First Day of School

Maddie and Ella started their first day at CHS on Wednesday. We began praying a year ago about what to do about school this year. I really thought it would be best for Maddie to go to school this year instead of homeschooling. We never thought CHS would be an option, but God completely worked out every detail for them both to go! We are so very blessed! They have been so excited. They both counted the days down til they would start.

When we woke them up, Ella asked, "Why are we getting up so late?" I think she was
a bit confused.

They both look so grown up!

Maddie was a tad excited about starting the second grade.

Ella is going to take kindergarten by storm!
Waiting to be dismissed to their classes.
Putting her backpack in her cubby
Where is my baby???

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Well, here I am again. I am hoping this is like riding a bicycle, and it will all come back to me very quickly! Anyway, MB, I will try and be a little less lazy in the days to come. :)

Back at the beginning of summer as my anniversary was approaching, I was having a hard time coming up with a gift for Eric. I can't express how much giving the "perfect" gift means to me. Unfortunately, it doesn't happen very often for whatever reason, but when it does, It makes my heart happy. I always have a hard time with gifts for Eric. If he needs something, he just goes and buys it, leaving nothing left to the want list. I finally resorted to Google...I mean what can't you figure out with Google at your fingertips?? I came across an idea that sparked my interest and tailored it to fit us. The drum roll please.....I gave him a box with 13 envelopes...yeah he looked at me that way too. But he was allowed to open the 1st one and read it. It was all mushy and sappy and stuff, but explained that each of the other 12 envelopes would be opened on the 5th of each month (our anniversary is the 5th). They would each explain a date that we would be taking. So, if you do the math, that is one date each month until our 10th anniversary. But, what I thought was the cool thing is that most of our dates are recreating things that we did back before we were married.

Last night, we went on our 3rd date. I know what you are thinking...no it wasn't the on the 5th, but that is the only one that isn't. Back when we were dating, Eric lived in Dalton, and I lived in Bremen. We would meet in Atlanta a lot, because that was sort of half way. One of our rendezvous was a trip to a Braves game, so that is what we did yesterday, hence the reason we went on the 2nd instead of the 5th. They do not schedule their games around me. Anyway, we had a great time, even though it was 150 degrees outside! We were very blessed however because our seats were shaded by the upper deck.

Awwwww, aren't we cute?

I used to be a big Braves fan. I went to games before they ever started winning and Fulton County Stadium was empty. But, now the games seem longer, and the seats seem harder. Maybe that is showing my age. But, yesterday was a treat because Steven Curtis Chapman was in concert after the game, which made the long game and the hard seats worth it!

Now, I mentioned that it was 150 degrees all day, and there hadn't been a cloud in the sky until the band began to set up. Then out of nowhere, the sky turned ugly and the wind started blowing. We could see lighting flashing in the not too distant sky. John Smoltz spoke before the bottom dropped out of the sky. It was rather fitting that he talked about the clouds and storms that God places in our lives.

It absolutely poured for 20 or 30 minutes, while everyone ran for cover. Then we were able to go back to our seats. Because of safety reasons, the band wasn't able to play, but Steven came out with his guitar, his Bible and a microphone. The sky cleared and turned the most beautiful shade of orange and purple. My picture just doesn't do it justice. God is so big and so amazing. The very fact that SCC can even stand on stage is evidence that God is real. He talked about little Maria and the storm that they have been in. He said he has never been more certain that God is real and has a plan for each of us. Does he understand everything, no. Is he still full of questions, absolutely. But, God does have a plan for each one of us. We all walk through storms. This life is a series of them. If we aren't in one now, we will be soon. We just have to trust. So, I pray that wherever you are, whatever you are going through, you can give your life to Him, because He loves you more than anything and He's got it figured out...even if you don't exactly understand it.

"Props" to God

Many of you know the journey that we have been on. Many of you just know bits and pieces. I promise this will be my last post on this particular season, but I felt like I HAD to give "props" to God. Let me back up just a bit and say that for over a year now, I have had some severe "stress" in my back. You could rub my neck and shoulders and feel knot after knot in my muscles. I was in a fairly consistent state of pain. Only Eric knew how I was feeling, because bless him, he heard me complain about it a lot.

