Project 8: princess bedding

Well, we are well under way today to making the princesses bedding. We accomplished a bedskirt and two pillowcases today. I will maybe get to the top piecing of the quilt tomorrow. I am going to attempt a strip quilt. Looks easy and I am hoping for just that. The girls loved the pillowcases and were thrilled to take a nap today! Score there for sure!

Our First Dinner guest in Kentucky!

Well, we finally had our first dinner guest! Dr. Twana Hatton joined us for dinner tonight and I was, we were!!, so thrilled to have her. We are so thankful for her friendship! She is on the hunt to find us a boat...because we have a huge lake in town she says it definitely calls for a boat :)

He is good

I got a call yesterday morning from our realtor in Cushing asking for utility bills for the past year...we may have a very interested buyer for the home! My heart just smiled. Thank you Lord for the reminder that you are working. A few hours later I got an email from our banker at Kentucky Bank that told me that the realtors and lawyers were working so quickly that he believed we were still on target to close on the original closing date, Monday, March 4th. Even through all the craziness God is still working. It has been quite an interesting process and for the first time we have really enjoyed just sitting back, trusting Him and are loving getting to see how it is all developing for His good because He is good. So, so good to us. We are holding on to Him! "Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, His love endures forever!." Psalm 107:1

Celebrating Drew

Today we celebrated Andrew's 7th Birthday! His real birthday is next weekend but Dustin is on call so Andrew decided he wanted to celebrate today. We had cookie cake, movies, bowling and bean burritos for dinner by his request. He got a bike for his birthday and was super excited.

Big girl beds for our little girls

I cannot believe the day has come for my little girls to have big girl beds! We decided on a pink headboard. I am going to make the bedding because we couldn't find exactly what we wanted. Abby says she wants feathers on her blanket so it will be really soft...not sure what that means but I'm sure it's going to be interesting :) The girls were so very excited! We were excited that they stayed in them all night long!

Project 7: Cheetah Drapes

When I see Cheetah I think of my friends in Cushing. Sweet memories. I wasn't much of a cheetah girl until my friends rubbed this exotic flavor on me. I am working on the formal dining. Cheetah Drapes are up! Raaarrrr! :)

I am not surprised

Our loan officer called from Kentucky Bank today asking if he could come out to the house and talk with me. They have been moving quickly to get everything ready to try to hit the original closing date, March 4. I wondered why he was coming to me. Now, that is service I thought! When he got to the house I could tell he was squirming a bit and then he finally told me the news....during the title search on the house the owner that we had a contract with was not the owner on the title. Interesting. I was not surprised. We have just been sitting back and watching the Lord work and I found myself not shocked at all that there would be yet another snag on the house. Come to find out the owner that we have been dealing with, Mr.Huber, couldn't get anyone to refinance his house so he could get the equity out so he went to a guy to help finance the mortgage. The guy did finance it but put the title in his name. Actually a very smart move on his part we are learning now. Mr Huber did not disclose this information to us so it was a surprise to our banker to find out the title was not free and clear. We believe Mr.Huber was hoping we wouldn't find out about the other guy on the title then he could take the money and run and never have to payback the loan shark. The loan shark was smart. He put the title of the home in his name. So, where does that leave us? Well, after lots talk between lawyers and realtors, the owner on the actual title will be coming in town Monday and has said he will sign off on the contract agreement between us and Mr.Huber. We are continuing to wait on the Lord. He is still working and protecting us along the way. He was not surprised. We should not be surprised. We should expect difficulty and trials. We should expect Satan to throw a wrench into a quickly moving plan. So interesting. We are not worried. God is in control.

Project 6: Princess Drapes

Well today we tackled yet another project...the princess drapes for our little princesses. I found an inspiration picture on houzz.com and we were off. I had a hard time finding a curved rod. Some suggested using a shower curved rod by my windows were way too small so I finally found some rods on eBay that just might work. They were cream so I spray painted them a bronze. I bought an ivory window scarf and cut in in half lengthwise and then cut the width in half to make 4 panels. We bought some purple ribbon instead of making ties because I wanted to shortcut that process. The total cost for rods, drapes, spray paint and ribbon was $40. The girls loved how they turned out! I am so glad Daddy was home to help hang them and they are done!

16 years ago today...

