We totally just did something soooo uncharacteristic! We went to Krispy Kreme for dinner....yep, that's right. Doughnuts...the dinner of champions. What prompted this outing was a conversation at lunch we had with James. I said something about a doughnut and James said "what's a doughnut....is it round?" That baffled me that he hadn't had a doughnut in so long that his brain had no memories, let alone a Krispy Kreme, the melt in your mouth, best in the world when their hot doughnut! We just don't eat a lot of sweets. The only candy from his trick or treat bucket that he knew the name was M&Ms. That's been fun watching him discover other candy wonders. So Trey said we should all go later in the afternoon. But, of course, after house work and yard work, it ended up being at 6pm, just in time for dinner. Trey actually called before we left to make sure the "Hot Now" light was on so we could get doughnuts right off the conveyor belt! And we did. And now I feel sick. Me, being coupon obsessed, had one for 1/2 off the 2nd dozen but I knew that was too many for us so I gave it to the older gentleman behind us in line. Later, very enamored with our kids, came over and asked us to pick out some doughnuts to take home from his box. I wanted to refuse but eager James took 4 more and now we have almost a dozen we brought home! Talk about an immediate blessing and 5 extra pounds. Eliza, turned into a teenage girl, and refused to take part in the doughnut extravaganza, keeping her girlish figure. But she and James both enjoyed watching the doughnuts being made through the window. It is pretty cool. He said, "I wish I could have that job!" We laughed and told him when he was 16 he could. He said he would bring home doughnuts. Haha. Hopefully he will have more ambition at some point! But hey, it would have some perks...
This was a good weekend. Trey was home and we have enjoyed being a family. I went to Cami's baby shower yesterday. It was fun with lots of yummy food. I am blessed to have her in my life. Megan went and we got to hang out. She is the newest wife in the band and I haven't had much time to get to know her. It was really nice to have that time to talk and the learn more about her. I like her SO much. It still baffles me that God gave me such wonderful friends in the wives of this band. It could be such an awful relationship, but it's not. A totally unexpected blessing straight from the hand of God.
This morning we went back to Liberty Hill, our old church where Trey used to lead worship. At the Wednesday night EA concert, (yes, I went with kids in tow. They had a great time and Eliza did too even though she was under the weather. But I paid for it because she was up ALL night after that and I had to work the next day, poor baby) Anyway, some of our friends came, one being the sound man and another a singer in the worship band. Both convinced me to come back and sing today. I took them up on their offer. I am so glad I did. It is always a blessing to worship and to be loved on by friends. That is the greatest church. The people make it incomparable to other churches, so full of love and passion. I do hope to go back and sing again. Not being able to make it to practice during the week makes it hard and unfair to the others. So we will just have to wait and see.
I am off to finish some laundry before I am off to bed, I work tomorrow. Can I just say how much I do not like Day Light Savings....its got us all screwed up already.

So, this weekend was great! I have been sick for almost a week and a half with this awful cough, and I thought Neil and I were just going to stay in. Out of nowhere, some of Neil's friends came across some free tickets to Six Flags, and invited us to go to for the day. I had already determined that I was staying in that day to get better- but come on, free tickets to Six Flags? And during Fright Fest?? Yes, please! I didn't care if I was going to be paying for it all the next week, we were going to Six Flags for Halloween!

Halloween was oh so much fun. The kids looked so adorable. Eliza wasn't really interested at first. But she soon discovered that the harder she stomped her new furry boots, the louder her bells rang. (She was an elf). So she strutted her stuff! She got really good at being a ham and saying "tik teet' to everyone and "tantoo" (thank you). James was bumblebee transformer and was very offended if anyone thought he was scary. "no, i'm a good guy!" They were so cute!

I was able to go on a short trip with EA, monday and Tuesday, to Kentucky. I wanted to go because the promoters putting on the show were very dear old friends and we haven't seen them in about 5 years. We planted a church with them about 8 years ago in Atlanta and when you do something like that together, you are connected forever. It was great to see them. Its was actually my first trip in the EA van....and it didn't smell as bad as I thought it would. Tiffany, their manager, had frebreezed the van when she went to the midwest with them, so Thank YOU TIFFANY!. But I had a blast. The guys were so welcoming to me and I appreciated it. But I do think we went to the first place ever where we weren't considered red-necks.....hahaha.

