Count Your Blessings

This year, probably more than any other year before, I am really meditating on all the blessings I am thankful for. Our lives have been showered with innumerable blessings, many of them in just the last few weeks. When I'm having a rough day and feeling sorry for myself, my mom always tells me to count my blessings. I'm not having a rough day of any kind, but I still want to write 'em out.

I'm thankful for...

a God who loves me unconditionally, who loves me inspite of myself, and who loves me so much that He saved me from a life cursed with sin and regret and gave me a life full of hope, joy, grace, and peace,

a godly husband whose love for me I never, ever have to question; a husband who loves sacrificially and without reservation, who has done whatever it takes to be an excellent provider for his family, and who makes me feel special and beautiful even when I'm not acting like it,

a wonderful son who changed my life from the moment I knew he existed, who loves to snuggle and cuddle and tell me how much he loves me, who causes me to savor each moment, and whose smile and laugh are contagious,

a beautiful daughter who is the fulfillment of a lifelong dream, who is girly and sweet and always kind, who stretches me to think in ways I've never thought and see things in a different light, and who can light up a room with her smile and precious personality,

a mother who is generous, still willing to sacrifice even for her grown children, whose arms are always open, who loves her grandchildren with a fiery passion, and who makes me feel at home wherever she is,

a set of the best in-laws a girl could ask for, whose home is always ready and waiting for everyone, who love me and accept me just as I am while continually challenging me to be better, who are passionate about God and praying His will for their children, and who love without question,

a church family that is supportive and generous, who are always there for each other, and who serve each other and the community with zeal,

a home of my own, good health, financial provision, two reliable cars, plenty of food, that I can educate my children at home, an extended family that are as close as brothers and sisters, friends all over the world who make life fun and interesting, and so many more than I could never count!

At the end of this Thanksgiving Day, what's a thing or two you're especially thankful for?

Service Opportunity

This past summer, David and I each got an email from his parents with their Christmas wishlist. You might think, "Wow, that's a bold move. Emailing a wishlist to your kids? Impressive. And slightly upfront." Well, if you knew our familly, you would know that that's exactly how things are around here. We don't joke around about our gifts or our gift-giving. I don't want to end up with a pair of purple ear muffs with matching gloves, so I better be direct about what I want from the folks. In fact, my Apron post was one of the less subtle ways I've advertised my wants.

Anyway, back to last July's email. Their one and only request for Christmas to each of their kids and their kids' spouses was that each of us would find a way to serve others and actively involve our children. Whether it was serving food to the homeless or shopping for an angel on the Salvation Army tree or giving time or money to a family in need, the two criteria were that our entire family had to be involved and we had to prove it with pictures.

My husband and my mother are both employed by Faith City Ministries--a local ministry that ministers to the homeless and less fortunate by serving them three meals a day, seven days a week, providing temporary shelter to women with children and overnight shelter for homeless men, and by giving out clothing to adults and children in need. This ministry also has faith-based, year-long drug and alcohol addiction rehabilitation programs for both men and women. The men and women live at the ministry, are assigned different jobs around the ministry, and attend biblically based classes to get them over their addiction to drugs and alcohol. They live expense-free because all their housing, meals, and clothing are provided for them. It's a really, really awesome place to work or volunteer.

My mother-in-law is the director of another, very similar but slightly smaller, benevolence ministry about 45 minutes from where we live. Living Water serves the people of her town by giving food and clothing, as well as preaching the Gospel to everyone who enters the building and giving spiritual guidance when requested. They also give out special bags of food at Thanksgiving and Christmas so that those who may not be able to afford a turkey or ham and all the trimmings can have a blessed holiday meal. And, before school starts each year, they provide hundreds of children with school supplies. Living Water is also a very awesome place to work or volunteer.

