Miracle Monday

I consider myself a good and faithful Christian. But then I read about Tonya and her faith in the Lord and then I begin to question mine. I don't know if I would be as strong in my faith if I had to endure what she has gone through.

Tonya lost her 11 year old son to Neuroblastoma but she never lost her faith in God. She posted a miracle on Miracle Monday a couple of weeks ago that made me cry, no, it actually made me weep.

But after I wiped my tears, I was reminded of the happiness that she felt while hearing her son have an actual conversation with the Lord - not a prayer, but an actual conversation. He son was actually hearing God's responses and responding back to him.

She considered overhearing these conversations to be a great gift from God as she was losing her son. Please read about her miracle here. I hope that you will be as uplifted by it as I was.

If you would like to participate in Miracle Monday, please write a post on your blog, mention Miracle Monday and A Mom's Life and link back to it here using Mr. Linky below. And please, feel free to use the Miracle Monday button on your blog post. And remember, link directly to your Miracle Monday post and not the front of your blog, so that if people are browsing through old editions in the future they will go straight to your miracle.

Mr. Linky and this week's edition of Miracle Monday are now closed. Please come back next week if you have a miracle you want to post. In the meantime, please enjoy the miracles below.

Welcome to my new blog design!

How does it look around here now? I've still got some minor tweaking to do but for the most part it's done!

I am so happy with the new look! I worked with Jo-Lynne at DCR Designs. If you are looking for a new blog design and you want something simple and fresh, then she is your lady. She worked tirelessly through some problems that we were having and didn't rest until it was done.

Jo-Lynne also has a wonderful blog, Musings of a Housewife, that is on my daily must-read list. And, if that wasn't enough, she also started Chic Critique where she and a team of other ladies review beauty products.

Thanks Jo-Lynne!

I hope everyone enjoys the new look, because much like the wolf whistle, it's put a spring in my step.

Watch for falling debris!

A Mom's Life is currently under construction.

Please pardon my mess while I try to make it look fabulous around here!

We have a guest. And he wasn't invited.

I think I've mentioned it here before. If I ever have a problem, I pray. But sometimes, I just don't feel like bothering God with something that perhaps I could take care of on my own.

So in these instances, I turn to the other higher power and solver of all problems...Google.

Yesterday, I Googled the following phrase:

woodpecker pecking on house

That's right folks. We have a woodpecker that keeps pecking on our metal gutters. And he hasn't chosen one of the gutters on the side of the house opposite our bedrooms. No! He has chosen the gutter right outside of Sarah's bedroom window.

And his favorite time to peck - 7:20am. He's very punctual, especially on the weekends when we are trying to sleep in.

Last weekend after the pecking started, Sarah let out a blood curdling scream and yelled, "There's a monster outside my window!" You could actually hear the fear in her voice.

You could hear something else in mine.

According to my Google search, this pecking is actually called "drumming" but I think "jackhammering" would be more descriptive. And apparently woodpeckers have discovered that metal gutters make a much louder and more appealing noise, than say, a tree.

And guess what else I learned? They use this drumming to let other woodpeckers know they are searching for a mate.

So drumming on my gutters in the wee hours of the morning is the woodpecker equivalent of "Hey, pretty lady, what's your sign?"

I will be sending Dan up the ladder this weekend to inspect the gutter for damage. If there isn't any, then we will be hoping that Woody will go away in a couple of weeks, as one article stated would most likely happen.

If there is damage and Woody doesn't go away after he finds his soul mate, then don't be surprised if you see my husband standing outside of our house in his pajamas on Sunday morning with the water hose, a roll of chicken wire and some sheet metal.

Because, apparently, it's against the law to shoot a woodpecker.

How dirty is yours?

2,741,340How Many Germs Live On Your Keyboard?

Apparently that is equivalent to the number of germs on 548 toilet seats. (I wonder if they differentiate between a toilet at Wal-mart and say, a toilet at Target?)

I am off to Google "what is the best way to disinfect my keyboard" and I will check back with you later.

So...how dirty is YOUR keyboard?

It is so hard to find good ones cheap.

It's time for a change. But I hate to do it. I tend to make excuses and drag my feet when it comes to changing something as important as this.

