My sweet boy, Isaac turns 6 years old today.  I’ve turned this fact over and over in my mind.  I’ve examined it from every perspective and it is still true.  six years old.

It just doesn’t seem possible.  How can it be that I’ve already had 6 years with him?  Its like sand thru the hour glass…  time slips through my fingers and becomes history when I blink.

I can hardly stand it.

He is full of smarts and he has so many gifts I’m sure I don’t even know about yet.  When I look at that sparkle in his eyes, I know God has something big planned.  And though I’m content to be patient for once, I am equally excited to see just how it all comes to pass.

I am so thankful to my Heavenly Father that he chose us to be Isaac’s parents!

happy birthday, Isaac!  We love you so so very much!

You may have heard that the Days have a pool pass this summer.  Okay, probably not.  But, we’ve been living the high life, enjoying the season’s heat from the cool waters of the Signal Mountain Pool.  I have always loved swimming.  In fact, I really love summer.  I find the perfume of the chlorinated water, mixing with the scent of Copper Tone to be an intoxicating combination.

So, when Michael and I considered purchasing a pass I was elated.  And at the same time, the idea gave me a moments pause.

“Why?” you ask.  Well, I’ll tell you.

The truth is going to the pool could have some complications.   What if I don’t know anyone there?  What if I’m wearing the wrong swimsuit? What if I look terrible in the right swimsuit? What if my kids aren’t as good at swimming as the others?  What if they whisper when we walk by, knowing that we aren’t from “the mountain”?  What if, what if, what if….Those are all the questions that began to bombard me for consideration…

I wanted the essence of the pool, without the struggle…  I wanted to enjoy our summer in the sunshine, with healthy tan-lines, and the aroma of sunscreen on our towels – without all the junk that I’m prone to worry over.  But how?    It was as though  I needed to learn a few lessons all over again, but with the help of a few click-ish mothers.

Doesn’t everyone at some point in life feel the desire to be accepted? to fit in?   It could just be me…

With great resolve, I decided to purchase the pass and enjoy the pool with my children, to focus on them and our time together.  After all, this was for them, not really for me – and the fun that we were going to share was far important than if someone was staring because our lunch cooler wasn’t “hip”.

And I found the Holy Spirit, reminding me of something which changed my perspective : You are my child.  I made you in my image.  What others think does not matter because my love for you gives you freedom:  the freedom to be who I created.  Freedom to be you.  Don’t be tied down by others opinions or attitudes.  You are loved.  You are free.

from John 8:
³² And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Well, we’ve been to the pool a bunch of times.  And my focus has been on my children.  I haven’t worried about the other moms at the pool.  I haven’t noticed if my suit isn’t the right one.  And my children have loved every second of it.  I’ve even heard from my oldest, “This is the best summer ever, Mom!”

Today could have been a different story for me, though.  Sitting on the side of the baby pool, watching Mackenzie splash after her water toys, I was greeted by another mom, “Oh, hello Melody!”  she said, “How was your drive up the mountain today?”  and all the moms turned towards me with their eyes looking me over, as if to say, “Who is this that comes up here to swim, but doesn’t live on “the mountain”?”

and I smiled.  Because for the first time in my life, I was free from their thoughts.  I wasn’t at the pool for them.

As we dried off and got ready to leave the pool for the afternoon, I took a full breath.  With the smell of chlorine and the sunscreen hanging around our shoulders , there was a new scent mingling.  I inhaled deeply.  It was the fragrance of freedom.

Big, hot, sloppy tears slid down my cheeks.  What had happened?  I couldn’t understand.  I hadn’t experienced disappointment like this in a long time.  I promise, we made huge efforts before we left on vacation.  There was a timer, soaker hose and everything set in place in order to keep my beautiful girls alive.  I had big hopes for healthy, fresh flowers all summer long from my dahlias.  yes.  Really big hopes.

But, on the evening we arrived home from our week-long beach vacation I realized we hadn’t taken something into account. I came home to find my dahlias wilted, yellow-leaved and shriveled up.

voles.  My father in law had warned me a while ago to watch for quarter sized holes around the base of  plants… if there is a hole, you may have a vole.  If you have a vole down in your bed, underground, you won’t have much else for long.  And he was right.

On searching, I found one of those very holes right next to one of my pretty girls.  I tried the prescribed remedy –  shoving a moth ball down the hole, but to no avail. It was too late.  The vole had already eaten up most of the roots and tubers.    I was left with only one of four plants.

and so, the tears.

