A Familiar Place

It took me 20 minutes to type this sentence.

It might take me 2 hours to write this post.

So. DEEP BREATH. Here we go!!!!

Welcome to my blog. My new blog!

Like that title, BEAUTIFUL CHAOS? It's a new title for us...We have been previously known as "A Journey of Hope". Wanna know the story behind our new title?

Back a few weeks ago, when I played with the thought of doing a "public" blog, I asked Carlton, "Hey Babe, if you could give our family a 'title' what would it be? I told him I had a title in mind and we could compare each others and decide on a name. 10 minutes later, I gave him another little nudge and said, "So...you got one? What is it?" He looked at me and said, "OK, I got it. You tell me yours, and I will tell you mine. " And you just won't believe that somehow , someway, we came up with similar titles.

I said, "Organized Chaos." (Cause ya'll all know I like my things in order, including my kids. Hee hee.)

He said, "Beautiful Chaos."

It's very interesting that we both used "chaos" in our titles. But, I love how Carlton sees it as beautiful. Because it is. This sometimes crazy chaotic life is beautiful in so many ways. And that's what I want this blog to reflect...... that amidst the shuffle of this hectic, busy life, underneath lies beauty. Beauty that God has been and IS orchestrating in the Weathers' household!

It has been 2 years and 6 months since my last post on my public blog of the journey with our daughter Sophie Ann. After her passing, I needed time. Alone time. I needed time to just be "still" and reflect on the beauty God was weaving into this tapestry of our life. I needed time to pull my chicks (my kids) in real close and not spend time thinking about what my next blog post would look like. Blogging through my pregnancy with Sophie Ann was extremely exhausting, but I never regret one day of it. Her story touched hundreds of thousands of people in over 26 countries around the world. But, I knew that I was tired and my mind and body needed rest. I decided to take my blog private and do updates less often.

In February of 2009, I journaled publicly about our journey to China to bring home our beautiful daughter, Lily. It was a good thing. I wanted the world to see the need for orphan rescue. It was my hope that it would encourage one family to take a leap of faith and begin the journey of adoption. And it did. Many times over!! But, when we returned home from our trip, I felt like we needed to go private again while we watched God weave even more beauty into our tapestry while we struggled with attachment and other post adoption issues. I opened up our lives for a few readers and it was good. I needed that time. Time to focus on my new little one who needed me more than ever.

So. Here we are. 2011. And our family has grown to 6!! We added a new addition to our crew in July of 2010.....sweet little Hope! We now fill up that swagger wagon we bought a few years back! Life is good. God has been so faithful and gracious to us.

And I am pretty sure I am here to stay....in this world of blogging.

And. I am a little nervous. Because I know that I am ONE. BIG. OPEN. BOOK. And the world is going to get a sneak peak inside our life. Uh...can we say, scary?

I have lots to write about. So many things to say. And I am ready to get this thing started!!

So if you would, go on over to the side bar and become a follower. No need to be a stalker. Don't make me put one of those blog trackers up. K? Thanks.

I will see you again soon....my next several posts will be a very detailed journey of our very recent medical diagnosis for Lily. This is actually one of the very reasons I am starting this blog, in hopes that other moms can find some help through my process of dealing with the medical field/insurance companies etc. It has been a long, long, process and I look forward to connecting with other mothers going through similar circumstances!

Until next time,