WHIRLWIND AND SOME TORNADOS...

The past 2.5 weeks have been a whirlwind of events - Josh graduating, us moving to Cullman, and Josh's first day at Huntsville hospital (today). I plan to update everyone (hopefully this week) on all of these exciting events, but first I must fill everyone on "The day of the Tornados..."

When we moved to Alabama a couple of years back, we had several people tell us that we were moving to "Tornado Alley"... it goes without saying that on Wednesday, April 27, we realized that they were right. Josh and I woke up that morning at 6:00 AM to the sound of Molly (our golden retriever) freaking out and whining/barking in our room. When we woke up, we immediately realized that there was what sounded like a tornado right outside our window. We jumped up, grabbed her and ran to the bathroom... After a few minutes, things had calmed down. We later realized that it was indeed a small tornado had touched down and destroyed parts of a nearby neighborhood (Cahaba Heights) and we think it picked back up before moving through our complex just about a mile away - very terrifying way to wake up!! The syrens had gone off 30 minutes before the tornado came through... but there were so far away from our apartment, that they were not loud enough to wake us up.



Later that morning when I got out/tried to drive through Cahaba Heights to get to work... we realized how blessed we were that our complex was spared the destruction of this tornado... as I turned back around in all of the road blocks, I was thanking and praising God.

Later that evening is when the majority of the tornados came through the state and completely destroyed parts of Tuscaloosa, Fultondale, and Cullman (our future home..) Once our power came back on and we were able to watch the news/ look at the internet - we were in shock at the amount of damage and lives lost. We again thanked God that we were spared the destruction that came literally through our backyard.

The following Sunday, our paster David Platt, spoke on Job 1. It is always humbling to be reminded of the trials/tribulations that Job went through and how he continued to praise and honor God through his circumstances. It was a humbling message to hear... how do I act when trials come my way? Do I praise and trust God when I am scared or even inconvenienced? (No power for 4 days...) Or do I worry, complain or put my trust in other things?

Job 1:18-22 (NIV)

Vs. 18 - "While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, 'Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother's house, (VS. 19) when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they were dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you! (Vs. 20) At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship (Vs. 21) and said: 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised."

Definitely a humbling passage... Job lost his entire family and everything he owned and still praised God. One thing David pointed out that we forget when we read this passage (and any passage in the Bible for that matter...) is that we (as the reader today) know the whole story. We know that Job survives these trials and God blesses him in the end... but when Job was going through it, obviously he did not know what the outcome would be. Job had faith in God's plan, His sovereignty and His will for Job's life. I am praying that I can do the same when trials (tornados) come through my life.

HATTISBURG RETREAT

This weekend we went on a retreat to Hattisburg, MS with our small group. Our friends' Ryan and Laura hosted us out at Laura's Family's farm - we had such a fun and relaxing time. It was so nice to get away for a couple of days, spend time with friends and with each other. We left Friday night after work, drove to Hattisburg and got in around 10 that night. Josh and I brought the walkie-talkies and so the ride down to Mississippi consisted of the most amazing game of American Idol/Finish that Liric I have ever witnessed over the airways. Definitely made the ride go by fast! We woke up the next morning to this view... how beautiful!! The day was filled with lots of fun activities including riding the ATVs (Josh was in absolute heaven), riding THE most awesome 4-wheeling golf cart I have ever seen, skeet shooting, fishing, laying around in hammocks... We decided to get out some throwing knives and tamahawks (spelling?) for some target practice... We then spent a few minutes looking for a "throwing weapon" that made it into the lake... After a wonderful Spaghetti dinner prepare by Katie, we decided to have a bonfire with worship time, a devotional and of course - SMORES!

Our devotion that night was a discussion for God's will in our lives... we are reminded that God's ultimate will is for His glory to be shown and the gospel to be spread. All of the members of our group are on the verge of some major decisions in our lives over the next couple of months to a year and we are all praying for the direction that God wants us to move.

Thank you Laura and Ryan for hosting such a amazing weekend. God has truly blessed us with absolutely amazing friends - we are so thankful for our small group - our family away from family :).

12 HOURS IN DETROIT

On the road again... wait, I mean on the plane again... Monday I took another work trip - this time heading to Lock Haven, PA. I had a connecting flight in Detroit and after a delay leaving Birmingham, I arrived in Detroit a little too late and missed my connecting flight by about 2 minutes. While I managed to hold it together while talking to the gate agent who had just closed the boarding door and would not let me through to board the plane that was still sitting at the gate, I managed to hold it together better than this lady did... I remember Josh showing me this video a few months back... only now do I truly appreciate it :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOLS!

Today is April Fool's Day - AKA Molly's birthday!! (Or at least that is when we have decided to celebrate...) Today we think Molly is approx. 7 years old, or in dog years - 49!! For those who don't know... my Mom adopted Molly from the human society about 5 years ago - at that time, the vet estimated that she was about 2 years old so that is why we think that she is now about 7. So - what is like living with the middle-aged woman that is our dog? Although sometimes she can get grumpy, moody and even out-right demanding, she is extremely loyal and loving at the same time - Josh and I are so thankful to have her in our family. Happy Birthday Mols!! Happy Friday everyone! Josh and I are off this weekend to Mississippi for a retreat with our small group. There will be skeet shooting, 4-wheeling and football, o my! We are excited - hope everyone has a great weekend!!

