i have a nephew and i love him

welcome Caleb David Hunt!
September 26, 2010
5:48pm (?)
7.3lbs
19.5 inches long



Dear Caleb,
I wish I could be there to hug and squeeze you, but unfortunately I have to wait a while. But Uncle Charlie and I are coming to see you in just a few short weeks! I've heard you have a full head of hair and may possibly have your Papa Steve's chin. I hope you do. But you are absolutely perfect. Your mom and dad are going to be very good parents--I think you will always have someone to help you with your science homework! (Or ANY homework, for that matter!) (Both of your parents are very smart!) They've been praying for you since before you were born--and we know God has given you to this family for a purpose. God has big things for your life, Caleb! And I'm so thankful I will get to be a part of that. In the Bible it says Caleb had a different spirit than those surrounding him, and followed God wholeheartedly (Numbers 14:24). And I pray that for you.
I also pray that:
Numbers 6
²⁴ " ' "The LORD bless you
and keep you;
²⁵ the LORD make his face shine upon you
and be gracious to you;
²⁶ the LORD turn his face toward you
and give you peace." '

We love you, Caleb! Welcome to the family!!
Love,
Aunt Stephanie

lessons learned from lovie

(notice how our wind-breaker colors are now great wedding flower themes?!)

no, lovie isn't my MANLY husband, charlie. (i call him honey.) (obviously.) lovie is my beautiful, little sister, stacy. i'm probably the most fortunate of my sisters because i can call them both my favorite.. susan is my favorite big sister, and stacy is my favorite little sister. and while i am sure i have many lessons learned from susan... i want to focus on one learned from lovie.

stacy always wanted to cut her hair short... like a pixie cut. i always thought it would be cute, but you know how girls are. hair is kind of... important to us. and it can be scary to just cut off a security blanket like that. one that takes months-to-years to regrow. well, stacy went off to college and still couldn't chop her hair completely off, but decided to go blonde. and it was really cute. her roomie did it for her, actually. well, a few months? into the bleaching process, the bleach was left on too long by said roommate. Aaaaaaaannnnd stacy's hair may or may not have started breaking off. i believe she described them to me as "inch-long spikey things on the back of her head." and this whole situation was very tragic and made even more tragic when she went to get it cut into a haircut and the hairdresser sliced her ear with the scissors.

but seriously! look how cute it is!!

now. you may or may not be wondering what the lesson is. but hang with me... i have a point beyond how cute she is.

i could obviously never be sure of this, but i wonder if stacy ever would have cut her hair if she hadn't been presented with these circumstances..? i wonder if she ever would have known how great short hair looks on her..?

the same with me. i believe that God uses hard things in our lives in the same way: He takes our hair falling out and turns it into a cute haircut! he takes jobs we hate and turns them into defining experiences. he takes things we never would have chosen for ourselves, and transforms them into what we actually wanted all along. what a God of love we serve.