A Life of Gratitude

Today, around lunchtime, we received a phone call saying that we would have a house showing this afternoon. We were SOOOO excited! Our house has been for sale for nearly 2 years and we've only had one showing in the past year. I immediately started cleaning and "de-babying" our house. I had done everything but vacuum when the phone rang again. They cancelled.  Ugghhh.... huge bummer.... no....wait....that doesn't even begin to describe the level of discouragement I felt.  I was devastated. I plopped on the couch and wallowed in my sadness. I really wanted to cry. This would be aggravating for anyone but for me there is another added level of disappointment. Spending 3 hours cleaning my house causes horrific back pain for me. I was so angry that I had "over done it" and will be in increased pain for days, all for nothing! Plus, having a showing had given me so much hope but the cancellation caused so much doubt.  While I was sitting on the couch

When scraping the ice off of my car a couple days ago, I would have never guessed that it would be 70 degrees today. We wore coats into Bible Study this morning but when we came out, we didn't need coats at all. It was absolutely beautiful! We drove around all afternoon with the windows down, played outside together, did our home school lessons outside, and then grilled hamburgers for dinner outside. I honestly couldn't get enough of this weather and neither could my boys! Days like today are nice all the time but its especially wonderful to have this weather right in the middle of one of the coldest months of the year. Today I am thankful for the sunny, warm, gorgeous day I was able to spend with my little sweeties. I wouldn't mind a few more like this one!

We've been kind of cooped up for the past couple days because of the ice and for some reason Dylan had the urge to watch lots of family videos. First he wanted to watch when Evan was born and then when he was born and then Mommy and Daddy's wedding video (No worries, all of these are kid-friendly!) After watching those he decided to watch some of when he was a toddler and some from past summers and Christmases. We have been so diligent to make all of these videos over the years but we rarely watch them so this ended up being a real treat for all of us! Here are some photos of my favorite memories: Our Wedding Day ~ June 5, 2004 Dylan's BIRTH day ~ May 1, 2008 Evan's BIRTH day ~ October 17, 2011 I could watch these videos on a daily basis because I love them so much, but I never have time. I am grateful for the opportunity to share this time with my favorite people, watching our favorite memories. While watching our wedding day and the births of

I'm not one to share financial concerns usually but when God does something big, He deserves praise whether its a financial issue or not! Our Jeep Patriot has been making some really loud noises over the past couple of weeks. We took it to the dealership today, praying that the issue would be covered under warranty. With all my medical bills and worker's comp being so inconsistent, we are on a pretty tight budget.  Well, this afternoon the dealership called and said that we need a new alternator. They estimated the cost to be $699 and its not covered under the warranty. As soon as I heard that, my heart sunk. We just don't have that laying around, ya know? I thought positively about it for awhile, tried to be optimistic, looked up scripture to reassure myself of God's ability to provide but still the tears started to fall. Let's face it, we all have moments of doubt and frustration. I had to separate myself from my family, get down on my face, and pray. So,

I think I often get too comfortable with "who" Jesus is. I forget how amazing He is and how selfless it was for Him to willingly take on flesh, walk on the earth, suffer on the cross and die for my sins. Isn't humbling to consider that even demons have more reverence for Jesus than most people do? Oh Father, forgive us! I was reminded of Jesus' power today at MOMS when we discussed the story found in Mark 5 about Jesus restoring life to demon possessed man. When Jesus got out of the boat this man was running toward the hill toward Him. The demons immediately knew who He was and were begging Him not to throw them into the abyss. The demons had to obey Jesus. His power is undeniable! We also looked at Hebrews 2:14-15 which says,  " Since the children have flesh and blood,  he too shared in their humanity  so that by his death he might break the power  of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil — and free those who all their lives were held in s

This morning Dylan crawled into my bed at 7:08, which is about his usual time. He snuggled up next to me and laid there for a little bit. A few minutes later he turned over, looked right in my eyes and said, "I like you!" I honestly don't think I could dream of a better way to start my morning! It was just so sweet! Tonight, when I picked the boys up from their classrooms at church, Evan saw me and his entire face lit up. He ran over to me as fast as his little legs would carry him. Watching him run to me made my heart smile!  One of my favorite quotes is by Elizabeth Stone. She said,  "Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide to forever have your heart go walking around outside your body." Its so true, really. These angels hold my heart. No matter what they do or say, I am just so proud to be their Mommy! My heart overflows with love for these little guys! Today I am thankful for my sweet little boys and the joy they po

