One of my favorite things about the summer is that I get to hang my clothes on the line.  On a windy day, I could just sit and watch the clothes dry by blowing ever so gently.  I look forward to this everyday and some days it gets me right out of bed.  This morning I slowly sat up in bed, stretched and slid on my slippers and robe.  Barely picking up my feet I walked to the washer and grabbed the wet clothes and walk to the deck (my husband has so kindly constructed a pulley system for a clothes line) and one by one begin beating them to get anything access off and then one by one begin hanging them to dry and straighten them out (can't that be used for a metaphor in itself for kids **wink wink***).  Underneath my feet a mamma robin has been caring for her baby since spring.   Right under the deck, right under where I stand to hang the laundry and this morning as I am hanging one of my husbands shirts that baby flew...took off and I was able to witness it.  

our strawberries coming to life.....

our blueberries coming to life...

Right now while homeschooling I am teaching the boys about planting a garden but also how to care for God's garden.  We have talked about preparing the soil and getting rid of bad dirt and weeds.  We have talked about fake seeds and bad seeds and well planted seeds and grounded seeds and relating this all to our Christian walk and growing the Kingdom of Heaven.  This made me begin thinking that one day I will witness each one of my own kids...my own babies fly and take off on their own.  There are days I get OVERWHELMED at the part I get to play in their lives.  The part that God has gifted me with.  I am not here on this earth for them and they are not here for me.  I am here for God and raising them is how I glorify Him.  

I begin to hang the little shorts that just yesterday were soaking wet with water from a family fishing night.  I think about the one I do life with...as I hang his socks, I quiet the voice inside me complaining that he never turns his socks right side out, and instead welcome the voice that says, "I get to do this".  Why? Because he lets me.  He values me.  My husband honors me.  He doesn't consider me lazy for getting out of bed at 7:30...he doesn't consider my job here with these four boys calm and easy.  He admits it's hard and loves me all the more because I get to be home.  The world does not think like this.  The world would call me unworthy, low, no good for nothing...

ahhhhh....but I am.  The clothes on the line were filled with dirt and stains and they have been washed clean, beaten and hanging to be wrinkle free, stain free.  I pull out more clothes to hang and there are a few more...still dirty.

"Our hands are so stained with sin that even our best works can leave traces of dirty prints."

There are rumors about me...there are people who don't like me...there is dirt covering my body and I am.so.unworthy.  

"But there is a Lamb who is white and there is a way to be white as snow and when we are our worst, His white hides our dirt best."

"In Him you are not your sin.  In Him, you are not your dirt. In Him you are hidden and your iniquity is made clean by your identity and your identity is in His purity - and when we are our worst, His white hides our dirt best."

The white shirts hang and blow, washed of their dirt.  The white pages of grace filled words stay open...slowly ridding me of my dirt.  I home school because I wanted a little bit of a slower paced life.  I want to be able to cherish the time with my kids growing up in this fast paced world.  I don't want to miss it.  We purposefully take the time to slow.our.lives.down...

and I learn to enjoy the small little moments in our life...

little feet trying to touch the sun swinging high...

Little feet racing fast to beat his brother...the man I do life with trailing behind remembering what it was like with his brothers...

Late night family fishing trips...while everyone else was getting their kids in bed...we were about to get more dirty on a long family bike ride to go fishing...

catching your first fish and running away from it because your were scared...aren't we all a little scared of the new?

 Being the smallest but being the first to catch a fish over your big brothers...again, the man I do life with sits back and remembers...

snuggles and closeness from this little man is definitely cherished....

taking the time to sit under blooming trees and take in the beauty, the smell and God's glory...

early morning snuggles with dad....

The man I do life with...reading their bedtime story...

I have yelled today...become impatient...I have been selfish and ungrateful...

Spurgeon says, "I don't know what I am more perfectly happy than when I am weeping for sin at the foot of the cross".  Happy? I don't know about jumping for joy but I know I'm in the right position...knees bent, head down...begging for mercy and for God to rid me of my dirt...making me white as snow...washed clean and waiting....

