Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Come see what the girls are doing...



The girls are growing so big.

They both weigh close to 15lbs


and are smiling, cooing, and


blowing bubbles.

I absolutely love coming up

with new and exciting things

for them to do.


We hang streamers from the fan

blades and they will lay under

them for a long time

watching them twirl and dance around

their heads.

I have hung toys all over their beds for
them to kick and reach for.
There is always music in their room..
I read today where Charlotte Mason
said in the 1800's parents let their
babies take naps outside in their pram.
So today, being a particularly warm day for Alabama,
I bundled my little sweet angels up
and took them for a long walk
and just as we started for home
their eye lids gave in to the warmth
of the sun and the sound of the birds.
They slept for almost an hour
while I was resting beside them
in a chair.
When they started stirring I watched
them as they gently woke up and
started looking around. They LOVED their
nap outside.
Having babies in the house is so much fun.
Always something to do, always someone
needing you.
Very tiring but also very rewarding.
They are double the fun,
double the joy,
and double Blessings.


can you tell who's who?





Tuesday, January 26, 2010

My floors are sleeping


The house is resting now. All the floors have a chance to breathe after



the little ones have laid down their tired bones.



The many hours spent running the halls have now given way to silence.



Their laughter now in dreams and their energy storing up for tomorrow.



Always loudness I seem to hear.



The quietness startles me somehow.


My thoughts are going from room to room, knowing who is where and glad they're


all here under my roof.



I go from one to the other and breathe in their sweet fragrance
and whisper the same
thankful prayer over each.
" I'm thankful Lord you brought Ellie into our life."
"I'm thankful Lord you let us raise Chandler."
The names go on until they've all been lifted up to my Father
and my thankfulness spoken.
Then my memories drift
to the little ones who are not with me
and I think of William.

William is lifted up as a sacrifice, given freely to Him now some
10 months later.
My child does not need my prayers anymore
but I give them anyway, as a way of showing honor to my little son whom I miss.


The girls fill such a huge hole
but his presence is forever etched in my heart.
That little boy who changed my life.
His resting place is still my favorite spot these days.
The kids have erected a small fort over his wooden cross
and I let them because I knew he would love it.
I know he would never miss the chance to play swords with his brothers
if he was here.
So the swords are sticks and they are covering his cross.
He is missed and
Chandler's prayers still hark heavens door on his behalf.
Cullen still cries when he talks about baby Willy and I can't help but to wonder what that little rascal would be doing if he were here now.

It's still a walk of faith, but it's a walk I make much more up right these days.
It is true that you grow more from the hard times and I grew when I lost my William
but sometimes I just want to remember who I was before I lost him
and I can't remember that person anymore.
I truly see others pain in a whole new light and I'm drawn to
help. I guess that's what our hard times are supposed to do.
Draw us from ourselves to others.

Just like my floors have scars from the endless amount of

traffic, my heart will carry the tiny boy named

William around forever ... to remind me......

The seasons of Life....


Monday, January 25, 2010

Lessons from the Farm....

Sometimes the feed buckets heavy....
but the animals will die if you don't get it to them..


I look out my window and a smile comes to rest on my face.



I see them walking across the yard headed for the chickens.


She's carrying a bucket.

It's heavy for her and yet she keeps on walking. I'm sure it's him saying



"you can do it." Just a few more steps and you'll be there I can hear him whisper.



I've seen this before. She'll finally make it and then the back
door will bang open and she will announce to all how
she did it. No mention of the one who walked beside her.
No remembrance of the words that were
spoken in her ear.
How often I'm like my little girl and how I
forget to give all the glory and honor to my
precious Saviour for every new day
and every breath I take.
Forgetting to thank Him for
the hard days when he walks beside me
and whispers "you can do this."
"Oh Lord, this is heavy. Maybe you've over-estimated
my strength"
He gently reminds me
that indeed He knows what I'm able to carry
and just keep walking.
There's sheep to be fed and they're His sheep
and He expects me to feed them so I can't
stop...
Hearing His words in my ear to keep
"picking up" my feed bucket and keep moving......
His sheep are hungry and they might
die if I don't carry my load..

Feed my Sheep.


John 21:15-18
When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?" "Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."
Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?" He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep."
The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my sheep.

Friday, January 22, 2010

A night in Italy on the farm...

