A Good Feeling

I'm sitting here at my clean kitchen table.  I cut some Bradford Pear branches from outside and put them in a vase today in the center.  My house smells so good-- like the first day of Spring.  Lime and Kiwi Cantaloupe.  My Tulip bulbs are blooming.   

I hear the rustling of the LEGO's in the big plastic tub, as my sweet Tobin boy is home on Spring Break from school.  I hear sweet whispers and lullaby's as Caroline has a Tea Party with Elisabeth (her American Girl Doll).  

All the blinds and curtains are pulled so I can soak in the sunshine on this first day of Spring.  Oh, how beautiful it is.  It's quite chilly outside, but the sun is playing mind games with us today.  

I'm about to wash all our sheets in Scentsy's Vanilla Suede Washer Whiff's, and get to folding the last load of clean laundry.  

I love having both my babes home on this Spring Break week.  It feels like home today.  I feel at peace.  I'm so content.   I hope I remember the feeling of today for the rest of my life.  I am so thankful for where our life is right now.  On this Wednesday in the middle of Spring Break, on the first day of Spring, I give thanks for all my blessings, and hope I don't step on a LEGO as I carry the sheets to the washer.  

Faith of a Princess

Today I took my shopping buddy to Walmart  a popular retail store.  Caroline loves going shopping with me, and does very well helping me out.  Sometimes she walks and helps put things in the cart and other times she rides in the front.  Sometimes she loves to ride in the back of the cart and organize everything I put in it-- Just like her momma, she loves to organize! ha!

Today I had a lot on my plate to do and wanted to get out of there quickly.  I had a list and I was stickin' to it.  Caroline wanted to bring her little Barbie ballerina in the store with her.  I told her it wasn't a good idea because she might loose it.  Now, this isn't any Barbie doll.  It was so much smaller than a regular sized barbie-- I'm talking tiny.  Maybe 3 inches tall.  She had won it in an Easter BINGO game yesterday at a friends house and loved this little barbie doll!  She has carried it around since yesterday.  With that in mind,  I could feel a fit coming on and since it was before nap time,  I chose not to have that battle, and let her take it in the store.  She promised she would hold on to her (the barbie of course) the whole time and not lose it, and on we went inside.

I'm on a roll.  I'm making good time shopping.  I'm almost done with my list and out of nowhere Caroline starts screaming and crying hysterically.  I have no idea what she could be carrying on about. I honestly thought some insect had stung her or something.  Then it hit me.  The Barbie was gone!  OH. MY. WORD.  What on earth was I going to do?

We went up and down the isles and backtracked. No sight of it.  I went to customer service and asked if someone had turned it in.  I even desperately searched the toy aisle's for a new one.  I know, not the smartest parenting move.  Like I said, I was desperate.  I knew this would affect our entire day, and maybe week.  If you know my dramatic daughter, you know what I mean.  Finally, I reluctantly headed toward the check out lines after grabbing the last couple of items from my list.  We were waiting in line and Caroline said, "Mommy, can I pray for my Barbie?"

"Okay. That sounds like a good idea." I replied. I mean, what was I going to say?  No?  I don't think so.  I'm a prayer warrior and I pray about things out loud with my kids all the time.  So, I let her pray from her heart.

"Jesus, please bring my Barbie back to me and please help her not to be broken.  Amen." She said in her sweet little voice.  I wanted to cry.  I told her that sometimes I pray for things and they don't happen, but God is Good and cares about us and wants us to be happy, even if our prayers don't get answered. She knew what I was saying and loudly replied,
"NO, mommy! Jesus can give it to me again! He can see everything and he knows where she is"

OH MY GOODNESS. I was in trouble!  I bought our items and we headed to the car.

I loaded all the groceries in the car and went to strap Caroline in her car seat.  She didn't want to get strapped in.  She said, "We can't leave yet! Jesus didn't give me my Barbie back yet."

My heart immediately sunk. I knew I had to explain why he hadn't allowed us to find it.  I thought that I would just call my friend and see where she bought it, then I would replace it later this week and not let Caroline know I bought a new one.  I know, that's really low.  What would you have done?

Well, I strapped her in and walked around the car to push the cart to the cart corral.  As I pushed my cart in the corral I said a prayer for wisdom to flow from my mouth as I explained to Caroline on the way home why we hadn't found the Barbie.  When I turned around there was a gray haired lady there who I had noticed earlier.  She had walked quite a distance to put her cart away.  I looked up at her and smiled and said, "There aren't many cart corral's here are there?"  She smiled back and said, "NO, there aren't enough." Then she asked, "Your little girl didn't lose a little doll did she?"  and she reached in her pocket and pulled out Caroline's Barbie doll.  She said, "I picked it up and thought I'd see someone with a little girl and asked if they dropped it."

I know what you're thinking.  I was in shock too!  I was overjoyed and thanked her tremendously and told her she had saved the day!  With a sigh of relief and an audible thanks to God,  I walked around the car and opened the door and said, "Look what I found!"

Caroline didn't even act that surprised as she replied, "See mommy! I told you He would find it!"

She had such faith, and God delivered.  He cares about the little desires of our hearts, even a four year old little girl's heart.  I think God did this today to strengthen my faith.  Just when I needed a little nudge, a reminder, and something to be thankful for, He delivered.


Psalm 37:4 
Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

My Armor is Ready

I know we are on the verge of something big. I know God is about to use us for a new purpose.  I know that He has a plan and we might not even know what it is yet.  I know that we are in the center of His will for us right now.  Are you wondering how I know this?

We are facing opposition. 
We are being slammed by things that are trying to halt us.

James 1:2-5 says
² Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. ⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

I'm not sure what God is doing or what he has planned for us, but I do know that the enemy wants to destroy it, and destroy us.  We will not let the enemy win.  We will not give in to the enemy's wrath.  We will stay strong on the path that God has for us and hold firmly to His grasp.   


Ephesians 6:13-17 says
¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

So tonight, as my children are tucked in their beds all safe and sound, I will seek him with all that I am until the enemy decides to flee in Jesus' name.  The Armor of God is protecting and will continue to protect us.  

No sickness, car accidents, broken things, or drama will steal our joy or distract us from what our purpose is.  I go into this weekend worshiping, praying, and seeking Him while clothed with the Armor of my God.  

A little Overwhelmed, and a LOT blessed

Let's just say it's been a little crazy around here the last couple weeks.  As I sit here wanting to feel sorry for myself, I decide to write down my blessings.  I will fight the evil temptations by consciously making a decision to quickly get out of my "pity party" that may otherwise soon prevail.  Before I tell you what I'm thankful for, I'll just replay how the last couple of days have gone for me.  Okay, maybe I won't because let's face it, that would be focusing on the negative.  However, I will tell you that today I have been taking care of a pretty sick little girl.  All you mommies out there know how much that can take out of a mommy, and I'm sure you can probably imagine how this post came about.  So here goes...

I am so blessed because
-  My heavenly father never leaves me, therefore I am NEVER alone.
-  I have been able to conceive and grow two amazing little people inside of me.  And the best part is I get to watch them learn and grow now.  What sweet characters they are becoming, and it's the best role I could have ever been blessed with... I get to be their Mommy!
-  My husband is sincerely amazing. I am so blessed to have a husband who goes to work 6 out of 7 days/nights a week to provide for us.  That is highly respectable in itself, but he leads us spiritually and loves us so much on top of providing for us! For the record, he is my hero when it comes to projects around the house. He is so handy, I'm not sure what I would do without him most days.
-  I am part of an amazing church Lifechurch.tv and feel so darn lucky to get to be a part of what they are doing in our world. 
-  7 months ago, I had no comprehension of what was to come, how I would see miracles and transformations and provision from the Lord like most people don't get to see in their whole lifetime.  All because of a fire.  I am thankful for that.
-  I am so blessed to be a part of an amazing company, the Scentsy Family Corporation.  Not only can I feed my addiction of candles for FREE, but I get to do it safely, grow a team of my own and watch myself succeed and provide in ways I never though possible.  I am able to give more than I ever had, just because of $99 I spent to start my own business 2 1/2 years ago.  Wow! (more on that later I'm sure).
-  I'm thankful for our earthly possessions that we have now.  Everything from this comfy couch to sit on and this roof over my head, to the lamp that gives me light and the dirty dishes in my sink.

We are truly blessed and I'm not gonna let a couple crazy weeks, unforeseen circumstances, drama, or sickness ruin my blessings!

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.