"A Godly friend is a grace of God in your life"

I spent the morning cleaning up at four boys and asking them not one, not two, not three but four times to do the assigned chore.  Being slightly frustrated this morning was a huge understatement.  We are going through a 7 lesson plan on planting a garden and how to care for it and metaphorically relating that to how we take care of "God's garden".  So we go through our lesson plan and head out to the local greenhouse because our garden is planned and we need to start planting.  Bringing four boys to a greenhouse isn't always the easiest thing in the world.  Practicing patience? It's a great place to bring four boys!

They were running and jumping and climbing under tables and picking out flowers! It was craziness.  There were tears and fights and me telling them to keep their hands to themselves and when they didn't obey it was time for them to sit on their hands. AHHHHHH....another understatement.

I pull in the driveway and then there is my neighbor...almost instantly behind me asking me if I got my lilacs...she said she had some access to some and cut some for me.  I expected a vase full...not...

There are lilacs in almost every room.  What a grace of God today..this friend, this neighbor with a true, genuine, pure heart...she has blessed me today. Which reminds me...

She is not one to do something for someone to get "points" or to impress.  She does something for someone because she truly loves.  She is a living example of 1 Corinthians 16:14  Thank you friend and neighbor for loving me.  You have been an example in many ways to me.



I have this incredible group of girls in my life.  Every Tuesday we get together at one of our houses and we study the Bible.  This amazing woman of faith prayed two years ago who God wanted her to invest her time into and He answered her prayer with this small group of young girls that has turned into us extending the offer to other moms.  Take a break with me right there.  How many times, I wonder, have I prayed something like that and IMMEDIATELY a name popped into my head but I doubted it with, "maybe this person is just my desire to invest in their lives...not Gods".  How many times did I "shrug" God's suggestion off and ultimately miss out. Okay back on track....

So every Tuesday we get together and currently we are discussing Hebrews...which I love.  Some weeks we get through two verses and some weeks we get through two chapters.  We read of yelling kids or other moms being interrupted by their kids or the clanking to toys from the little babies sitting right on their mama's laps.  

Okay I am going to bunny trail again (wink).  This past weekend was Memorial Day Weekend.  Each holiday weekend in the summer there is this GIANT flee market in a city a little north of where I live and I love to go.  I had one goal...to say thank you to a Vet.  I failed.  Usually when my kids are with me I encourage them to thank a vet and it's easier when they are around...but when it was just me...I crawled back in my shell.  But this wasn't the only failure I faced that day....

I was at this little booth with old books.  If you don't know me yet I have a fascination with old books.  A friend had told me about The Sugar Creek Gang books and I found this one and opened it up...I read the line out loud, "I knew I wasn't in heaven yet"...I smiled and the owner of the booth said, "Don't we all wish heaven was coming soon? We just gotta keep livin' a good life so we have better chances of getting in".  I paid him and I.WALKED.AWAY.

The writer of Hebrews loved the history of his people.  He appreciated the way God worked through his chosen people DESPITE THEIR MANY SHORTCOMINGS.  And, as chapter 11 brilliantly illustrates, he knew that God had worked through people of faith down through the centuries to keep his great plan on track.  In compiling their names, the writer created what has come to be known as the Bible's Hall of Faith.  

Drawing from a huge cast of Old Testament heroes, the writer proves his point that God is pleased by the trust that people have in him.  Faith is more important to God than Jewish rituals ever were - even before they became obsolete.  Before Israel had a system of laws and religious rituals, the faith of godly men and women gave God immense pleasure - people like Abel, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob and Moses.  To live in the Hall of Faith forever we need to do two things.  First, like anyone entering the race, "let us throw off everything that hinders" (12:1).  Yield everything to Christ.  Second, we are really to believe that Jesus is trustworthy.  We we do, we have given up the sin that so easily besets us - for that is the sin of unbelief. We give up that sin when we "fix our eyes on Jesus" (12:2).

