Come see what the girls are doing...

The girls are growing so big.

They both weigh close to 15lbs

and are smiling, cooing, and

blowing bubbles.

I absolutely love coming up

with new and exciting things

for them to do.

We hang streamers from the fan

blades and they will lay under

them for a long time

watching them twirl and dance around

their heads.

I have hung toys all over their beds for

them to kick and reach for.

There is always music in their room..

I read today where Charlotte Mason

said in the 1800's parents let their

babies take naps outside in their pram.

So today, being a particularly warm day for Alabama,

I bundled my little sweet angels up

and took them for a long walk

and just as we started for home

their eye lids gave in to the warmth

of the sun and the sound of the birds.

They slept for almost an hour

while I was resting beside them

in a chair.

When they started stirring I watched

them as they gently woke up and

started looking around. They LOVED their

nap outside.

Having babies in the house is so much fun.

Always something to do, always someone

needing you.

Very tiring but also very rewarding.

They are double the fun,

double the joy,

and double Blessings.

can you tell who's who?

My floors are sleeping

The house is resting now. All the floors have a chance to breathe after

the little ones have laid down their tired bones.

The many hours spent running the halls have now given way to silence.

Their laughter now in dreams and their energy storing up for tomorrow.

Always loudness I seem to hear.

The quietness startles me somehow.

My thoughts are going from room to room, knowing who is where and glad they're

all here under my roof.

I go from one to the other and breathe in their sweet fragrance

and whisper the same

thankful prayer over each.

" I'm thankful Lord you brought Ellie into our life."

"I'm thankful Lord you let us raise Chandler."

The names go on until they've all been lifted up to my Father

and my thankfulness spoken.

Then my memories drift

to the little ones who are not with me

and I think of William.

William is lifted up as a sacrifice, given freely to Him now some

10 months later.

My child does not need my prayers anymore

but I give them anyway, as a way of showing honor to my little son whom I miss.

The girls fill such a huge hole

but his presence is forever etched in my heart.

That little boy who changed my life.

His resting place is still my favorite spot these days.

The kids have erected a small fort over his wooden cross

and I let them because I knew he would love it.

I know he would never miss the chance to play swords with his brothers

if he was here.

So the swords are sticks and they are covering his cross.

He is missed and

Chandler's prayers still hark heavens door on his behalf.

Cullen still cries when he talks about baby Willy and I can't help but to wonder what that little rascal would be doing if he were here now.

It's still a walk of faith, but it's a walk I make much more up right these days.

It is true that you grow more from the hard times and I grew when I lost my William

but sometimes I just want to remember who I was before I lost him

and I can't remember that person anymore.

I truly see others pain in a whole new light and I'm drawn to

help. I guess that's what our hard times are supposed to do.

Draw us from ourselves to others.

Just like my floors have scars from the endless amount of

traffic, my heart will carry the tiny boy named

William around forever ... to remind me......

The seasons of Life....

Lessons from the Farm....

Sometimes the feed buckets heavy....

but the animals will die if you don't get it to them..

I look out my window and a smile comes to rest on my face.

I see them walking across the yard headed for the chickens.

She's carrying a bucket.

It's heavy for her and yet she keeps on walking. I'm sure it's him saying

"you can do it." Just a few more steps and you'll be there I can hear him whisper.

I've seen this before. She'll finally make it and then the back

door will bang open and she will announce to all how

she did it. No mention of the one who walked beside her.

No remembrance of the words that were

spoken in her ear.

How often I'm like my little girl and how I

forget to give all the glory and honor to my

precious Saviour for every new day

and every breath I take.

Forgetting to thank Him for

the hard days when he walks beside me

and whispers "you can do this."

"Oh Lord, this is heavy. Maybe you've over-estimated

my strength"

He gently reminds me

that indeed He knows what I'm able to carry

and just keep walking.

There's sheep to be fed and they're His sheep

and He expects me to feed them so I can't

stop...

Hearing His words in my ear to keep

"picking up" my feed bucket and keep moving......

His sheep are hungry and they might

die if I don't carry my load..

Feed my Sheep.

John 21:15-18
When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?" "Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."
Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?" He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep."
The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my sheep.

A night in Italy on the farm...