One problem Dave and I did not have was finding a place for our family to serve. We would've loved to serve at both (and have in small ways in the past), but our big present to his parents was today. Our entire family sang for Faith City's Thanksgiving chapel service. The kids have learned several hymns and older songs in school this term, and we knew all these people would probably know songs like "Amazing Grace" and "Nothing But the Blood of Jesus." David played the guitar, and I stood behind the kids to help them with words in case they got nervous or forgot. But Ryan and Addilyn were the real stars today. We got more pictures, but this is the only one I've uploaded so far:




It's so interesting and cute that my kids are making the exact same expression. They had so much fun and were begging to sing more songs, since we only did three. They were also very prepared to recite their memorized poems and Bible verses, but they didn't get the opportunity. In addition to singing, Ryan, Addilyn and I also put candy out for people who don't normally have the luxury of candy. I think the kids enjoyed that as much as the singing; and they didn't even try to eat one piece!

I'm very thankful that our family had the opportunity to bless some pretty sweet people this morning. Merry Christmas, Andy and Becky! Your Christmas wish was a great gift for our family too!

Blogs From History: Post 3

Here's another blog post from the archives. This one's dated December 28, 2006. The interesting thing about this particular post is that I wrote it right at the beginning of our journey. We had just sold our home not even one month before. God had just confirmed to us that we were to move to Dallas so David could attend CFNI, and we were living in David's parents' basement during the month between the sale of our house and our moving day to Dallas. Everything about our lives was a whirlwind, but one thing was steadfast: we knew that we knew we had heard from God, and we were following and obeying with a fiery passion. We were (and still are, thankfully) so sold-out, so committed to do whatever He asked of us. Little did we know how much that passion and obedience would be blessed over and over and over again for the next three years. What I knew even less was how much that faith and passion would be tried and tested over and over for the next three years.

I was just taking a bath in the whirlpool tub and reading a book to keep my mind off some stuff. I don't normally read in the bath for fear of dropping my reading material in the water, but tonight I just needed to chill. My in-laws keep several books in a basket in their bathroom, so I just grabbed one out to read. The first page I turned to had this quote one it: "Mr. Webster, can you comprehend how Jesus Christ could be both God and man?"

Daniel Webster responded, No sir, I cannot comprehend it; and I would be ashamed to acknowledge Him as my Savior if I could comprehend it. If I could comprehend him, he would be no greater than myself, and such is my conviction of accountability to God, such is my sense of sinfulness before him, and such is my knowledge of my own incapacity to recover myself, that I feel I need a superhuman Savior.

Recently some friends and family of ours have been discussing God and a need to understand Him, His word, His truth, and who He is. Some opinions that we've heard are as follows:

"I don't know that I can believe that there is a Trinity"..."How could Jesus be born of a virgin?"..."Because the Bible was written by man, it couldn't be 100% accurate"..."Creation was not spoken into existence, it could've been thought into existence."

Anyway, we debated and debated until I was sick of debating. I would like to state that I don't believe any of those opinions, but I greatly respect the persons who gave those views because they think on a much deeper level than I do. I believe that God's word is absolute truth. If Genesis 1 says that God said, "Let there be light and there was light" then I believe that's exactly how it happened. God SPOKE it and so it was. If the Word says that Jesus was born of a virgin, then I believe it. I absolutely and totally believe 100% of the Bible from cover to cover. It is the God-breathed truth that the Lord of all creation gave us to live by, learn by, and think by. But, back to the quote...

Who am I to question whether God's Word is true or not? Even if I were to question it's validity, it would still be proven true to me either by facts or by the Holy Spirit Himself. The Bible is the ONLY book in history to have never been disproven despite the efforts of thousands of men and women to disprove it. God is so much bigger than me. His thoughts are higher than my thoughts and His ways are higher than my ways. How can I, a small, mortal, insignificant person comprehend the mind of a huge, immortal Creator? It's impossible!

