Weekends are for starting fires

He called and told me he had a surprise and I couldn't say no.

He wouldn't tell me any details except that I needed an over night bag.

I was intrigued.

My sweet husband has always been great at surprises and get-aways

so I packed.

 

The evening started at a corner restaurant with candles and outstanding service.

The food was to die for but the company was simply perfect.

 He poured it on girls!

Shrimp and grits for appetizers and steak for the main course.

It was magical. The conversation was so up lifting and

encouraging to me. We talked about how this past year has been hard

on our relationship. We've had to work extra hard to make sure we didn't let "us" go.

Having alot of kids is truly an amazing blessing but

our relationship has to be strong, fun, and dependent on God for everything.

We can't forget that it started with us.

 It's been 12 months since

our last get away and many, many diapers later we find ourselves almost at

the one year birthday of our twins and this night out was such a huge blessing

of renewal for my man and I. I'm so thankful for our older kids and younger ones

that know what to do and do it while we're away. We don't take for granted that our children

are a blessing to be around and their love for each other and us made this night possible.

Thank you guys!

Our hotel was inside the biggest mall in Birmingham. It was very very nice and he treated me

like a queen. I soaked him in. You know like before you had kids. We talked and laughed and ate so much great food.

We exchanged letters asking for forgiveness of wrong attitudes and expressing our un-dying love

for each other and thankfulness to God for bringing us together.

In my letter I wrote:

"You have been God's greatest gift to me and I'm so very very sorry

if I have treated you other wise."

I'm so very thankful to have him as my husband, protector

and provider.

In a world that sells singleness I will scream

Marriage is a good thing,

a very good thing.

Now we're back home with our beautiful children

and I'm basking in the love....

Tying ♥ Heartstrings

Do I have his love? He smiles at me so much throughout the day and when

at supper his place to sit is across from mine and we sign I love you to each other.

He whispers, "Can I sleep in your floor?"

I always tell him yes.  I have a pallet made next to my side of the bed

and he snuggles in and I reach down and hold his sweet hand.

He peeled an orange today and said "Mom, look your heart"

sigh....   I pray he sees my heart. I pray he sees my love spilled out

over his home as he grows into a young man. 

Our 2nd sonlight book has come to an end. Although this one was not as good

as Charlotte's Web to me, I enjoyed the quirky stories and we loved hearing about the

uncles doughnut shop so in honor of Homer we had a doughnut party. Nothing fancy just

a small reward and simple ways to show them I love them and I enjoy being their teacher

on most days :)

Our little miracle girls are growing up so fast. I love to spend time with them.

Today we blew bubbles, played blocks, and ball

and did some other montessori things with see through containers.

The joy in their eyes as I play with them.

I can't imagine my life without these little girls.

I pray that the time I invest in their life the Lord will

double.Sometimes I feel like there's not enough hours in the day.

Taylor and Channie worked on some small needlework projects.

I could hear Tay reminding her to be patient. She gently pulled 

her into her lap and slowly started showing her how to go down

and up. Channie's little hands doing what her older sister said.

I'm so thankful for my older children. I pray their loving kindness

towards their brothers and sisters will never return void.

Living here with them is a gift. I know that I don't deserve this life but I'm thankfully here and I won't let one day be wasted.

I tie heart strings that can be traced so that when they look at me they know I love my job!

Things we LOVE part 1

This is our family's devotion book. We love it! It's easy enough to do at the breakfast table and supper table. This book encouraged us greatly when we lost William. When we didn't have words of our own we had this book by Charles Spurgeon.This is a great book if your family is not  currently doing family devotions  because it's so packed with words of wisdom but it's really quick.  

I love my family table. It continues to be the heart of my home. School books piled high and our water pitchers sitting around for thirsty souls.

I love this view because this is who we are really.

I love coconut oil. It's great for so many things

but a few are:

acne

hair conditioner

moisturizer

diaper rash

You have got to try coconut oil if you haven't,

you'll love it as well :) 

I love my home-schooling curriculum.. it keeps me honest and organized

and the books are funny ..it keeps up with

all of your records and I love the blue binder. If you have alot of kids

or just a couple this is a great curriculum. It took me 8 years to find a curriculum I love.

Now I'm letting you know, just in case you're looking for one.