The candle light and music sweeps us away

to a little cabin in Italy.

We ate under the glow of the candles
while we laughed and talked about our day and
our weekend coming up.
Water poured for their thirst
when so many don't have clean water.


The meal was simple

The prayer was for the people of Haiti.

Josie Claire enjoying the view from her

mommy's lap. Her mommy enjoying

the view of her daughter's smile and the absolute

miracle of adoption. Can I honestly say

"Thank You, Lord" enough?

Thank you!

Flowers from my beloved.

I love you so much and I love looking down

my table into your gracious, loving, adoring eyes.

My world is so beautiful.

My table so full.

My love forever growing for this bunch.

I love sitting my family at a table that

I've spent time decorating and pouring myself into.

My husband coming home after a long week

for me to rescue him from the stress

of the world.

So I create a little cottage in Italy right here

on the farm.

I hope they will always remember our fun

when they start their own families

and bring Italy to their homes one day...

The gift of his arms

She's resting in the arms of her father.

Safe and happy, belly full.

I wished she would be able to remember

the hours he has spent holding her

and feeding her.

His arms warm as

he keeps her close.

He holds her until she drifts off to sleep.

She will peek through every now and then

and make sure he is still there. and he is,

as he will always be.

The one that feeds her

and loves her like only a daddy could.

He is gentle.

He is soft with her.

Just like he is with me.

When he holds me, sleep also

comes easily because

I feel safe and warm

in his arms.

Today I'm so very thankful that

God picked me to be his wife.

That God picked him to be the father

of our children.

I will be able to remember

the time each of my children has spent

in this loving mans arms and I will tell them

over and over least they forget the gift he is.

er

Look into the eyes of a future mamma

I'm training my daughters

to be wives and mothers.

Against the back-drop of a world

where this is unusual and not looked upon

with eyes of approval. The question

is always asked "what are you going to be

when you grow up?"

The question hanging

there like a bad germ in the air. Taking a deep

breath my daughter says "I want to be a wife

and a mother. "

Channie, my three-year-old daughter was jumping on the trampoline

yesterday and she said "look mom I'm growing up

because I can jump really high"

"Oh, don't grow up

Channie-mae, I like you little." I responded

"I have to grow up mom

because I have to be a Mommy."

Oh yes you need to grow up then.

I wouldn't want you to miss out on the biggest blessing

in the world:

Being a Mommy.

Holding the hand of your child and with awe and wonder

thanking God for the privilege of being a wife

and mother.

It's happening less and less these days.

Happy Homes.

Happy Children.

I believe it's because few are being trained

to take the job of wife, mother, father,or husband

seriously. Few are choosing

to walk this road nowadays but we will press

on and Lord willing

Channie Mae will one day look into the eyes

of her husband and children and say,

mom was right

This is the best job in the whole wide

world ..

“The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one that most of us make. . . . I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of [my three children] sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less.”-Anna Quindlen(Loud and Clear [2004], 10–11)

We hold the keys to the future generations, we can't lose them...

Titus 1 v6

An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose

children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.

7 Since an overseer is entrusted with God's work, he must be blameless not overbearing,

not quick tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.

8 Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self controlled, upright,

holy and disciplined.

I have a daughter who wants to marry early, Lord willing.

So when we look around at the eligible "husband pool"

I wonder if Scott and I are training our sons enough for the

job of future husband, future fathers, future elders.

I had the privilege of hearing Voddie Baucham at a semi-local

Church last night and he reminded us as parents that

all boys should be raised to be elders.

Is it not the calling of most young men to raise up Godly families?

How do we make sure we're doing our part to raise up the future generation of elders?

The word of God should be the most important thing you teach your kids today.

Not math, or spelling, or how to recite the ABC's, it should be the bible.

We should set up training camp and make sure our boys understand that they

have a role in the next generation of Christians and they cannot fail to take

on that role.

As a mom we have to get out of our minds that our boys will grow up "one day".

No, they won't according to Voddie. We have to train them now...We have to stop

making excuses for our lazy, dis-respectful sons and keep in mind

we are training future warriors.

So you don't wait until they're 12 to do this you start when they're little.

Giving them a job and making them do excellent work.

