Reason to Rejoice

When I was a little girl I wanted to be liked. I know that this probably does not come as a surprise or does it likely make me different than most any other little girl out there but I had a very unhealthy idea of what a friend should be.  You see, I thrived at school.  Most people at school did not know what I was hiding back at home.  I was longing for friendships and relationships at the little elementary school down the road to feel loved and important and something permanent and just...stable, I guess.  What was at home was scary and just horrible.  I was the little girl that just longed to be popular; to have more than I had or ever really would have.  I knew that I would have to eventually go back to that "world" at home when the bell dinged and the big yellow bus carried me back to my scary place, but for eight GOOD hours, I was in my zone.  I was in my world.  It was my created fantasy where I was the, for the most part, good child. ...

There are more girl clothes posted on my "clothes for sale" blog!!!!  Go check it out!!! GO SHOP FOR CLOTHES!!!!

I have so much to say concerning the whole "abortion bill" topic but tonight....this is what I have..... In November of 1998, if I had not had the legal opportunity to have an abortion at the age of 17, I would NOT have gone to a dark alley somewhere and got a rusty coat hanger with some creepy person to perform an illegal abortion!  You know what I would have done?  I would have had a baby!  I would have figured out how to deal with it.  I would have found a way to live a different life...a life of unselfishness since I was the selfish one who decided that I did not care what the consequences of my actions were that ONE time.  That, my friends, is what I would have done.  For some reason, I just can't help to think how many other girls would do the same if the laws circumstances were different. Oh, how I have so much more to say.....

I have a new blog that I have worked hours and hours on getting ready (and I'm not done) to sell all three girls clothes and shoes that we cannot use any longer. They are very reasonably priced and in good condition!!  Here is the link: Http://threeblessedgirls.blogspot.com

My middle child.  My beauty.  No one like her.  Love.    

I will just get right "to it."  Lately, I have been feeling....sad.  I actually have been a little torn.  Why, you ask?  Well, I know this lady.  She is incredible.  She loves the Lord and loves people with her entire self.  She has been battling a disease called  Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS..for those familiar, it is also what Robin Roberts has) for quite some time now.  It is doing yucky things to her body and the medications/treatments she has taken have done yucky things to her.  You know what it hasn't done?  It has not touched her joy!  It has not shaken her faith in our Jesus!  It has not allowed her to give up on the promises that God has given to her (and us) in His Word.  You see, things are not looking good right now for my friend.  That is what the doctors are saying to her.  That is what we, as humans, are saying.  But the truth is that things are about to be wonderful for her...more w...

There is so much I haven't blogged about...story of my life! :)  But..   Happy Mother's Day!       My relationship with my mother has not always been the best.  But I love her.   I had so many "mommas" as I was growing up.  I had great women who ministered to me, loved me for who I was, and showed me how to love my own children.   I now have a mother-in-law who has raised a wonderful man....a godly man who is a great father and now loves me.   I am beyond blessed to have three gorgeous babies.  Three GIRLS!!  I will never forget when I was pregnant with Rachel just wishing so bad that she was a little girl so that I would have at least one little girl to love and dress up.  I was so excited!!!  And, I get three of them.  What did I do to deserve this?  Nothing.  Nothing at all.  God is THAT good.  However long that He decides to allow me...

How do I do it all?  That's a really good question.  You know, to be honest, I don't know the answer to that question.  I find myself in a constant battle with myself with regards to balancing life.  I have a masters degree in social work.  I worked full time until Rachel was born.  I then worked PRN for a hospital until Lauren was eight months old.  I then accepted a full time job.  I struggled back and forth during that time with whether or not to return to work, if I was doing my children right by being home with them, or whether or not I was wasting my career. I know what some you must be thinking....my career is not near as important as my children.  I know.  That was part of my struggle.  The problem was that as Rachel became older and more difficult to manage at home and as I realized that I was more and more relaxed with routine at home, she was suffering.  I guess you could say I could have "stepped up my game" and b...

Redemption is sweet!  Isn't it?  I know you have heard that phrase, right?  Well, while earthly redemption is sweet, redemption from Christ is the sweetest kind a person can experience. Most of you know my story.  You know that I struggled for many years with feeling unlovable due to past sin...a sin that I thought was tattooed on my forehead for all to see.  I was determined that no one loved me IF they only knew all about me and at the same time, I was convinced that everyone must have known about my secret because my self-esteem reflected the idea that no one loved me regardless of knowing.  Does that make sense?  Basically, I just didn't feel like I was loved.  The bottom line, I didn't love myself.  That was what spurred all of this senseless thinking on.  Even after I was married to the man who knew my secret and told me he loved me for me, regardless of my past, I just could not believe that.  And if I could not believe tha...

