This boy means the world to me. For the last (nearly) 13 years of my life, he has been my son. I was 14 when he was born, and immediately he was mine. He is my sweet nephew, my first child of heart. I love him more than I can ever express.

It's been a while since I've blogged. This summer has been hell, to be perfectly honest. It's been crazy in so many ways I don't know if I can even explain them. I've had a lot of physical stuff going on with my heart and having appendicitis. Eric has been working like crazy and he's taking a class to get his national registry on top of nursing school. But that isn't the point of this post. Not at all.

I read a blog earlier today about choices. About how we choose to react to things. And for a very long time, I wasn't capable of making the right choices. I was too lost in the darkness, too consumed with grief. All I could see was me, and my past. And it was a bad time. I've fought hard the last few years to get past that. I've walked through hell, and I've come out on the other side. At least, I think I have.

Because now, I'm capable of seeing the bigger picture. I can see things that are more important than I. Things that are more important than my past, or my hurts, or any of it. And God has given Eric and I an amazing opportunity, and I'm so thankful. Thankful that we were able to see the big picture enough to not miss out on this great opportunity.

Several weeks ago (I don't even know how many, now) my brothers wife kicked him out. Now I'm not about spreading gossip because it honestly isn't any one's business (but there is a little part of my brain that would seriously enjoy the satisfaction of doing so, I digress), so we'll just move on from that. However, since she kicked him out, he moved back up here. And brought with him his oldest son.

As soon as they got here, like literally the first night, my nephew called me and asked if he could move in with us. Now I've been saying for years that I would do anything to get custody of that kid. He's had such an unstable life that he's really struggling, and he needs stability and comfort and rules and familiarity. So we're giving him that. He's moved in with us, and I couldn't be more thrilled.

I will say that being the 'mother' of a teenager all of a sudden is quite a... different experience. But we're learning as we go. It's been good for our family to do this for him. It's been a bit of a challenge for me, having to interact with my brother while getting my nephew registered for school and such, but it's a small price to pay to get the opportunity to save my nephew from a life of instability and uncertainty. And I can't wait to see where God takes us.

In all of this, I'm asking you guys to be in prayer for us. Pray that we'll be able to give him what he needs, and be able to re-instill in him the values and beliefs he was taught as a small child when he lived with my parents. Help us to teach him to lean on the Lord, and to love recklessly and give without thought of reward and to most of love and obey our Lord.

Pray for Eric and I as we embark on this new journey of 'parenthood' and for our children, that they adjust seamlessly. Pray for me as I'm still not appendix free. I'm pretty much going to be hopped up on pain killers until the 15th. That's the day I'll be having surgery (yay!). I love you guys, and I've missed ya'll. I hope you're all well and I pray you all have a wonderful day!