Heaven's Embrace through Friends

I just had to take a moment to tell you just how faithful God is even when we aren't faithful to Him. The past couple of weeks have been long for me with Bry gone. My days have surely been long and yet I know that my years are quickly passing with my sweet children. I have had a lot of emotion over the weeks with all that has been going on. And I must say that God is teaching me a whole lot right now. Too much to share for now, but teaching me deep, rooted lessons of the heart.

What I wanted to write is that during these weeks, God has given me hug after hug and hug through amazing friends. I have never in my life felt so loved by so many people all at one time. I think that it's ironic in some ways that I am planning (along with a great team of women at our church) the Women's retreat. This year, we decided to do a retreat on women's friendships and what that looks like. We named the retreat: Heaven's Embrace--Celebrating the Essence of Friendship. With that said, I know that it's by no mistake that I have felt just that this past week. I have felt Heaven's embrace through friends. Through friends bringing me meals, sending their husbands to mow my lawn, emailing me, calling me, showing up at my house, cards, etc. This list is so long and the love is so strong. I just can't thank them all enough. Words can't express my gratitude and my appreciation for the extra mile that has been tread for me.

I came across a saying by Richard J Foster that I will share with you all:
"Love is the response of the heart to the overwhelming goodness of God, so come in simply and speak to Him in unvarnished honesty, you may be so awestruck and full of love at His presence that words do not come."

I have been awestruck by Him this past week. I don't have the words to adequately express how I feel. Just know that I am blessed and I can only hope to bless others the way I have been these past 2 weeks.

Jerry Falwell

I'm a few days late in writing this, but thought that I would let you all know that amidst the tragedies we have seen in Greensburg, Kansas the past couple of weeks, my family is experiencing yet another one.

Jerry Falwell, a well-known pastor and evangelist and founder of Liberty University, passed away unexpectedly Tuesday, May 15th while sitting in his office at Liberty. The reason that this is significant to my family is that Jerry was a long time friend of my Grandfather (my mom's dad) and to my Grandmother today. My Grandfather, Everett Whisnant, was very involved with helping Jerry Falwell begin his ministry many years ago. Though my Grandfather passed away when my mother was 9, Jerry and his wife Macel have always kept my Grandmother very near and dear to their hearts.

Just last month for my Grandma's 85th birthday, they took her to a nice lunch, had a cake for her. Grandma was in VA with my mom and brother visiting Liberty as that is where my brother is wanting to go. He is wanting to go into their Aviation program. That aside, when they contact Jerry and Macel to let them know they were going to be in town, they helped celebrate Grandma's birthday in style. They were just thrilled that Stephen was interested in the school and they had a great time talking of times past.

So, when he passed away on Tuesday, it took my family by storm a little bit. And not to mention, he passed away on my Mom's 50th birthday. They will all be traveling to VA for the funeral this weekend. Please keep them in your prayers.

Pictures from Greensburg

The house Bry grew up in.
Bry's bedroom that he grew up in.

It's the only thing left standing in his childhood home.

The pickup that fell on Harold Schmidt's leg.

Again, this is Bry's sister's father in law that just passed away after

having his 3rd surgery from the tornado.

Kathy's house in Greensburg before the tornado.

Kathy's house in Greensburg after the tornado.

Kansas updates

Well, I figured that I needed to update you all about Kansas. Thankfully, Bryan is coming home tonight! We are very excited to be able to see him. He is completely exhausted as you can imagine with all the hard, manual labor he has been doing. Not to mention the emotional exhaustion that has been included this past week as well.

I wanted to share a few stories with you about his week. One of the highlights of the week for Greensburg residents is a personal visit by President Bush. Although Bry didn't get to meet him, it lifted a lot of spirits in Greensburg. I have to be honest with you, I can't believe that Bry didn't even really try to meet him as he was busy with helping friends/family move trees and such. It just shows me that his heart was really in the right place. I think I would have ditched my friends for a spell and tried to be able to shake the Presidents' hand! I think he regrets a little bit that he didn't get to meet him, but was glad that some of his close friends were able to chat with the President.