But my current hairstylist has got to go.

And it's not because she does a bad job. In fact, I love the highlights she puts in my hair.

And it's not that she is expensive. In fact, she is one of the most affordable hairstylists that I have ever been to for highlights. (Um, excluding the time I got wild with the Sun-In, left it in too long and gave my hair a nice set of green highlights. But we won't count that.)

And it's not that she is hard to talk to or that we run out of things to say when we are together. In fact, she will talk about herself and nothing but herself the entire time that I am there.

The reason I need to begin the quest for a new hairdresser is that she is completely inconsiderate of my time. She is always late. And I'm not talking 3 or 4 minutes. Yesterday was the third time that she was more than 20 minutes late.

Even as I am typing this, I am kicking myself for not finding someone else sooner. But I kept making excuses for her...she's cheap, she gives great highlights, I don't have to make a lot of small talk since she will do all the talking, she's cheap...

But yesterday as she walked up to the salon door at 10:26 am for a 10:00 am appointment talking about the weather and not even apologizing for being almost thirty minutes late, I knew I wasn't going to be able to take it any longer.

I am going to have to begin the search for a new hairstylist and I've only got 6 weeks to find one. Everyone I've asked is adamant that I see their hairstylist. But I have high standards.

I want great highlights but I want them cheap.

So over the next 6 weeks, as my roots begin to show, I will start to panic and begin to ask everyone I know for recommendations. But I will put it off and put it off because finding a new hair stylist is a lot like going on a blind date and seriously, who wants that hassle? I mean, I'm married. I shouldn't have to deal with the pressures of blind dates and dating and all that.

But as my roots get darker and darker, I will begin to peek down the hair color aisle every time I'm in CVS or Wal-Mart and think silly things like I could so do my own hair. And how hard could it really be to color my own hair?

That's when I'm going to need all of you guys to remind me of the green hair incident of the summer of 1994. Because let's face it, a 25-year-old can pull off Sun-In green hair (especially when she is tan and thin) but a 38-year-old can not (especially when she is pasty white and well, not so thin.)

So, if you know a stylist who does good highlights cheap, then call me.

Otherwise, I'm going to end up kicking myself all the way back to my old stylist, and grumbling under my breath when she's 30 minutes late, and telling myself while I wait that I could so do my own highlights....

Miracle Monday

It's Miracle Monday again! Thanks for stopping by.

Most people consider a miracle a one time event. But there are some people that consider everything that happens in their day-to-day lives; all the mundane seemingly minor things that lead up to the big events in their lives, as being miraculous.

One such person is Angie at Keep Believing. Angie's husband Brian was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 1997, one month after they were married. She has been giving the back story on how she and Brian met, fell in love, and married each week at Miracle Monday. She plans to continue each week until we make it to present day.

She said her life is full of miracles - so many in fact that she could fill my pages for months. I hope so because I have really been enjoying the story of how she and her husband met and fell in love and how God was working in their lives when they didn't even know it.

Please go back and read the beginning of her story and I'm sure you will be waiting excitedly, just like I do, every Monday for another installment in the miracle that is her life.

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If you have a miracle you would like to share, please post it on your blog and link back here using Mr. Linky. Please remember to use the link for your Miracle Monday post and not the front page of your blog. To do this, click on "Links to this Post" at the bottom of your post and highlight and copy the http address at the top of the page. This will be the link to the Miracle Monday post and not a link to the front page of your blog.

Please make sure you mention Miracle Monday and A Mom's Life in your blog post and feel free to use the Miracle Monday banner at the top of your blog post. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me.

Have a Miraculous Monday!

Mr. Linky and Miracle Monday are closed now! Please come back next week if you have a miracle you want to share. In the meantime, please read these wonderful miracles and think about how God is still walking and working among us!

Ouch!

Last night at dinner we were talking with the kids about their day at preschool. Sarah proudly said, "Mommy, I talked to Ethan today!"

Ethan is the sweetest boy you would ever want to meet. He is polite, friendly and very outgoing and he always speaks to Sarah and Peter. My kids are extremely introverted and will usually look away shyly after Ethan speaks to them.

