H.U.M.B.L.E.D.

welp ... it is March. Yep March and my whole goal last year of at least one blog post a month clearly got thrown out the proverbial window. Oops. To be honest, i think my brain got thrown out that window too. 

An update on us Brattons, for those of you who don't know, last July we found out that I was/am once again preggers! Whoooo hooo! With that lil' bit 'o' information came a whole LOT of morning sickness. I am talking 18 weeks of it. So, between trying to survive lonnng work days and pregnancy, EVERYTHING else fell by the wayside. 

March 2013 is the month we see the face of, snuggle to our hearts, and kiss the nose of our son. And I am completely humbled by the timing of his arrival. Actually, I am just completely humbled by his existence at all. His due date is 5 days before Easter. This is significant. Last year we lost our first little one on Easter morning. And we were given the opportunity in real life to practice "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; May the name of the Lord be praised."It was really tough. We wanted to snuggle that baby too. Still do. But we had to entrust him to the One who made him, and give him back; still practicing that regularly. And now, just a year later, for reasons I cannot understand, God sees it in His mercy to fill our arms with another little one on almost the same day as the day He took our first. Coincidence?  No, definitely not. 

This is what I have experienced and learned in my heart through this journey... 

One) I now am about .0000001 steps closer to understanding what it took for God to sacrifice His own beloved Son on the cross. I absolutely do.not.know.how.He.did.it. 

Two) I know that I know that I know, that I am never to forget Who my son belongs to, Who he was created by, Who I am to entrust him to when I worry (because I most certainly will), Who loves him more than I ever could (which is a lot).

Three) I am being given a gift to nurture and steward this precious life about to join our family. Pure and simple. I did nothing to deserve this. Trust me. Most of us only ever see each other's "highlight reel" ... I did nothing to deserve this. I am sure Tim would echo these same sentiments. 

Four) I know more than ever that my God is a god of mercy, grace, redemption, life, and Love. 

Five) God's timing of Easter is not accidental. He knew how to open my eyes to what He needed me to see about himself. In other words, this whole story may look like it is about Tim and I and our children, but it is actually about Him. Everything is about Him. Thank goodness. 

*Needless to say, more than anything else, I.am.a.woman.humbled.

(*not to be confused with a humble woman)

Happy 56th Birthday to my Favorite Puppy-kins!

Uh ... So this was supposed to be posted LAST JULY! Holy moly! Hope that video works. I am still learning this whole technology thing!
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If you know me even a little bit you most certainly know that I LOVE my sweet pooch Selah. She has been with me through thick and thin now for EIGHT years! She has gone from a wild, uncontrolable puppy to a wild, semi-controlable grown up lady (I use the term "lady" loosely)! Lately she has been showing her age only by the fact that she gets more and more gray by the day! We are just so blessed by her joyful and free spirit in our home! We love our sweet little Wiggle-Booty-Tortilla Chip so much... even when she has melt downs on three mile hikes and we have to carry her down the mountain. And even when she eats Tim's food (I am never naive enough to leave it where she can get it and assume she has any self-control). I truly feel like I have my own very precious "Marley and Me" story with my maniac who jumps out of moving car windows and who has so many weird idiosyncracies they are hard explain (like her terror of old ladies with walkers and her terror of roller bladers But no terror of fireworks or thunderstorms or moving vehicles). So much to be thankful for with my little love bug who keeps us laughing and on our toes all the time! No human can make me feel as special as Selah does when I walk into a room (I guess they could try her technique but it would look a little weird). So with that said, I am attaching one of my favorite Selah videos!

HAPPY EIGHTH BIRTHDAY SELAH-BELLE!! YOU ARE MY FAVORITE!