My favorite Easter hymn

Low in the grave He lay, Jesus my Savior,

Waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord!

Up from the grave He arose,

With a mighty triumph o’er His foes,

He arose a Victor from the dark domain,

And He lives forever, with His saints to reign.

He arose! He arose!

Hallelujah! Christ arose!

Vainly they watch His bed, Jesus my Savior;

Vainly they seal the dead, Jesus my Lord!

Up from the grave He arose,
With a mighty triumph o’er His foes,
He arose a Victor from the dark domain,
And He lives forever, with His saints to reign.
He arose! He arose!
Hallelujah! Christ arose!

Death cannot keep its Prey, Jesus my Savior;

He tore the bars away, Jesus my Lord!

Up from the grave He arose,
With a mighty triumph o’er His foes,
He arose a Victor from the dark domain,
And He lives forever, with His saints to reign.
He arose! He arose!
Hallelujah! Christ arose!

April is Autism Awareness Month

I'm a few days late in getting this posted, but I'd be quite remiss in my duties as Auntie B if I didn't use this blog as a forum for raising autism awareness, not only for my precious nephew Ethan, but for all the kids who daily struggle with an autism spectrum disorder. The Centers for Disease Control now estimate that the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders occurs in 1 of 150 children. Of course, nobody wants to see any child struggle with this, but to me, that statistic seems of epidemic proportions, so we have to do something now to find a cure!

I just want to take a minute to talk about my little buddy. Ethan is 4 years old and has been in speech and occupational therapy for 2 years now. Our family thanks God for each new achievement and every little bit of progress we see. Through Ethan's hard work, the help of sign language, and the dedication of his parents, grandparents, teachers, therapists, aunts and uncles, Ethan is able to communicate with us. His speech is still quite limited, but with effort, we can understand him and vice versa.

I am so thankful, most of all, for Ethan's sweet spirit. For example, most of the adults in his family have been fighting colds for a few weeks now, and Ethan has taken to asking, "Mama, Mama, you otay (okay)?" if he hears his mommy coughing...or his Pa-pa or Nanna, for that matter. We didn't teach him that...the expression of concern is purely volitional on his part and perfectly demonstrates what a loving little boy he is.

I have all the hope in the world and every reason to believe that Ethan can and will rise above his difficulties and as his daddy says, "prove them all wrong." If anybody can do it, my little buddy can.

I love you Ethan Lee, and I'm so proud of you, every day of your life. You are truly a good and perfect gift from the Father.

Yes, I'm still here

I'm alive but...just barely, sometimes. I want to keep going with this blog even though my life has drastically changed in the last month...

I want to be honest but brief. I am separated from my husband, both legally and physically. We are living apart and our life together is very much shattered and as I put it to my friends, on life support. With people in the next room debating on whether it would just be better to pull the plug.

Yes, friends, it's that bad. I won't pretend that it isn't. However, I will not disparage my husband in this semi-public forum, even though it's my personal journal. Some things are just not share-able, nor should they be. So even though I might mention my thoughts and feelings about the separation, I won't mention specifics. Let it suffice to say that we both are contributors to the problems, and it will take both of us to come to a reconciliation. And it will have to be of the Lord, or it won't happen at all. Until then, I am going ahead with my life as best as I can, with the daily strength that only The Comforter can provide, nurtured through the day, sometimes from hour to hour, by the beautiful and amazing love I'm being shown and given by faithful friends and dearest loved ones. You guys know who you are, and I thank you with all of my heart.

So I hope all of my blog readers will forgive me if I'm not my usual self. However, life goes on. And that's what I'm trying to do...move on, looking to the future with hope, knowing that my future is in the right hands.