If I Were a Rich Man (or woman :)

Seth and I have talked about wanting to show the world how BIG our God is.  We have so many dreams of ways to give and bless, but so many of them have dollar signs attached.  So, today this song came to mind, "If I were a rich man, la-dee-da-dee-da-dee-da-dee-doo."  (or something like that)

But what the Lord has been reminding me, is that I don't have to be rich to be generous.  I don't have to have money to show His love.  And so, to get my eyes on what the Lord is calling me to today, I wanted to make a list of things I can do now to show His love. 

1.   Write a letter of thanks or encouragement.
2.   Smile.
3.   Offer free babysitting.
4.   Invite friends over for popcorn and a movie.  (Fellowship with other believers is so important.)
5.   Sing.
6.   Give a hug.  (It's amazing how a hug can turn a day around.)
7.   Call a friend.  (It's nice to know you are being thought of.)
8.   Cuddle with my kiddos.
9.   Encourage my husband.
10. Invite someone to church.

All of these may seem simple, or even insignificant, but they could change the course of someone's day.  So, the Lord is encouraging me to continue to give.  To keep my eyes wide open.  To listen to His voice, and to be available. 

If you have ideas, please share!  It's amazing how God can speak through others. 

Our Creation

Last year Seth bought me a sewing machine and I knew that it would honor him for me to use it.  So, for his birthday the girls and I decided to make a memory quilt.  On the quilt I wanted our hand prints, and drawings of things that we do as a family.  Other than that however, I had no idea what I was doing.  So, off we headed to Joann's with this vague idea of what we wanted.  I figured that I would pick up a few different kinds of material and throw it together into a masterpiece.  :)

As we were driving I prayed for direction from the Lord, because so often I find myself wandering around this particular store and wondering, "Why am I here?"

The Lord was gracious this evening and prompted me to find a pattern, then pointed me in the right direction.  I found a "quilt in a day" pattern which looked simple enough and had all of the dimensions of material needed.  Whew, I was not going to have to wing this one! 

The girls were a wonderful help choosing the material and together we found some that looked manly, yet had a fun flair to it. (a manly fun flair :)

A month and a half later, my "quilt in a day" was complete.  And here it is!  I have to admit, we girls are proud of our accomplishment!

We finished!

Kylia drew a picture of daddy in his Super Man pose, because he is our Super Man!

This is Adalie's drawing of our family on a bike ride.  (We like to bike our trail to the Sound.)

Zoie drew a picture of our entire family playing ball on a sunny day. (She is the one on the right with bobbles in her hair.)

Here we are hiking a mountain, drawn by Adalie. (We love to hike and have a # of places we enjoy.)

Zoie and daddy on a date to the donut shop.  (Heavenly Donuts, I've heard are quite yummy.)

Kylia drew us fishing and floating.  (Our fishing location of choice-the Rogue River.)

Kylia also drew us in our kayak.  (All 5 of us have floated the Sound in our inflatable kayak.) 

Midnight Never Comes

Our God is our provider.  He has promised it and He is always faithful. 

Wednesday we prayed for two things, gas for our car and food for our pantry.  God provided both.   God KNOWS our needs. 

Yesterday Seth had a fleeting thought (it wasn't a prayer, simply a thought), "I sure would like a flat screen t.v."  He knew we didn't need one, but being in the movie industry it has always been a desire of his.  We received one later that day.  God even CARES about our wants. 

MIDNIGHT NEVER COMES!

The 11th Hour

It seems we have arrived at this hour yet again.  The 11th hour.  The hour when you begin to wonder, will the Lord show up?  Will He reveal His miracle working power like He has so many times in our lives?  Yes, we are at the 11th hour.  But what I wanted to report on this occasion, are the state of my emotions. 

I would like to begin by bringing you back a year, to another time much like this one.  Another 11th hour.  At this time I was a wreck.  I was stressed.  I was burdened.  I honestly was lacking trust in my man and in my God.  I remember trying to trust in the Lord and believe that He would provide, but I couldn't get it from my head to my heart.  This was an 11th hour I was not proud of. 

Now, looking back four months.  Yet another 11th hour.  This time my emotions were not filled with stress or burden, but simply sadness.  It was December, the Christmas season, and I had a sadness that I couldn't seem to kick.  I felt a bit numb.  I wanted desperately to enjoy the season, but felt unable to because of the circumstances. 

Today, our current 11th hour is here.  My emotions today, I am happy to report, are filled with an awaiting excitement for what the Lord is about to reveal.  I am expectant and anticipating His greatness.  He has proven Himself faithful again and again, and so in this hour I am joyfully awaiting all that He has in store.  This is an hour that God shines.  It seems that it is at this time that we are most able to SEE His amazing goodness.  And so my eyes are open wide, and I am giddy with excitement for all the Lord has in store.  It's going to be amazing! 

Protecting Their Hearts

After listening to our girl's conversations and observing their mannerisms on a particular day, Seth and I decided that we needed to have a little talk with them.  As we were all cuddling in bed together, saying our prayers and kissing good night, Seth came in the room with a big heart in his hand.  He shared with the girls the importance of protecting their hearts, of only desiring friendships with boys and nothing deeper, of keeping their kisses for their husbands, ect.  Then he showed an example of what happens when we start having relationships with boys. (Notice the plural.)

"Oh, I like Billy.  He is so cute.", and then Seth ripped part of the heart off and gave it to Billy.  "I love Johnny.", then he ripped off another part of the heart.  He continued on like this with a crush on this boy, attraction to that one, until the entire heart was in pieces.  Then he picked up all the pieces and put them in one hand and pulled out another heart with his other hand.  He looked at the broken pieces and stated that yes, Jesus can put these pieces back together and mend the brokenness, but asked which one they would rather share with their husbands, a mended heart or one full and beautiful. 

At this point, mommy jumped in. I shared that there is nothing wrong with having a boyfriend.  A boyfriend can be a beautiful gift from God.  As they keep themselves for the ONE boyfriend Jesus has for them, the ONE man who will then become their husband, they will find so much love and blessing and wholeness in their marriage.  I shared with them, that God had protected mommy and daddy and when we got together we were able to present our hearts to each other without a lot of rips and tears in them.  "Mommy and daddy have such a blessed marriage with so much love, because we entered our marriage with a whole heart."  I also shared that it wasn't that we weren't asked to be in relationship with others, (I felt they needed to know the option was there), but God protected our hearts.

A few days later, after feeling confident that this conversation had gone well, Zoie and I were talking at the breakfast table.  As she was finishing up and clearing her dishes, she gave me a kiss.  But then her eyes got really big, "Uh-oh mommy,  part of my heart just fell off." 

Well, it seems we still have some work to do. :)

Our prayer is the Lord will protect our girls hearts, that He will protect the hearts of their spouses, that He will keep them, all six of them, innocent of evil, and when the time comes for us to give them away, there will be such joy and excitement because the day is untarnished by the hurt of brokenness.