Jeff's Car Accident

From Jeff:
I want to share with you something that happened to me Friday morning. I was driving over to a friend’s house for a weekly prayer meeting. It was about 6AM and I was driving on Silas Creek Pkwy when I saw the flash of an SUV sliding toward me. The SUV was traveling in the opposite direction and hit a sheet of black ice, forcing it to spin across a median and into my lane. I didn’t know what to do but scream and hold on. The car hit me pretty hard, pinning the door up next to my thigh. They had to cut the door off to get me out and I received further medical care at Wake Forest Medical Center to include 6 stitches in my forehead and 6 staples in the side of my head. Later that day we went over to the wreckers to get my belongings out of my car. We drove by the car twice and didn’t even recognize it as ours. I had no idea it was that bad.

This was the most frightening experience I have ever had. And the thought of it all and the fact that God spared my life brings me to tears. It reminds me of how temporal this life is and that every day is a gift from God. I am doing much better today with the help of medication. Please pray for a quick recovery and that we would all treasure this life that God has so graciously given to us. You are all deeply loved by a heavenly Father who is caring for your needs, whether you realize it or not. Now I can relate to King David’s words in Psalm 139:5-6.


“You hem me in-behind and before;

You have laid your hand on me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,

too lofty for me to attain.”



May God bless you,


Jeff

Mashed Potatoes

Last night, Reid helped me make mashed potatoes. This morning, while I had my back turned, he decided to make some of his own.




And here's a short video:

Thanksgiving Feasts

Today, Ethan's class dressed as Native Americans and had a feast with the first graders who were dressed as Pilgrims.
Sydney's class had a tribal counsel (Native American peace treaty) and then a feast afterward. Reid got to be involved in both. He has no idea he's not really part of the classes! He just jumps in, grabs a plate, and helps himself to his food!
Also in Sydney's class, they read the Native American version of Psalm 23 before eating. You may read it below the pictures; it's amazing!

K Class marching into the cafeteria beating their drums.

Here's Ethan! His headdress says "Hunting Deer" for his Indian name.

The first graders read a poem to the kindergarteners.

Eating the feast!

Reid felt right at home and helped himself to some food too.

Me & my boys (all 3!)

Sydney's feast was combined with the other 2nd grade class. Here they are doing sign language to a Native American poem. They made their costumes in class, and Mrs. Creech painted their faces.

Sydney & Julianne reading the Native American 23rd Psalm (see below).

My girl!

And Reid joins another feast!

This is right outside Sydney's classroom! Those are gardens in the background.

Mrs. Creech had another teepee set up outside that the kids could go in.

This picture is in the mall parking lot,where we went after school. We made Ethan's shirt at home by ironing on some coloring sheets he made at school.

Backs of their outfits

The GREAT FATHER above a SHEPHERD CHIEF is.
I am His and with Him I want not.
He throws out to me a rope and the name of the rope is love
and He draws me to where the grass is green and the water is not dangerous,
and I eat and lie down and am satisfied.
Sometimes my heart is very weak and falls down
but He lifts me up again draws me into a good road.
His name is WONDERFUL .
Sometimes, it may be very soon, it may be a long long time,
He will draw me into a valley.
It is dark there, but I'll be afraid not,
for it is between those mountains that the SHEPHERD CHIEF will meet me
and the hunger that I have in my heart all through life will be satisfied.
Sometimes he makes the love rope into a whip,
but afterwards He gives me a staff to lean upon.
He spreads a table before me with all kinds of foods.
He puts His hand upon my head and all the " tired " is gone.
My cup he fills till it runs over.
What I tell is true. I lie not.
These roads that are "away ahead" will stay with me
through this life and after;
and afterwards I will go to live in the Big Teepee
and sit down with the SHEPHERD CHIEF forever.

Ardmore 5K

Saturday was the Ardmore 5K that our church puts on to feed the hungry. 100% of the proceeds go to the Food Bank of Northwest NC. We raised $18,000, which equates to 126,000 meals for the hungry! Below are some pics of my family that a friend of ours took.

Ethan, Isaiah (our neighbor), & Sydney

Getting ready for the 1 mile Fun Run

Ethan coming in to the finish line!

Reid at the finish. (Reid is sitting with me right now, and when he saw this picture, he said, "He say, 'You won!'")

Close up of Reid and his bear

Marshmallows!

My mom came to stay with the kids while Jeff & I went to Boone on Saturday for ASU's homecoming. Friday night we grilled out and roasted marshmallows. I love the way Reid says "marshmallows!" so I took a video of him saying it. This one is for the grandparents!