On the surface, everything seemed fine… the vole, completely invisible to anyone looking at the garden.  But, deep down in the earth, that vole was working away, eating to his heart’s content, stealing the vibrant life of my lovely flowers.

Later that week, I came to grips with a similar reality.  No gritty, gory details here,  but, I was experiencing a vole in my heart. It was a sin.  Isn’t this just how sin works, like a vole, digging below the surface, initially unseen by anyone looking on?  But, as I began to see it for what it was,  I was so disappointed in myself.  and then more tears from a contrite heart.  How could I have missed it?

Now, I know this is an unattractive topic to discuss – I’m aware its not cool and fun.  But its true.  Sin always brings disappointment, destruction and ultimately death. There was something eating away at my heart – robbing me of joy and peace – and I had been completely unaware.  But, as the Holy Spirit began to work, penetrating my heart,  dealing with it, I was able to experience forgiveness.  Revitalization began when the sin was eliminated.

In this life there is sin, which is responsible for bringing death – But, the good news is that there is life in Christ, and no matter the sin, it is never too late!

I am blessed and refreshed by these words from Romans 5:

¹² Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— ¹³ (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. ¹⁴ Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. ¹⁵ But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. ¹⁶ And the giftis not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which camefrom one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. ¹⁷ For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)

¹⁸ Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. ¹⁹ For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.

²⁰ Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, ²¹ so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Heavenly Father, Thank you for this gracious gift of forgiveness;  your righteousness in place of my sin!  Thank you for the life that you give through your Son.  There is no better news for my heart this week- my heart and soul, replenished with your goodness. Thank you!

(sorry about the photo, not my normal surroundings, or my usual camera – but wanted to show you a slice of heaven…)

I know what you’re thinking.  “Oh, no she didn’t!”  But, yes.  Yes I did.  For Father’s Day I made a peanut butter pie for Michael, at his request.  And I made it my own way.  It was rich.  It was over the top.  and it was so, so, so good!

When it was all said and done, I thought I should tell you about it, in case you needed something decadent and rich in your refrigerator.  Who cares if it is bathing suit season, right?

I won’t delay you with many details.  Here is the recipe:

Nutter Butter Peanut Butter Fudge Pie.

Ingredients:

2 cups of nutter butter crumbs
a few table spoons of sugar
1/3 cup of melted butter
8 oz package of cream cheese
1 cup of creamy peanut butter
1 cup of white sugar
1 tablespoon of butter, softened
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 cup of whipped cream
hot fudge

Instructions:

Combine cookie crumbs, spoonfuls of sugar and melted butter.  press into a greased pie plate and bake at 375 for 12 minutes.  let it cool a bit.Heat the hot fudge to an easily spread consistency.  In your cooled pie crust, spread a thick layer of hot fudge – then let it chill in your refrigerator.

Whip your whipping cream and set aside.  In your stand mixer’s bowl beat the cream cheese, peanut butter, sugar, softened butter and vanilla until it is creamy and smooth.  Then fold in the whipped cream until completely incorporated.

Spoon your peanut butter filling into the pie crust and let the pie chill in the refrigerator until ready to eat.

I served my pie slices with more whipped cream and some drizzles of hot fudge on the top and it was just right!  Well, just right if you like really rich and over the top!

Happy Monday to you!  It will be especially happy if you find this pie in your future!

Can you see that layer of fudge and that thick creamy peanut butter goodness?  all on top of a crunchy nutter butter crust!  OH YUM!

(this recipe was developed from recipes on these sites: runningwithtweezers.com and recipegirl.com)

This is Michael, my husband and the father of our children.   I can’t tell you how blessed I am, words don’t do it justice.  But, in his every day, usual, normal-ness – he is the best daddy around.  No one else can make up ridiculous songs, or teach a new guitar chord, or change a dirty diaper, or clean up the dinner dishes, or beat the next “impossible” level on Angry Birds, or rock somebody to sleep, or have fun at the movies, or work really hard, or paint the garage wall as good as him.  (This is just the short list.)

Today we celebrate the dad at our House and give thanks to our Heavenly Father for one of the best blessings of all!  We love you, Michael!  Thank you for being an amazing dad!

(more to come about our Father’s day tomorrow…)

I’d like to take a few minutes to tell you a story.  It’s a story that has been recounted to me many times, but bears repeating again.  And if you, whoever you are, need to bolster your faith, need to believe again in a Heavenly Father who is your deliverer, healer, and miracle worker, keep reading!

