Personal Prayer Request....(UPDATED)

****UPDATE*****

As of today, Monday, there is no real update on baby Grace other than the doctors feel very optimistic about her delivery. They believed she could be about 4 lbs and the two days that have bought her in her mothers womb even better. She will probably be delivered with in the next 24 hours. Mom is well, and dad is anxious and tired, but over all both are in positive spirits. Daddy was telling Mark tonight via text that there was a 21-week baby born and so far is doing well, so this gave them a new sense of light I think and we are all very excited to meet baby Grace. Thank you for your continued prayers.

Uncle Donnie.

If you ever had the chance to meet my Uncle Donnie, he was the definition of "good o'southern country boy" from Texas. Uncle D. had a zest for life. He was always cheerful, laughing and thinking positive. He loved life. He loved his WIFE more than anything. He loved being out doors, hunting, fishing, working hard and being with his friends and family.

A few years ago they purchased some ATV's or as some would say four-wheelers. I am not really sure in the difference in the two. Maybe, Ill look that up when done here, but for now it doesn't matter. They loved taking the ATV's out, riding them, splashing in the mud and just being like God's little kids playing in the wild outdoors. They'd often use them to get around on the deer lease area where they would set up and get things ready for deer season.

That is what he was doing this week.

Uncle D. and Aunt Debbie were truly a match made for one another. Never apart, they worked the same jobs, traveled together and were the best of friends. Aunt D. normally would go with Uncle D. to the deer lease, but for whatever reason she decided to stay home this weekend. As Uncle D. calls Aunt D. to tell her that he got things done at the lease and that he and the boys were going to go play on the ATV's before it got too dark. Uncle D. told her on the phone he loved her, and wished she would have come out, because he loved having her around him all the time. They said "I love you's" and hung up the phone.

Off they go on the ATV's.

The paths were flat, and as boys would be boys, they are laughing, twisting back the accelerator and feeling the speed and the power of these man made machines. As he looks back at his buddies with a smile on his face, he hits a small dip and begins to flip multiple times.

As his friends watch in shock and race to his rescue, the ATV is laying on top of Uncle D. As Uncle D. tries to speak he tells his friend to get his phone out of his pocket, to call 911 and his wife. As they call for help, Uncle D's face begins to swell, blood pours out of his ears, he tells his friends he isn't going to make it.

After a long hour and so before the paramedics arrived back in the woods to where he was located, he wasn't breathing. Loading him up and pulling him out of the woods and to the care flight that was waiting for him, the continue to perform CPR the entire flight.

At the hospital they pronounced him dead, but doctors say he pretty much was dead on scene.

His neck was broken in several places, legs and others. His lungs were flattened. His skull crushed. That even had they arrived any earlier than the did and were able to keep him alive, he would have been brain dead and a vegetable for the rest of his life. His brain swelled so much, thus the blood out of his ears. His face swelled so much he was almost unrecognizable. They said that tons of blood had already piled up in his back on the spine. Basically, he was just dismantled in all the ways a human body could be.

At the hospital they only allowed Aunt D. and their son Randy in to see him. "It just didn't look like him," they said.

Aunt D. will be very lost for a very long time with out her husband, her friend, her companion, her leader, her protector, her love.... her HUSBAND.

Tomorrow, they will have a viewing for family and friends. On Wednesday they will have his service at the church my Uncle Danny (sister of Aunt D.) is a pastor at.

It was Uncle D's request to be cremated and then spread out in the wind and over the lake that he spent most of his days on, fishing, boating and loving life. His request will be honored and he will be remembered to me as a man of integrity, charm, kindness, fun, loving, thoughtful and the life of the party, Uncle Donnie! He will be missed a great deal.

Dear Aunt Debbie (and family)...

I am so sorry I am so far away and unable to be there to support you through this difficult time. In away I feel its also a blessing to me, for I am able to sit here and remember Uncle D. just as I know and knew him. I am not going to be traumatized by the image of his beaten up body. Instead, I will only have his smiling, laughing and bright eyes as the image to remain in my thoughts and memories forever, and in truth, I think Uncle D. would agree with me.

Although, I am not physically there, I am surely there in thought, prayer and heart. I hurt for all of you as my family and I wish this wasn't our families reality, but it is. Its going to be a hard bump to get over for some time.

