It's All Part of the Plan

I know that it has been a while since my last entry and I am going to catch up soon with some pictures and posts, but today I just wanted to jot down some of my thoughts, rather like a journal of sorts about what I was reading today.

I was reading through Matthew 26 today and am just continually amazed at the things the Lord reveals to me as I read His Word. I have recently learned that we do not "discover" God per say, otherwise He would be fully discoverable, which He is not. But rather, HE reveals HIMSELF to us as we seek Him. I find even as I reread the same passages in scripture, God can reveal Himself in different ways to me each time in accordance with what He knows I can handle and need. God is SO good!

So as I am reading Matthew and Jesus is preparing for His death, I am reminded that Jesus was truly the fulfillment of all that was written! No coincidence that one of his last meals was in the house of a former leper, someone unclean and covered with "spots" that Jesus had healed and purified. Umm... that's me. Then another sinful woman comes in an anoints Him with oil- a strange thing for someone to do, but a very clear symbol and confirmation that God was preparing Him for death.

I love the contrast between the flesh and the Spirit and the story continues. Jesus goes to pray that God would "Let this cup (God's wrath) pass from me, but not my will but thine be done." Jesus prays this 3 separate times!! His flesh did NOT want to go through with this. Meanwhile the flesh-weak disciples are sleeping instead of praying and keeping watch. again- flesh. Jesus tells them, "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." I think this is an interesting parallel to what Jesus is experiencing at this same time.

What Blows my mind is that when Judas comes with the soldiers and betrays Jesus, Jesus addresses him as- "friend." God's love is UNIMAGINABLY POWERFUL! He then endures torture and complete depravity from HIS CREATION, even though He has the power to stop it!! I can't quite get my mind around this. But what it does, is brings me to my knees before the Lord, seeking forgiveness for contributing to His pain through my sin and causes me to worship Him for His unbelievable love and grace.

What has transformed the way I read my bible, is really looking at every story and every piece and asking myself how it relates to Jesus and God's plan for redemption. God has shown me Jesus in it all, and I am AMAZED by the intricacy and yet the simplicity of how IT ALL points to The GOSPEL.

May it penetrate my heart and actions and may I life a life of worship to HIM!!

Night-Night

This is how it goes most nights:

Me- "Night-Night Sadie"

S -"Night-Night Mommy"

Me-"I love you precious"

S-"I love you too precious" :)

Me-"Sweet dreams"

S-"OK, Mommy, you go gik in yur bed and go to sleep! Don't go stay up talking to Daddy in the living room! When I wake up from my nap I will come snuggle you in ur bed. Is sat OK? What we doin tomorrow?"

Me- "We are going to have a lot of fun etc...."

S- "Yay,OK, night night mommy go gik in ur bed. I luf u!"

Too Much

These last several weeks have been difficult. I think that Sadie has been acting out a little more for 2 reasons. 1- her age and 2- her little sister is starting to do lots of new things. That being said, it has been more stressful with her than usual and my patience rope is fraying. On the other hand, I am having so much fun with my little characters and there is rarely a dull moment!

Eloise is crawling everywhere and pulling up. She loves to eat anything and everything including sno cones:) and loves taking baths. She is so much like her sister that it cracks me up. One main difference is that she isn't as tough as Sadie, and is a little more dramatic.(Can you imagine that?- We'll see how that plays out) But then again, you have to be to get some attention around here:)

Lately I have been reading One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp and it has given me some amazing perspective on life and faith. I have also read a few articles that my friend Emily sent me by Rachel Jankovic that I have loved. I can't wait to read her book "Loving the Little Years"! Anyway, I would highly recommend them. Especially if you have young kids!

So why the title Too Much? In the last few days as I have struggled with discipline and heard lots of "no"s and "I will not"s and "no mam"s,I have also had some of the sweetest most precious times with my kids. I started thinking about God and how much He loves us and how he tells us in 1 Cor:13 That "Now we see in a mirror dimly but then we shall see face to face." We see glimpses of His love all the time in "the mirror" moments, but if we think those moments are great, then who can imagine what is in store for us in heaven when we see the FULLNESS of his love "face to face"?

This week I have realized that my children have to struggle, we have to go through hard times together, yes because of the Fall, yes to refine us, but also because it would be too much! I love my kids in such an intense way and cherish all of these amazing moments of time with them, that if they weren't ever challenging it would be too much! I would be so overwhelmed with my love for them, it would burst out of my chest! I guess that is what we get to experience when we get to heaven!! For now I will take these little glimpses seen through the "mirror" and treasure them, as I thank God for ALL of the moments sweet OR difficult, and anticipate a glorious eternity of His love "face to face!"

4th of July Weekend

We had a very fun 4th of July Weekend. I wish I had taken more pictures. These were just a few taken with Bo's phone.

