I'm sitting on my couch in my livingroom surrounded by gifts for my kids. Some are gifts they received at my parent's house tonight for our family Christmas, others are gifts they bought for each other at our elementary school's Santa Store, most are the gifts Santa has delivered and carefully purchased, sorted, stacked awaiting the girls entrance on Christmas morning. While I sit here, I am hoping I have enough for the girls to feel like they have truly had a good Christmas. You see, being a stay at home mom, we have a tight budget at Christmas time. Especially with 3 girls to buy for. I've seen posts tonight of gifts other kids that are the same age as my girls have received and it makes me worry. I mean, my kids will think they've done really well on Christmas morning when they are tearing through their stack of gifts and pulling out the stocking stuffers. However, a week from Monday, they will go back to school. While there, they will compare what they received with their friends. Typing it out it all sounds petty and stupid, but I have to admit, it almost brings me to tears some moments. How does a doll house, strawberry shortcake playsets, Lala Loopsy Doll, etc. compare to a new cell phone, an ipad 2, a laptop. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with these gifts, it just really raises the bar for me and I can't compete. But it's not a competition right? UGH!
Anyway, then my eyes were drawn to a post I made on facebook yesterday while baking for my neighbors gifts. I was listening to a Christmas CD (Mercy Me The Christmas Sessions) and the song Gloria came on. There is a line in this song that really struck me, and as I read it again just a bit ago, it stirred my heart again. "How could heaven's heart no break, on the day, the day that you came? Salvation's reason to celebrate, on the day that you came. Gloria, in excelsis deo."..How quickly our attitudes change from thankfulness for the birth of a Savior, to the worldliness of my kids having enough things. God gave THE GREATEST gift, knowing Jesus would have to die an excruciating death so we could all live eternally yet I sit on my couch worrying if I've given my kids enough...
I know there will be questions, I know some jealousy will arise from all of the comparisons that will be made, but these are teaching moments. Moments to help my children realize this celebration of Christmas is not about receiving physical gifts, but the gifts God blesses us with daily and the most precious gift of His SON! How ashamed I am for allowing myself to be drawn in to the drama. I am thankful for the gifts we are giving. I now welcome the opportunity to teach my children what God wants them to know, his gift of love that is EVERLASTING!
That said, I wish anyone that may read these words a VERY Merry Christmas and may 2012 be a remarkable year in which to glorify God in every aspect of our lives! :)
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Small Town Christmas' is the BEST
It's been a while since I've written anything, could be because I've been so busy with life in general I haven't had time for a thought or moment to even sit and think. I spent the last week working in our Elementary School Christmas Store that our PTO puts on every year. We buy a wide variety of items at a low price and sell them to the kids in our school to take home to their families for Christmas gifts. Prices range from $.50-$4.00 although there were a couple higher priced items such as Christmas UK wreaths for $25 I believe. Anyway, the kids at our school bring in their money and make their purchases, then we wrap them for them for free. I must say it is an exhausting week, but what better way to get into the spirit of Christmas with Goodwill to everyone and joy to the world than seeing the faces of these kids as they carefully select the perfect gift for their families? Our PTO didn't make any money off of this event (actually, we lost money) but this isn't a fundraiser. It's an opportunity for kids to give to their friends and family. I see it as a teaching event. Kids get to learn the joy of giving instead of constantly receiving. Most of these kids do buy a little something for themselves, but they spend most of their money on others. Over the course of the week, I lost my voice, have developed a funky lovely cough, and my car battery died, but I'd honestly give this time to these kids all over again. I must follow this with the fact that I AM thankful this week is over though. It truly is a lot of work.
Tonight I get to go to my sister's church and enjoy a Christmas Dinner Theater. My Brother In Law is very talented and writes a play every year for their church to perform during the Christmas Season. In years past, I haven't been able to attend because it's generally set to take place the same night as our church's Christmas program and I'm usually a part of it. I totally miss being involved in a Christmas Program, but am very much looking forward to getting to take in this performance tonight. I get to sit with my family and watch the story unfold before my eyes. What a way to get into the spirit of the season.
