Goodnight Cowtown

When JP's Auntie Annie and Uncle Rudy gave him the book, "Goodnight Cowtown" for his birthday, it was sure to be an instant hit with our family.  You see, the Love Family called Fort Worth 'home' for the past six years.  It was easy to fall in love.  After all, Fort Worth is where the West begins.  It's the city of culture and the cowboy. 

As I reflect on Greg's calling to seminary, I remember saying during our conversation, "I don't care
'what' or 'who' may be at Southwestern Seminary, I don't feel like we are being called to move to Texas."  Well, look at us now - six years later.  I am SO grateful for the short time I had to call myself a Texan.

Along our family's journey, we've encountered various experiences and emotions.  For one, I've given birth to all three of my children in Texas - each of them little miracles.  Interestingly, when we transplanted our family to Texas from Alabama, I was seven months pregnant with Joshua - our firstborn.  The backstory is that during an early second trimester appointment, we discovered our precious baby had multiple lethal anamolies.  The prognosis was our little bundle had little chance of survival outside the womb.  Today, Joshua is buried just down the road from Southwestern Seminary. 

I'll never forget following the affirmation we were to move to Texas.  Scared is the appropriate adjective.  Greg and I left the security of two stable incomes and a community where "everybody knows your name" to move to a foreign land without any of the aforementioned comforts.  I was scared that I wouldn't find a compassionate doctor willing to work with a complicated case.  But, here's the deal - GOD WAS AND IS STILL IN CONTROL OF EVERY SITUATION.  At the end of the day, God worked all things out for His glory.  We were blessed beyond measure with jobs, friends, and a physician - Dr. Steven Seligman of Omega OB/GYN - that cared for us in big ways.  God heard and answered our prayers.

Now, as I face the transition to another "foreign land" in the Tennessee Valley of Alabama, several questions pepper my mind each day. Who will my new friends be?  Who will take care of me like Dr. Seligman?  Who will be a pediatrician like Dr. Martin?  The answer lies in a simple faith definition I learned through mentoring.  "Faith is choosing to believe the Bible is true, regardless of your emotions, circumstances, and/or cultural trends."  Here's the deal - ALL of my anxieties about moving are in the Lord's hands.  The same God who was Jehovah Jireh (The Lord our Provider) in Texas, will be the same to us as we transition to Alabama.  It reminds me of an old hymn chorus - 'Have faith in God, He's on the throne...Have faith in God, He watches over his own.'  Can you hear it?  Let's not worry about today when God is in control of tomorrow.


Goodnight Cowtown!
www.goodnightcowtown.com

Coming soon: Fort Worth Favorites

Pics photographed at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary by Ben Peacock
www.benpeacockphotography.com

We Are One in the Bond of Love

Since early last week, my home church, First Baptist Butler, has been heavily on my mind and heart.  Since early last week, they have been praying.  Praying and believing that God would heal one of their youngest church members.  Landon Rolison, son of Wade and Tonia, suffered a severe head injury, causing him to be in a coma for nearly a week.  Family, friends, church members, friends of friends all petitioned and pleaded with God to heal little Landon.  While it was not God's plan to heal him to live here on Earth, he did grant him ultimate healing.  I didn't know Landon, but I've known his mother, Tonia for quite a while, and it was told to me that Landon was just as sweet as his mom.  He was recently a little angel in the Judgement House production at First Baptist and was baptized alongside his dad, Wade in October. 

Tomorrow, the Butler community will celebrate the life of Landon at First Baptist Butler.  The church I was "born" in.  The church that I learned to worship the Lord.  The church where I publicly announced that Jesus is my Lord and Savior.  The church where I was married.  The church where my husband was ordained as a minister of the Gospel.  The church whose members wrapped themselves around me and my husband when we discovered we would not get to keep our first born child.

My heart hurts for the Rolison family and the people of Butler, but I am so thankful that my home church is a church that truly takes care of each other, especially in times like this.  It makes me think of the old hym, We Are One in the Bond of Love.  The words are so true.  First Baptist, I love you and am praying for you during this difficult time. 

We Are One in the Bond of Love

 

We are one in the bond of love
We are one in the bond of love
We have joined our spirit
With the Spirit of God
We are one in the bond of love

Let us sing now everyone
Let us feel His love begun
Let us join our hands
That the world may know
We are one in the bond of love

 

Summer Lovin'-Happened Way Too Fast!!!

Well, my favorite time of year (Fall, that is) is "in the air" and I'm loving it!  But, where did Summer go?  The Love family was very much "on the go", leaving very little time for blogging.  So here we are, playing catch-up. 

We have been so excited about our new swagger-wagon,  we decided we should break her in back in June by taking a 16 hour road trip to Destin, Florida.  Greg and I would go every year when we lived in Alabama and haven't been to a beach since moving to Texas, six years ago.  We left our house around 10:00pm and arrived in Destin the following day around 4:00pm, right on time for check-in.  Thank goodness for DVD players!  If you're reading this and you've been to Destin, you know why we went.  It was just as we had remembered---beautiful!  We were met by the cool, ocean breeze, emerald coastline, and white, sandy beaches.  JP loved swimming in the ocean as well as the pool, but was not much a fan of the sand.   We visited Greg's old football teammate, Carey Nick down at Nick's on the Beach (great seafood) and drove down to the lovely Seaside, which is straight out of the world of Norman Rockwell.  It was definitely hard to leave this beautiful place, especially knowing that another 16 hour road-trip with 2 young kiddos in-tow, was inevitable.




