"But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give a reason for the hope you have. But do this with gentleness and respect." 1 Peter 3:15

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

April/May updates

I am terrible with keeping up with this blog. I always have good intentions, but life ALWAYS gets in the way. I guess the nice way to say that is that I have my priorities straight, lol.
Anyway, it's been two months since my last confession, um, I mean post. So, I am going to update on the last two months. Once we get to Greece I would like to get back in the habit of daily posts. But, realistically will try for a weekly post.
Anyway, so we'll start back to the beginning of April, where we celebrated Elijah's 9th birthday and Matt coming home from Iraq. We barely had time to blink before we started our pack out. The kids moved in with Grandma and Grandpa the Sunday after Matt got home. The movers came on Monday and we packed out all our stuff on Monday and Tuesday. Tuesday night we moved in with Matt's parents. This was a very difficult transition for Elijah, as he doesn't like change and he is still a very emotional mess. It's just too much for him to handle and he is ready to get on the plane. On Thursday we closed on our house and flew out to Indiana to spend the weekend with my sister, her boys and my Mom. We spent a very relaxing weekend with them and celebrated Easter with them as well.
Although it might not have been quite as relaxing for Kayla, being the only girl!

Once we got back from Indiana, we continued the week with school, violin practice, soccer practice, Church, and sewing lessons. On Thursday we headed to Atlanta and went to the Lego Discovery Center.


 
That afternoon we went and hung out with Elijah's friend Dano (who we met in Singapore). This has been a yearly event since we moved back from Singapore. We are going to miss this yearly ritual once we move to Greece.
 
On Friday we headed to the Atlanta Zoo with our fellow Bible Quizzers. We spent a few hours there, then headed back to our hotel to relax for a few hours before Quizzing started Friday night.


 
On Saturday the kids participated in the Regionals Children's Bible Quizzing. They did very well. Elijah placed 9th and Kayla placed 6th. Kayla's team was 2nd overall. They had such a fun weekend.




From Quiz Regionals, Matt and I took an early anniversary trip. We headed to Hilton Head for a few days.




 
The weekend we got back Elijah had his final soccer game of the season, hooray! They won, which was a great way to end the season.

The next week was more school, violin lessons, Church, and sewing lessons. On Thursday Matt's Grandma and Uncle Leon arrived. Friday we spent some time with them, did some school work and then went to an Uncooperatives meeting. Saturday we went to a yard sale and spent the rest of the day at Matt's sister's house. Sunday was Mother's day, we went to Church, came home and had lunch and hung out.
Kayla driving with Grandpa and Elijah riding in the back.

Grandpa driving with Uncle Leon, Kayla and Elijah in the back.

Look who's driving!!

Kayla playing the offertory at Grandpa's church on Mother's day.
Below: Wearing her outfit she made in sewing this semester.






 The three Grandkids with Uncle Leon, Grandma, Grandpa and Granny Gray.

Way too young to be driving, but he did a great job!!
 
This past week we continued to school and on Thursday we headed to Tennessee to see my sister, her family and my brother and his family.

Isaiah

Brady and Devin

Tyler on second base.

Tyler front and Aaron in midfield....not sure how we missed getting a picture of Gabe.

Every time they watched T.V. Clara was close to Elijah.



When we left Tennessee this weekend, Clara cried so hard. She never cries when we leave. It truly broke my heart and I ended up leaving in tears as well. I hate "good-byes" and I hate crying. That is one of the hardest things about the life we are living, we are always leaving people behind, or getting left behind. It never gets easier.
This is our final week of school and we are finally able to take it a little bit easier. Today, Matt and the kids took a computer apart, fun stuff!!!



After taking the computer apart, we had friends over for a playdate. This school year has been so busy, that playdates have been few and far between, but we are always thankful for the time we get with friends and family.



Me & Julie
 Elijah, Lana, Kayla and Parker

 
 
And, if you are still reading after this REALLY long email...good for you :) And, thanks for sticking with it!
 


Monday, April 7, 2014

Double blessing

Today is an exciting day in the Davis' household! Today, Elijah turns 9 and Matt comes home from Iraq! It is with great excitement that we begin this day.
Nine years ago I was at the hospital, waiting to be taken back to deliver Elijah. We knew it was a boy and we knew our lives would be forever changed. Elijah came into this world screaming, so tiny and stole my heart. He has brought and continues to bring such joy to our lives. There is never a dull moment when he is around. I love that he is still completely uncensored and will say exactly what he is thinking and feeling (not always a good thing, but I love it anyway!).
On Saturday we had a small party with family and an honorary family. It was a surprise to Elijah and he had a blast and got some great gifts. Today, his Daddy comes home and we will celebrate his birthday again, just the immediate family. We would have loved to have waited for Daddy to be home to have his party, but with the moving and other craziness that we have going on, I just couldn't make it happen.
In case you didn't know, Matt has been in Iraq for the last year. He left two days before Elijah's birthday last year. He made three brief visits home in the last year, July, October, and December for Christmas. I can't complain, I have a lot of friends whose spouses go to Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan or some other places for a year and they don't get to come home at all during that time. We have been very blessed.
I could complain and say it's been a horrible year, but that wouldn't be true. It's been a decent year, with some very rough patches, but God has seen us through it all. It's only through his power that I could face the idea of Matt being gone a year, and then actually living Matt being gone a year. I could not have done it without Him guiding me through each and every day.





