the little things

You know in the movie Bambi when Thumper says that his mom taught him "If you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all"? Well, that's why it's been a little quiet around here lately...

But, I've been trying to focus on the positives, the blessings, the things that make me smile, the little things. So here are a few, some accompanied with less that stellar photographs.

::I went for a run today and actually lasted 20 minutes. That's huge for me. I learned that Thousand Foot Krutch is great music to run to. Thanks Adam, for putting that on my iPod.

::On Friday evening, Mark decided he wanted to make an art gallery. He put some classical music in his CD player, pulled out his water colors and painted the 'Monkey Lisa'. How can you not smile at that?

::I got to make a new friend an iced latte. Like I said, it's the little things that make me happy.

::This verse... "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you." 1 Peter 5:6-7 There is so much here, but the two things that I really needed to focus on this week were my need to humble myself before the Lord in regards to all that I've got going on in my heart, and that He cares for me. He really and truly cares for me! And you!

::It might be little, but it's so nice to have a pool in the backyard to cool off in when it's 103 degrees outside. UGH!

::I get to go grocery shopping at Trader Joe's and buy yummy dark chocolate covered almonds and drink free coffee.

first day of school

Can you tell which one wasn't too happy to be heading off to school this morning?

speaking of change...

Sometimes when we change things, they don't end up looking the way we thought they would.

change

So I've learned something about myself the last couple months.

I love change... that I can control.

Like changing the background on my blog way too often. :)

I've always said that I thrive on change. I've always loved to move, explore new places, meet new people, etc. I realized that all the times I've done that in the past, it's been because I chose to be doing that at that time. This time, it was chosen for me. It was most definitely not what I wanted right now and not what I thought was best.

I'm so thankful for the last several weeks of the Lord softening my heart and continually putting me at peace and bringing me things to remind me that He knows best and that He is in control of the change. This has been a difficult season for sure, but I've grown much closer to Him and I wouldn't change that for anything.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord,

plans to prosper you and not to harm you..."

Jeremiah 29:11

He knows best, and while it isn't always easy or enjoyable, His intentions are not to harm me, and there is so much comfort in that.

baptism and blessings

One of the things that I was not looking forward to about leaving Fort Collins and moving to CA was how congested everything here is. I loved the wide open spaces that were so easily accessible to me in FC.

Well, of course God knows that. He knows my heart and it's desires. So guess what's just minutes from my house? WIDE OPEN SPACES. And after driving about half and hour, we came to a beautiful area called the Putah Creek.

We had our picnic lunch and then walked down the trail

to this...

It was so peaceful. The water was pretty cold, but the kids had a great time playing and getting really dirty.

It was such a great spot that Adam asked Ron to baptize him right there. I ended up not getting any pictures because I was taking video the whole time, but here's Adam and his dog, before getting dunked.

I'm so thankful for the blessing of that day. The peace and quiet. The wide open spaces and feeling like we were away from everything. And getting to watch my husband baptize my oldest child.

• Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,

• to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Ephesians 3:20-21

Here's Tatum. She couldn't stand not being in the water with Ron and jumped right in.

center

This morning in church we sang a song by Chris Tomlin and Charlie Hall called "Center". I've sung the chorus over and over in my head all day, and have thought about how this has been my overwhelming desire lately, I just couldn't quite put words to my feelings. I've spent too much of my life making it all about me and then wondering why I'm not experiencing the relationship with the Lord that I want to be experiencing and know that I can be experiencing.

By God's grace, He has been slowly but surely chipping away at me, so there is more room for Him. Even though it's been painful, I'm so thankful for it.

Here is the chorus of the song. I changed a few of the words to personalize and make it my prayer to Him.

Christ, be the center of my life
Be the place I fix my eyes
Be the center of my life

prayer request

With a lump in my throat from looking at this picture, I'm asking you to pray that our house in Colorado would sell.

There is a showing tomorrow (Saturday) and my cry to the Lord is that this is it. That these are the people that He knows are supposed to be in this home.

This house was a wonderful home for us for five years and holds so many dear memories but, it's time for us to make new memories in a new place.

