Decisions Decisions

This message couldn't be more timely for us.  We all have decisions to make in life and I have to say I am guilty in thinking it was God's trail of "bread crubs" that lead me to making the right decisions. 

I have to admit what he is talking about in the sermon is huge in the Church and I am guilty of it big time!!  Eye opening and life changing on how to make godly decisions.

Olivia Ann (Anastasia)

Olivia: Kind one

Anastasia (ah-nah-stah-SEE-yah)
spiritual meaning: Resurrection - The state of one who has returned to life.

To be honest with you, I did not know the meaning of her name when I gave her the name Olivia. Her name in Russia was Anastasia so we decided to keep that as her middle name. As far as her first name...I was praying over names before my girls came home...before I even knew I was going to be a mother to two girls. I had heard the name Olivia and my heart was drawn to that name.


I LOVE that her name means kind one. When she came home from Russia she was anything but kind (not that a 14 month old could be kind but believe me, she was anything but kind due to orphanage living).

For the past few years I have made it a tradition to crawl into bed with the birthday girl the night before her birthday and tell her of her special story...about how God brought her home. As I laid in bed with Olivia reminiscing over her beautiful story we were laughing about the funny things she did as a baby. One of those funny, but not so funny things she did was hoard things. Her sister could not crawl yet so she would take all of the toys and put them just far enough to where her sister could not reach. Then as her sister grew she would take her sisters toys and her toys and hide them. As she got older we use to find things under her bed, under her pillow and things hidden in her closet. Through the years I have seen her heart majorly soften towards people. She is the one who will quickly serve her sisters first when helping mommy with lunch or dinner. She has recently told me that her friends and family are worth more than her things. She told her sister the other day..."you can have my toy, because I love you more than I love my toy."
 Tonight after doing our Advent tears ran down her face over her sin. It was such a sweet brokenness. She told me she hated her sin so much and she wanted the Lord to come now. She said she wanted to see Jesus and thank Him for dying for her sin. It was such a sweet sincere cry which of course made this mom bawl like a baby. It gave me a glimpse of how the Lord may feel when we come to him in our times of brokenness. It made me want to hold her and make her feel loved and forgiven and cherished. It was a good hug tonight.

I also love that I get to encourage my daughter with the fact that her name means kind one.

I love too that fact that her middle name means Resurrection. There is no life for a child in an Orphanage. The fact that she is adopted...chosen, out of all of those babies, by God, for our family! God returned her back to life.

                                          HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET O

Another Amazing Opportunity for the Duggars

My heart hurts for the Duggar family and I pray for healing, the only kind of healing God can bring. If I know the Duggar family, they WILL use this pain to encourage others. Glory will go to God, they will turn their hearts to the Lord, their children are going to learn first hand how Christians deal with pain through the example of their parents, their marriage will strengthen, and they will go on trusting the Lord with the size of their family. The most amazing thing...America will see a true and steadfast faith and how much peace we can truly experience in our most difficult times.  He is a faithful God and I have no doubt He is going to bring so much good out of all of this.  This opportunity IS His goodness.

What's My Reason?

He legitimately had every reason in the world to keep the change for himself. 



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DXL9vIUbWg   (just incase the video dosen't show up)

Happy (late) Thanksgiving

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  So much to be thankful for!!!  It feels good to finally have a chance to sit down at the computer.  I actually don't have a chance... I have one child to the right of me doing her spelling and the other to the left of me reading...and if you know me, it is soooo hard to do things with distractions. So if this post is choppy you'll know why. 

Update on Gabby...We did go to jail to visit her but there was no record of her???  Not sure if she is lying to her boyfriend or what?  My prayer is that she went back home and got off of the streets. 

We have gone back out and met some more precious people.  The girlfriend I have been going out with, her and I are thinking it might be best if we worked with an organization.  Our husbands agree that it would be safer too.  The streets are not exactly the best place for women to go out and witness.  We will continue to keep food bags in our cars and there is a spacific married couple we will continue to visit but for now I think our street days are over.

