What a day~

After four amazing days of weathering the heat and 87 degrees temp in our house, we are excited to announce that we now have air conditioning! What a huge blessing it is! Today was great! My mom came over and we had a good visit......despite the heat! I finally got my living room finished.....and it looks so good ;-) We had fun eating pizza with Grandma and Grandpa and then watching the awesome clouds roll in ;-) I found out some news about a special person in my life and I am interceding for them like crazy! I don't think i have ever prayed so hard......they need God's intervention in a major way! I believe in end the Lord's will is going to be done.......I just have such a heaviness on my heart for them and their situation! Oh Lord, I prayer for them right now......I pray for favor in the situation they are facing!

Oh and on a much lighter note......my dearest friend is having her first baby tomorrow morning.....how exciting! I will be there from the beginning til the end.......and I can't wait to see her face the first time she lays eyes on her precious little angel ;-) Children are such a gift from God......I'd better get to doing what I need to do........interceding for that special person in my life that needs it so badly~

Where the rubber meets the road!

Well.....when it rains...it definately pours at our house ;-0) Oh yes! We have had things pretty easy lately......or shall I say things have gone pretty smooth for us lately! I guess it is time to have a change of pace....LOL! Okay.....for the past two days we have had NO air conditioning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is staying between 84 and 87 degrees in our house around the clock! We can't open windows since we don't have screens on most windows and our precious kitty cat might get out! Well the babies might try to escape to a much cooler place!!!!!

My headache is not getting better with all of this heat.......and I have found myself getting a little grumpy at times! I was reminded yesterday by a very special person in my life, my mom, that these are the times to lean on Jesus the most! I need to be an example of His peace to my kids and husband........even though I am a little stressed about the heat in our home! I tell my children that we need to TRUST IN THE LORD......Proverbs 3:5-6, and it is at these exact moments that the "RUBBER MEETS THE ROAD"! Do I trust in God only when things are easy and smooth....or do I trust in Him when nothing seems to be going my way......and I feel like I am going to lose it completely!?!?

I had a good talk with my children and explained to them that it is at times like this that we really get to experience the peace of the Lord.....that we really learn to trust in what the Word of God says! The true peace of God comes when nothing is going your way.......and lately that is exactly what's been happening ;-) God is Faithful all of the time and He is to be trusted with our lives. I have been in control of my life before and I see where it got me...LOL! So on this beautiful night/morning....as I sit here literally sweating to death.....I am reminded of just how sweet my savior is.....I know that I will wake up tomorrow and accomplish whatever the Lord has for me to do ;-) I want His agenda and not my own......hopefully that entails getting my AC fixed real soon ;-)

A Proud Auntie!

My heart melted when I saw this precious little angel......my precious niece, Olivia! She is the most adorable little thing! I wish I could see her more than I do....she lives so far away and it hurts that I can't be with her all the time. She recently celebrated her 1st birthday on April 10th! We were privileged to be able to celebrate it with her......here are a few pics from that special day ;-) There are no words that I can use to express how proud I am of my brother and the father he is to Olivia! I am the proudest sister and auntie in the world!

The devotion below is from David Wilkerson's website. It really ministered to me this morning. These words are exactly what I need to hear today. I am going through something that is extremely difficult right now. Even though I know the Lord and trust in Him.......I still needed to hear these words from David Wilkerson. These words are so encouraging........just what I needed(just what the doctor ordered ;-) I see the light at the end of the tunnel.....I really do! I can't wait to until I walk through it...very very soon!!

