New Beginnings!

I know I'm a little late on the "New Year" blog entry but I'm just a little behind. Please forgive me.



I have officially completed all of my "first days" of college! I am taking Children's Lit, Advanced Expository Writing, Advanced Technological Communications, and Reading Overviews and Strategies. I actually think I am going to really enjoy all of my classes. The only negative is that there will be a lot of homework in every class. Usually you get one or two that are a little easier on the homework but all of these have about the same amount. Even though it will be a lot of work I really think I am going to learn a lot and I am excited about this semester!





Ashby is doing lots of new things since the last time I talked with all of you! She is using the potty almost all of the time. We still have quite a few accidents but it is getting better and better everyday! She has 16 teeth so her smile is beautiful!!! She has been moved up to the 2 year old class at Mother's Day Out and she loves her new teacher, Mrs. Stacey. We have watched Strawberry Shortcake and Cars more times than we can count in the past month and we are lovin every minute of it! She has started talking like crazy and you can actually understand most of the things that she says! She is growing up so quick and time is flying by but we are trying to make the most of every minute we have with her.




As far as church goes...IT'S AWESOME!!! On our first Wednesday night of the new year I was privileged to lead one of my junior high girls to the Lord! It was such an awesome way to ring in the new year! Our first big event was Hot Hearts in Beaumont Texas. We took 19 kids and had a blast! On the first night we had 3 students that changed their eternal destination!!! As if God hadn't blessed us enough on Friday night, He decided to show off a little more and 2 more of our kids got saved on Saturday!!!! Josh and I are still beaming from a wonderful weekend and wonderful blessings!!



So far this has been an awesome year and I only expect it to get better! I hope this finds all of you having a great week!

Christmas!

Who loves Christmas? Since I was a little girl I have loved Christmas!! I learned, growing up in church, that Jesus is the reason for the season, Joy to the World the Lord is Come, and it was a Silent Night! I know that without Christ there would be no Christmas. I am so glad that Jesus came to earth and died and rose so that I could have everlasting life through him!!!

Every year at Christmas time I would look so forward to going to Granny's for Christmas Eve and Grandma's Christmas night. On Christmas Eve we would listen to the same cassette tape and make sugar cookies, date nut balls, and rolls at our house. Then we would travel the long 5 minute car ride over to Granny's to share our goodies with all of my cousins. There are six siblings on my mom's side of the family and I have 18 cousins (and now between all of the cousins we almost have 40 kids) so you can imagine that it was a little hectic at Granny and Pappaw's house. I loved getting to play outside until it was time to eat, then eat all the scrumptious holiday food, then beg our parents to let us open the presents under the tree! Among the many traditions that I share with my family is Christmas Caroling. Before we could open any presents,the girls would pile up in our van and the boys in Aunt Phyllis' van and off we went to sing to all of our close family friends! The list has changed over the years but it is still a tradition that must be carried on. We would finally get back to the house and open our presents, then our parents would rush us out the door to get back home before Santa came to visit our house! I could go on and on about Christmas, but I will stop here...some of the greatest memories of my life are from Christmas time!!

Now that I'm older and I get to spend Christmas with Josh's family, I realize that not everyone shares a crazy Christmas with a house full of screaming kids, but I still love it! I cannot wait to step into Granny's house on Christmas Eve this year and start making memories with Ashby! Her memories will be different than mine, but they will be filled with love. Big families are crazy but I wouldn't want it any other way!

Maybe Not How You Wanted Your Life To Turn Out...

Please read this carefully...

