Updates!

Well, boo......I just don't have any time at all to open my laptop these days.  I really want to try and keep up with at least the really important stuff here on my blog though, because I absolutely love to look back on it and remember those kinds of things!

Let's see.......well, Madison finally got to audition for the talent show yesterday.  She tried out with a dance and with singing and her singing one made it.  I'm so excited!  And so proud of her, because I really have never heard her sing a solo before and she played herself the other day for me that she recorded on her phone and it sounded amazing!  She's going to sing Francesca Battistelli's "This is the Stuff".  She picked that song all on her own and I just think it's going to be so fun and cute.  Her choir teacher asked if she would mind if some other kids kind of acted out what the lyrics say while she's singing for the show and she said that was fine with her.  How fun!!

Kaylee was chosen to be an ambassador for her class this six weeks, so in the morning they're having a special breakfast for all the kids.  Ambassador is chosen by the teacher for being super helpful, having good citizenship, and just being kind to others and that sort of thing.  That totally sounds like my Kaylee and I'm so proud of her too!!

We had a fantastic Easter and maybe one day if I ever put all my pics on my laptop, I can do a post about that.  Ha!  The church service was great and always such a special time for me because it was 3 years ago on Easter Sunday that my family all went to church together for the first time!  Easter is also very special to me because my adoption was finalized on Good Friday.  God is so amazing that I can hardly think about it without getting emotional!

Matthew is growing so fast.  He turned 5 months old on the 4th!  He's pulling and rolling and scooting himself all around.  He laughs like crazy and smiles all the time!  He loves to eat his "num-nummies" and can almost sit up......he just hasn't realized he can yet! 

Lily is doing great and reading so well and finally starting to talk at school.  She was recognized at their morning assembly the other day for the Sunshine Award and her principal said that they had great things to say about her.  If only they could all see how loud she is and how much she talks nonstop at home.  LOL!

One more thing I wanted to document......the other night I was at Starbucks and sitting in the drive-thru.  Something was really bothering me and I just couldn't quit thinking about it.  A couple of my friends on facebook had inadvertently gotten into a discussion about God and basically decided that who knows if He's real or not and everyone thinks their religion is right and who knows which one really is.  Well, it really bugged me and I was thinking, why does this bug me so much?  Why can't I stop thinking about that?  Well, one reason is because I've been praying for these friends for 3 years now.  But, as I was thinking about why I cared so much, God just said to me, "It's because that's your divine burden!"  And I got really excited because I have been thinking about divine burdens for a long time now ever since we talked about that at church.  So, I pulled away from Starbucks and was thinking about this and what it might mean and the funniest thing happened.  I pulled out onto the main road and stop at the light and I look up at the car in front of me and they had a bumper sticker that said, "Are you saved?"  LOL!!  I just started laughing right then and I was thinking, oh that's funny God!  I just think He was trying to tell me that yes, I heard him right and that this is my divine burden because it's something I feel passionately about........I want so badly for those who think they don't need God and that it doesn't matter if they know Him or not, to know that it does matter and they do need Him, and that He can and will change their lives if they'll just get to know Him!  So, I just told God that I'm not sure what this means or what He wants me to do, and of course I am probably the least equipped person in the world to minister to others as I hardly know anything myself, but I do have my own testimony and I know that God will equip me in whatever way He needs to when the time comes!

Well, that's enough rambling from me!  I love keeping up with everyone on facebook.  That's where most of my pics end up cause I post them straight from my phone and rarely put pics on my laptop anymore.  I still try to read everyone's blogs.......I just don't comment much cause it's hard to from my phone.  I love y'all!!

Three Year Blogiversary!!

Lots sure has changed since I wrote my first post, 3 years ago!!  The Lord took my story and wrote some amazing chapters filled with blessings, beautiful people, love, and most of all.......HOPE!!

We've all changed and grown up a little!  :)



Never in a million years would I have thought we'd have this sweet little boy in our family now!



