Find Your Adventure In Each New Day

Time passes. No, really, it does. Quickly. When we aren't "looking" is flies swiftly by. We get wrapped up in work or our problems or just the crazy things that are going on IN the world. Some people live their whole lives this way. They wake up one day and realize that they forgot to live their lives with a purpose in the day to day and just focused on the distant future.

I'm not saying it is wrong to plan for the future. I love to plan! But if we forget that we have a purpose TODAY then we miss out on what God has for us right now. We were put here for a purpose. God has a plan for our lives, for each day that makes up that life. As a follower of the Jesus Way, I know that purpose is to bring God glory in all I say and do. Sadly, that doesn't always happen. I want it to. I really do. The sermon this morning was about that very thing, finding purpose in our lives. I have been working on that concept and thinking about this blog post since mid June. I thought I had "my plan" figured out earlier this year. I only had part of it figured out. God began to show me new things in the last few months and weeks that I hadn't thought about. I would like to share those with you and ask that you lift me up in the coming months and years as I strive to bring Him glory in all of my actions and decisions. That others will see HIM and not me and will be encouraged through my actions.

I have been married since I was seventeen and a half years old. I went from living with my parents to living with my husband. That was over thirty-four years ago. For the past thirty years I have been a mom of at least one child under the age of 18. I have four children. My third child just graduated high school and is headed off to a big university in August. My youngest child will turn 16 this year. After she graduates in two years, her goal is to dance with a professional school or mission that travels. Those two things have shifted my thoughts about my life the past several months.

You might be wondering what I mean by shifted. Here's the deal. We will be what people call "empty nesters" in a little over two years, despite the fact that my youngest promised me she would give me an extra year before moving out. I am sure she doesn't remember those words spoken over a year or two ago as I cried that I couldn't stand thinking of her moving away from home. She has fallen in love with dance and now has a vision and direction for her life, one she didn't have when she made that promise. No, I will not hold her to it. That isn't the kind of mom I am or ever want to be. I never want to hold my children back from following the path they feel life is leading them down. But...my heart aches when I think about it.

My oldest daughter is so wise. I was sharing some of these thoughts with her earlier this month. She gave me some very good advice, beyond good actually. She said, "You are going to have to find your way and enjoy some freedom" That really got me to thinking about "Finding My Way". At first, I shook it off and told myself I didn't want to "find my way". I don't know how to do that anymore. I wanted to dwell on how lonely I was going to be. Since I'm not really one to dwell on negative things for very long, I began to slowly start thinking about how I saw my life after none of my children lived at home full time. What did I want it to look like? That is a complicated question, one I am still sifting through. I'm working on a list of things I want to do and accomplish along with a list of things I feel would need to change for those to happen. There are a few challenges ahead, but I am going to pray my way through them and seek His direction.

I can share ONE change that will be coming in the next FIVE years. I have had a home kidcare and preschool for the past 18 years. I have enjoyed teaching the children and building relationships with the children and the families. It is bitter sweet when they go off to Kindergarten or move away. I keep in touch with many of them. Two of them just graduated high school. I feel that season in my life is coming to a end. I will complete the work I started with the children in my school right now. But when the time comes that I send them off to kindergarten, it will be the ending of that chapter in my life and continuing on with the new one that has just begun.

In two years, I will lose the best assistant my kidcare has ever had, as she goes off to bless others through her talent. That alone changes things. At least, the youngest children will be two by then and I will no longer be taking any under the age they are. The youngest now will be the last of that age I will teach. (There are two babies that will start at some point later this year and the beginning of next year.) The younger the children are the more challenging it can be without a great assistant. I don't want to turn away siblings to the kids that are in my care now, but we will have to play it by ear depending on when they are born.

I am by no means planning on doing less as a teacher. I am writing new curriculum that will carry me through the rest of the years I will be teaching. I am pleased with how it is coming along. I've been able to find many new resources that will make it even better than I had hoped. I am even considering putting that curriculum into a format that I can share it with other kidcare teachers. I just have to figure out all of the copy write issues if I mention the names of the books I use. That would be a way for me to pass on what I have learned in the past 18 plus years of teaching young children.

I know what you may be thinking. "How are you going to make a living?" "How can you retire when that is your main income?" I know that God has a plan because He is sharing it with me a glimpse at a time. I saw that change awhile back but didn't understand how it was going to be possible. It started to become clearer earlier this year. A seed was planted a year ago about a company and a product that I really liked a lot. I was reluctant to let that seed grow in my heart because of the things I had tried that didn't produce the results I wanted. I do have to say that I learned so much every time I took a step forward and tried something new. I will use all that I have learned to succeed in this one and to help others succeed by sharing what I have learned.

