Happy New Year!!

It's the last day of 2012 and that is unbelievable! I love a new start to a new year. I also love Monday's! Monday is a fresh, new start to a new week. Most people hate Monday's, but I see it as another week to strive toward the mark.

I am looking forward to what God has in store for my family and I this year. He has always been so faithful and good to us. I mean really, some of the things that God has done for us, is unbelievable. He does things for us, so we may testify of His works, and then others will praise Him. We have dreams and goals, but ultimately God has the final call on it all. What are some of your dreams? Sometimes I am afraid to dream, are you? I am afraid those dreams may not come true or that they are not the ones God wants for me. My husband is a big dreamer and I'm more of the realistic type. Funny how God puts two people together and they compliment one another. We have dreams of buying a home, paying off our used SUV, and making many memories with our children. The end of the year really snuck up on me this time. I usually already have some goals written on paper and have been processing that a new year is upon me. Well, not so this year.

I pray you all have a blessed new year! Make it count. Love your husband deeply. Love your children unconditionally. Humble yourself before God and watch Him exalt you. Be a servant to your family and those around you. Having a servant's heart is important to God. I know I get caught up in selfishness all too often. Having children has really been purging some things in me and it's mainly selfishness. So may He continue to purge me, though it hurts badly.

Closing Out the Year

It is so hard to believe 2012 is almost over and in just two days we will have entered another year. It has been a trying year for myself. I've had some feminine issues that have really effected my daily life and family life. It's been a battle. It's one of those years, where you cannot wait for it to be over and begin a fresh, new one. There has also been some wonderful things happen this year to me. One thing for sure, I am blessed even in the hard things.

I always like to write down some goals for the new year and reflect on the past year. I'm a goal/list type gal. I try to keep them realistic, yet set them up a notch. If there isn't any push to do better each year you can become stagnant and lazy. I can't wait until I can sit with my boys as they grow older and talk about things they want to do different the next year. It's something I love to do with my husband also.

I rarely get quiet moments to myself. If I get them it's usually early in the morning like now, at 6:45 a.m. before getting ready for church. So here are some thoughts for my new year. I don't want it to be just another year (Last year, I purposed to live in the moment and not keep wishing for this moment or that moment to occur). I want to grow much more in the Lord. I want to be much more patient with my children and husband. I want to show them the love of Christ, even when they are driving my bonkers. I want to teach my boys more about the Lord. My heart's desire is for them to know God. Not just know who He is, but to know what He loves and wants from them. I want them to seek to please Him even at a very young age (the oldest 2 are 4.5 and 3). I want to really take eating healthy serious. We don't eat horrible, but it could be better. I want to dig into God's Word more and write it over and over on my heart. I really want to see broken relationships in our families mended and for people to forgive one another. I want my Daddy to be healed of Lyme Disease completely and his body restored back to health. I really want a home and a yard to play in with my 3 energetic boys. I want to not just say I love Jesus, but to show it by dying to self when I want nothing more than to be selfish. I want people who have no sense of who Christ is to be wrapped in the presence of God and shown what our Savior did for them. I want those in war torn countries to be safe and know God's peace. I long for my Lord to come back and take us from this filthy, scary, and cruel world more than anything.

What are some of your thoughts for the new year? Share them with me please, I would love to know your heart for the coming year!

Friday's Fave Five

I hope all of you had a blessed Christmas!!! We had such a blessed time this week!! So let me recall some of it for you.

1. Spending Christmas Eve with my boys and my husband. We were lazy and that evening we did our birthday cake (cupcakes) for Jesus. It's so sweet seeing our boys sing to Jesus.
2. Watching our boys open their gifts. We had to actually wake them up, but they loved opening their gifts and watching their little eyes light up was priceless.
3. Spending Christmas Day with my family and my husband's family was so wonderful. We had good food and made more memories.
4. Spending the day after Christmas with dear friends of ours. We had Christmas with them and enjoyed the day. We are blessed with this family that is like our own family.
5. Celebrating the birth of Christ with our family and friends. Our boys know Christmas is not about gifts, though we may get them, it's all about Jesus and celebrating his birth.

It's been a great week for us, I pray it has for you also. Link up with Susanne@ Living to Tell the Story and join us.

