Show me Your ways Lord

Hello, little blog, I promise I haven't forgotten you.

Life has been so busy...

September was packed month. Our family took a much needed one week vacation in Florida. I use the word "vacation" loosely but it was a fun family trip. ;) After that my mom-in-law came in town and we had a baby shower for my sister-in-law who's having her first girl. Also, our very dear friend Kory's wedding was in September, complete with all the wedding festivities: bridal shower, lingerie shower, tool shower, rehearsal, etc, etc, etc. We had some close friends stay with us while they were in town over wedding weekend, which was fun. I also had a couple of events to decorate for. (I think I've mentioned it before, but I do some event decorating for the church and for friends). And actually Kory's wedding was one of those events. We wrapped the month up with a big presentation that Ashley and Emily had at school, in which they both did awesome.

Then there's our weekly home-group, weekly women's Bible study, and bi-weekly adoption group.

And all of this in addition to the daily grind of diapers, laundry, dishes, packed lunches, homework, housecleaning, buying groceries, paying bills and other glorious tasks.

*sigh*

But there's this ever present nudge. Calling me to slow down.

At the risk of sounding overly poetic, the cooler weather always seems to blow a fresh perspective over my life. It beckons me to take deep breaths. To look around and be thankful. It makes me want to slow down. Its almost as if the Creator of the autumn breezes knows whats best for me. ;)

Some things you just can't. Its not as if I can tell my kids that we're giving up evening homework for the week so Mommy can slow down. Its not as if I can just bail out on grocery shopping or laundry or going to our best friends' wedding. Things like Women's study and small group are actually things that refuel me, so I couldn't and wouldn't let those go.

But some things....

I recently made a list. Of all the things that take up time on my calendar. Every. Little. Thing. I needed to evaluate and purge. Its not an easy task, but it had to be done. I'm taking a good look at my weeks and organizing them the way a good homemaker should, with the help of an amazing book "Large Family Logistics" (which I'm sure I've referenced before).

~Monday is Cleaning Day
~Tuesday is Laundry Day
~Wednesday is Town Day (don't laugh, I know it sounds very Little House on the Prairie, but don't know what else to call it)
~Thursday is Kitchen Day
~Friday is Office Day

I've got my schedule all written up. With room to breathe. Room for life. And room to do the things around my house that make life sweeter when I push up my sleeves and attend to. If you've ever seen the program Microsoft One Note, its perfect for my new Home Management Book. I've got a tab for each day, complete with meal plans, to do lists, housecleaning schedules, and links to recipes, etc. I've also got tabs for our family budget, the kids' school stuff, grocery and shopping lists, weekend projects, and all things medical.

Today is Kitchen Day and I baked a loaf of Reeces peanut butter cup banana bread. Next I'm making granola bars, pre-baking some meatballs for dinner, and then hopefully a batch of my laundry detergent.

And because I've kept up with all my other "days" this week (and I'm ignoring the pile of mail and emails until "Office Day" tomorrow), today I can open my windows, crank up Pandora, and bake my little heart out. Right now Kate is taking her morning nap and Mabry is hosting a babydoll teaparty while she runs into the kitchen periodically with me to lick spoons.

