Birds in the attic, or not!?

Well, today has turned out to be an interesting day so far. I headed upstairs this morning to have my quiet time before being bombarded with my daily duties of a wife and mom. I was all nice and cozy on our little couch upstairs, with my Bibles and prayer journal next to me, and I heard some birds chirping. I didn't really think much of it, but then I heard it again and it sounded like there were birds in our house! It sounded like they were coming from our attic!

So downstairs I go to wake up my husband and tell him that I think we have birds in our attic. I woke James up and went back upstairs. A little while later he appears, with work gloves on, a hat on, a trash bag and a crowbar. He opened the windows in the room we were in and took the screens off (and our cat Bootsie tries to go out the window onto the roof, wouldn't that have been an adventure!). He goes into the attic and cannot find any signs of birds, and I can no longer hear them chirping. Now I feel real silly that I woke him up and everything and there was really nothing in the attic.

James then goes outside to look at our roof, and there next to the whirly bird (or whatever the real name for that thing on your roof is) is a little bird, chirping, just like I had heard earlier. I guess the whirly bird just transferred the sound and made it sound like it was inside the attic. James was really sweet and didn't even get mad or complain that I had woken him up, I then left to go for my morning walk.

Well, just a little while ago the boys were playing happily upstairs, when all of a sudden I hear David start screaming and I hear thud, thud, thud. David had fallen down the stairs while trying to carry his big crane truck down, and he did not let go of that truck the whole way down. Paul was really sweet and went and got David's favorite bear for him while I was holding him and checking for injuries. You will be glad to know we had no blood, no broken bones, and no holes or scratches on the wall. David's only complaint was that his face was hurting (it looked like he may have bitten the inside of his check). He has recovered quickly and he and Paul are now reading books to each other and to their animals! I am so blessed that they love each other and play so well together most of the time!

Thankful Thursdays

Today I am thankful for the following:
1. Seeing the awesome sunrise during my morning prayer walk today!
2. A fun day spent with a friend! My mentee and I treated ourselves today to a pedicure and lunch and shopping (although we didn't buy anything, it was just lots of fun to look!)
3. The gorgeous day the Lord has blessed us with (after typing this post I plan to go out back, relax in a chair, and read a good book while my boys are napping!)
4. Having a washer and dryer that work!
5. Sweet tea!

So what are you thankful for today? I am off to my backyard!!!

Word-Filled Wednesday

Psalm 27:1-2, 4-5
"The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the defense of my life; whom shall I dread? ... One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to meditate in His temple. For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; in the secret place of His tent He will hide me."


photograph taken from www.wallpaperdave.com

For more Word-filled Wednesday entries visit http://the160acrewoods.wordpress.com

Wordless Wednesday #9

God's Faithfulness & Unexpected Expenses

I want to share with all you in "blogland" how God has been so faithful to our family in 2008!

Earlier this year I read a book by Randy Alcorn, called the Treasure Principle. Our church gave this book out free to anyone who desired to read it. As I was typing this I was just reminded that the fact that I got a copy at all is also proof of God's faithfulness. The 1st Sunday they were given out I was reaching out to take the last available copy and someone snatched it right out from under me (yes, in church!). The next weekend they gave more out but I was serving in the preschool "Worship Care" during the service so I missed my chance again. Well, a few weeks later I went to our ladies leadership team meeting and there on the table was a copy with a sticky note with my name on it! Thanks DeeDee & Bro. Hal!

Anyway, I got a little sidetracked there. If you read my blog regularly you realize we have had a lot of sickness in our family this year, and along with sickness comes doctor visits and trips to the pharmacy. We are a single income family and we do live on a budget, but sometimes you just can't budget for everything. In January and February we spent an extra $600.00 on doctor visits and medicine (and we do have very good insurance). Also in January and February we had the "expected" big expenses of my life insurance, my professional dues (for speech-language pathology), homeowners dues, and James' car insurance! Talk about money stresses, we definitely had them!! And to top it off, a couple of weekends ago when the boys had the stomach virus and we really needed our washer and dryer to work, our dryer broke! James is really good at fixing things but he was unable to fix it this time (he did 2 years ago.) So we have parted with our washer and dryer of 12 years and now have new ones which were delivered today!! (We decided to go ahead and get a new washer too, since it was 12 years old and was probably going to break sometime soon anyway; but maybe we can sell it for a little bit of money).

