Fall Fever

I LOVE FALL! I love to bake and get ready for the holidays. I started early this year and made a turkey dinner yesterday. Then today I made homemade turkey potpies with the left overs! I am looking forward to making cupcakes and cookies and pies! I want to go to Apple Hill so bad I can taste the apple fritters. I am ready for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Bring on the trick or treating and Harvest Festivals, bring on the turkeys and pumpkin patches, and most of all bring on hot chocolate and candy canes! Oh and I forgot the candy corn. I had a taste of one today and want more! I want to dress my babies up in cute little costumes and hang my stockings up. I want to decorate my tree and sing carols. Yes I know that is not what the holidays are all about don't get me wrong. I love the togetherness of it all too! Family time and sharing! I am ready!

A Season of Change: All or Nothing

Today, I was thinking about the significance of this season of change; Fall! The leaves are changing color and they will soon fall off the trees. I kept thinking that not only are things changing in nature, but also in the supernatural.
Last night I attended a meeting at our church, specifically to receive prayer over the launch of Saturday night services. Since I am a Children's Church Leader, I have to step up and demonstrate a new sense of leadership. This has been challenging for me; I already teach two Sundays a month. I will now be teaching a total of four times a month. However, I know that God is moving me in this direction for a reason and I am obeying him! During the meeting last night, GOD kept speaking the words to me, "All of nothing." You see I have been luke warm in my walk with God lately, and I have also been struggling with thoughts of giving up one of the classes I teach. Well, last night I decided that I am all in; ALL OR NOTHING.
I really believe that a whole new change is coming. I believe that people are going to step up where they never thought they would. I believe that youth are going to mature into leadership positions. A new generation of Impact is going to arise. I believe and receive the word that was spoken over me last night about a whole new level of confidence. I know that I have, "the right stuff!" I know that I am more then capable of accomplishing God's plan for my life. I am claiming favor over my children and my husband. I am taking a new position of leadership and taking another step towards God's perfect will for my life. I am renewing my spirit and my mind. I am ALL IN! I am ready for this new season of Change!

Family Ties

We pride ourselves on our family ties. I have a great relationship with my parents and see them often. My husband has a great relationship with his mom, but unfortunately being across country keeps us from seeing her as often as we would like. I also have a great relationship with my husband's family and he has a great relationship with my family!

My inlaws were able to visit recently, at least two of them. My mother in law and grandmother in law spent about 2 weeks with us and it was great! We spent a lot of time outside talking, bbqing and playing with the kids. We were able to celebrate Luke's birthday with them even though it was early. I was not feeling well the night we had planned to celebrate, so we ended up just doing pizza at home! It is the little things like that which bring us closer together!

One of the things that we do as a family every night is sitting at the dinner table together. This is getting harder for us to do now that Lloyd and I are both working full time, but we still strive to make sure we all eat together. Sometimes we talk, sometimes we just eat. We also try to have a family night; we play games, watch movies, or sometimes we will go out.

As most of you know we are a blended family, so having a close relationship with one another does not always come easily. Lloyd and the boys get a long for the most part. Any of you that have step kids or were step kids at one point in time probably understand. I think it makes it easier for my husband since he has a stepdad. He really has a way of talking to the boys and getting the situation under control quickly.

All in all we are all just one happy family!

Salvation is Here and He lives in Me

My husband is a great man, a great husband and a great father. He comes from a legacy of hardworking family men and he upholds that legacy. He takes great pride in being the bread winner of the family. However, he is not the spiritual leader of our family. Unfortunately, my husband does not know his Heavenly Father. He believes in a "higher power", but will not call him God. He is also a very logical thinker, so he has a lot of ideas behind how creation was created. Lets just say he is confused and like I said, has never had a relationship with his Heavenly Father. Through all this, I still hold on to a vision that my husband will take his place in the Kingdom of Heaven and become the spiritual leader that God intended him to be. I see him coming to church unannounced, uninvited. Just showing up one Sunday and coming in unnoticed. He will walk up to the row we are sitting in and join us like he had been there the whole time. He will take my hand and we will praise and worship together like never before. Then when the pastor calls for the Alter Call he will raise his hand and truly accept the Lord as his savior.
I heard a song by Sanctus Real recently called, Lead Me. This song truly describes how I feel and it is my call and prayer for my husband. If you have time go to my facebook page and listen to the song! Or search for it on Youtube!