In February of this year, I took that leap of faith again and found what feels like my dream job, my perfect fit, if you will. I am having such a great time working this business. After all, I am a self proclaimed bookaholic! THIS is the career I plan on being in for this half of my life. I can work it when I am at home or when I am traveling with my family or friends. That is a great plus for me because one of the things on my list is to travel, a LOT. I will be working hard to grow my business and that means sharing these wonderful products with as many people as I can and helping others do the same. I am already succeeding in this venture. I am also using the products in my preschool, to homeschool my teen and with my grandchildren.

I have a lot of work to do. I have let work and the every day take over a bit of my joy in each day. I have also let things get in the way of my relationship with my husband. Sometimes, as moms, we can do that. Life gets to be too much and we don't feel like we have the mental energy left for anything or anyone else at the end of the day. But with our children gone and my time freed up, I personally will have more time on my hands and I want to spend a lot of it doing fun things with him. We need to spend some time figuring out what things we want as a couple in the years ahead since things are changing.

My mission in life really hasn't changed. I'm continuing to work on several things; making my home chemical free, my body as fit as it can become for a long and productive life, memories with my family and friends and doing ALL of that while living life on the Jesus Way. Sharing His love in all that I do and to all that I meet along the way.

My goal for this blog is to document those things much better than I have in the past few years. I hope you will stick around and share this journey with me. It's going to be an exciting ride here on out! Not that it hasn't been the first 51 1/2 years! Thanks for dropping by!

~~Terri

Helping Transform Lives One BOOK At A Time!

You Are Not Forgotten

It's Christmas again. How did that happen? It is true what they say...The days pass slowly but the years fly by. I turned 50 this year and I honestly don't feel like that much time should have already passed. But as I look back at the memories it makes more sense. My life is filled with so many memories, good, bad, and awesome. I choose to focus on the good and awesome ones. When the bad ones try to worm their way into my thoughts I try to push them back as quickly as possible. 

Last night as I was baking bread I started to think about one of my most treasured people, my grandmama, my "mom". When I was newborn I went to live with my grandparents. The details behind that aren't really important, those are some of the bad memories I choose not to think about too hard. The fact that God placed me in their home was one of the greatest gifts that He gave me. He placed me in a Godly home, not perfect, but loving and safe. I was adopted by them when I was in the first grade. They gave me everything I needed and so much more when it came to love and opportunity.

Thanks for being an active example for me. You never stopped doing, not until the end. In your 60's you started wall papering houses. In your 70's you started snow skiing. In your 80's you WON a gold medal in the Senior Olympics in golf EVERY YEAR! You are my hero. 

I miss you now and always! Merry Christmas to you and Grandpapa. See you again someday.

Love, Terri

When God Closes A Door

What do you do when God closes a door? What feelings run through your mind? While I have had many times where God has closed a door, there was one time that stands out more than all the others. I believe that we should learn from our life experiences and grow from them. So, as I celebrate my 50th birthday I want to look back over a period of time where I struggled and grew the most in my faith. I want to share that with you so that you can know you are not alone. The struggles are real. We all have them. 

In 2009, we changed churches. We had been members of a different church for over 22 years so it was not an easy thing to do. But we felt God was closing that door and opening a new one. We joined First Baptist Church of Arlington. We had been working with a ministry that is connected to that church for the past decade and a half, Mission Arlington. It seemed right. They are very missions oriented and had great programs for the kids. It has been a huge blessing to our family. The younger two kids have grown up in this church and are now in high school and the leadership in the preschool, children and youth has been the same since we joined. The pastor has been here for over a decade, too. And he just leads the flock with such love and compassion. 

In 2010, we had some HUGE ups and downs. We struggled with our teen through some difficult years, this one bringing it all to a head. We struggled financially and lost some land in Colorado and a vehicle. In January we began mission training. At the end of the 5 months of Perspectives training we both felt called to missions in a different country full time. In the fall we started a more in-depth mission training, Panorama, to prepare us for the full time commitment to missions abroad. The two kids had their own training as we did ours. We felt they needed to be prepared, too, so they came up with teachers to work with them. It was great. We also got involved with ministry that does low cost water well drilling. John felt that this what the type of work God wanted him to do. 

