Book Review - A Million Miles In A Thousand Years

I finished this book last night and can't say enough good things about it. I have yet to find a Donald Miller book that I do not love! If you have never read anything by this author, I highly encourage you to start with this book.

Chris is reading it next - he heard me talk about it so much while reading it he has to discover it for himself! :)

Here are a few of my favorite quotes from the book:

"He realized he hadn't provided a better role for his daughter. He hadn't mapped out a story for his family. And so his daughter had chosen another story, a story in which she was wanted, even if she was only being used. In the absence of a family story, she'd chosen a story in which there was risk & adventure, rebellion, & independence. "She's not a bad girl," my friend said. "She was just choosing the best story available to her.""

"No girl who plays the role of a hero dates a guy who uses her. She knows who she is, she just forgot for a little while."

"Writing a story isn't about making your peaceful fantasies come true. The whole point of the story is the character arc. You didn't think joy could change a person, did you? Joy is what you feel when the conflict is over. But it's conflict that changes a person." "You put your characters through hell. You put them through hell. That's the only way we change.""

"When something hard happens to you, you have two choices in how to deal with it. You can either get bitter, or better. I chose to get better. It's made all the difference."

"Whether she believed there was one true love for every person. Susan essentially said no. And she said that with her husband sitting right there in the audience. She said she & her husband believed they were a cherished prize for each other, & they would probably drive any other people mad. But then she said something I thought was wise. She said she had married a guy, & he was just a guy. He wasn't going to make all her problems go away, because he was just a guy. And that freed her to really love him as a guy, not as an ultimate problem solver. And because her husband believed she was just a girl, he was free to really love her too. Neither needed the other to make everything ok. They were simply content to have good company through life's conflicts."

"When you stop expecting people to be perfect, you can like them for who they are. And when you stop expecting material possessions to complete you,you'd be surprised how much pleasure you get in material possessions. And when you stop expecting God to end all of your troubles, you'd be surprised how much you like spending time with God."

He put a ring on it!

YAY! Rachel and Matt are getting hitched! Read all the details on Rachel's blog - http://www.thegloryofitall.tumblr.com/

We are so excited! Matt "fits" our family perfectly and is a great compliment to Rachel. Can't wait for him to be official, and Rachel to be Mrs. Hagler :)

What a weekend!

I got to hold Ellie Grace for the first time!! What a sweet little baby, and what a wonderful moment to sit in with her mama and get the chance to hold her. What a precious time that we all take for granted when a baby is born...the baby is born, you may have to wait a few hours, but then you hold them, no biggie. Well this little one has just been waiting for me to hold her(she told me so herself) for a whopping 8 days now! I am so thankful that Chris and I are both one of the fortunate 6 on that NICU list that get to visit her. We go in and talk to her in her little incubator and tell her how wonderful she is, pray for her, etc. and wait for the day when we get to go to her home and do so :)

As if that wasn't enough excitement for the weekend - we threw my friend Kim a fabulous surprise 30th birthday party at Big Bang! We had so much fun! Kim was very, very surprised when she walked upstairs and outside to the pation where we were. Completely and totally surprised! It was great to hang out with all of our friends who we see maybe once a week - but at work functions - and Chris and I both were out way past our bedtime!

All of us 'boro girls(and Kathryn, Kim's sister) with the birthday girl

Kim with her sweet husband, Jim, who I conspired with the entire time :)

Me with my sweet husband

Mother's Day Weekend

"My mother gave me the earth and sky, roots to grow, and wings to fly."

I don't know what you did for Mother's Day, and I truly hope it was wonderful and time well spent with those you love, but Chris and I had a pretty amazing weekend! It always seems to work out that Chris' birthday is around the same time as Mother's Day(if it isn't the same weekend it is the week before - only to be celebrated that weekend). SO, in honor of his bday Chris went to see Pearl Jam in Indiana with 3 of his friends. That's right - Pearl Jam. The guy that doesn't drink and can barely stay awake past 11p.m. with me was up until 4a.m. at a concert with his friends - and I couldn't have been more excited for him!

As you can imagine, he came back Saturday pretty wore out but wanted to celebrate his birthday with his family. So, we hopped in the car and went to Centennial to see Shannon, Michael, Ellie Grace, Shelly, and Don. I joked as we were visiting that this was very much like the scene 29 years ago on that same day - but this time Shelly will remember it :) We had a wonderful time visiting and celebrating Chris. We, of course, went to see Ellie Grace - so that made for a happy Uncle Chris, too!

With Mother's Day that Sunday we got to do the usual fit both families in one day visits - and it worked out perfectly. We went to Rachel's house that morning for bbq & to spend time with my family. We had a great time playing outside - sidewalk chalk on the back patio, the boys played with Cora Beth, and then - we moved out front. Cora Beth found a skateboard and it was on! We grabbed the skateboard and CB sat down and we pushed her down the driveway. Then Matt hopped on and that's when the fun started! CB had so much fun pushing Matt around that we all took turns - and somewhere in there we added the sidewalk chalk and each made lines as we came down the driveway - SO FUN! It is amazing what you will do to keep an almost 5 year old entertained - but I will say we were all loving every minute of it. Lots of laughter and fun as we all made a fool of ourselves wobbling around while we sat on the skateboard. It was a site for the neighbors - that's for sure!

Cora Beth playing Candy Land with her boys

Mom's turn on the skateboard!