I was shopping at Costco last week with Reid. As we passed by samples, he asked if it had wheat or if it was gluten-free. "That wheat, Mama? Is it gluten-free?" It was the very first time he showed any awareness of what he could and could not eat.

Also, Sydney said "y'all" for the first time last week! It was so cute, and so unexpected!

And Ethan got 2 stitches on his forehead today from a run in with a gate at the park today. Thankfully, our friend Beth was there. She's a PA-C Dermatologist who called the dr. she works with who got us right in for the stitches. (Beth did Ethan's last set of stitches.) She and 2 other friends at the park stayed with Sydney, Reid, and our neighbor Isaiah who was with us (I had school pick up today.) Thank you Lord for friends who cheerfully help us in our time of need!

Baby Chandler 4 Is a Boy!

Here he is! We were totally surprised to hear we are having a boy...Jeff, Sydney, & I were really expecting a girl. He kept opening his mouth in the ultrasound, and Ethan was convinced he was trying to talk to him. Everything in the scan looked healthy, and we're looking at a Feb 27 due date.

First Day of School

Sydney & Ethan's first day of school was August 24. Here are some pictures from that morning.

Sydney and her new friend Kaylee in their classroom

Sydney, Mrs. Creech, and Jonathan; she has an amazing classroom!

Reid makes himself at home in Ethan's classroom

Ethan was really excited about having his own folder with his name on it (he has a hard time keeping his eyes open for pics!) He was also super excited about the box his teacher had for him with sharp pencils!

Ethan and our neighbor, Isaiah, are in Kindergarten together this year.

Reid in play mode

Ethan got to take Curious George home from school for one night, and he took him for a ride on his motorcycle.

New Pictures

We've been really busy with the clinic, but I so wanted to post some kid pics! School is going really well for them. They love it, and I love Redeemer School's unique approach to learning. It's half day up through second grade, so being done by noon has been a perfect transition out of homeschooling.

I got to do something really amazing yesterday! My best friend from middle & high school, Leena, is an independent film maker, and her first full length film, Raspberry Magic, was showing in Cary, so my mom & I got to go! It was such a unique experience to see someone you've known most of your life do something so big, and it was so well done.

A few recent pictures...

Sydney, Reid, & Ethan this morning. The Star of the Week for Ethan's class gets to take Curious George (the class pet) home for the weekend. Parents take pictures and write a letter from CG's perspective to the class telling about his weekend with the student. So here's CG waiting to be picked up for school by our neighbor. While we wait, we've been reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Also taken this morning...sporting new clothes from Grammy & Papa and new shoes from Grandma Z.
Our church puts on the Ardmore 5K to raise money for food for the NC Food Bank. Sydney, Ethan, & Reid went out collecting food from neighbors on Saturday and we so excited about how much they collected!
Sydney is a lover of autumn, like me. She was thrilled the first day it was cool enough to wear long sleeves and long pants (more clothes from G&P) and a new pair of fall shoes from Grandma Z.

Chandler PT is Open!

An email I just sent out is below to give an update on life.

Dear Friends,

The last time I sent a mass email about the clinic and our life, I asked for prayer regarding insurance credentialing, potential legal action from Jeff's former employer, and transition as Sydney & Ethan were starting school. It seems likes months to me since I sent that email, or maybe even a year; I can't believe it was only 2 weeks ago. Jeff & I have never worked harder or longer than we have in the past few weeks. It has been busy and tiring, but so very satisfying and exhilarating.

Credentialing Update:

Once we found out on August 18 that our business consultant had dropped the ball on getting us credentialed with the insurance carriers, my full time roll in our business immediately became getting us set up with the insurance companies. We were very unsure what would happen with only 12 days until we opened and the credentialing process normally taking 90 days.

Thanks to our wonderful billing specialist who walked me through all the steps, Jeff's parents who came to stay with us for a week to take care of our kids, cooking, grocery shopping, clinic set up, and house while I worked, your prayers, and God's loving mercy toward us, we were able to get set up with the most important insurance companies. Most of the companies that we have sent in all of our forms, but are not officially set up with yet will do some retroactive billing, so we are able to see patients.

Legal Action:

After I sent our last email, we did get a very nasty letter from Jeff's former employer's attorney in Kentucky. It was so over-the-top nasty, and the claims they made against him were so outrageously lacking in merit that it was not difficult to keep from getting too focused on it. We did have our attorney respond to the letter in a completely opposite tone from the one sent to us, and so far we have not heard anything. This is absolutely not the way we would ever want to handle conflict. Jeff has been so open and honest with Jeff H. (former employer), and we would much rather sit down with him and talk, but that doesn't seem to be an option right now.

