Holy Week - day 1

I’ve got this thought I wanna share with you guys.

Since yesterday was Palm Sunday – and this week is Holy week – I woke up thinking about what that means. I’ve decided to make a real effort to really think about Holy Week this year.

And so this morning, I’ve been thinking about Jesus. I’ve been trying to think about what the week before the crucifixion was like for him. Can you imagine? Knowing (that really had to be the worst part) what was coming at the end of the week as Jesus rode in on a donkey – being praised and honored - a whole week ahead of time. (Let me just say here – I know Jesus knew what was coming his whole entire lifetime, but I can hardly think about a week, let alone 33 years!)

See, I tend to be a worrier. I’m trying to give that to the Lord when I realize I’m doing it… and it’s getting better, but my nature is to worry.

When I think about what was to come, I just cannot imagine what Jesus was feeling? Was he nervous? Was he worried? Was he able to put it aside and act totally normal around his buddies?

The man was going to suffer untold pain and persecution and he knew it was coming!! I have a hard time knowing I have to go to the dentist for a cleaning much more than the day before – let alone be beaten, betrayed by those who were closest, mocked, spit on, treated worse than a common thief and NAILED to a cross, and then for your own father to turn away from you as you bore the sins of the world!!!

How would you make it through the week knowing that was coming?

Then the Lord reminds me of something I already know - it’s love. That’s how Jesus made it through the week. But even thinking about that kind of love is almost unimaginable – isn’t that a lot to get your mind around? It is for me.

But I know it to be true; the Bible tells me it’s true. John 3:16-17 tells us as plain as day –

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

That’s a common verse and lots of people know it, quote it and never think about it. Take a minute and think about it.

Who in your life do you love enough to (here it is) send your one and only Son – to die for?

I love my family enough to die for them. ABSOLUTELY! But to have to send my one and only son, um – NO! It’s when I think about that kind of love that Jesus had for me – and for you - that I get overwhelmed.

That’s what I’m gonna think and pray about today.

The fact that God loves me enough to send his Son… and that Jesus loves me enough to come and suffer. I didn’t deserve that kind of love but I’m so thankful for it today!

As we go through this week – looking to the death of our sins on the cross – and the mighty resurrection of our Lord and Savior – I encourage you to really think about what Jesus did for you, and how much He loves you.

Isaiah 41:10
So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.


Mark 10:13-15
13People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."

New Page

I'm guessing - and warning you - that this won't be the last post of this type to come in the next few months! Just so you know.

Since Luke's name got drawn at the lottery for Greensboro Academy (which for those of you who don't know, is where I used to teach!) I've been super excited! Also - if you're interested - you can click here and check out the schools web site and gather all the neat information.

Along with this excitement has been some changes in my thinking - which I expected, but what I didn't expect were the feelings of relief.

In my mind, before the lottery, we prayed - A LOT - for the Lord's will to be done. And in that prayer we prayed that whatever would be best for not just Luke, but for Avery as well (because GA has sibling preference, Avery will have a spot when she's old enough to start K!)! Our other choice was our district-ed public school - which is a really good school and we have friends who's children go there and they just LOVE it! So in my mind, I was prepared for either outcome.

But the morning of the lottery I was so nervous, I didn't hardly know what to do. THEN - he got in!!!! WHOOO HOOOOOO!!!!!!

Since then I've been filled with LOTS of thoughts and emotions!!! Joy, relief, excitement, nervousness, worry, anticipation, and much appreciation for the Lord's goodness on us!

David and I have a comfort level with the school - since I taught there for 6 years, and with the teachers! No one's child is perfect and there are aspects of Luke's little personality that make me a bit worried about starting him in kindergarten next year, but I know that the teachers and the administration (not the mention the office staff and other support staff) are WONDERFUL and will be a great fit for our little man!!