If there is one thing I could say about this blog, it's that it has blessed my life in more ways than I could have ever imagined!  When I started it, I just thought I'd document some things for family that lived far away and just for fun and memories sake.  I never realized that it would lead to me having a deep and personal relationship with the Lord again.  I never knew that through Him, I would meet the most beautiful and amazing friends of my lifetime.  I never knew that I would get to meet my very best friend in person one day, Veronica.  Each and every one of you blesses my life in ways that words truly could never express!  Sharing this life and my journey with you is so much fun!  When I think of all the ways you've each touched my life, it makes me want to just praise God for sending you all my way!  Some people may find it silly to spend so much time blogging and reading blogs, but the relationships and friendships I have made through blogging are absolutely priceless!  I love each of you SO much!!

Matthew's Baby Shower!!

Matthew's baby shower was truly one of the sweetest and most special days of my life. Everything was so beautiful, from the decorations to the friends, family, and fellowship. If you've ever read my story that I wrote 3 years ago, it is amazing to see how everything in my life has come full circle. This baby shower weekend was the 7th anniversary of my Mom's death, and in that story I wrote about how no one else would ever love me again as much as she did. I know now that that was just not true. It's as if the Lord has been showing me ever since how much He loves me, and sending others into my life to do the same. It's just like Him to do that! My Mom would be so happy to know that everything has turned out so wonderfully.

That morning, the girls were so excited to go to the shower! They cannot wait for their baby brother to get here!

Veronica and I didn't take near enough pictures together, but we made great memories and I know that's really what it's all about!
I really loved this one of us!

And it was great to get a good one of me and my girls. I bet the next photo we get together will include our newest addition!

There is no way I could ever thank my friend Julie enough for giving me this baby shower. She did such a beautiful job on everything. All the details were so special and she is one of the sweetest friends a girl could ever have!

Can you tell we're related? This is my Grandmother, Dorothy, and my Aunt Barbara. They are my biological family. Dorothy is Aunt Barbara and Susan's (my birth mother) Mom. I love that we have such a close relationship with each other.

My Mother-in-Law (Grandma) and me.

Me and Veronica. It was just so special having her there! It was like she has always lived here and always been a part of my "real" life. She took alot of photos for me too, which I was so grateful for!

Julie made these chocolate candy bar wrappers. Aren't they adorable? And I was so surprised when I got there and Veronica told me that she had made the cupcake toppers to match. She had decided to make those and send them to Julie before she ever knew she would be coming. I was really overwhelmed by that.....I think it just really got to me because it was such a labor of love and just made it so special to know that she would do that for me. I'm not used to people doing things like that for me and it truly touched my heart so much, as did everything that Julie did to make the day so special!

There was all kinds of yummy food!

The colors of the baby shower were sage green and brown. I let Julie pick since Matthew doesn't really have a nursery/color scheme. I thought the colors were gorgeous! She had all of these pom poms hanging throughout the house and it just looked so pretty!

The cupcakes/toppers were perfect! Julie made the cupcakes and they were delicious!

The main table was beautiful.

It was a day filled with all of my favorite people!

This was so fun! We played the game where you have to guess how big around my belly is by cutting a ribbon the length of what you guess. Well, my Grandmother got hers exactly right....I mean it was absolutely the perfect length! Can you believe that? We all got a big kick out of that! You can't really see it, but I'm holding the ribbon. She won a pretty picture frame. We also played another game where you try to be the one who can write the most words using the letters from "Matthew". Morgan's Aunt Karen won that one and she won a pretty candle. :)

It was so fun opening all the presents and seeing all the cute little baby boy things! Like we said in our video, Veronica and I definitely aren't used to that! I had lots of little helpers too. The girls all helped bring me presents and throw the trash away. They were a big help!

Everyone I know has girls, it seems! So, Matthew will just have to learn to fit in, I guess! Ha! They all had so much fun playing together.

They even did a little fashion show for us!

Another really special gift that I got was this beautiful crocheted blanket from Veronica. In addition to her getting everything ready in CA for her to come here to visit me, she was hard at work making the cupcake toppers and finishing this beautiful blanket! Again, it just really touched me that she would do that for me and come half-way across the country to be there on my special day. It truly made it a day I will never forget!

Don't you just love the colors of this blanket? It matches my Gussy diaper bag that I bought awhile back! I think the girls and I have decided that when we do finally do a room for Matthew, we will use these colors too. I just love the orange and turquoise together!