SO....onto a totally different subject... You know I love my projects!  And of course I am never without a one.  Many of you have asked me..."what the heck are the kids doing while you are busy doing your projects???"  That is the nice thing about homeschool!  They are usually right by me asking me a bazillion questions about what I am doing, how I am doing it and why I am doing it?  They also read to me while I am working, or they ride bikes, roller blade, play on the playground, build things, paint...really the list is endless.  Here is a picture of one of them as I worked in the garage....

Is this not the cutes thing ever!!!  I was sanding one of my latest projects and she went inside, grabbed her sleeping bag and enjoyed a nice nap in the cool air.  She slept there for atleast and hour and a half.

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Thanksgiving was really nice.  We had my parents and hubbys whole family here.  It was also Neals dads 60th birthday that day.  Once again I got lucky and didn't have to cook the meal.

 That was a tasty bird!!


The girls loved playing with their cousins..

And of course we can't go a day without the computer?!?! 

Here is a picture of Neals family...His parents, brothers, sister and their families.

I really love Thanksgiving.  I love the food but most of all...I love that it's just a day to really enjoy the best blessing of all...FAMILY!!! 


Well I saved the best for last.  If you have actually made it to the bottom of this post then you get to see what Grace got as an early Christmas present....

Thats right...another dog!  You know, it's just not crazy enough around here!  Question: What do you give a lazy child?  Answer: A responsibility. 
His name is Boo and we of course rescued him.  He is a 2 years old cockapoo.  He is really cute.  After we brought him home we soon realized he is a horney little thing.  Our other dog is a female and my parents dog is a female.  He thinks my parents dog is reeeeally pretty.  We are having that issue fixed this week.  Speaking of which, I'll end on a funny story.


So I brought boo home and quickly gave him a bath.  He was matted with knots and very dirty.  After washing him I got busy cutting off all of the knots.  He had a lot of knots on his tummy.  There was a pretty big one I kept pulling on and moving back and forth so that I could get under it and cut it off.  Welllll, after all the tugging and moving I finally realized it was not a knot!!  Poor little guy.  I am not use to having a boy dog!!

Michelle, You Truly Are One Of My Heros!!!!!

As most of you already know they are going to have their 20th baby....and I know most people will roll their eyes and say they are crazy.  With all the rolling of eyes and criticism she always returns the with understanding and truth.  Made me think of this...Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain.  Philippians 2:14-16


I think God is soooooo good and I am so encouraged by this family.  I think all of Michelle answers were awesome in this video.  Obviously, 20 kids is not Gods plan for everyone but it amazes me to see how many kids they are raising up in the Lord and sending out into this world for Christ. 

This may sound offensive and really it's just a thought that passed through my head for a second......What if...it was the non-believers who closed their wombs and the believers who adopted more and left their wombs open to whatever God saw fit?  Honestly, it was a split second thought.  I wonder what the world would look like?  Don't get me wrong, I believe God is completely sovereign through it all...all of our fears and doubts.   

UPDATE...

We went out today to visit with our friends and they were gone.  We were sad but we totally trust God in this.  We prayed in the car that God would lead us...in particular, my heart was praying for Gabby. We were led to more new friends in need and had a chance to talk with them for a bit. Another sad situation...husband and wife on the streets. She was very protective of herself and stuff. Very little eye contact. It was evident she has had a hard past. She had some understanding about Christianity.  She has encountered some weird "god stuff" on the streets with others sharing and wanting to force things on them.  She did not want us to pray with them because of some "scary" expierences in the past but she did ask us to pray for them when we go home.  It was a great opportunity to share about the true Christ, His love for us, and the freedom He offers. It was really sad to see the way this lady viewed herself...almost unlovable.
Then it was a miracle what happened next. We started once again driving aimlessly around and we happen to see Curtis walking across the street and this was not a street that was close to where we had met him in the first place. I do not believe in coincidences or accidents! God is sovereign in EVERYTHING!  Curtis informed us that Gabby had a warrant out for her arrest and she was now in jail.  John too was arrested. Please pray. My friend and I are going to try to visit Gabby in jail this week. I do believe with all of my heart the Lord has lead us to her, just not sure why yet?  I just know that I want her to feel cared for  and most importantly that Christ cares! Please please pray if you are reading this!