I'm so excited! At the same time it seems like a lot of change all at once. Since Luke will be going to school over in Greensboro - and right now the kids are in preschool in Kernersville - we have to find somewhere new for Avery to attend preschool next year! I love change on one hand, and really don't like it at all on the other!!! Thankfully we have family who have a preschool they love just up the road from GA, and I'll be checking that out after spring break next week! I pray it's a good fit for her as well!

Also, now I've kicked into "what will we need for school mode" - silly isn't it?!? School doesn't start for 5 months! But I'm already thinking about what he'll need for uniforms, book bag, school supplies, needed paperwork, and how I can volunteer up at the school!

OK - take a deep breath and just enjoy!

I know, and I am!

But I got a tip from a friend - Target has great prices on their uniform shorts and pants and they carry the adjustable waist pants!!!!

Maybe a trip to Target today!?!?!?

A bit of a rollercoaster

Sunday night when I went to bed – my world seemed all right and “normal.” Little did I know that the next 2 days would be a series of ups and downs in the “life happens” department!!

If you read the post previous to this one, and you linked to my wonderful hubby’s blog – you know that we were looking into getting a new Jet Ski – a Sea Doo to be exact. David had one all picked out and was super excited about the whole thing. We even had the kids excited!

So going to bed Sunday night we had weight loss and Sea Doo’s on the brain. In the back of both of our minds we knew we had to wait to hear the verdict from the garage about my car. It had been at the shop since Friday and come end of business day Friday they couldn’t find where the coolant – that was NOT in the coolant tank as it should be – was going. It wasn’t leaking out onto the ground since we hadn’t seen any spots of coolant, but it was defiantly NOT in the tank. David put a whole jug in – and a week later while I was out, I had to stop and pick up another jug. So they keep the car over the weekend, and honestly I wasn’t that concerned about it. I figured they’d find some small hole and we’d purchase a new hose and on I would go driving my beloved tan 2000 Suburban!

Monday morning dawned – and God had a different plan for the Winslow family. After hearing from the garage that it would be $3,500 to fix the Suburban (some head on the engine was cracked and the coolant was leaking INTO the engine – or some such thing as that!) and it turns out that a 2000 Chevy Suburban with almost 200,000 miles on it is only worth about $4000!

So not worth fixing.

BUMMER and NOW WHAT??!!?!?!

And in that very same minute the idea of a new Sea Doo this year was also last. That was even sadder than the “death” of the “Burb”!

David ended up with a problem on Monday late afternoon and didn’t get home until nearly 8:45PM and then had a few minutes of work to do. After that we started talking in errnast about what to do about the car.

Should we just put the money into it and fix it and hope nothing else happens?

Should we look for something brand new? (Hu, you remember I drive the car with 2 small children, right?!?! New = bad idea!)

Should we look for a new used car? Did we want a car? Another Suburban? Something different? How would we pay for it? Did we want to get a loan (which is a Dave Ramsey no, no)? The questions were endless and the time was getting late… so off to bed.

Tuesday morning dawned… my nerves in high gear, for today was the lottery at Greensboro Academy AND we hadn’t made any decisions about a car. David, in his wisdom got a rental car for me to drive so we wouldn’t have to rush a decision.

Then we received the first answer to our prayers of the day! When David called the mechanic to say we wouldn’t be fixing it… he asked David about selling it. To make this part short – we sold the Suburban to the owner of the shop. THANK YOU LORD!!

After returning home and settling the kids in… I called GA to find out what time the lottery started. It was 9:45 when I called and I was told it started at 9:30AM. I instantly got very nervous. In order to keep my mind busy while waiting for an email from my dear former teacher friend (she was going to keep an eye on the proceedings the best she could during the morning and let me know if Luke got in or not!), I checked Facebook. Here is discovered another friend who was actually at the school for the lottery. I didn’t even know she was trying to get in, but there she was and she was accessing FB from her mobile phone.

