Samuel Turns 11!!!

This past week, my buddy turned eleven years old!!!

I am soooo not sure how that happened.  We are so happy to have celebrated our 8th birthday with Samuel on October 25.  He is one special kid, that's for sure.  My heart aches for the three birthdays I missed.  I am so grateful that his birth mother chose life.  Jeff and I continue to be so humbled and blessed by having Samuel as our only son.  We need God's wisdom everyday to parent him...but we sure can't imagine our lives without this amazing kid!!!

We started with a family birthday celebration the weekend before his birthday.

Then, he got to have a huge party with two of his classmates and friends who also happen to be our neighbors (as in across the street and right next door)!  It was so awesome to have this party and it was so easy!  We split all the responsibilities and had the party at our neighborhood park.  Favorite party ever!  The kids loved it.  They had a huge football game with the dads being referees.  Then they enjoyed pizza and cupcakes.  So much fun!  

On his actual birthday we celebrated with Edgar's cupcakes and his gifts from us.  So, this lucky boy got three celebrations! He deserves it for sure!

Samuel, I am so proud to be your mom.  I often fail you.  God has taught and is teaching me so much through being your mom.  I pray that you always know how incredibly special you are.  How much you mean to us.  And how much we love you!!!!

Intentional in Maintaining and Building Relationships

Really this is just a post to add some pictures of some fun things we've done this past month!  Whew, I didn't realize when I started this 31 day challenge how hard it would be to post everyday and also have the energy to think through what I would post about!  I have utmost respect for the professional bloggers out there!  I have totally and utterly failed at posting even nearly everyday. 

I also have realized why I like Instagram so much more than my blog these days...I actually have poeple comment under my pics from time to time:).  And even if they don't comment, I get likes! With my blog, since I probably don't have a ton of readers anymore...I really don't know if people like or care about what I'm writing (since I don't get many comments) which is fine because I don't comment a ton on blogs I check, but it has revealed to me anew how much I truly desire approval from others:).  Ahh, pride is such a yucky heart problem! 

Anyway, earlier this month we got to go meet a special new member of the family!  

McKinley Grace is my new neice! Born to my brother and sister in law. 

She is absolutely precious and we are soooo thankful to the Lord that she is here safe and sound after infertility and a high risk pregnancy! What a sweet miracle! 

Then last weekend we went to Lifeline Children's Services annual reunion.  This is the agency we used to adopt Samuel and we love them!  The reunion was so fun with lots of festival type games and a yummy lunch.  The highlight for us though was we got to see Sasha who is the translator and liaison for Lifeline in Ukraine.  He is such a BIG part of our story as he truly is the one who pushed us to see and consider Samuel despite his heart problem.  So, it was awesome to see him and I think Samuel thought it was pretty cool too because Sasha is from the town that Samuel is from:).  

We are so blessed to live in a truly amazing neighborhood that is full of kids and young families!  It has been so fun to develop so many new relationships and friendships this past year and a half . We are so thankful that God placed us here and we pray that He would use us in the lives of our neighbors.  So tonight we had a big group carve pumpkins at one of our parks in the neighborhood.  It was a fun time although I'm quite certain our pumpkin will not make it to Halloween before it rots out.  Oh well!  

Intentional in Trusting Him

A neighbor and friend's husband who is also a father to two young girls has an accident and traumatic brain injury.  Will he ever be the same again? 

My friends dad passes away unexpectedly.  Will she ever have a happy day again? 

One of our founding church members dies in less than a year from cancer.  Why does life have to hurt so much? 

Our government is shutdown and fear is on the rise.  What is our country coming to?

My son gets bullied sometimes.  If that is happening now, what is middle school going to be like? 

My daughter is strong willed and spirited and doesn't like to obey.  What are her teenage years going to be like? 

Life is hard.  No question about that.  It seems all around me are stories of pain and death and fear for the future.  Where can we turn when life is hard? When life doesn't turn out like you think it will? When life isn't a bed of roses?  When life isn't controlled or easy.  

Simply...we turn to God.  

And if not...He is still God.  

If things don't go our way...He is still God.  While I don't always like that truth, it just is.  And He is. And He is good.  He is worthy.  

One of my favorite verse is Psalm 29:10

Our God is King and He gives us strength when the flood waters come (and they will come at one time or another in our lives). 

Yesterday was pregnancy and infant loss rememberance day.  I read back over some of my miscarriage posts and just was so reminded of how the Lord taught me and carried me through that grief especially.  Even though it was no fun (to put it lightly) I am thankful for a small slice of suffering that truly taught me to trust Him more.  I think that is part of being intentional for me...going back and seeing how the Lord has worked in my life through different events and seasons.  It is why I blog and why I want to keep it up. 