I ask you for continued prayer on this. Pray for Jeff H.'s heart to be softened, for him to know fullness that comes from Christ, for him not to try to fill his own emptiness by pursuing innocent people. Please pray for a quick end to the legal pursuit. We are not deterred by it, but it has cost us money, and we'd rather not spend more money on this. We do recognize, though, that all we have belongs to God, and He will always take care of us.

Clinic Update:

We opened Chandler Physical Therapy & Sports Rehab last Monday, August 30! Last week was a good week, and Jeff has 11 patients scheduled for today! People are finding us and seeking out treatment from Jeff, and we are thankful.

We do need to find trustworthy CPA right away that will get us set up to handle our finances properly. This is an area that neither of us have experience in, and after what happened with the man who failed to do our credentialing (even though we have personally reconciled with him), we have chosen to not use him as our CPA. Please pray for us to find someone immediately.

School:

Sydney & Ethan love their school, and Reid is doing well with others taking care of him while I work. I am so thankful for this. I often think about how God took care of my kids' education before I even knew I'd need so much help.

Personal Growth:

For me, it's funny to think how different my life was 3 weeks ago. My biggest concerns were the pregnancy and feeling like a failure for not continuing to homeschool. But then came the credentialing news, and oh, how my focus has changed! This has forced me to let go of things that I have held so tightly to in the (recent) past and has helped me to joyfully live in the moment, knowing that God is merciful, loving, and that the Holy Spirit is my guide.

I think for much of my life I have seen God as a task-master that I need to please by doing the “right” thing and as one who should tip the scales in my favor because I do the “right” thing (or what I think is the “right” thing). Jeff & I have seen God do some amazing things and come through for us with this credentialing in ways I wouldn't have imagined. We have been prayed over and have received much needed help. I have felt the love and care of God in such ways that I can't even wrap words around. His word has been my bread, His promises never failing, His care for me and my family indescribable.

This clinic is definitely the product of a community effort, something we could not have accomplished on our own. From people pitching in with childcare, helping us set up the clinic, and supporting us with prayer and encouraging words, this has truly been a team project. We continue to need prayer and support and are so grateful to have so many people on this journey with us.

The Solid Rock by Edward Mote (1834)

1. My hope is built on nothing less
   Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
   I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
   But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
   • Refrain:
     On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
     All other ground is sinking sand,
     All other ground is sinking sand.
2. When darkness veils His lovely face,
   I rest on His unchanging grace;
   In every high and stormy gale,
   My anchor holds within the veil.
3. His oath, His covenant, His blood
   Support me in the whelming flood;
   When all around my soul gives way,
   He then is all my hope and stay.
4. When He shall come with trumpet sound,
   Oh, may I then in Him be found;
   Dressed in His righteousness alone,
   Faultless to stand before the throne.

Life Disrupted

Warning! Long post...all text!

For those of you that know me well, you know that I like things under control. I like a safe, comfortable, predictable life. God has taken my ideas about what my life should look like and tossed them out the window.

The first disruption to my life was finding out at the end of June that I am pregnant with our fourth child. My first response was complete shock, wondering how this happened. We have always gotten pregnant exactly when we planned, and we have never had an unplanned pregnancy. My second response was to trust God. That, however, did not last long. It turned to despair once the pregnancy sickness began. I have never been so sick with a pregnancy as I have been this time. The nausea, etc. was relentless, and all of a sudden I couldn't do for myself or my family what I am accustomed to doing. I was totally dependent on Jeff and the kids to care for me. And they rose to the occasion beautifully, but I hated losing my independence. Even Reid would get a bowl and pretend to throw up in it, and then pass it to Sydney & Ethan to see if they needed it too. But in the midst of all that, I was mad at myself for getting pregnant, cold toward God for allowing this to happen now when we are on the heels of opening our physical therapy practice and there are things I must do to help prepare for this venture, and generally disturbed and depressed by the whole change in my life.

The second disruption was several weeks ago when I was talking with Jeff about being unsure if homeschooling was the best option for Ethan right now, given the time I need to put into the business, a new baby coming in Feb, and Ethan's particular personality. Like me, he thrives on being around people, and when we get "cabin fever" we get pretty down and feel depleted. By nature, he and I are extroverts, feeling most energized while being around people. With a preschooler that naps in the afternoon, living further out from town, and needing to do school in the morning, it just takes a whole lot of extra effort, planning, and intentionality to get out. I've always had that tension of feeling like I need to be at home schooling in the morning, and at home for Reid's nap in the afternoon. As we talked, we decided to pursue Redeemer School (our church school) as a potential option because it is half day for K-2 and a Charlotte Mason school.

