What it's all about...

Today, I have very little time to write (no, I'm not decorating for fall). I am seriously beginning to wonder if I'll even get to that this year.

In the last month my life has picked up with a pace that I haven't experienced in years. It's all good stuff....(bible study, making a little extra money doing childcare, parents groups, etc). I love it all, but it's definitely left me running through each week.

But, this week God has helped me to remember what it's all about. You see, last night Donn and I were overly blessed to have a couple sit in our living room to discuss adoption. They are a couple that are in the beginning stages of praying about God's plan for their family and they needed to talk it all through. What a blessing to be a part of that stage of someone's life! We went to bed feeling overwhelmed at God's goodness.

Tonight, I will ask you to pray because we will be sitting on the other side of the fence.

You see, tonight Donn and I have been asked to come to the local crisis pregnancy center to speak to the girls who are facing an unexpected pregnancy.

I am completely and totally overwhelmed that God has allowed us to be a part of this. Don't get me wrong...I think that sometimes girls are called to give their babies up for adoption and other times they are called to parent themselves...the bottom line is that they let their babies live. Each one of the girls we will be meeting tonight have already made the decision to let their babies live!

What an opportunity to thank these girls (who are not much different than my little Elle's birthmother) for their decision to give their babies life!

Please pray for us to be emptied of ourselves and for God to use us how He has planned. Please pray for God to bless these girls as they now figure out their next steps. Pray for these little lives that will one day join us in this world and grow up to be our future.

Welcome to Fall!!

Oops...I probably should re-title this post.

"Welcome to REALITY!!"

I know; I know... I had high aspirations on Friday...

I always have high aspirations on Fridays! Why is that? As if having a weekend actually means I will have MORE time on my hands to get things done...HA!

Weekends in our house typically mean life gets busier! I don't know why I ever thought I would get tons of festive decorating done.

Nevertheless; I told you I would show you my beautiful house on Monday, so here is my "beautiful" house on Monday...

These "fall" decorations I actually use year round. They tend to show up all around the house. Sometimes even under couches and in closets. :)

Notice the amazing assortment of orange pumpkins and beautiful apples adorning my mantle....oh wait...nope...not there. :)

I personally am quite fond of my festive kitchen...I mean, come on!...I think there may be a pumpkin bowl mixed in that mess somewhere (oh wait...nope; I haven't pulled those out of the back of the cupboard yet). Hey, wait! Is that an apple I see there in the background!

And of course, who can imagine a Fall Festival without crocs and flipflops! I mean, come on!

What screams Fall like dirty old shoes?

The bottom line is; please don't sit at home and cry if you can't decorate for fall with as much skill as I do.

It's a gift ya'll. It truly is. :)

Accountability!!

AHHH!!!!!

If you are a blogger as I am; you have probably also noticed the trend.

September 22nd rolled around and everyone and their brother's uncle was posting blogs about their amazing Autumn decorations...

UGGH...

Meanwhile, I was busy posting about smudges on my windows. :)

And yet, reading all of these posts did actually make me stop to think about that lonely little Autumn decorations box that sits up in my attic and gets pulled out once a year (if he's lucky).

For days now I have told my husband to expect an Autumn Festival when he gets home from work that evening. I have had the best of intentions; but I just can't seem to pull it off.

For now, that lonely little box cries out to me from above...

BUT TODAY IS THE DAY! Okay, well; maybe not today...I've got a lot going on today.

But, this weekend is it!

I've decided to post my aspirations to transform my home into a Fall Paradise because it will keep me accountable to actually put on my homemaker's hat and get busy this weekend.

And so begins the challenge...what are you doing this weekend? :)

If all goes well, I will post pictures of my amazing home transformation on Monday...if all goes well.:)

How I spent my day...

Okay, not exactly a true story.

I didn't actually spend my day in this massive line of cars; however, I did spend my day this way on Monday.

You see, about a week after Ike hit Texas, just about every gas station in the area seemed to run dry. Our streets are spattered with cars on the side of the road that were in pursuit of a gas station but couldn't find one in time.

Just tonight I had to make a run to Walmart and this is what I drove up to see. The line went on beyond my view and cops were all around.

Apparently, fights are breaking out all over town as people wait up to 5 hours for gas from one of the few stations that are still open.

I had heard about these stories on the news, but I never expected to see it. In all of my years in this city I have never seen an aerial police surveillance unit anywhere, but today, I got the treat of seeing one at the Walmart gas station.


Who whoulda' thunk?

I can only praise God I was not one of the people who had to wait in this line!

Let's pray we get a shipment soon...

Slime, slime everywhere...

Remember the post I did a few days ago about fingerprints?

Apparently God is really trying to bless me with little reminders of His presence.

This morning my 9 month old discovered the joy of a frech door.

She entertained herself for a good 15 minutes blowing zerberts on the glass and leaving precious slimy memoirs. Go figure...I had just cleaned this window yesterday:).

I'm not kidding!!

I really think God wants me to have dirty windows to remind me of His fingerprints in my life (at least, that's the story I'm stickin' to if you show up at my house and are appalled by my slimy windows)!

Does it get any better than this?

Are you kidding me!?

There's just no excuse...

If you have a twisted sense of humor like I do, this little video will have you laughing hysterically.

There are just soooooooo many things wrong with the video...granted; the words of the song are completely true, but I seem to have trouble getting past the three piece suits and the horrible taste in stage decorating (GASP!)

Who ever said gold shag carpets should ever be put with pink walls!! I mean, COME ON PEOPLE!! There's just no excuse for that!

So, if you dare...take a little trek back in time and smile as you think about how dumb our clothes and styles will also look in 30 years!

Have a happy Tuesday!

Fingerprints...

I am doing a bible study with an amazing group of Godly girlfriends and it has me doing a lot of thinking.

