Life...the Abbreviated Version...Because I Am Short On Time!

It's been forever since I have written on this thing! A lot has changed in the last month. First of all, Hannah turned 2! She is such a big girl! She can talk in complete sentences, get herself a drink, feed herself neatly with a fork and spoon, and sing. She loves to dance and do "tricks." She is also sleeping in the bottom bunk and no longer has a paci. Hannah is also fully potty trained. Talk about fabulous!!! Hannah is incredibly sweet and easy going (most of the time). We all enjoy her so much! We all love our Hannah Banana.

I also went back to work recently. I am currently teaching High School Biology and loving ever minute of it. I have 5 classes of Freshmen, and 1 class of Seniors. My classes have been amazingly good with very few issues, and I have enjoyed being back in the world of work. The kids will start Preschool on the 22nd. Up until then, they were staying with a very nice lady here in town that keeps kids in her home. They have loved every second of their "school!" Talk about major reassurance that I am doing the right thing! Staying home with them for the past 5.5 years has been an unbelievable blessing, but the kids were so tired of being home...and so was I. They were ready to be doing something else, so now we all go to school. I hope that it continues to go as well as it has been. :-)

Tyron's basketball team made it to the playoffs this year! It was an amazing season filled with amazing kids. We enjoyed them all so much. The kids in Farmersville are such a blessing. They played so hard throughout the season and won some pretty tough games!

We have had a hard winter of sickness this year. We have had everything from Scarlet Fever to stomach bugs to ear infections this year. Faith had 2 seizures due to high fevers. All I can say is that I am ready for some warmer weather and much less sickness! Can I get an Amen?

We are currently on Spring Break, so I will try to post some pictures of Hannah's birthday party and our trip to Mimi and Paw Paw's house soon. :-) Until then, I hope your day is as blessed as mine!!

Politics

So, if you have been reading my facebook statuses recently, you know that a lot of them center on the political status/government of our country. I know that a lot of people probably ignore or don't like what I have to say; however, it is our responsibility to know (and have opinions about) what is going on with our elected officials and our government. We are a Republic...not a pure democracy. Our elected officials get to make decisions as they see would be best for their constituents.

Here is one of my problems with President Obama and the Progressive/Democratic/Obama policies: He chooses to say that Republicans are choosing to play a political games instead of working with what he gives them. Really? Could it be that people genuinely disagree with his political ideologies? Let it never be that anyone disagree with what he has to say...Does that sound like a president or some other type of a head of state? If he thinks that Democrats, Republicans, Progressives, Independents,and the like are going to play pretty and agree on everything, he should know better. Different parties exist because the people of the United States have different beliefs and ideas as to how this country should be run. That is why people elect officials...to have their voices heard. He should not turn a deaf ear/accuse other political parties of being unwilling to heed to his expectations/ideas just because they bring other ideas and solutions to the table.

Another problem that I have with him is that he constantly plays the victim of the Bush Administration. Seriously? Didn't he have to know what you were walking into? Our country has been a wreck, and not just as a result of George W. Bush. Was Bush perfect? Absolutely not. I just think it's lame to constantly go back to that scapegoat. I want him to stop playing the blame game and do something about the state of our country. Period.

I could truly go on for a long time, but I won't. I just want people to know what is going on in their country. I want people to be aware so that if you disagree with how things are being run, you can go vote to change things. I want you to go out and vote if you like the way things are. Just be aware of what is going on around you. Our children's futures are always at stake.

Haiti

I am absolutely heart sick for the people of Haiti. I can't come close to comprehending the pain and loss they have suffered in the last 72 hours. Haiti is a country that had so little in the first place, that for them to suffer such devastating loss is unbearable to watch; however, I sit and watch.

I watch because we need to see. Anderson Cooper (CNN) said that as he walked along the streets of Port-Au-Prince, he made himself look at the dead people that lined the streets because we need to see them and acknowledge that those bodies are people. Moms, dads, sisters, brothers, grandmas, grandpas, sons, daughters, friends, babies, children, friends, mentor, teacher, missionary...all beloved of the LORD. We need to acknowledge their existence and the loss. We need to see that they are a people that have truly lost everything. They have less than nothing. No food, very little clean water, too little medical care for too many major injuries, no homes or anywhere safe to go. Children are alone and sleeping on the streets.

As I sit and watch, the news is reporting that mass graves are starting to be used. While I acknowledge that there is a need for such a thing, the concept makes the loss so much more real for me. Unidentified people who are being searched for by family and friends are being buried in huge graves. There will be no funeral or ceremony. Families will never get to say good-bye to the remains of their loved-ones, so closure will have to come some other way.

So, I will continue to watch. I will make myself see when my mind tells me to change the channel because there is so little I can do from my comfortable house in the United States. I want to acknowledge Haiti's loss and grieve for them. I want to triumph with them when help comes and head-way is made. I want to pray for the parents who lost their children, children who lost their parents, and families separated by physical distance. I want to pray that God would protect the minds and hearts of the children who are seeing too much for their young minds to comprehend and deal with; I will pray that we will be the hands and feet of Jesus to the Haitians, and that God will be glorified through this tragedy.

