An Overview of Our First Christmas

Well, our first Christmas as a married couple was definitely different than I expected, but a great one nonetheless. With losing one of my very best friends, it was definitely a sad time, very surreal, but when things happen in life that bring you to your knees (literally) you just can't help but cherish everyone you love so much more. Michael has been such an angel to me and a huge comfort. I love him so much. I don't know how people who don't know or believe in Jesus deal with pain, suffering and loss. I have an unexplainable (in worldly terms) sense of peace among my sadness because I know I will see Katie again one day. The Lord is so good to give us that hope.

I will give you all a quick overview of our Christmas holiday:

The weekend of Dec. 15th, we went to Louisville, KY (where Michael's parents live) and had an early Christmas with them. We went to the annual "Cantrell Christmas" and had a great time with extended family. Here is a pic of all the women And the men. None of the pictures turned out very well for some reason:(

The next weekend we went to Dalton, GA, where I grew up. After the funeral and everything, we got together at my friend Brittany's house. Annie, Katie's sister, and Jacob and Merriwether even came. It was good for all of us to be together and honor Katie. We looked at lots of old pictures and reminissed. This is a picture of all of my best friends from home and everyone's beautiful children. (left to right from top: Jill, Brittany, Annie, Melissa, Bethany, Me, Audrey, and Ashley) Below, Annie and me, she's holding Merriwether and I'm holding Ashley's baby boy, Zade.















Then, we started the family festivities. This was the first year that my parents have not lived in Dalton (they moved to Nashville this past summer) so we actually stayed with my aunt and uncle's house. It was very weird because my parents don't live there anymore, so we were ALL guests! But nonetheless, it was probably one of the best Christmas's we've had. One of our very favorite activities of the weekend was a crazy game of "Apples to Apples". As you can see, Michael is pretty pumped about his great hand:) If you've never played this game, I suggest you go out and get it. On Christmas Eve we played for 4 hours straight, laughing our heads off the whole time. My sister Kingsley and I formed an alliance, hehe. Here's a picture of our "Zoolander" faces. We were very mischieveous.

Here are some of the players highlighted:

My crazy dad (wearing my grandmother's oh so fashionable reading glasses for effect) She and my dad were tag teaming it.

My crazy aunts (mom's sisters, Lanie and Andy)

Mom, being silly as usual

Bro (Seaver)

We had to drink lots of coffee to be able to stay away for the FOREVER long card game!

Then we had our HUDSON family Christmas, which is traditionally on Christmas Eve. So my immediate family opened presents from each other. Michael was excited about getting Catch Phrase, Music Edition:)
The next morning we had our traditional breakfast at Jody and Papa's house (my grandparents). Here is a picture of Michael and me during "stocking time". Every person in my mom's side of the family has a stocking with lots of great surprises inside from Santa:) My aunt Lanie had made Michael one as well with his name stiched on it and everything! It was a great, great Christmas, and a wonderful first married Christmas for my precious hubby and me :)

My Dear Friend

I sent out an email about Katie so I thought I would just paste the same one as a blog post. (the picture was taken about a year and a half ago.)

Many of you already know this, but I wanted to share with you that my (and Bethany's) good friend Katie passed away a week ago along with her unborn baby boy, Bascom. She was one of my very best friends from home, and was diagnosed with Leukemia December 20th, 2006...exactly one year ago from the day she passed away. Katie is in the arms of Jesus now, experiencing a kind of peace that we can only imagine...and we will see her again some day. Thank you to all of you who have been praying for her and her family, and who have called or sent me sweet messages. I love and appreciate you so much.

I cannot say that I completely understand why Katie had to die...someone so young, so in love with God. Or why so many were believing and praying for her healing and God chose to not heal her here on earth, but I'm starting to understand a little better how He took something so aweful, and turned it into something so sweet and life-changing. I wanted to share with you some things that I believe the Lord wants us to take from Katie's life. He put her on this earth for a specific purpose that she so obviously fullfilled, and I believe we must carry on that purpose with her amazing story of faith.

If you didn't know Katie personally, you really missed out. Many people who didn't know her have told me that she has touched them. And that's just Katie:) The funeral home and church were packed with hundereds of people; people that Katie showed sincere love and care for, some of whom I and our close friends may have never even noticed in high school. And that's all because of Katie's unselfish love of others. If I have learned anything from Katie's life, I have learned that truly loving people is our main job on this earth. Never has anyone touched so many lives than through genuinely loving others. The more I learn about God and the closer I get to Him, the more I realize that's what we're here for. And Katie's life was just a testament of that.

I actually overheard a few people talking about how they gave their life to the Lord because of Katie. WOW. And I can tell you this...I never heard Katie preaching to anyone. She just showed honest and sincere love to them. Jacob, Katie's sweet husband shared with us the kind of person Katie was in private, which is even more astounding. He said that Katie had hundreds of names written in her Bible that she would pray for every single day, and many who were not yet saved. He said that when someone did give their life to the Lord, she would then add their family member's names:) Her life was truly spent standing in the gap for others, praying for their salvation, and loving them. I'm convicted, encouraged and inspired all at once. May God bring me to that completely unselfish place as well.

Please keep Jacob, Katie's husband and Merriwether, her precious 1 and a half year old daughter in your prayers. And her sweet parents Kurt and Melody, and especially her sister Annie who was extremely close to Katie and needs comfort and wisdom to understand and to be at peace.