I love our kitchen aid. My daughter has mastered the art of bread making in this little

black beauty and the way it swirls the dough around makes you kinda glad you

have one. This one is a keeper for sure. ♥

I love these two cook books. My daughters and I use these cookbooks

at least twice a day. I love the pictures and the recipes. You don't have to double the recipes

because they're already huge.

They are both chock full of colorful and step-by-step photos which I 

love because I learn that way..:) I will buy my daughters-in-law these

books because they're just that good.

The dough recipe on pg. 80 is out of this world.

It is the recipe for the "get you married rolls" that Taylor makes.

I would love to hear about things your family love.

I'll post a few more of our favorite things tomorrow.

love from the Farm

you stole my heart and made it your own

Say, say, oh, playmate,

Come out and play with me

And bring your dollies three.

Climb up my apple tree.

Slide down my rain barrel

Into my cellar door,

And we'll be jolly friends

Forever more-more-more!

Author unknown 

Tent put up by her big sister and her dollies laying all around her she goes to that place

that only little girls can go. Dressing, feeding, and holding her babies; playing pretend.

You ask her "what do you want to be when you grow up?" and 

without a hesitation she says "I want to be a mommy."   

She helps cook and clean and this all takes training and time.

I put all the bowls and glasses along the edge of the counter

and show her where everything goes and in a few days time she can

do it all by herself and I let her. This means I'm busy sweeping and cleaning other

things just in case she needs me.

 My time is not my own right now my job is too important to miss one

opportunity to train so I have no where else to be but in this kitchen

 with my little girl training her to serve her family.

Enjoying her sweet smile and her childhood.

 

 I recently bought a small water pitcher just big enough

for her little hands and I tell her that every night she has to serve her daddy

and brothers water. Every time their glass gets low she must fill it up.

A huge smile came across her little face and 

at the table she sees someone getting low on water she grabs her little

white pitcher and goes from daddy to brothers filling their glass.

The brothers are being taught that being served is an honor, not

something you should expect so they praise her generously and it encourages

her to keep serving. She teaches me so much. Her smile in her service reminds

me it's such a pleasant thing to be served with a huge smile.

Her love for her daddy as she runs to meet him at the end of a day falling

helplessly in his arms and melting every time she sees him.

Yep, she trains me and I train her.

Beautiful simply Beautiful 

Life with these two

Busy Busy Busy 

 

They look all cute and stuff but these two are

T R O U B L E

dare not turn your back for

one second.

They adore each other and I adore the two of them. They kinda make ya joyful,

if you know what I mean. At the end of the day you can lay on the floor and

they crawl all over you and I think to myself how could I ever feel unloved?

Did I mention they're busy? 

It's absolutely astonishing what these little hands

can get into..

I said busy didn't I?

Our life has been richly blessed and for that I'm forever grateful.

  

Teaching him to count

His math book torn and tattered from the years worth of learning 2+2.

His army men serve as his counters and sometimes I look over and he has traveled to the west

 in his imagination and his guns are blazing and a man falls.

I can't help but to laugh.

Oh, the days I have him here are so short.

 I get to hug him and  be the first person to give him a great big

smile in the morning. I get to make him supper and 

special treats. I get to be his one true love for such a short season and

then he will, Lord willing, one day marry and then my daughter in law

will get to do these things. If I look at my time with him as fleeting I'm not so

eager to put down that book. I'm not so willing to let someone else do for him.

I want to do it all. I want to breathe him in and not miss one opportunity

to show him how much I adore him. I want to be the one who teaches him to read.

I want to be his biggest fan and I am; I want him to know that I take my job

as his mother very seriously and it's a great honor to raise him up.

We close our books for the day and he hurries off and I'm left sitting at an

empty table with his men: always reminders to slow me down and enjoy

even the smallest of memories.   

Love is being perfected in me

Loving day in and day out sometimes I grow weary. I doubt myself as wife, mother, friend.

I am constantly before the throne but it seems not enough.

He has placed in my home the blessing of adoption and yet some days

I refuse to be adopted by Him. I know about adoption.

 The process of paper work and the process of loving someone who may not

choose to love you back right away but you keep loving anyway. 

You keep choosing love as your strength because God said to love.

His love is perfect and mine so flawed at times that I realize that I cannot

do this in my own strength.  

So many questions and not enough answers on those hard days but just believing, just trusting

in Him. Not knowing the outcome but trusting in the One who does.

Being amazed that so many people would pass up the journey of adoption

because of fear of hardship or the unknown.

Look into those eyes and tell me that God has not redeemed her little life.