I find myself this morning in reflection of what God is doing now and what He has done over the past sixteen years. 16 years ago today was our first date. Two young kids setting off to watch the movie Happy Gilmore together...alone...for the first time. What an adventure it has been! What wonderful plans the Lord had in store! Yesterday we met with a mortgage banker with Kentucky Bank to talk about a loan option without the sell of our home in Cushing. A miracle in itself that the Lord has provided the option for us. We are struggling with the decision to take on two mortgages while we continue to wait on the Lord but He keeps stretching us. He keeps challenging us to step out in faith and to taste and see that He is good. We don't know why the home in Cushing has not sold as we have stepped out in obedience but we do trust Him and we do know He is in total control working it all out for His good. Here was my little flip calendar today. I find it so fitting it says "think about where your life has taken you and what you dream for the future". It's a great day to reflect on the journey we have been in the past sixteen years of walking with the Lord together. Today we find ourselves in a foreign land...a new mission field in Morehead, Ky...God has provided a way for us to close on the home here in Morehead without our home in Cushing being sold....God has provided a church family for us and our first life group meets tonight...and today 16 years ago was our first date.... He is so faithful. Even in the seasons of storms and tears He is our comforter, our provider, and our shield. Truly, there is no one like Him!

Still waiting...still praying!

A message yesterday from a good friend to encourage me. A good word. And today's encouragement on my flip calendar. A meeting tomorrow at noon...waiting on the Lord and wondering what He might have in store. I found myself really being ministered to by Laura Story's song "Blessings" this week. The verse that has been on my heart is: We doubt your goodness, we doubt your love...as if every promise from your word is not enough. And all the while you hear each desperate plea and long that we would have faith to believe.

The verdict is in...

During our first lent family devotional last night it was voted to give up soda pop for 40 days while we turn our hearts more to the Lord. The three contenders were wii, tv and soda pop. I definitely think they chose the easiest one but they were willing to sacrifice just as God sacrificed His only son for us. No caffeine for 40 days! How will we survive? :)

Wherever He leads we will GO!

After 7 weeks of vising church after church. After 7 weeks of praying, seeking and trying to discern what church the Lord wants to use us in we have finally surrendered. It is surrender because it is not what we would most desire. We have been resisting the Lord telling Him surely there is somewhere else you want us. Surely there is somewhere else that really fits our desire for a church family and worship. We have visited and we have visited. This past week was amusing. Very, very amusing. We kept thinking okay this is the week! This has got to be the church! As we sat in the pew and took in this church experience it felt as the Lord was laughing at us. Amused with us. It felt like He was saying "You just keep looking....it can only get worse from here." We visited a very nice looking church. The problem we saw immediately was the people didn't even notice we were there. The pastor was in control. He was the announcements, greeter, music minister, gave the message and was featured in the singing quartet all Branson jubilee style which is totally fine if you love that. We love the old hymns but the Lord has been teaching us more and more about reaching our generation and one way we can do that effectively is through a culturally relevant church and that includes music..it includes everything about the church being centered on reaching people for Jesus. The focus of the church being a fishing boat and bringing people into the body of Christ and training them to fishers of men. The focus of the church should not be a love boat in keeping people happy and comfortable. So as much as we are resisting the church that is moving to be more relevant but not quite there yet...it is we are confident now, where the Lord wants to use us. So surrender. Okay Lord. Use us. Here is what they believe. The only thing that is different is they don't believe in security of the believer which is pretty much any church outside of the Baptist denomination I think.

First Church of God is a non-denominational body in the mainstream of Protestant Christianity. We are part of a group of independent congregations that associate together in a movement known as the Church of God (Anderson, IN).

We believe that salvation comes through a personal faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior. We believe in the Holy Trinity: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit and in the deity of Christ, His virgin birth, death and glorious resurrection and His imminent second coming. We believe the Bible to be inspired and the authoritative Word of God and that personal faith is to be lived out in the context of authentic Biblical community—God’s Church.

Our Vision

First Church exists to help our community become passionate followers of Christ.

Our Purpose

CONNECT to God—We’re here to build bridges of faith that extend over chasms of doubt and unbelief, so people can meet and get to know Jesus.

CONNECT to each other—God created us to be in community, so we encourage personal growth through groups that bridge the gap from individuals to other people—where people can become connected with a common purpose.

CONNECT to the community—Jesus’ message is clear: He wants us to go into the world and make disciples. “The world” is simply those around us with needs not yet met. Because when we emulate Jesus, people are naturally drawn to him.

Our Core Values

Truth: We believe the church should be culturally relevant while remaining doctrinally true.

Worship: We believe it’s everything we do in service to God. It is a lifestyle

Prayer: We believe God changes the world and us as we pray.

Stewardship: We believe recipients of extravagant grace are called to be extravagant givers.