In going through the Hall of Faith-ers I can't help but be encouraged.  Abraham faithfully obeyed God despite never seeing some of the promises (many nations through him).  He died living by faith. Sarah laughed when she was told she would have a baby in her old age...she doubted.  Jacob struggled his whole life with God until he and God literally got into an all night wrestling match.  Still, he was re-named Israel which means "He struggles with God".  Moses had little faith at times, doubted at times and before speaking to the people he questioned God and asked God to choose someone else.  Rahab...she is one of my favorites because all of the Hall of Faith-ers had God speaking to them directly.  Rahab had only heard about this powerful God and she chose to have faith and fear God.  Isn't that how we come to God today? We hear of his great works and the life of Jesus and we believe without seeing.  Gideon was plagued with doubts.  Barak had faith that wavered and wouldn't go into war unless Deborah went with him.  Samson...he gave into many weaknesses of the flesh and made numerous mistakes.  Jephthah was a mighty warrior and although he accomplished great things when he trusted in God, he made a fatal mistake that ended in disastrous consequences for his family.  David, a murderer, adulterer and liar yet still listed.  All of these people were incredibly honored in chapter 11 of Hebrews.  What I love so much about the compilation of these heroes is that somewhere everyone can relate to ONE person in this Hall of Faith.  No one is exempt. Isn't that just the character of God and the Bible? It is for everyone...it can relate to everyone as can the ancestors of the Hall of Faith.

Faith is the belief that God is real and that God is good.  Faith is not a mystical experience or a midnight vision or a voice in the forest...it is a choice to believe that the one who made it all hasn't left it all and that he still sends light into the shadows and responds to gestures of faith...

Faith is not the belief that God will do what you want.  Faith is the belief that God will do what is right.  The authors translation (Hebrews by Max Lucado) recites Matthew 5:6 like this, "Blessed are the dirt-poor, nothing-to-give, trapped-in-the-corner, destitute, diseased," Jesus said, "for theirs is the kingdom of heaven".  God's help is near and always available, but it is only give to those who seek it.  Nothing results from apathy...

yes....that is what I should have said to the man at the booth who is "working" his way to heaven.  I pray for that man...that someone brave will share the Gospel with him...

Although I look down on myself and am disappointed and discouraged and yes questioned my ability as a Christian or my joy in my walk...I am grateful and indebted that God doesn't shake his head at me...I pray he continues to give me opportunities to reach out and share his Gospel out of my comfort zone...not in it. 

 

 

So we are a part of a home school group.  It's full of boys, it's loud and chaotic but I wouldn't want it any other way.  The boys are learning about trees and I just love the moms who are putting the work into it...it's a blessing to watch them teach. 

 

Last week one of the moms mentioned the significance of an Olive Tree in the bible...or olives in general.  It was intriguing to me and so naturally I wanted to come home and dive into it.

 

I am no theologian and I know there are more than likely a million different and deeper significances of olives in the Bible.  But this is what I do know...

 

Children and adults are compared to olive trees or branches in the Bible.  Olive trees or branches are mentioned many times in the Bible.  It was an olive branch that the dove brought back to the Ark, there is the Mount of Olives, Kings and Priests were anointed with olive oil on their heads, it was used to light lamps (like the Menorah) and it was an orchard where Jesus went to pray...the Garden of Gethsemane.

 

To this day there are olive trees over 1,000 years old still producing fruit.  Olive trees are incredibly strong.  In their old age they hallow out but their trunk continues to grow thicker.  If you were to look around an olive tree you would more than likely see several shoots springing up around it ensuring it's existence and making it's longevity a beautiful characteristic.  Even if the trunk is cut down, the shoots continue to grow.  The olive tree thrives in rocky soil and lives to bear fruit for centuries.  It is not considered the most beautiful of trees BUT it's fruit was beautiful...necessary.

