I ♥ Hands!

Wow it has been a while since I've last blogged. I have a few posts swimming around in my head-if I can only find the time to write them out! I wanted to stop for a few minutes from the craziness that is my life to add a picture for this weeks I ♥ Faces contest. This is an unusual week because the focus is on hands-not faces. Gasp! Shocking I know! Out of all the many hand pictures I have-this is the one I thought of first. While many of the entries I've seen have been a shot of only a hand, I thought it would be alright if mine had a face in it too!

I took this shot last summer on our family vacation to Myrtle Beach, SC. As a child growing up we always used the "I Love You" hand and I love seeing the tradition trickle down to my own children. Whenever we leave a loved ones house, we all wave our hand to those saying goodbye. There are times when we'll see each other from across the room and can't speak, but we will hold up our sign and smile. The sweetest time was when my Gramma passed away. As the hearse took her body, driving up the road, my whole family stood with tears running down our faces, waving our faithful hand in one last goodbye. It's amazing how three simple words-or one simple sign, can hold so much emotion and meaning.

Well, enough sentimental stuff, make sure you head to www.iheartfaces.com to check out all the wonderful hand shots!

I ♥ Kisses

In honor of Valentine's Day it's all about kisses at I ♥ Faces this week. I weeded through so many pictures of my kids kissing their baby brother, but in the end I settled on this picture of my cousin and his wife. You might recognize them from Texture week. They make such a cute couple, I wanted to share this shot from our mini Christmas card shoot.

Make sure you head over to http://www.iheartfaces.com/ and share in the Valentine spirit! I hope you spend this week reflecting on all the people God has placed in your life to love and share this short journey with!

I ♥ Me Some Textures!

This week at I ♥ Faces it's all about textures-such a fun week! I could play around for hours with them if I had the time! There are so many different types and ways you can manipulate them to create different effects on a photograph. I was excited about this weeks theme because once again it challenged me. The only way this week would be better is if everyone had to share the textures they used in their photo's! Ahhh, that's wishful thinking!

This is a photo of my cousin and his wife. These two make such great subjects that you just might see them in next weeks challenge too!

Make sure you visit www.iheartfaces.com to check out all the different ways textures can effect a photograph.

I ♥ Faces: We Are Family!

This week at I ♥ Faces it's all about families! I am always trying to get new ideas on ways to pose different sized families so I was very excited about this week. I'm hoping to get a new idea to try! As I went through some of my recent family shots, I kept going back to this one. It's probably because its a picture of some of my favorite people that I haven't seen in a month or so. My sister Katie lives in Washington state where her husband, Theo is in the Air Force. I miss them so much, but I am so thankful for airplanes and cell phones and Facebook. You might be able to guess from their red, green and white clothing that we were taking pictures for their Christmas card. I can't help but smile when I look at Katie's face. I love the way her and Theo are looking at their daughter, while my niece Bronwen is obliviously looking at me!

This is my new favorite pose that works for most families, up to about six or seven people. I have found that for some reason, people smile and have a fun time when you tell them to lay on their bellies! I can always catch a glimpse of people like they really are-without a camera in their face. And I am all about trying to capture folks in their own sweet, happy, genuine smiles of simply being together as a family. Make sure you check out http://www.iheartfaces.com/ this week to celebrate the joys of being apart of a family.

I ♥ Faces: Week 2

Today is officially I ♥ Faces One Year Birthday! So exciting! And It is All About Faces this week. This time it has to be a picture you've taken in December '09 or January '10. I must admit that I don't have many individual shots of faces from the last six weeks. Most of my pictures are of large families or sibling shots from taking pictures for Christmas Cards. Yesterday I went through all of the possible candidates of single faced pictures and couldn't find one that I just loved. I kept thinking I'd have to take a new one, but given the crazy day I had today-I didn't think it would be possible.

After lunch, as I was looking one last time trying to decide on a shot to post, I glanced over at my Sweet Randol who was doing her school work. I thought she looked so cute wearing her bright pink shirt and dark blue jeans. So being the great Homeschool Teacher and Mom that I am, I went and got my camera and had her take a quick break to get this shot. And being the Dimpled, Freckled Face Ham that she is, she was excited about the break!

Make sure you head on over to www.iheartfaces.com/ this week. You really don't want to miss out on all the excitement and fun giveaways..and the all those fabulous faces!

Divine Protection

Many are the plans in a man's heart,
but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails.
Proverbs 19:21

I woke up, drank my coffee and got ready for the day. I started school with Randol; checked email; took Foster to Speech Therapy; ate lunch with Wesley; put the boys down for a nap; talked to my mom and sister on the phone; played around on Photoshop; made homemade pizza for dinner; cleaned the kitchen and left for Publix to pick up a prescription.


There was nothing unusual, nothing out of the ordinary, just a regular 'ole day.


