Category Archive: Family
Feast your eyes upon these images because they are the last of my Andrew & Jenny wedding pics. As soon as the wonderful, super talented Daniel Meigs walked in the salon door on the actual wedding day, I put down my camera. It was time to put on my bridesmaid and mother-to-flowergirl hat and put the photographer hat down. That being said, if you’re on Facebook you can see albums full of fabulous wedding photos—what a great day it was, too!
After our Moms and Sister Breakfast Friday, I went back up Lookout Mountain and joined my little family for a few hours. We drove to the old Mountain Fountain for lunch (it’s Cafe on the Corner now) where I ate one of the best salads ever and we had really attentive and kind wait staff care for us. Then we enjoyed views from The Incline and my knees felt only the tiniest bit wobbly. I can’t fathom living on the very edge of Lookout like some folks do. Before going to Covenant College I used to have terrible dreams about accidentally slipping off the side of the mountain. Clearly I’m now a 100% plains girl; no worrisome terrain here in Lincoln, Nebraska!
Friday evening found us at Northshore Pres for the wedding rehearsal. Lawtons and Pankratzs met up alongside Andrew and Jenny’s friends. One of the joys of that evening, for me at least, was realizing how great A&J’s friends are. I’m so grateful they have this awesome community of friends in Chattanooga! This fact became more evident as we watched how their friends helped support them before, during and after the ceremony and reception. They were wonderful.
I love so many of these images. There’s Uncle Steve beaming at me above the heads of Jenny and her dad. Andrew greeting his new family at the church door. Dressed-in-plaid cousins Livia and Madeleine. The hilarious duo of Patty and Meg. Adorable and shy ring bearers (who donned navy bowties for the actual ceremony—they were killer). Nana and her granddaughters caught in a squeeze. Andrew and Jenny looking tres cool and very in love as they walked into the rehearsal dinner.
It was a huge joy to celebrate the beginning of this marriage among family and friends.
Jeremy, Livia and I flew into Chattanooga a bit later than expected last Thursday night. (Thank you, Delta, for the delay that had us chasing standby seats for hours. Apart from that snafu, you did well.) We drove up Lookout Mountain to our guest lodging at Covenant College in the dark—no beautiful scenery visible, but oh those twinkling lights of Chattanooga far below! I love Lookout Mountain.
The next day I walked into Hampton Inn’s lobby and found both my folks and brothers waiting to get the day started. A photo opp with my grown siblings is a rarity indeed. Thanks to dad for getting this shot!
My soon-to-be sister-in-law hosted a breakfast for moms and sisters at The Blue Plate. None of us had met each other yet and bonding over a delicious breakfast was a perfect way to start the wedding weekend. I’m still thinking about the pancake I ate, or tried to eat. It was huge and so darn good.
This handsome guy is clearly not a mom or sister. His name is Burl and he is adorable. His mama Meg blogs at A Barefoot Day—besides being one of the funniest gals around, she has a great eye for design.
I came around the farmhouse after the ceremony and found the newlyweds on the porch, taking in a few brief moments for themselves. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a bride as confident and happy and absolutely relaxed as Jenny. My brother is a lucky man indeed.
Congratulations, Andrew and Jenny! We love you guys.
First I’d like to say that I have rock stars for in-laws. Jeremy’s parents have been coming over nearly every day to scrape, patch, plaster, sand and paint our house—and I can’t express adequately how grateful we are for their help. I have very un-rock star elbows this summer. Thank you a million times over, Karen and Bill!
I know, I know. You want bathroom photos. They are coming. Besides installing some quarter round (is that the right term?) and adding a candle or two, the bathroom is complete. Showering is quite the luxury, I’ve discovered, and after living without a bathroom mirror or lighting for way too long, seeing oneself in the mirror is quite delightful, too. Adequate shelving and storage are nothing to sneeze at either. I love this new bathroom.
I am struggling to get this house ready to put on the market. There’s a lot to get done. But I am really blessed with loving parents (mine included), a hard-working husband, generous friends, and a mostly patient kid. While this journey feels never-ending in some senses, I have a lot to be thankful for.
When the economy feels really shaky, and when I worry about all the what-ifs of the future, I am reminded of these verses and take comfort in the sovereign nature of the One who strengthens and equips me.
Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
The Sovereign LORD is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to tread on the heights.
- Habakkuk 3:17-20
Nothing says Happy 4th of July like a fully-lined knit penguin hat.
Livia’s Auntie Bean gave her this super cute winter accessory last weekend and of course Livia put it on immediately. Who wouldn’t want to wear a penguin hat while lighting fireworks?!
Livia Day involved our second salamander hunt of the summer. And while Liv has found snails and flowers and exercise and fresh air, she and Jeremy haven’t yet located salamanders. I don’t know that anyone’s devastated by that fact, however. The reward seems to be in the adventures had together. On Sunday we waded through wet grasses, crossed over railroad tracks and back again, went under bridges and over them, and worked up an appetite for a hardy lunch at a nearby diner.
It was a good day.
Pull on some shoes, grab a net and get hunting because it’s Livia Day!
Seven years ago today Livia Raine came into our lives and thus today is a day of celebration.
Thank you, God, for your grace in our lives. You have made us a family and you’ve blessed us beyond telling. May Livia never know a day she doesn’t trust in and rely upon Jesus. May you draw us closer to you and closer as a family. We are so grateful, Lord! Thank you for Livia.
