my beautiful babes!!

i have the absolutely, most awesome posse of kids ever!!! see...

isn't he incredibly cute!!! just wanna squeeze him!!

and she is beautiful not just on the outside but her heart and spirit are even more so!!

and i don't know if i've ever seen a guy as handsome as this (except for his daddy whom he looks remarkably similar too!!)

i just wanted to spend a moment bragging on my babes!! i love 'um!! their verse from church this last week was from Psalm 139.14 : I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. and i loved practicing that with them and simply reminding them that God had a plan for creating each one of them; awesome huh?!!!!

on a side note, many have asked "your families pics are awesome, what wonderful photographer took them?!!" (ok i added the wonderful but she is, promise!!) and the answer is Abbey Laine Photography. if you leave me a sweet comment, i can email you back the number to get in touch with her!!!

just say "NO"!!

i enjoy painting and decorating, but it gets me in trouble. well, not 'bad' trouble, i simply have a difficult time just saying "NO" when asked to make stuff for school. so i've been painting and creating book fair decorations for Lou-hoo's school book fair, and i love the theme: "lights...camera...book fair! Reading makes you a star!", so it was fun, but it's not like I really have the time. however i'll be crafting more creations for Master P's school luau event coming this friday, so there is no rest for the weary, sigh.

i will say that i love the peace that comes with sitting down and painting & drawing, i usually get around to it late at night after the posse of kiddos are sleeping and my Man is consumed in a book or asleep in his 'man' chair (giggle). no one is bothering me, and my mind is allowed to fully relax and i get to pray aloud and sing and quiet my spirit enough to savor some special time in worship; maybe i should paint more?!! so last night was not an exception, as i sat at the dining room table drawing i was considering the book of Judges from the Old Testament. i just got finished with it on saturday, and i was struggling with this one: there was udder chaos for the Israelites after Joshua died, there wasn't a king (judges 21.25: at that time there was no king in Israel. people did whatever they felt like doing. The Message) and they really had a hard time just saying "NO" (did i mention that i can relate). they turned away from God over and over (seven times), worshipping false gods and not driving out the nations that God had commanded as they entered the Promise Land. my heart aches when i read this: how could God's chosen people let so much sin come in and take over their lives, they became slaves to immoral nations, sacrificed to Baal gods!! how could they forget the God of their fathers that saved their people from the Eygptians?!! He parted the Red Sea for them, for goodness sake!!



but i do know how: Romans 3.23: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. i am God's chosen, as well, and i fall short of His glory daily. so after spending some serious time praying and studying over Judges, i'll say this, while not everything throughout the book makes sense to me, i am no better than the Israelites in their disobedience; i have caused Jesus pain with my attitude, my words, i've allowed worry to take over my life at times, isolated myself to ensure i don't get hurt again, i could go on. sin. BUT, and i love this...all seven times the Israelites sinned against God, were punished/enslaved by their enemies, they were redeemed and saved by our most merciful Lord and Savior (judges 2.18b:God was moved to compassion when he heard their groaning because of those who afflicted and beat them. The Message). so, as i sat and painted the Lord left that upon my heart: that regardless of the times i've put other worldly and selfish things in front of trusting & following Him, followed my feelings and left my faith at the door, He never left me and when i came back, crying for Jesus to save me, He was moved to compassion...for me. MIGHTY, AWESOME, WONDERFUL GOD OF THE UNIVERSE is moved by my prayers, my cries and saves me over and over and over...



i'm definitely going to paint more....and just say "NO" to junk that wants to draw my mind away from the things that the Lord has for me. i've done this more and more over the last year of sickness and pain, turning away from what the world says 'there is no God and He isn't going to save you from whatever disease you have.' and i have to say that it has been an uncomfortable growing experience for the last 15 months, but the more i said "NO" to the lies of this world and turned my eyes upward and said "I TRUST THE PLANS YOU HAVE FOR ME GOD, NO MATTER WHAT COMES", an amazing thing began to happen, worry & fear weren't taking God's place any longer. when i felt sick, instead of turning to the worse case scenerio, i would pray and sing louder to drown out my worldly, human thoughts, and God gave me a Word. here's some of them:

Psalm 73.25-28 : Whom have I in heaven? and there is nothing on earth that i desire besides you. my flesh and my heart may fail me, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. for behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. but for me it is good to be near God: i have made the Lord God my refuge, that i may tell of all your works. (esv)

Psalm 34 : yes the entire chapter, please read it for yourself, i guess i love verses 17-19 the most

Phillipians 4.8 : finally, brothers, whatever is TRUE, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, THINK ABOUT THESE THINGS.

