A-Courtin'

A certain young man has been hanging around here of late. His presence is especially surprising given the fact that the young man hails from the faraway state of Alaska. However, he claims to have a special motivation for these regular visits to the heart of the South.

My story begins last May, when our family had the privilege of providing music for American Vision's First Annual Worldview Superconference. A certain Alaskan was also in attendance, but had not yet crossed paths with our family ... that is, until May 26th, the second-to-last day of the conference. Over the last twenty-four hours of the conference, he kept showing up here and there, spending time getting to know our family (without us knowing exactly why). Right before we left for home, Dad extended to him an invitation to visit us. Now, this is an invitation that is given to just about everyone we get to know at conferences and other such events, and only occasionally do we ever see these people again. This time turned out to be one of those "occasionally's."

Both Mom and Dad were significantly impressed by the maturity and marked character of this young man, and commented several times to that effect.

The middle of June an e-mail arrived: "I will most likely be taking you up on your offer to visit in your home." Toward the end of the said visit, when permission was sought, permission was granted to call and e-mail a young lady in the household. Phone calls between Mom and Dad and the Alaskan, and the Alaskan and the young lady, and Mom and Dad and the Alaskan's parents, followed. Our family met up with him at two Vision Forum conferences in San Antonio, TX, where he was interning with Vision Forum. Then a visit during Christmas. Now Courting.

Yes, Tait Zimmerman is courting a young lady from SC, who happens to be me (Lauren here!).

I know what may be going through the minds of some: Courting? Isn't that what people used to do like hundreds of years ago? Isn't that terribly old-fashioned?

I now begin another story, one which commenced slightly before my last one, although the very point at which it began is difficult to determine. One might say it began before I did, though. Both of my parents dated, and knew that they wanted something better for their children. It had always been understood, from the time we were little, that we would not follow the dating route. Dad would say, half jokingly, "You can date after you're married." When we were still quite small, Mom began keeping a "courting" file, to which she added the various articles on courtship versus dating that she came across.

Several years ago, our family's plans to pursue courtship instead of dating were cemented when Dad conducted a study on courtship for our church's weekly "Family Night."

The purpose of courtship is to seek God's will towards marriage. It has both direction and a certain amount of commitment. It recognizes the father's authority, and seeks guidance from both sets of parents.

One of my favorite verses in Proverbs 31 is "She will do him good, and not evil all the days of her life." As a little girl, as a teenager, as an eligible young lady. I am some man's future wife. I must avoid the emotionally- and physically-defrauding relationship found many times in the dating process. I belong to my future husband, and must do him good ... now.

* * * * *

We look forward to meeting his whole family - parents and two lovely sisters - in just two days! On Wednesday, Leslie and I are off to Asheville with them to attend American Vision's Second Annual Worldview Superconference! Then, the Zimmermans will be honored guests in our home for about another week-and-a-half. I shall have oodles of pictures to post, so keep checking back.

Every day, my phone rings with a call from Alaska, and I am normally busy talking and studying for about the next hour or two with Tait. The consistency of his calls has earned him the nickname "The Pesky Alaskan" (PA for short) from Leslie.

Today is exactly one year since we met Tait at that conference in the out-of-the-way town of Toccoa, GA. The respect that each person in my family holds for him has only grown with time. He has vision and a desire to truly bring everything, every thought, into captivity to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).

Tait has a wonderful blog, Not by Bread Alone, and has posted a "courting post" too. Click over to read his perspective and a slightly more detailed account of our first meeting last May 26th. He hasn't had a chance to blog very much recently (all that phone time!), but has lots of great articles from the last few years.

Your prayers are appreciated as we continue to seek God's will.

Finally!

Hello everyone! I apologize for not posting an update in so long, but things have been busy. (Aren't they always?)

It is so nice to have Mom back, and we're just loving having Katelyn Grace to hold and cuddle again!

I'm going to take you through a whirlwind visual tour of everything that has been going on here lately. Here goes!

Obviously, most of my pictures are going to be of Katelyn Grace. : )

Aunt Sharon getting ready to take Katelyn Grace for a walk in San Diego

Part of the therapy we have to do with Katelyn Grace is just swinging her for 30-60 seconds twice a day. She loves it!


Another part of her therapy is just "tummy time," building those little baby muscles! Unfortunately, she is quite capable of turning herself over just about anytime she pleases, and takes full advantage of that ability whenever she tires of "tummy time."


Her favorite toys are a worm from Aunt Dianne, and a panda bear from Aunt Sharon.






For her therapy, we stimulate her by going through the alphabet with her twice a day. "A; aaaaa; apple! B; bbbbb; baby! C; cccccc; cat! D; ddddd; daddy! etc., etc." Invariably, she smiles when we say "S; sssss; smile!" Just think! A baby who smiles on command! She's so smart! : )

^^This outfit glows in the dark^^

Aunt Dottie and Katelyn Grace

All dressed up for Leslie's graduation!

Leslie graduated from high school on Saturday. Congratulations, sister dear! That doesn't mean that she is now free from her parents' authority, nor does it mean that she doesn't have to learn and study anything anymore. However, it is sort of an unofficial transition from more "formal school" to less "formal school."

The local homeschool group had a small graduation ceremony, and then Mrs. Helen kindly hosted a lovely graduation party at her home! (Thank you so much!)




And oh! the flowers!

Three generations of godly women

As most of you know, our family has a professional ensemble that plays for weddings, Christmas parties, dinner parties, receptions, church services, nursing homes, funerals, and just about every other event there is.

