Journal..

In my life this week… I have been in prayer about my heart and hurts and disappointments. Father has been ministering to me through His Spirit.  Yesterday as I read in the Word I felt such peace and comfort just seeping into my bones. I read all 5 chapters of Thessalonians & the last chapter of Colossians. I LOVE the Word and the words of LIFE it brings! 

In our homeschool this week…We are keeping on track with our schedule. I am so thankful for this small accomplishment. I am having to crack down on different habits and bad behavior but I know in the end it will bring many rewards! 

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…It's important to keep a schedule but also to be flexible. Life happens and we need to be willing to roll with the punches. We can then breathe easy and relax..:)

I am inspired by… the Holy Spirit!!

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing… I work out at Curves most mornings and I thoroughly enjoy seeing the same ladies working towards healthy bodies and lives. :) Tomorrow I take JaidenNoah to the Dr. for a referral for Speech Testing. I am anxious to know what's going on with him.  

My favorite thing so far this week is…tonight!! It's date night with my sweet man!! I am favored! Father has favored me by giving me the man of my dreams to share my life with! 

What’s working/not working for us… Sticking to our schedule is working! 

Questions/thoughts I have… I have decided to verbally thank Father more often. To adopt an attitude of gratefulness even in difficult moments and days. I have this scripture framed on my dining room wall;

 Don't worry about anything; on the contrary, make your requests known to God by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving. Then God's shalom, passing all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with the Messiah Yeshua.~ Phil. 4:6-7

It helps me to focus on prayer and thankfulness instead of worrying over the things that happen in my day to day life.  

Things I’m working on…prayer, thankfulness(gratefulness), sticking to the schedule, staying in Father's Word & being healthy.

I’m reading…Midwife of Blue Ridge. It's a great book so far! 

I’m cooking…nothing right now. Oatmeal for breakfast, will scrounge up something for lunch and then something simple for the kiddos for supper as dh and I are getting take out for our date night.

I’m grateful for…my Father, my family & my home...it is a small modest home but it's a safe haven from the world outside our door! 

I’m praying for…a new baby blessing, hurts, disappointments, my attitudes, others in my life, etc..

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

Love that my children know how to make such delicious food!  

A Little More Sunshine

Some days I need a little more sunshine in my life. I need that little something that makes my world brighter. My world consists of the walls of my home. There is a much bigger world beyond the front door of the home I live in but as a mama who stays at home my world is condensed into the white stucco walls that surround us.

So yesterday that sunshine bug struck me and on impulse I decided to move my dining room and kitchen curtains up higher on the windows. They had been hanging in the middle. I then was able to open each curtain to let the bright light fill my home! Light poured forth as rays covered the wood floor and counter tops and as it did this it filled my soul too.

Isn't it amazing what just a little thing can do for your home and for you? There is a light much brighter in which darkness has no place. There is a light that shines into all the dark corners of our hearts. This light makes all those sad, hurt, and fearful places disappear. This LIGHT is Christ!

He is the Light that shines forth in our spirits. His light brings truth and comfort. His light brightens up even the darkest of lives.. So while the sun brings me momentary warmth and light Christ brings Salvation for eternity. A light that never dims.

     

the treasure chest...

Today at a local grocery store and market I did something that is a first for me. As we were on our way out I noticed a little box on a counter with a note that said, "We would like to pray for you" The little box was a small treasure chest with a slot on top to put your prayers in.

Normally, I would have kept walking but something made me stop and then something else made me write my prayer request down and slip it into the treasure chest..

My prayer request isn't anything amazing or life changing..Well not to anyone but me.
I wrote on that small piece of white paper that I lost my sweet baby girl; a twin; in 2002 and that her twin brother is now 9. That we are once again seeking the Father in prayer for twins..for another pregnancy and babies...
I have prayed, since she died for twins but not with my whole heart and certainly not with any real hope in my heart that Father would answer my prayer again. The first time was too good to be true; a fluke..
But this time I am praying this prayer with my whole heart. That I will indeed be blessed with twins. I know that in Father's word His promises to me are for good things and good gifts.

So as I slipped my prayer into the box today I kept thinking of the scripture that says where one or more are gathered; there I am and that the prayers of a righteous man avail much...

 "The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much" (James 5:16)


So adding more prayers to my own and that of my family is always a good thing...Father hears us...

++++ Father God, I ask that you once again bless my womb with a set of beautiful, wonderful twins that I get to watch grow and to raise up to serve You! I pray for healthy twins & a healthy pregnancy for Your glory not my own! Oh and Lord, you know I will accept one baby from your hand too....:) 
Thank You Father! Amen!! 

Guest Post by my dd Morgan-Britney...CHECK IT OUT!!