I want to end by sharing the last email Katie sent to us, just a few days before the Lord took her and her baby to Heaven. The day she found out she was having a boy. :) May the Lord speak to you all through the faith He bestowed on my precious friend, and especially in her last days on earth. I will strive for this faith and love for others as long as I live.

From Katie, on Thursday December 13th, 2007:

To my most precious ones....it's a BOY. And the rush of joy I felt to hear that he is just perfectly fine despite the fact that he is living in this sad little body of mine is beyond anything I could ever describe. The short curls over my ears were soaked with tears that had streamed down the side of my face. I have been praying since August that if my body was ever failing this baby that God would take him in His own arms and cradle him for a while. Perhaps he has spent some time in the hands of angels but right now he is with me because he is kicking (smile). Just pray that he keeps kicking and growing. The best ultrasound picture we got is one of the bottoms of his little feet. This baby isn't more special than any other...this is the kind of protection God offers to all little babies given over to Him. That is something true that I thought as I laid in the ultrasound chair thinking about all the other little unborn babies floating down the halls of the obstetrician's office. That is why I get up in the mornings and pray for healing...because there are so many living without Christ, so many, and it makes me shiver...and it makes me hungry to share the ways in which He has blessed me over 26 years. And the peace I have even after the world has afflicted me in the worst way is just a testament to the power and omnipotence of the God I serve. My favorite verses in the bible have always perplexed me because I knew that I could never obtain such surrender own my own. I have lived under such a great canopy of love and acceptance all my life. With this disease God has offered me a chance to move, if only for a moment, out of the shadows of this rich world and into His arms. "Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. As a result it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ." Philippians 1:12-13 I am in chains for Christ. I am powerless and weak and have no provisions to offer my husband, children and myself apart from the relationship I have with THE GREAT CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE, THE ALPHA AND OMEGA, THE LOVER OF MY SOUL. From where I sit...that's just not too sad (smile). My cup runneth' over. Pray for me like crazy. And by all means tell somebody about Jesus. Tell them what He's doing for me. Merriwether is clueless about the baby and clueless about the disease. She is just so happy, dancing and tearing up ornaments and loving on Maggie!! I love you all and rest easy believing that each of you sincerely knows that I mean that to the moon and back. Katie

What's your plan, God?

I think it's good sometimes to just be really honest about spiritual struggles so maybe it will resonate with someone out there who needs some encouragement and might be going through the same thing. Any feedback is certainly welcome. For some reason, about 7 months ago, God brought a story of a baby with Leukemia into my path as I was surfing the web one day. Many of you have heard about baby Ethan Powell and his battle, that is raging on...and they are at the most critical point in their journey now. And then of course my very great friend Katie, who I've talked about recently that is sick with the same disease. The odds are not looking great for Ethan...and according to the doctors, Katie's situation is hopeless. As a christian, I try, every day, to CHOOSE to believe otherwise. Some days my faith is so strong, and I believe with all my heart. Some days I have to literally make myself say the words. I feel the need to "protect God" and come up with some reason why if He doesn't heal them, when we aren't meant to understand it all. I cannot imagine what their families are feeling right now. For me, God has been really working on me to bring about a big change in me through praying and suffering for these precious angels in prayer. God says whatever we believe in our hearts will be done. He says if we say to the mountain "move" it will be thrown into the sea. There are numerous accounts of Jesus healing hurting, dying, suffering people because they BELIEVED. Honestly I would probably sum up the past few months as me being confused and frustrated with God. In my tiny little existence, all I can see is suffering people and their need to be healed, and sometimes I will just cry to God, sometimes angry, that what I call "healed" has not happened yet. Lately, God has been showing me that there is such a bigger picture that I could never even begin to grasp why God would choose to prolong someone's healing, or maybe not even heal their disease here on earth. I can barely even type those words because understanding that is so far from me. Some people are scared to even question God at all...that maybe even in their hearts they don't understand and are angry, but to acknowledge they don't have strong faith sometimes, is a complete and total sin. On the opposite end of the spectrum, there are the ones that always pray with such timidness...like a request for God to heal someone is too radical so adding "if it is your will" after every request makes it better. I've heard both of these sorts of responses as I have talked to different people about this struggle. Everyone is in a different place, and I'm not criticizing. I'm just trying to talk this out. Katie sent an email out to us last week and God used that email to speak to me. Katie has an understanding of God's love and our purpose here on earth that very few Christians have. She said that she was thankful that God allowed her to have this struggle so she could learn what it is to be desparate for him (I'm paraphrasing). She said to pray for her...but also to tell everyone about what Jesus has done in her life. Tell others about Jesus' amazing love. That IS why we are here...why we are free. Jesus offers a gift that no one could ever take away. And why in the world would we want to keep silent about that? More on spiritual thoughts another time, my brain is mush:)

Katie Update-Prayers needed

Just to give you an update on Katie's situation (refer to previous blog about Katie) she has chosen NOT to go through any chemotherapy because of the risk to the unborn child. She believes this is best, and is believing for a miracle from the Lord. Please help me to pray for my dear friend who needs healing URGENTLY. She has a husband and a one and a half year old little girl. I just can't imagine this world without her.

I think of this verse every time I think of Katie's unwaivering faith...

Matthew 9:20-22
20Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him (Jesus) and touched the edge of his cloak. 21She said to herself, "If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed."
22Jesus turned and saw her. "Take heart, daughter," he said, "your faith has healed you." And the woman was healed from that moment. (emphasis mine)

Thank you for praying and believing with us!