Miracle x 2= God's Perfect Plan

Over the years I've been blessed to teach with some really wonderful people, but never have I encountered such a Godly woman until God allowed my path to cross with Suzanne! She teaches the "little ones" at our school- first grade and I teach the "older ones"- fourth grade. This being said, you'd think our paths wouldn't cross so much because she'd be on the first grade hall with all of the other first grade classes, but instead she ended up on the third and fourth grade hall. Boy am I glad! She is a fine woman from Natchez with just as fine a husband. They are both, what we call in the south, just plain good people! She and Chip struggled for quite some time with infertility and seeing many doctors coupled with spending lots and lots of money left them with many questions about why they couldn't concieve. Their diagosis? Unexplained. This is NOT what any couple would want to hear especially for a couple who "does everything right". Also, besides her wedding day, what does any little girl dream of from the time she can walk and talk? That's right! She dreams of the day she becomes a mommy. Suzanne and I had many discussions about this very topic since Daniel and I are going through the very same thing. We would talk about how tired we were of hearing "It's just not God's time yet." or "You're trying too hard." or the age old statement from many people who've never experienced this, "It'll happen when you least expect it."

Now, don't get me wrong. I know all of these comments are meant with the most kindness that one could share, but I have to admit that it's extremely difficult to hear these words when all I can think about is all of the thousands of dollars we've shelled out or the time we've dedicated to this one thing that is NOT in our hands in the first place. I've always signed my letters and cards with "In His Hands" because I've always believed that our lives are truly in His hands. Why didn't this register before now? Not sure, but the day Suz told me she was pregnant... with TWINS it reminded me of how I sign letters and cards- In His Hands!!!

After all that time spent on trying to accomplish what THEY wanted, Chip and Suzanne reached a fork in their journey. They had a huge decision to make. One that would change their lives forever- invitro fertilization or letting go.

They chose to let go.... and let God. Boy what a leap of faith that is! Matthew 7:7 says "Ask and ye shall recieve, seek and ye shall find." This is exactly what they did for six and a half years, but it was not until they were completely surrendered to His will that "they found." So many times we find ourselves claiming faith in God, but how many times do we actually take that leap? Not many because we are scared. I'll be the first to admit that the teacher in me wants to have control of my life and living in a "right now" society doesn't help either. Suzanne and Chip's testimony has really spoken to Daniel and me. I pray that it speaks to you as well.

As an extra to this amazing story, of course, I have cake pictures to post for this super sweet family! The first grade team at our school hosted a baby shower one afternoon for Suzanne and asked me to do the cake. I decided to do something fun I'd seen on another friend's blog. So, here's what I called "The expectant mother" cake.

This summer Suzanne's sister, Kathryn, asked me to do the cake for a shower she would be hosting at her house. She sent me the invitation and I tried to match it in the best possible way. I was given the freedom to do whatever I wanted as long as I used blue and brown and the cake was strawberry. So, we had a pink (inside) cake with blue and brown icing!

Labor Day fun!

Last weekend, Daniel and I traveled "home" to Meridian to spend some quality time with our family over the three day weekend. The plan was for us to hang out with my folks Friday night and then join Daniel's folks for some post wedding festivities. As many of you know, Daniel's brother, David, met the love of his life several years ago and popped the question this past New Year's Eve! After much planning, the happy couple decided to head on down to Jamaica for a destination wedding just the two of them. (This makes me want to sing..."Just the Two of Us"). While they were down there getting hitched, they had a wedding DVD made which was our after dinner entertainment Saturday night. Every detail was perfect including reciting their own wedding vows to one another as well as the exchanging of rings.

Oh and they didn't even leave out the part when the preacher announced them as "Mr. and Mrs. DANIEL Culpepper"!!! I laughed until I cried. You see this happened to us during our wedding except the roles were reversed and we were announced as "Mr. and Mrs. DAVID Culpepper". Daniel and David grew up in the church where we were married four years ago and the preacher knew them well. It was just a mispronounciation boo boo. :) Kind of like when your mom calls you by your sister's name because she's in a hurry to get your attention and forgets who you are for a split second. It always makes us silently ask, "Don't they know who I am?", but then laugh about it in the end.
All of that happened Friday and Saturday night. Then Sunday, all day, we went to moma and daddy's deer camp. They've been wanting us to go out there for a while to see where they hunt and, more importantly, eat a cheeseburger at the truckstop that is real close to the deer camp. I love outdoors and nature and always have. So, I snapped away while everyone laughed at me for taking pictures of the "fancy" restrooms, the hay bales, and lots of other cool stuff. Here are a few cool pictures I came home with from our fun time with the parents! By the way, if someone can tell me what kind of flower this is in one of my pictures, I'd appreciate it.

Something pink...

I always enjoy it when someone asks me to do a cake for them, but says just do what I think is best. This past week Mrs. Deborah asked me to do a birthday cake for her 1 year old granddaughter, Sophie. She said it didn't matter what was on it as long as it was pink and had the number 1 on it somewhere/somehow. I was a little pressed for time so this is what I did. They took it straight to Memphis for the party Saturday morning. I think a fun time was had by all.