Food Bags

A while back the girls and I, for a home school project, made food bags.  The girls wrote a verse on the bag, filled it with food and then we kept them in the car so we would always be prepared if we happen to come across someone in need.
We ran out of the bags a while ago and I had been really wanting to make more bags but had not got around to doing it.  This time though, not only did I want to make bags but I really had a desire to seek out those in need but was not sure what that looked like for the girls and I since it probably would not be safe for us to do on our own.  So I prayed about it.  Not to long ago I was having a conversation with a friend of mine in our home fellowship...she shared with me a similar desire.  So we bought some food, put our bags together and went out!  I can't tell you how much it blessed me!!!

I won't go into great detail but God did lead us to some precious people in need.  We have already visited them twice.  My husband went the second time to meet them.  If you are reading this right now please please say a prayer for Mary, John, Gabby, and Curtis.  Their situations are heart breaking.  All non related.  They just know each other from being on the streets.  To give you an example...Gabby graduated high school last year, she is from a broken home and is already out on the streets.  She is a very sweet girl with big dreams.  We had the privilege to share the Lord with them and pray over them.  We are very excited to go back and visit with them more.   As of right now they sleep in the back corner of an abandoned parking lot on blankets. 
The conversations we have had with our girls have been so deep, so eye opening and to hear them pray for these lost souls...there is nothing like it. 


I love love this song.  I can't even begin to tell you what it does in my heart.  When I was young I use to pray that it would not be the Lord's will for me to be a missionary (i know you all laugh cause you use to pray the same thing...well okay, not all of you).  Now, I would love it if He chose to send us.  I know you guys are giggling because you all know how much I love my make-up, home decorating and shopping....I can't begin to tell you really how much that stuff does not mean to me.  It means nothing to me but a little fun. There are times I despise all of that stuff when I think about the unfathomable number of people in need of Christ.  I don't want any of those earthly things to become waisted thoughts or time.  And I get it, it's not my stuff that is preventing lost souls from coming to Christ.  It humbles me though and I am so thankful for my blessings.  I don't deserve any of it.  Most importantly... I don't deserve my eternal destination. 

We are going to go back this week to visit our new friends.  Please pray for them...and for us.  I am not their savior...I cannot change their life (as much as my heart aches to provide for all their needs)...pray that we would share well with them and point them in the direction to the One who can.

UPDATE: 11/1/2011

We went out today to visit with our friends and they were gone.  We were sad but we totally trust God in this.  We prayed in the car that God would lead us...in particular, my heart was praying for Gabby.  We were led to more new friends in need and we had a chance to talk with them for a bit.  Another sad situation...husband and wife on the streets.  She was very protective of herself and stuff.  It was evident she has had a hard past.  She had some understanding about Christianity.  She has encountered some weird "god stuff" on the streets with others sharing and wanting to force things on them.  It was a great opportunity to share about the true Christ and the freedom He offers.  It was really sad to see the way this lady viewed herself...almost unlovable.  Then it was a miracle what happened next.  Driving aimlessly around we happen to see Curtis walking across the street and this was not a street that was close to where we had met him in the first place. I do not believe in coincidences or accidents! God is sovereign in EVERYTHING!  Curtis informed us that Gabby had a warrant out for her arrest and she was now in jail.  John too was arrested.  Please pray.  My friend and I are going to try to visit Gabby in jail this week.  I do believe with all of my heart the Lord has lead us to her.  I am not sure why but I want her to know we care and most importantly, Christ cares!  Please please pray if you are reading this!

Six Years Ago Today We Got A Call....

Two days later we were parents.

God's timing is perfect!!

Oh, how I love Craigs list!!

So check this chair out I found here locally on Craig's list. 

It's a Carbon chair which retails for $600 at CB2 and that is for the modern version.  This is the Mid-Century Modern version.  Whoop Whoop. 

I went to go take a look at the chair and the older gentleman who owned it was the cutest man ever.  He had the biggest pop belly with suspenders.  He lived on a farm with all kinds of animals.  The girls were very excited!  They got to pet horses, donkeys and mini horses. 

