A new Home!

Many of you have been praying that our house in Anniston would sell and so have we. God has provided us with a family to rent that house and we are so thankful. With that house being rented we prayed and asked God what we should do here. Should we continue to rent the house we are in or buy a home. Through a lot of prayer and with God's leadership He has allowed us to purchase a home. We have been looking at and going through the paper work on a house for about a month. Yesterday we signed the final paper work and received the key today! We are so excited!! Bryan and I know that God has provided this home for us and we are thankful! We have continued to pray that if this was the home God had for us then all the right doors would open and if this was not the home then the doors would slam shut. God has faithfully opened each door and has carried us through. We are doing a few small things before we move in but hoping that we will begin moving in this weekend and be completely moved in by the end of the month. The kids are excited also. It will be some change for us and a few things to prepare for the new baby's arrival. We are so blessed and are humbled that God would be so good to us. I will try and post some pictures along the way. If it is a while before my next post, you will know why. Please pray that we can get everything moved and that with every step we will praise and glorify Him who has been soooooo good to us!

Until next time.....

Water and Jesus

When Bryan and I first got married we decided to drink less sodas and tea and to drink more water. We did this for several reasons, 1) being newly married we wanted to know how to pinch our pennies and once we figured up the cost we realized just how much we would save. Especially drinking water when we went out to eat. 2) Water is much healthier for you. WOW of all the health benefits of drinking water! I admit this was a huge change for us both. I hardly remember drinking water growing up, it was mostly tea and sodas. Over the years (14) it has gotten much easier to not have a soda or tea. When we go out to eat we have no problem ordering water, it just is the natural thing for us to do. We have gotten to where when we do drink tea or soda it is a special thing. We make tea or have sodas when we have company or sometimes when we go somewhere to eat. Now it is more of a treat than a necessity.

While we were on vacation I realized something, I feel that God showed me something to relate this to. I did have a soda or two on our vacation, but as soon as I was done drinking that drink I was still thirsty. Almost as if I could not get enough. Finally I would fix myself a glass of ice water and I was satisfied. That was it, just what I needed to cure that thirst I had. God showed me that life with Him is like that. See it is not that tea or sodas are sinful for me to drink, but they don't satisfy me like water does. There are things in my life that are not sinful but they don't satisfy me like Jesus does. Jesus is the water and these other things that I think will satisfy me just don't. Think about it a little further....with Jesus it is the healthiest and wisest choice for us. I know that these other things cost me valuable time, money, energy and are not as satisfying. When I put Jesus first and go to Him to satisfy me I will not be wasting anything and I will be greatly satisfied. Although these other things in my life are not sinful why waste one moment on them when I can go to the One thing that is the GREATEST!!

My prayer is that God will NEVER let me forget this lesson He has taught me and every time I drink a glass of water I will be reminded that Jesus is my water and every time I drink a glass of tea or a soda I will be reminded that those other things in my life are NOT going to satisfy me!

Some verses that come to my mind...

"...but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” John 4:14

And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst." John 6:35

Never again will they hunger;
never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat upon them,
nor any scorching heat. Revelation 7:16

My challenge to you is for you to look up those verses and read them in context. Meditate on these verses and get to KNOW Him who satisfies!

Is Jesus your water?

Tending to a nation

Today was beautiful and we got to go outside and enjoy some of it. I let Isaac and Sarah do some school outside while the little boys played. They had so much fun and enjoyed every minute of it!

I receive this magazine called Above Rubies and inserted in the issue was a letter that I actually just found yesterday. As I read it I felt God encourage me and challenge me. I wanted to share with you what it said...

"May God's love fill your home. Don't forget who you are--an Arrow Polisher

( Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one’s youth.

Psalm 127:4),

a Nation Builder

(But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 1 Peter 2:9) ,

a Director of Home Affairs, and of coarse you proudly bear the name of Mother. As a home-loving, home-keeping, home-nursing, home-cooking, home-working, home-training and home advocating mother, you are the most important asset in this nation! Your life may often seem overwhelmingly busy, but what else can you expect when you have the most important job in the nation?" (Mrs. Nancy Campbell)

Thank you Lord for reminding me that every day I am taking care of the nation. She was right, I think every day I feel overwhelmingly busy, but now I know why. God reminded me that my children are the future of this nation. If Jesus tarries and my children live a long life then how I train them now will matter in the future. God has entrusted me with these arrows and it is my job to teach them the ways of the Lord (Deuteronomy 6:5-9

You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. ⁶ “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. ⁷ You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. ⁸ You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. ⁹ You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.).

My prayer is that God would not let me forget "who I am". I must go now, I need to tend to the nation.

A life with boys!

Two peas in a pod!

Watching a movie and sharing popcorn!