Thankful Thursday

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas with your family! We had such a great Christmas day! I am so thankful for our families on both sides. We got to spend time with both my family and my husband's family. My husband is a State Trooper and every other year he has to work Christmas. We were blessed for him to have it off last year and this year, so we started planning early. We opened gifts here and then headed to Mississippi. We had a lot of bad weather forecasted, but thankfully it held off until around 5 that evening. We had visited my in-laws and were at my parents when it begin to get bad outside. (Remember to pray for those affected. Many in our city, Mobile, lost their homes last Thursday and yesterday). We also were able to celebrate with a family that are friends, but are so dear to us, we call them family. We spent the night at their home and had Christmas with them today. We are so blessed with great families and friends! I can't thank God enough for what He has done in my life and my family. It is so important to use to create memories our boys will cherish with their families one day. I pray my Grandchildren will look forward to seeing us as much as our children look forward to seeing our parents.

Don't forget to check out Iris @ Grace Alone and link up with her. She's a blessing and precious lady.

Merry Christmas!!!!!

Merry Christmas to all my blogging friends!!! I pray you have a blessed day. Remember, today is about Jesus and giving. We are all here because of Jesus and his sacrifice. God has been so gracious to us.

And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 
 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
                  Luke 2:7-14


                     Our Precious babies on Christmas Eve 2012.
 

 

 

My guys. Love them so much!!

 

My babies and me. They are my everything!

 

 

 

 

Singing happy birthday to Jesus! They were so excited!

 

 

Merry Christmas!!!!!

What Child Is This?

And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
  Luke 2:6-7

I'm a Mother to 3, so I know how the anticipation builds as you await for your little one to arrive, but I wonder what Mary felt. She had the Messiah in her womb and she would soon raise the Savior of the world. She literally had the Savior living inside her. Wow. That just blows my mind when I sit and think about it. I imagine she was nervous, scared, excited, and a little worried. More than anything, I know she was humbled and willing. May I be that way when He calls me to do His will, whatever it may be. I hope you all have a Merry Christmas!

Here are some pictures from the boys Children's Church class.

Aaron's footprint as the manger for baby Jesus.

 

My sweet Aaron. He is the middle child, 3 years old.

 

 

Daniel's footprint as the manger for baby Jesus.

 

My handsome Daniel. He is the oldest, 4 1/2 years old.

Preparing For Christmas

It's 3 days till Christmas! This is my favorite time of the year. I love the cold weather (when we get it ha!), celebrating the birth of Christ, and to give. I've been doing an online study with She Reads Truth blog. It's an Advent study and it has been very humbling. I love looking over the Word and seeing all the things that led up to the birth of Christ.

Here in our home I've been trying to make some of our own traditions for Christmas with our boys, along with my husband. My boys are getting old enough to enjoy and participate too, which makes it more fun! Daniel is almost 5 (will be in a month), Aaron just turned 3 in October, and Johnathan, well, he is still small, only 17 months. So here are some of our traditions:

We started our Jesse Tree at the end of November and will do it until Christmas Day. It's really good to do with the boys and they love it.

 

 

We also like to bake cookies. Who doesn't like to bake cookies anytime of the year, but especially when they have delicious seasonal ones. These are Peppermint Sugar Cookies. It's our chubby Gingerbread man.

 

 

I love to do crafts with the boys. I try to do them throughout the year, not just during the holidays. They decorated their own paper Christmas trees and we hung them on their door.

 

 

We also send out Christmas cards, the traditional ones. I love a card! So we stick with the traditional paper cards.

 

 

The boys have gained my love of Christmas. We decorated their door and they love it!

 

 

They helped a lot with decorating the Christmas tree too. I am usually OCD with that thing! I like it just right, but I put that aside and let them put the ornaments on or tell me where to put them. It's pretty!

 

 

They love the star and call it the Star of Bethlehem. We had a bow first because our original star broke, so we had a bow on there until I bought another start.

 

 

Something new I did this year were making ornaments. I found a foam ornament kit at Target and we did 3 a piece. It was fun and they are cute, aren't they?

 

 

Something I have always had at this time of the year, is a candy dish. It is a must! Mine beloved one broke, but I found this cute Christmas tree dish at Ross. Love it!

 

 

 

We also did shoe boxes with our church. They send them to Mexico with a dear Pastor friend of ours. We took the boys to Dollar Tree and let them pick out a lot with our guidance. They loved doing that. It was our second year to do so. We do a birthday cake for Jesus on Christmas Eve and open one gift that night. We want to teach them that Christmas is about giving, not getting, but it is okay to get. I think we are doing a good job. Share some of your traditions or way you prepare your heart for the birth of our Savior.