I was supposed to work today and Trey was going to take the kids to my cousins to play when he had to go. He has a show tonight in town. But Eliza has been running a fever of 103 for 2 days, so I had to call in to work today. She is feeling much better today but I am not sure I can take her to the show or not. I really wanted to, the kids don't get to see their daddy play much and an in town show only 20 minutes away is SOOOO rare. We shall see how the day goes.

My sister in law is in labor!!! She was due on the 31st with her 4th baby girl! The baby is turned face down so that is why labor had not progressed. They induced her last night and she had a very long tough night but has progressed and hopefully that baby has turned face up by now. We are so thrilled for the arrival of Estelle. We will be able to meet her at Thanksgiving. Please pray for her and the baby.

I'm off to take advantage of this day off and do some laundry!

Happy November 1st! It's so hard to believe that we are already into November! This year is flying by quickly! I hope that you had a great Halloween weekend. Josh and I did! On Saturday Josh and I went up to visit his MeMaw and Uncle David. It had been several months since we had been there, so it was nice to go and spend some time with them. After that we left and drove to Shannon's house. Something you may not know about our very own Shannon Cochran is that his favorite holiday is Halloween. And every year he has a big Halloween party at his house with a haunted trail, hayride, bonfire and all. He does a GREAT job putting this on. The haunted trail is all about a character called "Smokey Bones". You go out on a tour of the trail in hopes of finding Smokey Bones. It really is fun. But, this year for me was a little tougher because of being almost 8 months pregnant. At the end all the scary characters from the whole trail started running after everyone. Yeah...I couldn't run. LOL...but my faithful husband stayed with me and never let go of my hand. Anyway, we had a great time there at his party. Good job Shanno!!! After that, we left and drove 2 hours to my friend Heidi Rew's house for her Halloween party. Yes, Shannon lives way out there! LOL! Anyway, Heidi and I work together at The Fish here in Atlanta. The picture above is of current and former Salem Communication employees. As you can see Josh and I dressed up as Mickey Mouse Club Mouseketeers. We usually try to be more creative with our costumes, however, being preggo it was a bit more difficult. And plus, we didn't want to have a big expense in costumes with a baby on the way. So, this is what we came up with. I have to say though, I was EXHAUSTED after such a long day. But, we had such a great time that I wouldn't have changed it. Josh and I feel so blessed to have such wonderful friends. So any time that we get to spend with them is just awesome.

Today Echoing Angels is doing a show in Kentucky. Thankfully it's only a day trip and they will be home tomorrow. Then they have a concert here in Atlanta on Wednesday night. So that will be a lot of fun to go to. Anyway, while Josh is away today, my daddy came over to help finish up our Lacey's room. He put up the chair rail and is now caulking in the places that need it. I'm so thankful to have such a wonderful daddy who is willing to give up his day to come help me. Thanks daddy! I love you! Once he's done with that we're going to steam clean her carpet. THEN we can put in the crib and all of Lacey's things! I'm sooo excited! It's crazy that Lacey will be here in less than 9 weeks. Cannot wait!

Happy Halloween everyone. I am so excited to see the kids in their costume tonight. We don't live in a neighborhood so we are headed to my parents house to trick or treat there. And I hear my dad is smoking us some steaks in his awesome BIG GREEN EGG. That thing is awesome. While today is a fun day, I am also a little sad. Today would have been Brooke's 31st birthday. I have been avoiding blogging about her, I wasn't ready. But here goes. Everyone say a prayer for her parents today.

Brooke was/is my very best friend for 20 years. Brooke and I met in the 7th grade. We sat next to each other in science class. We dissected frogs together….well, I dissected and she "ooed and ahed, that's gross!" Earlier that year, I broke my ankle. Because we attended a very old school lacking an elevator, cafeteria in the basement and 7th grade on the 3rd floor, I was allowed to eat lunch in the classroom and of course the friend I chose to stay with me was Brooke. Everyday for 6 weeks we had 45 minutes to ourselves, left to our mischievous ways! Thus the inseparable friendship began. It wasn’t just a broken ankle; it was God’s higher plan. He used a broken bone for His glory. Although you cannot compare a broken bone to Brooke’s disease, in the same way God chose her suffering for His purpose, to show others He was in control.

John 9:
As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"
"Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.

