I Can't Wait to See Where It Turns Up Next

Ever since our first two children were young, we've been playing the SHMILY game. It is where you hide an object with SHMILY (See How Much I Love You) written on it to let your family members know you love them. Whoever finds it gets to hide it next. We write SHMILY on more interesting objects now. It's become a lot more fun too.

This picture may or may not include 5' long realistic looking rubber black snake I was given so I could write descriptive ad copy for a business that sells toys. I may or may not have enlisted Joshua's help to hide it in Amanda's house for some Asbell fun while she was at work. I may or may not have suggested wrapping it around the bottom of her washing machine. Joshua may or may not have thought woven in and out of covers and pillows in her bed was a much better place to hide it. I'm not admitting to anything. ;-)

Amanda came home smiling with the snake in her hands. She was laughing as she told us how she found it. 

Amanda said she felt it, jumped out of bed, and "even screamed a little." Then she thought it was us having fun with her, but her room is darkened so she can sleep better in the daytime. Since the light was dim, she couldn't tell for sure and wasn't taking any chances it was real. "I mean, can you imagine grabbing it thinking it was fake and it be real while you are in the dark?!" So, she threw shoes at it until she was sure!  

I laughed and told her to be sure to return it so the fun can continue. 

She gave me a pointed look and said, "Oh, I will! You can be sure of it!" 

I can't wait! Amanda will think about it and try to come up with a good place and time I won't be expecting it. She's fun like that! 

Joshua loved it! His placement got his sister, and I am going to take the heat for it. 

I texted Brandon and told him about it. He got the biggest kick out of it. I told him since he enjoyed the story so much, I'd make sure he got in on the fun too. 

SHMILY is also a great way our adult children can keep interacting in a fun way with our younger children. It's something every family member no matter their age can do and enjoys. 

Now, our family loves having fun with each other, and we are all pretty easy going and can take a joke well. If it isn't fun for all, it isn't fun for any. Having fun or being mean is all about what is in the heart and knowing how it will be taken. We don't play around with anyone we think would react negatively because it will only breed anger and other "weeds" in their heart. Fun builds a relationship, but angry or hurt feelings are detrimental. 

Proverbs 17:22 A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.

Amanda's Talk with God..and what happened next

I have her permission to share this.

Amanda's driving time is when she does a lot of talking with the Lord. She was praying as she drove to have new tires put on her truck.

She told God, "I have a great family. You gave me a nice car. You gave me a house. You just gave me a promotion and a great raise. I am thankful for all of these things. It would be nice to have someone to share this wonderful life with, but I am not going to go looking for it. I will wait on you to bring it to me."

She paid for her tires and looked around the store for a while. Then she went outside and sat on a bench while waiting for her tires to get finished.

A young man sat down beside her, started talking to her, asked for her phone number, and said he'd like to take her out. She told him she was not into the world's type of dating but was open to having a friend and would see where things went from there. He agreed and stated he was a Christian also. They shared part of their stories while she waited. He told her he's always wanted to be a part of a large family.

He took her to church, and they've been texting daily. Clint met him very briefly and said he seems like a nice young man.

Amanda said she doesn't know if he is the one, but she KNOWS from this young man walking into her life when he did that God heard her prayer and has affirmed that waiting on Him is the right direction to pursue.

It reminded me of when a few decades ago, a hurting teen prayed for someone to love her..and God sent Clint the next day.

Way to Go, Amanda!!

She finally found out!

Our friend was so happy for her that he told us early, but he made us promise not to tell her. 

Amanda has aggressively gone after another promotion at work. She repeatedly asked for training until she received it. She hunted down manuals and brought them home to study. She worked so much overtime it drove me to my knees for her health and safety.

Today, she was told she is getting a big promotion and a big raise!

We are very proud of her and rejoice in her success of achieving her goal. To God be the glory!

Proverbs 14:23 

All hard work brings a profit, 

but mere talk leads only to poverty.

It was a spring of work, work, work!