Lately, I've been doubting God's provision in our finances. We're going through quite a large transition right now, and David hasn't had a job in a month. So, we have no income. God has been so faithful thus far to provide all of our needs, a roof over our heads, food to eat, and bills that are paid. But, being the small, insignificant person that I am, I've been doubting that the same God who provides food for the birds will provide financially for me. Shame on me! His word doesn't tell me how He will provide, just that He WILL provide. It's a promise and therefore, He has to stick to it. In Malachi 3, the Lord even goes as far as to say that if we are faithful in our tithes and offerings, He will "open the windows of heaven and pour out such a blessing that there won't be room enough to contain it." How incomprehensible is that? I don't know how it's possible, but by faith, I have to completely expect that He can cause the skies to open and pour down provision for me and my family. That's bigger than I can wrap my mind around. Faith isn't something I can "think" out. It's something I have to walk out. I have to trust that even if I can't see Him, He's there and He's able to "do exceedingly and abundantly above all that I can ask or imagine" (Eph. 3:20). He's so incomprehensible that I can't even imagine the wonders He's capable of. If only I could just get out of the way and let Him do His thing. God help me to do that! So, because of my sinfulness, because of my incapacity to recover myself, because of my smallness, I need a superhuman Savior. I need a God who can come up with things that are unimaginable and impossible to the human mind because He's the only One who can carry those incomprehensible things out.

I'm so thankful that God has proved His faithfulness to me countless times during this journey. I also continue to be amazed and grateful for His greatness and incomprehensibility. I am still just as incapable to recover myself, thus my constant need for a superhuman Savior.

It's Me Again

I cannot believe it's been two weeks since my last post! Oh the guilt. You have no idea. I've never gone so long without posting, and the sad thing is that I've really had things to write about.

A lot has happened in the last two weeks (i.e. we're moved!). That's right, folks. We're no longer living off the good charity of my mother. We are on our own again like real adults. And I cannot tell you how simply delightful it is!

Unpacking all our stuff again for the first time in 15 months was like the best Christmas/birthday/anniversary/baby shower I've ever had--combined. Some of that stuff we hadn't seen in three, count 'em, three years. Like our candlesticks, all my crystal, my fabulous collection of vintage books. And our Ocean's 11 and 12 DVDs. There may also have been some VHS tapes in the mix that were sadly boxed back up for lack of a VCR.

The kids love our new home. They have had no trouble sleeping or sleep walking or any of that weird stuff. If the wind will ever quit blowing (Keep dreaming, Lindsey. This is West Texas.), we might actually get to enjoy the basketball court and playground that are mere feet away from our front door.

I didn't realize how much I relied on the internet for contact beyond my four walls until I had to live without access, except for my iPhone, for a whole week. iPhones are great, but there just isn't a substitute for a desk, an LCD monitor and a real keyboard. And speakers! I haven't even been able to listen to my own blog music for a week.

Anyway, now that you know I am, in fact, alive; that I haven't abandoned my blog; and that I am finally reconnected to the cyber world, you can look forward to more frequent future posts. And you can rest easy knowing said posts are coming, not from someone else's living room, but from my very own place!

Thank you all for your support and prayers as we trekked along this seemingly inconvenient path for the last 15 months. And thanks for reading and following along faithfully.

Get Well Soon

I'm not normally a germophobe. My family is notorious for drinking after one another and feeding our kids from our own forks. Heck, my kids have shared sippy cups since Addie was off the bottle. And, we're very rarely sick. I give credit for that fact to three sources: 1.) God has blessed our family with great health and is constantly protecting us from all the yucky bugs out there. 2.) We see our chiropractor twice a week. A well-adjusted spine is essential to good health. (I thought our chiropractors might appreciate that little plug there.) And 3.) I believe our sharing of cups and forks and such has contributed to strong immune systems because we've all been openly exposed to whatever the others might have picked up from the Walmart shopping cart or the mall playground.

Today, however, my poor momma woke up with a nasty cough, some interestingly colored congestion, and body aches. She was a smart girl to stay home from work, but I'm sure she's questioned that decision more than once today. Why, you ask. Because I have restricted her use of the house to her bedroom and bathroom. Because I have strictly limited her contact with my babies to verbal communication only. Because I am pouring garlic and lemon and probiotics down her. Because I have forbidden her from taking Tylenol or Advil so that, if she gets a fever, her body can do its thing and fight whatever she's got. By golly, if we're going to be sick we might as well just let our bodies do what God created them to do and fight it with a fever. No sense in dragging it on for a week. I want the woman to get well, and pronto. This is our last week to live with her, and I need her to be 100% herself.

