Morning, Noon, and Night

Hi ALL!  We have been non stop around here. Not with events and travel and adventure, but with sickness, colds, coughs, and more sickness. Literally it has been a morning, noon, and night party; huh! To add to it my power cord to my computer decided it had had enough. We searched for one on ebay and found one, but it took almost two weeks to receive it. Yep! Just a little frustrating when it was coming from the same state. However, I am so glad it's here today! I have missed by computer and the ability to email and post here!

So a little update on the pregnancy.... 

The question I get asked the most since announcing the news of our fourth on the way is, "How are you feeling?" or "Do you have Morning sickness?" the answer I gave for the first three pregnancy's was something like this..."I am good. I can't complain. Little sick in the AM but not too bad." HOWEVER this baby number 4 is doing me in! Morning, Noon, Night this little one is causing me to suffer all hours of the day. Nausea is my new normal, and I have to say I am not liking this new intruder on my life and hoping and praying he leave soon. I eat I feel nauseated, I don't eat I feel nauseated. I eat plain food I feel nauseated  if I eat flavored food I feel nauseated. I have not been able to find much that gives my stomach any kind of peace or relief.

HOWEVER...

The other day a sweet lady from Tu's office reminded me that feelings of nausea mean that good things are happening inside. Awe, it was such sweetness to my ears. In the fight to keep food down and decipher which food might settle best, I had forgotten that there is a little boy or girl in there that I will soon hold in my arms. It was exactly what I needed to hear! It was a word from the Lord and I was so thankful for it!

So morning, noon, and night when this new intruder enters my body I want to focus on the "good" going on and thank God for the life growing inside me.

1, 2, 3, 4

Look carefully at this picture! :) Yep... our family is going from 3 to 4 little blessings! The Lord has decided to give us another baby!

Each time the Lord blesses us with a little one I try to surprise my man, and our parents with a special and unique way of telling them. Here is how I told of the 1st Baby, 2nd Baby, and 3rd Baby... and the 4th baby....

So my man came home from a long day at work and a fun little surprise was awaiting him. He always comes in our side door which opens to a little nook table in the kitchen. On top of the table was a lit candle, a large paper, as pictured above, with the numbers 1,2,3,4 and a positive pregnancy test pointing to the #4. As soon as he opened the door the kids and I were standing near the table yelling surprise! We had the house decorated like a party, streamers, balloons, and signs that read...

"We R having #4!"

It was such a joy watching our daddy light up and being able to celebrate this special life with our family! We are so excited and so thankful to the Lord to welcome this new life into our family! 

We would love your prayers for a safe and healthy pregnancy, baby, and delivery! 

linking to...
http://www.crystalandcomp.com/

Martin Luther King Jr.

Love this holiday! Love the boldness and stand Martin Luther King Jr. made for equal rights, but more importantly his stand for what he knew God's word said as he proclaimed God's design for us all to live in peace and love each other (no mater how they differ) as Jesus loves us all!

This is a great little video to show your children! 

We will celebrate tonight with our annual MLK party at our house! More to come later on what we do for that! Blessings to you all! Keep living like Jesus and may the boldness of MLK inspire us to live boldly for our Father God today! 

Explaining Death to Children

I recently lost my dear grandmother, Nanny Sue.  You can read more here if you would like.

One of the hard things about loosing loved ones is explaining death and dying to children. We read this book to our children (which is wonderful) and then explained that our Nanny Sue was in Heaven!

We let them share that they were sad about her loss and ask questions. We in turn shared that we were sad too and that we would miss her terribly, but that she was with Jesus! 

In no pain and was dancing and enjoying Heaven. 

This book and our conversation helped them to understand a little better. It is never easy, but pray for word of wisdom to flow from you, and ask God to give them (the kids) hearts to understand! He will! 

Heaven For Real!

So those of you who follow  know that my amazing and wonderful Nanny Sue went to be with Jesus. For those of you who have lost loved ones who are close to you know the pain and questioning that takes place. No matter the age or situation in life it is never easy to face the death of someone you love.

Nanny Sue was almost 86, the mother of 15! Yep 15 and was a beautiful woman on the inside and out!

I have been a christian for most of my life, have lost classmates, past boyfriend, dearest grandpa's, great-grand parents, and sweet and treasured friends to death. Most of them believed in God and had a personal relationship with Jesus. My Nanny Sue loved Jesus with all her heart, was a true example of Him, and walked in humility and adoration of God more then anyone I have ever met.