It would lift such a burden off our shoulders to have this house sold. It would be the confirmation that we really need right now that we did the right thing by moving here. It's been a bit of a roller coaster week, with many opportunities to rely on the Lord and keep our focus on Him and not ourselves, and it would just be such a sweet ending to the week to have an offer on the house.

Thank you so much for praying with me. May the Lord's will be done!

softball & blessings

This past weekend we drove down to San Jose to watch my uncle play in a senior softball tournament. He and his team-mates traveled all the way out here from New Jersey to compete. It was pretty impressive to see all these 70+ year old men running around the field. It was inspiring to say the least. We met my parents there at the game and then they came back to our house for the night. It was a whirlwind visit, but still good to see them.

At some point over the weekend I noticed a softening in my heart and my bad attitude fading away. Praise the LORD! He really helped me to take the focus off of me and put it back on Him where it belongs. He blessed me with two conversations Sunday morning that reminded me of how He's totally in control and often does things that, while they seem to us to be crazy and whirlwind and not good timing, He's still very much in it and is doing it for a reason. A reason that we may or may not ever know.

While I am still sad to have left what felt like home and I miss my friends terribly, I have a renewed excitement for what it is that God has for us here and I don't want to miss His blessings just because I'm being stubborn and crabby.

I have prayed many times over the last several months that we would know for sure that we are in His will and not making the wrong choice by moving. I was reading 1 Thessalonians this morning and was so encouraged to read this verse with a new perspective.

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

1 Thess. 5:16-18

I forget that He tells me right there in scripture what His will is for me. To always be joyful, praying and giving thanks. No matter what. It doesn't matter where I am, if I'm doing those things and keeping my eyes on Him, I'm in His will.

just plain ugly

I've got a bad attitude. A really bad one. It's been festering and I'm apparently not laying it down at the foot of the cross, even though I keep confessing it and telling the Lord that I don't want to hang on to it. That I want Him to take it away. Far, far away.

This morning I was reading the devotional Streams in the Desert (thank you Sarah Dawn for reminding me that I have that!) and I read this poem. I wish I could tell you that it knocked me upside the head and set my attitude straight. It didn't. God and I are still working on it. But it was very, very encouraging to me, especially the last paragraph, and I wanted to share it with you.

He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater,

He sendeth more strength when the labors increase;

To added affliction He addeth His mercies,

To multiplied trials His multiplied peace.

When we have exhausted our store of endurance,

When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,

When we reach the end of our hoarded resources

Our Father's full giving is only begun.

His love has no limit, His grace has no measure,

His power no boundary known unto men;

For out of His infinite riches in Jesus

He giveth and giveth and giveth again.

Annie Johnson Flint

I'm so thankful that God has limitless love, mercy, grace and patience with me. I seem to be needing it in abundance these days.

speechless

I don't even know what to say, but had to post this picture that Kate took of Adam last night. They were running around being so goofy and super excited that I baked cookies and was making home made ice cream. Yeah, I totally flaked on dinner and made up for it with dessert. You get one or the other around here...

parlez vous francais?

My kids crack me up! They're playing Cranium Kabooki on the Wii in french. Too funny!

While their mother is messing with her blog when she should be feeding them lunch and getting ready for the meeting at the school she has in less than an hour.

Hmmm... somebody is doing a really good job at wasting time today!

restoration

Thank you all so much for your prayers and kind and encouraging words you've shared with me over this past week. God has heard and answered and I'm doing much better.

So much better in fact that I had the energy and motivation to unpack some more boxes, and guess what?! I have a family room! Woo Hoo! I should have taken a before picture to give you the perspective, but trust me, you wouldn't have known this room was here before. It was that bad.

I've spent quite a bit of time in the Psalms this past week and it's been exactly what I needed. There were many verses that really spoke to me and I jotted them down to help them stick a little better, but one in particular really hit me for some reason. It's Psalm 51:12 and it says,

"Restore to me the JOY of your salvation,

and uphold me with a willing spirit."

I'm so thankful that not only does the LORD give us the joy that can only come from Him, but He will bring it back to us when we cry out to Him.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Here's to a new week, seeking the LORD and all He has for us.

"But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge..." Psalm 73:28