 

Something to leave you guys with. My oldest came to me earlier and said, Mama, I don't think I deserve any presents. I asked him why not son? He replied, because of all the days I have been bad ( he meant by disobeying us and being mean to his brothers). I was pretty shocked. We have talked to him about all that and how we don't deserve to live, but because of Christ we can. We are very blunt and open with him and the 3 year old, though they are young. I told him he was right, but that I didn't deserve Jesus, but God sent him anyways because He loves us. I told him our love for him is not on his performance and we love him no matter what, but when he does disobey it upsets us. Love isn't based on performance, but love will compel you to perform. By that I mean, when you love the Lord you will obey Him. If Daniel loves us, he will obey us. Pretty deep stuff. I hope you all have a lovely Sunday!

 

 

 



 

 

 

Giving To the Undeserving

I'm so glad that God has not given up on me yet. I am a work in progress, but He sees fit to continue showing me grace. So why don't I show it to others? Oh, but I do, I show it to my family, most of the time. What about those people who I do not think deserve it? Ouch. That's what He spoke to me earlier today. Why don't you show her grace? My reply, because she doesn't deserve it. It's my heart, not hers. He's asking her to do other things, but He's asking me to do this one.

Does anyone feel me? There are those who have hurt you or your family members and you just do not think they deserve anything good. They may not be cold, hard killers, but they do not show love like they should and you know it. They aren't really mean, but it's laziness or pure oblivion. Haven't I been there though? I can recall times where I was lazy instead of doing what I knew God wanted me to do. I can also recall times where I was totally oblivious to what God wanted me to do. You know what? I can remember someone coming along side and serving me. In essence, that is what I would be doing for this person and to be honest, it urks me. It grates on my nerves, because I know she does not serve how she is called too. There goes my heart again.

I have to let go and give grace. I have to let go and pray for her. It is so hard though. I pray I can let go a day at a time and began to see her through my Savior's eyes. A soul in need of refining, just like mine.

Here are a few scriptures to minister to you all. Blessings!

A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
    John 13:34

For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
Galatians 5:13

Friday's Fave Five

It feels great to be back to blogging!! It's been sometime, but I am back. So here are my favorites from the week.

1. Baking Chocolate Chip Peppermint cookies with my boys. Yummy!
2. Taking the boys shopping some for their family.
3. Going out to shop with my hubby and out to eat!
4. The cold weather has finally come back to us Deep Southerners!
5. Spending time with my Mother as she helped us out the past 2 days.

Short and sweet! It's been a wonderful week. We are anticipating Christmas and celebrating Jesus' birth.

Link up with Suzanne@ Living to Tell the Story and share your favorites of the week.

Thankful Thursday- Christmas

It feels so good to be back in the blogging world. I have missed Thankful Thursday with my fellow sisters in Christ!

Iris shares her love of the Christmas story with us today and her thankfulness for Mary, Joseph, and Jesus. I am also thankful for that. I love this time of the year. I always have said if not for his birth, there would be no resurrection. I am also thankful for child-like faith and wonder. We took our 3 boys to a light show last night called Bellingrath Gardens. It was beautiful! You walked through the gardens and thousands of lights surrounded you in the bushes, trees, and even on the ground. Angels, Christmas trees, snowflakes, an under water sea, the North Pole, a Nativity scene, and much more took my children's breath. They were in wonder so innocently at the beauty displayed. I loved it! As a Mother we want our children to have happy memories and seeing their faces lite up was priceless. If only that child-like wonder and faith would remain with us as we grow older. I wonder if we would this Christmas, celebrate like it was our first time hearing of the Savior's birth and be in awe of his majestic arrival? I desire that more than anything. I never want to grow stale in my faith and wonder for my Savior. He is the only reason for the season, and not just at Christmas either! Have a blessed day friends!

Check out Iris@Grace Alone to link up with us.

Early Christmas for me!

I am writing from my new laptop, yes, new! It is my early Christmas present from my husband. I'm so excited to be able to blog again. Writing is such a passion of mine. It's been awhile since I have been blogging consistently so I will touch base with who I am and a little about myself.

I'm 29 years old, a Mother to 3 little boys, and a wife to an amazing man. I am living a life I really never dreamed I would be living. I have been married to my husband, Mike, for 6 years. We moved from our small hometown of Mississippi to a big city in Alabama. My husband works for Alabama Department of Public Safety, he's a State Trooper. I stay at home with our 3 boys. Daniel is 4 1/2 (he's got a birthday coming up), Aaron is 3,and Johnathan 17 months. I stay very busy with them here at home. I am also doing some schooling with the 2 oldest. I love my God who has been so gracious to me. I love my Savior who has saved me from myself and from hell. I desire to know them more and more. I desire to live a life that reflects the Word of God. We attend a non-denomination church in our hometown with a great Pastor and body of believers. God has richly blessed us. I love to take photos, make jewelry, read, and write. I rarely get to do any, but take photos, mainly of my boys. They are my world, along with my husband.

