An update and Birthday post

This week has been clouded, literally and spiritually. I am in a place where every moment is taken and busy in mind and in physical motion and I find myself consistently and overwhelmingly exhausted... tired... dry... weary... faint (at times) and just longing for a break, a moment to simply inhale and exhale, to meditate, to soak in the beauty of this moment.... sigh.

The Lord has been teaching me so many things about what it means to seriously live for Him and die to self, through my marriage and through new relationships, things on LOVE and sacrafice. My life is a constant battle ground of flesh and spirit of pride and humility and the battles are bloody and painful. For the last 2 weeks I have been meditating on Hosea 10:12 "Break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, till He comes and rains righteousness on you." I can not tell you how the Spirit has been working on my heart so intricately through His words of truth and wisdom. This last week we were so blessed by a friend who came out and tilled us up a garden and as I think back on all the work they did, a full days work in a constant drizeling rain, I am experiencing the Spirit doing the same in my heart... breaking up my fallow ground, tilling up the clay and mixing in good soil so that fruit can grow.

I know I never followed up with my husband encouragement challenge post but I trust you the few of you, my dear friends, understand. Today is my sweet baby angel's birthday, my now 2 year old Butterfly. My heart is so full of joy for this little girl that brings such a unique ray to our sunshine. She is teaching me so many things, to smile when I don't always feel like it, to be gently when harshness is my tendency and to simply just enjoy when the business of life calls. She has a presence that can not be ignored, I praise God for our little Butterfly:

Today...

I am reminded this morning that she will only be small for so long, under my feet for a brief moment as we sit in the first sun lit rays of the morning... dance to the music across the cold floor... discuss the wanderings of our kitty and admire the candy on the counter... as I listen to little sighs... early morning smiles... dangling feet from highchair... sleepy eyes lost in thoughts...

This morning I can see the small things that I take for granted each morning... I am reminded of how precious time is and that it is a gift... this is easily forgotten each morning as I focus on the unimportant... today I look above, keep my thoughts and focus there... off of earthy temporal things.

JOYfully in Him,

Where is my treasure hidden in my home?

In my home where is my heart? Where is my treasure?

"For where your treasure is there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:21

I had to ask myself last night these questions after listening to a convicting sermon on the Centrality of the Home. Where have I hidden my treasures? Under my search for joy, peace, comfort... between the opinions of others, the expectations of the world... behind good behavior and a perfect home? Is that where my treasure is hidden... why my heart is tightly found wrapped around?

I realize that storing my treasures under, between and behind all these things only sets me up for failure. I am doomed to a life of frustration and emptiness.

So where is my heart? Where is my heart in disciplining my children? Keeping my home? Responding with respect to my husband?... for my own personal gain? So I can lay my head snuggly on my pillow at night free from guilt and shame? To impress? or is it to ultimately glorify God and give Him praise and honor that He deserves? To display Christ? To give a glimpse of the invisible God? Tor raise children to love the Lord with all of their heart, soul, mind and strength and to walk in all His ways?

My treasure should be buried deep with in the eternal glory and supremacy of Christ! Hidden in Him... in the gospel of Christ... no where else! Hidden anywhere else and the goal of righteousness is lost... Christ is not honored and glorified as He so deserves... eternal souls are lost... homes are destroyed little by little over years of daily destruction... unity of marriage is desinigrated... hearts are all ultimately left in a constant state of dispair and discontenment as the kingdom of God is lost in our minds and hearts.

The value of our treasure being in heaven is everlasting and incorruptable!!

Oh God, please bring my heart and mind into the constant subjection to Jesus Christ... hiding my treasure daily, daily in the cross of Christ! Father guide me into your holy and righteous will... shine Your light upon my path today in my home. I pray that my treasure is hidden in Christ and that I will exhaust myself for it's eternal, everlasting and incorruptable value. Oh, in the moments when perspective is hard to see, where everything seems upon my head and I can feel the weight of sin on me may I remember where my treasure is hidden... not in temporal fleeting things and opinion but in the eternal... in heaven, with Christ.

JOYfully in Him,

Chapter Closed

Well we are flipping through the last pages of our current chapter in life about to start a whole new one. We are about to leave the place we have called home for 3 1/2 years and the people we have called family. Our hearts are broken as we are uprooted from this place in our lives and now only hold memories. The Lord has called us away and we are now anxiously awaiting the ink to fill our next chapter.

See you in Louisiana!

JOYfully in Him,

Christmas Photos: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

So Wednesday morning I woke up and decided to attempt our annual Christmas pictures by the tree. As usual I am not to excited but a little more fearful considering the lack of "normal" and "cute" copporation I usually get from them. I try to be cheery and enthusiastic but it soon fades as I realize T-Rex refuses to smile or sit even remotely still for more than a second and Superman has some problems posing in a picture pose... it is always a super fun time! It is in those moments that I realize, again, that I need to lighten up :0) So here they are... the good the bad and the not so good pictures by the tree but still cute! (Daddy is behind me being... himself :0).













Trying to be continually more...

