A heavy heart, uplifting news & crazy busy!

Well friends, I have let one month go by with no new post. Mainly because we have been crazy busy around here, but also because I have been trying to think of how to go about this post. I had to wait until I had the time to really sit down and think about what I wanted to type, so here it goes. And let me warn you, it's a heavy one.

We'll start with the crazy busy part. A little over 3 weeks ago, Adam was called out to a wildfire down in Merritt Island, FL. He was down there for 15 days. 15 very LONG days. For most of the time that he was away, Jackson & I stayed with my parents. Partly because I just like to, but mostly because Adam is SUPER protective and I would rather just give in, pack up and stay with my parents, than to here him fuss at me every day to "go stay with your Mom & Dad, please!" :) Don't get me wrong, as I said, I LOVE staying with my Mom & Dad. They are a ton of help with J and I never have to worry about what I'm cooking for supper! ;) But, there's just something about being home and in your own space. Being somewhere else, no matter how wonderful it may be, throws your world a little "off." Not to mention that while Adam was gone, we battled the craziest illness that Jackson has had up-to-date (which involved a crazy rash and very high fever). But, all was well in the end. And, even though we had LOTS of fun staying with Mimi & Papa, we sure were happy when our Daddy got HOME! Thank you Lord for watching over our Daddy (whose job can be quite dangerous at times) and getting him home to us safely. :) Since Daddy has been home, our weekends have been pretty jam packed. Last Saturday we joined friends for some St. Patty's Day fun and took in the parade down at Shellman's Bluff. And, of course Sunday was filled with church and family time. This past weekend we took a trip down to Folkston to visit with Adam's family, and Jackson had his first visit to the Zoo! There will be a post with all of these fun pictures to come, but first I must get a few things off of my chest....

My Heavy Heart...

For the past few weeks, I have had a very heavy heart. After MUCH prayer and MUCH quiet time with my Lord & Savior, my heavy heart has slowly lifted. Most of you know (or have heard me talk about) my best friend, Paige, that lives in Las Vegas. Well, I got a call from Paige 3 weeks ago, to the day. A call that I never knew would affect me so much. Paige called to ask me to lift her friend, Holly, and her family up in my prayers. She told me that the evening prior Holly's sister-in-law, Brittany Shepard Pugh, 24, and her 15 month old baby boy, Shep, were killed in a car accident in Paige's (and Holly's) hometown of Troy, Alabama. Brittany was a 3rd grade teacher. She had picked up Shep from her Mother's house (who kept the baby while Brittany was at work), and was driving home just as she did every day, when a car from the oncoming traffic crossed the median and hit them head on. Brittany died on the scene and Baby Shep was airlifted to a Childrens Hospital in Birmingham, where he later passed.

Now, I did not know these two sweet people personally. I have never met Brittany or Baby Shep. But, I do know Holly. And, I have seen several pictures of Brittany & Shep through Holly's blog. Even though I did not know this family personally, this tragedy has deeply affected me. I guess because we share a lot of common ground, I can't really say? But, what I do know is that I have NEVER grieved for the loss of strangers as I have for the loss of these two precious lives. I have carried a heavy heart for this family ever since I heard the tragic news. I have lifted them up in prayer every single morning & night. I have shed a ton of tears and shared their story with many. Although I did not know Brittany, what I have learned about her is that she was a woman who loved Jesus Christ whole-heartedly. This may have been a devastating & unspeakable tragedy, but this young mother was ready for it. She was ready for the time that she would be called home. I have no doubt in my mind that Brittany is with her sweet baby boy, dancing and singing in the presence of our Savior.

Although I do not know most of Brittany's family, nor do they know me, I can only hope that they would be encouraged to know that SHE has encouraged THIS young mother to do the same. To be prepared for my calling home, whenever that time may come. The tragedy that happened to Brittany & Baby Shep has led me to more devotional time and prayers with my Heavenly Father than ever before. It has made me pray harder and love deeper. I can only believe that this devastating story has brought me closer to the Lord so that should I ever be the young mother in this situation...I, too, will be prepared as Brittany was. Although we know that Brittany & Shep are where we should all long to be, please keep their sweet family in your prayers. Lift up her husband, Clint, who is left to face this world without his loving Wife and Baby Boy. Lift up the rest of the Shepard/Pugh family that they may find His healing & grace during this extremely difficult time. I certainly hope that they find peace in the fact of knowing that Brittany & Shep were ready for their calling and they are HOME.

* For any of you who may be interested, this is a blog of another girl from Troy. She has put Brittany & Baby Shep's story into beautiful words and pictures. But, let me warn you...grab a tissue.*

MY UPLIFTING NEWS!

After a week or so of having a heavy heart, I ray of sunshine broke through the clouds. A dear, sweet friend of mine is expecting. I have known for a couple of months that she is expecting (which is a blessing in itself, because this sweet couple have gone through many trials to get to this point!) Early in her pregnancy she went for a sonogram with her Fertility Specialist and learned that there is not only one embryo, but TWO embryo's (she was around 6 weeks at this point!) She & her husband knew that there was a chance that they may have multiples, they'd been going through fertility treatments to conceive and they were ecstatic at the thought of twins! But, there was some scary news. One of the babies was MUCH smaller than the other. There were two heartbeats, but Baby B was half the size of Baby A. The fertility specialist said that he believed this would be a case of a "vanishing twin". That Baby B would not make it, and the embryo would simply be absorbed by the healthy Baby A with no complications. He gave them a 30% chance of Baby B making it to full-term or even to the 2nd trimester, for that matter. Although they were THRILLED to be pregnant and THRILLED to have one healthy baby, they couldn't help but long for Baby B to survive this and become a healthy, thriving baby as well. In Amanda's words "That is my baby. There is a heartbeat. That is MY baby and I want it to live." But, being the faithful woman that Amanda is, she knew that it is not HER baby. Baby B belongs to HIM and if it is His Will for Baby B to survive, so it will be. At that point all they could do was wait and PRAY,PRAY,PRAY (as well all did). After two long weeks, she had her first appointment and sonogram with her OB-GYN and guess what....TWO HEALTHY BABIES!!!! I will never forget receiving her text. I went in the closet in my classroom and said a special prayer for her at the scheduled time of the appointment and was waiting on PINS & NEEDLES to hear. When I got the text that read "We have TWO HEALTHY BABIES!", I burst into tears and went sprinting down the hallway to celebrate with the few of us that knew at work. :) Baby B had all but caught up to Baby A and was only measuring 2 days behind. Out of the two, Baby B actually had the faster heartbeat!! It just goes to show that while Doctors may be wonderful, they are NOT the ones in control. HE is in control and if you actively seek Him and rest your faith in Him, HIS plan for you WILL prevail! Losing Baby B was not part of His journey for Cole & Amanda. All they could do was surrender and have faith. That's exactly what they did and God's Glory shone down on them! This was a ray of sunlight in my otherwise gloomy week. I'm not sure if I could've taken anymore sad, baby news. GOD IS GOOD and this sweet couple deserves all the blessings that come their way! Congratulations, Cole & Amanda...WE LOVE ALL 4 OF YOU! :)

Now, that I have gotten this very serious and heavy post off of my chest, I feel open to share with you the very FUN and HAPPY times that we have been having in the McCullough house lately! I just knew that I was not ready for a happy post, until I first got through this one. Hopefully I will get to that post later tonight... ;) Until then, love your Lord stronger, kiss your husband longer and hug your babies tighter.