I truly feel that through my salvation, my husband will find his. He will see the spiritual leader that I am, and he will want to take his rightful place as the leader. I continue to pray for his salvation and I ask that if you read this you do the same!
Hold on to hope. Keep faith and never lose site of the plans that God has for you!

What this year has brought?

You all have heard the saying, "How time flies!" This is an understatment when you have babies. The first year flies by so fast. Before you know they are toddlers. Today is my babies first birthday! In the past year she has changed so much. She went from this serious baby who we could never get to laugh to this silly baby that now smiles and laughs all the time. She has quite the personallity. Stubborn and witty, goofy and still sometimes serious. Sweet and loving, demanding and set in her ways. She loves music, books and just about anything that has buttons. She gets into everything! We choose to give her a lot more freedom then we gave Luke when he was a baby. We choose not to put up baby gates, so she has full range of the house. We keep doors and cupboards locked or shut and locked. Other then that she is able to go and explore. She likes to try to climb, reach, and touch. She is a talker and will tell you if she does not like something or does not agree with something. She is definately a daddy's girl and has him wrapped around her little finger. She loves her brothers. I know one thing she is going to be one well protected little girl. In this year she has brought us so much joy. She is holding true to the meaning of her name which is "Fathers Joy!"

Special Needs=Special place

I have always had a special place in my heart for children with special needs; rather they be physical or emotional. Maybe it was because God knew this, that he blessed me with a special needs child. Don't get me wrong it is HARD; having a child with special needs of any kind is not an easy task. I am not perfect and I know I have made mistakes in raising my special blessing. However, I also know that God knows exactly what he is doing and I have a responsibility to him to fulfill his plan for this child's life. I know that ultimately my son is God's son and I am just his earthly mother. Sometimes I question why and how. Sometimes I cry. Sometimes I laugh. Sometimes I scream. All the time I pray. I have been on my knees for my special needs son more then any other one of my children. I know that prayer is the only way that we have made it through the situations that we have come up against. I know that God does not let us down. I know that God is always on our side and that all the earthly words and situations that we come up against are not of God. Sometimes I have to get advice and be reminded of how to handle a situation and I will turn to an earthly source for that advice and reminder; however I still know God is there. I could not even imagine how I would deal with having a special needs child if I did not have God on my side. I praise God everyday for giving me the strength and determination to raise my son up in a Godly way. I praise God everyday for giving me a husband who is our rock and foundation. I praise God everyday for my husbands legacy of being a strong family man! I praise God everyday for what he has already done in my son's life and what he will continue to do in my son's life.
I will continue to fight for my son and to hold him dear and near to my heart because he deserves it!

PS: I also want to add that I believe all children are special!

Glorious Family Life

This was a sessions that I attended while at the conference! Again it is based off my notes so sorry if it is all over the place!

Through this session I learned that Gods way works! The speaker gave us six points:

1. Let go of the expectations. Everyone is different, we need people who don't think like everyone else. Allow your kids and husband to be who they are. We don't get to control other peoples choices. Now is the time to teach your children. You cannot control the uncontrollable, but you can control how you deal with it!

2. Raise your children in the House of God!

3. Live a principled life. Be true to yourself. Your children need to know where to turn. Don't be fake. Kids will know if you are faking. Just do your part. Don't impose your fears upon your children. Cannot control your kids. Don't parent on your feelings! Always ask yourself why you want them to do what you want them to do and explain that to them!

4. Gratitude= Thankfulness live your life this way!

5. Live in the moment. With all the chaos is the glory! (this point stuck out most to me!)

6. Find the humor in life. All about perspective.

Anger is usually rooted in fear. This is why we should not parent based on our feelings. We need to have a purpose/goal in mind for our children, but expected that they may take another road. Encourage and guide them, but remember they are individuals.