Upcoming Giveaway Hints!

In case you haven't heard, I'll be doing an Autism Awareness Giveaway soon, leading up to April 2 which is Autism Awareness Day. Fun! Tell your friends!

I have 4 terrific sponsors signed up for prizes already! And I want to give you some hints about what to expect so here they are so far... you can click on the last three if you aren't familiar with their fantastic products!

"Stunning Knitted Boa Scarf or Beanie" from Joy McMurray!

Sweet Sunshine Bowtique!

Dainty Button!

Evy's Tree!

Sound exciting? IT IS! What I love about doing this giveaway is...well, it's an easy way for me to spread awareness about autism. I'm super excited!

Want to help? Do you have something handmade or just something neat that you think someone would like to win in the giveaway?

LET ME KNOW either on here or through Facebook! You will get publicity for you AND help a great cause!

And let me just say 'thank you' to everyone who read my previous post and posted a message on the White House Facebook page about lighting it up blue on April 2. Unfortunately, our President has decided not to participate in this. I will refrain from posting my feelings about this, but here is the news article:

White House Says No To Autism Speaks Effort

By MICHELLE DIAMENT

March 4, 2011

Despite a social media push from Autism Speaks, the White House says it will not be lighting up blue in honor of World Autism Awareness Day next month.

Autism Speaks encouraged its members to flood the White House with messages on Facebook and Twitter to encourage President Barack Obama to light his home blue on April 2 in honor of autism awareness.

Already, over 250 landmarks around the world will participate in the advocacy organization’s annual “Light It Up Blue” initiative including the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, Niagara Falls, Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil and the Sydney Opera House in Australia.

“Lighting the White House, America’s most prominent building, blue would certainly elevate awareness of autism and World Autism Awareness Day to another level,” said Adam Pockriss, an Autism Speaks spokesman.

But the White House told Disability Scoop on Friday that 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. will not participate. No reason was given for the decision.

“The administration looks forward to commemorating autism awareness month and world autism day and remains committed to finding the causes and treatments for autism as well as providing community-based services and support for persons on the autism spectrum,” said White House spokesman Shin Inouye.

Last year, more than 200 buildings went blue in honor of World Autism Awareness Day, which was established by the United Nations in 2007.

HUGE GIVEAWAY for Autism Awareness

Well I guess if there is anything to motivate me to blog, it is a 'good cause'...something I consider worth the effort! In October it was about Domestic Violence Awareness. HUGE deal. Now, it's Autism Awareness!

Autism, in some form, affects 1 in 110 kids! And most are boys; 1 in 70 boys in the US will struggle with some form of autism.

This is one of those things you always think will NOT impact you and your life. HA! That's what I always thought. Autism was some random word I could barely define, much less tell you a single thing about. The only thing I knew about autism was that the Tom Cruise / Dustin Hoffman movie "Rain Man" was about an autistic guy.

Until my son was diagnosed with PDD-NOS, which is a 'mild' form of autism. This diagnosis and all of the reasons for it, slammed into my little world and shook it on its axis.

We deal with it daily.

And so, I think it's VITALLY important to spread education about this. Raise Awareness. And obviously, millions of people feel the same way because there is an Autism Awareness Day, which is April 2.

What do I have up my sleeve? Hee hee...read on! Good stuff coming!

I am going to blog something about autism from now until April 2. Your job will be to read it and comment on things, if you wish.

Also, you will want to refer your friends, starting soon. As soon as I get more details nailed down about my giveaway.

GASP giveaway? YES! How fun! This is gonna be HUGE and you will wanna participate, trust me!

I'm working on the goodies for the giveaway so stay tuned.

Until then, you can do one thing to help spread awareness....in the past few years, the White House has been turned red for AIDS awareness and pink for Breast Cancer Awareness. But not blue for Autism Awareness, not yet. Which is behind the times because other major landmarks worldwide, such as the Empire State Building, Niagara Falls, the Christ Redeemer Statue in Brazil, the Sydney Opera House in Australia, etc. have been spotlighted in blue on April 2 for Autism Awareness. We want to get Obama to turn the White House blue! Are you on Facebook (who isn't?)? Go to the White House FB page and "like" it if you haven't already. Cut and paste this sentence onto the wall:

President Obama, I urge you to light the White House blue on April 2nd, UN World Autism Awareness Day, to show your support of all those struggling with autism. http://bit.ly/fYePrv

THANK YOU! And don't forget to check back soon for the giveaway details!

