After the storms pass..............the sun WILL shine!

She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future. -Proverbs 31:25

It has rained in Mississippi for the past two weeks and my 

body has been crippled by it.  My RA has been so very 

active that I have landed in the hospital twice unable to

stand on my own two feet, grasp toilet paper with either

hand, or simply open my mouth due to my jaws being

locked.  The pain has been so overwhelming that I am

now on a new journey to the Mayo Clinic in Rodchester, MN

to enter a three week Pain Management Program. I've

had RA for over 21 years and it has gotten progressively

worse.  For so long I thought that I was one tough cookie!

I could press through the pain and grin as if nothing was 

wrong.  But the past two years it became harder to mask

and harder to deal with.  I do NOT want to have to

use medicine that zonks me out or changes my

 EVER-SO-UNFORGETTABLE personality!

So...we are choosing this new path.  I ask for prayers

as I begin this journey.  My rheumy has referred me

and now it is the insurance approval wait.  OH THE JOYS!

They won't always be babies!

It is strange how I viewed my kids as they were little

tikes.... I soaked up each moment so that I never

fully grasp the idea that they would indeed grow "UP".

As middle school and high school hit, I was still 

viewing my kids as my babies... they still needed

me and were always coming to me with questions.

As my son's senior year approached it began to hit

home that my "babies" were growing "UP" and 

soon they would be growing "OUT".  I always

knew in my heart they were a gift from God to 

guide, guard and protect until the day I was 

to help them fly own their own.  YES, it hit

hard and I cried tears of joys and tears of 

"where did all the years go" when my son left

for college.  BUT oh how this year has marked

the beginning of a "TRUE EMPTY NEST".

I watched my baby girl leave for Indiana 

for summer missions with a joy filled heart.

As the days passed, she began vocalizing 

how much she missed home and then

came her "countdown to return". It made 

me think..... upon her return, she will have

one year left at home before joining her 

brother at MSU.... where did all the time

go? It is a blessing to know that my kids are

healthy, happy, intelligent, and moral young 

adults that are able to fly own their own....

but OH how I will miss them.  I will smile

and help fix up her dorm room at the junior 

college a mile from our house this year...

but in my heart there WILL BE TEARS!

MY BABIES are growing "UP"!