Trusting

Well, I mentioned in the previous post that God is teaching us to trust Him with this new direction He's taking us. I'm always amazed at how faithful He is. I am reading a devotional titled "A Gentle Spirit, Daily Wisdom For Women", it is a compilation from different authors. Today's reading really encouraged me and so I wanted to share it with you.


Your Trust in Him by Hannah Whitall Smith

"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." Galatians 2:20

Do you, then, now at this moment, surrender yourself wholly to Him? You answer, "Yes." Then, my dear friend, begin at once to reckon that you are His, that He has taken you, and that He is working in you to will and to do His good pleasure. And keep on reckoning this. You will find it a great help to put your reckoning into words and say over and over to yourself and to your God, "Lord, I am Thine; I do yield myself up entirely to Thee, and I believe that Thou dost take me. I leave myself with Thee. Work in me all the good pleasure of Thy will, and I will only lie still in Thy hands and trust Thee."
Make this a daily, definite act of your will, and many times a day recur to it, as being your continual attitude before the Lord. Confess it to yourself. Confess it to your God. Confess it to your friends. Avouch the Lord to be your God, continually and unwaveringly, and declare your purpose of walking in His ways and keeping His statutes; and sooner or later, you find in practical experience that He has avouched you to be one of His peculiar people, and will enable you to keep all of His commandments, and that you are being made into "an holy people unto the Lord, as he hath spoken."

This road we're on....

Several months back the Lord stirred in us the desire to move into the inner city neighborhood surrounding our church. Please pray for us as we step out in faith on this journey with the Lord. The road we are on is a winding one, requiring trust and faith at every turn. We have spent much time in prayer about this and are trusting that God is leading us in this direction.We are excited about this new direction in our lives and what the Lord has in store!

We started looking at real estate and realized that it didn't do us much good b/c we couldn't buy a house until we sold ours. So, we recently put our house on the market and after just 8 days, it sold! Now what?! We are considering a couple of houses in a proposed historic district that are about 100 years old, so they'd require alot of renovation (which is right up my alley!). So, by May 15th we have to find an apt./house to rent and move out of our home. Toss in a couple of out-of-town weddings and a surgery recovery and I'd say we're a little pressed for time! Things are moving quicker than we thought. The plan is to live in the apt. til renovations are done.

Would you pray for us? Pray that our transition is smooth and timely. Pray for faith and trust, that we'd keep our eyes on Jesus and His call on our life. Your prayers mean more than words can express.

Adventures with Mimi and Popi

The Huntsville Botanical Garden is Emma's favorite place to go with Mimi and Popi. They have made alot of special memories there.

In Recovery...

Well, I'm 1 out of the other 300,000 people that will have their gall bladders taken out this year! Over the past 2 months, I've had these episodes that have been waking me up at night, very sharp pain in my upper abdomen and back.......I just thought it must be really bad heart burn/acid indigestion. It would keep me up most of the night, after a few hours I'd finally be comfortable enough to settle down and go back to sleep. The last episode was a long one. It lasted all night long (2:30 am - 8:30am), so I went to urgent care. Through an ultrasound, they detected that I had multiple layers of gall stones......like gravel. Doc wanted to remove it asap, so about a week later, here I am.....in recovery......very sore.......but the pain is less by the day. My mom and dad came up for the surgery to help Mike with the girls. I can't lift anything heavier than 10 lbs for two weeks, so Lili (my 23 pounder) will have to learn to walk really quickly! Thanks so much for all the prayers and support, it really was an encouragement to me. I love you all!

Play!

We've really enjoyed the spring weather lately!

Ski 09

We had an awesome opportunity to go with a group of youth and college students to Winter Park, Colorado. Our days were filled with skiing and at night we had praise and worship led by FEE with speaking by David Rhodes. Our trip was a ski retreat led by Student Life Camps. Was an amazing experience! This was my first time to ski, something that Mike and I have wanted to do together for a very long time. We had so much fun together, he was so patient with me b/c let me tell you it is tough for a 31 year old to learn how to ski! I was being shown up by 3 and 4 year olds flying down the mountain and we rode up the ski lift with an 86 year old man that skis every day of his life!

Our group

Going up the ski lift!

At the top of one of the slopes (there were over 130 of them!)
The weather was great for skiing! Sunny and not too cold! I think the temp was in the 40s most of the time.

Miking coming off of a jump. He did get some air, but my camera delayed! He's a great skier!

Micah, Barika, Me, and Mike at the Arch in St. Louis. This was one of our stops along the way! Our drive was 21 hours so we tried to make the most of it!

Some of us with Fee!

Barika is my blessing! I love her! She is one of our college students.

Just getting off the ski lift ready to go down again!

Right before a major crash and burn! Don't let this one fool ya! Right after this, I fell right on my face, in fact my chest fell right on my fist, knocking the breath out of myself. That hasn't happened since my cheerleading days long ago.

It was so much fun skiing together :)

Us with Ken and Jen Perkins, our youth pastor and wife.

Ken used to be a ski instructor, he helped me get the basics down.

Jen and I eating our lunch by the fire.

Mike and a couple of guys eating lunch too.

Mike and Kevin!

In front of a beautiful lodge on top of the slopes.

My baby's growing up...

It's so hard to believe Emma is going to be 5 tomorrow.....time is flying .

I feel so blessed....