In 2011, we started part two of the Panorama missions training. We touched on some deep subjects. We also went through some testing through the counseling center that everyone who goes into the field through our church must go through. We did a week long training with Water for All, the water drilling ministry. That was really great. We were asked to go to Kenya with another group that summer for 3 weeks. John was to do water well drilling there, teaching them how to do it. Our two younger children went with us. They were a part of all our missions training. They even sat in the back of the room of our Perspectives classes. The trip to Kenya was a once in a lifetime experience for all of us. But my son really didn't want to do that full time and he was quick to tell us. He didn't want to move away from our home and our church. Our daughter didn't voice it, but she probably felt the same way. 

After ALL of that training and experience, the doors SLAMMED shut. We were told they would NOT send us. Here is one of the hard parts for me. It was because of me. In the testing it revealed that I need people too much. I made friends while I was in Kenya. I feel like I would have done OK because my needing people would have just drawn me to these people in whatever place we lived. But it didn't matter about our trip to Kenya. It didn't matter that the kids did well. It didn't matter that John really enjoyed his time there teaching them how to drill. 

I was hurt, mad, and upset. I even became very bitter. Other people were being sent. We planned on making this a lifetime commitment. A couple who had done the water drilling training at the same time were sent to another country in Africa. They have been there all this time. They now have foster adopted 2 children and are expecting one of their own. I was so confused as to why God closed the doors. Every time they would announce in church that they needed people willing to go, my mind would scream inside "WE WERE WILLING AND YOU SAID NO!!!" It hurt for so long. I did my best to pretend it didn't matter that the doors just shut. But it did matter. 

I honestly can't remember when those feelings stopped. But they did. I no longer feel angry or bitter. And I look back at the training and the mission trip that the 4 of us did together and I am so thankful. We have life lessons and experiences that we would not have had otherwise. We have friendships from those trainings and from the trip. I would NOT trade that for anything. 

The following year God took our apartment ministry church through Mission Arlington and moved it into an actual church building. Our congregation tripled in number. We began meeting not only on Sunday mornings at 11 but also on Wednesday nights. John now is a part of a worship team on both of those days. He also teaches the older kids in Bible study both days. He has done ESL classes, too. Our church there is all Hispanic. Most are from Mexico. So in a way, God is using us to reach people from a different country, just not in that actual country. John hasn't been able to do any more water drilling but you never know what God has planned for the lessons He teaches you. 

In the years that have followed the relationship with my oldest daughter has grown by leaps and bounds. It was in a very precarious place at the time. That is something I would not have had IF we had moved overseas like we thought we were supposed to. We would not have been here for our granddaughter's birth and first year of life. Our other son would not have gotten to know his sweet girlfriend and fallen in love with her. Our youngest would not have found her love for dance and been a part of this wonderful dance school for the past 3 years. I would not have reopened my preschool and had the wonderful children and families that have been a part of it in our lives. I would not have found a love for fitness and become a Beachbody coach. 

I know that God has MORE for me. The years to come are exciting to think about. God KNOWS His plans for me, even when I don't. HE KNOWS when to close the doors even when I am confused and hurt because of it. HE has great plans for my life. I just need to allow HIM to direct my path and change it when needed. As one of my friends says "Jesus is big y'all!" He really is. He has walked me through this journey for the past 50 years and He isn't going to leave me now. 

I tell you all this not to have you feel sorry for me or to judge me for my anger. But to be real with you. Feeling anger and disappointment is a very human thing. God understands. You just have to take it to Him and He will help you deal with it. I cried out to him many, many times. But I hung on to the hurt for longer than I should have. I was angry at people for deciding my future. When really, God decided it. He KNEW what He had for me that was so rich and worthwhile. So many blessings He bestowed upon me since that time. I am so thankful!!! 

When God closes a door, stop and think. Remember He has great plans for you. Then ask Him to show you what they are. He may not show you everything right away. But He will give you glimpses. You can chose to see good in things or the bad in them. Life is much better if you can find the good in each situation. Hang on to those good things. And let God handle the bad ones. Take it all to Him.

Until next time...blessings to you. 

Super Juice Me Day Seven

Day Seven

Today started out like any other day. I got up and drank my tea while doing my morning quiet time. I worked with the preschoolers and then got them situated before making my ten a.m. juice. While the kids were outside I worked hard at making them and my family a great lunch. As they were eating I got a phone call from my sister telling me our aunt had passed away. I went through an array of emotions during that phone call. I won't go into all of them but normally I would have turned to food for comfort. But even after just one week that is no longer what I felt like doing. After we finished talking about our aunt, we started talking about juicing. 