It was dark outside when I pulled in the parking lot of Publix. I noticed that there were a lot of cars. I decided to take a parking spot farther back than I would have liked, rather than wait for someone to leave so that I could park closer. On the way to the store I had been praying that God would make me a good steward of our money-more that I wouldn't buy things we didn't need in the 20 minutes I'd have to wait for the prescription to be filled. As I parked the car, I noticed my envelope of clipped coupons on the floor. It is an envelope that I rarely remember to use. I went to get out of the car and I got this overwhelming feeling that I needed to flip through those coupons. "That is silly! All I'm buying is milk and apple juice! I don't need any coupons for that!"


I got out of the car, keys in my hand with the car door still open and I felt it again-Marion! Get in the car and look at those coupons! I laughed out loud, thinking maybe I was weaker than I thought and God was trying to help me save some money. I got back in the car, closed the door and flipped through the envelope of coupons. After a minute or two I said out loud-"This is silly Lord, all I'm buying is Foster's prescription and some milk and apple juice to get us through the weekend-there aren't any coupons for those things!"


I opened my car door to get out and suddenly the car alarm went off. Lights were flashing and sirens were going off all around me. Startled, I closed my door, and tried frantically to figure out how to make it all stop. I was driving the new car we bought Wesley the week after Christmas (a whole other blog post about God's provision in that!) so I was not familiar with the alarm system in this car! There was an alarm button on the key ring and I figured that I must have accidentally pushed it. I finally figured out how to make the noise stop, then I sat in the car for a minute or two. Making very careful not to push any buttons on my key ring, I opened the door again.


BLEEP! BLEEP! BLEEP! The alarm went off again and it felt as though something was pushing against the door. Lights flashing, sirens blaring and me scrounging around trying once again to figure out how to turn them off. Suddenly, like a light bulb going off, I realized-this was no accident, God was protecting me from something. I sat there, heart beating, and tried to figure out what to do. Should I just go home? Do I sit in the car for a while? Do I go inside?


I prayed and asked God that if I needed to go home, to please let the alarm go off again and I would take that as my sign not to get out of the car and go in the store. Taking a deep breath, I slowly opened the car door.


No alarm. The air was calm and crisp in a way I cannot describe. I got out of the car, locked it and started walking into the store. I looked around the parking lot and didn't see a soul.


Walking briskly towards the door, out of no where, a man appeared. He was built like a body builder, wearing sweat pants with a toboggan pulled over his head. Walking behind him, I could see his huge back muscles through his shirt. He had a strut and kept constantly looking back and forth. Once looking over his left shoulder, he made eye contact with me. I got this shiver go down my spine. All I could think of was that he could snap me like a twig if he wanted to. I knew that man was either the predator God was protecting me from or he was my guardian angel, walking me safely inside the store. Two different extremes, but he was related to the whole incident-somehow.


I went in the store, looked back and I could see his broad shoulders walk down an aisle and then disappear. I sat, waiting for Foster's prescription, thanking God for His divine protection. I prayed asking Him if it was safe to go buy milk and juice. After walking down an aisle, I ran into my mother-in-laws, best friend from high school. She has the sweetest smile and the cheeriest voice. We small-talked and went about our separate ways. Walking away, I thanked God for her. She didn't know what had just happened, but He did. He had placed her in that aisle to remind me to smile-that everything was going to be OK.


Driving home, I thought of my regular 'ole ordinary day. I thought of the short kiss to my husband and children before I'd left to go to the store. What we had thought was going to be a thirty minute goodbye-could have been forever. That night, I kept thinking of all the things I would have missed sharing with my husband and in my children's lives if I left this world that day. Instead of spending my time thanking Him for saving me from someone or something lurking in the dark-I was swimming in "What if's" in my head. I woke up in the middle of the night and I suddenly remembered a verse I had shared with a friend on Facebook the day before-"The Lord your God is with you. He is mighty to save." Zephaniah 3:17a. I knew-He was not finished with me yet; there is still work for me to do for His kingdom.

The truth of the matter is this-we don't know when our time is up. No one is promised tomorrow or next week or next year. All we have is this minute to make a difference for His Kingdom. So what are you going to do for Him today?

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men,

since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.

It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

Colossians 3:23-24

Don't Be a Lane Changer!

The road is hard. The sun is hot, beating down overhead. You begin to feel a small trickle of sweat run down your back. You squint your eyes, looking ahead hoping to see what the trail looks like around the bend. You try to stay focused, you try to concentrate. Just a little bit farther, just a little bit farther.

However, I consider my life worth nothing to me,

if only I may finish the race and complete the task

the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying

to the gospel of God's grace.

Acts 20:24

Suddenly your eye happens to turn to the runner beside you. Her lane looks smoother, not as bumpy as yours. You begin to wonder why you didn't get to go in that lane. Why are you stuck on this rough, bumpy, hilly road, instead of on that smooth trail? What did she do to deserve that lane that you hadn't done?

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."

