When Bad Things Happen To Good People

Do I have time to be blogging right now? Absolutely NOT! But, I have this on my mind so I'm going to write before life goes on.

So, while in St. Simons this weekend (which, by the way was AWESOME, FABULOUS AND SO FUN!), a couple of the girls and I were talking about how it seems like, more now than when we were younger, bad things just keep happening to good people. One of these girls lost her brother this year to the war in Iraq. She was saying how she has always had that question in her mind, "Why does God let bad things happen to good people? Is this his plan? We know he is so good but why do such terrible things happen?" When her brother was killed in Iraq, this question only grew larger in her heart.

Well, me being the person I am, automatically thinks, "Of course God has a plan. He knows everything and he knows why and that's that. End of story." I guess I just have not had anything happen to me in my life where I had to think as deeply about this as she had. Another bridesmaid explained it the best. She basically explained how I felt, but for some reason I just couldn't get it out.

Here's what I think!

God doesn't do bad things to us. He doesn't want evil and he doesn't want bad or sad, or even frustrating things to happen to ANYONE. We created sin. God is so powerful that he knows every tear that is shed and why it is shed and how it will affect our lives. Unfortunate things happen in every form and fashion. God prepares us by giving us loved ones for support, encouragement and hope. He does everything in his power to hold us up because we are too weak to do it ourselves. He does this our entire life by giving us a church family, special people and happy times. He has this all formed together in to tiny peices that make up our life and complete his PERFECT plan. (Which is ultimately for us to live for him and one day with him.) He knows what is waiting for us in heaven and that compared to eternity, this life is just a blink of an eye. So while it is sad that bad things happen, God knows that this life is not the end all be all of the world. He can not stop sin or evil in our world, but he can protect his children by loving us, comforting us and providing for us our entire life. He has to let go and trust that we will walk the right way. He hopes we will listen to him and use what he teaches us in our every day lives. If we do not, he will still be there to pick us up and keep us going in his own special way. Because that's what fathers do.

So, I don't feel like I explained it extremely well, but I am glad I have finally figured this out for myself!

Busy as a bee...

This has been a very busy week. I am not seeing a slow down for quite some time as we have a lot of big events coming our way. I have been up VERY early every morning this week trying to stay ahead of the game, but I still feel a bit behind.

Today my SIL is having surgery so if you happen to stumble across my blog today, please say a special prayer for her. If you stumble across my blog tomorrow, please still say a special prayer!

If you do not know Jill, she is probably the kindest person I know and always so upbeat and sweet, to everyone, no matter what. She and my brother are the perfect match and our family just loves her so much!

We have a big wedding this weekend at the house, I am looking forward to it! And then my other funtabulous SIL, Nicoe, is coming to visit. Brooks can't wait to see Coco!

Upcoming Events:

Our friends Kelly and Cord will be wed in St Simons, which means we are leaving Brooks for an extended amount of time. As Suzanne says, "Oh. My. Gosh." But, he's staying with my mom so he'll be just fine! And since he's sleeping through the night, oh so consistently, my mom should be fine as well ;) The following weeks will be filled with many more weddings and gatherings including a going away party for the Magees...

And the baptism of Brooks and my 4th neice, together.

In Mr. Brooks news, he's three months old today!!! YAY!!! And I hear him waking up, so off I go to gather my little treaure and start the day.

Love yall!

My First Pregnancy

I have been wanting to post about my pregnancy for a long time! So now, almost three months from the day B was born, here is my attempt to remember a little something about this amazing experience.

Candice Holcomb Photography

1. My first semester was exhausting. I mean, "can't keep your eyes open for the life of you" exhausting!

2. Main blessing for the first trimester: I never once got sick. Can we say AMEN!

3. Favorite foods during pregnancy: fruit, spaghettios and fudge rounds. Real healthy, I know!

4. Had a few scares: first one was a spider bite. Second one was when I slipped and fell letting the dog out of the pen... I fell hard and fast. Had a few "eating" scares where I was worried that something I ate was going to hurt the baby. Lesson learned through all of these: if you are okay, than your baby is probably okay. But you can never be too cautious, NEVER!

5. I learned that nothing is stronger than a mother's instinct!

6. I also learned quickly that being pregnant is like wearing a sign on your stomach that reads, "Touch me, rub me, coo at me and ask a million questions about what is inside of me!" I definitely should have invested in a shirt that read the sex, name and due date of the baby!

7. In addition to the questions from strangers comes the advice. When I was pregnant it annoyed me (unless it came from someone I know.) Now, looking back, I realize those people were just being kind.