There are some simple ways to help. Click HERE for legitimate ways to help. Even if you think you have no money, you have way more than these people.

Catching Up

So, the past 6 weeks or so has been a pretty stressful time in our family. Complications started shortly after Thanksgiving when we found out that Tyron has Stage 2 Melanoma. We were immediately referred to an Oncologist and supporting Dermatologist, and a procedure to remove the spot was immediately scheduled. The oncologist and dermatologist checked Tyron out really good and found 3 other spots. 3 procedures later, we finally got clear margins except for one spot that is considered "advanced displastic cells" which means they are cells that are changing but to an unknown end. So, we are faced with a decision to do more surgery (which would involve a skin graft), low dose radiation, or waiting it out for 3 months to see if anything progresses to cancer again. So, with our doctors blessing we decided to wait it out for 3 months and re-biopsy in March. The other options seemed like over kill to us, and they did to the doctors too. They just had to give us all the options. So, for now Tyron is cancer free. Praise God. Talk about stressful and scary though. People act like Melanoma isn't a big deal, but it can be very aggressive and fatal. It's truly no less serious than any other type of cancer...it just has a higher survival rate because it can be detected earlier. Thank GOD for that! Tyron is the glue, and my life wouldn't be right without him. I trust God, and I am so thankful that as we walked (and are still walking this road) He has been right beside us the whole time.

During the whole Melanoma incident, I got pneumonia too. Talk about good timing! Wouldn't be December in our house without at least one case of pneumonia!

Christmas was fantastic! We got to spend time before Christmas with Tyron's family, and we got to spend time with my family after Christmas. Christmas was just us though...and it was GREAT! We very rarely get to just be a family because of football, basketball, and track, so Christmas was extra special family time. Not to mention the snow! What a fantastic treat! God really went all out this year!

The Christmas season also brought with it a lot of change. We moved Hannah and Faith into a room together, so Luke is now in a room all by himself. Crazy to think that we don't have a baby in a crib anymore! It's so fun to watch them all grow up together and love each other. Hannah is now potty trained, so not only does she sleep in a big bed, she is in big girl panties too! No more diapers and no more cribs! Our family is growing up so fast! Now if Hannah would just be done with her paci...maybe after her 2nd birthday I will work on that. This season has also brought about some teaching opportunities for me. I am interviewing tomorrow at BRISD, and I am so excited. So much change in so little time would usually leave my head spinning, but it has all happened so naturally that I am nothing but excited and grateful. God is leading my family, and that is all I need to know. I trust Him explicitly and totally. God has also led us to a new church. It's been amazing!

So that the 411 on the Lee's. It's been a scary and exciting time in our family, but through it all God has remained faithful to us...as we knew he would. Maybe life will settle down and I will be able to post some pictures, but if not, you can see them on facebook. Hope you had as fruitful and blessed Christmas as we did!

"You have to accept whatever comes, and the only important thing is that you meet it with courage and with the best that you have to give." - Eleanor Rossevelt

Our Family

A friend of mine who is a great photographer, did our family pictures a few weeks ago! I love them! KDL Images.

The clan!

Big brother. They are so cute!

My man.

A.dor.able.

Photos taken by Kevin Laws of KDL Images.

Love All Around

When we first moved to Lewisville, Tyron and I started to look for a church. Quite a few of our friends from College Station also lived near us, so naturally we started trying out their churches since we all went to church together in college. After a pretty short church search, we found The Village Church in Highland Village, TX. Most people in the DFW area know about or have heard of The Village. It's an amazing church full of loving, honest, real people who really seek and love the LORD. Tyron and I learned so much about God and really grew in knowing Him. The pastor at The Village is a very big part of how we grew during our time at The Village. We deeply miss The Village to this day.

All that to say, on Thanksgiving day Matt Chandler (Lead Pastor of the The Village Church) collapsed and had a seizure. He was taken to a nearby hospital and treated. Subsequently, a mass was found on the frontal lobe of his brain, and Matt will undergo surgery on Friday to have the mass removed. The neurologist doesn't know if the mass is malignant or benign yet, so a biopsy will be done at the time of the surgery. Talk about scary.

Please, please, please pray for Matt and his family. Matt is married with 3 young children, and he is an amazing speaker who has preached the gospel to thousands of people. He is extremely powerful, lovingly blunt, and makes you chase after Jesus. Please pray that Matt and his family have peace, the surgeons have sure and steady hands, and for perfect healing.

Even in all the adversity that comes with this, it has brought people closer to God. People all over the world are fasting and laboring in prayer for The Village and Matt Chandler. God is good all the time. Even in this time of uncertainty for The Village and Matt, people are being touched. God is pursuing people through Matt even in this. What a big and mighty God we serve!

If you want to know more about The Village Church and Matt's condition go HERE and HERE.