His Mercy is New

counting...

2012-02-13T06:36:00.004-05:00

thanking God for every little gift He bestows...counting my blessings...

making valentine's with the kids

a lunch/valentine party with our small group families

watching the little girls open and look at all their valentine's together - they were SO cute and SO sweet - I forget how FUN it was to exchange valentine's when I was younger!!

decluttering

"break my heart for what breaks Yours...everything I am for Your kingdom's cause..." -- love this song!

our pets - they bring so much joy, laughter and FUN to our household (even though sometimes they are annoying! ha!)

looking forward to a valentine date with my forever valentine. :) thanks, mom!!

looking forward with excitement about going to THIS conference in a few weeks with a dear friend!! the both of us and our 6 kids in one van! FUN!!

dunkin donuts groupons - yum.

books, books, more books...i love reading!!

a warm, electric blanket on a cooooold night!!

prayers, hugs, words of encouragement on a Sunday morning. i love church. it is so obvious to me WHY we NEED each other!!

#3015 - 3026

InstaFriday

2012-02-10T07:50:00.004-05:00

A little glimpse into our week from pictures on my ipod touch.

football cookies for the super bowl!

sweet brother/sister pic...they don't always get a long!

but sometimes at night they will snuggle. :)

i love it!

we painted jupiter this week!! (more details coming)

making valentines

memorizing james has been SO good!!

More thoughts on BlogHer...

2012-02-09T16:06:00.002-05:00

After posting this (my disappointment in BlogHer after the Susan Komen & Planned Parenthood saga) I received a very gracious, personal email from one of the managers at BlogHer. She also shared a few links from around BlogHer that were sharing the opposing viewpoint that I had missed in my previous searches.

I told this sweet manager that I would reconsider leaving BlogHer. And here is why...

I have prayed about this blog ever since I started it. Yes, I have. I want my blog to be a ministry. I want my blog to point others to God.

If there is one small chance that I could somehow be a light to anyone clicking around on BlogHer, I want to do that. Honestly, that is my heart...

Kate Wicker and I emailed back and forth about this very topic. If all of the Christians leave BlogHer, what does that say? Where does that leave our Christian, pro-life, or any other Godly perspective on the issues of today?

I don't have all the answers...but I wanted to share this change of heart and the response that BlogHer graciously gave me. I wanted to share my heart...I'm still praying about this decision, but overall, for today I feel peace regarding this.

Seeking His face,

Tidbits on Faith...

2012-02-09T08:57:00.005-05:00

So my word for this year is FAITH. God has been gently nudging my heart in this area of my life in a few ways...and I thought I'd share a few links with you. Instead of waiting for the perfectly written, beautifully worded post, I want to share little tidbits of my journey - mostly for my own memory's sake! I'm so forgetful, and if I put down even the smallest things God is showing me or books I'm reading, at the end of the year, hopefully I will have a bigger picture of all that God taught me about FAITH.

You may remember that I am memorizing James chapter 1 right now with my children. I just want to encourage each of you moms out there - MEMORIZE SCRIPTURE with your children!!! You will never know the blessings you are missing out on by not doing this!! I can't tell you how God has blessed my heart, grown me, stretched me and TAUGHT ME through this time each morning.

For instance, we've been working on the first few verses of James since a few months ago. We kind of put it aside and went on to other verses. (We had memorized the "consider it pure joy..." portion. Well, we have picked it back up and are going further now, we are through verse 11 right now.

We are taking it slowly...but God has given us SO many conversations regarding PERSEVERANCE from this passage that I know His timing is perfect. We have discussed and discussed what perseverance means. I have shared with my children that parenting is one of the biggest lessons in perseverance that I've ever had in my life. We have talked about how they have to persevere in learning long division and piano practice. :) It has been so neat for me to see the very words of God COME ALIVE in our everyday moments!!

Talk about a FAITH boost!! :) God is so good!

