Martin Luther King Jr Day

What a beautiful day this is for our family.  My husband is black, and I am white, so we have many talks with our 6 beautiful children about their heritage and who they are.  Our oldest said today, "If it wasn't for Martin Luther King Jr, I wouldn't be alive!"  I'm assuming he was referring to the fact that it would have been much more difficult for my husband and I to be married 50 years ago when acceptance was so much more difficult than it is now.  I'm grateful for Martin Luther King Jr's bravery to stand and believe in change for the better.  I am so grateful for the powerful, eloquent, honest, and wise way in which Martin Luther King Jr lived and lead the people.  He continues to lead us today with his legacy. My husband stood before our children tonight and re-inacted his speech.  We were all moved by his words once again.   

Miracle at the Ski Slopes

I took all 6 children snow skiing today during the worst winter storm of the year.  We were all bundled up very well.  Jackson (11yrs.), Tyson (9yrs.), Jordan (7yrs.), and Mariah (5yrs.) all skied for several hours.  It was their first time on the bigger hill and going on the actual lift, so I wanted to stay around for a while to make sure they had their buddy system down and were safely going up and down the slope.  

Juliana (2yrs.) and Jayden (10 months) stayed in the stroller cuddled up for almost 2 hours, but right about the same moment they both started to cry hard.  I held them both in my arms, pushed the double jogger stroller with bags and a cooler and tried to rush to the lodge.  I was feeling like the worst mother in the world having 2 crying children out in the cold.  They had been happy for so long, I didn't realize how miserable they were becoming.

When we entered the lodge, their crying increased because their little hands and toes had to warm up.  For little children, that sensation is horrible.  They cried so hard!  I took their gloves, socks, and boots off and just rubbed their bare hands and feet with my bare hands.

Oh they just cried and cried, and I couldn't console them.  I had never had a hard time consoling them.  Feeling so sad and helpless for them, I said a prayer that they would be calmed.  Within moments they BOTH fell asleep on my lap at the same time!!!!  That has NEVER happened before with any of my children-to fall asleep at the same time within a minute of each other.

I sat on the bench for a long time just watching them and cuddling them both.  I was in complete awe of God's kindness and tender mercy for them and for me.  God put them to sleep and calmed their cries so quickly.  I felt like He knew I was trying so hard to be a good mother, so He stepped in when I needed help the most.


 

                       

God continued to help us even after our miracle in the lodge.  When we went out to the parking lot to our big E350 van, it was in deep snow.  I tried over and over to get it out.  After several prayers, a man drove by in a heavy duty truck, I called out to him for help, and he quickly returned with a tow chain and pulled us out with no problem!  

God so lovingly answered our prayers and continued to stay with us all the way home as well.  Anytime we came to an extra scary area on the snow-packed back roads, I called out to the children to say a prayer in their hearts.  We arrived safely to the warmth of our home feeling very loved by our Heavenly Father for staying with us all through the day.