Pets

Pets.... What a blessing pets are. They're there to comfort us when we're sad or hurting. They're there to make us laugh when we don't want to. They're there to give us sloppy dog kisses when we're in our worst mood. Aren't pets just a gift from God? They can be frustrating sometimes (when they pee on the floor) or angering (when they chew up your favorite shoes), but still a gift.

Bella

Brambles

Bella, Hobbes and Fawkes

Primrose (Prim)

Hobbes (Poochie)

Pearl (top) and Smudge (bottom)

How do you get through hard times?

"There is none holy like the LORD: for there is none besides you; for there is no rock like our God." ~ 1 Samuel 2:2

When I don't know how to react to a situation, I go to the bible. When I don't know what to say about something, I pray for guidance from God. When I don't know how I will get through the trails and struggles of my day, I go and kneel at the cross. How do you deal with pain, heartache, and trials?

Make no mistake. I'm not perfect by any means. I mess up all the time. I don't always seek the cross first. But I desire God and I need Him to be first in my life. He is our creator. He deserves all the praise and glory! Is He the center of your life? He should be. He made you! And He loves you!

Community bible study sharing day. May 9, 2013

Sharing day at CBS.

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 Isaiah 61:3 says that God brings beauty from ashes...God sure did that in my life this past year.

I decided to come to CBS because my friend told me what a blessing it has been to her over the years. I really wasn't interested in doing a bible study with homework. I have 4 kids so I don't have much time for reading the bible and doing extra tasks.

My husband had been laid off from his job in Virginia 2 years ago and couldn't find work.We moved here and into my parents house thinking it was a temporary thing. Since the market crashed we had to short sell our house in Virginia which ruined our credit so we couldn't purchase a home here.The situation in my parents house was strained.With 5 adults (me and my husband, my parents and my older brother) and four children (ages 7-17 months old), 2 dogs and 4 cats you would expect stress. And because of all this I became very depressed and suicidal.

One CBS morning I left Alice's lecture and sat in the hall way in tears deciding the best direction to walk into traffic to kill myself. I knew everyone here loves my kids and would get them to their father. God did something to me that day. He sent that same friend out of the sanctuary who began to talk me off my ledge.

I am getting the help I need now and I actually want to seek out quiet time with The Lord. Every spare moment I'm reciting bible verses, talking to my heavenly Father and thanking Him for all He's done in me. He's changed me this year.

My love for Christ has grown, my love for learning His word has grown. God placed me in this study so I would be fed the gospel and receive healing through learning more about His sacrifice for me. I know Gods plan for me has always been to attend CBS and have fellowship and communion with fellow believers.To be prayed for and to pray with all the women He placed here. It has been a tremendous blessing. My life has been changed- How I read the bible has been changed, my love for Christ has changed. It has deepened, it has been renewed- when I didn't even know there was a problem. I was a stuck up Christian who wasn't living as a newly redeemed soul. I have been blessed more than I could ever express. I have rededicated my life to Christ. I wake up every morning praising Him for all the goodness and mercy He so willingly poured over me. I am new.

Once we see our newness in Christ, a trophy of His grace, we become like the woman at the well, in John 4, who was able to say to her village - "come and meet a Man"...may we all live in such a way to introduce others to Jesus.

Waiting for inspiration

Has it seriously been 5 months since my last post?! I may have been waiting for inspiration. I may have been a little busy .....just having a baby. December 1st, 2011 at 7:21 am we welcomed Naomi Grace into our family. She was 6lbs 13oz 19.5 inches long. She has long fingers, great for piano playing, lungs of a tuba player and beautiful red hair. She has been such a blessing!

This is Naomi, March 5th at Valentine's 5th birthday party.

Our house is under contract but since it's a short sale it's taking a long time. We are praying that it finalizes soon. We would love to be in our own house by the time school starts next year. All things are possible when you trust in the Lord.