How To Get New Clothes for FREE! Clothing Swap Event.

Who has clothes or other items in your house that you no longer want or need or fit into? Come on, you KNOW you just won’t be that size again so time to let those clothes go…haha….

Who NEEDS new clothes but lacks the funds to go on a nice shopping spree?

This is your answer! Read on!

All of the above applied to me and I knew there must be other women at my church who felt the same way. And I must digress here to brag on the ladies of my church; they are all tremendously generous. I think it’s the Hawaiian way, and I love it! Everyone is so quick to give things away, without a thought about charging anyone any money. That would be so insulting! When I was pregnant with my first child, I not only had the traditional baby showers, but women in the church with older boys brought me bags of used, good condition clothing. I had so much I didn’t have to buy my son one item of clothing until well after his first birthday! And the same has been true with my two daughters, as well. And the maternity clothes…HA! I can quickly off-hand think of about 5 other women who have worn my maternity clothes as we’ve all passed them around.

Also, the times when our church has held a yard sale as a fundraiser…well….we all ‘shop’ amongst the stuff that we’ve all brought, and probably half of the money raised is from our own pockets!

SO, with all of this in mind, I approached our Ladies Leader about doing a Clothing Swap. She loved it and got permission from our pastor’s wife, asked if I’d organize it since it was my idea, and bam, there it was on our church schedule.

I’ve heard of these for a few years now, and thought it would be awesome for us. If you google it, you’ll see various ideas about ways to do them. Some are pretty high-end, with designer items being swapped. Some are pretty regulated, with rigid rules, while others are more loosely organized. Some are held open to the public and hundreds of people show up, while others are private affairs held among groups of friends. Some are systematic, with people receiving a ticket for every item they contribute to be used to ‘pay’ for each item they select. Some swaps also feature food, drinks, etc. You can research all the different ideas there are, and organize yours however it best fits your group of people. Here is how we did it….

We told the ladies about a month ahead of time so they could start clearing out their house and closets. Yes, we did open it up to more than just ladies clothes; ALL clothing was welcome from babies, kids, men’s and women’s…including any accessories like purses, shoes, etc. And we also opened it up to household items. The rules were:

All items should be new or gently used, in good working, wearable condition.

All items should be small or light enough to be carried by a woman and able to fit into a regular vehicle.

Ladies should not bring items they will end up regretting getting rid of, and reminded that they would get NO money for anything, so obviously if they wanted to sell it on craigslist or eBay for a profit, they should not bring it.

Ladies were asked to bring their own shopping bags.

We had it at our Ladies Leader’s house since hers is large enough and the church wasn’t available that night. She borrowed folding tables from the church. Ladies were asked to start bringing their items during the week preceding the event; they could bring it to her house or to the church for her to take home with her. A few of us showed up early and quickly organized everything like a standard yard sale. Clothing was sorted and folded, all picture frames, accessories, etc. were placed together….same for DVD’s, shoes, books, etc.

The night arrived and some ladies still brought their items with them. Obviously if you have a large group of people, you can’t do this because it does need to be organized ahead of time. We had a small enough group that as they arrived we were able to still quickly sort their items. As ladies arrived, they were invited to grab some of the snacks that were set up (everyone brought a small dessert or snack item to share).

To begin the Swap, ladies were invited to look around and ‘window shop’ all they wanted; checking out sizes, etc. Nothing could be actually taken yet. After everyone was allowed to do this, we went over the rules again and then said “GO”! In our Swap, we did rounds: ladies could go grab one item and then return to the seating area. After everyone returned, round two started and they could go get two items. Then for round three, they could get three items…and so on. Some ladies wanted to try on items which slowed it down a bit, but after awhile we no longer had rounds because, well…no one was fighting over anything like some of the swaps I read about on the internet! Everyone just liked browsing and taking whatever they wanted, and they were able to try on items in the bathroom.

Let me tell you, this was SO MUCH FUN! I mean, how many times have you been to a yard sale and told to take anything you wanted for FREE? And everyone had brought such a neat variety of things; all different sizes of clothing, both dressy and casual, kids clothes, kitchen items, stuffed animals, books, shoes, movies, etc. Everyone left with bags of ‘new’ treasures! Even if you weren’t sure you liked something, you figured you might as well take it because after all, it’s FREE! People got items for family members and friends, too.

We were left with a small amount of unwanted things, and ladies knew they could either take ‘their’ contributions home with them (no one did), or just leave it there for the next fundraiser yard sale that our Ladies Leader is going to do on a local military base.

