Pursued

This past week a ton of emotions have been flooding my heart. The Lord is taking me to a new level with Him and my heart is overflowing.

I feel pursued.

I feel wanted.

I feel the love of God like never before.

And I have no idea what to do with it, accept believe it and pursue my God right back.

I see my past, my present, and my future different. I have been going over and over in my mind the different events in my life (the good, the bad, and the ugly) and I can't stop seeing Him over it all, allowing everything... not because He was "testing" me, but because He loves me.

He would do anything, allow anything...if it meant I would be closer to Him in the end because of it.
He sees the whole picture. He doesn't want me to hurt, but a temporary (and any pain in this world is temporary) pain that brings me to Him for eternity is His reason for allowing it.

I don't know, I know I am rambling, but this is amazing. I can't talk about it without crying. I am overwhelmed with His love for me and I want everyone to know it. I don't deserve it, oh...but His grace...

His grace gives it to me anyway, and the part that is amazing...

He gives it to me, not because He has to, but because He WANTS to!!!

He is relentless. He is patiently pursuing me, no matter the cost temporarily. He doesn't give up.

Not on me and not on you.

     

 

Smoked Sausage and Potatoes

I love simple, easy recipes. Having three kiddos 5 and under makes having simple recipes a must. Here is another simple, frugal dinner for anyway to make.

This recipe will feed 4 people.

1. Cut 3 small potatos (or 2 big) into small pieces and add it into a skillet with a couple of tblsp. of butter. If you can't have dairy, you can use olive oil. I have done that too and it tastes just as good.



2. Cut up 1 pkg of smoked sausage (we use beef only, but whatever you like).

3. Add your sausage to the potatoes and stir. Cover and cook until potatoes are tender, usually about 12 minutes or so. Stir often or your potatoes will stick!

4. Serve with a side salad, corn, green beans, whatever you have in your pantry.

My kids love this recipe. We never have even a bite left afterwards.

Enjoy!

     



To Live Like That #605 - 632

This song, these words...

"I want to live like that

And give it all I have

So that everything I say and do

Points to You"

This counting it points me to Jesus, the Giver of all good gifts.

And this community , they point me to Jesus with their counting.

605. going to a friend's house

606. that friend telling and showing me her curriculum for next year and my heart exploding inside because I knew it was for us too!! (thank you Shilah!)

607. excitement for our next year of homeschooling

608. watching Brent and Abigail dance

609. Joshua getting Isaiah and dancing with him

610. Isaiah learning to wave bye bye

611. 9 months with our little Isaiah... WOW!

612.fruit salad

613. Sunflower Market in Edmond - the best produce and prices ever!

614. meeting a friend at the park last minute

615. my husband thanking me for taking care of everyone so well (I really needed to hear that)

616. my husbands hand in the middle of my back

617. making cookies for Daddy just because...

618. preparing for Joshua and Abigail's bday and the memories of the past 6 yrs of the gift of motherhood flooding my heart

619. sharing how to coupon with two more friends

620. enjoying the new pool Pappy and Grammy got the kiddos

621. Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers

622.The Well Trained Mind by Jesse Wise and Susan Wise Bauer

623. talking with Brent about our plans for our next year of homeschooling and him wanting to take part in it.

624. the smell of freshly cut grass

625. watching Brent outside mowing and taking care of our home

626. listening to my husband read to our kids

627. shade trees

628. Oklahoma wind on a hot Oklahoma summer day, it helps, it really does.

629. sitting with Isaiah under the shade tree as he discovers grass and leaves

630. a butterfly landing right next to us as I sang Amazing Grace to my boy

631.praying to God under that tree and knowing, really knowing that He was right there with me

632. beginning to see and believe God's love for me and His relentless desire for me to be whole heartedly His.

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."

(James 1:17)

  

 

   

Potatoes and Green Beans

This is a side I grew up eating. I always loved it and when I met and married my husband and this was his favorite side dish, I knew I would be making it for a long time. This recipe is super easy and is a very frugal dish. Kids love it too!!

This recipe will feed 4-5 people...

1. Start with 1 can of green beans.

2. Chop 2 potatoes. (New potatoes are the best in this recipe, but any will do... I use whatever potato I have in my fridge.)

3. Add 2 Tablespoons of butter (not margarine) to a pan.

4. Pour the green beans and potatoes in and stir to mix it up.

5. Cover with a lid and cook on medium for about 20 minutes until potatoes are soft. Make sure you stir often so it won't burn.

That's it!!

I told you it was super easy and I promise your husbands and kiddos will like it!

Enjoy!!

What if... #575-604

This past year in BSF we studied The Acts of the Epistles. It was amazing and also very challenging. There was alot to cover in just one year. I usually feel after a year in BSF, that I really learned alot of whatever book of the Bible we had been studing pretty well. This year was different. We didn't just study one book, we study tons of them. I also had a baby just one week after our year began and the amount of reading we had to do per week was alot. I didn't feel like I could take as much time on our weekly readings as I had done in the past. What I got out of this year was different then the others. Through this study, I feel like I know Paul so much more. Almost, like I was there with him and witnessed his transformation and his determination, his boldness to preach the gospel. What God used him to do and the grace God gave Paul every step of the way is, well, it's life changing when you really think about it. I am God's child, I have been transformed by God's grace and I have the Holy Spirit, who enables me and gives me ALL that I need to be bold for Christ too. I want that, I crave it!