I've recently started doing Beth Moore's Bible Study, The Patriarchs . So far, I am really enjoying learning about the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob. As a part of the study, Beth shared something she and her daughters like to do. They enjoy some "Bible-based humor" by spending time labeling things in life as A.B. (a blessing) or N.A.B. (not a blessing). She called it humor because they label things like Mexican food as A.B. and mosquitoes as N.A.B. (haha!) Believing that every blessing comes from the Lord above, this activity can cause the soul to be overcome with thanksgiving! As you know, I enjoy finding reasons to be grateful each and every day so I decided to look back over my day and label everything A.B. and N.A.B.  Here it goes....  A Blessing  (A.B) Not a Blessing (N.A.B) *Waking up next to the love of my life *The medicine I need to get rid of the headache *Taking a warm shower *Waking my sweet 1 year old son up *Being gr

Last night Dylan was super excited about the possibility of snow. He kept looking out the window every five minutes. After the boys got out of the bathtub, the ground was completely white! Dylan could barely contain his excitement and Evan just kept pointing at it! Dylan was very eager to play with his baby brother in the snow for the first time! As you can imagine, Dylan was up bright and early, ready to go outside! As soon as I could get us all bundled up, we were out the door. Evan had a hard time walking in it but that didn't stop him. He kept waddling along, trying to keep up with his big brother. Dylan enjoyed sledding with his daddy, making snow balls, and having a snow ball fight. I think Bryan had as much fun as the kids did! My back won't let me play much but I sure did enjoy watching. Today I am thankful that we were able to make memories in the snow together as a family. We all had a lot of fun. We kept hoping for snow last year but we never got much so I

I was having a pretty rough morning when I got to MOMS today. I was so thankful to be there, among so many sisters in Christ. I knew, no matter who was speaking or what the message was about, I would leave feeling much better than I did when I arrived. As always, I did.  I don't know how it happens but I can go from happy to sad in a split second so, even though I left MOMS feeling much better, by the afternoon I was feeling blue all over again. But that changed again after spending some time with my lovely mentor. She is so faithful to point me to Christ and encourage me on my journey. We discussed God's grace (unmerited favor.) I've known what grace is for years but today it sunk in on a whole new level.  Even though I know God's grace is an undeserved free gift, for some reason I am always trying to earn it. When I think I haven't earned it, I am so hard on myself. Today I realized that if I mess up, its ok. If the house is a wreck, its ok. If my "t

Since my horrible spinal headache experience in October and November,  I have been taking 2 different medications to manage and prevent the pain. These two medications have worked wonderfully but my doctor wanted me to slowly wean myself off of one of the medications. Its taken a while but I've worked my way down to only 1/4 of a pill per day and I was feeling good. So, yesterday I decided to try not taking the pill at all. It went very well and I was super excited to be down to one medication per day, instead of two. Today was a different story. The headache came back, full force. I guess I'm not ready to be off the medication completely. I took 1/4 of a pill and then another 1/4 of a pill a couple of hours later and it didn't help. I was starting to get really scared when Bryan read the bottle which said I could take up to 2 pills per day. So, I took a whole pill and within a couple of hours, I am feeling some better. I'm praying that once the medication gets bac

Bryan and I had a fabulous weekend! I took him on a romantic get-a-way to celebrate his 32nd birthday. My mother and Bryan's mother kept the boys for us while we were away. We left Friday evening after dropping off the kids and went to Charlotte. We had a lovely kid-free time! We enjoyed quiet moments and an entire movie. We tried to sleep late but it didn't work since we're so used to getting up early. We enjoyed eating dinner without feeding anyone or having to tell anyone to get up off the floor. We also loved talking to each other, uninterrupted, for 2 days!  Bryan and I at the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte While on our trip we visited Passages, an amazing Bible exhibition, and also the Billy Graham Library. We walked around downtown Charlotte and then one of the local malls. We ate lots of yummy food and truly appreciated our time  alone together. Today I am thankful for a weekend away with the love of my life. Our life is so busy and n

Today at MOMS we discussed the story of Jonah. For most of us, our minds immediately imagine an enormous fish when we hear Jonah's name but today, we focused on a different part of the story. Instead of learning about Jonah's disobedience and his time inside the fish, we learned about God's compassion, mercy and grace.  I've never really thought about how amazing this story is. Not only did God dramatically save Jonah's life, He also saved many more through this radical experience.  Jonah was running as fast as he could away from God but all the while, the people around Jonah were running toward God. God's compassion and mercy for all the people in this story absolutely amazes me! When Jonah was on the boat headed toward Tarshish and the huge storm came, the sailors ended up beseeching God and turning to Him.  If this story had not unfolded exactly as it did, these sailors would not have seen their need for God.  Not only did the sailors turn toward

