Twice a Day

I. Miss. My. Son. All. The. Time. 

I can do that and still live a wonderful life.  I stay focused (the majority of the time) on what I do have and not on what I am missing. 

Recognizing God’s love messages to me also keeps me on top. 

The pictures I am posting are not the greatest quality, but they are examples of God telling me He sees me and He loves me.  I took a couple of them at work and one in my car.  This happens to me all the time.  I’ll be feeling stressed or unsure and I will see these numbers.  They make me smile because they bring up a memory of Peyton. 

Anytime the clock would have these types of times, Peyton would say, “that only happens twice a day”.  So typical of his sense of humor. 

3:33                                     

4:44

  

11:11

1:11

I love it and GOD LOVES ME!!  He loves you too and will show you in the coolest ways!!

 

Thanks for reading

Memorials

Today our Pastor talked about building memorials.  Memorials help us remember things that have happened in the past.  You can look at a picture and remember the people that were there and how you felt at that moment. 

We should be memorializing God and remembering all the great and good things He has done in our lives.  When we look at pictures of the milestones and blessings in our lives we should remember the One who makes it all possible, the One who abundantly blesses us with every good thing. 

That is what the Masterpiece is all about.  It has Peyton’s initials on it, but it wasn’t built as a monument to him.  It is our reminder of how far Tom and I have come since January 12, 2008.  Every time I look out the window and see the pavilion standing there, I will remember how God carried us.  I will remember the people He sent to love on us and pray for us.  I can sit and think about God’s grace and how He showered it on us and continues to shower us with it.  I could tell story after story, but I’ve already told them throughout this blog. 

What benefit is there in remembering the past?  It builds our faith in the plans God has for us for our future.  We’ve been blessed in our past and we will be blessed in the future.

Every gathering that takes place under the pavilion will be a celebration of how much God loves us. God will be glorified and memorialized there. 

I love the fact that we were able to break ground on this project on the 5th anniversary of Peyton going to Heaven.  God is into details. 

I hope this post encourages you to reflect on a regular basis on the things God has done in your life.

Now for some pictures of the first celebration at the pavilion!

Lots of chairs for lots of guests!!

MEMORIAL PICTURES!!  My heart overflowed when the Bride asked for a picture of Peyton to be included.

Having some fun

The wedding party

Funny boys men.

Love this!!

First dance

Jacksons & Shepherds!!

Jacksons & Shepherds (aka The Peanuts)

I know when the bride and groom look at their pictures they will remember all the love and happiness of that day.

Thanks for reading

The Masterpiece

In my last post I said we were breaking ground for a pavilion.  We did and it is amazing.  This post is going to be mainly pictures of the construction process, but I had to tell you about the confirmation from the Lord I got about building this awesome structure.  As I was driving down the interstate, I was praying about the pavilion and for my husband.  I knew this was a big project and it was weighing on Tom’s mind.  He wanted to do a good job and  wasn’t sure how to do it.  We didn’t know anyone that had built a pavilion.  So I was praying about the construction process and that Tom wouldn’t feel like he was doing this all by himself.  Then I got the Word, “It’s going to be a Masterpiece”.  As soon as I heard that in my heart, I knew it was going to be a Masterpiece because it was being built by THE MASTER.  OMGoodness!  I knew Tom wasn’t going to feel alone.  He wasn’t doing this project in his own strength.  The Lord would be instructing him the whole time!!!  Our God is amazing and He loves us so much.  He wants to be involved and consulted in our everyday.  God also provided FREE LABOR AND EQUIPMENT for this project.  I’ll point those out with the pics.

The building site for the pavilion is pretty much where my blog header picture was taken.

Now for the pictures!

The dirt work was provided by a good friend for a minimal cost. 
What he charged us might have paid for his fuel.

 

 



Digging holes for the posts.  Making sure everything is level.
 

The steel posts are set!!

This is Burke cutting off the tops of the posts so they are
the same height. 

The concrete was poured and STAMPED while I was at
work so I don't have pics of that process. 
It has since been stained and it looks AMAZING!

 

The rafters going up.  Again, the Lord provided the equipment.

Tom and some great helpers

All the rafters are up!!!

Putting up the ceiling

Lots of helpers and use of a tractor from my uncle.
I don't know how safe this was, but it worked!

Getting the job done

There it is, the FIREPLACE!

Holy Moly, it looks good even with only concrete blocks!

Progress on the rock work

Peyton is always on our minds.

Ceiling fans and lights.  Burke and Tom did the wiring.
Tom & Peanut installed the ceiling fans and lights.
We have electrical outlets too!!

It couldn't have turned out better!

What it looks like from the house.
Thank you Lord!

Lots of hard work and love went into this construction project.  As always, we are extremely grateful to our friends for their help and dedication.  We love you guys! 
Now...........Let's have a PARTY!!!

On a side note - I went back and used blogger to write this post instead of LiveWriter.  I had a terrible time getting pictures placed where I wanted them.  I don't think it was me, so I will go back to LiveWriter.  Here is a picture I couldn't leave out, but I couldn't get it where I wanted it.  So forgive the inconsistency in my picture timeline of progress.

Our property is rocky, so this machine saved lots of time and hard work.
It was provided at NO COST by a great friend.

Thanks for reading :)

Mainstreamed

Yesterday marked the 5 year anniversary of our son Peyton going to Heaven.  5 years.  Sounds like a very long time.  It is.  It is a very long time to miss someone.

I think back to that first year and how fragile I felt.  We live in a very small town so virtually everyone we came in contact with, knew what had happened and what we were living with.  We were very well taken care of and had so much love shown to us. 

The second year was more of the same.  Tom and I always felt like so many people missed our son and we were all healing together,  holding each other up with our prayers and support.

The third year had challenges of its own.  Peyton’s class graduated from high school that year.  Tom & I were included in all the activities.  Being included felt good in so many ways.  We celebrated Peyton’s friends’ milestones, but he was not there.  Many tears were shed that year too.

The fourth year was hard.  So many of the kids that were in and out of our home had gone away to college.  Would they forget him?  Would they forget us?  No, they did not forget.  Facebook kept us in touch.  Even so, I believe Tom & I had to stand on our own two feet more during the fourth year, it was time.  Time and time again we had been shown that Peyton was in their hearts and they carried him with them.  We were so grateful to know that and it strengthened us.

The fifth year not everyone Tom & I come in contact with knows our life’s story.  I am finally okay with that.  Before, I couldn’t bear the thought of someone I knew, not knowing I had a wonderful son……..in Heaven.  We have been mainstreamed into everyday life without any special considerations or allowances.  I can do that now.   If the question arises whether or not I have children, I tell them, yes, I have a son and he lives in Heaven.  I cannot answer any other way.

We will miss our son until we see him again and there will always be people that miss him with us.  We are grateful.

Yesterday we had a ground breaking ceremony.  We are building a pavilion in our backyard, a place where we can gather with our friends and celebrate life and tell a Peyton story from time to time .  We thought breaking ground on the 5th anniversary would be a perfect thing to do.  I will be posting about the construction and the special event that will be taking place under it in May.

Thanks for reading : )