Prayers for Stellan

You all know that I'm a blog hog. I read multiple blogs a day and several of them are of people I don't know, don't live anywhere near me and that I have never met.

One of these blogs is MckMama's blog. She has 4 children and is married to Prince Charming. If you've never read her blog, hop over...she's hilarious and has quite the story.

Her youngest is 4 month old Stellan. In utero, he was diagnosed with SVT...which is a very serious heart condition where the heart beats very fast and erratically. (If you want to know more, Google it...I don't have time to explain it here).

The doctors basically told her that he would never live. But MckMama had a direct line to the Great Physician and believed for a miracle. And a miracle happened. She basically put her life on the line in taking drugs to help calm Stellan's heart at the risk of destroying her own. But God chose to protect them both and Stellan was born happy and healthy.

Until this weekend.

He had been ill and they ended up taking him to the ER. His heart has begun beating fast and erratically again and he has taken a turn for the worst. Many of the blogs I read also keep up with MckMama and her family and they have posted asking their readers to pray.

And so I now join that group. MckMama and her family are Believers and know that God can perform a miracle with Stellan. He's done it once before. But sometimes miracles don't come in the form we want them too. But right now, if you could go before the throne with your prayers, there is a Mama out there, about to lose her miracle son, who would appreciate it. I have come to feel deeply for this family I have never met and have fervently prayed for them. Will you join me?

If you have just a moment, please pray...

To stay updated on MckMama and her family of MSC (many small children), go here. Feel free to leave a comment letting her know you are praying for them.

Jersey Boys - A Review

For those of you that follow me on Facebook, you know this weekend, Steve and I went to see Jersey Boys at TPAC. Allow me to confess...I had heard of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, but honestly, I did not know them by the name "Jersey Boys"...Steve had told me the show was about them and I was pretty uninterested. We had to go to Lebanon for Gage's 2nd birthday party and we were in a huge rush to get back, drop Jenna off at home, wait for the babysitter and get all the way back into town for the start time. Had we totally missed it, I would not have been that upset.

But I am SO glad we went now. We barely got there in time to take our seats. Usually, by intermission, I'm looking at my watch and wondering how late we are going to be and calculating how much this will cost me (in terms of paying the sitter!). During the show this time, I didn't look at my watch once.

These guys portraying the members of the original Four Seasons are unbelievably talented. And even though I'd heard of the group, I couldn't name the songs they were famous for. Now, I have burned both Steve and I a CD of songs such as "Oh What a Night", "Bye, Bye Baby (Baby Goodbye", "Sherry" and "Walk like a Man". Did you know they even did the song "Grease" for the movie?

I digress...the point to this blog is to tell you that you still have 2 weeks to see Jersey Boys and I highly recommend it. If you are looking for a date night, this is the perfect idea. We both loved it and would definitely go see it again.

So there you have it. My first (and probably only) stage review! Speaking of review, I have another book review coming up in the next few weeks...so stay tuned!

Interview with Jenna Grace

I saw this on Rachel's Facebook and thought it would be fun to do with Jenna Grace. So, for those of you who aren't on FB yet...

1. What is something mommy always says to you?
"I love you"

2. What makes mommy happy?
"me!"

3. What makes mommy sad?
"When I be mean to you"

4. How does your mommy make you laugh?
"Tickles me"

5. What was your mommy like as a child?
"I don't know because I wasn't back in your days"

6. How old is mommy?
"41" (I'm NOT 41 btw...she continued to guess when she saw the look on my face!)

7. How tall is mommy?
"8ft tall" (if I were at least 8 ft, then my weight wouldn't be such a problem!)

8. What is mommy’s favorite thing to do?
"Play with me? Oh, oh no! Scrapbook!" (THAT'S my girl!)

9. What does your mommy do when you're not around?
"Scrapbook, watch TV...do all that stuff"

10. If your mommy becomes famous, what will it be for?
"Beautiful singer" (obviously, she doesn't listen closely enough to my singing!)

11. What is your mommy really good at?
"Playing frisbee" (huh? Guess it was because we played this yesterday).

12. What is your mommy not very good at?
"Mmmmm...walking through Fat Man's Squeeze" (sometimes I wonder where she gets these things!)

13. What does your mommy do for her job? (What is mommy’s job?)
"Work"

14. What is your mommy's favorite food?
"Oh that's a tough one...salad?"

15. What makes Mommy proud of you?
"Doing all my chores and doing good deeds"

16. If your mommy was a cartoon character, who would she be?
"Uh. Velma" (ah yes, the nerd from Scooby Doo)

17. What do you and mommy do together?
"Play"

18. How are you and mommy the same?
"We both got our ears pierced"

19. How are you and mommy different?
"Eye color"

20. How do you know mommy loves you?
"Because she said she does"

21. Where is mommy's favorite place?
"Scrapbooking retreatment and Teacup Patch" (that would be a scrapbook RETREAT and TPAC)

Prayers needed for a friend...

Can I ask you all to pray for a dear friend of mine, Meredith? Meredith is a wonderful woman of God who goes to church with us and lives down the street in a neighboring subdivision. My favorite thing about Meredith is that no matter where I happen to see her, she greets me with a hug, asks me about whatever is going on in my life (she's a blog follower of mine!) and makes me feel like I have a friend wherever we are (which is a big deal to me when I'm in large groups!).

Anyway, Meredith found out early this morning that her father was tragically killed in a auto accident late last night. I know first hand the pain of losing a parent (and in-law...her husband Dave is equally awesome!) and I weep now just thinking of the pain she is in.

The good news is that Meredith's parents are both Christians (her mom's a pastor) and so I know they take some comfort in the fact that her dad is sitting at the feet of Jesus right now. But they are also mourning their own earthly loss.