Other than memorizing the passage in James, I am also watching the James: Mercy Triumphs
DVD sessions that Beth Moore is teaching on the book. I started out watching at church, but with Belize and sick children I couldn't get there every week, so I'm checking the DVD's out from our church library and really enjoying watching these and taking notes at home. These teaching sessions are PERFECT for my growing in FAITH this year. James has so much to say about faith!!

Finally, I am also reading Angie Smith's What Women Fear: Walking in Faith that Transforms. I really love her writing! As you can see in the subtitle, walking in FAITH that transforms, this book also fits perfectly with what God is teaching me and showing me this year. I do not struggle a whole lot with fear. I do praise Him that this isn't one of my huge struggles, I have plenty of others to choose from. :) But, this book has been SO good in showing me that while I may not have many specific fears that I obsess about, I do have weaker faith in some specific areas. I love that this book explains how FAITH is the opposite of FEAR. Wow. Good stuff.

God has been so gracious to give me these little (or not so little) lessons on faith. He has already grown my faith by answering prayers very specifically in several areas, especially my recent trip to Belize. I think answered prayers are a HUGE boost of faith!

He also grows my faith by allowing me to grasp His timing in things...just little things, like my friend Debbie offering to loan me her kindle book by Angie Smith. God's timing was perfect! Little things like discussing perseverance with my children and actually NEEDING those words from James 1 to teach my children.

Little things are really huge in our faith-walk with God. They seem little, they seem like coincidences, but they are so much more...they are love letters from God...life lessons in faith...God growing me and stretching me. I'm so thankful.

Motherhood: Lessons in Simple Joys

2012-02-08T07:21:00.001-05:00

One thing that God has definitely made me more aware of, since becoming a mother, is how precious the simple things are in life. He has given me JOY in the simple things. I don't think I ever paid as much attention before...having children has opened my eyes just a little bit wider.

Things I never knew to be thankful for...things I never knew would bring me joy...little things become huge things in the eyes of a mother!

that precious first smile

chubby thighs rolling over for the first time

first pigtails on girls that didn't come with much hair. :)

hearing your child sounding out those first words

spontaneous hugs and kisses

seeing, from the very beginning, that God created your child for a special purpose...watching as that unfolds

taking off the training wheels

prayers from the heart of children

hearing my kids recite Psalm 23...or any scripture

reading those favorite books again and again

Precious Lord, thank you for opening my eyes to your beauty in my children. Thank you for helping me to be thankful - even in the hard times - for the simplest joys that my children bring to my life. Help me to cherish each moment.

Motherhood Series: How he has changed me

Motherhood: A Humble Calling

Has it really been 10 years?

2012-02-07T07:13:00.002-05:00

Dearest Hannah, how can it be that you are turning 10 years old today?? It seems like it was just yesterday that we were watching your tiny little legs kick on that first ultrasound. You made me a mommy. You have taught me so much.

I want to share 10 ways that you are so special and loved...

1. You are not only my precious daughter, you are a sister in Christ! I was so proud of your decision to be baptized this past August! Nothing makes me happier than to know you are His.

2. You made me a mother...you will always be my first baby...my very happy and wonderful surprise!!

3. You love to paint. And I love to watch you paint! You are so good at it.

4. You are so very creative. Not only do you love to paint, but you really love to do anything with your hands: legos, crafts, knitting, drawing, building, creating...you love it all!

5. You are a very smart girl. You do such a great job with your school work and I'm so proud of you. You tell me that your favorite subject is writing! Oh I love to hear that! :)

6. You love being outside as much as you love creating things with your hands. Riding your bike, climbing trees, swinging high...enjoying God's creation. I love that you love to be outside!

7. You are very serious about memorizing God's Word and your Awanas verses!! I'm so proud of how persistent you are and how committed you are to doing this. I never even have to remind you, you choose to work on these things everyday on your own. God's Word is life to us...and it gives me such joy to see you reading it, memorizing it and working hard at it!