Here is one exerpt from one of my miscarriage posts that I loved and want to remind myself often of as I walk through life trusting Him...

I find myself just wanting to go back...back to when everything was fine and I had 2 children and was happy with that. It has been a roller coaster of emotions and I know that with time it will get better. Right now, there is still pain and questioning and wishing that I had never gotten the surprise miracle pregnancy in the first place. Which brings me back to why my only hope is to trust in the One who knows and who loves me intimately...enough to send His only child to suffer on my behalf. I want to share with you what my sweet friend (who has also experienced pregnancy loss) relayed to me about what I missed at my women's bible study at church today (we are studying Genesis)..."We were talking about how God is very purposeful in who He is and how He created the world and all things. And It made me think... that God must have been thinking this way about your child (and mine) when He beautifully made them, gave them their little lives, and purposed them for heaven. And though I do not understand, nor like, nor believe, nor agree with His providence at times - this encouraged me that He is indeed working all things towards a purposeful end, and that today alone, we are called to hope in Him for a purposeful end ." And so, as I grieve and continue to wrestle with the Lord, I was reminded anew to put my hope in Him because He is God and He is working all things towards a purposeful end as we see in Genesis, which is just the beginning of His wonderful story of Redemption. 

This post is part of a month long blog challenge I'm participating in over at Nesting Place.  

My other posts in this series can be found HERE. 

Intentional Rest

"Come to me, all who labor and are heaven laden, and I will give you REST."  Matthew 11:28

Thus says the Lord, "Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find REST for your souls."  Jeremiah 6:16

And He said to them, " Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and REST a while."  Mark 6:31 

Rest is freedom from work, toil, strain or activity. 

Rest is the cessation of motion or action of any kind, and applicable to any body or being, as rest from labor, rest from mental exertion or rest of body or mind. A body is at rest, when it ceases to move. The mind is at rest, when it ceases to be disturbed or agitated.  

Rest is cessation of work or movement in order to relax or recover strength.

Rest is freedom from anxiety or disturbance.

To rest is to dispose oneself at ease in order to relieve or avoid fatigue (cp spiritual "burnout")
In spiritual terms rest means primarily to cease from one's works with the idea of release from anxiety, worry and insecurity. Obviously, ultimate spiritual rest is only found in Jesus...when we come to Him and believe upon Him for our salvation agreeing that it is nothing we have done or can do to attain it.  In this context rest means the end of trying to please God by our feeble, fleshly works. In short, God’s unmerited perfect rest is a rest in free grace which can only be entered into or appropriated by faith.  (source)


However, what about daily REST.  I have truly been learning so much about rest and our daily rhythms that help us achieve a true rest where we do not feel overwhelmed or burnt out in the roles/work God has called us to (whatever that might be).

My friend Audrey is sooooo good at teaching about rest and family rythyms.  Last week at our Bible Study, this is all we talked about and I have just been meditating on it and really thinking about it a lot.  I do not get a lot of true REST.  I'm not real intentional about it.  I like to get things done and be productive!  I like to be busy.  But what so often happens is that in all that, I sort of begin to strive and strive and strive in the work God has given me.  In my work as a mom, wife, minister, church volunteer, friend, daughter, sister, etc...when I do all of this with no rest, I will eventually collapse.  What happens when I collapse?  I isolate myself.  I become angry, frustrated, sad, burnt out.  If all I do is strive strive strive in an effort to be productive, then eventually I WILL collapse.  And that is not the rest that God intends for his daughters and sons to have.  He desires that we have true rest in Him.

We were created to work FROM our rest NOT rest from our work!! 

Read that again.

One more time.

Did you get it?  We were created to work from our rest not rest from our work!

I do not do that well! But this is the rhythm that God wants us to have.   When we "work" out of our rest, then I truly think we will be able to perform our roles with more intentionality, joy, and purpose than the other way around.

