MY NEW MINISTRY PARTNER

Last Sunday I realized that God has partnered Kaira and I together, not just as mother and daughter, but as ministry partners. I love hospitality and Kaira is VERY hospitable. When we arrived at church on Father's day she began talking to the man in front of us. At our church you never know if someone is local or visiting from halfway around the world. I asked him where he and his wife were from, they were from Louisiana. Kaira pretended to be shy and I told the man that soon she would be asking him to hold her. Sure enough halfway through the service she asked him to hold her and got up in his lap. If you have ever held Kaira you know what a treat it is, she melts into you and snuggles up as if you were her favorite person. I did not know that man or anything about him, but I believe the Lord used Kaira to minister to him and his wife. I sensed we should ask them to lunch, so I mentioned it to Todd and he said fine (he never knows who's coming to dinner). Turns out he is a pastor and we had a wonderful time at lunch talking.

Hospitality has fallen by the wayside as I have not wanted to entertain others in our home full of strife, but the Lord gave me an opportunity Sunday to do so without having them come to my home. It was nothing for me to call Todd in the past and say I met this man in the parking lot at Walmart and I feel the Lord saying we should have him over to dinner. I have invited a whole band over to trim our tree and have dinner because they didn't have a "stationary" home of their own. I used to have impromptu luncheons after church where I would invite so many people, I didn't know how many were coming. I miss that!

We are to NOT forsake fellowshipping with one another and somehow, someway I lost sight of that. Last Sunday was so much fun especially with Kaira's help, I am going to begin praying for more opportunities again.

Isabella is also very hospitable, she is the party planner. I can't wait to see what God has in store for us!

Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by doing so some people have entertained angels without knowing it. Hebrews 13:2

A FATHER'S DAY TO REMEMBER

Father’s day this year was awesome! We made the journey to church and had planned to spend the day at the river afterwards. Little did we know service would last four hours. Usually when service is long we head out about 1:00 p.m. or when the kids get fidgety. Well, they didn’t and we didn’t. It was so awesome we just could not leave. Our church services are not traditional by any means and Father’s Day was no different! The service has an open mic format according to Colossians 3:16 - Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. The service quickly develops a “flow” of the Spirit.

There is a section up front called the earnest section where anyone who wants to be saved can go up anytime during the service and the service will stop and they will receive prayer, it is also for anyone that is struggling with something and needs to repent or needs prayer. There were several people in the earnest section on Father’s day. It was a precious time of healing, I think for everyone. For me it was healing to hear a daughter repent to her father, her father forgive her and him pray for her. When the daughter got up and spoke some of her words about herself were derogatory, so her father disallowed her vow (Numbers 30:6-8). Now the enemy has no right to use those words against her and the Lord will forgive her…the beauty of Truth.

There is also a section up front for the open mic where people get up and share just like Colossians 3:16 says. I am so encouraged in my faith when I hear how others have overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the Word of their testimony.

The pastor also had everyone share “popcorn” testimonies. He had someone walk around with a microphone and people gave brief declarations of the Lord’s doings…people had been healed of many sicknesses and diseases, restored marriages, broken hearts healed...it lasted about 15 minutes.

It was a precious day with a lot of wonderful reminders of who our Heavenly Father is and what He has called men to be as daddies. A wonderful reminder of His great love for us and what WAS accomplished on the cross because of LOVE.

We did go to the river after our lunch in town and had a wonderful time. It was almost as much fun as last Father’s Day adventure. The river was low, but that did not stop us from cruising down the river using our bodies with children on our laps causing us to bump every rock in sight…there were a lot of ooooohs and ouches, but it was a blast. We all had a memorable day.

WE GO WAY BACK

My friend, Tina, that I talked about here came to visit a couple of weeks ago. As I said before we met in kindergarten in parochial school and have remained friends. It was nice to talk and laugh about the good 'ol times, but it was even nicer to talk about what God has done in our lives. It is a precious gift to have a friend who knows almost everything about you and your life and loves you anyway. She would say she doesn't love me, she just loved my scrambled eggs and that was the only reason she used to spend the night. Her mom came with her too, so that was an added bonus.

As a child I was extremely shy (hard to believe I know) and Tina was my voice. If I wanted anything or wanted to say anything, she spoke for me. When I caught tadpoles at the lake and put them in Dixie cups, Tina was the one who went ahead of me to all my neighbors houses asking if they wanted to buy a tadpole. I have always had an entreuprenuerial spirit. She was that kind of friend, I mean really who does that? I treasure her. We have had our share of laughs over the years and tears (mostly mine)!