So, that was my special day! You can head over to Veronica's blog and read about it too from her perspective! I was overwhelmed by all of the precious things that everyone brought for Matthew. He is already loved so much! I cannot wait until he gets here........only 31 more days!!!

Busiest Week Ever!

I think this past week has been the busiest one ever! I am so behind on blogging and reading everyone's blogs. I'll get caught up one of these days! :) So, what's been going on? Well, obviously I have lots of catching up to do.......I need to blog about my baby shower and Veronica's visit, but first I thought I'd just let you know why I'm so behind! Plus, this weekend was such a great one that it seems I'm finding that there are no words to really be able to describe it!

The Sunday morning before Veronica was set to come visit, Lily woke up throwing up everywhere. I didn't think much of it because Veronica wasn't set to come in until Thursday evening and I figured she'd be fine by then. But then, Tuesday morning, Kaylee and Morgan both woke up throwing up and they had flu-like symptoms and horrible fevers. I was really worried that Madison and I would get it and Veronica would have to cancel! :( And, by this time, Lily was having horrible diarrhea. Lily ended up staying home until Friday!

In the meantime, Tuesday night, Madison and I left all the sick peoples at home and went to her Open House at school. Here she is with the science class bunny. :) Her teacher asked if she wanted to hold it and she was like, no that's okay! She has 4 teachers this year and they all raved about how well she is doing and how quiet she is. Ha!
By Wednesday, Morgan was back at work/school and I kept Kaylee home that day just to be safe, but she went back to school on Thursday. Thursday morning, I texted Veronica at 1:45am (my time) and told her Lily had just woken up throwing up violently everywhere and I wasn't sure what was going on! That morning when I woke up, Lily had a fever too. I was like, what is going on here?!! I was so scared and worried about Veronica coming in. I still wasn't sure if we were contagious and if Madison and I would get it and I hated the thought of Veronica coming all this way and us all being sick and getting her sick for the ride home. I was really not handling it well at all. I just felt so defeated. Veronica had planned this trip and the enemy was hard at work trying to stop it. I was so afraid she would be so disappointed and feel she had wasted her time and money coming. It was down to the last few hours when she just decided to go ahead and come as planned. And luckily by then, Lily's fever had come down and she was beginning to feel better. I know everyone's prayers were working!

In the midst of all of that, Madison had picture day that day.
Lily was supposed to have her Open House that night too, but we didn't go since she didn't go to school that day. Madison also had dance, so I dropped her off and this freak rain/lightning storm blew through. It hadn't rained in 6 months here barely, and this was happening as I was scheduled to drive to the airport to pick up Veronica?! Seriously?!! Anyhow, I picked up some italian food, and got everyone back home safely and then it was time to head to the airport! Luckily, it only sprinkled on the way, but Veronica said she could see the lightning from the plane and it looked really neat! Another freak thing that happened that day was I backed out of the driveway and ran over a package the mailman had left. Why they insist on leaving packages right outside my garage, in the exact spot my tire will land, is beyond me! Luckily, it was nothing breakable. I keep meaning to leave a note for them.......this is not the first time that has happened!

I'll do a seperate post about Veronica's visit, but we took this picture on Friday. Since it was just me that picked her up, we didn't get a picture at the airport and then we were so busy talking that we forgot to ask Morgan to take one once we got home. Ha! I told her that we better go outside on the swing and take one of ourselves before we got in trouble. LOL! Luckily, everyone went back to school on Friday (even though Lily is just now getting over her diarrhea!). Everyone was saying how we could be sisters and we didn't even realize how much we looked alike until we looked at this picture. How neat, huh?! Soul sisters, for sure!! I just love her!

We had so much fun on Friday......we didn't really have time for any sight-seeing, but we went to lunch, shopped at Hobby Lobby, and then it was time to pick up the girls and head to dance. That night, we also went out to eat again.

Then Saturday was my baby shower. It was one of the most special days of my life, really!! Having Veronica there was a dream come true, as well as all of my most special friends and family. My friend Julie who gave my shower did such a beautiful job on everything. I can't wait to show y'all all the pictures! I got a ton of precious things!!

