Heaven...

Well, this past week has been very interesting and hard all at the same time.. It is nearing the end of the school year, in fact, this is our last week of school. We have been busy reviewing with kids, making exams,etc. Chris and I both are anticipating the summer, and not to mention Cade has been counting down how many days left of school.

Everything though came to a halt for me last week, and LIFE took over. We had a student who was involved in a tragic skateboarding accident and passed away due to severe brain trauma. So yeah, everything kind of took a backseat for me, as I pondered how fragile our lives here on earth are. I also mourned for this precious mom who no longer would be able to hug on her son as he came home from school, or watch him play football and soccer again.

My students have been walking around dazed as they continue to grieve the loss of a classmate, and as I sit here and write, I will be heading to his funeral in a few short minutes.

Of course, death gets us thinking about Heaven and about all those we will soon see once again. I can't wait to see my Nana and Papa in heaven. I loved them so much and the Lord called them both home when I was in the 8th grade. Both of them met Jesus within about 3 months of each other. What a great reunion that must have been.

I have had the book "Heaven is For Real" for quite sometime now and never really picked it up to read. My books to read for the summer are piling up, but I thought it would be fitting because of the course of events this past week to start this one. So yesterday I sat and read the entire book. Very interesting perspective of Heaven from a 4 year old and so "matter of factly." As I read, my anticipation grew even more for Heaven. Reading this little one's experience with Heaven made me ponder "if only I had the faith of a child."

It is a great book and I highly recommend it. In fact, our pastor will be going to Nebraska next week to interview Colton and his dad. He will be beginning a new series on Heaven and Hell in the weeks to come. Excited about that..

So this is where my head has been in the last few days.. Cade and I have also had some discussions on this as well, and it is amazing to hear a five year old's perspective on Heaven.. So cute!!

I will leave you with one part of the book that I just loved. Colton was explaining to his dad where everyone was sitting in Heaven.. He was explaining the throne room of God. Colton's dad asked him where he was sitting and Colton said, "I was sitting on Jesus' lap, next to the Holy Spirit.." This just reminded me of how we should view our Heavenly Father, similar to our earthly Father...sitting in his lap comforting us when we become frightened, scared, worried, stressed, whatever it might be. LOVE THIS PICTURE!!!!

April Showers..Bring May Flowers

Where did April go?? Wow..It flew by so fast!! We are getting near the end of the school year and we are all ready for the summer. Cade has been doing great, but he is ready for school to be over. He even told me on the way to school this week he didn't want to go to school. I told him we didn't really want to either.:)

In April, we spent Easter with my parents and my brother's family.Mom and Dad's church had a car show and easter egg hunt, so of course Cade was in heaven! Cade loves to visit Nana and Papa. He also loves his cousin Brody! They have the biggest time together and Cade is so excited about getting to see them once again at the beach.

We have had some pretty bad weather in the last few weeks. Alot of wind and rain, but nothing in comparison to the damage we have all seen in Alabama. My mom and dad were spared also of the bad weather. The tornadoes that touchdown in Ringgold (where Chris and I were married) missed their area by an exit. We were so thankful!!

We have had some pretty days as well and have spent those being outside. We did some landscaping last weekend around the front of the house. Can I just say, I love doing yard work. If you ask Chris he will tell you that I LOVE mowing the grass, and actually a little OCD about it.

May will be busy for us as we finish up the semester, but we are looking forward to June and going to Texas to visit. Cade is so excited to get to fly again and to see everyone.

Cade has his five year old checkup tomorrow, and I am not looking forward to it. He gets 4 shots I think.. It won't be pretty. As far as his eye, we went back to Ohio a few weeks ago and everything looked great. We have to continue using the steroid drop 4x a day for 6 months. This has been somewhat hard, but Cade has done great. He has a chart on his door and he gets a sticker for every drop. At the end of the week he gets a surprise. It has worked so far, so hoping it continues. We might be broke in 6 months as well..:)

Waiting for the summer!

carlee