This is killer the dog....(Scott warned you about)

I know our little Siah doesn't look like much now but like the rest of the pack around
here she is in training. I have HIGH hopes for her to be a great guard dog.. one day.
Be sure to check in tomorrow as I will have a very special guest on for the first time..It's a surprise!!!!

Our little hot wheels..

Jokey can't walk yet but he is very close..He rides his car
everywhere around the house and out side..It gets him right up
where the action is...Don't you just LOVE that smile.......

What does love look like?

If you had to put a face to love what would it look like. How would it feel?
I have decided that as I get older I realize it matters little to have my own way
if I have hurt the one I love..When Scott is wrong about something why do I make it
my job to prove that he is wrong. Is that what Love looks like? If my kids are having a bad day and getting into alot of trouble why do we pile on instead of grabbing them in in our arms and saying lets go get an ice-cream...Letting them see what Grace looks like Letting them see what love looks like.
We expect people to forgive us our faults and give us 2nd chances so easily but we
fail to give over our own rights just as easily.
I believe giving day after day is something love looks like. Reading that same book over and over just because. Smiling when your changing diapers and singing when you
wash the dishes.I believe love looks like your enjoying what your doing.
When my kids are sharp with one another I will often say "is that what love looks like?"I'm not trying to make them feel guilty I'm trying to help them see that Love
is a decision a look a word a stance..Love is a choice that you make in that split second on how you respond to your brother or sister mom or dad....anyone
I say to myself several times a day IS THIS WHAT LOVE LOOKS LIKE?
Having a large family is so wonderful. Yet putting on love everyday is hard.
Having everyones needs met before your own is tiring and it's living everyday
with the knowledge that being selfish is not an option.Not putting their faults out there for ALL the world to see..I have seen and heard people say some very mean and
hurtful words about their kids and spouses and I wonder if that's what love looks like. Would we honestly want everyone to know our every fault or weakness?
I think it's important that our children's difficulties be respected. Am I saying
that we shouldn't have Godly friends that we get counsel from? Not at all but make sure those friends are Godly and wont look at your children differently and that they
always point you up..Some people ruin their children's reputation by telling every single fault the kids have.Shame on us....Some women ruin their husband by telling
all the things he does wrong and then wonder why people don't respect him or why the kids don't respect him..

God calls us to die to ourselves and serve others. We are in a busy season of our life right now I try to encourage the kids and myself that this is just a season. ..What are we supposed to be learning? Will you have the look
of love in the end of this season or will you have the look of regret?
If your living out love if I'm living out love then I can almost guarantee we will
have no regrets.Very few anyway>>
I pray that on this Valentine that we can renew our determination that we will
LOOK LIKE LOVE....

I read this and fell in love with the truth and simplicity of the words

The writer said that no matter where we find ourselves we can trust that it is a green pasture for us where we will grow and thrive. And regardless of the circumstances around us we can trust that they are 'still waters' for us as long as we lay down beside them and drink of Christ. What a gentle rebuke! I thought that God could be choosing so many other circumstances or emotions or whatever for us and may someday, but for today it is boredom .... How small!

Sisters we are all going to have circumstances in our life that God is using to grow us may we learn to lay down and drink of Christ..Let us quit depending on our emotions to try and figure it "all" out..

I never know what I will wake up to.

Ok so I stagger in the kitchen to find my sweet husband deleting stuff he had written on MY blog the night before (while I was sleeping)..Ya gotta love him.
He does his best work at night..Although I have encouraged him to get his own blog...
I would have NEVER put up the picture of me pregnant..Oh well...

