Thankful Thursday

Well, I haven't posted as much as I hope, but here I am, at last! We are doing relatively well here. The new girls are coming along. Sassy is doing really fantastic. Temper tantrums are down to a minimum. Indie... well, we're working together to get her on track.

Tinkerbell is doing fantastic!! She accepted Jesus this past Sunday, and she got baptized. God is so faithful in answering our prayers!! We have prayed over this child for 7 months, thinking it might be years before this prayer was answered. Thank you, Jesus, for sending us a beautiful surprise. I wish more than anything that I could post pics of my girl getting the holy dunk, but I can't. Maybe on her 18th birthday I'll have a special Tinkerbell post where we'll post all the pics you've missed!

But, on to the mission at hand... Thankful Thursday!

Today, I'm thankful for none other than my partner in crime, John "JP" Paul, lover of Christ, handyman extraordinaire, incredible father, faithful friend, and amazing husband. But, let me tell ya, it did not start out that way. So, for today's thankful Thursday, I present the story of me and JP.

My sophomore year in college was a rough year. I almost died of appendicitis (no joke... really. I had gangrene and everything), and I had finally broken up with the guy I thought I would marry. It was Christmas break, and I was visiting a college friend because I was very lonely at home. I had asked if I could use her AOL to check on a friend (Eyes of Amber!!) who I was supposed to be visiting over the break. I went online to see if she was there, but she wasn't, so I decided to camp out and wait for a bit. Back in the day, AOL had a little button that just plunked you down into a random chat button, and I hit it. Totally God... HAD to be!!

Because immediately, I started chatting with "Beowulf129". This was way before the movie, so the name was really unusual, and as an English major, I was intrigued. We talked... and talked.... and talked. I still didn't really think anything of it... I mean, online chat room? Who really meets someone this way? Besides, he lived several hundred miles away. I can't really say what happened, but the conversation took a turn.... and it turned into a long-distance relationship. We had a ton in common, and we were looking for the same things in someone. We knew very quickly that we wanted to get married. We were "it" for each other. Of course, we thought that it would be years down the line. Ha.

.... to be continued....