Yield

God has been forcing me to live my life with urgency. Over the past 7 months my lighthearted footsteps have turned heavy as I continue to watch my friends struggle with divorce, devastation, cancer, uncertainty, fear...the list goes on. It seems as though God allows a mass amount of heartache to happen all at once, followed by a mass amount of blessing. Its all so heavy, yet altogether part of His plan - which makes the walk of faith that much stronger, thus causing me to live with this urgency.

God wants us to enjoy life. To take it all in. To love the beauty that surrounds us. He wants us to cherish moments. Embrace our children and our husbands. Love our friends. Show compassion when those are hurting. I have noticed during this time...that although I am so thankful that my friends have chosen to share there hearts with me, I'm tired and very saddened of the news. How do I live my life with JOY in the midst of carrying my dear friends burden...? My heart enters into the sadness with them...sometimes words do not come to mind, and we just cry.

I have been reminded that my mind needs to be daily renewed and cleansed. That in order to be all there for my friends, I have to be completely surrendered to Jesus.

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CRV

After dropping Kayce off at Pre-school this am, I headed over to Target to get Noelle some versitale clothing for the Fall/Winter without breaking the budget. As I was driving I was thinking about all the things that needed to be done...send out the car payment, pick up Ben at 10:55, figure out what to make for dinner, take a breath, nurse the baby ( who was currently screaming her head off in her carseat) finish doing the dishes that were piling up all over the counter....the list went on...
I came to a red light and glanced over to my right. I usually try not to look either way when driving because occassionally you run into the super freaky dude who decides to gesture something insane or the over sensitive woman who thinks youre staring at her 5 freckles on the right side of her face...but today I glanced. There sat a woman, probably in her mid-thirties. When I looked she was wiping tears away from her eyes. In that moment, I suddenly felt connected to this woman in the Navy blue Honda CRV. I don't know why she was crying - she could have heard a song on the radio that brought back memories, she may have had a terrible argument with her husband right before leaving for work, a family member could be deathly ill - either way..she was sad. Her heart was heavy and the tears began to roll from her cheeks to her lap. I was hoping that she was going to pull into Target just like me, so I could say something to her...but I know that would not be my place...afterall I don't know this woman, and she would be shocked if some random lady with 2 little kids told her everything was going to be ok.
I say all that to say this, we are hurting. For one reason or another. When the light turned green, I looked at all the cars coming toward me, going in front of me, passing perpendicular to me...Vass amounts of people with problems, pain, stress, fear, anxiety - We need a Savior.
I stopped in that moment and just praised the Lord for his restoration in my life as well as many of my friends lives. It was a good reminder that the list of "to do" was extremely minor compared to various siuations that many people face in their lives every day.
I never want to pass someone by that is hurting because I have to finish the laundry or prepare dinner by 5 so that it is ready by 6. Seriously, there are way more important things in life...

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The Art of Thrifting

The Art of Thrifting

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Noelle aka - Nolie - long "O" aka, little pretty girl , aka - the baby

Tis hard to believe that 3 months ago I gave birth to little Noelle Pearl~ Sounds cliche to say this, but it really does feel like 2 days ago I was getting ready to go into the hospital~

When Mom's would come up to me and say, "enjoy it now, time flies and before you know it, they will be having kids" - I would just smile and nod. But, with each child that I have, I am becoming "that Mom." Time does pass quickly. I ask myself daily, "What can I do each day to make this day count, to make it matter more...to make it mean something to my children.?"

My prayer is that with each day that comes and goes my children will go to bed knowing that their Mom loved them, played with them, tickled them, kissed them, gave them good food to eat and most importantly was an example of the Love of Christ. I want to be selfless like Jesus, He is my example and I pray that I am that example to my children~

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Re-create the meaning....

Since having my third child my wardrobe consists of sweat pants, tshirts and flip-flops - I love every minute of it...but there are days when I want to feel pretty~ Can I get a holla? We all have those days...

So in an effort to step up my attire on "those days" I have been trying to come up with ideas that would allow me to "dress up" with little to no thought.

Starting with accessories. I really believe in accessories.. they either make or break an outfit, and are super affordable and you can find them almost anywhere~ Run-on sentence...

I had this little 2 tiered dessert tray down in my basement for awhile now - sitting there- collecting dust - So I brought it upstairs scrubbed it down and made it shine. I then took all my dangling earrings, bracelets and necklaces and laid or hung them around the edges of the tray~ I love the way it turned out~ I simply placed it on my dresser in my room and wala - I can see my jewelry again. Within the past week I have worn things that I have not touched in over a year~

It felt good and those little dangly earrings somehow made me feel pretty~

Its the little simple things...

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Simplify

I often wonder how different or rather how simple my life would be if I only had one option all the time. I was looking for some shampoo the other day, something that would create body and shine - there were like 50 different options to choose from...all ranging from $1 to $17. Which one will be the best? Are there really different ingredients in the Matrix shampoo as opposed to the Suave Daily Body? $ 16 bucs is a lot of money...I could get the $1 Suave and head over to the grocery department and create a whole meal to feed my family~

That is just one of BILLIONS of options we are faced with daily~We live in a consumers world, where more is better.

My desire for my life and my families life is to create an atmosphere, a home, where less is more~ Simplify life by decluttering all the noise and stuff so that I can focus and enjoy all the blessings that make up who I am and to bring Glory to the One who created me.

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Its been awhile!

Here are some recent pictures of Kayce that I photoshopped! I had fun and she is beautiful( We are a little bias), so taking pictures was EASY!

We love our little girl more with each passing day! She is a funny girl and is learning new words everyday. She is so proud of herself when she says a new word.

We are going shopping to buy a potty sometime this week, because she is letting us know when she is "going"! So it's been fun! Just all the new little things they do! She is no longer a little baby ( Although she will always be our little girl!) She is turning into a BIG GIRL!

God has blessed us and we are thankful!

Enjoy the photos!

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