All of a sudden I had eyes and ears right there in the gym and she was set to listen for Luke’s name and report back to me. It was almost like being there in real time! We exchanged several posts as she kept me in the loop. I didn’t leave the computer. I sat looking at FB and checking my email!! I was so nervous! Then she posted this comment (I’ll remember it as long as I live, I think!) “Luke’s in.”

WHAT????

Seriously?

REALLY????

That’s what I asked her, “Really?”

Yes, really. He was (are you ready) the – last – name – called!!!!!

HALLELUJAH!!

I danced around in the kitchen screaming and shouting with joy and crying – all like I was some crazy women!! It was SO EXCITING!!!!!!!!

There was more car stuff on Tuesday, but I’ll post about that another time.

But the rest of Tuesday I was floating on a cloud! Then to top it all off… we got to have dinner (sushi even!) with our good friend Terrri!! It was a really great way to finish off the evening!

So it was 2 very long and somewhat emotional days! And Tuesday was a total answer to prayer!!
I’ll update you all on the car saga another time.

Maybe when I’m not feeling so talkative!

*Smile*

Something fun and wonderful

As most of you know - I've been on the lose weight track since November. It's an up and down battle and some days simply are easier than others when it comes to the food and eating right aspect of being thinner than I was before.

Honestly, I should have it pretty easy in this department - since I'm a stay at home mom, my schedule is pretty flexible and getting to the gym has been made a priority and so the rest should be easier! Again, sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't.

David has been working on losing weight as well and I would encourage you to click here to read about the newest, fun thing he's doing to help motivate himself!! I'm really proud of him!

I know that together we can get to where we wanna be and to be the people God created us to be. Taking the proper care of the Holy Spirits dwelling place!

Some pre-wedding stuff

It's been over a week since my last post! Sorry about that! It's not that I don't have anything to say, it just seems that I haven't had the time to say it! We've been struggling here at the Winslow house with the time change. It's really taken us - all of us - about a week to adjust! Getting up in the morning has been really hard!! So I've been a bit outta whack and haven't been able to blog like I've wanted to!

I've missed you all! Thanks for coming back!

I'd like to share some pictures with you in this post of recent pre-wedding events! My little sister is getting married in April and so we've been busy doing some preparation things as well as hosting a shower! I love a good party!

A couple of weeks ago Avery and I took our dresses in to be altered. Since it was just her and I, and she cannot use the "big" camera yet - there are only pictures of her. (Which is fine with me, she's way cuter than me anyway!!) I'm sure there will be many pictures of all of us at the wedding for me to share then! So for today you'll get Avery first...







Then Luke and David went and got fitted for their tuxedo's! Love a man in a tux!












And finally a few pictures from the shower. I didn't get many of the folks that attended... I guess when they arrived, I was busy talking and not taking pictures! Sorry about that. Hopefully someone else got people pictures!

Dad and Nic working on preparing some food...

The table decorations were pictures of the happy couple!

Mom and I getting the punch ready.

How many women does it take to make punch?

Mom put together these great pictures of Chanda and we had some cute pictures of John when he was younger as well!

Let them eat cake!

Full food table.

John gets the party started.

Everyone enjoying some good food and chatting!

Status update

Since it’s been a while since I blogged, I’d like to update you without totally boring you and weighing you down with useless details, so this blog will be like a bunch of Facebook status updates… that’s all our society really has time for anyway, isn’t it?!?!

Mid – February: Avery has mild cold.

2 Days later she wakes up with what we discover to be croup (it’s a horrible sound!!!).

4 days later – back to the doctor – now she has an ear infection!

Finally Avery’s antibiotics are working and she’s doing better – AND sleeping through the night again. Thank you Jesus!

One week later:

Holly and Luke: outta the blue start puking and have diarrhea in the middle of the night. Lasts about 5 hours. We both feel like a Mack truck hit us the next day! YUG!!!

Avery spends the day with our good friend Leslie while David cares for Mommy and Luke!

I missed the “opening day” of spring consignment sale shopping. *Sad face*

Praying no one else gets it!!