By the end of June, we were back on the road again, but this time to Alabama for Tony and Kalyn's wedding.  This sweet couple were highschool sweethearts from Greg's old youth group, and he was very honored to pronounce them man and wife.  While in Butler, we were able to spend time with our family and some of our friends.  Georgia met several family members for the first time.  We enjoyed eating some "home-grown" food, including MawMaw's pound cake (can I get an Amen?).  Uncle JK and Aunt Polly took us to the Fish Camp, where Georgia discovered sweet tea for the first time.  JP had a great time swimming in Mrs. Carolyn's pool as well as Mrs. Laverne's.  If I could give my hometown a one-word descriptor, it would be "hospitable". 


In July, Greg, GG, and I flew to Albuqurque for a quick weekend trip.  Greg had the pleasure of preaching at West Albuqurque Baptist Church and GG and I begged to tag along.  JP wanted to stay behind and play at Mr. Dale's and Mrs. Cindy's house.  He also got to play an entire day over at his buddy Parker's house.  I had never been this far West, so I was thrilled to get the opportunity to go.  I felt like I was in the movie Cars every time we drove Route 66.  We took in everything we could in a short weekend, including Sandia Mountain Tramway and Old Town.  Our favorite place to eat was The Frontier Cafe, which is directly across the street from U of New Mexico, making it a fave among the college students, as well. 

August brought a big change to our family, but an exciting one.  Greg accepted a job with Guidestone Financial Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention.  He now travels to Dallas every morning until we find a home in the Birmingham area--that's right, we will be moving back to Alabama by the end of the year.  This move is definitely bittersweet for us, but I will talk more about that in another post.

The Zoo and JP turns 2!

I absolutely love the month of April because I get to celebrate the birth of an incredible little boy who has stolen my heart, John Parker Love.  This year, we celebrated with a Bubble Guppy birthday party at Johnson Road Park, JP’s favorite.  The wind was crazy the day of the party, but we had such a great time with JP’s friends and their families. There are so many things I could tell you about JP, but I will narrow it down to just 10. 

1. JP likes to start his day by dancing with Mommy and Daddy to “Hold Me” by Jamie Grace and Toby Mac as well as “Good Morning” by Madisa.
2. He loves to say “Hi” and “Bye” to all he sees, even strangers.
3. His favorite thing to watch on television is Toy Story.
4. John Parker knows his letters as well as numbers to 10 and likes to “read” license plates.
5. He loves playing with his friends at church and with Stormie and GG at home.
6. His favorite snacks are grapes and “quarters” (crackers) and would love for me to let him eat them breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
7. He thinks that the name of his favorite place to dine, Chikfila, is actually “eat”.
8. JP loves his “Froddy” (froggy lovie) and wants everyone else to do the same.
9. He is very affectionate, especially to his little sister.
10. He listens quietly as we pray over him at night, and then says “Amen” at the end in the cutest way ever.

JP and GG also had their first trip to the Ft Worth Zoo.  We packed a lunch and headed out to meet "Aunt Sarah" and Caroline.  JP loved seeing the baby monkey swinging from the tree, but was not too excited about the MOLA exhibit, which houses the snakes, along with other reptiles and amphibians.   

March Madness at the Loveshack

WOW! The month of March was for sure one of madness around the Loveshack, but it was tons of fun. There is so much to tell about the last 31 days. Well, to start with, I am a full-time stay-at-home mommy. This actually became official as of February 27th, but haven't had alot of time to blog about it. While I miss everyone at Bette Perot Elementary, I am now enjoying teaching my own sweeties here at home. JP is learning his letters and numbers and has started MDO twice a week at our church. JP especially loves riding to work with his Daddy. We also get our PE minutes in here at home by dancing around the kitchen and playing on our new playgym that Beck-Beck and PawPaw gave JP for an early birthday present. I never knew being a stay-at-home mom would be so busy, but I am loving it. JP partied hard in March at both Macy's and Jackson's Elmo parties and Annabelle Grace's Minnie party. We love "doing life" with all of our friends! One of our favorite places to visit as a family is the Heritage Chikfila. We recently had the opportunity to meet Dan Cathy, President and COO who was visiting several of the local stores. John Parker continues to progress with his swim lessons at AquaKids and will soon be swimming on his own. He is now able to stay under water for 10 seconds. Greg and I finally had our first date since having GG, thanks to Dale and Cindy Cato. JP and GG love them and so do we! We have since had our second date and look forward to our third. Since "retiring", my ThirtyOne business has also increased. I love getting together with "the girls" and helping my hostesses earn free product that looks cute and is affordable. Let the "madness" continue!

Bug hits the Loveshack!

Yes, you it read right. A "bug" hit our house, and it wasn't the "Lovebug"! This terrorist visited us Wednesday morning and didn't leave until yesterday. It began with vomiting (apologies for the candor) on Wednesday and then headed "south". I know I changed well-over 50 diapers from Wednesday night through Friday.

Friday night, we ended up at Cook's Southlake. Here's what happened: Greg left the house and was gone about 10 minutes. JP began shaking as if he was having chills. So, I called Greg in a panic and told him to come home. I noticed JP was sort of despondent and his lips began to turn blue - so, I phoned 911. Greg fought through rush hour traffic, made it home, and we called to see where the paramedics were. Long story short, we punted the paramedics, loaded up the kiddos, and hotrodded the minivan to Southlake. Someone should have taken a picture b/c I left the house in a furry - no shoes and socks, and JP wearing only a diaper! What a scare! But, I'm grateful to have such a calm, Nascar-like husband! As JP continued to shake, I prayed over him and sang praise songs, pleading with God to heal him. He did just that! God is Jehovah Rapha-The Lord our Healer! JP underwent some blood tests confirming the virus and received IV fluids due to being severely dehydrated. He's a tough little guy! After hitting Zaxby's on the way home, we all hit the sack.

Shout out: The staff at Cook's Southlake could not have been better to us! Thanks Patrick for the green socks!