A girl and her purse

So we were a little late to softball practice, but a girl MUST have a matching purse. Thanks, MawMaw for the new purse. Daddy wasn't impressed that we were running late in order to find the purse but didn't she look good?
Last night we just couldn't go to bed because Tia was chatting on Facebook with our friends who are missionaries in Mexico. We saw the girls about two months ago, but Tia said, "Mom, do you know how many years it has been since I have talked to them?" So we had a little later bedtime, but lots of smiles.

After a rather down week I just had to post some pictures that make me smile! In the past few weeks we have endured the car wreck, leaving us without one vehicle, the dreaded TAKS testing, some major plumbing issues and now some unexpected things we haven't included in our homestudy that will have to be taken care of. So what am I thankful for:
Brandon wasn't injured in the wreck, we still have two vehicles, I have a college degree and the ability to go to work everyday, I have indoor plumbing and God is leading us down the road to adopt His children even if the road is bumpy. Thank you Jesus for the rainbow after the rain! I'm so glad His promises never fail

FEAR

What is Fear? Dave Ramsey says it is:

False Evidence Appearing Real

I loved this definition, because it is so true. Isn't it true that so many of the things we fear never actually come to pass? Satan has tried so hard to throw fear our way recently, but God has been SO faithful in His provisions and protection.
*For the past few weeks we have been having plumbing issues and the fear of what this is going to involve has been a struggle and a financial concern. Yesterday we were blessed by a wonderful plumber that is a Godly man and has been a huge help to us. Thank you, Joe! Please pray as we are still dealing with this issue and it is a very real struggle!
*Last week we feared what injuries Brandon had received in the wreck and God protected him.
* Just last night the home behind ours burned to the ground. As the fire got closer I feared the fire might come the way of our home. God's hand of protection was with us and we pray He will provide for the family who lost their home.
*We often fear how we will pay for this adoption, but we know that "if God leads us to it, He will see us through it!"

Here's what our Heavenly Father says about fear:

For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” Romans 8:15 (New King James Version)

Our wonderful pastor reminded us tonight that Psalm 46:2 says, "Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea."
Isn't it amazing how God speaks to us when He knows what is going through our mind?

I would love to hear from you, my bloggy friends, on how God has provided for your needs during a time of fear. I cherish your comments!

The car

Here is a picture of the car after Brandon's wreck and both airbags deployed. I wrote about this on yesterday's blog so I won't go into the details again, but I did want to post the pictures for you to see God's awesome hand of protection.
Have you ever smelled a car after the airbags have deployed? It stinks terribly and I hope you don't ever have to smell it up close! And we just thought the hail dents from last year's storm were ugly!
Don't you think it odd that events like these happen when we are trying hard to follow God's plan? Hm? Do you think Satan is trying to keep us from it? If so, he WILL NOT win and we are even more determined to proceed with His desire for our adoption. God wants nothing more than for us to love the orphans and Satan will try to keep us from it. When this wreck happened I was in the house vacuuming to get ready for our home study on Sunday afternoon. I didn't even hear my cell phone ring when David told me to come outside. Money is already very tight as we try to save every penny to bring our daughter home from China. With liability only we are out a vehicle for awhile, but our God owns the cattle on a thousand hills and our financial burdens provide us more of an opportunity to see His hand at work. We did loose a little sleep Sat. night after our short hospital visit, but I did finish vacuuming and we completed the second visit of our home study. Our next and final visit will be this Thursday.