The candle light and music sweeps us away
to a little cabin in Italy.

We ate under the glow of the candles
while we laughed and talked about our day and
our weekend coming up.
Water poured for their thirst
when so many don't have clean water.


The meal was simple



The prayer was for the people of Haiti.



Josie Claire enjoying the view from her
mommy's lap. Her mommy enjoying
the view of her daughter's smile and the absolute
miracle of adoption. Can I honestly say
"Thank You, Lord" enough?
Thank you!

Flowers from my beloved.
I love you so much and I love looking down
my table into your gracious, loving, adoring eyes.
My world is so beautiful.
My table so full.
My love forever growing for this bunch.
I love sitting my family at a table that
I've spent time decorating and pouring myself into.
My husband coming home after a long week
for me to rescue him from the stress
of the world.
So I create a little cottage in Italy right here
on the farm.
I hope they will always remember our fun
when they start their own families
and bring Italy to their homes one day...












Thursday, January 21, 2010

The gift of his arms

She's resting in the arms of her father.
Safe and happy, belly full.
I wished she would be able to remember
the hours he has spent holding her
and feeding her.
His arms warm as
he keeps her close.
He holds her until she drifts off to sleep.
She will peek through every now and then
and make sure he is still there. and he is,
as he will always be.
The one that feeds her
and loves her like only a daddy could.
He is gentle.
He is soft with her.
Just like he is with me.
When he holds me, sleep also
comes easily because
I feel safe and warm
in his arms.
Today I'm so very thankful that
God picked me to be his wife.
That God picked him to be the father
of our children.
I will be able to remember
the time each of my children has spent
in this loving mans arms and I will tell them
over and over least they forget the gift he is.
er

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Look into the eyes of a future mamma

I'm training my daughters

to be wives and mothers.

Against the back-drop of a world

where this is unusual and not looked upon

with eyes of approval. The question

is always asked "what are you going to be

when you grow up?"

The question hanging

there like a bad germ in the air. Taking a deep

breath my daughter says "I want to be a wife

and a mother. "
Channie, my three-year-old daughter was jumping on the trampoline

yesterday and she said "look mom I'm growing up

because I can jump really high"

"Oh, don't grow up

Channie-mae, I like you little." I responded

"I have to grow up mom

because I have to be a Mommy."

Oh yes you need to grow up then.

I wouldn't want you to miss out on the biggest blessing

in the world:

Being a Mommy.

Holding the hand of your child and with awe and wonder

thanking God for the privilege of being a wife

and mother.

It's happening less and less these days.

Happy Homes.

Happy Children.

I believe it's because few are being trained

to take the job of wife, mother, father,or husband

seriously. Few are choosing

to walk this road nowadays but we will press

on and Lord willing

Channie Mae will one day look into the eyes

of her husband and children and say,

mom was right

This is the best job in the whole wide

world ..

Monday, January 18, 2010

“The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one that most of us make. . . . I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of [my three children] sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less.”-Anna Quindlen(Loud and Clear [2004], 10–11)

We hold the keys to the future generations, we can't lose them...

Titus 1 v6
An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose
children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.
7 Since an overseer is entrusted with God's work, he must be blameless not overbearing,
not quick tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.
8 Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self controlled, upright,
holy and disciplined.





I have a daughter who wants to marry early, Lord willing.
So when we look around at the eligible "husband pool"
I wonder if Scott and I are training our sons enough for the
job of future husband, future fathers, future elders.





I had the privilege of hearing Voddie Baucham at a semi-local
Church last night and he reminded us as parents that
all boys should be raised to be elders.


Is it not the calling of most young men to raise up Godly families?
How do we make sure we're doing our part to raise up the future generation of elders?

The word of God should be the most important thing you teach your kids today.
Not math, or spelling, or how to recite the ABC's, it should be the bible.
We should set up training camp and make sure our boys understand that they
have a role in the next generation of Christians and they cannot fail to take
on that role.


As a mom we have to get out of our minds that our boys will grow up "one day".
No, they won't according to Voddie. We have to train them now...We have to stop
making excuses for our lazy, dis-respectful sons and keep in mind
we are training future warriors.





So you don't wait until they're 12 to do this you start when they're little.
Giving them a job and making them do excellent work.
Training them to treat their sisters above all others to protect her
and watch out for her.