Brooke was diagnosed when she was 14 with Neurofibromatosis, type 2, a genetic disease that causes spontaneous tumor growth on her brain and spinal cord. Over the years, she developed hundreds of tumors and only the ones growing and causing trouble would be removed. She lost her hearing at age 20 due to an acoustic neuroma. She lost eye sight and control of one eye a couple years later. She then lost her balance and could not get around very well. In the last year, she became a paraplegic and in the last months, a quadriplegic. It was very sad to watch. She should have been a healthy vibrant beautiful woman.
Brooke knew early on during her disease that God had a plan for her life, that she was being used for His higher purpose. The glory of God in her life spilled out onto everyone she met and they were never the same.....I will never be the same. She would tell anybody who would listen that Christ was number one in her life and that she served a God who loved her. She would also say that she had nothing to complain about...that she had a loving family and a warm home to be sick in. Wow.
She had more surgeries than I can count. She made into the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest Gamma Knife surgery (a type of laser). She once said, "When I asked God to be famous, this is not what I meant!"....lol! She never lost her humor. She also said "I probably will die choking on a cheerio than from this disease!" She was very clumsy! But it turns out, it would take her life. Actually, God had mercy and that's the only reason why.

I am honored to be called her best friend, blessed beyond words to be there with her the night she accepted Christ as Lord of her life. She went to church camp with me after our 7th grade year. I will never forget that night, when she looked over to me and asked if I would walk to the alter with her. I remember praying with her and our counselor. And her journey began....her favorite camp song was "Sanctuary."

Something happens in the life of a believer when they suffer on earth the way Brooke did. The Holy Spirit draws himself so close that when you are in their presence, you have just been in the presence of God. Since Brooke was never able to meet her soul mate here on earth, Brooke asked God if she could marry her savior when she got to heaven. She asked him to take her as His bride and for the wedding of her dreams in heaven. I know He granted this for her. I asked Brooke to describe her wedding to me. She said, “for starters, I’m beautiful of course! In a white flowing dress….” We decided it would be in an enchanted chapel with floating pillar candles like in the Harry Potter movies. And when she made it down the aisle to Jesus, He would say “I’ve been waiting on you a long time” and tell her how much He loved her. I am absolutely sure that this is the greeting she got when she entered the gates. A faithful servant like her deserves nothing less!

Recently, my husband wrote a song for Brooke. I wanted to tell you about the experience Brooke and I had that led Trey to write the song. About ten years ago, Brooke was getting a Halo, a contraption that stabilized her neck which was unstable due to the bone in her cervical spine that were removed along with her most recent tumor. She had to be awake for this procedure and it is very painful, and I promised I would pray for her. The morning of her procedure I had a class in college and when I arrived back in my dorm room, I immediately remembered that I had forgotten to pray for her at her procedure time. I was an hour late! Feeling horrible that I missed it, I sat down at my desk and not knowing what to pray, I simply asked God “please give her peace.” A couple days later, Brooke called me and said, “The most amazing thing happened. I was getting really nervous sitting in the waiting room because they were an hour late getting back to do the procedure. But as soon as they started, I heard the clearest voice say "I’ll give you peace, I’ll give you peace, I’ll give you peace". So I began to repeat the Lord’s Prayer over and over until they were done.” So the song is called “I’ll give you peace.” And in the bridge of the song, it says:
‘righteousness Adorns you my Bride” Words that the Holy Spirit gave trey to write because he was unaware at the time of Brooke’s bridal request. The song is truly anointed. Recently, Trey got to sing her song at radio stations all over the nation! I have added it to the blog, its the post right after this one "ECHOING ANGELS VISITS FAMILY FRIENDLY RADIO WIBI" Get the tissues. Its awesome. And it is projected to be the next single in the spring/summer. I am in awe at how God works. Her legacy might be on Christian radio for the world to hear!

I could sit here all day and reminisce about my friendship with Brooke, there is so much of her wit and charm I want you to know, but I would fail her if I did that. Because all she would really want me to say is how much she loved Jesus Christ. And if you don’t know Him as your savior, your healer, your provider, your friend, then you have missed what her life was all about. If you’re living an average, mediocre Christian life, not wholeheartedly running toward Christ, then you are missing the experience of lifetime, the experience of her lifetime. If she could insure that just one more of you came to know Christ through her life, then she would say it was all worth it. She was His most faithful servant, each day, running toward the prize and exiting this world boldly straight into His arms. Because of her, my cup runs over….