The next Sunday, several of us (or our kids) were seen wearing some of our ‘new’ clothing! And everyone commented on how happy they were with all the ‘new’ stuff they scored!

Just a few things that I was thrilled to bring home: about 6-7 new DVDs for me and my kids, stuffed animals for all three of my kids, a new platter for my kitchen, a belt, two new skirts and four new shirts, some brand new nursing pads, several items of clothing for Samuel and Olivia, several pairs of shoes for my kids, etc. There were also some things I was glad to get out of my house and see them find new homes with people who would enjoy them!

This was a really fun event and everyone is already talking about our next one. I can’t wait!

Keeping Kids Quiet At Church

How do YOU keep your kids quiet during church services? I've been collecting ideas about ways to keep kids quiet in church, so PLEASE share your ideas!

For me, it's Wednesday! That means heading off to the library to get books for Samuel. I have learned that if I get him some awesome books about snakes, dinosaurs, cars, skeletons, jungle animals, etc. and DON'T let him see them until church time, our mid-week service is alot more peaceful! He will sit and look at those books for almost the whole service. This is awesome, as anyone attending church with small, hyper kids will understand. Olivia is much easier; she is usually happy with her blankie, a dollie or purse, and maybe one or two small toys.

Another trick: gummy worms. The kids love them and offer to share with their friends, which I'm sure the parents love. Also, Samuel likes to tie his into knots before eating, or his favorite thing is to pretend that it's a snake, inching its way all around the seats, on the floor, etc. This is good for 10-15 minutes of quiet! I've also been known to bring other kinds of candy. Sshhh, please don't report me to the Bad Parent Police! haha...but like this week; I found some SweetTarts on sale and yes, am planning to take them to church to dole out one by one. Bribery is awesome for keeping the kids quiet.

My friend Cheyenne uses orange tic-tacs (why orange, I wonder). She said this keeps her son, Huck, quiet for awhile. She also heard from a friend about using plain scotch tape! You take some, let the kids have pieces, and they have fun sticking it on things, pulling it back off, etc.

I found that the traditional "Monkey's In A Barrel" is awesome at our church, because the bottom of the chairs have metal bars that the monkey's can be hung from. This kept Olivia quiet once for a LONG time! I was raving to everyone afterwards!

A favorite idea that lots of mothers told me even when Samuel was just a baby: keep some really fun (quiet) toys separate and never let the kids play with them, except at church. That way they are 'new' and fun. My friend Frances rotates her bag of church toys for her son; sometimes he has his safari animals, then the next week it will be his cars, and then his Toy Story toys. And of course, my friend Tara writes her son's name on his toys because our church has about a million little kids, so this way they get their toys back after all the kids have 'shared' with each other!

Speaking of sharing, I've found that if there is a child in front or behind us, they love peering over or under the seat to see all of Samuel's toys. And of course, he wants to have what THEY are playing with. Human nature, isn't it! To want what someone else has. So I'll whisper to him to switch toys, and this has worked out well. The kids exchange toys and are super happy playing with 'new' toys for the duration of the service! I've often joked that we mommies should just automatically switch toy bags at the beginning of service. This also helps Samuel to learn that some things are 'his' and some things are 'other kids'...and that it's OK to share, and then you return toys to their rightful owners. This is a huge lesson for a preschooler!

At the end of a church service after Samuel, Olivia, Jayda, and Texas shared toys all service. It looked like a tornado had hit! But they were all quiet and that's what mattered....haha...

I remember as a kid, sitting with a pen or pencil and a pad of paper. I drew and drew, and I guess this was my mom's way of keeping me still. This is great for our kids as well; we have those large sketching board toys and Samuel loves those, although sometimes Elton has to sit and draw with him. He draws various fun things for Samuel to identify.

I also remember taking Barbie to church, but one night in particular I wanted to show my best friend my new Barbie, and she was sitting several rows behind us. I thought if I just held up Barbie and waved her around, my friend would see her, so I did just that. Barbie was naked, though, and for some reason after that night I wasn't allowed to

bring Barbie to church anymore.

Anyway, if you have any awesome suggestions please share them.

On to another Evy's Tree giveaway (this is her Spring Preview week so she's doing lots of giveaways!). Look at this gorgeous kids design!

So if you want to enter to win an Evy's Tree item, click here.

Autism.

Autism. How that little word strikes fear in a parent's heart.

