Dolly Parton rocks the house!!!

The Imagination Library is this awesome program that Dolly Parton set up for preschoolers to encourage literacy. I won't go into it, because she explains it so much better than I do - but if you have tots, ages newborn to 5 - PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE check this out and see if it is available in your area!!! Let me just say FREE - FREE - FREE BOOKS! And who doesn't love something FREE! And books, at that - children's books! I have no idea why I haven't posted about this so far because the email has just been sitting in my inbox waiting for my little guy to be born and get a name and birthdate before he gets signed up! But I know there are a few out there with preschoolers, so CHECK IT OUT!

Other than that, my man is home again and all is better with the world. It's been a rough weekend to be sure. I've had a lot more heart-aching things going on this summer than funny ones! (Much to my dismay!) The most recent - I've been diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I was devastated. I just found out on Monday... I've met with a Dietitian and hopefully we can get everything worked out. I was told that it wasn't necessarily anything I could have done, some people are just more prone and it could run in the family and just not know it, etc. There are so many different reasons. I think a lot of it comes from our hectic schedule that really doesn't allow me to eat at regular intervals. It's been an opportunity to trust the Lord in ways I've never had to before. I was so completely discouraged, but the doctor assures me they treat this quite a bit more aggressively than a lot of other dr.s so that no harm comes to my baby. I find comfort in that. I also find comfort in knowing that God is in control and that He knows what's going on and He loves me so much. This is an email I just wrote to my brother this morning actually regarding it - and it just sums up what the Lord has been showing me these last couple of days.

Hey - thanks for your call yesterday - I was just about to go into the Dr.'s office when you called and then I never had a chance to give you a call back. Plus, it's all very emotional to me - even still! :P (which is EXTREMELY annoying to me! especially when I'm work and can't get the waterworks to stop.) I have been getting some pretty amazing emails from folks who don't even have a clue and they are so encouraging to me... But today God is telling me VERY CLEARLY that He is in control and the He loves me no matter what and that nothing is going on without Him knowing about it and holding me through the very midst of it. So while it's all very discouraging and disheartening - I'm remembering that God is bigger than my problems and He's got to be my Lord even through the dark times, reminding me to maintain my positive and cheerful attitude. No lie, that sentence just came through my daily devotional with David Wilkerson, the email I read right before I looked at yours. So see, God is taking care of me. And talking to me so plainly, He might as well be using neon signs!

So you can see - God uses these awful things to draw us unto Himself. And even though this is an "adventure" that I don't want to experience - just like my mom's cancer is an "adventure" that none of us want to experience - if God uses it to bring me closer to Him, so be it. It's really very difficult for me to come to that conclusion - it's not one that I settle on lightly, but I don't want to fight. I just want to be closer to my Jesus. I've learned in my short life that it's so much better to walk with Jesus and not away from Him. There are a lot of kids especially out there who think they need to experience things for themselves and make their own mistakes (I know, because I work with a bunch of them!), and I'll give them that, but honestly - I hope beyond hope that they learn sooner than later that it's so much better to choose Jesus than our own way. We are so much happier and more content and isn't that what we're looking for? Isn't that what everyone wants out of life - the American Dream - life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? It's in Jesus. All of it is in Jesus.

Well, I've probably waxed pretty serious at this point, hopefully you don't walk away feeling the weight of the world on your shoulders. The day is beautiful here. We are heading out to Lake Nelson - I should rename it "Third eyeball Lake" because there is a nuclear power plant right there that keeps the water nice and toasty and I always tease the boys that if they spend too much time in it, they WILL grow a third eyeball - probably right in their forehead (But secretly, I think they like that idea! Boys....sheesh...) Anyway, tubing for them, boat rides for me. And enjoying the man of my dreams for a few more days before we are separated for 10 days while he's in Guatemala and I'm in VA! :*( (Boo hoo) I'm so excited to see my family - I'm excited that he gets to go to Guatemala - but I wish he could come with me to see my family and I could go with him to Guatemala!!! I hate being apart! And there has been too much of it this summer! Hope you have a fantastic day!

3 years, nine months and the honeymoon isn't over yet in the Tundra,

Sarah