This next week is the final week of school before my kids' Christmas Break. It's also my husband's last week for 2011. My house is decorated for Christmas, I just finished up some Christmas cards that I need to mail out, and I'm pretty much finished with my Christmas shopping (as a stay at home mom with limited funds I start shopping in August once the kids go back to school lol). I'm hoping to finish up some gifts I'm making for a few family members this week and enjoy the Christmas movies I grew up watching every year (A Christmas Carol with George C Scott as Scrooge, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer) as well as a personal favorite as an adult (Elf) or two. My kids are begging to make Christmas Cookies, so I'm working on a list of things to do while they are home for the Holiday (baking cookies, making a gingerbread house, although I'm considering making a nativity instead of a house this year, going Christmas Caroling with our small group to our widows and shut ins in our church, wrapping gifts, to name a few).
I truly love this time of year and am thankful I am able to relax a little and enjoy it with my family. In the blink of an eye, my kids will be grown and moving out on their own. I truly want to enjoy these times in my kids lives and give them an amazing childhood that they will want to pass on to their children as I have.
Tonight I get to go to my sister's church and enjoy a Christmas Dinner Theater. My Brother In Law is very talented and writes a play every year for their church to perform during the Christmas Season. In years past, I haven't been able to attend because it's generally set to take place the same night as our church's Christmas program and I'm usually a part of it. I totally miss being involved in a Christmas Program, but am very much looking forward to getting to take in this performance tonight. I get to sit with my family and watch the story unfold before my eyes. What a way to get into the spirit of the season.
This next week is the final week of school before my kids' Christmas Break. It's also my husband's last week for 2011. My house is decorated for Christmas, I just finished up some Christmas cards that I need to mail out, and I'm pretty much finished with my Christmas shopping (as a stay at home mom with limited funds I start shopping in August once the kids go back to school lol). I'm hoping to finish up some gifts I'm making for a few family members this week and enjoy the Christmas movies I grew up watching every year (A Christmas Carol with George C Scott as Scrooge, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer) as well as a personal favorite as an adult (Elf) or two. My kids are begging to make Christmas Cookies, so I'm working on a list of things to do while they are home for the Holiday (baking cookies, making a gingerbread house, although I'm considering making a nativity instead of a house this year, going Christmas Caroling with our small group to our widows and shut ins in our church, wrapping gifts, to name a few).
I truly love this time of year and am thankful I am able to relax a little and enjoy it with my family. In the blink of an eye, my kids will be grown and moving out on their own. I truly want to enjoy these times in my kids lives and give them an amazing childhood that they will want to pass on to their children as I have.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Running Over, running over, my cup is full and running over...
Such a simple song that I learned as a child growing up in Sunday School and Children's Church, but tonight the words have such strong meaning. As a child, I grew up singing in church. My first experience I remember singing in church was as a toddler or Kindergartener singing Away in a Manger in our annual church Christmas program. This was only the beginning. Several years later I sang with 2 friends a song called "He's Still Workin' on Me", wow, do I ever get the words to that song now. "He's still working on me, to make me what I ought to be. It took Him just a week to make the moon, and stars, the sun and the earth and Jupiter and Mars. How loving and Patient He must be. He's still workin' on me". I still remember every word to that song, accompanied by Larry Mullins, my childhood pastor on the guitar. A few years later there was another song, "Jesus Built This Church on Love" that I was privileged to be allowed to sing with the same two childhood friends accompanied again by Larry Mullins. "Do ya ever just get to wonderin', about the way things are today? So many on board this gospel ship trying to row it a different way. But if we all pull together, like a family me and you. We'll come a lot closer to doin' what The Lord called us to do." I still remember every word to this song as well. Life lessons were learned while learning these songs.
Fast forward many years later, in the 1990's. I'm still attending Camargo Church of God and have been since I was knee high to a grasshopper. Our worship leaders have a vision of a youth ensemble singing in our church, teaching us a love for music. We begin small, just 10 or so of us coming together to learn a few songs. Some of us know how to read music, others learn from those of us that have learned in the past and we begin blending our voices to praise THE God who created us. As we sing, friendships deepen, our lives intermingle and weave into one another. We are all being raised in church to understand the love of God and are receiving a desire to sing of this love to those willing to listen. Our love for God becomes deeper, more solid, our love for each other becomes stronger. We become life long friends that love to come together and blend our voices in praise to God. We are invited to come to youth rallies and youth revivals at other churches and sing. We are supported by a church that loves us and sees a future in what we are doing. Money is pledged and we professionally record a cassette tape (remember, this is the 1990's, CD's aren't super popular just yet ha ha ha). We learn to work together as a single unit. If one hurts, we all hurt. If one is joyful, we rejoice with them. We learn lessons that can never be taught in a Sunday School classroom because we are living life together.