Don't get me wrong the past year spent in my parents house has been such a blessing. I am so thankful that they have let us stay with them for the past year. I had so many complications at the end of my pregnancy that if I didn't have the family's help I don't even know what we would have done. But we still long to have our own home again. I can barely remember what its like to have my own kitchen and house to take care of. I'm pretty sure Titus doesn't remember our house in VA. Pray with us that we can be blessed with our own home again soon, very soon.

I've been reading a book our pastor wrote called "The Prayers of Jehoshaphat: Seeing beyond life's storms" (By Stanley Gale). It has really helped me look past life's bumps and storms and see God's grace and love through it and above all learn to put my trust in Him.

Oh another note, I've signed up for my first race. I'll be running the Sandy Sprint 5k in Philadelphia on April 28th. I'm really excited for it but nervous too. I don't want to let anyone down, especially myself. Since I started training I found that I have "runners knee". Apparently when I run I swing my one leg out. It's a strength thing. I need to strengthen my hip flexors. I'm working on it. I plan to run outside for the first time today. I've been running on my parents treadmill and it has been wonderful! I put the kids in front of the tv or down for rest time, put the baby in her swing and I can run. But it's getting boring. I hope running outside will reignite my fire for running.

Our pc had some virus issues (trojans or something). No matter how many programs we ran to clean it as soon as we restarted they came back. So we got a mac. I love it! We were able to fix the pc so now Jake has a laptop he can play his games on. It is fantastic. The kids and I have really enjoyed all the fun things to do on the mac like photobooth. We all get a kick out of the funny faces we can make with the program.

Well, I better get back to my children. It's time for Naomi to eat. I have the best job in the world!

Watch it- Pass it on!

Lessons through pain

We've been faced with many struggles (and blessings through the struggles) in the recent months.

• First Jake loses his job.
• He couldn't secure a new one in Virginia so we had to uproot our family and move back to Pennsylvania.
• We moved back to Pennsylvania and are living with my parents as we wait for our house to sell.
• The new job Jake got in Pennsylvania pays a lot less so he had to get a second job. Meaning less time with his family.
• Since we had to move out of state for this new job we had to sell our house. The market in Richmond is very depressed so we had to put our house up for short sale. Meaning we make absolutely no money in the sale of our house, we have a two year ding on our credit and have to struggle for the coming years trying to catch up with what this decision has cost us.
• The sale of our house falls through 2 days before closing (And four months working with this buyer. Jumping through his hoops). We were finally feeling like our battle was coming to an end. But now we have to start all over again.
• I am homeschooling our children and expecting our fourth. These are blessings but are also struggles. It's hard to concentrate on a lesson when my other kids are being noisy and disruptive. It will be incredibly hard to homeschool the kids when I have a toddler and a newborn.
• A friend of mine who I've been praying and fasting for (for nearly a year now) seems to be losing her battle with cancer.
• My beloved aunt passed away Tuesday, August 30th, after battling cancer for a mere 2 months.

But through all this I was reminded at my aunts service this past Saturday that I should be Praising God! I should be saying How can I glorify God in this trial? How can His name be praised?

My aunt and my friend Rachel would say this as they struggle and are in excruciating pain. Don't cry for me! How can I pray for you? How can I glorify God in this? I want to be that woman. I want to cry out to God while my heart is breaking. I want to glorify His precious name!

Would you pray for me, for us, as we do our best to Praise His Holy Name? There is a Light, it is Jesus. I know we will get through these struggles and this pain. But right now I'm having a hard time. I could really use encouragement and prayer.

Blessed be the Name of the Lord!

An update from my uncle.

