Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Romans
12:12

How many days I held onto that Scripture! Patient in affliction. Patient in affliction. Patient in affliction. I wish I could say that I always lived it. But that would certainly be far from the truth. As anyone who knows me will tell you, I am NOT a patient person. I'm not proud of that -- in fact I would love to change that about myself. I think that having my daughter Abby is God's answer to my all too often prayer, "God, grant me patience" You see, if you ask for patience, what God does is give you circumstances that will constantly test your patience level -- like a six year old girl who is slower than molasses.

I know I have had my share of affliction. So has most anyone who is reading this blog. Now that the pain of Ed's suicide is a distant memory, it is easy to forget, and to allow the little things in life to get to me... the job... the kids... the house. I never thought I would see the day when I would complain about trivial matters. But I suppose that is a sign that normalcy has returned to my life. For so long, when someone complained about such things, I wanted to scream, " Do you want to hear about some REAL problems???" Oh, and I suppose there were days when I told them...

Today, I am trying to stay in gratitude. Gratitude for the life I have today. I have a wonderful husband. I have three really great kids, each with their own uniqueness. But each day they call me mom, and they tell me they love me. Abby has become such a daddy's girl. That term used to absolutely break my heart... daddy's girl.. but now, there is joy in my heart as I watch her snuggle up on the couch with her new "dad" Michael has a man in his life... one that cares about him, one that teaches him things, one he is growing closer to each day. Clayton has a "mom" now. I hope I do honor to that title. He has had so much pain in his little life, I hope I can now provide him with some stability and joy.

Yes, there are life's trials. My job is ever so challenging I still have that longing to be at home with the kids. This is my current struggle. What was that third part of the scripture???? Ah yes, Faithful in Prayer. I pray that God will equip me to do this job... I pray that I will find peace in my situation. And if it be His will, I pray that I will be able to work less out of the house, and be with the kids more.

More wedding pictures

My best friend Amy

My parents - Married 50 years this October

Brad and his Mom

My Aunt, my 3 sisters, and my mom

Mr. and Mrs. Bradley T. Curry

You DO NOT want to know why they are laughing. Trust me.

I love this one

All My Children
My stepsons (Ed-19 and Brian-17)
And our three children (Mike-9 Clayton-7 Abby-6)

The Kiss

We Did It!

And they lived happily ever after!

First Wedding Pics

The Happy Couple

Brad really was happy too! Just not the best picture!

Here I am with my beautiful flower girl / daughter, Abby

I looked okay, but she stole the show!


Widows at the wedding

(Front row): Linda (Friski Millbrook), me, Marsha (Mimi Dunstone) (Back row): Amy (Yorkiefarm), Joanne (Clarke), Heidi (Just Heidi)

Brad bought those t-shirts for my widow-posse last year when I told him that I had divulged many details to the "Emerald Carpet" crew. They say, "What's said with the girlfriends, stays with the girlfriends"... yeah, it still bugs him that I won't tell him what we all talked about on the emerald carpet! lol

Way more to come... this is just a sneak peak... my thanks to Heidi (the Just) for sending me a few early pics!

Aloha!!!

We're Baaaaaack!!! And it was fabulous! The wedding was wonderful, the honeymoon, even better... I am still in a daze from all the excitement, and totally jet-lagged sitting here at work just 12 hours after getting home, but it was so amazing.

I'll post pictures in a couple days. It was hard being gone from the kids for so long.... we missed Abby's first baseball game, her first dance recital, and the last day of school. But Brad's mom did a great job at taking care of all those things, and making them all really special even though I was not here.

It seems strange to say things like "My husband will be right back" while sitting at a restaurant... Strange in a really great way. Each time I call him my husband, it gets more "normal", and I imagine in time it will not phase me.

I checked out the widow board this morning for the first time in almost 2 weeks, and there was an old post of mine bumped up, asking for crockpot recipes... in that post I was looking for some quick single mom recipes to make for me and my two little ones.... It wasn't that long ago that I was cooking for just me and Mike and Abby... now we are five.

And five is good.

Mrs. Curry