The owner was having a yard sale that day and when we walked up I spotted my chair.  In an e-mail he had told me the chrome was in good condition...poor man, he must need glasses.  It was crusty and rusted.  He wanted $50 for it which was good for this type of chair.  I offered $40 despite the fact it was all rusted.  I am always up for a good challenge.  As I was taking the chair away the gentleman says..."do you know the name of this chair" "no sir, I don't"  (at least the Mid-Century name)  He told me I should check into it because he was told it was worth quite a bit since it was vintage.  I still have yet to do the research.
So, wanna know how to turn a chrome rusted chair into a shiny new one...take tin foil, dip it into water and scrub.  The chrome looks brand new!!!  Of course I was sooooo bad at taking the before pic with all of the rust.  I was just so excited to get it outside and start working on it.  And then I of course had the cushions re-done as well...

It's white with sliveryish/grayish.

I am totally stoked!!! Score!

More Fun

Remember these pictures I painted....

Well you know me.  I like change.  I am getting rid of the green, actually it's all going outside on the new back patio.  Anyway, I am doing a minty kind of a greenish lightish aqua.  Haha, did you get that?
So I decided to paint over these pics with a color I thought would go better...

I also added a silver glaze over the top.  I also think it plays well off of the dining table.

Wait until you see the chairs I found off of Craig's list!!  I am in the process of refinishing the wood and the cushions.  Okay, I'll give you a sneak peak...

Totally Mid-Century Modern!!  I am currently working on the one you see on the left.  It took me 2 hrs to take that chair apart!!!  And my hands were killing me!  The fabric I got is the color of my dining table top.  These chairs, once they are done, will find themselves in our family room.
  So you are not going to believe how much I found these chairs for.  I actually found another pair of these chairs here in town and the person was selling them for $225 each.  If you look them up in Ebay you'll see they are listed anywhere between $150-500...depending on the condition.  I found mine on Craig's list in Jeff City MO.  My in-law are in the process of moving here so I thought I would just have these awesome chairs hitch a ride with them.  Okay so are you ready for the price....$50 for BOTH!!!!!!!!!  Whoop Whoop!!
My In-laws are making their final move next weekend and I have been able to find two more amazing finds.  Can't wait to show you!

The other day the girls and I decided to have another painting day.  I purchased two little canvases for the girls to paint on and I myself bought a long canvas to place above my fireplace.  I wanted to do something in grey and yellow since grey is the color running through the house and yellow is my pop color. 

Sorry about the shadows but I didn't want to take it down again.  I think it will look better up there once we have the fireplace sandblasted.  It's not professional but it beats spending hundreds of $'s!! 



Act 17:26

I think if things are ever going to look different it has to start in the Church.  I just recently heard a teacher speak on the topic of Race and even though her heart was in the right place and her intentions were to encourage unity, little did she know she accomplished the exact opposite!!  It broke my heart and actually started a fire within me.  Everything she said was so off and felt so wrong!  My heart was beating so hard I thought it was going to come out of my chest.  After the lecture was over, as insecure as I felt, I chose to speak with the teacher about some of the things that did not sit right with me.  She thanked me and then intellectually justified things.  As I drove home that morning the frustration inside of me grew and grew. 
Either the Church does not understand the theology of race or, not even realizing it, they have adapted to the cultures way of thinking including the terminology. We cannot expect unity if we think or act like the culture.  Think back to how you learned about Race?? School, movies, TV?  I know as a kid I did not learn from the Church.  The images I saw and the terminology that was used only created another generation of segregation. So incredibly sad!!  Thankfully I have come across some amazing pastors who have exposed the very poor teaching and proclaimed biblical truth.
There are some topics I really wish we heard the Church discuss more...Education, Race, and Adoption.  Very very important topics to the Church!
This video is such a great example of why even the church is slow to change in the topic of Race.  Segregation was accepted in the Church.  I hear my dad talk about growing up in it.  My Grandfather himself was very racist.  The crazy thing is, the Bible taught the same thing then as it does now.  What was up with these pastors back then and even now???  Seriously, THE CULTURE SUCKS and we the Church NEED TO WAKE UP!!!!!!!!