God doesn’t want your home, your car, your furniture, your savings, your possessions. All he wants is your faith—your strong belief in his Word. And that may be the one thing that other, more spiritual-appearing people lack. You may look at another person as being more spiritual than you. But that person may actually be struggling hard to keep up an appearance of righteousness. Yet, as God looks at you, he declares, “There is a righteous man or woman.” Why? You’ve admitted your helplessness to become righteous. And you’ve trusted in the Lord to give you his righteousness.
Paul tells us we are accounted as righteous in God’s eyes for the same reason Abraham was. “Therefore it was imputed to [Abraham] for righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead” (Romans 4:22–24).
You may claim, “I believe this. I have faith in the God who resurrected Jesus.” Yet, the question for you is, do you believe the Lord can resurrect your troubled marriage? Do you believe he can bring to life a spiritually dead relative? Do you believe he can raise you up out of the pit of a debilitating habit? Do you believe he can erase your cursed past and restore to you all the years the cankerworm has eaten?
When everything looks hopeless—when you are in an impossible situation, with no resources, and no hope before you—do you believe God will be your Jehovah Jirah, seeing to your need? Do you believe he’s committed to keeping his promises to you—and that if even one of his words fails, the heavens would melt and the universe collapse?

Our Precious Miracle!

Awe......my precious little Gracie ;-) The joy this beautiful gift from God brings to me cannot be explained with words. Gracie has her MRI's starting the first week of May.......she has multiple ones due to the extent of her condition. Please keep her in your prayers.....she needs them. Due to the fact that she is a severe asthmatic and the danger involved, they have had to cancel her MRI's a few times already. We are praying and know that the MRI's will happen in God's perfect timing! We serve an awesome Faithful Lord and I praise Him for all of the beautiful things He has given me! When I watched Gracie running and jumping in her gym class last week....my eyes filled with tears ;-0) How precious it is to watch your child doing the exact things that the doctors thought she might never do! What a miracle from God........I look forward to all of the wonderful miracles the Lord is going to perform throughout Gracie's beautiful life!

Introducing our newest member of our family of (16) sixteen!!!! Meet "LOLA", our precious 4 wk old baby Dwarf Holland Lop bunny ;-). She is the sweetest little thing.....she loves to be held and cuddled in her blankies. The kids love sitting around on the ground while Lola hops onto their laps and around them very slowly.....she is too tiny to jump onto me and their daddy's laps ;-) The kids just laugh and laugh when Lola licks them constantly....too cute! What a sweet and thoughtful gift from Daddy........thank you honey!

Child-Like FAITH!

Oh I almost forgot to mention......I enjoyed this Easter especially since I have SIX kids believing in the Easter bunny! We had a beautiful morning.....the kids couldn't wait to see what the Bunny left them! My 3 yr old Hannah Zoe jumped out of my bed saying "Is he here?"..."Is the Easter bunny here mommy......is he here?" How precious! I told her that he came to our house and left her some goodies.......then got a big kiss from her!!!! The FAITH is takes to believe in God is the same FAITH it takes to believe in fairytales as children....Santa and the Easter bunny ;-) It's that childlike FAITH that we have and wish never went away! The joy I had as a child waiting for Santa, the Easter bunny , etc. nothing like it...right? Wrong! The JOY of waiting on Jesus is far more greater!

Well I got side tracked a little bit.....back to the beginning!

I picture the Lord looking down on us with excitement.....with our child-like faith....we believe in something we don't see!

The way our children wait with expectancy on the Easter bunny or Santa.....this is the way we should be waiting on God! Each day waking up with excitement of the new things God has in store for us.....new gifts that He wants to give us! It all boils down to FAITH.....that simple child-like FAITH! Hope I never lose mine!

A beautiful Easter morning!

This Easter has new meaning for our family! Our oldest children have a beautiful walk with the Lord and have a deep understanding of what really happened thousands of years ago today. They understand that Jesus gave His life for them and that He is alive again sitting at the right hand of God the Father. They understand the concept of us dying to ourselves in order for Jesus to live through and in us. They want God's will for their lives and seek Him daily!

There is no greater thing for me as a mommy than watching my children worship the Lord and weep before Him ;-) It is such a beautiful, beautiful thing........

My younger children have asked Jesus into their hearts and understand as much as their little hearts and minds can comprehend. They learn by what they SEE and not by what they HEAR!

My desire as their mommy is to live my life as an example of a Godly woman.....seeking the Lord daily for His will, on my knees worshiping and interceding for my family and friends and dying to my flesh......and daily reading my Bible!

On this beautiful rainy Easter day, I pray many people come to really understand the meaning of Easter! More people attend church on Easter Sunday than any other day of the year! This is great on one hand but very very sad on the other! Majority of those people are lost people that do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Satan believes in Jesus, he knows that Jesus died on the Cross and rose from the dead. Satan knows that God created the Universe.....that Jesus heals people, etc. and this means nothing.....Satan isn't going to Heaven!!!!

I pray that more people come to know Jesus and have a personal relationship with Him....there is nothing like it! It will change your life forever.....you will never be alone again.....your needs will be met.....your heart will be completely changed! You can't have a relationship with Christ and live like you have been living.....it will transform your life if you really know Him! It has transformed mine....I am not the same.....and I will never again go back to living or being the person I once was! I give God all the glory for the beautiful life He has given me....because of the death and resurrection of His only begotten son! Thank you Lord!

Special Moments

Silly Gracie ;-)

Sweet Hannah Zoe;-)

One of the many joys of being a mommy is being able to just sit and watch my babies play, run around, sing, etc! They grow up so fast and I enjoy savoring every single moment I get with my children. I look forward to coloring Easter eggs with them today......and talking with them about Jesus and the Cross! It warmed my heart yesterday when my precious Gracie said "mom, today is the day that Jesus died on the Cross for us"! "Did you know that mom?" Well my heart skipped a beat when I heard her say that......

As spirit-filled Christians we have obviously taught our children the true meaning of Easter.....but when you hear your little ones speak with such emotion about Jesus and His dying on the Cross....it brings such an unspeakable joy! My dear little Hannah Zoe came to me yesterday and said "mom, I have to wake up two more times and then it's Easter, and that's the day Jesus came from the dead!" Oh my.....the way she said that and then repeated herself to every person she saw out in public yesterday was just awesome!!! I praise the Lord for helping my husband and I to teach our kids and raise them in the way of the Lord....what a huge blessing and privilege it is!

My Hannah Zoe just told me as I was getting things ready for my kids to color Easter eggs..."mommy, tomorrow Jesus is gonna be alive!!!!!" Wow.....she is excited about Jesus and the fact that He is gonna be alive tomorrow! She doesn't grasp at her young age of 3 that Jesus is alive everyday and that we are His vessels to live through! One day she will understand and and I await that special day that her little brain realizes the life Jesus has given her ;-)

Today we will be celebrating the love of my life's birthday! I praise God for creating him just for me ;-) I can't imagine my life without this amazing man of God.....He ministers to me and our children every single day.....he gives of himself freely and always puts others before himself! He goes to work everyday and works his tail off to provide for his family.....I could go on and on about my amazing husband......he deserves the world on this special day ;-) I love you Chad Everett, you are the most amazing man I have ever met and I am honored....so proud to be your wife! You are my best friend, my lover, my soulmate, my man created for me by the Lord! On this beautiful day....I praise the Lord for giving me the best gift in the world......YOU! I love you my love ;-)

New Life~

Life is sooooo sweet! God is so incredibly awesome! I am in love with the Lord.....He is my all in all! I praise Him for the beautiful life He has given me.....because without Him I am nothing.....and I would not have the perfect marriage to an awesome man of God without the Lord's doing! I wouldn't be the mother to the most amazing children in the entire world! I wouldn't be able to Homeschool my babies....and enjoy every minute of it ;-) I could go on and on but my point is that the Lord gives us every good thing in our life.....the Bible says that "every good and perfect gift comes from God".......Oh how FAITHFUL my Lord and Savior is......I don't deserve what He has done for me at Calvary but am so grateful for His ultimate gift......New Life!

Obedience is better than Sacrifice!