*******************************

Sixteen years ago today, on June 14, 1996, Johnny, a 49 year old trouble-shooter for an electric utility (Electric Power Board AKA – EPB) was on top of a telephone pole, assisting a coworker after a storm had caused some outages. He needed to climb the pole and his coworker, Gary, rode up in the bucket or cherry-picker as they are sometimes called.

It had just rained and it was about 3pm. Johnny had worked for his employer for 27 years and had won safety awards. He was scheduled to get off shortly and had a lot on his mind. His daughter would be getting married in 3-4 weeks. He was anxious to get home.  While he and Gary were working on the pole, the lines were dead and thus Johnny wasn’t wearing the usual safety gloves as they are a cumbersome and they weren’t necessary with the lines being dead.

The two men had finished the job and were about to give the go-ahead for the power to be switched back on when Johnny noticed an insulator that needed a little maintenance. He thought, “If I don’t do this now, I’ll end up being called back up here to fix this later on.” He reached over to it not knowing the line had already been “made hot” and received a 7500 volt charge that entered his right hand and exited out of his left leg. The shock caused such a flash that cars on the road pulled over and people came out of the nearby restaurant to see what had happened. The charge would continue until a 50 amp fuse down the line blew. Johnny had received more than double the electricity used in an electric chair and was basically dead on the pole, hanging by his leather safety belt.

His coworker, Gary, did everything right. He first notified his dispatcher of the emergency, then quickly began to attempt resuscitation, which isn’t easy on top of a pole.

By this time, there was a crowd of people watching. Thankfully, he was able to bring Johnny back. For some reason though, Gary didn’t have a knife to cut Johnny’s safety belt loose. He needed to cut him loose from the belt, get him into the bucket and lower him to the ground. Just by “chance”, there happened to be a bystander in the crowd who was both a pocket-knife collector and a former minor league baseball pitcher. He just “happened” to have 7 knives on him. When Gary yelled down, asking if anyone had a knife, this man quickly responded and with one toss, the knife made it from the ground to the top of the pole for Gary to catch.

Johnny was transported to the hospital via helicopter, Lifeforce to be exact, from Signal Mountain to Erlanger.  His son was working for the EPB in a summer position when a manager called him to his office and said his father had been injured that afternoon and immediately drove him to the hospital.

When his son arrived at the hospital,  Johnny’s wife, several VPs and the CEO from the EPB were there already. The son and mother went and saw Johnny before they took him for emergency surgery. His first words were, “Honey, I’m sorry.” His right hand looked like it had been replaced by a hand made out of black coal.  He was terribly thirsty having been literally cooked from the inside out. Since he was about to go into surgery, all they could give him was a drop of water on his tongue every minute or so.

The doctors feared the worst. They amputated his right hand (he was right hand dominant) and after that first surgery, the family was told his heart, liver, lungs, any internal organs could have been irreversibly damaged. His left leg had been essentially blown up from the inside out by the electricity. They were told he might not live and if he did, he would certainly never walk. They might have to amputate his leg as well.

He spent 6 weeks in the Erlanger Burn Unit having several muscle grafts and infection debridements. It turns out, Johnny’s liver, lungs, heart and other internal organs were fine. The doctors couldn’t explain it.

While Johnny was in the Burn Unit, his daughter got married as planned. Except they held the wedding on a Saturday at Erlanger in the old Medical Mall with security keeping the media outside the building. Two nurses escorted Johnny in his bed down to the wedding. He was allowed 30 minutes out of the Burn Unit – something unheard of. There was not a single dry eye during that wedding. The groom was a mess. Everyone was a mess. Johnny gave his daughter away ; he wore a green robe that was purchased for him especially for the wedding.

During those 6 weeks of recovery, EPB employees brought home-cooked food to the burn unit every afternoon, enough to feed anyone there including the Burn Unit staff.

Johnny amazed the doctors with his recovery and his attitude. The Burn Unit staff hated to see him go as he lightened up the atmosphere there – always singing, telling jokes, etc.

After 6 weeks in the Burn Unit, Johnny was moved to Siskin Hospital. There he eventually was able to walk and they got him started learning how to write with his left hand.  Despite the significant impairment he incurred, Johnny returned to work and everyday life.

This man I’ve told you about today is my father-in-law, Johnny Day, Michael’s dad.  These days, Johnny is known as “Grandaddy” around our house.  He is not only a wonderful husband, father, grandfather, gardener and Sunday School teacher (just to name a few of the many things he does) he is a faithful testimony, living tangible evidence of God’s healing power and miraculous strength.   

Whenever I recount this story I am encouraged – and I hope you are too!  We have a Heavenly Father who is still in the business of miracles. 

