Faith Hope and Hell

 Here we are June 2023... How'd we get here so fast? Funny I should actually think that? Y'all we are going on 8 years. You know the saying, the days are long but the years are short. That absolutely applies here. There were days I didn't think would end. And, then I'd look up and another year passed. If you've read previous entries, you know I sort of write these with me looking back. I need to have Anna Leigh paint that picture. A lot sure has happened in 8 years. Refer to previous entries to learn all about it. Fast forward to now, to today, June 2023. Rick and I are legit empty nester people. Like what? I know! Crazy crazy!! It's good though. It's all good. Our children are all grown and living their lives. I keep reminding myself this is the goal. We made it to the finish line! Roots and Wings Tracy, you gave them roots and wings. Sometimes I catch myself thinking but do they know this or that? Did I teach them everything they need to know? Lord knows I...

  It's been three and some years since I last posted on here. Oh wow! Where has the time gone. I mean it was before the C happened!! Last post was about Leventry vs the Hoover BOE. We won! Shmoo was too old to benefit from the win, but let me tell you since then, we've heard from multiple people who needed help. Our fight has helped other children and that is certainly something! So proud of my family for staying strong.  So here we are. It's December 2022. Kenley has been with us seven years. Can you believe it? Seven! The girl we brought into our home is grown. She is beautiful and has a heart of gold. Her growth has been amazing and we are so proud of her. Today we went shopping together. I asked her as we drove into the Galleria parking lot, "do you remember our first time shopping?" She said, "yes" It was literally days after she came to our house. She needed new clothes and it was of course December. We got stuck in the Galleria traffic and it lite...

I told you I'd let you know when it happened. Well it finally happened. Two weeks ago we received word the federal judge finally ruled after 2.5 years in our favor. 3.5 years ago we were dealing with a 15 yo who was struggling to be in school due to severe anxiety. Mostly the anxiety was due to her mother but whatever, it was still happening and she needed help with being in school. We asked through our lawyer about getting her an IEP. That is an Individual Eduacaton Plan for those who are blessed not to know what that is. Many kids have them. They have IEP's for ADD, ADHD, Dyslexia, and other handicaps that can hinder a child's ability to learn. IEP's as we learned during this process for kids with mental handicaps such as depression, anxiety and other mental issues are not as easy to get.  We had no idea we were entering uncharted territory. So, here we were about to embark on a journey that would take a long time. We asked for the IEP and we were denied it. We felt s...

Today she is 19. Four years ago next week, our journey was about to begin and I had no idea. I think I've written that before in this blog. We had a false sense of security. We didn't know. Again, I've said it before, God didn't want us to know because we would have probably ran. He needed us right where we were as there was a bigger plan. So much bigger than us, we couldn't even begin to imagine it. It unfolded the way He wanted it to, not the way we wanted it to. So many times I heard "Trust Me" in my head. Just a whisper but it was there. I'd just nod and say ok. We are not perfect not in the least but we listened and followed and trusted. Our obligation was til she turned 19. That is today. Our legal obligation ends but we will always love her and celebrate her birthday. I have no way of knowing what the future holds but I know we did our best to show her unconditional love. We did our best to give here a solid foundation she can launch from. We al...

My husband uttered the words to her. "Our journey together is over." He said, "It's now time for you to go and start building your life. Our cozy nest is not helping you grow anymore." Thinking about those words, our journey together... They make me sort of gasp. If you've read this blog, you know, that I see myself sort of standing on a beach looking back at all the years. To this day, I still shake my head and think, did that really happen? And, I can honestly tell you when I say I felt like we were in the twilight zone, looking back, we were in the twilight zone. With that being said, we managed to live. We managed to continue to put one foot in front of the other and go to work, and church, and vacations, and track meets and art shows and we celebrated weddings and birthdays, graduations, scholarships & anniversaries. We laughed and loved. Only by God's grace was that possible for us. But our journey together in our home is over. We both rea...

Stuck....We've all been there one time or another in our lives. The definition of stuck according to Cambridge Dictionary - Unable to move from a particular position or place, or unable to change a situation. Being stuck is no fun and usually but not always by no fault of our own. We can be stuck in mud, stuck in snow but those are physical examples of being stuck. We can also be emotionally stuck. Ugh, that's maybe worse than being physically stuck. At least we know if our cars are stuck in mud or stuck in a snow bank, someone will eventually rescue us and it probably won't be too long before we're unstuck. And that feeling of being set free is amazing! Finally, we can be on our way again never looking back. But, being emotionally stuck, now that is a little more complicated. Physically we are fine, we can move and go and do but when we are stuck emotionally the going and doing can often times feel like we're moving through mud. I'm writing this on my 2...