Discipleship: We believe discipleship is a process of growing people into followers of Jesus Christ.

Ministry: We believe a Christian’s life is given meaning through discovering and using their spiritual gifts for ministry.

Love & Forgiveness: We believe unconditional love and forgiveness should be the guiding principles for followers of Christ.

Fellowship: We believe that loving relationships are expressed in community with God & others.

Evangelism: We believe lost people matter to God. Therefore, they should matter to us.

If these things are true, God can use us in a mighty way in this body of Christ. Life groups, small groups of people that share life together, are starting sunday night and we have been told there is one for young marrieds with childcare so we will start there and follow as the Lord leads. Well one need met. A new church home. Thank you Lord!

What is Lent?

I have always heard about people giving up things for lent but with a background in a Baptist church it is really something that is not discussed much. I have done some research the past couple of days over it. What is lent anyway? Here is what I have discovered. Lent is a season of forty days, not counting Sundays, which begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday. Lent comes from the Anglo Saxon word lencten, which means "spring". The forty days represents the time Jesus spent in the wilderness, enduring the temptation of Satan. Lent is a time of repentance, fasting and preparation for the coming of Easter. Today, Christians focus on their relationships with God, often choosing to give up something that may be distracting them from the Lord or just something to offer as a sacrifice of self-denial. What a great idea regardless of what denomination you may belong to. What a great idea to focus intentionally on the death, burial and resurrection of Christ by taking 40 days to seek, surrender and turn to the Lord with all of your heart. So, we are in on lent this year. I found a family devotional online for the 40 days and will start it tonight during our devotion time. Oh, the resources you can find on the world wide web. The scripture for today is Joel 2:12-16. It talks a lot about turning to the Lord with all of your heart. Not just on Sunday morning. Not just surrendering pieces of our hearts or lives that are comfortable or easy. The challenge from the Lord here through the prophet Joel is to surrender all of our hearts and all of our life, every little piece of it, to the Lord. Well, we are off. 40 days of intentionally turning our hearts to Him by remembering His great gift of life for us. God gave His only son for us surely we can take 40 days to give up something that may be holding us back or just consuming some of our time that we could be spending with the Lord. For me, today Facebook is going away. I really enjoy facebook. I love getting to feel connected to friends and family through this social media but today I find myself willing to give it up in order to help turn to the Lord with all of my heart. The devotional asks for your family to discuss and give up something too so I wonder what the kids will agree on.

Following faithfully

I love how the Lord continues to speak to me. This was today's encouragement from a gift a dear friend sent to me.

Faith

Faith lies beneath our patience-Elizabeth George. A text message of scripture from Dustin today "For whatever is born of God overcomes the world and this is the victory that has overcome the world- our faith." 1 John 5:4 Words of encouragement and truth from our realtor yesterday: "He will make a way where there seems no way." The situation of renegotiating a longer renting period is a little more tumultuous than we thought. The owner of our home is very sick with cancer. Our realtor came yesterday with words of wisdom and warning: This man is out for himself. He is dying. He has a young child and bitter ex-wife that will seek to destroy what the Lord intends for good in the provision of this home for us. We are scheduled to close March 4th. We currently have no buyer for our home in Cushing. We need a buyer to close. I feel like this week is so expectant. Like a 39 week pregnant mother waiting for the birth of her child, we are waiting for the Lord to provide. Expectantly. We know that He will. We have faith that He will. This little story spoke to me today from my bible study. A quote from Harry Emerson Fosdick "The most extraordinary thing about the oyster is this: irritations get into his shell. He does not like them. But when he cannot get rid of them, he uses the irritation to do the loveliest thing an oyster ever has a chance to do---he makes a pearl. If there are irritations in our lives today, there is only one prescription: make a pearl. It may have to be a pearl of patience, but anyhow, make a pearl.  We are choosing to have faith today and perfecting our little pearls of patience because He alone is worthy.

