Yesterday... it was beautiful!! We packed a Lunch and headed to the Rock Ranch with our homeschool group.... weather was perfect!!! We learned about pioneers, thanksgiving and ground some corn... had a great Lunch and then off to the races... well not really but I felt like all the walking between the tiny town, corn house, pillow, slide.. I at least ran a half marathon, right??? Just kidding... then...... one of the Mercer girls came to me and said " I think Caleb is hurt" ... mind you that 4 years ago we went to the ER with Caleb with a broke leg from the Rock Ranch.... so I investigate and yep... trip to Dr..... can't walk, crying, and in so much pain!! Kathy took the girls and Christina came to my UNCLEAN house ( because spending time with the kids is so much more important..)
I had to drive to Jonesboro... so the text I get while I am there were cracking me up.. one said " garrison peed in the toilet and doodle the dog drank it" and "the little guy got a diaper change and had a corn crop from the corn house"...
Praise the Lord that Caleb's foot was not broken... just sprained pretty bad....
So I am still gone and Doug had brought pizza home, Christina had been herding "ants" soooooo funny!!!! So she and the kiddos at pizza too... well..... Doug ask lily what she wanted to during, she said the juice in the fridge, Doug poured, lily said NO thank you after a sip.. so they ate and loved the pizza... b and b if you wanted to order some.... great plug ugh!! So as I got home and talked to Doug he ask what kind of juice was in the pitcher in fridge, I said there is no juice that is chicken stock from the chicken salad I made today... we BUST out laughing!!!! I called Christina in tears laughing so hard!!! I'm telling you our life is book worthy 😃
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Monday, October 21, 2013
Time!!! it is so precious!!!
time is precious, I mean really precious.. the kiddos are growing and changing RIGHT before my eyes!!!! I am realizing now that I am a mom of 6 that there is just not enough hours in the day. Things get pushed to the next day and so on... and guess what... I AM OK WITH THAT...
laundry, well , that is a whole blog in itself, I don't even have time to write the blog...
kitchen clean, well, it stays cluttered...
bathrooms, this may be gross, but I think it has been about 2 weeks since the last deep clean..
beds...I need to change the sheets as I write this..
mopping.... that needs to be done , like, yesterday....
dusting... what is that!!!
oh , I did today get all the closets except for mine changed out... it will be cold later this week my friends... I will be freezing but the kids will be NICE and COZY :)
years ago if you ask me about how my house looked I would tell you it is CLEAN... well I have changed, the sanctification process .....cleaning comes last..... not something that I will do before I love on these kiddos!!!
I have said so many times "the days are long, but the years are short" this is my life.... it is so true... if I have time for nothing else ..... I will spend time with my kiddos...
laundry, well , that is a whole blog in itself, I don't even have time to write the blog...
kitchen clean, well, it stays cluttered...
bathrooms, this may be gross, but I think it has been about 2 weeks since the last deep clean..
beds...I need to change the sheets as I write this..
mopping.... that needs to be done , like, yesterday....
dusting... what is that!!!
oh , I did today get all the closets except for mine changed out... it will be cold later this week my friends... I will be freezing but the kids will be NICE and COZY :)
years ago if you ask me about how my house looked I would tell you it is CLEAN... well I have changed, the sanctification process .....cleaning comes last..... not something that I will do before I love on these kiddos!!!
I have said so many times "the days are long, but the years are short" this is my life.... it is so true... if I have time for nothing else ..... I will spend time with my kiddos...
Monday, October 7, 2013
The good, bad, and ugly.....
since I wrote my blog yesterday I have thought back and pondered should I have put it out on facebook... the main reason I do this is so my mom and family can read on what is going on in my life and heart... BUT yesterdays post spoke to so many, they may not be going through exactly what we are BUT there is something else that may be... I was encouraged that I am not in this thing called life alone.. I am so grateful that the Lord sustains me in times of need, His grace is sufficient, and He is enough. My blog is my thoughts and heart... I tried for years to do scrapbooks with in the end feeling like a total failure because I still only have Alexis' 1st year done... people she is 12!!!!!!
so my blog is the GOOD...... family trips, friends, extended family, mountain top experiences, kiddos, thankful list, dogs, garden, cute sayings the kids may say (well only one but it was cute), my mission trip to East Asia, and the list goes on....
so my blog is on the BAD..... life is messy at times... Ill be honest I hate the term "positive thinking" because it really does not matter if I think positive the Lord is sovereign and he will bring trial my way...
James tells us in verse 2-4......
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
I know that God molds and shapes us into His image through the trials, so I consider it pure joy to face these
so my blog is on the UGLY..... this my friends is my heart when I am sinning... I know my heart is full of sin and I am EVERY single day preaching the gospel to myself.... oh and the first part is ugly... God and His holiness, His perfection and myself who is the wretched sinner.... realizing with my sin I can not even be in His presence.. that is bad people... BUT oh the good is that He in his LOVING,GRACIOUS and KINDNESS sent His son to die on that cross so I may be saved through His blood and sacrifice... we need to be preaching this to ourselves EVERYDAY!!!