 

 

A few of these facts really stood out to me...and I love the picture I painted in my head...unless it's wrong (wink wink).  As followers of Christ, we as Christians have a daily decision to take up our cross, die to ourselves and choose to follow the One who died for us.  I close my eyes and picture myself as an olive tree.  I am a broken sinner...no good for nothing...deserving of the very least.  Daily I struggle with "pet sins" that as Christians we tolerate.  There is nothing that my hands can do to save my guilty soul...I have done nothing to earn the love of Christ.  Without Christ...I am dust.  Does that paint a pretty picture? The Olive Tree is not a pretty tree...just like me.  With the help of Christ we are able to endure.  With the help of Christ we tend to thrive in rocky soil.  When we choose to trust Christ with our lives...when we endure hard times...we can choose to thrive in our faith or not.  The olive tree thrived in rocky soil and stood strong in hard weather.  I picture my Aunt who thrived in her rocky soil...brain cancer.  She was human, yes she failed, but the most beautiful thing about her was her fruit.  She stood strong in her test of trials and she showed in an example to those around her...the fruit bore from her life.  I think of a friend who has stood against infertility and epilepsy...she has chosen to praise God in the storm and she is thriving in her rocky soil. And her fruit? Two beautiful twins and a bunch of women ministered to through her. It's...the beautiful from the ugly...the fruit produced in rocky soil. 

 

This fruit?  Because we have witnessed first hand those willing to stand true to their faith in rocky soil...we are filled.  Even though my Aunt was "cut down"...she lost her battle to brain cancer...the "shoots" growing around her...are continuing to grow and she is a part of that.  We are ugly like the olive tree because we are sin.  But with Christ...we can withstand the rocky soil and stand firm in our faith.  Those growing around us...the shoots surrounding us will see the fruit that comes from steadfastness.  You will face hard times in life...God doesn't assure us that our lives will be easy, but being faithful to Christ...persevering and remaining steadfast...your branches will spread, your fruit will grow and that will be a witness.  I want the boys in my life to see my steadfastness...they are the shoots surrounding my tree right now and I want the hope I have in Christ to continue into their lives...

 

 

OH! There's one more thing I learned about olive trees...In order to get the olives off the tree they were beaten and shaken.  The fruit was pulled and stomped on...but out of that came olive oil...something necessary for living then.

 

Christ was beaten...to be unrecognizable and stripped of his clothing and spit upon...hung to a tree and died there...for me.  It was a horrific image but out of it? Salvation...hope...and HE is necessary in our lives.  We cannot be without Him.

 

This month I get to teach my boys about this.  So we will be painting and making, reading and writing and praying...

 

I really want to paint with the boys and talk about the different significances of the olive branch....

 

 

and I would love to make homemade olive oil lamps....

 



 

And olive oil soap would be great too....

 

 

and other suggestions?  And what picture do you paint in your head when given facts about the olive tree?



 

 

Here is some sweet goodness for your Mother's Day weekend...

 

 

Spring cleaning is getting to me....that itch to ditch everything in the house, open the windows and just clean like a freak!  I needed to clean my floors the other day and realized I was out of mopping solution...so PINTEREST to the rescue and I found a natural homemade solution and let me tell you...I WILL NEVER GO BACK!!!!

 

The recipe is 1 gallon of water, 1 cup vinegar and 10 drops peppermint.  Of course I add more because I like to be "inventive"...so I added lemon slices and 10 drops of rosemary! You can also add a few drops of dish soap or pure liquid castile soap. 

My bathroom that is occupied by boys 24/7 has never smelled better! This is CHEAP! This is EASY! The kids can HELP (because it's without chemicals) and it SMELLS SO GOOD!

 

 

This is basically my counter top cleaner as well except I use orange essential oil, rosemary and bay leaves and let it "steep" 24/7...just keep refilling!!!!

 

 

So yesterday we 80 degrees outside....right??? I purposefully made my table "happy" yesterday because that is where we as a family spend a lot of our time. 

