so thankful that big sister still takes a nap. at the same time that little sister takes her second nap. bless them both!

Merit can write her name! I love her crazy E's.

hope for Sunday

I have a ton to do right now. The girls are sleeping, and this is usually my Redbud time, but I can't get sweet Sunday Ibok out of my mind. And not that I want to. He embodies everything all of us should aspire to be. Most of you who read my blog are likely connected to ACU and know who Sunday is. If you didn't know who he was before this week, you probably do now. For the few of you who may not, this is Sunday.

(pics taken from his facebook)

On Monday, he suffered a massive brain aneurism and has been on life support since. He has been declared brain dead. The doctors give no hope. (Although we know otherwise, no matter what happens.)

I haven't seen Sunday in person in several years, but knowing the joyful, dancing, encouraging, life-giving Sunday that I did in college, it is hard to imagine that this is happening right now; that his body is now alive, but lifeless. Sunday and I weren't the best of friends at ACU, but he made me feel that way every time I saw him. I remember specifically that he would always tell me that he thought I was beautiful. It was never in a flirty or romantic way - but it always made me walk a little taller after seeing him. My senior year I was Big Sig, or pledge mom, for my social club. I had all 50+ of my pledges outside of the campus center giving some kind of instructions, and Sunday happened to pass by. He came over, interrupted me, and began to tell all of those girls what he thought of me, again, using the word "beautiful". Eight years later, here I sit with that vivid memory.

I've spent a lot of time the past couple of days reading over the hundreds, maybe thousands of facebook messages he has recieved. People from all over the world are coming and telling stories just like mine. "Sunday always made me feel so loved....he made me feel famous...Sunday is a beaming light in my life..." Message after message a testament to the way he followed and truly loved others like Christ. THIS blog post is written by a friend of his from New York and gives an excellent view of Sunday. Another close friend of his posted this on his facebook:

"We want everyone to find comfort in one of the last conversations Brady, Sunday, and I had... We were discussing the message from church, which covered the portion of the Lord's prayer, "His kingdom come", and Sunday began telling us of his dreams of bringing heaven to earth. He also told us that for the first time in his life he was truly happy and confident in his walk and had come to a place where God was enough. He said that if he never got married, or had children he would be content. The conversation ended with Sunday saying that he feels his life has been fulfilled and that if God was to call him home 'tomorrow' he would be joyful with how far he has come. We rest in confidence that this is Gods mercy in helping to prepare his heart and our hearts for today. He certainly is a good God and we hope that this story will bring you comfort and faith tonight. God is our rock and we stand in praise of his goodness even in tragedy."

I've heard that he may be taken off of life support soon, maybe even tomorrow. There are people all over the planet who can't imagine life without Sunday, so they have been praying for a miracle, and I have joined them. But I know that even if his body isn't healed in the way we hope for, he'll continue to have a major impact on this world. In fact, I'm not completely convinced that he hasn't been an angel all along.

You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. 

Matthew 5:14-16

then and now

I hate being behind on this blog. There are things that happened months ago that I need to get on here, for memory's sake, and to ease my own sentimental mind. (I still think about how I never blogged about the wonderful baby shower my friends gave me over a year ago.) And if you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you know that I still take pictures everyday, but I have failed to get them on here! Anyway, I guess I am apologizing, if only to myself, my mama, and my mama-in-law. ;)

So, in the spirit of catching up, here are a couple of pics from then that I regret never posting from when our dear friends, the Deyos, came to visit us in July. Hopefully, I'll eventually get all of the pictures from that fun weekend on here. Maybe.

Merit and Lily at the creek

(these girls used to look like this)

And now, in the spirit of staying current, here is Merit's new pet - her very first - that she got yesterday. It is a betta fish that she named Jerry Ariel Nemo. Merit loves him, maybe a little too much, as she insists that he needs a blanket and constant snacks. Welcome to the fam, Nemo!