The Oregon Corrigans: May 2015

Sunday, May 17, 2015

Mothers Day

Happy Mothers day to me! I am blessed with these four little gifts. My heart is forever changed by the love I have for these people. Gifts.

Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!

- 1 John 3:1

Muffins with Mom

Another annual Muffins with Mom, with my cute girls... I sure love being a "Quatama Mama" to these two darlings. Especially since I had to miss this event last year, I really soaked it up.

In April we celebrated 15 years of being married! We are going to Hawaii together later this year, as our big celebration. On the actual day of our anniversary, Kyle was overseas on a business trip, but that didn't stop him from being intentional in celebrating our special day. He had these beautiful flowers delivered, and hid treats for me to find at the house (let's face it, that box of chocolate kept me going strong while I ran solo with these four hooligan children!). We both found cards hidden for each other in our belongings, even though we were apart. Our road in marriage has not always been easy, but it has been rich and life changing. We have kept our vows - to have and to hold, for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and the cherish til death do us part. I truly love this man, and feel so blessed to share my life with him. Happy anniversary to us!

Celebrating Jack

Max's friend from preschool days, has been fighting leukemia since he was diagnosed at age 2. Jack is such a special friend to Max, and even this year when we don't see their family at school anymore, Max is very insistent about praying for Jack every day, to be healed from cancer. One of my favorite prayers that has stuck in my memory: "Holy Spirit, Doctor of Heaven! Please heal Jack! I know you can do this!" - and what do you know... This little fighter has conquered his 3.5 years of fighting cancer, and so their family had a big celebration. "No Mo Chemo" was the superhero theme, and it was amazing to see all their loved ones come out to celebrate this momentous day! They did a big balloon release, and Jack's grandpa shared a special prayer of blessing and thanks for him. A special day indeed!

Side note: this whole experience has really tuned me into the prayers of children. It astonishes and touches me how God speaks to children, and draws their hearts into prayer. After Jack's final cancer treatment, and he was declared CANCER FREE, Max occasionally continued to pray for Jack. At one point, he said "Mom, I know Jack is healed from cancer, but I feel like I should just still pray for him. Something else might happen to him". Two days later, I saw on Facebook that Jack was taken to the emergency room for an infection and high fever. Of course, mothers just have to share this with each other, so I promptly sent Jack's mom a message, just letting her know that God has her boy's back. He is tugging the heartstrings of other 5 year old boys, to pray for her son's protection. So amazing!! I love how God works, and I love to see how my children are learning to hear the voice of God.

Overnight with Nana & Poppy

The big kids were invited to Nana & Poppy's house for an overnight. They had beautiful weather, so they all went exploring in Vancouver (bird refuge, river, beach, forest)... Sweet memories for the kids with their special grandparents!

The tiny dots along the water are my people :)

Honoring Kennadi

I had the unique opportunity to facilitate a very special thing. Myself, along with 9 other women had the experience of blessing and honoring an amazing young lady. Kennadi is a special friend of mine, just turned 12 years old with big dreams, an even bigger heart, and I felt God asking me to gather women around her as she "comes of age" to affirm her, speak worth into her life, and give her a chance to hear from each of us why she is special and unique. We did something similar for my niece Megan, which is what planted this idea in my heart for Kennadi. I felt like our time together was a gift to all of us. We all walked away thinking (1) all girls need something like this at this age (2) how much we could have used this as a young girl ourselves. Her mom, Jen, offered the most beautiful words to her daughter during our time together. We all wrote Kennadi letters for a book, and Jen read hers aloud to her, then we all prayed for this girl together. We all cried, including the guest of honor. It was such a beautiful and anointed time of blessing. I know God has amazing and specific things planned for Kennadi's life, and I can't wait to watch it unfold.

Numbers 6:24-26

“May the LORD bless you and keep you;

May the LORD make His face shine upon you,

And be gracious to you;

May the LORD lift up His countenance upon you,

And give you peace.”

Marin & Maddie's Fun Run

The girls both ran their jog-a-thons for Quatama Elementary. They were just totally, completely ready to GO... They laid out their running tights the night before, and were picky about an extra healthy breakfast. It's pretty awesome seeing your kids start to take ownership of their lives, and really care about how things go down. I was able to go and cheer both girls during their races! Both girls did between 2-3 miles. I am so shocked sometimes by what they can do! So proud of them... Marin, in particular, was not going to let a single lap go by without making DOUBLE sure her number was recorded by the judges... You can see in this in her pictures. I did a few laps with her too, at her request. Great job my strong girls!

Max's fun run

Max had his first jog-a-thon in his school career. In preschool they do bikes & trikes, and so this was his first time running his little legs off. He was pretty great at calling people to sponsor him, but the day before the run, he got some cold feet. I made a deal with him... If he agreed to run strong, I would run with him (Marcus in the jogging stroller) - so we did! The most awesome part about it, is that having me out there really lit his competitive fire. I gave him a half lap head start, and didn't catch him for 5 laps! He ran a solid two miles straight with one water stop. So crazy! I love it...