I doubt she's got the flu since she doesn't have a fever, but man, with all the flu junk that's been going on, I'm certainly not going to risk it. So I have conceded to give this house one hard-core cleaning. I filled up one side of the sink with Pine Sol and the other side with bleach water, and I've been going at it for the last few hours. Light switches, cabinet fronts, counter tops, drawer pulls, the floors, faucets, door knobs--you name it, it's either been bleached or Pine Solled (can I use that as a verb?). I'm also doing all the laundry and washing all our bedding. I figure if a germ can live on a door knob, it can probably live in my laundry hamper too.

Mom, if you're reading this, we're all hoping and praying you get well really soon! We've got a busy week ahead of us, and we need you to be well!

Blogs From History: Post 2

As promised, here is another Blog From History, dated September 16, 2006:

In October of last year, David and I did something we said we'd never do. It was something we had said before we even knew each other that we would never own. Almost a year ago, David and I went car shopping and bought a minivan. As we drove our 2005 Ford Freestar off the lot, we asked ourselves, "What did we just do?" And in the same breath we were proud of ourselves. It was the first car we had ever bought together. It was one of those momentous occasions you have as a married couple when you do something big together. We got the same feeling when we bought our house, the day we found out we were having a baby, and then another baby. We've had a love/hate relationship with our van, but the purpose of this blog is to tell you (and remind ourselves) of why we love it.

For those of you who don't know, I wrecked our van last month. I was driving along, minding my own business, and before I knew it, my bumper was in the other guy's rear (of his truck, that is.) I now know that you must mind everyone else's business when you drive. It was a really bad day for us, and for the minivan. Praise God the kids and I were okay! Well, our beloved and behated van has been in the repair shop for the past six weeks, and I've been driving my parent's Excursion. We just picked up our almost totalled car from the repair shop yesterday, and after driving it 90 miles, I can actually make a list of why I love the minivan again:

1. As we filled it up with gas (yes gas, the Excursion was diesel), I was so very thankful to be paying $2.33 a gallon instead of $2.79 a gallon. While we had the Excursion, diesel prices got as high as $3.09 per gallon! Such a rip off since the thing only got, at it's greatest, 13.1 miles to the gallon.

2. Driving the Excursion was what I would imagine driving a public transit bus would be like. As grateful as we were to have something to get around in, I felt like it would've been appropriate for a little STOP sign to pop out of the side of the vehicle every time I stopped. That thing was HUGE! It even had this little sensor that beeped when you backed up and got too close to something. Remember how school buses beeped when they were in reverse? Well, my van is nothing like public transportation. It's big enough for our family, but small enough that I can turn a corner and actually stay in the same lane.

3. I could park without having to back up, realign, pull forward, peek over the gigantic hood, back up again, and creep into a parking space. This is what parking an Excursion is like. While driving it, I finally got to where I would park away from everything so I could take up 2 spaces and avoid all the annoying issues that arise when driving such a bulky piece of equipment.

4. With our minivan, putting the kids into carseats is a breeze. With an Excursion, you need a ladder to put kids, groceries, and yourself in. Such a relief, especially on your back, to not have to stand on a step and bend over to get something into the car!

5. One of the main reasons we bought that van is because it has a DVD player. For those of you who don't know my son, let me tell you that he loves TV. Not just a little either. That DVD player has saved my life, and probably countless other lives more than I can count. The Excursion has no DVD player. Curse you Excursion.

6. Riding in a school bus is not a smooth ride. Neither is riding or driving an Excursion. It's not a very quiet ride either. My van is smooth and quiet--two qualities that you come to appreciate when children are sleeping in the back.

7. Finally, tonight as I drove home at 11:30, I looked back in the "kid" mirror and saw my 2 angels sleeping. I remembered when we were considering the purchase of our van that I was amazed at that little mirror. I no longer had to twist my neck to see what the children were up to. It was in looking into that mirror tonight and watching them sleep, that I became truly grateful for our minivan. Driving in the car that WE bought together, with the children that WE had together, reminded me of how blessed I am with such an amazing family. No, that van doesn't make us a family, but we feel like such a family in it and everywhere we go.

