A Weekend to Remember

Sometimes, God calls us to go completely out of our comfort zone. So far away from it, we have no choice but to be totally reliant upon Him. And when we are that reliant upon Him, we know He wont let us go. He teaches us to trust Him, to hold on and enjoy the ride. He is in complete control!

A few weeks ago, maybe a little longer, my wonderful mother in law (also, the brave leader of our women's ministry) asked if I would help her with a retreat.

The very first retreat of our women's minstry.

And not just to help. To speak.

I quickly agreed. I had been praying for opportunities such as this. To be dragged out of my comfort zone, even if I was kicking and screaming.

Jesus first. Others second. Yourself last.

I studied my material for the two sessions I was asked to lead. Praying that God would calm my fears, my ball of nerves. I was sick to my stomach the whole week before this retreat!

The first one was somewhat simple. It was a game. It was the 2nd session of our overnight retreat. I lead the ladies in a game that helped them get to know each other better. The most talking I did was giving instructions. I still felt nervous, considering talking in front of people is not something I've ever done. Once I started speaking, I felt His peace. The peace only He can give. He calmed this shy girls nerves.

The night ended. Everything went smoothly and we were all having so much fun!! I was nervous for day 2. I had a big session coming. A lot of talking, sharing... But I prayed that God would take these nerves so I could enjoy my time with the special ladies. I wanted to enjoy this weekend as much as I could!

Day 2 came. I woke up, sick to my stomach. I prayed. My session was coming up at 1pm. Plenty of time to calm down. And pray. I wasn't about to try this without my God. He called me here, to do just this. I'm holding on to Him as tight as I can, every second of this day.

I check my phone and watch a video my husband sent me. The girls are telling me that they are praying for Mommy. They love me and they're praying for me. I cry. I read an encouraging text from one of my best friends, Jenifer. She's lifting me up in prayer, she says just the right words. I smile and thank God for technology.

It was almost my time to go on & I feel it. Those emotions that I've been fighting off all day. All it took was my dear friend, Bethanie, asking if I was ok. I cried. Couldn't breathe. She hugged me, as tight as she could. Then took me outside & prayed. We prayed together & in that moment I gave thanks. I was thankful for Bethanie, such a sweet, darling friend. I was thankful for His peace, comfort. I was thankful for a moment to just be still, and focus on Him.

"Be still, and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10

I felt prepared. Ready. I felt Him in control.

I sit in front of the women. We sing praises to God. My friend Beth, one of my dearest friends, leads us in prayer. She prays that God would lead my session, guide my words. I thank Him. I start into my material. I feel Him, I'm speaking calmly. No shaking. I feel confident & most importantly, I'm not forgetting my words!! I'm right on path, enjoying teaching the women about Sarai. And how God changed her name. He set her on a new path, even though she doubted Him. I talked about how God sets us on a new path when we become Christians. When we put our faith and trust in Him. We are new! The old is gone, the new has come.

I had prepared to share my testimony. Something I've never, ever done before. I can count on one hand how many people I've shared this with. But He has called us to tell others about Him, His goodness, His saving grace.

I fight it. I fear judgement. I feel God pull my focus back to Him and the words start spilling out of my mouth. With tears streaming and my chin quivering, I tell what He has done in my life.

I tell about a time when I turned my back to God. Not just for a week, for a few years. I try to do life on my own, thinking I knew best. I made decisions that I'm ashamed of. It hurts so bad to say these things out loud because it hurts to think I lived that way. How could I ever think life would be better without Him?? After a long journey down a very dark road, I finally make a good decision. I turn back to Him. I give my life back to Him, I rededicate. Who I am today didn't happen overnight. It's been a long road, but I have learned so many lessons, so much about who I am in Him, and who He is.

I am a sinner, saved by grace. He has set me on a new path.

I cry through the entire testimony. I look into the eyes of the women in front of me and can't see a dry eye. It hurts to think about who we were before Christ. I was comforted in knowing these women share this same knowledge. We were all sinners, saved by grace.

We break into groups and have some discussion time. My mother in law finds me and says the perfect words. More tears fall and I take time to thank God for her. My friends find me. Hugs, tears & encouraging words are between us all. I thank God for them. I take a moment to pull myself together. I thank God for leading me through those moments. The moments I could never do on my own.

How far I've come. I tried to do life on my own. Now I know better than to do simple moments on my own.

My session ends & I breathe again. Normal, relaxed breaths.

It was a weekend I'll always remember. He was with us all, teaching us, guiding us. Friendships grew, some began.

To God be the glory. Every bit of it. Thank you, Lord!