Yet, her death has been the hardest and most faith shaking of all. I spent days before her death visiting her frail body and enjoying the last moments of her sweet spirit. I would leave and cry out for mercy to the Lord for her.  The Lord gave me a verse two days before she passed Micah 7:18 b says, "He delights in mercy." I remember going for a run the day she passed, I believe she was out side getting her last breaths of fresh air at the time while family sang to her. I remember running and praying for her and thinking so much about her that it was difficult to even breathe myself. I slowed my run as tears streamed down and the crisp breeze blew past my face as I began my cry and questions to the Lord . "Jesus, you say you delight in mercy! Please have mercy on this daughter, loving, humble servant of yours."

The phone call came not long after I was home and hit harder then a powerful blow to the gut. Why is it that we know death is coming. It will come to us all, and yet even when we know it is coming it still sneaks up on us and shocks us all. Shock is a light way of describing what the next few days, week, would be like.

The service was absolutely beautiful and the support from family and friends was unreal! I loved hearing all the amazing stories of how she impacted others for eternity sake.

However, even at the service I found myself asking God why? Questioning what heaven was like, what she was doing now, and how crazy and short life here on earth seems. My man always says, "These are the times that challenge us, "Do you really believe what you say you believe?"

Do you believe that when you die, if you have a personal relationship with Jesus, believe He came to earth, died on the cross, and was raised from the dead so that we might have a opportunity to choose and believe and spend eternity in heaven with Him. Do I believe that? Yes I do! I have been through the arguments in my head and studied them out to know it is truth! I have heard God's voice, seen Him work miracles in my family, in our lives, in our community, watched Him provide and protect us in only ways God can. I know He is real! I know He loves me and died for me! I know He wants a relationship with me!  I know!

For me it was not the question of do I believe God is real and I need to have a relationship with Him. I do! And I treasure that relationship and want to know Him more and love Him deeper! For me the question was what is happening to Nanny Sue now? For me the question was do I really believe Heaven is for real? Do I believe the BIBLE and what God/Jesus promise throughout the scriptures is true? Is Nanny Sue now in Heaven with others we loved so much? Is she without pain? Does she have the new healthy and alive body? So many questions were raging through my mind about heaven. I had never really stopped to dig deeper and now I just had to! I wanted to!

As we returned from the service and life continued as usual, the empty void in my inmost was something I could not ignore. I began to pray... "Lord I believe, I know I believe, help my unbelief or what felt like an uneasy questioning of my faith."

The next night I shared with my man the struggle I was having. We talked for a while about Heaven and God's plan for our lives and the why's behind it all. He referenced scripture and shared his wisdom with me the Lord brought some light and answers to my heart and mind. Reminders that He LOVES us and that He has allowed us to live and choose and love so that we know a little bit more about who He is! As we finished our discussion with tears and prayers I was overwhelmed by God's love to speak to me. To answer me, to answer the questions of my faith. He is good!

The next two days the Lord continued to answer me with these scriptures as encouragement as He gently speaks into my heart and life that He is HOPE, He is REAL, He is LOVE, His Word is REAL and He has great plans for each of us, and HEAVEN is for REAL!

I Corinthians 2: 9

Eyes have not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which GOD has prepared for those who LOVE HIM. 

            Haggai 3:5a             Haggai 3:17                 Malachi 3:6
            Haggai 1: 13b         Haggai 2:4&5               I Corinthians 1:18 & 25
            I Corinthians 2: 5, 9,

My parents had given each of the kids in our family a copy of the book, "HEAVEN is for REAL" for Christmas and even blessed the kids with a copy of the children's version.

I picked the book up two days ago and in two nap times and I was finished with the book! I couldn't put it down. THe Lord used so many passages and this young boy's story to confirm and reaffirm His truth to me that Heaven is for Real! And not only was heaven for real, but that Nanny Sue was there, with Dad (her hubby) and Uncle Dan (her son) and many others who are all enjoying the abundant life in Christ that we will enjoy with them one day if we choose, as they did, to believe.

I am a firm believer that you have to question and cry out to God when there is doubt and uncertainty. Sometimes it can be scary, but it is so needed to anchor the faith. The one thing I will say is that I would encourage going to the BIBLE and Godly men and women for the answers!