I witnessed this behavior one morning and I talked to the kids about it after school. After that, when I picked them up, they would happily announce "I said hello to Ethan this morning!" So I didn't think twice when Sarah said she talked to Ethan.

"That's nice honey. What did you talk to Ethan about?"

"I told him I loved him."

"You did? What did he say after you told him you loved him?"

"He said thank-you."



ouch



I told you he was polite.

It doesn't take much to lift me out of my winter doldrums!

I've been feeling a little blah lately. Nothing major is causing it. I guess it's just an accumulation of a lot of little things.

I'm ready for winter to be over. My diet isn't going as well as I had hoped. It's been rainy and dreary. American Idol is doing two weeks of Beatles songs (enough already!). I think I need more than 7 hours of sleep and two large cups of coffee to keep me going. I only have two and half more months of preschool left until summer vacation and I still haven't finished my picture albums from 2006 much less 2007. My hair stylist called last week to reschedule my highlights and I was severely overdue anyway.

See. Just a bunch of little tiny things that normally wouldn't bring a person down but you combine them all together and voila...I'm at a low spot.

But all that changed on Monday morning.

I was picking up some consignment sale advertising signs that had been strategically placed along roads and at busy intersections around this area. I had volunteered to pick up the ones between my house and Wal-Mart. It was Monday morning after all and Wal-Mart is where you will always find me.

I had picked up a couple already and was griping about the rain we had over the weekend. While we needed that rain for our overpriced grass, my beloved Skechers were getting dirty. (And by the way, I did NOT pay $62 for these shoes. I got them at Kohl's for $42 plus I had a 15% off coupon.)

I had parked the car and was running across a grassy patch to grab a sign that had been posted near Walgreen's and Rite-Aid. I grabbed the sign and that's when I heard it.

Someone whistled.

At me.

I think.

I dared not look around. It was a busy intersection and I didn't want to look like I thought I was being whistled at. Because that would be vain - just to assume that it was me being whistled at. Even though there was no one else outside of their car at this intersection. So I am pretty sure someone whistled.

At me.

I think.

As I walked back to the car, there was a little more bounce in my step. I might have even been humming. I checked myself out in the rear view mirror and gave myself a little smile. Had I been in an Orbit gum commercial, there would have been a little twinkle coming off of one of my upper incisors.

Now I fully expect to bump into one of my mommy friends within the next couple of days and have them say something deflating like, "I saw you picking up signs the other day and I whistled but you never looked up."

But until then, there will be a little extra bounce in my step and a smile on my face every time I think that someone whistled at me.

I think.

Miracle Monday

It's Miracle Monday again! I hope many of you will want to share your own miracle so that others may find inspiration in the wondrous way God works.

This week, I would like to highlight the miracle that Elizabeth over at elizabeth embracing life posted last Monday. I got chills as I read this miracle and by the end of her post I was in tears. Please, if you don't do anything else today, go to her blog and read this miracle!

God is wonderful and can do anything! Elizabeth's post is truly proof of that!

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Baby Gracie update:

Last week I asked you all to pray for Baby Gracie, who was born with only half a heart. She came through the surgery to repair her heart with no complications. They removed her from the machine that was helping her heart to pump and it pumped on it's own!

She will stay in the hospital for the next 4-6 weeks before she can return home. And she will need another surgery 6 weeks after her return home and another surgery when she turns 2.

Please continue to pray for her healing and recovery and also to pray for strength for her parents.

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Please write your miracle on your blog and link back here using Mr. Linky. Please make sure you link back using the post you are writing for Miracle Monday. Do not link to your home page. To do this, click on "Links to this Post" and highlight and copy the http address at the top of the page. This should be the link just to the Miracle Monday post and not a link to front page of your blog.

Please feel free to use the Miracle Monday banner at the top of your blog post.

Have a Miraculous Monday!

Edited: Miracle Monday is now closed. Please check back next Monday if you have a miracle you want to share. Enjoy reading through these that have already been posted.

I never said anything about playing with them.

My MOPS group held a consignment sale today. I worked at the sale this morning while my friend Jennwa watched my kids. This afternoon, I watched her kids while she worked at the sale.

This is what my kids did while they were at her house...