Trust me, I know.

My son is on the autism spectrum, with a diagnosis of PDD-NOS. That is a fancy way of saying that he has some certain autistic characteristics and traits, but not enough to qualify for an actual "he has autism" diagnosis. The world of PDD-NOS is confusing, uncertain, fearful, hopeful, and always changing.

I can't begin to describe how it makes a parent feel...but today I read another blog post that very well summed up the feelings. If you are interested, read it here. Be prepared to cry.

So, I haven't blogged about this much because frankly, it's very personal. It hurts. It's scary. I prefer to talk about the funny, smart things that my wonderful 4-year old firstborn does. Samuel is intelligent, hilarious, handsome, tall, and my favorite little boy in the whole world! He also has PDD-NOS. Most of the time, I don't remember his particular diagnosis and the issues that come with it.

Most of the time.

Last week, some things had happened that reminded me of that diagnosis and I got scared. Again. And retreated a bit into my head to think and pray about it all...again.

In a moment of desperation, I mentioned something on FaceBook (also known as broadcasting to the entire world) about it...and was so glad that I did, because the response was wonderful. I had several people contact me privately, and they shared their own stories with me about their experiences with autism. I had no idea that these friends of mine were also struggling with similar issues! I was so encouraged and inspired.

So last night, I was talking to my dear friend about this, and she told me that I should blog in more detail about this autism/PDD-NOS journey. That it might encourage others.

I don't know...I wonder if there are people out there truly interested in what I have to say? About my experiences...the tests...the melt-downs...the ups and downs...the lessons learned?

If you read my blog and would really like to see more posts about this, please let me know.

Now, on to something fun...

Spring is almost here, although my friends in the middle of the USA might feel otherwise! Hoping everyone is surviving the Feb 2011 Blizzard!

If you live there and have internet access, log on to Evy's Tree and have your spirits uplifted by looking at all the great, bright spring colors! The snow WILL melt and the sun WILL warm you and you WILL want some nice tee shirts! So enter her giveaway...here is one of my personal favorites because I am looking for a nice GREEN item for St. Patrick's Day!

Good luck!

Personal Advertisement: Evy's Tree Giveaway

Oh yes, it's another giveaway. So in spite of my LOOOONG absence from the blogosphere, I am once again here and typing away. Leave it to my friend Amy to find a way to get me blogging again. But it's for an awesome reason!

Evy's Tree is doing a giveaway. These are gorgeous, addictive, comfortable, and useful embellished hoodies. Those of you who know that I live in Hawaii may think to yourself; really? Is the weather in Hawaii cool enough for a hoodie? That's what I wondered myself...and then when I got my first one I found that yes, many nights it gets cool enough to wear a hoodie! And now that we are in our winter season, sometimes our days/nights are rainy and chilly and these hoodies are PERFECT. The way she designs them, they can be dressed up (with an accompanying gorgeous handmade brooch) or down (without the brooch, add a denim skirt!). As a nursing mommy, I find them ridiculously convenient and it makes me not want to wear anything else because these make nursing so easy. The high-quality hoodies are comfortable and they last well, even through the multiple washings I put them through after they get baby pee, spit-up, and poo on them!

Here is one of the original Evy's Tree hoodies, the Whimsey, showing my little baby bump at Ala Moana Center in Honolulu, Hawaii.

And here is the baby bump herself! This hoodie was sooooo comfy to wear in the hospital; looking decent for pictures, being easy for nursing, and getting compliments from the nurses!

The Army Green Simple (minus the brooch) on a cool day in Hawaii. Emma tucked her toes into the pockets!

The Army Green Simple with the Mrs. Darcy brooch. Sorry for the horrendous lighting; it was at a dark & romantic Italian dinner with my handsome hubby!

Do yourself a favor. Save your money and buy one. They are MUCH better quality and style than anything even similar that you will find in your local mall, and in the meantime you'll be supporting a hardworking mom who is trying to stay home with her kids. And until you save enough to buy one, enter her giveaway and maybe you'll win one!

Here is the link for the giveaway:

Evy's Tree Giveaway

And by the way, the headwraps seen in two of the pics (black and purple) are two of the wonderful creations from another awesome person, my cousin Charity Morgan of Dainty Button. The purple one is one of my favorites; it's the Carol of Courage Domestic Violence headwrap. Purple is the color of Domestic Violence Awareness and a portion of the proceeds from this wrap (and its matching headband) actually benefit a domestic violence survivor.

