An Amazing Easter Gift

Ryan entered into the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil. I am so overwhelmed with happiness and joy. I have the faith I longed for, for so many years. I am very fulfilled with my relationship with our God and my husband. Wow, I have never had such peace, it's an amazing feeling.

I was raised Catholic, as were my mom, grandparents, etc. I really didn't realise what a wonderful gift I had received. I went to church, at my convenience, for many years, when I was in college and even after me and Ryan got married. Ryan was raised Southern Baptist and he wasn't too interested in converting to Catechism, he was happy with his faith. I remember our family trying many different churches for a while there, trying to find the right church but nothing ever fit.

Fast forward to about 2 years ago.....we were really struggling, for the first time in our life, faith was all we had. We needed a reality check. Ryan was working A LOT, the kids would go days without "Daddy time", I was stressed, overwhelmed and pretty sad....I prayed, A LOT, as did Ryan. God answered our prayers....in ways that scared the heck outta us but it was a good, much needed scare. We had to make BIG decisons and we did, with God on our side. We started putting God first, just the way it should be. We started going to church every Sunday, we felt "at home" at a Catholic church, close by. Ryan was called by God to join "RCIA", Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, and started a long wonderful, amazing journey. Every Sunday, for the past nine months, Ryan would have class on Sundays, for 1 1/2 hours, along with weekend retreats and workshops. It was hard at times, I was kinda on my own with 3 kids at church. Along with Ryan's work schedule, and many other issues, but this made it so much more meaningful. We had to work for this. I can't begin to tell you what this has done for our marriage, our family. We have had some hard these past few months and God new we would. He also new we would have "RCIA", we would have faith, we would have him and we would turn to him. God amazes me! I never once asked Ryan to become Catholic, but I did pray to God, for our family to have a wonderful, close, fulfilling relationship with him and he granted us this X's 10! What an amazing Easter, one that our family will never forget. God is Good!

Matthews 5:16: Let the light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and give glory to your Father who is in Heaven.

Kiley & Ryan's Father Daughter Dance- 50's Style!

What a sweet night Ryan and Kiley got to share. Girl Scouts had their annual Sock Hop Dance and Kiley got to take her Daddy! Kiley has ALWAYS been a Daddy's girl, so this was an extra special treat for them both. Kiley was so excited to tell me about the slow dances they shared. I know this was one special date they will both cherish forever!

The Power of Prayer

So many of you have told me how you would pray for our family and it WORKED! I know I wasn't very informative about this whole situation, so here's the scoop.Ryan went for a physical in December and his blood work came back abnormal. We went to several different doctors and ended up at an Oncologist, to me Oncologist =Cancer=Death, because of my experience with it and my Dad. Well, they did a lot of studies on his blood and he has a very rare blood disorder, it's fine though, no treatment needed. We follow-up in 3 months, while they do more studies (they take 3 months), but the doctor said, it looks very good and he can lead a normal life.

The last couple weeks have been incredibly hard for me. I pictured life taking care of Ryan and slowly losing Ryan and then my life with out Ryan. I became especially close to God through this time. Since losing my Dad I kinda had a relationship with God that was up and down. I now realise God put situations in out lives to bring us closer to him. He does not want us to feel pain but to find strength in ourselves because we have Him. I will never be the same again. This small, yet VERY big situation, totally changed me, my relationship with God and my relationship with Ryan. Me and Ryan have always had very good marriage, but this really put God in our marriage. He now is and will forever be the Center of our marriage.

I really want to thank everyone for the prayers and concern. Me and Ryan have some Great friends and family.

Now, I need to go take care of Ryan, he went to the doctor yesterday and has been hit by this horrible flu! But after all we have been through, I can deal with anything. Bring it on flu!

Go Gamecocks!

Last night Ryan wanted me to put Lathan in his first SC Gamecocks Attire, which consist of a onesie. I didn't think he would be able to wear it this season since it's 6-9 months, but I guess I was wrong. I told Ryan, Lathan must of been the a lucky charm because they SMOKED NC State! Thanks Kate and Jeremy for the onesie, Jeremy gave this gift to Ryan when they came to visit after Lathan was born, guys and their college teams, it's too funny!