Sunday was a rough day and I was so emotional over Veronica having to leave. I'm so glad that her travels went well and that she made it home safely.

Morgan asked me that night how to spell Matthew and I was thinking, you should probably learn that Daddy! LOL! Anyhow, I looked up later to find this:

He cracks me up. He put this on our sign that I won a few years ago from a blog giveaway. I guess we need to update it! I think it's finally setting in for Morgan that we really are having another baby! :)

Tuesday night, Kaylee had her Open House. They did this fun thing where you had to read these facts about them and try to guess which one was hers. We definitely knew which one was hers when we read about how she loves dancing and has a chihuahua.

And finally, yesterday was Lily's picture day. I love her expression here. :D I'm just so thankful that she is on the mend. I started sending her lunch to school on Friday and have been doing that ever since and it seems to be helping. For some reason, going through the cafeteria line was making her gag every single day. I'm not sure why and can't quite figure it out. We are still working with her on adjusting to Kindergarten and at times, I just want to keep her home and shelter her and homeschool her, but I know that what is best is to keep encouraging her.

I also was able to go back to bible study last night and enjoyed that. So, if you made it through this huge long post, you can see why I haven't had much time to do anything lately! I did finish up buying the last few things I need for Matthew yesterday. I also had a doctor appointment yesterday and everything is looking great. Five more weeks!!! Can you believe it?!! Only 35 days left!

Praising God!

Here's a picture of Lily from yesterday, waiting in the cafeteria for school to start :)

And, here is a picture of today......eating breakfast at school for the first time!

The girls had another great day and Madison and Kaylee had their first dance class tonight for the performance teams they are on. Needless to say, it's been a long day and we are all tired!

But, it was also a GREAT day!! Yesterday, after much thought and prayer and absolutely no offers in an entire year of having our house on the market, we decided to put our house up for lease. We felt like this was the best decision, because the market is so bad right now that we are literally giving our house away. There is no way you could ever build a house, even at cost, for what we were asking. So, we thought, why not lease it for a year so that we won't just be paying out money for it just sitting there. Then, when the market picks up again, we can put it back up for sale for what it's actually worth.

From the beginning, I have had a million different suggestions on what we should do to sell our house. Bury a statue. Speak to your house. Pray over your house. Proclaim it will be sold. And all I kept thinking was, I don't want to have to do a magic dance or say a magic chant.....I trust God and I know He has a plan. And all I kept praying is that our house would be a blessing to whoever ended up in it. And I told God I would give HIM the glory for when it sold.

So, today I am giving God the glory and praising HIM for His perfect plan. It was a plan that looked nothing like our own plan. We already have a family that is ready to move into our house and lease it for the next year. One day later, the papers are signed! What I love about this story is that this family is in the same exact situation we are in........their house in CO won't sell either and they are having to lease it. So, I hope that our house is a blessing for them too, because there just are not any places to rent in this area; the one apartment complex we have is full. I cannot describe what a relief it is to know that we will not be paying two mortgages anymore, plus a light and water bill for a house we don't even live in!

It would be awesome if this family loves our house and is able to sell their house and buy ours. You just never know! I am just so thankful for God's perfect plan and I trust Him fully. Thank you so much to everyone who prayed for us. Your prayers are never taken for granted.

Our Sunday!

We had a great Sunday yesterday. I was determined to go to church and I'll admit, when my alarm went off, I was debating on whether to get up or not. I remember when I first started going to church, there was no way I was going to miss it. And now, since we've allowed ourselves to stay home so much lately, it's so much easier to do. A few days before though, Lily said, "Momma, can we pleeeease go to church on Sunday?" Isn't that the sweetest thing?

So, we got up and got ready and thank the Lord I was feeling good that morning. I am finding that the more I don't go to church, the more anxious it makes me the next time I go. And then, when we got there, I remembered we were going to do the Lord's Supper. Lately, they've been doing it where they have a table with bread and "wine" up front and you just go up there with your family. I don't know why, but that is enough to make me have a panic attack in the middle of church service. I'm not sure why. I just feel like everyone's staring at me and it makes me uncomfortable. As I was just looking over my church notes from yesterday, I saw this:

Our identity is in Him and we have to remember who He is. Our series is on remembering. We have to remember God's faithfulness in the past and that will allow us to trust Him in the present. When we remember who God is, that will direct our actions in the future. God is bigger than any problems we may face.