Look into my eyes and tell me God is not redeeming me.

Their mother choosing

not to abort them and our family choosing to stand in that line and say we will not say no.

We don't have all the answers were just willing to say yes.  

 So many willing to turn their heads to the reality of a self righteous attitude. We don't women to abort precious unborn babies but we puff our chest out and say with pride  that we will not be willing

to do hard things in order to raise up these little blessings.

 If she is willing to give a child life then we should be willing to provide that child

with a life and love unmeasurable.

I'm so thankful for these beautifull little girls.

Yes, it cost.

Yes, it's hard some days.

Yes, we have people in our life

that don't understand us. 

But let me tell you I'm not doing enough.

my family is not doing enough.

I met a man and woman at the baby conference in their late 50's

that had 12 children. Their children were adopted from all over the

world with disabilities of every kind and this couple was smiling and joyfully

drowning in love.

Drowning in unspeakable love.

Adoption is hard

but you were made to do hard things

Lessons From the Road

What if at the end of a long day you say "this one was a tough one" ?
What if you recognize some form of rebellion in your child and choose to

over look it because it's hard to keep on keeping on?

What if someone says something that is unkind and you are commanded to forgive.

What if you have a special needs child and you are charged by God to live out this life joyfully doing hard things trusting in your Father who gave you this child.
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” I Thessalonians 5:16-18

What if at the end of a 17 hour drive you realize you have been changed yet once again.

My mission field took me across the West last week and I am once again before my father begging for forgiveness for so many things that I learned at the baby conference but one important thing is my job as trainer of my children. I train my children but do I take this as seriously as I should?

What if as mothers we teach our kids to obey but never ever train them?

They have the manners down pat yet they are not trained to help make the burden less on anyone around them.

Except themselves.

As mothers this responsibility falls directly on our shoulders.

It's our job.We cannot continue to raise up self centered immature children. Sounds harsh,

but what is harsh? It is the reality of us dropping the ball as mothers.

We are commanded to train up our children and if not our ill mannered kids will stand before us one day and we will reap what we have sown.

Training is and will forever be a hard dose of standing on the front lines and putting

your boots on and fighting for your child's soul before God. We cannot run, we have to stand and fight.If parents teach children truth with their mouths, without setting the example of righteousness, devotion, wisdom and courage, then children will learn to scorn, disregard or abuse the truth. They will end up as rebels (rejecting the truth), nominal Christians (superficially recognizing the truth, but living like the world) or legalists (treating the truth as a sterile set of rules by which to pass judgment on others).

If you're standing on the front lines and you have not yet drawn a line in the sand then

my dear friend, please do it today. Training is tiring, and frustrating, and aggravating at times but

training is the key to your children passing on to the next generation a love and heavy dose of respect of the Lord who made them. Don't give up on training your children. The Lord is faithful.

Reload your guns today and fight off the enemy who would like nothing more than for you to stand and do nothing.

Quit thinking that you will train when they get older.

That is a lie straight from the devil. You cannot train them when they get older in most cases. 

They will be a stiff necked rebellious teenager. You fight NOW ..

Fight for your children's heart.

Teach them to love big.

Love them exceedingly big.

Help others around you not just once a year but make it a part of your daily life.

Teach them to look at adults and smile and be an encouragement to all around them but most of all
teach them to Fear the Lord. We teach the love of God but we fail to teach the Fear of God.

Look for small holes in their character and don't let up praying and training because it's those small

areas we tend to overlook that are most dangerous.

"Let us beware of the beginnings of backsliding, however small. We never know what we may come to, if we once leave the king's highway. The professing Christian who begins to say of any sin or evil habit, "it is but a little one," is in imminent danger. He is sowing seeds in his heart, which will one day spring up and bear bitter fruit. It is a homely saying, that "if men take care of the pence the pounds will take care of themselves." We may borrow a good spiritual lesson from the saying. The Christian who keeps his heart diligently in little things shall be kept from great falls."~ J.C. Ryle

Over the next few weeks I will be posting some of the things we learned at The Baby Conference and Lord willing, a book on training might be available soon!

Our family has been and still is in Texas.

We attended the Vision Forum Baby Conference with some

dear friends and their 8 children. My expectations of this trip have been

blown away. I have been broken somewhere deep inside. We heard Michelle Duggar speak

and I was crying as I heard her words of encouragement. 

When she sang The Joy of the Lord is my strength.

