Coincidences? I think not!

No one is where he is by accident, and chance plays no part in God’s plan.
A Course in Miracles 

When you pray for something: clarity, guidance, understanding, etc. you are looking for answers and a response, right?  I think so!  I hope so! 

Growing up, I remember my mother constantly saying, "There is no such thing as a coincidence!" At the time, I never questioned, doubted, or even wondered what she meant by this.  Now, as an adult I have decided that no, there is in fact no such thing as a coincidence!  

God knows.  He has a plan.  He understands and has paved the way for us and will guide us where He wants us to be, no matter what.  All we have to do is be willing to wait, listen, be patient, and continue to pray!  

This year, we have been praying about something very specific for our family.  The past week or so, it seems that the longer I look, the closer I pay attention, the more open I am to hearing God's answer and not mine...the more I see, the more I hear, and the more I realize!  

I know that this is a vague explanation of my realization that there are in fact no coincidences in life.  I have my reasons for being vague, but here is one example of what I am talking about and I would love to hear what you think!

3 times I have gotten in the car and a certain song was playing on the radio...one that means so very much to my husband and I.  This one song, "Until the Whole Word Hears" by Casting Crowns has played a huge role in our walk through missions and has touched our hearts since our very first trip to Honduras.  No, not a coincidence...but a memory being brought back to the forefront of my mind!  

Here is the video we made back in 2010!



The past 24 days of 2013 have been extremely eye-opening and we are super-excited to see what God has in store for the rest of the year and years to come!

OMGoodness...It has been a while!

I cannot even wrap my head around the time that it has been since my last blog!  I am ready to get back at it and I have made it a personal goal to put my thoughts out there in the "Blogger" world on a more consistent basis!

It seems that I tend to get extremely excited about blogging and about processing my thoughts through blogging when there are major things going on in my head and in our lives!  Crazy how that happens...and no I am not saying that my life has been "boring" for the last year and a half!  Busy...YES!  Are you kidding me, I have 3 boys ages 8, 5, and 3!  Our lives are ANYTHING but boring!

As this new year gets underway, there are so many things weighing our hearts and we feel the comfort of God's calling getting louder and clearer as each day passes.  I am asking a favor of the world right now...please be praying for our family!  Be praying for the excitement that is brewing!  Here are some specific requests:

1. That we continue each day to grow closer to our Lord and Savior!
2. That we grow together and that we are ready and listening as God leads the way and answers prayers daily.
3. That we stay focused on what the end goal is and that each decision and step we make is to glorify Him and to get us where we know He wants us to be.
4. For our boys and that we can guide them and prepare them for the life that God has planned for them!

Deep Breaths

As I sit here...reflecting on the day, the week behind me, the week ahead of me, and where I am at RIGHT NOW...I realize that sometimes I just need to take a deep breath. I allow myself to get so extremely busy, so busy that I forget to stop and breathe. The days start running together, the months go by so so fast and the years are getting shorter. So I ask myself, where has life gone? My baby is already 6 1/2 and almost finished with Kindergarten. My middle son is about to start Pre-K and my baby baby is already almost 2. Again, DEEP BREATH...it gets me emotional when I force myself to stop what I am doing and to take a look around only to realize that I have done it once again... "IT" being that I have been flying through life without stopping to take in every moment, every cute laugh, every innocent question or joke! So with this blog...I am once again REMINDING myself to slow down, to take a DEEP BREATH and to soak up every single moment like a sponge thirsting for water! Because, someday when I am living a slower life and every breath I take is a deep breath...I want to be sure to remember all the crazy moments that I had along the way. Thank GOD for all of the blessings and the amazing family he has given me. Thanking Him for the craziness and for all the busy things we have going one...thanking Him for every single minute of every single day! Thanking Him...because He chose me and loves me and is ALWAYS there for me...

Lessons Learned - Current Dealings - Things Accepted

IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER:

1. I was not raised around boys...and had no idea what my life would look like with three sons. 1 word - CRAZY!!! Why? Because boys are 100% a foreign creature to me!

