Happy Halloween

Whew! It's been a busy week. I hit the ground running when I returned from New Mexico. I haven't had a chance to post about our trip and probably won't get to anytime soon, so I'm directing you to Carol's site to see her post. She has a great slide show of pictures. She took all of these pictures. I took my camera and never even pulled it out :-) More to come on the Glorieta trip later hopefully, but for now here's the latest with the fam.

The kids had a blast this week preparing for Halloween. I know some people don't "celebrate" Halloween, so I hope I don't offend anyone by posting these pics. As a kid, my family always took me trick or treating, and I didn't turn out all that bad... ( at least I don't think I did :-) ) So, I let my kids dress up and we usually go to the church outreach carnival and trick or treating.

Yesterday at school, Mary Lyndsey had favorite book character day. She dressed as Little Red Riding Hood. We dressed one of her dogs to look like the wolf/granny. We put reading glasses, a dress and a shower cap on him. They both were adorably cute.

Spencer had a fall festival party at school today too. They made some really cute crafts... bats, tie dyed t-shirts, slime, a popcorn hand and a few other things. He had a great time.

And, his class at school presented him with a huge basket of cards and gifts for his trip to Chicago for testing next week. We were a little overwhelmed with the support and love. I'm telling you, if I didn't know today was October 31, I'd think it was Christmas instead of Halloween by the looks of all of these gifts! We are blessed indeed to have so many friends who love us! This year for Halloween, instead of heading to the church, we had a small party in our back yard for some of the kids in our cul-de-sac. We ate pizza and cupcakes, made some crafts, and I handed out goody bags with way too much candy in them! I think the kids had a good time. Here's the whole crew!

Iron Man, Iron Man 2, A Camp Rock Girl, Batman, Mr.T, A Ninja, A Kitty Kat, Little Red Riding Hood, Mulan, Snow White, A BCA Knight Fan and a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle... what a guest list.

Spencer and Mary Lyndsey dressed up as Little Red Riding Hood and the Woodsman to go trick or treating. We tried to get Lucia to wear a wolf mask, but she wouldn't keep it on. I had plans to dress up as the Granny, but it never happened. I barely made it through everything going on today, so I didn't get to dress up. It was kind of a let down after winning the costume contest last year dressed as the Wizard of Oz. The kids had a good time though and got way too much candy!

The day started out with me going to vote. I don't know if the lines are long everywhere, but here in Georgia it's been crazy. Greg waited four hours yesterday to vote, and I waited three hours today. Actually, Greg waited two hours for me, and then I switched with him in line and I waited the last hour. He is the best husband ever! He went and waited in the cold to save me a spot while I took the kids to school. Now that's love!

The day ended kind of crazy too. Spencer had a status seizure when we returned from trick or treating. I think it just wore him out to walk all over the neighborhood. Also, he had a pretty full, exciting day today. We had to administer his rescue med. He is sleeping comfortably now. The last thing he said, with slurred speech, before falling asleep was, "Do I get to eat my candy tomorrow?" Poor baby. Please pray for him this coming week.

Well, I'm off to write Then Sings My Soul. I hope you will come join in! Can you believe October is over already?!

Sweet Blessings,

Amy

We're Home

We are finally home from Glorieta and trying to get back into the swing of things. I seem to be having re-entry problems. It doesn't help that ML is sick, I ran a fever all day and we leave in less than a week for Chicago for testing for Spencer's surgery. I covet your prayers.

I will post pictures from Glorieta and updates soon. For now, I'm off to get some much needed rest!

Faith Lifts - Put on, Put off

Have you ever been to a special event or on a trip and you just couldn't decide what to wear? I know I always over pack when I'm traveling because I wonder if the weather will change or what is more likely my mood will change.

I'm over at Faith Lifts today. Come join me.

Then Sings My Soul Saturday

We've been singing this song in Worship this week at Glorieta. I love the part that says 

"Behold He Comes, Riding on the Clouds

Shining like the sun, at the trumpets call

So lift your voice, it's the year of Jubilee

And out of Zion's Hill salvation comes."

Sorry I'm late getting this up. We've been in meetings the entire time. I'll be back soon.

Have a great week.

Sweet Blessings,

Amy

We're Here!

Carol and I are in Glorieta this week.  Please pray for us and for our families while we are away! 

Be back soon... with pictures.

Amy

Then Sings My Soul Saturday - Every Season

Is life so busy that you sometimes forget to stop and enjoy it? Do you ever forget to look around and take in all the majesty of creation. Do you see God in everything?

In the whispering of the wind,

in the crack of thunder,

in the warm rays of the sun on your back,

in the refreshing smell of the air after rain,

in the twinkling of the stars,

in the color of the flowers,

in the expanse of the sky,

in the crashing of the waves on the shore,

in the feel of grass on your bare feet,

in the chirping of birds,

in the leaves falling from the trees,

in seeing your breath on a winter day,

in the difference of each snowflake.