The perfect ending to this weekend - My little brother, David, was saved. :) Praise the Lord!! We are all so excited for him!

Our Day with Daddy

Is it too much to have two new blog posts two days in a row?

This one wont be lengthy. :) I just had to share a few pictures! If you missed our post from yesterday, be sure to check it out. It's a sweet one!

Daddy has been home with us and we've had such a great, busy day! One of the highlights of my day was planting flowers with the girls. We went to Lowes & they picked out their favorite flowers & pots. They also got a couple of cool Dora watering cans!

It's been a great day & passing too quickly. I'm so thankful these girls take advantage of their time with Daddy. They have talked his ears right off. He bought them Ring Pops & I think they both said "Thank you Daddy!!!" 20 times, each.

"The Best Day Ever!"

It's a beautiful day here in Winterville!! Too beautiful to be inside, unless it's nap time.

Our day started off great. Daddy was able to go into work a little later so the girls were able to spend some time with him. If you haven't heard, Jared's co-worker Randy is recovering from back surgery. Please keep him in your prayers. He's out of work for a few weeks. Jared has been working a lot of hours, open to close. He's busy all day, doing the work of two guys. We haven't seen much of him lately. It's been hard, we miss him & he misses us. But I'm thankful that Jared is able to help his co-workers. He is a hard working man & I'm so proud of him.

After visiting with Daddy, the girls and I loaded into the van and headed to school. Isabelle loves her school so much! She is always so excited to see her teachers & friends. When I picked her up from school, her teacher went on and on about how well behaved my daughter is. She listens, obeys, shares, participates & is such a sweet girl! Her teacher looked at me and said, "If she doesn't do these things at home, I hope it's encouraging to know that she behaves this way every day she is here. She is such a delight to have in our classroom!" That's my girl. :) I felt so proud of her, excited for her!! She is such a sweet girl, with a tender heart.

And she is so encouraging! Madeline learned how to buckle the top part of her car seat. Isabelle watched her and said, "Maddie!! You did it all by yourself! Good job, sister! I'm so proud of you, Maddie!!"

Once we were home, I couldn't wait to get outside. We got our sunglasses on and went for a walk. I'm so thankful we live in a neighborhood with sidewalks! They walked hand in hand. Stopping to look at flowers, waving and saying hello to our neighbors. Madeline did a wonderful job on our walk. She stayed close and always held someone's hand. Sometimes, she gets really excited and starts running. Really fast! I'm thankful she behaved today :)

Isabelle told me that the sun was making her hot so we stopped for a water break. We started making our way back home. Our tummies were hungry and nap time was approaching!

We enjoyed peanut butter sandwiches for lunch. I thought this "hot" day was perfect for popsicles. :) As Isabelle was finishing up hers, she looked at me and said, "Mommy, this has been the best day ever!" I almost cried! It warmed my heart that she enjoyed our time together as much as I did!

I didn't need to plan a day full of activites. An afternoon at home, just us. A simple walk finished with a popsicle. This is what made the best day ever. I pray that these are the days they remember. Our precious time together!

Before nap time, I looked at Isabelle. I said, "If you think today was the best day ever, wait until tomorrow. Daddy is going to be home all day!!" She smiled and squealed. He's finally getting a day of and we are all so excited to spend it with him!

A little photo shoot

I always love a good picture of our girls. There is a story with every picture. It's never a simple pose, no matter how beautifully still they look.

I keep my shutter speed cranked up as high as I can to capture their quick movements.

I take at least three shots of every scene, because they blink. They sneeze. They have a melt down in less than a second.

Sometimes, I have to give direction. Most of the time, they are running free. Excited in the moment. Encouraging the other to look at Mommy's camera. Holding hands, just because they really, deep in their hearts, love each other.

My hardest part? Getting them dressed and praying they don't spill their orange juice across the front of that beautiful dress.

Holding them tight as we walk across the field so they don't trip and dirty up their tights.

Remembering the lollipops. Because that's how we keep hairbows on the head & the dress clothes from getting muddy.

Picking out the final prints. Which ones are going on my walls? Which ones are going in the mail to family & friends? Which ones am I posting to the blog? To Facebook?



That picture you just saw - All on their own. All I did was sit them next to each other. I didn't even ask them to find Mommy's camera. I just sat there and waited. And boy, did my heart melt! This is natural to them! To love & hug on each other! When there are days they can't share, can't stop being bossy, can't stop crying - I will see this picture and remember what's really in their hearts. It may be just a bad day, but the love is there. Filled in this house & beginning with God. We love because He first love us. And these girls really, deep in their hearts, love each other.

