Forever Beloved - Faith, Love & Truth

Today is my sweet boys birthday. He turns 41 today!!! So I’m going to continue the tradition and list 41 reasons (in no particular order) WHY I am totally, utterly and completely in love with him…

1. Watching you grow in your walk with the Lord, I love that so very, very much. It makes this tenderhearted wife teary. I adore your willingness and heart to help walk alongside other Christian men.

2. You are THE best dad ever, hands down.

3. Those shoulders…yeah…I still love them super huge amounts.

4. It doesn’t matter what size I am, you always tell me how beautiful and sexy I am. And I totally believe you see me like that. You have no idea how much that means to me and how much I appreciate it.

5. 100% devotion to your family, always…

6. That big plow truck you drive, yeah, it’s totally hot.

7. How you get totally excited about the same simple pleasures I do. Whether it’s a loaf of homemade bread, frog eggs for the pond or a late night 4 wheeler ride.

8. You love self expression just as much as I do. I kinda love our long conversations about tattoo ideas.

9. RATT

10. I can ask you to go anywhere…and you will…on a complete whim…totally willing to drive every single time.

11. You always know the absolute perfect time to give me a hug accompanied by “it will all work out babe”. P.S. you give the best hugs ever!

12. Your daily “uniform”…Harley shirts, jeans and work boots…enough said.

13. Long summer 4-wheeler rides (aka…me sneaking in some snuggle time)

14. How easy it is for you to make me or others around us laugh HARD.

15. Your willingness to send me to a womens faith retreat just because you know how much I want to go and how much I need it…while you stay home all weekend with the kids…you have NO idea how much this means to me!

16. You love to hate candy crush just as much as I do.

17. You always support me…no matter what, no questions asked…and that is so comforting.

18. Allowing me to get chickens, Jade and I both super love that about you! And I know you are secretly excited too.

19. You hissing at the woman in Walmart…seriously…almost peed my pants…CLASSIC!

20. Your love and compassion for animals {Cutlers home for wayward animals}

21. You totally kick my booty at geography, and I’m happy you do. While my “Amy map” is entertaining at times, it wouldn’t get us very far.

22. You let me take pics of you even though you HATE having your picture taken. Even if you don’t smile, I still appreciate it (and i think you secretly do enjoy those pics sometimes)

23. Your love of trucks equals mine…love that!!!

24. Your silly songs you can make up on a moment’s notice. Even though they are about me sometimes (it’s ok…i act mad but secretly laugh inside)

25. You always are quick to apologize to me even though you know I’m not so quick (or good) at it.

26. Your selfless heart.

27. Still having a smokin’ hot marriage after 18 years.

28. Sneaking around the corner and see you doing a crazy dance with the kids. Yeah, I saw it, many times. And every time it makes me smile.

29. Your obsession with the news, politics and gun rights. You ALWAYS know what is going on. That’s a good thing because I never do.

30. How you always know the EXACT words to make me feel better instantly.

31. Your passion for all types of music.

32. “Get it to go and it won’t be cold”, “My mom has never showed her teeth to Cindy” and “legs…LEGS”…still CLASSICS!!!!!

33. You are just as obsessive about Big Brother (new season in July!) as I am…love that.

34. After I had Jade you said “Thank you for giving me a perfect little girl” and kissed me on the forehead…I will NEVER forget that moment.

35. How you thinks it’s hilarious to chase me around the house, with me screaming like a freak, after we watch a scary movie. You laugh every.single.time. And, without fail, I will scream even though I know it’s you. And if I pee my pants you laugh even harder, yeah, good times (eye roll)

36. You will let a little girl do your hair, makeup and paint your nails…just to make her smile.

37. You’re a little bit rock-n-roll to my little bit country {okay, so I’m a lot country}

38. With all my sicknesses, operations and hospital stays over the last few years you never ONCE hesitated to jump in and take over everything yourself. Never once complaining of the extra workload on you, on top of your full-time job. You were such an amazing blessing!

39. Your voice still melts my heart after all these years. It instantly takes me back to that day 18 years ago…when you sing “that” song I get tears in my eyes still.

40. Even when your skin is melting off you still let me cuddle…all night long…I don’t know what I would do without my furnace.

41. Simply because you are just YOU…the man I feel in love with 18 years ago…the man I still love madly, more and more everyday…

I love you babe forEVER and EVER…

Fly a Little Higher

How God Answered a Mom’s Small Prayer in a Big Way

By Laura Sobiech.

About the book:

Laura Sobiech tells the amazing story of how God used her son’s battle with cancer to touch the lives of millions.

“Okay, Lord, you can have him. But if he must die, I want it to be for something big. I want someone’s life to be changed forever.”

This is what Laura Sobeich prayed when she found out her seventeen-year-old son had only one year to live. With this desperate prayer, she released her son to God’s will.

At that point, Zach Sobiech was just another teenager battling cancer. When his mother told him to think about writing good-bye letters to family and friends, he decided instead to write songs. One of them, “Clouds,” captured hearts and changed not one life but millions, making him an international sensation.

But Zach’s story is not just about music. It’s a testament to what can happen when you live as if each day might be your last. It’s a story about the human spirit. It’s about how God used a dying boy from a small town in Minnesota to touch the hearts of millions—including top executives in the music industry, major music artists, news anchors, talk show hosts, actors, priests and pastors, and school children across the globe.

Zach once said, “I want to be known as the kid who went down fighting, and didn’t really lose.” Fly a Little Higher is about how God used Zach to do something big.

Last year, the video below was circling on Facebook. The title caught my eye, and I clicked on it. What followed was the most amazing and brave yet saddest thing I’ve ever watched. I’ve watched it 3 times, each time crying the entire way through.

Zach Sobiech, at the age of 14, found out he had a rare form of terminal cancer. So he became a rock star, and millions of people got to see his music before he passed away on May 20, 2013. While he was sick, his mother kept a journal which eventually turned a book.

I am dreading writing this review. But I have to keep my word of writing an honest review. I’ve read through chapter 10 and I just can’t go further. Emotionally I just can’t do it. Call me a wuss, call me a baby, it’s all true. I’ve cried the entire way through the first 10 chapters and I just can’t continue to do that to myself emotionally.

This story is real. What their family went through is absolutely heartbreaking, and I don’t want my review to take away from that. Don’t let my crybaby-ness deter you from buying this book. They are amazing people with quite a story to tell.

This book was provided to me free of charge by Book Look in return for my honest review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

♥ Happy Birthday Sweetness ♥

{Semi} Wordless Wednesday

Fly a Little Higher {Book Review}