Blessed

One look at these sweet faces and you will understand how absolutely blessed we are right now. We have angels at our house! (and yes, after bathing 5 kids---Noah's on his own at this point---for a few nights in a row, the bucket of water outside for water play counted as a bath! My standards have been lowered. : ))

One Year

"There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord." Proverbs 21:30

We closed on our business one year ago today. What a year it has been! God has continually poured out His blessings on us. I have been studying the book of Daniel with the boys and teaching them about how God honored his obedience. Yesterday, I gave them the example of our family. We obeyed God---even when it didn't make sense---and moved our family to Mt. Vernon to buy a stove/fireplace business. We are both teachers. We were "city folk". It didn't make sense, but we obeyed.

God has honored our obedience in AMAZING ways. We had the busiest fall that the previous owners could remember. We had no slow season. We were prepared for things to slow down in spring/summer, but God had other plans. There is no way to explain people driving--sometimes long distances---here on 107 degree days to buy a fireplace or stove. God is good and we are thankful.

No, this isn't a current picture, but I love the beauty of it.

Radical

Last Sunday, Robby and I started a study at church on the book Radical by David Platt. I have heard a lot about the book and a friend had even given me a copy for my birthday, but I hadn't started it. We decided this would be great for us to study a book together and grow together. The book is all about living your faith out in a radical way. Who knew that in just one week God would be calling us to do something really radical for Him?

This Sunday, three little girls will move into our home. We love these girls. They are members of our church and we have gotten to know them quite well over the past year. Their Dad works out of town and their mom is sick and needs time alone to get better. This is radical! They are 4, 3, and 9 months.

When Robby and I first heard of this situation, I think we both immediately wanted to jump in and offer to take them in. But, we went slowly and prayed about the Lord's will. They have no family here and the only other option they were looking at was hiring a nanny service. Like I told their Dad, a stranger-nanny would care for them, but wouldn't give them the love that I will! This is a sacrifice that our whole family is making for the Lord. I keep asking God to strip away any ounce of pride that my ugly ol' flesh tries to sneak in. Everyone who knows about this keeps saying, "Wow! Y'all are brave!" or "You are a really nice person." NO! None of that is true. Yes, I do love children and would build a mansion and bring all the orphans home if I could, but this is all for the Lord. It is a privilege to bless this family by loving on their girls during this crisis time. But, I also know going into it that there's no way I can do it without Him and His supernatural strength flowing through me.

We are scaling school WAAAAY down. We'll still do the 3 R's, but that's probably about it. I can't be teaching the boys at the kitchen table while the baby crawls all over the house eating Legos! The boys are excited about this part, of course.

After all of my excitement of starting my new Bible study, I have to quit that. I can't put these girls through the stress of another new situation when their little lives are dealing with so much change already. But, you know what? As much as I LOVE this study and this group of women, God has just completely given me a peace about it and shown me that this is just temporary. It's only for a season. Still not sure about co-op. I haven't told the boys that. If we have to quit co-op, they'll be so sad. Just for a season, though.

So, if my blog is quiet for a while, you know why! : ) Prayers for strength and peace in our home are very much appreciated!

GLA

This is a beautiful video of the orphanage where our baby girl will come from. Just watching these sweet faces on the screen gives me the biggest smile. I wish I knew this girl so I could tell her what a great job she's done. Amazing!

Wordless Wednesday

Tomorrow is a new day!

Today I am thankful that God's mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:23). I am thankful to finally see the end of this day. The end has been good. The middle....not so much.
It was our first "bad day" of school. This is our 6th week, so I do praise God that today was our first rough one. I'm pretty sure by this time last year, we had tallied up more. Even Jonah, the eager kindergartener, went to his room and pouted because his handwriting was "too hard".

The LORD is gracious, though, because tonight was my first Mom's Meeting. Other homeschool moms got together to eat chocolate and chat. It was so encouraging to be in their company. I left feeling refreshed and reminded that I CAN do this. I have known from the beginning that God did not call me down the easy path. One (of the many!) reasons He called me to homeschool is for my own sanctification. He draws me to Him daily---no, hourly---through my children. My relationship with my Father would not be as deep and meaningful if my kids were in public school. I can honestly say that. I also know that their relationships with Him would not be what they are either.

I am humbled every day to be in this place. His mercies are new every morning. Great is His faithfulness.

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Never Forget

10 years ago today I was a fairly new Mom. Noah was 7 months old and we spent our days just playing, eating, sleeping, playing some more. (If only I knew then what I know now, I would've realized how blissfully easy those days were.) Anyway, I was watching Good Morning America when the planes hit the World Trade Centers. I just sat in shock. I remember holding him tighter and just wondering what his little life would hold. I knew his life would be different because of these events.

The next day, we were starting my first women's Bible study at our church. I remember walking out to the car with him and just looking up at the sky. It was still so fresh in my mind. I worried if more planes would strike. We were really close to Dallas. How would this affect us? When we got to church, all of the women met together and we just prayed for the victims, their families, the rescuers, and our country. It was a powerful time. We were all still so scared of the unknown, but had peace knowing that our Sovereign God was in control of it all.

As I made this cake, I was explaining to Noah why I was making it. We had never discussed September 11th with him before. It blew his little mind that men would give up their lives to kill others. Our little ones can't comprehend the evil of our world. In some ways, I felt like I was robbing him of some of his innocence. But, I wanted him to know. I wanted him to hear it from us and not from the media or a friend.

We will never forget.

God's Word

Today was our first day at Community Bible Study. It was SO SO good to be back with a group of women studying God's Word. When we lived in McKinney/Melissa, I was in a women's Bible study and for the past year I haven't done one. The great thing about this one is that the boys get to come with me. They are not just in "baby-sitting" either. They have a curriculum that goes right along with mine (studying the book of Daniel right now) and they have homework, too. So, it teaches them to have a quiet time and build a relationship with the Lord. It will be so good for all of us. Plus, lots of their homeschool buddies are there, too, which made the new experience less frightening. Jonah still growled at his teacher when we got there, but he told me later that he was "just nervous".

This morning, I finished reading the Bible. It took me 90 days. I did the Bible in 90 Days plan. A friend had told me about it and I just felt God calling me to do that. I have read a lot of the Bible in my journey with the Lord, but I had never read it cover to cover. It was more of a blessing than I can type in one blog post. I really want to encourage you to do it. This schedule (there's no program to buy) just breaks the Bible down into small chunks to read every day. It took me about an hour every day. I am so thankful that Community Bible Study started on the day I finished this, or I might be tempted to sleep in tomorrow. : ) Seriously, though, God's Word is "living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword". I am beyond thankful that anytime I open the Book, he uses words that were written thousands of years ago and helps me apply them to my life right now. Truly amazing!