Before & After

BEFORE

AFTER

This coffee table sat in front of my Grandpa's couch for as long as I can remember.  He watched Ranger games on it, he tickled and read to us, and he told us when we were out of line and needed to get back in from that couch.  He also had a spittoon that sat right by it (now that is showing how country I am!) 
After the events of the past two weeks, I told Matt I needed a project.  I have proceeded to find like 3 projects that I just have to do.  Now one might think that I am avoiding the loss and healing...however the Lord that I serve wouldn't let me do such a thing.  I spent time sanding and getting out some of that anger, days painting it baby blue and longing for the baby who wouldn't see that baby blue painted in his room, and then in the end I spent the last couple days thinking about that grandfather sitting right behind that coffee table.  The same grandfather who gets to spend time with our little boy in heaven now.  And that's what I think of now when I look at it in our home....Grandpa and our little boy waiting at the gates.

 Onward to the prize before us!
Soon His beauty we’ll behold;
Soon the pearly gates will open;
We shall tread the streets of gold.

When we all get to heaven,
What a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
We’ll sing and shout the victory!

Never Once

Never once

Did we ever walk alone

Never once

Did you ever leave us on our own

You are faithful

God, you are faithful

I can honestly say that never once have we walked alone this past week.  I can not even begin to explain how loved we have felt as we have walked through the events of the past 10 days.  It has been the hardest of our lives but God has shown up...and not only has He shown up, He has shown off.  I am still not at a place to talk about everything but I feel like I can share a few things from my praise journal with you to show how great of a God I serve.   

-We spent the two weeks before we lost our little one grieving with two of our best friends who had just miscarried their first baby.  We prayed with them, we cried with them, and we praised God with them.  God completely prepared our hearts for such a loss.  And He prepared their hearts to walk through it every step of the way with us.
-I got an email from someone letting me know that our family had been very heavily laid upon their hearts and they had been praying for us (before they knew what had happened)...this happened more than once
-God told me the name of this baby two weeks before I found out I was pregnant.  The night after we found out he was gone, someone brought us a meal and a gift.  The gift had that name on it.  Matt and I had never shared the name with anyone. 
 
Those kinds of things don't just happen, they are ordained.  Last week started with such sadness and it ended in sadness.  But at the end of the week I have three beautiful healthy boys, a loving family, and some AMAZING sisters (biological, in-law, and in Christ).  I have a husband who put his arm around my waist, my hand in his, and danced with me in the middle of the recovery room as I wept...wept on his strong shoulder.   And most of all, I have a Lord who keeps showing up. I don't know the whys and I don't think I will ever know that, but I do know that there is a little boy in heaven that I will get to meet one day and he had a calling placed on his life that I am left on earth to fulfill.
 

Thank you for for all of your gifts, your encouraging words, and most of all your prayers...God is hearing you and He is showing up.  Never once will He leave us on our own.

Thank you

These arrived for me today from my sisters.  I carried this exact bouquet in my wedding.  However, the sister who ordered them had a sick daughter and couldn't make it to my wedding...she had no idea I carried these.  It was as if the Lord Himself sent them to me.  And that is just 1/1000th of the ways that the Lord is showing up this week.  I am keeping a praise journal right now of the incredible ways that the Lord is wrapping His arms around our hearts right now and once I have had time to process it, I will try to share some of the things that the Lord has done for us. 
Thank you so much for your prayers, your love, and your kind words.  We are grieving the loss of our sweet little one and yet rejoicing that he has gone on to be with Jesus.  We have never known such loss or grief and it is far worse than we could have imagined.  Your prayers are being heard and each day the Lord is showing up and giving us great mercy.  Thank you.

Ratatouille

Last night we watched Ratatouille and ate ratatouille!  My sis-in-law sent me this awesome blog which is all recipes cooked from scratch and most are super healthy (including this yummy ratatouille)...which goes along with my 2012 family goals :)!  Yay!

Resolutions

New Year's Resolutions, anyone?

So we usually think that New Year's resolution are a little cliche so we don't do them but this year we felt the need to make some Vincent Family goals...so we will call them goals, not resolutions.

1. Eat healthier for our family and learn the "whys" behind why we should do that

2. Exercise a little more

3.  Read through the Bible as a family (we are reading to the kids as they fall asleep at night)

4.  Cut out distractions and focus on family...um, Matty V got rid of his Iphone...his Iphone people!

5. And for me, realize that a clean house doesn't always mean a happy house.  Sometimes it just needs to be...

6. Oh and have another baby!
Happy New Year!!!

JESUS' BIRTHDAY 2011

Mo was a little more interested in the bow than the present.

Everyone was outfitted in Texas Ranger gear thanks to Aunt El (even Daddy, which for the die hard Red Sox fan was pretty funny!)

Can you guess what this guy's favorite present was? A Red Ryder bb gun.  And everytime I look at this picture, I see the one below in my head!

 

They also got a snow fort building set.  I had to call both boys and Daddy in to get ready to leave for Christmas dinner and I am convinced if I hadn't they would have been out there all day.

Mama's favorite present!  I have been wanting this since I was a little girl and I would eat off of all of my grandmother's fiestaware.  It makes me happy just to look at it!

It makes Jack just as happy and he wanted his picture taken with it for the blog!