Tatum Hay. What makes her special? She had an assignment for her to explain things that are special to her.
She had to fill each polygon with a number and description. From left top around: 9: Nine years of singing she has enjoyed, 8: Eight months with Woody, 4: Four books in the Wingfeather series by Andrew Peterson, 66: Sixty-six books in the Bible, 6: Six people in our family, 1: Coopy!, 2: Two sports: Soccer and Swimming, and finally 5: Five years of marriage for D and me!
She presented to her class! I’m so grateful for this little bundle of joy.
I should be excited! Right? Well, part of me is so excited for her to begin this journey. It’s a whole new class with new starts.
Last year was hard for Tatum due to some bullying from so -called friends. Hurtful and hard to watch her come home daily crying (and lashing out). She was assigned to be an ambassador to a new girl, Felicity.
They ended up hitting it off, and so I requested for them to be in the same class (this was also the class with Hayden whom she has been buddies with since Kinder). Mrs. Merrick has been at PVCP for over 20 years and is know to be a bit tough. In fact, the other 5th grade class was bigger, so it made sense for Tatum to go into Merrick’s. I’m quite excited about the smaller class and hopefully less drama.
The sad part for me is that I will miss that little girl. She became more of a “friend” this summer which I know is not necessarily good, but with my health so poor, I really bonded with her. She was a rock for me, and she just loved and supported me; no expectations …just love. Often she would sing to me (with Coopy of course)
We’d draw together, read together, do school together, and watch shows. Bluey and Bingo was one!
The night before, Daddy and I sent her off with GOD’S love supporting her too!
This rock star is so many more things, but especially so KIND and GOD-Loving. (along with creative, FUN/FUNNY, and beautiful inside and out)
I made the fam build your own nachos with baked potato chips!
And…
TRUE STATEMENT:
I bought her a little CUDDLES to hold every night (thanks daddy for the idea for a name)
He came in the car ride and I was told to keep him near me all day.
GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS! Yes! This year’s theme.
I LOVE YOU TOT! MAY YOU SHINE like the SON this year.
OH, bittersweet! We started with some Math and Grammar. Then…My little Math Whiz..
You did it! You worked so hard this summer. Especially in Apologetics. I think you can defend your faith and give a GOOD reason for the WHY behind your faith in Jesus.
We celebrated by putting a shine in our step!
Shoot, once a year, you have to have pretty feet.
I’ll miss our summer mornings, Tot. But, you’ll always be the apple of my eye!
We brainstormed what would our new book be about? The best books take a real situation and turn it into a “lesson” for others. So she remembered about her puppet show about bullying. This would be perfect! We also wanted to introduce new characters like Scaredy squirrel. Maybe it was time for Piggie to move on and meet Gerald. (Mo Willems, eat your heart out!) We had our story all set. Now it was time to put it in our journals and come up with a script.
Here is our cover:
We wanted to stress the idea of being COOL is all about being who YOU really are and not selling your soul to fit in or please another. Gerald and Piggie find each other amidst the temptation to be part of the “crowd.” We dedicated the book to Woody.
All rhyming! Also, we have, we have this same pic in each book…that “what do I do?” picture and dilemma. The wise sage here, Puppy, is flooding Piggie’s head with wisdom. (with a poem ).
Proverbs 17:17. Yes. Forgiveness and Friendship! May this 5th grade school year be filled with this. AMEN! I love you, TOT! I can’t wait for our book to be sent to us from Snapfish.
It’s easy to experience deep heartache, health problems, or family consternation and throw up your hands with a failure mindset; it’s our human nature to give up and run… or hide! It’s what Adam and Eve did the minute they knew there was a problem whether they caused it or not. Who wants to experience pain? I don’t know anyone who invites conflict or pain into their life.
Let’s look at this last week. July 31st through August 2nd. We were to be in CA having a wild ride at Knottsberry Farm and experiencing Huntington Beach. It was to be a glorious family adventure. Let me go through the list of challenges that have been thrown at us as of recent.
First, Mom got in an accident and that threw us all for a loop. This was a wake up call for all of us to be more prepared for emergencies.
Second, my gut flared right back up. I mean with a roaring fire, all my symptoms from the past six years came back times 20 because I’m so much weaker now.
Third, the three of us have had some hiccups in the family with some lack of self-control out bursts (not so pretty).
Fourth, Woody. Dear sweet Woody. Passed. Enough said there. Devastating
Fifth, Tatum admitted some behaviors she had been keeping from me. It was a complete cleansing for her after Woody passed as she saw it is a sign she needed t make a fresh start in all areas.
IS THERE ANY GOOD THAT CAN COME FROM THIS!???
So you can see, all of this in a matter of a month….immense pain, sorrow, and conflict. AND, often, as the HAY family, we have come together in tears. Now, what can we say from here?