Now to jump ahead in the story - when we came to the decision to give Ethan back to his grandmother, our wonderful pastor suggested that we come to the kneeler at church and lay our "sacrifice" of the last two years at Christ's feet. Has anyone mentioned how incredibly awesome he is??? Just in case you haven't read that on other blogs recently, let me just say I am forever grateful for Dewey Fleming. He has really been there for my entire family in so many different ways. He is an amazing pastor, and I am proud to call him my friend. He has certainly helped to guide us through this last season. He has prayed for us, sent us encouraging emails, called us, and my parents to check on us, and most recently, came to my rescue when I momentarily lost it, and my sweet husband was out of town. I will forever be indebted to him.

Back to the story, for several reasons, we had not been able to go the alter yet. This last Sunday, Eric and I just looked at each other and without words knew that it was time. Dewey prayed the most incredible prayer of thanksgiving, of sacrifice, of praise, and he prayed specifically that I would be renewed and refreshed. Now, let me remind you that he knew nothing about the pain in my neck. But, GOD DID! I haven't felt one thing in my neck since Sunday. NOT ONE THING! To God be the glory!!! And, that was just one little part of the service last week. Like Tammy Howard said in her post, (which btw is a must read!) I don't know why, but I am always amazed at how God shows up. He moved in our church body in the most amazing way. I think we will be hearing about different "pockets" of the spirit moving on that particular Sunday morning for some time.

Lord, thank you for who You are. Thank you for what You do. Thank you for bringing EMC out of the pit. Thank you that Your ways are not our ways. You are an awesome God!

Two For One Special

I have a couple of things to post, so I decided to do a two for one. I've been meaning to post these first pictures for several weeks now, and I am finally getting to them. I have loved Steven Curtis Chapman's music since I was a teenager. I don't think he has written a song that I don't like. Many of them are rock-n-roll God songs, so that is a big plus. :) Now, Maddie and Ella have become big fans as well. In fact Maddie has his latest CD, This Moment, and listens to it ALL the time. From the moment I first heard Cinderella, it became an instant favorite. Although, I will say that it took Eric and I both at least 20 times before we could listen to it without crying. Eric might try to say that isn't true, but believe me, there were some tears shed over this one. He might act like a big bear, but when it comes to his girls, he is all mush! Back in March SCC came to Chattanooga. The local radio station had a contest for dads to be able to take their "Cinderella". Eric entered, but didn't win. The day of the concert, they did several give aways, but none of us could ever get through. That afternoon, my awesome sister called the radio station to see if they were going to give away anymore tickets. The DJ told her they were not, but he had 2 more tickets that had not been given away. He told her she could have them if she wanted them. How awesome is that?? Being the incredible person that she is, Jenny gave Eric the tickets so that he could take Maddie. That was such a sweet blessing from God, so I had to share it.

This is Eric and Maddie right before they left on their date.

Eric bought Maddie, Ella, and Jenny "Cinderella" shirts from the concert.

OK, switching subjects, I have to give a plug to my awesome friend Terri. She owns That's Sew Cute . The stuff she makes just amazes me. She made this fabulous journal for me. Isn't it great! And, don't you recognize the fabric?! She had this fabric and when she saw it on my blog, she decided to make this for me. Now I have a place to write about all the seasons that God takes me and my flip flops through. Thank you so much Terri!!!

God is Faithful

Thank you all for your prayers! They were heard and answered. Our meeting yesterday could not have gone any better. We are back on track and all of the concerns and fears that we had have been put to rest. The paperwork for us to sign our rights over should be ready this afternoon. Ethan can then go back to Mary, and we can all let out a huge sigh. This has certainly been a journey. Like the song on my previous post says: we wouldn't go back and change anything if we could. I have seen moment after moment when God's hand was so very evidently at work. He has been so faithful. And, I will forever be grateful.