However, at the end of the day and as we all mourn our missing family member.... when I think of Uncle D in all of this, I think he died...NOT IN PAIN....but a VERY HAPPY MAN who felt loved by his wife, family and friends. While he was out in the nature and wild life, trees, dirt, being the 'good o'southern country boy' he was. Being an example to so many on how to be responsible in life, love one another, work hard, do the right thing no matter how hard it is....but also living and having a little bit of fun in life along the way.

He didn't take things for granted. Instead he appreciated everything he had.

We will miss you Uncle Donnie.

**************************************

Ill be quick and brief.....

When it rains it pours.

Last night at midnight I received a call that my uncle Donnie had a fatal accident on his ATV. Ill will share more when I can. Please pray for my family and my aunt Debbie.

As well, last night our friends whom are pregnant with their first child are only at 29 weeks, and her water broke. They are trying to buy the baby a couple more days with giving steroid shots, for the lungs are not developed.

Please pray for this couple and their unborn daughter, Grace.

I may be able to photograph for them once we get more news. Lets pray that God has bigger plans for this little girl and that her lungs get stronger before she is born.

Thank you for your prayer.

The "MAN" teacher.

Believe it or not, my son started school this week as the rest of the kids on this part of the world have. He walked into the door and instantly became a third grader. Where did all the time go? Me, I have a third grader? I mean, I sometimes I feel as though I could still be in the third grade. Okay, more like the 4th, that was the best year ever. The point is, I can't believe I am a mother of a third grader.

Well, in truth, I can sometimes shock myself when I stop and have a minute to think and realize that I am a MOTHER, period. A mother of two children. A mother of an eight year old and an 16-month old. A mother of one girl and one boy. ME!

That is just so cool, but often seems as though I am reading in on someone else's life, so in awe that its MY life. God has blessed me abundantly with this life I live and wake up to every day.

As we attended my sons orientation last Friday at school. We met his super sweet teacher Mrs. Lynch, who has arrived from the Coral Spring NBP school to ours. They have moved ALL Coral Springs students to the Coconut Creek campus where Hunter attends. His meet and greet the teacher lasted a total of 30 seconds before he was off running the hallways of the school, searching out the list on all other teachers doors to see where his friends would be stationed for the next several months. While leaving me to get attacked by all those other people, you know, the other people they call "parents." Yea, its not my favorite part of orientation.

Don't get me wrong, its great to say hi and catch up with the "normal' parents of the school. The ones that can actually look you in the eye with real emotion and intent and carry on a legit conversation with you. While the others give you that big fake smile, that real high pitch voice and tap on the back kind of hug. I am sure everyone that is a parent of a child in school has experienced one or more of those kind of parents. You have haven't you? Well, if you haven't..... maybe you need to ask if you are one of "those" other kind of people. LOL. Just kidding.

Okay, so here I am standing in Hunter's class room, checking the clock as to how quick I can get out of there without looking rude to the teacher and other parents. As I chat with a couple of the moms that I actually enjoy, and then hope I don't have to come in eye contact with those I rather not deal with on my first day back.

I start searching out the hallways looking for my child so we can escape the zoo. I feel like Madagascar, the movie. Looking for all my routes and escape options.

Then my son and his friend run up to me, as they both already broke out a sweat from all the running around they had done and out of breath trying to tell me that his friend has a "MAN TEACHER."

Indeed he does have a man teacher. The boys say it however like "THE---MANNNN---TEACHER" as if it is something really BIG or SCARY even. THE MAN TEACHER!

They have never seen a man teacher before in all their 3 years of school. The men in the school are either authoritative figures in the school or teach a specialty subject like music or P.E. etc. All they have known are female classroom teachers. Its pretty funny when they talk about this man teacher.

Along with all this third grade hype, my third grade child thinks he is the coolest cat around. He is now wearing these aviator sunglasses, much like the ones his mother wears. But yet, he considers himself "cool looking" and I "nerdy looking," what gives?

Yes, to my third grader, the one whom recently also thinks he knows everything and is trying to express such smartness and coolness, saying that I embarrass him. When I pull up to drop him off some place, he wants me to turn down my music, because it isn't the music that HE believes to be cool. I am listening to Casting Crowns by the way. See what I am dealing with here?

Ok, so we have all been there and done that with our own parents, I know that. However, I don't think I ever verbally felt brave enough to tell my parents these thoughts out loud. I was a please'r and never would want to hurt or disrespect anyone like that.

My son will not even kiss me in public anymore, especially if anyone of his peers are around to witness it. I basically have to threaten to REALLY embarrass him if he doesn't give me a kiss good-bye, and most of the time he gives in, taking my word on REALLY embarrassing him, so he then leans in and gives me the "yea, yea, get it over with" kind of kiss good-bye. I don't care, because at least I know should that be the last time we see each other, he knows he was loved by me, cool or not.

