Tatum was asked by the principal to be an “ambassador” (hostess) to a new student in January. I reached out to her mom before to arrange the before school meeting.
Milania and Tatum hit it off instantly. Also an only child, she seemed to have a sweet disposition like Tatum. I found out that they enjoyed spending time with each other.
Fast forward to last week. Tatum was home with Covid for a few days, and Milania’s mom texted me to check on Tatum. Apparently, Milania cried when Tatum wasn’t there; she really missed her! I also found out from her mom (Danielle) that Tatum has been the ONLY girl who has been kind and inclusive to Milania. Wow.
We invited her over for a play date! I knew it was special, because Tatum took all morning to clean her room.
SPOTLESS! She also made Milania a surprise gift for when she arrived.
(BF friendship bracelets)
She rang the doorbell bearing gifts also: A Lego flower set! So kind.
They got right to work on it with Woody of course!
They had a blast together, and her mom and I? We hit if off too.
I told Tatum to just keep being WHO YOU ARE and the right friends will come.
The joy of family…yes…we just love being with them, right? It gets a little “crazy” when you add animals into the mix. Oh, and throw in some sickness, and you have lots of crazy.
The past few days, Tatum hasn’t felt too hot, and we finally tested her:
Oh, the poor girl. Now Doug and I are making sure we don’t get it, but this does mean a few days at home with our “cozy” family.
Little Woody continues to add to the cacophony of noise and sounds.
He continues to check out everything. Even the various birds he sees (virtual or not)
And then there’s church. We aren’t there physically due to the Tot being sick, but we do enjoy it from the comfort of our living room. Oh, the joy of family. Tot drawing, Coopy chewing, Woody singing, and Doug and I listening intently.
See how cozy we all are? Tot, Coopy and Woody. Family
How often do we say, “This is a new start!” I find I say it often, or at least I mean to make new starts when I say it. Unfortunately, change doesn’t happen overnight; habits can be hard to break. They require a discipline that may be more than we can handle at the moment. But God has a different timeline than we do, and when we ask for change (or for help in an area for us or another), He answers this, but NOT in our time-frame-wish.
Case in point…all of us! I have on my prayer cards specific requests that I have poured out my heart about. None of them have occurred in the way I have expected. HA! Is not that so GOD? His ways are not my ways (thank goodness).
I’ll go through each one of us. See how wonderful God’s ways are working.
Doug.
Now, my wonderful HHH has grown immensely this last year. He is now reading almost nightly! Also, he has formed some amazing men relationships that truly sharpen each other; as a leader of a small men’s group, he is looked upon with so much respect. At Honeywell, he is esteemed and appreciated. So proud of him. With Tot? Their relationship continues to grow in leaps and bounds. (as does ours)
Tatum
My little Tot. Not so little anymore! She has taken on so much more responsibility with now having little Woody. Also, I have her keeping a wallet and purse so SHE is in charge of her own money, budget, and therefore discretion in her choices. Her character continues to shine as she exhibits the fruits of the Spirit at school and now at home; (She got straight “E’s” on her report card for character!). At home, we created a “winning report card” for her to make some more allowance as well as to encourage good choices. Watching her grow in her writing, her creativity, and her passion for others is inspirational. Just recently she was an ambassador to a new student; that student feels so welcomed and loved at PVCP thanks to Tatum. I love you so much sweet girl. Keep shining your light.
Austin
If you would have told me 3 years ago that Austin would be attending GCU, I would have laughed and then woken up! You see, Austin had a rough few years; first dropping out of HS right before he graduated, then making a few wrong choices with substances, living conditions, jobs…you name it. But…the past 2 years, he’s been really turning it around. First, he is working for a landscape company manning a crew and leading that daily. He works so hard! However, he knows he’s in a dead end situation. I found out about a program at GCU where they put you through an Electrician training program for 16 weeks, and then basically guarantee you a job upon graduation. I got him into it, but he would need to complete his GED. NOW, we are in the process of making all of that happen. He had his first day of class on January 5th!!! WOWOWOWOW! So proud of him! You can do it, AUSTIN!
Now me: (Steph)
Where do I start? It’s been a year of getting rid of some old habits (which I thought were good things) plus finding out much information about my digestion. What a journey. I basically have relapsed 7 times with this SIBO situation plus now add on the pelvic floor proplapse where my small intestines have fallen into where my uterus used to be. My weight plummeted this year which created a domino effect of all sorts of nasty symptoms. Ugh. I’ve put my family through so much.