My sister has many health issues and I just felt I needed to share this with her. So as we began to talk about it, I made my first afternoon juice. She was super excited and had actually read some things about it and seen some of Jason Vale's videos. I told her all about the app and how great it was. I feel great that I can pass along some of what I learn to my family and friends. 

I quickly decided I was going to make a trip for the funeral. The family viewing is tomorrow at 3 in the afternoon and the actual funeral is Thursday morning at 10. I am only taking my youngest daughter with me on the trip. My mind started trying to figure out how I could manage to keep juicing while I was away. Part of my mind said, "You can't. You are going to have to eat. This is a great excuse to stop at that Sam's Restaurant either on the way there or the way home." Ugh. I actually was going to let my mind get away with that. I want to be honest here because if I can't share my struggles then what good is this to anyone? I was all set to eat dinner somewhere with them or whatever and I was all set on stopping to eat at Sam's on the way home. I meant to eat as "clean" as I could, mind you. But really, I NEED to finish my 28 days and stay strong through it. I really do. 

I went to the store to buy some containers for my juices. I "planned" on bringing SOME of my juices and just eating food a couple of times. But as I was looking at containers I started to really think about what I was doing. I decided that I would buy three containers. I have a shaker bottle already and it will hold two servings. My two afternoon ones tomorrow will fit in that container because they are the same thing. I am going to drink my 10 a.m. juice before I leave. I made my 7 p.m. for tomorrow and my 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. ones for Thursday. I am bringing ALL of my juices that I will need with me. I may get home past 4 on Thursday but I will be OK to make and drink that one a little late. I am so proud of myself. They are in the freezer and I will move them to the ice chest before we leave in the morning. Now, I just need to stay on track and NOT fall off the plan while I am gone. 

As I start week 2, I am happy to say I made it all the way through week 1 and I am ready for this week's challenges. 

Changing my life one day at a time.  

At Year's End 2009

November was filled with lots to be thankful for, including a wonderful Thanksgiving day with all of my kids here, even if it was only half the day. That is such a blessing, to have us together for the holidays. I intended to make a list of what I was thankful for, but time got away from me. The kids did do some nice things for a few of our neighbors as a "Thanksgiving" gift. They raked and bagged their leaves for free. The ladies were so grateful and tried to pay them but they told them it was a gift to them. I am a proud mom!

December was filled with lots of "Christmas" happenings. It snowed three times and stuck twice!!!! YES, in Texas! Hard to believe, I know. But God blessed us with a white Christmas in Texas! We spent December baking goodies for others instead of buying things. We also had a "small" material Christmas. I had told the kids last year that this Christmas would be much smaller in that sense than all the other ones they had ever known. I am a huge over spender when it comes to gifts because I just want my kids to have it all! They DON'T NEED it all! After being a mom for almost 23 years I finally get it! Each child (plus each parent, yes it included us) got one gift around $50. They also got one gift from their older sister and then one from the two siblings they live with. So three gifts per person. (Plus, we put some small stuff in the stockings. My kids know the stockings are from us but we still like to pretend). I also got several movies sets for very low price to put in a box for everyone to open. We don't have cable or even TV without the use of a DVD or the Wii hooked up. And believe it or not, it was one of the very best Christmas' that we have ever had. I am so glad that I allowed the Spirit to guide me in this direction. We focused more on giving and more on Christ than ourselves, as it should be.

The year was filled with so many blessings that I am not sure I could even count them. God has been so good to us. Even through all the little things that didn't seem so good He brought good out of them.

I have many changes going on for 2010. I will go into that in another post. But just know they are major changes and it is quite a shock to a certain extent. But I am hanging on tight to HIM and waiting to see where He takes me on this journey in 2010! What an adventure life is with Him. May you all have a wonderful 2010. May you grow closer to Christ daily. 

Until next time...blessings to you.

Our Family Happenings

Sometimes I forget to post on here and upload pictures because I upload them to my fb page. So many things have been going since school started. The children started school in August and have been doing really well. They are off today and Monday because public school is taking the days off. We are seeing how we like going with the local school schedule. Except we will end in early May instead of early June.