Look at the adorable bunny Sarah came home with. Jennwa really does make all the crafts you see on her blog. And might I add, the bunny was adorable. It had googly eyes, whiskers and two bunny teeth. It was even done in St. Patrick's Day green! Jennwa thinks of everything!

This is what Jennwa's kids did at my house today...

Look closely.

Yep...that's right. The girls are holding fly swatters.

For at least 30 minutes, the girls chased a fly around the house. Hey, I promised I would babysit. I never said anything about playing with them.

I figure they may have been chasing a fly but at least they were burning off the calories from the nitrate-filled corn dogs I fed them for lunch.

Did I mention, I never babysat as a teenager?

Probably a good thing.

Oh, and Jennifer? Are we still on for tomorrow night? I'm still watching your kids while you and your husband go out to dinner. Right?

hello?

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Don't forget Miracle Monday this Monday.

Write a post on your blog about a miracle that you have witnessed, been a part of, or that has somehow touched your life. Post a link here on Monday using Mr. Linky.

If you don't have a miracle to write about, come to read the other miracles!

A mother's work is never done.

Like any good mother, I am constantly trying to get my children to share. On any given day, I can be heard tossing around phrases like:

"Peter, you need to let Sarah play on the computer now. It's her turn."

"Please split that cookie with your brother, Sarah."

"Why don't you guys find a toy you both like and play together."

And I am met with success about 50% of the time. The other 50% of the time, my request that they share, ends in one or both of them crying, whining, or screaming. And on some days, all three. At the exact same time.

But since I am the Best Mom of the Universe, I take my duties seriously and will continue to try to teach them that sharing is important.

So imagine my, um, delight when I overheard Peter saying this from the backseat of the car yesterday:

"Sometimes I like to eat my fingernails. And one day, I'm going to grow one so long that I have enough to share with someone else!"

After I stopped gagging over the thought of my son eating his fingernails, I started to beam with pride. Hey, he wants to share something and I didn't even ask him to do it.

I guess the moral of the story is to keep trying to get your children to share and one day, the hard work will pay off and they will do it even when you aren't prodding them.

Now if I can just get him to stop eating his fingernails.

A mother's work is never done.

Works For Me Wednesday - Simple Easter Tradition

With Easter fast approaching, I wanted to share a little family tradition we started two years ago. Well actually my husband's family did this when he was growing up and we are continuing it with our family.

After the Easter baskets have been ripped apart and after we have returned from church, the Easter Bunny continues to make surprise visits to our house all throughout the day. On these visits, he hides little chocolate foil covered eggs all around the house.

About 5 times throughout the day, while the kids are preoccupied, my husband will hide a batch of eggs. Then we will point to one of the eggs and say, "Look! The Easter Bunny has been back! How did we miss him?" And the kids will look for the bunny and search for the eggs.

It sounds so simple but I can tell you that my kids love this! It's like a day long egg hunt. And the nice thing about this tradition is that it is portable. When we go to Grandma's for lunch, we just take the eggs with us and hide some at her house.

Just make sure the kids don't see you toting a bag of chocolate eggs around. Because once you explain that Daddy is really the Easter Bunny, then it probably isn't too long until you have to have the whole Santa Claus conversation.

And I think that's probably going to be a harder conversation to have than the "where do babies come from" discussion. But that's just me.

Head over to Rocks in My Dryer for more cool tips and ideas.

Which superhero are you?

My blogging buddy, Mother of This Lot, over at Mother's Pride, has tagged me for a meme. I've been tagged for several memes, which I always intend to getting around to, but never complete. Mainly because they require me to think a lot and that's just not something I feel like doing at 6:00am when I normally write my posts.

But this meme caught my eye because there is a quiz involved! And I do love taking tests! I like to prove to myself and the world how smart I really am.

Anyway, here are the rules to this meme - (And according to Wikipedia, meme actually rhymes with theme. Bet you didn't know that. Bet you have been pronouncing it me-me, as in "Oh, teacher, I know the answer! Pick me...me. Pick me!")

I told you I like proving how smart I am.

O.k. enough about me, let's get back to the rules. You are supposed to take this quiz and write a post about which Superhero you are.

So I took the quiz and the results came back 70% Superman.

