Plug it in, plug it in

So I have to say one of the best presents that my man has ever given me is a plug in blanket for the couch. It is yummy on cold evenings. I love it so much that I have to get all my chores done first cause once it is on I don't want to get up:)

So last night was a cold evening. Abby had tons of algebra homework, Nick had reading to do and Jeff's in so much pain from his diverticultis that he was already laying in bed -that poor man is so miserable :(- So we got out the electric blanky and Abby used some of it at the end of the couch with a tv tray for homework. Nick and I used the other end to snuggle under while he did his ready. It was a little piece of heaven on earth. If only my man had felt well, it would have been perfect.

So I have been praying and praying for Jeff to get better. I just feel helpless that he hurts so bad. I will not drop my mustard seed of faith that he will be healed. I have and continue to rebuke any and all physical, spiritual and emotional attacks on him from the enemy in Jesus's strong name. I will continue to stand in that faith for him.

Now that all of those nasty's are gone, This morning it was like 18 degrees out and I told Nick to zip his coat, which he did but it was so tight it would barely get there. So looks like Mom is getting a coat today. It fit him perfectly last month during a cold spell but we have been warmer since and he has been wearing a lighter jacket. Looks like he grew quickly again. so new coat and shoes will surely follow for my boy.

Abby's feet have settled in at the 8-8.5 mark so I think they are going to stay put there. So shoes for her are more about style than necessity at this point. I love that!

So tonight is church, Jeff is supposed to help with game night with the kids, praying he is able to help. He loves working with them so much.

The ultimate happily ever after

So last night I had a headache and was just plum lazy. Lazy = laid on the couch with a blanket and played words with friends with my man.

So nothing to report from the homefront - just a lazy momma.

This morning quiet time was amazing. I felt led to journal in an old notebook. I hope that God uses that tool again to help me to remember. I have been meditating on His talk with me quite a bit this morning at work.

Isaiah 61:10
New Living Translation (NLT)

10 I am overwhelmed with joy in the Lord my God!
For he has dressed me with the clothing of salvation
and draped me in a robe of righteousness.
I am like a bridegroom in his wedding suit
or a bride with her jewels

I have a student assistant who is getting married in a few months and just yesterday we were talking about her wedding planning. She is excited and young and in love. She is on Pinterest pinning ideas for her perfect day. The day she walks down the aisle all dressed up for her man, who will sweep her off her feet.

I have been listening excitedly as she prepares. She is so young and so in love. I keep gently steering her away from the pitfalls of wedding planning to the focus of her actual marriage. But the draw of her wedding day is just so enticing. The clothes, the symbolizim, the anticipation, the simple expression of love.

Then this morning in my super sweet quiet time, the Lord gave me this passage. Oh, I still have the best wedding to be ready for. My dress is the gift of salvation, my robe is His righteousness. It brought to my heart that I need to be enticed and daydreaming and looking for ways to make that day - THE DAY. I may not be able to pin it on Pinterest but I can get my heart all ready and my attitude of hopeful, dreamy anticipation refreshed.

Thank you, Lord for being in the details of my conversations and for the Holy Spirt guiding me to what You want me to see. I love you, Jesus. I am so ready for our wedding day. The day that I am your bride for eternity and we all truly will live happily ever after.

The New Year

I love the new year.

Mostly, because I am an excellent starter. A mediocre at best finisher.

So new years are like new notebooks that I want to fill with words and start to but then only have 10 days of words, but then when i get the hankering to record my thoughts and feelings again i.must.get.a.new.notebook cause so much has changed.

I was oh, so tempted to start a new blog for this year. Since the last one I did so poorly at but I refuse. You can't expect a different outcome from the same process.

I have been reading blogs of people who did the year end recap. I tried to get my tired, overly forgetful mind to do a recap of my last year but I have a tendency to dump the bad and the good. To be too much of living in the moment because I am too lazy and probably emotional shut off to process what I am going through - good or bad.

So I am not making a new blog or buying a new notebook. I am not resolving to be a better writer or take more pictures(although I really want too!). I just want to end each day knowing what I am thankful for that day. With the One who gave it all to me.

Stay posted, or not. I pray that I will be a good finisher.

festivus for the rest of us

So my hormones are still trying to get evened out so that makes me jekylandhydish. I am trying to pray my way through but I am quite EGG.AUST.TED in the evening.

Last night was church night except for the fact that my girl had a ton'o homework. They have short week this week ( and last and next) so I guess they still are trying to make it through with the same amount of work. So us girls stayed home and the boys went on to church- Nick had to christmas pagent practice.

We worked on algebra and then did some Titanic reporting. Fun stuff. Then momma just couldn't take much more fun and took a 20 minute snooze on the couch cause I am just that tired.