Back to The Treasure Principle for a minute. After reading it I decided that we should tithe after each of James' paychecks rather than just tithing once a month like we normally did. Normally we would wait until he got his bonus check, since it is different every month, and then just tithe one check, since we knew what the other 2 checks would be. We have always tithed, but now we are doing it after each payday rather than just once a month. And I was also convicted of spending money on "extra" things that we or I really don't need, but would just like to have. So I am making a conscious effort to spend our money (James makes it and I spend it!!) more wisely and in a way that is honoring to the Lord. So all this to say that I think Satan has tried to attack our finances majorly since we are really making a conscious effort to use our money as the Lord would have us to.

However, God is so very faithful!!!! He has provided us with the means to pay for everything! He has provided for our every need, and even some extra for us to give to some friends who are going on a missions trip! We have even been able to pay the "extra" we like to pay on our mortgage every month, and have put some into savings. Now isn't that a great and awesome God! God knows our needs and will provide for them, all we have to do is to keep seeking Him with all our heart, soul, and mind.

"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you."
Matthew 6:33

Happy Resurrection Day!! (one day late!)

I hope everyone had a wonderful Resurrection Day and that you were able to go and worship our Risen Savior! We had a nice day. Granny, Paw-paw, and Aunt Cristi were here to celebrate with us and we all went to our church. We had a very good worship service, with wonderful praise and worship and wonderful preaching of The Word!

After the service we came back to our house for a non-traditional Easter dinner. We grilled steaks and corn, had sweet potatoes and tossed salad, cranberry salad, and chocolate pie. We all enjoyed it and no one had to work too hard slaving away in the kitchen.

After our family left and we all had had a nap, we dyed Easter eggs and then hide eggs for the boys to find. I tried to download a video of us dying Easter eggs but it was taking an extremely long time so I canceled it. Maybe I will try again later.

There are no pictures of us as a family posted because I did not like any of them. Either someone has their eyes closed, we are all squinting, or the boys have their hands in the faces. So I have decided that another Sunday we will all wear the same clothes we wore for Easter and we will retake Easter pictures, after all, I have to have some good ones for my scrapbooks!!

Don't forget to continue to rejoice everyday that we serve a Risen Savior!!

Thankful Thursdays

This is another idea I got from the Ultimate Blog Party, so on Thursdays I will try to share something that I am thankful for.

Today I am thankful for a fun outing with my boys, and the blessing that they are. We went to the Montgomery Zoo today and had a really nice time. The weather was just right, the boys did not fight at all, and we all enjoyed ourselves. We even had a nice picnic outside on the grass.

I am thankful that I have the privilege of staying at home with my boys, and that my husband works so hard to provide for us so that I can stay home. I am thankful for our home, and for all the "extras" my husband has added to our home to make it extra nice (like our screened in back porch, my pantry and lower cabinets with pull-out shelves, etc). I am thankful the Lord blessed James with such great skills and excellent work ethic.

I am thankful for my family! And I am really thankful for naps, I am going to go join my boys and take one too! So, what are you thankful for today?

Word-Filled Wednesday

"There is none like the God of Jeshurun, Who rides the heavens to your help, and through the skies in His majesty. The eternal God is a dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms." Deuteronomy 33:26-27

I found this idea of doing a Word-filled Wednesday on the Ultimate Blog Party and I just loved it! God and His Word have so changed my life that I just could not pass up posting some Word-filled Wednesday entries. I love the Word of God. It is amazing, life-changing, encouraging, comforting, it gives me guidance and direction, and most importantly, God uses it to change me and make me more like His Son, Jesus Christ.

Have you spent time in His Word today?

Wordless Wednesday #8

Recovering from more sickness...

Well, our household was once again hit with some sickness. David and Paul both had a stomach bug over the weekend, David's was worse than Paul's; but both have seemed to recover rather quickly from it compared to all the other sicknesses we have had this year. Thankfully James and I did not catch it.

Due to our sickness we had to cancel a visit from grandfather, (James' dad). Aunt Susan had already had to cancel, she called Friday and was sick; we told her not to come, we didn't want anymore sickness. Well, we got it anyway, but are glad they did not come and catch what we had. We also missed an Easter egg hunt with the Mother of Multiples, and had to miss church on Sunday.

Now we are taking it easy and really enjoying our week of having absolutely nothing planned to do. It has been really nice to just take the day as it comes and hang out and have fun with my boys not worrying about getting ready for this or that.

