Raise Em' Up

There's a song out right now called Raise Em' Up by Keith Urban. You can listen to it here. Every time it comes on, whether I am in the car, or in my office, I turn it all the way up. It's about being an American, the freedoms we are allowed and the beauty of having chances to become everything we  could dream of being.

Tears fill my eyes at these lyrics :

So, you meet someone
The only one
You take her by the hand
Make a stand
Buy some land
Make some love
And them babies come

Raise 'em up
Raise 'em up
Raise 'em up trophy high
Raise 'em up to the sky
Raise 'em up, show everybody that newborn smile
Raise 'em up tall and strong
Raise 'em up right from wrong
Raise 'em up so damn high they can hear God singing along

My Mom & Dad have an amazing story. They met before they were Christians, and life was a little more difficult for them. My Dad was a young, attractive entrepreneur with a thriving business and Mom was in her first year of Dental School, young, smart & beautiful as ever. They met each other in September of 1984, at Bobby McGee's, a bar in Burbank, California that has now  turned into a BJ's restaraunt. My mom had just turned 21 years old and she was head over heels. My Dad had informed her he couldn't call her the following week because he had to spend three days in the Burbank jail for a 502.

 Mom recalls he was always the life of the party and funny as ever when he was drunk. With a thriving business, naturally dad had nice cars, and one night driving home in his Pantera, he was pulled over, and arrested for a DUI.  In January of 1987, he was put in jail for 90 days. My mom was devastated, her boyfriend of two years  would be behind bars for three months. While my Dad was in jail, a man shared the gospel with him, and he accepted Christ. When my mom came to visit him, {who at the time was not a believer} my dad told her to find a church so that when he got out, they could go to church together. My mom called my dad's Aunt Maggie who was a faithful woman of God, and they started going to some churches together. Through a phone call with my dad's Aunt Maggie one night, my mom read the serenity prayer and became a believer. So while my mom and dad were separated, the Lord had other plans to bring them both to Himself, and each other. Sometimes what Satan plans for evil, the Lord intends for good {Genesis 50:20}
 My dad got out of jail ten days early for good behavior. My mom says when she picked him up, she could tell he was a changed man. While in jail my Dad made a commitment to never drink again. He didn't want what used to control him to ever have power over him again. Since March of 1987, my Dad has been sober, and I couldn't be more proud. On March 29 1987, two days after my dad was released from jail, he asked my mom to marry him. They made plans for a wedding in October, however after meeting with their pastor, he encouraged them to marry sooner. They were baptized together a week before their wedding, and on August 22, 1987, they committed to Christ and one another that they would never give up.

This August they will celebrate 28 years of marriage, and the thought of that brings tears of joy to my eyes. My parents have been through  a lot. There are many times I am sure they could have given up, thrown in the towel, and gone their seperate ways. I thank God they didn't. I thank God decided to have a family. I thank God He gave them three girls. I thank God they protected us, they loved us. The gave us everything. They worked hard to be a team, to fight for joy in the midst of trials. They spent the summertime in our motor home traveling the country so we could experience things together as a family. I thank God Dad never gave up with his business that put us through college, gave us all reliable vehicles, and everything else teenage girls say they need. I thank God Mom was the best mom there ever was. She was a shoulder to cry on, a best friend, a home maker, and never a mother, but always a mamma. They never gave up. They never walked away from the church, they always gave generously. They always worked together as a team. They were at every event, every concert, every award ceremony together. Not just mom, and not just dad. Both of them. Always, and I sit here and cry just thinking about it. I will never know what they gave up to give us everything. My sisters and I have a bond so strong that even on the days where its hard, if anything were to ever happen to any one of them I would drop everything and do anything to get to them. That's the way they raised us. They raised us to love, to fight for what's right, to make the right choices. They raised us to know and love Jesus. They raised us to love others more than we love ourselves.


As I wipe the tears, I want to thank you Mom & Dad. I love you more than I will ever be able to express. Thank you for raising me so damn high I can always hear God singing along in good and bad, you always pointed me to Jesus, and I will be forever grateful. Thank you for teaching me to never give up and no matter how hard life can be, Jesus is always there.

Dad and his Black Pantera.

Probably my favorite photo of me & my Dad.

Boating days with our favorite purple boat. I think this is Havasu, maybe cottonwood cove. Also Shannon. Your face. I love it.

Honor Choir Christmas Concert Circa 1998.

Cheers to almost 28 years, I love you both so much. I hope you live each day for the next 28 years more in love each day than you were before. Enjoy the empty nesting days, knowing that in the future there will be little grand babies to chase and love on. I can't wait to see you both be grandparents, I love you, so so much.