Legacy of the Colonel, the Mayor and the Dad....

The legacy that the world sees is a man who served 35 years of his life in the US Army.  A man who fought in 2 wars, Vietnam and Operation Desert Shield/Storm.  A man who has stories from those wars that have shaped him into the strong, opinionated, and quick to tell you what he thinks, man.  A man who loves God and his country almost equally.  Almost.  A man who almost a decade after retiring as a Colonel from the Army, ran for Mayor of the town he grew up in - the town he left when he was only 17. And now his legacy consists of Overton County Mayor in Overton County, TN.  He took office last week.  He's so full of compassion and such a hard worker that he's undoubtedly going to leave the town better than he found it.  This is a man whose lap I've always felt safe to crawl in.  A man who hasn't gone a day without telling me that he loves me and I never once doubted it.  A man who prearranged for me to receive 16 red roses on my 16th birthday even though he was in the Middle East.  A man who has so many faults, yet knows that God's Grace covers those faults and makes him more like Jesus than he ever dreamed possible.  My Dad's legacy goes from receipient of the Purple Heart and 2 Bronze Stars with Valor to just plain ol' Dad.  I have said this before but cannot express it enough - I have never doubted that God loves me because of the love my Dad shows me.  That kind of legacy of love, kindness and compassion comes from God.  As if throughout my whole life God has been showing me more of who He is as I watch my earthly father become more and more like Him.  I pray to God that I can leave that same legacy for my kids....

mom

I am the mom of 4!  1 Son and 3 Daughters....1 son.  I was convinced that baby #4 was a boy til they handed her to me and said she was a girl.  I was thrilled all the same!  For some reason, God only gave me one boy.  I often say I would do every bit of pregnancy (which means 50 lbs and a 48" waist) all over again if I knew I could have another boy.   But clearly Freddy's not as willing to try again as I am.  :)  Isaiah is my precious son who told me today that "my wife is going to be the luckiest woman in the world because I'm going to treat her so well" and I believe it!  He is such a gentleman to me and my mom always said you can tell a lot about a guy by how he treats his mom...  All this to say that I did a photoshoot of a friend's kids the other day and this one of her two oldest boys is priceless.  I love how they laughed so hard the whole time and I love how she took such pleasure in them kissing her cheeks.  I love to see a mom interact so joyously with her kids!  Tina has a lot of joy and truly enjoys her kids!  Happy Mother's Day!

Isabelle

10 yrs and 2 weeks ago I began a year long journey of weekly hour long drives from our home in Gadsden, AL to the University of Alabama - Birmingham Children's Hospital for our oldest daughter Isabelle.  Isabelle was born with a Club Foot.  I had NO IDEA what that was when they first told us.  All I knew was that her sweet little right foot was scrunched up and twisted downward and inward.  And it was the color of a plum the first moments after she was born.  But honestly I didn't care.  She was perfect!  In months to come it would make us sick to hear people say they didn't care what sex their baby was going to be as long as it was healthy because we knew our baby girl could possibly never walk right and we loved her all the same!  When Isabelle was only 3 weeks old, I started driving her to the Children's hospital where I'd watch as they fitted her TINY little leg clear up to her knee for a plaster cast.  Babies grow so fast that it had to be switched every week so it wouldn't rub her leg raw.  So I made those trips ever week for almot 5 months! Sponge baths for 5 months except they would let me soak the cast off the night before her appt so I could give her a real bath...She LOVED her once a week bathtimes!  After nearly 6 weeks in a little splint thing that was basically a piece of plastic wrapped around her foot and molded to her that velcroed closed to hold her foot in place, she was big enough to have surgery.  They had to put several bones in the right direction by moving them and putting pins in and the surgeon (the best one in the world in my opinion) severed her achilles tendon so it could be stretched and sewn back together to make it longer. After the surgery they put her in a fiberglass cast that was tye-dyed!  Then we had to go back for 3 months every 3 weeks to have her cast changed because if she'd been awake and moved wrong or hit the table with her leg, she could have dislodged the pins and we would have had to start back over!  I can't write in too much detail about the time she came out of anesthesia and we could hear her screaming the whole way down the hall and how I had to crawl in the tiny little hospital bed with her to calm her down...I still get a lump in my throat when I think of that day...I can close my eyes and remember everything about the room, and see her tiny terrified face.  One of the things her surgeon said was, "She'll walk and maybe even run some and play with other kids like normal but she'll probably never be a marathon runner."  And she is my most athletic kid and can outrun any boy her age and lots older than her too!  I am blessed that she loves Jesus!  I am blessed that she is a sweet girl who is so caring and thoughtful of others.  I am blessed that she enjoys a passion of mine - running!  I am blessed that Dr. Killian did such an amazing job on her foot!  I am blessed!