Several years go by and we graduate from high school, move on to college, our ties begin to thin somewhat as we become interested in boyfriends and girlfriends. Life continues to go on, some of us remain, others move on. We grow up and marry and move away from each other. Many of us go to different churches and begin families of our own. We keep in touch, but are spread out not only over the state of KY, but in other states as well. It's harder to keep in touch as well.
Several more years go by, we have a few friend get togethers, our kids now outnumber the original group of ensemble members and our get togethers are loud as WE are the parents to more than 15 kids ranging in age from 6 months to 10 years. A revival service is put together at our home church with our pastor we grew up under through our high school years and he and his wife have a vision of a reunion of our ensemble. Phone calls are made, arrangements for a practice are put together. After 15 years of singing in other churches, we all come together under the direction of our fearless leader to sing our adoration and praises to God again in one setting. We come together, tears of joy are shed for this opportunity to be reunited for one cause. God has brought us together once again and for this I praise Him forever! Our kids are all together under the same church roof, we are with our families and join together on the stage of the church. It literally feels like old times, we are able to sit under the instruction of our pastor again. We. are. home...
I cannot express the joy in my heart today as I've been able to spend time with these life long friends again. The joy to see so many familiar faces looking back at us as we stood on that stage once again. The joy that I have felt as we joined together to sing the same songs we sang 15 years ago, with voices that have matured and now more fully understand the meaning behind the words we sing. I pray that my children will someday be able to have some experience as I've had today. To really know and understand the love of God and the love of friends that love Him with all their hearts and want nothing more than to teach our children the way they should go.
Thank you God for today and I pray this isn't the last time I get to re-live these childhood memories...
Fast forward many years later, in the 1990's. I'm still attending Camargo Church of God and have been since I was knee high to a grasshopper. Our worship leaders have a vision of a youth ensemble singing in our church, teaching us a love for music. We begin small, just 10 or so of us coming together to learn a few songs. Some of us know how to read music, others learn from those of us that have learned in the past and we begin blending our voices to praise THE God who created us. As we sing, friendships deepen, our lives intermingle and weave into one another. We are all being raised in church to understand the love of God and are receiving a desire to sing of this love to those willing to listen. Our love for God becomes deeper, more solid, our love for each other becomes stronger. We become life long friends that love to come together and blend our voices in praise to God. We are invited to come to youth rallies and youth revivals at other churches and sing. We are supported by a church that loves us and sees a future in what we are doing. Money is pledged and we professionally record a cassette tape (remember, this is the 1990's, CD's aren't super popular just yet ha ha ha). We learn to work together as a single unit. If one hurts, we all hurt. If one is joyful, we rejoice with them. We learn lessons that can never be taught in a Sunday School classroom because we are living life together.
Several years go by and we graduate from high school, move on to college, our ties begin to thin somewhat as we become interested in boyfriends and girlfriends. Life continues to go on, some of us remain, others move on. We grow up and marry and move away from each other. Many of us go to different churches and begin families of our own. We keep in touch, but are spread out not only over the state of KY, but in other states as well. It's harder to keep in touch as well.
Several more years go by, we have a few friend get togethers, our kids now outnumber the original group of ensemble members and our get togethers are loud as WE are the parents to more than 15 kids ranging in age from 6 months to 10 years. A revival service is put together at our home church with our pastor we grew up under through our high school years and he and his wife have a vision of a reunion of our ensemble. Phone calls are made, arrangements for a practice are put together. After 15 years of singing in other churches, we all come together under the direction of our fearless leader to sing our adoration and praises to God again in one setting. We come together, tears of joy are shed for this opportunity to be reunited for one cause. God has brought us together once again and for this I praise Him forever! Our kids are all together under the same church roof, we are with our families and join together on the stage of the church. It literally feels like old times, we are able to sit under the instruction of our pastor again. We. are. home...
I cannot express the joy in my heart today as I've been able to spend time with these life long friends again. The joy to see so many familiar faces looking back at us as we stood on that stage once again. The joy that I have felt as we joined together to sing the same songs we sang 15 years ago, with voices that have matured and now more fully understand the meaning behind the words we sing. I pray that my children will someday be able to have some experience as I've had today. To really know and understand the love of God and the love of friends that love Him with all their hearts and want nothing more than to teach our children the way they should go.
Thank you God for today and I pray this isn't the last time I get to re-live these childhood memories...
Then...
And Now...
Future Members??? :)
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Loving the weather change...