Amanda has worked on our farm beside Clint and I since she was little. She knows the benefit of hard work and has girded her loins with strength. She will be a big blessing to her future family.

installing the window

insulation

walls

Clint taught her how to do the wiring since this was her first time. She has done the other things before. She cuts her outlets close!

Time out for fun!

Clint and I and the rest of our family helped her when we could. I don't just take pictures. I get beside them and work hard too. Amanda was able to start using her art studio in just a couple of weeks after receiving it. She put in two lofts to increase footage, an extra window, wiring, insulation, lighting, walls, and an air conditioner. She has more she plans to do, but she is waiting until she can save more money.

We believe that we are all saved the same way, by the undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus. Acts 15:11

Pearl Has Personality

Amanda asked for a spoiler for her car and requested we take her to the junkyard to get it. She removed one from a green car first and planned to paint it, but her mama found her a white one later. I didn't get a picture of that because I was helping her get it off the car and was also helping a man who asked to borrow some tools.

Clint helped her install it on Christmas Day. She was worried about drilling the holes in the wrong place. She offered to help him change his brakes later as a thank you for the help. For Clint, it's more time with his daughter and an opportunity to refine her independence in life skills.

Brandon bought her both sticker eyelashes and these plastic eyelashes for her car in case she preferred one over the other. He's a great big brother!

Pearl with her eyelashes!

A Year Ago Today

A year ago today, we could have lost Amanda in a rollover vehicle accident. One in three people involved in those types of accidents die. A few weeks after her accident, a man rolled his truck in our immediate area. He did not make it. We feel very blessed to still have our daughter.

You can go here to see the stomach dropping scene I walked up on that day. Those pictures still get to me. We have had several people tell us Amanda was "lucky" or that "someone kept her safe" because "by all rights, she should have been hurt or worse." What we haven't shared before is that there was a 30 lb object on the floor of the truck that went right by her head on its way out the driver's window. That alone could have taken her from us. Her heavy textbooks flew everywhere, but did not harm her. God protected her and increased her personal testimony of how God answers prayer during times of crisis. 

When Amanda was younger, she had the diagnosis of a "severe sleepwalker." She has woken up in a police station (11 years old) and in the middle of the woods at night (14 years old). This accident makes three times Amanda has cried out to Him and has been safely delivered from very terrifying situations. When Amanda shares about how afraid she has been and how God comforted her immediately and provided a way to safety, people listen. She is only 18, but has already had some amazing faith journeys.

If you are one of the people who walked with us through that very scary day or someone who prayed for us, we thank you again and ask you to do one more thing: 

Please join us today in giving praise and glory to the Lord for keeping her safe! Say a prayer of thankfulness, praise His name out loud, or turn on the radio and sing worship songs to Him. He is worthy!

..and another special thank you to my friend Carla who prayed for me upon the Lord's prompting and took the time out of her day to tell me about it and expressed her concern for me a day or so right before the accident. In the midst of that scene and my fear and confusion, I thought "THIS is what God had Carla praying for!! He already has this covered!"

Princess Trapper

Amanda in the new dress she made. 

My tomboy "Princess Trapper" has grown into a lovely, godly young woman.

I am treasuring these days while she is waiting for her licensing to arrive.

I am going to really miss having her around during the daytime.
She has already turned down one marriage proposal.
Time, please slow down!

I Corinthians 13:13  So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Three Little Sisters

Hannah 3, Emily 5, Bethany 9

Three of my lovely ladies. The fourth, aka The Princess Trapper, was tracking something interesting in the woods.

Proverbs 7:4 Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman:

Pray for Amanda

Amanda has been diagnosed as a highly functioning severe sleepwalker who has had dozens of sleepwalking incidents including two that took her out of our home. Sleepwalking and seizures are linked in some cases. We have not found a link with Amanda to date.

Sleepwalking can occur in the daytime which is a lesson our family learned the hard way three years ago. Amanda sat down on the couch one morning and slipped into a sleepwalking state. Drs speculate she dozed off or had a small seizure. She then walked out of our home and into the woods. She remembers nothing from the time she sat on the couch until she was woken by the noise of a search and rescue helicopter nine hours later.