Bloodlines Documentary with John Piper from Crossway on Vimeo.

For parents out there who desire to teach their children the truth about Race I highly recommend Answers in Genesis.  Search their site, so many great things for kids.  The girls and I are going through this right now and it's GREAT!!!

Here is a short video, right to the point..

My First Collection

I have come across many women who collect a certain thing(s) or they've inherited a collection from a family member and I've always thought that was special but I've never come across anything I would want to collect or at least love something so much that I would want to store and keep around for a long time.  If you know me, I am the throw away queen!  As soon as I got back from my honeymoon I sold my wedding dress. 

I don't know if I am getting more mature (HA!), more sentimental (double HA!) or if I have just found something I can't take my eyes off of!!  My Grandma use to have a collection of plates that my Aunt now owns.  Every time I am at her house I admire them.  I have told her countless times that I would LOVE to inherit them but considering my Aunt has a daughter who too would love the set, I am pretty sure they will not end up in my cupboards. 

It never dawned on me that this was something I could collect.  My mind just doesn't think that way.  I am constantly looking around my house to see what I could sell, give away or throw away.  Definitely not collect and store!!!

So not that any of you care....but I just thought I would share with you my new collection.  I don't actually own any yet but maybe if family members read this post and just so happens to be on Amazon or in an antique store they can remember me at Christmas and Birthday :).

Just beautiful!!! And so versatile.  It's called Hobnail opps...thanks Mom.  It is called Imperial Candlewick.

I feel so grown up and sentimental. 

~And hubby if you are reading this I know collections give you hives. I promise, this will be my only collection ;).   

Back Patio is Almsot Done...YAY!!!

We finished the back patio ceiling this morning.  Tomorrow we are doing stucco for the back wall and then we will move the furniture out.  Whoop Whoop! 
We were going to go with the ordinary dry wall for the ceiling but then we thought...since when did we just do the ordinary thing?  I began to rack my brain and since we love the Urban look I thought some kind of metal would look great but, the cost would not be so great though.  I started to look around at junk yards and Craig's list.  I found a guy at a metal junk yard who had a bunch of used corrugated metal sheeting from a barn for a really great price!!!  Metal, rusted, used, good price... Man, did I do the happy dance!!!  I was sooooooooo excited!  This junk yard was heavenly!!  I could have bought so much stuff.  I actually ended up buying some J metal that is totally cool and rusted...they are awesome!  I am going to use them as picture shelves.
Anyway, like I said we finished the metal ceiling and I am over the moon!  I am so in love with it. 

Now I just need to find some cool industrial looking fans.

A Must Must Watch!!!!!

Watch it to the end...but make sure you have tissue!!

Victor, a 9 year old, was in the hospital alone with cancer.  The Watters family was often on the same unit becasue their daughter too was dealing with a simular cancer.  The Watters family adopted Victor, cared for him, shared Jesus and loved him up until his death on September 7th, 2011. 


As another friend of ours shared on their blog..."A life with a soul is filled with so many blessings. I can't say (because I don't know this family), but I would guess that whatever struggles came with bringing Victor into their home (financial, emotional, etc.), were a pittance compared to the abundant blessings showered upon the Watters family from and through their five years of interactions with him.

Pilgrim's Progress

I know most of you are going to think I am a big dork for recommending this movie...but that's okay.  Most of you already think I am a dork LOL!

For some of your little right brain learners this is perfect.  It is a great visual.  SOOOO much to talk about, as you know, if you have already read the book.  My little right brainer has a hard time sitting and listening to a book, so for her this was perfect.  Now when we read the book she has a picture in her head and some understanding.  Some of you who have little boys would love this movie too.

And one more thing...this movie made me cry.  I'll say it myself... I am a dork LOL!!!  

If you have netflex you can get it there.

A Little Science Project

When I was young I figured out that if you put a cup of water in the freezer, soon you would have a cup of ice.  My parents would find cups of water in the freezer all the time.  It was a learning process though, because I would check the cup of water every five minutes.  My mom would tell me that if I kept opening the freezer it would take longer because I was letting the cold out.
Guess what I am finding in my freezer ALL THE TIME NOW.  It cracks me up!  They too are checking the water every five minutes.