Renegotiating

Today I am meeting with Margie, our realtor, to talk about and pray over renegotiating a longer period to rent our home in Morehead until our home in Cushing sells. It is a day that we really thought would not come. We truly believed the Lord would bring a buyer before the deadline but we are still waiting on the Lord. He continues to be faithful. I just wanted to write down a few things the Lord gave me this morning in my time with Him. The sun is shining and beautiful today out my window in the office as I type this. It truly is a beautiful morning. I am doing a study called "A Woman's walk with God: Growing in the fruit of the Spirit." by Elizabeth George and it has been so very good and applicable to what the Lord is showing me and desiring to grow in me in this season. A few things this morning He reminded me was about Hannah and how persistent in prayer she was. Year after year going to the temple. Her prayer for a child constantly on her heart and on her lips. She asked and she kept on asking. This was a great reminder to me. Okay, Lord you told us you would take care of this and so we will keep asking, trusting, pleading with you to bring the right buyer. Hannah's faith was rewarded with an answer to her prayer. I was reading in Psalms this morning and these verses really spoke to me. 81:10 says, "I am the Lord your God...Open your mouth wide and I will fill it." 85:4 "Blessed are those who dwell in Your house, They will still be praising You." I find this so true. It would be easy to get worried and caught up in the situation of renegotiating. We don't know how the owner will respond. We do know that he is not a believer and is controlled largely by money. His integrity and word have not been solid. It would be easy for us to be concerned but as we lean into the Lord and continue to trust in Him and spend time with him through this rough patch we find just like the psalmist that no matter the yuckiness going on, we can still dwell in His house and spend time with Him...and the most amazing thing happens...we are still praising Him even through the storm. Our eyes are more easily focused on Him if we are dwelling...constantly abiding in Him. Psalm 85:11 says "For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord will give you grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly." What a great truth and promise that He will be our sun. He will be our shield. He will give us grace and glory. He will not withhold any good thing if we walk faithfully and obediently with Him. It reminds me of the verse He gave me when we finally knew He was desiring for us to move to Kentucky. Isaiah 1:19 "If you are willing and obedient you shall eat the good of the land." We are willing Lord. We are striving to be obedient in following after you hard. We will continue to persistently ask and believe that you will prove yourself most faithful in your perfect timing.

Have patience

The Lord is teaching me a bit about patience this past week. It is one of the fruits of the spirit that I am not so great at displaying sometimes. I am teaching my children constantly what the Lord is teaching me. Tonight Abigail got really upset. I told her she just needed to be patient and wait for Andrew to get out of the restroom. I did start to sing the little song: "Have patience, have patience. Don't be in such a hurry. When you get impatient...you only start to worry" She did not appreciate it and was moaning and groaning and said, "I don't like being patient.....it takes waaaay too long!!" I found myself laughing! This is how I find myself reacting sometimes...sometimes I too think things do take waaaay toooo long. In my study this week a few things I have learned is the first and primary ingredient of patience is endurance or long suffering. Endurance is the ability to withstand hardship or adversity. Now, waiting just a few moments to use the restroom after her brother is really not my idea of hardship but to my three year old drama queen it was just too much to imagine. If you would ask her she would definitely tell you she was in the midst of long suffering. Learning patience is hard. Learning to wait on the Lord is hard. My favorite and most challenging quote from the bible study I wrote down this week was this: "Patience is accepting a difficult situation without giving God a deadline to remove it." Wow, now that is surrender. Laying it down at His feet and having patience even if it feels like the results we want are taking waaaay toooo long. "Count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." James 1:3-4. I guess I too sure could use some more patience because the Lord is pruning and maturing this fruit in me.

Where are you going girls?

This week the girls were playing and said, "Bye, Mommy, see ya later." They had their purses and Abigail was carrying Rastus. I asked them where they were going and Abigail answered,"To Haiti to see Luca and Naidine. We need to see our new sisters." So sweet that they are constantly on their hearts! Longing today for the day that they do get to meet. What a joy to partner with the Lord to care for Luca and Naidine through the Hands and Feet Project.

Project 5: master roman shades

Well, I got this idea from pintrest. No sew roman shades made from mini blinds. I did end up using a blackout fabric on the back which was not in the instructions and so on my first one figuring it out was a little rough but I still got to use it so that was good. I thought they turned out well and inexpensive so that was great but it took me all morning to do three.
Before:




After...







- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Happy Two Claire!

Today our littlest gift from the Lord is two...how can it be? We are going to have a super fun day celebrating Claire Isabel!



We have been asking Claire this week "What do you like?" Here are a few of her answers:

mac n cheese, elephants, fish, animals, cookies, and lip gloss. We took her to dinner and to play at a kids bounce place in town. She wasn't too sure about it at first but sure warmed up to it as you can see below.

 

"You want me to what?" She wasn't quite sure about the blowing out of the candles.

She loved her new elephant that Andrew picked out for her.

Daddy got off early from work, an early dinner, a great time with our family, lots of fun and yummy cake. What more could a girl want? Oh, I must not forget the lip gloss. She got lip gloss too. The favorite gift for sure was from Abby Roo.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone