We will call this day 'The Lord Answers Prayer' - Gen. 22:11-14

We are sooooo excited to post this new news! Sullivan's eye exam went great and we went home with NO EYE PATCHES!!!!! 45 minutes into the exam while Sully was under anesthesia Dr Joos came back to the parents waiting room and announced that the pressure on the right was a 9 and the pressure on the left was a ... ... ... bum bum bum bum... ... ... 14!
She told us that we would not be putting the valve in and that we would cut the eye drop medicine in half! Is our God awesome or what?!?!?
So many of you reading this prayed so hard for this and we are so blessed today by answered prayer. I wept the whole way home from the hospital.

It dawned on me as I was reading the passage I noted above (the story of Abraham & Isaac) that I have the authority as a believer in God and as a parent to mark a specific day or time in our families lives for the remembrance of God's provision/answered prayer.
Abraham named a specific place 'The Lord Will Provide' for God's provision of a ram in place of the sacrifice of his son. The scripture says "Abraham named that place 'The Lord Will Provide', so today it is said "It will be provided on the Lord's Mountain."

I have felt as though God was calling me to release Sullivan and his eyes and trust Him to provide for my son in ways I was not able to. Seemingly unbearable and impossible, I can't begin to describe the strength I have gained and the amazing lessons I have learned. When I replaced the worry with prayer and relied on the faith I have been cultivating in my short 28 years My God grabbed my hand so tightly and never left my side. Some of my most intimate moments in this sweet relationship I have with my Savior have been shared over my son Sullivan.

Today I call this day 'The Lord Answers Prayer' so that generations of the Pardee family will know 'The Lord has never left us.'

My Future's So Bright

Mother's Day & A Baby Dedication

I could very possibly be the luckiest momma in the whole world. This is what I woke up to on Mother's Day. My whole day was bright after that.

At our church we don't baptise the babies because we believe that children need to make that decision on their own when they are old enough to. Instead we dedicate them, which is more for the parents than the kiddos. Basically we dedicated ourselves to parenting in a way that would honor the Lord and bring Sullivan up to praise the amazing God that has blessed him and protected him so faithfully already.

Next to me is our children's ministry director Teresa and our Pastor, Raymond Vogtner (Sullivan's Tennessee Grandad) We are so blessed to have them in our lives as both our friends and spiritual leaders.

Madison Creek Farms - Mother's Day Early

We decided to spend this beautiful Saturday on this adorable organic veggie farm we stumbled upon. They were celebrating their season opening with a bluegrass band and fresh strawberry shortcake. Mmmmm! Sullivan loved the bunnies.

They also have a great garden of cutting flowers and you can pick your own bouquet.

Lazy Days & Sunday Best

Just a few recent pics of the babe.

Can Zaden Come Out To Play?

My girlfriend Lindsley came home for a visit and Sullivan and Zaden finally got to play!

Look how cute these boys are!

"Hey, what flavor do you have?"

What a party pooper. A cute one though!

My Gloriously Cloudy View

After 4 nearly sleepless nights, mom gone, and Tyson back to work after a long weekend, by myself for the first time in a month, I lug my giant baby boy - car seat and all out the front door, "click-click" safely latched into the car seat base and with a turn of the engine we are on our way to downtown Nashville and included in our itinerary is our favorite stop - Vanderbilt Eye Institute. Another pressure check.

Exhausted and sleep deprived I started to cry. I turned the radio off and just listened to the quiet. Funny what you hear when it is quiet. Sullivan was snoring and the whir of the tires on the interstate caught my attention. It dawned on me how much at that moment I identified with the over worn tires carrying me to our destination. We have had these tires since we moved here 5 years ago and they have carried us, faithfully, so many places. It dawned on me, this is what moms do. They carry us, faithfully, along our journey even when they are worn and tired.

As the tears stung my cheeks I prayed; "Lord, today I need good news. I need a bit of sunshine to get me through."

I sat in the exam chair with Sullivan almost forgetting the desperate request I made 15 minutes ago and waited for Dr. Joos. She came in and took a look at his baby blues and was surprised. She stated that she hadn't expected them to be so clear after our last visit. (His pressure had been up then.)

She was eager to get a pressure reading so we dropped the numbing drops in which always get him good and pissed off and I nursed my starving child while she probed away. Surprisingly, Sullivan sat still for both sides and her readings were clear for both eyes. She always gets the readings on both sides and then shares the much awaited info. Finally she says, "14 on the right and 18 on the left!." My jaw dropped. Two weeks ago it had been a 24 on the left. I was elated.

As if all of the good news had already been received I start to ask questions regarding the upcoming surgery. Dr. Joos informed me that she thought that we might be able to control the glaucoma with the eyedrops on the left side and that she would know better after the exam but she didn't think we would do the surgery. We might wait on the shunt and see.

What?!?!?

I couldn't believe what she said so I asked her to explain and sure enough that is what I heard. Possibly no surgery. We talked for a while and and she answered my endless questions. We confirmed the exam date and time and I was on my way. As I heaved the car seat back into the car with a smile on my face and a cheery kids song on my tongue for the benefit of my son I realized.

I had gotten what I asked for. The tears stung my cheeks again and only because of my foolish pride did I not hit my knees right there in the Vanderbilt parking lot. I quietly sat in my seat and thanked God. I had gotten a gift today. Even when I didn't expect an answer and quite possibly my request had been made in vain in the first place, my God answered me.

Today as I drove home in the rain, traffic and all, I was very aware that the tires were not the only thing I connected with. Each raindrop that clouded my view on the windshield served as a reminder of how raw this world would appear if His many blessings didn't cloud my view.