We made a wonderful family trip to Colorado in September. When I say family trip, this time I am happy to say that Sami went with us!!!! We were so happy words can't even tell how much! We left on Wednesday. That just happened to be Jenni's 8th birthday, September 16! So we were in the car the whole day! She got to open some gifts before we set off on our journey, movies and a new game for her DS. She was ok with spending the day in the car because we were driving to her favorite place to be and going to spend a few days with one of her favorite people in the world, Caroline! The girls didn't know we had special plans for them for their birthdays. Caroline turned 7 a few days after we left. They got to celebrate together! Plus, I got to see one of my favorite people! Michelle! But we all have become very good friends over the years with every member of this family! They are like family to us!

On Friday we took the girls to have manicures and pedicures (real ones where they sit in a massage chair and soak your feet in the water, etc.). I think they had more fun playing with the controls on the chairs than anything! It was so fun. Us "big girls" (Sami included) had pedicures while they got their feet and hands done. Then we took the girls to Chili's for a birthday lunch! Fun! We stopped and got the girls a big cake to share for their birthday party that night. Then she slept over that night. We were staying at the hotel right next door to their restaurant, Hilldaddy's Wildfire. (It is the most amazing place to eat! WE LOVE IT!!!) We love that we just walk over there at all hours of the day or night. The hotel isn't the greatest but we don't spend a lot of time in the room.

We went to Red Rocks with them on Saturday and then left for Westcliffe from there. We got to do a little shopping in Westcliffe and bought Sami a black hoodie that has Westcliffe, Colorado on it. I have one that is like it but it is blue. Then we ate at our favorite pizza place, Pizza Madness! It was delicious! Of course, our trip would not be complete without a trip to the bowling alley. We bowled two games and then went back to the room for the night. The next day we took Sami to the land for a short one hour hike. We took her to the top and took some pics up there.  Then we headed home, way long drive! Got home about 3:30 a.m. Monday morning. But it was so good to see friends and get away for just a little while.

Nick turned 17 on the 29th. We got him a wonderful left handed electric acoustic guitar. He loves it! He took it with him on the trip. He plays in the band at church. He has actually started writing some songs and I think they are pretty good. I would like to see him get published. Not sure how to do that, but maybe some doors will open there, too!

Since we have been back so many things have gone through my mind and heart. The urgency has returned to knock on doors to see what will open for us. We love it there and it is where we are happiest. Sami loved the weather and the beauty. We enjoyed having her with us so much. We have been putting out resumes and checking the job sites for jobs for John. I have checked on some things for me. I found out I can sub in Westcliffe, possibly in Colorado period. He said because of the college credits I could qualify for a 3 year license. That would be good part time income to help pay for clothes for the kids or something like that.

I found out that certain fruit trees will grow in that area and I am so excited to plant them on our land. Green apples are one of the trees that will grow, as well as Jonathan apples! Way fun! We love apples. I am thinking of all the things I can make ourselves and possibly have some left over to sell. Also found that I can grow berries and such. That sounds so wonderful. I would also like to try my hand at some other gardening. I don't know if I would be very good at it but I want to try. I think I could grow tomatoes and possibly some simple veggies. I am going to work on my baking. Baking bread and other things to help stretch our food dollar and our health.

We are in the process of getting the land financed with a bank in Colorado. As far as I know, that is going to go through. They haven't said no, so I am assuming it is yes. We have been working with them for about a month. That will at least give us some time to get it paid off. But the really neat thing is I believe we have found a way to build on the land! I found Homestead Homes! It is really neat because it is very little down, instead of the 30% most places want down to build a house. The way it works is you act as the contractor. You set up who does the work on the house. The more you can do yourself the less it costs you and the more equity that is built up at the time of completion. So my thoughts: see if I can get the people that care about us, our friends and family, to help us out a few days here or there with getting it done. The more people willing to help out the faster it will get done and the more affordable it will be for us to do it. So that is one of my missions, to find those willing to help with certain parts of the building process, like wiring, putting up windows, cabinets, flooring, bathroom fixtures, etc... I don't know when we will do this yet. I would think it would be easier to work on it for ourselves if we lived near there. So possibly, we will wait until the Lord moves us that direction. Please be praying about this and also, praying about how you might be able to donate a little time to help. All of the supplies are included in the cost of the home, but the labor is what we would save money on. Any amount of help would be so greatly appreciated! We would be thrilled if this took place next summer, as always, it is in God's hands, not ours.