It all comes down to
Training... Training.... Training...





So as we're looking around at the "husband pool" we are looking for future elders for our daughters.
She will spend her time serving him and he will spend his time washing her in the word and leading her on
as only a husband can do.
He will have had to be trained
just like we are training her to be a keeper of his home.


She has alot to learn and she will learn most of what she needs
under his gently watchful post.





I have to believe there are elders being raised up by Godly christian
families who will be a Godly christian leader for our daughters.

If we have sons at home
we hold the key
to shaping the future.

Friday, January 15, 2010

Keeping cookies in my cookie jar..

My cookie Jar.

I saw each one of my children gently lift the lid and peer over into the empty cookie jar.

Each one asking where the cookies were and if

we were going to bake some more and could they help?

After the 3rd child I stopped what I was doing and
started measuring out sugar and flour
and started making those home-made cookies
the kids love.
I want to make sure my cookie jar
is always full.
I want my kids to reach in and to be able
to pull out a delicious cookie
that I made (or their sister made) just
for them.
No special reason.
Looking ahead I think a nice
thing they might say is
"in mamma's house there
was always fresh cookies in
the cookie jar."
I'll smile a little smile and know
these were the words I was waiting for..
I plan ahead:)

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Won't you join us?

We have committed to reading the bible
in a year. Big undertaking, but
something we feel is so important to teaching our
children history from the Lord's view point.
We have started this with the help of
The Church of Brookhills.
You can go to their website for some awesome
sermons and the out-line for the bible reading.
Their goal is to also pray for everyone in the world.
So everyday they give you a new place in the world
to pray for. This all takes minutes a day but
as they say it's a radical experiment that I want
our family to be a part of.
Won't you join us?

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

The Joy of the Lord

So I wonder why I have laugh lines..
This is a sweet moment between
a brother and his sister
and of course Binky...
Our Thankfulness is overflowing
as these little ones start
to laugh and smile.

Monday, January 11, 2010

The Blindside

I started crying the moment I saw
the boy called Mike.
My heart so tender to the children who
don't have a home. My heart wondering
how many we can help. Wondering
how many my house can hold.
My heart aching as I watched him listen
to the voices through the night that told him over and over
he didn't belong. I so wanted to be at home
with my little boy so I could whisper how loved he is.
How many time as a child did I listen through
the night at the angry voices that penetrated
the darkness in my little bedroom? I was
just a little girl. I had no control over my situation.
I couldn't change it, I had to survive it.
Covers pulled up tight,
humming so I didn't have to hear.
The darkness seemed to never go away.
It's senseless yet it happens to
so many children.
Mike was cold. He was hungry.
He was in a crowd and no one wanted to notice him.
No one wanted to stop long enough to give of themselves.
When our busyness keeps us from noticing the needs
of others we better watch ourselves.
We need to be awake.
We need a revival of our hearts.
The busyness drowns us.
We are under water and not breathing
and yet we hardly notice that our hearts are
dead. Our love for others has died.
We fail to reach out ..
We miss it.
the way the Lord meant it to be.
It's not about money but in order to help
these days they don't ask for anything except money.
They need to be asking for loving, kind people to come
and minister but they want your money instead.
There is no more "hands on."
So our generation
has forgotten how to open hands
and pour oneself out.
This is a must see.
This movie will move you
to compassion and it will give
you hope. The reality of boys like Mike
is a truthful image and I wish
for them that they are wanted.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