I love that, after we told you that you may not ask to hang out with our neighbor friend (a male approximately 22 years old), that you later sobbed to me, “It’s just that I’m so attracted to him!”
I love that you bring me flowers multiple times a day and that you delight in giving them to me.
I love that you asked if my throat hurt tonight—because if it did, you would only ask for one song. But since it felt okay, you requested two.
I love that, when I guessed the next plot point on tonight’s tv show, you turned to me with amazement and asked in awe, “How did you know that?” I felt like a genius in those few seconds.
I love that you call your daddy a genius and that you didn’t listen to me that one time I tried to tell you otherwise. Without fully meaning to, I was being a jerk. But you forgot what I said and you still call him a genius. And I’m starting to believe you’re right. He is a genius, our genius, and we love him to death.
I love that you wanted to see what I bought at the mall today. And that you oohed and ahhed and commented on the absolute cuteness of each article of clothing, even though one was a pretty basic white shirt. I think you noticed the subtle details that made it so cute in the first place.
I love that you slept in longer than me and your dad this morning and that, when I came to wake you up, you stretched out, long and lean, then curled up tight again and went back to sleep again. For a moment I could imagine teenage Livia doing that very thing. But then you stuck your fingers in your mouth, and that darned bad habit was briefly welcomed because it broke my vision of the future, a vision that had you getting big way too fast.
Oh Livia Raine, our lives would be so boring, so mundane, so colorless without you. We thank God for creating you because you have filled our hearts with more love than we thought possible. You, dear sweet kiddo, are amazing. And you are loved.
Jeremy and I decided to become foster parents in January. We just completed our coursework last night and I’m sitting down to try and make sense of both where we are today and how we got here.
As it turns out, I had preconceived notions of foster kids and foster families and, well, the entire foster care system that I couldn’t even put into words before we began our training. I never really understood why people would choose to become foster parents. It sounded kind of messy. It also sounded like something I had read in an old Christian fiction book in 6th grade. Wasn’t there a Libby character who was a foster kid and always messed up while her bio sister looked and acted perfectly? And then Libby’s dad would show her grace, I suppose he was the Christlike figure. So there you go, the extent of my knowledge and education. Gross.
My ideas began to be changed and molded by a deep friendship with another adoptive mama, who also is a foster mom. She was (and still is!) a normal and loving mother. Her kids are normal and loving kids. Foster or adopted, they are just her kids. Normal kids. Normal meaning hilarious, fun, precious, crazy sinners like the rest of us. My old notions began falling away and I began to build new thoughts. I, a mom by adoption, wanted more children. There are lots of local children in the foster care system, many waiting to be adopted, but I would *never* be able to adopt them unless I became a foster parent.
Our tale really kicked into gear when Jeremy—who had to, by his own admission, be dragged into parenthood to begin with—said we should become foster parents. Really, this fact still hits me as remarkable and miraculous and I am grateful that God was working in his heart. What a blessing to be on the same page here. So we called Christian Heritage, a local agency that shares our Christian worldview, and we began our ten weeks of classes in February. It’s been a long time since Jeremy and I took night classes for college—this was definitely comparable in terms of time commitment. We signed up for the training with friends from church, my foster mom friend encouraged me all along the way, and my parents supported us by caring for Livia so we could attend the classes.
We filled out a lot of paperwork. We got background checks. And physicals from doctors. And completed a lot of homework. And met with Christian Heritage folks in our home. And our hearts have been changed in the process.
Foster care is far more than a way to build our family. It’s an amazing way for us to invest in the future of our city and state. One of my preconceived notions is right, though: it is messy. By its very definition, it’s messy, sin is messy. We’re talking about families that are being torn apart by abusive and neglectful behaviors committed by parents and guardians. And here, right in the middle of the situation is a child who has no control over their crumbling world and is desperately in need of some loving care. Can you see how someone might get starry-eyed at this point? I want to save the children, love the children! Well, foster care training does a darn good job of wiping those stars from your eyes. More often than not, we would end our evenings feeling like we were in way over our heads. And we still feel that way to some degree. We are humbled by the task. We know we can’t do it alone. We trust that God will give us what we need, when we need it—and that includes support from family, friends, church, schools, Christian Heritage, etc.
We are not going into this system alone. Not by a long shot.
So, now that classes are done, are we ready to have kids placed in our home? Not quite yet. There are loose ends to tie up, a waiting game to play, and then we’ll be added to a list of foster families awaiting placements. Even then, it’s my understanding that fostering requires a large amount of flexibility and a willingness to go with the flow of the court system of the state of Nebraska. If we are looking for absolute control and strong deadlines and a life of “sure things” then foster care is simply not the way to go. Jeremy and I would be kidding ourselves if we thought we were in control anyway. God has carried us through the sufferings and joys of our lives—and He is the one we serve in all this.
Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” [James 4:13-15]
May God be praised by the misty offerings of our lives.
Livia accidentally described Shiloh as being “furrzy” (fuzzy + furry) and the new term has become a favorite of mine. In Shiloh’s case, it’s incredibly accurate: he is one of the furrziest dogs I know. See all the fluff on him? He’s really quite Chihuahua-like on the inside, the rest is all fluffy Coton fur. Besides his high state of furrziness, he’s also—as these photos prove—quite adept with his tongue.