2. Why boys are foreign: they are messy, they wrestle, they go outside and play really hard and then stink... bad (even at three years old - they smell, who would have ever thought!) They like video games and movies about turtles who fight and kids who are really good at karate. They start screaming at the top of their lungs the whole way home from daycare because they want a BALL - credit for this one goes to my 18 month old! They make sounds with their arm pits and then they laugh about how they can create a sound that is so similar to other bodily sounds that they also enjoy making in order to gross out their mommy. Goodness, there is so MUCH more! BUT...though boys are a creature that I may never COMPLETELY understand...one thing I do know is that they are absolutely positively precious, sweet, they can be gentle and they LOVE their mommy!

3. God blesses us with periods of waiting - for example, Just like in 1 Samuel 8:1-22 - wait for God's answer to your prayers...that way you are going down the path the He would have for you rather than making descisions based on your own desires.

4. BE PATIENT - In order to be able to WAIT, you must have patience. As I read in my daily devotional by Beth Moore, she says, "Often when God does not readily give us what we want, it is because He knows what our desire would cost us. FAITH sometimes means forgoing our desires because we trust Christ to have a better plan for our lives." - WOW...

5. Politics - Are dumb and frustrating

6. Security - a very valuable asset to have which may change at any point without warning - ex: Texas budget crisis = many changes and stress on our schools, jobs, students, teachers, lives, and FUTURE

7. If you don't actually speak up and voice your opinion - you can't complain when things don't go your way.

8. Sometimes people do things in life that upset you...you cannot control others and the choices they make...pray about it and turn it over to God! He will carry that burden for you...

9. Growing Up is hard to do... Raising Kids is hard to do... Why don't they have a manual for these things?

10. In the past year I have traveled out of the country 3 times to Honduras - a place that God has placed heavily on my heart - each time was a completely different experience and was blessed in totally different ways

11. That through all of these things...I know I am loved and wanted by my Lord and Savior

12. The priorities in life MUST go in this order - GOD, then Family, the career and life

13. Friends are very valuable and special...and the older I get the more I appreciate my true friends!

14. My children are growing faster than I could have ever imagine...and I am so fast paced that I have to constantly remind myself to slow down and enjoy each minute, memory, and experience.

15. That ACCOUNTABILITY partners are crucial to making it through each week! God never intended on us going through this life alone!

Oh, I know this is random...scattered...and ALL OVER the place...BUT, that is what my mind looks like when I wake up at 4:00a.m. and can't go back to sleep!!!

Adoption - WHAT, WHAT IS THIS!?! I NEED TO ASK BIG!

Brian and I have talked about adoption for a really long time, since we were dating (10 years ago). Then, as I have blogged about in the past, Brian's brother and his wife (famous blogger, Whitney from "Our Hearts are in Ethiopia") adopted our precious nephew last December (2009), this has been something even closer to our hearts. They began their adoption process in January of 2009 and we were fortunate enough to witness their experience first hand! WHAT A BLESSING THAT WAS! On December 19, 2009, I knew for sure that our lives would never be the same! SEE PREVIOUS POST

NOW...
Adoption is definetely weighing heavily on the heart. WHY? I know this isn't something we can do realistically right now...it is so expensive, and we do not have the money for something like this...our children are so young and we have so many bills...what about time off, time for bonding, time for travel...BUT...I KNOW this is something that I feel called to, something that is deep in my heart...so what is it that I REALLY KNOW and what am I going to do about it? (If this seems confusing to you...imagine what it's like in MY head!!!) I can tell you ONE thing I KNOW without a DOUBT. GOD AND ONLY GOD KNOWS.

So I ask myself..."Who are YOU to be questioning what God has put on your heart? Who are you to doubt the timing of anything that God calls you to?" I am but a mere human who is trying desperately to do things right. No, I'm nowhere near where I am striving to be - "CHRIST-LIKE", but the effort is there...so what am I going to do about these emotions and this love for adoption on the forefront of my heart, my soul, my mind?

SO now I ask "WHAT" and "WHY?"

These are the questions of the hour! I've been catching up on reading some blogs and I decided to do some research! I learned that in 2009, only 4 adoptions were completed from Honduras to the United States. In 2008, there were 11 and in 2007 there were 22. Can you believe that??

