Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Monday, April 8, 2013
Monday, March 25, 2013
One Word 2013
I can't express how much my life has been impacted by having a One Word each year. It began in 2011 with FOCUS. Then the Lord showed me the importance of building RELATIONSHIPS. Last year, through thanksgiving, I learned to find JOY, unending joy in everything. I began asking God what my new word, my new focus was to be in 2013. I wrote down whispers from God and I prayed. I listened and one day, it was so clear.
My One Word for 2013 is GIVE. Much like last year, I find myself wondering, why give? I'm a pretty giving person, right? We are certainly a generous family. I am married to the most generous and thoughtful man who has a gift for giving...of his time, finances, talents, advise and amazing presents. I am constantly inspired by Scott and often find myself saying I would love to be more generous like him. I now realize that I have so much more to GIVE, in all areas of my life.
Once again, I am so very excited for this journey. The Lord is already showing me what it means to truly live an outwardly focused life and to live a life fully surrendered (GIVING all control) to Him. I look forward to sharing more with you along the way.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
I Found Joy
At the beginning of 2012, I shared that my One Word for the year would be JOY (click here for that post.) Honestly, I didn't really understand why this was the particular word, thing that the Lord wanted me to focus on. I was a pretty joyful person. Little did I know how the Lord would completely change the way I look at things and forever transform me on my journey to finding JOY.
The biggest transformation came when I began a little list. Early in the year, my friend and mentor encouraged me and a group of friends to write out 100 things we were thankful for. There was something special about writing these things out. I also heard people talk about a book called One Thousand Gifts. The stirring from that list that I had started hadn't left me and I knew this book went into this idea more. I downloaded the book on my iPad and began reading it. I started a new list in my bible journal and decided to write down 5-10 things I was thankful for before getting into God's word and starting each day. I kept reading and writing. Then one day, something came to me. The things I had been writing down, the things I'm grateful for were God's special gifts to me. They weren't just things I was thankful for or favorite things, they were GIFTS! He was blessing me daily through people and experiences. That is why I loved these things, these moments so much and couldn't wait to write them down. In an instant, my eyes were opened to JOY and how to find it. My JOY and my FAITH grew with THANKSGIVING (1 Corinthians 2:7). My perspective changed and I started noticing more and more of God's special gifts just for me throughout my day. JOY like never before. JOY in EVERYTHING!
Things that were once frustrations were no longer viewed as frustrations. These things had now become moments of JOY:
Not only did my perspective change in this area, but I also started to notice little things that I had been taking for granted or really just missed before:
"Always be full of JOY in the Lord. Again I say-rejoice!" Philippians 4:4. (Always: at all times, something that happens or is done continuously, receptively, on every occasion.) I am so thankful that God took me on this JOY Journey. I finished the year with 680 things on the list that I started in June. 2013 finds me starting all over at 1, finding JOY in EVERYTHING, ALWAYS. Will you join me?
Did you have a One Word/One Thing for 2012 or do you have one for 2013? I would love to hear it! My 2013 One Word post is coming next!
The biggest transformation came when I began a little list. Early in the year, my friend and mentor encouraged me and a group of friends to write out 100 things we were thankful for. There was something special about writing these things out. I also heard people talk about a book called One Thousand Gifts. The stirring from that list that I had started hadn't left me and I knew this book went into this idea more. I downloaded the book on my iPad and began reading it. I started a new list in my bible journal and decided to write down 5-10 things I was thankful for before getting into God's word and starting each day. I kept reading and writing. Then one day, something came to me. The things I had been writing down, the things I'm grateful for were God's special gifts to me. They weren't just things I was thankful for or favorite things, they were GIFTS! He was blessing me daily through people and experiences. That is why I loved these things, these moments so much and couldn't wait to write them down. In an instant, my eyes were opened to JOY and how to find it. My JOY and my FAITH grew with THANKSGIVING (1 Corinthians 2:7). My perspective changed and I started noticing more and more of God's special gifts just for me throughout my day. JOY like never before. JOY in EVERYTHING!
Things that were once frustrations were no longer viewed as frustrations. These things had now become moments of JOY:
- Messes around the house, I found JOY in. Instead of getting frustrated, I became so thankful that I have an amazing husband and two healthy little girls to pick up after.
- Change of plans or things not going as I had planned, JOY! I am thankful that God's ways are so much better than my ways and we will make the most out of our new plans.
