Isaiah 26:3-4

Yesterday I woke up with Isaiah 26:3-4 on my heart. I have been pondering what exactly the Lord is trying to show me. I have a few ideas, but  I was wondering what this verse says to you. If you could take a minute and share with me,I would appreciate it!



Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength
Isaiah 26:3-4

 

Just Catching Up

It seems as though I have been spending the Month of January just trying to catch up. Really I feel like I am trying to keep my head above water!

The Wedding being on January 2nd and being so close to Christmas just knocked me out of whack! This is just  the first of 10 to get married, so I need to get a handle on this.

I have been trying very hard to keep the children moving along with their schoolwork. Of course when there is a hint of snow they are asking nicely begging for a day off! Since we do not get a lot of snow here in Kentucky, I will usually let them play if there is any snow to play in!

I had all these great intentions of starting the new year with some positive changes in my life. Well, January is almost over and I haven't started yet! I have been disappointed in myself and a bit discouraged. Well, it finally hit me! It is OK that I didn't start on January 1st and I do not have to wait until next year! I can start today!  So, as for my read thru the Bible in One Year Program that starts on January 1st, it starts today! January 25th is going to be day 1!

There are other things I would like to accomplish too! I want to work on eating better and I need to exercise regularly! I have a bit of weight to lose and I have trouble with High Blood Pressure as well as being Prediabetic. I have got to get it together. I have a strong family history of diabetes.

I know with God's Help I can accomplish these things!  What a Joy to know that he will help me and guide me along the way! I know that it won't be easy and I might feel like giving up, but as I ask for his help, he will be there to help me on my journey!

I look forward to what God has in store for this coming year!

On a different note, have you noticed the Pregnancy Prayer List is growing? Wow! God is so Good! It seems in blogland that there are many expecting mommies! Can you take some time and pray for these ladies also? They need God's hand of protection upon them! There is one mommy listed here for January, so she should be due anytime. Please be in prayer for her!

 

Beautiful Blogger Award

I started working on this post over 9 days ago! Sorry it has taken me so long to get it all together. Life is always busy and I haven't been feeling well the past few days. So here goes!

Thank You to Caroline @ The Croley Gang for giving me this award.

Here are the rules. I am to post 7 things about myself, and pass the award along to 7 beautiful bloggers.

1.) I accepted Jesus as my Savior when I was 11 years old on January 18th 1976.  I still remember a lot about that night. I am so Thankful for having the Lord in my life! He has seen me through so much!

2.) My brother Doug introduced Mike (hubby) and I to each other. We went to the same church and went to a lot of the same activities.

3.) Hubby and I started dating in May and were talking marriage by August. We were officially engaged in September. We actually bought our rings in August, but I made him wait until September to propose because we had a lot going on in my family.  I wanted things to settle down a bit before springing our engagement on my parents.

4.) Mike and I were married a year after we started dating. We have been married over 25 years now.

5.) I love the color blue and I think everything I own would be blue if I could get away with it! I probably would paint all the walls blue too! I guess that would get kind of boring, so I try to pick other colors too!

6.) I have 10 living children and 3 in Heaven. My oldest is now 23 and my youngest is 4. Life is never boring with so many children and the different ages!

7.) I just recently became a mother-in law!  Welcome to the family Naomi!

Here are my seven nominees:

1.) Angie @ Ponder the Path of thy Feet 
Angie has been a great Bloggy  Friend. She is inspiring and encouraging! She has a fun Bible Challenge going on right now, so go check it out!

2.) Candace @ Living With Faith
Candace is a such a great inspiration! She has wonderful determination as she takes care of her beautiful daughter Faith who faces health challenges!  I admire her for all stick-to-it-ive-ness as she cares for Faith and works with the Healthcare personnel. Keep Sweet Faith in your prayers for God to bring his healing touch to her and to be with her parents as they care for her!

3.) Pam @ God's In the Small Stuff
Pam is a Mom to 13! I enjoy her posts as she writes from her heart and she is very real. I enjoy reading blogs from other moms that have large families and especially when they have more children than I do!  I can learn so much from these moms!

4.) Ange @ A Heart At Home
Ange is such a sweet lady and a special bloggy friend. Ange is the Mom to 11 children. She doesn't have a lot of time to blog right now as she welcomed twin baby girls into her family in November. Needless to say, she is a busy lady! I miss your posts Ange!

5.) Tricia @ Mommy x 12
I have just recently started following Tricia's blog. She is such a great inspiration to me as she is a Mom to 12 and Grandma to 3 and 1 grandchild on the way!  She has homeschooled for many years and has great wisdom. I look forward to getting to know her better.