This blog post was written mostly by my husband, with a narrative added by me.  🙂

Isaac, grilling with grandaddy!

the Ridgerator with his grandmama and grandaddy

Em, and a good laugh on Easter Sunday morning.

We’ve just returned from the beach.  Yesterday we pulled in the driveway around 6 pm.  The car was completely unloaded by 7.  Emergency trip to Target for post-trip essentials was finished by 8:30.  And all of us were tucked into our own beds at a decent hour.  Though our vacation was thoroughly refreshing, it was good to be home.

As I unpacked suitcases this morning, clothes into drawers and toiletries into cabinets, laundry into the machine, I was able to reflect on the trip just a bit.  There is one thing that always amazes me, every time I’m at the ocean.  No matter what we do, what castles we build or the foot prints we leave behind – the next day they are gone.  There is high tide and low tide.  In and out the water comes and goes; and in between the shore becomes a clean slate.

I can’t tell you how much I regularly long for this miracle to happen in my heart.  The busyness of life, interaction with my family, conflicts and resolutions – and I find myself in a rough state, the surface of my heart is completely disturbed by the activities of the day.  Sometimes it makes me uneasy.  Sometimes it leaves me restless.  Sometimes I ache.

Usually on vacation I find a bit of peace and I’m able to smooth things out- life even seems relaxing, right until its time to come home to the regular, every day hustle and bustle.  And so, the dread begins right about the time I realize it is time to leave.   *sigh*

This year, as I sat with my toes submerged in the sand, on our last day of vacation, I experienced something new.  When I prayed and told the Lord about the need for my heart’s resurfacing, I began to realize it doesn’t just have to happen on vacation.  I mean, R&R is always good. It is a necessity.  But, I don’t have to walk around, waiting for the get-away.   I watched the waves roll in and it was a visual reminder of His promise to revive my heart.  Even as those waves made the rough places smooth on the beach right before my eyes, I could feel a revival beginning in my heart, His love washing over me, replenishing the life in me, a preparation for the coming daily grind.  My heart was ready to begin again.

This is the truth:  I can live the life of mama, wife, friend, teacher, daughter, sister (etc. etc.) day after day – as the woman He has called me to be.  I can give my all and deplete myself to the very bottom of my soul, if I have to – because my Savior promises restoration. He died and rose again so that He can give me LIFE!  By myself, I can’t do it. But, with this truth secured in my heart and mind, I can survive!

Be refreshed by these Words:

Psalm 119:159-160

159 Consider how I love Your precepts;
Revive me, O Lord, according to Your lovingkindness.
¹⁶⁰ The entirety of Your word is truth,
And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.

As we’ve been getting back into the routine of things, I have truly been renewed by His promises, and encouraged by His extraordinary loving kindness to me.  There is a song that has played again and again from my iPhone thru my earbuds. And as I have heard the words, the truth of His love has become more real than ever before.  His love will always bring revival to the heart of a believer.  He promises.

Still letting these words wash over my heart today:

You Revive Me:

You revive me
You revive me Lord
And all my deserts are rivers of joy
You are the treasure I could not afford
So I’ll spend myself till I’m empty and poor
All for You
You revive me Lord

Lord I have seen Your goodness
And I know the way You are
Give me eyes to see You in the dark
And Your face shines a glory
That I only know in part
And there is still a longing 
A longing in my heart.

My soul is thirsty
Only You can satisfy
You are the well that never will run dry
And I’ll praise You for the blessing
For calling me Your friend
And in Your name I’m lifting
I’m lifting up my hands. 

I’m alive
I’m alive
You breathe on me
You revive me.

I wasn’t expecting it to happen, really.  But, my sister’s boys, and my two older kids formed some sort of alliance while we were at the beach.  They were virtually inseparable.  Everything, and I do mean almost everything, was done together.  So much so that we began calling them the rat pack.  These are some of my favorite pictures of their antics!  I thought I would let you in on some of their fun…

Chocolate Chip pancakes at the Hot Diggity Diner.  We ate at this place often enough over the course of the week that they called this “their table.”

The Rat Pack walking on the beach with Papa.

Squeezed in with Nanny, after purchasing too much candy at the favored store, “It’s Sugar.”

Standing at the edge, a moment of being still – however short lived…

The gang – our crazy Rat Pack, in their signature Cards’ hats that Papa gave them.

The rainy day fort… complete with every pillow from our condo, three sleeping bags and two lacrosse sticks, which were used as guns for protection from the rogue pre-schooler running around.