Friday night we had dinner with some friends which was really fun. Then Saturday night we had a pizza pool party at our house with the fam and the Selfs. Then we went to church on Sunday and went to Threadgills with Robert, who came to visit us. It was really fun. Sadie wanted to stand on the outdoor stage and perform for us. She sang all her favorite VBS songs including "I am not forgotten." Maybe we will have a TX songwriter on our hands:) Then we went to our friend's place on the lake on Monday and had a great time hanging out, playing in the sand and water, and talking with friends. Sadie was making everyone "cupcakes" and other "food" items out of sand. Towards the end of the evening while I was talking to my friend Emily, she put a little pile of sand in the middle of the apple pie. It actually looked pretty and could have passed as brown sugar, except for the stick sticking out of the middle. Emily and I laughed so hard. The kids were really cracking us up. That's toddlers for ya! So grateful for my friends who are walking through this life stage with me. All in all, we had a great weekend the kids played hard and we got some great time with great friends and family! And Emily, I owe you a pie. Is cherry OK?

Shake Your Tailfeathers!

The chicks have grown SO much and are feathering out!! I can't wait to take some recent pics and post them. They are so much bigger and fluffier! They are really soft and love to have their chests rubbed. Bo and I (primarily Bo):) have been working on the chicken coop which is going to be really cool! We are using mostly repurposed materials from a one hundred year old barn on my parents' ranch. I know that the chicken will definitely appreciate having more space! I am continually amazed at my husband's carpentry skills!!

Eloise is also growing and changing so much! She is starting to crawl already and we are SO proud. She pushes that booty in the air and scoots all around:) She is spitting up a lot lately too:( We are loving how engaged she is and smiley and fun. Today she was belly laughing as I sprayed water and Lucy chased it around the deck! So cute!

Sadie is growing a bunch too. Mostly verbally. She is SUCH a big girl and so helpful, tenderhearted, and imaginative. Yesterday she prayed for our dinner and has been singing songs from Vacation Bible School all week, which are precious. Her favorite is "I am not forgotten" and "He knows you". It is so sweet to see her little faith blossoming as she learns about God. Last night I heard her screaming and she ran over to me and told me that there was a dinosaur coming!:) Then she said that it was a pink dinosaur and "I think she is sweet. She has a little brother and a little sister named SoSee and Teetoe and her name is Sadie. I think the daddy is a big bad dinosaur. He wants to tickle me." Ha, ha Then today we were playing play-doh and she had made each of us a big smile to hold up to our face. I said, "Lets do a play-doh kiss with our smiley faces!", and she said, "OK, I'll be Sally and you be Bo." He, he. I am continuously surprised and amused by her funny comments these days!

Pics to come soon!

Surrounded by Chicks!!

Poor Bo, he is literally surrounded by chicks now. A wife, 2 daughters, a girl dog, and now 4 pullet chicks. Bo gave in to my dream of raising chickens in our backyard last weekend. We went to Callahan's and bought 4 chicks. 2 Buff Orpingtons and 2 Dominiques. They are currently living in our house in an old camp trunk of mine under a heat lamp. We have had fun holding them and letting them play in the yard. There names are: Goldilocks & Princess Buttercup (the Buff Orpingtons) and the Dominiques are Snow White and Boots(as in Dora and Boots):) They will stay inside with us until they completely feather out. Right now the only feathers are on their wings.

Bo is going to use his amazing carpentry skills to build us a chicken coop out of repurposed materials and I can't wait to design and paint it! Also, the chickens will smell much better outside than inside:) We do not have the luxury of a garage!

They should begin to lay eggs in the next 4-5 months and they will begin eating the bugs in our yard immediately! Maybe next year we will get the vegetable garden up and going next to their pin. I wound up just doing pots this spring. Things were a little too crazy for a full garden. But so far, we have 4 different tomato plants, sage, cilantro, parsley, basil, citronella, and mint. I have been using the herbs a lot in my cooking and the plants seem to be thriving so far!

So veggies and herbs, a dog, now chickens....what's next? Well, Sadie and I saw a miniature pig at the feed store;) Maybe I'll work on Bo for a pig for next year! Yes, I am an animal lover, unless it is a cat! Growing up my Dad would take me to the pet shop for fun or to go look at puppies and horses for sale out in the country. I love that Austin embraces the urban garden, backyard chicken coop/farm animal lifestyle. Here are a few picks of the chicks and some of what they will look like full grown.

Potty Trained!!

Sadie is finally potty trained!! It took her no time at all once she decided to do it and she will go on any public potty there is:) Fun fun! I am SO incredibly proud of her. She does the whole thing herself from start to finish. Pulling down panties, sitting on the potty, going, wiping, flushing,washing hands.....She even empties the potty chair into the big potty by herself, although she can also climb on and go in the big potty all by herself as well. But she seems to prefer the little one right now. Yay! We are down to ONE in diapers, saving us time and money:)

Sadie got to pick out a toy last week for keeping her panties dry for 3 days without an accident. She chose a Kitty keyboard/piano from Target. It is really fun and has all different beats, songs, instrument sounds, and a microphone. I'm sure she will enjoy it for years to come. I can't believe how big my sweet Sadie is getting!!