A Time For Every Season....

Psalm 95:1-6 "O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also. The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land. O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker."  2012 was a blessed year; we thank the Lord for another year together with our children and extended family. We had many visitors and lots of fun!    1. Drew was thankful for his school, church and family, he especially enjoyed visits from Papa Tractor and his Papa from Seattle. He enjoyed time with his Sister the beginning of the year while Gabe was at Preschool. Then in the Fall he started ACA and was not home quite so much. That was a hard transition f...

One year ago I wrote this crazy blog post about joy and Tortillas. Today I sit and smile, glad  I chose joy. I needed a sweet smile and a reminder like this post from myself, to search out and find joy - God is the author of joy and will not disappoint! I left them alone for just 5 minutes.  All three children were outside playing together, nicely for once! I was so thrilled that Abby wasn't whining and the boys were nicely playing in their makeshift tent. I went inside to put groceries away and then ran upstairs to tidy up a few things. As I looked out the window to check on them I see it - hair rises on my arm, I feel my blood pressure skyrocket and I think out-load, "What the heck are they doing, I leave them alone for 5 minutes and they go straight to mischief!" I went outside to begin ranting and stopped to pause for a quick second - what happened to my joy? It was here just 1 minute ago, the  day was going to well! Am  I going to let this be the climax of my ...

From 1/31/2011 - a great reminder for me today! "A thankful heart is constantly extending grace  because it has received grace. Love and Grace are uneven." "Grace Begets Grace." Paul Miller, A Praying Life Page 152 Grace ~ a word I thought I knew much about. From a young age I learned in church that grace was "unmerited favor."   Now, ask me to define that in my own words and I would have said something like, "I am unworthy of anything and God has shown fit to bless me with a relationship with Him."  Over the last few months the  Lord has been speaking to my heart about living a grace- filled life. It  began last August with a Kay Arthur bible study on Spiritual gifts. I studied the word "Charis" (5485), it is Greek for grace and in the context I was reading meant "grace gifts or gifts of grace." I was slightly intrigued by this concept of spiritual gifts being gifts of grace. I never thought of spiritu...

Only in Eden will I truly be satisfied. However, I'm not in Eden and I'm called to be "content in all circumstances," so today I spent a lot of time counting my blessings. I have so very many and the more I thanked God the more content I became. Unfortunately, I decided to have the boys clean out the van for me which turned into a 2 hour ordeal of the boys being distracted, not listening, not cleaning, and Abby falling out of the van and hitting her noggin. Poor baby will have a large goose egg in the morning. Daddy came home to the  rescue and miraculously the boys got to work without grumbling or complaining. I headed off for a stress relieving workout, a vegi taco and some quiet time to think and pray and finish a chapter in my book on the subject of praying over relinquishing. I love how God draws me close and renews my spirit when I call on Him. I had a wonderful evening, reflecting on the messages He has been sending me about contentment, allowing and actual...

"Thanks giving for God’s love always seeks to become thanks- living – a living and giving of His love." A. Voskamp 1001. A weekend away with the man I've been married to for 9 years. He is the love of my life and I'm a blessed woman to have been given such a precious gift of a man. 1002. The excitement of hearing how my husband witnessed to his hygienist. We've been ministering to her for 5+ years and God has opened the doors using her disabled son and my "disabled" husband. God gives good gifts like disabilities to be shared. 1003. Listening to my son master a word  we've been working on reading. 1004. Completed phonics lessons, disciplined child who is eager to learn and be taught "his way." 1005. My cup of coffee in the morning and vitamix smoothie that starts my day out right. 1006. Fresh farm eggs that taste divine! 1007. Science experiment - testing the various types of eggs sold at the store: Omega 3, Large  white, ...

I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old: Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done. —Psalm 78:2-4 The year of 2011 will go down as the year of rest and peace. We spent the year basking in the uneventful. Here are the blessings we celebrated before the Lord this year, as we gather to celebrate a day of Thanksgiving, I will rest and bring praises to the Lord for all that He has done and provided for us over the past year. Health & Wellness::  The past few years we spent a lot of time at the doctors office, on medication, recovering from colds, RSV, allergies, and ear infections. We worked through intestinal issues, constant vomiting, neck pain and many other issues. The year of 2011 will go down as the year we as a family started a holistic journey to becomin...

"Gratitude for the seemingly insignificant—a seed—this plants the giant miracle." A. Voskamp 990. Husband who renovates the laundry room so we can have a desk for the kids downstairs. I don't like that my computer is upstairs and if the kids are playing on it I don't like leaving them unsupervised, now I can get some things done in the kitchen while Drew works on his phonics. An added bonus - a quiet place to work on school work that will have fewer distractions - our kitchen table breeds lots of business and activity. 991. I purchased the new Fernando Ortega CD and can't stop listening to it!  There is something so peaceful and contemplative about Fernando's music. I've been waiting for a new CD for years!!!! 992. Dear friends, the Reed's,  over for dinner with their little  boys who ramble and run and raise a ruckus just like ours. It was such an encouragement to hear about their journey and trips and faith lessons. I especially enjoyed hear...

I was eight in the video's - carefree, attention provoking, loud and very boisterous. "Who is that girl?" I asked my now 31 year old self? "Surely that was not me? I am so different now?" Did my circumstances change me? I was nine when the familiar world around me fell apart and I wanted to be unknown. For most of my early years I  was smart and loved learning and had a family where I felt safe and secure. That life changed as the Winter of record snow fall gave birth to the Spring of my 3rd grade year. I always wanted to go back, to undo the damaged, to go back to the imperfectly good times of rural country life: with pets and family and  the teacher I'd prayed for and -- identity. Then we moved from rural to city, country landscapes to industry, a home to an apartment, and tragically -- I had to give away my beloved dog. For the completion of my third grade year I was sentenced to Mrs. White's class. She made no qualms about the fact that s...

“ The heavens declare the glory of God and the sky proclaims the work of His hands.” (Psalm 19:1) 977. Celebrating freedom with scones and clotted cream, James Harriot and a book about the statue of Liberty. 978. Visit from my dad from Seattle. 979. Helping John plan the remodel in our pantry - I'm so excited that we're getting a desk downstairs and cabinets so I can store all this school stuff I've collected. 980. The magnificent landscapes of God's creation atop beautiful snow covered mountains. 981. Picture Outtakes! 982. The simple rejuvenation of a day spent resting and playing - thank you Lord for the example of sabbath rest. 983. Husband  home for the summer working on projects and serving others. 984. God's provision for John's Vietnam trip -  we were blessed by so many! 985.  Giggly middle child who makes everything into a funny game. Gabe is the comedian in our home, always smiling and blessing us with his contented spirit. ...

 "Be like a postage stamp, stick to one thing until you get there." 960. We made it safely to Colorado and back - stuck together in the van for 30+ hours, we truly grew as a family in faith, in love and grace and maturity. We had a  blast! 961. First family road trip - the books on tape were great, momma's singing  was fun and the fast food was tempting! 962. Family time at the park in Colorado Springs - we saw tons of  homeless people and it just broke my heart to see them watch our family running all over the park looking at trains and chasing squirrels. What must their childhood been like? I am so blessed by God to have been given three little blessings and a husband who would conquer the world for us. God has bestowed on us a great blessing and with it comes great responsibility. 963. Playing at the Focus on the Family visitors center ~ we spent hours playing in the rooms and going down the slide. Abby loved the toddler room with lots of room to p...