This so called life is not easy, just because you have Jesus does not keep us from trials, I will cling to the cross when things are good, bad, and ugly!!!
so my blog is the GOOD...... family trips, friends, extended family, mountain top experiences, kiddos, thankful list, dogs, garden, cute sayings the kids may say (well only one but it was cute), my mission trip to East Asia, and the list goes on....
so my blog is on the BAD..... life is messy at times... Ill be honest I hate the term "positive thinking" because it really does not matter if I think positive the Lord is sovereign and he will bring trial my way...
James tells us in verse 2-4......
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
I know that God molds and shapes us into His image through the trials, so I consider it pure joy to face these
so my blog is on the UGLY..... this my friends is my heart when I am sinning... I know my heart is full of sin and I am EVERY single day preaching the gospel to myself.... oh and the first part is ugly... God and His holiness, His perfection and myself who is the wretched sinner.... realizing with my sin I can not even be in His presence.. that is bad people... BUT oh the good is that He in his LOVING,GRACIOUS and KINDNESS sent His son to die on that cross so I may be saved through His blood and sacrifice... we need to be preaching this to ourselves EVERYDAY!!!
This so called life is not easy, just because you have Jesus does not keep us from trials, I will cling to the cross when things are good, bad, and ugly!!!
Sunday, October 6, 2013
pictures always look different!
Sometimes being strong and having an I can do anything personality can be sooooo discourging at times! we think we can do it all, our husbands think we can do it all, our children, parents, and our friends think we can too!.. it really stinks at times ... sometimes you just need to cry, vent, or just take a bath to bring yourself back to reality!... I myself have had these days since the boys have got here... most everyone knows that we are fostering 2 boys and have 4 of our own, so add that up and you have 6... its tough! I am leaning on Gods grace sooooo much...
I have felt lonely at times because everyone thinks we have it together all the time... some days I just want the phone to ring with a voice that says "how are you?? or hey you need a prayer?? or a text ...this has not happened very much... sadly but I know everyone is so busy ! BUT God has done so much sanctification in my own life these past weeks... He knows what is good for me... and I have leaned on Him so much during these weeks... we always have these images in our minds on how things look....... ummm they are NEVER the same images in real life...
Fostering is a blessing and we are able to care for these boys while mom gets her things together BUT this is not the picture I had in my mind....
although it is amazing how God gave us these boys and they look sooooo much like our family!...
Fostering is hard BUT oh the love the boys are getting here is amazing to see...
Fostering is life changing BUT what they are showing us about how important it is to reach out into our own community and really what goes on in our backyard!
Fostering is the heart of God, these boys are without their family so we must love, nurture and share with them.
Fostering is about Him and His children...
Fostering has made me realize more that the state has in trusted these children to us and even more importantly that God has in trusted all these children to our care including our own!
I am thankful that God has lead us to care for these boys, even when the picture in our minds did not look like it is! His grace is enough! and that I am thankful!!!
I have felt lonely at times because everyone thinks we have it together all the time... some days I just want the phone to ring with a voice that says "how are you?? or hey you need a prayer?? or a text ...this has not happened very much... sadly but I know everyone is so busy ! BUT God has done so much sanctification in my own life these past weeks... He knows what is good for me... and I have leaned on Him so much during these weeks... we always have these images in our minds on how things look....... ummm they are NEVER the same images in real life...
Fostering is a blessing and we are able to care for these boys while mom gets her things together BUT this is not the picture I had in my mind....
although it is amazing how God gave us these boys and they look sooooo much like our family!...
Fostering is hard BUT oh the love the boys are getting here is amazing to see...
Fostering is life changing BUT what they are showing us about how important it is to reach out into our own community and really what goes on in our backyard!
Fostering is the heart of God, these boys are without their family so we must love, nurture and share with them.
Fostering is about Him and His children...
Fostering has made me realize more that the state has in trusted these children to us and even more importantly that God has in trusted all these children to our care including our own!
I am thankful that God has lead us to care for these boys, even when the picture in our minds did not look like it is! His grace is enough! and that I am thankful!!!