Training them to treat their sisters above all others to protect her

and watch out for her.

It all comes down to

Training... Training.... Training...

So as we're looking around at the "husband pool" we are looking for future elders for our daughters.

She will spend her time serving him and he will spend his time washing her in the word and leading her on

as only a husband can do.

He will have had to be trained

just like we are training her to be a keeper of his home.

She has alot to learn and she will learn most of what she needs

under his gently watchful post.

I have to believe there are elders being raised up by Godly christian

families who will be a Godly christian leader for our daughters.

If we have sons at home

we hold the key

to shaping the future.

Keeping cookies in my cookie jar..

My cookie Jar.

I saw each one of my children gently lift the lid and peer over into the empty cookie jar.

Each one asking where the cookies were and if

we were going to bake some more and could they help?

After the 3rd child I stopped what I was doing and
started measuring out sugar and flour
and started making those home-made cookies
the kids love.
I want to make sure my cookie jar
is always full.
I want my kids to reach in and to be able
to pull out a delicious cookie
that I made (or their sister made) just
for them.
No special reason.
Looking ahead I think a nice
thing they might say is
"in mamma's house there
was always fresh cookies in
the cookie jar."

I'll smile a little smile and know

these were the words I was waiting for..

I plan ahead:)

Won't you join us?

We have committed to reading the bible

in a year. Big undertaking, but

something we feel is so important to teaching our

children history from the Lord's view point.

We have started this with the help of

The Church of Brookhills.

You can go to their website for some awesome

sermons and the out-line for the bible reading.

Their goal is to also pray for everyone in the world.

So everyday they give you a new place in the world

to pray for. This all takes minutes a day but

as they say it's a radical experiment that I want

our family to be a part of.

Won't you join us?

The Joy of the Lord

So I wonder why I have laugh lines..

This is a sweet moment between

a brother and his sister

and of course Binky...

Our Thankfulness is overflowing

as these little ones start

to laugh and smile.

The Blindside

I started crying the moment I saw

the boy called Mike.

My heart so tender to the children who

don't have a home. My heart wondering

how many we can help. Wondering

how many my house can hold.

My heart aching as I watched him listen

to the voices through the night that told him over and over

he didn't belong. I so wanted to be at home

with my little boy so I could whisper how loved he is.

How many time as a child did I listen through

the night at the angry voices that penetrated

the darkness in my little bedroom? I was

just a little girl. I had no control over my situation.

I couldn't change it, I had to survive it.

Covers pulled up tight,

humming so I didn't have to hear.

The darkness seemed to never go away.

It's senseless yet it happens to

so many children.

Mike was cold. He was hungry.

He was in a crowd and no one wanted to notice him.

No one wanted to stop long enough to give of themselves.

When our busyness keeps us from noticing the needs

of others we better watch ourselves.

We need to be awake.

We need a revival of our hearts.

The busyness drowns us.

We are under water and not breathing

and yet we hardly notice that our hearts are

dead. Our love for others has died.

We fail to reach out ..

We miss it.

the way the Lord meant it to be.

It's not about money but in order to help

these days they don't ask for anything except money.

They need to be asking for loving, kind people to come

and minister but they want your money instead.

There is no more "hands on."

So our generation

has forgotten how to open hands

and pour oneself out.

This is a must see.

This movie will move you

to compassion and it will give

you hope. The reality of boys like Mike

is a truthful image and I wish

for them that they are wanted.

A frigid mama

It's cold here in the deep south. Not normal ..

The pond has been frozen over for days.

The temps are hovering low and we're barricaded in our

home with a fireplace and plenty of food.

We have spent our time wisely.

Taylor and I have been knitting hats for the girls.

Sitting looking out at the coldness laughing like

silly school girls. Telling stories and our secrets that

only she and I can share. Our stories stop as a little

guy comes in and our eyes mark our place.

We have been making homemade breads and butter

and scones, muffins, cookies...We have sat together

all of us and enjoyed each others company.

We laugh alot around here, in fact I have noticed in the past

few weeks that laugh lines are forming around my eyes. Hmmm...

I want them to be deep. I want to notice them and

think upon the blessings that have put those lines there.

In a world of beauty and perfection

I think laugh lines sum up

your life...

