Glory overcomes darkness

Recently, on 12/14/12, a man that was mentally ill went into an elementary school (Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown Connecticut) and shot 20 children (ages 6 and 7) and 6 adults.  It was a horrible tragedy.  In the midst of the pain that we were all feeling for the parents who lost their babies and for the families that lost loved ones, I felt the Lord tell me that Even in this darkness, God's light will shine brighter.  When the earth is covered in darkness, the Glory of the Lord rises upon YOU (Isaiah 60:1) and brings light to the world.  JESUS is the light that comes through us.  It's amazing to think that we could be part of His healing to the nations.  We have been through a lot of things and sometimes we want to give up, but God has great purposes for our lives.  We can't give up baby.  We must keep pressing in to JESUS and letting Him have His way in us.  We are to bring HOPE (Jesus) to all that we meet.  I am so thankful to have this time to be able to write to you.  I want first and foremost for you to always remember how much mom loves you and will always be a part of you.  When I am gone, though, Jesus is greater than anything I could ever give you.  He is with you always and carries you through the greatest darkness in life.  He is IN YOU and will overcome anything in this world that you are challenged with.  Just keep your eyes on Him and be rooted and grounded in HIS LOVE.  He brings PEACE that passes all understanding.  We will never understand why this great evil has came upon the children at Sandy Hook Elementary, but ONE THING we KNOW is that JESUS will use even this evil for the GOOD of those who LOVE GOD and are CALLED according to HIS PURPOSES (Romans 8:28) Hang in there and know that God loves us and has GOOD PLANS for us.  When we truly BELIEVE in Him and trust Him, we are willing to DIE FOR HIM.  He died for us so that HE COULD LIVE THROUGH US.  Let's let Him.  He makes everything Beautiful!! I love you and I am praying for yall to know Jesus so intimately that NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR YOU!  May the Lord grant you FAVOR and PEACE all of your days upon this earth and when the journey on earth is over, may the Lord wrap you in His arms of LOVE and carry you HOME!!  I am going to hug you guys a little tighter and love you with all that I have!!  Let Jesus fill you with HIS LOVE!

Fun with the Christmas Tree ornaments

As we sit here and watch the movie "Christmas Snow" you are playing with the Frosty The Snowman ornaments. Your imagination is running wild and I think to myself 'I better enjoy this moment' because there won't be many more days like this. I so love you baby boy! You have been totally different since we have started "the Total Transformation Program" I am so proud of you! You will forever be my baby boy!!

I love you

No matter what happens and how crazy we get at times, I am thankful the Lord blessed me with you Joshua! You are an amazing son and you have a heart to serve the Lord. I pray we all get trained up as He needs us to be. May the Lord bless you and keep you always. Sometimes I wonder why the Lord would give you such a crazy mom like me who can't seem to "get it together" a lot of the time, but then I remember it's because HE has a plan!! We are part of that plan! Let's go out and be like Jesus today after our fussing yesterday! You said "mom, NEVER GIVE UP!! Just get back up!! " hmmm I guess I have taught you something after all. His LOVE never fails, never gives up, never runs out on us!! God is faithful when we become faithless. Oh Lord, our great Shephard, lead us to the cross. And halo us to love others as you do and to see with your eyes!!

Afro Circus!!

You love to hear the commercial for Madagascar are three that goes "Afro circus Afro circus polka dot polka dot Afro" you are so funny!

Our trips to Panama City Beach and West Va

Recently we took two trips one to Panama City Beach Florida and the other to West Virginia. We had a great time! We went to Panama City Beach with grandma. It took nine hours to drive there from home. We played the alphabet game on the interstate as we were driving to Panama City Beach. Also we enjoyed lots of beautiful scenery. When we got to Panama City Beach we checked into the hotel and went out to eat on the beach. This was the first time Joshua had ever been to the beach. He loved playing in the ocean with his boogie board. We went on a pirate dinner cruise the next day we were there and we got to see dolphins and play with Pirates! It was an amazing time! Then we played on the beach at night and the next day we went on a dolphin cruise on the sea screamer. This was an amazing boat that had waves in the back of it and the Dolphins would ride on the waves on the back of the boat. Michaela's eyes extremely lit up when she got to see the dolphins coming up to her hand. We would stick our hand out of the side of the boat in the Dolphins would think that we had food to give them so they would come up out of the water and say hello to us! Our trip to Panama City Beach was comparable to Disney World trip.

Then we came home and got ready to leave for Aldersgate 2012 in Charleston, West VA. We worshipped at the conference and had all kinds of frustrations coming to the surface when we were at the hotel room. Finally, on Last night, Josh says he feels that when daddy left, he didn't get enough attention anymore and then Tim came and took it all. It was good to get all of this talked about and we discussed the importance of obedience and how if mama is wore out having to deal with disobedience all the time, she won't have time for good attention.

