Prayers for Chloe and Paige

First I want to start by saying Thank you to all that supported us through this...God, My wonderful husband who has been by my side since this whole thing started, my family and friends. I want to Thank God because no matter what happens he knows best and will work it all out for his glory and honor. I want to thank everyone for the prayers, thoughts, hugs, kisses, gifts, phone calls, emails and texts. Thank you for all who have put their lives on hold to help where they were needed.
    Second I want to give you a brief understanding of what was going on because without that you will not be able to see the full extent of God's soverity. If you are up to date on things you may want to skip this paragraph. I remarried in October 2009 and when I did so, I relocated to Henderson County, NC. Shane also remarried in July of 2010 but continued to live in Caldwell County. I am now a stay at home mom (Thank you again Scott) and I live about 20 minutes from Shane's work which we are both about 1.5 hrs away from Shane's residence and the girls school. For the last year Shane has had primary custody of the girls giving me 6 days a month with the girls and 3 weeks during the summer. To all you mothers out there that is not a lot of time when your girls are 5 and 6 so I have battled being angry, sad, depressed and numerous other emotions. Shane drives to Asheville to work while leaving my children in the care of the school and his mother. Then on the Fridays I get the girls I drive 1.5 hrs down the mountain to get the girls and drive home until Sunday and then I do that again 3 weekends a month. Neither one of us was spending a lot of time with girls his due to work and me just not being allowed.
    Well... yesterday I got the opportunity to go before the judge and present my case. My case was not that Shane was a bad father just that he was unavailable. That my children were being cared for by the school and othe caregivers but not mainly by their parents. I asked that the girls be with me Mon- Friday for school and Shane Fri-Mon for the weekend. That we split the summer 50/50 so that both of us would have the most amount of time with the girls. Shane wanted it to remain as it was but giving me a little more time in the summer.
    For the past year I have prayed with the girls for God's will. The girls have prayed and prayed that they could stay with their mommy all the time. Chloe wanted to see us both but mainly stay with me and Paige wanted to stay with me all the time but they both wanted to go to my school so I could participate on an everyday basis in their school. So we prayed and prayed and prayed for God's will. Yesterday I had people praying all around the world for this and I believe that GOD answers prayers.
   So here is the outcome of the case... Shane was awarded that the girls stay in Hudson at Hudson Elementary School and he will be primary parent during the school year. I get first, second and fourth weekends and the school "breaks". I will have the girls through the week during the summer and Shane will get first, second, and fourth weekends through the summer. We both get two weeks of vacation with the girls and I can pick them up from school on Friday and he has to drive up and get them on Sunday at 3:00.
   I went into this wanting the school because it was the harder part and I have more free time to handle that. I wanted Shane to have the weekends so that he could have the most time with girls because he is off on the weekends. I wanted the girls to have as much time with each parent as possible because for the last year we have both had very little time with the girls. Everyone knows the school week is hard. Getting ready for school, packing lunches, doing homework, taking baths there is very little time for actual quality time because of all the running and when you don't get home from work until 5:30 and your kids go to bed at 8:30 that is about 3 hrs to do all you have to do and still see your kids. So your weekend is your best time. The time that you make your memories and see your kids. I offered to sacrifice my quality time with the girls so Shane could have the best time so my children could get the most out of their parents but Shane fought hard against that yesterday and he won. He got what he wanted. 
    So at first I was shocked that the judge ruled that way because I was looking at what Jill wanted but when remembered that all of us prayed for God's will in my life I know that is what I got yesterday. Shane actually lost time with the girls. He will actually see the girls less than he did before and I now have all of the best time. The Lord looked out for me and the girls yesterday because we will have no responsibilties of homework/school hassles. We will be on vacation basically all the time just hanging out making memories.  Shane testified yesterday he had put into a transfer to Hickory and that his new wife had ask that her son be relocated to Hudson. I hope for his sake that both of those happen for him because if not He will have to continue to drive 3 hours in the car a day for work and his stepson and wife will have to spend 3.5 hrs in the car for his school and her work. Shane and I and our spouses will continue to be 1.5 to 2 hrs away from our children during the school day but they will be in town with their family and friends. Please pray that God keep my children safe while they are so far away from their parents. That Shane will get his transfer to Hickory so he will be within 30 minutes of the girls.
    With all that being said, I want to thank God for looking out for me. All I really wanted was as much time with the girls as I could get and I got that so I am happy. Sometimes we don't get what we want but we get what we need. The last year has made me a stronger Christian and a better mother so for all of that I am happy.     
     Thank you again for all who prayed. Keep praying for us because we need it. We love you all.
    

The "X"mas controversy -- Taking Christ out of Christmas

Is it really a bad thing to abbreviate Christmas as Xmas???? I mean it is just a letter, just a word. In this busy world of fast food and convenience stores, texting and IM do we really have time to write out the word Christmas??? People are too busy to stop by or call and you can forget getting a handwritten letter so shortening Christmas to Xmas seems only logical. So why not?? When you think of Christmas you should think of Christ, the only begotten son of God, who came to this earth to save our souls. Christmas is his birthday. When your children have a birthday party and you don't have a lot of time do you say, "OK Little Johnny, this we are going to sing Happy Birthday J because we don't have a lot of time this year." No you plan, talk about it, set out a whole day, spend at least $100.00, and everybody shows up to honor that person. Well.... why should Christ get less? Instead of Veteran's Day should it be V Day, or Memorial Day be M Day? Of course not because we are honoring men and women who put there lives on the line even died for our freedom unlike Jesus who...oh wait did die not just for our freedom but to give eternal life. It may not seem like big deal unless you stop and think that is what Satan wants you to believe. He will tell you don't need to write out his name this year just put an X... then next year he may tell you to X out the holiday all together. That is how he works. He slowly slides the bad in and slowly pushes the good out and unless you are watching you won't even see it happening. Leave Christ in Christmas if for nothing else everytime someone reads it... Christ is what they see. Take a stand for Christ because he took and stand for you.

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. John 3:16-17