Superman? I just naturally assumed I would be Wonder Woman, since after all, I am a woman and I do consider myself wonderful.

I never dreamed the results would show that I am most like Superman. Especially since I am certainly not "faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound".

Perhaps if Superman's slogan was "faster than a preschooler darting into parking lot traffic, more powerful than the smell coming from the bathroom after two preschoolers have been to the potty, and able to leap tall mounds of laundry", then this quiz would be on to something.

Since I wasn't happy with my test results, I began thinking about which super hero I was more like. And after lots of pondering, I really couldn't come up with anything. I didn't feel particularly like Batman, Robin, Spider Man, the Green Lantern, Cat Woman or any of the other normal superheros. None of these seemed to fit me - especially since being a stay-at-home mom is pretty mundane work and all the superheros lead such exciting lives...well, with the exception of Robin.

But my super hero status became pretty clear to me as I was putting my son to bed on Sunday night. After I sang to him, told him what to dream about and kissed him on the cheek, he looked up at me and said, "Momma, you are the Best Mom of the Universe".

Best Mom of the Universe? Hmmmm...that has a nice ring to it, just as long as I don't have to wear a skimpy costume.

Miracle Monday

It's time for another edition of Miracle Monday. I was excited by all the wonderful entries that were posted last week. It is truly a blessing to read about how wonderful God is.

My plan was to highlight one of those entries here for you this week, but instead, I have a prayer request.

I am a member of a MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group. This group has truly been a blessing to me. I have made many wonderful friends through this group and can honestly say that I have more friends now that I live "out in the country" than I did when I lived in a large neighborhood in the big city of Charlotte.

Last night I received a call from Christy, the leader of our MOPS group. She was calling to let me know that Amanda, one of our members, had her baby. She had a beautiful little girl named Grace and she weighed 6 pounds, 9 ounces and was 21 inches long.

Unfortunately, her left ventricle did not develop, so essentially she was born with only half a heart. This was not detected during the pregnancy. The pediatrician discovered the problem after she was born.

She was airlifted to Duke University Medical Center last night for emergency surgery. The doctors have told the family that she will need at least 3 surgeries and that she will have a long hard road ahead.

I am hopeful that one of my future posts for Miracle Monday will be about Grace's healing. In the meantime, I am asking that you keep baby Grace and her family in your prayers. I know God can work a miracle with Grace. I know he can heal her broken heart.

Now it's your turn to post a miracle that God has already worked in your life or the life of someone you know. Please post your miracle on your website and include your link on Mr. Linky below.

Please make sure to mention Miracle Monday and give my website address so that others can come here and read all the miracles. Feel free to include the Miracle Monday button from the top of the page on your post.

I can't wait to read more wonderful stories of God's love!

***This edition of Miracle Monday is now closed. Thanks to all who partcipated! Please enjoy reading these miracles and come back next Monday for more.***

Truer words have never been spoken.

My son is often saying that he doesn't want to get married. I'm not exactly sure where this declaration keeps coming from but he's been saying it for a year now and he's adamant about it each time he says it.

Last night at dinner, Sarah was asking who I loved more - her, Peter or Daddy. She and I have been having this conversation a lot lately so I explained again how I loved all three equally but that I loved Daddy first. And because I loved Daddy, we got married and had her and Peter.

Of course, upon hearing the word 'married', Peter loudly exclaimed, "I'm never getting married!"

Dan said, "But if you don't get married, then you can't have kids."

Peter retorted and this is verbatim (yes, I wrote it down so I wouldn't forget), "Why would you want kids? All they do is make a big mess!"

I told you he was smart.

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Don't forget to come back here on Monday morning for another installment of Miracle Monday. Write about a miracle on your blog and link back here using my Mr. Linky so everyone can read about it.

Where did THAT come from?

Tuesday was Kindergarten registration day at the elementary school my son will be attending in the fall. I went with Jennwa. She was registering her son Colton and I was registering Peter.

It was a rainy afternoon but I was in good spirits. My son, my first born, would be going to school in the fall. I felt like I had made it. I'm not sure why I felt this way but I felt triumphant. We were approaching another milestone but I was happy about this one. I felt good about it -

or so I thought.

