When it comes to living our lives, Christ doesn't make up the difference. He IS the difference.

We have been without Dave for 14 months today. In so many ways I think, "Is that all? We have been through so much without him." But,it has only been just over a year. Life has given us struggles aplenty and they continue to flood in. Thank heaven for my home teacher who visits every day and lends me help. If it weren't for him, I'd be drowning in my troubles right now. The kids are still having their own problems related to dad being gone. More than anything, they yearn, as I do, for things to be "back to normal." It was always normal for dad to be around. It was normal to have both mom and dad disciplining, and doing the work, etc. Now, it's just mom. Dad is not physically there at the games or the programs. He's not there to play catch. I can't feel his arms around me- comforting me when I'm lonely. We miss him. That yearning doesn't seem to dissapate with time, but the associated overwhelming sadness does. We are becom...

When Caden told me that he wanted to play baseball again this year, I didn't want to let him. I spent a majority of the time last year arguing with him over practice, and even some games. It becomes very demanding on the whole family since they practice 1 1/2 hours 3-4 days a week. With 1-2 games a week on top of that. I'm now really grateful that he's a part of it. Last year, they lost the first game, but won every other- including the playoff game. This year doesn't seem as promising, but they are still doing well. Caden has improved by leaps and bounds. Most especially in his dedication to the game. They lost the last game by two runs and had to do ladders because of it. Hopefully that doesn't happen again. Whether it does or not, he's really enjoying himself and that's a wonderful thing to see.