So I will participate in memes and just write what God is teaching me. I pray it encourages someone along the way.

3 years ago today...

I gave birth to my second son,Michael Aaron. Aaron is sweet,intelligent,funny,short tempered,and has a servant's heart. He has pretty blue eyes and dimples that make you smile. Time sure has flown!! I'm a blessed woman.

The last year sure has been a journey. As I type,my birthday boy just spilt coffee all over the end table that holds our books and magazines. It's never a dull moment around here with 3 boys. :-) I wouldn't trade it for anything though.

We have found a church finally and are excited to plug in there. It's a church in our hometown only 40 minutes away. We all love it and know many that attend the small,country church. I am overcoming the female problems finally and I am shedding some weight I have needed too. I hope to be writing more soon now that the baby,who is now a toddler, is getting bigger. I started schooling the boys this year also. It's been fun and challenging! I chose to use Heart of Dakota material and really love it so far. Both boys, 4 1/2 and 3, are being schooled. We feel it's our duty and it's our desire to teach our boys our values at home. This material is Bible-based and it's so great!

We are also looking to buy a home in the next year,God-willing everything is stable after this years election. Speaking of election,pray for our nation. Pray for God's will. Vote. I was undecided,but I am not anymore. It's a privilege a lot of countries do not have,so let's not take it lightly. Blessings to all!

Thorns in the Flesh

I am learning that when I am weak,Christ is strong. Is it hard? You bet! I have had some physical issues for the last 9 months almost and it's been so trying. It's nothing major,but it is something that wears on me. Last year God brought the verse about His grace being sufficient for me to reality. So many times I want to do it in my own self or I want the thorn removed. Our Lord does not always work that way does He? No, He wants to purify us and wants us to rely on Him solely for our strength. It is not easy having thorns in our flesh, things that annoy us or that seem to hinder how well we can serve the Lord,our families,our friends,and even our churches.  Rest assured though, the Lord sees past those thorns and sees what He can do through us when we rely on Him and His strength. Often times I believe He allows thorns in our flesh so we know that His grace is sufficient for us. That sounds harsh to someone who does not know our Lord. We were his thorn in the flesh,but did God remove us? Did Jesus ask for the thorn to be removed? Yes,but in the end he said let YOUR will be done,Father. Through that thorn,our sin, a beautiful redemption was wrought. A bridge that filled the gap between us and God. The thorn was worth it and God did would only God could do through Jesus,He made a way for forgiveness of sins. God can do the same thing with our thorns. He often doesn't calls those who are equipped for a job, though it looks as if they are strong in that area. He calls them and with the power of Christ in them and working through them,they look as if it takes no effort to do what God has called them to do. It takes a lot of effort,dying to self.

I see other Mothers and I think wow I wish I could be like that or do that. They make it look so easy. It's not easy,but when they have embraced their role as a Mother and rely on the strength of Christ it is much easier than doing it on their own. I am learning,note I said learning to rely on Him while being a Mother. I never knew how hard being a Mother was until I had my first. It is so hard and so challenging. You literally are giving up so much of yourself for another being,one that isn't even big enough to have a say so in their wants and needs. You are giving up what you want for what that baby wants and needs most importantly. At first I bulked at the thought and I fought against it,as if my child was my enemy,trying to take away my wants. Thank God for His grace and mercy and His Word. I learned that He wants to refine me through my children. He uses them to help me to die to myself and to become more like Christ. A little baby,a rambunctious toddler,and an adventurous preschooler. Who would have thought it? So I have quit fighting (for the most part) against it. I gave up a lot of the things I want to do,not need too,but things I want too do. It's been hard and not very fun at times. I don't blog as often as I want,I don't get to sit and read all day,and I don't get to watch every show on t.v. I would like. Some say that I am depriving myself,but I don't see it that way. There are times when I do get to do things I want,like now,but I am realizing these things will be here and if they aren't one day,was it that important? No, raising my children and being there for them is the most important. Blogging is not my ministry yet,I would love for it to be one day. I love to make jewelry and want to be able to do that more one day and bless others with it. I would love to write a book one day. Right now I am not in that season where I can devout a lot of time to those things and I am learning to accept that. It will look different for each woman,but I believe her home and family is her first ministry. I minister to my husband also by serving him,but I don't have to do everything for him and I'm not teaching him how to live,so it's different. When I feel I cannot be the Mother God wants me to be,I know His grace is there for me and He is there to guide me.