This is Jim, writing from my sister Kathy's Facebook page. I am overwhelmed with gratitude as I sit here and read the notes from all the people who are praying for my dear wife. I have never experienced this kind of pain before, though 50 years ago this past April, as an 11 year old boy, I watched my father die with this same disease. That was hard...this is devastating. I have tried not to question God in all of this; I recognize His sovereignty and accept His will for Anna's life. But I must admit that I don't even come close to understanding. I thought perhaps He was waiting for me to lift the ban on visitors so that my immediate family and Anna's siblings could come and see her. I did that yesterday, much to the chagrin of my precious wife. I could tell she was agitated by all the commotion and sensed a bit of displeasure with me for having violated her wishes. All four of her sisters got to see her and say goodbye. My son and daughter and their children got to say goodbye. My three sisters have seen her and two are with me even now, lest I be alone when the time comes for Him to welcome her home. This morning, reading from the Daily "Crouton", as Pastor Marks so affectionately called The Daily Bread, I read about a Matter of Perspective. The last paragraph says, "When we simply cannot understand why God allows circumstances that threaten to overwhelm us, it is good to remember that He has our good and His glory in mind. If we can say, "Father, please enable me to trust and honor You in this situation," then we will be in concert with His perspective and plan." Anna's concern in all of this, from the beginning until the point where she could no longer communicate clearly, was "How am I glorifying God in all of this?" I can tell you that all of the perceptions you folks have of my Anna are accurate. She is the epitome of the Proverbs 31 woman. A prayer warrior, a giving, caring woman who dedicated her life to helping people through times like she is presently going. When God commanded us to "Be holy, for I am holy.", to the best of her ability she heeded His command. I know no one who is as concerned about being holy as much as she is. Even now, in her distress, she wonders how she can glorify the Father in heaven. I have no idea what He has in mind for me. Anna has been part of my life since July of 1964, weeks before my 15th birthday. When she finally graduates to heaven I will be relieved for the end to her suffering, but my nightmare without her will continue on from the nightmare that I'm enduring right now, watching her suffer. And still, I trust Him...He who sent His only Son to die for me. For those of you reading this who have not trusted your life to Christ, I beg you to do that right now. I couldn't care less what church affiliation you have. Religion is man reaching up to God...Christianity is God reaching down to man. I teach my AWANA children how simple it is to be saved...as simple as A,B,C. First, you have to admit you're a sinner. If you're not a sinner, you don't need a Savior. But God's word tells us that you are a sinner. (Romans 3:23) Then, you must believe that Jesus is who He said he was...the Son of God. But that's not the end. Many think the C is confess. But that's taken care of when you believe. The C is Choose. My Sparkies love this story. Let's pretend I have the ability to shut you in a room that is totally devoid of light. On the other side of the room is a door that you can get out. But there are numerous traps that will take your life if you try to get out in the dark. Before I leave you, I place a flashlight in front of you. You choose to get out of the room on your own, rejecting the gift that I gave you. You die. Don't blame me! I gave you everything you needed to get out, but you rejected it. God gave you everything you need to enter Heaven. Accept His free gift of eternal life right now. To not accept Christ is to reject Him. The best way to honor Anna in all that she's going through is to ask Christ to save you. I love all of you. Please continue to pray for God's mercy in Anna's struggle right now. God bless you all.

Deep Breath

I am thankful that we haven't had many scares as parents.

We had the first real one while I was pregnant with Titus. Lucinda and Valentine we climbing up Lucinda's dresser to get something off the top and the dresser fell over on them. Lucinda was able to pull her foot out and just had a scratch but Valentine was trapped under the dresser. The cd player (90s version, nice and big and very heavy) was being held by the plug in the wall. If it had come out of the wall it would have smashed his face. I ran into the room as soon as I heard the crash but I couldn't pull Valentine out and keep the drawers from falling out onto him. I screamed for Jake. He came in and moved the dresser. I pulled Valentine out and he didn't have a scratch on him. God was good.

The second one was when Titus was just 6 months old. We were driving home from a visit in Pennsylvania and stopped at a Wendy's for a bathroom break and some french fries. Jake took the older 2 into the bathroom while I waited in the lobby for them with Titus. It was about 8pm. Two men came in with ski masks on and guns swinging and robbed the restaurant. That was a very scary very traumatic experience for me. For all of us. I haven't been to a Wendy's since that day. And will never go to a Wendy's again.