 

 

and nothing goes better with an 80 degree day than homemade southern sweet tea!

 

Try this out....

 

6 cups of water

5 tea bags

1 cup of sugar

 

Bring this mixture to a slight boil and then remove from heat.  Cover and let sit overnight! In the morning pour it in a gallon size jar and fill to the brim with water....it really is the best!

 

With Mother's Day approaching I've been very intentional to focus on what mother's day really is about...I found two blogs that said my feelings perfectly.

Ann Voskamp's blog talks about how Mother's Day is really for the birds.  My favorite quote from her blog yesterday was this...

"REAL womanhood isn't a function of becoming a great mother, but of being loved by your Great Father.  Someone write that on a bouquet of flowers.  We all need that."

 

Then there is Lisa-Jo Baker's blog talking about how NOT to be disappointed in Mother's Day.  She talks about hearing all about it last year...how our expectations as a mom weren't met on Mother's Day...this hit home moms...I STRONGLY ENCOURAGE YOU TO READ THIS.  My favorite portion of her blog is this...

"We expect and the expecting is high and impossible until it blooms into full blown entitlement.  And entitlement? Entitlement is a very slippery thing.

Entitlement believes that we know best, deserve the best, and resents the rest who don’t deliver. Entitlement takes the sacrifice of motherhood and spins it in dizzying, disorienting circles.

Motherhood bends. Entitlement demands.

Motherhood serves. Entitlement stomps its foot.

Motherhood delights. Entitlement keeps lists.

Motherhood laughs. Entitlement whines.

Motherhood celebrates. Entitlement sulks.

Entitlement tastes bitterness in every bit of a day that doesn't go as planned.

 

So how do we as moms have a good mother's day? BE A MOM! Because honestly nothing is more rewarding than bending a knee low and serving.  Because we set the example and if we sulk because we didn't get a card at least...then we show our kids the attitude that they can have when it's "their day". 

Here's my idea of the perfect Mother's Day...are you ready? I'm making sure I don't have too many expectations here ...

 

How to have the perfect Mother's Day...

1. Put away the "to-do" list.  Like literally take it down off your fridge or wall or ceiling and put it away...just for the day...hide it.

2. Stay up late and do all of the dishes and laundry so on Mother's Day...being overwhelmed isn't an option (don't expect other's to do it)

3. count it all joy...motherhood and just soak in it...

4. Put your big girl boots on and go on an adventure...take a long walk, let the kids climb trees or climb one for yourself. Stop for 2 minutes (count if you need to) and just be still and stand in awe of God's creation.

5. LAUGH! Try and laugh 5 times on Mother's Day and not just at nothing but I guarantee if you have small children...just get them talking and you will laugh.

6. Call a mom who might have lost a baby this year or the year before or the year before and really talk to them about how their strength in motherhood cannot compare to yours.

7.  Serve a single mom...or a mom in your life...or your best friend who is a mom.

8.  DON'T COUNT THE CALORIES for one day...just count the memories and remember to take pictures (says the pathological picture taker)

9.  Make a point to kiss your husband long and good and tell him why you are grateful you are the mother of his children

10.  Hug your family close and tell them all why you love being their mom

 

Make messes with ice cream and mud, make splashing with the bath, snuggle in close and turn off the computer, the phone and life for just ONE day and be full in your role as mom that day...put away perfection and the false expectations of being a mom in this world and just remember that God gave you a ministry and that is right where you are...home!

 

 

 

Happy Mother's Day!

 

 

 



 



Maturing through difficult times

Maturing in difficult times....

"We all meet difficulty in this life, no matter who we are.  The key is how we respond to it.  The apostle Paul discovered that by admitting his frailty, not denying it, he opened the door for God's healing power."

There's the first step in maturing in my opinion.  Admitting you are not perfect.  Admitting you have failures...admitting you are a lowly sinner.  

"our emotions are brainless reactors.  Emotions make no distinction between a present reality and a fictitious fantasy.  Emotions cannot think for themselves.  They merely respond."

