Hi :) Well,today was a day that I didn't have time to post anything this morning but I have time now while dinner is in the oven-Lol!- so now I am going to,finally,tell Joshua's birth-story.( I know you are dying to hear!Lol!!)

As you know, we found out Josh was coming only a few months after I came here to PA to move in with Alan. That was in February of 2001.We welcomed Josh into the world on Feb.4,2002 :) Yes,needless to say, we were surprised but it was a *good* surprise :) Joshua was born into a newly formed, gift-from-God family, comprised of Al and myself, and our son Tyler(whom, as you know,was a product of my previous marriage which lasted for only 3 years.)

Tyler and Josh have been such blessings to us! Josh changed our lives by bringing in a son for us(Al had always wanted a son) and a little brother for Tyler(he was thrilled.) None of us were saved when he was born.We hadn't started going to church yet either but,I credit Josh in some very practical ways for my salvation and I will explain that since yes, we all know that God alone saves. I say that because I was up a lot in the middle of the night feeding him and when I got home with him, those feedings were happening downstairs in the living room...where I could watch TV while he took his time breastfeeding!Lol! ( He was one of those that likes to fall asleep while feeding,and I always had to annoy him to wake him up to finish his feeding, doing things like stripping him and tickling his feet; the nurses made me do it!Ha ha!:) Anyways, there is not a lot on TV at night that is any good, so one night as I was flipping channels and I saw Joyce Meyer on,I stopped to listen to her for a few(after flipping past her at first,after I realized it was 'one of those religious shows'.) I came back because I was bored, and curious, though I didn't know why. But God knew, because He put it on my heart to go back to her show and listen to her and give her a chance, and I am so glad that I did!Because of Joyce,I go to church today. She was talking about her sexual abuse as a child at the hands of her own father.It went on until she was 14, and her father thought it a normal part of their back-woods life. She said that she was not mad at God for what happened to her; that she knew the abuse she received at the hands of her father here on earth grieved God and that He cried right along with her. She said that God punishes people who abuse children fiercely; that she prayed for her fathers salvation and for God's mercy and forgiveness for him everyday after her salvation as a child, and eventually the day came that-as he lay dying in a hospital bed- he allowed Joyce and her husband Dave to pray for him and lead him in the sinners prayer, so that he could be saved before he died. God bless Joyce and her husband for sharing that! I wanted what she had; I had been abused and I had blamed God for my abuse being allowed to happen.I did not want to forgive my mother, but I suddenly wanted to make my peace with God, and the forgiving came later on in my walk with the Lord. About a year later.

Joshua was my little one who kept me up at night,so I could see Joyce, and as her program ended she asked if anyone wanted to be saved and then told the viewers how they could be saved:To ask God for forgiveness for my sins and ask Him to come and live in my heart. I did close my eyes and say that prayer, asking God to show Himself to me and He did!he was very gracious to not only reveal Himself to me, but to SAVE me!, and today I can rest in knowing that my husband is also saved since then as well as my son Tyler,SAVED!, and I am resting in His goodness and grace to save Joshua and Grace as soon as He is willing to. God is so good!!!!!!

Joshua has, by God's grace, grown up in a little family that is not perfect but is under God's undeserved grace, and he is being taught by Christian parents and a wonderful gospel-centered pastor at a wonderful gospel-centered church :) He is five years old today, and since he was just a couple of weeks old so much has happened in our family in his lifetime :) God has showered us with His grace, first in drawing me and then saving me, and then in drawing Alan and saving him, in answering much fervent prayer on our behalf and saving Tyler, and by His grace I know that Joshua and Grace will be saved soon. Joshua watched on from his stroller as Alan and I were baptised in August of 2002, shortly after we found this church that we hold so dear. I will have to tell the story of how this church actually found US in the beginning of the Summer of 2002!

So, as you can tell Joshua has been a huge blessing to our family, and he continues to be. We love his sensitive soul, his love for God and his irresistible laugh and fun-loving spirit. We love how he cares for animals so much,just as his older brother does, and how he tenderly(usually!Lol!) cares for his little sister, and protects her :) The best part is listening to him sing "Open the eyes of my heart,Lord" by Randy Travis ( his favorite song) and having our hearts burst open wide with joy that our son lives a life that in it he is able to worship God and we get to be his parents:)

We are very grateful for all of the soldiers who have served in the past, and are serving now as I type this, to protect America and keep her FREE. We owe our as well as our children's safety to them, our ability to worship freely without persecution to them, and our ability to fall asleep at night knowing that we have a military in place to protect us, and there are no words that we could say that could ever say "Thank You!" enough. Most of all, we owe a debt of gratitude to Our Savior who died a sinners death on a cross even though he was holy, to bare our sins upon himself,in order to save us~ to You, Oh God, how great a debt we owe! What could we bring? What could we sing? What could we do as an offering, Lord? (I just love that song we sing at church!)


XOXOX'S THANKS for listening