What are the thorns in your flesh? By no mean am I calling children a thorn. I have thorns that pain me,but I will discuss them another time.

⁷ And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.

⁸ For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.

⁹ And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

¹⁰ Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

 II Corinthians 12:7-10

Embracing Where God Has Us

Wow, it's been quite some time that I have been able to write on my blog. I can't express how much I miss writing and reading other blogs. Right now it's a season I am in as a Mother and I have been embracing it. It's not been an easy journey,but it has been freeing.

We have been trying to seek out God's will for us as a family and it's been pretty bleak. We were really wanting to move back to our hometown as soon as we could,but nothing was really ever going to work. It would have taken us pushing and pulling to get it accomplished. So, the past couple of weeks we have given that up to God. If He ever wants us to move back,we will,but we will not pursue it any longer. We never had peace about a final decision on housing or a job for my husband. It's been so trying,yet I think it was because of our own accord. Isn't that just like us,humans? We push against God asking for His blessings,His presence with us,and His will,when He is saying you have my blessing,presence,and are in my will. I feel like we have been doing just as the Israelite people did throughout the book of Judges. We have complained about where God placed us and about things around us,when we have been so overly and abundantly blessed just where we are. I even made the statement to my oldest (who is now 4,YEAH, where has time gone?) that sometimes we don't like where God places us even though we are blessed there). Yeah, I know,I needed to take my own advice. About 2 weeks ago my husband shared with me his burden to start devotions for members of Law Enforcement here in the area. For those who do not know,he is a State Trooper here in Alabama where we live. He shared that burden with several other Officers of different branches of Law Enforcement and the response was a resounding,FINALLY! They all expressed the desire to be a part and to help in anyway. It would not take the place of church,but be more of a supplement along with church. We aren't sure how many we will have a year or a month. For anyone in Law Enforcement or knows anything about it, the hours are very similar to hospital hours. We have been seeking God on more direction. It would be mostly geared towards the Officers. My husband wants to call it 10-110, in Police lingo hot pursuit. He wants to express the need for a hot pursuit for God in our lives. So, please if you will be praying for us and with us. It's really amazing to see my husband want to move forward in this. He's not the most compassionate man on the earth and he realizes that and knows he needs to be more compassionate. We want God to direct our paths in this and get all the glory.

This will also lead to our next decision,to stay here and find a home. We still live in the apartments we were married in. It's getting a little small,as you can imagine. :) 3 boys and 2 adults in a 2 bedroom,1 bath,small apartment. Yeah. We will miss this place in ways and be so happy to have our own home in other ways. The first time I spoke with our landlord I knew this was our home when we were searching almost 7 years ago. She has been so good to us too. God has worked through her so much to bless us. God is so caring. We know God will guide us to our new home when it's His time. We are setting a timeline,but will go with God's hand. We don't want anything fancy or too new. We want to keep me at home raising our boys and being able to home school them. It's exciting and scary,as some of you know. We want to be able to use our home for His glory. I have always dreamed of ministering in our home and this is just what we would do. It would open doors for us that we can't even imagine. We're so excited! We are on our guard though,because  the devil is waiting for the time to discourage or destroy our vision. It's so wonderful when we let go of what we want and just go with what God wants. We still would LOVE to be closer to our families,but wherever God leads us we will follow. I cannot tell you the peace I have,the just freedom I have in relinquishing those other dreams to God and saying we will do what You want even if it's not what we originally wanted. It's like a chain has been taken off of us and we are walking in freedom that the Bible speaks about. Isn't God just so awesome?! So that is just a summery of what's been going on. There have been some physical health issues with me,but nothing God cannot handle. So join us in prayer for the ministry,our home,and my health please. I hope to start writing some in the near future. For now, you can catch up with me on Facebook or Twitter. God bless all you wonderful ladies!

Pursuit of Proverbs 31 study

I purchased the Kindle book Pursuit of Proverbs 31 by Amy Bayliss and began the study today with a group (big) of women online. How exciting! I've never really been itimidated by the woman in Proverbs 31. I sort of looked at it as I do some of those things,but in different ways. I was intrigued by her.