Sunrise

It may be cold outside, but the sun has risen on the Hildebrand family. God has brought us into a new warmer season. To Him be the glory! After much prayer, Ethan is going back to live with his grandmother. It wasn't an easy decision, but we know it is the right decision. We thought when we brought him into our family that he would be with us forever. We know now that wasn't how God planned it. He brought us all through these two years for a reason. My best friend, who knows me about as well as I know myself, called me after hearing this song last week. It says how we feel better than I could ever put into words. Please watch it, and know that whatever trial you are facing WILL come to an end, and God WILL use it to bring you closer to Him. As she says in the song, we can't know the morning if we know not midnight.

I love you all!

More Than Just a New Look

Yes, it was time for a new look. I said I would be changing it, and quite frankly, I am proud that I was able to go this long with the same look! I am REALLY ready for summer this year for many reasons. I love warm weather and I love it when I am able to pull my flip flops out again after keeping my feet crammed in socks all winter. The Hildebrands have been in a "winter" season for longer than just 3 months. It has been long and hard, but God has been faithful. He's been there keeping us warm through it all. I can't say that I have found joy in every moment, but my faith has been stretched and strengthened more than I could've ever imagined. We all go through times in our lives when we are traveling through a valley. God uses those times to teach us to trust Him. He is giving me glimpses of a new warm season just ahead. So while I wait, I am going to slip on my flip flops, walk with Him and bask in His warmth.

Blessings in Savannah

Alright, I am going to make up for my lack of posts the last couple of weeks with one really long one! Like I said in my last post, we finally took our trip to Savannah this past week. I say that because we planned it a year ago and had to postpone it twice. It turned out that it was perfect timing. Eric's business has been kind of slow lately, so had this not been paid for a year ago, we wouldn't have gotten to go. God blessed us tremendously on this trip. We are learning to bring God into the details of our lives. He loves us and wants us to involve Him in every aspect. It is easy to leave on vacation and leave "prayer time" and "bible time" at home. Through a couple of circumstances that I won't go into, Eric and I spent much of this vacation in prayer, not just between the two of us but also with our children. I think God was pleased because He sent us several blessings along the way. I'll share a few as I go through the pics



The picture above is the townhouse that we stayed in. We stayed on the first floor. The people who own it, live on the 2nd floor half of the year. But, they weren't in town this week. When we got there, the house had not been cleaned from the previous guests. Eric called the owner, who very much apologized. He was ready to put us up in a hotel, but we had already unpacked, so Eric told him it wouldn't be a big deal for us to clean it ourselves. The owner was incredibly thankful and told us that he would send us a refund for one night. (we were to stay 4) As you can see, there was a mail slot in the front door. This fascinated the kids. They were constantly peeking through it.

This is just a pic of the living room. The townhouse is located on Washington Square and is just a block from River Street. It was a fabulous location!

Maddie and Ella are huge Paula Deen fans, so we took a "Paula Deen" tour. Let me back up a bit and say that one of the reasons we chose to go to Savannah was that the girls do love Paula and wanted to eat at The Lady and Sons. But, of all weeks in the year, they were closed Jan. 2-6; the exact days that we would be there! What do you do? Back to the tour, this is Polk's Produce. They helped her get her start by letting her have groceries on credit when she was just starting The Bag Lady

This is the chapel where Paula and Michael were married. I talk as if I know them don't I?

Sorry for the glare, I took this from the bus.

This is in Uncle Bubba's, which is her brother's restaurant. If you look to the left, you can see the prep station that she stands behind in Paula's party(which is filmed here)

Outside of Uncle Bubba's

When we started the tour, the guide told us that we would not be able to drive by Paula's house. She said that neighbors do not like it. So, when we got off at one of the stops along the way, Eric stayed on the bus to talk to the guide. And, in only a way that Eric can, he got her to give him directions to her house. I will say that her directions were terrible and if we had to go by them, we would never have made it. We even called my dad to get him to mapquest the name of the street she had given him. It did not come up. But, we rode around anyway. We turned on this little side street that looked like it headed nowhere. The houses were very small and very plain. We saw a little old woman checking her mail, so Eric rolled down his window to ask her if she knew where this road was. She had never heard of it, so then Eric said, "Do you know where the Paula Deen residence is?" She pointed to the end of the street and said, "Right there." Now this may not seem like much, but for us it was a sweet little blessing from above. Maddie was thrilled that she got to see Paula's house. And, I love how God just led us there!

