With spring break over I wanted to catch family and friends up on what’s been going on in our world over here. Some of these pictures are from valentines day..
our valentine snack..chocolate fondue..yum
Phoebe liked it!
Natalie's 11 b-day
Elliott's 40th b-day dinner at Fuji Steakhouse..chop chop..it was fun and delicious
yum yum!!
making "bird nests" you can eat, great snack!
The Zoo
sharing a birds nest with a friend
fruit for a delicous fruit pizza
the filo dough for the crust..not easy stuff to work with
Fruit pizza
We had a good spring break. Play dates with friends, the zoo, making yummy snacks, library, family movie night (The Chronicles of Narnia 3, Phoebe loves these movies). I am glad school is back because I like routine. So what did you do for spring break? Got big plans for summer??
Obligation: something one is bound to do : duty or responsibility
This week, bible study has been intense. I love it. We are working through Max Lacado’s “Experienceing the Heart of Jesus”. Terrific study if you are looking for one. Prayer was the topic of the week. I am totally convicted. My prayer life needs improvement. I have been in the habit of “popcorn prayers”. You know, the ones you toss up to heaven quickly because you are so busy or have a to do list a mile long. My prayers had become predictable and dull. I was going about it the wrong way.
When you walking with Christ, it is a huge privilege to be able to pray to God! With privilege comes obligation. It is our “duty” to pray. We have the divine opportunity to go to the Holy throne of God with praises, confession, thankfulness and requests. That is huge!! When you are walking with Christ, there should be a desire to want to pray. For yourself and for others. But we have made it too difficult. We want to sound eloquent and poised, and if we don’t sound that way than we just don’t pray. Well..let me let you in on a secret…it ain’t about you or me! It’s about GOD! Don’t think about it too much, just do it.
Jesus gave us the example of prayer in Matthew 6: 9-15. He showed the way. Jesus prayed all the time. He wanted to be in communion with God. It was an honor but also a privilege. Max Lacado has a terrific book out that walks you through the Lords Prayer, ” The Great House of God“ I read it and would recommend it. We need to be dwelling in our heavenly Father. It is our obligation. How do we expect to go out into a suffering world and do it alone. We can’t!! We need Jesus.. plain and simple.
Be bold in your prayers. This is my downfall. I am a timid pray’er. I want to become bold. I attend a Moms in Touch group. This is a great organization where you pray for you children and their schools. You meet once a week for an hour and pray. (I highly recommend finding a group). The difference is that you pray scriptures over them. Have you ever done that? There is some big time power in it. Try it. Pick a scripture and place your name in it. When our prayers line up with truth and God’s will he hears! Another awesome thing is that when we don’t know how or what to pray the Holy Spirit intervenes on our behalf. Praying for our children is a noble task. Take it seriously and cover them in prayer. Become a diligent ambassador for your family. Prayer is essential. It needs to be God centered not self centered. His will be done.
Here is a great model using A.C.T.S.
A: adoration, praise God for who HE is
C: confession
T: thanksgiving, thanking God for what he has don
S: supplication (intersession and requests)
There is so much more I have learned on prayer but I want to allow it to resonate in my spirit, I will be sharing soon!
John 3:30 He must become greater; I must become less
You are such a blessing to our lives and the lives you touch. I thank God for you! The twinkle in your eyes and that adorable smile brings pure delight to my soul! You have taught me so much about life. Peace, perseverance, love, joy and compassion. You are such a trooper with all you endure. I am sure God’s hands are all over your life and He is using YOU in many, many ways to further His kingdom. I pray that you continue to run the race that has been marked out for you and that in doing so, you bring others to a position of realizing their desperation for Jesus. Let your light shine sweet girl!! May God blanket you with his protection and peace that surpasses all understanding! We CELEBRATE and LOVE you, Natalie!
Matthew 5:16
In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Things here have been really, what’s the word, worrisome. Natalie had a minor complication from surgery that hopefully is working itself out. She went back to school this week and is loving the attention. They are so glad to have her back and she is glad to be back. Being home was getting boring for her.
