Christmas with the Guys

Well before I was Raisin' Hale...i was a Guy. Hale is a fun name to joke around with as is my maiden name Noël Guy. Curt loves to say, "You know I married a guy." Course there is always the joke..."I use to be a guy"....Anyway, we got to spend Christmas with the Guys. My parents live on a farm in the middle of nowhere. When I said "we " got to spend time with the Guys, I meant me and the kids. Poor Curt came down with strep throat just in time for the Dr.'s office to be closed, so he missed Christmas celebrations. He got in the bed on Christmas eve (Friday) and didn't emerge until Monday morning when I was able to take him into the Dr. He spent Christmas day delirious with 103-104 fever. It was pitiful. Thankfully, my parent's have an apartment that is attached to their house and we were able to keep him in there and isolated so the germs didn't spread. I had some great pictures to share that are on my great new camera Curt gave me for my birthday, but the only problem is I can't find my battery charger. So, I can't share those pictures. Here are a few I took with my phone.

Merry Christmas-All I want for Christmas is a shot in the behind.

My uncle Bobby. We don't get to see him very often, but Sophie went right to him and snuggled with him for a long time. Sweet.

Every year after we open presents, my family lights a center candle representing Jesus. Each family (my two sisters' families and us and my parents) have a particular color. We light our candle from the center Christ candle and share how God has blessed us and moved in our lives over the last year. I always end up in a big ugly cry because I'm very thankful for such a sweet family and God's precious grace. It was especially sweet to hear my nieces and nephews share this year. Most of them are teenagers and it's neat to see their heart and their faith being their Own. One of the highlights of the year most everyone shared was Roe becoming a believer. Very special indeed.

My sister-Hopefully, she doesn't read my blog and won't see I posted this picture. She is crazy, in a good way. Right before her share time she tied a green bow on her head. She just found out she's pregnant at 43 with a senior in high school and an 8th grader. She's gonna have lots more to share at next year's candle ceremony;-)

so thankful to my mom who helped me bathe the broken armed Sophie. The big farm sink helped. And thankful to my mom and dad who fed us for six days. Three days longer than we planned on staying, but Curt was too sick to leave. Happy New Year Everyone.

Hale of a Christmas

I am so thankful for the Hale family I married in to. I truly love them so much. I love going to their house at Christmas. My mother-in-law Nancy always has everything so beautiful and always makes us feel so special. We went last week and celebrated Christmas. Sophie had a broken arm and we didn't know it, so she was kind of grumpy, and reasonably so. She cried around 3 hours of the trip down, but we had a much better trip home just because God was gracious to us and answered our prayers for a peaceful trip. It was a really great trip.

Nancy's beautiful decorations.

Nancy, Sophie, Lala, Grandmother Hale, and me...Curt said I looked like a giant. Thanks small Hale women.

The boys and their Beebaw.

Curt's precious grandmother-Laura. We call her Lala.

Sweet Grandmother Hale-She's 93, but you wouldn't know it.

We opened presents at Lala's place.

Sophie getting her present from Lala. Poor thing was holding her broken arm.

The boys and Lala.

Nana, Beebaw and the grandkids.

Broken Arms and Hearts

Well, another Hale has broken their arm. I made light of it on facebook that we didn't ask for a broken arm for Christmas, but it's really been breaking my heart. First of all, I need details in life. Often if Curt and I are watching a tv show...I'll have to ask questions, "But why would she do that?" "What was he thinking?" "But what happen to going there?" Poor Curt will look at me and say, "Noël, we're watching the same show...I've never seen it before either...I have no idea." Sometimes, he'll just make something up to appease me. I just have trouble letting things go and I need to know. So, not knowing exactly how our daughter broke her arm has been greatly troubling to me. I'm the kind of person when I go to the Dr. I tell this super long story with every detail, which is probably not appreciated, but I think it's important to have the overall picture, but I have no idea what happened. The only thing we can think of was a week ago Sunday when I picked her up from the nursery she was crying and the volunteer there said she had fallen and wouldn't stop crying. She had an ear infection, so we thought that was all. Anyway, we had it xrayed last Tuesday, but the radiologist didn't see the break. Saw an orthopedic yesterday and he confirmed it is broken right above the elbow bend. He put a cast on it, but referred us to a specialist today because the bone was rotated a bit. We saw the specialist and he feels like it is going to heal properly with no complications. We are so thankful. Lots of people have been praying for this little girl and we don't take it for granted that her arm is going to be ok. It's so humbling when someone you love is hurt or hurting. I think most of the time I have this false sense of being able to handle things, or kind of being in control, but I can't heal a broken arm, but I'm thankful to know the One who can. God is good. We are blessed by health. Praying for those hurting and sick this Christmas.

