just the difference...

in one month!

2 months today for this handsome boy.

this...

Now this is an Ockrin occasion we (the boys in particular) look forward to each year! It was Liam's first year. A requirement of 3+ seems to be in the best interest of all to join the ranks of the all male Ockrin family camping trip. He finally had the chance to experience first hand what has been a whole year in the making of expectations thanks to Asher's stories and leading in his own sheer excitement.

I think it surpassed any expectations Liam had and even then some. Any guesses how?

I have no pictures from our ladies tea. Hands and mind were full and just a bit occupied with a newborn Lemuel, but Sophia was adorned in everything girl. How special to pass on to her the gift it is to be a woman. Because well, that's what He made us to be and there is no shame in His call and purpose. She desperately longs and waits for our someday family camping trip, just us, maybe next summer, but until then I marvel in her desire to embrace exactly who she is.

And I did too.

The Dark Stretch: A Young Wife's Miraculous Ride from Darkness to Light.

It is with great pleasure to feature this book on my blog, The Dark Stretch. Am I slightly bias? Well absolutely! This is my sister's story. Yes, my sister. Not someone I know of or heard of through the grapevine who went through this. No, I remember getting that telephone call of the MRI results, talking with Randi on the phone later that evening once she returned to her home, her heart unable to take in the words she was sharing reliving, again. The shock so thick. The life sucked right out of her. The worst had come true.

I remember hugging Gabe so tightly in bed that night just weeping. How spoiled and selfish I felt. My husband was in bed, with me, next to me, 'with it' and coherent. There my sister lay in her bed alone that night bearing the worst news she could have been told. What would the next days, weeks, months, years look like for her? For them?

I cried out to God that night. I know a lot of people did. I know a lot of people continued to. At that point only a miracle was left. We knew that and while God's sovereignty and plan unfolded we couldn't settle for anything less.

July 30th marked the 3 year anniversary since the accident happened and the journey began that she and Graham have been on ever since.

I patiently waited for my special copy signed by her to arrive. That evening and into the next day I was the worst mom and housekeeper known to mankind as I simply could not put it down. I found anything to occupy the kids so I could sneak in just 5 more minutes!

I was even there for some of it and to relive those raw emotions, see into the depths of just exactly [though hardly able to understand completely] what my sister was thinking, feeling, was gripping with every sentence, every word. I had to read on.

I read it. I cried. I laughed. I marveled. I fell more in love with Jesus and I came away with this: I don't see how anyone could read this and not fall more in love with Him. I don't see how you could read this and not wonder who this Jesus really is, if you don't already know him, and not want to get to know him, more.

I am proud of my sister! This has been no easy feat for her, writing a book while carrying on raising 3 young children and a husband still in the thick of a very 'new normal'. I know more than anything she wants this book to leave you with an understanding that you are never alone and when all hope seems lost and maybe really truly is based on cold hard facts, there is still something, someone, yet... Jesus.

You are never without on your Dark Stretch.