I wanted to share a little of what I have been recently going through. I find it annoying how the evil one uses good things to change our path so that we are not in God’s will. He has schemes that he continues to use, they haven’t changed over the centuries. I have been involved in bible studies since Natalie was 6 months old. She will be 11 next month. I LOVE bible study. I love learning and digging into God’s word, sharing life with other women, sharing what Jesus has done in my life and the hope I have in Him. Well, recently I believed the lie that I was not supposed to be involved in women’s ministry. I built an idol , I don’t want to go into what it was, but the sad part is it’s a good thing. I became addicted if you will and really thought that I needed to pursue that road and possibly a career. Funny thing is that I never consulted God about this new endeavor. Went a distance down that road in my own strength. At that time in life I found myself very unsatisfied. I was aggravated, annoyed, tired, stressed and my my heart just hurt. Thank goodness I have wonderful friends that speak TRUTH to me and pray for me.
Natalie had been in extreme pain for quite a while and we couldn’t figure it out. I was emotionally exhausted and physically drained. I started focusing on the idol. I did some research into this new “adventure” and it looked like what I was looking for to fill the void in my mind and heart, but you know that feeling you get, the one that tells you something doesn’t feel right. Always go with that one. I started having second thoughts, processed it over and over. Then, then, the freedom came. We went to church one Saturday night, I sat in the pew, exhausted, we had 5 or so minutes before service started. The lights were low, music playing, people hustling around greeting one another, fellowshipping but it felt like it was all slow motion. I looked down and opened my heart. I told God how I was exhausted and I needed Him to come. Fill my soul with Him. I needed Him desperately. Suddenly I felt peace, I felt as if someone had taken their hands from around my neck, I could breathe. I was an empty cup and the hand of Jesus was pouring His living water into me. The fogged cleared and I realized this was IT…this, church, ministry, is where I get filled. It became very clear to me that the road I had been looking at (the idol) was a dangerous road, a detour. I was detoured by lies! Oh, but sweet Jesus was there, to redirect traffic. He showed me the right way for my life. That night in church, freedom. Freedom from the lies.
Now, don’t get me wrong. People have jobs. I am just telling you my story. Yes, I have had to pull away from serving in women’s ministry for this season because my family needs me, but, I will be back, I am confident in that. Not sure in what area, but I know Jesus knows and that’s all I need to know. Just need to continue to pray that I follow his road to get to my destination. We need awesome, godly people in the workforces to share the hope in Jesus, to witness, to be shinning lights for Christ. Do your job and do it well with Jesus.
You always have to search for truth and if things aren’t adding up than it’s a lie. Satan wants to divide us from God. He will use “good” things as a detour. Watch out for those huge potholes! I look forward to serving again but know where I am needed right now. God has a plan and will for me and for you. Search to know him.
I heard this song and immediately thought of my precious girls. This is what I want them to know in the deepest part of their being! Claim this truth..
Tomorrow will be 1-1-11, cool. New years always bring in new years resolutions. A few years ago I changed my wording from resolutions to goals. Resolutions get broken so quickly, we give up on them so easily, and sometimes we just jot some down because that is the thing to do. Goals on the other hand, in my mind, are something to work for, something to fight for and something to attain.
We recently traveled to my dad’s in Georgia and I had some time to think of this past year. I ran through the months and boy was it busy! I also had time to pray and really think about what worked and what didn’t. Where did I need to grow and what needed to go? What areas in me needed to be tended too? What did I envision 2011 to be? What changes needed to be made in all areas, spiritual growth, physical, and mental? What are some new “goals” I need to make? I really want to take some time in the next day or so to get out a journal and jot down my thoughts.
I know one thing that I am going to do is memorize scripture. Some girlfriends and I are going to participate in Beth Moore’s Siesta Scripture Memorization Team. Check it out! It is going to be a challenge but it will be fulfilling.
So what goals or resolutions are you setting? What do you want 2011 to look like? I hope and pray you and your families have a safe and prosper New Year! Talk with you next year…haha!
1. If you eat a holiday cookie fresh out of the oven, it has no calories because everyone knows that the first cookie is the test and thus calorie free.
