Yep, gone are the days of late night feedings, kissing boo boos, and "hold chu mama." Elise is 16. Now my days are filled with running to and fro, being an ATM, and being a listener. Elise has grown into a lady that is after God's own heart. She is slow to anger ( a little faster when it is me), forgiving, and a loyal friend. She has greater qualities than I do. Some of the things she has gone through in the last year...I would have thrown in the towel and said its not worth it but not her!
Elise or Lisey(as most of her friends call her) is 16! To me that is very hard to believe. But one thing I have enjoyed watching is the way she loves. She loves with her whole being. If you are loved by Lou count yourself lucky. She will be with you forever even if you cross her. She has grown into a young lady that I am very proud of. She is a wonderful example of how to be a loyal friend.
Lisel, Lisey, Elisey Lou Lou, or just Elise...I am proud of you and love you very much.
Did you know that Daddy D was the one that started calling you Elisey Lou Lou? Of course, I fussed and said it is just Elise however, Lou as stuck.
Ok, I know that most parents will probably say the same things about their children but I am going to say it anyway.
Let me start at the very beginning....Joel and I had been married for five years and one day while traveling from my parents home in Louisville to my Kentucky home in Lawrenceburg it was as if God spoke to me. He told me it was time to have a child. The wierd thing is it was as if He said have a child now because your family will not be around to enjoy him/her. I was thinking about my dad, at this time he had had several heart attacks and open heart surgery. I was beginning to think that something would happen to him. Thank the Lord he is still alive and well.
I can remember going home and waiting for Joel to get home...you have to know when ever Joel brought up having kids I would freak out. I didn't want children, atleast not then. Joel finally came in the back door where I quickly and loudly said to him that I wanted to have a baby. I never have been good at delivering news. Within two weeks I was pregnant.
When Elise was 13 months old, we moved to South Carolina. So part of the message God gave me that day was true. My family was not around to watch Elise grow up.
After we moved here and got involved in a church, of course, Elise went with us, had her church friends, loved her Sunday School teacher, all the stuff with going to church. I was staying at home with Elise then and basically our only outings were to church. So she literally grew up in and around church the second year of her life. As a two and three your old she would "pack" her bags, throw it over her shoulder, and tell me she was going to meet Jesus.
Needless to say, when elise asked Jesus to be her personal Savior at the age of 5 I was not surprised. She actually wanted to wait to be baptized by my father-in-law, so she waited. Thinking one day we would go home to Kentucky and she would be baptized in our home church's baptizmal.
The day that Elise walked down the aisle in church it was not at our home church. She looked at me and just left. On her own free will. She pushed passed me and her dad. We almost had to run to catch up with her. She was baptized that day. The sky above the river were she was baptized had a rainbow. Leading up to that day I knew Elise was special but on that day I realized that God was setting her a part.
Today she is a leader at her school. She tries to uphold Christian character. Does she fall short of the mark? Yes. Does she always climb back up and live the life that God has intended for her. Yes. Is it hard for her? Yes. Does she risk losing it all? Yes. Does she still love the Lord with all of her heart? Yes.
So the other day I was listening to a podcast of Perry Noble the pastor at Newspring Church. His church can rock the roof off his church. This song is Elise's anthem. This is my Anthem. This should be The Anthem of every Jesus follower.
I am not sure why I am amazed that God takes care of EVERYTHING but I am. Let me just tell you just two praises that happened only today.
1st- My computer sort of died on Christmas Eve, two trips to the computer doctor and it is working but it is physo because I can not shut it down while it is plugged into the outlet. When I unplug it and just shut it down with the battery it will shut down. Well, I walked into school this morning a little stressed because once again I was running late. I opened my classroom door and saw a brand new Dell laptop sitting on my desk. It seems WCCS had a donor that donated money for all of faculty to get laptop computers! Praise the Lord! I was going to have to buy a new one but guess what...God took care of that one!
2nd- S0me of you may know that Elise is preparing for her second trip to the Dominican Republic this summer. We have our second payment due on January 21. I am working really hard to raise the money without much support from others. I feel really bad about asking the same people to support her that supported her last year. I know some people have blessed us and blessed us in a big way! This is always a great step of faith for me. Joel and I just can't afford to send Elise on a mission trip each year without those blessings. Well, back to the second payment due on January 21, I had a teacher that came up to me even before support letters went out that knew Elise was going again and she told me she wanted to give towards her trip, then today I turned in another check for $200 to the school for her trip, that is just with two people giving. We pulled into the driveway this afternoon and got the mail, in the mail was another support check. So guess what, the second payment has been paid in full. So now we have a little over one thousand dollars due by April. Do I still get worried about raising the money, you betcha! Do I know that God has cattle on a thousand hills, yes I do! Does Elise feel with all her heart that this trip is paid already, yes she does.
So I will stand back and watch. God still surprises me over and over again! Hold on to your fork, the best is yet to come.
Elise's volleyball season has been finished for almost a month now. While I was glad for it to be over and the running to be finished. I am sitting here tonight being a little sad. Sad that she will never again have a sophomore year volleyball game. Her team finished undefeated and won the MAC for Christian Schools. It was a fun season and a well deserved Championship.
Even though Elise only plays volleyball, our lives seem to follow sports around the calendar. We have not missed a football game once this year..yes, we are the fans that have been known to travel to away games that are 4 hours away. I laugh at some of the questions I have been asked when we show up at an away game (that really was 4 hours away). You first have to understand that our school is very small, the people that attend WC know us, know Elise. It is the look on their faces trying to figure out why we are at games so far away. Someone asked me this week with a puzzled look..."Mrs. Denney I thought you only had Elise. Do you have a son that plays?" I of course laughed and replied that Kim Watts and I are like family, therefore, her son plays, and well that would be my nephew out there. It is Mark that draws us there but it is also the other guys that have passed through my door in either first and second grade. I loved them then. I loved them like they were my own sons...even if it was only for one year. But it is more rewarding for me to watch their true character played out on the field. The students at WC are good guys, they have thier heads on straight. No, we are not perfect and we all mess up but it is a community that loves each other through those mess ups.
It has been rewarding for me to watch these guys grow up but more rewarding for me to see them grow into the men God wants.
This Friday the Indian will have the home advantage as we enter into the State Playoffs. Westminster was #2 in our division. Wish us luck! GO INDIANS!
I am a busy wife, mother, and teacher. My one desire is to be found faithful in the sight of God. As I live my life, this blog is an outlet for my thoughts and feelings. I see God in little everyday antics of second graders. I hope you will join me on my journey.
