Watching our Wedding Video

It's been awhile (at least since June) since I have pulled out pictures and even sat down to watch our wedding video. Chris and me usually try to watch our wedding video together on each anniversary. Emma has recently been asked to be a flower girl in our youth leaders wedding and we felt the need to properly prepare her for the task. Emma is so much like me and has the need to be prepared in most situations. :)

So...we popped in the video and tears began to come to my face as I started to see how much time has changed so many things. I saw my Diddy (who died January 7, 2004) and my Grandaddy (who just recently passed away in March 2008)and it made me miss them so much. It seems like so much time has gone by, but then seeing them makes me feel as if I was just with them. Especially Diddy. I just miss calling him on the phone and chatting with him about life. I hate the fact that Emma will not know him like we did. Don't take me wrong, she hears about him, but she won't know him.

However, even after tearing up at the sight of our losses, I watched our video seeing how much Chris and me have grown and changed. In good ways. I look at our wedding and see that we were so much in love, but we knew very little about "commitment". Momma told me before marriage that there would be a day that the "feelings" would start to get challenging and the "commitment" to your marriage would start to begin. She was right. Boy, have we been tempted at times to just walk away and give up. But we are committed to each other. Not the marriage.

I looked at Chris and saw how much he has grown and aged. Aged...meaning he is not a young man...he is a man. He has taken on such burden for our family and for others. And he has always been committed to me. Even though I didn't know then what I know now, I am so glad that I chose him. He has been such a security for me and a support.

I am already beginning to pray for our little Emma's mate. I pray that she has a partner that is just as wonderful as her daddy. And she is watching us. She is modeling a bride and what she will want to do one day. I saw it in her eyes tonight when she asked me, " Mommy, you getting married?" She will have dreams just like I did. She will love and fall and love and one day do the very same thing that we did over seven years ago.

My Favorite Movie!

Some time by myself

Well...it has been strange having some down time during the night, without Chris here. He left on a mission trip last Tuesday (9 days ago) for Peru and this is the first time in our marriage (7 years) that we have ever gone more than a day without speaking. That, by far, has been the hardest part of the whole trip! He was able to call us for a few minutes until Emma hung up on him-Yikes!

But I have gotten some time by myself, especially in the evenings...which I am not at all used to getting. Emma has started school and I am having to get her in the bed at an early hour and without Chris being here to talk to at night, I have found myself actually spending some much needed time catching up on my blog page, facebook, watching The Notebook (my all time favorite movie) and reading! Wow...actually time uninterrupted! Those times are few and far between with a 4 1/2 year old around these days.

It's about time....

Well....I started out the new year thinking that I would create a blog page to keep all of my family and friends up-to-date with what is happening with us down in Tampa, but after looking at my last entry (in May)....I'm not doing so well. Sorry. Alot has been going on since May. May was kind of crazy month because after Mother's Day we received news that our pastor was killed in a plane crash. This was a devastation for our whole congregation and has taken alot of dedication from the staff to keep the ship running, but with God's help, we have.

Just this past Sunday morning, early in the morning, we received word that our Worship Pastor had experienced a second heart attack (was at home recovering) and was not able to be revived. So, we are left with ministering to a hurting church family...one that doesn't understand why these sorts of things happen-I don't understand. But we were changed with a wonderful message tonight at his Celebration of Life service...we don't have to know, but God is in control and He will always be the answer to any of our questions. For those of you that know and love us, please be in prayer about these recent events. So many positive things are going on here and we feel that Tampa is a wonderful ground for many to receive Christ and begin a new journey with the Savior. This is our mission field.

With all that said, Chris is gone to Peru for the next week and a half. This is his first out-of-country mission trip and he was excited. I don't know that we will know what to do without him here, but it is good to miss each other! He will be training people in "house church" ministry down in Peru. I look forward to hearing all of the stories that I'm sure he will come home with.

Hopefully it will not be quite so long for another blog.

Until next time,
Sonya

Changes...

I wish that I was one of those people who loved changes! I'm just not. I have always been that way. Mom used to tell me stories of how I needed to know how things were going to be and heaven help us if I didn't know what to expect. I mean really....how contrary to life is that! Life for us is ever changing. I am doing a little bit better with those sudden changes now that I am almost 30 years old, but there are times in my days that I revert back to being a little girl, at heart, that just wants to know when things are going to happen and what is coming next.

Just the other day, I was trying to find my way to a doctor's appointment and got lost in downtown Tampa! To make things worse, my cell phone went dead so I was really stuck! I just began praying! I needed help and NOW. I felt that the Lord was trying to tell me to learn to deal with the unexpected. Learn how to handle life when I doesn't quite happen like we would like it to and with GRACE. Enjoy the experience instead of getting stressed out. Life goes by so quickly and we really should enjoy even the changes that we don't like to see what the Lord is trying to bring out in us. Patience. Trust. Forgiveness. Love. Joy. Heart-change.

As I am learning to deal with my changes, that is my prayer. I want to enjoy what is set before me and not hope for anything other that God's best for me. So, this week, I am going to try to enjoy the changes that He has brought my way. Hard, yes! Totally against my make-up, but we will see what "change" teaches me.

My Cinderella

We watch our little Emma dance each day and this song tugged at our heart strings.

Easter on the Beach

It was fun today going to the beach! Fridays are sort of our "family days". With Chris pastoring-it's important for us to guard our time together and make those days the most initimate as possible. So, today we had a great idea of getting Emma's annual Easter pictures done at the beach, and while we were there we made an afternoon of it. It was so much fun.

We got there and little Emma hit the beach running. She definitely is just like her Nana. She couldn't even wait for the sunscreening to be over so that she could hit the water (it was still cool) and begin building a sandcastle. I began helping her, but just like she doesn't want any of my help (we've hit the I'M INDEPENDENT STAGE-who am I kidding; she's always been like that)she figured that she could do it herself! So we went for a walk and picked up sea shells. As we walked, I explained to Emma that each sea shell had a story....just like God purposed for each of us. She quickly caught on and began making up her own stories as we walked on. Chris laughed at us while we made up our own stories as to how and why the shells looked like they did.

We left the beach for a little bit to get a bite to eat and then came back when the sun was setting to catch Emma in action. In my mind, I could imagine the most beautiful Easter pictures, but those of you that know her know that she doesn't stand very still to pose, but I think that I got a few. It was fun none-the-less.