My life has been so busy the past few weeks. I have been running my kids here, there, and yonder as we commonly say around here. These kids are keeping me on my toes for sure, plus I have my responsibilities at church and with friends and family. I'm enjoying all the activity, but I must admit, it is really tiring. Add in a child that wakes you in the middle of the night to tell you they have to go to the bathroom, or the one that has a stomachache in which you go sit with them in the bathroom waiting for vomit for 45 minutes, they they prance back off to bed because they suddenly feel better. Then there's the fact that I then lay in my bed waiting to fall asleep for 30 more minutes while my husband snores away, all this adds up to one tired momma.
I love the spring and summer. The warm temps and the new life that each bring, but honestly, fall brings a peace and quiet that I find myself longing for when it rolls around. Temps turn cooler, activity outside of my house slows down, my blankets and throws feel warmer/softer. I love being able to know that the yard work is dwindling for the season, the fall flowers are blooming in their darker, richer colors. I love the fact that as a stay at home mom, I have the perk of being able to go back to bed after my husband and oldest 2 daughters leave for school to catch up on the sleep that I lost getting up in the middle of the night. It makes me a better mom/wife when everyone comes home in the afternoon/evening. What other job out there provides this benefit? I haven't seen one yet.
With the cooler temps my youngest daughter is more willing to work on learning to write her alphabet and numbers as well. She calls it her "homework" when her older sisters are doing theirs. In the fall and winter, life outside my family slows down. I get a chance to catch my breath and relax a bit. I get the opportunity to spend more time with my kids, collectively and one on one as well. I get to teach them life lessons even after school is over for the day or while they are home with me on a break from school. Lessons in cooking/baking. We get to snuggle up on the couch under our blankets and watch movies while we munch on popcorn and make hot chocolate. We get to spend time with each other since we aren't running around as much.
I love this time in my life. I am looking forward to it as the weather has turned cooler today and I have beef stew simmering in my crockpot filling my house with deliciousness. I love being able to make hearty/warm/comfort food for my family and the smells that fill my house from doing so. The smells of banana bread baking in the oven, pumpkin bars cooling on the counter, cakes and cookies being enjoyed with a glass of milk after a day at school. It's the times around the table for supper at night that I get to hear about the best and worst parts of their school days and about my husbands highlights to his day which usually include "coming home to his girls". These days it almost seems as if I can shut out the outside world and the influences it wants to impose on my family and we can just "be us".
Now, if only I could figure out a way to magically snap my fingers and all the spring/summer clothes in the drawers of my house would be switched out with the fall/winter clothes, this season of life would be almost perfect. Guess I'd better get back to work. I am thankful that we at least have the clothes to switch out, right? God is so good to us!
I love the spring and summer. The warm temps and the new life that each bring, but honestly, fall brings a peace and quiet that I find myself longing for when it rolls around. Temps turn cooler, activity outside of my house slows down, my blankets and throws feel warmer/softer. I love being able to know that the yard work is dwindling for the season, the fall flowers are blooming in their darker, richer colors. I love the fact that as a stay at home mom, I have the perk of being able to go back to bed after my husband and oldest 2 daughters leave for school to catch up on the sleep that I lost getting up in the middle of the night. It makes me a better mom/wife when everyone comes home in the afternoon/evening. What other job out there provides this benefit? I haven't seen one yet.
With the cooler temps my youngest daughter is more willing to work on learning to write her alphabet and numbers as well. She calls it her "homework" when her older sisters are doing theirs. In the fall and winter, life outside my family slows down. I get a chance to catch my breath and relax a bit. I get the opportunity to spend more time with my kids, collectively and one on one as well. I get to teach them life lessons even after school is over for the day or while they are home with me on a break from school. Lessons in cooking/baking. We get to snuggle up on the couch under our blankets and watch movies while we munch on popcorn and make hot chocolate. We get to spend time with each other since we aren't running around as much.
I love this time in my life. I am looking forward to it as the weather has turned cooler today and I have beef stew simmering in my crockpot filling my house with deliciousness. I love being able to make hearty/warm/comfort food for my family and the smells that fill my house from doing so. The smells of banana bread baking in the oven, pumpkin bars cooling on the counter, cakes and cookies being enjoyed with a glass of milk after a day at school. It's the times around the table for supper at night that I get to hear about the best and worst parts of their school days and about my husbands highlights to his day which usually include "coming home to his girls". These days it almost seems as if I can shut out the outside world and the influences it wants to impose on my family and we can just "be us".
