Cell Kiosks...usually you run the other way!

You know when you go to the mall and every other 10 feet you are encountered with a cell phone kiosk and someone asking if you have a cell phone? Or they have the kiosks where they offer to curl your hair with a curling iron that has the newest technology and will leave you looking like a model? What about the kiosks that will offer you a hand massage with the special lotion that will do it all? Well, I usually try to look busy with one of the kids, or try to dig through my purse, or talk on my cell phone in hopes that they will see that I am not interested, but it is hard to keep up this facade from one end of the mall to the other. But, I did find a kiosk that has me coming back for more and more. I have bought cell phone covers. Cell phone cases. Cell phone sleeves. Cell phone screen savers. Ipod covers. They have it all in this little 4 by 10 or so spot. I know that if I need something in the cell phone or ipod arena, they will have what I need. But, what I love the best is the customer service. We are BIG on customer service. So, we have kept coming back again and again.

The other day Karizma wanted to buy a cover for her ipod, so I suggested we go to the kiosk that we love. When we get there the owner greets us and welcomes us back. He helps Karizma find exactly what she needed and then tells her to go ahead and name her price since her "mother is a good customer." She made an offer, he took it, and we ended up getting so much more!!! See, I do believe that nothing happens by chance. Everything is ordained by the Lord. And what Karizma and I expected to be a quick stop at a cell accessory kiosk, became a very blessed moment for me.

As Karizma paid for her cover the owner asked how many children I had. I told him 6. He then started what became about 15 minutes of him praising me for the work I am doing as a mother. He had me in tears at one point as he pointed out how God had my life and the lives of my children mapped out long before we even were born. Here are a few things he shared with me and Karizma:

-"You are worried what is going to be in your belly? If your children will go hungry? Why? Would he give you children and not provide for them? Do not worry! He is faithful to provide for each child he blesses you with."

-"Children are a gift from God. Don't be like other women whom talk about their children with disgust and sorrow. So many women would love to have children and cannot. Thank God for each one. They are a gift."

-"God thought of everything! He even gave you an abundance of milk to feed your baby through your breast. He is a giving God!"

-"I was 1 of 10 children. Our father was poor, poor, poor. But, we never went hungry. When my mama would say, 'Papa, what shall I feed these children?' Papa would say, 'Do not worry about what they will eat. God will provide.' Then we would see a neighbor stop by with food. Or someone would stop by and say they wanted to bless us with money. We never went without."

-"Just trust in Jesus Christ."

-"See it goes like this. He wants you and your husband to trust him with your womb. His sperm and your egg meet, a life begins at that moment. We cannot dismiss life once it has begun. Be thankful for each child he brings to you. He will use them later to bless you. We take care of our mama now."

So, I am sure I will never go to a kiosk again and here words like, breast, sperm, or Jesus Christ...but, the most unlikely of people, in the most unlikely of places, was used in the most needed of ways. Don't put God in a box. He is so much bigger than you can wrap your brain around. And, next time I need a little pick me up on what a good job I am doing as a mother, I might just find myself needing a new cell phone cover.

Isabella Grace: 10 months!

She is amazing.
She is sweet.
She is funny.
She is my daughter, Isabella Grace.
And I love her.
I love her to pieces.
I praise God for giving me the privilege of being her mommy.

Gone Fishin'

For Walker's 3rd birthday we gifted him a fishing pole. Walker beamed with joy to have his very own pole. He would remind us often about that pole, still in its package, but we just never got around to it. A couple of weeks ago, as we visited the lake near our home, he said to me so sweetly, "Mommy, I will keep waiting and hoping that one day I will get to go fishing. God says I need to be patient and he will reward me!" OH, WOW! How convicting! It had been almost 4 years since he got that 'Pirates of the Caribbean' fishing pole...and we still hadn't taken him to use it. I told Tim about Walker's comment to me and we quickly penned in a day for them to have their first fishing trip together. God did reward Walker indeed. Dad took him to the store to buy him a big boy rod (With all the fixings), and he passed down that other fishing pole to his littlest brother.

Tim took all 4 boys to the lake this past Sunday and although they didn't catch any fish, they had a great time!




Doesn't he look like an old pro?




"THIS IS THE LIFE!"









Christian would get so excited when he would catch anything! He considered it victory!




"See my cool piece of wood. I caught it all by myself."


