Monday, November 30, 2009

Birthday Fun!!

We just got blessed with a little sunshine in our email inbox!
Today we received this picture of our little Prince in Liberia! Turns out one of the other kids who lives in his foster home recently had a birthday. His amazing Foster Mom threw the little girl a birthday party and I am guessing it was probably one of the first birthday parties our little Prince has ever attended.

What a blessing Prince's foster family is in his life! We miss him terribly and dream of the day when he'll be "home" but we couldn't have asked for a better foster family for him during this time apart!
Prince is the little guy in the "Local" t-shirt.



Tuesday, November 24, 2009

My Thanksgiving Blessings...

Counting my blessings as I think of all I am thankful for this Thanksgiving:

My amazing family and incredible kids.

My studly hubbie who still makes my heart skip a beat.

Friends that love me through good and bad.

A Savior that knows EVERYTHING and still thinks I'm His princess.

A home that has given us shelter, love and safety.

"Jobs" that have allowed us to tell people about Christ.

Batman costumes, homemade brownies and hot chocolate.

Time to sit back and reflect on all that I have been given.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

What are you thankful for??

Monday, November 23, 2009

November 23, 2001

Though I can hardly believe it; 8 years ago today at approximately 6am, I watched all the Black Friday shoppers scurry in and out of the stores via the local news station while my world was forever changed by the arrival of my sweet freckle faced Ayden.

And so; on this special day, I'd like to tell you the top 8 reasons why I love this little boy so much:

1)His absolute passion for serving God
2)His gorgeous brown eyes
3)His love for telling stories
4)His incredible memory
5)His compassionate spirit
6)His sensitive heart
7)His love of athletics
8)His cuddly nature

Ayden, you are my precious little monkey and you make every day brighter with your love and your smile.

I am blessed to be your Mommy and I thank God that you're a part of my life.

Love,
Mommy

Thursday, November 19, 2009

... na na na na BATMAN!!

Came across some pictures while cleaning and couldn't resist!


Donn - Approximately Age 4
Brekyn - Age 4

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

ABC's...

Today as I was sitting at my computer I heard my sweet little princess singing the ABC's.

I looked over at her and noticed that she was lying on the ground with her blankie over her face.

I then heard the following song:

"A, B, C, D, Night-night....A, B, C, Night Night."

Gee, do you think she was trying to tell me something?

If only I'd taken all those silly parenting courses....maybe I'd be able to figure out what she's trying to tell me!

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Exciting Life...

Not a whole lot to report on as of right now.

Life is pretty busy this week as we have the Loecken Family (the family that travels in their RV serving the poor) staying in town. We have had such a blast getting to know this amazing family. If you want to hear more about them click here. http://www.thearktour.org/The_ARK_Tour/Home.html

Beyond that, we're still trying to make final decisions about Donn's departure date. We are avoiding actually admitting that he's leaving soon (basic denial ya'll) but in reality we have both realized that it's the best option for now. Luckily, we'll have Christmas vacation to be together.

Now I must go tend to my incredibly exciting mountain of laundry and maybe I'll even shoot for the moon by attempting to get a shower in here someplace! Don't be jealous of my exciting life...I know it's very tempting. :)

Friday, November 13, 2009

Decisions...

With all that is going on in our life right now, it seems like we are constantly seeking God's will regarding decisions that have to be made.

Although it's often hard for me to be patient, it's also a really exciting time of waiting before God and allowing Him to truly care for us.

We are now in the midst of another big decision.

Yesterday I was sitting and praying when something hit me.

It was a thought that had actually never entered my mind before - and it really threw me for a loop.

It was the simple thought that maybe it is NOT the best decision for my husband to stay here once his time at the church is finished. Maybe, in fact, it would be wiser for him to go ahead and move to NY to begin pursuing a job there and to begin getting to know the people of the town.

I'll admit...it was hard for me to even bring myself to mentioning this possibility to Donn. The thought of being left behind to sell, pack and manage the house by myself (well, with the help of 3 little kids) is enough to make me sick; but maybe-just maybe-this would be the best long term option for all of us.

We had initially been assuming that we would all stay here until the house sold and Donn would just get a job here in the "meantime". Don't get me wrong; we would love to all go to NY right away; but the cost of carrying the bills there and also the house here are just not feasible for now.

With just Donn going (and not all of us in tow) he could easily stay with his family and live rent-free for a bit.

Nevertheless, with this turn of events, our world has become a little more complicated. We have not made any official decisions yet but the more we talk about it, the more we both realize that it may be for the best. Yikes...it may be best for my husband to move to NY in just a few weeks!! Ahhh!

Who knows how long it would last...we know we would see eachother when we make the trip there for Christmas, but beyond that it would just be dependent upon the house sale here.

I realize that to some people, it may be no big deal to think of separating the family for a bit. However, during our early years as missionaries with the sports ministry, Donn often spent almost a month at a time away and we have since said that we would never want that to happen again. It's a hard life and it's particularly hard for a family that does so much together. We have already cried at the mere thought of it.

And yet; just because it may be painful doesn't mean that it may not be God's will.

And so, again Iwould love your prayers if you feel led. It's just one more chance to surrender on this journey that has already been such a blessing to our family. I am excited to see how God will answer this time! :)

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Green Tea...

Monsoon-like rains are pelleting the window and I just arose from a little cat nap with my 4 year old snuggle bug...

Life is good.