JOYfully in Him,

A Week in Service

Well we are in the last month or page of this chapter in our lives and I can feel the weight of moving on my shoulders. I am in a really strange place right now emotionally and struggling to gain control as life and time seem to speed away. This morning as I look out my livingroom window at the crimson red leaves He reminds me of His love and His peace, and I am thankful. Our moving date is getting closer and I have a lot of things I must start doing. This week my to do list feels overwhelming and undoable. Within my list lies His royal list for His servant. Growing Minds of Wisdom is taking the month off to focus our attention on moving and celebrating Christ as a family. This week I seek to serve a King with my life... here is my list...

Finish up all my crafts for women's craft sale. (by Wednesday)
Put up Christmas tree and decorations.(on Thursday)
Make laundry detergent. (today)
Wash 1 load of clothes a day.
Pay all bills and calculate expenses for move.(today)
Begin slowly packing unused clothes in littles room.(starting Wednesday)
Plan menu for this week. (today)
Follow family liturgies. (daily)
Be thinking about gift ideas.
Write Compassion child.(today)
Get T-Rex some no tie shoes.(probably Friday)
Make chore sticks.(maybe tonight)
Be consistent with discipline. (second-ly :0)
Clean boy's room and the girl's room. (Friday/Saturday)
Plan Christmas activities. (today)
Go grocery shopping. (today)

Father... may I give each day to your service... keep me busy... remind me to be conscious in joyful anticipation of Your return... give me peace in my moments of chaos... energy in my moments of exhaustion... allow me to have perspective when responding to my precious children and respect when speaking to my husband. I pray you will guard my heart and mind in Christ Jesus and reveal my priorities each blessed day you give me. May the gospel of Christ reign in each moment and may my hands be an extention of His grace and love to all those close to me... glory to You alone... in His holy name I pray...

Update:

Family Menu...

Tuesday: Hot Dogs with Homemade Fries
Wednesday: Pancakes, Hot Dogs with Chips, Pizza at church
Thursday: Eggs, Hashbrowns and Fruit, Tuna and Turkey Sandwiches with Chips, Black Bean Soup with Cornbread
Friday: Cinnamon Toast with Bacon, Black Bean Soup, Chicken Salad with rolls
Saturday: Cereal with Fruit, Leftovers, Crockpot Chicken, Potatoes and Brocolli
Sunday: Pumpkin Muffins with Malto Meal, Leftovers, Potato Soup with Cornbread

Desserts: Pumpkin Spice Bread and Cookies

This morning we quickly got ready and headed off to the grocery store for a fairly decent trip, no fits or major happenings. We went in and came out. It is now rest time so I will start crafting for an hour or more while the littles are quiet and sleeping.


JOYfully in Him,

Louisiana visit

It has been a very emotional and enjoyable week here in Louisiana. In about a month we will call Louisiana our home once again. We are on the look out for a little dwelling place and only have tomorrow to finish our search. I know that God has a place already picked out for us so I am not worrying just a little anxious.

Today was a truly filling day in many different ways. I am full tonight as I type out my thoughts... full with family, friends, love, fellowship, joy, grace and mercy and not to mention to much really good food :0). We are very blessed. Tomorrow we continue our search for our new home and then head out to visit my grandparents, Saturday we head back home to Texas to spend the next month in deep fellowship with friends/family and enjoy the season to be us.

I hope you had a blessed and full Thanksgiving day!

(constantly trying to be more...) JOYfully in Him,

Nana...

Happy Birthday To You...

A silly birthday video:

A Family Video...

~We love you~

JOYfully in Him,

A Perfect Duo

JOYfully in Him,

Home of Sicklings

So how do you take care of your sick husband, your sick child, a messy house, your needy baby girl, show your oldest attention who is somewhat left alone and yourself who is holding back everything in her stomach?

JOYfully in Him,

Our "Sacred" Time

I get asked the question a lot: "How many children do you want to have?" My response is usually a stumbling of words because my heart is a little unsure right now. I have not come to a complete understanding of what I feel God's will is for us as a family. There was a time that I felt that God was calling me to be one of the few "be fruitful and multiply" women but I have since come to the conclusion that this is not His calling on my life. When we first married I always had a quick anwser to the how many question, it was always 7. Why 7, there was not reason behind it other than it was the number of completeness and I thought a good number of children, well since then I have had 3 and struggle in motherhood as we all do for the most part. Don't misunderstand me, I LOVE being a mother!! It is an amazing privilege but one of the things that I really struggle with in having more children is spending time with them all individually. I know that it is not necessary but I long to show my children, all of them, the love and devotion that I never had. When I lay my head down at night I want to have a feeling of complete peace knowing that I have given all of my children an undivided peice of me and my time and part of it is for selfish reasons. I want that time, time to talk privately, time to connect, time enjoy a sacred moment together, time to worship, time to simply dwell in eachothers thoughts, dreams and imaginations and a time to just love them and be with them in the precious gift of time alone and uninterupted away from all of the noise and complications of life. A sacred place for us to just be us. I love all of my children equally and I just hate the thought of letting all of those possible sacred times slip away simply because I didn't make the time and then take the time for them. So I am commiting to make and take the time each and every day that God allows for us to have.