Emotions are not wrong.  We were created with emotions.  Have you not seen the difference of emotions between a man and a woman? We were created to have emotions and experience them...Jesus did.  Sometimes we freak out though.  We think we are bipolar, crazy, EMOTIONAL, a wreak...when really those are thoughts.  WE look to hide or change our feelings rather than realizing it is our thinking that needs to change.  We can never change our emotions...it's part of who we are.  We can only change what we choose to think, not what we feel.

I have been told I act "defensively" when I am attacked or called out.  I can't change those emotions but I can change how I respond to them.  With some people it's easier than others.  I find that weird.  My reaction to harsh words from a sister in Christ is just to break down and cry...and separate myself from the world.  My reaction to family...even my husband...is defensive reactions...

Jesus is our Healer.  In his Word, the Healer does not appeal to our emotions in order to change them.  INstead, he appeals to our minds in order to renew them.

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

As we experience the renewing of our mindsets, we can walk through trouble without the trouble itself determining how we think and consequently feel about ourselves.  The trouble may not go away for some time, but our attitudes and responses in the midst of circumstances can change dramatically.  As the Healer renews our minds, we can experience significant changes in how we feel. 

    

 

 

 

Remember a while back I said I was closing my facebook account? Well I lied! Okay I didn't purposefully lie but I made am impulsive, rash decision (I can't believe I'm saying that about facebook) and I had a friend encourage me to just pray about it.  My first initial thoughts were, "why do I have to pray about getting off facebook?!?" But then there was more...

 

 

Hey sister. I've been thinking. I don't think you should stop blogging. And I don't think you should shut down your FB entirely. You know the old saying "misery loves company"? Don't give these girls and the devil the pleasure of knowing they are the cause for you withdrawing from something that reaches so many people. The devil wants this. He wants to discourage you and make you feel like you aren't cut out for this. He wants you to doubt a God given gift. He wants you to shut down your blog because it glorifies God and because it brings a sense of spiritual relief that quite a few of your FB followers desire. Your blogs are a sort of ministry, reaching people that need it. I understand stepping away from FB. But, FB is a great way to share your blog. I don't follow blogs because it's too hard through my phone. I only see/read your blogs when you post the link via FB. I know a few other I women as well that love reading your blog and I know they find them through FB. This isn't a guilt trip or me trying to pressure to stay plugged into FB. FB can be a dangerous world - this I know from past experiences. But it can also be uplifting, encouraging and an amazing way to intentionally spread the love of Christ. Just a thought. Love you.

 

 

Then there was this...

 

I wanted to share this with you. To let you know there are people out there that think you are doing good despite the rude mean Satan spirit people. When I got married I drifted away from my faith. This last year has been very hard in my life emotionally, from dealing with my feelings changing and home sickness from my family I am not sharing this to praise you but to give you encouragement God is working through you. Reading your posts and reading your blogs has made me realize the person that was missing in my daily like from Jesus and my faith, my faith to him. I have since started studying the bible again and really focusing on my future and what my life plan is, what plan he has for me. Please keep doing what you are doing even though there are people trying to tear you down!

 

I don't post these to give myself praise or anything else you may be thinking.  I post these to give God the glory that for some reason some crazy people out there are actually encourage by the words God gives me and the heart God has given me.  Just like throughout this whole month God has affirmed my true friendships and how much he has blessed me with women who have evidently true loving hearts for God.

 

So what am I learning from this month of mixed emotions??? OH.MY.GOODNESS...the one thing I am horrible at. TRUST.  I have this amazing mentor.  Sue Scott. She gives so much into my life and I feel I will never be able to bless her like she has blessed me, but she told me that it's possible God continues to bring these situations into my life to work out some good in me.  We kept talking and it came out that I need to trust more....ahhhhh....right.  That one word that I've always struggled with (just ask my husband)!  God has been working in my heart.  He has given me a heart for women...especially the women of my generation.  He has given me a desire to see the women of my generation rise up and become a great movement for God.  As Jennie Allen says, a great movement is a bunch of successful women or big events for the world to see....a great movement of women for Christ is 10,000 women on their faces surrendering to Christ. 