REDEMPTION: HOW THEY ALL GOT TURNED AROUND
Monday:
It was to be a delightful day of Hay Happenings: Starbucks, Glow Putt, Bowlero, Swimming, Family Dinner. We arrive at Starbucks, and when we got there, we had a few misunderstandings, and unfortunately they escalated. It was a short visit.
REDEMPTION: The three of us sat at the island, and for probably the first time, we all realized the heart changes that needed to happen. We each shared, and if it wasn’t for this hiccup, we wouldn’t have realized old triggers. You see, we ALL have triggers from our past or from past experiences that we THOUGHT we had healed from or dropped in the ocean. Yikes. If it wasn’t FOR hiccups, how could we know what needed to be healed. SO. My dear HUBBY tearfully shared his heart and humbled himself completely. WHAT MAN DOES THAT? I’m so blessed to have such an introspective, humble, open-minded man.
The rest of the day was delightful at our events!
Onto Tuesday.
This little sparkly girl was ready for our LUCI’S outing and then Great Wolf Lodge for Daddy and TOT!
I wanted Tatum to originally go to the beach, but alas…I couldn’t do it. AND, I was planning on going to GWL with them, but this was my day for a struggle. ALL of my SIBO has returned with a vengeance. Oh, and I mean truly hard! This time, I’m 10x weaker. So, I stayed back to go get some testing and to rest.
THEY had a great time!
REDEMPTION: This time, my SIBO healing will be different. I met with Patel and Ruiz, and they both, well me especially, are going to go about it THIS TIME with new eyes. I know so much more this time, and I shall heal faster and forever!! I KNOW IT.
Tuesday night. IT HAPPENED>
I hear a SCREAM, and Tatum discovers Woody is not alive. We put him in a box and mourned mourned mourned.
As a 10 year old, this loss is monumental…really of any age, but this is her first. It’s too painful to write right now, but we, as a family, chose REDEMPTION:
The next day, we would go to the BIRD store and see the options for a new bird (in time).
WEDNESDAY: Starbucks.. a redo.
And then,
Let’s go talk to them. REDEMPTION:
Would you believe that in a couple of days, the store would receive a BRAND NEW CROP of hand-fed parakeets? The timing was truly God. There’s ALWAYS a waiting list, and since we came that day, we’d get the first pick!!! That is no coincidence. Also, the owner shared that they had experienced many losses and Tatum had a chance to realize she wasn’t alone.
While there, we met Tumbles and it all put smile on our faces.
Daddy was having so much fun with this 2-lb’er
AND, also, Daddy wrote Tatum a beautiful letter to REDEEM all the sad.
What a father. What a daddy. What a man. What an HHH.
He even wrote me a heartfelt letter. Humility; what a hot quality.
Finally. Finally. Finally.
Tatum shared some things she was not proud of with me. TRUE CATHARSIS. She had been hiding a few things, and she knew that now that Woody was gone, she needed to make a clean slate in all ways. Also, she didn’t want anything to stand in the way of our bond. With that, we renewed our relationship as well, and she wrote a story to REDEEM it all. None of this is really true, but she wanted to express the concept of sin, mistakes, and then finding JESUS in it all.
HOPE
By Tatum Hay
One day an 8 year old girl, named Opal and her 4 year old brother, Greyson, were playing with her bird, Agua.
Opal every night would sneak outside at 12:00 midnight, and play video games on her phone.
That night she snuck out of her room and tiptoed down the stairs. What Opal didn’t know was that her dad was still awake down stairs. As she reached the last stair she heard footsteps. Her dad was walking over to the stairs!
Opal quickly looked around for something to hide behind. She found a big plant and ducked. Her dad walked over and stood for a minute.
Opal gasped for air and then she stood up. She saw her dad, and realized it was now or never. Her dad turned around and started to move up the stairs.
The next morning Opal felt terrible. She walked over to Agua, and picked him up. Greyson walked over to her bed and stood there. He had a weird look on his face. “ I told mommy that you were up last night playing games on your phone.” Greyson said as he plopped himself on her bed. Opal walked over to him and shoved him off her bed. Tears were rolling down her cheeks.
Opal watched as her mom walked over to her, and sat down at the table next to her. “Honey, I am not sure what to do with you.”
Opal told her everything and asked for forgiveness. Her mom looked angry and upset. “Opal I am very hurt, and you need to earn my trust back. But your consequence is that I am going to have to take Agua away from you, and set him free.” Opal started bawling.
1 week passed and Opal had stopped sneaking out of the house to play video games on her phone. She had gotten a new bird named Hope, and earned her mom’s trust back. She became a Christian, and got baptized.
THE END
The only thing I can add is that with my mom’s accident, we all have grown closer and more grateful. Again, fruit cannot grow without pruning, and we have ALL been truly sheered.
So, I finish this note off with pure gratitude. I will share more epiphanies later, but suffice it to say, GOD IS GOOD ALL OF THE TIME; ALL OF THE TIME GOD IS GOOD
