Speachless

Yeah, I know, hard to believe that anything could make me speechless. The last time I was rendered speechless - it was when my husband proposed to me and I was so speechless that he wondered if I was going to say "yes" - but that's another story for another day...Recently something happened that left me speechless and blessed beyond words. I struggle, even now, to put my thoughts and feelings into words...

In my last post, I shared with you about the amazing gift my thoughtful husband gave me the day our daughter was born. It was so sweet that I purposed in my heart that whenever someone commented on my necklace that I would honor him by sharing the story.

Not long ago, I was talking with a lady I know. As we approached our destination, she commented on my necklace. I proceeded to share with her the beautiful story of where it came from.

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Now I love jewelry, and one of my most favorite things is to purchase jewelry in conjunction with a special event, a trip etc. For example, I have a beautiful pair of handmade silver and peridot earrings that I bought at a cute shop when I went to a friend's wedding in Old Town Alexandria. So every time I wear the earrings, I think of her and her family and another dear friend that I re-connected with - so many great memories. I have a necklace that my husband bought me when we were in Venice - so every time I wear that, I think of the wonders & sights and sounds of Italy, as well as the good friends we were traveling with. I share this so that you can understand why the story behind my necklace is so important to me as well as the story that follows...

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My friend was genuinely excited for me as I shared the story of my necklace-for the birth of my daughter, and the thoughtfulness of my husband & all the emotions that come with the birth of a child . We parted ways for the afternoon. About 10 minutes later there was a knock on the door. This dear lady was standing at the door with her hands behind her back. She proceeds to tell me that she had something to give me - that she had bought a pair of earrings, but when she thought about wearing them she said God told her she was going to give them away this weekend. She shared with me that as she listened to my story she believed that God wanted me to have these earrings.

When she handed them to me, I was speechless.

Overwhelmed.

Blessed beyond words.

For in her hand was a pair of silver Tiffany&Co. earrings that would match my necklace.I am exceedingly blessed. No words. Just thankfulness.....and an overwhelming sense of God's love expressed through this awesome lady and her gift. Now, every time I wear these earrings, I will think of this sweet lady, my friendship with her and a God who endeavors to bless me in so many ways.

A Gift to Remember

I gave birth to Addison in the wee hours of a Friday morning in August. Later that same day, while I was in the ladies' room - a mysterious gift bag appeared on my pillow. Inside the gift bag was another bag - a bag with the above logo. Inside that bag was a silver box - engraved with my name, "wife" and "mother" It was a gift from my husband in celebration of Addison's birth. Inside the silver box was a beautiful Tiffany necklace with a silver heart - a heart that was to be engraved with our daughter's name and birth date.

What a thoughtful gift that made me feel so loved, cherished appreciated. It was made even more special to know that while I was waiting for little girl those last days, my husband was making plans of his own to bless & surprise me.

All of which I was :)

Because She's Just so Cute

What better way to celebrate my 100th post than with pictures of the cute little girl that had completely changed my days...
And I KNOW that her furture is so bright - the girl's gotta wear shades :)

This Past Weekend

Was a big wedding... Enjoy the pics!

Cute Girl

What's in a Name....

I have always thought how great it would be to pick out a name for my child - I thought no big deal - there are lots of names that I like. However, when it came time to pick out a name for little girl - I was at a loss. For a couple of months I liked one name, then I didn't like it so much. The I would like another name. My husband finally suggested that we each create a list of names and then we would compare it. Were any the same - NOPE - not at all. So then we decided that we would each create a "top 5" list. Which we did. Then we rated our own list and then the list of the other - any agreement - not really.



So we waited - hoping a great inspiration would strike.



Back in February, when I first realized just how frustrating choosing a name was going to be, I said to God - " You know Lord, it would be really nice if you named the baby - in fact could you just tell Glenn in a dream what we should call Little Girl" As the months went by, I found myself asking that over and over - "Lord, could you tell Glenn her name in a dream" Now why was I asking for it to be in a dream???!!! I don't know - it's just the way the prayer came out of my heart.

March, April, May passed - still we were no closer to a name. June came, then July - still no name. And Baby Girl was due July 29th! Honestly, it really started to get embarrassing, people were now asking 'So what's her name" To which I would reply "We haven't decided" and then their response would be " Oh, so you are keeping it a secret?"

Nope - we're just that lame - we haven't landed on the right one yet;)

We did, however, decide on a middle name "Elizabeth" in honor of Glenn's sister who introduced us and so is somewhat responsible for all of this. And as it turns out Elizabeth is a family name on both sides of our families.

Even during labor - my midwife asked what her name was going to be...

Now back up 2 weeks before Little Girl arrived.... Glenn comes to me and says - "you I had a dream the other night, and ever since then I've got this name stuck in my head and I just can't shake it." Now this name was not on either of our short lists. And I perked up and paid attention as it was a name that came to him in a dream - I didn't say anything to him at the time- I wanted to wait it out and make sure there weren't any other names that might show up in a dream. Quite honestly I was caught off guard.

So there we were, in the labor room, Little Girl had just been born. The midwife asked "So do we have a name?" My husband looked at me and said "Do we?" To which I replied "Addison"
He asked me if I was sure - and I replied "Most defiantly, I asked God to tell you her name in a dream and He did"

My husband told me I was holding out on him. maybe I was - just a little - but I had to wrap my brain around the fact that God had indeed granted me my request - He named my little girl.

Addison Elizabeth: Addison is of Old English origin with the spiritual connotation of "In God's Image" Ez 36:27 "And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes & be careful to observe my ordinances."
Elizabeth is of Hebrew origin that means "Oath of God" with a spiritual connotation of :"Consecrated"

So I take this as a promise from the Lord, and a small glimpse of the wonderful plan He has for her life. I am honored and blessed that He has entrusted us with the care, teaching and up bringing of this precious little girl.

Pics - as Promised

So last Friday Saturday was spent working on transforming EMU's Discipleship Center (yep - the one on the Hill). Now for those of you that live areound here, you may be thinking to yourself - "the discipleship center???!!!! for a WEDDING!!!" And for those who don't live around here - I snapped a few pics of what it normally looks like.

BEFORE:

Not so pretty - kind of dirty - spots in the carpet, ugly blinds on th windows and a strange window inside the building that is on the 'front' wall where the ceremony is to take place.

AFTER: