Let Your Clay Be Moist

Let Your Clay Be Moist
It is not thou that shapest God
It is God that shapest thee.
If then, thou art the work of God,
Await the hand of the Artist
who doesAll things in due season.
Offer Him thy heart,
Soft and tractable and keep the form
In which the artist has fashioned thee.
Let the clay be moist
Lest thou grow hard
And lose the imprint of His fingers.–St. Irenaeus

Lifting Hands-Part 1

We have taught our kids young (from infant on...okay, so Ellie doesn't know exaaaaactly what she's doing yet, but I love that I captured that moment) to praise and worship. ( Thank you, Susie for the awesome Baby Praise DVD you gave last night! Ellie and Gabe watched it this morning before church.) It still takes my breath away and brings tears to my eyes when Gabe does this with no prodding from Jason and I. Every morning from little on, we have praise and worship (music time) for 1/2 hour to an hour and we also read the Bible. It's been so amazing to watch Gabe catch on and just "enter in" with me during these times.

Last night, we went back to our old church, Living Hope in Watseka, and during p&w, Gabe lifted his hands without prodding....same thing this morning at our church in Fairbury. It's priceless. These are the first times he's actually done it at church, it's always been at home. For so long Jason and I have watched kids younger than 5 yrs old lift hands in church and thought how cool it will be when our own can do the same...and we are there.

Thank You Father!!! Thank You Father for these precious gifts of children You have given to us. We ask Your protection upon them and Your continual wisdom in raising them up to be mighty warriors for Your kingdom. We love You...and will raise up holy hands to You alone...because You are worthy to be praised!! In Jesus' name...Amen.

"I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dougting..." 1 Timothy 2:8

"Thus I will bless (praise) You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name." Psalm 63:4

Blake Memories

On Friday night, Mom, Isaac, Chelsea, Barb(Blake's mom)Dakota, and Keegan (his brothers) came over for pizza. It was a fun night. Barb had brought Blake's Alligator Hunt movie that he had went on down in Florida last summer. The people that made the movie did an amazing job of putting awesome songs on it and really capturing great takes of Blake. It showed him just loving life as they traveled by a small fishing boat, taking in creation, and the great capture. He looked so healthy and joyful. His dad was with him on the hunt and a couple side shots of the two of them, Blake is a spitting image. He was just starting to get that look of a young maturing man and I had the thought: God, it's so unfair that You had to take him so young. And then later, holding Ellie and watching the kids play, I had to think, but ya know, we do want our kids to go back to Heaven on God's timing not ours....because if we would plan our children's lives out by how we wanted it to go, it wouldn't be as near as beautiful of a life for them as what God has.

Today, after church, I went out to his grave for a little bit. People have started putting flowers, wind chimes, memory stones, etc and it looks neat. I guess I just hate the look of black soil, no grass growing yet....it looks too bare. They have a cool solar light out there too. Barb came out as I was leaving and she said, "Donald said, you know what Blake would say to all this stuff sitting here? He would be shaking his finger at you." Barb just laughed and said, He can shake his finger all he wants. It was so good to hear her laugh...and just so amazing to me when I see her smile. A mother that can smile thru losing her first born son...this is truly from God. Blake would be so proud of her. For those of you reading this, I just ask that you would take time to keep this family in your prayers. Pray for Barb's mother heart, for Don's father heart, and for the siblings: Shelby, Skyler,Dakota, and Keegan....pray that God's arms of Love would continue to hold them close and that His peace that passes all understanding would continue to comfort them in the hard days.

This was one of the songs on the his alligator movie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6Zfx5qra_g

Love n Hugs...Laura

The Heavens Declare

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands."

~Psalm 19:1

I captured this picture the other afternoon in the countryside of Forrest...spring is truly here when the wheat fields become green!