While it would be less frightening to us to believe she just made a mistake as an inexperienced driver, there is some evidence that the sleepwalking/seizures could have contributed to the accident. Clint and I have been praying something would disprove our concern. Instead, what we have learned has concerned us more. That, linked with the timing of the accident and things I observed that morning, has to be investigated.

This will not be fun for Amanda. She is going to have to undergo seizure testing again. Depending on the test results, it could change her life radically. We broke the news to her yesterday. She grew very quiet which is her way when she is upset and afraid. We absolutely hated to burden this sweet child with anything else right now.

Our responsibility as parents demands we explore what has been revealed. Clint and I see how this accident might be God's way of alerting us to a larger issue. We thank Him for the opportunity. God has been and continues to be very good to us. 

Amanda has had testing previously, but no seizures were apparent. The thing about the testing is this: It can only find seizures if they are triggered, but it can't rule them out if they don't happen during the test. They are very expensive, and a negative test isn't conclusive. 

Please keep her, her doctors, and the testing she will endure in prayer as we go forward. Ultimately, we hope there isn't any seizure activity so her life can resume as normal, but if there is something to be found, we certainly want to find it. When you pray for us, remember to rejoice with us. As a fireman said "It's a miracle she's alive." 

‎"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." ~ Jeremiah 29:11-13

Amanda has been in a bad wreck

The truck rolled. 

Please keep her and our family in your prayers. She seems OK. (phone numbers removed)

We are having some difficulty getting Brandon home to watch the younger children. Please pray the college passes on our message about a family emergency

Update: Thank you very, very much for the prayers and concern. Some of you we haven't ever met, but you have put your love into action and showed your concern. We were touched by your kindness. 

Amanda is OK. She has a concussion, a big, deep scrape on the top of her head from where the truck rolled over, bruises to her chest and shoulder from the seat belt, and a deep tissue bruise on her upper left arm. We are to watch her for the next 48 hours. The truck is...uh, well.... (Remember, she is OK!)

This is what it looked like yesterday when we brought home the RV from a camping trip.

This is what I saw when I came up on the scene. I didn't recognize the truck as mine. I thought there had been another accident, and it was going to keep me from getting to Amanda. Then, I recognized the truck and I nearly fell over. I thought "Oh Lord, where is my daughter?!" At exactly that moment, she walked around the truck and waved her arms at me and yelled "I am OK." The man she was with kept telling her to sit down. She told him "No, thank you, when my mom sees this, she will need to see that I am OK!"
(FYI, I did not take pictures until much later.)

Since we purchased it, Clint and I have jokingly debated over which of us owned the truck.
We want you to know we now call it Amanda's truck. She can have it! :-)

I had several first responders (in different conversations) tell me that if you are going to be in a wreck like that, an old Ford truck is the thing to be driving. They said they hold up better and don't crush down on the roof as bad as other vehicles. They told me some graphic stories I'd rather not even think about again for comparison. I'm sold. I am going to try to find her another one to drive.

We donated the truck to the fire department so they could do extraction training exercises in it. A fireman told me he would do that for us to give us a free tow and a tax deduction. We only had liability on the truck, so this kept us from having another expense added.
My daughter was in a rollover! Wow! She is safe! Thank You, Lord!

This was about a mile from our home. I am very thankful to our neighbors who called 911, stayed with Amanda and helped her out of the truck, and kept me calm when they took her away in the ambulance.
I could not go with her because there was no one to stay with the younger children. We were able to get through to Brandon at college, but it took some doing. Clint will have a word with the man who blocked our message and the dean of the college to ensure it does not happen to another family.



Amanda wanted to clean the blood off before her siblings saw her. She also wanted to let her friends know she was OK. We took her to her school where they used their equipment which helped it not be so painful for her very tender head.

Amanda asked me if she could have the grill. I asked why. "I hope to never do that again, so I need something to remember it by." She also said "You can push on those brakes all you want while you are upside down, but they don't work in that position! It will not stop the truck!" She said she was pushing the brakes for all she was worth just wanting it to STOP!