Now, if only I could figure out a way to magically snap my fingers and all the spring/summer clothes in the drawers of my house would be switched out with the fall/winter clothes, this season of life would be almost perfect. Guess I'd better get back to work. I am thankful that we at least have the clothes to switch out, right? God is so good to us!
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Giving even when we don't want to...
Today is Saturday. One of the few days I get to "sleep in". One of the few days I don't end up at school helping where I can, one of the few days that can be more lax and take it easy kind of days. However, this weekend my small town also has a festival going on called Court Days. This festival (basically a big flea market with both new and old and used items being sold and TONS of fair type of foods) has been going on for many many years. It's always the weekend of the 3rd Monday of October and lasts Friday through Monday. I have many memories of October Court Days, some fantastic such as days of family coming to visit and playing with my cousins all day, cotton candy brought to us by family members going to Court Days and bags of cashews as well. Others aren't as fantastic, such as the year I got lost with my aunt who wasn't from this area. I was very young, maybe 5ish? I will never forget that feeling of uncertainty and wondering if I'd see my parents again, even if we were only lost for a little bit.
This particular year for Court Days will be memorable to me as well. The past 6 years our small group from our church has parked cars in our church parking lot on Saturday only for a fee of $5.00/carload and shuttled any people that park there down to the festivities with our church van. We then take this money and purchase coats on Black Friday for kids that don't have them in our community. This year we did the same. Many times it's hard for me to do this. I'd rather be spending time with my family from out of town. I'd rather go down and enjoy the festivities myself. I'd rather go down there and have a ribeye sandwich from the cattlemen's association. I'd rather sleep-in. You get the picture. However, I make myself do this, because I know this isn't about me. It's about kids in our county that get cold when the weather turns freezing. This year was different however. I still didn't particularly want to do this, but this year my daughter (age 10) and 3 of her friends had a bake sale at the church while we parked cars. They also had 3-4 other friends bake cookies/cupcakes/brownies for them to sell while we were there. THEY did the baking, THEY made the posters/signs, THEY did some of the selling. They were there with us for 6 hours today to raise money. This money wasn't for them though, this money will be donated to our small group to be put toward coats for kids their age and younger in our community.
I must admit, my heart is full tonight. Yes, I'm tired. Yes, there were messes to clean up. Yes, these girls were loud. BUT, they had fun together and they put their efforts together to serve God and our community. They were very proud of themselves and what they accomplished this afternoon, as they well should be. I'm so thankful for my girls and for the hearts they have for others in need. What a blessing they are to my family. What a blessing all of these kids are to our church/community!
Setting up the bake sale...
Ready to sell cookies/brownies/cupcakes...
Friday, October 14, 2011
It's finally caught up with me...
Today, I am exhausted. I mean, I've been tired before, many times before, but today...I'm.worn.out. I am a stay at home mom to my girls, but this week has not been a stay at home kind of week. Between church last Sunday morning and a family gathering the rest of the day, Monday I kept my almost 9 month old nephew most of the day, then took my middle daughter to an appointment one county away, home to make a quick dinner for my girls, then took them back to my mom's since my husband and I both had meetings at church. Tuesday I went on an overnight field trip with my oldest daughter returning home on Wednesday in time to sort the mail, put on a load of laundry, make dinner then head to church and stay late for worship team practice. Thursday I went up to our elementary school for a couple of hours to volunteer and help some of the teachers out some. We had pioneer days at school that day and all my girls were dressed for the event. They LOVED it!
Tomorrow is a busy day as well, but it will be for a good cause and totally worth it. More about that tomorrow... :)
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Blessings never cease to amaze me...
I feel like I've been running around like a chicken with my head cut off all week long. Sunday we were with my family for my grandparents anniversary party that I posted about that evening. Monday I kept my nephew for the morning and then laundry most of the day, picked up the kids from school, took my middle daughter to the podiatrist one county over, picked up my kids, fed them, took them back to my parent's house while I went to a meeting at church since my husband had one as well. Picked up the kids, came home, got them to bed, then packed for my trip Tuesday/Wednesday. Tuesday/Wednesday were filled with a trip to 4-H camp for environmental camp with my oldest daughter. We had a FANTASTIC time while we were there and I thoroughly enjoyed the time I was able to spend with Maddie. We came home and it was unpack/piano lessons after school for my oldest daughter, then church and worship team practice afterward. I am extremely tired and am going to head up to school to help with my daughters activities for Pioneer Days in a few minutes, so the blessing I received yesterday came JUST in time!