I was just thinking of a quote I read once that said something like, you wouldn't worry so much about what people thought of you if you knew how little they actually did. Isn't that so true? I spend so much time fearing that I'm going to somehow make a fool of myself and seriously, I doubt anyone is even paying attention to what I'm doing half the time! I need to remember that my identity is in Him, not in what other people think of me. Am I the only one who struggles with this?

Anyways, I'm just rambling!
Here is what Morgan did when we got home:

He borrowed the neighbor's kayak and went fishing. He caught 5 huge fish and was so excited! While he was doing that, the girls and I went to Kohl's to take advantage of a coupon I had and the fact that they were having that thing where you get $10 for every $50 you spend. I figured it's free money and they still need more school clothes. I ended up saving $20 with my coupon and getting $20 in free bucks and everything we bought was on sale too, so it was a great deal!

Later that day, we went to a birthday party at our new local park for one of our church friend's daughters who was turning 2. They have a splash pad, so the girls had a blast playing in that. I was getting ready to go play too because it was so hot!! But, there was a good breeze at least and it was fun visiting with friends. I got her a ladybug Happy Napper. Have y'all seen those on TV? Lily asked for one for her birthday and I didn't know they sold them in stores yet, so I ordered her one online. Then, when I was at Toys R Us the other day, they had them there! They have this catchy tune on the commercial and they used to have one that said, "We are happy, happy nappers. We'll make all your dreams come true!" And so I told the girls, "so that's what's wrong......if only we had a happy napper, maybe our house would have sold by now!" Ha!

Anyhow, we had a great weekend. Hope you all did too!

HE is Really That Good!

I just love it when I run across something that gets me excited. Sometimes, it's certain books that are released. This time, it's a sermon series that Elevation Church is doing. I always read Pastor Steven Furtick's blog and he had a great post today and mentioned that he was doing a sermon series on "Treatment," in which he looks at anxiety, depression, grief, etc. I watched part one today, on anxiety, and it was such a great sermon. You can go here to watch the videos. If you want to start from part one, just scroll down and you'll see a link to click on to watch it.

Pretty much all of us struggle with these things at one time or another. The "thorn in my side" has always been anxiety, ever since my Mom passed away. Before her death, I lived a pretty carefree life. I didn't worry about things. It's like her death made me realize that bad things happen, really bad things, and from that point on, I started to anticipate what those horrible things might be. It was as if, in my mind, if I could just learn to expect them beforehand, they wouldn't hurt so much when they did happen. But, as we all know, worrying about something is not going to make it any easier to deal with when and if it does happen.

I love what Pastor Furtick said in the closing of his sermon. I'm paraphrasing a bit, but basically he said that, Jesus doesn't say you shouldn't worry because your situation isn't really that bad. Jesus says don't worry, because your Father is really that good and you're really that valuable to Him! And if you're that valuable to Him, He's got every need in your life covered.

Amen?!!

Anyhow, I just thought I would share in case some of you might want to watch this series too. :)

A Perfect Baby Name and Other Fun Stuff!

Okay, so we decided on a baby name! We went through list after list and we always came back to Matthew. When I think of this baby, I think about what a gift he is. God knew better than us (He always does!) what our family would look like. When we thought we were done having kids, He knew better. And when we never in a million years dreamed we would have a boy, He had something up His sleeve! There just doesn't seem to be a more perfect name than the one that means "gift from God" and so Matthew William Myers, it will be!!! I'm SO excited!

William is Morgan's middle name and it was his Dad's middle name, so it only seems fitting to pass that down to this little one. I also loved Christian for a middle name, since that was my Mom's maiden name, but I'm already named after that and I think it will be special to pass down the name William. It's what Morgan wanted and I think he should get top say in this one! I love that Matthew William is a strong name. Matthew sounds cute for a little boy, but still strong for a grown man. And the other day, my Aunt and I were saying whatever his name is, it has to sound good for sports. Ha! We were like, "And now up to bat........Matt Myers". LOL! Love it!!