This past week I had the privilege of attending Falls Ceek Christian Youth Camp in Oklahoma. It was a week long camp centered around learning more about Yahweh. I went as a cook/all around helper. I went with a church we have just started attending, so I knew very few of the teens that came. All the teens are public schooled, and they have a very apathetic attitude towards Yahweh and the Bible. It saddened me deeply, but Yahweh lead me past that and to their hearts. Growing up in a conservative household lead me to be judgmental towards others who did not believe as us. I had a lot of pride in my heart, so sure I was doing it the 'right way'. I met others who were judgmntal towards me and my family because we did not/do not cover, or because my shirts were not what they deemed modest. We met many snooty hurtful people. NOT a picture of Christ, as they should be. all along, I was the same way. I never spoke to a public schooled child, never showed an interest in others outside my close knitted community. Sound familiar? One day I said something prideful and judgmental in the presence of my mother. She grasped my arm and sat me down hard. She sat across from me and reminded me I was no better then anyone else. Yahweh loves everone the same, and all my 'righteous' acts were filthy in Yahweh's eyes. I was made pure THROUGH Him, not by my own works. She also reminded me of the circumstances of my birth. I was born out of wedlock to my mother, 16 at the time. I was not wanted when the pregnancy was found out, but my mother kept me. She was the only one who loved me. She reminded me how she nearly married a man who was not a Christian ,until she met the man who adopted me and became my daddy. She reminded me of how my life could be exactly like the ones I judged. My view on life changed. I asked Yahweh to give me His love for people. To teach me to see those as He does. I shed my pride and stepped forward in Yahweh's love. During camp I was given the opportunity to see these teen's hearts. Some are verbally abused at home, others struggling with parents who are addicted to drugs or alcohol. Others have family that are in jail, or father's who are absent. What they need is love, not a judgmental attitude or a snooty look. Being a shoulder to cry on doesn't mean that I agree with their ungodly behavior or let it slide. It does mean I let Yahweh guide me into the correct time to approach them on it. It means I choose to focus on what really matters, their heart. Not their clothes or the way they talk. That comes later. Yahweh always works inside out, and He promises that He will finish the work He begins. As a young girl cried on my shoulder this past week, torn between living with her mother or father, I knew that Yahweh has called me to live a life of love. He wants me to walk as Him. To surround myself with the 'unlovable'. He requires this of you too. So is there someone YOU know that you think when you see "Oh thank you Lord I don't live in HER family!" or " She is SO immodest! "  That girl could of been me. Would you come up to me and share Christ with me? Or would you, comfy in your 'perfect life' ignore me?

-- A quote I love... If I belittle those whom I am called to serve, talk of their weak points in contrast perhaps with what I think of as my strong points; if I adopt a superior attitude, forgetting "Who made thee to differ? and what hast thou that thou hast not received?" then I know nothing of Calvary love. ~Amy Carmichael Check out my blog! http://chocolatgateau.blogspot.com/

Picture time!

Thought I would do a more fun blog post and share pics with you all! Some of mama and the kiddos and even some of daddy if I can find some.. :)

Gabriellia-

Mama

baby boy KianAdley

ZaraLayna

Quentin

Micah

Josiah

JaidenNoah

Zechariah

Isaac

Morgan-Britney

My man..

Misc.. Pics..

taking up the whole pew..

our budding pianist..

Isaac, the human pretzel!

Well, thats it!! Hope you enjoyed all the pictures!! I sure did!! :) 

RuthAnne Michelle

9 years ago today my sweet baby girl RuthAnne went to glory...She was almost 1 month old..She passed away in her daddy's arms..something I am thankful for. His face was the last thing she saw. She knew she was loved..

RuthAnne Michelle

Ruthanne in mama's arms with her twin brother Micah..2 weeks old..

I look forward to the day when I get to hold her again..
I miss you baby girl..someday I will hold you again and make up for all the lost years..

let us kneel & bow down..

Today I attended a bible study that a friend invited me too. I wasn't sure what they would be studying or honestly if I even wanted to go. When my friend told me she would come get me I knew I didn't have any good excuses not to go..
The topic to my surprise was just what I needed. Prayer..something I haven't been doing enough of. Sadly in my walk with Father I struggle with finding time to pray. Also I struggle with wanting too, when I am going through hard trials..I pray those small prayers here and there each day but they aren't the prayers I am sure Father longs for..
I realized just today that my prayers are more about me than about Him..I don't praise Him just for being Who He is.
During the study our leader suggested some Psalms to pray..Tonite I laid across my bed and just began to pray these Psalms. And you know what? Father met me there..He sent His Holy Spirit to comfort me.
I have made a choice to pray and praise Father not because my situation has changed because you know, it hasn't but just because He is a great God, a great King greater than all gods. (Psalm 95:3)
And if it never changes you will still find me praising Him! Just because He is due my praise and adoration..

"He holds the depths of the earth in His hands:
the mountain peaks too belong to Him.
The sea is His-He made it-
and His hands shaped the dry land."


"Come, let's bow down and worship;
let's kneel before Adonai who made us.
For He is our God, and we are the people
in His pasture, the sheep in His care." ~ Psalm 95:4-7    

Adjustment...

It is taking me a longer amount of time to adjust to our new home than in the past..

We had planned to stay in IN and to dig our roots deep down. To carve a place for our children & children's children..and then all of those dreams were surrendered to Father. I was/am willing to go where he directs and do as He says. I am willing to do my best to bloom where He has planted me but I can't say it's easy or some days even much fun.

I still spend moments of time in tears for what we left behind. Perhaps that means I am like Lot's wife who looked back longing for what she had left behind or maybe I am just human and frail. A woman who misses her life as it was in IN and those people there who enriched it.

It's dry here in Tx and I can't help but compare that to the dryness I feel down deep in my soul. I am making a concentrated effort to be in the Word and it's as I read that I can feel the Water of Life pouring onto my parched and cracked heart.
Other times the familiar feeling of despair is in the air..

The old familiar poem "Footprints", I picture that in my mind and the Father carrying me through the valley up onto the mountain.
My prayer has become, "Father change my heart towards our new home and circumstances." Do I believe He will? Yes, because thats just Who He is! He is Faithful!