My turn! See the chalk in my right hand?! SO fun!

Next we went down to Centennial to visit with the new mama and Shelly - and to sneak in a visit to see Ellie Grace of course! It worked out wonderfully as we got in to the NICU just in time to get to see her without the cover on her incubator - and touch her for the first time(this is something we all take forgranted when babies are born - you get to hold them, love on them, bond with them) and it was so sweet!! What a great way to spend Mother's Day. That sweet girl has a good grip, too! We are so excited to see the joy she will bring to the Day family as she grows and we get to spoil her with love(and clothes, books, all kinds of good stuff!).

Chris with Ellie Grace as she grips his finger

me with Ellie Grace as she grabs a hold of my finger

What a FABULOUS weekend!

"I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life." Abraham Lincoln

Ellie Grace is here! Aunt Emily and Uncle Chrisx2

"Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother's womb. I thank you, High God—you're breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration—what a creation! You know me inside&out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, The days of my life all prepared before I'd even lived one day."

Psalm 139:13-16

Our sweet niece was born on May 6, 2010 weighing in at 3lbs 8oz. Many of you reading this know the story, but for the 2 out there that don’t(Chris and I are telling EVERYBODY – even the sales lady at Gymboree!) I want to fill you in on how amazing our God is.

Shannon was admitted to Stonecrest on April 30 with contractions about 2 minutes apart from each other at 33 weeks. From there she was transferred to Centennial since Stonecrest does not have a NICU and in case they would have to deliver they don’t want the mom at one hospital and the baby in another. Each day from that point on there seemed to be no progress – 2 steps forward and 2 steps back. Ellie Grace wanted out and she made sure we knew that.

Fast Forward lots of prayers and about a week later and we have Thursday morning. Ellie Grace’s dcells on the monitor were not what the Dr. wanted to see (they needed to spike and were not) so he decided it was time to deliver – knowing that Ellie Grace could be in distress and that was the ONLY reason he would deliver her.

We get the phone call at about 7:40 that morning that they will be delivering Ellie Grace at about 9:30 and we needed to get down there. Now, this may seem like no big deal to others but we have 6 family members that need to make it down to Centennial to see Shannon before she goes back and who want to be there during all of the excitement. So, let me share with you how God works out all of the details. That morning there was a prayer breakfast since it was the National Day of Prayer and I was supposed to go. I decided that I would have to sit it out since I had been in Leadership Rutherford the entire day before and wanted to go into work to catch up on everything that needed to be done. Chris usually works out in the morning & stayed at home. So as I get ready to leave for work – literally standing in the kitchen about to grab my purse – I can hear Chris in the back and I knew it was Shelly he was talking to. I hear him yell at me not to leave and we got the information about Shannon and headed out the door. What is even more amazing is Chris and Don were using that day as a catch up day in the office – no listings, no appointments, nothing. To say God was in every detail of that day – we mean it.

Our sweet Ellie Grace arrived at 9:55am and it was the sweetest thing to see her rolled down that hall in her incubator. What a pretty little face with these sweet lips that were moving like a little bird ready to get a worm. So, so pretty!

We are happy to report that Ellie Grace is on no oxygen and no meds – she is doing SO well! God’s works are marvelous – and she is marvelous! She is taking milk well through a feeding tube and will soon try to feed with Shannon. We later found out that what was wrong was Shannon had some placenta issues which do not show up on any ultrasound or monitor, but can obviously create a bad environment for the baby. How amazing it is that God was using Ellie Grace to show us that she needed to get out of there!

Please continue to pray that Ellie Grace gets stronger each and every day and that Shannon will heal quickly and regain strength and be able to rest. Michael is back at work and I am sure it is hard on him to not be with his wife and daughter every day. God has started a wonderful work in this family and He isn’t done yet. We are so thankful for all that He has done and all that we know He will continue to do! Thanks for your prayers!

We have raised a thousand voices

Just to lift Your holy name

And we will raise thousands more

To sing of Your beauty in this place

Well none can even fathom

No not one define Your worth

As we marvel in Your presence

To the ends of the earth.

We give You glory,

Lifting up our hands and singing holy,

You alone are worthy

We just want to touch Your heart, Lord, touch Your heart

Glory, lifting up our voice and singing holy,

You alone are worthy

- We Give You Glory, Jeremy Camp

Nashville Rising

What an event. What a weekend.

Shannon was in the hospital at Centennial waiting for Ellie Grace to arrive - Don & Shelly were there, too and decided it would be fine to drive home (a 4o minute drive turning into 3 hours).

Matt & Rachel were shopping at Opry Mills in Nashville then coming to the 'boro.

We were camped out at the house praying for all of those we knew that were so many different places.

Such a scary, scary day. And images that I will never, ever, ever forget - like the trailer from a school floating down the interstate. People getting out of their cars so they aren't washed away as they try to make it to the median. Roads turning into lakes as quick as anything as you watch the tv in disbelief. The whole time you watch helplessly wishing you could jump in the tv and carry them to safety.

I am so proud of Nashville showing everyone the sense of community when dealing with such a heartbreaking event. Celebrities hosted concerts to raise money. Companies shut down so employees could help with clean up. I am SO PROUD to be from the South!

A friend posted this video on facebook to show the impact this flood had. It is so hard to watch knowing this is only 30 minutes away and the place many people I love call home.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcmbX_JO95g&feature=player_embedded