I was crying more when

I heard Kevin Swason speak on loving the imperfect children around us and how the body of Christ should

step in and help those families who are traveling a difficult road.

Doug Phillips said what if  it was an honor to help escort  a child into the arms

of Jesus and I thought of William.  What if we looked at miscarriage as God's gift to

our babies enjoying life without sickness and heart ache. I  know this is hard but if you believe in heaven why is this so hard.?

I cried some more in fact through out the whole church service as I was around some women who

loved and respected their husbands and their smile warmed you to the core..

I cried as Scott and I talked about our relationship and how we can

make some changes to make sure we're accountable to the Lord for our

actions toward each other.

I know I cried a lot and if you know me

 very well  this may not surprise you

but my tears will not stop.

Gone Pickin'

Walking up the road by our house the berries hang by bunches begging you

to pick them. Not quite ready and we have to wait a day or so before we

can fill buckets of these black beauties. She ends up eating alot of our profit before we even get

home. Her eyes begging for just one more she says "yumm those are so good."

We bring them home and all the kids run for the bowl and a lot of my cobbler berries are gone.

I pull my black skillet out and the girls and I start to work on our first black berry cobbler of the summer. We have to tell her to stop eating them or we won't have enough.. she can't help it..and I can't blame her. We had just enough: 2 cups after 8 kids and 1 mama got through robbing the blackberry bucket. It was hot and bubbly and irresistible. Daddy brought home ice-cream and we celebrated these beauties that are found in hard places,arms scratched from hitting thorns but so worth the out come.. kinda like love

thinking all the work is just too much work and wondering, no praying, that at the end of this day I have loved more than I did yesterday. I'm living in my mission field. No, I'm not in Africa or some third world country but I'm sitting in the middle of a small modest 40 acre farm and pouring myself into the lives that He has surrounded me with. Providing daily food and reminding myself everyone has a mission field it's just whether you live your mission field out or not. Sometimes I'm so tired at the end of a day that I wonder if only to myself, and God, if I can possibly give again tomorrow and I always do. He always gives me what I need. He knows me. I cringe when people say "your family is just special" and to that I say "no, our family is nothing special, we just love each other. As imperfect as we are,  we try and love those that for whatever reason end up in our life." Loving is an art though. Choosing to base all your decisions on love is hard. Kinda like picking blackberries in the summer time. It's hot and there are thorns but in the end it's a true masterpiece and the work was worth it.

Live out your mission field

Love much

and pick some berries..

Our family is headed West

Stars at night are big and bright

deep in the heart of Texas.

You might see us out on the road

this crazy family or ours and as always

honk if you do.

Given over

I wonder sometimes if perhaps I'm in over my head. Wondering if the cloth I'm cut out of is strong enough to sustain me.
and knowing it is.
Clinging to my Fathers promises that He knows the path I'm on and that He set me here and He is the one that keeps me walking on it. The road that has me at the feet of Jesus more and more asking for guidance and begging for wisdom. Saying a prayer before my feet even touch the ground in the morning that I can teach the things that He wants me to teach. Asking daily for the ability to be their mom. and not just be their mom but celebrate being their mother. there is a difference. Living freely, love poured out, and without reservations. Giving each one what they need and knowing who needs what when.
Catching them living their life on this farm and never forgetting the only reason I'm here..by the grace of a Heavenly Father who forgave me for so many stupid things I did and in spite of myself He put me on His front lines.. Motherhood.
 

This job of mine is an honor beyond any words that I could ever type here. I feel like I'm always learning something new about myself. Learning to die to myself and living to tell about it. It gets easier, something else gets broken or I have no time to myself and I learn I'm stronger than I give myself credit for. As a friend of mine once said "it's time we all put on our big girl panties". I am a big girl now and learning to act like one all the time has taken me years of practice and some repentance, and shoot I still get it wrong..Alot..but I don't do this front line stuff for them as much as for HIM. I want to bring Him honor for all He's done for me. 

I want my kids to know that when they do something it shouldn't be because I want them to, it should be because they want to bring honor and glory to their heavenly Father. This takes training and this is what the front lines is all about. It's all about the everyday.    

It's all about remembering I'm here to serve and serving is tiring. Taking chances to have more children or to adopt or to go on a mission trip or a hundred other things is all about having the desire to pour yourself out at the feet of Jesus and saying I will serve. I will not count the cost..I will serve.

"So let us not get tired of what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't give up." Galatians 6:9