"My Heart is Bothering Me"

Seth was out of school yesterday and today!! What a way to start the first week of school! He didn't mind though! We have had fun because we have been very busy around the house doing some much needed cleaning and re-modeling--or as Seth says "Making a huge mess!" I guess it all depends on your perspective.

Seth is a great helper around the house. He loves to build, tear-up, tear-down, create, explore, invent and play anything in his imagination! Right now he is a lion who is prowling all over the house. Sometimes Lucy doesn't know what to do with his animal impressions! Oh, there is never a dull moment around here! If we could just get him to love cleaning up as much as he does all the rest we would be in good shape!! Maybe that happens after the magical 7th birthday!! I can atleast wish, right?

Greg was out late last night at the hospital with Andy Jelsik who had a heart attack and had to have emergency surgery due to some complications from a heart cath. We are so thankful that God protected him during surgery and he pulled through miraculously!! Please keep Andy in your prayers as the Dr.'s continue to address the blockages in his heart. Pray that God will grant him a speedy recovery.

Also Greg's dad Barry will be going in for a heart cath next Tuesday, please keep him in your prayers as well. Seth is very sensitive to people who are hurting or who have physical issues, but he is still not quite sure how to respond to them or the situation sometimes. So the other day, Greg and Seth had gone out to run some errands and I needed to call Greg for something and Seth answered the phone. I said, "Hey, bud, how are you?" To which he responded, "Not good Mom." When I asked him why he said, "My heart is bothering me." We think this is his way of being concerned about his Pop-Pop right now. When I asked more questions about his comment he quickly handed the phone to Daddy. I am so thankful for his sensitivity, even if he hasn't quite figured out how to express it! That will come one day! I also pray that the Lord will continue to cause his "heart to bother him." Seth continues to ask questions about Jesus. This is not something we have ever rushed with him. We want Seth to truly understand what it means to be a Christ follower. But, I couldn't help but think that maybe the Holy Spirit is tugging on his heart also and he is just not quite sure how to respond. We pray regularly with Seth that he would have a heart that seeks to follow after God.

I know there are also somedays that I feel my heart is "bothering me." Days when it is heavy due to cares, concerns, emotional pain, the effect of sin (even though I don't want to admit it), or that gentle tug of the Holy Spirit (that I am guilty of ignoring sometimes). I am so thankful that I have a Heavenly Father who cares about the matters of the heart and that He is the only true Healer of the Heart! He also doesn't give up on me and promises me if I "seek Him with all my heart...I will find Him!!" What a promise for a healthy heart!! Thank you Father!

Psalm 28:7
"The LORD is my strength and my shield;My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped;Therefore my heart exults,And with my song I shall thank Him."

Psalm 51:10
"Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me."

Psalm 103:2-4
" Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, 4 Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies."

Psalm 147:3
"He heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their wounds."

Thank you Father for being our Healer - the Healer of broken, wounded hearts!

Summer Vacation - July 2008

I have finally decided that I need to get into the "21st" Century and learn how to better communicate with family and friends. So...here is my attempt...we will see how it goes! It looks like I will have to learn how to do alot of things on the computer in order to make this work - so be patient with me!

We just returned from the best vacation we have ever had! We had a wonderful time as a family and made lasting memories together. We have been so very blessed in so many ways that I can't begin to describe them all here, but the month of July was our best ever!

This is as close as we got to Cozumel!

We started our vacation out with a FREE cruise - yes you heard that right! It was totally free - thanks to a man in our church who is a travel agent (You are a blessing to us Geniy). Greg and I enjoyed resting, reading and eating. The cruise went to Key West and Cozumel, but we never got off the ship! It was a very refreshing time for us both. Seth stayed with our dear friends "The Judd's" and had a wonderful time with Curtis, Colby and Austin. (Thank you Erika and Gary :)

We then picked up Seth and headed to the Daytona Speedway where we were given tickets to the Busch series race complete with seats in the Ginn Suite, reserved parking, and Fan Zone Tickets. Again another incredible blessing to our family. Seth was just in awe. We saw all the cars, ate a steak sandwich, fries, Seth climed the Rock-wall, got autographs, watch the jets fly over, enjoyed the ride on the bus through the stadium and the tunnels and had a great time watching the race in the suite. (Thank you Joel!)

Seth Rockclimbing in the "Fan Zone.

Seth and Greg in the "Fan Zone"

After the race we came home, slept a few hours and got up Saturday monring and headed to Banner Elk, North Carolina where we met my parents. We spent a week with them in some lovely condos on the side of Suger Mountain Ski Resort (Thank you Dom & Carol). The weather was wonderful and the view spectacular! We hiked, tubed, rode horses, ate some wonderful food, went to Grandfather Mountain and much more! It was a great week with Mimi and Papa!
Thank you for enjoying life with us -we miss you!
On top of Grandfather Mt.