A frigid mama


It's cold here in the deep south. Not normal ..
The pond has been frozen over for days.
The temps are hovering low and we're barricaded in our
home with a fireplace and plenty of food.
We have spent our time wisely.
Taylor and I have been knitting hats for the girls.
Sitting looking out at the coldness laughing like
silly school girls. Telling stories and our secrets that
only she and I can share. Our stories stop as a little
guy comes in and our eyes mark our place.
We have been making homemade breads and butter
and scones, muffins, cookies...We have sat together
all of us and enjoyed each others company.
We laugh alot around here, in fact I have noticed in the past
few weeks that laugh lines are forming around my eyes. Hmmm...
I want them to be deep. I want to notice them and
think upon the blessings that have put those lines there.
In a world of beauty and perfection
I think laugh lines sum up
your life...
I go to great extremes to make my children laugh.
I sing loud and I sing silly.
I tickle alot and sing and whisper in their ears how much
their mama loves them. We have 'inside'
ride on cars that have generated hours of laughter
for all us as we watch the kids ride up and down
the hallways. I know this will be a favorite memory
for them and us.
Everyday we do special things because everyday is a gift.
This cold spell has granted me hours in the house sipping hot
chocolate and snuggling..
Oh to teach my children to enjoy the everydays and not just
the special occasion days.
To carry into their homes that you have a reason to celebrate cold days,
hot days, rainy days.........hard days.
So many of us moms stay so busy we are like the cold
temperatures out side.
Frigid.
We forget to play.
We forget to be silly.
We forget to teach our kids to love the simple things.
We're uptight and task-orientated. We're always gripping and
complaining and our kids notice.
Our husbands notice..
It's always about us
and everyone knows it...
Then we grow old
with frown and worry lines and
we wonder why our adult children don't want to be around us.
I'll stick to my laugh lines that are slowly forming around my eyes
and I'll risk it all to make them deeper and laugh longer.
Lord willing, my children will learn to laugh and when they're
older they will notice they look like me, laugh lines and all.

Friday, January 8, 2010

The light they will remember around our table

The darkness settles and we look forward to it.
The lights are turned out one by one
as we put our feast on our family table.
It's not much, a pot of soup that has
warmed our home by it's smell for hours.
*
We come looking forward to the warmth
of the food and the candles and a father
who covers us with the word of God.
All things that keep us warm.
*
There is something about looking across
a candle-lit table into the eyes of your
children. Catching a glimpse of your husbands
smile as he listens to a story told by his 3 year old
stirs my love for him and helps me remember why
I fell in love in the first place.
*
Reminding my daughter that these tradtions
in her own home
will be what's remembered.
The night time feast.
*
The homemade bread and homemade butter
that sit and wait to be enjoyed.
*
We linger.
*
We get out another candle and it's an invitation
to stay at our table for alittle longer.




Thursday, January 7, 2010

We're poisoning our own waterhole




Words spoken that can't be taken back.


Words that had no business being said in the first place hanging


in the door frames of our homes..........






"They say alot of things can destroy Churches in America but one of the


most deadliest is Gossip.


Teaching our children to love one another is hard enough without them


seeing us pretend to love and then talking about the very people we are supposed


to love.


There is a church in North Carolina that has a rule. If you are caught gossiping


you are given one chance and then you're out of the Church. You and your whole family. How many churches would you and I have gone through by now?


Talking about the Elders or the pastor, the families in our church that are supposed


to be our brothers and sisters in Christ. Saying things that should not have been thought, much less said out loud.


Speech is the one area that shows more disrespect then any other area.


If we can teach our children to keep their mouths closed and not to talk so much we would teach them a lifelong lesson in humility.




Gossip kills love. Gossip kills community. Gossip will kill our homes.


You and I can't live a double standard in front of our children. We will be liars


in front of them. They will grow up to be hypocrites like us. Only pretending to love.


Only pretending to care so that the juicy tidbits can be morsels to our innermost beings.




So what is gossip? Gossip is what you say behind someones back


that you would not say to their face.




This can include gossiping about our children, about our husbands, friends.. Some people


believe that a husband and wife can gossip behind closed doors, this is not true because


the husband can defile his wife and the wife her husband.




How do we stop gossiping?


Self control! We have to keep our thoughts on the Lord and over look peoples


faults as it concerns us.


When we get in the habit of loving others their faults become


less and less."






Scott Brown Gossip Cd by vision forum






As I listened to this CD my heart was breaking.


My home has been defiled by gossip.


My heart has been defiled by gossip.


I have defiled other people by my words.


I have set a bad example for my children.


I'm usually a very positive person and look for the best in others


but on the occasion that I did not build others up I tore down.






As parents we often worry about the influences of others children on our children but if we're honest we should worry more about our own influence on our kids.




We're poisoning our own waterhole.....










Monday, January 4, 2010

Lessons I'm trying to learn on the farm....


Grow in love.
I ask that my love be more intense, more practical,
influencing every thought,word, and deed.
I want to Grow also in humility.
Seeking to lie very low and know more of my own
nothingness.....
Charles Spurgeon

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