Brandon's wreck

Tomorrow morning is going to be here far too soon and I am exhausted, but I want to give a few details of our weekend and give God the glory for His hand of protection. Last night, Brandon was leaving the house to go eat with some friends, driving his dad's small car. That car certainly wasn't pretty after last year's hailstorm, but it was paid for and got great gas mileage for the long drive to work. David was using Brandon's truck to haul off some tree limbs. I was in the house vacuuming and David called my cell phone telling me to come outside that "he had been hit." I thought he must be referring to the dog so I was already concerned, but as I went running outside Brandon was lying on the ground and the car was smoking. He had not seen a truck pulling a trailer and pulled out into it as he was pulling out of our driveway. Both airbags deployed and the entire front end was totally destroyed. He saw smoke coming from the hood and opened the door and fell onto the ground beside the car. He was coherent but would not respond. David had already called 911 by the time I got outside and they quickly showed up with about 6 emergency vehicles. They loaded Brandon up and took him to the hospital and decided that he must have just been in shock and had the air knocked out of him. They gave him some medicine to calm him down and ended up sending us home after about an hour. He still had a headache today but seemed ok. Please pray that he feels better tomorrow or we will certainly be making to trip to the doctor.

My God is my comforter and protector!

Breathing a sigh of relief!

I have laundry piled high, dust everywhere, papers to grade, a septic tank that is causing problems, dinner to cook, etc, etc. But one thing is for certain, I am overjoyed that a few other tasks are out of the way.

We have just completed income tax for three of us. So much for having grown children! Mom and turbo tax still got to do the taxes. It was easy, but took some time. David took ours to a friend to file and praise the Lord we only had to pay $15.00.

Immediately after completing these I stayed online and completed my Hague training for our adoption. This is an 8 hour course that David and I have both had to complete in the last week. YEAH! It is finished. Another step closer!

Now please pray that I can complete the other chores prior to our homestudy on Sunday. Dinner comes next! I informed my son that he had to clean prior to Sunday and his comment was, "What? Do you think that they will tell us we can't adopt if my clothes are out?" No, son, they may not, but mom needs a clean house before Sunday or I may get a little more vocal!

A day of celebration

After a busy day and a late night lock-in at church, my husband decided to sleep through the picture. Since it was the only one I had I just had to post it though. We had to get creative when the candles just weren't the right number. 7 +1 =8 and 5+1=6 so that is 86 isn't it?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NANNIE

From the youngest, one year old, to our birthday girl at 86, a bunch of girls having fun together.

Now this is a crew isn't it? What a joy it is to spend time with the family and celebrate our Risen Lord.

And to add a lot of excitement to the day, we had confetti eggs. Some of us had confetti in places we won't discuss. Thanks, Mimi, for lots of laughs.

Faithful Followers

"...the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings-and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers."(Rev. 17:14)

Today one of those called, chosen and faithful followers went home to be with Him and I know the angels are rejoicing as our hearts are grieving. For those of you that prayed for the Taylor family with us a few weeks ago, thank you. God heard our prayers for his ultimate healing. Hank blessed our lives as one who lived his life to the fullest, loved his family and loved his Lord. Please pray for his family and friends in the days ahead. He has a beautiful wife, a grown daughter and two precious teenagers whom I have been blessed to teach last year and this year in class.

Cancer is an ugly disease that we don't understand but one thing we know: Our God is in control and His will is perfect.

Hug those you love today and treasure every moment you have together.

It's in the mail

Our check for our home study is on the way to Dallas today. It should be there in a day, but the packet of all of our home study documents took 10 days to arrive after getting lost in the mail. Very frustrating since it had every important document about our family in that envelope. Please pray that this makes it in a little more timely manner! We should hear about scheduling our home study within the week. I'll keep you updated.

God’s love is meteoric, His loyalty astronomic, His purpose titanic, His verdicts oceanic. Yet in His largeness nothing gets lost; Not a man, not a mouse, slips through the cracks. How exquisite Your love, O God! Psalm 36:5-7a, The Message

This verse was a reminder to me tonight of God's promise that He sees the smallest details in our lives. Even my envelope in the mail wasn't lost to Him. This isn't written in the version of the Bible I typically read, but I was checking out Beth Moore's blog after I had already posted the message above the verse and it was such a blessing to me of the promises in His word. Just like the reminder as I drove to school this morning and listened to the song "Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." As I looked in my rearview mirror the beautiful sun rising on the horizon reminded me that He is truly the one that lights our way.

Did He speak to you today? I cherish your comments and would love to hear from any of you that are following our journey.