James

The month of February was always difficult for my family.
Many a tear has been shed while looking through our precious box.
I remember the first year that I really understood what was going on.
My mother told me about my big brother. He was born in February of 1988. They named him James, after my dad's father and oldest brother. He was such a cute little guy! ❤️
Unfortunately, James was born early. Very early. There were many complications, and he got very sick. He fought hard for nine days, but his little body gave up and he went to Jesus.
"He would be turning eleven this week," I remember my mother saying.
I couldn't believe it. I had always wanted an older brother!
So many of my friends had older brothers, and they were so wonderful. They pushed them SO HIGH on the swings, threw them up high in the air, and took care of them like no one else.
It broke my heart to realize that I would never know my older brother.
I looked at the scrapbook; pages and pages of pictures of this sweet baby boy. A teeny tiny t-shirt he had worn. And I just wanted to cry.
I remember promising myself then that I would never forget him. He would always be a part of me. Every year we especially remembered him and talked about him on his birthday.
We imagined him sending Angels to protect his sisters. We talked about how much we missed him.
His life was so short, but he made a huge impact on our family.
I remember when my best friend at age 12 told me, "I just miss my brother so much! He's so busy with college I only get to see him once a week if that!" And I gently reminded her, be thankful. He's alive and healthy. What I wouldn't have given for one day a week with my brother! I struggled with jealousy towards my friends who seemed to take their brothers for granted. Why couldn't they see what a blessing they had?!?
This February has been hard, being away from my family and the memories of him. I miss going through his pictures and hugging my sisters... But this year, I have something else to remember him by.
I have my sweet, precious baby boy.
His name is James.

New Year, New Blog

Hello, friends!!!

My life has changed so drastically in the past year or so that I decided with this new chapter, I would start a new blog.
I'm so excited to see where this goes, as I share my thoughts, experiences, and projects with you!!!
After a lot of consideration, I decided on the name Showers of Blessings because I truly feel that the Lord has been sending shower after shower of blessings my way.
I intend to share with y'all as many of those blessings as I can this year!
Feel free to share with me anything that's been on your mind that you'd like me to write about, or any crafty projects you'd like me to try!!! I will try to post a recap with some highlights of projects from last year soon. (:

Love y'all!!!

~Stephanie Joy