A Purposeful Peek

For the past three years since moving to Oklahoma, we get a letter in the mail at least quarterly that looks like this: The name of the donor listed on this letter is a name I do not personally know, and so the first time we received it, I asked my husband who in the world this person is... and what had he done that caused this person to donate in his name?! My husband smiles each time and says he was just doing his job. At Wake Forest, JJ was known throughout the entire hospital as the "bow tie guy" - the pharmacist who showed up each day dressed in a bow tie, suspenders, and a beard. He always brought corny jokes and a willingness to go above and beyond to serve his patients. As manager of the Specialty Pharmacy, JJ did a lot more than simply filling a prescription; he regularly met with patients to educate them on their disease and therapy, called them at home to follow up, visited them when they came to clinic appointments, and checked in on them when they were ...

THREE.  Three is the number of balance. When we were only two people, you came into our world and brought a most perfect balance we never knew we needed, when we became three. You made us parents and have taught us more than we could have ever fathomed about life, joy, and love. Three is the number of time.  Beginning. Middle. End. Past. Present. Future. Time with you seems to fly by and yet stand still all the same. You have flourished before our eyes into a fiercely independent, thoughtfully compassionate, joyfully persistent little girl. You were wide eyed and drinking in the sights and sounds of the world around you from the moment you were born, and you continue to seek adventure wherever you go. Curious and intuitive, you explore every boundary and exceed our wildest expectations. Time with you is a sweet past, an invigorating present, and a promising future.    Photo by HolliB Three is the number in the trinity. F...

Today was appropriately a gray, rainy day. It's as if the whole world was grieving. Two days ago, I drove to work under the most beautiful rainbow, a sign of promise that filled me with hope. Hope for a miracle beyond the medical circumstance that held him captive. His small body, racked by a blood disease that showed no mercy, had undergone a bone marrow transplant many weeks ago. But the cells infused into his body that were supposed to save his life now lay dormant, as a virus raged against all efforts to control it. I stood at his bedside with his mother, praying over the new medication we were to start that day. It had been a long road for this faithful family who already knew so much loss, and we were believing for a story of beauty from ashes. We declared that he would live to proclaim God's glory, and that his testimony would be one for the ages. I had only known this family for the time that they had been in the hospital, but it seemed like I had carried this boy...

The summer of 2017 is one I never want to forget. It was a summer of the sweetest moments between sisters, cousins, grandparents, aunts, uncles --- all a part of the family that I feel incredibly blessed to call mine! Having a photographer in the family made it all the more memorable, as my amazing brother in law was able to capture so many images of these people who made it a summer of LOVE. (Photos by Gib Park Photography, unless otherwise noted) Summer of COUSIN Love: Levi (6), Adeline (infant), Charlotte (2), Liberty (2), and Nathanael (4) had the best time connecting, especially since they have lived apart from each other for the past year overseas. Baby Adeline fit right into this cousin crew, and the way these 5 laughed, played, got into mischief, snuggled, and even argued like siblings was truly a highlight of this summer. Five different personalities, all with a ton of energy, kept us laughing (and running) all summer long.  Photo by Ta...