What do you think God's view of your life's puzzle looks like? Do you think it has any resemblance to what you see when you think of your puzzle? We all know that there are pieces of our puzzle that don't match up to what we think the whole thing looks like. We can't see it all so to us some of the pieces are a very big disappointment! Some people feel like just because God hasn't made our puzzle look the way we want it to look means that our whole life is a mess. I believe that even when things don't turn out exactly like you want them to, God is still in control! Instead of looking at only one piece I think we should look at all the surrounding pieces. The only way we can have blessings in our lives is if we let them be blessings. Take a look around you and instead of counting everything as loss, reach out for the blessings! As all of you know there have been pieces of my puzzle that I would love to rip up and throw in the garbage, but I know that the puzzle is a beautiful creation. So, I take the messed up pieces, hand them to God and allow him to continue to piece together the puzzle of my life. He tells me that I am beautifully and wonderfully made and that he holds every bit of me in his hands. So why be bitter about the things I don't like. Just take it all in and give it to him and he can make a masterpiece out of a bunch of scribbles!
I hope you can look for the blessings in your life and concentrate on that instead of wallowing in thoughts of your life not turning out the way you had planned!

What a mighty God we serve!

There have been times in my life where I knew that God was real and that he did awesome things but I didn't really understand it like I do right now. Nine months ago, right before Boomer's birthday I spoke at a women's meeting at a church in our area. The whole experience was awesome and I really felt like I was able to share Boomer's story in a way that would help someone that might need it. Little did I know, a woman was there that had been dealing with some of the "God" issues that I had dealt with during my grief journey. Her husband passed away a few years ago and she was still feeling angry with God. I was told today that because I shared Boomer's story, this woman realized that she could get on with her life and do something with what God had given her. As my friend told me this story and as I told Josh this story and as I told my mom the story....all I could do was cry! GOD IS REAL AND HE DOES AWESOME THINGS!! My prayer was that God would use me (and Josh) in anyway that he wanted to help others who had been through the same things that we have been through. I am so thankful that he can turn something completely negative into something so totally positive! As long as someone asks I will travel wherever it takes to share Boomer's story!

Now, here we are in November and I have been asked to come and speak at a women's meeting in a town about an hour away in January. Please pray that there will be some woman there that will benefit from Boomer's story. God does not ask us to move mountains, he only asks us to BE WILLING to pick up one small stone at a time.

College!!!

The time has come for me to get out the pens, paper, books, spirals and courage! I finished filling out the FAFSA, completed my admissions application and I'm going to meet with my counselor today. Josh and I had a really long "talk" about me going back to school yesterday. For some reason when this subject comes up it is always a very touchy one. I have already completed 2 1/2 years of college so you are probably thinking (just like he does) that this should be no big deal. I should just be able to fill out all the paperwork and skip to school with my backpack, pens and paper, right? Wrong! THAT'S NOT WHAT IT'S LIKE FOR ME!!! I finally realized yesterday that the reason this is always a touchy subject, is because I am scared out of my mind! What if I fail...what if the teacher calls on me and I don't know the answer...what if I look weird...what if I don't fit in...what if I can't catch on as fast as everyone else...what if I've already forgotten everything that I've already learned...what if it's been so long since I was in school that I can't do it????? These are all the things that are running through my mind. Hopefully going to the counselor today will help me get refocused and ready to get back at it! Please pray that when the day comes for me to begin the journey back to school that I can boldly walk into the classroom with my backpack on and my pens and pencils ready to go!!! I'm really going to need it!

Blessings

I feel so truly blessed! I have a husband that loves me and takes care of me, a daughter that has the cutest expressions (she could make anybody smile) and a son that made such an impression on people that people are still talking about him. Ninteen months and 20 days ago I really thought that I might not ever be happy again but today I am exclaiming to the world that I am happy and thankful to God for making me this way! This is the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it!!!

Baby Turkett

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted anything but I've been a little busy.
About 6 months ago I was sitting in a restaurant in Frisco with Tracie and Steve, Mamoo, Nonnie, and Susan. She started crying and scared us all to death to tell us that she was about 15 weeks pregnant!! She was balling and we were all so excited! Yesterday morning we got a text at 4:55am telling us that Maren Rhys had been welcomed into the world! She was born at 4:44am and weighed 8lbs. and 4 oz. and was 21 inches long! We still haven't seen her yet but hopefully we will see her very soon.

CONGRATULATIONS to MICHAEL, SUSAN, TARA, LARRY, ALEX, AND JUDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Uncle Josh, Aunt Christina and Ashby can't wait to see you baby Maren!