I had a busy busy weekend.  It was a good weekend but it was very busy.  I will blog about the details of my weekend in the next few days but I want to leave you with a thought for the week.  As I was preparing mentally for a speaking engagement that I had on Saturday afternoon, I was reflecting on how disobedient I have been lately with my daily Bible reading.  I had been doing really well when I was doing the Jonah Bible study but the past few weeks I have found myself hitting the "snooze" button on my alarm a few more times that I should and then rushing to get ready with no time for Bible study.  Unfortunately, Bible study is THE MOST important thing of my day.  It should be how I start everyday but in the hustle and bustle of my morning, it gets put on the back burner as my hair isn't cooperating and my clothes need extra attention and the kids are less than accepting of their early morning wake up call....my Bible sits on the end table begging to be o...

I love being able to go on field trips with Rachel.  I still can't believe I have a Kindergartner! It seems crazy to me that she is that big!  Last Monday we went on a trip to the arboretum with her class.  It was a beautiful day. It was overcast and just great for taking pictures.  I know I haven't posted about it but I got a new toy....I got a new camera!!!  I got a Nikon D5100 and I am IN LOVE with it!!!  {Yes, I am aware that I already posted about my camera and how much I love it :)}  I got many great shots and I wanted to share them.  I even learned how to edit a few of them! :)   Me and My Rachel!  Rachel's class  Checking out a ladybug  I love this picture  Rachel's class with her teacher and the daycare director  Rachel with Mrs. Heishman  She's a cutie!  I love how this picture of Rachel's friend turned out!!! God's creation is just amazing!   ...

I will try to go back and post about things that I missed over the past few weeks, but I think I want to be current and then fill in the gaps.  So....here's today!  Easter Sunday.  We all got ready and headed to church but first, I had to do my usual go out front and take some pictures of the girls in their Easter dresses.  I got several shots that I loved but here are my very favorites!   Then we went to church and had a wonderful church service worshipping a RISEN SAVIOR!!!!   After church we went to my dad's where the girls hunted Easter eggs with their cousins. I will post those pictures in another post but I did want to get these up because I haven't had time to sit down and finish this post in its entirety! 

Yes, I am slacking.  No, I don't like it.  No, it is not my intention.  Yes, I will TRY to do better.  No, I am not going to promise anything.  Yes, I feel bad.  No, I do not feel guilty.  Yes, I have been busy.  Yes, I have done LOTS of fun things.  Yes, I have lots to tell you about.  No, I am not going to right now.  Yes, I have an absolutely adorable picture of my kids to post!!!  Lauren has been anti-picture taking lately so I will post one of Rachel and Hannah from my new camera!!!  I GOT A NEW CAMERA AND I LOVE IT!!!!!  Like LOVE IT!!!!!!  LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!!!!  I got a Nikon D5100.  I got two lenses and did I mention I love it???  Here are my two favorite pictures from it so far.  I have only had it for less than a week.

I received an email from a sweet lady about a month ago about promoting her product on my blog.  Below is her information.  It is basically a DIY Spa Treatment that you can do at home if you don't have time or funds to go to the spa.  It sounds kind of fun too!!  You can get pretty creative with it and it might be fun to do with your young kiddos. Getting Red Carpet Skin Without Paying a Fortune   Berries and chocolate are an extremely popular combination among many people, and nearly everyone derives pleasure from a good spa treatment. Why not put them together just in time for an Oscars after party? Throw an at-home spa party by yourself or with your friends to get red carpet-worthy skin without the red carpet price tag. Chocolate Strawberry Facial Strawberries possess compounds that aid the proper balance of skin oils and help fight acne and other blemishes. The added honey will hydrate your skin, leaving it feeling smooth and supple. What You'l...

You might find this post to be incredibly boring and ask yourself, "Why is this crazy posting about teeth and the dentist?"  Well, the short of it is that it's Monday.  I am semi-lying on the couch, semi-sitting and I am just wanting to post something that does not require a ton of brain cells...ya with me?! Okay, now that we are on the same page, let me tell you about my experience at the dentist office today. Frankly, I have been putting off this visit and I should have gone about 2 months ago for my normal every 6 months cleaning but I knew that it would be more than that every 6 months cleaning.  Yeah....that kind of visit.  Blech! Let's get some background here....I did not go to the dentist at all that I can recall until I was 24 years old and married!!  Gross, you're thinking (don't pretend that it didn't cross your mind)!!!  I take that back, I went to the dentist when I was a senior in high school to get one wisdom tooth cut out and then again...