It took approximately 6 suckers to get this arm x-rayed and a cast on. It wasn't pretty, but we did it.

This morning she asked if she could wear her princess dress (her tutu) to the Dr. appointment. Cast or no cast...the girl has style.

Super Kid

In Abram's class each week a student gets to be the "Super Kid" of the week. The child chosen gets to bring home a stuffed (rabbit....I think, I wasn't exactly sure what the animal was) named Max. Friday, Abram was chosen as super kid. I'm not exactly sure how the child is chosen. Abram seems to think it has something to do with not wearing blue jeans or tennis shoes. Every Friday, he tries to convince me to let him wear boots to school and some other type of pants other than jeans. He talks about becoming the Super Kid all the time. Anyway, this week it finally happened. Friday, I had actually fallen asleep on the couch (I think Sophie has an ear infection and sleep hasn't been very consistent this past week). While I was sleeping, Roe and Abram got off the bus and I woke up with Abram standing right in my face with the most gigantic smile and Max (the unknown species of animal). He was THRILLED...and he didn't even wear boots that day. So, as Super Kid, you must document the goings on of the weekend. We took pictures and made a few sort of scrapbook type pages to go in the Super Kid book. Abram was beaming this morning when I showed him the finished pages. He was also SO excited because today he gets to sit in the BLUE chair and I think he may even get to be line leader or something prestigious like that. It's a fun thing they do. So thankful he got this opportunity and that he can stop wearing that polyester leisure suit every Friday b/c of the no jeans thing. Kidding, we leave the leisure suit wearing to Curt.

Here are the snapshots of what Max did this weekend.

Max loved looking at our Christmas tree.

Jumping on the trampoline

We loaded up and went to look at Christmas lights in the park.

Abram was so excited that I let him stand on the picnic table-We don't usually allow this at the park.

Max and Abram were bowing down to baby Jesus.

More lights.

Max and Abram told Santa what they wanted for Christmas. Max actually sat by himself on Santa's lap, but Abram later joined him only because he wanted to receive a candy cane. I think Santa freaks him out a little.

Then on to Christmas shopping...First Target. Then, Belk-or as we call it the amusement park. We often go just to ride the escalator. One of my personal favorites as a child.


Saturday we made sugar cookies that were SUPER DELICIOUS!!!!

Max went to church with us.

We caught Max talking to our elf "Elfo"...not sure what they were talking about...but I'm pretty sure it had to do with the Christmas cookies below them.

Sunday it was FREEZING...so max and Abram warmed up by the fire.

Family Photos

We don't take family photos. Why? Because, it takes planning, usually color coordinating, and honestly that stresses me out. I'm doing good on most days to make sure everyone has on pants, much less matches. So, finding five outfits that some what went together in a color scheme seriously stressed me out. The morning of our photo shoot, I went to the store and in a panic I bought Sophie a new dress and me a denim shirt. I don't usually wear denim, mainly b/c there is a fine line between stylish denim and not stylish denim and I fear I'll miss the line. Anyway, Curt saw what Soph and I were going to wear and he thought it looked a bit "country". Curt is from Ft. Walton Beach, FL so I guess he has the right to judge. Anyway, it's what we had so we went with it. I really was afraid we were going to look the cover of a bad country western album, but I think the pictures turned out pretty good. I waited until the last minute to schedule (of course) so the only time we could really go was 1:30p.m.-Smack in the middle of Sophie's nap time. You'll see she was less than excited to be out having family photos taken. Love my family. Love having pictures of my family. It's just the process of getting the pictures that I'm not very fond of.