The Bible says to go to your brother or sister and tell them...talk to them if you have a problem concerning them! You don't bad mouth them.....talk behind their back.....or let anger set in! When you hold things inside that you are feeling......it causes you to harbor bitterness towards that person,....not good! The Bible directs us to make it right with that person.....ask them to forgive you.....even if you think you didn't do anything to hurt them.....sometimes we have to ask for forgiveness anyways ;-) Oh yes....you have pride...right!? Let go of that self pride......and do whatever the Lord puts on your heart to do or say! I unintentionally offended this girl.....well I thought nothing of it.....I was "none the wiser".....you might say! She acted a little strange the last time we talked and well that was how I remembered it! Well the Lord put her on my heart to call her....and I couldn't for the life of me remember her phone numbers.....it had been years since we had talked...right! In my prayer time I felt the Lord tell me to call her....hahahahah....I had no phone number.....and remembered that she did kind of act a little weird the last time I saw her, etc. Well I prayed and told the Lord that if He wanted me to call her then He would have to just give me her phone number......right? How would he do that? I didn't have it written down anywhere that I knew of.....hmmmmm? Well having walked with the Lord since I was a young girl....I knew just how faithful He could be or actually ALWAYS IS! Ha ha ha ha ha......okay, I am laughing outloud right now as I type this....LOL! A few weeks after I felt the Lord put this on my heart......I prayed again......not really wanting the girls phone number..right?? NOPE! NO WAY!!!!! Why did I really need to call her.....she was weird right.....yeah.....she had a problem.....LOL! Well no sooner did I say "okay, Lord....if you want me to call this girl....just give me the number.....I will call her.....don't know why but I will call her"!!!!! I had butterflies in my stomach...and well He did it! Yes! The Lord brought her phone number to my mind! Oh because the Lord loves me so very much.....He decided to give me both of her phone numbers...LOL!!!!! I now was able to recite both her cell phone number and home number!!! Oh...I was just so thankful to God for His faithfulness to me....hahahahahahaha....like always He didn't let me down..Well while dialing her phone number.....the Lord brought to my mind what really happened with this girl.....she was upset at me....quite upset at me....she actually got angry with me about something that I couldn't help.....I was unable to go to her child's party because I had a newborn baby and her birthday party was at the lake with mosquitos everywhere.....and I had just had a C-section......my husband was working.....and I would be driving a week after my major surgery and taking all of my kids with me (5 at the time). So I felt that I had a pretty good excuse to not go.....I wasn't allowed to drive anyways...right!!!!! Well she wasn't happy with me.....it was important to her that I show up at her party.....afterall it was her childs b-day! Well she actually said some profane words and I ended up telling her bye and hanging up the phone as quickly as possible! I wasn't about to listen to that kind of talk.....especially since my children and hubby were listening to our conversation ;=) Well okay back to the call the Lord told me to make! Well the Lord let me know that I actually had a slight bitterness settling in my heart towards this girl.....I had forgotten about that...right? Was I calling her for myself, for her or both of us???? I called her and she acted shocked to hear my voice......I told her that I felt the Lord tell me to call her......and that I wanted to ask her to forgive me if I did anything to offend her......I told her that I didn't want to be a hindrence in her walk with the Lord in any way at all. I told her that we absolutely cannot grown in our walk with the Lord if we are having bitterness in our hearts towards anyone.....etc. I told her that I didn't want to be a hindrence for her.......well it all worked out in the end. We never talked again.....she might think I am crazy.....I felt I did no wrong but the Lord told me to make the phone call for a reason.....I had a great lesson in obedience that day.......I seem to have a lot of those lessons......God is always telling me to do something...LOL! The Bible says that "obedience is better than sacrifice".........I praise the Lord for telling me to call that girl....I know it meant something to her even though she didn't tell me so. Calling her meant more to me in the end than I realized...it brought me to a new place in my Christian walk. One of the most important things it did for me is show me how much God loves all of His children.....and He wants us to be obedient even when it seems ridiculous to us....Oh and even though I died a painful death that day.......I still have to die many many many more every single day......it never ends....LOL! I love you Lord....and I praise you for your faithfulness to your children!!!!!

So......I know I have said it many times before...but today I was reminded again for the 8,000th time.....LOL......that the Lord answers our prayers the way He wants to....which is usually not the way we thought He should have answered them! His timing is always perfect, but differs greatly from ours many times ;-) There is nothing in this world more comforting than knowing that the Lord loves me just the way I am.....and that He has a plan for my life! We serve an awesome God.....who loves us more than we could ever imagine! It's such a beautiful thing when we come to the place in our lives that we realize who the Lord is and who we are not!

