A Life Outside of All of This

Even though our life has been filled with so much excitement and insane surprises, we are trying to still live a normal life! Though, I find it hard to “live” a normal life when I think about the fact that we might be PARENTS someday! Not gonna lie, when I think about having a kid (or possibly two), I get out of this world excited!

Anyways, we really do have a life outside of all of this! Last week Dan was gone deer hunting (no deer), so that gave me a chance to do some baking, cooking, and be crafty (one of my most favorite things to do!) Dan did see one deer up close! He called and told me he needed another attachment for his gun – I was like what? He said he needed a knife at the end of his gun so he could stab the deer next time. He proceeded to tell me story (a true one) that a deer had gotten spooked, was running full speed, DIRECTLY at him. No lie, the deer stopped dead in his tracks, 2 YARDS, away from Dan. Dan was looking through his binoculars, seeing what the rucus was and it was this deer running at him. By the time he realized what was going on, he realized that this deer was going to run INTO him! So he started to duck and covered his head – this deer was going to JUMP Dan! When it stopped, it leaped to the left (thankfully) and darted around the tree, missing Dan – otherwise it would’ve kicked him in the head. Mind you, all of this happened in like 5 seconds. No time to pick up a gun! I was ROLLING, laughing, when Dan told me this story! So nevertheless, he did not get the deer. Anyways, I met Dan up at my parent’s house on Wednesday. We even got the chance to play Ticket to Ride! Thanksgiving day was amazing! We went to church in the morning, ate the big ole dinner at my uncle and aunt’s house, then went shooting for a little while! It felt good to get out there and shoot some targets and clays! Even more important though, was the family time. Oh how I just treasure Thanksgiving! What better way to spend it, surrounded by the people I love so dearly – my family. At night we went my grandma’s house, and just celebrated more, while catching up on each other’s lives. Dan headed back to deer camp that night – we had such a great time together!

Friday we went Black Friday shopping – no we are not “one of those” who gets up uber early – we got to Kohl’s in Holland at 7:30am. And I will say, I got what I needed and did not have to stand in line for more than 1 or 2 minutes. We went to a few more stores and met up with my sister, nieces, aunts, cousins, and grandma at Arby’s. It was a very successful shopping day and a great time with family once again! At night I had the chance to babysit my nieces Noelle, Addison, and Emma! I was so excited because I never have had the chance to do that because I live too far away! We had SO much fun (or at least I did!) We played pretend for quite awhile, (we pretended we were camping at Pink Purple Lake (they named it)), colored, did a talent show, and ended the night watching a short movie while they ate and snack before bedtime. I am so blessed to have such wonderful and adorable nieces! Good times, good times!

Saturday I went to my grandma’s house and made a puzzle with her. I love puzzles as much as she does, so I thought it would be fun to do it with her, so we did! We had such a great time together! At noon Michigan was playing Ohio State and I was NOT going to miss that game! Katie came over, so we all watched the game together – just like old times! AND, MICHIGAN WON! For all you non-football fans out there, it had been 7 years since Michigan beat them, so it was high time we did! We were flipping out! My mom had the idea of making t-shirt necklaces, so we made those together and I must say, they definitely turned out! We had a lot of fun doing that together – another thing we really never get to do together! At night, my parents took me out to Logan’s for my 28th birthday! 8oz. steak done medium is a staple for me there and oh it was so good! And at night? My mom and I played 5 rounds of you guessed it, Ticket to Ride!

On Sunday it was my 28th birthday! Sheesh I am getting old! Seriously! Where has the time gone! Went to church at my old church, had lunch at my parents, and then headed home. We had youth group at night, and it was so good to see our “kids” again! I always look forward to seeing them! They bring such joy to our life!

AND…here is another AWESOME God-story! This year in Roots we are looking at what it means to have a Christian worldview. Dan chose to look at the Nick Cannon song “Can I Live.” The song is a shout out to his mom, thanking her for not having an abortion. After we watched the video, we talked about when life begins, where our human value is found, what the Bible says about family, and how to defend the view of being prolife. It was an amazing night, realizing how intricate life is, and how much the gift of life means. Well, Dan had this lesson planned for awhile – he just had to find the right time to give it. He had it planned for Sunday night. It just so happened to be the night that we wanted to share with our youth group kids, what God had been doing in our life and kids. What a PERFECT night to have all of this happen! To have a lesson about the gift of life, and then be able to talk about the opportunity we have to have life given to us through Brenda having! Just another way God has written this story long ago, and how it is HIS perfect timing! Just gives me chills!

God continually is wowing us! This Thanksgiving has been incredible! To be able to talk about what God is doing, is such an honor. That He would choose this for US. We both would NEVER have imagined that we would be thanking God for giving us another opportunity to have our own kids. It has brought us to our knees many times and it continues to! That He has lined everything JUST SO, so that we would be confident in His plan for us. Wow.