I want to, as Paul did, to see life as an opportunity to lay down my life for the glory of Christ no matter what happens!

What a difference it would make the next time I wanted to prove a point, the next time my kids spilled a glass of milk, the next time I see a Mom at the park who wasn't so nice to her kids, the next time the laundry is piled so high I could scream, the next time I don't sleep through the night (at well, less face it, that will be tonight), the next time my husband wants to be with me and I am just to tired, and so on.

What if I stopped and thought of each of these things as opportunites.

Opportunities...God is giving me to glorify Christ.

Opportunities.. to show the love of Jesus.

What if I just smiled the next time my kids spilled something and didn't say a word, just cleaned it up? What if I went over to that Mom at the park and ask her how she was, if there was anything I could help her with? What if I just did the laundry and saw it as a serving my family, not a chore? What if I rubbed my hubby's back inspite of being tired.

What if I layed myself down?

"But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ..." (Phil. 3:7-8)


Continuing to count...

575. finding a baby toad

576. bikes to ride on nice days

577. Isaiah figuring out how to crawl on the tile and making his way into the kitchen by himself... making dinner is SO much easier now!

578. Joshua climbing higher and higher in the trees.

579. "He tends his flock like a shepherd:  He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young." . (Isaiah 40:11)

580. the kids' love for history

playing minutemen

581. my boys outside together by themselves

582. Joshua telling me after leaving the grocery store, "Momma, thank you for grocery shopping for us."

583. a phone call that said my friend delivered a healthy, baby girl.

584. getting to share the gospel with a new friend

585. my kids listening to me share Jesus' love to my friend

586. making Brent his favorite banana cake for Father's Day

587. the mess making the cake made and knowing it was all worth it!

588. Celebrating Brent and the father he is to our children

589. a neighbor dropping off a veggie tray - Thank you!

590. new blog friends

591. HARD eucharisteo: realizing how hard I am on Abigail.

592. clean gutters

593. Joshua working with his Daddy- watching him grow up, I can't believe he is almost 6!

594. our neighbor helping us clear all the limbs out of our backyard from cutting down our dead tree.

595. the dead tree gone!

596. Abigail getting all dressed up for her Daddy on Father's Day on her own... as a princess of course

597. surprising Daddy with our presents

598. amazing message at church on "Perspective"

599. Grammy buying the kids a new pool.

600. Daddy going out on Father's Day to get the pool and bring it home

601. the pool NOT flying away on our way home (Oklahoma wind is CRAZY!)

602. Brent telling me on our way out this morning that I looked pretty.

603. getting to go and visit our friends and their new baby girl!! (Congrats Ali! She is beautiful, precious, just perfect!) Oh, I love babies!

604. Abigail telling Brent and me she learned about Martha and Mary and how she wants to be a Mary and listen to Jesus.

 

    

                

Happy Father's Day Brent!

Brent,

There are not enough words in all the languages of the world to express my love and gratitude for you. Who you are in your everyday brings everyone who knows you closer to our living God. I am more then blessed, I am honored to not only know you, but call you my partner in this life here on Earth. I pray my words and my actions reflect a glimpse of my heart's love for you as we walk this journey out together.

I never knew how much closer my walk with God would become or how much more of His attributes I would come to know and believe to be true through knowing and being married to you. And I can't thank you enough for living out what the gospel of Christ is truly about. His grace, His love, His sacrifice are something you walk out daily in your own life. 

Our God pours out of you. 

God as a Father was something I couldn't fully comprehend before knowing you as a father. I couldn't understand it. I still don't completely, but watching you as the Father of our children, I am beginning to believe in His love for me as my Father. I have told you this before and I will continue to because I don't take it for granted.  And without a doubt in this Mommy's heart, I know that our children will not ever have to question this attribute of God. Having you as their "earthly" Father has given them an example, a glimpse into the love their "Heavenly" Father has for them.

Just look at your love for them from the day each of them were born...

You and Joshua David

You and Abigail Grace

You and Isaiah Michael

Until now...

She is your princess and never will doubt that.

Joshua wants to be you and he can't have a more amazing man to look up too.

 Just look at how Joshua is holding onto you.

Isaiah thinks you are the most amazing thing he has ever met.

His smile when he see you says it all.

Whenever you are around, they want you.

They can't get enough of you.

They feel so safe with you.

Thank you Brent for being you...

You are more then we could have ever imagined or dreamed of.

I pray that you will never doubt how much you mean to me and to our children. 

You are a man of honor and I respect you more then any other man I have ever met.

I "COUNT" you as one of the greatest graces I have been given.

Happy Father's Day!

2012