Landon's still recovering from a cough/cold he's had for a week now... So he and I are at home while Chad and Ty are at church... well until we meet up with them for the 11:00 and Landon gets to go to big church with us :)

It's nice to be at home on a Sunday morning with him, not rushing around hurrying to get to church to serve at the 9:00 service and just be able to sit and spend time with the Lord before heading to church. Don't get me wrong, I love serving, love seeing my third grade girls in small group during Flight School and interacting with them but these Sundays are nice every once in a while.

I was just reading a day out of The Daily Message (trying once again to read through the bible in a year!) and I'm in Genesis where it talks about God testing Abraham and asking him to go to the mountain top to sacrifice his son Isaac. Abraham so faithfully does what God asks of him and just seconds before he's about to kill his son he hears the heavens shout out to him to stop. Can you imagine?! I know I can't... as I sit here and read that while listening to Landon jibber jabber in his highchair and eat his snacks... I can't imagine doing that... God blessed Abraham a hundred-fold thereafter knowing that Abraham was willing to give his son, to be obedient and do whatever God asked of him...

It just makes me wonder how many times God has tested me... and how many times I've said no or just ignored hearing something from him.

How many opportunities/blessings have I missed out on?

I am praying that I will willingly say yes to whatever God asks of me... praying that I am open to listen to whatever He says to me and do what He calls me to do.

In 2010 I wish that I would have journaled more, blogged more, documented more... I wish I knew the exact dates of when Landon started smiling, laughing, crawling, like I did with Tyler... In 2011 I want to do these things, not because I feel like I have to or that I should and not just when He's doing something big in my life (like getting shingles or being attacked be bees) but I want I document more of my God and my journey with Him whether it's in my journal, on blogger, on the pages of my Bible... just somewhere! I'm not a natural writer by any means... I absolutely hated and struggled with English classes throughout high school and college... but I don't want that to stop me... Those times when I have journaled I absolutely love looking back on what I've written later on, seeing where I was in my walk or how faithful God was.. it's awesome and I want to do it more.

2010 was, as 2011 continues to be, an interesting time for Chad's work, to say the least... He is on the global team for his company, entailing that he travels... out of the country... more often than I would like. It started by going to Canada when Landon was 2 weeks old, then again at 3 months old, followed by a trip to Greece a few months later, then another Canada trip after that... Now he's preparing to go to Cambodia. We are trusting that this is all part of our God's plan. I am trying not to worry... not to stress about every detail that all of this consists of... This has been a challenge for me on a daily basis as I would love for him to have just a regular 8-5, local job, or better yet, go back to working for himself!, and not have to plan for these crazy times when he's halfway across the world... but I am trying with all that I am to be positive, optimistic, grateful, thankful, content and at peace to follow His leading and His will for our family.

I want 2011 to be a year of growing in the Lord like I never have before.

I am craving that time with Him and there is no better feeling.

So... thank you Katie for your inspiration that I need to write out my side to the story...

As there are 2 sides to this story... You can read the other side here.

Katie's writing style is a million times better than mine by the way so my side of the story isn't going to have 2 parts... it'll have 1, don't know how long, lengthy and eloquently written it'll be, but it'll get the point across...

The point: Our God is amazing and is beyond anything I could possibly even begin to describe in words the AWE, LOVE, GRATITUDE, THANKSGIVING and straight up OVERWHELMING sense of protection that was felt and has been hovering, flooding and invading me over the last 24 hours.

Katie (my amazingly talented photographer and close close friend), myself, Tyler and Landon all took a drive up to Oak Glen on Tuesday to have Ty's 3 year pictures and Landon's pictures taken. It was a crazy, hot, 100 degree October day in the desert but the temperatures had dropped to an amazing 76 degrees by the time we got up to Oak Glen. It was beautiful and feeling like fall, as the desert isn't quite there yet and we began taking pictures. Tyler was being his normal 3 yr old self, being wonderful and cooperative one second, a complete ham the next, and throwing a fit being defiant the next. Landon was happy... always happy. He's amazingly content. Was all smiles in his adorable hat my friend Crissy had just crocheted for him special for this photo shoot. We'd been taking pictures for about 45 minutes and Katie had one last spot she wanted to go. She'd just been there with her family the weekend before and said there was a great spot for pictures... back past a looooooooooong dirt rode by the apple orchards, past the corn fields and into a foresty area with big, beautiful trees we don't have here in the desert... We hiked up forever it seemed like to get there. I was carrying Landon part of the way and his 15 pounds got heavy... so Katie took him and I then picked up Ty to carry him part of the way cause he was getting tired. It was a looooong walk (quarter mile maybe... maybe further?) but we finally got there and I now know why she wanted to go back there... it was amazing. We made our way to these huge tree stumps of a couple of trees that had been cut down. Looked perfect for a "boys boy" picture... rugged... earthy... Tyler...



So he sits on the stump, I'm holding Landon in my arms, watching Katie take pictures, and I feel a sting on my right arm... Then 2 seconds later I feel a sting on my left arm... By the time I look to my left arm to see what's going on, my entire shoulder and arm are COVERED in bees... I don't remember even saying this to Katie but apparently all I could say was "They're all over me! They're all over me!" Katie runs over to me, grabs Landon out of my arms and starts running back down the path, to the loooooooong dirt rode. Tyler had ran after Katie and by the time he gets to me he's screaming and I look down to see my boys little jeans COVERED in bees. I was thankfully wearing a cardigan and was able to throw it off of me, taking a swarm of bees with it. I'm freaking out, screaming Katie's name, not knowing what to do. This is all happening in a matter of seconds... shear terror and fear of something absolutely terrible happening. I picked up my 35 pound 3 year old and began running as fast as I possibly could... I ran... I screamed... and I prayed the most desperate prayer of my life during what felt like a mile sprint back down to the main road. As I'm running I'm continuing to feel the bees stinging me... my back, then my leg, my scalp, my stomach. In the meantime Tyler's hysterically screaming at the top of his lungs and there are still bees all over his jeans. I stopped about halfway down the dirt road to pull off his jeans but his shoes wouldn't let me... so they just went down to his ankles and I picked him up and continued running.

We got to the main road... the swarm was gone. Katie and Landon were there. Katie was covered in bee stings... I was covered in bee stings... my boys however... were nearly untouched. Tyler has 1 sting on his leg and 1 on his back. Landon has 1 on his back. I can't even begin to describe and put into words on a blog the absolute awe that I feel toward our God right now. Like I seriously can't even get over it... It is an absolute miracle. It's tangible. We saw it minutes after all of this happened. I saw it last night as I put a little benedryl gel on their couple of stings before tucking them into bed. I saw it this morning when I was able to get my happy kids up and ready for Mom2Mom at church this morning like nothing ever happened. Other than a rough, toss and turn, nights sleep for both Ty and I, today was just like any other day, except for the basketcase'ness of myself and the flood of emotions of thankfulness and awe I've been dwelling in all day...

"But in my distress I cried out to the Lord; yes, I prayed to my God for help.
He heard me from His sanctuary; my cry to Him reached His ears." - Psalm 18:6

So... that's my side. I know Katie has a different side, a different view... She has different images and sounds that she can't get out of her head than I do. I am forever grateful for Katie and her taking Landon from my arms, as I was being attacked, running as fast as she could, when I didn't know what to do, knowing that I would follow her.

It was an experience I'll never forget and will always be a constant reminder to me of our amazing God and how He truly does love our children more than we do, more than we ever can... He protected them from something that could have gone so bad.

Our God...

He is amazing.

I stand in awe.

I can't get over it.

I never want to get over it.