While We're Waiting Weekend Website

Announcing a new website dedicated just to the While We're Waiting Weekend retreats for bereaved parents!  Take a look at http://www.whilewerewaitingweekend.org/ and please pass the web address along to anyone you know who might be interested in attending a weekend like this.  Check back from time to time, too...because we are in the process of working out some "mini" While We're Waiting Weekend retreats! These will be one day "pampering" retreats just for women, and there may even be a one-day retreat for men in the works.  Please pray for these events as we are in the process of developing them, and watch this blog or the While We're Waiting Weekend website for details once they are finalized.

Something else we are looking forward to....I got a phone call the other day from Dick Antoine, who hosts a morning radio show on KZNG 1340 AM in Hot Springs.  He asked if he could interview Brad and me about Hannah's experience with cancer.  So, next Tuesday, April 19th, we will be sharing our story on the radio from 7:00 to 8:00 a.m.  We are looking forward to the opportunity to share about Hannah, as well as the Anchor of Hope Cancer Ministry and the While We're Waiting Weekends.  Please pray that God will give us the words He wants us to say, and that He will be glorified in all that transpires.

I've also been asked to share "Why I Relay" at the next Garland County Relay for Life team captain's meeting next Tuesday evening.  Again, I ask for your prayers as I seek God's leadership in what He would have me to say.

I haven't updated my "1,000 Items that Bring Me Joy" list in awhile, but that doesn't mean I haven't been working on it.  I'll close this post with my latest additions....

#72  Seeing mallard ducks out of my Sunday School class window
#73  Spent Bradford pear blossoms looking like snow blowing in the spring breeze
#74  Sweet tea (and I mean sweeeet!)
#75  Fuzzy black and yellow bumblebees
#76  Purple and gold pansies
#77  The flowering crabapple tree in my front yard
#78  The sun glistening on water
#79  Chocolate covered strawberries
#80  Flowering dogwood trees, especially the pink ones
#81  Monarch butterflies
#82  The little yellow finches on the feeder outside Hannah's window
#83  When Bethany sits in my lap (all 5'11" of her)
#84  How the trees are all different shades of green this time of year
#85  Seeing how much the trees we planted in our yard 5 years ago have grown
#86  Seeing grieving parents find new joy
#87  Seeing God do something through WWWW that we could never have done ourselves
#88  Watching the people who came to WWWW become Facebook friends and comment on each other's statuses, encourage each other, etc.
#89  Puppies
#90  Kittens
#91  The anticipation of summer break
#92  Seeing Bethany's joy over her new car
#93  Sticky notes
#94  Freshly sharpened pencils (Yes, I know, I'm a total nerd)
#95  White geese on a pond
#96  Little girls with big hair bows
#97  The smell of a baby after a bath
#98  The color "robin's egg blue"
#99  A good massage
#100  Texting with Bethany
#101  Playing Mexican train dominoes (aka "chicken foot")
#102  Watching American Idol
#103  Watching from my classroom window as a dear family friend and retired Hall of Fame track coach mentors my daughter
#104  Anything by Mary Engelbreit
#105  New sunglasses (have to look cool to ride in Bethany's car)
#106  Afternoon naps
#107  Raw cookie dough
#108  Raw carrots (to cancel out the cookie dough)
#109  Getting a 30% off coupon for Kohl's in the mail
#110  A hot shower with good water pressure
#111  Anyting related to the Wizard of Oz
#112  Sunflowers
#113  Chocolate covered raisins
#114  Facebook (actually this is a love/hate relationship)
#115  Bananas on my cereal
#116  Cinnamon rolls
#117  Black & white pictures
#118  Making sand castles
#119  Floating on an air mattress, soaking up the sun
#120  Wearing a t-shirt and shorts
#121  My While We're Waiting Weekend t-shirt
#122  My "Fight Like a Glory Girl" t-shirt  ("Like" Fight Like a Glory Girl on Facebook to read Glory's story)
#123  Homemade strawberry jelly on a hot English muffin
#124  Nutella
#125  Having my mom's china in my china cabinet (which also used to be my mom's)
#126  The rock jewelry my rock-hound Grandpa Kapteyn made for me
#127  The lamp in our guest bedroom that used to belong to my Grandma Persenaire (it still works!)
#128  My pillow
#129  Spudnuts from the Spudnut Shoppe in El Dorado
#130  Hot doughnuts from Krispy Kreme
#131  Actually, doughnuts from anywhere
#132  Rolling chairs
#133  Chipmunks
#134  Rocks that are big enough to sit on
#135  Hannah's purity ring...now always on my right hand ring finger
#136  '80's music
#137  Homemade strawberry pie
#138  Andes mints (especially if they're cold)
#139  Reading a book while I eat lunch
#140  American flags on a windy day
#141  The little "HS" sticker on the back window of my car
#142  Pretty file folders
#143  Having all the laundry done (this is a very short-lived experience)
#144  K-LOVE and AirOne radio