We miss Reagan’s 2nd birthday party so as not to spread the joy! Sad about that!!!!

Sunday all are well and play outside in the beautiful weather at the park for nearly 2 and ½ hours!

Monday afternoon: OH NO… David’s not feeling well. Yup, he’s got it too! The tummy bug has David and now it’s his turn to feel like a Mack truck ran over him! Poor guy.

We are all praying like crazy that Avery doesn’t get it.

Trying to prepare for the upcoming wedding shower!

Cake and food for above mentioned shower ordered today!

Still praying Avery doesn’t get the tummy yucky!

Trying to do all the laundry that has accumulated from a house full of sick people!

Waiting for my maid to show up and clean my house so I can do the fun part of the shower preparations!

Have all my lists made and lots of things done for shower!

Still waiting for that maid?!?!?!

Another Birthday

This is a week of celebration for the Winslow’s! On Tuesday, as you know, we celebrated David’s 32nd birthday! What a great man I have.

And today – we celebrate Reagan Olivia Winslow. For those of you who don’t know – that’s my niece and she’s a miracle. A living, breathing, getting – into – stuff - like - any other – 2 - year - old miracle!

Reagan was born early – WAY early – and weighed a mere 1 pound 6 ounces! Not today! Today she’s keeping up with the rest of her cousins! 2 on the Winslow side and 3 on the Miller side! She’s awesome!

She’s also a reminder to me personally (as I’m sure she is to her parents and grandparents and friends and other family!!!) of God’s faithfulness. His unending love and His mercy!

If you weren’t with me when Reagan was born and you would like to read about the amazing things God did for Robert and Amy and our whole family – you can check it out here.

Just a few pictures of Reagan and a few of my kids with their miracle cousin!

Reagan and Luke's birthday party in January.

Reagan at the beach in October 2009

Avery, Luke and Reagan trying not to get their picture taken!

Reagan and her beautiful Mommy at Christmas time!

Luke and Reagan


Love you Reagan and we wish you a very Happy 2nd Birthday!!

* Note*

For some reason I couldn't get the video to post under the text in the previous post... sorry about that!!!

Happy Birthday!

Today I wanna take a minute to celebrate my Man! Today is his birthday and I just wanna say how much I love him and how great I think he is!

In David I find my security and my stability! He’s got a learner personality so there’s always something new that captures his attention. In our years together this “new thing” has been many things from getting his pilot’s license to guitar lessons to golfing. I love that about him. That he can just pick something and dive into like it’s the best thing in the world! He’s grounded and stable (which I need!) but he’s fun and intelligent as well! I love that!

Its days like this that you think the “what would my life be likes?”

You know – what if we hadn’t dated, married, had kids? What would things be like?

I can tell ya – David is the complete match for me. He has strengths in areas where I have weakness!

He’s kind, giving and thoughtful of the needs of those around him – he’d give you the shirt off is back if you needed it! He’s responsible and he’s a hard worker. I know that no matter what – he’ll always do whatever he has to do to take care of us! He’s a good money manager and likes all that business stuff! He’s committed, he’s smart, and he thinks things through before he does them. I struggle in all those areas!

He’s fun! He taught me to shoot a hand gun – then bought me one! He would have also taught me to shoot a shot gun, then I could learn to dove hunt and shoot skeet but I’m scared of the shot gun! He taught me to drive a jet ski and a boat – now there we have a similar like – we love water sports!

He likes to travel! He’s taken me to Maui – two times, Las Vegas – lots of times, the Grand Canyon, Alaska, Cancun, Key West and many other places! Those were fun times!

Thank you David for everything you have done for me, for the kids, and for our family - yesterday, today and in the future!

I hope you have a spectacular birthday today! Thank you for sharing last year (and all the ones before it that we’ve shared!) with me, and I’m looking forward to another wonderful year this year!

Happy Birthday Baby!

This song – by one of my favorite artists - pretty much says all I feel about David! (in your best Casey Kasem voice) This song is for you Baby!