This girl LOVES her daddy.

Sweet boys.

The Professor. Love Roe Hale.

Abram was born to be a sidekick. He is always encouraging Roe. He loves life. I'd love to see through his eyes for one day. Everyday is the best day of his life.

The chair I was sittting in was weird. I look a bit hunch back. Sophie is THRILLED to be taking photos.

Love this little girl. So thankful for her.

Mornings

I feel like an adult now that I actually like the mornings. I can't sleep past 7:30a.m. My body just wakes up. Curt and I went away for a couple of days, and this morning I was anxiously awaiting his waking up so we could have coffee/juice and eat breakfast and talk. I guess I like mornings because it feels like a do over each day. In the morning there hasn't been enough time for me to say something stupid, or lose my temper, or just make a bad choice. Each morning is new and refreshing.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I've been struggling with new awareness of so many needs in this world and feelings that I just can't sit by and live a comfortable life and ignore those needs. Last Saturday, I tried to explain to Curt how I'd been feeling and to be honest it didn't go well. We just were not on the same page. He thought I was saying things I wasn't intending and it just became a chaotic "conversation". Just being honest. However, the next day we had a really good conversation and Curt told me that he was glad God was showing me these things, and that he felt like we needed to look for more opportunities to serve and be the hands and feet of Jesus here where we live. To sum it up he said something to the effect that why would God send us to Africa to share and help people if we're not actively daily sharing and helping people here. Good point. God still might send us far away one day, but for now we're in Mississippi.

So, I'm reading The Hole in our Gospel. It's so interesting. The last chapter was all about the story of the Good Samaritan, and who is our neighbor? Is it just the people we see each day, or was Jesus talking about all people all around the world who have needs? So, yesterday during our get away, we decide to go to a movie. We had to be there at 3:45 and at 3:30 we pull up to the intersection to get over to our street and there stands a man. He was dirty and hot and he was holding a sign that said "Just Hungry." Let me just say, this is one area that Curt and I have never struggled with. If someone has a need and we can help...we love to do it. First of all, because I think what if that were us? What if this were my child? If we were ever in a situation like that I pray someone would help us. But, we needed to get to our movie. 'Cause you know that's really important(noted sarcasm). So, we have this moment of ok, do we go get him some food, it's kind of a one-way street, so we'd have to go all the way around to get back to him, or what do we do. So, we just decided to say, "Hey Man, you want to get in our van and go get something to eat?" Safe? Probably not, but Jesus isn't really a safe person. So, we take Donald to Wendy's, buy him lunch. He tells us about his journey. He was trying to get to a friend's house in Lafayette from Florida. He'd been beaten and robbed----just like the man in the story of the good samaritan. He had two black eyes and a broken nose. We talked for a while and then left him in the air conditioned restaurant, hopefully to score some free refills after he finished his drink. We went on to our movie. During the movie, I had mixed emotions. In the story of the good samaritan the man who helped the injured man put him up for the night. So, I thought if Donald is still there when we get out, I wanted to see if he could stay in our B&B that night and we could just go on to my parents' house. I knew I'd have to check with the owner, but when we got out Donald was gone. So, I pray that God will bring people along the way to help him. I'm thankful God gave us the opportunity to meet Donald and help him today. I'm thankful God is shifting my attention away from my own little circle of life and expanding it to a greater world of hurting, needy people around me.

Kids update.

Our boys have been in Florida. We're going to them tonight. I have missed them SOOO much. My heart hurts I want to see them SO bad. Sophie is in love with putting on lotion which is good b/c she and Abram have me and my dad's alligator skin, but seriously, you only need to put on so much lotion. She does a really good job, but isn't fond of me saying ENOUGH. Thanks for reading my ramblings. I really don't proof or edit much.