Seth in camoflauge - can you find him?



Seth hiking w/ Mimi & Papa

Mimi needed a break!
We left NC a day before Mom and Dad and headed to the DC area where we were wanted to attend two great churches over the weekend. We were also able to spend Saturday with one of my high school friends DeLaine and her husband Paul and children Mark, Macie and Matthew (we missed Micah who was at summer camp). We took the Metro into the city and enjoyed visiting the Air and Space Museum and the Natural History Museum. Thank you guys for the quick DC tour! We wish we could have had more time!!! Then Saturday evening we were able to attend McLean Bible Church and then on Sunday we attended one of Mark Batterson's multi-campus sights at the Ballston Mall. These were wonderful worship experiences and made us miss our church family!

Waiting on the Metro with Paul, DeLaine, Mark, Macie and Matthew

From there we headed to "The Shore" (a northern thing). To make everyone happy on this vacation we did the southern thing and the northern thing! We spent some time at Wildwood, NJ, where Greg spent alot of his summers growing up. We were able to see his Uncle Billy and reminisce while visiting places he went as a child and also doing things he did as a child - like "walking the boards", doing the rides, the arcades, the waffles and ice-cream, funnel cakes, Korhs Ice-cream, Curley's fries and sooo much more! It is so much fun continuing these memories with Seth.




Sharing a cone with Dad.

Seth's new favorite pastime "Cathching Waves"

We left Wildwood and took the Ferry to DE where we were able to spend time with Greg's twin aunts and husbands- Carol and Lee and Chris and Paul and his sister Lisa and her husband Chris at Uncle Lee and Aunt Carols beautiful home on Fenwick Island. We had a great time together - shared many laughs and stayed up late every night!!! I'll give you two guesses as to what we stayed up doing! We also "walked the boards" at Ocean City, MD, enjoyed more funnel cakes, and ice cream, and also a Family Skee Ball Tournament - Congrats Lisa!!!! She was ruthless on us! Then we moved onto "Deal or No Deal" and Seth was the winner there - winning 80 tickets in one game! He was the winner of the evening with over 1,550 tickets to redeem. It would have been cheaper for us to just buy him some new toys, but it would not have been near as fun! Thanks for the memories - Aunt Lisa, Uncle Chris, Aunt Carol, Uncle Lee, Aunt Chris and Uncle Paul! They are...Priceless!


Uncle Chris, Aunt Lisa, and us.


Uncle Lee, Aunt Carol, Aunt Chris and Uncle Paul

We left the shore and went to visit Uncle Petey and Aunt Judy in Hershey, PA. They have a beautiful home set in a beautiful setting of hills and trees. We enjoyed baseball in the backyard and a delicious dinner cooked by Aunt Judy, then we were able to go to the Penn National Racetrac where Uncle Petey is the Chief Steward. Seth wasn't real impressed at first, but once the first race was over he turned around and exclaimed - "This is incredible!!" He had caught the family fever! For those of you who do not know, Greg's grandfather and his Uncle Petey were both Jockeys. This accounts for some of Seth's love of horses. Uncle Petey took us on a tour which included being able to watch some of the races through his binoculars from his office on top of the building. Thanks Uncle Petey and Aunt Judy for everything!



Greg, Uncle Petey and Seth holding his Photo Finish Picture


Seth and Daddy watch at the finish line.

We were also able to catch a quick dinner with our dear friends John and Michelle Cremeans in PA. It is always a blessing to be around this wonderful couple and we only wish our time could have been longer - but we will see you in TX in February!

We spent two nights at Lisa and Chris's house in DE - but Lisa was out of town and we got in so late that we didn't have but just a few minutes with Chris --(long enough to play a little bit of PS2 with Seth - you are the best Uncle!!) but you were still a wonderful host! What a joy it was to see your beautiful new house! We are so excited for you and all that God has blessed you with. Thank you for sharing your home with us. We hope to be able to stay longer next time!

Then...it was the moment we had all dreaded...the day we had to start for home! Somehow, we managed to delay our departure until 5:00 --- p.m. that is...we just didn't want this wonderful vacation to end...but by the time we arrived in NC to spend the night, we were ready to get home - to unpack - to clean the car - and to reconnect with our wonderful church family who we missed terribly!

We thank the Lord for His bountiful blessings upon our family and for His protection during our wonderful summer travels!