Join us today! Purchase the book or the ebook from Amazon and check out http://joyfulmothering.net/2012/02/16/an-invitation-to-a-new-pursuit-of-proverbs-31/ Mothering who is the host for the study. The first post on the study is here.

Cultivating a Heart for Motherhood

Join Grace Full Mama for this awesome series, Cultivating a Heart for Motherhood. Today's post is on obstacle #3 in our lives as Mothers. It's one that I am slowly learning can be the worst. Too busy. I have been learning to just slow down. We don't do much outside of the home,but we do a lot in it. You Mothers know what I mean. Cooking,cleaning,and on and on. I would be overwhelmed if we did anything outside of the home seriously! This post is so encouraging and convicting. Read and join us!

New Series from Grace Full Mama

I'm delighted to join this series with Joy@Grace Full Mama. She inspires many and I am looking forward to more inspiration from her. Join us as we look to cultivate our hearts for the calling of motherhood. It's not an easy task,but it should be a blessing and joyful. Subscribe to her blog today so you won't miss a post!

The Gentleness Challenge- Week 4

I somehow missed week 3 to post. This is week 4. It's a great challenge. Get the book The Ministry of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson if you can and read it. It is so encourage and convicting!

This weeks challenge: In week 2 we focused on bringing our voices down low close to a whisper when we feel like yelling.  In week 3 – we focused on anger management.  This week add in words of praise for Christlike qualities.  Be specific and really pay attention to the godly things your children are doing. Try to do what the Duggars do - and praise your children 10 times more than you correct them. 

Link up with Courtney@Women Living Well and join in.

The Gentleness Challenge Week 2

It's week 2 of The Gentleness Challenge. It has been hard to remember to just stay calm,but I know with Christ I can do it.

Our Assignment for the week: I encourage you this week to smile more, hug more, SLOW DOWN, listen, take a deep breath. When you feel like screaming – whisper. Pray pray and then pray some more. Take time to write out, meditate and memorize the 2 verses above, as you pursue gentleness.

Join us and link up withhttp://www.womenlivingwell.org/. Have a blessed day!

Thankful Thursday ~~ A New Year

It has been awhile since I have been able to blog. I suppose I will be hit and miss until my boys are well into their teens. That's okay, it will go by faster than I think.

Join Laurie@Women Taking A Stand and link up for Thankful Thursday. Thankfulness is something we all could work on and really it's not that hard. We all have things we can thank God for.

I am thankful for a new year. Last year was a really great year. My oldest turned 3,my middle turned 2,and our youngest was born. We lost loved ones and we had loved ones born. There were times that were very hard and trying and there were times that werere so exciting I could hardly contain myself. We celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary and also birthdays,which are bringing us closer to 30. We had goals met and then we had goals unmet. We had dreams come true and then we had dreams that withered away. I started selling the jewelry that I make online and am excited to see where God takes this endeavor. One thing for sure is, God saw us through it all. Without God we would not be where we are today. We took the good with the bad and went forward. So I am excited to see what 2012 has for us. It should be interesting. We have more dreams and goals we are wanting to acheive and see come to past,but ultimately it's in God's hands. Our oldest will be 4 this month,our youngest will turn 1 in June,and our middle with turn 3 in October. Those things in themselves are exciting!! I will turn 29 next month and my husband will turn 30 in July. We will be turning so many new chapters in our lives. I want to live in the moment,not for a moment. We all look forward to a certain moment or occasion and I think we forget to live in the moments and even in those that may not be so exciting. My moments consist of babies crying,brothers fighting,chaning lots of diapers,hearing Mama a billion times from sun-up to sun-down,having little arms wrapped around my neck,little lips kissing my cheeks,and a not so clean house. BUT I want to live in these moments,for they will pass ever so quickly. I don't want to wish my days away to birthdays,holidays,or other "important" days/nights. I want everyday to hold a new adventure,even if it is just in my home with my little family.

What are you thankful for? Share with us and link up. This is a favorite of mine. Hope you all had a blessed Christmas and have a fabulous new year!!

The Gentleness Challenge

I am joining http://womenlivingwell.org/  for The Gentleness Challenge. I struggle with my temper at times with my boys. Being home with them 24/7 I tend to see the bad and not always the good. I don't want to be that Mom and I want to speak life to my kids. So I will be doing this with these wonderful,awesome ladies as much as I can.

I will be getting the book by Sally Clarkson The Ministry of Motherhood,which is one they discuss in the videos. She is a wonderful woman of God who has such a gentle spirit. Join uf if you will!