Princess Chest Re-Do

I am giving the girls room a face lift.  Changing the color of their dresser, drapes, bedding and princess chest.  I am finishing up on the dresser today.  Yesterday I finished thier chest.  I am so excited because I think it turned out so cute!  It started of as a plain white cheap chest from Target....

I took the lid off and ulpholstered it with some soft charcol fabric. 

And because under the lid looked so bad I put some leftover fabric on the back side to cover all the staples. Then I painted the base dark pink. Screwed the lid back on and there you go....a new fabulous chest. YAY!!

Can't wait to show you the finished room!!

Family Vacation

End of August, beginning of September, the girls and I got to go visit our friends, the Gregg's, in LA.  I wish I would have taken more photos because we did so much fun stuff.  At the end of our trip Hubby met up with us and we drove to Colorado to meet up with his parents for a week.  The whole vacation was a blast!!!  It was a nice time away from the heat!  I really love road trips.

Things That Make You Go HMMMMM

You know when you get that unsettled deep down gut feeling that God is doing something.  Nothing is coincidental right?!?!?   It's almost like He is giving hints but I can't quite put the hints together??? 

"OKAY LORD, YOU'VE GOT MY ATTENTION...WHAT WHAT WHAT?"

I know, I know...wait. 
It's almost like a treasure hunt.

I am excited but I don't want to get excited because I don't even know what I am getting excited over.  kind of makes a person go nutty. 



btw...this CD is AWESOME.  The girls and I listen to it often.

I Really Love the Words to This Song

We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love is way too much to give us lesser things

(Chorus)
'Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if the thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt your goodness, we doubt your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
And all the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

Chorus

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know the pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home

Chorus

What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy
What if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are your mercies in disguise

Just Working Through Some More Pride

That which hath been is that which shall be; and that which hath been done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.  Ecclesiastes 1:9


Reminds me I am not alone.  I am not the only one.  And I guess it would be prideful for me to think I was...the only one.

Suppose we all were experiencing the same thing...what benefit would that be?  Well I guess it might make me feel better?  But that's not the point of our experiences. 

Many years ago I was dealing with years of infertility and then following that we were going through adoptions.  Seriously, at the time, I felt like I was the only one experiencing my thoughts, depression, and marriage issues.  I actually got angry at others and the Lord that I was the only one going through this. 

Of course I see now.  I realize I was so caught up in my emotions.  It really was, at the time, all about me.  I am so thankful for Gods mercy.  I am grateful that the Lord loves me so much to He help me get over myself and receive the gifts He had planned for me to receive in that time of pain.  I am also grateful He works it all together for His good...EVEN my selfish "I'm the only one" thoughts.    It has taught me how to share my experiences with others in a God honoring way, unlike before. When sharing I used to have thoughts running through my head like, "you wouldn't understand, or, you have no clue".  Totally prideful!  Then there were times I just didn't share at all in order to protect myself from what others may say because of their lack of understanding and then, I would get angry because I felt like I couldn't share.  I realize now, I don't always have to share!!!  Most of the time when I thought I was sharing really all I was doing was complaining, grumbling, and inviting you to my pity party and then when you did not appease my flesh I would get mad at you.  Ugh, such a vicious cycle!  Good grief, how is it that some of you still love me, LOL!!! 

The past has taught me to remove my expectations on others.  It's not always about them understanding my situation...it's about how Christ is working, it's about how good God is, despite the situation!!  It's about me trying to understand what God is teaching me and translating that to others so they may turn towards God in their situation.

So right now, to be honest with you, I feel like I am the only one who has children that dis-like each other.  Daughters who are sooooooooooooo mean to each other.  They act like they hate each other.  They fight and bicker all the time.  And I'm not talking about the typical toddler fights. Every time I turn around I swear they are yelling something so hateful to each other. Their facial expressions and body language is terrible!!!  I would like to blame it all on one particular child, and yes, she may need a little more help than the others, but we all need help in this area.  We don't all respond like we should due to stress levels and sometimes shock from what we are hearing come out of our child's mouth.