Nothing major to write about, I am going to implement some "new" blog formats that I have found to be encouraging and uplifting as I participated in the ultimate blog party. Check in tomorrow for the 1st change!

Wordless Wednesday #7

Ultimate Blog Party

My friend Darlene is participating in this blog party thing so I thought I would give it a try too. If I am successful at getting the little sidebar on my blog you should be able to click on it and find out more about the Ultimate Blog Party.

I started blogging because some of my friends from church were doing it and I thought it would be fun. I am really enjoying it and find that sometimes it can be rather addictive, especially reading other people's blogs.

Anyway, my blog is sort of like a journal of my family life and my walk with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I desire for all that I do to bring honor and glory to Him and to point others to Him. Jesus is my reason for living, and He alone is what enables me to make it through the rough, hard, and tiring days (lots of those when you have 4 year old twin boys!). Jesus is also my source of joy, peace, hope, and love. Without Him I am nothing but some stinky flesh!!

I am a stay at home mommy, with a degree in speech-language pathology. I love being home more than I loved my job, which I really did enjoy; but when you are doing what God created you and called you to do there is nothing more fulfilling.

Sweet times of prayer...

Last night I led my youth girls Bible study on prayer. We are doing the book, "A Young Woman's Call to Prayer" by Elizabeth George. We are basically through the "meat" of the book, and the remaining 4 chapters are really just some suggestions to help grow your prayer life. Since we didn't have lots of material to cover in the lesson, I thought we would spend a larger amount of our class time in prayer together.

After going over our lesson I explained to the girls that we were going to spend some extended time in prayer, and no one complained (as they did the first time I made them pray out loud.) I guess they have figured now that since it is a class on prayer they might as well do just that, and pray. Anyway, I explained that we were going to go around one by one, first doing praise and adoration prayers to God, then prayers of thankfulness, followed by prayers of petition for one another and ourselves. Before starting our prayers of praise and adoration, I told them to take some time to quietly confess their sins before the Lord, making sure their heart was clean so they would have unhindered fellowship with our Lord.

So our prayer time began, with some soft music playing quietly in the background. I just want you to know that my heart was so touched by hearing the heartfelt and sincere prayers of these young girls. That room was flooded with the presence of God and He moved among all of us last night. It was so precious to see and hear the Holy Spirit working and moving among us. There were some big hurts and fears in that room last night. One girl is experiencing a breakup with a boyfriend of over a year, one girl is facing some major surgery, one is trying to make a major decision, so wanting it to be a God-honoring one; one girl is dealing with the possibility that her grandfather may die, and another is dealing with tough situations at home. These girls opened up their hearts to God and to each other. They were able to give God thanks for some very tough things that have happened, and they all were desiring to seek God and His will and to know Him better. There were lots of tears, (and I had only one tissue!) but also lots of joy and peace.

It was a very sweet time in the presence of God, and my heart was so encouraged that these girls are obviously learning and desiring to pray. After praying together, it seemed our group was more bonded, closer, and more wanting to minister and care for one another. It was just a precious evening, one of those I don't think I will ever forget.

Please pray for these young girls, we have 3 more weeks together, and will have more times of prayer like we have last night. Pray that they will feel comfortable praying to our Heavenly Father, and that they would be drawn to a lifestyle of prayer. Thanks!

Weary & Tired...

I am feeling tired, weary, and in need of rest, physically as well as spiritually...

I thought things were going to slow down drastically in March, but that doesn't look like it will be happening now. Last week we really had no major things on our calendar for March and now it is quickly filling up, some things of which I can not say no to; so I will just have to ask the Lord to give me extra strength, energy, and endurance to do these things as He would have me to.

I feel I am overextended in the things I am committed to in my life right now. None of these things are bad things, they are all good things, "fruit bearing" things, but I truly feel they are taking me away from my family too much. My #1 calling in life at this time is to be a wife and a mother. I really feel right now that the Lord is telling me to look closely at the things at my life, to lay them all down before His feet, and allow Him to show me what I need to step back from. So I will be saying "No" to more "things" now and "yes" to more time for and with my family.

So that is what I am going to do, because I want so badly to be a Godly wife and mother, and for my family to get my best and not my leftovers. I want to focus on my calling at this season in my life, I want to bear fruit as a wife and a mommy, and I want to honor God by doing what He has called me to do.

Just my thoughts for today...