March Is Coming To A Close

It is so hard to believe that March is coming to a close! Where does the time go?

Spring seems to be back and no one could be happier than me! It was here, but went hiding for a while! 

Some of the children decided to take a walk today. They were trying to do as many laps of our small neighborhood as possible. If you go all the way around and back, it is about a mile. They ended up doing three laps. That was pretty good since it was mostly the youngest who went. On one of the laps, Micah fell and scraped his knee. Fortunately it was close to home. So he got a band aid and went on his way!

Ouch!!

All better now that he has a band aid!

This overweight dog is about to pass out after this long walk!

On their way back home.

Here comes the rest of them!

And Superman Micah Returns bandaged knee and all!

There are signs of Spring sprouting up all around here!  Oh how I Love Spring!

Hydrangeas

Butterfly Bush

Last Fall I cut these Rose Bushes way back because they were taking over. We will see how they do this year.

Look who else is showing their faces!

They are still a bit dirty from just coming out of hibernation!

We still have one turtle that has not come out yet. We hope she is just taking her time!

And in other news, look who recently celebrated their birthday!

Happy Birthday Dear Hubby!

After a long winter, we welcome Spring with open arms! It brings great promises of new life with it. The trees and shrubs are starting to bud. The daffodils, tulips, and crocuses are showing their beautiful faces!

It is so fitting that Easter is celebrated in the Spring. Celebrating the Death and Resurrection of our Dear Savior brings us the greatest promise of all! When we give our lives and hearts over to Him, we receive eternal life! What better promise could there be?

May You be Blessed as We Celebrate Our Risen Savior!

 

God Is Faithful

I was thinking on the Faithfulness of God and thought this picture was beautiful, so I thought I would share it with you.



He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

1 Corinthians 1:8-9

 

Pray With Me

This post has been forming in my head for several days. I often find it difficult to get enough time to sit and write a post that makes any sense!

As a mother that has lost a child, I have found many women here in the blogging community that have walked a similar path. I have also encountered many women IRL( in real life)that have lost a child.

At Faith's Service, I had two women that came up to me and shared their experiences with me. I had no idea that they hade walked this path. I could still see the pain in their eyes as they shared their stories with tears rolling down their cheeks. For one of them their loss happened probably over 50 years ago.

Losing a child is a painful experience. I felt like someone reached in and ripped my heart right out of my chest.The pain is not quite so raw anymore, but I am sure that it will never totally go away. I guess I do not want it to totally go away so that I will always remember her.

Before I started blogging, I was reading blogs that dealt with the loss of a child. My heart ached for these people and I had no idea that I would become one of them.

At times I have become overwhelmed with the number of women that have lost a child. I have often wondered if more women are losing babies these days, but I have come to the realization that due to advanced technology, we have instant access to information from all over the world.

I am still overwhelmed by the numbers and my heart is broken. I believe that Satan is trying to steal, kill, and destroy what God has created. I believe that there is an attack on unborn babies. .

I fervently believe that pregnant women and their unborn babies need to be kept in prayer. I believe that God laid this on my heart and this is how the Pregnancy Prayer List got started here on my blog.

Let me be the first to say that I am no one special, and I am not a perfect person. I am just a willing vessel.I strive to be more like Jesus everyday and honor Him in all I do. Believe me, I do fail tremendously!

God does not always answer our prayers in the way we expect, but I will continue to pray.

One example is of a precious mother that asked to be put on the Pregnancy Prayer List only to have a miscarriage a few days later. Would you please pray for her? This is her third loss in just a few months. She really needs to be lifted up at this time.

There are mother's on the Pregnancy Prayer List now that have experienced loss before. There are some that are expecting their Rainbow babies. With this brings new hope, but also I am sure it brings along a certain amount of anxiety. They too could use your prayers right now! I pray as they go through their pregnancies that that God will give them healthy full term babies. I also pray that they can lean on Him and He will bring them peace and comfort along the way.

At least one of the ladies on the list is expecting their first child. There comes great excitement and expectation with your first. She could use you prayers too.

With each one of these women I also pray that God will supply all their needs. That He will Bless them abundantly and bring resources that they did not know even existed!

There have been a couple of women that have said that they would pray for these ladies along with me. Would you please consider taking time in your busy life and pray for these dear ladies? I know that they would appreciate it and it would mean a lot to me as well.

Please remember that if you are pregnant or know someone who is and would like to be added to the list, please leave a comment or email me at onhavingfaith@gmail.com . If you would like for me to pray for you but not be added to the list on the blog, I would be honored to do that also.

May God richly bless each of you!

 

Here is a collage I created to honor Faith. I have been playing around with Picasa trying to learn how to use it and this is what I came up with.

 

Follow Me Fridays

For fun I decided to join in on this blog hop! It looks like a great way to meet new blog friends!

 

Oh Happy Day!

The past few days have been amazing. It has been getting warmer and the Sun has been shining! Oh how I love the sunshine! Today it is suppose to be Sunny and the high of 66! I am thrilled. Spring must be coming soon!