8. You love your daddy. You and daddy have a special relationship...and I love to watch you snuggle with him while we watch tv.

9. You always remember to pray for our sponsored children, Kenneth and Astrie. This makes my heart smile. You seem to know how important these 2 children are to us...and how important prayer is. I love that you remember them!

10. You have a strong, strong will. For years, we have struggled together with this strong will of yours. But, in my heart, I know that God gave you this personality and that He created you to do AWESOME things for Him! So, I pray to that end...that He would make you STRONG in your faith.

Happy 10th Birthday!! I love you so much!

thankfulness

2012-02-06T07:20:00.000-05:00

"So, then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness." Colossians 2:6-7

{Hannah's painting of my pretty pitcher!! she did a great job!}

from a heart overflowing with thankfulness...thanking Him for...

dear friends to just hang out with. and laugh with. :)

studying american history with my kids this year. i have been very surprised by how much i am actually enjoying it!!

the girls finally getting long division!! many praises!!

being able to share about my trip...I am SO not a speaker, but I honestly love the opportunity to tell others about what God did on our trip!! I feel responsible to come back and share all that people prayed for. Psalm 66 tells us to be faithful to share what He has done!!

yummy lasagna for dinner

getting an adaptor thingy so I can finally play all my ipod music in the van!! we have more good music on our computer and ipods than anywhere else. :)

thinking back on the last 10 years...my big girl is about to hit the double digits. trying to be thankful and not sad that she is growing up right before my very eyes!!

looking forward to a fun day with little girls at the ice skating rink!!

our choir family. such a blessing to worship together.

the James Bible Study by Beth Moore - I am loving this focus on James with memorization and the study!

sugar cookie footballs. :)

in His presence...there is peace.

#3003 - 3014

Susan Komen, Planned Parenthood & BlogHer

2012-02-05T15:49:00.002-05:00

I have been a happy member of BlogHer for several years now. I have enjoyed the small payments I have received from their ads on my sidebar. As a one income, homeschooling family...every little bit truly does help!!

However, with the recent saga concerning the Susan Komen foundation and Planned Parenthood, I feel that I must end my relationship with BlogHer.

I want to encourage any of you that are pro-lifer's to look into BlogHer's "non-partisan" stance as noted with posts like this and this.

I found not one post from a pro-life viewpoint on their site. This isn't something that I'm angry about, this is something that saddens me greatly.

I learned about this issue from Kate Wicker's wonderful blog post on this topic. I share her sentiment and she has a much more well-written post than I do, so I'm going to quote her here:

Finally, if, like me, you happen to be a pro-life blogger, I wonder how you feel about being a part of the BlogHer Publishing Network now. I have no intention of partaking in any mud-slinging here. I’ve been honored to be a part of this Network for several years now despite the fact that the main page for BlogHer frequently pushes ideals I don’t subscribe to. But they do include a diverse group of voices in their networks and people who are on both sides of the fence politically and some who don’t even know or care that there’s a political fence. Whatever their views, the caliber of bloggers in this network never fails to impress me. BlogHer and its founders and employees have built word by word, blog by blog, a tremendous social media community. The Network has empowered women from all walks of life as well as given us a voice – and a very powerful one at that. I’m also extremely indebted to BlogHer for paying me to engage in something I love to do, especially since so many organizations fail to put their money where their mouths are and ask writers to blog for free (and I am trained journalist by trade; this is my work). Likewise, I’ve enjoyed other perks of being a part of BlogHer such as receiving free samples, gift cards, review opportunities, etc. The publishing network also offered you great freedom in choosing the type of ads you wanted to appear on your site, so if a certain product – something that wasn’t environmentally friendly, contraception, etc. – wasn’t something you’d want to support, you could refuse it.
But this freedom, the paycheck, the other perks, and the sense of community cannot make up for my recent unease. Yesterday I received a BlogHer newsletter with a headlined piece written by BlogHer co-founder and CEO Lisa Stone. She wrote,
You know where BlogHer stands: We’re non-partisan because we exist to create a global stage where our bloggers can be sopartisan. And as an American, I’m religious about your right to free speech, no matter what side of the abortion issue you embrace.
That said, I must also share that I am horrified by this turn of events, at a time when America’s health care lags at #37 and exhibits dramatic differences based on race and income. Just as women are about more than our breasts, so is health care for women about more than abortions. [emphasis hers] Especially the kind of primary health care that Planned Parenthood has been providing for years to women and children who otherwise couldn’t afford it.
I hope the Susan G. Komen organization is listening.
Non-partisan? Well, I’ve loved writing as part of the BlogHer Publishing Network. That said, farewell.

