Here's where I tell you all of my childhood stories.  Only, you don't really care about them.  I know and I'm not offended.  I will simply say that I grew up in a loving, Christian home with the most wonderful parents anyone has ever been blessed with.  For real.  Take a look at this happiness.

Easter Sunday always saw us dressed up, and is still the most important day of the year as we celebrate the resurrection of Christ.  My mom is still one of the most lovely women I know both inside and out.  And yep, I have a younger brother, too.  Sanctification, baby.

My dad was in the U.S.Army when my parents married and he was in Viet Nam when I was born.  I'm so very thankful for his service to our country and more importantly, for his example as a Godly man and father.

FYI.  I'm not sure that the curlers ever worked for my straight red hair, but I have photographic evidence of my mom's persistent nature.

No comment needed for this one.  Really.  And I still remember this dress.  Sigh.  Love.

OK, this one could take me forever if I let it.  So I won't.  Here's the short scoop.

I loved my High School years (1983-1987).  I know this may be odd, but they truly were a time of friendships and innocence for me.  Thanks in great part to the above-mentioned parents.  Also, if you were to look very closely, you could see that I was sporting a very stylish perm.  I supposed my mother's tendency to force hair curling upon me is a hereditary trait.

Then there was college at Georgia Southern (1987-1991).  Interesting note: I started at GSC and graduated from GSU.  History.  Anyway, this was taken the day I graduated and as you can see, I did not really grow up much in college.  Alas, I did receive another diploma.

Medical School was next on the list (1991-1995).  Mercer University School of Medicine was fun *cough*.  I did, indeed, graduate but for some reason, cannot find a single photo of the blessed event.  So I chose this super cute photo of me in all of my bohemian style.

Last on my education tour was my Pediatric Residency at the University of Florida (1995-1998).  Brad and I were living in wedded bliss in Gainesville, Florida but barely saw each other due to my crazy schedule.  Hmmm...  #GoGators

Now, I totally realize that if you don't know me you are scratching your head right now.  Wait, she's a doctor?  I thought she was a blogger?  Creative type person?  Artist?  Teacher?  The answer to all of these questions is yes.

I am a doctor.  A pediatrician to be exact.  I practiced for 15 years full time at Rivertown Pediatrics in Columbus, Georgia and cut back to part time hours in 2014.  I still practice at that great practice and adore my young patients. You will not, however, find any medical tips on this site.  Maybe a future project?

My husband Brad and I met in church.  Brad was fresh out of West Point stationed at Ft. Benning.  I was away at Medical School and home over Christmas doing a rotation and visiting my family.  He showed up at church and my mom invited him to lunch.  No, she was not being a matchmaker.  This was what they often did when they saw soldiers alone at church.  Side note: best.people.ever.  Anyway, there we were.  Lunch with the folks for our first shared meal.

We went out for the very first time on a real date a week or so later.  To Shoney's.  After church on Sunday night.  Romantic, right?

Despite our less-than-storybook beginning, we fell in love and were married within a year of meeting.

We are now 22 years, six homes, four kids and countless arguments, apologies and beautiful moments into this gig.  And our love is real.  Let me be clear for any young woman reading this.  Marriage is hard.  Love is hard.  But it is designed to be a reflection of the relationship between Christ and his church.  It is meant to point the world to the Glory of God.  It is meant to be more than a feeling (yes, I'm singing that now, too).  And it is worth it.

Brad is the pastor of CrossPointe Church and is a truly Godly man. Is he perfect?  I wish.  Am I?  Not by a long shot.  Are we called to be together?  Yes.  And we will continue to work out our relationship as a display of the Gospel.

I am thankful to share my life with this wonderful man.

Our family story is not really straightforward.  If you want the punchline first, here it is.  We are currently proud parents to four extremely talented, intelligent, and gorgeous children. And there is no impartiality whatsoever in that statement.

As of August 2016: Joseph is 18, Jacob is 15, Arabella is 11 and Abraham is 8.  They are really pretty great kids.

