Glimpses from the mountaintop!

Wow! A LOT has happened! Too much to capture it all. There was lots of packing,and unpacking(still unpacking by the way)between all of it.Not to mention the emotional roller coaster I felt like I was on with saying goodbye, but not really being able to say goodbye. I am thankful, even for the moldy years at Epworth Acres, the friendships that I cherish, the church I grew in love with, the closeness I have with my sister now, and the work God did in my heart through all of it. Yes... ALL of it. The hardest seasons in life we can really grow from IF WE LET GOD GROW US. And last year was the hardest year, but I grew the most. So some of these pictures are "mountain top" glimpses if you will. Knowing that it is only by God's grace and His Spirit that we overcame. But the wilderness will return yet again, and I pray that I will cling to Him and rely on Him in it and through it. In all reality, this journey is just beginning.

The kids and I waited 3 LONG hours for this moment and by the time it came, Leah was asleep and no one was really interested in taking pictures. I had to step out of the service for a little bit because Leah was fussy, but at least we made it!
Adam is not big into "showy" things like graduations, but he wanted his kids to see him walk so that it would instill with in them the importance of education. Noah loves his daddy and was thrilled that his daddy's school work was finished!!!

Adam’s commissioning service was very special for me and his parents. I felt the weight of the prayers that were prayed over him. And I was thankful, yet humbled and scared that they chose him to pass on the mantle. These words were prayed over him, ”We transfer this mantle from our generation to your generation, indicating thereby that the responsibilities and dedication of the older generation will be caught up and carried on by the young, and the spirit of today’s Elijah’s will rest upon today’s Elishas.” I couldn’t help but to think about just four years ago, Adam was not interested in pastoral ministry. Yet I knew deep down in my spirit, it was exactly what the Lord was calling him to do. I didn't know all the things that would happen during the commissioning service (this was my first one to attend :) but if you are connected to the person that is being commissioned, you are to stand in agreement with them as the Bishop lays hands on them and prays for them. Cindy, Adam's mom, was told later that about three hundred people stood as Adam was being prayed for. How grateful we are for the prayers that go before us!

So we find ourselves in a place we never thought we would be. Planting a church that is. And we were reluctant and threw out every excuse to God as to why we couldn't do this. But He said "Go" and we would rather obey Him than live in our comfort and security. We trust Him, for He is all we have! Please pray for us!

Almost There!

I really can't believe it. I feel like I am going to awaken from this dream. Adam is just one week away from graduating Asbury Seminary! Tears fill my eyes right now as I write this. There have been many sleepless nights in prayer worried about him, because he had been up over 48hrs., drove to Orland0, sat in class all day, and then drove home. Not to mention working late nights with his events only to return home to more work with school.
Adam does not like me to brag at all about him. In fact, when I started the whole blogging thing he said to me, "Please just don't make it a brag blog." But I want to be truthful. And I want to remember his perservearence and endurance. He had many sleepless nights or weeks, even months together and he remained calm. He didn't yell or have outburts letting out his frustration on me as his wife or his children. He finished a hundred pages of really important papers in two weeks time, preached sermons, volunteered for numerous things, continued steadily through his not so regular hours job, and still helped me when he could.
Not to mention the three times equaling three months our family had been displaced due to mold in our home. He's tackled school through MANY sinus infections, bronchitus, and the flu (2 times)~~ thanks to his great boss for letting him stay at his house so the rest of the family didn't go down with him. I mean really, I look back and think,"How in the world did he do it?"
But we both know that God has carried us through... all of it. Even when the storms seemed to surround us on every side, He has always been there. And I now realize more than ever that with every trial, God can really use it to grow us, if we let Him.
This past year has been the hardest to say the least. He has crammed two years into one, maybe even two and a half, by taking 5 classes each semester. We have not had much time at all together. Many boring weekends, well not the cool family time that most people get on a Saturday and Sunday.
But Adam and I would both tell you that this year we feel the closest even though we have spent the least amount of time together. And that is because we have really zeroed in on our relationship with the Lord. We are allowing Him to change us personally rather than asking Him to change the other. The whole church plant thing has really brought us closer too. It's so neat that when we are able to talk together, we realize that God is speaking( or rather were hearing :) the same thing to us about the vision for the church in Richmond Hill. And this just makes me feel all the more excited!
I love him SO MUCH! And I am so proud of him! I have never known anyone to work so well under pressure and still be likeable :) He's amazing and humble ( which is what made this girl fall head over heels in love for the first and last time) he's my husband, and the father of my three sweet children. Now please pass on some tissue to this girl, because I am going to cry like a baby next Saturday when he gets his Masters degree!

I Timothy 3 1-3
The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of an overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife (you know it! ;) soberminded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.

Boda Bing!!!

Man I couldn't be more excited right now!!! O.k., yes, a lot is going on in my life right now but I just found out some CRAZY AMAZING news that knocked my socks off! Well, o.k., I didn't have any socks on at the time, but it did make me jump up in the air, and run around my house in CRAZY EXCITEMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Let me give you a little background information first. Back in July of last year I started reading a book called, "Radical: Taking Your Faith Back From The American Dream." And while some of you may not like the sound of this, it was TOTALLY LIFE CHANGING for me. NEVER have I been more hungry for the WORD OF GOD than after reading that book!!!! Seriously, with every paragraph I had to say," Ouch and Amen!"----- I LOVED IT!!! Most people do not probably like such books that bring such conviction but I certainly do! Because when we have TRUE repentance in our lives, it brings us closer to God, and we experience less resistance in our walk with Christ. James 4:6 says, " God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble."
As we all know, pride comes in many different forms and David Platt,author of Radical and one of my favorite speakers, points this out in the American Dream. Don't get me wrong, he's not saying that setting goals is a bad thing, but self-sufficiency, self-reliance, and self confidence is. Because it EXALTS SELF and causes us to be LESS DEPENDENT ON THE HOLY SPIRIT. But I'm not going to try to sum this all up for you. Please, read it for your self, and see what God would speak to you concerning your own life, and weaknesses, and where you can be more DEPENDENT UPON HIM!!!
Then I read another book by one of my favorite speakers Francis Chan. His book that I read was called, "The Forgotten God: The Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit." Man I loved this book too!!! It also has been LIFE CHANGING for me!!! Again, it has caused me to be SO HUNGRY FOR THE WORD OF GOD!!! He talks about the importance of the Holy Spirit in our lives and with out Him we live powerless christian lives. Now, He's not talking about powerless as being not speaking in tongues, prophecy etc.(the typical things people talk about when talking about the Holy Spirit). Powerless as in not living our lives in REAL FAITH and REAL DEPENDENCE upon the Lord!!! REAL DEPENDENCE as in doing things that go beyond our natural talents and gifts. Moving beyond our comfort zones and really knowing the voice of God and doing what He says. His writing is so simple and conversational, anyone would love to read this book! He doesn't pretend to be a know it all about the Holy Spirit, none of us can fully wrap our minds around or explain exactly who God is, but rather he talks about the importance of knowing what God's Word says about who the Holy Spirit is. Also, understanding that we can quench the Spirit of God in our lives, and we can know how much we are filled with the Spirit of God by examining the "fruit of the Spirit" in our lives. I encourage you, if you feel resistance in your walk with Christ, or you feel like life is not turning out the way you want it, or you lack a hunger for Christ and His Word, please read these two books. I promise you they will be life changing!!!
After reading these two books, I told Adam," Man, David Platt and Francis Chan seem to be moving in the same direction. They both are talking about the importance of relying on the Holy Spirit, and how the American Church is pretty far from that. I think it would be AWESOME if these guys came together!!!"But Francis Chan was out in California at the time and David Platt is in Birmingham Alabama." I guess that would be far fetched," I told Adam.
Well guess what!?!?!?!?!
I just read off of Francis Chan's blog that him and David Platt are working TOGETHER on a discipleship project!!! Boda Bing! Booyah!!! Man this is gonna be awesome!!!
I can't wait to hear all that God will do through this!!! And I pray that Adam and I, and the unforseen church in Richmond Hill will be a part of this discipleship and the great commission movement!!!
I know I haven't talked about the church plant in Richmond Hill on my blog yet, but I will soon! God has really begun confirming our step of obedience and we are really excited!! It doesn't mean that we still don't struggle with the fear, but we are fearing less and trusting more!!

Pure JOY!!!

My baby princess is 1! I just can't believe it! This girl has brought nothing but pure JOY to this family! Noah and Myah absolutely adore her! They shower her with kisses and hugs all through out the day! They were so happy to celebrate with her on her big day! I just had to go all out with the princess accessories :) She had bananas and cheerios for breakfast.

She had full control of the t.v. in the morning watching a Baby Einstein video. She didn't sit still much, but did growl and squeal at the movie from time to time!?!

I bought a cookie cake and that girl could of cared less about the candle. She straight up reached for a handful of icing!

She loved it and cried when it was all gone! :) Oh how we are so blessed to have Leah Hope apart of our family!

Laugh... Just Laugh!

Today was one of those days that you look back and think, "What in the world happened?" Somethings happened this morning that will be left untold. Let's just say I am thankful to the Lord for his protection!

Today was supposed to be an organized day, productive with grocery shopping. Well, it just didn't happen.The goal was to leave around 10:00a.m. but there were many things that prevented it. I looked out the window this morning thinking it was going to be a nice warm day again. So the kids had been dressed according to my weather prediction. I walked out the door and realized it was too windy for t-shirts and flip flops. So I went back in and changed the kids.
Then I get the girls in the car and realize Noah has no shoes on. So we search the house high and low with no luck. Since the other easy slip on shoes have dog poo on them, or knowing our neighborhood it is probably cat poo, we retreat to the cowboy boots. But who wants to wear a shark t-shirt and cowboy boots? So we grab a navy blue polo and out the door we run.
It is 11:00 now and I know that the kids are not going to last through our hour and a half grocery run between Publix and WalMart. So I decide to head to the nearest fast food joint. Zaxby's was the winner, and my mom and sister joined me. It was fun hanging out with all the kiddos, and we beat the rush hour lunch traffic. I began thinking to myself," This might be a nice and productive day after all." Then it was time to head out to the car. I fumbled for my keys looking desperately in the diaper bag. PLEASE NO! I head out to the van with the 15mph wind blowing my wavy hair straight, and there the keys were, sitting in the chair in the back of the van. And guess what? We have no spare key! None. Natta. Zero!
My sister gave me a look as if she was thinking to herself, "Whose the blonde now!?!" Stupid, I know. But the mistake had been made, and now I needed to figure out how to get into my car. My sister pulls some family in-law strings, and they tell us a cop will be there soon. Meanwhile, all of my kids are hanging out in my mom's SUV. Myah says she has to go potty, so we head back into Zackbys, kill a tree (lots of tissue paper on the toilet for my girl's princess hiny to sit on) and head back out to the car. Noah says he has to go the bathroom, so we head back into Zaxbys (but spare another tree... thank the Lord).
Noah and I return back to the car, and my mom informs me, " Myah went #2 in her underwear." WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! I just took her to the bathroom!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sure enough, my newly potty trained girl had PEEUED in her underwear! Yes, I said PEEUED! It stunk ,and I was SO not happy that I had to climb in the back of my mom's car, with no windows cracked for fresh air, and change my girl's poo filled underwear!!! Thankfully my mom had a spare grocery bag in the car and I threw it away, underwear and all, into the Zaxbys outside trash can. I'm sure whoever had to dump it this evening had some unpleasant words for me. Whoops!
The cop arrives and saves me from any more natural disasters. We get back in the car, Leah is screaming for a bottle, and I decided to postpone the grocery shopping due to the fact that it was now nap time. My mom and sister screech out of the parking lot, o.k. maybe not that fast but it sure seemed like it, and I realize that while going through the diaper bag to search for the keys, my wallet, and Leah's formula are in my mom's car. I grab my phone to ask my mom to come back, but the battery just died. No signal. Natta. Zero!
Which leaves me with only one thing left to do, I drive all the way to my mom's house on the other side of town to retrieve the formula for my screaming baby, and my wallet, in case any cop pulled me over for a DUI (driving under the influence of stupidity that is!).
We had now added another thirty minutes to our agonizing day and thankfully the kids were easy going in taking their naps. I called my husband to inform him of our obstacle filled day and he says," Baby! You need to get back into the bed and start your day all over!" I couldn't agree more, but my afternoon needed to be spent in preparing for our early dinner so that I could head back out to tackle the defeated grocery shopping journey.
So after dinner, we all left to grocery shop. We all went in WalMart, and I bought duplicates so as to not have to go back for awhile. And then I was able to go in Publix ALL BY MYSELF, but the sad thing is that I was too tired to enjoy it!
I must say that I managed NOT to scream at anyone today and kept my cool!

I hope your day was better than mine! And I hope that you can laugh at me... I mean with me!!!

Couldn't be Prouder!

I just couldn't be prouder of my baby girl Myah!

Due to parental discretion, this is the creative pic I took to show Myah's stage of life right now! She is potty trained!!! Can I get an AMEN! I now have only ONE IN DIAPERS. I have had two in diapers for 2 1/2 years and I am over it!

She has become quite an achiever, and I must say it is a little easier potty training a girl than a boy. I waited till she was 2 1/2 just because life became crazy with one sick kid after another, and the holidays ( them darn mold spores). And to think that she is accomplishing this out of her home, and out of her place of comfort impresses me all the more. But she does have a Big Brother cheering her on and a big twizzler to be eaten for her accomplishment (the smarties weren't working for #2 :).

High Five to my girl Myah!

Winter Studs...

Winter Studs... I mean buds!

I absolutely love this pic of Noah and Myah. It totally captures the "Big Brother and Sister" relationship! I love the way these two are just the best little buddies in the world! Of course, they fight and argue just like any other sibling. When Myah takes one of Noah's toys, or he wants something that she has, all he has to say is "please" and that girl puts a smile on her face and gladly relinquishes.And nobody better hurt his sisters! Even when I go to cut their finger nails he will say," You better not hurt my sister." He's a protective little thing but I love it!

Shouting out for Awareness!

January 11th is Human Trafficking Awareness Day! Modern Day Slavery is real and there is an estimated 12.3 million adults and childern trafficked every year. With an estimated 80 percent being women and young girls. This is the second largest and highest criminal activity in the world because of the money it generates. This comes after drugs and arms but it is debatable whether trafficking is number 2 or arms. Modern Day Slavery consists of farm and domestic work, to prostitution and sex slaves, to child soldiers. It is generated across the globe, in the U.S. and even in our own state! There are many resources you can look at to becoming aware of the Modern Day Slavery. I recommend checking out a ministry called Rapha House (www.raphahouse.org) and they also have a Resource List to become informed on the subject and how you can act. Rapha House is a ministry in South Asia that rescues young girls out of the sex slave trade. Poverty is a driving force in human trafficking. Which makes poor countries even more vulnerable. But it is very prevalent in the U.S. and closer than you think. I encourage you to pray to the Lord and ask if He would want to use you in helping set the captives free in this area. You won't know until you ask!

Deuteronomy 10:17-19
The Lord you God is a God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who is not partial and takes no bribe, who executes justice for the orphan and the widows, and who loves the strangers, providing them with food and clothing. You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

We made it!

We made it, with one week before Christmas, back into the house. Amazing how much better we slept in our own house, and our own beds. But we were very grateful for Papa Dan and Nana's two week hospitality! It was so sweet having Leah with our family this year in celebrating Christmas! She opened up her gifts like a pro!


Noah and Myah were thrilled to celebrate too, and enjoyed seeing what each other got.

What a blessing it was to celebrate Christ's birth together!