Of course I feel pulled to Honduras, because I have been called there to serve and do missions. I pray that the opportunities to do this never cease! (A whole different topic to be discussed in a future blog, I'm sure!) BUT, as you can see from the numbers...this isn't a common place for international adoptions. So I am left to pray, to listen, and to study...God will show me when He is ready. God will lead me when it is time. I pray that I am strong enough to hear Him and to Follow Him NO MATTER where He leads me.

Our pastor has been preaching a series titled "ASKING BIG"! It is about how we pray to God, and what we should be praying for. Some questions that we have been asked are:

1. What are you going to spend the rest of your life doing? (your plan?, God's plan?, Are you sure that your plan IS God's plan?)

2. We have been urged to "GET DEEP with GOD!"

3. Are you doing what you were created to do?

4. Are you asking about the BIG things in life?

Luke 11:9-10 say, "So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."

So....ASK, SEEK, KNOCK, REPEAT!!!!

I know that there is MUCH rambling taking place here, so in conclusion...I am praying and I am going to be ASKING BIG!!!!!

What else?

So Thursday morning I was eating...RED HOTS...of all things. UGH! They were delicious and I was quite enjoying myself until...I gasped, I was no longer just chewing red hots, I WAS CHEWING PART OF MY TOOTH. YUCK!

I have had plenty of teeth problems in the past and I should have known better. BUT NO, I still do things like, crunch down on chewy red hots on teeth that have already had fillings put in them. So, I went to the dentist and now I need a crown. I was still feeling comfortable with that concept because you know, I am an insurance paying citizen and I am even a smart insurance paying citizen because I have DENTAL INSURANCE!!! But wait, apparently that doesn't mean much because AFTER insurance, my balance (lucky me!) is $600. WHAT? Are you kidding me? So I left the dentist and came home cringing with the thought of having to tell my hubby, but he of course said that we didn't have a choice. That my teeth are an important investment!

I am proud to announce that I will have a crown on that back stubborn tooth as of next Friday, July 2nd!

THEN...(and please don't think I am complaining, because I AM extremely grateful for so much!!!) THIS MORNING, Brian decides that our dish washer is broken. My response of course was, "Oh, come on! Are you kidding me?" I figured that he must not know what he is doing because he had to of pushed some button that is making it act different than what he is used to. BUT...low and behold after a thorough investigation I have also come to the conclusion that our dish washer is a gonner. SIGH....

Even though these are two great expenses that are staring us straight in the face...today is a great day! In about 10 minutes, my precious nephew, Mekele (see prior posts) who was adopted from Ethiopia, is coming over to play! I get to babysit him for the first time tonight and my boys and I are thrilled beyond belief over this! It'll be a fun...definetely boy-filled evening!

OH! Our special guest just arrived!

The Goings On of....

There are so many different things going on...why is it that when summer comes and we have the greatest intentions of relaxing, having lots of "doing nothing" days...it turns out to be quite the opposite?

Brian took Brady to his 9 month check up - which was actually when he was already 11 months old, ugh! The doctor had mentioned at the 6 month check up that she was concerned about Braydon's head being tilted slightly to the left. At the "9" month check up his head was still slightly titled. In addition to the concern over his head and neck, she felt that one of his organs might have been swollen in his abdomen.

Following that check-up we went to get a sonogram to see what was going on in his little tummy. Thank goodness the results showed that everything looked normal. He may have just had poop in there...sorry for being so blunt, but it was an EXPENSIVE poop!!!! But, it is also a blessing that everything checked out!

Next stop was to the pediatric opthamologist. The pediatrician thought that maybe he was tilting his head due to an eye development issue so she wanted us to get check out by the specialist. We learned that Brady's head is not tilting due to his eyes! However, he is VERY farsighted and we have to go back in for a check-up on his eyes in December.

So, we start physical therapy on July 1st! We are praying that after the P.T. evaluation we will be told that after some excersizes that he will be cured and his head won't tilt anymore!

God has a plan, he has a reason, and he already knows how this will turn out. We still pray and we put our faith in Him and we turn our troubles over for Him to hold so that we don't have to. He is our Father in Heaven and he loves us...he does these things for us to help us get through trying and frustrating times. In the end, the only thing that will matter is being with Him, our Lord God almighty! Praise God for all of our blessings, and I pray that He continues to give us the strength and peace to get through this little journey, called life!