So on the way home, we talked about things that God was showing us and we prayed. Our family has always been under attack but God has always been faithful. The enemy can't stop what Hod has set into motion!! No weapon formed against us shall prosper!!! We say Lord have your way in us!!

You are learning

This weekend was another turning point in your life.  We have been going through a lot of little things that have been tough.  We are trying to teach you a disciplined life, but I must say that I am a little exhausted.  God has a plan for you to be a prophet to the nations and when God says it, we might as well Book It cuz HIS WORD NEVER RETURNS VOID.  When He speaks it, He speaks the end of the thing and the beginning and middle line up no matter the cost.  That is who HE is!  He loves us and allows us to be a part of this amazing plan.  It blows my mind.  God cannot be contained within any of our boxes.  HE IS GOD AND WE ARE NOT!! Anyway, this weekend, I have had to make you run laps for disobedience and then I used a wooden pattle on your bottom for the first time.  I have used belts but mostly I have used my hands.  The pattle is my friend.  It got your attention.  So now, when you do an action such as back talk mom, disobey me, and such, your consequence is 1 pattle lick.  You do the action, You chose the consequence.  I pray this teaches you quick obedience through suffering.  I have not allowed near enough suffering in your life to teach you the things that need to be learned.  God has a way of opening our eyes at just the right times.  He is bringing this house to order.  There are too many plans that He has put into motion with us.  He will NEVER LEAVE OR FORSAKE US.  I have prayed on many occasions for Him to do whatever it takes to get us to the places He needs us to be. We GET to be part of HIS PLAN and WILL on earth.  (On Earth as it is in Heaven) AWESOME!!!
Anyway, this weekend, we went to see "Intense Ministries".  This was a group of muscle men that did things with their strength and gave an amazing testimony of the Lord Jesus.  It was great.  The main guy's name was Joshua.  He was a muscle builder that had ADHD and doesn't take his medicine.  It was great!!! God is telling us that it is OK and we are right back on track with you Joshua.  God is brining things to order.  We just get to surrender to what HE IS DOING.  He is so God and we are SO not!!! Keep your heart full of Love and Compassion Josh!  God is going to send you to the nations!!!

Your Baptism

I wanted to share your baptism in here. You were determined that Jesus lives in your heart and you wanted to get baptized at 5 years old. After 5 months of praying and waiting, the day came. As you went down into the baptismal, your eyes caught hold of a family of rubber duckies that someone snuck into the tank before you went down. It was all we could do to keep your attention on the matter at hand from that point on.

U turns to God

Something that you recently grabbed a hold of is that U turns get you to God. I saw this sign and thought of you today!!!

Happy Birthday

Tomorrow you will be 9 years old!! Wow how time has flown. It's been a life with many ups and downs and it isn't always fair, but God has put you in my heart forever. I pray that as you get older that you don't lose your desire to give mom loves! I love your kisses and you always make my heart smile when you love. I get stressed at times but I am just exhausted is all. We will keep praying mama does things in the Lords strength and not my own. I am excited to see what life brings your way. Let's take every gift that God has placed in you and surrender it all to Him! He spoke to me while you were in my womb and I would be a fool to think that my mistakes could ever keep the Word of the Lord from coming to pass! I am believing that God is faithful to perform that which He has spoken over you! I love you Baby boy who isn't such a baby boy anymore!! I pray that this year you take a hold of a deep relationship with God for yourself and that you grow in your hunger to spend time with Him. Please remember as you get older that I havent always been a good mom in my own eyes (too stressed out for the most part) but I have definitely tried to do the best with what life brought us. I have tried to let go of bitterness, resentment, unforgiveness, and hatred towards others and to give to those in need. My hope is that I have not done in vain. I may have depended on my perceptions a little too much instead of the Holy Spirit of God. I am learning now though! Heres to many more years of growing together! I love you baby!

Missing you at camp

You are at camp this weekend and I am really missing you. It is now Wednesday and I can't wait to see you on Friday! You might wear me out when you are home but when you are gone I really miss you! I know that you are having an amazing time at Lighthouse Christian Camp. You are probably swimming or horseback riding or riding a canoe or pontoon boat right about now. Or maybe you are receiving the love of God like you never have before! I pray that as you do chapel each day that God reveals his heart to you and that you stop long enough to listen to what he says to you. You are truly precious to him!!! You are truly precious to me!!!