Well, yesterday has been added to our list of scary experiences as parents. We've had kids come down with croup before but it never got this bad. Titus started showing signs of croup Saturday when he woke up from his nap. I did what I had done in the past with the other kids. Took him in the bathroom and let the water run hot to help open his airways. It didn't help. Not even a little. But he didn't seem any worse so we went through the day and as long as he was moving he was okay. Then during the night he was up every hour coughing and struggling to breathe. He slept in bed with us for some of the night and when I was watching him sleep I could see how hard it was for him to breathe. He was gasping for air. Every breath was very shallow. And he had a fever. So we decided it was time to take him to the ER. After two epinephrine breathing treatments, a shot of steroids and constant oxygen he wasn't improving. The hospital we went to didn't have a pediatric unit so they decided to transfer him to a near by hospital with a wonderful peds unit. He stayed there for 3 hours and was discharged after showing some improvement. He came home with a prescription for steroids for the next 3 days and he's acting more like himself today. Still not 100% but much better than he was. He still has a pretty bad cough but at least he can breathe now! Great it His faithfulness! We are so thankful that we decided to take him in and not wait any longer. We are so thankful that God took care of Titus and opened his airways.

Now we can all take a deep breath. Praise God!

Vacation

So tomorrow morning we will be packing into the SUV and head off to Tennessee. That may sound really exciting for some of you but for me it sounds like doom. Ten hours of driving with three little kids, with out my husband!! We plan to split up the driving to two days. But the way back will be all in one shot. I hope we can survive it.

It doesn't sound much like vacation. Jake will be back to Pennsylvania in two days. We leave tomorrow. So we will miss each other by one day! Then we will be in TN for nine days. I think this will be the longest that we've ever been apart. And I have never driven this far with the kids and I have never driven any length without his help.

Please pray for us. I'm sure we will have a good time but we are all missing Jake. I really miss his help and support. It won't feel like a vacation without the head of our household.

Does absence really make the heart grow fonder?

This morning I said goodbye to my dear husband (with *many, many* tears). We won't see each other for two whole weeks! He is flying out to Oklahoma for more training and the kids and I will be headed to Tennessee on Thursday, we will be gone for nine days. We will miss each other by one stinking day.

So does absence really make the heart grow fonder? Do we really love our missing spouse more when they've been away for weeks? I'm not sure. When Jake is gone I can't sleep, I'm depressed and the kids are super grumpy. And I won't lie, it's nice when he gets home from work to have someone help me with the kids. He is usually the one who gets them to bed. By the end of the day I'm about to pass out already. Now I'm "on duty" from 6am to 7pm (except the baby-not a baby anymore, I need to stop calling him that...) takes over an hour to get to sleep! Tonight it took nearly two hours. And I know what you're thinking, that I should put the kids down later because they're probably not tired at 7pm. Oh no my friend, they. are. tired. No matter what time they go to bed, 7pm, 10pm, midnight, they still are up at 6am. With out fail. So I might as well put them to bed at 7 so I can have a few extra hours of rest for me. The older two kids don't take naps so they're underfoot all day. Titus only takes one nap a day and it's usually only for an hour some days I get a glorious two hours. But those days are rare.

I don't know how I'll survive 12 days without him. I miss him all day and now I'll be missing him at night too. I sound like a adolescent but we really do love each other this much. How many people do you know have been married to their high school sweetheart and still are head over heals in love with them almost 10 years later? Not many. I am so thankful for the love we have for each other.

God has blessed us abundantly. I can see how much He loves us through the little things in life. He blesses me with a husband who loves me with all my (countless!) flaws, He blesses us with beautiful children, He blesses us with family who is gracious enough to let us live with them while our house in VA sells and we look for a house here. There are more blessings I can't even list them all. I am SO blessed!

So now, Lord, put the rock under my feet so I don't drown. I need You to keep my head above water. You are my Solid Rock, all other grounds are sinking sand.

Please pray for me and the kids as we struggle through these next two weeks as a single parent household. Tennessee will be fun but I will be missing my man. And I know he will be missing us! He has as hard of a time being apart as I do.

