A Life of Gratitude

Today was the first day of our 2019-2020 Homeschool Year!  For the first time I taught a 7th grader, 2nd grader, and a Kindergartener! I also had a very busy 2 year old assistant that made the morning extra interesting. Tyson was super excited about his first day of Kindergarten. He did very well too! In fact, all three of my students had an exceptional day! I'll admit, it was a little crazy as the teacher but, I'll tweak the schedule and everything will smooth itself out.  This is what happens when I try to get a picture of all 4 kids! Our Big Kindergartner! We decided to change up the school room a bit this year.  Dylan wanted to be separated some from the younger kids so we ended up getting some desks so Dylan could have his own space and the others could be moved as needed in the years to come.  Dylan wanted his desk toward the wall! Hahaha Today I am thankful that we all had a wonderful first day! I'm looking forward the r...

Life can be tough. No matter how much we do or how hard we try, there will always be difficult days. There will always be people who don't understand us. There will always be circumstances that upset us.  Thankfully, because of God's great love for us, we know that those bad days, angry people, and hard times do not have the final say! The enemy will always try to trip us up but he does not win! That's not just lip service, its true! The Bible promises that God has a good plan for everything in our lives and lets nothing be wasted. Roman  8:28 says, " And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." When the rough days don't seem to be improving or the situation doesn't seem to be any better, we can prophesy this promise...God's story never ends with ashes! He has good, good things in store for His children. He wins! And because He wins, so do we. I am grateful...

Over the weekend we added this adorable ball of fur to our family! I know, I know, we must be crazy!  Honestly, our life is pretty chaotic, busy, and very full but, that's the way we like it! Adding Maggie to the mix has actually been really good, even though it seems insane. She is precious and the kids are head over heels in love! We've enjoyed spending the whole weekend together, playing with Maggie and Miles. It's been a lot of fun and we've laughed a lot! Maggie hops all over the place and tries her best to play with Miles but he hasn't quite decided how he feels about her. Allison tries to carry Maggie all over the house, Tyson wants to snuggle with her on the couch, Evan is already trying to teach her tricks, and Dylan has taken on the role of care-taker. Maggie is so loved already!      Today I am grateful for sweet Maggie. She has brought out the best in each of our kiddos over the past couple of days. It's bee...

Last Saturday, August 4th, friends, family, and many supporters from the community came to celebrate all that God has done with Not Forgotten Ministries! This ministry is not something I've always dreamed of leading. In fact, I wasn't even able to speak of abortions until just a few years ago. This ministry was birthed out of my surrender and God's willingness to use little ol' me.  Even few a months ago I had no idea what God wanted me to do, but I just kept hearing "keep going," in my spirit. So, that's what I did! 5 months into this journey, God has done amazing things!  We have been blessed with the perfect little space just a block diagonally from the Planned Parenthood in Winston Salem. Every single item in our center was donated by a supporter, with the exception of a couple of items in the memorial. Even the sign by the front door was donated!    Everything has come together so beautifully. The space is comfortable...

Today I took my sweet little lady to her very first dance class!! I've been looking forward to this day for years! I began taking dance lessons when I was 2/3 years old. I took dance until I graduated high school. Ballet was always my favorite.  So, I always knew I would want my daughter to take dance too!                                                                                                     My first year of dance.      Allison's first year of dance. Allison loves her new teacher, Miss Jenny. She was so happy! She always gets someone to hold her! Allison's dance class Today I am grateful that I was able to take my precious baby girl to her very first dance clas...