Storyteller, Part 3

I knew that I wanted to share our story on our blog because although a lot of you know us personally, a lot of you don't. And even those who know us may not really know the details of what God has done in our lives. So I'm starting at the beginning. Our story is real, raw, and unrehearsed. I hope you read with an open heart.

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In September of 2007, we found out we were pregnant with our third child. We were so excited!  Instead of just calling and telling our parents outright, we sent them a bouquet of yellow flowers with a note that said "Congrats on Baby #3!" Our family's were surprised and so happy for us. We went to the doctor for our first ultrasound on a Friday in October.  We went into the ultrasound room and within minutes the technician told us she couldn’t find a heartbeat, and said she was sorry. She walked out to go get my doctor.  I had to go to the bathroom to get dressed after that, and I just broke down in Jeffry’s arms. My heart was broken again. I can't tell you how thankful I was that Jeffry was there with me and that I wasn't alone. I had to have a D&C that Monday so right after we left my doctor we went to the hospital to get my pre-admission forms done. It was one of the longest days of my life. The poor little man who was filling out my forms was making me so irate. He was trying to crack jokes and make light of things when I had just lost my baby. All I wanted to do was crawl in a hole and die. That night was a bad time for me. I wrestled with sleep; all through the night the Holy Spirit was singing in me that “Jesus’ Blood never fails me”. That Sunday, we went to church and I stood in the audience with my husband and my mom. It was so hard but I didn’t know anything to do besides praise my Jesus for whom He is and cling to Him. I’m not going to lie; I struggled with depression over the next month. I tried explaining it to my mom like this, "I felt like I had something on my back, pushing me down, but I never fell completely to my knees. I never fully gave in to it." I really think my battle with depression was a spiritual one. But I had a Savior who said He’d never leave me nor forsake me. He followed through. He carried me again.

It was hard for me to hear that other people got pregnant or had a baby after that. I was so sad about the baby we had lost that we never had the chance to meet. I think was such a shock because I'd had two perfectly normal pregancies with no complications at all. I cried out to God for another baby, and He answered our prayers in February of 2008. Trace was born in November 2008, and as most of you know, he is truly a gift from the Lord.

If it weren’t for Jesus, I wouldn’t be who I am today. If it weren’t for an intimate relationship with Him, I would probably be in a totally different place in my life. But because He has healed and restored my family, I can be real. I can show people who I really am because He has changed me from the inside out. If you don't know Jesus or if you're still unsure if He even exists, please feel free to contact me. I've shared how He has changed my life in the hopes that He will use my story to affect someone else. 

Storyteller, Part 2

I knew that I wanted to share our story on our blog because although a lot of you know us personally, a lot of you don't. And even those who know us may not really know the details of what God has done in our lives. So I'm starting at the beginning. Our story is real, raw, and unrehearsed. I hope you read with an open heart.

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But our story doesn’t end there obviously. Jeffry and I got married in June 2002 and had Brayden in January 2003. One of the hardest things we both ever had to do was to tell our parents, but they supported us every step of the way. What a blessing to have parents who loved the Lord to walk through this with us.

Over the course of our first year of marriage, we had Brayden, bought our first car, decided to open our own building supply store in Wiggins and bought our first house; most of these are things people do in the first five to ten years of marriage! We searched for a church in Wiggins and eventually settled down at one, but it just wasn’t what either of us were used to. It was small and just didn’t seem to be life-giving.  I think we both knew that I was a little more spiritually mature then Jeffry was, especially evident when he did not understand why I wanted to go to special things at church. He was a good guy, but he had a good time at poker night with the guys and wasn’t ready to change that. Jeffry remembers me asking him one night, “Why can’t you and your friends ever get together without drinking beer?” He really didn’t have a great answer; he just said “That’s what we do. It’s how we have a good time”.  Don’t get me wrong, I was not the picture of perfection either. I went to church more out of obligation because I grew up doing it and I knew it was the right thing to do. But we got to the point where church just wasn’t a priority any more. We would be up in plenty of time to get ready to go to a Sunday morning service, but it seemed like we could always find a reason not to go.

In February of 2006, we began attending Northwood Church. Jeffry was brought up Methodist and I was brought up Baptist, so we both had a lot of questions and were a little skeptical about Northwood because it was non-denominational. However, we continued to come to services, and we could not deny the power of God in that place. It was something we had been longing for and searching for when we really didn’t even know we were missing it. We loved the fact that the people at Northwood were REAL. We wanted Brayden and Caleb to grow up loving Jesus in an atmosphere like the one at Northwood.

We jumped in with both feet. We both attended an Encounter Retreat over the next few months, and then we started some discipleship classes in August 2006. We both grew spiritually by leaps and bounds during that period, and it was so great to do it together. Jeffry really stepped up as the spiritual head of our household. We really felt like we fit at Northwood and loved getting to know Jesus better with other people who loved Him and made Him their priority. 


In December of that year, my grandfather passed away unexpectedly. He was supposed to be discharged from the hospital that Saturday morning, and my parents, my brother, and I were on our way to see him. He died before we got there. I was so mad at God. Why didn’t He give me the chance to get there and lay hands on my grandfather?  I could have prayed for healing! Why did I not get that chance? I never got to say goodbye. 


I felt like I just had my knees kicked out from under me. The day after the funeral I drove home and attended our church's Vision Convention that night. I remember singing, “You have turned my mourning into dancing”, and I just felt the release as I gave everything to the Lord.  It took time, but God carried me through that dark place.




To Be Finished in Part 3 Tomorrow...

