A Good Plan

It hit me out of the blue this past Monday night. The moments of missing her often come like that - quick, powerful, and there so fast it's almost hard to remember where it came from. And in the midst of it I found myself asking the Lord this: "how is this situation pleasing to you?" This thought kept rolling around in my head, something about the "pleasing" part would not let go. Yes, I know that God is getting glory from Poppy's story - we are blessedly aware and so thankful for that. But what about the part that something this difficult would look "good" to Him? Tuesday was much of the same, the same thought swirling, not satisfied by the truth I was speaking to it. Then as I was tucking in for the night, I grabbed my bible (this particular version is the 365 day NLT) and started reading ahead the chapters for today, July 29. I am currently in Isaiah, in the chapters where Isaiah is revealing what will be Jesus' fate - what will be done on the cross through him. The words are so powerful, they are even written as if the cross had already happened, but Isaiah was centuries (?) before that event would take place. And this is what I read:

"But it was the LORD’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the LORD’s good plan will prosper in his hands. When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins." Isaiah 53:10-11

It was the Lord's good plan for His son to die. I can't imagine at the time - if I had been physically at the foot of the cross - that the Lord's plan would have looked good. But it was, and through His son we were redeemed and made heirs to the throne. She was redeemed, and His plan for us - and her - is good.

A shower for the C's

On Saturday Shelby and I went to a party celebrating the engagement of our friends Nick and Courtney. Courtney used to work for me and Nick and I currently work together. Their friends The Nix's hosted and did a fabulous job ~ their house was super cute and the food and drinks were amazing! They even bought misters to go around the edges of the tent they had set up in the backyard to ease the heat. We had a great time celebrating the (almost) Cleveland's and can't wait for their wedding in February!
Us with the happy couple!
The food was so good I took a picture of it! Delicious peach cobbler and homeade ice cream! And just for the record, we shared that plate. :)

Where a kid can be a kid....

Anybody remember that slogan? Yes?! I know - gross pizza, gross things in the ball pit, a creepy singing mechanical mouse but as a kid who honestly did not like Chuck E Cheese?!? We tagged along with some friends and their kiddos this past Friday night and enjoyed LOTS of skee ball, basketball and football games and thankfully - no pizza! :) By the end of the night, we even had enogh tickets for Maddox to get a nerf football and try some pop rocks for the frist time!:)
All the girls skee-balling
Shelby beat the high score at the football game - impressive!
Maddox trying pop rocks for the first time. He loved them!
And finally....evidence that I BEAT Shelby in the basketball game! This is truly a big feat - I never win and I beat him BOTH times we played! Love you Shel!


Thanks to The Billmans for inviting us ~ we had a great time!

One month today...

I truly cannot believe a month has passed since Poppy was delivered into the arms of her King. It is a strange feeling for many reasons, but mostly because I think many days we feel like we have lived an eternity in that one month. If you are reading this post (or really this blog in general), you are SO special to Shelby and I; words are unable to express what you all have been to us. You have prayed for us, grieved for us and with us, cried so we didn't have to, brought meals to us, sent us cards and emails and flowers, and loved us in such a way that we have become overwhelmed by what the Body of Christ truly looks like. We have experienced it in a way that I hope you never have to, but what a blessing to feel what we have felt. YOU have been a blessing to us, YOU have helped us make it a month, YOU have helped us to see the face of Jesus more, and YOU have helped us remember Poppy. And we are ever so grateful.


*At the hospital on June 16 , about to go home. This is the book they gave us with her footprints. Definitely a prized posession of ours.

What's in a name?

From the moment I found out I was pregnant, we thought it was a girl. Call it a hunch or a hope, whatever you like, we just knew the baby was a "she". It is at this point that I should stop and say that the odds were against us, and that the Timmerman family rarely sees an "XX" as the boys definitely outnumber the girls. But girl names came easily and although we never had a long list, we had a few that always seemed to stick around. Whatever the name ended up being, I just remember praying that it would be intentional, significant, meaningful. And as we tossed names back and forth (not very often), I resolved to waiting to see what we were having before we took it any further. Then came June 1, the day we had been waiting for. But instead of finding out the joyous news, we found out what I pray no one reading this will ever have to. News that made a gender, a name, a nursery color or theme, or whether we would stop at the outlet malls on the way home from vacation or not, seem like the most insignificant things on earth. And they were (but that is a story for another post, and trust me, I'll get there).

It seems like most couples these days give their babies-in-utero "names" so that the poor thing will not have to be "IT" until week 20 when the gender can be determined. We've heard of Peanut, Bean, etc, etc. When I found out I was pregnant, the baby was the size of a poppyseed and Shelby and I from that point on called our sweet one "Poppy". And when we found out the fatal news of our Poppy, we knew that no name that we had suggested would ever be right for her. Poppy was the only way we had known her, and that is what she was to us. So regardless of what it meant literally, that name carried a weight and a meaning to us that was indescribeable. But little did we know that God was writing His own story (as He does afterall), with what her name would mean.

Shelby asked his mom to find poppy flowers and bring them to the hospital for me, but poppies are NO WHERE to be found in TX this time of year. So she settled on bringing poppy seeds in a little pot with dirt. And then Shelby and I just about passed out when we turned over the small packet of seeds. When do poppies bloom in our area of TX? Why October of course - our original due date was Oct. 31. And as the days passed, my sister and a friend went on to say what else the poppy flower symbolized and we were amazed yet again. The poppy flower is also the national flower of remembrance and symbolizes resurrected life.

Coincidence? Most certainly not. Just part of her story, our story, and yet another reminder of who the Great Author is. Our nickname did not surprise Him, for He knew from the beginning exactly who she would be.

Poppy Elizabeth. We love you, and are so happy to be a part of your beautiul story.

"You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed." Psalm 139:16

Hello World!

I can't even remember how long I have been saying I will start a blog. Well, life has thrown us some unexpected curve balls recently and I thought - if I never had anything worthwhile to say before this, now I do! Thanks for reading (or stalking, however YOU wish to define it) and leave a comment to let us know you stopped by. And I'll try to post something mildly entertating every once in a while.

~Beth