I feel like spring is coming to my heart this year again also. This winter I harbored alot of anger and it turned into bitter roots over time. As the weather becomes warmer and sunnier each day, I feel my Father telling me the same must happen with me. I must let Him in deeper to prune out the bad so that His goodness can spring up anew in me. It's not a fun process....and it usually isn't a quick process with me. My stubborness can work negative too often. So this spring, I open my heart again and say:

"Heavenly Father, come again to my heart. Forgive me for hardening my heart to the things that I haven't let You deal with. Forgive me for letting the anger go too deep and turn into bitterness. I ask You today Father, to be the farmer that my heart needs so desperatley. I want to bring forth abundant fruit Father...and be the woman You are calling me to be. Thank You again, for Your unchanging Love for me." In Jesus' Name...Amen.

Love n Hugs...Laura

Vicks to the Rescue!

Okay...so we have been superly abundantly blessed this winter with our kids not getting sick.
About a month before Ellie was born back in October Gabe threw up twice then was fine....we didn't lose any sleep or anything, so that was something to be thankful for.
Twice this winter I got strep throat and both times I got the shot in-da-rear....I get super sick when I have strep and it was NOT fun....but yet, I'd rather be sick than watch our poor babies get sick. Jason had a bad cough/brochitis twice this winter too, but once again, we felt blessed it wasn't our kids. But can you expect to get thru a whole winter/spring without yer kids getting sick and passing it on to each other?? Since they love to snot-touch-wipe nose-touch-snot around-touch, etc...you all know what I'm talking about.

So Gabe is getting his 2 yr molars I'm pretty sure..all the drooling he's doing, man he has his own lake about now, we've got a spot in our yard called Gabester Lake, we pour all his drool in daily, it's becoming an ocean...beware! Low temp off and on, runny fountain nose and now the cough...yuck! poor kid, you just wish you could show them how to hack up all those hair balls, but it is a technique we master with maturity I guess. But just so you know: VICKS on the feet at night time cures it all! (well not the runny nose, ocean still expanding also) All the emails that float around and ya wonder if they are true? well, this one is.....every night we put vicks on gabe's feet and cover it up with socks and stick him in bed, the cough doesn't start again til he's running around the next day playing. A miracle! A wonderful remedy!

Well, Lil Miss Ellie got the runny nose, has been chewing like crazy and drooling......soooo I've been wondering if she would get teeth early like Gabe did. He started at 4 mths.....crazy I know....and I'm a breastfeeding mama....just wonderful! Discipline starts young with saying No, No to biting......*sigh* but it's so worth it ;) So she's congested now, praise the Lord for Baby Vicks Rub and cool mist humidifiers!!!! We finally got a good night's sleep last night (after 3 rough nights) when I decided, let's try vicks with her too....but you can't put it on baby's younger than 3 months. And you have to get Baby's vicks....otherwise, like my friend Whitney says: The child will scream if you use adult stuff....thanks for the tip Whit!

Hope you all are staying healthy and will get thru the weather change smoothly ;)

Thinking...

This dreary, rainy afternoon...with my hazelnut coffee and lemon poppyseed bread from mom....I'm thinking on this:

"Smile at each other, smile at your wife, smile at your husband, smile at your children, smile at each other -- it doesn't matter who it is -- and that will help you to grow up in greater love for each other." ~Mother Theresa

Heavenly Father...I want to grow up in a greater love for You....a greater love for my husband...a greater love for my children...a greater love for my brothers and sisters in Christ. Continue to show me, Father, what true love really is, as only You alone can do. Forgive me for my grouchy heart that hasn't been as loving as it should have been today. Purify my heart Lord...cleanse my heart of the bitterness, the anger, the selfishness...everything that is not of You. Thank You for Your perfect love for me. In Jesus' Name...Amen.

Love n Hugs....Laura

Pictures

Our nephew Gage's 3rd birthday...Daniel's boy.

Little miss Ellie has truly been a JOY and such a ray of sunshine!!

Okay, seriously I'm 5'9...but you could never tell that when I'm standing next to my brothers! This is Daniel....celebrating our birthdays, we are the same age for 1 wk.

uh oh...sorry for all the duplicates...have no idea what happened.....

This mama will let her babies grow up to be cowboys!!!!! (But NO riding bulls!)

This is what we call a birdy perch... If you pout long enough, a bird might find a landing ;)

Proud big brother

I'm 4 months old now!! Almost sitting on my own!

My sick blue eyes...I'm getting my 2 yr molars and hava runny nose and cough to go with it ;(