I had just come home from camp with my daughter and was unpacking our bags and going through the mail when the phone rang. I answered it and was surprised to hear a sales person from Greene's Toyota on the other end of the phone asking about my husband's 1996 Toyota Rav4, wanting to know if we still owned it. I told him yes very curious to find out why he was inquiring about such an old vehicle. He proceeded to tell me that he has a customer looking for this specific make/model of a car and wanted to know if we'd be interested in selling it. Now, my husband's car has 273,000 miles on it. It's his commuter car to and from work everyday. We realize that this mileage is very high and that he is going to be needing to get a new vehicle sooner rather than later, but had put a plan in our minds that he would keep driving it for the winter (it's all wheel drive) and we'd look into getting him something newer in the spring. My mini van will be paid off this week, so we were going to put what we'd been paying into savings to save up for a down payment on said new vehicle.
Anyway, I informed the salesman that this car has really high mileage and proceeded to tell him just how high I was talking about. He said it WAS high, but still wanted us to bring the car in for him to check it out and see what they could work out. I took down his name and number and called my husband at work to tell him this news. You see, to me, this is TOTALLY a God moment. My car will be paid off THIS WEEK! We get a phone call from a dealer ASKING to buy this high mileage car that we were thinking we'd be lucky to get $500 for a trade in and we had it all figured out in our heads.
So, my husband calls the salesman and talks to him. He agrees to bring the car by on his way home from work. Another work of God. My husband doesn't leave work until 5:30 on Wednesdays and works in Frankfort. Greene's Toyota is in Lexington. Wednesdays are the night of the week their service department is open late. Coincidence? I think not. So, he takes the car to the lot and lets their service guys check it out. He has a sales guy showing him cars and tells him, this is how much I can afford to spend on another vehicle including tax/title/license. The sales guy moves him over to the used lot (this was what we'd figured we do from the get go, buy used since it's driven so much).
Todd has been researching what kind of vehicle he wanted to purchase for MONTHS now. I'm talking in depth research into mileage/body style/year he wanted/etc. This salesman shows him several toyota corollas/camrys etc. Todd asks if he has anything besides a toyota knowing he has 2 in particular in mind and what year he wants to look at. The guy takes him to a 2011 Kia Forte (this just happens to be one of the 2 cars he has researched and is very interested in, he had not told the salesman this). It has 9,000 miles on it, and not counting what they might give us for his car it is within our price range. Coincidence? I think not. No haggling has gone on yet and we haven't made a purchase yet, but literally , when Todd is telling me this this morning, I have tears in my eyes.
I feel with everything in me that God has seen our circumstances. He knows our finances. He knows our needs before we need them. I know he's working something out before it HAS to come into play. I have a sense of excitement within me to see how this is all going to play out. I type this again with tears in my eyes in knowing how much these things matter to Him, that he would take care of them with such ease. Even if it all falls through, I know God is taking care of us and will bring something else to the forefront when it's time.
God is SOOOOOO good to me, I can truly never thank Him enough!
I had just come home from camp with my daughter and was unpacking our bags and going through the mail when the phone rang. I answered it and was surprised to hear a sales person from Greene's Toyota on the other end of the phone asking about my husband's 1996 Toyota Rav4, wanting to know if we still owned it. I told him yes very curious to find out why he was inquiring about such an old vehicle. He proceeded to tell me that he has a customer looking for this specific make/model of a car and wanted to know if we'd be interested in selling it. Now, my husband's car has 273,000 miles on it. It's his commuter car to and from work everyday. We realize that this mileage is very high and that he is going to be needing to get a new vehicle sooner rather than later, but had put a plan in our minds that he would keep driving it for the winter (it's all wheel drive) and we'd look into getting him something newer in the spring. My mini van will be paid off this week, so we were going to put what we'd been paying into savings to save up for a down payment on said new vehicle.
Anyway, I informed the salesman that this car has really high mileage and proceeded to tell him just how high I was talking about. He said it WAS high, but still wanted us to bring the car in for him to check it out and see what they could work out. I took down his name and number and called my husband at work to tell him this news. You see, to me, this is TOTALLY a God moment. My car will be paid off THIS WEEK! We get a phone call from a dealer ASKING to buy this high mileage car that we were thinking we'd be lucky to get $500 for a trade in and we had it all figured out in our heads.