Duff McDuffie

Duff was my best friend in High School.  I had moved from MI to NC right as my Freshman year had ended.  I was devestated at the change.  But then I was put in a Geometry class with this kid named Duff.  Duff was a spoiled only child and mama's boy...and he adored me.  The feeling was mutual.  I felt so safe around him, there were no underlying motives of why he wanted to be around me, he was simply my dearest friend.  I have this one memory of running across a railroad trussle on someone's private land and feeling so completely free and childlike.  Safe, really safe.  I can't find Duff on facebook or google...my mom used to run into him every now and then but hasn't seen him in years.  Anyway, he's been on my mind a lot lately because my son who's almost 14 has a best friend who's a girl.  And I'm proud of him and how he is such a good friend to her.  He's safe for her much like Duff was for me.  I think it's important for girls to have that from a guy friend.  Looking back, I see how he kept me out of a lot of trouble and I'm thankful!  I married Freddy 2 weeks after HS graduation.  And I just didn't keep in touch with Duff like I should have.  I guess I just got too busy.  I wonder about him though.  I wonder if he's as happy as I am, if he's found someone to share his life with who adores his friendship like I did his and Freddy's...  Here's a pic of Isaiah and his best friend, Payton. 

my friend Shawn.....

Every once in a while God drops someone in your life that you just know in an instant that you will have a friend for life.  Not just a friend, but a companion...someone who understands your heart without you having to say a word.  I've been blessed in my life to be surrounded with solid friendships everywhere that I've lived.  I have Debbie who is my closest friend from childhood, we can go months without connecting and then just pick back up when we do connect.  I think about the time of our life when we had our first child and the friends that I made during that time, so many young navy wives who befriended this pastor's wife even though I didn't have a clue what it must be like to stand at a pier and watch my husband leave for 6 months with a toddler at my feet and a baby on my hip.  And I think of Charlotte in Alabama who helped me so much to not take myself too seriously as a wife, mother or Christ follower.  She taught me so much about how down to earth God is and how much he wants me to enjoy his company and how he gave me my kids because he knew I'd enjoy them more than anyone else.  Then Jeannette who just became my role model, this is the kind of wife, mother and friend I want to be.  The way she loves my children, even from 1000+ miles away now, is just like Jesus loves them!  I can call her at any time and talk to her about anything and she'll give me the most encouraging feedback!  There's Tonia, Missy and Donna who pray for me daily and love me so completely!  Stacey & Stacy who I just laugh so easily with but remind me who created me and believe in who I was created to be and encourage me to stretch myself....  And then there's Shawn.  Shawn is my newest friend but one of the ones I feel the the most "like"!  She and I are so much alike in the way we love our husbands who are both pastors, the way we parent our children, she has 5, I have 4....talking with her feels as if we have known each other our entire lives!  She's precious. And I'm honored to have gotten to know her this year!  And I'm looking forward to all of the things God's going to teach me about myself as we journey through life as friends...good friends.... 

Kailee and Marley

Kailee and Marley.....Oh how I love being able to do what I love!  And Kailee made it SO easy to capture such cute shots!  Marley's flower headband was all Kailee's dad's idea by the way... he was really proud of his dog in a headband!

All dogs go to heaven

This is Lily.  I had the honor to capture her with my camera before she had to be put to sleep because of cancer.  She was the perfect dog!