A Time For Every Season....

Me and my faithful "twin" Nicole who is on this complex  parenting journey with me. She is my encourager and the brains behind many ideas, she is also the one who makes all my kids Birthday Cakes since this non-creative momma  can't! I've been to enough conferences over the years to know that the "homecoming" isn't as whimsical as I imagine, I also know that I fall into a depressed slump for about a week after returning  home. Then, what I learned sinks in and can begin to produce fruit in my life and action in my bones - maybe I'm just weird, but I roll with it! I'm back from the Sally Clarkson conference ~ it was just as good, if not better, than the last two years. I was inspired, challenged, and convicted. If you've never been to a Mom Heart Conference I can't sing enough praises about the life changes it will inspire in your life as momma! The message is very similar each year, but the stories of inspiration and the inner-worki...

Drew and I were driving  home from purchasing a small children's pool for our backyard. Our conversation went something like this: Drew: "Mom, I'm starving, when are we going to eat?" Me: "Starving, you don't know what starving means Drew?" Drew " Yes I do! It means I'm really hungry." Me: " I mean, you've never experienced real hunger before, 99 out of every 100 people in the world do not live like we do. What we just spent on a fun pool would feed an entire family of 4 for an entire month in most third world countries." Drew: "You mean there are little children who don't get food all the time." Me: " Exactly, most people don't live in nice houses, drive nice cars, have clean water, and know where their next meal is coming from." Drew: "Well, that doesn't seem fair? We have to do something to help those children." Me: "Yes, God  calls us to help the orphans and wid...

After 6 1/2 years of struggling our way through the seemingly endless mounds of Student loans, credit cards, auto loans, medical loans, and that nice mortgage - we had finally reached the top of our mountain called consumer debt. John and I realized the day we married that our battle would be a long and uphill battle - freeing ourselves from the debt of slavery is never an easy process, but was necessary to learn faith and master obediance ! I am so thrilled that we walked together on the journey and have finally overcome the first mountain of consumer debt! We have taken many classes through Crown Financial and listened intently to their radio broadcasts, as well as taken instruction from Dave Ramsey's program - Financial Peace University. God has more to say about how to handle money than any other topic in the bible - God has used people like Dave Ramsey, Larry Burkett , and Howard Dayton to teach Christian and Non Christians how to handle money wisely. God's plan for how we...

This week we all got back in the swing of things. John spent some time working on some jobs for clients and helping me out with the boys. He also finished the model of Jesus' tomb! Then the boys and I went to the store and found some play mobile people who will act out the roles of Jesus, the guards, and Mary. Such fun! The actual traditions taken from Noel Piper 's book Treasuring God in Our Traditions calls for a clay model, but John came up with some bigger ideas! So far Drew is fascinated with the tomb, mainly because its a great accessory when playing race cars! Didn't John do a great job? I had no idea the project would be such a hit with all the boys! Gotta love traditions and teachable moments! We started telling Drew part of the Crucifixion story, he is starting to understand a little. Today while I was telling him the story of Jesus Drew responded, "Don't worry mommy, the tomb is empty, Jesus is Alive!" Such sweet words from my 4 year old. Drew love...

I'm taking a little sabbatical from blogging. The Lord perfectly worked out a busy February and a March fast to keep my mind focused on Himself. Over three sequential weekends I'll: attended a marriage conference, attended a mothering conference, and fly away on a personal retreat to Oregon to visit my best friend Bethany and read tons of great godly books. At first I was overwhelmed with being gone for so many weekends, but the Lord knew that I needed a retreat to process all the ideas swimming around in my head. I'm coming out of a "dry" time with the Lord. I have them about once a year and the Lord uses those times to reveal various sin or lifestyle changes that need to be made in my life. I'm so excited to be out of the dry spell and am excited again to be inspired by God's word and walking in faithfulness. Coming out of the desert and into the valley makes for a peaceful home, joy filled children, and a very happy husband! It is interesting how the L...

We're celebrating marriage this weekend - for 6 years in a row we have spent a weekend together improving, maturing, and celebrating our commitment made on January 11 th . Divorce is NEVER an option, with that being said, its imperative that after the foundation of commitment and covenant is secure - energy is placed into cultivating the communion. As we were reminded tonight, most people who need to be here aren't, it is those who see that marriage is an investment that are here - learning, remembering, and seeking out godly wisdom. A covenant marriage takes sacrifice, commitment, and humility. Marriage wasn't created to bring us all happiness, it was created to reveal our sin, flesh, selfishness, and greed and provide an environment where two sinners lay down their flesh and through the power of the holy spirit serve one another. It is within the community of humility, servant-hood, and forgiveness that we learn to see God's perfect character and bring glory to God th...