It was our second night of our vacation. We were watching the local Fox station's newscast because they said they might have an interview with newly crowned American Idol David Cook. When the breaking news announcement came on I thought it would be something political or maybe a local happening. What came next wasn't just breaking news, it was heart-breaking news. We learned that Maria Sue Chapman, 5 year old daughter of Steven Curtis Chapman had been killed in a tragic accident. While I was still teary-eyed Jack gathered us all together to pray for a family that I've never met but feel like I know.

To know more about Maria or to leave a message for the Chapman family, go here.

And please keep remembering the Chapmans in your prayers. Because even though Maria is whole and happy in Heaven with Jesus, her family is still grieving the loss of their beloved daughter.

April flew by, just like I knew it would. We actually had a great month. The ladies' conference at our church was uplifting and challenging. God is continuing to heal me from past hurts, but it's a long and on-going process. We were challenged to spend time with God first thing in the morning for two weeks, and I did it! My time with God has been rather hit and miss lately, so seeing how I could get up and have time with Him was a good thing. I wish I could say those two weeks set the pace for the rest of my month, but I have found myself waking up late far too often, so I need to get to bed earlier, so my mornings can start earlier!

My friends and I had a fun-filled whirlwind shopping day in the nearest big city. We hit an outlet mall, a regular mall, a great stand-alone department store, and a Tex-Mex restaurant. All in one day! I bought a few things and got some really good deals. But the best part was the fun we all had!

We capped off the month with the girls' dance recital. All four of them looked beautiful and were so graceful! This will probably be the last recital that all four girls dance in. Hope wants to take piano instead of dance next year. She really has not been fond of dance lessons the last couple of years, but she does like dancing at home. She is very graceful and would do pretty well if she continued, but her heart is not in it. Faith is a beautiful dancer! She has a natural grace and poise that shows in her performance. And she is a natural-born performer. Joy and Grace also enjoy being on stage, and they seemed to be having a lot of fun performing. My mom was able to visit for the weekend and the girls especially enjoyed having Nana watch them dance.

I can't believe May is already over one-third of the way through! Time is certainly flying!