BUT, I have been forced to make some tough choices, forming new habits.
Breath work
Increased down time: Prayer, meditation, yoga, journaling
Diet changes: meal spacing, removal of fake foods, REAL eating, LOTS of cooking! Pureed food/soup habit!
Friends: Newfound friendships which go deep and are so supportive
Family: EVERYTHING! (besides YOU, JESUS.)
For me, it has been a gradual slowing down but a quick jump onto feeling better as I do the right things (for my body). My appreciation and gratitude quotients have quadrupled. God takes all the yucky and makes it into a beautiful mosaic.
New beginnings are new opportunities to see things from a different perspective. May we continue on our learning path of love, joy and peace. XO.
A humbling, difficult, yet serendipitous year, and as much as I want to say goodbye, I also want to thank you. Growth of the HAY clan and gut health challenges/opportunities for change were two areas that definitely occurred unexpectedly. Let’s look at a bulletized (my favorite way to summarize) list and a gallery of pictures.
January
Tatum and I began a QT
Open hearted prayer
Gratitude box
Tot’s Bday party
Karate try?
Montana trip
Gratitude Journal NIGHTLY
Praxis each month: $500 each time!
February
Toby Mac
Cleveland: Dr. Nemeh
Tatum’s first steps in the AM: I am a child of God.. WHO YOU ARE!
March
Bike rides around the lake
Daddy’s wonderful A-Z love note to me
Mama coming over for BDAY and other
Tatum singing at SBC
Tempe Town Lake
Began Project Peace
Steph’s article was published
April:
Making money with lemonade and touching lives
Swimming with ZOE
May
Daddy working in OUTDOOR kitchen: BBQ weekly
Flowers for me and always blooming
Stay-at home dates with Daddy
Sugar Bowl celebrating Tatum’s grades.
The Grand Canyon
June
Top Gun!
Tot’s Building and architecture
Snowball
Greeting at Church..matching
Getting published in PRINCIPAL
Our Princess trip!
Food Bank with Tatum
BRACES!
Steph’s 2nd article was published
Daddy got paid $4100 in OT!
July:
Snowbell
Sedona and Helicoptering
Tough times
Hair fun: BRAIDS
Mom and Me to OHIO: Nemeh
Daddy and Tot bonding: swimming, grilling steaks
Me speaking at GCU conference EdKey
Tot and me book: Bite and Chews
Barbie Dreamhouse
August
Art in the Artroom
Breads for daddy
Starting Motegrity and Morstein
BRADY!
Tatum’s Stories
Tatum is a natural nurturer
OUR NEW small group success!
September
Do Over Sedona trip
Lots of Noah
Lots of TUMMY issues
Pokeman craze Strat each day with GRATITUDE
Dinners with Maurice and MEN
My POWERFUL PEN YouTube Podcast GCU
October
Bye Coti: WE LOVE YOU
Making sourdough bread
Crossfit with Noah
Loving on the GIGI house.
Foster care help.
Mama spending the night and Tatum caring for her
GRATE-FALL party
Barbie girl
GI appt with Jennifer: More tests
Tatum writing a PLETHORA of stories!
November
Tea Parties with Tot
TG walks
New Basketball!
Making Smores with HAYS
Puppet shows
Dr. Patel for me
Daddy got a raise!
Our STAYCATION: Tot out of school for 4 days
December
Being an Entrepreneur: Setting up the dining room
Tatum making the finals for a SOLO (school) and PSALM 16
The joy of our little ones: Woody Bear and Coopyhead
Woodrow goes pretty much everywhere with us (except a restaurant). He even came to our investment meeting with Sam DeGreen. He’s learning all he can about money today.
Speaking of money, Tatum created her own office, laptop and all. She is on a “ZOOM” call while Woody keeps the office antics at bay. She works for SONOS apparently.
See him? Cool as a cucumber as she works like mad.
When Woody isn’t working with Tot, he’s all about that birdie in the window? He’s sure cute, he thinks.
Oh, and did I. mention he’s part of a new singing group started by Noah and Tatum? Noah came over for a playdate.
And then there’s our little Coopy. What will he do when the tree is gone?
We did this last year, and it was time to do it again with MISSIONS and ME and Matthew Rich.
We showed up early and got into our groups.
As a group, we would pack food boxes with these packs of food. Tatum was in charge of scooping the rice. Daddy sealed bags, and I packed boxes. What a team! These food bags would ship out to needy children around the world.