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
a broke "fivala"
about a month ago, I got in a cleaning out, organize, conviction on how much stuff we have mode... sometime those things are not good..... I tend to have lots of patience till we have an overflowing amount of stuff... Having just got back from East Asia I was reminded in the out skirts of town that people NOTHING!! and guess what? there kiddos are just fine! so anyway.. I had cleaned out the closets in our house to give to friends that are adopting (have the stuff made it to there house?? not yet!!!) I looked at the clock and it was about 4 and I realized I had not spent any time with the kiddos :( soooooooo I yelled "lets go on a bike ride!!!" so we got ready and headed to the shed where the bikes were and yep... I stepped in a hole and "pop" I knew...... BROKE.... no other adult, lots of pain and knowing God would take care of it all!.... looked over at our neighbors and she was pulling in..... thank you!!!! so Caleb went and got her, she comes over with crutches, Motrin, and water!!! BLESS her, I was hurting soooooooo bad.... Alexis stepped up and kept the kiddos till Kat could get to the house.... Yep BROKE...... in the "boot" till probably the end of this month.... so why did I call this blog a broke fivala.... well that is what Andrew calls it and I don't want to forget.....
Thursday, September 5, 2013
Saw, touched, smelt, and heard
Day 46 home and I am just now kind of, I mean kind of breaking down my trip to East Asia... many who have gone away on a mission trip like this know that there is so much to process. The highs, the lows, the people, the gospel.. that is really the words that come to my mind as I have processed some of the things that we saw, touched, smelt, and heard...
what we saw:
people... people EVERYWHERE... it was only when Angela and I went toward the market at 6 ish (am) that there was not a lot of people. We saw idols...EVERYWHERE, cars... EVERYWHERE.... mopeds, precious children, drink vendors.. well except when Tanya and I thought we would die of thirst and dairy queen did not have a drink! There were eating places, car repair shops, yarn stores, shoe stores, ladies dancing, sweat (yes, it was VERY hot, it is actually known as a fiery furnace), dead ducks & chickens riding on a moped, squatty potties, cat in the middle of a store, faces of those who heard the gospel, games being played with kids that had never experienced fun, kids singing songs, one car accident, noodles, LOTS of people in the swimming pool, few grayed haired people, cameras (English corner), mobile phone store, and the list could go on... The thing that stood out the most is the ones who need to be reached with the gospel... it could get so overwhelming to think of the number of people who live in this country that may never hear the gospel BUT you must start with one... I know that the gospel is going forth, I saw it, I saw God moving in the hearts of His people... may they then go and share... Jesus is our hope, we need to seek Him, and when He saves us and plucks us out of our state, oh what a glorious day... I pray for all those who I saw...
what we touched:
our bibles (we clung to them), the hands of children who had no hope, the coffee pot, chopsticks, hands of about 15 ladies praying over us, our tears, the lives of ladies, children, nini's... I pray we touched many more lives of those we shared with a park that we went too
what we smelt:
coffee, food, polluted air, smells of children, gasoline fumes, durian(fruit that smells horrendous) , its weird, you really can't decide on what the smells are...
what we heard
beeping horns, chatter, fireworks (like 6 in the am), laughter in the children, nini talking to Tanya and I in her language and us not understanding any of it, 15 women praying over us all at one time (thank you God for allowing me to experience that), the sweet boy who stood and said "I am willing to believe!!!!", Angela H. telling the grandma in the elevator to "ah jing" which is be quiet!!! SOOO FUNNY!!! , secedas, coffee/tea pot brewing, our blow up mattress creaking, and so many more....
so I leave you with this for now... I was sooooo blessed to go... I am ready to go back, I fell in love with these people and so thankful that God uses Me a sinner to share His gospel to those around the world!!!!
what we saw:
people... people EVERYWHERE... it was only when Angela and I went toward the market at 6 ish (am) that there was not a lot of people. We saw idols...EVERYWHERE, cars... EVERYWHERE.... mopeds, precious children, drink vendors.. well except when Tanya and I thought we would die of thirst and dairy queen did not have a drink! There were eating places, car repair shops, yarn stores, shoe stores, ladies dancing, sweat (yes, it was VERY hot, it is actually known as a fiery furnace), dead ducks & chickens riding on a moped, squatty potties, cat in the middle of a store, faces of those who heard the gospel, games being played with kids that had never experienced fun, kids singing songs, one car accident, noodles, LOTS of people in the swimming pool, few grayed haired people, cameras (English corner), mobile phone store, and the list could go on... The thing that stood out the most is the ones who need to be reached with the gospel... it could get so overwhelming to think of the number of people who live in this country that may never hear the gospel BUT you must start with one... I know that the gospel is going forth, I saw it, I saw God moving in the hearts of His people... may they then go and share... Jesus is our hope, we need to seek Him, and when He saves us and plucks us out of our state, oh what a glorious day... I pray for all those who I saw...
what we touched:
our bibles (we clung to them), the hands of children who had no hope, the coffee pot, chopsticks, hands of about 15 ladies praying over us, our tears, the lives of ladies, children, nini's... I pray we touched many more lives of those we shared with a park that we went too
what we smelt:
coffee, food, polluted air, smells of children, gasoline fumes, durian(fruit that smells horrendous) , its weird, you really can't decide on what the smells are...
what we heard
beeping horns, chatter, fireworks (like 6 in the am), laughter in the children, nini talking to Tanya and I in her language and us not understanding any of it, 15 women praying over us all at one time (thank you God for allowing me to experience that), the sweet boy who stood and said "I am willing to believe!!!!", Angela H. telling the grandma in the elevator to "ah jing" which is be quiet!!! SOOO FUNNY!!! , secedas, coffee/tea pot brewing, our blow up mattress creaking, and so many more....
so I leave you with this for now... I was sooooo blessed to go... I am ready to go back, I fell in love with these people and so thankful that God uses Me a sinner to share His gospel to those around the world!!!!
