the van :)

not a long one today!.....  not sure if your van, car, truck or motorcycle gets cluttered,  but I bet if I was in a competition for the fastest vehicle to get cluttered and you were in it .... I WOULD WIN!... I cleaned the van this morning, I mean CLEANED but as we got home tonight it was cluttered BUT thanking God that my children are there to make a mess (of course I made them clean it up!)..

Angela

Do I have anything to complain about...

The boldest answer to that is NO!..  I am so richly blessed I can't even put into words how blessed we are. I am not talking about material things......I am talking about our Lord and who he is! . I am finding out more and more as I grow in the Lord that "things" just don't matter!.. because at the end of the day those things fade away BUT he is ALWAYS there!...

The reason I titled this blog Do I have anything to complain about... is because as a family we do a read aloud  we have done 3 C.S Lewis books and a couple of books that the kiddos wanted to do like Romona, one about a mouse (forgot that title) BUT now we have just started The Diary of Anne Frank.. we are about 1/4 of the way through and tonight as we were reading It was when they had built the cupboard over the door and they no longer went outside (this is my 1st time reading this and maybe they go out again not sure but don't spoil it for me :) .. as Doug was reading (which he has a GREAT reading voice) it brought me back to today, we went to the zoo, 1st time in 7 years at least and as we got in the car this morning I was so thankful to God for the birds, sun, car to drive, children in the back (even if they were fighting), and his creation!... we get to the zoo and pack all our stuff to head in for the day and I meet "my new friend" Laura in the parking lot and again I thank God for putting people in my path (they have adopted 2 from Ethiopia) that I may not have met in the town of Griffin!, we get to the gate and hand them my library card and voucher for our free tickets, walk through the gate and pay nothing (not the usual with 4 kiddos), and WOW there are the flamingos and say God you have created these BEAUTIFUL birds (although they stink LOL) and as the day went on I was in awe!... so as we sat to read this book and Anne said many times to "kitty"(her diary) that  they could not go outside.. and my heart sank!...  this family had to go to their attic in order to have a window to get rays of sunshine!... we can't even comprehend this! this sounds horrible!...I am always in need of a good reminder of how I am richly blessed!  we have absolutely NOTHING to complain about!...

God is Bigger....

This has for sure been one of the BUSIEST weekends by far for us!.. Doug's late night for work is Friday night  and he had to work this Saturday so soccer was all on me.. not only games but pictures too :) . then we had a spend the night ( ya know sleep is not something that happens alot when those come around) up for church on Sunday, look at a house , went on a bike/running ride, church, then home around 7:45pm.. whew... that has just about worn me out typing it!, but I have NOTHING to complain about because what Christ did for me on the cross is soooo much more than I have ever done..

 I am reading AGAIN.. respectable sins and it hits me EVERY TIME.. This book I did about 2 years ago (pregnant with Andrew) and now I am doing it again... I love to see how books "change" when I am in a different place spiritually. It seems as though our society has changed the word sin to infidelity, fraud etc..until about 4 or 5 years ago I knew what sin was and knew I was a sinner but I never realized that it was sooooo offensive to God and he could not even be in the presence of it!... ... I want REAL knowledge of my sin... God continue to give me the desire to want you to reveal it to me.. not that he wants me to stay in a place of guilt because that is not true at all.. he took my sin on that cross and I can never know the cost... love that song!.. one of the things about this book that I love is he continues to say Don't read this book and wish someone you knew would read it, he wants you to DIG into your own heart!.. I have caught myself many times thinking Doug needs to read this part or so and so needs to but then I am reminded... Angela you need to read this!... oh how it is so hard to be in a place where you get taken to the wood shed!..

we are also in the process of starting the adoption... well our house is the 1st priority, to get it on the market, and if it sells then amen, if it doesn't then amen.. we just wanna be obedient to Gods call.. I have had to protect my heart because not everyone understands this call.. but if you are a Christian then you are called in the scriptures to take care of the orphans and widows, it might mean for you to bring a child in your home but there is plenty of opportunity to partner with those who are by prayer, financial or other means!... Saturday night we went next door to our neighbors house to love on them and as we were talking our neighbor told us that a house in our neighborhood that is under contract sold for far less than it should have but as we sat there Doug and I said "God is bigger than this housing market" so if we are to stay, then fine, if we are to move, then fine... we know that he is sovereign and he will do what is best for us~

