A Time For Every Season....

I've been touched so much by the song Blessings by Lora Story, its been on the radio the last few weeks and it challenges my flesh in every way imaginable. This place in Texas is not my home, this is a mere blink of an eye compared to the amazing life that awaiting me in Heaven. I just finished the book Heaven Is For Real , which also spoke to me a lot about eternity and living with the end in mind. Both this song and the book changed my whole perspective on Heaven - the facts from the Bible are the same, but the book brought out the reality of what awaits believers - that Heaven is so real and so amazing and so worth every ounce of pain I've been through on this earth. The book challenged me to  be more purposeful in my prayer life, it developed more of a passion for others salvation and brought a deeper love for my family - my first mission field. Heaven is my eternal home, this place I'm in right now is a brief stop, which is necessary for my real life work - the work...

Williams' Favorite Books: Adult Books on Reading to Children Mission To Motherhood By Sally Clarkson The Read Aloud Handbook By Jim Trelease Read For The Heart By Sarah Clarkson Hey! Listen To This: Stories To Read Aloud By Jim Trelease Honey For A Child’s Heart By Gladys Hunt Children’s Bible Comprehension Jesus Story Book Bible By Sally Lloyd Jones Teach Them To Your Child By Sarah Wean Big Truths For Little Kids By Susan Hunt Hymns For A Child’s Heart By Bobbie Wolgomuth & Joni Eareckson Tada My ABC Bible Verses By Susan Hunt Dangerous Journey ~ The Story of Pilgrims Progress By Oliver Hunkin, John Bunyan and Alan Parry The Children’s Book of Faith By William Bennett Children’s Books on Character The Squire & The Scroll By Jennie Bishop The Princess & The Kiss By Jennie Bishop Hedge of Thorns Rewritten by Mary Hamilton Lamplighter Publishing The Princess & 3 Knights By Karen Kingsberry Brave Young Knight By Karen Kingsberry The Children’...

883. Gabers asking to listen to the food song. "The what song?" I ask. You know Momma, the song, "Whatever you eat, or drink, do it all for the Glory of God song?" I love it that my kids love singing and they love scripture. They haven't a clue that these words they hide in their hearts now, will remain with them their whole lives. The Word, precious words from their Father, are powerful words that can speak peace, breath fire, and convict souls. 884. A week of simple being home - nothing planned, no outings required, no commitments. A week long sabbatical to get  back to living out joy. Where are you joy? I'm finding you in the simple, the unhurried, in the messy long days, in the tortilla throwing contests in our backyard.  885. My wise husband who offers sweet words of conviction, assurance of his love and help during times of struggle. 886. Easter celebrating with faith, family, and friends! 887. Empty tomb Easter morning - Advent - celebr...

FOR...... PIG TAILS!

My children exhaust me, sometimes they do the stupidest silliest things,  life is a constant balancing act with many unexpected happenings each day, just a few recaps from today of my children doing childlike things that tested my patience and resolve: Drew went flying over the couch in a giant hurry, skidded onto one of our favorite books and ripped a page out.  I walked into my office to find one of my children had opened a gift I had set aside  for a friends birthday - just because it looked interesting and momma wasn't around to say "no". One child dumped a good % of mommy's favorite coffee creamer into said child's tea, leaving mommy little to nothing for her morning coffee. Said child placed his shedding dog in my brand new mini van that was detailed moments earlier, getting children to pick up hundreds of blond dog hairs out of the car was next to impossible! The boys were using the manipulatives from our math lesson as swords, they proceeded to po...

"I want to live life as if it isn’t an emergency~ because it isn’t. it is a gift... in giving thanks, we get more time ... we see each moment as it is,   seed: and the attentiveness slows. time. down. life is not an emergency ~ giving thanks, gives us time...  t ime to enjoy the gift!" ~A, Voskamp ~  868.  Bi-Annual camping trip with old and new friends. 869. Sweet new friends who brought a canoe and let us all indulge in the lake beauty! 870. Mud Flights in the lake between father and son. 871. Conversations around the fire about heaven and witnessing to unbelievers through the godly patterns in our lives. 872.  The laughter of my sweet friend Nicole, she is such a special friend to me, one who "gets" me and is always encouraging me when I'm down. I am so blessed that God gave her a servants heart, that delivered a meal and visited me in the hospital - who knew a deep friendship of like minded women would blossom. 873. Th...

