Real Men’s Event

Rob, Cade and Uncle Jah went to the Real Men’s Event this past weekend in the Jacksonville area.  They met up with a group of men from our church, and had a blast. 

The event offered all kinds of activities, such as a turkey shoot, baseball throw, rock climbing, zip line, greased pig chase, and many others.  Rob was the official family photographer, which means we didn’t get a ton, but we did get some.

Cade getting ready to go zip-lining:

Rob said he was so light, he was barely moving:)

 

The homestretch:

 

Rock climbing:

  I don’t know who was more excited; Rob and Cade fought over air time to tell me all about it.  Cade had a blast zip-lining, but I think his favorite was the greased pig chase.  He caught one and was so proud!  Uncle Jah took a video, so hopefully we can get that soon.  It was really cute.

I’m so thankful that our church participated in such an event.  Rob was really impressed with the devotion the pastor shared.  He really encouraged the men and boys to be Real Men-  To be leaders in Christ, and to lead their families.  I’m so thankful to be married to a Real Man, and the spiritual leadership he provides for our family.

Still I Will Praise You

It’s hard to find things to be thankful for when you feel like you are constantly being held down by the world. But even in the midst of the storms of life, we have so many things to praise God for. I just feel like I need to be reminded of those things, so here they are:

• My salvation. I’m so thankful that God loved us so much that He sent His son to die for our sins. Because of this, I have eternal life and eternal hope through Him. I will never be alone because He will carry me through the days.
• My husband. I’m so thankful for Rob, and the way he loves me. He is my best friend and I couldn’t imagine my life without him.
• My children. They are the light of my life. There is never a dull moment in our house. Though that can sometimes be tough, I would never trade it for anything in this world.
• This pregnancy. I have never been one that has enjoyed being pregnant. But I will have to say that even though this has been a tough one, I have enjoyed it the most! I think it’s because I have learned not to take the little details for granted, because the fact I can even carry a child is a blessing. Faith has taught us so much, and God is changing lives through her story. I’m so thankful that He has chosen us to be her parents.
• My family. We are so blessed to have them close by, and for all of their help with the kids. My kids love their grandparents, and I am so thankful for the life they have given me. My sisters are also a blessing to me. I’m so glad we all live so close and can spend time together.
• My friends. A girl can’t make it through this life without friends. I have been extremely blessed to have some wonderful friends. Especially my Amy!!! But there are many others as well that have really reached out to us. We will never forget the encouraging words, the hugs, the calls, the emails that have really helped us through the tough days.
• Our insurance. We have had a lot of doctor appointments, and it hasn’t cost us one cent extra. What a blessing that has been. God has really taken care of us in this area.

Dear Jesus,

Thank you for all of the many things you have blessed me with in my life. I know I deserve none of these things, but I’m so thankful for each of them. Thank you for your faithfulness to sustain us in such tough days. You never cease to amaze me in how you show up on a daily basis. I shouldn’t be surprised, because you tell us you are here with us. But I’m thankful for the ways you let us know you’re here. You know my heart’s desire is for our daughter to arrive perfectly healthy, and to live a perfectly normal life. What a testimony that would be. However, I know that your will may be different than mine, and if it is, I trust you completely. Even if you choose to take her to be with you, what a testimony that will be! Lord, I will choose to praise you no matter the outcome, because regardless of how the next chapter unfolds, you are still the same AWESOME God! We still have so much to be thankful for. Thank you for loving me!

Amen!

When Life Doesn’t Go OUR Way

Anyone who has walked on this earth knows that things aren’t always going to go our way. And when they don’t, it stinks. Like really stinks!!!

As a Christian, we have heard about God’s will. The funny thing about His will is that we are all about “God’s will be done” until it doesn’t look the same as ours. Then, all of a sudden, we’re not so sure about His will.

This has been one of the biggest life lessons I have learned while carrying Faith. I’ve said it before that when we first found out we were pregnant, and experiencing the first set of complications, I prayed that God’s will would be done; even though I was secretly praying that our wills would match. Our hearts desire was granted, but it looked much differently than we had planned. Of course, I knew that God had complete control, but I had to TRUST Him to control it. It is situations like ours that make it sometimes hard to pray that God’s will be done.

However, I am learning that if you TRUST Him, you can TRUST His will. Just because it doesn’t work out the way that we would like, or what we want, or if it looks differently than we had planned, His plans are PERFECT! He knows how things work out, long before we are even aware of the situation.

When we trust God and His plans, we have to be willing to accept His plans! Even if it’s not how we wanted things to turn out. That’s the beauty of trusting the Lord with all of your heart. I’m so thankful to know that God’s got it all together. Even when I don’t! I’m thankful that the Savior loves me enough to care so much about me that He is willing to go before me and hold my hand while I walk through the valley.

⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

My Girls

All of this talk about Miss Faith, and no one has yet to even see a picture. I feel like a terrible mom, but I finally made it to CVS to scan some pictures to share with you.

She was 21 weeks when these were taken. What a blessing to have these images of our sweet girl.

Then, we had a “photo shoot” with SaraGrace for the Photogenic portion of the pageant she will be in this weekend. I thought I’d share a few of the outtakes. She is hilarious, because she is not one for posed pictures. You just get what you get. Here are some fun ones:

There is a special bond between sisters. I know this because I have two:) Yesterday, our girls shared a special moment. We were in the car, listening to Selah. Their version of the Lord’s Prayer was playing, and it is AMAZING! SG asked me if we could pray for her baby. She wanted me to pray first. So I did. Then it was her turn. I heard the most precious words a mother could hear:
”Dear Jesus,

Thank you for my baby. But please don’t make her go to heaven because I will be so so sad.

Amen.”

Of course, the water works turned on. But it made me realize again how God is working through the lives of our children, even at 3. My cup runneth over to see how much SaraGrace loves her baby sister, even before she gets to see her.

Pressed, but not Crushed

^{2 Corinthians 4: 8-9}

⁸ We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; ⁹ persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

I haven’t written lately, because, frankly, I’ve been feeling pretty pressed. The last few days have been emotional. Not that anything particular has happened, or anything has changed, but I think the realization that we still have some pretty hard days ahead can be burdensome.

Then I came across this verse that someone had written on their blog. I have read it many times, and the song “Trading my Sorrows” is one of my favorites. How encouraging it is to know that no matter how the world tries to press us, persecute us, or strike us down, we will never be crushed, abandoned or destroyed. How do we know this? Jesus promises us this in His word.

Even in my darkest days, I have the light of His promises to stand upon.

Thank you, God, for your promises. Thank you for keeping me from being crushed, even when I’m being pressed like I’ve never been pressed before. I’m feeling pretty struck down right now, and my burden seems heavy. Thank you for picking me up, and carrying me through these days ahead.

Little Miss

Thank you, Sarah for the help on fixing up my blog.  I hope to be able to work on it this week.  I did want to share that we have taken the PLUNGE!  Lord help us, SG is going to be in a beauty pageant.  She wants to be in a princess contest, so we have decided to give it a try. 

After much shopping and looking, we finally found a dress!  Now this isn’t an easy task when you have a champagne taste on bottled water budgets:)

Here is a picture of the dress:

 

SG looks beautiful in it.  However, a refined princess she is not. She likes to do flips, pushups and a plethora of other activities that do not imitate a princess.  She is a work in progress.  But at the end of the day, SG is SG.  She is one-of-a-kind, and I hope that will work in her favor.

Stay tuned for pictures of Little Miss in her dress.

I Need Some Blog Help

I really want to organize my blog, and add a link that can include an email address.  I also want to add a link that you can click on and it will take you to the beginning of Faith’s story, and include all posts about her.  Do any of you have any idea how to do any of this?

I would love to hear from you!!! 

The Art Project

Art has never been my thing!  And neither have projects.  I can decorate a cake, paint a room, but a school project falls nowhere under any area of my expertise.   I always had these great ideas, because I wanted to stand out and be noticed.  However my execution was less than stellar! I was the one in 5th grade who attempted to make a map of the USA on a poster board with some sort of dough concoction to fill it in.  It weighed 500 pounds and earned me a big fat “C”!

Several weeks ago, Cade brought home a flyer that his art teacher was hosting an Art Gallery for their class.  Each child could bring in anything they have made, whether it was years ago, or something they made specifically for the gallery.  Since Cade is like a clone of me, nothing would do except for a sculpture of Galgotha with three crosses and a crown of thorns.  Those were the specifications he gave us.  Since Rob is pretty handy at sculpting things, I nominated him to be project superintendent.

We went to Michaels on Saturday night (it was due the following Monday) and purchased a landscape sculpture kit.  It has tons of contents, and an equal number of steps.  It took all Saturday night, then all day on Sunday.  I wish I would have taken step-by- step pictures, because it was a HOOT!  Rob and Cade together do not make a very good artistic team because both are very opinionated:)  Needless to say, it turned out AMAZING!  Here it is:

This isn’t the best picture of it, but Cade was so proud.  He just knew he was going to win.  I tried to explain to him, on the way out the door, that there was not going to be a winner.  To which he replied, “Momma, there’s always a winner!”

I will have to say that it made me extremely proud that of all of the things he could make, he chose to make something that represents Jesus!  Be still my heart:)