Bryan and I have had our house for sell for almost 2 years now. I gotta say, it gets a little frustrating now and then! This morning I was feeling a little bothered by yet another week of no showings and I started to wonder if we should even try anymore. I started to feel very discouraged and I told myself, "praying for this is silly!" Well, within an hour, I came across these three verses in different ways: "Nothing is impossible for God!"  Luke 1:37 "...If God is for us, who can be against us?" Romans 8:31 " For it is not yet time for it to come true. The time is coming in a hurry, and it will come true. If you think it is slow in coming, wait for it. For it will happen for sure, and it will not wait. " Habakkuk 2:3 After having these three very different verses thrown in my face, I realized that nothing is too silly to pray about! Nothing is impossible for God. If He is for us, nothing and no one can be against us. Just becaus

We went to Winston Salem this afternoon to see my new pain management doctor. After the appointment, we went to Hanes Mall. It was supposed to be a quick trip, in and out, to get one thing. It turned into a fun-filled couple of hours!  Hanes Mall has a lot of stuff for the kids to do. Dylan and Evan both enjoyed riding the train and the Merry-Go-Round. Dylan also had a blast on the bungee trampoline. Who knew a trip to the mall could be so exciting! Me and my boys on the train Dylan on the bungee trampoline Weeee... He said "this is sooooo much fun." Dylan, Evan, and Bryan on the Merry-Go-Round Today I am thankful for impromptu enjoyable experiences! I absolutely love being with my family and watching them have so much fun! Its even better when these times are unplanned!

Bryan and I help with UPSTREET at our church on Sunday mornings. UPSTREET is the program our church has for 1st -5th grade students. It begins with a worship time for the students, a "big" talk by the youth pastor and then small group time. Bryan and I help with the worship time. I'm usually dancing with the dance team but recently, Bryan and I have both helped lead worship by singing with the praise team.  This morning we were all singing, "Better Than the Best Thing." Some of the kids on the dance team were standing behind me on the stage singing as loudly as they could. I gotta say, there are fewer things more precious than hearing 9-10 year old children singing about Jesus! Hearing their sincere voices yelling out praises to our Lord gave me chills!  Just imagine these sweet children singing, "I can't stop my lips from singing I can't stop my voice from shouting about Your love Its everything I've ever wanted. Jesus, You

Dylan told us the most creative story tonight. He said he was eleven years old and lived with me and Popsy (one of his grandfathers) in "Dylanlevere." This is a town that was as far away as the North Pole and everyone made their homes out of mud. One day a big fire ruined the town and now its it called "There-was-a-big-fire-and-no-one-can-live-here-ville." So, we moved to our home and Daddy came to live with us. You should have seen his face as he conjured up this story! He was so excited. The wheels in his little mind were working overtime. We told him we were amazed by his story and he said, "I know, I have a good imagination!" Today I am thankful for a child's imagination. It really is an awesome thing! Children come up with the wildest, most inventive tales. A lot of times they create ideas and stories that adults could never even dream of. The emotions, imagination, and endless abilities of the mind always amaze me! In my opinion, the hum

I think every Mommy probably experiences moments, now and then, when we absolutely overflow with love for our children. I had that experience twice this evening.  I was putting Evan in his crib tonight and he was really fussy. I realized that he didn't have his favorite lovey, "Gilbert." So I went on a hunt a for Gilbert and when I returned, Evan's little eyes lit up and he had the biggest grin ever. I just had to pick him up and squeeze him, I couldn't help it! My heart was spilling over with love for that little boy. A little later, Bryan and I were tucking Dylan into bed when he asked us to lay with him for a few minutes. We did, of course, and Dylan laughed hysterically.  We both laid almost on top of him and squeezed him. He immediately said, "awww, my guys! I love you." He kept holding us as tight as he could. He didn't want us to move. This was another moment when my heart filled with love. There is nothing better than spending time w

Dylan really wanted to stay up until midnight to ring in the New Year so, Bryan and I decided to make it fun and see if he could make it. We made "Countdown Bags" that we opened each hour to keep the night intersting for him. It was a lot of fun for all of us! Dylan could barely wait to open each bag! Here's how the night went.... The countdown bags 6:00 Craft Time: Make noise makers 7:00 Bath with Bubbles and Glow Sticks 8:00 Make Ice Cram Sundays 9:00 Make the family tent and have family devotions.  Let's pray over the upcoming year. 10:00 Watch a movie together 11:00 Play "roll and around the clock" and have a dance party! 12:00 Watch Fireworks, bang noise makers and toast in the New Year! Evan slept through all the events but he sure did love the tent when he woke up We had a wonderful New Year's Eve! Dylan made until midnight and had a blast! Today I am thankful for the fun time we had ringing in th