Angela

today..... Encourgement



This morning as I woke up.. pretty bright eyed and bushy tailed... Doug was running late so coffee was up to me.. those who know me well KNOW I HAVE to have a cup of coffee to get my day started along with quiet time with the Lord!... as I was sitting in my chair I thought, "lets go to airport rd park this morning".. I then logged on to facebook to update my status and I was gonna put "excited to see who the Lord is gonna put in my path today... then I decided not to put that so I deleted and finished getting the kiddos ready to take Lane to school....................  so we get to airport rd and we get out Alexis says "are we gonna run" uhhhh yes.. one reason why we are here... then the complaining started she had worn flip-flops and NO jacket, it was a little chilly.. anyway.. Caleb quickly gave up his jacket and then his complaining started "I'm cold"... so I could have got EASILY frustrated but I am realizing these types of situations bring out frustration and I was not gonna let it bother me soooooo off we went!... Andrew in stroller, Alexis beside me and Caleb a little back from us... not sure when you go to places like this if you watch people BUT I do!!!! so we did a few laps, Caleb wanted to do a QUICK 1/2 mile so I timed him and he did great.. about 4 minutes, hey I was proud! so I ask him if he needed water and he said yes so we went to the fountains and as I looked down there was 2 CD's that some one had burned that talked about Salvation and so I in my mind was like "this is great!" looked closer and it was GTY.ORG John MacArthur sermon on heaven... I was thinking "this is even better" it is SOUND DOCTRINE, THEOLOGY and I was thankful that someone had put them there... soooo we continued around the track again and my heart kept saying I would LOVE to meet the people who put them out!.. because lets face it MANY confess Christ BUT few wanna be held to the standard of Christ!.. especially in the south we say we are Christians BUT our lives show something different.. make no mistake I am not perfect! I make mistakes and do things I don't wanna do (Romans 7) and that is the beauty of the gospel .. I am forgiven and Lord please let me continue to have a heart that DESIRES to know my sin!... I MUST preach the gospel to my self daily (I LOVE Jerry Bridges book RESPECTABLE SINS) so as we were walking I met this couple and just started talking about the weather, exercise, etc and we parted we went on and we were done!.. well I thought....  kiddos need to go to the bathroom and so I waited outside looking at the water fountain AGAIN smiling this time because one of the CD's had been taken!...  so as I stand there a women said to her husband one is gone we need to put another one out... BAM... I see them, I am getting to see the people who care about others salvation by putting these on the water fountain and IMMEDIATELY I was convicted.. LORD MAY I BE SOOOOOO BOLD TO PUT YOUR WORD OUT!... may I take the time to burn sermons for the advancement of your kingdom!...  As I looked at this couple they were in I would say mid 60's we started talking and IMMEDIATELY our spirits connected..that is what happens , we are of the same mind! the mind of Christ! we talked for about 15 minutes and I was GRATEFUL, THANKFUL, BLESSED that TRUTH of God's word was a priority in their life.. They have blessed my day! then as most of you know I am a question asker and so I ask where they lived... guess what they live about 1.5 miles from me!... I know that the LORD IS SOVEREIGN and he puts those encourager's in your life at the right time when you maybe be struggling in some areas of your life! May we ALWAYS be focused on others and not ourselves BECAUSE you could be missing a blessing!

A date with Daddy!

Chick-fil-A is one of our FAVORITE places to eat... to be honest when we eat out it is usually where we go!.....  I love them for so many reasons
1. Christian based
2. yummy
3. operator we know
4. relatively speaking pretty healthy
5. have the best Cookie and Cream shake LOL

they have once a year a "Daddy, Daughter dinner" so we decided this year to participate so our time was like 4:30.....  because we forgot to reserve and Chuck let us come in early and eat with him, and others that "forgot" to register :) they had a blast...

the best line I have heard in a movie lately is from courageous
"If you trust me with your heart then I will make sure you are taken care of"
not word for word but pretty close... you get the picture...

my prayer is my girls will trust Doug with their heart! we are praying right now for the spouses of our kiddos.. are you???

Free Spirit..... LANE!

I still can't believe that Lane is 6!!!! She is a free Spirit, go to her own drum, loving, mischevious, animal loving, loud, crazy, funny and ohhhhh sooooooo cute!... we had birthday celebrations for almost 2 weeks before and after her birthday BUT it was fun!... we went to Southern Pit, Olive Garden, and ended with a birthday bash at home!... we had tons of fun and thanking the Lord we have had 6 FUN filled years with her!

just a few pics of fun!

Andrew 1st haircut

With our boys.....   if they start getting said to them "she is soooo cute" then it is time for a haircut :) so it was time and a SWEET young lady I LOVE got the honor of cutting his hair!.. we LOVE Rachel!  it looked GREAT, although I was a little sad for the curls to come off :)

Christmas 2011

WOW, has it REALLY been 3 months since Christmas... as I am finding out more and more that the time is FLYING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  we had a great Christmas!.. we tend to get a lot of murming because we don't "do" Santa and that is OK!... we want the kiddos to realize it is ALL about Jesus, not only on Christmas day but ALWAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!  we decorate, crafts and enjoy our time together.. believe me the kiddos are just as excited as any other children that morning!... BLESSED!

Thanksgiving in March ??

I have SOOOOO neglected my blog and Jen's Pen's have motivated me to get the pictures off my camera, well all 500!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, and blog!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!... we had an uneventful Thanksgiving , which for Doug is good because he works so much and a day at home is WONDERFUL to him :) I grew up with a BIG thanksgiving will family we only saw 2 times a year and it was so fun, we would always go to Aunt Mary and Uncle Bobs house in Grayson and we would spend what I thought was all day!...   I LOVED it!... after we got married and had Alexis we had to come to an agreement which family on which holiday, of course Dougs parents live in Fl and there was NO way that we could do both in one day LOL!.. so thanksgiving with his parents, Christmas with mine.. I have to admit that it was HARD not seeing my extended family and it really just did not "feel" like Thanksgiving, BUT....... the Lord revealed to me that my family is my immediate family and then a peace happened!....  thankful for the reminders! This year we went to Waffle House that morning and later that afternoon we did "dinner" here are some pics...