So, how do we do this?  I am learning that it looks different for each person.  I think you have to ask yourself, "what gives me rest?"  And I think you also have to ask in this season that is the reality of my life (i.e. constant chaos with 4 children), "how do I practically find daily, monthly, and yearly rest times?" It doesn't just mean sleep or laying on the couch doing nothing.  Although, certainly that is one aspect of rest!  Sometimes rest for me might be coming to this space and writing all that is on my mind.  Sometimes, it may be sitting on the couch and looking at a magazine for 20 minutes.  Sometimes, it may be going on a walk on a cool night. Those are daily ways to get my rest in.  Some other ideas for me are to maybe once a month be intentional about finding a morning to go and just be with the Lord .  This could be such a game changer!  It may take a lot of work finding a sitter and dying to my productive mindset...but oh how it would give my soul, body, and mind rest.  And if I get this kind of intentional rest, then I am so much more able to work and work for the glory of the Lord!  But also, I want to be intentional about family sabbaths.  Asking all family members what gives them rest.  What gives them joy.  And being intentional about setting family rest times together.  And this requires some give and take for sure.  Jeff and I rest very differently!  We have different ways that give us rest.  So we have to give and take in that.  And obviously, we need to rest in Jesus.  We need daily time with Him! That is the most important type of rest for our souls!

Another thing that we need to ask ourselves with our commitments is "When I say YES to something, who am I saying NO to?"  We should not consistently say NO to the people under our same roof!  Especially for me, in this season raising 4 young children (one of them not so young anymore), I really need to be intentional about this!!!!  I need to really think through what I say YES to more.  Because a lot of times when I say YES to something (even something really good), I am saying NO to being a good mommy and wife.  And sometimes, I am saying YES at the expense of me getting my rest.

This is all so convicting to a busybody, people pleasing person like me.  I need to find intentional rest  in my days, weeks, months, and years...so that I can do the work God has called me to with joy and purpose.

This post is party of a monthly series I'm doing on Intentional Living 

as part of a blog challenge over at Nesting Place

More Intentional Fun!

Last night we got to go to the Tuscaloosa Amphitheater for the first time to a concert.  I mean, really, when is the last time we went to a concert.  I'm pretty sure it was a 2001 John Mayer concert.  

In our "old" age with 4 children Jeff and I have become quite the duds apparently unless it's going out to dinner or on a trip with our job:).  So last night someone offered us some tickets and we spontaneously took them up on the offer!  Found a sitter and went for it.  We had a great time watching The Band Perry and Rascal Flats.  This country music loving girl was singing along with every song:)!  So much fun to just have a night out doing something we don't normally do! 

This post is part of a month long series I'm doing as a blog challenge with a whole lot of other bloggers over at The Nesting Place. 

Intentional Green Living:)

So I've always said that I have this inner granola/crunchy/hippie part of me just waiting to come out.  Problem is, there's not a whole lot of granola people in Alabama:).

Over the last few years, my inner granola has been coming out more and more.  Thankfully, with the genius of pinterest and blogs, you can do this "green" clean living a whole lot easier because there are resources right at your fingertips.  Now lest you think I have overhauled our entire house...I haven't.  Sometimes, you just have to use a clorox wipe or a disposable toilet brush.  I'm human, and I need convenience in my life with 4 children. 

However, a few weeks ago, I took the plunge and made my own laundry detergent and dishwashing detergent.

I used very basic recipes and didn't make a whole lot this first time just in case I didn't like them.  But I LOVE them!  And I have SUCH a sense of satisfaction:).  So, now I'm excited to continue to experiment and maybe try to make the laundry soap smell good (since the following recipe really doesn't have a strong scent).  There are so many great recipes out there.  Here are the ones I used:

Laundry Soap:

1 Bar Shaved Soap 

(Fels Naptha, Ivory, Zote) -

 ** I used Fels Naptha...that is the yellow you see in my soap**

1 cup of Borax (I used 20 Mule Team Borax)

1 cup of Arm & Hammer Washing Soda

optional: 

Essential oils for aroma/scent

(I used lemon and wild orange...but the possibilities are endless with oils:))

Directions:

Stir the ingredients together (after shaving the soap - or I actually gave my soap a spin in the ole food processor) and use 2 TBS per load of laundry. This method works well in HE front loader washers as well since it is a low-suds formula.

Dish Soap

 1/2 cup borax

1/2 cup washing soda

10-15  drops of antibacterial essential oil 

(I used lemon but again possibilities are endless - lime, orange, tangerine, etc))

Use 2 Tablespoons with each dish load.

With both of these recipes, you could definitely double them.  One box of borax and one box of washing soda made both of these soaps for me and I imagine them lasting awhile.  So, they are definitely cheaper, more natural, and so far seem to be working just as good as commercial soaps you buy at the store.  I found all my ingredients on the same aisle at my local Publix.  It took all of about MAYBE 10 minutes to throw these soaps together.  Seriously y'all, this is easy!