Besides, doesn't my kid realize who his mother is? I am Misty Rice (Baniewicz), a fun, fearless, world traveler, adventurous mother. I am SO cool. He has no idea how cool his mom is. LOL

Okay, so maybe I appear to be cool, and underneath all this coolness, is truly a big fat dork (probably so), and he just sees the dork side of it all. The one that is always on his case about brushing his teeth, doing his homework, cleaning up his mess, eating his veggies and giving him that parenting kind of answers to any topic discussed between us.

I have to constantly remind myself that he is not my friend, I am not his friend. That he is the child, I am the parent, and that I do all the things that I do for him, out of love, for him. If along the way, he learns to respect me and appreciate my parenting toward him and then we become friends on top of that, then I am blessed.

Its way too easy to fall into the "my feelings just got hurt" by an eight year old boy that I love and work so hard to provide and protect, that we can tend to slack and not push them so hard. In the long run that is more harmful to them than doing the strict parent route. Often we as parents can also fall into the "fallen world" of things and not be the best examples to our children, sometimes acting like children ourselves still.

I found myself like this the other morning.

I am not a morning person, but I have improved a great deal over the last 20 something years. Except for this one morning. Ahem.

It was the first day of school, and all through the house, it was going just fine as to my little plan. When all of the sudden, it was time to leave. My son hadn't brushed his teeth. As I told him to for the millionth time, and as we begin to rush out the door. We begin to argue about his book reports he had and hadn't done correct. As we are trying to rush out the door, and while arguing over who was right and wrong, he little smart mouth was testing my patience big time. As I am pulling out of the garage, there is a white table leaning up against the cabinets in front of my car. It decides to fall on my car as a am backing out putting 4 small dents in the front of my bumper. I became fumed, and yelled at my son at the top of my voice. Something I try to not do ever, because we all know that not much if anything is being heard through yelling. This day however, I was fed up with his mouth, him thinking he knows it all and the table on my car didn't' help.

So, I am driving, yelling, mumbling curse words under my breath. In perfect timing, Morgan makes us all laugh. As she is sitting in the back waving her finger around just like mommy, jibber-jabbing as if to repeat everything I am saying. It was hilarious and just what was needed to cool the temp down in the car at that moment.

Finally, we arrive at school as the rest of the ride there was pretty quiet and uneventful. I say good-bye, tell him I love him and drive off.

At that instant the guilt set in, that I was yelling at him on his first day of school. So not necessary. So not needed. So not cool. See I am not as cool as I think I am, most of the time. Most of the time, I am just a little human being that screws up more than I like to with a temper that can pop out like a firecracker when least expect it, when my buttons are pushed too much.

I felt guilty all day long about it.

The first thing I did when picking him up from school was ask him about his day, and then took the opportunity to teach my son about being human in a fallen world. However, even parents (like mom) can fall, and make wrong choices and be impatient. I apologized for yelling at him. I apologized for losing my temper. I apologized for making a poor choice in my actions and that I was wrong for making the choices I made, regardless of the choices he chose to make. I told him that him making wrong choices and upsetting me, doesn't give me the right to make a wrong choice in return. Although, that seems to be the most natural and easiest of things to do. That he too will remember this conversation and he too will have moments where someone will make the wrong choice, and he then will have the opportunity to make better choices, the right choice of his own.

My point?

Well, I feel better sharing that bit of our week. And maybe someone else needs to read it and be reminded, that although you may be parents of your children, you are NEVER bigger, better or too good or above to apologize to your children when you have made poor choices. If you ever feel that you don't have to apologize to your kid, because they are "kids." Then you disrespect them and devalue them, and that makes you a coward. In order to teach, you must lead by example. You will expose your children to sin and errors, you can't control that, you are a human. So take those opportunities to also lead by example on how to respect all people and apologize to your children when it calls for one.

As we reach the middle of our first week back to school, and retrain ourselves to the school routine and schedule in our home. I need to figure out a way to get my kid to realize he IS as cool as he thinks he is, he will realize later that he wasn't as cool as he thought. I don't want to rob him of that now. But I do want to get him to see rather sooner than later, that his mother is cooler than he thinks, like today. Do you think I have a chance? Yea, probably not.

That's okay with me....