Another prayer request

A fellow sister in Christ was diagnosed with cancer. She's young (35 or so). She had bad news this week. The cancer has spread. She only has a few more months to live on this earth. Please pray for her and her family, her husband and 2 sons (11 yrs and 9 yrs). Her name is Rachel. Her family has been family friends since before any of us (cousins) were born. I think I have met her once or twice but I don't know her personally. Please be in prayer for them. Here is the link to her sisters blog she started to give updates on Rachel.

www.rachelsharvestofhope.blogspot.com

Your prayers would be appreciated.

My aunt was taken to the hospital this past Monday morning at 5:30am. She was up during the night w/ nausea & pain. In the hospital, the surgeon they were going to consult with this coming Thursday met them & admitted her. Please pray for wisdom for my aunt and uncle as they make treatment decisions. She seems to have a mass in her colon she was put on IV fluids and has been restricted from eating or drinking from the mouth. This is very difficult for her since she has always complained about a dry mouth (that's what I heard from my cousin, her daughter). Please pray for my family. We're not sure what's going on but this is very scary for us all. Your prayers are coveted.

Cloth Diapering.

Titus

Titus and Valentine

Titus the gbaby.

Cloth diapers. Here are pros and cons for me on this certain brand of cloth diapers. I've only used 3 different kinds but this is the kind I've used the most.

I generally like the gdiapers. I went with them because my son was having allergic reactions to disposable diapers at the time. He has since grown out of it.

Pros~

You can purchase them at yourlocal Babies r us (we needed different diapers asap and these were the only ones we could buy in a store).

You can choose to do true cloth diapering or if you're travelling you can opt for the disposable insert.

They have a plastic liner so if the baby leaks off the cloth you can just replace the liner and use the same cover. I have used the same cover for a week and it doesn't have an odor at all.

They have really cute patterns (this isn't THAT huge of deal for me but it is a pro. :)

They're generally priced reasonably.

Cons~

The liners are biodegradable so they start breaking down once you start washing them. I would only put them in the wash if they had been soiled. If they had urine on them I would just rinse them and use soap and my hand.

The gcloth doesn't seem to be quite big enough to fill the liner. They may have fixed this problem since I bought my stash but it was annoying and deff helped add to my soiled liner bucket. Their disposable insert fits like a glove never an issue.

Since the gcloth isn't secured by anything when my son would move around (which is all the time being an active toddler) the gcloth would scrunch up and I would have more soiled liners. I "solved" this problem by adding a cheap gerber (or you can use any kind) diaper and stack them in his diaper. It would make his rear a lot thicker but the gcloth wouldn't move. I would triple stuff at bed time.

I never had this problem but a friend of mine did, she had the velcro closures come off, but she called gdiapers and they sent her new velcro closures for free, she didn't even have to pay shipping. So that's a positive on that side of it.

So I went with gdiapers because I could purchase them at a store nearby and I needed them right away. I liked that if I needed something for them I could just run to the store and not have to wait to have it shipped to me. But with number 4 on the way I think (at least for the first few months) I will try something different. Unless a kind family member wants to bless us with the newborn kit. :)

I would love to hear your thoughts about cloth diapering. Have you tried it? Pros and cons? What brands do you like? What brands don't you like?

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Memory Lane: Valley Forge

Valley Forge. Hearing that brings back so many memories.

When my parents told me that we were moving from Arizona, where I was born and had grown up, I was very upset (to say it nicely). My mom said "don't you trust the God has a perfect plan for you? Just think of what wonderful things He has in store for your life!" I wasn't convinced yet. But once we moved to Pennsylvania and attended a new church with new youth I was feeling better about the decision. The first Sunday we attended Immanuel PCA the pastor came up to introduce himself to my parents and stopped one of the young men to escort us (my brother and I) to the Sunday school class. That young man was Jake. I was hooked on the church from then on. Jake sat with us and I drooled over him the entire class. He was the nicest boy I had ever met and he was SO CUTE! I could go on listing things that struck me about him but I wouldn't want to make anyone uncomfortable. ;)

We never really dated. I would call what we did courting. We were always with a group of friends. I loved that because we never felt any pressure to do anything we shouldn't. It helped us stay pure. We are so blessed in this day and age.