Overall, I am happy to report that my homemade soaps are awesome!  Now, if you like your laundry soap to smell really good, then this might not be for you.  Also, I read a lot of comments about the dish detergent on one recipe I found and it seems some people reported a problem with clumping in the jar or leaving cloudy dishes.  I have not had those problems and I can only imagine that it's because I added lemon essential oil to my recipe.  Lemon oil is pretty much my favorite oil and I think it has made the difference in my soap working well.   Also, if you are one that likes to be able to stick your dishes in the dishwasher with food all over them, then this soap might now work as well as commercial soap. I  always pre-rinse my dishes pretty well so this soap has really worked great for me! I also have a new high efficiency dishwasher so that also may be helpful:).

This post is part of a series I'm doing for a monthly blog challenge with lots of other bloggers through Nesting Place.  

Find all my posts HERE. 

Intentional Ministry

I've been pondering this quote since I saw it on my insta feed yesterday. 

I love Jen Hatmaker! Like I would love to be her friend in real life (along with a million other women who also love her). She is funny and real and she challenges me to live out my faith in ways I don't. 

This quote got me cause it's something I've been convicted about lately and really wishing this was taught/encouraged more in our churches. Obviously we need to serve in our church and have ministry there. But I often feel that ministry to the lost and serving the community is neglected because we are so invested in volunteering for programs that only benefit ourselves. 

David Platt also says it well...

"In all our activity as Christians and with all our resources in the church, we are in danger of practically ignoring the commission of Christ. We view evangelism as a dreaded topic, we reduce discipleship to a canned program, and so many in the church end up sidelined in a spectator mentality that delegates disciple making to pastors and professionals, ministers and missionaries. That is not the way it is supposed to be. Jesus has invited all of us to be a part of his plan. He has designed all of his people to know his joy as we share his love, spread his word, and multiply his life among all the peoples of the earth. This is the grand purpose for which we were created: to enjoy the grace of Christ as we spread the gospel of Christ from wherever we live to the ends of the earth."

The great commission of Christ (Matthew 28:19-20) is why Jeff and I have decided to give our lives and family to being in full time ministry.  We truly are humbled to have been a part of God calling college students to himself in amazing ways over the last 12 years!  Jeff gets to be a part if it on a daily basis.  As a full time mom now, my roles have changed a bit when it comes to ministry and I can often use being a mom to 4 crazy children as an excuse to not engage with the lost world around me.  Sometimes my children need to be my sole focus!  However, lately I've been praying that The Lord give me gospel eyes.  Eyes that look to those around me besides my children. Eyes that look for opportunities to love, engage with, and serve the lost people around me.  And I'm so thankful that His spirit has prompted me to follow through on this prayer a few times.  I've talked with two no believers in the last month about Jesus and what it means to follow Him...what it practically looks like for me.  

It is a privilege and blessing to know Jesus and His saving grace in my life. I really long to share it with others and not get caught up in just serving and being around other believers!  

If you feel so inclined, I would love to hear from my readers how you invest in ministry to the lost!  You can share in the comments! 

This post is part of a month long series I am writing in partnership with a whole lot of other bloggers over at The Nesting Place. 

Intentional in Relationships and Fun {Dinner Under The Stars}

I think it's so important to invest deeply in relationships and having fun together.  After having children, it can be difficult (and expensive) to secure sitters and go through all the steps it takes to have a night out with your spouse or your friends.  But it's so worth it!!! I am so thankful that in nearly every place we have lived, the Lord has provided such great community for Jeff and I.  He has given me soul sisters who I adore and can't imagine walking through life without.

One of my favorite soul sisters is Carlley.  She is my partner in entertaining and creative thinking!  Two and a half years ago, we did a dinner at her inlaws old plantation home and it was awesome!  Here is the link to that party.  We decided it was time for another Dinner Under The Stars.  This time it was in the fall, so we were excited to implement pumpkins and more to our decorating:).  One of the things I crave (and I would even argue...need) is time and energy to create, entertain, and host!  It is a gift, I think, that the Lord gives and it really does energize and give me life to do these things. 

Carlley's inlaws have this home about 40 minutes away (it's not their primary residence) that is on the National Register of Historic Places and it truly is amazing to think of all the history in this place.  It's so fun to entertain/host there because you just don't need much in the way of ambiance or decoration.  Both times Carlley and I have done this dinner, the only thing we've spent money on is the food!  You can read more about Myrtle Hall HERE.

So, Friday night we gathered together with friends to have a beautiful, fun, life giving dinner under the stars...