I go to great extremes to make my children laugh.

I sing loud and I sing silly.

I tickle alot and sing and whisper in their ears how much

their mama loves them. We have 'inside'

ride on cars that have generated hours of laughter

for all us as we watch the kids ride up and down

the hallways. I know this will be a favorite memory

for them and us.

Everyday we do special things because everyday is a gift.

This cold spell has granted me hours in the house sipping hot

chocolate and snuggling..

Oh to teach my children to enjoy the everydays and not just

the special occasion days.

To carry into their homes that you have a reason to celebrate cold days,

hot days, rainy days.........hard days.

So many of us moms stay so busy we are like the cold

temperatures out side.

Frigid.

We forget to play.

We forget to be silly.

We forget to teach our kids to love the simple things.

We're uptight and task-orientated. We're always gripping and

complaining and our kids notice.

Our husbands notice..

It's always about us

and everyone knows it...

Then we grow old

with frown and worry lines and

we wonder why our adult children don't want to be around us.

I'll stick to my laugh lines that are slowly forming around my eyes

and I'll risk it all to make them deeper and laugh longer.

Lord willing, my children will learn to laugh and when they're

older they will notice they look like me, laugh lines and all.

The light they will remember around our table

The darkness settles and we look forward to it.

The lights are turned out one by one

as we put our feast on our family table.

It's not much, a pot of soup that has

warmed our home by it's smell for hours.

*

We come looking forward to the warmth

of the food and the candles and a father

who covers us with the word of God.

All things that keep us warm.

*

There is something about looking across

a candle-lit table into the eyes of your

children. Catching a glimpse of your husbands

smile as he listens to a story told by his 3 year old

stirs my love for him and helps me remember why

I fell in love in the first place.

*

Reminding my daughter that these tradtions

in her own home

will be what's remembered.

The night time feast.

*

The homemade bread and homemade butter

that sit and wait to be enjoyed.

*

We linger.

*

We get out another candle and it's an invitation

to stay at our table for alittle longer.

We're poisoning our own waterhole

Words spoken that can't be taken back.

Words that had no business being said in the first place hanging

in the door frames of our homes..........

"They say alot of things can destroy Churches in America but one of the

most deadliest is Gossip.

Teaching our children to love one another is hard enough without them

seeing us pretend to love and then talking about the very people we are supposed

to love.

There is a church in North Carolina that has a rule. If you are caught gossiping

you are given one chance and then you're out of the Church. You and your whole family. How many churches would you and I have gone through by now?

Talking about the Elders or the pastor, the families in our church that are supposed

to be our brothers and sisters in Christ. Saying things that should not have been thought, much less said out loud.

Speech is the one area that shows more disrespect then any other area.

If we can teach our children to keep their mouths closed and not to talk so much we would teach them a lifelong lesson in humility.

Gossip kills love. Gossip kills community. Gossip will kill our homes.

You and I can't live a double standard in front of our children. We will be liars

in front of them. They will grow up to be hypocrites like us. Only pretending to love.

Only pretending to care so that the juicy tidbits can be morsels to our innermost beings.

So what is gossip? Gossip is what you say behind someones back

that you would not say to their face.

This can include gossiping about our children, about our husbands, friends.. Some people

believe that a husband and wife can gossip behind closed doors, this is not true because

the husband can defile his wife and the wife her husband.

How do we stop gossiping?

Self control! We have to keep our thoughts on the Lord and over look peoples

faults as it concerns us.

When we get in the habit of loving others their faults become

less and less."

Scott Brown Gossip Cd by vision forum

As I listened to this CD my heart was breaking.

My home has been defiled by gossip.

My heart has been defiled by gossip.

I have defiled other people by my words.

I have set a bad example for my children.

I'm usually a very positive person and look for the best in others

but on the occasion that I did not build others up I tore down.

As parents we often worry about the influences of others children on our children but if we're honest we should worry more about our own influence on our kids.

We're poisoning our own waterhole.....

Lessons I'm trying to learn on the farm....

Grow in love.

I ask that my love be more intense, more practical,

influencing every thought,word, and deed.

I want to Grow also in humility.

Seeking to lie very low and know more of my own

nothingness.....

Charles Spurgeon