ATLANTA & MOLLY'S SLEEPOVER

Last weekend Josh and I decided to get away to Atlanta for a couple of days to go shopping, eat out and stay one night in the Buckhead area... we had a lot of fun shopping at Ikea, the Lenox Square Mall (complete with a large Crate and Barrel) and checking out a few new restaurants.

Our friend's Jordan and Jess were so nice to keep Molly for us. She definitely had an exciting weekend (maybe more than us?!?) On Saturday she got to go with them to Railroad Park here in Birmingham (we have never even been there...) and on Sunday morning she went on a long walk on the lakeshore trail... The picture to the right is Molly with Jordan (please excuse the tongue) on Sunday when we picked her up. She felt so much at home, we thought she would not want to leave. Thank you guys so much for keeping her - we really appreciate it!!

Interesting side story while we were in Atlanta... on Saturday night when we got back to our hotel - we heard lots of noise in the room across the hall and later right outside our hallway. After several complaints to the front desk from other people in the hall (as well as us) we decided to be nosy and listen to what was going on - turns out they were filming a reality TV show and using our hotel room door as a back drop!! (No comments here on the reality show that they were filming except that if you click on the link, you will understand that not only had Josh and I had never heard of the show but it definitely made for an interesting site when we were looking through the peep hole on our door). Things quieted down eventually but the next day when Josh got the survey from the hotel - he mentioned the incident again. The hotel manager wrote back, assured us that they did not know that the crew was planning on filming, refunded our room charge and charged it to the film crew manager's credit card. Actually worked out quite nicely...

SHOWER FOR JESSICA & "BGW"

This Saturday, I was able to help host a shower for Jessica and soon to be here "Baby Girl Whitworth." Jessica and her husband, Ben, are good friends of ours that are originally from Birmingham and moved to Jacksonville right around the time that Josh and I were married. We met them in our newlywed class at FBC. Ben completed the same program that Josh is finishing up right now - Master's of Health Administration at UAB. Apparently their enthusiasm for both Birmingham and the program at UAB rubbed off on us - because now here we living in their home town while they stayed in ours.

I was so excited to be a part of this shower - several of Jess's college buddies threw the shower and asked me to help host and helpt to decorate for the shower. Her wonderful Mom offered to let us have the shower at her house and it was a beautiful (and convenient for Jess) place to have it. I really enjoyed doing this for Jessica. Here are a few pictures from the shower this weekend...

Food Table with all of the yummy brunch goodies

My First attempt at a diaper cake - so much fun decorating it for a little girl :)

Clothes line - getting BGW ready for Florida - personal fav: the pink ruffled swim suit :)

The Living Room with banner - Welcome Baby Girl

Jess with all of her hostesses

Funny side story that Jess shared on Saturday - she and Ben are still deciding on a name and have decided not to share the name until after she is born. One of the names that Ben offered up for consideration - "Sunshine." I think it was Ben's aunt who said - "When did He turn into a hippie?!?!" While Jess did not endorse this name, she explained that Ben was trying to come up with a name that would be "happy."

Jess - Josh and I are so excited for you guys and can't wait to meet BGW. Considering who her parents are - she will surely be a well-loved and "happy" baby. We miss you guys but I am so glad that we got to hang out this weekend!! Much love.

UPCOMING EVENTS... LIST MAKING

I am a list-maker. Plain and simple. I cannot even explain the joy that comes from crossing things off of a list, or even, better - throwing the list away because all of the things on it are DONE!!! (Or sometimes it gets thrown away just to write a new one, as the list was looking sloppy and needed a re-DO.) I just made my grocery list, my To-DO at work list and now I would like to make a list of upcoming events. Some are work travel, but most are very exciting events that will hopefully make great blog posts :).

UPCOMING EVENTS IN THE HEWIETT HOUSE:
- March 12: Baby Shower for Jessica (Rebecca decorating - first attempt at making a diaper cake is complete... pictures to follow this weekend)
- March 14-18: Josh's Spring Break
- March 21-23: Work trip to Gainesville (Rebecca - Staging Models)
- March 25-27: Jason & Morgan visiting?!?!
- April 1-3: Small Group Retreat (So excited!!)
- April 4-6: Work trip to Lock Haven, PA (Rebecca - Furniture Presentation)
- April 8-9: ASID Conference in Huntsville, AL (Rebecca, but Josh might come stay...)
- April 22: Secret Church
- April 24: EASTER
- May 6-8: Josh's Graduation Weekend/ Mother's Day (Parents are coming!!)
- May 14: Move to Cullman, AL (Or sometime around then...)
- May 16: Josh starts his residency in Huntsville!!

We have a busy couple of months coming up!! Just the way I like it :).