Family News

To be honest, 2007 has not been a easy time. My brother passed away on January 12th (which, unfortunately, was also my nephew's birthday). Ever since Thanksgiving, my Dad's health has been deteriorating. He has lost much of his appetite and has lost a lot of weight. He has been in the hospital with a bowel blockage, pneumonia, collapsed lung, and anemia. My mother has been under so much stress through all of this that we agreed as a family that the best thing to do would be to admit Dad to a nursing home. My brother-in-law and I took my Dad to the nursing facility on February 15th. My sister's and niece's families visited him everyday. He seemed to be doing well, even though we had a few small concerns . Mom decided after seeing him there that she wanted him back home. He came home on February 23rd. Needless to say, I'm concerned. I was concerned for Dad when he was in the nursing home, and I'm concerned for him (and Mom) at home when Mom is too overcome by such a large responsibility. So, I'm stepping into another period of faith-building. To trust God's character and not the circumstances is not a new precept, but a hard one to put into practice. I can firmly say that God has never failed to be faithful in the past, so I have no reason to doubt. It's just that doubting is so easy, but not the best. Sort of like eating dessert:-) So, "I am pressed, but not crushed..."and realize that life could be much worse. I'm still able to call Dad everyday and hear him tell me that he loves me, and I am able to tell him the same. The fact that he still recognizes me is a big blessing. I hate being 3 and a half hours away, but I hope God allows me to be able to help as much as I can from here. So, in closing, I'll share some life lessons that I've learned already this year.

• Unconditional love means loving family just as they are, not how you wish they could be.
• It's a good thing to have legal godparents for your children because you never know how life will play out.
• It's a good thing to have a will and discuss it openly with your family.
• It's a good thing to let your family know where to find important papers.
  
• It's a good thing to make time to spend with extended family because you never know when it will be too late.
  
• Life is too short to hold grudges or refuse to grant forgiveness.
  
• It's best to realize that we are hardly ever in control, and that God is always in control.
• Even with life's difficulties, we are blessed beyond what we deserve.

So, that's it for me for now. Thanks for hanging in there for this long post. Let me know how you're doing. There are so many of you that are so dear to us, but we stay too busy to keep in contact frequently. I hope I can change that. Love to you all. Freda

Rocky Cube

Here are pics of our dog using a tool called PictureTrail. Just click on the cube to enlarge the picture.

Cool Slideshows

Spring is Springing

It is hard to believe that flowers are beginning to bloom and that spring is ready to begin. Because of the mild winter with little snow or very low temperature it seems that we have experienced a very long season of fall and just skipped winter altogether. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining. I realize that we could be living in upstate NY and be crushed under snow storm after snow storm. You will see to the right a picture of the first of our crop of Daffodils that bloomed this Wednesday - amazing!

Basketball Season

If you know me, you will almost immediately know that I love basketball and playing basketball is my favorite hobby. I have playing for CFA (Christian Family Academy) for about 2 yrs. and this season we have placed (so far) 4th and are tied by Woodlawn Christian Academy and will play them at Charlotte Sports Gym and will advance if we win and will probably play Success Academy or North Hills Christian School. I also have been chosen to play in our Conference's All Star Game with my friends Christian Huffman and Christopher McGrath. This Season has been my best season with the wonderful coaching by Andy Fox and being in 8th Grade in a 7th-8th grade league. My highest scoring game was against Clearview Academy with 20 points and about 8 rebounds. I will report back later on our school Christian Family Academy.

Hard Week

This past week has been a difficult one for the Herrells. Joseph, Hanna and Elijah were sick with an ugly Sinus Infection/Flu. We still after 8 days are coughing but thankful that they are not running a fever. To add to the difficulty Freda needed to attend to family situations in TN and was gone for a couple of days. We realized more than ever how much we rely on each other. Not only do we need each other but we enjoy being together. We are looking forward to a trip in a couple of weeks with the school to Colonial Williamsburg. I should be fun!

Snow Day - It Only Takes a Little

It only takes a dusting of snow and sleet and a good TV meteorologist that is predicting freezing rain to make it a SNOW DAY. I hope you are enjoying yours!