Yesterday I read:
"Be on your guard...Stand firm in your faith....be men of COURAGE....be STRONG....do
everything in LOVE."
Today I read:
"Be DILIGENT in your search....be hungry in your quest...be RELENTLESS in your pilgrimage."
Today I'm grateful for all the strong people in my life.
The ones who have loved me every step of the journey... and helped me to have courage on the dark days when I could not.
Those who diligently gave me GRACE when I messed up bad and didn't really deserve to be forgiven.
Those who came alongside me and gave me encouragement with HOPE that tomorrow really would be a better day.
Those who made me laugh when I couldn't see thru the tears.
Those who reminded me of all the beauty when all I could see and feel was the ugly.
The ones who were relentless...they have never given up on showing me love.
Today....and every day....I'm so thankful for them.
Because I wouldn't be who I am today if it weren't for them.
This journey of life is much more amazing because of those.
Saturday, November 30, 2013
Amazing Messy But Beautiful
A day filled with caramel drizzle coffee, cinnamon sugar crunch pumpkin bread, playdates, shopping, sunshine, yardwork, fall décor put away, Christmas décor put out, games, snuggles, Christmas music, kitchen dancing, wrestling with Daddy, and now monkies tucked snug in their beds.
Just when I think the day can't get any better as I finish up the cleanup process......I hear a guitar and a song. I sneak down the stairs and sit on the bottom step, hidden from view. As I hear the music of Jason Mraz "I Won't Give Up" being sung by my man.....
"Cause even the stars they burn
Some even fall to the earth
We've got a lot to learn
God knows we're worth it
No, I won't give up"
I close my eyes and send a prayer of gratefulness to the heavens above. This is the good life. Although life is never perfect...and the hard times come and go......all the little moments add up to one amazing messy but beautiful life.
Just when I think the day can't get any better as I finish up the cleanup process......I hear a guitar and a song. I sneak down the stairs and sit on the bottom step, hidden from view. As I hear the music of Jason Mraz "I Won't Give Up" being sung by my man.....
"Cause even the stars they burn
Some even fall to the earth
We've got a lot to learn
God knows we're worth it
No, I won't give up"
I close my eyes and send a prayer of gratefulness to the heavens above. This is the good life. Although life is never perfect...and the hard times come and go......all the little moments add up to one amazing messy but beautiful life.
Friday, November 29, 2013
Kids Table
We can be polite with our love, or move to the kids table where Jesus is.
Get your crayons out and redraw your life.
~Bob Goff
Friday, November 15, 2013
Thursday, November 14, 2013
What Matters Most
Some days...you just have to stand in front of the mirror and give yourself a chat:
I am beautiful no matter how ugly I feel today.
I am enough no matter how many times I've messed up today.
I am amazing no matter how inadequate I feel.
I am strong no matter how weak I feel.
I am an overcomer.
I will keep looking up.
I will not back down.
I will push thru.
Because I have angel armies at my side.
And I am loved by the most High King.
I am a conqueror.
I have nothing to fear.
There are mansions of gold awaiting me.
And that's what matters most.
I am beautiful no matter how ugly I feel today.
I am enough no matter how many times I've messed up today.
I am amazing no matter how inadequate I feel.
I am strong no matter how weak I feel.
I am an overcomer.
I will keep looking up.
I will not back down.
I will push thru.
Because I have angel armies at my side.
And I am loved by the most High King.
I am a conqueror.
I have nothing to fear.
There are mansions of gold awaiting me.
And that's what matters most.
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Monday, November 11, 2013
Prayers for the Philippines
Tonight I'm feeling overwhelmed with gratefulness....PapaMonkey and I just returned
from a week with some amazing people. We laughed...we cried...we danced...we laughed some more.
On the cruise ship....on the beach...wherever we ate or played.....there were always smiles.
We opened our hearts to each other, we laid out plans, and we continued this journey of living out our dreams. We were encouraged and loved on over and over.
We are so so blessed.....over and beyond what we could have ever expected.
But tonight...my heart is breaking too. For a man and his family.
You see, this past week, we got to know a man named Arnel. He was the waiter at our dinner table
every night on the cruise ship. Arnel wasn't just any old waiter. Arnel was and is an amazing, kind hearted, funny, and hard working man from the Philippines.