So the saga continues...we do not know what the Lord has in store for us but we are open to whatever that may be. We are interested in getting back to a simpler way of living and away from the hustle and bustle of big city life. God knows our hearts and desires. We will keep you posted. It has been a long six years already. We don't know how many more years God will have us wait.

Until next time...blessings to you. 

Our Summer 2008

I don't know about anyone else and their summer but mine has gone by rather quickly. JC asked me the other day "Mom, how can it almost be Christmas already?" I had to tell him that time passes so quickly and that is why we have to make sure that every day is spent doing the things that are truly important. Now as the world grows darker we have to shine Christs' light even brighter so those who are lost will see.

We did get to do some fun things this summer. I don't have pictures yet of all of them but if I wait for that I may never post! I love to post and share things on here but life gets so busy sometimes. I will try to give brief descriptions of our summer activities!

One of the things we have done a lot this summer is go to Hawaiian Falls in Mansfield. It is newly built and really great for families with younger children. We got passes and went every weekend in June and part of July. We have not had a chance to go in the last few weeks due to our many activities. But that has been a major source of fun in our summer. Both the younger kids have turned a beautiful golden brown as their skin tanned in the summer sun. Mine on the other hand, has not! My darling husband questioned me one day as to why I wasn't as dark as them since I was out there the same amount of time. I just DON'T tan, that is it, cut and dry. I did get a little bit darker but still look very fair next to them.

JC went to Preteen Camp for the very first time this year! He loved it, as I knew he would. He enjoyed every aspect of it. He enjoyed the camp pastor, which was also a comedian/storyteller of sorts. He had a wonderful wolf puppet that he used to tell stories and get the kids drawn into it with. He came home with the CD of it and we listened to it all the way home from the church, with a couple of stops in between. I don't have his film developed yet, I know bad! What can I say? I am so busy! And... I forget!

Jenni also had her first experience with camp this year. She went to GA camp. Her big sister went in my place since I had no more vacation time to spare because we used up five days for our honeymoon in April. The girls had a wonderful time, all of them. It was one of the best years the girls had at camp. She really grew up during that trip. I talked to her on the phone a few times but she didn't want to come home. She wanted to stay there and have fun with her friends and her sister. Last weekend she got invited over to a sleepover and I could tell she really had grown up a little from camp when I told her I would miss her. Her reply was "Mom, it's not that long." Too true, it was only one night, not 5 days like camp was. My sweet baby is growing up! That is a very good thing!

In between church camps we went on our vacation to...you guessed it...Colorado! We sure miss it when we are not there. We spent the 4th of July with our dear friends in Idaho Springs.

We watched the fireworks from the same spot we did last year.

The next day us girls had our day, as you can read about in the previous post.

We headed for Montrose to camp the following day. The views along the way were wonderful. We hadn't traveled that way before so it was nice to see some of Colorado that we hadn't seen. We camped there for two days. The weather was nice. We drove up to Ouray and that was a lovely little mountain town. There were shops there and I found a collection of Angels that I adore! I want to collect them but can't find anyone who sells them. So I guess I will have to make trips to Ouray periodically. We may camp there someday.

We headed to Westcliffe, our town, after that. We spent two days there. We put markers on our land where we want our house built. We also went bowling (our favorite thing to do there) and played pool one night. We also got to eat at our favorite pizza place. It was like being home for just a bit.

Then we went to Durango to camp a couple of days. This is a view we saw while driving from Westcliffe to Durango. It was fun.

We got to make s'mores at the camp ground in Durango since we could have somewhat of an open fire. We didn't get to do that in Montrose. Then we drove home in one day! LONG DRIVE!!!

The day we got home from Colorado we slept for half a day then got up for Vacation Bible School. We had a wonderful week of VBS! The songs were so fun this year. I had been working in the preschool area the last 9 years so I really missed the music time that the older kids got to do.

I helped out in the first grade class. We had a lot of fun doing pretend water activities in the classroom!

We have done the summer movie day several times this summer. The kids have been great at that. We went to Chuck E. Cheese one morning to visit with some dear friends from the school the kids went to the last two years. We have gone to get Slurpees many, many times this summer to try to withstand the heat that comes with Texas during the months of July and August.

We have gone to see full price movies a few times. We enjoyed Dark Knight and Kung Fu Panda. It is so hard to take the kids to the movies when it is new because it costs so much now. I would rather wait till the movies gets to the dollar show to pay less but it is hard to make them wait for something they want to see so badly and others they are close to have seen it. Of course, Sami saw Dark Knight the day it opened! She does that a lot.

