A Life of Gratitude

We had an awesome time celebrating Halloween tonight. My brother and sister-in-love invited us to their church for a fall festival. My best friend Melissa (affectionately named "Mimi" by Evan) and her little boy, Shane, joined us at the festival. We had a lot of fun playing games, jumping in bouncy houses, collecting candy, and riding on a hayride. After the fall festival, we took the boys trick-or-treating. The boys loved showing off their costumes while saying "trick-or-treat!"  This time last year I had been on bed rest for 2 weeks for a horrific spinal headache and it would be almost 2 more weeks before I was able to sit up! I didn't get to go to the trunk-or-treat or go trick-or-treating because I had to lay completely flat. I actually ended up in the hospital on Halloween night last year. Needless to say, this year was SOOO much better! I am so thankful to have been able to dress up and enjoy spending time with my friends and family.  "Mimi

This afternoon, after dropping Dylan off at his LIFE classes, I had a whole lot of errands to run. I was done surprisingly quick and had about an hour until I had to pick up Dylan again. If you're a mother, you probably understand my unfamiliarity with this thing called "free time." I honestly wasn't sure what to do with myself. I considered going home or just reading in the car but as I was driving I passed by High Point City Lake park. I felt a sudden urge to take a walk in the park. I almost talked myself out of it but I ended up turning in the park and walking around the lake. It was an absolutely gorgeous afternoon. Spending a few minutes alone, taking in the beauty of the lake and autumn leaves was just what I needed.  Wasn't it such a beautiful day??!  I could have stayed out here all day While I was breathing in the crisp air I was praying about several different issues in my life. I started to feel anxious and bothered. I asked God to give m

For the past 14 months my incredible church family has been searching and praying for a new Senior Pastor. This weekend we got to meet a pastoral candidate and his family. He has children that are similar ages as my boys! This morning we got to hear Pastor Brandon preach God's Word. His passion is contagious! We voted after the service and our search has come to an end. God has provided a new Pastor for Green Street Baptist Church! Today I am thankful to be a part of such a wonderful church family. I am also thankful for the pastors that have stepped in while we have prayerfully waited on a new pastor. I am grateful that God has blessed our church with the man He has chosen to lead our flock. This is such an exciting time for Green Street!

Yesterday Dylan and I read Psalm 37:5 during the Bible portion of our school work. It says, " Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust Him and He will help you."  Reading that verse left an impression on my heart. I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. We read from the New Living Translation yesterday but since this verse has been playing over and over again in my mind, I decided to look it up in some other translations. I read several but my favorite was from the Message. It says, "Open up before God. Keep nothing back; He will do whatever needs to be done." From time to time I get so used to things in my life that I forget to bring them to God in prayer. Like my back pain, for example. I have been dealing with this pain for over 4 years so sometimes I just deal with it and never even talk to God about it. The same is true with financial concerns, hurt feelings, fears, friendships, etc. I know God cares about these details but I tend to keep so

This morning, while driving in the car, Dylan said, "Do you know what I wanna be when I grow up, Mommy?" I responded, "What do you want to be baby?" He said, "I want to be the President and since the people in this country don't hear what God says anymore, I'm going to tell them everything God says."  Oh wow, wouldn't that be amazing? We could use a good, godly president, couldn't we!?!  There is no telling what God has in store for my precious sons but there is an incredible amount of comfort in knowing that His plans are good.  Joshua 29:11 says, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a future and a hope."  This truth gives me peace in my own life as well. There are so many ups and downs and ins and outs in this life. As soon as one thing seems to go well, another thing seems to go wrong. Knowing that God's plans never change, that He is n

He is jealous for me, loves like a hurricane, I am a tree   Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy When all of a sudden I am unaware of these afflictions Eclipsed by glory and I realize just how beautiful You are And how great Your affections are for me And oh, how He loves us, oh Oh, how He loves us, how He loves us all I've probably heard "Oh, how He loves us" by David Crowder a hundred times but it wasn't until today that I really listened to what the first verse says.  Its weird how God uses different things at different times to reveal something about Himself to His children. I know the words to this song by heart but I've never heard the song the way I heard it today. As I was listening I suddenly heard the song as if it were written for me. These words came alive! God is jealous for me. Isn't that an amazing thought? He loves me so much, He doesn't want my affections to be placed on lesser things. His love is massive an

We had an exquisite day in the NC mountains! It was the first time we have explored the mountains with our sweet boys. I think they absolutely loved it!  Today was the perfect day to see the beautiful colors of fall, which is why we went, but that definitely isn't all we did! We started the morning in the Linville Caverns. Dylan and I learned all about caverns this week so it was fun seeing the stalagmites and stalactites in person! Next, we visited the Mast General Store and collected a bag full of candy to enjoy on our day trip. We had lunch at nice little burger joint and then headed to Mystery Hill. If you've never been to Mystery Hill, I recommend it. The house sits on a natural vortex that causes a gravitational anomaly. It makes walking almost impossible! To end our trip we took a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway to see the colorful leaves. We stopped at what we thought was a Craft Store but ended up being one of the most gorgeous views I've ever seen. We walked arou

Today was my sweet Evan's 2nd birthday. I cannot believe my little baby is 2 years old now! We had a wonderful day celebrating as a family. We ventured out to the Children's Museum in Winston-Salem. It was the first time we had been to this museum. The boys really enjoyed it. Evan hopped and skipped all over the place. I absolutely love watching my boys play together and use their imaginations. I can't think of a better way to spend Evan's birthday! What's in this present?? So. Much. Fun.  This picture was an attempt to catch Evan running,  hopping, and skipping through the museum. "I'm TWO!" Sweet as pie! What a good cashier he is! Look, I found a cupcake on my birthday! They both really enjoyed this little carosel. It was too windy for Evan to blow out his candles at  his party on Saturday so he got the chance tonight.... on his piggy cupcake. Happy Birthday Sweet Boy! Today I am thankful for my lil'

While I was at Walmart today I noticed one of the parents of a child I taught in Kindergarten years ago. I glanced beside her and saw a little boy. I immediately thought, "oh look at Phillip, he looks exactly the same." Then I realized that there is no way that Phillip could look the same because I taught him 9 years ago! I looked up and saw a much older boy, also walking with his mom, and I realized that was actually Phillip. A much bigger, older version of him though. He was taller than me! Where in the world did the time go?  As I looked at Phillip, I thought about how much has changed in my life since I was his kindergarten teacher. It was always a dream of mine to teach and God allowed me to live that dream for 5 whole years. Today, as I saw one of the students that I shared my dream with, I was filled with gratitude for those moments God gave me in my dream. More than that, I was grateful that God has given me a new dream and is in the process of fulfilling that dr

Today we celebrated the most energetic, fun-loving, rambunctious 2 year old I've ever known. My sweet Evan will be having a birthday this week so we partied hard, Elmo style!  We enjoyed a party at a park beside Oak Hollow Lake this afternoon. It was a windy afternoon but the kids didn't mind.  They had a blast running all around, playing on the playground, and throwing rocks into the lake. We had lots of yummy food and Evan opened tons of presents. The kiddos played "stick the nose on Elmo" and Evan pretended to blow out the candles on is birthday cake. (The wind was too strong to keep candles lit.) Honestly, I think Evan would have been fine if there were no presents or cake at all, he was having so much fun with all his friends and family. It was a very special day for my very special boy! Yay!! Its my Elmo party! Weeeee! My big 2 year old eating with his friends! "Happy Birthday to you!" Stick the nose on Elmo We had