InstaFriday

2012-02-03T06:31:00.002-05:00

A little glimpse into our week from pictures on my ipod touch.

For science we worked on edible mars rovers. :)

love my cute buddy boy.

Emily loves him too.

I complained on facebook about having no patience to repeat the steps in long division over and over again to a certain child. then, the next 2 days in a row BOTH girls got PERFECT scores on their division problems!! woo-hoo! maybe I ought to complain a little more often! HA!

This week it has been in the 60's and beautiful outside! Is it winter?!!?

Emily and I did some spring cleaning one day. This girl knows the way to her momma's heart...

a clean house. :)

Curriculum & Devotion books for sale!

2012-02-02T16:28:00.001-05:00

Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading - $15ppd, this is worn, the bottom right hand corner of pages is slightly chewed/torn. It does not prevent you from reading any of it.

Rod and Staff Beginning Wisely English 3 - $10ppd, hardback, student text

Emma Serl's Primary Language Lessons - $10ppd, hard back student text, great condition

A Picture Perfect Childhood by Cay Gibson - $15ppd - great condition

Long Story Short, Ten-Minute Devotions to Draw Your Family to God - $15ppd, great condition

Big Truths for Little Kids - $12ppd, hardback, great condition

Young Minds Numbers & Counting DVD from mathtutor.com - $12ppd, opened and watched 1x.

**I will accept paypal or a check. If you send a check I will probably just wait til it clears before mailing your items. Let me know if you are interested! :)

Thanks!

Books I've Read in 2012

2012-02-02T08:52:00.002-05:00

I would really, really like to keep track of what I'm reading. So, instead of just keeping a list of my favorites (which you can find here) I think I will keep an ongoing post on my blog of books I've read.

**I am trying to think of an easy way to share just tidbits of these books without doing a full blown review of each one...just to let you know if I enjoyed the book, if it was helpful, encouraging, etc. Eventually I hope to share more than just the titles with you. :)

Books I've Read in 2012

The Hunger Games
Catching Fire (The Second Book of the Hunger Games)
Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, Book 3)
Outlive Your Life: You Were Made to Make A Difference
Strengthen Yourself in the Lord: How to Release the Hidden Power of God in Your Life

Books I'm Reading Now

Interrupted: An Adventure in Relearning the Essentials of Faith
One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are (for the 2nd time)

Heartfelt Discipline: The Gentle Art of Training and Guiding Your Child
Reading God's Story: A Chronological Daily Bible
What Women Fear: Walking in Faith that Transforms

Wordless Wednesday

2012-02-01T09:07:00.001-05:00

{bathrooms in Belize}

Pinning it Down!! {pinterest love!}

2012-01-31T07:06:00.004-05:00

Sarah, at Amongst Lovely Things, had a great idea to share things we have tried from Pinterest! :) So, each Tuesday you can post on their weekly link-up about things you have actually accomplished thanks to Pinterest! In an effort to prove that Pinterest is NOT a time waster, I started a board over there called "Pins I've Tried" to show that I'm actually USING these ideas and not just wasting lots of time browsing. :)

This week I chose several things from my Valentine pin board to help get my home ready for Valentine's Day!