I've taken on subbing a bit more these days (at both our church pre-school and another daycare in the area). I'm really enjoying the time there and am actually finding that staying "busy" is helpful since it keeps me from thinking too much about the house sale (or lack thereof).

However, I must admit that this afternoon I am one tired Mommy and I almost welcomed the rain as an excuse to lay down with the kids.

And so now, here I sit with green tea by my side, cozied up in my favorite sweatshirt and sweatpants and thanking God for His goodness...

Despite the fact that life may not always go the way I had planned - I need to remember to pause and thank Him for all the good things in my life...

...for cozy sweatpants, warm tea and sweet little cuddlebugs by my side. Does it really get any better than this??

Monday, November 9, 2009

Welcome To....

Day 3 of my 23 month old NOT taking a nap!!!

Grr!!!!!

'Nuff said.

Friday, November 6, 2009

I'm BAAAAACKKK!!!!

Thanks to an amazing friend who had an extra computer sitting around the house, we are now back in business!! :) Not that I have anything brilliant to say but at least I can say it now! Long live ALWAYS TALKING!! :) Have a great weekend!

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Technical Difficulty

Just a quick FYI.

Not that I have throngs of fans or anything, but nevertheless I figured I'd let you know that I won't be blogging very consistently for a while.

Our personal computer crashed (again - 2nd time this year) and obviously, a computer is just not in the cards for right now.

I will do my best to blog as I can get to a public computer, but with 3 kids that is also not an easy feat either.

Please keep checking back though! Don't leave me now!! :)

I feel like one of those stupid computer commercials -
"I'm a PC..."
Of course, if I was a Mac I probably wouldn't keep losing my computer to viruses!! Argghhhh!!

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Trick Or Treat!!

We had a blast trick-or-treating and going to a local Fall Festival! Sure, the rain was a bit of a bummer but that didn't seem to deter the spirit of three kids hyped up on sugar! :)

Monday, November 2, 2009

Manna...

“He rained down manna for the people to eat. He gave them the grain of Heaven.” Psalm 78:24

There are times when my faith is lacking.
There’s no way around it – my heart knows that God has a plan, but my logical head just doesn’t understand how He is going to ‘fix’ the problems.

Yesterday was one of those days.

Ironically, yesterday was also November 1st…You got it – Bill Paying Day (gasp).

Since the house contract fell through and the reality has hit that Donn will soon be lacking a pay check, while at the same time needing to pay our mortgage, we have been forced to take a hard look at life and prioritize in a major way.

I have always been a pretty well budgeted person, but there is always room for improvement so yesterday I sat and did some major pondering.

After paying the bills I had literally hit rock bottom. I sat and sobbed at my desk as I looked at the money left in our account and calculated how far that money would last once the paychecks end…Gulp.

I then grabbed the grocery list and faced a harsh reality.
I couldn’t spend a dime from our bank account. Not one dime.

Sure, there is still some money in there – but I can’t justify spending it when I know what we’re potentially walking in to.

I reached into my wallet and looked to see how much cash I had on me.

$11.

Hmmph…that’s not gonna go too far.

But I felt God saying, “Try me.”

And so I vowed that for this week I wouldn’t spend any money from our account for groceries. I’ll use the $11 and trust God for the rest.

So last night, me and my $11 went to the grocery store. With my list prioritized into “must haves” and “maybe haves” I walked the aisles of Aldi.

Now, let me just stop and say that for me to publicly admit I shop at Aldi is a pretty big deal. Over the years I have grown to love Aldi and it has saved our family some major moolah. However, it’s certainly not the most glamorous place on the planet and bagging my own groceries took some getting used to. Needless to say, I went to Aldi with my list in one hand and my calculator in another (oh yes I did!!). I sat and calculated every purchase I put in the cart!

Even during my college days I never once did that!

As I got to the bottom of my list of “must haves” I realized that I wasn’t going to be able to get a few things…cereal, shampoo, tissues…those would have to wait. I literally prayed a little prayer of “God, we could use some cereal and shampoo…I guess toilet paper would work fine for tissues.”

Then I paid my whopping $10.46 bill and went home.

Today, as I sat with some of my amazing friends in bible study, we all laughed as I recounted my story of shopping with $11 and a calculator. We prayed together for God’s direction and provision as we make this transition and I felt this absolute sense of God’s peace.

And wouldn’t you know; God showed up.

One of my friends looked across the table and said, “You don’t happen to need cereal do you?”

“WHAT!! Are you kidding me?? That’s exactly what I need!”

Apparently she had encountered a great deal and had a ton of extra cereal that she just couldn’t pass up!

And, of course, because God is so good, when my friend brought the cereal to my house later in the day, she also filled a bag of other items that she had found when she was bargain shopping. Go figure, there was a bottle of shampoo and a box of tissues in there!

And, that’s the reason why I hate it when I start to doubt God’s goodness in my life.

He saw the tears I shed yesterday and he loves me despite the lack of faith that I can sometimes display. Not only does He still love me, but He also decides to wow me with His absolute provision for what I need (and don’t even need).

And that’s the manna that God provided for me today. Sure, it was in the form of cereal, shampoo and tissues, but there is no doubt that it was directly from God Himself!

Now - if I look outside and see some white bread stuff falling from the sky…wow- that would make for a great story! :)After today, I would say that anything is possible! He’s just THAT good!

My Manna From Heaven!