Grace

Over the past 10 days, I have been dealing with something that has challenged me more than I could have ever imagined. It has interrupted my daily life, caused sleepless nights, but also encouraged my faith and love for family.  I begged God daily, sometimes multiple times a day, to heal and take it away.  I KNEW He was there and I believed He could. After all, I had been taught this all my life.  Isn't this what faith is? But, I didn't wake up in the mornings healed.  He brought me back to scripture and said "My Grace is Sufficient for you."  Healing is taking place; at its own pace. His Grace is all I need.

Being still

Being a wife and a mom to 3, rarely do I have time to be still. Yet, it is something that I am commanded to do. This evening, I seized that opportunity.  As  I type this, my 2 sons and  husband are riding their bikes up in the driveway after a trip around the neighborhood and my little one is sleeping in her crib.  The chaos and busyness of the evening is about to begin, but Oh, those few precious moments of being still; Sitting on the front porch at sunset, hearing the humming of the air conditioner, the songs of birds, the hoot of the owl that lives in our backyard tree and the chirping of the crickets.  The sky is lined with clouds  of oranges and yellows. The bricks on the porch are warm after soaking in the sun all day yet there is a slight coolness in the air.   All this wonder and beauty is here; whether I choose to be still and enjoy its majesty or not. Day after day, moment after moment, creation sings. And in those moments that I choose to be still, it is then that I know that He is God!

4 year old friendships

I wish my 30 year old body could have 4 year old friendships! I get so much joy out of seeing these 3 boys interact and enjoy each other's company. They laugh, they smile & they act silly.  They bring out the best in each other.  When 1 of them calls the others name, he doesn't just say it with his voice, but with his whole face. I rarely see a bigger smile on my son's face then when he calls these boy's names!

Tornado, Boys and Birthdays!

 The night before the birthday party, a tornado came through our little town and we lost power. This is how the boys fell asleep that night. The power came on late that Friday night so we were able to have the party!

This is what Aden wanted for his birthday food; CRAWFISH! Mason wanted pizza so we had a crawfish/pizza birthday party!

 Mason and his friend Kellan!

 Time to open presents! I love the excitement on Mason's face!

 We had ordered a birthday cake from Walmart but it lost electricity because of the tornado so we decided to make a superhero cake at home. The boys were excited about it!

My 7 year old, Aden!

(see all pictures on facebook)



Shared Cheetos

My youngest son's most favorite snacks is Cheetos. He would eat them all day if he could. Today at lunch I gave him a few to eat with his sandwich. When I sat down next to him to eat my lunch there was a single Cheeto in my spot. I looked at him and he smiled and said "Look what I got for you, momma!"  To know that he was willing to give up something that is valuable to him, a 4 year old, not out of obedience but out of love, without being asked! How often do I give up things that are valuable to me and give them to those I love? What a gift!

baby dedication

Sunday was Sydney's baby dedication.  We were so blessed to have friends and family there.

We are so blessed to have friends and family near and away support us and help us raise our 3 kids! What a Gift!

Birds don't sow or reap

Today was the first day of my challenge to name 1000 gifts that God gives to me. I was excited to see what would jump out in front of me this morning to be my first one.  But that's not how I found it. I was waiting in car-rider line to drop my youngest son off at preschool. As I was sitting, I glanced out my window at the empty church parking lot and there I saw a bird pecking the ground finding food. At first, it didn't mean anything but then I was reminded of the verses in Matthew: " Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?" ~ Gift #1: a quiet, I almost missed it, reminder of His goodness to me!