Our hearts and minds have been on sweet Aeon everyday since we heard the news. They live in FL so there was little we could do but send money and prayers their way.
We have been hugging fiercer, kissing more often and telling our children how much we love them, intentionally, every chance we get.
Eric and Erin are very lucky to have a very strong faith and Eric had a vision I would like to share with you before I move on. It brought me to tears.
“ In my vision. I saw myself standing in the River of Life. Erin was there to my left and Aeon was with us in from of us…..As soon as we saw Him (Jesus), we knelt down right there in the River before Him. We stood up and He walked over to me and hugged me. But instead of simply hugging me, He stepped inside of me. Then, Jesus stepped out of me and walked over to Erin and hugged her. Again, He also stepped inside of her. He walked out of her and went over and picked up Aeon into His arms out of the River……then Jesus said, ‘ Stay here as long as you like. And even when you leave, you are still seated with me. This is a place of rejoicing. Tell them I am coming back. Tell them I am coming back.’ Then, Jesus started to cry. And with tears streaming down His face He continued, ‘Tell them I’m coming back and I don’t want them to miss it. I want them with Me and in Me. I want to be in them. I want to play with them in the River of Life. I don’t want it to be too late. Don’t wait! Don’t’ Wait! The time is short. I come back for My Bride who is gorgeous and sparkling white. She longs to see Me. She longs to be with Me; to be in Me and I in Her forever. It pains me. It pains Me that people choose Darkness rather than Light. Come to the Light. Come to Me. I love you….’ Jesus continued ‘Aeon Zoe (Eternal Life). I have your daughter with Me. She is safe. I am her Lift-Giver. Do not be afraid. For I will use you in way your haven’t yet imagined. Just yield to Me’ then He reaches inside of Erin and He pulls out pain. He said ‘I carried your grief. I carried your sorrow. I carried your pain. Then He reached inside of me (Eric) and pulled out all the pain and He continued, ‘….so you don’t have to.’”
This gives me such reassurance. I love the picture it paints of Jesus holding little Aeon and the peace that it gives knowing she is in the best arms being so loved and so well taken care of.
Meanwhile, the children and I have been getting in lots of quality time. Daddy has been uber busy working the fair every other day and then booking appointments every free moment he has. We have created a sort of routine that is working better everyday. We play, we eat, we workout, we play outside, we bathe/shower and we snuggle before bedtime. It's been carefree and actually quite easy. Routines can be so good at times with 2 young littles. Don't get me wrong, raising children is not exactly a piece of cake but a little perspective, a lot of patience and the ability to go with the flow take you a very long way to sanity. There has been moments where I am counting down the minutes til Daddy gets home but these really are the best days of our lives.
Riley and I spent a special day together at the fair, visiting Daddy and doing everything the kid could possibly want to do. Yes, we stood in line to fish at the Northwoods exhibit. We shared mini donuts, we loved alphabet forest and we walked through the pet center remembering and reliving Deuce together. He was such a trooper walking around in the heat all day long and even though I didn't get to do anything I really wanted to do (shop, eat everything (I only had pickles :( ) and just sit down to people watch) it was a special day that wore us out down to our bones.
We've been preparing for 4 year old pre-k and he's been so excited to start back up this year. He is going to be in the 3-4 year old class for one more year because of his summer birthday. It's either repeat a year or have him only be 17 when he graduates and always being the youngest. We opted for one more year of childhood because frankly we aren't ready for him to grow up anymore and we would rather him have the chance to be a leader as one of the oldest than a follower at the one who can't drive for a whole year when everyone else can. It's a personal decision and one we are very comfortable with. I had to explain to D over and over again that it's not holding him back it's giving him back one more year of carefree childhood. He isn't repeating a grade, it's pre-k and it's 3-4 year old pre-k not 2nd grade or something. He is completely ready and able to move up to the 4-5 year old classroom but I don't think anyone would ever say that they wish they had one less year of the carefree state of mind. #amiright?!
Alyssa and I dropped off Riley today and she was not happy she couldn't have a backpack and stay in school. In her words "no go, no go". Sweet little lady. I had teary eyes while we walked out as I knew I would. But we jetted off to meet friends for coffee and once again my girl proved to be so chill and so much fun to be around. She just sat in a chair and nibbled on my lemon poppy seed bread interjecting "hi's" and "mommy's" every now and again.
We were both eagerly anticipating picking the boy up and she ran down the hallway shouting out "riwee, riwee." We met "Nanny" for lunch and scooted back home for naps. This is the good life. It's a such a good life. I love my days off with these two. I love my front seat at their personalities unfolding and watching them figure out life. This is a privilege. I pray everyday in thankfulness for this life and for forgiveness for the things I fall short at and the patience I should have had.
The obligatory first day picture and yes, I missed the memo about the chalkboard picture frames ; )
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| couch cushion movie night, so worth the mess! |
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| nature hike ending up in being rained on, so worth the laughs |
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| reading loft fake smile, so worth the teeth pulled to get |
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| our "On Golden Pond" evening walk, so worth the sweat |
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| fall dreaming, so worth the chalky mess |
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| fish pond, so worth the wait |
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| park play date, so worth waking her up for although she disagreed for awhle |
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| Him, so worth the lack of sleep, the tears of frustration and the utter chaos that comes with parenthood. Oh how I miss this little boy with those chubby wrists and tiny features. It's been a good 4 years. |
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