2. If you drink a diet soda after eating your second cookie, it also has no calories because the diet soda cancels out the cookie calories.
3. If a friend comes over while you’re making your holiday cookies and needs to sample, you must sample with your friend. Because your friend’s first cookie is calories free, (rule #1) yours is also. It would be rude to let your friend sample alone and, being the friend that you are, that makes your cookie calorie free.
4. Any cookie calories consumed while walking around will fall to your feet and eventually fall off as you move. This is due to gravity and the density of the caloric mass.
5. Any calories consumed during the frosting of the holiday cookies will be used up because it takes many calories to lick excess frosting from a knife without cutting your tongue.
6. Cookies colored red or green have very few calories. Red ones have three and green ones have five – one calorie for each letter. Make more red ones.
7. Cookies eaten while watching “Miracle on 34th Street ” have no calories because they are part of the entertainment package and not part of one’s personal fuel.
8. As always, cookie pieces contain no calories because the process of breaking causes calorie leakage.
9. Any cookies consumed from someone else’s plate have no calories since the calories rightfully belong to the other person and will cling to their plate. We all know how calories like to CLING!
10. Any cookies consumed while feeling stressed have no calories because cookies used for medicinal purposes NEVER have calories. It’s a rule!
So go ahead and enjoy those Christmas cookies…we only get them once a year! Did you make any and if so what kind?
Wanted to share some photo’s of what has been happening in our life. We have about 1-1.5 inches of snow today and it is still falling! It is beautiful!! Life has been busy and we are looking forward to slowing down and enjoying the Christmas season. We have had birthdays, get togethers, Thanksgiving, baked cookies/candies and decorated the home for Christmas. I just love this time of year. All the lights and decor. Love seeing how others decorate their homes too. Everyone has a different style and it is neat to see the creativity. I tend to be more natural/rustic, using lots of berries and pine cones. What’s your Christmas style?
I hope you had a wonderful, peaceful, restful and blessed Thanksgiving! I just love that holiday and I really thing it gets overlooked.
We are in the midst of Christmas preparations. We spent the weekend getting decorations and Christmas tree’s up. It’s fun being in our new home, putting up the tree for the first time. The house looks so pretty. I will post pictures soon!
Our church started a new sermon series called…”All I Want for Christmas…” and today was HOPE.
Hope is the expectation of something good to come
That is what Christmas is all about. A precious gift given to us, Jesus, so that we have hope. Hope that the best is yet to come! Hope that God’s love is for forever. However weak and wayward we are, God can still work through us. He uses us, in all our messy ways to bring glory to HIM! In our insignificance we are significant with Christ! There is light for this dark world. Jesus is the light and the way! We are called to be shining stars to others, sharing what Jesus has done in our lives. Do you share?
When my youngest daughter, Phoebe was 4, we were heading to preschool and Third Day was on the radio. They were playing There’s a Light at the End of the Tunnel. Now understand that Phoebe is a huge Third Day fan, so she was just singing her little heart out. She yelled up to me and asked if I knew what the light at the end of the tunnel was. I played along and said no, what was it? She yelled, “it’s Jesus!!” How stinking cute is that? At 4 years old, I just thanked God for her young, sweet faith.
So let me share that there is light for your life. His name is Jesus. He is our hope. This Christmas, if your life is needing some direction, seek the Wonderful Counselor. If you are feeling weak, seek the Mighty God. If you are having family troubles, seek the Everlasting Father and if your life is chaotic, seek the Prince of Peace!
I hope to share more of what is going on at our home. I have declared December as my rest and reflect month. The year is so busy and so I am claiming December. Time with family, time with my hubby, time with my kids, time with Christ!
I have lately been pondering on how to simplify my life. Okay, you can stop laughing now. Seriously, we live in a fast forward world and we wonder why we are fatigued, ill, depressed and aggravated. Have you ever intended on doing something, something good and ended up so stinking annoyed tired and stressed that you sat shaking you head wondering what was wrong with you? I have done that too many times to count.
Mid-summer I felt a strong conviction to simplify my life. I ventured over to our Family Christian bookstore and bought this study.