{this lovely free printable came from Little Birdie Secrets}

{this Valentine countdown came from Catholic Icing}

{this lovely valentine collage came from Putti}

{the Valentine votive holder came from Homemade Serenity}

Yay! My house is looking awfully LOVE-ly! I love Pinterest. :)

Project Life Tuesday (a little early)

2012-01-30T15:06:00.004-05:00

I have another post ready to go for tomorrow so I thought I'd go ahead and share some of my Project Life pages that I've been working on!! 2 weeks ago I shared my title page last week.

This first page has our annual New Year's Cake along with our first snow pictures! :)

This next page is just a regular sized page protector with some interviews I did with my kids in them. I found this cute little interview sheet on Pinterest, here is the original link! I absolutely LOVE looking back on pages like these!!

And this might be my FAVORITE Project Life page ever! :) It is the first of my Belize picture pages...I'm still working on the rest of my trip, but I love this first page! I was able to include my flight boarding pass, some Belizean money & coins and pictures all in one spot! I love it!

More Belize pictures...this is an entire page of the beautiful children I met there!

Another page from my Belize trip...

And then here is a banner that my kids had hanging up at home for me when I arrived back home! :) I folded it up and put it in a page protector. love!

My Supplies

**Project Life was created by Becky Higgins and is a very simple, but creative and beautiful way, to document your family's everyday moments. The simplicity of it is why I love it so. You can click on my Project Life category to see all my posts on this topic. If you would like to see more inspiration for very creative ways to add to your Project Life album with embellishments, look at this list of links. To purchase Project Life, you can go to Amazon and look around at the options. Remember, I am not an affiliate for Project Life, however I do get a few cents from each purchase on amazon. The new kits for this year are the Clementine Edition and the Cobalt Edition. When I can, I try to link up with Jessica at The Mom Creative for her Project Life Tuesday posts! You can look here for lots of inspiration, too!

a little love

2012-01-30T06:54:00.003-05:00

it's beginning to look a lot like...

LOVE around here. :) I love decorating for Valentine's Day and Pinterest makes it especially easy for me! Free printables, crafts for the kids, there's lot of great creativity on my Valentine board.

{free printable came from one of my favorite creative blogs, Little Birdie Secrets}

I think as believers we have even more reason to celebrate Valentine's Day, since God is all about love. So, go ahead...go all out...lavish your loved ones. :)

We are SO blessed because God has lavished us with His love.

Counting the love letters from Him this week...

an evening of crafts with my girls

Emily making us muffins

smoothie for breakfast

choir practice

watching Hannah in her element: painting

getting a good start on a new budget. 1 month down, 11 to go! ha!

my girls loving Awanas & memorizing Scripture

memorizing James 1 with my kids

having a good week of school together, despite my feeling a little crazy after getting home from Belize! I didn't expect a good school week but we had one!

woodpeckers at our bird feeder

hours of outside play for the kids

friends and cousins on our street for our kids to play with

our pets. love them.

a new book to read for FREE from a sweet friend who loaned me the book on kindle! the first time we've tried the lending thing and it works great and was super easy!!

hearing from our missionary in Belize that 5 new girls from our Bible Study came to a ladies weekly Bible Study with them! awesome! continuing to pray for their discipleship.

a fun small group full of people we love and learn with!!

#2188 - 3003 -- 3,000 gifts!! wow! Can you believe it?!? I just keep on and on counting...He is so good to me.

Motherhood: A Humble Calling

2012-01-28T18:45:00.001-05:00

I always wanted to be a mom. I always wanted to be home with my babies. I hoped that someday I could be a stay-at-home mom and wife. God has truly given me my hearts desires...

And yet, He has given me so much more.

What God has given me through my children and through my marriage is hard to put into words. Sanctification comes to mind. But, really, it's even more than that.