Storyteller, Part 1

I knew that I wanted to share our story on our blog because although a lot of you know us personally, a lot of you don't. And even those who know us may not really know the details of what God has done in our lives. So I'm starting at the beginning. Our story is real, raw, and unrehearsed. I hope you read with an open heart.
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There are probably a lot of you who think that Jeffry and I have it all together, that our lives look too good to be true from the outside. But it’s not. We are just as real as you are.  God has brought us through things that I never in my life thought I’d be able to walk through. 

Jeffry and I met in the fall of 2001; I was a freshman Music Education major at the University of Southern Mississippi, and he was a sophomore majoring in Business.  We both attended the Baptist Student Union on campus, which is where we met. I sang on with the praise team each Tuesday night. Jeffry came in late from work one night in the first few weeks of school and saw me singing on stage. He asked a friend of his whom I was and if he would introduce us. We met that night, but I really didn’t pay him too much attention. I thought he was a lot older than me and was just being nice! We sat together that Thursday at lunch at the BSU and he asked me for my number.  We went on our first date the following Monday night. From that point on we were almost inseparable. We officially started dating in October. Seeing as how school started in August, that was pretty quick! But I think sometimes when you know it’s the right person, you just know.

Both of us were Christians, but like many college kids, we weren’t living daily as we should have been. We were both “good people”, we didn’t get in trouble, but we weren’t seeking God’s face in our day to day lives either. Christmas holidays we spent some time apart, but we each got the chance to celebrate with the other’s family. It was great. I loved his family, and he loved mine. I really knew Jeffry was someone special when he was the first guy that my dad never complained about. My dad was very tough to impress, but it seemed Jeffry had won him over the first time they met! That’s what worried my mom! Haha.

Things were great in our lives. On the outside we looked like good kids. School was good; we even took a class together that spring. I would help him study, and he’d go to my required music recitals with me.  We were probably living more like a married couple at that point than two Christians in a dating relationship. I honestly never thought I would see myself in that situation, but once you start down that slope it’s easy to keep sliding on down. In May, right before school got out for the summer, we discovered I was pregnant.

Talk about changing your world. We were both in shock. I can still remember being at the clinic on campus when the nurse came in and told us the test was positive. We both just started crying. Not really the way you want to find out about having a baby. Not really the way God meant for it to be....






To Be Continued in Part 2 Tomorrow...

Spring, come quickly!

In honor of how beyond ready I am for Spring this year, I changed my blog background to something bright and colorful courtesy of Shabby Blogs. I also added a new Playlist of some songs that I am loving right now. If you haven't heard them, you should really check them out!

Where I Belong- Cory Asbury
How He Loves- Kim Walker (this song is on David Crowder's newest album but I LOVE Kim's version)
You Won't Relent- Misty Edwards
A Little Longer- Jenn Johnson (Totally in love with the words to this song. Sung from God's perspective)
Desert Song- Hillsong

Have you heard or seen the background story of Desert Song? Click here to see the video on you tube. Trust me, you do not want to miss this story. What's crazy is that this is almost my exact testimony of when I had a miscarriage. I need to write a post on that. The first time that I sang this song in church, I shared my testimony about having a miscarriage. I think it's something that some people just kind of overlook as not that big of a deal. Anyway, more on that later.

I'm so ready for Spring! And the "real feel" temp outside today is 32 degrees and windy. Am I still really in South MS??

Update on my Dad!

Thanks for your prayers!! My Dad is doing great! After several rounds of blood work, they ruled out a heart attack. This morning he had a stress test, and he passed with flying colors! Whatever was causing the chest pains, it was not his heart. No blockages or anything. God is so good!

He should be checking out of the hospital around noon today! He will be seeing a regular doctor next week to see if they can determine what was causing the chest pains. I'm confident that it will be a minor issue!

Thank you again for your prayers and concerns! I have the greatest friends :)

Prayer Request!!!

Hey everyone.

I just wanted to post and ask for your prayers for my dad. My mom called this morning on her way to meet my dad at the ER. He had been having some chest pains throughout the night and attributed it to indigestion. However, after he got to work this morning, the chest pains continued, he was lightheaded and dizzy, and had a tingling sensation in his arm.

He called my aunt who works in the medical field, and she insisted that he go to the ER not a doctor's office. (Especially with his medical history). Someone from his office drove him there while my mom had someone drive her to meet him.

His EKG looked good, as did his initial blood work. They went ahead and gave him aspirin and triglycerides when he arrived. The doctor wanted to keep him overnight to continue monitoring his blood work, and they will do a stress test tomorrow.

I am standing on a verse that one of my friends texted me this morning.
Matthew 21: 21-22
"Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can SAY to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. If you BELIEVE, you will receive whatever you ASK for in prayer."

I'm asking you to SPEAK and BELIEVE with me that my dad is healthy! Thanks in advance for the prayers. I will keep you posted.

Jesus' Blood

As many of you know, we have been going through a loss recently. It is hard to understand, and I don't think we truly ever will. However, I know that the Lord has us in His hands and is carrying us through. His ways are perfect. As we have been enduring this hardship, the song "Jesus' Blood" by Hillsong keeps playing in my head.

Jesus blood never fails me
Jesus blood never fails me
Jesus blood never fails me
Jesus blood, Jesus blood

Sing your songs of freedom
Praise the God of heaven
Love that never fails me
Jesus blood, Jesus blood

How true it is that the blood of Jesus is here for our healing. Jesus paid the price on the cross 2000 years ago for us to enjoy the physical and emotional healing that only He can give. I thank the Lord that He is faithful to do what He has promised and that He has already begun the healing process in us and our family.

I thank you all for your prayers, notes, and phone calls. You will never truly know how much it means to us to have family and friends on whom we can lean. Thank you for your strength and love. We love all of you dearly.