6.) Patrice @ Williams Family Blog
I enjoy Patrice's honesty as she shares about her life and the ups and downs she experiences as she cares for her sweet little boy, Jonah . Jonah has a medical condition called EB and it can be very challenging. Please keep this wonderful family in your prayers and especially for God's Healing touch on Jonah.

7.) Holly @ Caring for Carleigh
OK, I know that Holly has actually already received this award, but it has been difficult finding bloggers that have not received this award. Holly is such a dear sweet bloggy friend! She is always faithful to comment. She has such a wonderful heart for others, especially other grieving Moms. I am almost old enough to be her Mom,but she inspires me greatly!

 

An Update From The Pregnancy Prayer List

I am a little behind on updating the Pregnancy Prayer List. Life has been a bit busy, but I am trying to get back to normal life, whatever that may be!

Alison had a baby girl on December 30th. Her beautiful new baby is Sadie Elizabeth, weighing 8 lbs 13 oz and 20.5 inches long. Mother and baby are doing great. Congratulations Alison and Josh!

Please remember to let me know if you are pregnant or know someone who is and would like to be added to the list. You can leave me a comment or send me an email. My email address is on the left sidebar.

If you would prefer your name not to be on the list, but would still like for me to pray for you, please let me know!

 

Walking With You ~ Praising God

Walking With You is an outreach of Sufficient Grace Ministries hosted by Kelly at The Beauty Of Sufficient Grace. We are a group of mothers who have lost a baby or child, who gather together each month to share our stories, to encourage, and pray for one another as we walk this path together. Our hope is that you will be comforted when you join us here...and maybe that we can offer some grace for the journey as we look to the Lord for comfort and strength.

This Month we are going to Focus on Praising God, no matter what our circumstances! We can pick an attribute to praise Him for or write something of our own.

God's Love and Faithfulness

As we have been walking through this journey with Faith, I have felt that God was with us each step of the way! I will not say that it was easy, but I knew he was there taking care of me. God's Love was evident all around us.

Since I was very young, I have always had this reassurance that God was with me and taking care of me. No, I haven't been worry free. I am human and I try to take over for myself, forgetting to hand it all over to Him and let Him have charge over everything. So, sometimes many times I fall flat on my face! That is when I realize I am trying to do things in my own power without relying on God!

My very first pregnancy ended in miscarriage back in 1985. I remember listening to a lady on TV that had gone through many miscarriages and struggling to have a baby. She shared how God had spoken to her and asked her what would she do if she never had a live baby? Would she go on living for Him and bring Glory to His Name, or turn her back on Him? She decided that no matter what her circumstances, that she was going to Praise His Name. By the way, she ended up having children!

I felt as I was listening to her testimony that God was speaking to me. Was I going to Praise Him no matter what? I have chosen that I want to Praise Him. No, it is not always easy! Yes, I have been angry that Faith is gone! But, I want to Praise Him because He is Worthy of our Praise!

I think back to when times have been difficult, and I do not always feel Him. It reminds me of the poem "footprints". When I do not see two sets of footprints, that is when He was carrying me! I know that He has carried me through so much!

God's Love has been evident through this journey! We have had wonderful people minister to us through all of this. From my amazing doctor and the wonderful nurse who were with us in the delivery room, to many family and friends who have helped to lighten our load. We have been Blessed and We are truly Thankful!

I am ministered greatly through music. I love Praise Music and that sure can lift me up when I am down. I love to sing along too, probably much to the dismay of my kids! There is something to be said about Praise Music. I recommend you pop some in if you need a lift in your spirit!

There have been several songs that have ministered to me quite a bit while walking this journey. I am sure the song,  Praise You In this Storm has become a theme song to many of us. Here are a few that I enjoy.


This first one reminds me of God's Faithfulness



This song comforts me knowing that he will never let go, through the calm and through the storm!



This song reminds us of His Love!



He never promised that Life was going to be easy. He did promise that He would be with us and take care of us along the way! Great Is His Faithfulness!

He is the Rock, his works are perfect,
and all his ways are just.
A faithful God who does no wrong,
upright and just is he.                         
Deuteronomy 32:4

Praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD, O my soul.
I will praise the LORD all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.   
Psalm 146:1-2

Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.                            
Psalm 63:3

But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.               
Psalm 13:5   
 

Lord, I Love You and I want to Forever Praise Your Name! Please be with these other Moms that have lost a child or children also. Bring them comfort and give them peace in their hearts. Minister unto their Hearts, Minds, and Spirts and help them to forever Praise You Also!  Amen

 

Happy New Year ( Just A Little Late! )

Yes, I am still around! Life has been crazy busy and blogging has just not been a priority!

Christmas and New Years have come and gone and then our son Tim married Naomi on January 2nd.