Life is so sweet when its slow.

~~~

That's not all though. There's more on my heart.

Not only is God calling me to slow down, He's calling me deeper. In actuality, I believe He's always calling me to both, but right now, I'm listening.

"Do you really know how much I love you? And do you live like you know it?"
"Will you obey Me at any cost?"
"I have such great things in store for you if you'll follow me deeper."

He's stirring my heart. I don't know where He's going to take me but I know that's where I want to be. I want to chase Him with reckless abandon. I want to give up all the things of this world to know Him more. I want to focus my eyes on Him and not on the fleeting things of this world.

The pot is stirred. There's no going back.

God thank you for guiding me. Give me wisdom, boldness and discernment to do that which You've called me to do, and only that which You've called me to do.

The wise woman builds her house, but the foolish pulls it down with her hands.
Proverbs 14:1

A mans heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.
Proverbs 16:9


Show me your ways Lord, teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation, on You I wait all the day.
Psalm 25:4-5

30

I have 3 months left in my 20's. What a strange thought. Not good or bad... just strange.

Age is so irrelevant to me. I have really close friends who are almost twice my age. And some just as close that I used to teach in youth ministry, years ago. I have friends who have kids my age, and some who don't have any yet.

In my very humble opinion, age is irrelevant when you know Jesus.

I graduated at age 17, engaged at 18, married at 19.

Hey, little known fact: At the age of 18 I was the youngest "Senior Sales Associate" in the entire Family Christian Store chain. I started full time at 16 (which I could do because I homeschooled), worked my way up and quit just before Ashley was born. That's one of my few accomplishments in life that doesn't somehow revolve around motherhood. :)

Speaking of motherhood.

I had my first baby at 20. I completed an international adoption at 26. And at 28 I gave birth to my 6th child.

As I write this, I've already got 10 years of marriage under my belt.

Its funny to me... Jake and I used to say we wanted to be done having kids by the time we were 30 so that we'd be empty nesters by the time we were 50. So naive. Yes, we are "done" but now I'm praying my daughters don't leave home as early as I did... and two of our children could quite possibly live with us for the rest of their our lives.

And this year I turn 30.

Part of me is a little freaked out and the other part of me is laughing because I've felt 30 for years.

Thinking about all this today, I've had the song "My next 30 years" by Tim McGraw stuck in my head. "I'll do it better in my next 30 years". The thought of "doing it better" in the next 30 years... I don't want to do anything "better". I just want to do more of it with Jesus. I want to surrender every second of every day of every year. I'm an imperfect sinner, but with all that's in me, I try to lean on Him. And its by his grace alone that I've made it this far.


I think I'll take a moment, celebrate my age
The ending of an era and the turning of a page
Now it's time to focus in on where I go from here
Lord have mercy on my next thirty years

Hey my next thirty years I'm gonna have some fun
Try to forget about all the crazy things I've done
Maybe now I've conquered all my adolescent fears
And I'll do it better in my next thirty years

My next thirty years I'm gonna settle all the scores
Cry a little less, laugh a little more
Find a world of happiness without the hate and fear
Figure out just what I'm doing here
In my next thirty years

Oh my next thirty years, I'm gonna watch my weight
Eat a few more salads and not stay up so late
Drink a little lemonade and not so many beers
Maybe I'll remember my next thirty years

My next thirty years will be the best years of my life
Raise a little family and hang out with my wife
Spend precious moments with the ones that I hold dear
Make up for lost time here, in my next thirty years
In my next thirty years

Strawberry Shortcake

My 2 year old can decipher the difference between the new Strawberry Shortcake movies and toys, and the old ones. She will have nothing to do with the new stuff. I'm starting to think she just like's Strawberry's red 'fro.

That was my random thought for the day.

Well.

The one I posted anyway.

Then and now

Because my 10 year anniversary was this year...

because my brother in law happens to be an amazing photographer...

and because my kids are just so stinkin' cute...

We got some new pictures taken!!!

(Which of course, calls for a blog-makeover as well.)

So we went back to the Cool Springs house of Crockett Park, the place where we got married. Its SO cool to have these new pictures of our family on the same porch where Jake and I posed moments after we were married.

THEN

NOW

THEN

NOW

THEN

NOW

We agreed the whole property felt much much smaller than it did then. But it was so sweet to be there and remember... the house, the music, asparagus ferns hanging from the white tent, my closest friends in matching sage green bridesmaids dresses dancing on the brick patio, the scent of the roses and lilies in my bouquet, my new husband smiling at me as he squeezed my hand in his...

I was brought quickly back to reality as the chubby baby on my hip squealed with joy because her siblings were running in circles around us, tickling her as they passed. Jake saying, "C'mon Babe, they're not gonna last much longer" as he held the hand of a wiggly toddler on either side.

*sigh*

Little did I know then what an amazing 10 years lay ahead.

Great is thy faithfulness Lord. We give you the glory for the great things you have done.

Thanks again to Tyler Patterson for the killer photos. To read Tyler's post about us on his photography blog and to see more pics, click here.

Favoritest

One of my favoritest things ever (and yes I'm aware that's not a word) is going outside after being in air conditioning all day, and sitting in the hot sun til I get chills from the heat. Do you know what I mean?

Or like when you are in a freezing cold restaurant and then go get in your super hot car? I LOVE that!!

This concludes my random thought for the day. Now back to my regularly scheduled blogging.

Abby update!!

Its no unusual thing for Abby to rummage through the pantry to find her snack of choice-- a slice of bread-- and then quietly sneak back to the playroom and eat it in silence hoping no sibling will go tattle on her. Because getting food with out permission is just not okay and she knows it.

So when I found Abby in the pantry today, I wasn't surprised. I pulled her hand out of the sandwich bag and gave a firm, "Abby you know better!" But when she turned around to throw her fit, her face and hand was covered with blood! It seemed to be dried, but it still scared me to death!

This wouldn't be the first time I've found a child like this. One time when Ashley was around 3, she locked herself in my bathroom and when I found her, she was screaming and covered in fresh blood and lots of it. She had found my razor on the side of the tub and tried to brush her teeth with it. Thankfully she has no scars from it and hopefully has no memories from it either.

Anyway.

Abby didn't seem to be in any sort of pain aside from the distress of being caught with her hand in the cookie jar... er, bread bag.

I started washing her face and that's when I realized- she lost her first tooth!!!

To be honest, I didn't even know it was loose! Micah's had a loose tooth for a looooong time that still hasn't come out. And Abby's only 5, that seems kinda early! I guess there's a possibility it got knocked out, but she didn't seem to be hurting at all. And very happy to take pictures of her new smile.

After some searching, I found the tooth on the playroom floor. Not really sure what the tooth fairy brings to little girls who could care less about money. Maybe Abby will get a dollar-bin trinket tonight. :)