Of course!

We got to enjoy Laney's first preschool Christmas program this year and upon leaving the little reception they had afterward, Joshua proceeded to tell Laney that he recorded the program on our video camera and that she could watch herself when we got home. Laney then replied in pure Laney fashion (which means, with lots of drama and a flair for humor in her sweet, high-pitched voice), "Um, Daddy, I ALREADY saw it when I DID it!" Joshua, unable to dispute the obvious, just replied, "Yes, of course!" Love that girl's fun-loving personality!

Pomp And Circumstance

"Instruct the wise, and they will be even wiser. Teach the righteous, and they will learn even more.: Proverbs 9:9

It has been a journey. . . a long, challenging, frustrating, beautiful, winding, amazing, tiring, defining journey that we have been on these past 5 years. When Joshua finally surrendered and applied at CU-Louisville after much prayer, study and fighting within himself, we knew that we would go on a journey that would prove to be all of the above adjectives! Little did we know that God would change us in ways that would prove to not only allow us to see Him more clearly, but to truly love him more dearly! To cling to him when hours seemed long. To rest in Him when body, mind and spirit were all exhausted, either from too much school work, too much job work, or too much housework and kiddo stress. To be with Him when we were clueless on how to be with anyone else under the pressure, the thin-stretched time with family and the chaos of life. To trust in Him that when he says, "It is ok, my child" that truly, it is going to be MORE than OK! To learn to praise Him when hours spent in class also meant hours spent away from home, bedtime fun missed and the only friends being occasional texts to each other, the clock on the wall and the tv/computer combo that connected us to life! To praise Him that we are no longer the people we were 5 years ago and that as He promised, we are all OK!

Congratulations for the accomplisment of yet another piece of paper to hang on the wall, Joshua. But for more than that, for always seeking, moving and bringing us along on this fabulous journey to which you have been called in Christ's name! I'm so glad that I get the opportunity to minister alongside you and encourage you toward excellence! I have always known you can do anything you put your mind to, and now, there are framed pieces of paper to help back that fact up!

6?

6? Really? This beauty that we named Jovey, an idea for a different, cute name that we heard in a movie that is now one of our fav holiday flicks, is really 6 years old? It seems like yesterday that we were just a family of 2, talking, praying and joking about what life would be with kiddos, but of course, waiting and enjoying our time together. Then, after almost 2 years of marriage, we felt the nudge from God and made the leap and God blessed us with a pregnancy that although wasn't easy, was a time of growth in our lives as people, as each new season of life should be! I didn't get to even hold this sweet beauty right after birth, due to the high doses of morphene medical staff quickly put into my IV after birth, but wow, I instantly fell in love as they laid that crying, wiggling, big baby on my chest. This little miracle quickly stole both Joshua's and my heart and we both viewed God, ourselves and life through different lenses!

Jovey is. .. well, she's just Jovey! She's happy, dramatic, giggly, bright, quick witted, sassy (we are working on that one), a leader, a perfectionist and quick to offer a smile! We love her more with each new day and as we sit back to see how God works in her little life, we stand amazed at the miracle that she is; that we all are! That God would see fit to entrust us with her little life for a few years, teaching her the things of life and most importantly, the things of God and the grace offered through His son, Jesus! We are in no way experts in how to raise the two precious girls, but we sure do enjoy trying and then laughing, crying and being covered in glitter and tears (Joshua's observation of life around the McFarland homestead) along the way!

Happy birthday, big girl! May you always know that home is a safe place to fall for you , that we love you so very much and that God loves you so much more than we ever could! May you always remember that you are very special and that you are always loved! "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart. . ." Jeremiah 1:5

Crunches

Joshua busted his ankle in good fashion after playing a pick-up game with a friend on Monday. To spare you the gaggig, I will not post a pic, but trust me, his ankle is all sorts of pretty colors and roughly the size of a small grapefruit. The doctor at our church looked at it last night and ordered x-rays be taken this morning so she could look at them and know whether or not he needed to be referred to an orthopaedic surgeon from there (too bad the one we know and trust is in Florida doing his fellowship before he moves a short 45 minutes away from us).

She did suggest he buy a special lace up brace as well as use crutches to keep pressure off the tendons that are probably pretty damaged. A sweet church member ran home and came back within 5 minutes (love a small town) with a pair of crutches for Joshua. So, Jovey and Laney are excited, to say the least, to see daddy hobbling around on his crutches.

"I LOVE your new crunches, daddy!" says Jovey. Joshua told her quickly that he'd rather be on the floor doing crunches than hobbling around with crutches! ha!