick him up, our children's Minister was getting a bucket of green slime dumped on his head. Yep, Seriously. The kids were screaming and going wild. It is a far cry from the Vacation Bible School that I remember!

It seems like a lot of fun mixed in with Bible Stories and fellowship. Zachary is enjoying himself and really having a great time. Anna Grace and I have been hanging around for about 30 minutes after I drop him off just walking around and talking to people in the halls - she seems to be doing better being around people and she LOVED all the screaming and clapping in the Sanctuary today when we went to pick Zachary up. She was screaming and clapping along with all the kids, it was very cute to see her enjoying herself so much.

I will try to take some pictures tomorrow and post them up on the BLOG for you to enjoy!

Do You Live In Zion or Babylon

I've been listening to Josh Garrels for about 3 months now. He is an amazing artist and very talented. His lyrics plumb deep into God, man and creation. You can pick up his new album here free. Below is from his album Jacaranda. Enjoy...

"Zion & Babylon" - Josh Garrels from Josh Garrels on Vimeo.

Pictures!

As promised here are some pictures of our summer so far.... enjoy!

Cardiology Results

Today Anna Grace had a cardiology check-up. It has been 3 months since her last cardiology check-up and that is the LONGEST we have ever been between cardiology check-ups. I have to admit I was nervous last night about what Dr. R would find today. With these little ones, so much can change in 3 months.

So, my sweet hubby took some time off work to go with us and our family of four all went to AG's cardiology appointment today.

I was equipped with a bag full of goodies prepared to distract and entertain Anna Grace who is NOTORIOUS for not cooperating. As a matter of fact, AG has such a reputation that the nurses ask ME how I want to handle the visits.... as in what to do first, etc. to try to make it as comfortable for her as possible. (Aren't they awesome... I know... I am truly thankful for them)!

Since our last cardiology appointment went so well I thought we would follow along the sames lines as our last visit... do nothing until the echo is over. So, that's what we did. We went into a room and the kids played toys and watched movies until they were ready for us in echo. That's when the trouble began. As soon as I climbed up on the table with her in my lap she started crying. Not good. We had one of her favorite movies on, a bottle of milk, paci, blankie, toys and even Daddy there but nothing would calm her. Lots of screaming, crying, shaking her head "no" and saying... I mean SCREAMING "done, done, done". It is a terrible sight for a mother.

Needless to say, the pictures of her heart we were able to get did not tell us much, although the doctor said from what he could see she looked good. She was also so upset that we were not able to obatin O2 saturations on her and they didn't even try for a blood pressure - as upset as she was it wouldn't have been accurate anyway. We got a not so accurate weight check as she would not even cooperate for that. The morning was quite exhausting and we finally threw out the white flag and surrendered.

The plan is that we go again the first Tuesday in August. We've decided to schedule the next appointment at nap time... which could work for us or against us... there's no way to know for sure. She will also be getting a hefty does of benadryl before her next appointment and Dr. R is not going to see any other patients that afternoon - that way we can have the echo room as long as we need, we won't be rushed in any way. If we can't get a good echo next time then we will have to schedule a sedated echo. I really, really don't want to have to do that because it means a hospital stay - it's done at the NICU in Greenville complete with IV and the whole she-bang. If we can avoid that I would really like to.

So... we have two months until her next cardiology appointment... unless of course I notice anything not good in which case we would see Dr. R sooner.

We are home now and AG is napping. I'm sure she is wore out from her morning... I know I am. As a heart Mom it is hard when your little one is so upset... she's too young to reason or explain things to and she is scared. Really, really scared. Undetandably considering everything she has been through. There are so many invisible scars these little heart kids carry around that no one knows about.... this journey can be very difficult at times. Please join me in praying that the Lord will calm her and allow her to not be so scared. Thank you friends.

P.S. - I will try to post some updated pictures in the next few days.

What's Going On????

It has been a long time since I have updated about our family. Sorry about that. It has just beena busy summer. Here's a summary of what has been going on.

Anna Grace got sick. After a LONG and sleepless night with a high fever I took her to the doctor who did a strep test which was positive. Yep, little Miss Anna Grace had her first case of strep throat. Thankfully no one else in the family caught it and Anna Grace did her 10 days of antibiotics and seems to be fine now. Hopefully we won't be seeing strep throat again in our house any time soon because it was awful.

After getting over strep throat, we went to the mountains for a long weekend family vacation with Mee-Mee, Grandpop, Aunt Catherine, Uncle Tim and their children Alex and Chloe. Anna Grace did so good and we had a really great time. We took the kids to Tweetsie Railroad since "Thomas the Train" was there for the weekend. We also went tubing down the river and wading in the stream next to the cabin we rented. Lots of fun - we were all tired and dirty when we got home, but lots of wonderful memories were made that weekend. I highly recommend Valle Crusis as a vacation spot!

We have also started going back to Church which has been wonderful. It is great to see friends again and be back in the house of the Lord. Although, since AG doesn't really want to stay in her nursery class for very long I end up cruising the halls with her, but it is still great and I think we are making a little progress. It is going to be a slow go, but you have to start somewhere!

Zachary has started swim lessons again and is really doing well with it. He really enjoys it and would swim everyday if we could! We are checking into buying a pool membership for the summer..... we'll see what happens with that!

The next big thing is that Anna Grace has a cardiology appointment tomorrow. It has been 3 months since her last cardiology appointment and I am nervous about it. Trying not to be, but that's a long time for us to go between visits. Please be praying that AG will cooperate for her echo and for the Lord's favor upon the results. I'll try to post tomorrow how it went.

I know you want pictures of the kids and I'm sorry I haven't posted any in a while. After the cardiology appointment results I will try to give you some pictures so you can see the kids. You won't hardly recognize Anna Grace she has grown so much these last couple of months. It's amazing at this age how quickly they change!

Thank you for remembering our family and for checking in on us!

Should You Retire

I want to influence all those the Lord puts in my path to think deeper and wider and longer about what our main purpose is for being here on earth. We only have one life here. May we not waste it pursuing a life of ease, but live it to the end making Jesus Christ look great and more desirable than anything retirement could ever offer.