I am a legend in my own mind anyways. I think I will focus on controlling my tone with my know-it-all third grader instead. I need prayer for patience and parenting wisdom. Its not easy being this uncool cool, raising descent, respectful, smart and loving children in a very mean unloving, UNCOOL world we live in. Its tough.

I look at Morgan and I am reminded how little, sweet, affectionate, kind and tender my third grader once was. He always wanted to please mommy and daddy. Such a sweet loving little boy. Now he is a "thinks he is cool, knows it all and has a mouth to go with it all" THIRD GRADER!!!!

Put a straight-jacket on me now, while I still have a chance. Sigh!!!!

How is the first week of school going in your home?

These are the two struggles right now in our home the MOST, aside from his MOUTH! He hates to brush his teeth and its like pulling teeth to get him to brush them each day.

He wanted to grow his hair out over the summer so he could have "hockey" hair. He wants it long in the back so it sticks out of his helmet. I went a long with it for the summer, but the first day of school I was the one embarrassed by my son arriving at school with hair that looked like.... I don't even know what it looked like.

Thankfully, he came home as the teacher told the class that if their hair touches their collar then they have to get a hair cut. SWEEEEET! It takes the headache and fight off my back of being the bad parent and making him cut it off. So, here we are getting it cut by our awesome Rodrigo, the man that makes his rounds on house calls!!!

His Will Wednesday

Do you have a prayer, need, request or a thanks for an answered prayer and need a safe place to share it?

You have come to the right place. A christian faith blog, with a ton of prayer worriers. If you are hurting, struggling, healing, changing, trying, worried, happy, thankful, stressed, angry, confused, scared, sick, sad, unsure and even lost.

It doesn't matter, because HIS love is deeper than anything you are going through or experiencing. You just need to trust Him enough, believe in Him enough, and even allow Him enough to show up in your life and prayers.

Please leave your prayer request in the comment section, and know that people are reading them and praying for you. And I once read and LOVED this little chain idea. If you do not read all prayer request, while you post your own request, will you please take the time to say a prayer for the person right above your comment?

I personally will read each and everyone myself and pray over them.

1. Prayer request for, we will call her "Sister in Christ", God knows her needs. So please just pray for her.

2. Please pray for baby Ryan, his photo is in my prayer roll to the left of my blog. He is getting ready for heart surgery this week.

3. Please continue to pray for the McGovern family as they continue to figure out how to walk this road, after the loss of their 19 month old daughter, Edna Mae.

4. Please pray for a family I grew up with, as their dad, and my little league soccer coached lost his battle to cancer.

5. Please continue to pray for baby Kate, as she and her family fight for her life with brain cancer.

6. Courtney in the boys recently lost their furry family member to an accident, please pray for them.

7. Please pray for MckMama's friend, as they recently discovered her unborn baby at 33 weeks has STV, the same heart condition (or similar) to Stellan's.

8. Please pray for my grandmother, as they are going to try and work with her and teach her to walk again. If not, she will be bound to her wheelchair for the remaining time of her life.

9. Please pray for my neighbor Paul, a wonderful friend, husband, father and grandfather. He survived a major stroke many years at a young age, that has placed him in a wheel chair. He has had some issues with infection leg that is causing him a lot of discomfort.

10. And of course continue to pray for all my the babies in my prayer blog, and any other child or baby that needs prayer. That is my soft spot and my love runs over for all children. They are so innocent and sweet, so pray for those that are sick, in pain, lonely, hungry, homeless, without parents, scared, frightened, abused, neglected, abandoned and unloved in anyway.

*Please leave your prayer request in the comment box, and please pray for the person above you in the comment box. The chain and circle of prayer is powerful.

Have a blessed day.

His Will Wednesday

Do you have a prayer, need, request or a thanks for an answered prayer and need a safe place to share it?

You have come to the right place. A christian faith blog, with a ton of prayer worriers. If you are hurting, struggling, healing, changing, trying, worried, happy, thankful, stressed, angry, confused, scared, sick, sad, unsure and even lost.

It doesn't matter, because HIS love is deeper than anything you are going through or experiencing. You just need to trust Him enough, believe in Him enough, and even allow Him enough to show up in your life and prayers.

Please leave your prayer request in the comment section, and know that people are reading them and praying for you. And I once read and LOVED this little chain idea. If you do not read all prayer request, while you post your own request, will you please take the time to say a prayer for the person right above your comment?

I personally will read each and everyone myself and pray over them.

Morgans first art work.

Jonah and the big fish. She made this at church yesterday. And she
said "bubbles" for the first time also.

She is so smart.

Sent from my cool iPhone.