Clint and I are filled with overwhelming GRATITUDE to a gracious and loving Father who spared our child's life today. We were told by an officer that if she had been speeding or in a smaller car, she'd have not survived. This was right next to an area of road where Clint and I worked a fatal accident. There is an issue with the road in this area. Roll over accidents account for only 3% of vehicle accidents, but those 3% account for over 20% of fatalities of all crashes. (Some statistics show 1/3 fatalities in rollovers.) We have many reasons to praise, and no reasons at all to complain! We are blessed, blessed, blessed!

Update per request for info: This accident was not due to distracted driving. She was not using her cell phone or text messaging. She was driving and came off the road just a bit and the tire went into a hole. That started a chain of events. We believe she oversteered when she hit the hole and then over corrected. Inexperienced driving contributed.

Psalm 5:11 But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you.

Psalm 91:14 "Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

A Princess Wrestles with Two Little Brothers

They started picking on her, so I grabbed the camera.
She had just thrown Joshua off in this one.

Brandon observing the boys trying to take Amanda down.

Brandon lending a hand.

She's down! Get her!

Now they all turn on Brandon. It's not a loyalty thing.
It's a "take down the biggest, strongest sibling" thing!

 

Going after Brandon didn't work.
I look off to the side and see what looks like Joshua and Caleb plotting.

 

Yep, I was right. They were coordinating their attack on Amanda.

 

She's down!

Going for her arms!!

They managed to get her arms out from under her!

She's down, and they are talking smack!

It isn't long before she flips them and yells "Take the picture! (gasp) I got 'em! (gasp) I got 'em!"

 

She tosses Caleb and starts to get up. Joshua tries to take her down again.
"Help Caleb! She's getting up!"

It doesn't work. Amanda has both boys pinned!

Joshua and Caleb have been wanting to match physical strength with Amanda for years now. Amanda works hard on our farm and has "girded her loins with strength." The boys know that once they take her down, they can go after Brandon! Every year, there have been several wrestling matches on our farm. Earlier this year, there was a "sword fight." Amanda is very good-natured and fun loving and keeps an eye on safety. Even as she was tossing the boys, she was asking if they were OK.

Amanda maintains they did not have her pinned. They maintain they did. I told them to settle it later. If the camera is handy, I'll take pictures! :-)

Wild Animal Burrows

I looked in my copy of Tracking and The Art of Seeing: How to Read Animal Tracks and Sign written by professional wildlife consultant and animal tracker, Paul Rezendes, who is considered a leading expert in the field, and learned this is probably a skunk burrow that was made close to the children's play area. I have not found any tracks or scat around the sites. I've managed to find a few more of these...the hard way. This particular site was dug out more where we had removed a post. My Junior Trapper, Amanda, is very excited! A skunk is one of the few things she has not been able to catch and release in her Havahart Traps. In this case, I am OK with her being disappointed. If she does catch one though, I will rise to the occasion and help her all I can.

The book has color photos of each animal, pictures of its feet, drawings and pictures of tracks and trail patterns they leave, pictures of burrows, scat and other useful information like where to look for lays. All of my children LOVE this book! I've had it for about two years and have not had a chance to really look at it until today. The children have kept it constantly moving around the house!

Amanda's Riding Camp

Amanda is having a blast at the horseback riding camp. Today is the last day and they are performing in and taping a parade for our soldiers.
Amanda is really excited about that and has been talking about it all week.
They got to watch and ask questions to a farrier that came in yesterday.
There is a foal named Mystery born last week which they have been petting and enjoying.
Today they find out who wins the trophy after the final test has been taken.
Amanda has the camera again today too.
I'll post more picts soon....very busy here this week/weekend.

Amanda Riding Lessons

Because of the dust, animals and hay, I can't go to riding lessons until the allergies are gone so Clint is taking me pictures at the lessons. I really miss going and watching Amanda ride.

Amanda Riding Lessons

Amanda is in the light blue shirt and the horse she is riding is Cody.