My Life by Amy Cristina

I am back from my week in Alabama...all is well on all fronts up there.  I will be posting about it later this week...HOWEVER...
It's February and time for another guest blog.  This month I asked Amy Holley Cristina (yes, she has three first names) to write some words of inspiration for all of us.  Amy currently lives in Texas with her husband Paul and their dog Scout.  She is pregnant and will be joining the mommy club in April!  I have adored this sweet girl since the day I met her at Holy Nativity. While she jokingly claimed I was her "mom" at school...she has taught me sooooo much about living.  She has a wonderful story to share with you...so clear some space in your busy day and enjoy!

When Kim asked me to be her February guest blogger back in January, I knew I needed to start thinking then about what exactly I should write. I’ve never been one at a loss for words, but I admit that trying to find something about my life that others would enjoy reading has been a difficult task. Well, here it is, days before I’m supposed to get my blog entry to Kim and a topic is failing me.



So while I’m trying to figure out where this is going, I guess I should begin by telling you how Kim and I met. In the summer of 2003, I was preparing for my first year of teaching at Holy Nativity Episcopal School. I was teaching fourth grade and Kim was teaching third grade next door to me. We immediately hit it off and I spent many afternoons in her classroom seeking advice on so many topics, ranging from classroom issues, daily devotions, prayer time, love, balancing work and family, and must-read books, just to name a few.

                                           Kim was there, capturing one of the most special moments of my life, when Paul, my husband of nearly seven years, asked me to be his wife one rainy, Friday afternoon at our school. She threw me a surprise bridal shower and a beautiful bridesmaids’ tea at her home as part of our wedding celebration. I cherish our friendship and, probably like many of you, feel like an extended member of the Dodd family. I love that no matter how much time passes between our visits, it seems like we’ve talked just the day before.

This morning, as Paul and I were out for a walk, I knew what I would try to put into words here on Kim’s blog. You see, today I’m 32 weeks pregnant and there’s much hustle and bustle around our house as we get our hearts and home ready to welcome our first baby. We’ve decided to be surprised, and even though it goes against everything in my strong, Type-A personality, I am loving it. I can’t wait to hear Paul tell me “It’s a….” because I know, whether we have a bundle of boy or a sweet little girl, this child already has our hearts.


Over the years, it’s been very easy for me to have an opinion about parenting, especially since we didn’t have any children of our own and yet I was surrounded by 20 + students each day at school whose parents influenced me in both good and bad ways! Long before we were even planning to have children, I “thought” I had it all mapped out about what I would and wouldn’t do as a mom. All of that changed, however, on November 16, 2007 when I became an aunt to a very precious little girl named Madison Grace Riley. The details of Madison’s story can be found on her Caring Bridge website http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/madisongraceriley as well as my sister’s blog that she more regularly updates, http://www.shaneandaprilriley.blogspot.com/.

A few months after Madison’s first birthday, our world was rocked with the news that Madison had an extremely rare genetic disorder called Muculipidosis Type II, or I-Cell disease, a disease for which there currently is no cure and that brings with it a life expectancy of two to eight years. Talk about changing your views on life, love, and parenting! This little girl has taught me so much about how I aim to be as a mother to my unborn child, but for the sake of time, I’m going to share with you three lessons Madison’s taught me in her three beautiful years of life. It is my prayer that no matter what role(s) you currently find yourself serving—a wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, student—that you would take these lessons to heart as well.

1. Our time on this earth is but a blink and I need to take stock in how I spend my time and in what really matters. Our family has cried its share of tears over Madison’s prognosis but there’s no anger in our hearts. As my sister once told me, “I’m no different than a mother who suddenly loses her child in a terrible accident or in war, it’s just that I live with the reality that each day I have with her is a gift.” When you are forced to examine the reality of death, it brings new clarity to life. It’s put everything in proper perspective. “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 90:12


2. Our identity should be grounded in the fact that we are the Lord’s, not in our abilities or limitations. I recently reread the creation story in the book of Genesis and was convicted of how guilty I’ve been in finding satisfaction in creation over my Creator. While I wear many hats and enjoy doing many things, it is not who I am. If all the things that I thought defined me were gone tomorrow, I can rest in the promise that I am His. “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” 1 John 3:12a


3. Rest in the peace that comes from knowing He’s in control. Again, my Type-A personality struggles with this but I’m seeing the joy that comes when I let go and let Him. It sounds so cliché, I know, but there’s great comfort in knowing that He’s bigger and stronger than anything I’m dealing with, and even better…He KNOWS what I’m facing. If left up to me, I’m going to screw things up, but because He’s guiding and directing me, I know He’s not going to let me go. “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9


Thank you Kim, for asking me to do this and share the condition of my heart. And thanks to the rest of you for reading my endless rambling about the world’s most adorable niece (although Chelsea and Kate might have something to say about that : ) ) and the way she is ministering to those around her by simply being Madison. Finally, I leave you with a verse that continues to speak to me. Love to you all!


Amy

“A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of birth. It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.” Ecclesiastes 7:1-2