Ok so my birthday is in a few days every day this month Scott has brought me home a gift to celebrate my birthday everyday. I have received facial wraps from France (very cool) that he mixes and puts on my face....One day I got pajamas from old navy..
I got a maternity shirt and some great magazines last night. I have got chocolate and
I hate to tell everyone this but I get a 20 min foot rub every-night...This is something he has done for the past year or so... I cannot go to sleep now with out it..and you wonder why I gush over my man...Being married is something to be cherished and not thought of as mundane or boring. It's a dance that you continue to have to learn new steps too and so that keeps it interesting and fresh..Scott and I will celebrate our 16th wedding annv. this year and I find him more attractive now then I did then. He opens all my doors and helps me pick out my clothes when I throw my hands up and say "I have nothing to wear" makes my coffee and brings it to me in bed every morning..Now ladies I'm not saying he is perfect but I'm saying that he is my whole life good and bad. He is the reason that I look forward to raising another child because he helps me to remember that children are gifts...Some of us need to look at what our husbands do right and not what they do wrong all the time...
My marriage changed three years ago when I decided to be my husbands biggest cheerleader instead of his biggest nag. I can honestly say God changed it over night. I stopped doing so much at church and started focusing on my husband instead of giving him what was left of me after drama team and faith team and being with the kids all day. I started being who he needed me to be. In return it was great rewards for me..I didn't know that would happen going in but boy it changed everything..The world tells us that we need to stay busy or work outside the home to be fulfilled or that more than 2 kids will tie you down. The church tells us that we have to be involved in every program to make a difference for our Lord..Our Lord gives us our marching orders in the bible and I encourage you to listen to him instead of the world.
Ok I know this deep but it was on my heart and hey it is my blog...

This is where we'll be soon

I know we are only 10-11 weeks along, but soon enough we'll be here(see pic below).

Can you believe that this beautiful picture of womanliness "belongs" to me?!!! This Lady knows that she will linger thru weeks of throwing up all day and waking up at night throwing up and feeling nauseated all day pretty much for the entire nine months. This Lady knows that but she still continues to see the blessing from God in this and she continues to see the vision of a large family that announces to the world that christianity still lives. She knows that even afterwards she will have a little person totally dependent upon her alone, that she is bringing another person into the world that will rely on her until the day she departs from this earth. Yet she chooses life, life for this child and life for the kingdom of God.

Joseph Turner

Our son was dedicated to the Lord yesterday...What a very touching celebration.
I cryed as I thought of his Liberian mom and how great it would be if she could
see the remarkable changes in her son.I wore the necklace she gave me as a symbol
of her love for him.
Everyday is full of first for him.
I'm just thankful that I get to share in those first.
He LOVES me and there is no greater feeling..
He is a VERY loving child.. Someone once told me
"Joesph's greatest weakness(his heart)God will use to be
his greatest blessing" I believe this true..He has a heart for
our family. He has a heart for anyone who is crying..He has some
of the most loving qualities in a child his age I have ever seen
and I have 5 other kids before him....So for what ever reason God has set him
apart in more than one way..I'm excited to see where this Heart of his
takes him......and I'm thankful I'm on the journey with him..



P.s. My friend Kathy made these wonderful cakes and cookies for the
reception..She is awesome go take a look at her blog at http://highergroundtoday.blogspot.com/

I want to say thanks to my dear hubby for keeping everyone well informed..
It's so funny how we blog differently but I'm grateful for his view and for his
apparent love for me...I'm a lucky woman.
I have been very nauseated over the past few weeks and still am but there is
great comfort when my man comes home and his presence is all that is needed
to raise my spirits...At night when I puke he always wakes up (like he has a choice)
and rubs my back..My pregnancies are not good but we both know the blessing
that comes at the end.

I wanted to just say a few words about my wonderful son Jo. I can't believe that
God picked us to be this little fellows mom and dad..He is such an inspiration and
joy to be around. He is always smiling and loves to give kisses to everyone.....
He has fit so easily into our family that I can't begin to tell you how we would
do it all over again in a second. Some people have asked me how in the world I'm
going to handle having a new baby now with having Jokey home and I just smile and
know that God has had all of this planned..
I know alot of you think we're some kinda crazy people for having so many children
but I just want to say in our defense that we do feel "crazy" alot of the time
but we feel like we're the most Loved crazy people in the world......There is something about having a large family that you get to a point that you feel
sorry for people who only have one or two because it's alot more fun with 6.....

The many faces of Jokey..........