Monday, July 1, 2013
111 through.....
no I have not forgot my blessings that the Lord has bestowed on me .......... I just have not typed them.. I could go back to April of last year (when I did my last post... BUT too many to even count) .. so I will start to remember... these are in no special order just what God puts on my heart
111. Braves game with the kiddos... Lane and Andrews first
112. a great little swimmer
113. Ms. Judi and Mr. john
114. family bible study
115. Alexis running the Peachtree road race last July 4
116. an awesome school year at FB preschool
117. Lane graduating Kindergarten
118. our dog doodle on the beach trip
119. Doug making it through Morrow madness
120. Mom staying with me while Doug was in the Philippines
121. Alexis and her sweet soccer team
122. the girls playing barbies
123. a sleeping 2 year old
124. Caleb finally feeling better!
125. the swing set that Doug has worked so hard on
126. seeing Jenny's face when I told her I was coming to East Asia
127. a pastor whom teaches me the word
128. my Sunday school class
129. a clean house
130. the Greenwoods
131. Jon and the girls coming to see Caleb at his swim meet
132. planting flowers
133. Chandler investing in my daughter
134. worn out bible covers
135. studying the book of Genesis
136. Lori in whom holds me accountable and I can confide my sinful heart to
137. The Hendrix's (both)
138. an AWESOME beach trip with the Hendrix's (Steve)
139. Soul bags being sent all around the world
140. stinky soccer bags
141. Jamie F and her heart for people
142. worshiping at Second Baptist
143. Fostering coming to a completion
144. knocking on doors and putting fliers in mailboxes
145. lunch with friends
146. Kat and her love for me and her foster kiddos and the love for my kiddos too!
147. a vehicle that still runs even though it has almost 240,000 miles
148. God providing the money for Classical conversations
149.watching Alexis and Angela H. play games on the phone till the battery runs dead!!!
150. family mission trip
151. Ms Diane and her home we were able to "spruce up"
152. being a part of a church body that makes disciples
153. Wesley and Doug's discipleship time
154. a bed to sleep in
155. Jenna
156. a day at the beach with NO waves... God is AWESOME
157. daily quiet time
158. seeing Alexis become a beautiful young women
159. uncle James being OK after a bad car accident
160. another school year in the books :)
111. Braves game with the kiddos... Lane and Andrews first
112. a great little swimmer
113. Ms. Judi and Mr. john
114. family bible study
115. Alexis running the Peachtree road race last July 4
116. an awesome school year at FB preschool
117. Lane graduating Kindergarten
118. our dog doodle on the beach trip
119. Doug making it through Morrow madness
120. Mom staying with me while Doug was in the Philippines
121. Alexis and her sweet soccer team
122. the girls playing barbies
123. a sleeping 2 year old
124. Caleb finally feeling better!
125. the swing set that Doug has worked so hard on
126. seeing Jenny's face when I told her I was coming to East Asia
127. a pastor whom teaches me the word
128. my Sunday school class
129. a clean house
130. the Greenwoods
131. Jon and the girls coming to see Caleb at his swim meet
132. planting flowers
133. Chandler investing in my daughter
134. worn out bible covers
135. studying the book of Genesis
136. Lori in whom holds me accountable and I can confide my sinful heart to
137. The Hendrix's (both)
138. an AWESOME beach trip with the Hendrix's (Steve)
139. Soul bags being sent all around the world
140. stinky soccer bags
141. Jamie F and her heart for people
142. worshiping at Second Baptist
143. Fostering coming to a completion
144. knocking on doors and putting fliers in mailboxes
145. lunch with friends
146. Kat and her love for me and her foster kiddos and the love for my kiddos too!
147. a vehicle that still runs even though it has almost 240,000 miles
148. God providing the money for Classical conversations
149.watching Alexis and Angela H. play games on the phone till the battery runs dead!!!
150. family mission trip
151. Ms Diane and her home we were able to "spruce up"
152. being a part of a church body that makes disciples
153. Wesley and Doug's discipleship time
154. a bed to sleep in
155. Jenna
156. a day at the beach with NO waves... God is AWESOME
157. daily quiet time
158. seeing Alexis become a beautiful young women
159. uncle James being OK after a bad car accident
160. another school year in the books :)
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