Toys'R'Us Holiday Scavenger Hunt

well...everyone who joins the scavenger hunt gets me another entry so I'm posting it. I'm generally not one to do this but felt inclined this time so I'm going with it :)

Hope everyone has had a blessed Thanksgiving. We have and we have MUCH to be thankful for, the love of our precious Savior, Jesus is truly amazing...

Toys'R'Us Holiday Scavenger Hunt: "Enter for your chance to win $25 Gift Cards Daily! One grand prize winner will also receive a $1500 Gift Card!"

God bless dear ones,

...blessings (52-60)

51.  a new beginning with homeschooling...


52.  a sweet surprise gift opened yesterday..it's contents:  a HUGE bag of Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts   coffee...Tricia, thank you, thank you :)


53.  this dear man next to me who challenges me, and though I may not like it sometimes, his leadership of our home has blessed me and our boys more than I could know...


54.  the 40 books and videos we brought home from the library today...


55.  a stirring in my soul to create...


56.  HIS love, filled with grace and mercy...


57.  the generosity of so many to support hubby going to Uganda... 


58.   home...


59.  homemade bread and lentil soup tonight...


60.  sweet baby Matthew new today, and his precious mama and daddy...a young new family that loves the Lord...priceless...

Enter His gates with thanksgiving 

   and his courts with praise; 

   give thanks to him and praise his name. 

⁵ For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; 

   his faithfulness continues through all generations. 

~Psalm 100:4-5

A blessed Thanksgiving to all of you dear friends, 

give hope...

"Anytime we feel diminished or accused of being unworthy, those are satan's words.
Jesus said in Revelation 12:10 that satan is the "accuser of our brothers."
We can recognize his creepy voice anytime we feel accused.
The Holy Spirit woos us, loves us, and moves us to a place of understanding.
He never undermines us, his children, with derogatory messages that make us feel worthless.
We are worth the price of Jesus on the cross, which makes us acceptable to a holy God just as we are."
~Marilyn Meberg

You are precious and worthy, because He says so :)

Share His Word...there are so many that are hurting and lost, hopeless, right in front of our eyes. Someone shared the Word with you, prayed for you, that you might know His love and the hope He gives.  There is no greater gift than a life for and through Him.

...Never cease praying and praising Him.

"For the eyes of the Lord are on the
 righteous 
and His ears are attentive to their 
prayers,
...For Christ died for sins once for all, 
the righteous for the unrighteous, 
to bring you to God."
(1 Peter 3: 12, 18)


...would you please pray for one of my dear family members who is lost and hurting and in need of the love, comfort and hope of our precious Jesus...

With a grateful heart,

motherhood & Proverbs 31...

A sweet friend linked to this (10 Point Manifesto of Joyful Parenting w/free printout) on her blog and I am following suit.

What sweet, sweet encouragement and gentle conviction to live a life that glorifies our Heavenly Father.  Embarking upon this mission as a parent, as a mother, as a wife and whatever other hat you may wear cannot be done without your face...your heart, turned...listening to the slightest of whisper of the Lord.

sleeping little one's hands

The Proverbs 31 woman is not an imaginary "ideal" woman.  She is a woman who had her heart turned to the Lord, at His feet, who through His grace, accomplished the goals and plans He had set before her.  Had she relied upon her own strength and good intentions, I gently think, she would have failed miserably.  God's love, His strength, is made perfect in our weakness and would we see Him working so lovingly and majestically in our lives if we were so confident in our own abilities?

¹² She brings him {her husband} good, not harm, 

   all the days of her life. 
¹⁷ She sets about her work vigorously;
   her arms are strong for her tasks. 
²⁰ She opens her arms to the poor 
   and extends her hands to the needy.
²⁵ She is clothed with strength and dignity; 
   she can laugh at the days to come.²⁶ She speaks with wisdom, 
   and faithful instruction is on her tongue. 
²⁷ She watches over the affairs of her household 
   and does not eat the bread of idleness.
³⁰ Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; 
   but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. 
(Proverbs 31:12,17,20,25,27,30)   

Great grandma, our sweet boy & green beans...

I am humbled every day at what gets accomplished, because of Him and my heart attitude towards the day...and yes, His grace is mighty when my heart falls short.

"Open my eyes that I may see 

   wonderful things in your law." (Psalm 119:18)

homeschooling in grace...

As of right this minute, all four boys are with daddy watching a show in our room.  I know my time here is limited to say the least---well, at least because of the 1 1/2 year old, bedtime and all!  So as I sit here, I'm reflecting on my day...the thoughts that went through my head....

.....Calgon take me away..... (geez, there might be someone out there who has no idea what I'm talking about, how funny!)