Do you trust Him through every season of life that you encounter?

"But blessed is the man who trusts me, God, the woman who sticks with God.They're like trees replanted in Eden, putting down roots near the rivers—Never a worry through the hottest of summers, never dropping a leaf, serene and calm through droughts, bearing fresh fruit every season.

Jeremiah 17:7-8 The Message

Girls Getaway Cruise Contest Entry

***My husband has decided I need to be entered into this contest. I'm wondering if he's just trying to get rid of me for a few days :-) I cried when he sent this to me. Here's his post:

Amy Wyatt, my wife of 15 years and mother of two, needs to win the Girl’s Getaway Christian Women’s Cruise Giveaway. Despite encouragement from her family and friend’s, Amy has been unwilling to write her entry into this contest because she feels other people are more deserving. We are a very blessed family and I love my wife dearly (and I am talking Fireproof type love) but she is wrong on this one: Big Time Wrong! She needs a Getaway Vacation with a girlfriend and other Christian women so she can relax, rest, and recharge.

John Eldredge in his best selling and life changing book, Wild at Heart, got it right when he wrote, “women in the church today are tired.” Well I guess so - if you spend every waking moment in service to Church, your husband, children, and community. Combine this service with the task of always sleeping with one eye open, and the thought of having a true vacation where you can fellowship with other believers, have fun in the sun, and sleep all night long without interruption starts to fade.

If you are in a hurry and want the Reader’s Digest version then this is for you: My son has epilepsy and is headed for probable brain surgery within the year, he has a seizure response dog, Lucia, that we love dearly but usually wakes Amy at least once a night, my daughter is 5 and usually wakes in the middle of the night a couple times a week, I am a Sales Manager so I travel a good deal (80 nights in a hotel so far this year) and while I try to help, Amy carries most of the responsibility of the work at home. Amy speaks to patients and caregivers with Epilepsy at least once a month, she leads a Tuesday morning Bible study at Church that is reviewing EVERY book of the Bible, she helps co-teach a Sunday morning class for recently married couples, my daughter is taking dance lessons, my son is in Tae Kwon Do, and has a physical therapy and occupational therapy appointment every week and in her free time (laugh to yourself) she is working on becoming a better speaker and writer so she can share the hope and love of Jesus with other women. The most amazing part of all this work and service is that she does it with a cheerful and eager heart to serve others.

I try to take my wife on short 2-3 day mini-vacation getaways every 3-4 months so that she can recharge but she doesn't like the thought of us both being away from my son without being able to drive home or catch a direct flight at a moment’s notice. She needs a Girl’s Getaway vacation so she can unplug from all the stress and connect with other Christian Women having fun. I will try to cover while she is gone for a week, but I am not sure I can do all that she does even for just 1 week. The truly scary and intimidating part for me is not the above, but the thousands of little things she does every day that no one appreciates or understands; like putting my daughter’s hair up or what she packs in my son’s lunch every day. Those are the things that are intimidating and make her and most mother’s I know deserving of a Girl’s Vacation Getaway. I think Anita Renfro got it right when she put this sequel together about What Dad’s say in a day.

What makes Amy’s situation truly unique and the biggest challenge contributing to her physical and mental tiredness is our 8 year old son, Spencer, who has epilepsy. Since June of this year, his epilepsy has not been under control and we have made at least 3 Emergency room visits and called EMS at least twice a month. We are now in the beginning stages of the process for our son to have brain surgery. This extraordinary step is necessary because my son has a type of epilepsy called Status Epilepticus, which basically means that once he starts having a seizure it will not stop without significant medical intervention. During the summer of 2007, he seized for so long at the hospital that they had to airlift via helicopter to another hospital in the Atlanta area. This thought and fear is always on her mind and as a result she always sleeps with one open on the video monitor watching my son while he sleeps to make sure he is not having another seizure.

One last thing, Candace spoke at our church (Hebron Baptist) over a year ago and my son wanted to know where Amy was going for the evening. Amy explained there was Women’s Speaker at Church that she was going to hear. Spencer asked lots of questions and then responded with, “Tell DJ I said Hello and make sure you have your picture taken with her for me.” Amy was encouraged that evening by Candace’s talk but she missed out on that picture opportunity. Winning this contest would give her a second opportunity to get that picture with Candace that my son wanted.

Please select Amy as your Girl’s Getaway Cruise Vacation winner so she can have some fun with God, other Christian women, and rest without the every day stresses on her physical and mental condition and sleep with both eyes closed for at least 4 days in a row.

Submitted by Greg, Spencer, Mary Lyndsey, and Lucia.