Over the course of the week, we got to know him little by little.....and by the last night, lets just say, we really got to know him :)
Arnel has a wife and 3 children back home. For 9 months, he works on the cruise ship.....without his family to go home to at night. He works far away to provide for his family.
He told us that night, that there was a big storm coming towards his homeland.
After watching the news....I can't stop wondering.....what must Arnel be feeling.
Will he even have any family left to go home to again? Will he have a home left to go back to? Will he ever see his wife and children again?
So tonight....I pray. I pray hard.....for the Philippines and their people.
Please join me in praying for them as well.
I know life here in the States isn't always grand and beautiful like we would desire.
But tonight....I feel like we have more than enough. We have so much to be grateful for.
Let's not forget to count each and every one of our blessings <3 p="">
from a week with some amazing people. We laughed...we cried...we danced...we laughed some more.
On the cruise ship....on the beach...wherever we ate or played.....there were always smiles.
We opened our hearts to each other, we laid out plans, and we continued this journey of living out our dreams. We were encouraged and loved on over and over.
We are so so blessed.....over and beyond what we could have ever expected.
But tonight...my heart is breaking too. For a man and his family.
You see, this past week, we got to know a man named Arnel. He was the waiter at our dinner table
every night on the cruise ship. Arnel wasn't just any old waiter. Arnel was and is an amazing, kind hearted, funny, and hard working man from the Philippines.
Over the course of the week, we got to know him little by little.....and by the last night, lets just say, we really got to know him :)
Arnel has a wife and 3 children back home. For 9 months, he works on the cruise ship.....without his family to go home to at night. He works far away to provide for his family.
He told us that night, that there was a big storm coming towards his homeland.
After watching the news....I can't stop wondering.....what must Arnel be feeling.
Will he even have any family left to go home to again? Will he have a home left to go back to? Will he ever see his wife and children again?
So tonight....I pray. I pray hard.....for the Philippines and their people.
Please join me in praying for them as well.
I know life here in the States isn't always grand and beautiful like we would desire.
But tonight....I feel like we have more than enough. We have so much to be grateful for.
Let's not forget to count each and every one of our blessings <3 p="">
Saturday, November 9, 2013
Blue Lights
Our sitter posted this after watching our kids last night......love our monkies so much and so blessed to call them ours :)
Today as I was driving with three kids in my vehicle the oldest one asked me about the blue lights that some people had. After explaining to them what it meant, they said some of the most heartbreaking words I have ever heard. The first one told me that he cannot wait to go to heaven so he can tell the police man thank you and give him a giant hug. The second one, of course, says she can't wait either because she wants to play with the hero dog. And the littlest one said (while pointing at the most beautiful sunset) they are lucky because they get to be in the pretty sky that the angels painted! These kids never fail to melt my heart.....
Today as I was driving with three kids in my vehicle the oldest one asked me about the blue lights that some people had. After explaining to them what it meant, they said some of the most heartbreaking words I have ever heard. The first one told me that he cannot wait to go to heaven so he can tell the police man thank you and give him a giant hug. The second one, of course, says she can't wait either because she wants to play with the hero dog. And the littlest one said (while pointing at the most beautiful sunset) they are lucky because they get to be in the pretty sky that the angels painted! These kids never fail to melt my heart.....
Friday, November 1, 2013
DAY 1 OF THANKFULNESS:
Tonight I'm thankful for the moments in time you wish you could put in a bottle on the shelf.
You know....the ones you wish with all your heart you could take down from the shelf and relive again....
I was tucking Gabe into bed and bent over to give him a kiss like I always do.
He put both his hands up and said: "Stop....no more kissing me...I'm getting too big."
{this would be the second time he has ever said this in his long-legged seven year old life....both happened this week....what is with this new phase!?!!? why did I think this happens much later?}
So I pretended to pout as I walked away...sighed really loud....and said "Ooooooooookayyyyyy."
"Just kidding! Mommy!!! Just kidding!! Come back! It's ok really......"
So I lean over to kiss his forehead and kisses my cheek.
I walk to the door again and he says, "Wait, Mommy, one more thing!"
I stop and look back.
He is making the cutest little face ever.....moving his whole cheek and mouth up in a funny way.
His eye is twitching and then I realize he's trying to wink at me and he's thinking too hard about it.
I wait....and he finally gets it.....and we both double over laughing.
It's these moments that time stops....literally....and I can't catch my breath because I'm so madly in love with these little monkies....craziness and all...my heart is bursting and my cup is running over.
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