8. Maternity clothes are not that bad... and it's worth the money. You just don't want to go too overboard! (And if you have a mom like I do, it can actually be fun to shop for maternity clothes!) Next pregnancy I will invest in 3-4 QUALITY pairs of jeans, QUALITY!

9. One more thing about the advice... I constantly reminded myself that no woman is alike and no baby is alike, therefore no pregnancy or labor is alike.

10. Sister's and best friends that just had babies are a treasure... really.

11. Whenever I was worried because I had not felt the baby move a lot I would drink apple juice or really cold water. A good 2 minutes later there he is!

12. Gaining weight is supposed to happen during pregnancy, it's a good thing (in moderation!)

13. I got really tired of hearing people say, "Wow, you're 8 months along. You are TINY." Well, I just went to the doctor and found out that I have gained 25 pounds so tiny isn't quite the word I was thinking of, but thank you!

14. I am very glad I started to lay on my left side early on. And there is nothing like being able to sleep on your stomach again!!!

15. Apple juice, apple sauce, apples... bring it on. Meat was my enemy. Very uncharacteristic of me.

16. Pregnancy was great for my hair! It just seemed more manageable for some reason!

17. Naming the baby... probably the biggest challenge of our entire pregnancy. I was so glad to see the day when we were happy with our selection... and so were Elly, Ansley and my family! I drove them crazy playing the name game!

18. Pregnancy photos are important. I am so glad my sister is a photographer or I would not have had them done. I'm not good with that kind of stuff (but now that I'm a mom that is changing.) Candice made it happen, and you can tell I was procrastinating because we literally took them like 2 days before Brooks was born! But I am SO glad we did!

19. The nesting process... our house had never been so clean!

20. Labor: Oh so many fond memories!

One: I made them give me a bigger room. I had been dreaming of that bigger room for 10 months and I had to have it! I remember saying, "I really need a bigger room, I have a big family!"

Two: I bet I asked about 200 times through out the course of the day, "Is he okay? Is this normal?" John said he didn't have to ask any questions because I asked all of them plus more, over and over!

Three: I still laugh when I think about John and mom when the contractions were getting stronger. Apparently they were just talking and I said loudly, "Just quit looking at me, everyone is just looking at me." Mom said they weren't even talking to me!

Four: If the epidural isn't taking, that's not cool.

Five: When the epidural does take, that's amazing!

Six: I had been watching "Devil Wears Prada" and the doctor came in to break my water. I turned to John and I was like, "Umm... maybe we should turn that off." I don't know why but I just remember being embarassed that I was watching that movie!

Seven: Candice brought me a huge bag of candy and magazines. If you know me, you know why this was fabulous for me!

Eight: The doctor asked if I wanted to see the baby as he was crowning. I looked at John and said, "I think I want to. Do I want to see it?" He said, "You know how when we went to Arkansas and you thought you wanted to go duck hunting with me but then when I actually took you, you hated it and wanted to go home? It's kinda like that."

21. I was so busy the last two weeks before Brooks was born. And I was so worried I would not have time to get a pedicure before labor. But it all worked out!

22. I starting gaining weight around 18 weeks. Started really showing around that time too (makes sense!) But I started feeling him a bit earlier than that, like at 16 weeks - just little flutters.

23. John was so perfect through out the whole process. Especially during labor/delivery. He was SO calm and quiet, and that was probably the most helpful aspect of the entire day for me. Best of all, he had always promised me when we had a baby he would quit dipping. He had his last one the night B was born and hasn't done that since. I am so proud of him!!!

24. Gained 35 pounds exactly. I really did not want to go over 30 and I literally gained 5 pounds the last week of pregnancy. But at that point, I did not care, I was just glad he was healthy. After all, that was the ultimate goal!

Growing Up Too Fast

UPDATE ON BROOKS!

1. He smiles all the time! Especially in the morning or after a nap.

2. On Easter Sunday, he laughed at John for the first time. Over and over and over again. He just thought John was hilarious!

3. He is officially sleeping through the night (starting about a week ago.) I have a feeling he'll still wake up around 5 am or so on some mornings when he decides he wants to eat, but the late night feeding is a thing of the past. (Many thanks go out to the writers of "Baby Wise!")

4. He LOVES Baby Einstein. Movies and music cd's! The movie we have isn't supposed to be for babies until three months of age but he loves it and has so for a couple of weeks now. He stares at the tv and laughs at the puppets as they go up and down. He gets really excited during "If You're Happy and You Know It."

5. He is so much more responsive to everyone now. I am not sure how to explain it but you know what I mean, he's just growing up!

Candice took fabulous two month old pictures of him and some great ones at Easter so when I pick a few out I'll post them, they are so precious!