It's Here!!

Lord willing, we close on our house tomorrow! What a process this has been! Heather Larson has been amazing through this whole process. So much was out of her control but she fought for us, she was our advocate, thank-you Heather.

We won our contract on Feb 25th (I think). Let me tell you what, the government may say they want you to buy HUD homes, but every single action of theirs says the opposite. The things they pulled would NEVER fly with a non-government group. It is frustrating, sad, and just ridiculous. They were bullies and basically forced us into using their title company, which in itself is illegal. Unfortunately, about the only way to go up against them is getting a congressman and news station on your side and we just didn't have time or energy for that after being dragged through this.

So, all that said, we are blessed. We had a great person to lead us though all of this. We will have our home tomorrow. I am thankful. I am also sad, to be leaving great friends at 905 E Pembroke. Not leaving, they will still be amazing friends and people, but to not be in the same house will be lonely and different, I know. But the Lord is good and I believe He has some great plans for us.

Now, about the house...

It is a house built on the original Yoder Mennonite property in 1936. It has a basement (not common in our area), a garage, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths.

We have the quietest neighbors ever! (Yes, that is a cemetery).

I am just so excited. We are also getting a dog to join us in this lovely home. His name is Remy :)

Stay tuned for info on a house warming party! 

Loving this pic...

I LOVE this picture. It is one of my all time favorites.

Waiting...

I went to a women's conference a few weeks back and Priscilla Shirer taught a message on living in the now, finding what God has for you NOW. Stepping out of the "If I can just get to ______ next step" mentality. What a great message!!! It is SO hard to do!

I was talking to Adam the other day telling him that I have been having a bit of a hard time. I feel right now, like my life is a waiting game. Waiting for news on our house, waiting to have another kid, waiting for Silas to get better, waiting to get a dog. Waiting on some miracles and waiting on some little things. Waiting is HARD. I don't like waiting, never have. I will drive out of my way to just keep going vs. sit in traffic. I will hold it for an hour to avoid waiting in line to pee. I don't like to wait. God, what are you doing here? Why am I stuck in the middle of this lesson?

Sitting in the waiting room the other day while my mom was in surgery, I had an ample amount of time to think and to really dwell a bit on the lesson I learned a few weeks back. What have I learned from all of this waiting?

1. God is faithful and good, no matter what. Whether something happens or doesn't, it DOES NOT change the goodness of God.

2. God's timing is more important than my own. He knows. He sees far beyond what I ever could or ever will. His timing makes perfect sense.

3. If I keep sitting on the sidelines "waiting" for the perfect play or move, I'm going to miss the game. God has something for me to do and to learn right now. If He didn't, I would not have woken up this morning. I need to seek out God's purpose for THIS moment.

4. Eyes are watching me. My little people look to me to see how to act or react. I want to teach them contentment and JOY. Even when it is hard, I have to step back and see ALL God has given me and done for me. He DIED for me. If I was sitting alone on the side of a road somewhere, that would be enough. I want to teach that lesson to my kids.

So, I will continue to wait and pray. God is faithful, He hears me, my prayers are not ignored. That is enough. I will CHOOSE joy and contentment right now. I know, in the midst of waiting, God has some things for me to be doing.

Raising Money for Babies...

Will you help?

"Girl" Friends

Friends are an area in my life I have always struggled with. I had 3 brothers, so I never really fit in with the girls and really didn't care to for a long time. Once I did start desiring other girl's friendship I quickly realized, girls are mean. We weren't rich, I wore a lot of boy's uniform clothes because that is what thrift stores had. I had terrible hair and more than once over-heard so called"friends" making fun of me behind my back. I hated middle school.

High school was 4 years of me trying to do whatever I could for girl's to want to be my friend, sometimes at the cost of ignoring who Christ had made me to be.

Tonight, I had a phone "date" with one of my closest friends (whom I have known since middle school but lives 8 hours away) and I realized how truly blessed I am. God has blessed me with not one or two, but a group of ladies who I know I really can call "friend". Some of them I get together with during the week for kids playdates. Some I only see at church on Sunday yet they intentionally seek out time to talk. Two live in my house and call me to be a better wife, mother and friend in encouraging ways.

It is funny. Of 2 of my best friends, one lives 8 hours away and one lives downstairs and God uses them both equally in my life. Carey calls at just the right time, prays for me without even knowing it, makes me laugh harder than anyone I know. Elizabeth is a blessing to my life I would have never imagined. She is there when I need to vent, is completely honest with me and willing to share her heart, can also make me laugh even when I am pissed off at the world and is always there. These ladies get me. I don't ever have to pretend I am someone I am not and I have never felt the temptation to compromise who God has called me to be.

I only hope I can be just as good of a friend back to them and all the wonderful women God has blessed me with in my life. Thank-you ladies for including me, loving me, and being great friends.

Do Not Quit!

Watch this sermon. Seriously. Clear out 40 minutes of your day and watch it. So worth it!

A Conversation About Jesus

Aidyn and I had a conversation about Jesus tonight on the way home from church. We named all of the people Jesus loves (as many as we could, including a few stuffed animals).

"Jesus loves Aidyn, Jesus loves Archer, Mommy, Daddy, Gigi, Poppi, Tiny, Bunny, Elmo, etc" Archer also chimed in with a "Jesus wuvs us" in an Archer speak that melted my heart.

Talked about how he made everything and named as much as we could...

"Jesus made the tress, grass, mommies, daddies, puppies. At puppies she exclaimed "He did!? Oh! Thank-you Jesus! That's good! That's so nice!"

As we were pulling onto our street from the back seat she said "Uh-Oh, Jesus, are you okay?" (She asks this of people often, but not sure what prompted it tonight) She said "Jesus, do you have a boo-boo?" I took the opportunity and told her Jesus did get a boo-boo for us, at which she exclaimed very distraught "OH-NO!" I told her he got a boo-boo so we could go live in Heaven with him but that God made His boo-boo all better.

It was a sweet moment that just kind of presented itself. I am not sure how much she took from it, but I figure it planted a seed. She is so sweet and caring, she was genuinely concerned for Jesus' boo-boo. I will keep planting these seeds.

We also blessed the kids in our church tonight and it really made me think about how much I really don't go beyond "Jesus loves you" with Aidyn. So I said this blessing over her tonight (out of Numbers) and plan to say it out loud to her often.

"May the LORD bless you, and keep you; The LORD make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; The LORD lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace."

Sweet moments with my little girl who is growing up SO fast. I want her to KNOW she is the daughter of the King and that His love for her is beyond anything she could ever imagine. That she has an inheritance far beyond earthly silver and gold waiting for her. I was blessing the middle school girls with these words tonight thinking about my own girl who will be facing all the things these girls deal with before we know it. Lord, give me strength, cause that scares the crap out of me.