i will get into my journey of faith with God over the last year and a half in more journal entries to come, but for today I know that no strings attached I will serve the Lord with all I have, thankful for His unending grace that has saved me, and I will continue to say "NO" boldly to that which trys to distract me from the truths of the Lord...the best is yet to come!!!

i do...forever and ever!!

i love anniversaries!! i especially love this one: today i celebrate my life and marriage to my Amazing Man!! he is absolutely my best friend, my soul mate, it was totally meant to be.... i am gushing, i know, but how many people in this world are completely in love with their spouse? from the looks of it, not many. the Lord created him for me, to be the daddy to the kiddos, to be my leader and head of the house, my secret keeper, he's the one who knows what i'm thinking many times before i say anything.

all this wonderful-ness isn't easy, some days it is down right un-fun. but the Lord is the center of our marriage and you know what, if we turn our eyes to Him, give our troubles to Him, live out our marriage according to the Word then God is going to bless our lives together!! when we said 'i do' it was forever, not when it gets hard we go our separate ways!! it breaks my heart to see other couples in our lives divorce or separate; God is sooooo much bigger than the marital issues we see in front of us. trials can strengthen the bond of marriage if we focus on the Lord and take our eyes off ourselves and lift up our spouse. now some may laugh, but i want to be the submissive wife that is in 1Peter 3:

1Likewise, wives,be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, 2when they see your respectful and pure conduct.

i know this is such a foreign concept in this day and age ( i realize that makes me sound old!! ), but i have really prayed for the Lord to give me a heart of submission, to allow my husband to lead me. but it doesn't mean my mouth stays closed all the time and i only speak when spoken to (hee hee), it means say my piece without cutting my Man down or being ugly (which it still comes out that way sometimes, sorry my love) and then trusting him to make the right, Godly decision. it means praying for my husband, that his heart will be softened to the Lord, his ears will be sensitive to the Lord's leading & calling. and you know what, we both win: my Man gets to be the Head of the House and the Lord's will is impressed upon his heart and (hopefully) we turn and follow the will of God, and our family is blessed, our marriage is stronger, our love for each other grows deeper, as well as our faith and trust and love of Jesus is deeper!! i love watching the Lord work in our marriage and our family.

so... my Amazing Man.... i love you more today than i ever knew was possible. i love how in love with God you are, and i pray that you are always seeking Him and drawing nearer to Him each day. thank you for loving me unconditionally, even when i am completely unlovable. for guiding me to become a better wife and friend, thank you for the gift of motherhood, that when we first started dating 13 years ago, i didn't even know i wanted to be given the gift of kiddos!! i love that you are not perfect: you have never stayed prisoner to your imperfections & mistakes, rather they have motivated you to be an overcomer and grow and learn so to be an example to others of the grace of God and how He molds His children little by little.

i look forward to the many years we have ahead of us (at least 60, right?!!), you make me want to be a better wife and mother and Christian everyday... i love you more!!!

the best is yet to come...

I've been waiting for something truly profound to come to mind to kick of the first blog entry, but I should ( and do ) savor the "ordinary" days and weeks: work, Posse of Kiddos, kiss my one true love :), church, clean, so on and so forth. But as I kept telling myself to at least write something, it is meant to be that the first journal entry for this Blessed Mama would be during the week of Master P's birthday, his 11th to be exact ( and being exact is important at this age, I'm now learning hee hee). This exact week 11 years ago is by far one the most monumental times in my life, I became a Mama!! I look back and I feel like this is when life began! I had unfortantely lived for myself and whatever Amazing Man wanted to do; sure we went to church each Sunday, but only going through the motions, sorry for the sins in the moment but heading right back to a life of selfishness the next. Lord, thank you for never giving up on me, but using my beautiful son to lead me back to a life devoted solely to You!! 'P' gave me purpose and I couldn't believe the overwhelming love and desire to be all I could for him. Isn't it amazing what kids will do to your heart and soul?!!

Even as I type this, it's a little after midnight, Saturday morning the 12th of April. I brought my first baby home this exact day 11 years ago!! I think that is totally cool, I've been recounting stories to 'P' this week about what Dad & I were doing this week, how I was feeling, I do this every year but somehow it was different this year. My baby isn't such a baby anymore; he's in middle school for goodness sake!! He had his very first communition at the Good Friday service at church, he thought this was very sweet ( see I can talk like the "in" kids )!

I love being 'P's' mama, I love being a mama to my whole posse of kids, I love being the wife to my Amazing Man, I can't imagine life without him and I'm am sooooo thankful that he has made me a mama to the three most incredible children. I'm thankful and indebted to my Lord and Savior for the priviledge to mother these babies that He has placed in my care.

So this is it... the first of many journal entries... very cool... and as in all things in my walk with Christ, the best is yet to come!!!