The Lord has answered me through His word, the Bible, my man, and through this book. He is so gracious! He loves us and wants us to know how real He is. He wants to be active and apart of our lives! He wants us all to spend eternity in Heaven with Him!  He wants us to believe heaven is for real, but more importantly HE is for REAL! The only way to heaven is to believe in HIM!

John 3:16   

For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten son.

That whoever BELIEVES on HIM will not perish but have EVERLASTING LIFE!

Today my prayer is that you would believe on Him and that you would know God is Real, Jesus is Real, and Heaven is Real and that you may choose LIFE!

Thank you for letting me share my heart with you today! I would love to talk to anyone more if interested.

Check out this Give AWAY!

Ruby Jean’s and A Sort of Fairy Tale’s

House Warming Party!!!

You have got to check it out! WOW! So generous! 

Annoyed with Blogger!

Have any of you had this annoying issue about blogger saying you have reached your upload quota?!
The thing that is so frustrating to me is that all these sites, blogger, hulu, you tube, all start out being free and now want to charge anyone and everyone for anything. Sorry. Just a little frustrating! I have no idea how to work wordpress or if they charge after a certain number of uploads but this is annoying!

Any thoughts? This is the message I keep getting. First it was in my sidebar only and now it's in my posting too. Huh!


There were errors during upload.

The following images were not uploaded.
heaven-is-for-real-for-kids.jpg : You have exceeded your total photo upload quota.
How can I get more storage for my images?
Images and photos that are uploaded through Blogger get stored in your Picasa Web Albums, which are part of your Google Account. The number of images you can upload is therefore dependent on the amount of space you are using on Picasa Web Albums. To find out how much space you have available, please see these instructions.
Note: If you have recently upgraded your quota limit, you may have to login to your PWA account, in order for the new storage quota to be reflected on Blogger.
Heaven-is-for-real.jpg : This image was skipped because of other upload errors.
We're sorry, but you have exceeded your photo upload quota. For more information, check out this Blogger help page.

Healthy Lunch

Happy New Year all! This is a great meal to kick of a healthy start to the new year! Come check it out!

~And now for Make it Monday!~

HEALTHY Tuna Lettuce wraps. They are quick, delicious, and easy! Hope you enjoy!

~First I used the Roman Lettuce leafs and layered them with Swiss Cheese. ~

~ Then scoop Tuna on for the next layer~

For our Tuna: I mixed a little Mayo, Relish, and Tuna together

~Sprinkle with Salt and Pepper~ 

Quick, Simple, Delicious, and Healthy! Even my kids gobbled them! Hope you enjoy!

Linking to:
Tuesday at the Table

Our GREAT Loss Heaven's Gain

For those of you who know me personally or follow my blog regularly you know the fight our dear Nanny Sue has had with cancer. Well last night, January 2nd, she went home to be with Jesus. We will miss her more then words can explain! She was truly one of a kind! A wonderful woman, wife, mother, sister, grandmother, great-grandmother, friend, and angel! The words on this canvas are a few adjectives that describe this amazing woman! She truly left a Legacy of Love that boldly proclaimed Jesus! She will forever hold a special place in all our hearts! I am so thankful that she new Jesus personally, had Him in her heart, and we will see her again, forever, in Heaven! If you have not seen the video of her you can click ...

Nanny Sue Video 

We love you Nanny Sue! You were a inspiration to us all! Please pray for Peace for all the family!

2012 Goals

Hey there! I am sorry for the delay on this, but I wanted to share how we are recording our 2012 goals! There is something so refreshing about the new year and goal setting. You know what I mean? I love fresh starts and the feeling of accomplishment too! After viewing sweet Randi's goal sheet I created this Yearly Goals printable 

for our family. You can type it on or print it out and write it on. I am a fan of handwriting so I decided to print it out and write it on. You can do whatever you would like! The goals we set were for...

Home: any home improvement; i.e. plant a garden 

Spiritual: any goals for spiritual growth; i.e. Start a Marriage Bible Study

Health and Fitness: typical goals about exercise and eating better; i.e. workout 3x's a week

Financial: any goals related to our finances; i.e. save for a new car

Family: any Family goals; i.e. family walks

Children: anything for the children; i.e. potty train baby J

Personal: We set individual goals for us; i.e. jewels: scrap 100 layouts 

Thank you for coming by and I hope your New year is blessed with lots of refreshing and inspiring blessings!


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