Life is so, so busy!
Here is what has been going on in the Weather's house.
We all waited on winter to arrive, but she didn't. So needless to say, we have been enjoying lots of time outside! The weather has been beautiful. Hope LOVES the outdoors so that is where we spend a lot of our day. We have already made a few trips to the local park. She loves to run around and I love the fact that it wears her out and she takes a really good nap!!
Our week days are pretty scheduled. We have a different plan for each day of the week, but its the same pretty much every week. With four kids, it works well to get "into a groove." Of course, there are many times when that schedule is interrupted. Our weekdays are filled with things such as, going to the gym with mommy, washing clothes, meeting with college girls, grocery shopping, cleaning house, running errands for Daddy, washing clothes, going to the library or park, preparing for Bible studies, have I said washing clothes?, going to Bible Studies, and TUTORING! Lots and lots of tutoring these days!!! Right now, I am working 6 afternoons a week! The need for additional help outside of the classroom is significant. I mostly focus on math (Algebra), but I have a few young ones that I teach how to read. I really enjoy it. I truly love teaching. I also have several students who come to me because they are not being challenged in the classroom. I love setting high goals for these students and see them succeed. It's amazing what children can learn. Amazing.
The kiddos are doing well. Hannah Grace has a piano audition on March 31st, so she has been practicing almost every afternoon. Noah has started baseball. And I must say...we have quite the little baseball player. I think this might be "his thing." Noah is not a big child (the term scrawny has been used often..lol) , but he has got an arm on him!! Wowza! Lily is doing super at school. We have had a few bumps in the road, but she is adjusting well. We are so very proud of her. She is reading like a big girl now! And Hope...well, she is Hope. She is unlike any of our other children. She is curious, brave, feisty, and head strong. And we love her fiercely. Thank you sweet Father...you have blessed us immensely!
Lily with make-up on Gotcha day!
Carlton took the month of February to work on his doctoral paper. He was out of the pulpit for 4 weeks! He spent 2 weeks up in Tennessee at a friends home in the middle of nowhere. He worked tirelessly. I kinda felt bad for him! But, there was no way I could help him. Trust me. All I could do was be his cheer leader!!!! Two bits, Four bits... Ok..I'll stop, I'm showing my age. After his 2 weeks, he learned that his 2nd chapter was approved! On the FIRST submission!!! This folks.... is amazing!!! The last 2 weeks of February were spent here in Anniston. He completed chapter 3 and wrote out all the info for the class he will teach. On Feb. 27th, he completed every goal that he had set for the month. I was so stinkin' proud!! He learned on March 2nd that Chapter 3 was approved...on FIRST submission!!! Once again....amazing!!! He will spend the next 15 weeks (well, 12 now), working on his "project". We are expecting him to complete and turn everything in by the end of June! There will be some kind of happy dance going on when that day arrives.
Me? Well....since Carlton was gone in February, I had to focus my time on something. What else? Pinterest. I would crawl up in the bed each night when he was gone and waste countless hours on that crazy web site. I decided on two projects. Here they are.....the first is some shutters I picked up at our local thrift store. $5 for both. Yep... $5. I roughed them up a little and added vaseline to the edges that I wanted to distress. (this makes the paint peel off easily), then, I painted them a taupe-gray?, next I painted them an antique white. I let it dry and then I went to town distressing them. I even got hammer and took out some frustration on them. LOl. Total cost- $30 (I have tons of paint left that will be used for my kitchen table...next project) Here's some pictures of the process.
BEFORE
AFTER
We got rid of the TV and the stand (its on our back porch now). The kitchen looks twice as big!!
We got rid of the TV and the stand (its on our back porch now). The kitchen looks twice as big!!
Next, a very nice friend who happens to be in the construction business grabbed some windows for me out of an old home that he was demolishing. I didn't do much to it because it was already "old." I did add some dents and sand a little. I purchased the "W" at Hobby Lobby and hot glued moss to it. I tied it up with some burlap I had left over from Christmas. Total cost of project. $3.25
Last before I end this post.... I want to link the article that was in our Saturday paper this past weekend. I want the link this on my blog...1.) so you can read it and 2.) so it will archive here. We are very thankful to Brett Buckner for doing a great job of accurately quoting us. We are always a little skirmish when someone asks to to a newspaper article. But, Brett wrote the original article the on Sophie and did an amazing job. As a matter of fact...it won some award in the newspaper world! I am so humbled at how our little girl continues to share the Gospel of Christ with so many around the world. It's been 4 years and her story continues to share the love of God.
Link: http://annistonstar.com/bookmark/17822634--Joyful-sorrow-Funerals-are-no-longer-somber-affairs
Copy and pasted from article.....
No matter the tone of the memorial, its primary purpose is to worship God, said Carlton Weathers, pastor of Grace Fellowship Church in Anniston.
“The funeral service has traditionally been used to glorify Jesus Christ and thank him for the life of the loved one who has passed away,” he said. “A second purpose of the Christian service is to proclaim the truth that in the future, God will raise the dead to a new life in the eternal kingdom.”
Few comprehend this dueling message more vividly than Weathers, who in 2008, preached the sermon at the funeral of his own child.
‘Joy is not the same as happy’
Sophie Ann Weathers was born on Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2008, at 8:46 p.m., weighing 3 pounds, 15 ounces. She was 21 inches long.
She would live for only nine minutes.
Sophie Ann was diagnosed in utero with a rare chromosomal anomaly called Trisomy 13. One in 10,000 babies are born with this condition; 80 percent die within the first month.
Her mother, Aimee Weathers, carried Sophie Ann to term knowing her baby would die. When she did, it was while lying on her mother’s chest in the hospital delivery room.
Nine minutes.
Long enough for her father to recite the 23rd Psalm: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me.”
While Carlton delivered the sermon for his daughter’s funeral, Aimee chose the music for the memorial, including the hymn, “It is Well with My Soul.” The memories from that day are “seared” into their minds. But for all the sadness, there was hope.
“Aimee and I worked hard to have a service that clearly presented the Gospel, reflected our hope in Christ for the future resurrection of our daughter and expressed our feeling of joyful sorrow,” Weathers said.
“Joy is not the same as happy. I do not think it is helpful for us to try to hide the fact that when a loved one dies we are grieved. The fact is that death is unnatural, and all of us, no matter our faith, feel the pain of loss when someone dies.
“But the difference between the Christian and the non-Christian is the hope we have in Jesus Christ. We want to show the world that we grieve, but that our grief is filled with hope in Christ.
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