Back to the whole expectation/ entitled attitude thing.  I do realize I CANNOT expect my children to obey or be kind, loving and compassionate.  Even if that's what I try teach them ALL DAY LONG!  It's about directing their hearts towards the Lord and how their actions makes the Lord feel (not how mommy feels) so that they would want to please the Lord...not me.    It's about me going to the Lord daily and asking Him to get a hold of their little hearts and make the changes He needs to make.  In the mean time...I really want to pull my hair out!!!!!  Not to mention it's breaking my heart.  So if you feel lead, please pray for our hearts, our reactions responses and that we would be able to bring glory to Christ through our weaknesses.

Thanking God For His Mercy

I am passing on an article that is so raw, so authentic and so beautiful!  We over here have had our small (and I mean small compared so many out there) share of "after the airport" experience and continue to.  I can't tell you how grateful I am for those who chose to pray for us, love and encouraged us, even when you didn't understand what we were going through.  Heck we didn't understand what we were going through. 
I can't tell you how hard it was and how depressed I felt soon after our adoptions.  DID NOT EXPECT THAT!!! And the judging eyes or the subtle comments and sometimes not so subtle were so upsetting and made me feel like I was crazy not to mention made me feel SO isolated.  I truly felt like I was loosing my mind!!!  In part it was our fault because we shared so much of our frustration so openly and I think it shocked so many.  My goodness we were shocked too so I can imagine how we looked on the outside?!?!  I feel like I am in a good place now with all of that.  Judging eyes and the subtle comments don't phase me as much anymore.  God has provided me with safe places to share my crazy, loosing my mind kind of times with ones who understand, ones who know our hearts and ones we trust will speak truth in love and not judgement.  Don't you just love those safe places!!  God is so faithful!


If you know a young mommy who may be struggling with little ones or a mommy who has adopted or just a mom going through a hard time...encourage her, love on her, and remind her "she is following a God in this story who loves and restores... She will not remain exhausted and spent.  We are loved by a merciful Father."


And to the friend who shared this article...thank you for being a safe place.  You have and continue to encourage and love me through the times I feel like I am going to loose my mind.  Love you!!

Luke 22:32d

Truly Worth Your Time

I know most of us have busy lives (as a friend of mine puts it..."no time to fart left") (did I just say that???) anyway, if you ever get some time to sit and read, read this!!! 
Such an amazing testimony.  I promise it will encourage you to a greater faith.  It's like a great book...once you start, you won't be able to stop. 

Rickety Benches

So a little while back our next door neighbor move out of state.  After he left we saw that he had left some stuff in his back yard (yes we peaked, but our fence is low so it's hard not to).  Anyway, my hubby texted him and asked him what his plans were the for the left over stuff... he told us to have at it!!  Yay for us!  My husband got this really nice Rubbermaid shed, which was so great because we were in need of one and we had been searching Craig's list for one.  Then we found a nice set of car tires so we grabbed those, listed them on Craig's list and may a couple hundy!  I also saw a couple old rickety benches I thought I could possible do something with.  They were sun beaten, splintered and dirty...nothing a little sanding and paint couldn't take care of.
Here is a before pic...

Since we are re-doing the back patio I figured we could never have enough seating so I upholstered one to make it more comfy.  I was going to do both but I didn't have enough fabric.  I am kind of thinking I may make a coffee table out of the other one since I am kind of into that worn wood look.  Maybe slap some grey stain on and a piece of glass on top??? 


Anyway, here was my morning project...

I painted the legs white and then sanded them up a bit.  Then I added the foam, batting and fabric.  After a million staples and one very sore thumb....A new bench for my back patio. 

In one of the pictures is one of two chairs that I am going to be using at the farm table (another Craig's list buy and re-do).  And the humongous farm table that is some what in the photo is our dining table for outside but since the back yard is under construction it is in our kitchen.  My house is a bit crowded!!  I have been meaning to post the before and after pics of the table and the crazy sanding/ painting story that goes with it.