So, my husband calls the salesman and talks to him. He agrees to bring the car by on his way home from work. Another work of God. My husband doesn't leave work until 5:30 on Wednesdays and works in Frankfort. Greene's Toyota is in Lexington. Wednesdays are the night of the week their service department is open late. Coincidence? I think not. So, he takes the car to the lot and lets their service guys check it out. He has a sales guy showing him cars and tells him, this is how much I can afford to spend on another vehicle including tax/title/license. The sales guy moves him over to the used lot (this was what we'd figured we do from the get go, buy used since it's driven so much).
Todd has been researching what kind of vehicle he wanted to purchase for MONTHS now. I'm talking in depth research into mileage/body style/year he wanted/etc. This salesman shows him several toyota corollas/camrys etc. Todd asks if he has anything besides a toyota knowing he has 2 in particular in mind and what year he wants to look at. The guy takes him to a 2011 Kia Forte (this just happens to be one of the 2 cars he has researched and is very interested in, he had not told the salesman this). It has 9,000 miles on it, and not counting what they might give us for his car it is within our price range. Coincidence? I think not. No haggling has gone on yet and we haven't made a purchase yet, but literally , when Todd is telling me this this morning, I have tears in my eyes.
I feel with everything in me that God has seen our circumstances. He knows our finances. He knows our needs before we need them. I know he's working something out before it HAS to come into play. I have a sense of excitement within me to see how this is all going to play out. I type this again with tears in my eyes in knowing how much these things matter to Him, that he would take care of them with such ease. Even if it all falls through, I know God is taking care of us and will bring something else to the forefront when it's time.
God is SOOOOOO good to me, I can truly never thank Him enough!
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Blessing from family...
Today got off to a crumby start. Sarah (my 7 year old) woke me up at 2:30 to inform me that her stomach hurt. I walked her to the bathroom and got her over the toilet just in time for her to vomit like nothing I've ever seen! I got her settled back onto the couch for the rest of the night with a bucket in the floor by her in case she got sick again and couldn't make it, only to take an hour to go back to sleep. Then Miriam (my 4 year old) woke me up to ask me where her whirly color thing was at 5 a.m.(my kids went to the magic show last night with my parents and they bought them each a toy). My alarm went off at 6 and I was soooo not ready to start my day, but I got up anyway. I had the privilege of serving our church this morning by being on our worship team. My day began to look up. Yes, it was a crazy morning, having to go to church at 8, practice for worship team, choir warm up at 8:30, home to get my oldest and youngest daughters to take them to Sunday school at 8:40 and then be on stage ready to go at 9 a.m. for our first church service, but I am so thankful for the opportunity to do so!
Morning worship was awesome as I had expected it would be. Pastor Jeff delivered a sermon that spoke to everyone in the crowd. He was very real and really spoke to the heart with words I truly believe were straight from God. He met people "where they were" in life and delivered an awesome message. We headed home and got ready to head to my aunt's house in Eastern KY for a family gathering with my mom's side of the family.
I spent the whole afternoon with my family. Not just my kids and husband, my WHOLE family from my mom's side. If ALL of us get together, there are 71 of us. This is my grandparents/their 8 kids and 7 spouses/the 23 grandkids and 12 spouses/and the 21 (almost 22 as I have another cousin that will be born next week) great grandkids. I think that's right. Anyway, the biggest majority of us were all-together today. We all came together today to honor my grandparents. They celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary this week. What an honor to be there with all of them today! My grandparents are truly THE MOST Godly people I know! I am soooo thankful to God that He has allowed me to be part of this amazing family. We are nowhere near perfect. We all have our quirks and even issues at times. Not perfection for sure. But we all love each other through the differences we have.
Anyway, today we all came together pitching in making/bringing food and had an amazingly good day together. We met at my aunt's house. The weather was perfect, we were able to spend most of the day outside just enjoying being around each other. We had my Brother in Law take a group picture of the whole family. I can't wait to see how it turned out, then we broke each of the 8 kids families down into groups and took their pics as well. My aunt had a large pile of dirt in her backyard. All the great grandkids that were there played in it for HOURS! My kids were FILTHY when we got home tonight. Filthy but HAPPY! So many lessons are learned when our family gets together. It doesn't take much to make a child happy. I love that it's the "little things" in life that make my kids happy. I love listening to them play with their cousins and watching them chase each other around the yard. I love that they have the opportunity to be part of and grow up in a large family that loves them. My grandmother prayed fervently for Miriam when she was born and was not as healthy as we would have liked her to be, I have no doubt that God heard and answered those prayers.