These pictures I took of Elijah and Timothy are too cute. This is exactly what you see if they both are awake...they are always together. When I was pregnant with Timothy, Bryan and I use to comment to each other that we were worried that Elijah would not have anything to do with a new baby. We just knew that Elijah would think he was too big to play with a smaller brother or sister. Boy were we wrong! These two love each other and it is the sweetest thing to watch. Timothy can hold his own and gets right in there with Elijah to play chase, cars, blocks, you name it and those two can play! It has been very heart warming to see Elijah give and do for Timothy. The other day Elijah wanted to read to Timothy but Timothy did not quite understand. They are so precious! When I go to put Elijah down for bed or nap Timothy will go as fast as he can to get in Elijah's bed and Elijah would love for Timothy to be able to sleep with him. My heart melts just talking about it. My prayer is that these two and the other children would always share a close bond. That is something I hope and pray to foster and encourage in them.

I have to tell you what Elijah told me the other day....We had pulled up into Lowe's parking lot and Bryan said "Do you want me to run in or are we all going to go in?" I responded with "I would like to go in and just look." Elijah quickly said "They don't have girl stuff in there." Yes, he is 3 and I never know what he is thinking or going to say. There is never a dull moment around this house...Praise the Lord!!! I love my boys and girl (and whatever the new baby is, just add her or him to that)! :)

Praying you all have a great Saturday and a awesome worship full Sunday!!

Fall is here!

OK, so it doesn't feel like fall, but Wednesday was the official first day of Autumn! I just love this time of the year, when the weather begins to cool down...not too much. How can we see the wonderful works in the changing of seasons and NOT KNOW that there is a God? God is the one who changes the seasons but even more so He is in the heart changing business. Just as He changes the seasons He so wants to change our hearts from a heart of stone to a heart of flesh (soft heart).

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

Ezekiel 36:26-27

I am reminded of when the Lord changed my heart! I was 19 when God revealed my sin and my need for Him. It was then that He removed my heart of stone and put within me a heart of flesh. God began forming me into what He ultimately wants me to be. I turned from my sin and began to follow Him. No, I am not perfect but everyday I have to die to myself and allow God to be Lord of my life, allow Him to be in complete control. I want Him to be in charge because I know that I will mess things up. Now that God has changed my heart I want everyone to hear His message through what He has done in my life. The message, that I was DEAD in my sin and without hope until He brought life to me through the death of Jesus who paid for my sin when He died on the cross. That is right, there was nothing I could do to save myself it was only because of GOD that I am alive today. No, I wasn't a "bad" girl but even good people spend eternity separated from God in hell, and that is exactly where I was headed. I am being sanctified every day and pray that my life would be one that pleases the Lord and brings Him glory!

Pregnancy update....

I am 5 months (which is 23 weeks) pregnant today! I had my check up this morning and all is well! We heard the baby's heart beat and it was in the 150's. I love to hear that sound...you know that sound if you have children. Isn't it amazing? The Dr. I am seeing is precious and she is leaving to go into practice in another city. The great thing is is that I can follow her!! Yea! We have prayed about this and we feel that God has opened up this door for us. I had to make the decision to either follow her or choose another Dr. within this group she is with now. So beginning next month I will be driving a little further but I will still be able to use the same Dr.! Things are great here. The pregnancy is going very well. Believe it or not the more children you have the different things you experience. Because this is my 5th baby, the Braxton Hix contractions are a little more noticable and other things like that. We are praying about names for the baby and know that God will give us the right one. Sarah said the other night that she is OK if the baby is a boy. I just know that what ever God gives us will be exactly what we need! As you can see from the picture I do have a baby "bump". The kids are getting excited! Isaac, Sarah and Elijah have felt the baby move and they love it when they can feel that. Of coarse by belly button is sticking out by now. It is wild that my kids think that is one of the neatest things.

One last thing...to all my blogging buddies. How do you increase the font size of your headings on the side bar. Help!! I like to blog but don't know all the secrets! My headings on all my things even the date on my post seem sooooo much smaller than everyone else's.

Recipe

Touchdown Taco Dip

1 can 18 oz refried beans (I actually used a larger can)

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1 C sour cream

2 Tbsp taco seasoning mix

2 garlic cloves, pressed (I actually used a dash of garlic powder)

1/2 C shredded cheddar cheese

1 medium tomato, diced

4 green onions with tops, chopped

1/2 C pitted ripe olives, sliced

Tortilla chips

Preheat oven to 350. Spread refried beans over bottom of greased casserole dish. Combine cream cheese, sour cream, and taco seasoning mix. Add garlic and mix well. Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over bean dip. Spread cheese over top. Bake 15-20 minutes or until cheese is melted. Sprinkle tomato, onions and olives over dip. Serve with tortilla chips.

This is so good!! A sweet lady at church gave this recipe to us and I made it and we loved it!! (Sorry I don't have a picture to go with the recipe.) I wanted to share it with my blogging family so that you too can enjoy it and pass it on. Since football season is here maybe this would be a great game day snack! Hope you all enjoy!! Thank you Meridee for sharing this recipe with me, it is delicious!!