Remembering Anthony

For our family, today is a day of remembering a sweet, loving little boy - Anthony Pantano.

A year ago today, Anthony was unexpectedly taken home to be with Jesus. The last few days have been filled with memories today being the hardest. 

Anthony captured people's attention with his bright, beautiful red hair and then drew them in with his sweet face and amazing smile. In the short time he was here, he touch so many people's lives.

Today please keep his family in your prayers, hug your kids and tell them you love them. 

We love and miss you Anthony! 

Kid's Baptism

Here is a small video of the kid's baptism on Sunday, June 9, 2013

Choosing to Be a Reflection

The month of June is special to Dave and I in that its the month our children, Emily and Matt, were born. 

Today this month became even more special in that Emily & Matt were both baptized today. "Proud" is not really the word that I think of when I reflect on their decision to make their belief and salvation through Jesus Christ public. When I think of being "proud", I think of a contribution being made to result in an outcome. Dave and I have nothing to do with their belief in Jesus as their Savior, it is all a God thing. Yes, we believe in God and Jesus as our Lord and Savior and they know this, we take them to church, we do our best to be examples of God's love and show them how to live a life that brings glory to God but when it comes down to it it is only God who can touch their hearts and bring them to Him. 

So, the word that would better describe how we are feeling today is blessed. Blessed first that God gave them to us. Do they drive us crazy sometimes? Oh yes!! But we wouldn't have it any other way. Blessed that God has touched both their hearts and they have accepted Jesus as their Savior. I have been truly blessed that God gave me the opportunity to help Matt take the steps to accept Jesus. Now, today we are blessed to have been able to watch as our children chose to make their acceptance of Jesus as their Savior and their desire to follow Him public before our church family and friends. 

It is a blessing to not only have them as our children but to have them as our brother and sister in Christ. 

Back to Business

As you've probably noticed, I've been "offline" for about 3 weeks. During this brief hiatus, not only did normal life happen - you know the day in, day out activities - but some special moments too.

Probably the best moment was being able to travel to Illinois to surprise my brother, Dennis, in the celebration of his milestone birthday 50! I arrived the day after his birthday and was able to spend 4 days with him and his family. Recently, Dennis mentioned in one of his messages, he's a Pastor, about my tendency when we were young kids to "wander off" while our family would go bumming (translation - window shopping). Keeping this story in mind we surprised him at a local grocery store saying I was lost, you know "wandering". 

In order to keep him in the dark that I was coming to town, I went ahead and sent him his birthday card which wasn't just a card. I've been trying to be a little more "clever" in my birthday greetings this year. The idea for his greeting came to mind several months before his birthday. 

I purchased a helium filled "age appropriate" balloon, I had to tease him about his age, and attached to the balloon's string the actual birthday card. I mailed it so it would arrive the day prior to his birthday, which meant next day air. Although the idea came months before, sadly my execution regarding mailing got totally delayed. It was a good thing I did though. According to him, the balloon was only inflated for a day.  

This trip was especially restful as I traveled alone leaving the kids home in the excellent care of their father and a few friends to help with the time between school and his return from work. 

I had such a wonderful time catching up with my brother and his family! It had been way too long since I had seen them. Hopefully, Dave, the kids and I will be able to go there soon and visit again.

My trip home was a little unnerving. Sadly, my flight was on the day of the tragedy at the Boston Marathon. Thankfully my flight not only stayed on schedule it actually left a little earlier and I arrived home ahead of schedule. I was greeted by Dave and the kids, such a wonderful sight!! 

Since the trip, I've been trying to get back into the groove of daily life which has come back slowly.  I've also been sidelined with a few migraines due to the erratic temperature shifts we've had here in the Northeast. I'm feeeling like I am now back on track and the proof is that here I am blogging again....looks like we are "back to business".

Oh, during this online hiatus, I've still been busy trying out new recipes. I'll be posting the successful recipes we've tried......they are scrumptious!

A Year Ago Tonight

It was just a year ago tonight that we were waiting for an October snow storm to come to our area.  Tonight we sit in our home waiting for Hurricane Sandy to pay us a visit. 

Already school has been cancelled for tomorrow and for many schools Tuesday also. Yes, the kids are excited, me maybe not quite so much.  

We are unsure what will come but we do know what Hurricane Irene brought just over a year ago and those memories make us a little anxious. 