Sometimes you surprise me

Some days when you have been crazy rebellious and angry and such, you will calm down and surprise me. Last night was one of those days. That morning you were angry and such. You didn't want to clean or do your chores. I was at work so when you told me no, I couldn't get you to understand that there would be consequences for disobedience. We are struggling in how to create a very responsible child turning into an adult. I never want to "control " or "manipulate" you. I want you to do them because they are the right thing to do and because LOVE motivates you to give yourself for others! Not sure how to do all of this. So I thought I will have Josh write scriptures. I wanted you to write Ephesians 6, but you decided on your own to get "Gods promises" book and look up and read the scriptures for anger and rebellion. Hmmmm even though you didn't do the exact one that I asked, I had to say yours was probably a better idea anyway. So then that night we went to church and on the way home you took this picture. You caused me to look at something God gave us and you were thankful. For that I am proud of you today! I really hope and pray I don't mess you up for your future wife!!! God will have to get us in order cuz I am doing the best I know how to do!!! Love you little man!

Trip to East Tn

We went on a trip this weekend and we had a blast! You did so many things that you would never have done before. We went to Cumberland Mountain State Park and we slept in a cabin that first night. We went and looked at the stars through a telescope. We were able to see Jupiter, Venus, Saturn,and Mars. Then after that, we went back to the cabin and spent the night. The next morning we drove to Pigeon Forge and went to Wilderness at the Smokies. We were excited because all the water parks were open. They were not supposed to be open, but God made a way for us to be able to go to all of them! Mikayla rode the storm chaser. She was very afraid but she took a brave role and got on the ride anyway. She "did it afraid" TWICE. Way to go Mikayla. Joshua did very well. He didn't throw any fits the whole weekend just about. On Monday evening when we were getting ready to go home we decided to go to a dinner show that night. We went to the Hatfields and the McCoys dinner show! It was Hilarious! Joshua says he does not know for sure what his favorite part of the weekend was but he says he loved every thing especially the Hatfield and McCoy's. Mikayla says getting on the storm chaser was her favorite part! However she really love the Hatfield and McCoy's too!!! We all loved that dinner show. It reminded us of the hoop Dee Doo at Disney World. I have attached some pictures of our trip I hope you enjoy them! I know that I really loved going on this vacation with my two beautiful children and my wonderful loving husband! I love anytime we get to make memories together.

Snowball this morning

I just wanted to post a pic of Snowball this morning after you left for school. He curled up on a stuffed animal that one of you left on the couch. How precious!!

Your sister and friend

I was looking at this picture in my office and wanted to write about y'all!

Last night, as we were driving home from Jim and Heather’s house, Josh and Mikayla were talking in the backseat with all kinds of excitement. They were so excited that this is the last week of school and we are going to get to go on a family vacation to the Wilderness at the Smokies Waterpark/Hotel in Gatlinburg this weekend. Joshua and Mikayla proceed to make up a rap/beat box song about the last week of school and how they were excited to get to go on a family trip. Josh provided the music with boom shh booms and acka lackas (whatever kind of words you would call beat boxing. Haha so good he was at it) Anyway, Mikayla is a great singer so she was making up words and was good. They then proceeded from there to come up with a plan of action because they realized how good they sounded together. They wanted to record a CD of their music. J I told them I would help them if they would write down their songs and we get about 10 of them or more (depending on how long they are) We will try to record them and make a CD of their own music. They were all excited and decided today is the day that they will get their club together and write their songs. I realized Joshua and Mikayla work good together when they each do what they know best. Josh LOVES to make music and Mikayla LOVES to sing. God is going to use them together when they get older and HE has put that into them. I am so thankful to get to see God shape my children. I have often times messed up in my parenting skills. I have always tried to show my babies(that’s yall) just how much they mean to me, but a lot of times, I have been angry and ANGER NEVER HELPS ANYTHING if it isn’t given to God. Anger in and of itself isn’t bad, but when we use anger to control other people, it is harmful. I hope you guys realize this Joshua and Mikayla. I don’t want you guys to grow up full of anger and NEVER give it to God. People are going to upset you and things are NOT usually going to go just the way you like them to. As we learn to lean on the Lord for our strength, it gets better. Proverbs 3:5- Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding and HE SHALL DIRECT YOUR PATHS. The more we give things we don’t understand to Him, the more He can direct our paths. This is my prayer for you guys a lot. I want the best for you. There are a lot of things we have struggled through. I want to know at the end of the day that we have learned to TRUST GOD in all things. Ok, I am tired today, but I wanted to share my heart with you as I looked up at this picture on my shelf. I was thinking about both of you today and how the Lord is knitting you two together in a deep relationship. You guys will have a bond like no one else will ever be able to have in your life. Only the Lord can be stronger. You have a bond of not only being family, but you are FRIENDS! I love you and you are so precious to me!!!

Morning with Snowballl

You love your dog! You rough house with him in the mornings and it gets CRAZY here, but every now and then I see a sight like this and I have to sigh"awe, how sweet" we have had a lot of dogs but this has been everyone's favorite! He is three years old this month!

