I am baffled at God's goodness to us!

Precious pictures of the delightful little member of our family. Addie Grace is adorable and baffles me with her sweetness at pointing to her Great Grandma with pride!

Margaret Thatcher, pioneer in the advancement of womanhood!

I am encouraged that womanhood has developed to this point where respect and sympathy have kissed eachother. As I look through the annalls of history as I have been taught it, the time in which we live has afforded some of the greatest freedoms and developments for women and in my opinion Margaret Thatcher personafies many of those realities. I am honored to have lived on the earth at the same season as she did.

This is me, After receiving my invitation to Stoney's birthday party. I do wish I could go.

What a great day it is when you get 2 letters from NY on the same day. I thought Addie-Grace made me smile! My children said, you forgot Stoney, didn't you? I didn't and this picture reminds me. Addie-Grace's Easter Hatbox book made my Easter a tolerable exercise in production, instead of a tormenting traverse through the carreen of sadness. I hit the bottom, as usual, but not with a thud. Thank you Addie-Grace, for softening my grief this year. Addie is my, this year's inspiration.

This is MU!

We called her Grandma Hanst. I love this picture of her at the beach, because that is how I remember her. Easter always makes me think of Mu's house, which is now Aunt Jackie's and Lauren's house to us all. Easter day or so,we would dress up and go to Mu's house. She always looked at my mommy squeemishly on account of the stork always visiting our house. I remember the baskets that Aunt Anne would hand out for Mu and a great big one was always for Glen. I said, why does Glen get such a big Easter basket. They said because he is a grandchild and you are a great grandchild. I set in my mind that I was going to try to be a grandchild, some way. I didn't know you had to be born a grandchild... This is us at Mu's house, before the egg hunt. Baby Jojo was in my mommy's tummy Grandma Hanst was the boss of our family and it was clear that she knew alot. I remember being at the beach with her. I had eaten lunch and my mommy asked Mu, if it was okay for me to go back into the water. She said wait an hour and my mother obeyed her, implicitly. I was soooo angry. Mu ate her sandwich and then said, it is going to rain, we should be going home. I was sooooo much more angry at her for that. I do not see clouds in the sky? Aunt Anne went about gathering the family for the coming deluge. We travelled to car in the first group, with Mu; on account of my mommy had baby Jojo in the tummy. Before we got to the car, the heavens opened and buckets of rain fell upon us. The aunties were stuck under trees and all of the men had to go and gather the damsels and get them to their cars. None of us got hit by lightning and we all made it home safely, because of Mu's early warning system. I said in my 5 year old mind, she must know God. I guess she did. Happy Easter and make it a memorable one.

coming soon to a blogsite or mailbox near you!

a story by Aunt Jayne with illustrations graciously completed by Emily Walker. look for this new and upcoming Walker family welcome to baby...

One day into the DC trip.

Last night we went to bed with Ethan's podcast on the MP3 player. Ezra was comforted and I was, also. Ethan would be in DC by now, we knew; but we weren't quite ready to talk about what he would be doing. So, we just listened to him, quietly. "I think, he was talking too loud into the player. Don't you?" Ezra corrected his brother, in my hearing. "I don't know, I think that he wanted that effect on the podcast." Of course, his mother would say that. Brotherly adversity and maternal acceptance are par for the course. Usually, we don't even think about how we interact, but today we were caring and arguing with him and eachother about him. We are grateful that he has this grand opportunity, but our hearts are the more tender at his being gone. He'll be back, tomorrow. Thank God.

This sunny North Carolina Day,clearing up the moisture from the dawn, we are getting Ethan ready for his trip to DC.

Thirteen, and, thank God, he was sponsored to take a trip to DC. with his class. The trip is tomorrow. Trips are never easy for us. We now have more adults in the house than children and this can complicate any process. Ethan, is of course, a man. His elder siblings are constantly instructing him of this or that thing to do. It is frustrating and helping me to appreciate the skills of the younger siblings in the family. They learn peace-making skills, just negotiating the instructions of so many. Some of the instructions are important and some are peevish and the younger sibling must use discernment to tell which is which. I just use the words "shut up!", when the cacophony becomes unbearable. Too many chiefs and not enough underlings, or followers. Well, Ethan is getting packed and growing into manhood and learning to care for himself. I love the spotlight that comes to these things when a trip is imminent.

Welcoming Baby Addie-Grace

What a treasure it must be for Granmare Juju Bear! I am really excited!

Marching on...

Thank God for Baby Addie-Grace. It seems every year or so, these days a new baby comes to breathe new life into my grief month. I march through March in a fog, each day my memory of a dearly departed 21 days distract and entrench me. The distractions of the beautiful sweet remainder children comfort and then, God sends new ones. Addie Grace has me working on my crocheting. I do hope that I will finish the job before she goes to college. Stoney's quilt is sitting in my drawer from last year and many other activities that I began in love for nieces and nephews that comfort my soul. Hat and sweater are the works of my hands and comforting me in my grief walk.

Enjoying A Deluge of Mercy!

It is always a dark day for me on March 4th. I keep trying new ideas to encourage myself to have faith on that day and it seems impossible for me. Even 24 years later, the birth story looms large, with no one to share it with. No hugs for that day. No birthday cake, just pain and loss.

So, I woke this morning and turned on a local preacher and guess what? He was preaching on Enoch in Genesis. Amazing grace. Enoch never died. Enoch saw God's judgment looming on the horizon and preached to his generation. What a delightful providence!

I was able to pick my faith up, again, from the side of the road, bruised and broken. Yes, there is a good God, in heaven. Yes, He is watching over us, inspite of my loss and pain today and this month, leading up to Easter Sunday. Christ is the resurrection and the life. That seems so impossible, when far from the grave of your departed one and grieving. But, it is true, anyhow.

So much of the look on my boys' faces causes a smile on my face. That sermon reminded me of the comfort that I found in the life of Enoch, who God spared from death, altogether. As we await the celebration of the truth of Christ resurrection and my heart seems in the tomb, I am comforted that His Word is alive and working on my behalf. Steven Davies' message on Enoch from scripture