SNOW!!!!!

I just can't go on without saying what a pleasant surprise it was to wake up this morning with some of the biggest snowflakes falling, not to mention it was on my BIRTHDAY!!! YAY!! I don't ever remember getting snow on my birthday. It was a beautiful sight though! Knowing I can stay home today on my day off and enjoy the scenery. This was Duke's first snow, and he wasn't too sure what it was, but he knew he liked to eat it! This quote is from one of my new friends on facebook: 

Snow is my own personal reminder of the Lord's faithfulness - to remind me that God is faithful to make all things good and that He alone is the original creator and initiator of all things beautiful. Let it snow!

Here are some pics of the snow and of Abby Kate, who had her birthday 4 days ago. I will update with more pics after Ellary and Abby's breakfast birthday party in a few weeks!
Love you all!

*Lynds

Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Such

purpose

We had an amazing morning at church this morning. I really felt that God has shown me that our church is right where He wants us to be! It's truly an amazing feeling, but now I feel like I need a purpose in His will. He has given Jacob and I this new church home, but we need to step up and create relationships with people and find out how He wants us to serve. This morning we made a decision to give what we feel like is a substantial gift in the form of money for the Give Your Life Away Campaign at Providence Church. This campaign was started to raise money for the completion of our new church building. It is an amazing feeling to be able to give, but I feel like we should not only give money, but ourselves.
As I pray about it, I would like for you all to as well, that God would place the act of serving on our hearts.
I pray that God will provide what we need in order for us to give our lives away for Him. And I have FAITH that He will. I feel like this has been a growing experience for me, but I also want to really become part of this church home and be surrounded by new friends in Christ. We have yet to really let that happen, and I need God to open up our hearts and minds to give us comfort to open up and really get to know new people.

A verse from one of the songs we sang today:
"Take my life and let it be all for YOU and for your GLORY, take my life and let it be YOURS..."

I want to have the right PURPOSE in this life...for HIM!

Love,

scream

So I just wanna SCREAM! Had a rough day at work....and an awful drive home in traffic...but just needed to share my frustration!

No other exciting news, I'm just being CRANKY!

Excited to spend a weekend with Jacob's parents. Here's to the wonderful family that I have.

OK, sorry this isn't more informative. My next post will be, I promise!

Hope this puts a smile on your face. It always does mine!


Love,

laminin

Just got this cool email. Its a pretty awesome story!

LAMININ: Look it up or Google it.

A doctor-friend wrote:

A couple of days ago, I was running (I use that term very loosely) on my treadmill, watching a DVD sermon by Louie Giglio...and I was BLOWN AWAY! I want to share what I learned....but I fear not being able to convey it as well as I want. I will share anyway.

He (Louie) was talking about how inconceivably BIG our God is...how He spoke the universe into being....how He breathes stars out of His mouth that are huge raging balls of fire....etc.. etc. Then He went on to speak of how this star-breathing, universe creating God ALSO knitted our human bodies together with amazing detail and wonder. At this point I am LOVING it (fascinating from a medical standpoint, you know.) .....and I was remembering how I was constantly amazed during medical school as I learned more and more about God's handiwork. I remember so many times thinking....'How can ANYONE deny that a Creator did all of this???'

Louie went on to talk about how we can trust that the God who created all this, also has the power to hold it all together when things seem to be falling apart...how our loving Creator is also our sustainer.

And then I lost my breath.

And it wasn't because I was running my treadmill, either!!!

It was because he started talking about Laminin.

I knew about laminin. Here is how Wikipedia describes them: 'Laminins are a family of proteins that are an integral part of the structural scaffolding of basement membranes in almost every animal tissue.' You see.....laminins are what hold us together....LITERALLY. They are cell adhesion molecules. They are what holds one cell of our bodies to the next cell... Without them, we would literally fall apart. And I knew all this already.. But what I didn't know is what laminin LOOKED LIKE.

But now I do..

And I have thought about it a thousand times since (already)....

Here is what the structure of laminin looks like...AND THIS IS NOT a 'Christian portrayal' of it....if you look up laminin in any scientific/medical piece of literature, this is what you will see...



Now tell me that our God is not the coolest!!!

Amazing.

The glue that holds us together...ALL of us....is in the shape of the cross.

Immediately Colossians 1:15-17 comes to mind.

'He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
For by him all things were created; things in heaven and on earth , visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things HOLD TOGETHER. ' Colossians 1:15-17.

Call me crazy. I just think that is very, very, very cool.

Thousands of years before the world knew anything about laminin, Paul penned those words. And now we see that from a very LITERAL standpoint, we are held together...one cell to another.....by the cross.

You would never in a quadrillion years convince me that is anything other than the mark of a Creator who knew EXACTLY what laminin 'glue' would look like long before Adam even breathed his first breath!!