"...whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave - just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Matthew 20:27-28

Motherhood has slowly hammered away at my pride, tantrum by tantrum, spilled milk by spilled milk. Motherhood has brought to light and magnified the selfishness in my own life. And it was pretty ugly.

I am still there, friends. He is still working on me. He is not finished with me yet, Praise His Holy Name!! But, oh, to take a moment and look back to 10 years ago...He has been faithful and He has truly grown me in many ways.

I've mentioned before that I was a kindergarten teacher. I prided myself on having the best behaved kindergarten class in the school. (so I thought.) I prided myself on getting very unruly boys to change their ways. I loved my job.

So, motherhood should be pretty easy, right? Humph.

"I am the Lord's servant,' Mary answered. 'May it be to me as you have said.'" Luke 1:38

This verse has pricked my heart many a time. I was never much of a servant before motherhood. I mean, I thought I was. But, I wasn't.

Late night feedings, midnight diaper changes, early morning tears...those things didn't do much for this girl who likes her sleep. :) But I got up, each time, and now wish I could go back and rock those babies one more time. Oh, how time truly changes things...

Tantrums that turn into full blown strong-willed-day-long battles brought out anger and weakness all at the same time in me. I learned rather quickly, with that strong willed child, that low and behold, you really can't control your children no matter what the experts or how-to books say. Humbling moments.

Being at home day in and day out showed me loneliness and laziness that I never knew were inside me. You mean I have to get out of bed and fix breakfast? and lunch? and snacks? {grin}

As you can see, God had His work cut out for me when He called me to be a mother. But, in all honesty, motherhood has been the number 1 thing in my life that has made me more like Him.

Not having any earthly clue what to do with a child will bring you to your knees.

Not having an ounce of energy or joy will call you to praise.

Not knowing how I'm going to survive the day will teach you total dependance.

Losing your temper at silly childhood antics will show you your need for a Savior.

Realizing that no matter what you do, you can't save your child, makes you grateful for His grace.

Oh the lessons in humility God has taught me. Truly, I wouldn't have it any other way. I have prayed time and time again for God to make me more like Himself.

Through motherhood, He has been answering those prayers.

**I shared at the new year that I wanted to do a series here on my blog about Motherhood. This is the first of those posts. :)

Memorization

2012-01-27T09:35:00.003-05:00

God has really been impressing on my heart the importance of memorizing His Word for the past few weeks. We have always been big memory work people around our homeschool, but I have been re-energized to keep going strong in this endeavor.

There have been so many great and inspiring reads regarding memorizing God's Word lately...

How the Word Transforms - with printable cards for memorizing James
Memorizing Scripture: Why & How - from John Piper
A Habit More Important than Quiet Times? - with printables for memorizing Sermon on the Mount
The One Habit - more encouraging words from Ann Voskamp
Memorize Titus with Becky
Encouraging Words for memorizing longer passages
Benefits to Memorizing Scripture - from John Piper - if these reasons don't inspire you, I don't know what will. :) I want all of these things for my own life so desperately!!
Great tips for memorizing - scroll down to bottom of post {I love some of her tips: write it, speak it, set aside time for it, study it, be TRANSFORMED by it}

John Piper speaking on Scripture Memory...this is so good! (thank you to Ann for sharing this link!)

Well, these links have certainly inspired me! My children and I have memorized quite a bit of scripture over the years, however, I haven't been great about reviewing ALL of it. So, I'm going to work on reviewing some of our older passages.

AND, we have started memorizing James chapter 1 together!! I'm so excited about this because we have already memorized up through verse 7!! If we can do this, YOU can do this too!!

I want to encourage you and pray for you in this endeavor. What are YOU memorizing right now? I'd love to hear from you! And if you leave me a comment with what you are memorizing, I commit to pray for you as I pray for my family as we memorize!

Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-25T13:21:00.001-05:00

{our sponsored child's home}

American History: Ben Franklin

2012-01-24T18:19:00.003-05:00

I need to catch up on sharing our american history happenings. :)

In December, for our group time together, we focused on Benjamin Franklin. (We meet with 2 other families weekly for science and history.)

First, we brainstormed on the white board: what do you know/remember about Ben Franklin? I was impressed with how much these kids knew!

Then, we got to work on our own almanacs.

I let the kids have a little bit of "creative freedom" with this project. After we listed the items on the board that they remembered, I told them to choose a few to illustrate in their almanacs! They did a great job with this!

I just put out colored paper, markers, scissors, glue and tape and let them get to work!

Books we read:

A Living History of Our World - Vol. 1 - our main "core" text this year

What's The Big Idea, Ben Franklin? (Paperstar)
Who Was Ben Franklin?
Ben Franklin and His First Kite

**disclosure: affiliate links are used in this post

Blessings: Belize on my heart

2012-01-22T16:39:00.005-05:00

Thank you so much for praying for my trip to Belize. Prayer warriors were a huge part of our work there AND the results. God is so very faithful. Why do I ever doubt Him or doubt what I am doing when I have heard His call?

I wanted to write more about my trip. But right now I am overwhelmed. Exhausted. Broken. Humbled. Grateful. It's so very hard to sum it up.

So, for today, I'm focusing on the gratitude...

I got to visit with my sponsored child, Astrie, and her family. (I met her for the first time on my trip in August 2010.) I took her gifts and also we delivered groceries to her house. This truly is one of the highlights of my entire life.

One thing I love about Belize is that there is always a baby to be held. :) We all got our share of baby lovin' while the ladies were here for Bible Study!!

Beautiful, beautiful children.

Sweet and powerful worship. There is nothing like it.

I can't even begin to describe the gift I received in leading worship with these ladies. We had 64 ladies at the beginning of the week. By the end we had 85 women. To hear them praise God, hands raised, singing with all their hearts...though they live in a poverty indescribable. Well, it leaves me speechless, humbled and amazed.

The ladies absolutely LOVED the tote bags we brought for them to decorate and take home!! They loved decorating them and showing them off.

On our last day there we washed the ladies' feet. They came out to one of us, we asked them how we could pray for them, then we poured water over their feet and prayed specifically for them. It was powerful and heartbreaking at the same time to hear so many of their stories.

Are you ready for this? We ended the week with FIVE baptisms!! This story here is one I have to share. Her name is Priscilla. At the beginning of the week, we had each lady fill out a little card with their name, where they lived, etc. We also asked on this sheet how we could pray for them. And every night we prayed for EACH lady and her requests. Well, Priscilla's prayer request said that she wanted to believe in Jesus but had so many questions and did not understand. So, Friday during the feet washing, my dear friend, Rebecca, had the opportunity to wash her feet, answer her questions and pray with her to RECEIVE CHRIST AS HER SAVIOR. Oh what a precious, precious moment for all of us. To have prayed for her all week...and have our prayers answered WHILE we were still there - in front of our very own eyes!! Oh, it was just awesome!! God is so good!! She was one of the 5 baptized on Friday. Look at that smile...it says it all.

Please continue praying with me for these precious women. The majority of the prayer requests they shared were for husbands/boyfriends to come to know Jesus. The lives these women live is just plain hard. Harder than anything we, as Americans, will ever know. Yes, we struggle...but these women carry so much more than we even have to deal with in our comfortable homes. It is heartbreaking. And their men don't love them well. Please keep them in your prayers!

Pray especially for the women who made decisions. We had a few other decisions (other than the baptisms) and we so desperately want these women to find a church, to find mentors, to find Godly people who will walk alongside them and help them grow. They need this desperately. Many of them are going to be turning from a life of prostitution - a life they led to simply put food on the table. Many are turning from other things like drug dealing and gambling. It simply is more than my mind can fathom. And the attacks from the enemy will be fierce. I so covet your prayers for them!!