This is an incredible study. It has given me many things to ponder. I would highly recommend it if you are looking to simplify your life. One thing the author talks about is “good” vs. “best” This has really intrigued me. We all do many things that are good, but is it the best for where we are right now in life? I started applying this to every opportunity that comes up in my life. I have been asked to do several “good” things, but I always say that I will get back with them on it. I don’t want to impulsively commit and than be annoyed and frustrated. I pray about how the “good” will impact my relationship with Christ, my family, my time and my sanity. I used to be the yes girl, everyone would ask me to do things because they knew I would. I used to be the people pleaser. Well, learning through God’s word and applying some tools I learned in the above study, it has become much more easier to say “no.” I truly believe that God has broken me free of that captivity. I also was a go, go, go girl and now I want to be home more. I enjoy being home. Now, I know that is totally out of my character so it is God! Think about your weekly schedule. How stressed out are you just thinking about it? Especially with the holidays coming up, whew, anxiety rises. There is hope! Jesus has a calling for each one of us. I truly believe that when we live a surrendered, obedient life to Christ, our lives will be simpler. Christ is faithful and wise. Knowing Him and doing life with Him is the way.
Yesterday, my girlfriend and I were talking about living a simplified life . We opened God’s word and this is a scripture we read ( we are in a Moms in Touch group, we pray for our kids and their schools)
Psalm 19:7-8
The law of the LORD is perfect,
refreshing the soul.
The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
The precepts of the LORD are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the LORD are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.
Do you see it? The last sentence in verse 7, “making wise the simple.” We thought that was so cool. Not just the scriptures, but we had just been talking about this very thing and then wham, God blesses us with this! When you are wise, you are simple. But, if you flip it “when you are simple, you are wise.” Word play, I love it! I also love that God’s law is perfect and refreshing to the soul. Who needs some refreshing? God’s laws also gives joy to the heart. Praise you Jesus! God is trustworthy, thank you Father!
So I want to challenge you to look at your life, right now where you are and see where you can simplify. Pray for God’ leading and for discernment. Look at the “goods” and see if they are “bests”. What are your priorities? It will be hard, trust me, but it is so rewarding and freeing. This life places so many demands on us. God doesn’t do this. He just calls us to love Him with our whole heart, soul, mind and strength and then to love others. That seems pretty simple huh? We are the ones that fills life with busyness. We don’t have to live like the rest of the world, rush rush, hurry, hurry. We can be different! Actually that is our calling. To be different!
Fall is here and life is slowing down. There is just something about the sun setting earlier. I know for this go, go, go girl it allows me, in my crazy mind to slow down. I want to be curled up on the couch with a good book, fire in the fireplace, a yummy cup of coffee and quiet! Sounds heavenly doesn’t it?!
I thought I would share through photo’s whats been happening lately. We have had fall parties, birthday parties, family photo’s…so enjoy catching up with me.
We watched the new Disney Tinkerbell movie. It is really cute. After the movie Phoebe wanted to make a fairy house. So, this is the finished home. She came up with the design and decor. Pretty cute huh…we took tons of pictures while she was creating it but there are just too many to post.
Phoebe's fairy house
Natalie and her friend Jazlyn
Phoebe at the cornmaze
Halloween Hippy
Halloween 2010
Natalie and friends from school
a fairy, a princess, a ninja oh my..
cozy and quiet
So there is a small look at our life. It’s simple but fun! I hope you are enjoying fall and coming up with a holiday plan so you can rest and enjoy it.
Hi, let me tell you a little about myself. I live in Ky with my husband Elliott and we have two adorable and fun girls, Natalie and Phoebe. I am a stay-at-home mom who loves and praises Jesus. I have a passion for learning God’s word and enjoy sharing what Jesus has done in my life, encouraging others to know the blessings of a relationship with Christ. I also enjoy reading, cooking, bible study, healthy living, a good cup of coffee, girls night out, and spending time with family and friends. Life is a journey! I am glad you walked on over, sit a while, relax and I pray you are refreshed and encouraged.