Madeline wasn't in the mood for many pictures today. She had a double ear infection and although she seemed to be feeling much better & fever free, she just wanted to be in her comfy pj's and in bed. She was walking towards me, arms stretched out, "Mommy! Hold me!!" I said, "Madeline, who's girl are you?" Which is her favorite question... "DADDY!!" I had my camrea in place, waiting just for that moment. She glows when she talks about her Daddy!


Is she not a doll?? My growing girl, too fast. She takes a break from exploring the "beautiful flowers" and looks at me. Her hands find each other and I say, "Isabelle, can you show me your pretty smile?" She tilts her head, as far as it goes. Something she does when smiling for pictures. One of the sweetest things I see her do! I hope she never grows out of tilting her head when smiling. But I know one day, it's coming. And I'm thankful I got this shot. When she's grown up and lifts her chin & slightly tilts her head for pictures, I will remember this day. And probably cry my eyes out, because that's just what I do.

These moments, I'm so thankful for. I feel full of love today. Overflowing love.

Learning Scripture!

Isabelle is learning a new bible verse this week! I haven't been so good about making sure she learns a new one every week. She learns bible verses at home and church & that has made it easy for me to slack a little.

Then I found this really great idea, an ABC bible memory verse book! (Thank you, Pinterest!) I've bought all of my materials to put the book together, wrote all the bible verses down that match up with the letters, and now I just need to sit down one day and put it all together. Hopefully, this will happen this week or next. But I wanted to go ahead and start Isabelle on her verse for "A."

"As for God, His way is perfect." Psalm 18:30

Woohoo!! She's been saying it all afternoon, without me saying it before her! She really knows it & I'm so proud of her! It brings my heart such joy to see her excited about learning scriptures.

Since Madeline loves to do everything Isabelle does, I started with a simple bible verse for her. I probably wont do the ABC book with her just yet. We'll have to take it a little slower. But she was so excited to sit still and listen and learn her bible verse! Before you watch this video, I must warn you to turn your speakers down. I was trying to encourage Madeline to speak a little louder, rather than mumbling her words. So I spoke louder, and on the video- I'm super loud! Like peppy cheerleader loud! And of course, Madeline is mumbling. But I was so proud of her for trying! She continued to say her bible verse all afternoon!

"God is Love." 1 John 4:8

I loved hearing them say God's word, and having the chance to have a little devotion time in the middle of the day. I always pray they would soak up all the knowledge being taught to them, at home, school & church. I'm so thankful they are hearing God's word at so many different places!

Party Time

She's two years old!!

We've had a busy week, celebrating and all :)

Thursday was the big day. We woke up and had breakfast with Daddy. Which was wonderful, he had to work that day and we would miss seeing him. I'm so glad he was able to go in late. We watched Madeline play with her presents & she loved them!

Well, we missed Daddy so much after he left for work that we jumped into the van and drove up to Wilson to have some birthday Frosties with him! :)

After a quick trip to Target (of course!), we headed home to get ready for dinner with some family and friends. Since Jared was working late, I knew I didn't want to have everyone over. It's hard hosting a get together when you're doing it solo! So I thought we could head up to one of our favorite places in Winterville. Chick-fil-a!! I knew Madeline would have a blast there. She loves their indoor place area. And their ice cream. :) We asked our family & friends to join us! It kinda turned into a little party. :)

Today, (Saturday) we kept the party going! We grilled out some hamburgers and hot dogs & had a little cake. :) I didn't get nearly as many pictures as I wanted to, but thankfully my friend, Beth, snapped some photos for me to help me out!

Madeline picked out the Abby Cadabby theme all by herself! I took her to Toys R Us to look at what they had. Which wasn't much... They had a lot of different themes but not enough supplies. One 8 count dessert plate wasn't going to cover our little party!! But we had a coupon so we tried. She told me she wanted Rapunzel. Then changed her mind to Dora. Then to TinkerBell. Then to Princesses. Then to Elmo. Then to Minnie Mouse. Then to Hello Kitty. So I said, let's try this another day. She clearly wasn't ready for party planning! I decided to make a last minute stop before we headed back home at a party store. We walk in, turn onto the charater theme party aisle and she runs to Abby Cadabby! She picked up a few things of napkins, plates, cups and turned to look at me with a huge smile. I knew this was it! I was so excited for her! She really does love Abby Cadabby and this was perfect for her party!

We enjoyed the party with our family & friends. I'm so thankful they all came! We had such a great time and Madeline loved every second of it! Especially when we sang to her!

We are so very thankful for Madeline!! What a sweet, darling 2 year old she is!!