Good afternoon friends! I've had a blog on my heart for a while, but haven't had the time to sit down and right!! I've been exhausted, busy, and just haven't done it!! As I'm sitting here, I am listening to birds chirping outside and the rain fall! It is one of the most beautiful things I've heard in a while! The Lord had me thinking on the birds....how they can't work, yet He provides for everything that they need. And the flowers of the field, they are clothed in complete beauty. So us, being humans, are worth more than the birds of the air and the flowers of the field, so why do we doubt that He will take care of us? He will take care of us, we have to REST in Him and His word!! We need to have that little thing called FAITH!! That word is a lot bigger than it looks, and each step you take walking in it, it becomes harder and more intense, but it is so BEAUTIFUL!!
As I listen, there are no sounds of children. See, mommy needed a break! It's been an exhausting 2 weeks. One week we were preparing all our paperwork to go Ukraine, and it's there and filed now, praise the Lord!! The next week was filled with hours and hours of work at our church gym preparing for our big fundraiser! I spent more time working up there than a full time job!! Our children were such troopers and handled working so well.....they actually played, but they were outside their routines!! So after a week and a half of that, exhaustion has finally set in! My poor children brought me to tears this morning, unintentionally, but the tears started! So I decided to call on a wonderful friend to keep them, so I could have some refreshing time in the Father!!
It has been beautiful, yet so simple for Him to help me get things "back in order" so to speak!! I have not had things in order for a while b/c of everything we are committed to! I feel like the Lord says to rest!! Our lives are ever changing, but we have to cling to Him, and listen to the direction that He wants me to take! It's funny how this morning, I tried to call friends, and no one answered, and I talked with Him, and He revealed the answer to me!! Beautiful...why don't I sit down more with Him?
As I look around at my house, that isn't in the order I would like it to be, it's slowly coming back to order. The Lord reminded me that there's no condemnation in Christ, there's grace!! He has called us to walk in the things that we are walking in, and He will give us direction! We have to choose to listen to Him, and lay down things that are less important!
A bit of transparency here....I feel like I haven't been enjoying my children lately. I feel like they are a job, instead of my blessings. I love them more than I could ever even explain, but I haven't been enjoying those "little moments". I asked the Lord to reveal why I haven't been. You know what it was??? Too many things were more important to me than them......like Facebook, talking to friends, having a clean house, looking like I have it together......OUCH!! I do need a mental break sometimes, but I haven't been enjoying them, b/c I'm seeking outside "entertainment" so to speak. So I have to repent to both the Father and to them!! I am thankful that God is exposing more of my heart to me, and I will gain more of Him and less of me in it! I will challenge myself to focus on my family more, and less on the other things. So I will be limiting my time on other things in my life!
I do want to update our fundraiser and adoption info, but that will have to wait until another post! I do, however, want to share a little story! We had some friends do a "fundraiser" for us at Stevie B's pizza place. It was 3 teenagers who worked their tales off cleaning tables up and serving people! They had cups on the tables with pictures of Julia and "our story". It was a Friday night, so it was pretty steady and busy! We were sitting in the back by the arcade part, enjoying our meal as a family! I forgot to bring cash, so we told our kids to just go and look at the games, but you know that's not an easy thing! A little later, Hannah brought me her wallet with some change, when I looked in it, I found $5! This was so awesome, so we split it between the 3 of them! They were so happy, and they were excited to win the few tickets that earned them a piece of candy each!!
As we watched the other children come out with hundreds of tickets, it didn't phase my children any, they were happy with the simple things! As a parent, this made me so excited, b/c my children aren't searching for the worldly pleasures! While they enjoyed some games, it wasn't a disappointment!!
As we gathered all the cups at the end of the night, we counted the donations. There was $38 after 3 hours of these sweet teens working so hard. It really saddened me to see how many people gave their children lots of $$ to waste in the arcade, yet didn't want to help the "teenagers cause" (no one knew we were the adoptive parents). It saddened me at society's priorities. I think they were a bit disappointed, but I know they stored up lots of treasures in Heaven!! And I know that I will be more aware of other's needs when I am out somewhere!! Thank you Father for this revelation!!
Alright friends, be blessed! I need to go pick up my babies and prepare for a women's banquet tonight!! Happy Mother's Day to all my wonderful Mom friends!!
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