" Faith is not knowing what the future holds, but knowing who holds the future."

I wanted you to know and to undertstand that YOU are being held together by the cross of Jesus Christ. His love. His forgiveness and His marvelous power.....

hannah olivia collie

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, but we have had a few rough weeks at the hospital. I wanted to dedicate a post about a sweet little girl who passed away early Sunday morning.
Hannah Olivia Collie was my very first heart transplant patient to take care of in the Cath Lab when I first started my job at Children's Medical Center of Dallas. She was so terribly sick and with some good luck and God's grace she received a new heart in 2007. I was lucky enough to get to know Hannah, her mom Amanda, dad Jason, and eventually little brother Cooper. They are such a sweet family!
Hannah had been battling issues that can come along with getting a new heart, and then some. She lost her battle and got her wings on Sunday morning 10/25/09 at 12:53 am.
My prayers and heart goes out to the Collie family at this time. I cannot imagine losing a child, even though I am not a mother yet. She has such a special place in my heart and will be one of those children in my career that I will never forget.

Here are a few pics of Hannah, just the way I will always remember her!




And one of the whole family while in the hospital.


I wanted to ask anyone who reads this to please pray for Amanda, Jason, and Cooper and the rest of the Collie family that they will find peace in knowing that this sweet little girl is now sitting in the arms of Jesus with no more pain and suffering. She has touched so many of our lives!

down

Sorry I have been out of the blog loop for a while. We have been having some long, hard days here at the McFarland household. For the past week and a half, my husband has not come home from work before 8:30.(PM)- meaning he has been working 13+ hour workdays, and even spent an 8 hour day at the office on Saturday. I know this is killing me more than it is him, but Duke and I miss him! Duke has been neglected because I too have been working some later nights.

Last night was one of the harder nights in my career in general, because we had to tell some young parents that their 3 month old baby boy is going to die. My heart just breaks for them, but last night, sitting there and crying with them is all we could do. I hope they know that God is in control and He will take care of them.

I am getting a much needed break on Friday, though. It's my day off, thank goodness, and I hope to rest and re-energize! I'm hoping Jacob will be finished with this craziness soon, and he can enjoy some rest this weekend as well.

Anyway, I hope everyone else is having a better week than we are! I know it will get better...


P.S. I was so thankful for the beautiful sunshine today. Man, did I miss the sunny weather!

soccer

Well, soccer has become a part of our Saturday routine again. Caleb, my 6 year old cousin is on a soccer team again this year. I enjoy going out and seeing him run and play and also to see his little sisters and parents, and it always seems like my mom and grandparents are there so as not to miss all the excitement. Now if only I could make it on Monday's during lunchtime to see Ellary and Abby do gymnastics, it would be perfect. One of these days I'll get to do that! Here are a few pics from one of the soccer games last week!















Not much else has been going on with Jacob and I! Last weekend he went to the Car Show with my dad and Aric, and I got to spend the day with Aunt Dav, the girls, Casey and Mom. Work is the same. Jacob's under a little stress with planning for next year, but we all know that he is so good at what he does and he will get it done! Duke has been getting in trouble lately with his chewing and ripping things to shreds. He needs some major obedience classes. He is still as sweet as ever though when he wants to be. I'm just enjoying a day off! My weekly days off are the best part of my week, maybe I need to go part time and do this more often...not a bad idea, but Jacob might think otherwise!
Well, I love you all and hope ya'll have a wonderful week!

Perfect People

This week and the past few months, I have been really lifted up by this song. It’s called Perfect People by Natalie Grant:

Never let him see you when your breaking
Never let him see you when you fall
That’s How We Live
And that’s How We Try

Tell The world you've got it all together
You never let him see what’s underneath
We cover it up
With the crooked smile
But it only lasts for a little while

There’s no such thing as perfect people
There no such thing as a perfect life
So come as you are, broken and scarred
Lift up your heart and be amazed, and be changed
By a perfect god

Suddenly its like a weight is lifted
When you hear the words that you are loved
He knows where you are
And were you've been
And you never have to go there again

There's no such thing as perfect people
There's no such thing as a perfect life
So come as you are, broken and scarred
Lift up your heart and be amazed and be changed
By a perfect god

Who lived, and died, to give you life
To heal our imperfections
So look up, and see love, and let grace be enough

There no such thing as perfect people

There's no such thing as a perfect life
So come as you are, broken and scarred
Lift up your heart and be amazed and be changed
By a perfect god
By a perfect god
By a perfect god

By a perfect god
Be changed by a perfect god
Be changed

I just felt like I needed to share this song. It has been a great comfort to me. We are so blessed to have a God who is PERFECT and who does not care that we are NOT. He LOVES us no matter what, and we need to thank Him and praise Him for that. AND LET GRACE BE ENOUGH! I love that line!

