A Big Day: Tuesday

So yesterday was kinda a big day for me. The school day was normal...well as normal as can be at the end of the school year. What was so big was what happened after school. First off, my wonderful husband mowed our yard (which was starting to look like a swamp), which made me very happy. I had about an hour until I had to leave for our small group Bible study so I decided to listen to some new songs Jared put on the iPod. We recently found the charger to it, so now its like we have an iPod for the first time. Anywho, I was laying down listening to some tunes when I feel Sam moving a lot. So, I put my hands on my belly and I feel him move again. Only this time, I feel him from the inside of my belly and from the outside of my belly with my hands! I jumped up (well I wouldn't say jumped...I can't really do that these days), ran into the living room and told Jared ,"I just felt the baby move outside my belly!" I laid down on the couch and tried to relax and do exactly what I was doing before when I felt the baby. I kept saying, "Did you feel that?" and he couldn't. After a few minutes he said, "Don't tell me when the baby kicks and let me see if I can feel it." So, like a good wife, I did. At this point, I feel the need to say that the song that was playing was "A Page is Turned" by Bebo Norman, which was the song that we played at our wedding while we were lighting the unity candle. Anyway, all of a sudden Jared says, "I felt it! I felt it!" Wow! What a cool moment in time. Of course, I was crying at God's perfect timing. I know...big day for us.

After that, it was time for me to go to the small group bible study that a few of us from church have started. This is only our third week, but I 've grown fond of the time we meet each week. Last night, I began thinking about how the Bible tells us that we are to be "aliens and strangers of this world", and I'm afraid that I do a better job of fitting into the world that standing out from it. My prayer is that people will continue to see something different in me...not necessarily something "weird", but just different and that the difference in me would draw them closer to Christ. Wow, what a huge challenge that is. But I am up for it. I'm so thankful for the time that I get to spend with them and the encouragement and accountability it brings to me.

When I got home and waited for the game (whichever one it was) to go off, I laid back down in the bed listening to the iPod (I know I told you it was like we just got it). Only this time, I heard "Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground" by Willie Nelson. For those of you who may not know, Willie Nelson was Jared's dad Joe's favorite singer. We would listen to Willie Nelson tapes and records and for the longest time growing up Jared thought he really had an "Uncle Willie". This particular song was one of his favorites, and even after he got sick he asked if Jared would sing it at his funeral. We had it played at his funeral (that would be extremely difficult for a son to do), and the two times I've heard it since he died, I bawl like a baby. This time was no different. Only this time, I kept one earphone in my ear and put the other on my belly, crying the whole time. Some days, I just hate that this world we live in is so full is sickness and death and pain. I miss him. I hate that his "favorite" is having a boy and he won't be here to see him. But at the same time, I'm so thankful that God did a work in his life, that he raised three awesome kids, and that I got to meet him. I know we'll pass on the things that he would have wanted Sam to know.

I know, right? Big Day. Lots of things happening. Lots of things going on in my little head. That's the big stuff for right now. ~Elizabeth