Cars, Vans, and Ears

Last night as I was lying in bed trying to sleep, I felt like God wanted me to share a story that I didn't blog about. In 2003, Curt's parents gave us their Ford Taurus. It was a great car. When they gave it to us we had one child. Two years later, we had a second child. Fast forward to 2009 and we had three children. The Taurus was trucking along, life was good, but we could not fit one more person in the car. We began praying that God would provide a bigger vehicle. We wanted more space and the ability to have a friend ride with us if need be.

I really began praying last July believing God had something for us. We weren't really shopping around b/c in a way I felt like God was just going to drive the vehicle up to our house one day. So, we continued on in the Taurus, and saved what money we could because we didn't want to have a car payment and be in debt. We planned on selling the taurus to help pay for the new vehicle. Fast forward to December of '09. One day I was driving down to serve pizza at a Christmas party for His Heart ministry. Love this ministry...you can check them out here. Anyway, I was pulling onto Interstate 55 and I clearly heard God say (in my head) that we should give our car to Andre. Andre was a youth that came to this ministry whom I had met briefly in November. He was just a few credits short from graduating, but didn't finish school. His family's home burned and God had orchestrated it that my friend Charla who serves in this ministry had contacted me and lots of people in our area had stepped up to help provide this family with furniture, clothes, money, etc. So, anyway I'm driving along and I thought yes, we should give this car to Andre. The only problem was we didn't have another vehicle. So, I go home that afternoon and tell Curt and Curt thinks it's a great idea.

The next day, Curt had to take his truck in to the shop. His friend that went to pick him up was telling him on the way home that he was about to put his grandmother's van on craigslist. She had passed away recently and they were trying to sell it. It only had 50,000 miles on it. It ended up his mom sold it to us for a price that we had mostly cash for, and the little we had left to pay she just let us pay off whenever we could with no interest. Ok, can you say God's provision. It was so neat. So, now we had a new vehicle and we knew we were suppose to give our car to Andre. I called my friends at the ministry wanting confirmation that this was what we were suppose to do. Honestly, they weren't sure. They said they had some college students that needed a car, but I never could get a peace about it. So, one day we drove down gave the car to Andre and told him that God had specifically told us to do this and that this car wasn't from us, it was from Him. Curt said Andre, every time you drive this car remember God loves you and wanted you to have this. He has plans for you. Curt then prayed over him and we left.

God taught us that day that when He speaks...we don't need to ask the opinion of others, because God didn't tell them, He told us. I talked to my friend the other day and she told me that Andre had just gotten his GED. He drove the car up to the ministry to show them because he was very proud. He is enrolling in a junior college in the fall. We're so thankful that God allowed us to be a small part in Andre's life and pray God's richest blessings on him.

Distraught....in a good way

I started this blog for mine and Curt's families to keep up with the silly day to day things that my children do. I rarely write on a serious note because that's not really what this blog is about. However, I just feel like writing about what I've been thinking, feeling.

For many months now I've felt distraught. I'm not sure when it started. Actually, for years off and on I've felt this way. I've had this feeling that there is more to this life and I'm missing it, but I get comfortable again and lose that awareness. I am a Christian, who believes in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I believe it has the power to save. I believe that Jesus has the power to change lives, to heal the sick, to mend the broken, but what does that look like in my life. I feel like I can go days living my "Christian life" without it influencing or making a difference in the life of any other. And if living my Christian life is all about me and how I'm doing internally or morally or with just my family is that really a life lived for Christ? What I've been feeling is just unrest.

I feel like I'm living a Christian life as best I know how, but that I'm completely missing it. If someone looked at our family and every other family in the world...what difference would they see? I hope they would see the fruit of the Spirit in our lives: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-Control. Although somedays we sure are lacking in some of those. What I've been struggling with is how even as Christians we can fall into living the "American Dream." We have nice homes, cars, do all the things our "World" offers, but is that really pleasing to the Lord? Is it ok to move around in America doing the same things as non-believers as long as we are Christians? In reading the teachings of Jesus I don't find mention of being comfortable, or secure, or really anything that the "American Dream" plans out. I don't know what this means and this is the frustrating part.

