Another Wedding!!!

This is Kelsie and Opportunity *I mean Jeff*, and they are getting married today. 

This couple has just blessed my socks off as I have gotten an up close and personal seat to their friendship, and courtship, and engagement, and today THEIR WEDDING!!

 Kelsie has lived with us since November of 2010.  This girl has become a very important part of our family.  

Our family and Kelsie have been through some huge life changing experiences together as the last year and a half have gone by. 

 Kelsie feels like a daughter to me, and also a friend to every member of our family.  She has also been a roommate to Lashae (before she got married) and then to Charsie.

When Kelsie came to live with us, we had 3 less family members and she was single. 

 Well, we have all grown and *added*  more love and loved ones to our equation.

We could not be more thrilled for Kelsie and Jeff!!!

We LOVE this couple, they are completely perfect for each other. 

 I have to brag that I had a hunch and I told Kelsie to take the *opportunity* if he presented himself...shortly after that we named him *distraction* because Kelsie was a mess.  

A happy forgetful distracted mess. 

 She made us laugh EVERYDAY with her *distracted* self.  I mean that girl could not keep track of her head, and I knew it was because she was head over heals in love and she did not even know it yet! 

 But I knew...I saw ALL the signs and they were fresh in my memory because I had just watched Lashae and Chaney take the same path.  :)

Kelsie has joined in this crazy family and has just been a part of everything and everybody.  She is a precious soul that loves people and loves Jesus.  

She has allowed me to *weigh in* on some pretty big stuff in her life and I am humbled and thankful for the privilege.  This girl listens.  If you talk, if you LOVE her...she hears!! 

I could not be more happy for her and for Jeff and even though she is moving out...(as all my people seem to be doing these days)...we are counting Jeff as an awesome addition and now when he stays he does not have to endure that horrid couch.  :)

Charsie and I agreed to pray for Kelsie after Lashae got married.

  We knew it was her hearts desire to someday be a wife and a mommy.  She was patient and willing to wait for God's timing and she thought God would just drop her man  right out of the sky...well, God dropped him at her work, and I just had to help her realize that sometimes...God brings *opportunity*  and we must step out in faith and get to know *opportunity*!!  

Kelsie and Jeff we love you!!!  

We love your zeal for the Lord and your love for each other.  Your courtship has been a fun and beautiful thing to watch and we can't wait to watch your love and your family grow.  

Thankful Thursday

Thankful for so much!!

Hubby and Kole are working together for the summer.  They will be gone quite a bit of the next month and a half.  They are working about 2 hours away, so they are going to camp at the job.  I'm so thankful for the job and the time they have together free of distraction.  

Thankful for a fun 4th of July dinner.  All my chicks were in my nest and both sets of parents. Also, Lashae's best friends came over and the joyful music to my ears of them sitting outside laughing (at nothing) erupted!!

Thankful for a home to host these fun times at the spur of a moment.

Thankful for horses.  The kids had fun riding yesterday.

God is so good, and He is KIND, and I'm in awe of the gifts He gives everyday, that I forget to be thankful for.

Psalm 100

English Standard Version (ESV)

His Steadfast Love Endures Forever

A Psalm for giving thanks.

100 

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!

² 

     Serve the Lord with gladness!

     Come into his presence with singing!

³ 

Know that the Lord, he is God!

    It is he who made us, and we are his;^[a]

    we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

⁴ 

Enter his gates with thanksgiving,

    and his courts with praise!

    Give thanks to him; bless his name!

⁵ 

For the Lord is good;

    his steadfast love endures forever,

    and his faithfulness to all generations.

Hook 'em Horns!!

 

Kole, Charsie, Maezie, and I have had the privilege of going to Austin, Texas to be "oriented" with UT. 

I sat in those big auditorium classrooms and felt

O.V.E.R.W.H.E.L.M.E.D.

  with information and emotion.

The information was a bit much for this small town girl trying to understand the college lingo that is like a foreign language to me.

The emotion was pride in Kole and happy for him.  He has done this, he is excited and determined.  I'm proud of him and his hard work, but mostly his perseverance to get to this point.  I know the Lord has absolutely directed Kole's steps - and Kole has had to walk forward in a lot of faith and

 GOD BLESSED HIM !!

Proverbs 20:24

The Message (MSG)

 ²⁴ The very steps we take come from God; 

   otherwise how would we know where we're going?

Proverbs 16:9

The Message (MSG)

 ⁹ We plan the way we want to live, 

   but only God makes us able to live it.

The emotion was also knowing that this is a big step and a long long way from home and I am going to miss this kid.
 There is a hole forming that is the size of Texas in my heart!!!!   

I observed the other parents, and wondered if I was the only parent that was having a hard time and I had to laugh at what I saw and heard.

  Hands down and across the board!!!

The moms and dads are both smiling, but for totally different reasons!!!!

Dads = Looking proud and a quirky smile on their face as if to say, "my work here is done, they are out of the nest and they are responsible for themselves".

They are asking the kids questions like....When can we move you in??  Did you get your schedule??

Moms = Looking petrified with a pasted smile on their faces.  The mom's smile is as if to say, " I have no idea how to do this, so I'm gonna paste THIS look on my face and look as good as possible".

They are asking the kids questions like....Did you drink enough water??  Did they even feed you lunch for Pete's sake??