The truth is, I've always wanted to send my kids to Redeemer School. I love the Charlotte Mason method, and it resonates deeply within Jeff's and my souls. The thought of sending them should have excited me, and to a degree it did, but I also felt like such a loser, a total failure for possibly giving up homeschooling. I never said I wanted to home school forever, but I still felt pretty worthless about looking to put them in school.

Ethan had his kindergarten assessment on Aug 2, which went fine, and we had our parent interview the same day. On Thursday of that week, Jeff & I went for my first doctor appointment, where we got to hear the baby's heartbeat. I still wasn't excited about the pregnancy. Friday my mom came in to help with the kids for the weekend so Jeff and I could work. We were in serious need of help, and the kids had a blast with their Grandma. Saturday I made the mistake of looking at a lovely woman's blog about her love for living a quiet life at home, homeschooling, and serving her family. Oh, how the guilt piled on...

And on Sunday I had my third disruption. It was a sermon from a guest preacher on interruptions (Luke 8:40-56 about Jairus' dying daughter, the bleeding woman who interrupted Jesus on His way to heal her, the time He took to listen to her whole story, Jairus' daughter dying, and Jesus bringing her back to life). I cried through the last half of the sermon as I realized that the bleeding woman wasn't fully healed until she realized she was known and loved, that she was made to be seen and not hidden. And that Jairus learns he is made to depend on Jesus, that his weakness was not a failure, but a moment for God's movement. My strategies (control, doing the "right" thing) have no capacity to do for me what I think they will. But it all hit home when Howie said that my greatest offense is to think so low of the love of God that I would believe His favorable response depends on me. God treats me as His Son deserves, not as how I deserve. What Jesus says about me is true, not what I say about myself.

My situation dependent perspective of myself comes from emptiness- I need to do the right thing to feel full and worthy. But in reality, the Trinity is full, and that fullness overflows to me. God says that He delights in me, He rejoices over me with singing, I am His beloved. His love makes me beautiful, lovely, worthy, and valuable.

Monday was Sydney's 2nd grade assessment and also the day I found out we received the maximum amount of financial assistance possible for both the kids to go to Redeemer School. Wow! It's a really humbling feeling to know that someone else is paying a big chunk of my kids' tuition...real people in my community who generously gave because they want others to be able to go to this school. It's a whole lot different than being excited about a tax refund. After that, I had to go have an ultrasound (because I'll be 35 before the baby is born). And I was really happy to see my baby on the screen moving around. It's the first time I have felt happiness over this pregnancy.

I'm still having a hard time letting go of Sydney as the first day of school is fast approaching. But she is so excited about going to Redeemer School!!! As I was putting away her math book and handwriting yesterday I told her I would really miss home schooling her, and what she said gave me great comfort. "Mommy, I think it will be like art camp was. I'll be having so much fun that I will forget to miss you. When you leave me with a babysitter and go out with Daddy, aren't you having so much fun that you forget to miss me? And think of all the fun you will have with Reid!" And she's right...it's just so hard to say goodbye to your first when you've been with her every day for 7 years, even if it is just half day school.

Our family went to our church's prayer meeting early this morning to receive prayer for the new business (I will post more about this later) and the other upcoming changes- me working part time, the pregnancy, and school for the kids. It was so rich and sweet to have our brothers and sisters surround us and hold us up before the throne of grace. Sydney said, "Mommy, people have been so generous to us lately...Redeemer School giving us money for Ethan and me to go there and the church praying for us...how can we ever thank them?" Our weakness is not a failure, but a moment for God's movement.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
-Psalm 23:6

Easy Bake Disappointment

Well, Ethan managed to save up his money for the desired Easy Bake Oven, so we went to Toys R Us today to buy it. It ended up being a disappointment to him. The pans are so small, and it took about 1.5 hours to make 4 little gluten free chocolate cakes! He thought the whole oven would be the size of a play kitchen, so for it to be small, and for the pans to be so tiny was a big let down. He said he wants to return it. I think he's just happier baking in the real kitchen.

It reminds me of a let down I had as a kid. I was a huge Annie fan (remember her and Miss Hanagan?). My mom one night called me down to see her with such excitement in her voice- she had found an Annie section in the big Sears catalog!!!! There was never a 2nd grader more excited than I was! When we opened to the page it was supposed to be on, it wasn't Annie at all...it was Arnie... Arnold Palmer, the golfer, had a line of clothing for Sears.