Curt is in full time ministry and loves where he works. We love where we live. I love where we serve, but I just don't feel like it's enough. I feel like we're too comfortable. In the recent months God has opened my eyes to all the orphans in the world. All the people who have so little and this is where I start struggling with wanting to sell everything and live in a tent. Curt has reassured me that if we lived in a tent we really wouldn't have any resources to help people. Not to mention God has given us three precious children to care for, so we'd need a big tent;-)

The thought I've been having over and over is getting to the end of life and meeting the Lord and Him saying you lived a Godly life, but you missed it. You lived this comfortable life surrounded by wealthy, healthy people when there was this whole other world of needy, hurting that you never touched. Curt and I love to serve, we love to help the needy, but in the grand scheme of things how much time/money do we really spend doing that. Not the majority of our time. So, I don't know. I'm seeking the Lord, begging Him to show me what this means. All I know is He is stirring in my heart. All I know is I've spent hours crying over children that need to feel loved. I've spent hours living vicariously through reading about people who are doing what I feel like i should be doing. He has given me resources from people to encourage me. Crazy Love by Francis Chan, The Radical Podcasts by David Platt. I'm starting The Hole in Our Gospel by the president of World Vision. All these seem to struggle with the same thing. He's also given me blogs of people that I think are "getting it right" for the gospel.

amazima.org

livesays

I'm tired of reading about those people, and ready to be one. If you are a believer, please pray for me. Pray that God will continue to break my heart for what breaks His. Continue to stir my heart and not let me turn back to my comfort.

Proverbs 24:11-12 (the message)

^11-12 Rescue the perishing;
don't hesitate to step in and help.
If you say, "Hey, that's none of my business,"
will that get you off the hook?
Someone is watching you closely, you know—
Someone not impressed with weak excuses.

Roe's 3rd Claymation Mario Vs. Koopa's shell

Awards Day

We are so thankful for our children. It's so fun to watch them grow and develop. To see the talents God has given them, to see what they're interested in. It's amazing how different each child can be from the next. It's just fun stuff.

Today was Awards Day at Roe's school. We were so thankful he's had such a great year. Roe is a very conscientious student. He made all A's all year on his report card. He also was chosen from his class by his teacher to receive the "Avid Reader Award." Roe loves to read. We're thankful for this as well. In his class he won the "Good Manners" award. Curt and I joke that Roe has always been more like an English butler than a little boy. He's always had good manners and is somewhat appalled at his younger brother who is ALL BOY... i.e.he thinks burping is hilarious)

Wow, this post sounds like I'm bragging on my eldest, but it's really just coming from a heart of gratitude towards the Lord and His grace. Roe was a TERRIBLY DIFFICULT CHILD TO RAISE DURING THE TODDLER YEARS. If I had a blog back then, people would seriously be worried about me, and with good reason. Roe is strong willed and that makes for very trying pre-school years b/c he's still trying to figure things out. I remember a friend, who had a 2nd grader at the time who was the sweetest child you could have met tell me that she went through the same thing and for me just to wait. I honestly didn't believe her at the time, but oh my goodness I'm so thankful for Roe and everything about him. His strong willed nature makes him an individual, who loves others and doesn't care what people think. He is a good leader and I'm so thankful that we didn't leave him on the side of the road when he screamed for 6 hours during a road trip when he was Sophie's age. (It was a thought we had.) So, Congratulations Roe Hale for being a remarkable child. We think the world of you. We are humbled that God thought we could raise you. We are grateful for everyday we have with you. Love you Ro-Ro.

Sophie was very sleepy

Waiting for the ceremony to begin

Curt was very attentive

These two weren't too thrilled about getting pulled out of bed at 7:30a.m. Summer has already begun.

Roe's sweet teacher Mrs. Hopkins

Roe and his friend Henry, who also got all A's and student of the year. Way to go Henry.

Roe and assistant teacher Mrs. Jungers

The family---Sophie's face is behind Roe's head.

Roe and his certificates

Roe and his bud Stanley