- A bad run, JOY. Thank you, Jesus for a healthy body and the ability to get out and enjoy your creation.
- Something falling apart in our 100 year old house, JOY! How cool is it that we live in a 100 year old house? We have amazing neighbors, live in an awesome neighborhood and we have been good stewards with the money the Lord has blessed us with and He always provides so broken things can be fixed.
Not only did my perspective change in this area, but I also started to notice little things that I had been taking for granted or really just missed before:
- The people...friends, mentors, groups, that God has placed in our lives. I can look back and see His hand and how He knew years ago how much these people would mean in our lives. JOY!
- My VAN! Oh I so did not want a minivan, but I can't tell you how much JOY our Routan brings to our family.
- God using our girls to speak right to my heart and encourage me. JOY!
- Scott's generosity and huge heart for giving. JOY!
- Getting to be home with our girls every single day and the calling to homeschool them. Wow! The way God has been paving the road for this all along is magnificent (this is a blog post all of it's own!) JOY!
"Always be full of JOY in the Lord. Again I say-rejoice!" Philippians 4:4. (Always: at all times, something that happens or is done continuously, receptively, on every occasion.) I am so thankful that God took me on this JOY Journey. I finished the year with 680 things on the list that I started in June. 2013 finds me starting all over at 1, finding JOY in EVERYTHING, ALWAYS. Will you join me?
Did you have a One Word/One Thing for 2012 or do you have one for 2013? I would love to hear it! My 2013 One Word post is coming next!
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Princess Pool Party
It's birthday season around here. Abigail and Ashby once again decided to have their birthday party together this year. Makes this mommy quite happy. I love celebrating birthdays and especially love planning a party for my sweet girls. They informed Scott and I that they wanted to have a pool party, but not just any pool party. They wanted a Princess Pool Party.
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| My sweet friend, Kara Kae designed the adorable invitations. (Click the link to go to her fabulous blog, The Mom Diggity) |
I was THRILLED that they didn't want to have a party at home this year. Last year's Tangled Party was so cute and so fun, but it was a lot of work. I was determined to keep the work to a minimum this year. Having the party at the Twin Hills pool was a great start. Our Julie loves this stuff, too (and was a HUGE help last year.) Thankfully, she was excited to help out again. We decided to start looking for fun ideas on Pinterest. Of course we found all sorts of fun stuff and we said goodbye to low key and minimum work. Not really! Since I was actually on the ball this year, I had plenty of time to create some things online and found almost all of needed supplies at Dollar Tree. Our wonderful friends from Twin Hills, who adore Abigail and Ashby, wanted to help make the girls party extra special. Mr. Kevin had tables all set up and decorated for us, and Ms. Sheena made the girls' cake and cupcakes.
It was a perfect day for a pool party! Abigail and Ashby had a GREAT time swimming and hanging out with family and friends. All that swimming made the kids hungry. So we decided to blow out some candles and have some cake and cupcakes.
After the sugar rush, I thought it was a good idea to line the kids up for a swing at the piñata. Abigail thinks a birthday party is not complete without one. She and Ashby picked out a Princess Castle and we stuffed it full of more sugary treats and other fun items. Watching the kids hit this piñata was quite entertaining. Each child got of shots at it and then there was a mad dash when it broke open to fill up goodie bags.
Time for gifts. I thought the kiddos would want to hit the pool again, but they all wanted to watch Abigail and Ashby open presents. We have the most thoughtful family and friends! Thank you all for all of the clothes, jewelry, homemade treats and toys. (We're still working on thank you cards!) The girls LOVED it all!
What a super fun day celebrating the lives of our precious girls. Thank you to all that helped make their birthday's extra special.
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| Personalized labels to go on goodie buckets |
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| Floaties = Lifesaver Candies |
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| Paddle Boards = Starburst |
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| Swim Like A Fish = Goldfish |
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| Beach Balls = Gumballs |
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| The girls gave out tickets and silly straws to guests to get a Slush Puppie from the snack bar |
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| Sunscreen |
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| Thank you bubbles |
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| Rainbow Funfetti Cake by Ms. Sheena. So yummy! |
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| Julie made banners for each of the girls |
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| Happy birthday Abigail & Ashby! |
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| Some of our awesome family members & friends |
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| Ashby starts us off with a little help from Daddy |
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| Abigail connects |
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| After all the kids hit the Princess Castle, Scott got all of the treats to fall. There was a mad dash and scramble for goodies. |
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| Sweet birthday princesses |
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