Gifts from God - My family

I'm having one of those moments...have you ever just taken the time and looked around you and in your life and noticed how truly blessed you really are? Well, I happen to do that quite often, especially when I'm needing a reality check. But today, I felt a little different as I reflected and took a quick look into my "world". Not a bad "different" but quite the opposite...a wonderful "different".
I admit it, I'm an emotional person by nature. And to be honest, it almost brings me to tears as I type this. But again, it's a good/wonderful thing.
I've seen on other BLOGS that I read frequently, how people recognize their families or other things in their lives at the moment. Well, I've done it too. But not quite like I'm doing today.
Today, and hopefully, from this day forward, I will look at the "things" and people in my life more as blessings and GIFTS FROM GOD!!! Because, think about it, that's exactly what they are. I've always known that, but I just never acknowledged it publicly.

Where your treasure is, There will your heart be also.

Matthew 6:21

Thank you God, for the gift of: My husband, Marque

Oh my goodness, I'm not even sure where to begin with this one. But I will say, that I LOVE this man! Marque is truly a gift to me simply because of the man he is. When we met in April of 1986, I was a young mother of a 16 month old daughter. Marque showed me, even back then, that if he and I were going to be an "item"...that he and my daughter also had to be an "item". And he quickly won her heart. It goes without saying that we experienced our share of hardships. But we stuck it out with and for eachother (and my daughter). We were married in Dec. of 1988 and we haven't looked back since. Sure, there were times that we thought we wouldn't make it. But when those feelings did enter our minds, we had to realize that we were together because God PUT us together. And for that alone, we had to TRY and make it work. And through trusting in Him, we're now almost 18 years deep into our marriage. Our friends say we still act like newlyweds :). I think that's awesome! Lastly, Marque stayed true to his word and made is possible for me to become a stay at home mom. That was his prayer...even before we were married. What a truly remarkable, smart, handsome, intelligent and wonderful man I have. For this gift, I am truly thankful!!

Thank you God, for the gift of: My daughter, Briyanna

I was young when I had my Briyanna, 18 in fact. But that doesn't make her any less of a gift from God to me. Briyanna and I lived with my mom until she was 3. Then we moved out into our own place. Talk about a challenge! I'm sure it's hard enough to live on your own, but even more so with a toddler. But fortunately, I was working, Briyanna was in a good daycare center and Marque helped us out when he could. My baby turned 4 years old 10 days before Marque and I married. What a sweet, sweet little girl she was. It never took much to make her laugh and she was loved by everyone. As Briyanna got older, she and I experienced...shall we say, some growing pains :-). We went through some really tough pre-teen and teenage years. Now, a 21 year old young lady, I'm still very proud of my first born. She's on her own now and trying to be an adult. Now she sees it's not as fun as she thought it would be...there are several responsibilities that adults have to deal with. But she's learning and trying to make her own way. For this gift, I am truly thankful!!

Thank you God, for the gift of: My nephew, Markell

In March of 1995, we received a phone call that changed our lives...for the better. For a few years, Marque and I had been trying to have a child of our own. But instead of coming to us through a traditional pregnancy, we received the gift of a baby through the pregancy of my sister. My sister, Kimmy had a baby boy on March 29, 1995 in Mobile, Alabama. At the time, my sister wasn't able to care for a baby. So Marque and I discussed it and we became the legal guardians of our nephew, Markell. Briyanna and I traveled to Mobile and a few days later, came back with a new, 7 day old baby boy. Talk about a gift from God. We had prayed for a baby, but never knew that we'd come by one this way. We have raised Markell and love him as our very own son. Three days ago, Markell turned 11 years old. Where does the time go? He's in his 7th season of soccer now and if you don't mind my saying so, he ROCKS!!! He's in his last year of elementary school now and will be going to middle school in the fall. I truly love this handsome boy and I'm so proud that he's in my life. For this gift, I am thankful!!

Thank you God, for the gift of: My daughter, Jayla

Again, I'm in a situation where I'm not sure where to begin. As mentioned earlier, Marque and I prayed and tried to have a baby of our own. That went on for 11 LONG years. Then, in March of 2001, we found out that we were FINALLY pregnant. Oh my goodness...what a SHOCKER that was! Not to mention, a time that we'll never forget. My pregnancy was AWESOMELY uneventful. No morning sickness and only 4 (yes, FOUR!) pounds of weight gained. Can't beat that!!! On November 20, 2001 we were blessed with the birth of OUR daughter, Jayla Faith. Oh, what a moment! I can't help but call her our "love child". Because that's where she came from...God's love for us and our love for eachother. As of the day of this posting, our Jayla is a beautiful, vivascious 4 year old little girl. In addition to being able to talk circles around any professional lecturer, she loves to play dress up (like the Princess that she is) and plays soccer. Knowing her, now makes us see WHY it took God 11 years to make this little lady. There's no way she'd be this way had it taken less time :-). For this gift, I am thankful!!

Thank you God, for the gift of: My doggie, Trae

Who doesn't love a good poochie? I simply love dogs. We had another dog, Jett for a little over 10 years. She passed away a little over 2 years ago. And every since then, our home hasn't been the same. We didn't want to get another pet too soon, as I didn't want it to appear that we were "replacing Jett. But just like how we "found" Jett, God sent our current dog, Trae right to us. A lady was walking around the soccer field last October and had 3 puppies with her. We had been wanting to get another pet, but we weren't financially prepared to pay for one yet. But again, God sent one to us...FREE of charge. Jennifer, the original owner was giving away puppies that were almost 6 weeks old. She is also the owner of the parents. But she just couldn't keep the litter of 9. So she said we could HAVE one if we wanted it. She even had food for him in her car. Long story short, we took our new family member home and he quickly became adjusted to us and his new surroundings. Trae is such a big sweetheart. And we couldn't imagine our lives with out him. For this gift, I am thankful!!

God has given us no greater blessing than that of belonging to a loving and loyal family - and it will be so, always & forever.

Richard L. Evans