"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." James 1:17


Sunday, March 9, 2014

Shattered

I have been in a horrible funk all week and haven't been able to shake it. I feel like I am wooden, wound really tight. On the other hand, I feel very fragile, like glass. The tension keeps mounting and more and more gets piled on. If I am not careful, I truly feel like I am going to shatter.
 
This morning as I was getting ready for Church the song "Carry Me" by Josh Wilson came on and it brought me to tears, one part really expresses how I feel:
 
I'm at the end of myself
I know I've got nothing left
Feels like I'm stuck in the valley of the shadow of death
And I've been down here so long
I just can't find my way out
Oh God I don't stand a chance
Unless You carry me now
God carry me now
I played the song several times over, really listening to the words and asking God to carry me. I know he does, but when you are in the valley, it is sometimes really hard to see God. I know I am not the only one in the valley right now, I've got a lot of people right down there with me. If you are currently not in a valley, will you pray for those that are? And, if you are in a valley, pray for God to soften your heart and notice the others in the valley with you and lift them up in prayer??
 
The whole song:
I try to catch my breath
It hasn't happened yet
I'm wide awake in the middle of the night scared to death
So I prayed God, would You make this stop
Father please hold on to me, You're all I've got

Carry me, carry me, carry me now
From my sinking sand to Your solid ground
The only way I'm ever gonna make it out
Is if You carry me, carry me, carry me now
God carry me, carry me, carry me now

Jesus calm my heart
Come near me please
Lord don't let these worries get the best of me
Oh I believe, that You're still here with me
Cause You meant what You said when You said You'd never leave

Carry me, carry me, carry me now
From my sinking sand to Your solid ground
The only way I'm ever gonna make it out
Is if You carry me, carry me, carry me now
God carry me, carry me, carry me now

Carry me
God carry me
Carry me
God carry me

I'm at the end of myself
I know I've got nothing left
Feels like I'm stuck in the valley of the shadow of death
And I've been down here so long
I just can't find my way out
Oh God I don't stand a chance
Unless You carry me now
God carry me now

Carry me, carry me, carry me now
From my sinking sand to Your solid ground
The only way I'm ever gonna make it out
Is if You carry me, carry me, carry me now
God carry me, carry me, carry me now

Carry me now
Carry me now
Carry me now
Carry me now
 
If you prefer to hear it...and I recommend you do listen to it:

Saturday, March 1, 2014

Career Choices

See my previous post Paralyzed if you get confused and can't quite follow this post.
 
Once I figured out what my problem was with making any decisions regarding Kayla's school for next year and letting my fears go, God got my creative juices flowing.
 
I decided I would find books on Careers and have her read them, to help her get some idea on what she would like to be when she grows up. Right now she loves to read and isn't very concerned with her future. When I asked her what she wanted to do when she grows up she said "I'd kind of like to keep my violin and teach my best friends music." That's it. I don't think she realizes that just teaching her friends isn't going to pay the bills.
 
So, I thought it would be a great idea for her to learn more about what's out that and see what interests her. Please understand me here, I am not wanting her to make a decision today. I understand that she is only 11 and in the 6th grade. I understand that things that interest her today might not interest her tomorrow. However, by reading about the different things out there, it will help her to understand her interests more.
 
Once I started thinking about it and talking to Matt about it, more ideas started to flow. I decided not only would I have her read about it I would also have her write about each career, things that interested her and things that didn't.
 
A few hours later, I decided to take it further. I will have her read each book, write three things she learned about the career, what subjects she would need to study should she decide she wants to pursue the career, some things she learned about it, what she liked and didn't like about it. I may even have her write anything that would prevent her from pursuing that career.
 
I am still brainstorming ideas and will come up with a rubric to follow, so I don't forget what I want her to do. I am thankful that I am no longer consumed by fear and am able to get my creativity flowing again.
 
I am also very thankful that we do home school and we can spend some time on this!
 
I hope that through this project Kayla will have a better understanding of herself and things that interest her and things that don't. In that way, I will better understand her academic needs. If she decides she wants to become a Marine Biologist I will know that she will need a lot of Science and we need to get serious in middle school. If she wants to become a Vet, she will need lots of Science and Math. If she wants to become a Chef then I know she will need to study consumer Science, emphasizing cooking or nutrition, business Math, Business administration, but maybe she won't need to be so serious in seventh grade!