Missing My Dad...

Does anyone remember the significance of August 1997? Most people won't remember that this is the month that Princess Diana died in a dark Paris tunnel, until they see the little sidebar on an internet website. I can't ever forget, because the day she died was the day of my dad's funeral.

My dad entered eternity on August 27, 1997. I was 21. I hadn't had enough time with my dad, but I refuse to dwell on the sadness, because I HAD a dad...a great one...and he taught me many things during those two decades. And even in his passing, he taught me some incredible lessons with eternal significance.

So here it is, 13 years since his death...and this blog is dedicated to his memory. To my dad, Oscar Allen Foster.

Dad was born in 1927, the youngest of three. His parents were poor and he grew up on a farm in Diggins, Missouri. In his veins flowed brave Cherokee blood, and his mother was one of my family's legendary 'Foster Women'; those women in our ancestry with amazing strength and resilience. We look back at these women and shake our heads in awe as we strive to demonstrate thier strength. It's not that the Foster men are weak...I don't mean that at all...but the Foster women are just incredibly strong survivors! But I digress....

After high school graduation my dad, still a fresh faced teenager, joined the United States Navy at 17 while the world was embroiled in a long and bitter war. His military career has always been shrouded in mystery for us, because he refused to talk about it much. Most of what we know, we found out after he died and we were finally able to gain access to his military records. He'd been awarded medals that we never saw. He was on a ship in the Pacific Arena during the war, and one of our pictures of him during this time shows a rakishly handsome sailor casually smoking a cigarette and baring his chest in what must have been tropical temperatures based on the trees in the background. Now that I live in Hawaii and am aware of the huge military presence here, I like to imagine that perhaps he was here on this island!

Dad is the second from the right.

We believe that Dad's ship was one of the first US ships to land in Hiroshima, Japan after the detonation of the bomb that helped to bring the war to an end. We don't know what it was that Dad saw and experienced there, but it must have been horrendous. The few things he did mention over the years reflected his experience there, including his hatred of racism. When we would later move from Missouri to Louisiana, we found ourselves living among a much larger black population and I remember not really knowing how to adjust or adapt. Dad adamantly insisted that I resist any racist attitudes; it was one of the few times I was impressed at his 'righteous anger'! He vehemently told me that "men of any race or color are capable of horrible evil" and that NO ONE should be judged by their skin or culture. "Get to know someone past their race or color", he insisted, "then you can know whether you should be their friend or not." His eyes would look unseeing past me as he remembered his past..."you can't imagine how terrible people can be to other humans until you've seen some of the things I've seen." I didn't want to know...then. But now I wished I'd asked.

Handsome Navy sailor!

I wish I had more pictures of my dad, but unfortunately they are packed away at my mom's house with everything else from my childhood that's in storage! Oh well...at least I have a few. One of the ones that is my favorite shows us standing by the pond on our property, fishing. During my pre-teen years that was one of my favorite activities with him.

After the war, Dad married a childhood friend and they had 2 children; Sharon and then Larry. Things didn't work out, however, and Dad found himself a single father with custody of two young kids. Thankfully his mother stepped in and helped him raise the kids for about 10 years as my dad worked hard to support his family. Also thankfully during this time, he returned to his spiritual roots. When he was in his early 30's, he met my mom, a 21-year old blonde with Irish blood in her veins, who had been helping at a church camp where Sharon was attending. On a bright June day they were married.

My mom impresses me; at such a young age she became the step-mother to a 13-year old girl and a 10-year old boy! I don't think I could have done this, but she did...and she did it so well that they considered her Mom. My dad worked as an electrician for the city of Springfield, Missouri and my parents bought a house. Over the years they had my sister Janet, my brother David, my sister Michelle, and then me. I was born when mom was 35 and dad was nearly 50. I'm sure he often wondered what in the world he was doing still up at night with a newborn while his oldest daughter was already married! Sure enough, Sharon made him a grandfather before I entered Kindergarten.

Dad worked hard, but I remember so many gentle and fun memories. He loved taking us camping or to Indian pow-wows so we'd learn to embrace our Indian heritage. I thought it was so cool when he'd drive his work truck home with the big 'basket' in the back that would be lifted up on a crane when he worked on the city lights. Michelle and I would sneak up into that basket and play although I'm sure we weren't supposed to! Dad was so soft-hearted; once one of our cats got up there and had a litter of kittens overnight, which he discovered after he drove the truck to work the next day. He took time out of his schedule to drive the little feline family all the way back home so they would be safe with us!