I have to say this was a let down for me too. I always wanted an Easy Bake Oven as a kid, but I never had one, so I was almost as excited as Ethan was about this. Now he has a wad of money and he's not sure what he wants when he returns the oven. I think when I take him back to Toys R Us, I will take him by himself, because I know it will take him a long time to figure out how to burn that money!

New Haircut & 2 Entreprenuers

Last week, Reid got a new haircut. Jeff wanted him to get his hair buzzed for the last few months, so I finally consented...I'm sure his head is a lot cooler with all this summer heat, but I do miss his hair!!
Chillin' with B on the rocking chair...
Sydney & Reid playing on Ethan's bed...
Sydney is saving up her money for an American Girl doll. As expensive as they are, she has a way to go, but we did find we can get one a bit cheaper on ebay. Ethan is saving his money for an Easy Bake Oven. (He loves to cook, and I bet one day he'll have his own cooking show called Gluten Free Eatin' With Ethan!) Although they earn money each day for chores, they have been looking for ways to earn more. So they both set up shops in their rooms.


Sydney set up her own jewelery shop- see how she set all her handiwork on her lamp for display? She made Christmas ornaments out of colored paper clips and beads, which is what is hanging off the flowers on the lamp. I love the look on her face...she looks so proud of herself and excited about her creations. She was more than thrilled when I bought some of her wares.
,
She was especially excited about how her lamp looked turned on with the handmade jewelery on it.
Ethan's store was a bit more ecclectic. He was selling a collection of Playmobils, jibitts, a Gideon's Bible, and a homemade lepprechaun trap (the playmobil island with an Egyptian oar sticking out of it which was attached to a pen by a green string.)



He wanted $20 for the Gideon's Bible.

Garden, Swim Lessons, and a Birthday

Here's a picture of a huge zucchini from our garden!

For Sydney's 7th birthday, she had 2 of her friends sleep over. Sidney, Sydney & Aliza had Papa John's pizza, learned finger knitting, watched a movie, ate yummy bakery treats, and played shadow games before crashing on Sydney's bedroom floor. Jeff & the boys went out to dinner and Toy Story 3.

So then we were in VA on Sydney's actual birthday, so she had another party at Grammy & Papa's house with cousins Riley & Liam and dear friends Alexa, Emmaline & Harrison.
Our blackberry bushes went nuts this year!!!
2 weeks of swim lessons in VA with the Morgan Swim School produced 2 very confident swimmers! Here they are with Miss Sarah.


Here is an excerpt from an email I sent to the swim school:

Sydney (age 7) went from being convinced she would drown in the water (unless she had on a life vest or could stand in the shallow end) to jumping in and swimming (with rocket hands) to the other end of the pool. Ethan (age 5) was so cautious of the water, and as it turned out, jumping into the pool ended up being his most favorite part of swim lessons!!

The best part, though, was on the last day of class, after Miss Sarah worked with the 3 of us in the water and she & I were talking, Sydney and Ethan were playing ring-around-the-rosies in the pool and going under water at the end!!! They were having so much fun doing this!!! My kids have never wanted to go under water, and here they were so happy about going under at the end!

Coming from out of state added an extra cost to my family- both financially, and in the amount of energy expended, but wow! This was so worth it!

I so appreciate how Sarah handled Sydney & Ethan. She expected them to listen, just as we do at home. She was never deterred by their behavior when they were afraid, and because she did not allow their fear to control the lesson, they learned a tremendous amount and gained a vast amount of confidence in the water.

TV Dinners

Today, Ethan finished up his reading lessons from Teach Your Child To Read In 100 Easy Lessons. For his reward, he wanted a TV dinner. My kids have never had these, but they have heard me tell them a story about them. When I was in 4th grade, I spent the night at a friend's house, and for dinner her mom took us to the grocery store to pick out our own TV dinners. I didn't know what a TV dinner was. I remember looking at the boxes and asking what that white square was (it was mashed potatoes!)
Since hearing that story, my kids have been curious about TV dinners. So we trekked out to Whole Foods after the boys had their hair cuts and picked out some gluten free TV dinners! To complete the whole concept of TV dinners, we watched TV- Little House on The Prairie!
In Reid Land, he is talking up a storm! He picked up a penny tonight (Ethan's money for fly swatting- flies have a one penny bounty in our house!) and said, "I need money too!"