As for right now I think my plan is to dedicate 15-20 minutes a day of "Our Time" right before naptime. Today I experimented with it. Before I layed Butterfly down today I sat on the floor and just enjoyed some time playing with her, which was reading or flipping through as many books as she wanted to. Her face when she saw me sit on the floor and tell her to get some books to read was so sweet and priceless and I just knew that this was definetly something that I wanted to make a habit of doing every day. I figure I can do something of the same thing with T-Rex when I lay him down right after Butterfly and then spend some time with Superman while they are both resting.

My children are amazing and very eqaully their own person and sometimes it is hard to appreciate who they are, who God has made them to be in the midst of each day as their unique God given personalities clash together. I pray that God will bless this commitment and give me the perseverance and the desire and unselfishness to do it even on those days when all I want to do is lay them down so that I can have some "me" time.

JOYfully in Him,

Family Photos

JOYfully in Him,

What's going on....

Today we are going to be finishing (hopefully) up the paint job we started on Wednesday. It has turned out to be a lot more work than we first thought, imagine that! Go figure that painting 4 massive walls in 4 different ways would be difficult :0). I think it will be awesome when it is all done if it is done correctly. Tonight the youth group is coming over for our Taste and See Friday gathering which is always a great time. Tomorrow we are going to spend the day shopping, just the girls, at Ikea and various other places! It may end up just being me and 1 or 2 other ladies but it will still be a great time.

Other things going on is that we will be leaving on Thursday for Mission GTX, which is a small mission trip to Galveston, Tx where we will be seriously laboring in love with a ministry down there. It is going to be an experience for us all.

We are anxiously waiting for our picture and information on our sponsored child, Olupot. I can not tell you how much my heart is already connected to this little boy. We decided to find a little boy around the same age as our oldest son, so he is 7 and he lives in Uganda. Our prayer is that God will use us and Compassion to transform this little boys life along with his family and bring him to a knowledge of Jesus Christ. We are also very hopeful that God will send us one day to Uganda to this precious little boy.

Other things that fill our days are a twice a month women's prayer group, weekly devotional in A Heart Like His, David by Beth Moore, Soul Cafe... Wednesday night youth class, Thursday young ladies bible study and of cours Sunday, the Lord's day along with every 1st and 3rd Sunday being set apart for a Romans study at our house for a young marrieds group. It is good to be serving the Lord!! That is all I can say :0).

A Musical Thought

I still remember the first time I began listening to christian music, I was in my car and decided to check out the christian radio station and I have to say that I wasn't all that impressed by what I heard. Not sure why, probably because I wasn't sure what to expect and I may have expected to much. Music has always played a huge part in my life reflecting my emotions and stirring them with in me and it wasn't and hasn't always been a good thing. There was music I listened to when anger was stirred up with in me and the music only made it grow deeper. I have learned since then to not feed my anger in those moments with music but to counter act it with a message to redirect my emotions.

Last night we had a chance to experience some music live from a few bands we enjoy at Celebrate Freedom in Frisco Texas, we had an awesome time. It was a free event that we thought we would take advantage of but of course as with all things... NOTHING is free! It was free to get in but not free to park, drink water, eat and play on the GIANT bounce houses and slides that you can see from the road. In all we spent close to 100 to enjoy our freedom, :0). It was a blast and well worth it to see the bands and talk to one of them and to see our littles have a blast with all of the activities.

I was personally siked about listening to Tenth Avenue North who I just recently have become familiar with, they are very encouraging. After we listened to them we ran into the autograph table and asked them if they were going to be there and sure enough in 10 minutes, so we waited. It was very cool when they arrived. Now I have to kind of remind myself that these guys are just normal people who God has placed in the industry of music to spread the gospel and encourage His flock. Rick and I were able to snatch a moment or two with Mike the lead singer and Scott the bass guitarist. They were so laid back and very personable. At the end that humored us by allowing us to grab a memory shot of our meeting.

Later in the evening we were able to listen to Shane and Shane and The David Crowder Band which was such a blessing. I loved being in the presence of the Lord worshiping Him with my family and with so many other beleivers and non believers, I prayed that God would send His Spirit on those who didn't know Him last night.

I love music and around here the radio is usually on. I find it encouraging and very motivating as I go about my calling as a homekeeper and mother.

The boys waiting anxiously in line.

Jason the drummer.

Mike the lead singer.

Jeff the electric guitarist.

The family with Tenth Avenue North.

The fun "monster slide" that they did at least 10 times in a row!!

Superman on his first rock climbing experience.

Shane and...

Shane


Butterfly enjoying a little bounce house with a friend that she later poked in the eye upsetting her mother, I apologized 4 time.

The coolest and biggest slide ever!! Or so they said :0)

The amazing David Crowder Band.

Tenth Avenue North gave a little message before their Love is Here song that I found very encouraging and relative in the moment as we were extremely dehydrated and so thirsty! It made me think about how we become so spiritually thirsty when we deny it the Living Water.

JOYfully in Him,