The best way I can describe the study is to say that we’re taking a look at God’s fingerprints.

Through a variety of exercises, we are drumming up memories all the way back to frizzy haired pig tails and big girly bows, and we’re looking for all the ways that the Lord has directed our lives and equipped us to better serve Him.

Phew! It’s been a wonderful (albeit exhausting) glimpse into my life of 30 + years.

Today as I arrived back home from the study I was caught up in the ‘to do’ list for the next few hours:

1) Wash the car
2) Clean the kitchen
3) Pick up around the house…

As I parked the car in the driveway, I realized I had forgotten to run through the car wash.

‘Oh well, I guess I’ll run out later and get that done.’

I slammed the car door shut and looked back over the dirty car…a thin coat of dirt covered the entire surface and a lovely “artistic” smear was slapped across the window.

I turned from the car and stuck my key into the lock of my house door and my stomach dropped when I realized how nasty the glass on my door had gotten over the weekend of kids running in and out.

‘Great, one more thing to clean up I guess.’

I plopped my purse and keys on the kitchen counter and turned my head to see another glimpse of ‘mess’ that needed my attention. This time it was the slimy little mess that covered the stainless steel of my dishwasher.

“Man, is there any surface in this entire house that isn’t covered in fingerprints!!” I said to myself in exhaustion…

And that’s when it hit me…

Immediately, I felt God saying to my heart… “Cyndie, those fingerprints are my gift to you.”

As I thought back over the “messes” of fingerprints that covered my car window, side-door and dishwasher; I realized they were in fact God’s gifts to me.

Sure, to the naked eye, they just looked like “messes” - areas that needed attention and cleaning.
But, in reality they are little gifts left by my family – the people whom I love the absolute most in my life.

I wonder if that’s how God looks at me. Sometimes my life can seem “dirty” or out of control. I can feel like I am smeared and covered in a thin layer of “gunck”. But, God is looking down at me saying,

“Precious child…you are not a smeared mess…you are my daughter and I am going to take the ‘gunck’ off of you and help you to realize it is my fingerprints that are covering your life– my little reminders of who is actually in control.”

And so, today I say, praise God for fingerprints!

I think I’ll actually bypass the car wash for a few more days…

Sometimes you need little reminders that your Daddy is watching over you!

A Few Prayers...

Dear 'Faithful 3'

Well, Friday has arrived! PRAISE THE LORD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Only thing is....this is the busiest Friday of my entire year.

I have my huge fundraising event for the Adoption Agency that I work for today. It's an event that I have been working on since July and today is the big day!!

Therefore, no shallow thoughts to share (I know you already weren't expecting deep thoughts, so I'll just clarify that there will be no shallow ones either)!:)

So, if you think to, please say a prayer today.

Pray that I don't sweat ridiculously sitting outside at a a golf course for 12 hours today.

Pray that I still smell pleasing when it's time to welcome fundraisers and pray that, above all else, there will be no misting rain that could frizz my hair up to the skies and scare away our guests. (Like I said...shallow).

Well, I guess one other thing you could really pray for is that God would use this event to raise funds to go toward this incredible Christian ministry that brings babies 'home' (Maybe you should start by praying this prayer).

Just promise me that somewhere in there you pray about my frizzy hair also (God hears them all Sisters!):)

Happy Weekend!

Taking Satan's Power Away...

Sisters,

Sometimes I read things that stop me in my tracks and make me sit staring blankly at the wall.

Today I read something like this.

You have probably heard me say many times that I think it's time the masks come off.

I fully believe that one of Satan's greatest tools is convincing Godly women that they're not good enough.

How many times have you had the thought, "What would people think of me if they really knew the truth?"

How many "secrets" have you kept hidden in the dark?

How many "burdens" have you carried on your shoulders?

I am sick of allowing Satan to have this hold over my life... I have committed to doing my best to be real with you and real with myself...

Today, I was reminded of the beauty and healing that comes when God's daughters stop living with "secrets."

Please click here to read an amazing testimony by Lysa Terkeurst, President of Proverbs 31 Ministries.

It's time we stand up and admit who we are...

It's time to take the power away from Satan and allow God to transform our lives!

Lord have mercy...

Somedays I wonder what God was thinking when He made me a mom.

I mean, it’s one thing to be ridiculously weird and to be able to laugh about my own idiosyncrasies; but it’s a whole other ball of wax when you realize that you’re training your children to also be weird.

Have mercy.

You see, today I was out running some errands when I ended up driving down a country road.

First we passed the beautiful field with horses grazing and Brekyn yelled, “Mommy! Look at the horses!”

Remembering that horses are not a normal part of my child’s life in the “city” I smiled and thought about how neat it was that God gave us the blessing of seeing these serene horses.

Brekyn and I began chatting about how great it was to see the “countryside” when all of a sudden he began yelling from the backseat:

“Mommy!! Mommy!! Look! It’s Swiss Cake Rolls!”

Now, if you know me well; you know that swiss cake rolls are my weakness.

You could put a life-sized chocolate cake in front of my face and I could walk away.

BUT, if you put a swiss cake roll within 33.3 miles of my home, I am guaranteed to sniff it out with my nose. (yes, it is in fact 33.3 miles...I've tested this) :)

So, needless to say, the car began swerving as I peered out the window trying to find the swiss cake rolls that apparently some country bumpkin carelessly discarded.

(No offense if you're a country bumpkin. I really have no problems with country bumpkins...though if you were a country bumpkin and you did carelessly discard God's precious gift of swiss cake rolls then we might need to sit down and have a heart to heart talk.)

That’s when I realized what Brekyn had spotted.

And again I say, Lord have mercy…my kids are turning out just as weird as I am!

Long live the swiss cake rolls!