I think this story was in the paper, but a lady that Bry knows well (I can't remember her name) had the privilege of shaking Bush's hand. She looked at him and said: "I would invite you in for tea, but I didn't get a chance to dust!" And yes, her house was one of the ones that was wiped out...so all she had left was dust.

Many have had to keep their sense of humor through this tragedy. Some have been putting up signs in their yards to express their humor. Bry put in his Dad's yard: Yard of the month. Others had signs that said: For Sale for $1 OBO. Another one said: Struck down, but not destroyed. I can't remember them all. But laughter is often the best medicine.

Yesterday, they received a visit from Dorothy herself! Yelp, you read that right. Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz paid them a visit. She was looking for Toto! Bry even got a picture with her. Hopefully, I can get a copy of that to post on the blog!

A lady dressed up like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz and went around town trying to spread some cheer. The residents LOVED it!

On a more tragic note, Bryan's brother in laws family hit devastation yet again this morning. Bryan's sister, Kathy's husband is Mike. Mike's parents lived in Greensburg and they were one of the many that lost their house and EVERYTHING in the tornado that struck just over a week ago. They were in their basement the whole time. Long story short, the tornado passed over their heads so to speak and took their house and in the process a pick up truck came crashing down and landed on Mike's dad's leg and crushed it. It took 12 men to get him out from under the truck after the storm.

He had to have surgery on his leg yesterday and during surgery, his heart stopped. They put him on a respirator. Another long story short, he died this morning. Good news is that his entire family was able to make it to the hospital before he passed to say their goodbyes. The bad news is that his wife, Sarah (Mike's mom) has now lost not only her house, car, and all belongings.....but now her husband. Harold (Mike's dad) was well loved especially by his grandchildren. Please pray for their family this week.

With that said, we will most likely be heading back to Kansas this weekend. I'm not sure that me and the kids will...but we may. Bry will for sure be going back for the funeral. He grew up with Harold as well and has felt the loss.

Thanks for your calls, emails, and prayers.

Tornado update

Well, I thought I would let you all know that Bry is still in Greensburg and will be through the weekend. He is having some friends come in from Mississippi to help with moving some trees from his dad's house. It has been a very sureal experience for him as he is looking at his entire childhood of memories being wiped away from it's very existence. There are just too many stories to tell.

All in all, we know that God is all sovereign. God's hand was in this whole mess and we know that His glory will prevail in the end.

Love to you all...

Latest Picture of kiddos

Some sibling love

Mother's Day Tea in Reid's Class

Mother's Day Tea in Cole's class

One of the things I love the most about the Mother's Day program that my boys are a part of is the Mother's Day tea that they have every year. I went to each of the boys' class on different days and they celebrated their mommys!! They make special treats for mom that of course I scrapbook! Their little faces just light up when I walked in the room. It's a special day that I am privileged enough to share with my sweet boys.

So, it's official. I have caved and started a blog. You are welcome Andrea!! ;-) I'll try to keep you all interested.


I guess now is a good time to start considering the situation at hand with Bryan and his family in Greensburg, Kansas. It's a bit ironic considering most don't even know that this little town in Kansas even exists till now as it is making headline news. If you live in the dark and never watch the news (ok...I must admit, I live in the dark most of the time), you may not know that Bryan's hometown of Greensburg, Kansas was hit by a mile wide tornado on Friday night. The significance this has on us??? Well, Bry's mom and dad still live there. Thankfully, they are both doing ok and were safe in the storm.

Bry is there now seeing how he can help his family and friends. His entire childhood of memories was just wiped out. His high school, church, home, etc is now gone!

I will try to keep you all updated as the events unfold. They are supposed to allow residents into Greensburg tomorrow. So, we'll see.