Love you all,

weekend of family and friends

This past weekend, Jacob, Duke and I set out to Brownfield to spend the weekend with his parents, his sister and our 2 nephews as well as go to Hillary's wedding. We both went to high school with Hillary, so it was an honor to get to go and be a part of her wedding day!

I'm mostly gonna post a few pics of our weekend! We always have so much fun when we head back home and there is never enough time to see and do all we want to! We absolutely adore our nephews, Thomas and Elijah. They make us feel so special to be their Uncle Jacob and Aunt Lyndsay!

Elizabeth and Aaron are doing an amazing job raising these 2 precious boys and we miss so much of their lives being so far away. That is why we love every minute we get to spend with them! We are very blessed.













What a fun weekend!
Love you all,

my best friend

Last Wednesday night Jacob and I got to take my best friend, Jessica, out for her birthday! She is such a sweet and sincere person and I am so blessed to have her in my life. We met in Nursing School in San Angelo, and have been best friends ever since. About 2 years ago she started working with me in the Cath Lab at Children's Medical Center and it was such an awesome experience. Now she is moving on to something a little different and more challenging for her! She will still be working at Children's, but I won't get to see her on a daily basis, which just breaks my heart :(
Here are a few pics from her birthday!





We had a most delicious steak at the Keg if you ever need a good steak!

Love,

talented...

have i told you how talented my sister and aric are??? i'm sure you all know, but i was just amazed at these 2 pics they could get with 1.) my hubby who hates these picture outings, and 2.) duke, the wild puppy who does not follow directions.
casey and aric~ you amaze me more & more with your pictures and i'm so lucky to have you both in my life!





aren't these just the best....and they haven't even gotten through all of them... :)

the lake

i just wish everyone was as lucky as i am to get to grow up going to the lake! its such a fun, "usually" relaxing place to go!
this time around there's a whole new group getting to enjoy the lake! those who didn't grow up going to mo and poppy's lake! i just love that casey's husband and mine are now part of going to the lake....oh and don't forget about DUKE! he loves it! not so sure about the water or falling into it, but he can get wet with the best of them!
i am truly blessed with the greatest family! we missed so many of you this trip, but i know there will be many more in our future, and hopefully those of my kids, one day!
mo and poppy have put so much work into the lakehouse and i just want to say thank you for giving us a place to go to and enjoy so much! we make such great memories there!

i'll leave you with a few pics of the lake!





















i wished i had gotten a picture of poppy, the man who makes all this possible! i love you! & i tried to upload a video of duke playing in the lake, but i don't have the patience. maybe at a later date!

love to you all~

Don't start expectin' this everyday!

I guess I'm a little excited about the blog, but I don't want ya'll to start expecting to see something everyday. I just had an interesting day at work and wanted to share.

For those of you who don't know, I am a pediatric nurse who is currently in the Cardiac Cath Lab. I work with babies with heart disease and defects. Anyway, it was our last case of the day and this poor baby girl was upset and wouldn't stop coughing. I felt so bad for her because I know how I feel when I have those coughing fits and it just wouldn't stop. On top of having a heart problem she was just sick with rhinovirus. So I picked her up and carried her to the recovery room with the doc and a few other nurses. Usually we don't, but she wouldn't calm down. As I was holding her, I told my best friend, Jessica, that this is why I do what I do and that I miss this part of my job. Just holding and comforting this tiny baby was what made me happy! God knew I needed that today. I miss that interaction that you get when you are a patient's nurse for more than 2-3 hours. Being in a procedural area of the hospital has taken me away from those 12 hour shifts in the ICU of taking care of the same baby for days and I miss it.

I'm pretty sure, for now, that phase of my life is over, because I have such an awesome schedule and it fits with my life now. But I thank God that he was able to give me that moment today when I have been getting a little discouraged.

On a lighter note, I just wanted to post a pic of the loves of my life!

Here goes nothin'

Well, I have been wanting to jump on the blog bandwagon for a while now, but I have either been too busy or felt like I had nothing to blog about! I still feel like I don't have much going on, but I wanted this to be a way for everyone to stay updated on the life of the McFarlands!

My husband is out of town for the next 4 days getting things figured out in Midland where his new oil properties will be. He has been through a major work shift and we thank God everyday for his job and provision.

Here's a picture of me and Duke, home alone, and missing Jacob. Duke has been looking around the house for him. It's so sad...

Duke loves giving hugs. He mostly does this with Jacob, so I guess I'll have to do for now!

What a sad face :(

We hope you visit our blog often to see what's new and exciting in our lives. One of these days there will be some awesome things to tell you about!