In summation, I'm sure in the future there will be more times of hating the van more than loving it. Like, for example, when I see people with kids that can afford the expensive 2007 Suburban or Yukon that we can't afford. Or, when we run into someone from high school or college that is driving their sports car or truck and we feel like idiots in a minivan. Those times will come inevitably, however, while we have that van, we're going to have fun in it, be a family in it, and drive the heck out of it. Maybe our next car won't be a van, maybe it will. I remember people calling me a "soccer mom" for driving a van, and my kids aren't even old enough to play soccer. Hey, I don't mind being a soccer mom, or a football mom, ballet mom, car-pool mom, or any other kind of mom. I can be all of those things and not drive a minivan. But until someone comes up with a family car more practical, with more space that gets better gas mileage, I'm going to drive our van. So drive on Minivan Moms, drive on.

In case you're wondering, we no longer have that van. In March of 2008, we bought another car. Another minivan with a kid mirror. And I still love driving a van.

Blogs From History: Post 1

I'm going to give you a tasting of my very first blog posts--before I knew about Blogger, before Facebook existed, back when MySpace was still cool. That's right, I blogged on MySpace. And because some of these posts are full of amazing, warm and fuzzy memories and others are full of the ups and downs of my walk as a believer in Christ, I'm going to transfer them, one by one, to this blog. Because it's going to be fun and interesting and emotional. Ok, maybe no one else will be emotional about it but me, but I can assure you of the fun and interesting part.

Without further adieu, the following is the very first blog I ever published, dated July 25, 2006:

After reading my sister-in-law Amy's blog about her family, I got inspired to write one of my own. So here goes... I love everything about my family. I love how Ryan says "Hi Momma" like 150 times a day. I love how Addie puts her lambs ear up to her nose and smells it to go to sleep. I love that Addie raises her hands and "praises the Lord." I love how Ryan calls his sister "bitty girl." I love that Ryan knows all the words to the Veggie Tales song and Elmo's song, and LarryBoy's song, and the ABCs. I love how Addie claps her hands. I look forward to David coming home from work because both kids go as fast as they can to get to their daddy. I love how my kids are the best of friends and play together so well. I love how Addie eats everything and is so healthy. I love how much energy Ryan has and keeps me on my feet all day. I am married to the most wonderful man in the world. He is the best daddy to our children. He always puts his family first, and our babies adore him. So do I.

Even though I'd love to sleep in, I love that my kids are my alarm clock. Even though it's not so socially acceptable, I love that Ryan still has his passy because it keeps a little bit of baby in him. I love that Addie's cry still sounds like a newborn sometimes. I love that Ryan is so sociable and friendly to everyone, and he likes to talk on the phone. I love that Addie follows her brother around everywhere he goes and tries so hard to keep up with him. I love how David and Ryan wrestle, but then David is so gentle with Addie, and plays with her like the baby girl that she is. I love fixing Addie's hair and putting all the cute bows in her pigtails. I love each stage that my kids go through and I never wish them on to the next phase of life too quickly. I only have one chance with each of them and I want to treasure every moment. Being a mom is the best job I've ever had. It's a dream come true to watch my kids grow and learn and try new things. Every experience they have is a first experience, and I get to witness it all! God has blessed me with my soulmate, my helper, comforter, and someone who constantly makes me laugh. I love that he works so hard to provide for our family, but that He knows that ultimately, God is our source. I love my husband and my babies more than life. I know what my parents meant when they used to say, "You'll know what we're talking about when you have kids of your own someday." It's true. I've never been so overwhelmed with love than when I hold my babies, kiss them goodnight, hear Ryan say "amen" at the end of our night-night prayers, watch Addie hold her bottle, and hear David breathing while he sleeps. I am so blessed. If the Lord never gave me another thing, having my family would be more than enough.

At the time of publication, we lived in our adorable home in Hereford. We were deeply involved at our wonderful church there with David leading worship almost every Sunday. Ryan was two and a half, and Addilyn had just celebrated her first birthday. Saying that a few things have changed in our lives and circumstances since then would be the understatement of the century. I'm still grateful for my family and our love for each other--that's something that will never, ever change.

Stay tuned. More Blogs From History are coming soon!