All in all we had a great time.  We took advantage of every second. We did a ton, and did not have a lot of  "sleep" time, but I feel refreshed in many ways.

 God was so good to me especially, just letting me know over and over again that this was the path HE has chosen for Kole and it is good!!!

We got to do so many of my  favorite things!!!  

I got to drink lots of coffee, and diet cokes, go to a  few fun parks, hang out with 3 of  my kids, fly ( I love airports), drive fast, run, go to my favorite church in Austin, swim, shop, be warm, VERY VERY warm, eat lots of yummy food, and see a lot of new and fun things, and meet a lot of really great people.

Hook 'em Horns!!! 

 ( there was not one speaker at the University that did not end their speech with this saying).

Giving and Stewardship

Giving and Stewardship

This subject has been a question I have wrestled with for awhile.  I know it is Biblical to give, but how much and what is "good stewardship".

Makes me think of Uganda.  They have nothing really, and yet they give to one another.  How is THAT considered "good stewardship"? 

Mark 12:38-44

English Standard Version (ESV)

Beware of the Scribes

³⁸  And in his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces ³⁹ and have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, ⁴⁰  who devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

The Widow's Offering

⁴¹  And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. ⁴² And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny.^[a]43 And he called his disciples to him and said to them,“Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. ⁴⁴ For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

 We adopted our daughter in the worst of financial times for us, and THAT makes NO SENSE in THIS world.  But in God's economy it makes perfect sense. 

 He said to give it ALL!! 

 I don't tell this to exalt anything we have done, but to exalt Him who is in control and owns it ALL, and when He calls us to something HE PROVIDES, He doesn't leave it to us to figure out.  *Praise Him* 

I told the Lord, we would adopt when we got ourselves together, financially, He spoke loud and clear to my heart and told me, He would provide and to step out, walk in faith and to "Go NOW", that it would all be part of the testimony!!!

He did it!  He provided and continues to provide.  It's not comfortable and there's no "emergency fund", it is literally day by day, I like to call it Manna.  The world says we are ridiculous for the number of kids we have, but God is the Father to us all and He is Almighty and it's ALL His, so my inheritance is eternal and humongous, and I don't need a retirement fund or an emergency fund. 

 He's it!!! 

 When I retire, I will be in Heaven walking on streets of gold.  Why in the world would I care if I had money in the bank on Earth while I'm dancing around on streets of gold??

Celebration Time!!!

Jeremiah 30:19

English Standard Version (ESV)

Out of them shall come songs of thanksgiving,

    and the voices of those who celebrate.

I will multiply them, and they shall not be few;

    I will make them honored, and they shall not be small.

We just had a CRAZY...and crazy fun week-end. 

 This family went nuts with celebration. 

 We had so much  to celebrate that it may take us a few days to recover.  

We celebrated with praise and thanksgiving!!

We celebrated with ceremony.

Yep!!!  Not even kidding...he wore the morph suit to graduation, with the added fashion statement of his boots and spurs.  WHATEVER!!  I was too proud of him to say much...so I took pictures and enjoyed.

These are my 3 teenagers.  :)  2 have been Valedictorians and 1 is well on her way.  I have one married and pregnant 1 graduate and one in high school.   

We celebrated with food and fun.

We played games...musical chairs!!!  My dad...yes Papa, played too.  He won't admit it, but he kinda got into it!

We played basketball!!

Leap frog!

Team cheer!!  *Praise the Lord*

We ate *a lot*!!

 We celebrated with showering of love and gifts.  

We had a baby shower.

Here is the proud grandmas and one of the proud great grandmas.  The other great grandma was there too, but I didn't get a picture with my camera (it died), from over use this weekend.  :)

What were we celebrating??? 

 It would be easier to list what we weren't celebrating. 

 We have so much to be thankful for.

Family.....graduation....healing.....fun.....babies....more babies.........being together.

THAT WE HAVE A SAVIOR THAT LOVES US AND HAS SAVED US AND WHO IS MORE THAN ENOUGH!!!!

PB&J and BLT

This group has been amazing!!! 

These kids bless my socks off every time we get together.

 They  have met for close to 3 years and called themselves...PB&J, for Powell Butte and Jesus...or People, barns and Jesus.
 And then on the opposite weeks they are the BLT..that would stand for Bible Learning Time.

 This has been a group of kids that have based their time together on: 

Acts 2:42

English Standard Version (ESV)

The Fellowship of the Believers

⁴² And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

We are going to spend the summer just taking a break and praying about where to go from here as we have several Seniors graduating.

A couple of kids have asked to be baptized....so we will be doing that very soon in the pond. 

This makes my heart sing with praise and thanksgiving!!!

 We will all get together and baptize the ones that are ready and CELEBRATE!!

 They will fellowship and pray and break bread and follow the apostles' teaching!

This group is GOOD at all of that...they can,

pray

 and eat

 and fellowship

 and get into Scripture

 like CRAZY teenager people!

They have stretched and grown, and stretched and grown all of us adults that have had the privilege of walking along side of them.

Thanks kids for being awesome and willing and dedicated to Jesus and to each other.

  

Check this blog out for an amazing adoption story and a really fun fundraiser with AWESOME prizes!!

http://momentswithlove.blogspot.com/

It's for a girl named Esther....from Uganda...but it's not our Esther it's another special Esther that has a forever family ready to go and get her.