Anywho, it was a rush of field trip monies, fund raiser forms and leftover eating. Just another day in the Pore House. Festive, huh?

Today both my kiddos got awards at school. My knight in shining armor went to the ceremonies this go round. Also, my dad went. I think this was his first school assembly in about 4 or 5 decades but they were doing a veterans day theme and were going to have all the people who served in the armed forces stand up. Nick wanted people to clap for his grandpa so he went. Amazing the change in a person once they become a grandparent. So happy that my kids are close to their grandparents.

Thanks

So how did November get here already? It should easily be just the beginning of September. Oh well, life moves quickly. I thought I would steal a couple minutes to slow it down by posting some of my recent favorites.

I have missed so much with my kiddos this week as it is preregistration, my busiest work time. I have had to leave early in the morning which has upset the whole morning routine but my kids are such troopers...even leaving at 6:15 in the morning with night before washed hair and being 13 years old.

So this morning was the first morning of normalcy. So I was able to see all I had missed.

1. Little boys who need haircuts have mohawk morning hair.
2. When pushed to their limits, pink zebra striped blow dryers can be a sister's equivilant to a Nerf gun.
3. Three shirt options are the minimum amount of outfit changes
4. Our semi-rushed morning routine is like balm on our souls after the last week of earliness.
5. Gameboys get left behind voluntarialy in exchange to group scripture memorization in the car.

God is good and I am so thankful for these little whispers of life that I get to keep and cherish in my heart.

last night, my girl and I went over to a friends house to visit for a few minutes. As we drove the darkened roads, she started sharing her heart with me about how things were in her life. How hard and pressed the world was getting. She asked some good questions about how Christians live in the mess, how they can be perceived in debates (like gay marriage rights etc). It was a wonderful conversation. I hope to never forget this little snipet.

Her: But Mom I know all about the Word being the sword of the spirit but sometimes it just feels like we just sit around and get bashed up.(Oh how true that may feel)

I just prayed for His words to be mine as I spoke to my little prophet. My little "all or nothing", never halfway Spirit filled miracle. Then I spoke of His truth- it is not the people we fight. It is the principalities and the powers of darkness that cause the division we must bind up.

Oh to see the Light in her eyes.

Oh to feel His presence in that car.

His words,not mine. His girl, not mine.

Truth spoken to a soil that is ready and ripe. Love wins.

Again I whisper, thanks for letting me see this, to be here, to feel this. Keep knocking, keep being what she seeks, keep loving her in ways I can't.

Thanks for this moment.

Roller coaster

So my boy is pretty energetic. He is on go constantly. Jeff and I just shake our heads sometimes because he is such a bull in a china shop. he has such a joyful person and has energy but his attitude is laid back. he stresses over very little.

When he is up- he is up but once bedtime hits, he is down for the count.

This picture just is so typical of Nick. Stretched out and laid back, resting up for when those eyes open up for an adventure.

Think he looks like he is riding a roller coaster. Which is sometimes what it feels like being his mom- ha!

My morning view

This morning as I flipped on the lights to wake up my sweet Abigail. I was immediately struck with a grateful heart. Not because her room is neat or that she was peacefully sleeping like an angelic baby, but because of the realness of her life is in that room. One day in the not so distant future, especiallyif you take into account how fast the last 13 years have gone, I will pine away for the days I could see her face everyday. I see my friends with kids in college or applying for colleges and it pangs my heart to think that she will be moving on and out.

So that is deep for a Friday morning wake up but all the same the realization hit me in a moment. So before I woke her I took this picture so that I could freeze time for a moment to remember.

Things I love about this picture:
1. That balled up beneath that comforter is my sweet girl. She rarely sleeps all spread out and relaxed. She always is tightly wound in her blankets. It speaks volumnes of her personality as well. My girl has purpose and a reason for everything.

2. The bibles at the foot of her bed. Not one, but three stacked on the floor on top of a devotional book. My guess is she was sitting on the beanbag reading the devotional and either had a question about something or she just wanted to take it deeper so she started her research, comparing and contrasting the different translations. Seeking His Word on the matter that was on her heart. I said a silent prayer of thanksgiving when I saw them. Thankful that she knows where to find truth and that He spoke straight to her heart in a way that I can not.

3. The guitar case. She had lessons the night before. Abigail is breaking the cycle of our non-musical roots. She loves to sing, play guitar and piano. She can read music and has a natural ability of musicality. I am completely in awe that she has gone on this path since her parents are so not musically inclined. We just pay those who can help her to reach her goals.

When I get home today. The bed will be made. The bibles tucked away on her desk, the guitar will be hanging over her bed. Things will be different. I will still hold the picture of this morning in my head but life will have moved on. I am grateful I really saw the morning view.