Everyone said God would help us pick the perfect name. After all, He knew before the beginning of time everything about this little one. And in all the years of picking baby names and going through lists for both genders, I never ever had Matthew on one of my lists. Yet, when I read it off the other day, it was just perfect and I knew that would be his name!

I thought I would take a few pics today. I feel way huge today! But, these pics don't look too bad. Ha!
You can tell more in this one!
The girls spent the day swimming at Grandma's house on Sunday, so I decided it was about time for me to go find some cute little things for this baby! I felt so weird and out of place looking around the boys' section! Ha! I found some great deals though.

This was only $3.70! It's 3-6 months, but I figured that's probably best anyways because typically everything you get at a baby shower is newborn or 0-3 months.
And this little outfit was only $2.70! I couldn't turn that down! It's a 3-6 month one too.
And can this be any cuter?!!! Awwwww......a little star on his bottom?! Ahhh!!!! I love it!! This 3 piece set was on sale for $10. Another great deal! It has a little short sleeve onesie that says "Daddy's Rockstar".
And a long sleeve one that says "Mommy Rocks!" So cute!!
I still have several onesies and cloth diaper/burp cloths left over from when I had my business, so I can't wait to get in there and make some cute little boy things! That's one thing I've realized.....if I do end up opening my business back up, I think making little boy things would be a must! There are very few handmade boutiques out there that do little boy things, it seems!

Anyhow, here is the video of Madison's lyrical class dancing to "Hope Now". Each girl had ribbons that represent the different cancers. I just loved it. Madison is the 2nd one to go onstage. That song is one of the very first Christian songs I ever heard and so it's always been a special song to me......it's been kind of like my theme song, so I tear up every time I watch this video. Hope you like it too! (Even if you don't watch the whole thing, make sure you watch the ending......it's so neat!)

Meet Baby #4!

This morning was my first doctor's appointment for baby #4! It was scheduled right after I dropped Lily off at school, and on the way to school, I was not feeling well at all. I had been praying I would feel okay, I knew you all were praying for me, and I still was feeling horrible. I said a prayer to the Lord and I reminded Him that He promised to be with me and that I needed to know He was here.

Then, the most amazing thing happened. The song that was playing on the radio totally got interrupted by a different song that started playing, and it was this song......"Never Alone" by BarlowGirl, one of my favorite songs! I mean, literally it was as if someone changed the station in the middle of the song. I couldn't believe it!! I knew everything was going to be okay then!



I didn't have to wait too long and then after they weighed me and all that good stuff, the nurse told me to go back to this other room and she said we could take a look on their little ultrasound machine. Yay!! That was a total surprise and I was so glad because I had been having some pain a few weeks ago and was hoping everything was okay. Because I'm about 10 weeks already, we could see the baby's heartbeat and even see it's little legs kicking!

It made it seem so much more real, yet still doesn't seem possible! It's just so amazing to see! For some reason, they said the insurance won't let them do the bloodwork/exam on the same day as the first visit, so I have to go back next week for that. Boo! But, I know everything will be fine.

We also had another showing today, so hopefully we will get someone soon who wants to buy our house!

I wanted to wish a very special little girl a very Happy 1st Birthday today!! Happy Birthday Alivia!!!

Crazy Weekend!

This was a pretty crazy weekend! Did y'all see my videos of the girls dancing? If not, go watch them! :) I was so proud of them!

Yesterday, we went shopping at the mall for Easter dresses and then we went out to "the lot" as we still call it......even though our house is built now and we could just call it our new house. Ha!

It was so windy and the waves were rolling in and crashing against the shore. The girls were getting so wet!
I was taking so many pics trying to get a shot of the waves crashing up. LOL! My friend said it looks like they're trying to part the red sea. Haha! So funny!
I'm not sure if I've showed y'all what our house looks like from the water.
The girls decided if they did a dance, maybe a big wave would come in. :D
I think it worked! I love how Kaylee's jumping up and you can tell they were so excited!! I have to admit it was making me a little nervous. The water's not very deep, but the current looked pretty strong as those waves were rolling across.
We got a call last night that someone might want to look at our house today. Ugh! I know that's a good thing, but we were so tired from being out so late Friday night and shopping all day Saturday. And it's so aggravating when people aren't serious and just want to go look for fun. A lot of work goes in to making our house "show" ready and it's not much fun!! Ha! So, we got up, missed church again, and finished cleaning. The people were supposed to come around 11, so we left, got lunch, and ate out at our new house. We even took both dogs for the first time out there.

Then, we never got a call and she said they never showed up. So, we went back home, turned off all the lights and closed the blinds (because we always turn them on and open everything up for showings) and wouldn't you know, then she called saying they showed up. So, I went back around and opened all the blinds back up and turned on all the lights and we went back to the new house to wait until they were done.

We were all so tired we didn't even get out of the car. We just sat and waited in it for 30 minutes. LOL! Bella liked riding in the car. She never gets to ride, so that was a new thing for her.
Oh, look at what happened at our mall shopping trip on Saturday. We came back out to the car, I go to back out, and realize someone had decided to help themselves to my mirror. Grrrrr.... But, instead of feeling violated or getting mad, I told the girls that we don't ask why God let this happen, because we know that He was working behind the scenes to make sure that was the only thing that happened. I'm so glad that we didn't walk out while they were doing it or that they didn't take the whole car. Honestly, the first thing I thought is that God was protecting us and I truly believe that. It's still aggravating though! You don't realize how much you use that little mirror until it's gone! And it's not cheap to replace either. :(
It was a crazy weekend, but actually a good weekend because I got to spend it with my girls and we got to visit Daddy at his other job......our new house. LOL! :)

I've Been Meaning.....

to talk to you all about this:

My friends keep telling me about this St. Joseph's statue that you're supposed to bury in your yard and then your house will sell. I just LOL when they told me about it, even though they said their house sold the week after they buried it. They were like, what do you have to lose?

I guess I have to agree with that. I finally got around to looking it up and they're super cheap. But, every time I think about it, I keep thinking no, no, no. I told the Lord that I have faith in Him and that I know He will work this out and we will sell our house. I know that He already knows when and how that will happen. So, if I go out and buy this statue, then who gets credit for it? Not the Lord, but some dumb little statue.

I just can't do it. When this house sells, I'm giving God all the credit!

What do y'all think? Am I taking this way too seriously?! LOL!!

We just dropped the price of our house by $31,000.......if that doesn't interest some buyers, I don't know what will! My friend from church also said that she knows someone who may be interested in it too. So, I'm just going to keep on having faith!

Lifepoint Church, Mont Belvieu, Texas

I knew when I saw that Kelly was having "Show Us Your Life" be about our churches today, that I just had to participate! What I really want to show though, is that it isn't so much about what church you go to, but that you begin to follow the Lord. Because once you truly begin to do that, your life will change in ways that you never imagined possible! Then, you can get in a good bible based church (no other will do) and begin to have that fellowship that is so important! Being in church is all about being a part of God's family. Jesus never spoke of church as a building that you go to, but rather the act of belonging in God's family. As believers and followers of Christ, we are the church! But, the church as a building exists because so much more can be accomplished for Him when we all bring our talents and gifts together to make things happen.

My family goes to Lifepoint church in Mont Belvieu, Texas. Our church was a church plant that began in 2008. They began meeting in a local high school. Our Pastor and a few other families felt God leading them to start this church and they left everything and risked everything to do so. I will be forever grateful for them being obedient to God, because it has changed my family's life forever and eternally.

Shortly after they started this church, Hurricane Ike hit our area and totally devastated everything. My pastor and his family were displaced from their home for months. It is so true that when the devil knows something awesome is about to happen, he will make sure to try and stop it. But, I don't think he knew who he was up against! It was shortly after all that, that I began to blog. Suddenly, I saw this whole world of wonderful Christian women and I wanted to be like them! I had been saved since I was a young girl, raised Southern baptist, but had not been in church for many years. I had 3 young girls and I wanted them to be raised in church. Not only that, but I had lost my Mom a few years before and was struggling with anxiety and grief over that. I knew my only hope was to get in church. I rededicated my life to Jesus and then I watched this love story between He and I unfold, and it has been the most beautiful experience of my entire life!