Funny things you have said

4/30/15- when making frozen grapes, we used sugar-free lemon Jell-O. You said "you didn't get any lime Jell-O?!" To which I replied "no, we got Lemon"

"Lemon sucks can quote you said

"I don't know! But it smells really good"- me

"yeah mom so does Pine-Sol!"

4/10/16 - Grandma said that we should sing a special song for our last day at Forbus circuit. Josh yelled out "yes it should be you're going to miss me when I'm gone."

2008- when we were playing Bible 2008- when we were playing Bible Trivia game, the question was "why didn't anyone like Zaccheas?" Josh quickly responds "because he was a wee little man" you are too cute! Haha I love it!

Hansome

Look at that precious smile!!! You are such a handsome and smart young man!!!!

5/10/12

I am proud of you and your sister! I realize that sometimes, you want to get out of work.  I know that working is hard, but I want you to know a very important lesson. If we don't work, we don't get the benefits that come along with hard work.  If me and your daddy didn't work hard, we wouldn't have a roof over our heads, or a car to drive, or any of the various things that we have been blessed to have.  I am praying that you soon learn this valuable lesson.  This week, we have had a battle with the laundry.  You decided that you didn't want to put the clothes away so you tried every way in the world to hide the laundry in various places.  Oh my!!! Indeed, you have worked hard to get that cleaned up (see below)I love you.  So many times, you have gotten into trouble and it's so hard for me to encourage you.  I do want you to know I am proud of you.  I may not be proud of some of the "actions", but I am thankful to have you as my son.  God has big plans for yall.  I am doing the best I can with all that I have to teach you God's love.  It has been intense at times, but I trust that God will teach us together even. 

9/13/03 - 7/20/07 - from first page of baby book

9/13/03- Josh, I hope you know how much you are loved.  You are a very special boy! I may not have much time to write in your book, but you are loved just the same as Mikayla.  God has truly blessed me with you two. 
1/4/04- A word came tonight @ church.  You are anointed to be a prophet of the Lord (which we knew already) I don't really know how to train a prophet but I am sure the Lord will provide.
3/16/04- You are growing so big.  you are soooo active.  It's fun to try to hold you still.  You want to be everywhere all the time.  You are trying to crawl but just move around on your arms a lot.  Look out for that walker! You are really out to get our feet in that thing.  It's fun to watch you with Mikayla.  You love your big sister so much!!You absolutely adore her.  She adores you as well until you run her toys over then she gets mad but she still adores you.  I love you bot so much.  but as much as I love you, God loves you so much more.  Don't ever forget to call on Jesus.  He's always there for you!
2/7/06- Josh, you are a mighty man of God.  You have lots of energy and you will go a long way if you will stay on the right path.  I expect a lot out of you and your sister.  You are awesome kids and mommy is so blessed to have taken care of you.  I just hope as you grow up, you will see Jesus in me and not the devil.  I love you and sometimes my focusgets off of Jesus and on the stress of being a single mom.  It's wort it!  I have wonderful childre.
4/10/06- This morning your wanted some icky charms for breakfast.  "After my my eat my hold Bernie"  Bernie is your stuffed zebra.  You are so intelligent for your ge.

7/30-07- You have grown up so fast.  You will soon be 4.  I am amazed @ how smart you have become.  Quite the little charmer.  I am going to love you with all that I have.  I am going to be getting married soon and you are so excited.  Time loves you both so much.  He can be a little harder on you than your sister but that's because we have to teach you.  You will appreciate it one day.  I love you!

7/21/03

Josh,
You are soon going to be 3 years old.  I have enjoyed you as a son and have been worn out by you, too.  You keep momma very busy cleaning messes, but one day, I'll look back and wish I was cleaning up whole canisters of chocolate cocoa from the living room floor while you hold your little coffee cup with 1/3 cup of water and 2/3 cup of cocoa saying "Look I made hot chocolate"  I laugh when I think of some of the things you do.  (Not at the time though)  Like the time you smeared my $15 tube of lipstick all over your face and said "Look, I'm pretty momma"  Then when you see my face quickly turn red you say "It's OK momma, I'm pretty" How can I not cherish those memories?  Or when you get food out of the fridge and try to make your own sandwich.  (What a mess) What can I say? You keep momma on her toes.  Not a dull day here (except of course when you are at your daddy's.  Then I miss yall) Another funny time was when you decided to take the $40.00 wagon for a ride down the hill.  You crashed into the bushes and broke the wagon wheel and said "I wanna do it again Momma"

From Birth to Now....

I have realized how precious my memories of you and your sister are so I have decided to start your very own blog place to see letters that I can now put down at any time.  I love you both so much and want you to always remember how precious you are to mommy.....Here are memories that are in your baby book and letters that I have written to you.  I love you and I will date the blogs as I have written them.

Love,
Mom