Anyway, back to Valley Forge. For our first "date" Jake built a few bikes for me, the 2 foreign exchange students we had living with us at the time and one for himself. He came to my parents house and picked us up. He took us to Valley Forge to ride bikes together. He spent the entire time stopping and helping the girls learn to ride their bikes. They had never learned before. Which was sweet of him but it annoyed me at the time. I wanted him to spend all his time with me. I didn't even think he liked me but that night the one exchange student said "Oh he loves you! You will end up together for sure!" I said, "haha sure lady whatever you say! He's WAY out of my league!" I guess she read the signs right! :)

From then on we frequented Valley Forge. We even had our engagement pictures taken there. It has a special place in our hearts.

Well last weekend we took the kids there for the first time. We got to look at the sights and tell the kids about the historic places and show them where we had our pictures taken so long ago (10 years almost!! We had pictures taken about 2 years before we were married).

I'm looking forward to many more fond memories in Valley Forge with my precious family. And many more pictures! :)

(I'll add some engagement pictures when I get them downloaded onto the computer. :)

"Welcome to the Second Trimester"

I received an email welcoming me into the second trimester.

Its so funny when you're pregnant (for the 6th time) and you have kids at home you are constantly chasing around how you lose track of things. I noticed that its getting uncomfortable to sleep, I noticed that I'm looking pretty huge at this point but I had totally lost track of how far along I am. Someone asked me this past weekend when I was due and I didn't really have an answer. But it doesn't help that the tech at my ultrasound told me one due date and the midwife (after looking at said u/s) gave me a different date. So I just give everyone the old "Oh, I'm due around Christmas". Who knows.

But in the email it told me the baby is about the size of a peach (from head to rump). Holy cow this pregnancy is flying by!! Before I know it I'll be preparing to have our fourth! Please Lord bless us with a house before then!! Or give me the contentment to be happy and satisfied where we are if that's not Your will.

I'm thankful that things seem to be going well (for the most part). We are so blessed!

I'm Glad!

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Matthew 7:13-14

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. Psalm 100:4-5

I will enter His gates with thanks giving in my heart

I will enter His courts with praise

I will say this is the day that the Lord has made

I will rejoice for He has made me glad

He has made me glad Oh He has made me glad

I will rejoice for He has made me glad

He has made me glad Oh He has made me glad

I will rejoice for He has made me glad.

I will enter His gates with thanks giving in my heart

I will enter His courts with praise

I will say this is the day that the Lord has made

I will rejoice for He has made me glad

He has made me glad Oh He has made me glad

I will rejoice for He has made me glad

He has made me glad Oh He has made me glad

I will rejoice for He has made me glad.

Precious Time

How do you spend your spare time? Titus hasn't been napping well lately. So when he sleeps at all (usually for an hour, sometimes less) its is precious time. I try to rush around to get everything that's on my endless list done. It is an impossible task. I end up getting some of the tasks done and feeling like I failed the rest. And since I'm pregnant I'm super tired so all I really want to do is take a nap myself. He pops out of his room (not very) well rested and I'm back to chasing him around the house cleaning up everything that crosses his path. My mom calls him "Titus the tornado". Not sure if I like that nickname but he's got it now.

Recently I had a melt down. I spoke to a great friend of mine and she suggested writing a list of everything that was bothering me or stressing me out at the time. Then pray about each and every one. Take the time to talk to God. So I did. And I really did feel better about everything that's going on in my life. I'm still anxiously waiting the Lord to finalize the sale of our house and praying that we will be able to buy a house very soon after but for right now, I've given it to the Lord.