Let me just say that I am not generally a sappy person and I am not known to cry easily. Back in the day, my personal motto was "never let 'em see you cry". This motto served me well during long periods when all of my girlfriends had boyfriends and I had to spend many Saturday nights alone and again when I worked at a stressful job in a male-dominated company.

But since having kids, I am now much more likely to cry than I used to be. My guess is that just like the black Enfamil diaper bag, the descriptions of how baby poop should look at different stages, and the blue bulb nose aspirator, the hospital also sends new moms home with some special teary-eyed hormone after delivering your first baby.

But that's just a guess.

The school had stations set up to make registration flow smoothly. The first station was check-in where they confirmed that I had all the required documentation. The next station was a notary public who watched as I signed a form stating that all the documents I brought were mine and that I was who I said I was. At the third station, I signed up for a time in May for my son's assessment to make sure he is 'kindergarten ready'.

And the fourth and final station was the spot where I told them that yes, my little man would be riding the bus. When I said those words out loud, there was a catch in my throat.

Oh crap! Am I going to cry, I thought shocked at this catch in my throat and the tears that I could feel coming. Do not cry The first day of school is 5 months away. Do not stand here and cry. Stop being such a dork.

I cleared my throat a few times and blinked my eyes and shoved all the sadness that I was suddenly feeling back down into the pit of my stomach where it came from.

I proceeded to the book fair that was set up in the library and calmed myself while I mulled over a Rachel Ray cookbook. After all, who can be sad staring at that perky face?

I made it home with no tears and no embarrassing show of emotion, but all I can say, is that you people do not want to be around here at the end of August. I am predicting a lot of tears and a lot of sappy blog posts.

It could get ugly.

Works For Me Wednesday - Backwards Edition - Chores for a 5 Year Old

It's backwards day at Works For Me Wednesday so instead of posting a helpful tip, I get to ask a question. And this is something that I really need help with so, come on internets, help a sister out and tell me what you do...

I have a 5 year old who I think is pretty smart. The problem is though, he is lazy. He likes me to do everything for him. And I guess it is my fault. Being my first born, I started doing everything for him and just never stopped.

But we now have a problem. He expects everything to be handed to him - given over to him as if he deserves it because he has asked or whined for it.

His birthday is in November and of course, Christmas is in December. So he started expected windfalls of toys once a month. When January hit and there were no toys he started begging for...no lets make that demanding more toys. But I have not given in so he gets angry.

So what I am left with post birthday and post Christmas is a little boy who gets mad when he asks for a toy and doesn't get it. I have tried to explain the concept of working for your money, saving your money, donating your money but he can't see past a new toy.

I don't want to raise a child that expects things to be given to him. Something needs to change.

I think 5 is old enough for chores but I'm not sure exactly which tasks and how many tasks are appropriate for a 5 year old. How much allowance should a 5 year old receive for these tasks? Should I use a chore chart? (The thought of a chore chart sends cold chills down my spine...one more thing for mommy to keep track of...but I think he probably needs a visual to help him understand what he is working towards.)

And what about my 3 1/2 year old? She is not usually lazy but after watching her brother for the last couple of months, she has decided that lazy and demanding may be good character traits after all. What chores should I give her?

I want this to be a positive experience for the kids (and for me). I don't want there to be lots of screaming and fighting...we have enough of that already.

Part of me thinks they should do chores for free. I mean, they are receiving food, shelter and all the Scooby Doo they could possibly want. Shouldn't that be enough? But the other part of me thinks that they need to learn that in order to make money you need to work for it and what better way to learn that than helping me around the house!

So give it to me! Let me know what has worked for you and your kids.

It never hurts to put on fresh lipstick.

I woke up yesterday excited and anxious. It was the first Miracle Monday and I must admit I was a little nervous. It was the kind of nervous you get when you throw a party.

You know the kind of nervous I'm talking about. You've sent out the invitations. You've bought the food and the drinks. You've cleaned your house. You've put on a cute outfit.

And then you wait.

You wait nervously by the front door checking your hair in the mirror. You put on fresh lipstick. You check the appetizers in the oven and you wait. You put on more lipstick. You check the mirror to make sure none of it is on your teeth. And you wait.

And then the doorbell rings and your first guest arrives. And it rings again and your second guest arrives. And before you know it....