I have been doing school all summer. I have done very well at keeping my grades up, even through vacation! Yes, my laptop and text book went with us! I am in the process of getting licensed instead of registered with the state so that I can watch more kids and carry more kids on my food program. I am very excited about what that can mean towards our goals to pay off things and build our house so that we are debt free and have a place to live when we get to Colorado. We have sat down and made our lists of things we need to do in the next few months and it is so exciting!

We could no longer afford our old school so we had to make some hard choices. But with prayer they have not been hard at all. Much to the contrary. Nick is studying to take his GED. The younger two will be homeschooling. We are all excited about our school plans and look forward to an exciting year. Nick is also working on starting his own rock band. He is so talented. He taught himself how to play the piano and bass guitar and sings very well. He is now learning to play the drums for certain songs. He is gifted with music in a way I have never seen before. I am amazed and excited to see how he lets God use him through it.

My daycare, as I said above, is doing very well and we are making some big changes. The Lord is already laying the foundations of it as the time draws near to turn in the paperwork. I am trusting Him to bring who He wants here as always. He has been so faithful to do so all these years.

We are doing well and staying busy as we take each day and do at least one thing to work towards our goals to move. It takes time but we will get there.

Until next time...blessings to you.

Thankful Thursday

I love to do the Thankful Thursday's because it really gives me a time to sit down and think about all the wonderful things the Lord has blessed me with. Even the things that seem so small are such huge blessings in our lives.

I am thankful that I have security in the Lord Jesus Christ for my eternal salvation in Heaven with Him and that He is here with me each moment of each day to help me through all the challenging things that come my way. And with four children those challenges come quite often.

I am thankful for the Godly husband the Lord gave me and for the direction He is leading him in right now. I think it is so exciting to see him entering the seminary and ready to see where that will take him on his Christian walk and as he seeks to reach others for Christ.

I am thankful for Sami and how I see her growing into a competent young woman on her own and how she has overcome so many things that could have left her weak but she is allowing God to make her strong through them.

I am thankful for Nick and his music gift that God has given him. He can sit down and play very hard things on the piano after hearing them and printing off the sheet music. He is working on developing his singing abilities and has picked up a new instrument, the bass guitar (which his dad plays as well) and has already learned a very difficult song in a week. He is trying out for the youth worship band this weekend and I am excited to see what God is going to do with him and his music!

I am thankful for JC and his loving heart. He is a climber and loves to play games and do science experiments. He is getting so tall and more handsome every day. I know I am going to have some girl problems when he gets older!

I am thankful for Jenni, my last "baby". She is such a sweet and beautiful little girl, inside and out. She loves to wear pretty clothes and fix her hair. She loves to wear jewelry and lip gloss and dresses. Her favorite shoes are her black boots! She is always ready to climb into my lap or her dads for hugs.

I am thankful for the church family we are a part of and the wonderful summer music day camp the kids are attending there this week. It is a blessing to have that and to have had this family for over 20 years. What a blessing.

I am thankful for Mission Arlington, the mission we work through. I am thankful for the children and families we reach through them in our apartment ministry on Sunday mornings. Our group has grown so much that we even have a room full of youth. God is good to provide who we are to reach when we are willing to do the work.

I am thankful for the home we live in and the room we have in it. It is an older house and yes, I would much rather have a house in Colorado but I know we will in time.

I am thankful for my home based business, my daycare, and the children and families that are a part of it. The daycare allows me to be home for my family and do the things I need to do. The children bring joy to my heart as I teach them and love them. My children have learned so much helping with them and they love them as much as I do. The friendships I have made with the parents is priceless!

I am thankful for the new van we purchased this year so that I would have enough room to get places with all the many children the Lord has provided through the daycare. We have enjoyed taking it on trips!

I am thankful that the Lord is providing new kids for the daycare to help speed up the pay off of debt that we so desire to do. We want to be in His Will in all things and debt free is a big one. We know that will free us up to serve Him in whatever way or place he has planned for us.

I am thankful for the dream that the Lord has placed on our hearts to move to Colorado and the land He provided to do it on. I am so excited to see what blessings the Lord will bestow once we get there because I know His blessings are much more than we can ever imagine on our own.

I know this list could be even bigger but I have to get on with my day sometime. May you receive a blessing today!

Until next time...blessings to you.