This is taken from River Street. The kids loved watching the huge boats go by.

We ate some really good seafood while we were there. I am sure that I gained five pounds while we were there, but I am not checking the scale! This is Maddie eating a raw oyster. Now, she is like me in almost every way. But, she does not get this from me. That is all Eric! He was really excited to have someone to eat oysters with.

This was taken in Washington Square which was right out our front door. Maddie took this picture. She has discovered photography. If she asked me once, she asked me a thousand times if she could take a picture. I just may hand this job over to her soon. It looks like she might be pretty good at it!

We did a carriage ride one night. The kids LOVED riding on the carriage, and Eric and I really enjoyed hearing some of the history of the city.

Maddie practicing her princess wave

There was a "bar" inside the townhouse, and Maddie and Ella loved sitting there to drink their "coffee".

They thought they were quite the pair.

Sunday morning, we got up and packed up the car. We were going to eat a late breakfast and head to Tybee Island to see Ft. Pulaski before we headed home. We just couldn't find anywhere in Savannah that peeked our interest for breakfast, so we decided to head on over to Tybee. We saw several places before we noticed this "hole in the wall" place called The Breakfast Club with a line out the door. We figured if there was a line, it must be worth a try. We sat down and ordered. Then I looked up at the window. I punched Eric's arm and asked him who that was, just to make sure I wasn't seeing things. Sure enough, in walks Jamie Deen with his wife and son to have some breakfast too! They sat one table away from us. Eric discreetly took this picture. I was too afraid to. When we walked out Eric looked at him and said, "Now are y'all gonna be open tomorrow?" His response was, "Yes, thank goodness, it has been a long week!" Eric and I had already been discussing that it would be great to stay one more night so that we could eat at The Lady and Sons, so Eric called the owner of the town home and asked him if that would be ok. He said he would love for us to. Now, remember he was going to refund one night anyway, so now we were getting to stay an extra night for free! Another sweet blessing.

We did still go to Ft. Pulaski before we headed back to unload enough stuff to get us through the night. :)

Because we had done the Paula Deen tour, we had a pass to be able to call and get a reservation without standing in line. So, we were able to get in at 11:00 which is when they open. When they open, this lady comes out and rings the dinner bell and yells, "come and get it!" How cute is that? Had we not had reservations right when they opened we would have missed that!

Our waitress took our picture.

I had to take a picture of the food. It's making you hungry right?! It really was delicious and a perfect ending to a wonderful vacation. I think I will invite God to go along every time!

My sweet baby is now Christ's sweet baby

My sweet baby, Maddie, was baptized on December 9. Back on October 28, we had a fall festival at a couple's house from our church. We did a trunk or treat, so the kids came home with LOTS of candy. They had eaten all kinds of sweets that day, so I told them they could only have a couple of pieces. When we piled in the car, Ella told on Maddie and said she had eaten more candy than she was supposed to. So, when we got home, Maddie and I had a talk about temptation. I read her a scripture and said that when you give in to temptation, that becomes sin. You would have thought I had broken her heart. Her exact words were, "Mommy, do you think Jesus will forgive me?" I told her He absolutely would and led her in the sinner's prayer. She was so excited that she had Jesus in her heart and called everyone she could think of to tell them. In our church, we celebrate the act of baptism twice a year - once around Christmas and once at Easter. Maddie was a little nervous about being baptized, but right before she went up I told her Jesus was with her and up she went! What a glorious thing-to watch your little one become Christ's own! The transformation in her life has been incredible. She has become so much more sensitive to others and it grieves her when she has disobeyed Eric and me. She prays often that Ella and Ethan would ask Jesus into their hearts too. One day, we were in line to pick Ethan up from school, and Maddie asked, "Mommy, do all these people know Jesus?" I said, "no baby, they don't." Her response was, "Well we need to get out and go tell them!" I love that God can use a 5 year old to remind us "wise" adults to get off our duffs and go tell the world about Jesus!

Out of the mouth of babies and infants,you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger. (Psalm 8:2)