Tree...meet our house.

Have you ever had a tree fall in or on your house? It is not something that you typically see when you drive up your street. Yet, when we came home from church yesterday that is what we saw in our front yard. In a two hour span of time the wind had knocked over a tree and it fell on our house. We are very lucky and thankful though, because it could have been worse than it is. We are still able to stay in our home, no one was home when it happened and everything is covered under our insurance (so we were told). I will keep you posted throughout the week with the progress of the work. I will let the pictures tell the rest of the story...
Have a wonderful and blessed week and New Year!!!!

My News...

My exciting news....I put in my notice at work!!!! This is something that Rock and I (and our small group) have been praying about for months. I have been struggling with working full time. I haven't felt like I have been a Christ-pleasing wife or mother since I have started working full time. God is so faithful and his yes means yes and his no means no. With praying, I felt as though God had been telling me to be still - that he has something greater in store for me. He did. I wasn't even looking for a new job and he provided me with a part time job working closer to home only a couple of days a week! Praise God!!!! I am so excited to start this new chapter in my life. My prayer is that I can fully lead life how God desires me to. I truly want to become the Proverbs 31 woman.
Please pray for me as I begin this new chapter!!! Thank you!

God IS Faithful

What a wonderful God we have! He sees our hearts and hears our cries. I have exciting news to come this week. I am so excited to share. Look forward in the next couple of days for the details!!!
"1 O LORD, you have searched me and you know me 2You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar." Psalm 139

Who Knew Corn Could Be Scary?

So, last night I gave Bean some peas and corn to eat for part of his dinner. As he was eating I was doing the dishes. He loves to eat peas and corn frozen! Kind of weird, I know. But, nonetheless, he eats his vegetables pretty well. Well, last night he wasn’t very hungry and he was just playing with his food. I looked over at him and he was rubbing his nose and was fussing over it. I walked over to him and noticed that he had a huge booger coming out of his nose. I grabbed a Kleenex and went to wipe his nose only to realize that it was corn! I grabbed it and pulled it out. He was breathing normal, so I thought he was fine. A couple minutes later, Rock was holding him and Bean says, “here mommy” and he hands me a piece of corn. That is now two pieces of corn that was in his nose. So, I lied him down on the couch and sure enough he had a third piece stuck up there! It was really lodged up there and I could not get it out. Fortunately we have great doctors and they took me first thing this morning – the Dr. even came in early for me. They got the corn out quickly with no problem. Bean was so scared. But, at least he is safe! Oh, Bean is so joyful! I do love him!

It's Christmas Time...

I love this time of year. Growing up Christmas was always about being with family and traditions. Every year my dad would put up a huge train display that would take up the half of our living room. This is where our Christmas tree would be. My mom would decorate this tree with her nice ornaments and really spend a nice amount of time making it look perfect. We would also put up a smaller Christmas tree in the other living room. Some of you would call them a living room and a family room, but in our home we called them the front room and the back room because they both served the exact same purpose. Anyhow, this smaller tree would hold all of the kid’s homemade ornaments and we would put our gifts for one another under this tree. The other tree is where Santa would leave his gifts. My mom has a really authentic looking manger scene that she puts up yearly. My mom would take time to bake cookies throughout the month and she always made different types of breads, jelly’s or ornaments to give to others as gifts.

Another area about this time of year that I really get excited about is shopping. Those of you who know me know that I am not big into shopping just to shop and when I say that I love to go shopping this time of year, I mean that I really enjoy shopping for other people. I love to give gifts away. Each year we set a budget for who we are going to buy for and for how much. Months ahead of Christmas I am already thinking about what that person might need or want. So, when I find the perfect gift for them I am just thrilled. Now, we set a budget, but I almost always go over – if I find the perfect gift and it is only a couple of dollars more…than oh well…it is the perfect gift for that person! I love to give to people…if I could I would give our entire savings away. Now, yes, that can be foolish and that is why God gave me Rock - to remind me that if we give away all of our money than it will be a lot longer for me to be home with Bean.

It wasn’t until last year when I became a Christian that I really began to see the true meaning of the holiday. I have always had loving intentions and selfless acts during this holiday (not 100%), but rarely saw it as Jesus’ birthday. I knew that this was the reason we celebrated, but I focused more on Santa and giving the gifts away and not really taking the time to think why I wanted to give people gifts. Yes, I had very good intentions, but it has always been missing something. So, this year, before I went shopping on one of the craziest shopping days (yes – I enjoy this day) I prayed on my drive to the store that I would buy gifts that people needed or gifts that were Christ pleasing and that I wouldn’t spend our hard earned money on foolish items. Well, prayer is powerful because I don’t think I bought one thing that I regret. I put a lot of time and thought into what I was buying and I really hope that the receivers truly appreciate their gifts. I have vowed to make this holiday solely about my Savior and less about the secular needs and wants of the holiday. Won’t you join me?
Merry CHRISTmas!!!!