Thank you, friends, for walking this road with me. It isn't easy, but it's so worth it. God is faithful!!

Bible Study in Belize: Day 1

2012-01-18T09:53:00.001-05:00

God always exceeds my expectations. Once again I am wondering why I ever doubt or have fears. Our first day of Bible Study with the ladies in Belize was nothing less than awesome.

Hearts of Christ is a children's ministry and there are around 1000 children sponsored through them. But no team has ever come to do a Bible Study for the ladies. We wanted to serve them, lavish them, love on them. We have prayed for months for them.

We had around 62 ladies come and 20 children in child care. Most of these women have never had opportunity to leave their children with people so there was a lot of crying going on. :) These were babies and preschoolers as the school age kids were in school.

As the women kept coming, we kept pulling out more chairs and setting up more tables and God even multiplied the good because we had tried to estimate for around 50 ladies, not having any idea how many to expect.

Worship was beautiful. I had a hard time knowing what songs to sing, wondering what they would know and like. They knew most of the songs and the one they didn't know they sang out loud and clear anyway. Their singing blesses more than I can even describe. They sing out so much more than people back in America. I mean these ladies were belting it with hands raised and tears streaming. Worship is one of the things I love most about Belize. They have nothing and worship so freely and so loudly because Jesus truly is their all.

We had 2 ladies come and pray with one of our team members to receive Christ. We had several ladies come and pray with our ladies for various different things.

One of my favorite parts of the day was serving them lunch. We hired one of the Belizean women to come in and cook some really good lunches to spoil these ladies with each day of the Bible Study. Our first day we had fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn and fruit. We let the ladies stay at their tables and we brought them their lunches and served them. It was a special time.

Another blessing for me was after lunch when I sat down with a few ladies and out of the blue one of them asked me how to pray. Prayer is something God has been working in my heart about so I was very excited to share some practical tips for prayer with these precious ladies.

God is so good and so faithful!!

Books I'm Reading in 2012

2012-01-18T06:26:00.001-05:00

Books I've Read in 2012

The Hunger Games
Catching Fire (The Second Book of the Hunger Games)
Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, Book 3)

Books I'm Reading Now

One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are (for the 2nd time)

Strengthen Yourself in the Lord: How to Release the Hidden Power of God in Your Life
Heartfelt Discipline: The Gentle Art of Training and Guiding Your Child
Reading God's Story: A Chronological Daily Bible

Project Life: My Title Page!

2012-01-17T06:29:00.004-05:00

**I set this post before I left for Belize! I was so excited to share my title page with you! :)

I love how my cover/title page turned out this year! I really didn't spend *that* much time on it! But just a few little things made a BIG difference in just personalizing the page a bit!

I love that I was able to incorporate the year, my word of the year, the verse God gave me to start this year AND a new-ish picture of our family! I love how it turned out!!

My Supplies

Hello from Belize!!

2012-01-16T23:12:00.001-05:00

Greetings from HOT Belize!! :)

Thank you so much for your prayers! Please continue, tomorrow our Bible study for the ladies will begin at 9:30am.

Today we went to a village and passed out bags of beans and rice. It's hard to put poverty into words. It's hard to see it, smell it, hear it and taste it. But it is my joy and honor this week.

I just pray that we can share the hope that can be found in Christ to these precious, precious ones.

InstaFriday

2012-01-13T09:08:00.003-05:00

A little glimpse into our week from pictures on my ipod touch.

Sick children. all week. you feel sorry for me, don't you? :)

Today is the first day we have woken up with NO FEVERS in our household!!

I am going to try to keep better track of what I'm reading this year. Post coming next week while I'm in Belize...it's all set and ready to go!

My Buddy.

Sweet Ellie. Her favorite spot on my comfy chair.

Our first snow of 2012!! Yay! Not much, but the kids love it!

My little snow bunnies.