Our study on butterflies has reached its finale. We sang "Metamorphosis, meta meta morphosis.: We learned about Migration! We released our butterflies to our yard and wished them a happy 5 more days of life! Now we're comparing as our Moths are still cocooning in a terrarium in our laundry room.

Abby is 15 months old! I took her in for a well visit - her first actual well visit since she was 9 months old! We actually  were able to use the well child door! I'm so glad it is Spring and RSV and Pneumonia season are over! Here were Abby's stats: Weight: 20 lbs, 15 oz Height: 27 inches or 2 feet, 3.5 inches Head: 17.5 Inches In the last few months she has made great headway and is actually meeting  "age" appropriate developments. Just tonight I let her eat with a spoon and fork and a real plate - it was so messy but she was so proud of herself! She even managed a few bite-fulls of her own! Her latest development I'm not so found of - she is beginning that separation anxiety phase. Twice last week she was crying when I picked her up - normally she hasn't a clue I left and is excited when I return. She rarely cries for me  when I'm gone - hopefully she will outgrow this soon! Abby is walking like a champ! She more waddles which makes it even mo...

Giving thanks for one thousand things  is ultimately an invitation to slow down time  with the weight of full attention. ~ A. Voskamp ~ 850. Studying life science through the lens of baby eaglets, what a wonderful time of technology we live in. I'd never dreamed that I could show my children God's creation through a live video feed . The boys and I have grown so fond of the three baby eaglets and their hard working Momma and Daddy! Our studies have brought about  great conversations and many observations. 851. Metamorphosis! Our green caterpillars have finally cocooned and will hopefully emerge in a few weeks as Hummingbird Hawk Moths. They too have been a fascinating study in life science. 852. A little boy who is suddenly fascinated with reading! I'm so excited that Drew is enjoying reading and loves to sit still for 20 minutes and read to me. I'm so proud of how far Drew has come and the hard work and perseverance he has shown! 853.  My sweet h...

TEETH! Sweet girly of mine has finally, at 15 months, earned some teeth! Abby was so crabby today, she cried during my mom's group and was inconsolable.  I thought she was sick because she is never that fussy - especially for others. Then, I looked in her mouth and she had three sparkly teeth protruding from her upper gums. No wonder! After 6 months of teething, she finally has some upper teeth! She is still fussy, but a cold Popsicle did wonders for the pain this afternoon. BUMP = You can see in the picture that she fell and whacked her head on the brick flowerbed. I actually heard the thumb, but she was a trooper. After a few minutes she was off and running again. I can't believe she is walking! My baby is growing up too fast!

This is so me - I thought I was the only one who struggled with getting her daughter's diaper changed in a regular fashion, I never had this trouble with the boys! Poor Abby!

This afternoon Drew and I were marveling at God's created beauty and I remarked, "Can't you just picture God painting the strokes on butterfly wings, what a creative and beautiful God we serve." I expected some nodding, or anything to show that Drew was in agreement, but instead he just looked at me,  perplexed,  and then remarked, " Mom, that isn't true! God didn't paint the butterflies, he spoke them into existence." I was quite impressed with his theology, so I played dumb and asked, "What do you mean by spoke?" Drew's response was so matter of fact, "Well, remember back in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth - he spoke them into existence. Just like my Bible says!" After  telling Drew he was very correct, I then asked, "So, when God spoke the butterfly into existence, don't you think he painted a picture in His mind of what that butterfly was to look like?" After a  few seconds Drew replied...

For this weeks Sabbath rest, I picked one of my favorite story tellers - James Herriot. My Aunt Beth sent me a book of James Harriot's favorite stories when I was very little. She knew I just loved animals and wanted to be a veterinarian when I got older. So for our Sabbath we read the first chapter from this book, which was the best stories from James Herriot. I loved looking at the Yorkshire countryside pictures when I was young and always dreamed of going to Derby and seeing the home of James Herriot. Reading this book to my children brought back many memories of sitting in my little apartment room, where the window was eye level with the shrubs and bushes. I'd look out that beautiful Oregon window on the hill of Sexton Mountain while being engrossed with Harriot's many adventures. The book encouraged my love for all creatures great and small - hence Melissa's Multitudes was birthed and a few dozen animals were saved loved - birds, rabbits, cats, dogs, horses, ...