We are about 6 weeks into the Jonah Bible study by Priscilla Shirer right now.   Some of you have read on here or seen me quote or at least mention on Facebook about this study.   I absolutely LOVE it!!!   It is one of, if not my MOST favorite Bible studies I have ever done.   It really does hit home with me at this juncture in my life.   From a few posts ago, you may have read that my heart’s desire is to live each day as a better person than I was the day before.   Nothing could be closer to the truth.   I am not sure if I have ever been more desiring to see God work in my life.   I just truly am trying to figure out what He is teaching me in every aspect of who I am, what I do, who I come in contact with, and how others see me.   The problem is, I think my focus {partly} has been wrong. This past week Priscilla pointed out something in the video session that just struck a cord with me.   I mean, really shook me to my core. ...

I had been doing so good with blogging and then...well, I wasn't...I'm not.  I am going to try to get better but I just don't have the time and I have other things that are higher on my priority list BUT....this is one way that I feel I can reach people....so, I am going to make an effort to try to be consistent. As a lot of you know, I am leading a women's Bible study on Thursday evenings at our church by Priscilla Shirer called Jonah. It is FANTASTIC!!!  One of my favorites that I have ever done!  My post for today is going to be short, simple, and quoted right out of the Bible study from this previous week.  I could not say it better and it was just too good not to share. "Hear me clearly: The Lord is always willing to forgive.  He is quick to extend mercy.  If you stand in need of His forgiveness today, then know that He is waiting to forgive you.  Yet He desires that the knowledge of His longsuffering way and His willingness to show grace not...

I get comments all of the time about how they couldn't do my job and questions about what I do at my job.  The fact is that I do not think of being a social worker as merely my job...it is my calling...my passion, if you will. When I was a little girl, all I ever wanted to be was a mommy.  I think at one time I wanted to be a doctor, a teacher, and a nurse but for the most part I just wanted to have babies.  When I was in high school my goal was to go to college and then go on to nursing school.  I wanted to be a pediatric nurse practioner.  I went to college with that goal in mind - pre-nursing.  I LOVED college...everything about it...except for the studying part....college was a rude awakening and it was HARD.  Long story short, my 2nd year of school, with the help of lack of self-confidence, I dropped Physiological Chemistry and changed my major to Christian Counseling.  My end goal now was to go to graduate school and become a soc...

So...as part of my New Year's resolutions  I wanted to really organize my home.  I wanted to start in the office but in order to start in the office I had to really start in the garage.  I really really wish that I had taken before and after pictures.  Those that know me and have been to my house and seen my garage know how desparately this needed to take place.  Let me let you in on a little secret....we had carpet in our garage from when we moved into our house....SEVEN YEARS AGO!!!  We literally had a path...A WALKWAY from the garage door to the entrance into the house.  It was INSANE!  Now...it's still cluttered but it is MUCH MUCH better!!!!!  The carpet is gone, there is a garage floor and we had so many bags of trash!  There is new shelving and everything just looks so much better.  I need to list several things on Craig's List and it will be almost perfect.  Thanks to Matt and Aunt Donna for the use of their truck and c...

Forty years almost seems like a lifetime to me...it almost is an entire lifetime for me.  For forty years women have been having legalized abortions in the United States.  Approximately 40 million babies are aborted each year.  That represents A LOT of babies but it also represents A LOT of women. It is horrific if you really think about what abortion is. Let me tell you what it is not.... *It is not "the easy way out" *It is not something you can just forget about *It (the baby) is not "just a ball of cells" *It is not a decision that only affects the mother It is murder. It is, in many ways, a permanent solution to a temporary "problem." It is heart breaking to think of what happened to an innocent baby. It is also heart breaking for many years for the mother (and many times father) who chose the procedure. It is physically, emotionally, and often times spiritually difficult...and let me just say, that's putting it mildly. Jane Roe (Norma Mc...

She makes me smile!!!  And I have to make a disclaimer...I know I do not post many pictures of Lauren (my middle child). Would you like to know why?  Because she refuses to have her picture made!!!!  She's a stinker! :)

One of the greatest blessings that God has ever bestowed upon me is the gift of being a Mommy.  I love that job!!  It is stressful, never boring and the hardest thing I have ever done in my entire life, but I would not trade it for anything in the entire world.  It is simply my favorite thing.  When I was pregnant with Rachel, my first born, I prayed that she would someday know the love that her daddy and I have for her...that we truly love her.  I think that she understands a fraction of that because we talk about how much we love her and that is why we have to punish her.  She is a very smart little girl.  More importantly, I have always prayed that she know the love that the Father have for her ~ her Heavenly Father.  As much as I love my children and I love them more than life itself, God loves them so much more!!  That is so hard for me to fathom because I can't imagine anyone loving them more.  But, He does!  I have prayed t...

I love this baby!!!  I PROMISE I will post things of more "substance" soon but I had to share a picture of my favorite one year old!!!! Love to you all!!!  :)