We regularly do weddings at some local gardens, and since it's a lovely place to take some lovely pictures, and since normal admission is enough to make anyone go broke (unless you happen to be the musicians for a wedding!), I decided to seize the opportunity to take some pictures the other Saturday after a wedding.






I played for another graduation ceremony at a small church in a small town nearby last Sunday, and Leslie came along for the ride and fellowship. After the ceremony, on our way home, we passed a beautiful, huge, dramatic oak tree and decided to have another photo-op.










Something we do almost every May is go strawberry picking. This year, only Leslie and I were able to make it out to a nearby farm for this favorite activity. (We were only able to pick about 30 pounds this time.) :D




Then, we headed out to Grandma's house to help with some cleaning, sorting, and organizing. It's such a joy to be able to help our grandparents. They are such a blessing to us, and we are so thankful that they live nearby!

* * * * *

That pretty much sums up our last week. You may look for something rather special on the blog this Saturday. : )

Cheerio!
Lauren

Homecoming!!!

Excitement!

We are so excited! Mom is coming home tomorrow! Just think! Tomorrow!

Dad and Shannon left this morning to meet her at the airport in Atlanta. Katelyn Grace has an appointment in Atlanta tomorrow morning, so they're staying there for the night. After the appointment ... it's homeward bound at last!

We can't wait to see how much our little baby has grown, although it will be a slightly bittersweet experience. How wonderful it will be to see the progress she's made! On the other hand, we have had to miss the whole transition time between her two-month birthday and 3-1/2 month birthday. But we're so thankful that she has been able to get this treatment done and make some wonderful progress.

I think I'll let Mom update you on all of the therapies and treatments; much of it is Greek to me!

~A very excited eldest sister

A Note From Mom

Hello everyone! I just wanted to share an encouraging e-mail that we got from Mom today. We are so thankful that great things have come of her extended absence in California! We'll be updating more on Katelyn Grace's progress and the decisions that are being made.

(Sorry the whole link won't show up; it's too long.)

http://homeopathy-homeopathics-remedies.naturalhealthdoc.net/homeopathy-homeopathics-Introduction.htm

Praise the Lord!  Katelyn Grace slept 8 hrs. last night
and is actually taking a good nap without me holding her right now!
Poor little one's system has been "revved up" too much
for her to be able to sleep properly
with the overdose of thyroid medication she was on.
The trip and expenses out here have been worth it 100x over
just to discover what this was doing to her body (and to her mother!).
God is answering your prayers!!
The above website has a short explanation of what
homeopathic medicine is and the difference between
this and allopathic (conventional) medication.
Love, Wendy

One More Week ...

Mom and Katelyn Grace will be home in exactly one week!

Although Mom is flying into Atlanta on the 15th, she will be staying there one more day to see a doctor for Katelyn Grace. Dad and Shannon are going to meet her on the 15th, and will take her to the Wednesday morning appointment. Then ... HOME!

Happy "Birthday"!

Katelyn Grace is 3 months old today! She's already lived a quarter of a year. Our baby is growing up oh! so fast.

In honor of her birthday, I wanted to share some of the progress (therapy-related and otherwise) she's made since leaving home three weeks ago.

1. The day before she and Mom flew to San Diego, she smiled for the first time! Shannon and Mom were the only ones privileged enough to see her flashing one of those gorgeous smiles before Mom and Katelyn Grace were whisked off to the West Coast.

2. She's rolling over! Mom and Aunt Sharon looked up when non-Down-syndrome babies usually roll over, and Katelyn Grace is at the head of even those babies! Once, when Mom couldn't get to her quite quickly enough, and she was crying, Katelyn Grace turned from her back to her tummy and immediately stopped crying. "Hey," she seemed to be thinking, "I can do this!" So she rolled herself once again onto her back. Then back to her tummy. Back and forth, back and forth. She was just so pleased with herself!

3. The people who stepped us through the neurodevelopmental therapy process for Katelyn Grace said that "tummy time" is essential. Katelyn Grace is now doing some major push-ups that any baby would be proud of!

4. She's talking more. I hear her just goo-goo-ing and cooing over the phone. So precious!

5. Tongue thrusts are very characteristic of Down syndrome babies, and Katelyn Grace is no exception. However, since Mom has been working with her with the neurodevelopmental therapy, stimulating her, the tongue thrusts have decreased significantly!

6. Down syndrome babies have smaller sinuses, so Katelyn Grace's sinuses were not draining properly. Sometimes this kept her awake at night or made her cranky during the day. Mom reports that her sinuses are now significantly clearer!

Please keep Katelyn Grace in your prayers. Pray that she would respond well to the treatments.

Mom is also in need of prayer. Just being away from her family is hard enough on her. She's also having to make many, many decisions. Please pray that the Lord would give her wisdom and discernment.

We thank the Lord for our precious baby!

Grungy Yark-Work Day

One of the things I have really missed this spring is all of the nice flowers Mom always plants around. Yes, we have a few perennial plants that are blooming beautifully, but it's not the same as normal. Because of taking care of the baby, being out of town, and all of that busy-ness, Mom hasn't had a chance to work in the yard very much at all.

So, we planted flowers today! It was a beautiful day: only about 90 degrees, low humidity, sunny, slightly breezy....

Who needs a bath when you've got a hose?

This vine just showed up; I don't know where it came from; maybe Mom planted it last year. None of us had ever noticed it ... until it started bringing forth these gorgeous flowers! Now, if only we can keep Paton from eating them....