When I write about them, I will not call them by cute fake names.  Not because I am opposed to anyone who may choose to do that for privacy reasons, but because I can barely keep up with their real names as it is.

That was the cliff note version.  The extended version is a bit more complicated, kept us on our knees, and re-enforced our appreciation for the sovereignty of God.  Each of these stories may at some point make it into the blog, but I'll leave you with the knowledge that we have faced many things that I do not share often.

We were touched only slightly by infertility, Joseph being conceived about 18 months after we decided we wanted a child and actively worked to that end (no inappropriate comments please).

We faced a major medical issue with Jacob, requiring him to be delivered 5 weeks early and having 2 surgeries before he was 6 months of age.

I went into labor 13 weeks early with Arabella and was on bedrest for 10 weeks. This was before there was anything good on the internet.  Just saying.

Most significantly, we experienced four miscarriages.  Losing these babies was painful beyond what I can explain.  I still dream of them and still shed tears even after all of these years.  I'm not sure that I will ever truly understand why we had to go through that, but we rest in the sovereignty of a loving and mighty God in all things.  Even in this.  If you ever need someone to pray for you, please feel free to reach out to me.  I actually do understand this pain.

Then there was our Abraham.  He was a bit of a surprise and I'll be honest in saying that when I figured out my "stomach flu" lasted way too long,  I was initially upset about the pregnancy.  Not because we didn't want another baby, but because I didn't think I could handle facing another loss.  And I was 38 years old.  But isn't God good? Sweet Abe was my easiest pregnancy and is a blessing beyond measure to our family.

That brings us to the present when we are navigating the parenting of young children, tweens, and teens.  Yes, we are past the baby and toddler stage, but we totally remember!  (at least I do)  This is not a parenting blog, but I want you to know that we've seen some things and are still right in the trenches with every parent reading this.

My husband is the lead Pastor at CrossPointe Church in Columbus, Georgia so I'm going to totally cheat and refer you to the Doctrine Sections of that website for a full explanation and scripture references.  I think it's very important that you know where I stand on these issues and are comfortable in what you are reading or referring others to.

I will, occasionally, have guest writers on this blog but you can be assured that I will be confident in their theology and knowledge of the Word and will be personally responsible for assuring that what is posted here is consistent with our beliefs.

1. I do not like to cook despite the fact that my family likes to eat.
2. I sort of love caramel & Flamin' Hot Cheetos.
3. I do not love nuts and exclude them from all recipes.  The exception to this rule is candied pecans. Love those for real.
4. I played the lead in my school musical in High School. (not to be confused with Disney's High School Musical)
5. My son, Jacob has played lead roles in his school play for the 5 years, playing Aladdin, Horton, Peter Pan, Gaston, and Jack Kelly.  My daughter is stepping into lead roles of her own now (Ermengarde in Hello Dolly this year). And their little brother was Little Simba in Lion King Kids and Mowgli in Jungle Book Kids! I couldn't be more proud.
6. My oldest son taught Middle School in China the year after he graduated from High School... talk about leaving the nest in a big way.  He was great and we were proud.
7. I was on bedrest for 10 weeks with Arabella.  With two preschoolers running around me. And a new kitten happy as she could be.
8. I've always been a Redhead but noticed my first gray hairs in college.
9. I love to sing. I'm an alto. Just an alto.  Seriously. Maybe a tenor.
10. I tried to give up coffee once in Medical School.  I failed.
11. I succeeded in giving up coffee during each of my pregnancies.  #successfeelsgood
12. I wasn't convinced that the internet (the "world wide web") would really catch on when I first discovered it.
13. My healthy weight is less than my actual weight (see #2).  Accountability welcome as I try to fix this.
14. I was Camper of the Week at church camp when I was eleven years old. Where is that trophy?
15. I've been scuba diving in black river water where you cannot see more than one foot in front of your face, even with a light.
16. I was almost disowned by my family because I'm Team IronMan.  It all boiled down to the age of the actors honestly. #donothate
17. I launched Grace in Color on my 47th birthday.  October 4th, 2016.