Some of the children have been doing their schoolwork outside. They just can't get enough of this weather either! They have been working hard at getting everything done so that they can spend the rest of the day outside playing. This is a win-win situation for all of us!

You would think it was Summer here with these kids wearing shorts and sandals and some are even barefoot!  Even as I am typing this, the clouds are moving in. There is a chance of rain tomorrow and by the weekend it is suppose to be a bit cooler! It was fun while it lasted, but Spring can't be too far away!

This morning I took my son Josh to get his braces off. He was more than ready! We have been through  a lot with Josh and his braces. They actually removed his braces several months ago. After seeing his teeth with the braces off I was not happy with the results.  They ended up putting the top braces back on. This ortho kept saying just a few more weeks. He kept wanting to schedule the removal of the braces but I kept seeing something I thought needed to be fixed. He always agreed with me and told me I had a good eye. Well, he is the orthodontist so why doesn't he have a good eye?  Josh does not seem to even care. Well after spending that much money, I care a lot!

 Josh Before:

Josh After:

Josh  does not often cooperate with getting his picture taken, so this is the best I have!

Nothing really new here. I am better now, but just can't quite seem to shake this run down feeling. I am hoping that getting some sunshine will help that a bit.

Lately it seems as though I feel like I am going backwards on my journey of grief after losing Faith. I miss her so much and have been reliving the painful memories. The times like when we learned of her hypoplastic left heart, the night we found out there was no heartbeat, and the day she was born.  It can be truly painful remembering these times. God has been faithful to carry us through, to bring us comfort and healing. I lean on Him now as I am going through this phase of grieving. I know He will see me through and I look forward to being on the other side.

I have participated in Walking With You hosted by Kelly Gerken from Sufficient Grace Ministries for a while. Right now they are going through the Threads of Hope, Pieces of Joy Bible Study.  I am reading along with them and reading each of their posts. I am struggling to find the time to put my thoughts together to post each week on this study. I have found it helpful though to read the study and the other ladies posts. If you are a Mother that has lost a baby to miscarriage, stillbirth, or infant death I encourage you to read along. You can download this study for free from the link above. The Walking With You posts can be found here.

Have an Awesome Day!

 

Blog Makeover Giveaway

I just wanted to share with you that Franchesca from Small Bird Studio is giving away a blog makeover. I have seen some of her work and she does great stuff! So hop over and visit Franchesca and get a chance to win a free blog makeover!

 

32nd Street Blog Parade!

Today I am joining in Abigail's Blog Parade.


1. What's your favorite time of the day, and why?

I would have to say night time. I enjoy the quiet of the night so that I can actually think! I guess if I went to bed earlier I could get up earlier and have quiet then too!

2. If health wasn't an issue, what food could you live off of?

Dark Chocolate!

3. If you could have one wish granted (besides wishing for more wishes), what would it be?

That Jesus would return right away so that I can be reunited with 3 of my children and I could have all 13 together at last!

4. What's one thing that you get teased about a lot?

Probably being blonde. Well, I am not naturally blonde literally, but I do get my hair highlighted!  Just one example of me being blonde: the other day I texted my son and then put the phone up to my ear and wondered why he wasn't answering!  Why did I just admit that?


5. If you could choose one movie, book, or TV show to spend your life in, which would you pick? What type of character would you be?

This is a hard one! I think about shows like Little House on the Prairie or Anne of Green Gables and how there are things like the simplicity of life and be able to wear pretty dresses etc, but I would like to have modern conveniences!

6. If you could have one talent that you don't already have, what would it be?

Playing the Piano! I actually took lessons for too many years, but I was not faithful on the practice part. I feel like kicking myself wish I had practiced a whole lot more! I admire people that can play the piano well!


7.If money were no object, where would you go on vacation?

This is really easy! I would definitely go to Hawaii! I just love the beach and have always wanted to visit Hawaii! Me and Hubby alone in Hawaii for 2 weeks would be AMAZING!!!!!


8. If you were an awesome singer, which genre would you sing?

Christian Worship! I LOVE Christian Worship music, it ministers to my soul!

9. If you could have a $10,000 shopping spree to one store, what would it be?

It would be a furniture store. With 10 kiddos, the furniture around here has really taken a beating!

10. If you could live in any point in time, when would it be?

Even though the Victorian Period has some romantic points to it, I would have to say the present. I sure enjoy modern conveniences! Did I mention the best way to go camping is at a 5 star Hotel with room service! ( Not that I could afford that! )

11. If every outfit in your wardrobe had to be one color, what would it be?

Black, I wear a lot of black!

12. If you were one of the seven dwarves, which one would you be?
(Doc, Grumpy, Sneezy, Sleepy, Bashful, Happy, or Dopey)

I would like to say Happy, but sometimes I am Grumpy, Sneezy ,Sleepy and even Bashful! I would most definitely like to be Happy!


13. What's the last album you listened to?

I'm not really sure, but probably something by Chris Tomlin.


14. What's something we'd be surprised to know about you?

When I graduated from High School I wanted to be a Dental Hygienist! Now the thought of that kind of grosses me out!