"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." Galatians 5:22-23
In Walker's almost 4 years of patience I saw all the fruits of the spirit:
-He showed love towards us, even if we didn't take him fishing.
-He had joy just in waiting and being expectant.
-He had peace, that we would keep true to our word, and eventually take him.
-His patience in the matter, is such a remarkable example to me.
-He showed kindness in handing his pole down to Zack.
-He is such a good boy, in all matters.
-He was faithful to pray and wait on the Lord.
-He was gentle in his comment to me about how he was waiting.
-He practiced self-control in not asking to be taken over and over and over again.

What about me? What about you? Are you being patient and waiting on the Lord? Are you faithfully praying and seeking Him in a matter that hasn't come to pass? Are you wrapped in peace, just in knowing that he has the issue in His hands? Are you practicing self-control and not trying to take it into your own hands? What a godly example my son was to me. I love how God uses my arrows to teach me on a daily basis. Thank you, Lord, for them!!!

Psalm 27:14
Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.

You love me? You really LOVE ME! (Sally Field style)

"miss your blogging"

My sweet bloggy friend, Jen, over at The Kindle Family, sent me this comment the other day. It blessed my heart and I told her I would blog...yesterday. I didn't. Forgive me, Jen.


Then, I got this email:

"Just a friendly reminder that it’s been a while (11 days) since your last blog post. I know I, and likely many others, are hungry for more. I know you are extremely busy, so this is just a friendly reminder, not pressure. But if you ever want me to take all of the kids (including Belle) on a walk to Barnes and Noble or on a drive to Costco or Walmart to walk around so you can update your wonderful blog, I’d be more than happy to do so!

XOXO"

You think my dear husband really wants another blog post? I didn't realize that people really do expect me to keep this up and that some of the people I love the most, like those above, are missing me...Hope I don't disappoint them, since this post will be a purge of the mind so to speak, here goes...
---------------

Been busy.

What's new.

But, I do have many good reasons for being so busy.

My Sweetheart and our offspring...7 to name a few.

I also have been leading a class at church for nursing or about to be nursing mommies. It blesses my flip flops off. I will post about that later.

The sun and this weather make me long for friendship, so I have been trying to do more stuff with friends. I am realizing I need more hours in the day. Thank God for a husband that encourages me to hang with my girls.

I am really excited about one thing! In exactly 6 months, from yesterday, I will be attending my 20th highschool reunion. CRAZY. I can't believe I am old enough to say that! Crazy cheeseballs, right? I can still recall walking down the hallways, in my cute Guess skirt and slingback flats, wearing a can of AquaNet in my hair, thinking I was the cutest thing since the Gerber baby. And that perm. Oh, Lord. That perm. It put poodles to shame.

So, as I pondered if I should even go, I started to think of what others may think of me. Will they think I have gotten so fat? Will they think my hair is boring? Will they think I haven't aged well? Thinking that they could be so superficial as to only look at the outward. Shameful. Because, I went to school with so many awesome people. People that had substance. Our class rocked! I know that I want to see how everyone is doing. I am not wondering about how anyone looks, because thanks to Facebook, I already know, ha ha. Anyway, thanks to Cyndi, my junior high best friend, I will go. She convinced me. She made me commit. I am glad.

And even if I am not going to go all worried about what others will think of my outward appearance, it is a good reason to set a goal for myself. I am giving myself 6 months to look better. I don't want to set myself up to fail, so I am not giving myself a weight goal, or a size goal. Just want to look and feel better. I am not going to cut everything out, but really be aware of what I am putting in my mouth, and make sure to walk 2-4 miles at least 5 times a week. I am hoping once we get our Y membership next week, I can add in a few Zumba classes. I can't wait to do those with Karizma. We are both so clumsy and uncoordinated that it should be a funny thing to watch...good thing we have eachother.

I do hope to post before and after pictures as time goes on...I am hoping that putting this out there on my blog will keep me accountable. I have been telling everyone because I am so excited about going! I just want so much to share with everyone how much I have changed from that girl 20 years ago. What God has done in my life! How trusting him for everything gives me such joy and peace! I want JESUS to use me in a big way! I will be praying for the class of 1990 and for the day we all meet again. I will pray that they also not beat themselves up. That they come and have fun and talk about the good things in their lives like their kids, and their spouses, and their jobs they are so blessed to have, regardless of what it may be. It was great hearing from Cyndi how so and so is now a pastor, and so and so is in this ministry and that. The class of 90' came to the Lord within these past 20 years. Someone was praying! I will continue to pray! GO COLTS!

And as I type, in reckless abandon, I realize my dear husband set a plate of pancakes with a ton of syrup in front of me, and I went to take a bite, not even thinking about what it was. The sweetness of the syrup set me back...step away from me, SUGAR!! Better go grab a banana.

BETTER ME, here I come!