My grandparents are truly the most Godly people I know. They shared words of Godly wisdom with us as they cut their cake. My grandfather is a baptist preacher. They shared of their love for God and their family, each and every one of us. They are in their 70's and with so many in our family may not remember every name of every great grandchild (shoot, I have trouble remembering the names of my 3 girls and I'm only 36!), but they truly love every single one of us as only they can. My grandfather shared his salvation story with the family. A story that changed his life and the life of his family forever! What a privilege to get to hear him tell it in person!
God has so richly blessed me by allowing me to be a part of this family. I was driving home this evening with my 3 girls and the sun was setting. The sky was ablaze with reds/oranges/purples across a bright blue sky with white puffy clouds intermingled. It was the perfect ending to an amazingly perfect day for me. It was like a scene from a movie, driving off into the sunset, out of the mountains of Eastern KY with the hills full of the beautiful colors of autumn which God himself painted. It seemed as if it were just for me. I know it wasn't, but it seemed like it was. I hope and pray I don't forget the fantastic day today has been for me for a long time and that I can be the amazing example to my kids that my grandparents and parents alike have set for me.
I know I've rambled a lot during the writing of this blog tonight, but honestly, my heart is so full it's running over with the love and thankfulness I have within myself tonight!
Morning worship was awesome as I had expected it would be. Pastor Jeff delivered a sermon that spoke to everyone in the crowd. He was very real and really spoke to the heart with words I truly believe were straight from God. He met people "where they were" in life and delivered an awesome message. We headed home and got ready to head to my aunt's house in Eastern KY for a family gathering with my mom's side of the family.
I spent the whole afternoon with my family. Not just my kids and husband, my WHOLE family from my mom's side. If ALL of us get together, there are 71 of us. This is my grandparents/their 8 kids and 7 spouses/the 23 grandkids and 12 spouses/and the 21 (almost 22 as I have another cousin that will be born next week) great grandkids. I think that's right. Anyway, the biggest majority of us were all-together today. We all came together today to honor my grandparents. They celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary this week. What an honor to be there with all of them today! My grandparents are truly THE MOST Godly people I know! I am soooo thankful to God that He has allowed me to be part of this amazing family. We are nowhere near perfect. We all have our quirks and even issues at times. Not perfection for sure. But we all love each other through the differences we have.
Anyway, today we all came together pitching in making/bringing food and had an amazingly good day together. We met at my aunt's house. The weather was perfect, we were able to spend most of the day outside just enjoying being around each other. We had my Brother in Law take a group picture of the whole family. I can't wait to see how it turned out, then we broke each of the 8 kids families down into groups and took their pics as well. My aunt had a large pile of dirt in her backyard. All the great grandkids that were there played in it for HOURS! My kids were FILTHY when we got home tonight. Filthy but HAPPY! So many lessons are learned when our family gets together. It doesn't take much to make a child happy. I love that it's the "little things" in life that make my kids happy. I love listening to them play with their cousins and watching them chase each other around the yard. I love that they have the opportunity to be part of and grow up in a large family that loves them. My grandmother prayed fervently for Miriam when she was born and was not as healthy as we would have liked her to be, I have no doubt that God heard and answered those prayers.
My grandparents are truly the most Godly people I know. They shared words of Godly wisdom with us as they cut their cake. My grandfather is a baptist preacher. They shared of their love for God and their family, each and every one of us. They are in their 70's and with so many in our family may not remember every name of every great grandchild (shoot, I have trouble remembering the names of my 3 girls and I'm only 36!), but they truly love every single one of us as only they can. My grandfather shared his salvation story with the family. A story that changed his life and the life of his family forever! What a privilege to get to hear him tell it in person!
God has so richly blessed me by allowing me to be a part of this family. I was driving home this evening with my 3 girls and the sun was setting. The sky was ablaze with reds/oranges/purples across a bright blue sky with white puffy clouds intermingled. It was the perfect ending to an amazingly perfect day for me. It was like a scene from a movie, driving off into the sunset, out of the mountains of Eastern KY with the hills full of the beautiful colors of autumn which God himself painted. It seemed as if it were just for me. I know it wasn't, but it seemed like it was. I hope and pray I don't forget the fantastic day today has been for me for a long time and that I can be the amazing example to my kids that my grandparents and parents alike have set for me.
I know I've rambled a lot during the writing of this blog tonight, but honestly, my heart is so full it's running over with the love and thankfulness I have within myself tonight!
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