Please remember this family in your prayers over the coming days.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I know I have been delinquent about posting, but I promise, there's really not much going on in the life of the Taylors.

A few months ago, I asked you guys to pray for my cousin down in Florida...she had cancer and they had not given her much hope in treatment. I am saddened to report that tonight I got the call she has passed away. I'm not sure of arrangements yet so I don't know whether I'll be able to fly down in time for the funeral.

Outside of that, life has been pretty much normal which we are THANKFUL FOR! We have gotten so used to some drama going on that it's a welcome relief to have little to worry about.

It's Spring Break here at the Taylor household. Jenna Grace spent yesterday and today at the Adventure Science Center spring break camp, which turned out to be fabulous! Tonight she is spending the night at her friend's house and so it's just Steve and I. We'll pick her up tomorrow afternoon and then I'm off with her on Thursday and Friday. We are going to have lunch with our friends the Joneses from Alabama on Thursday...no plans for Friday yet...

That's about it with us. Hope you all had a Happy St. Patrick's day and didn't get pinched!

Last Call for Magazines

Just a reminder if you want to order a magazine to support Jenna's school, today is the deadline. You can go to this link and click on the picture link for QSP magazine sale. Be sure to enter Jenna's name so that she can get credit. She's 1st grade Gates if you need that too. We appreciate your support!

Winners and other stuff

Well, I'll get to the first things first...the winner of the book "Dinner with a Perfect Stranger"...I think I said I would draw tomorrow, but since I'm home tonight, I figure I'd go ahead and do it. I had enough folks to enter the drawing that I'm parting with BOTH copies of the book.

And the winners are....

Karen H. and Rachel M.!!! Yay! You are both local, so I'll be happy to get your books to you in the next few days (by the way Christy, I'm going to try and get your book in the mail this coming week!)

On to other news...I'm back from scrapbooking all weekend and I'm pretty sad about that. :) I cropped with 17 of my gal pals since Thursday afternoon. I got pretty caught up on several projects I had going.

I'm pretty tired as we don't get much sleep at these things (not to mention losing another hour of sleep due to the time change), so I think I'm going to visit Forks for a while and then go to bed early...

Snow Day!

Only in Tennessee can you get 2 inches of snow in March and then 5 days later have temperatures in the 70s.

2 inches on our deck.

Late Saturday night/Sunday morning, it began to snow. We woke up to ultra brightness which turned out to be 2 inches of snow.

"Peek a Boo" (can you see our baby cat gazing at the snow?)

We opted for the evening service at church and took the opportunity to play in the snow in the morning. It was GREAT packing snow and we managed a nice sized snowman.

TOTAL FUN!

Book Review: Dinner with a Perfect Stranger

OK folks...this one is the most interesting book I've reviewed since I started.

If you've read The Shack, this book is similar. Here's the "canned" review...

You are Invited to a Dinner with Jesus of Nazareth
The mysterious envelope arrives on Nick Cominsky’s desk amid a stack of credit card applications and business-related junk mail. Although his seventy-hour workweek has already eaten into his limited family time, Nick can’t pass up the opportunity to see what kind of plot his colleagues have hatched. The normally confident, cynical Nick soon finds himself thrown off-balance, drawn into an intriguing conversation with a baffling man who appears to be more than comfortable discussing everything from world religions to the existence of heaven and hell. And this man who calls himself Jesus also seems to know a disturbing amount about Nick’s personal life.………

...."You’re bored, Nick. You were made for more than this. You’re worried about God stealing your fun, but you’ve got it backwards.… There’s no adventure like being joined to the Creator of the universe." He leaned back off the table. "And your first mission would be to let him guide you out of the mess you’re in at work."………….

As the evening progresses, their conversation touches on life, God, meaning, pain, faith, and doubt–and it seems that having Dinner with a Perfect Stranger may change Nick’s life forever.

Folks...this book is short and a very easy read. I probably read it in just a few hours. It is great and I can't tell you how much I enjoyed reading it! There is another book, by David Gregory called "Day with a Perfect Stranger" and it is about Nick's wife (after his dinner) and her own time spent with a very similar stranger. I didn't review that book, but I can tell you, it made my list of "books to read"!

I can't say enough about this book. Short and quick and it touches on many of the questions others have about Christianity and the "whys" of what we believe.

I have two of these books and I am willing to give them both away if we have enough entries. If you are reading from out of town (and there are several of you) and win, I will pay to have the book shipped to you. So, no strings attached.

So....to enter, leave a comment below or email me at sandras_junk@charter.net

I'll draw for a winner a week from today! And if you don't win, you can click here or here to purchase either book.

Need Magazines?

I hate sending these requests to folks because it seems like everytime I turn around, I'm asking for money for something! So, here you go...take it or leave it!

Jenna's school is selling magazines. She is dying for you to buy some, mostly so she can get the free junk toys they give away when you sell so many subscriptions. I always renew a couple of my own magazines, so if you are looking to renew, you can do that too. OR...if you are like me and already supporting your own student with magazine subscriptions, they also have a variety of CDs and other items that you can purchase.

Go to http://dles.lipscomb.edu/ and click on the picture link for QSP magazine sale. Be sure to enter Jenna's name so that she can get credit. She's 1st grade Gates if you need that too. We appreciate your support!

Also, coming very soon is another book review and this one is the best yet. If you have read The Shack and liked it, then you'll like this one (if you haven't read The Shack, run...don't walk...to your nearest bookstore or library and read it NOW!).

Stay tuned...Dinner with a Perfect Stranger...coming soon (FREE GIVEAWAYS TOO!)