With my anxiety issues, it was one of the hardest things to do, to visit new churches. I decided I would start by going by myself and taking only my two oldest. My husband was not raised in church and I didn't really think he had any interest in going anyways. So, I went to a few churches and then the night before I was supposed to go back to one I had visited, the idea popped into my head that I should try out Lifepoint. I know now that that was God speaking to me. He knew exactly where we needed to be.

The second time I was to go back to Lifepoint was going to be Easter Sunday of 2009. I was so sad because I had hoped to really find a church and get to know some people before Easter, but I had only been to this one once. Still, I got us girls ready to go and to my surprise, my husband said he would like to go with me! And not only that, but the church was taking family portraits that day too, free of charge, to all the families that came. They were still such a young church and by then, we were meeting at a local recreation center.

That was such a beautiful blessing, to have that photo. It was a precious moment captured in time, of my family all going to church together for the first time. I just love the way God works!
Beginning to go to church was creating changes in our family that I never could have dreamed possible. It was redeeming my marriage and changing my heart as well as my husband's. I never in a million years would have thought we would all be in church.

I thought that I was going to go to church and serve in church and be this model Christian. That was what I thought you did when you go to church. But, I learned that it's not always about me or what I do. You see, God was working on my husband and he gave him, as a new Christian, an opportunity to serve that was tailor made for him. Our church was working on getting its own building and construction/engineering is what my husband's family owned company does. It was in that season that I realized it wasn't just about what the church was doing for us, but it was about what God knew we could contribute to the church. I saw my husband spend almost every single night after work and every free minute on his weekends for months, working on our new church building so that our church could reach more families just like mine. So, there wasn't really much I could help with, but because I listened and followed God to where He was leading us, not only can I be confident that my husband will be with me forever in eternity, but also we now have a beautiful church building where even more families lives can be forever changed! God has a way of using what we think are simple little decisions, when we are obedient to Him, and using them in mighty ways!

We moved into our new building on Easter Sunday of 2010. That was such a special day for all of us!
We also got to witness the church's very first baptism service, done in one of our member's swimming pools!
And we had our first Children's Christmas program in 2010.
It is so true that God will do exceedingly more than you could ever dream or imagine possible! I can't even begin to list or tell you all the ways that God has used our church to help us grow in our faith. The main thing I have learned is that no church is perfect and Christians are not perfect either. The important thing is not how your church can serve you, but rather how you can serve your church. Where is God leading you and how can He use your talents and spiritual gifts to contribute to your body of Christ? Our church has a motto that it's not about SERVE US, but it's about SERVICE.

Also, remember that once you make the decision to get in church, you will be hit from every angle and every obstacle from the enemy to keep you from going. You just have to keep pressing on and listening to God and trusting that He will lead you where you need to be. I have at times been a total pain to the people I've gotten to know at my church, and still they forgave me and reminded me that we are family and that we all make mistakes. When my Mom died, I was so alone and so afraid of what would happen to my girls or my husband if something happened to me. I no longer worry about that, because I know that we have a church family who will always be there for us, in whatever way we need, no matter what. I can't tell you how much that means to me.

I am so glad that the Lord led us to Lifepoint. It has been life-changing for us, for sure! I love to write about what I learned at church every Sunday, because I remember when I used to blog and was so scared to go to church, but blogging was where I began to learn more about the Lord and it made me start to yearn for a closer relationship with Him. My hope in sharing what I learn at church, as well as my struggles and triumphs as I grow in my faith, is that someone out there might be like I was, and want to know Him too. I do believe that one of my spiritual gifts is to take some pretty good word-for-word notes of our sermons at church every week. LOL! I really do take it very seriously. I am a super shy and quiet girl, and writing and sharing my story and what I learn is the way that I can best serve the Lord!

This past weekend was the two year anniversary of that first time that I visited Lifepoint. As I look back on these two years, there have been ups and downs, beautiful moments and moments I wish I could forget (mostly because God is working on me learning that my way is not always the only way.....Ha!). But, I wouldn't change it for anything. It has been a beautiful story that He is still writing; a story of hope unfolding! I pray that if you don't have a church home, to just keep looking and keep listening.......my story is proof that He will always lead you right to where He wants you to be!