My friend also suggested finding a good book to read. I enjoy reading if it's the right kind of book. The kind that keeps me invested. Once Jake got home that night I discussed it all with him. After explaining my whole list of stresses and ending our time together by blubbering on his shoulder he took me out to get a book (and ice cream, he's a wonderful man who loves me so much!). We needed some private time together anyway. After driving to 3 stores we ended up at Barnes and Nobles. We bought The Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis. I don't know why I never read the series as a young adult. I know we had the books in the house (we had every book it seemed). But this is the first time that I have truly sat down to read through the whole series. Of course my husband is a purist and hates that they renumbered the books. I think I've read 4 of the books over the past few years so the renumbering has never bothered me. But to please him I am reading them in Lewis' original order. Well, I'm not sure the book thing was such a good idea. I'm the type that once I start reading and I'm involved, I can't pull myself away. I can't I mean, I can not stop reading in the middle of a chapter. I feel like the world in the book would be holding its breath waiting for my return. But thankfully this series has pretty short chapters so I can read a few and stop at the end of one. Unless there's a great cliff hanger. Why do you do for "me time"?

Well, the kids have been up for hours. I should get something done today. I have so much to do, like always. My goal today, home school Lucinda and laundry. I think I can, I think I can. Ugh, I loathe laundry....

Philippians 4:4-23

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

⁸ Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. ⁹ Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

¹⁰ I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. ¹¹ I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹² I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³ I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

¹⁴ Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles. ¹⁵ Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; ¹⁶ for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid more than once when I was in need. ¹⁷Not that I desire your gifts; what I desire is that more be credited to your account. ¹⁸ I have received full payment and have more than enough. I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. ¹⁹ And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.

²⁰ To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

²¹ Greet all God’s people in Christ Jesus. The brothers and sisters who are with me send greetings. ²² All God’s people here send you greetings, especially those who belong to Caesar’s household.

²³ The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.

Gone but not forgotten

I may have been gone for 4 months but I haven't forgotten you bloggy friends. A lot has happened since February. Man, where do I begin?

I guess shortly after the miscarriage Jake lost his job. But God is faithful! He provided, like He always does! Jake was blessed with a job. The catch- we had to sell our house and move to Pennsylvania. But that too is a blessing! Our family and friends are here. Although, we were sad to leave behind our family, friends and church family in Virginia. We are thankful for the job. We are staying with my parents until our house closes (we had 3 offers the first week it was put on the market!). Lord willing everything will be done by the end of June or July 1st at the latest.

Someone very dear to me lost her precious baby. It's been really hard for everyone that loves her. We continue to pray for them and trust the God's plan is perfect. HE will carry them through!

Last week I lost a dear friend in a tragic car accident. We met through my aunt, they were high school friends. Nancy and I never met. But she ministered to me in some of my darkest hours. I knew when I asked her to pray for me or for something in particular she would do it. She would approach the Lord on my behalf. She was so dear to everyone she met. She touched so may lives. By just being herself. I pray that I may be a witness like that someday. There were more than 500 people at her funeral. It was a beautiful service. What an encouragement. The message was wonderful. I pray that many were saved, by God's mercy, through hearing it.

A few months ago I found out I am expecting again! We are so thankful for this blessing! Might not be our perfect timing but it sure is God's perfect timing! We praise Him for that. Isn't it great to know that God is in control of all that happens in the universe. I sure am glad I don't have that job!

On Monday, memorial day, I started bleeding and cramping, just like before. The bleeding has slowed a lot but the cramps come and go. I am praying for God's peace and comfort. I am praying that He will preserve this life and bless us with many years with him or her. But if that is not His plan for our child I pray that we continue to praise Him through our tears and loss.

This song has been running on my computer all day. I love it and it is such a great reminder. I wish I could find a video that plays the song but alas.

Point of Grace

For all you've done

Oh cleanser of the mess I've made
Upon the hill our places trade
Stretched on a cross Your body crushed
By human hands You formed from dust

Chorus
How wonderful Your mercy is
How awesome are Your ways
I come, I come
To worship You
For all You've done

Oh cleanser of the mess I've made
Your boundless love for me portrayed
With patience for my learning curve
By holding back what I deserve

Chorus

Oh cleanser of the mess I've made
With everything at Your feet laid
I watch as all my cares erode
And from my soul these words explode

Chorus

Stirring up the dust

This video was brought to my attention last night. I had forgotten about it. I think its time to re-post it. This is Lucinda about a year ago. She took this video herself while in Jake's car. I laugh every time I watch it. Enjoy.