 

 

This has been so true to my walk with Christ right now...Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders, let me walk upon the waters...wherever you would call me.  Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander and my faith would be made stronger in the presence of my Savior.

 

I want to have trust without borders.  I want God to take me deeper into the great unknown...whatever He has for my life and whatever He has for me to learn through these broken relationships...I pray I glorify Him in it all.

 

 

There are still a swirl of emotions I need to work through and thankfully I have an abundance of scripture plastered on the walls for me to write on my heart....because that is the only way I will heal.  Friend can heal my emotions and it's instant, but the heart that has a seed of anger and bitterness in it from these broken relationship...only CHRIST CAN HEAL THAT.

 

so I continue to "call upon your name.  Keep my eyes above the wave.  When oceans rise, my soul will rest in your embrace.  I am Yours and You are mine"...

 

 

 

another thought that I keep pounding into my head is that Jesus...a relationship with Jesus is not about us.  These circumstances and broken friendships that are going on in my life are not about me...they are about Him.  He didn't die for us to advance His cause or hawk His wares.  He died for me because He loves me, and seeks to welcome me into a growing and satisfying fellowship with Him.  He desires that for you too.  He is God...the One we were built for in the first place.  The One we were designed to worship with our every thought and move...our very lives.  He is the emerging King of a new eternal order, and we have the unspeakable privilege  of serving Him daily.  He is the ONE and only answer to all that we need and want!



The sun rises and it beams through the windows.  The heating blanket is on and the sheets are tangled but oh.so.warm.  My husband is up and ready and he comes walking in, leans over and kisses me good bye.  The kids start yelling my name.  So I am up, slippers on the feet and I walk away from the tangled sheets, folded, crinkled...evidently revealing a good nights sleep.  

I used to think it was pointless to make the bed.  I used to think that in 12 hours I would be right back in there, tangling them up even more.  But after nine years of marriage and four kids...this is why I make my bed. 

photo credit Amy Oonk with Everyday Joy Photography

I feel incredibly blessed to have this man in my life.  I feel even more amazed at the fact that God hand picked him for me at the age of 14...yes you read that right...14.  God knew exactly what he was doing because this man compliments me in every way possible.  God knew I needed a man who would love me no matter how much my body changed with each kid.  God knew I needed a man assured me that no other woman means more to him than me.  God knew I needed a man who would jump in fully to the father role.  

 Photo credit Amy Oonk with Everyday Joy Photography

Photo Credit Amy Oonk with Everyday Joy Photography

So I untangle the sheets.  Lay them straight and think of the long talks we've had with our heads resting on our pillows.  I remember those late saturday mornings where we could cuddle while kids jumped all over us.  I think back to each baby born spending their first few months with us snuggled closely in those sheets.  

For me, making the bed is a time for me to remember God's faithfulness in my life. This man and I were picked by God to be together ... just us ... no one else.  I pray and we pray that God will break the chains of adultery and broken marriages in my family with our marriage.  I bring the sheet above my head and watch it balloon up and I tuck it in tight around the bed.  I layer the blankets on and fluff the pillows.  I give thanks.  

And the second reason I make the bed....because it never fails that once the reminiscing is done...the sound of fluffing pillows always brings the pitter patter of little feet...and the greatest joy they experience right now is the freedom to jump on a clean bed....

and then I cry....because God's faithfulness overwhelms me.  When I graduated high school...I had dreams for my life and as much as sometimes I wanted them to be this big degree from a good college...it was instead to be a mom to Brian's kids.  I try daily not to take these four little men in my life for granted because I have seen first hand in family and friends the pain of miscarriages and infertility.  God has been so faithful...and I am so undeserving.  That is why I cry....

May seem little and petty to most but for me...making the bed is a good part of my day....