I must admit that I was a bundle of nerves for a few weeks leading up to the Wedding. I am not really sure why, I wasn't even the Mother of the Bride! Naomi planned and did most of the work herself.

Everything was just beautiful and I am so proud of Tim and Naomi! Here is a sneak peak from their Wedding. I borrowed these from my friend Sharon who had posted some pics on facebook.

Naomi before the Wedding

Tim before the Wedding

Naomi walking down the aisle with her Dad

Tim and Naomi newly married!

It was a wonderful day, but boy, I must admit, it feels wonderful for it all to be over!

The day started out on a crazy note. Naomi and her six bridesmaids had a hair appointment at 6 am! Naomi picked Rebekah up at 5:45! I was sure gratetful that Naomi came to get Rebekah so that I did not have to get her there!

Naomi's Mom, Victoria, Anna, and I had hair appointments at 8 am at a different hair salon. Well, let's just say that was an adventure!

I am pretty conservative with my hair and let's just say these ladies like to do poofy! Most women that were in that shop must have been over 60. The ladies that came in were all over 60 also and they were coming in for their weekly wash, set and style!

The lady doing my hair redid it 3 times! When I got home,I had to try to tame it down!

Hubby was at home trying to help get the 4 youngest boys ready. I had failed to set their stuff out so that he could find it all, so he had to wait for me to get home to help him.

Did I mention the Wedding was at 11:00 am?

Between me trying to fix my hair and helping to get the boys ready we were running just a tad late! We did not walk into the church until 10:53!

Fortunately all of our older children we already at the church and Jeremy had taken Sammy and Anna( The ring bearer and flower girl).

We walked in and put our flowers on and it was just about time to start!

I was a complete mess!

The night before when I walked into the church for rehearsal and saw the pew bows, the tears started coming! The past few years weddings have made me cry. Now it was my son getting married and the tears surfaced often.

Now on the morning of the Wedding as my son Josh was ushering me down the aisle, I wanted so bad just to smile, but the tears were coming instead! It was a bit embarrassing but I could not stop!

Naomi's Mom and I lit the 2 candles for the unity candles so I focused on that and that helped the tears to stop for a little while.

It was a beautiful service and I saw a few others shed some tears also. Of course my tears started flowing again when I look up and see tears in Tim's eyes! It was so sweet!

The reception was held at a hotel and everything was wonderful. The decorations were beautiful, the cake was beautiful, and the food was really delicious!

When we got home we were exhausted!

My Mom and my nieces Corrie and Krista arrived on Thursday and we really enjoyed having them here. Corrie is such a huge help to so many and she helped me get my things organized for the rehearsal dinner. This girl deserves sainthood!

Friday night we had the rehearsal dinner at our church. I ordered Lasagna, Salad, and breadsticks from Fazoli's. I bought cheesecakes and a couple of other desserts from Sam's Club. I made punch and we also had ale 8 and IBC Root beer for Tim and Naomi. Everything turned our really nice and we had a great time.

My sister Debbie and her daughter Katie, along with her Son Jonathan (a groomsman) and his wife Rachel arrived Friday afternoon.

The Wedding itself was held at a different church because the Sanctuary of our church is a Gymnasium. Tim and Naomi decided they would probably save money having it at a different church because it would cost them a bit of money to decorate our church the way they wanteed it.

We had to drive 40 minutes from the Wedding Rehearsal to the Rehearsal Dinner. I could not set up before hand because the space was being occupied by somone else, so we had to get everything ready while everyone was arriving.

I was so blessed when my family all pitched in to help. Mike and I and our children were all getting things ready, but then we had Corrie, Krista, Debbie, Katie, Jonathan, Rachel, and Jeremy's fiance Leigh helping as well!

It really meant a great deal to me having such wonderful help!

Jeremy and his fiance, Leigh

Anna

Luke, Josh, and Micah

My niece Krista and Rebekah

Sammy

Matthew

My niece-in-law, Rachel, her husband Jonathan(my nephew), and my wonderful niece, Corrie

Victoria and my niece Katie

My sister Debbie and my Mom

Disclaimer: These bottles are Ale 8 and IBC Root beer

If you do not know what ale 8 is you can check it out here..

The Crazy Happy Newlyweds are honeymooning in Alaska! They both love cold weather and snow! Me, well, not so much!

Tim reported a couple of days ago that it was 34 degrees there! Here in Kentucky it has been in the teens and  twenties! It is warmer in Alaska then it is here, go figure! Needless to say, they are a little disappointed!

We look forward to seeing them when they return. We are so proud of you Tim and Naomi and We Love You!

Happy New Year Everyone,

May you have a Blessed 2010!