Snowball~

Our precious little rat "Snowball" went to be with the Lord.......he was the sweetest rat in the world! He became ill without us even knowing it......he hid it well! He brought so much joy to our oldest daughter........and I thank God for that! I believe our pets go to Heaven,.,....the Bible tells us that God knows even when a bird falls from the sky.....The Lord cares about every creature......so we know our precious Snowball is in the best place in the world!

Counting My Blessings~

I have recently begun counting my blessings....

I have always been so very thankful to the Lord for all of the wondrous things He does in my life, but I now count them.....that's right...I said count them! I write each one of then down! There are actually too many to write down or even count but I try ;-) When I started doing this I was going through a crazy time.....I had a lot going on in my life and decided to stop and think about all of the beautiful things the Lord does in my life everyday! I knew it would change my attitude to focus on all of my answered prayers, etc! God always answers our prayers....every one of them...but He doesn't always answer them the way we think He will or even should sometimes ;-)

Okay, I started writing them down........first of all;

1. I got to sleep in my hubby's arms.

2. I woke up this morning and I was breathing(some never wake up).

3. I stepped out of bed and was able to walk out of my room(some can't walk).

4. I was able to drink an awesome cup of coffee...I can swallow(some can't swallow)

5. I have my husband home with me all week!

6. I got to read the Bible with my husband!

7. I got to hold my babies this morning!

8. I received kisses from my babies & hubby!

9. I gave kisses to my hubby & babies!

10.I got to feed my family this morning!

11. I got to hear my Gracie spell words this morning out loud!

12. I got to see the joy on my son's face while he held his bearded dragon!

13. I got to watch my Emma eat and enjoy her organic pop-tart!

14. I got licked by favorite dog..Buttercup(my yellow lab).

15. My Hannah's ear ache is doing better after I prayed for her.

16. I am watching my hubby read his Bible....

17. I have an HONEST, GIVING, LOVING, UNSELFISH, GODLY man of God as my husband!

18. I got to have an awesome prayer time with my husband this morning!

19. My husband prayer for me today!!!!!

20. My husband has been giving me kisses all morning!

21. I am married to my best friend!

22. My husband loves me like Christ loves the church!

23. I am able to type this blog today.

24. I am a child of the Living God!

25. Jesus died on the cross for me ( and all others).

26. Jesus healed my physical conditions.

27. My children's asthma is doing better.

28.We are able to feed our family and cloth them.

29. We have an awesome vehicle!

30. We are completely DEBT FREE!!!!

31. Our home is our "dream home"!!!!!!!

32. We are privileged to Home school our children!

33. We are blessed with an awesome church!

34. My kids love the Lord and want to have God's will for their lives!!

35. We are getting new flooring put in our home.....as a gift from someone special....what a surprise!!!

36. My husband and I are equally yoked ( read your Bible)!!

37. I have the most respectful children in the world!

38. My kids are obedient, loving and extremely happy!

39. My kids love school!

40. I have the privilege of cooking for my family daily!

41. I have the privilege of going to the gym everyday!

42. I am seeing major results from all my hard work at the gym ;-)

43. I have been blessed with SIX beautiful children!

44. My Gracie can walk...despite her special leg!

45. I am listening to my guinea pigs squeak right now.,..cute!

46. I'm a photographer!

47. My husband has a good job...that the Lord uses him to minister to the lost daily at!!!

I am crying right now....because I could go on and on and on and on........I have so many more that are coming to my mind....my goodness (more tears)!!!! WOW.....what a beautiful life the Lord gives His children! The funny thing is that I don't deserve for even one second the awesome blessing of the Lord!!! It makes such a difference in my life when I just stop and say them out loud or even write them down! You should try it if you haven't.......

If you haven't gone through hard times in your life....you will!

There will come a day that you are overwhelmed, etc......don't wait until that time to count your blessings......thank the Lord now for His merciful gifts! I will continue throughout the day.....thanking my Lord and Savior for His wondrous works!