Our daughters are close to the same age we were when we met and they were instant friends, which was kind of surreal since Isabella looks so much like me and her daughter like her. She took Isabella to the Gone with the Wind Museum and to the Kennesaw Mountain Battle Field where Isabella watched the movie with Maria, Tina's mom and thought it was "so interesting". We stayed up till the wee hours of the morning two nights in a row, but it was worth the loss of sleep. It was like being a kid again, but not with the carelessness or irresponsiblity of our youth. It was comfortable in a familiar way with a gratefulness for the saving of our souls and the blessings of many children between us.

She will meet up with us later in the summer when our family heads to the beach and I know the rest of her kids and mine will have just as much fun as the girls did.

In memory of Sister Pauline's second grade class where we listened to the following two songs EVERYDAY...what's up with that?

LAUNDRY ROOM MAKEOVER

These are the "beverage" tubs I purchased at Target today for $5.40 each (do you hate it when people tell you how much they pay for everything?...well, it's my blog and I'll tell if I want to). Again, I saw this on another blog and loved it, so here it is. Never think your blog does not inspire me because I have made your crockpot potatoes (the other Mari), your monkey cupcakes (Stacey - the cupcake Queen) and looked up your scripture references. I am not one to reinvent the wheel. The laundry baskets below I did when we moved in. There are five baskets and each one is labeled 1) whites 2) towels, underwear and socks 3) darks 4) clean clothes (notice that is the largest pile) 5) lights and I have taught my children to sort their own laundry, even Kaira has joined in the fun. It saves me a whole lot of time when I do laundry. Each basket holds one load of laundry...I really need *want* a larger washer/dryer.
I am really fun to play Bible Trivia with when I have had too much caffeine...any takers? I will not be headed to bed anytime soon - too bad Target's closed. There was a deal I missed while I was there, guess it will have to wait until tomorrow!

MY TARGET TRIP

S'mores fixins $5.07 for a camping night (indoors) I'm planning...we have a mountain lion roaming the neighborhood, so I'm not even sleeping in the screened porch this year. Oh, that reminds me...it's finished! Well finished enough for pictures...coming soon. I had too much tea today...can you tell?

$10.07 for everything pictured above. The receipt says I saved $14.32, so I saved more than I spent...which is now my goal for no other reason than I read it on someone else's blog. It just happens sometimes, I don't really plan it. It's amazing to see that on your receipt though. Remember, I stock pile, so my weekly shopping trips don't look normal. This is more stockpiling except for the Pepperidge Farm 12 grain bread...I'm completely out. Not bad for a late night run to Target. I was there three times today...two for my laundry room makeover...I'll put those in another post...it's too hard to get them at the bottom of this one.

OH, HOW I LOVE KAIRA...LET ME COUNT THE WAYS

in shredded strips of the Sunday comics.

Okay, so I am planning my shopping trip to Target in a few minutes, which requires great thought and concentration (hopefully it will be as successful as I imagine it will be and I will post about it here). Anyway, my husband comes to me with a handful of something and says Kaira did this. Upon closer inspection I must say I was quite proud of her tearing ability. Look at the size of the strips, almost paper thin (pun intended).

She will make a great scrapbooker one day and will not need a $20 paper tearer, she has that mastered. The duct tape on the side is what he used to clean up the little pieces she began to tear from the strips (and what we use to keep her diaper on at night).

She is always good for a laugh, sometimes so much so I want to cry, but not tonight. Tonight I was completely impressed with her skill and dedication to the task of shredding the funnies. Very funny!

Lots to catch up on...hopefully I will have some time this week to write and upload pictures of our recent adventures. Looking forward to sharing some new insight and revelation.

COTTON PICKIN' FAIR

Pictures from the Cotton Pickin' Fair complete with Italian ice and pork rinds. It was a fun day for the kids.



The girls showing off their blue tongues. My sister-in-law is in the middle expecting Brooke.

SAVING BIG

This was my mini-shopping trip today. I purchased this:
and paid this:
I also bought this earlier in the week:
and paid $12.99 out of pocket and got $10 register rewards, which is like cash on my next purchase.

Isn't saving money fun? I'm starting to get the hang of this.

SCREENED PORCH MAKE-OVER IN PROCESS

As of two weeks ago the homeschool and play rooms are where the other used to be, so my kids obtained their own screened porch. I demanded all Little Tikes and such be kept on their side of the house. My (and hubby's too) screened porch is going through an overhaul, my husband is in the process of painting it for me as my Mother's Day gift.