Our family is blessed in that we have not had any flooding in our home but when storms with high winds come I always think of when a portion of our roof was lifted during such a storm. Of course, any flooding means being cut off from the heart of our town and portions of surrounding towns.  

Right now my thoughts and prayers are for many friends who live in flood zones in our town and surrounding towns.  There is anxiety and concern as most of them suffered great loss during Hurricane Irene and reports of this storm say it has the potential of being much worse. Many have just finished getting their homes back in order from that storm only to have it under another "threat".   The majority of these friends know that God holds all things in His hands and that He intends all for good. Many of those families were tremendous testimonies to me of God's comfort and provision to those who fear and love Him.  

It is only natural for any of us in the path of this storm to be anxious for what may come but what we must remember is that everything is for God's glory and our testimonies of His love and our love for Him are most evident in the times we struggle and are pressed.  After all it is in those times, we are to draw upon and lean on Him, "Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you." I Peter 5:7 

 I'm also reminded of something I read this week in my devotions. It said "Every difficulty demands a choice. You can waste your suffering and be miserable, or you can let the Lord use it to transform and equip you to become His valuable and effective servant." It is these times of suffering or moments of being pressed that we are shaped and equipped to be more effective for God. It is in these moments when we go to God and draw from Him.  Our relationship with Him becomes more intimate and we truly "cast all of our cares" on Him and allow Him to carry us through.  After all it is all about God and not about us.......our lives are for His glory not our own. He  will use us to be testimonies of the love and relationship that can be had with Him and sometimes that testimony is most seen in our struggles.

So, as I sit here waiting for the storm all I can pray is God use me whatever may come my way.  You hold the world in Your hand and You hold my future.

My prayers are with all who will be effected by this storm and may God use you in a mighty way....whether it be in praising Him for bringing you through unscathed or through a journey of dependence and provision in the midst of struggle.

Thank you again for allowing me to share with you! 

Remembering

Today is a day for remembering what happened 11 years ago. 

I can recall it like it was yesterday. All those unknown moments of wondering where Dave was in the city knowing he took the Path train right into the heart of the towers.  As I type this my recollections of that day make my heart beat faster with the anxiety I felt that day.

Dave was already away from the buildings when the planes hit but I knew the heart of my volunteer fire fighter husband and although he had called to say he was okay it was prior to the towers falling. When I heard of their collapse, I wondered if  he had gone to help and couldn't be at peace until he called me again saying he was still okay and trying to come home. 

Its a day I never want to relive but in the end I was blessed that day, my husband came home so many people did not come home.

When I think of that day, I think of Emily.  Nine months after that awful day she was born.  I think of God's protection. He protected Dave so that he could be a Father to this little girl. 

Today I choose to remember all those who were lost that day, all those who have given their lives in sacrifice to protect my freedom and my God who is the great Protector and who is in control. 

A Year Ago Today - Irene

It is hard to believe that a year ago today we were dealing with the aftermath of Irene. When the storm came our way, our biggest concern was that the huge oak tree on the property behind our house stay upright. It did and thankfully has since then been removed. The start of school was delayed for the kids due to flooding inside their school. 

Now, we are hearing the reports of Isaac making landfall in the South. 

I'm reminded of the mighty hand of God.  How He is always in control and of all things.  God is mighty and worthy of all praise.  He holds all things in His hands. 

May His hand of protection be on those who are feeling the effects of this storm. 

It Started 4 Years Ago

I cannot believe it has been 4 years that I've been doing this family blog.  At that time, Emily was 6 and Matt was 3. Many changes have happened since then some good, some bad, some welcomed, some not.... and yet here we are feeling blessed by it all. Here is the first post on the blog -

Welcome to our House

Well, I've decided it is time to become a little more technologically savvy here at the Wessel home and find a new way to keep those we know better informed of what is going on here at home. There have been so many times when things have happened here and I try to make a mental note to tell someone about it the next time we talk and I forget. So with Dave's approval, the Wessel blog has been born. My hope is to use this blog as a means of communicating the happenings of our family. The name of our blog is taken from the infamous Disney world..the happiest place on earth. We definitely aren't Disney world... although we do have our own ups and downs that make for a terrific ride and boy we are busy. We hope you will find the information/stories we post informative and feel free to chime in.