Vacation 2011

What a glorious week of vacation, the sun was shining and it was time for relaxing. Every year God amazes me with His blessings He bestows on our family right when we need them. It is always my favorite time of the year ... waking up to the sound of the waves hitting the shore and spending the morning in God's Word. I could sit there all day! But I didn't ... we also enjoyed lots of beach time, reading, family devotions in the mornings, playing in the sand, walks to the jetty to "play in the river", bike rides and barbecues. We celebrated Dad (Papa) and Kailee's birthday with a family barbecue. 


Although I could live there the rest of my life just watching the waves, God has not called us to the beach (yet!), so we packed up the truck and headed back to life. :)


"I am the LORD your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the LORD of hosts is His name. And I have put My words in your mouth and covered you in the shadow of My hand, establishing the heavens and laying the foundations of the earth, and saying to Zion, 'You are My people.'" ~Isaiah 51:15-16


P.S. Before we left on vacation God had led us to check out an adoption agency called Family Connections, their closest office being 10 minutes from the beach house. They were having their Information Meeting while we were on vacation so we decided to attend the meeting to see if this was where the Lord was leading us. After that meeting we decided to turn in our application for adoption. The next step is to attend the first of 3 meetings which happened to be the next Thursday. So here we go... we are invested and believe God continues to confirm this decision every step ... so far. I feel like we have been standing at a crossroad for a while, looking at many roads in front of us and asking the Lord which road He would have us take. God gives such a wonderful peace about things when you wait on Him and walk behind instead of in front of Him. The road may not be easy but whatever it holds God is there. :)


"fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand." ~Isaiah 41:10

Kailee's Graduation - 3rd Grade

Kailee graduated from the first part of the Montessori program (1st - 3rd class) at River Springs Charter School. She is growing up so quickly. She is an amazing reader and loves it too! I hope she continues to love to read and more importantly I pray she loves to read God's Word. God has also truly given her a gift of compassion and love for people. At this ceremony a classmate was to pick someone in the class to share about and one of the 1st graders picked Kailee. It was a sweet testimony to the love Kailee shares with her friends. 

Every major event in my children's lives is just a reminder for me that they are not mine, I cannot protect them and love them any more than their God does. It is very humbling to realize you don't have any control of... well... really anything. They are His and every part of their lives belong to Him. My spirit loves to rest in that fact and then my flesh fights for control. "For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out." ~Romans 7:18 Thank you Lord that You have conquered sin and death and one day I will no longer live in this body of flesh! And thank you for the blessings of watching my children grow to love You more and more.

Summer Camp 2011

What can I say, Summer Camp 2011 was amazing! To study God's Word for 5 days without being interrupted by the demands of life, it can't get better! We came face to face with the bottom line... Where is my heart at? We looked at the holiness of God. Who can dwell in God's presence? The rich young ruler in Mark 10 showed us that we have to give up everything to follow Jesus. The parable of the soils in Matthew 13 made us look at which kind of soil we are. Is it the fruitful soil? Then in Matthew 23, Cosmetic Christianity. Am I religious or do I have a relationship with my Savior? John 3, the story of Nicodemus, showed us you must be born again to have eternal life which only comes from God. And finally a message about real life back at home - "7 Steps To Survive"... my personal favorite... Get Full (be in the Word) from John 10:10.


I am thankful for the many opportunities God gave me to minister to girls who were struggling with what it means to really follow the Lord. What a great thing it is to be used by the Almighty God to speak into others lives and lead them to Him. I am thankful that God counts me worthy through my Savior, Jesus, although I am as unworthy as it gets.


Worship was insane! To hear over 300 people worshipping God at the top of their lungs is really unexplainable! What a beautiful sound! I can't wait to do that for eternity!


Tubing on the boats was a lot of fun despite my injuries! ;) What was more fun was watching the girls fly off the tubes at high speeds! hahaha At one point Kailee went on the tube with the "big girls" and at one point also went flying off the tubes at high speeds. I would have bet that she would have been scared out of her mind and wanted off but she surprised me and wanted to keep going. It was a proud moment! We had a blob this year... it looked like fun until you talked with people who face planted into the water! ;) There was a team that put on the games every time we had session and Jeff was part of this team, little did he know that behind his back there was a game being played on him. One of the games, Jeff had to scare the kids as they lifted up the fabric covering his face (his body was hidden)... Jacob was the last contestant and he brought a bucket full of baked beans on stage with him and as he lifted up the fabric Jeff yelled really loud to scare him and Jacob poured the beans in his face. I don't have a picture of this one but I wish I did! It was probably one of the funniest moments of the whole week for me! Jeff was a great sport about it!


Communion was beautiful! I constantly need to come back to the Cross and be reminded of the sacrifice the Son of God made for me!


All Praise and Glory be to our Great God!!!!

Me not quite aware of what is going to happen next...

See the arm in the water... yeah that's me being thrown from the tube!

Game Day... and wow it was hot! I'm resting waiting for the giant ball! 

Lauren, Lauren, Me and Devin

Jake getting ready to go on Pauley's boat. 

The LSU Tigers and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish!

Kailee having a great time on the tube! All smiles!

Still holding on barely... and still smiling!

On their way down! I think I still see a smile!

My handsome husband and master of ceremonies on Game Day!

Jeff thought it would be fun to try the blob!

I don't think he would tell you it was a good idea! ;)