Heaven is For Real

Back in April of this year, Julia and I were reading a little book about fasting. It was a very inspiring book for both of us. We learned that praying and fasting is a very effective, powerful thing to do.
I had decided to fast for a period of time and so then Julia informed me that she also wanted to fast because she was "praying that God would give her a baby brother or sister"......OH dear, I thought....and I said...."Julia mommy is 44 years old, it might be too late for me to have another baby......maybe you could ask God to change your heart if it is not His plan for you to have a brother or sister"......well she insisted that she would still fast and she assured me that she would also ask God to change her heart if that was not His plan......
WELL, a couple of weeks later........I was late for my period......ARE YOU KIDDING ME- I THOUGHT!!! Julia was not surprised.....she just knew it was going to be a positive pregnancy test! Oh the faith of a little child!! I am not going to lie.....I was shocked.....and super excited....Doug was happy about it but very cautious because of the miscarriage that we had been though 4 years ago......very disappointing and heartbreaking. We decided to keep this news to ourselves for awhile because we had told so many people the last time and then when the miscarriage happened we had so many people to tell and it made it harder. Part of me was thinking, this can't turn out bad....it is an answer to Julia's prayer.....God would not let that happen ....And the other part of me was very cautious and concerned that we would be disappointed again. But we were privately excited about our little joyful family addition that was coming! We looked at baby things and talked about how the baby would be born very close to Christmas! It was a wonderful few weeks.
Well, I was about 2 months along in the pregnancy......and I started to bleed.. I called the doctors office and the nurse told me to stay in bed and do as little as possible, I had been through this before so I knew that I was miscarrying.....I had to tell Julia....she was so disappointed ....of course there were lots of tears and such sadness......I had to just stay in bed , so we decided to read a little bit in the book that we had started earlier that week....."Heaven is For Real"....this book is about a 4 year old boy who had a near death experience and went to Heaven ...it tells of many wonderful experiences that he had while he was there. ......WELL the part we read that day was UNBELIEVABLE!! God is so Awesome.....I just about melted.....The little boy said to his mom " I have 2 sisters..." His mom said to him" No you just have one sister ...are you talking about your cousin who you love like a sister"....he said , " no I am talking about my sister in Heaven, you had a baby die in your tummy and she is in Heaven".....His mom was shocked and She said" who told you that I had a baby die in my tummy??" (she had a miscarriage before she had him, but he did not know about it) He said " She told me! When I was in Heaven, a little girl came up to me and was hugging me and said that she was my sister and that she died in your tummy . She said that Jesus' Father,God, adopted her and is taking care of her and she is waiting for you and daddy to get there to give her a name! "
WOW as we read that.........I felt like ABBA Father GOD ALMIGHTY reached down and gave me the best hug I had ever had!! And Julia was comforted also......we talked about how now we had 2 babies that were in Heaven!! Yes we were still very disappointed ....but at the same time we were blown away knowing that God did answer Julia's prayer for a brother or sister and He let her know that she will get to know them when she gets to Heaven.......How cool is that. Heaven is for real and it pulls at my heart everyday.....

My Grandma Julia

On March 7 of this year my sweet Grandma went to Heaven. It is hard to put into words what it means to have been so blessed with such a wonderful woman for my grandmother......she has always been here my whole life... I named my daughter after her because she is a person who I admire, a woman of great integrity, great faith, strong family values...faithful.....and losing her is a big deal....a life changing event for our family......but Grandma was ready.....she lived here 89 great years and her body was tired and painful , she finished strong- INCREDIBLY STRONG ...those of us who were there with her in the end were given an up close view of her strong will to live and unconditional love for her family ....she was a very unselfish person......she has a servant's heart......she is a treasure ....she was ready for her new eternal body that was awaiting her...I can only imagine what a party there was going on in Heaven when she arrived....she is missed....but I am happy to know that she is living the good life.....and I have peace that I will see her again when I get there. I Love you Grandma, forever.....

Home School

I have not posted anything here for over a year.....a lot has been happening .....I home schooled Julia for the first grade, that was a great experience! We got to do things that we would not normally get to do if she was in regular school. We went to Michigan for Doug's Uncle Pete's memorial service, we went to Tennessee and Arkansas to visit family, we went to Knott's Berry Farm and Disneyland, we had Aunt Sheila visit for a few weeks, and we made a lot of new friends that home school too. Julia was a great student! She is very smart, and that made my job, as teacher, very easy.....I am glad that it was first grade....not over my head yet!!.:)Even though we enjoyed this year at home school, we have decided to return to Desert Christian Academy this coming school year, this is the school that Julia attended for preschool and kindergarten, it will be great to be back with the friends that she has there , she is excited to go back. I must admit that I am looking forward to it too! She starts back in less then two weeks! This summer has gone very fast! We have our fifth wheel and pontoon boat up at Lake Hemet again for the summer. We have had so much fun there these last 2 summers. Lot's of fresh cool air, fishing, riding bikes, campfires, volleyball, and hanging out with friends and family. Good times.