I found a four piece wicker set at a garage sale for $125 with cushions that match what I already had in there. The cushions became the inspiration for my color theme. I attempted to paint and distress the set myself, but wicker is no fun to paint, so the rest of the set is off to a professional for a whole new look. It will cost $80 to paint and distress the rest of the set and have it brought back to me, which after painting this little table below is well worth it. It still will cost less than a newer, not as sturdy set.

Last year I bought this washstand (below) for $20 in hopes of using it as an ice bucket for parties - that has happened...NEVER, so it is on permanent loan to the new screen porch and I filled it full of these beauties. I found this birdbath (below) six years ago at a garage sale for $25 and it has never bathed a bird, so it too is on permanent loan.
This shot (below) is to try and capture the color of the ceiling and window trim. I chose Cinnabar for the ceiling, Lion's Mane for the wall and Wool Tweed for the trim around the windows and doors all from the Porter Paint Almonds & Honey collection. Click here to play the color sense game and find "your color personality". I bought this fountain (below) when we moved in this house and had it in the front, but it is very lightweight despite its heavy look and rolled down my very long, steep driveway. It's been in the garage ever since, not a nice place for such an awesome find. I paid way too much for it at COSTCO, so I won't mention price here. The wall to the right of the fountain is the new color for the walls.
Just for fun here is a picture (sorry about the glare) of the driveway - the fountain rolled all the way down past that white truck. Isabella was screaming from her room and we both stood at her window in shock and awe wondering how we were going to get it back home. My sweet neighbor came to the rescue.

I have always loved decorating, but have not had much time or energy for it. I am trying to be a better steward by using stuff I already have in different ways rather than buying new. I have been decluttering for way too long and realizing that I always bought new stuff before trying to make old stuff work, therefore accumulating way too much STUFF. Now I am not buying new things for things that do not absolutely have to be replaced. Well, except for the $3 (brand new) hair dryer I got this week at Walgreens, but that is a different post.

I'll post more pictures when the furniture is back and the walls are complete.

CELEBRATING LIFE

Bellies have been cropped to protect the innocent!

These pictures are of the expectant moms at church at my sister-in-law's baby shower. The one on the far right is my niece from NC who was visiting. I love these pictures.

From left to right expecting #6, #1, #1, #2

Baby showers are a churchwide affair and a frequent one at that. Everyone is invited to the showers. Since mine in January they have had one a month and will continue to so until August. Last month there was actually two. I got to attend one of their get togethers to make favors and they have it down to a science. It was impressive to watch! We made wedding and baby shower favors. It blessed me to see people getting together to make someone's shower special.

My sister-in-law's shower theme was butterflies, so there were butterflies everywhere and butterfly favors. This month is a tea party theme, so we made little purses and put samples of my tea in them. They came out adorable, so I will have to post a picture of them. We banged out 75 of those purses in two hours - I am telling you it is impressive (and a blessing) to watch these ladies get to work for another! I am grateful to be a part of this.

EASTER SUNDAY PICTURES & PRAISE

Easter Sunday we went to church and a wonderful lady, Ellen, who ALWAYS has her camera in her hand took pictures of me, Judah and Isabella. No one else was interested in getting their picture taken.

As Ellen was taking this shoulder shot of Judah (he actually had his hands in the air - praising the Lord as his name implies) I was speaking to a lady about moving to the area. Church on Sunday is a day trip for us and we would LOVE to live closer. This lady and her husband live in an RV and travel around and always come back to the church to help out. She told me she was there last year helping out and we got to talking and she asked me if my daughter was Isabella. I said yes and she proceeded to tell me how Isabella had blessed her and ministered to her during a very rough time. I had tears in my eyes as she recounted Isabella's sweetness. She said at one point Isabella even hugged her and it really lifted her spirits. Her words were music to my ears. I have taught Isabella the word since she was born and I am seeing the fruit of that now. I still need to instruct her more in the word, but she does know it and it is hidden in her heart - Praise God! It is nice to hear your kids are cute, but when someone tells you that your child ministered to them...GLORY!

Sweet Isabella kissing Judah!
I think it looks like she is looking thankfully at the Father for her little brother
Sweet baby!
Mama and Judah

COMING SOON...

I just ordered this off Amazon.com for $49.99 with free shipping. My friend sent me an American Express gift card for $50, so my out of pocket expense for my new Flip = $0...SWEET!!! Click here for the deal

Who knows the craziness that will ensue when this little beauty arrives? Isabella does not know yet, but she is going to be thrilled! Maybe, just maybe, I'll get some videos on here. Maybe there will be a three month video of Judah instead of a picture...

Did you think I was going to announce I was pregnant again? Kind of like this post ADOPTION WELL UNDERWAY on Floating in Winter Creek, brought tears to my eyes, till I read it...thanks for the laugh Tammy.