My goodness, I am exhausted to say the least!  But, no matter what, God is SO GOOD!  This is week 3 of the boys being home, beginning of week 2 with homeschooling.  Day 1 of homeschooling consisted of tears, fortunately, just from myself and the 1 year old ;)  As I've spoken before about our homeschooling (oh, there's the 1 year old, he's been released from the room, LOL...to write later)...

...(3 hours later...)...so, as I was saying, our homeschooling started 5 years ago with our oldest in Kindergarten.  They have been in public school off and on for 3 years total, funny thing is never a full year for any of those years (well, maybe not funny to someone else?)

Through all the times of homeschooling I have never felt the Lord's presence like I do now.  I say with the humblest of heart, this is His will for our lives.  Our Day 1 last week consisted of the wee one screaming, not wanting to nap, being a child I didn't recognize to say the least.  Then there was the "in my face" realization of what I did not have prepared, what schedule we did not have and the flooding of emotions of failure from past attempts at homeschooling.  Sigh....

But He reminded me, "My compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is My faithfulness" (Lamentations 3:22-23)


And His precious love continues to remind me as we continue to find or way in this new season to carry on for He is with me, with us.


"I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion;
   therefore I will wait for him.”  (Lamentations 3:24)


Oh, yes, His love endures forever, sing praise!  He has equipped me to carry on the work He desires to be done and His peace is priceless, it is what sustains me, it is what strengthens me to carry on and to give all that I have, trusting He will lead.

"The LORD makes firm the steps
   of the one who delights in him;"  (Psalm 37:23)


I am humbled by His grace, what love He pours out, there are no words for this preciousness...don't you agree? :)

Bless you sweet ones,

new look...again :)

I case you follow this blog you might learn something about me... yes, I can't pick how I want this blog to look!  I love changing with the seasons, sometimes my moods or seasons of my own life, and of course there are holidays and just plain ol' pretty stuff :)

So, I'm hoping to stick with this background, consistency is good...I suppose going along with this precious season, and I might say life renewing the Lord is working in me...

² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Romans 12:2 (New International Version)

 ²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who^[a] have been called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28 (New International Version)

Praying you rest in Him and rejoice in Him today...how's your devotional time?  

humbled...

Okay, so do I sift through all these amazing books/boxes of curriculum sitting in front and next to me....or do I scrap it all and start simple and from scratch?????....

....feeling a bit overwhelmed....oh, but oh, so excited and continually humbled by the Lord's AWESOME grace!

...did I tell you, this is an answer to prayer, but not just an answer, something He walked me through...and when I went through steps of hopelessness and came back around to setting it at His feet and realizing He loves our boys even more then I could ever imagine, then I had hope again.

....and with this hope, I felt a stirring in my heart that made me want to jump out of my skin, to tell my hubby "YES, THIS IS WHAT WE NEED TO DO, YES, YES, YES" ....but the Lord said,

"wait and be still...be quiet and watch what I shall do...be still (actually He really had to tell me to be quiet!)"

...so I did...and I came home to my precious family from a day at work and hubby says,
"so I've been thinking today, I think we should homeschool..."

...speechless HUMBLED does not even begin to describe what happened in my heart, my spirit at that moment...

...and it continues :)

³³ Let the trees of the forest sing, 

   let them sing for joy before the LORD, 

   for he comes to judge the earth.

 ³⁴ Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; 

   his love endures forever. 

³⁵ Cry out, “Save us, God our Savior; 

   gather us and deliver us from the nations, 

that we may give thanks to your holy name, 

   and glory in y

our praise.”

1 Chronicles 16:33-35 (New International Version) 

...and so 2 years almost exactly to the day that we decided to place our boys back in school (after much prayer too-we had peace), the Lord says, bring 'em home :)

He is good ALWAYS...thank you for your prayers...I am humbled...

weekend link...

Such a sweet post from a mama's heart-oh, how I can relate :)

Bless you sweet ones, praying your weekend is filled with Him and seeing those around you through His eyes, praising the Lord for new mornings...

 ²² Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, 

   for his compassions never fail. 

²³ They are new every morning; 

   great is your faithfulness. 

²⁴ I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; 

   therefore I will wait for him.”

~Lamentations 3:22-24 (New International Version)

His lovingkindness in the morning...

A quick good morning :)

The Lord has been doing such amazing things in our home, which I will share when I have a moment but the result- our boys are home and we are homeschooling again!  An amazing answer to prayer and I am humbled by HIS grace!

Our oldest praying for our day...I'm humbled by His grace

From a devotional this morning...how we should always arise to our day... God bless you dear ones, in His name...

"Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning,

For in You do I trust;

Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, 

For I lift up my soul to You." ~Psalm 143:8

Are you beginning this day with Him leading it?