You have a party!

That's exactly what happened yesterday. I knew God would take care of the visitors but I still had butterflies in my stomach.

I was hoping 5 people would show up to share their miracles but 18 people stopped by!

EIGHTEEN!

I had a wonderful day yesterday reading all the miracles. I laughed. I cried. I got chills.

And I thanked God.

If anyone ever doubts there is a God, I hope they will read these miracles.

God is real. He walks on this earth today in 2008 and he will help you.

All you have to do is ask. And wait. And it never hurts to put on fresh lipstick.


Please come back next Monday for more Miracle Monday.

Miracle Monday

Welcome to the first edition of Miracle Monday!

The instructions are simple. Write a post on your blog about a miracle that you have witnessed, been a part of, or that has inspired you. Come back here and link to your post using the Mr. Linky at the bottom of the page. And then come back to read the other miracles that are posted.

I would like to share a miracle that has occurred in my life recently. Well, it actually occurred in my brother's life.

My brother, Brad, is a truck driver. He drives a tractor trailer truck for a local company and he has been doing this for over 15 years.

On January 23rd, he was going 65 miles an hour on I-485 near Charlotte, NC. It was a foggy morning but traffic in his lane was moving right along. Traffic in the other direction was coming to a standstill because in that direction the interstate was changing from 4 lanes down to 2 lanes.

All of a sudden, a driver in the other lane slammed on his brakes to avoid hitting a car that had stopped in front of him. (Perhaps in the fog the driver didn't notice that traffic was coming to a stop.) His car ran off the highway and under the cable barrier that separates the lanes of traffic.

My brother's truck was doing 65 miles an hour as it t-boned into this car. The car was badly mangled and as my brother got out of his truck, he noticed that the door of the car had been ripped off and was hanging from the side of his truck.

Each time a police officer walked by, my brother would ask if the driver was dead. He knew deep down that he had to be as there was no way anyone would be able to survive the impact of the crash. Each police officer answered the same way, "The driver is fine. He only has a busted lip."

Brad, certain that this couldn't possibly be true, began thinking that perhaps this is what police officers were instructed to say in accidents like this so that the other driver wouldn't get upset or go into shock.

Brad kept watching the ambulance expecting to see a sheet covered body going into the back. But this never happened. In fact no one ever went into the back of the ambulance because the policemen were correct.

The driver of the car that crashed into my brother's truck only sustained a bloody lip.

Even the local news station in Charlotte called this miraculous. Please click on the link below to see video footage of the car. You can even see the car door hanging from my brother's truck. (Please note - you have to suffer through a 10 second ad for a car dealership before you get to the news footage.)

http://www.wbtv.com/home/14053647.html

My brother never wears a seat belt. (I know! I know! I wish he would but he will not listen to his older sister.) And the day of the wreck was no exception. He said everything in the car that was loose - some change, a Coke bottle, a pen, a notebook, etc - flew up off the seat and into the windshield.

My brother however, stayed in his seat. He said it was almost as if someone was holding him down. I know exactly who was holding him down! It was the Lord!

January 28th was not my brother's time or the other driver's time to leave this earth. And I am convinced that my mother's constant prayer for my brother had something to do with it. She is always concerned for his safety while he is working but her concern is accompanied by many prayers and a deep faith in God. God answered her prayers that day and kept my brother and the other driver safe.

My brother never did get to speak to the other driver but I think that man would also agree - it truly was a miracle.

If you are participating in Miracle Monday today:

1. Please put your name and URL in Mr. Linky below and leave me a comment that you have put in your link. When putting in your URL make sure you use the permalink (the URL with your blog address and the name of your Miracle Monday post) so that people who are browsing through the miracles later will go directly to your Miracle Monday post and not to the front of your blog. If you have any questions about this, please feel free to email me.

2.Please make sure to include a link to this page in your post so others can come here to get the links to all the other miracles.

3. Feel free to copy the Miracle Monday logo and include it at the top of your Miracle Monday post.

4. Make sure to come back later today to read all of the other miracles!

I hope everyone that visits today is blessed by what they read.

Thanks to everyone who posted miracles. Please come back next Monday to post and read more miracles!