In his early 60's Dad retired and my parents decided to move us all to the warmer climate of Louisiana. I was 9 and was proud and excited to make the drive all the way there sitting in the cab of the moving truck with Dad. Not long after we'd moved to a town so small that everyone knew everything about everyone, my mom told dad that he needed to relax, now that he was retired, and that meant wearing jeans. Gasp! My dad had never worn a pair of blue jeans in his entire life! I made the drive with him to Wal-Mart, several small towns over, and remember laughing as he cluelessly picked out various brands and styles of jeans, trying them on and asking me how he looked. As if I knew any better than he, what jeans looked good on a 60-ish retiree man (although he still had his natural black hair, thank you Indian blood!).

I love my memories during those years; fishing with Dad on the Sabine River (I could bait and fish but hated removing the captured prize so thankfully he helped with that!), helping him burn off the dead grass on our property or mow on our super-fun red riding mower. I loved riding with him in his red Silverado truck as he bounced around our land or made trips to town. Even when I got older and no longer wanted to ride in dusty trucks or sit with him in his workshop inhaling sawdust as he tinkered around, I spent time with him as he spoiled me (my older siblings made sure I knew I was a SPOILED Daddy's girl). He took me to get my drivers license when I turned 15 while Mom was visiting my sister in Georgia. He knew I hated riding the school bus during high school so every day, he'd get up and drive me to school and pick me up when school was done (my sister is still bitter about this since SHE'D always had to ride the bus up until she graduated).

Excuse the RIDICULOUS Southern Belle outfit....Dad escorting me at one of our church's infamous pageant fundraisers.

Dad was SO PROUD about each of his kids and all of our accomplishments. When my brother, who was in the Air Force, was deployed during the Gulf War, it wasn't enough to tie a yellow ribbon around the big tree by our driveway entrance; Dad pounded a huge American flag "Support Our Troops" sign into the shade of the tree. Since I'm the youngest I can't tell you how proud he is of all of my older siblings and their various accomplishments, but I do know how proud he was when my sister Michelle graduated from college. And when I graduated with my A.A. in Bible and Theology at my college in California, he was there to witness it, beaming from his wheelchair since strokes had already begun to claim his health. The last time I ever saw him alive, he urgently made me promise that no matter what, I would continue on in college and finish with my B.A. He was adamant and I promised.

It took 5 years and quite a detour across the United States....long story for another time...for me to fulfill that promise but I never felt complete until I did; sadly he was not there to witness it.

One of the last times I saw my dad; there were tears in my eyes because I couldn't stand knowing how fragile he'd become. And yet his love for me was so obvious and real.

My dad was a prayer warrior; many times throughout my life I heard him praying through the night, loudly travailing for his kids and other family or friends. Let me tell you...this is effective! As a teen there were times I was tempted to do things I shouldn't but could hear his voice ringing in my head, praying for me, and that stopped me! Or if I did do something I wasn't supposed to, it seemed that the next few nights were particularly intense prayer sessions by my dad and I KNEW God has revealed to him all of my sins...those nights saw me lying in bed with tears running down my face as I repented.

And even after Dad died, he taught me an invaluable lesson. You see, I'd never really seen God as a FATHER, as in....how he could be a DADDY to His sons and daughters. But after Dad passed away, I so desperately missed having a dad that I turned to God in anguish and really, anger that He'd taken my dad when I was still young. I began to see that yes, God IS our Father but much more than that; He wants to be a DADDY to us...those of us with good earthly dads and those of us without. He wants us to come to Him with our sorrows and joys, fears and boo-boos, desires and goals....just like we would our earthly dads. Thankfully, my relationship with God blossomed into a fuller one even after the loss...or because of the loss...of my Dad.

Dad buried in a military section of the graveyard in Louisiana.

But even into my marriage, I found myself complaining about not having my Dad around, etc. Until my husband, who has never known his father and only had countless not-so-awesome step-fathers, gently reminded me that at least I'd been blessed to HAVE a Dad around, and a good, Christian one, at that. He's right, of course. And the funny thing is, in many ways he reminds me of my dad...whom he never met. Certain gestures, sayings, or just his gentle and patient way with the kids (plus the fact that he spoils the kids!)....he is so much like my dad.

Which may be God's way of returning my dad to me, in a way, for the rest of my life here on earth.

I miss you Daddy, and I can't wait to see you again someday. Thank you for everything you were here on Earth.