Jeremiah 29:11

You try to focus, you try to look ahead, but your eyes begins to wander again from your own lane. You happen to notice the runner next to you has a shoe lace that is untied and is flapping in the wind. He could fall and hurt himself! Why won't he stop and tie his shoe? Does he know the dangers of running full speed with an untied shoe lace? Suddenly you get this Great Samaritan Idea. You can tie his shoe for him! You can fix his problem and make it all better!

You turn into his lane, running along side him , bunched over as you try to grab his shoe lace. He begins to yell, asking what on earth you are doing and telling you to get out of his way. Instead of helping him win the race, now you are hindering him.

You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and

kept you from obeying the truth?

That kind of persuasion does not come

from the One who calls you.

Galatians 5:7-8

Angry, you go back to your own lane, only now you are the one who is behind, now you are the one who has been left. Everyone else has their eye on the prize. Everyone else is running the race at their own speed, in their own lane, all with the same goal; To win the race.

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race,

I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me

the crown of righteousness,

which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day

—and not only to me, but also to all who

have longed for his appearing.

2 Timothy 4:7-8

Life is hard and it is not fair. There is no doubt about it. At times it may seem easier to look at someone elses race and wish it were your own, rather than accept the path God has laid out for you. I wish I had a house as big as theirs. I wish I had his job. Why can't I have that many children? I wish I could sing like her. Why can't I have her patience? On and on we go, wishing our lives away-wanting to be in someone elses shoes...in someone elses lane. I encourage you, in this new year to run the race He has for YOU, for YOUR life. In the words of my wise Bible study teacher, "My race is not your race-and that's how God intended it!" I promise you that His path is so much better than any other trail you could follow.

... let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

Hebrews 12:1-3

I ♥ Faces Giveaway!

This is SUCH AN EXCITING week over at I ♥ Faces! Given that school starts back today and my three boys are still getting over the RSV virus-I need some excitement in my life right about now! And boy did Angie and Amy at I ♥ Faces come to the rescue! It will be their One Year Anniversary on January 12th and they are kicking off the celebrations by giving away a new Tamron lens!!!! Now what photographer wouldn't be excited about a new lens?!?

This week, your picture must have the I ♥ Faces logo in the pic, somewhere. Sounds like a simple task, but it had my crazy brain looking through many pictures to try and find one that would be a good candidate for this! Here is what I came up with so far. If I can find an extra hour in my day, I'll try and add one more to this post, taking full advantage of being able to enter FIVE entries this week!!!

Make sure you head over to http://www.iheartfaces.com/ and check out all the fabulous entries! You don't want to miss this week!

“I am submitting these photo's into the I Heart Faces logo photo contest. By entering, I am granting I Heart Faces LLC permission to consider my photo for use in the marketing and promotion of their website.”

I Heart To Laugh!

This week at I Heart Faces it's all about Hilarious Outtakes. Being the wife of one silly man and the mother of four children-I have more than enough laughable outtakes! I think that for every one good picture, I have at least ten funny out takes. We also get to pick FIVE pictures this week, versus the regular one!!! So exciting this week!

Here is my crazy husband, on Easter making fun of me as I snapped away with my camera. I pointed my lens in his direction and he made this funny rabbit, ear face! Always the jokester!

This next one was taken that same Easter day, when we were desperately trying to take a "grandchildren" picture for my parents. There is always so much drama going on whenever you combine lots of children having to sit for longer than five seconds and all look the same way. My dad is talking-probably making some joke about how this is never going to happen, my mom is trying to get my week old son to stop crying by pushing the pacifier in his mouth and laughing at whatever joke my dad is saying; Will is screaming probably because he wants to go eat some of his Easter candy and Foster is looking at his brother in disbelief. The girl grandchildren are the only ones cooperating! Too bad mom doesn't have more grand daughters than grandsons!




This picture was taken that same say as Will (who was crying above) is now in his lovable, kissable mood, trying to kiss his baby brother, whether Samuel wants him to or not!

Now fast forward eight months and here the same two brothers, Will hasn't changed much as far as the whole kissing his baby brother goes! I took this one on Christmas morning, a few days ago.

And lastly, here is my Will again. He made this face Every. Single. Time. I got out my camera while we were at the beach. He refused to wear sunglasses, so this was his poor attempt at keeping the sun out of his eyes! I have all these cute, group shots of my four children with the exception of him wearing this face-every single time-even when I made sure to face his away from the sun! I guess I should be glad he'd at least stop whatever he was doing to look at me!

Make sure to head on over to http://www.iheartfaces.com/ to see all the Hilarious Outtakes! It will be sure to snap you out of any post-holiday blues!

One Ordinary Night

The air was cool and crisp. It was quiet and peaceful. Most of the world slept, after just going to bed and following their usual routine. They may have laid there thinking of what things they had to do the next day and how to solve certain problems in their lives. Mothers may have been tending to a sick child, fathers trying to get as much sleep as possible before another long working day began.

Life was normal, usual, nothing out of the ordinary by any means.

And then it happened. The sky filled with a heavenly light. A light so bright that men had to cover their eyes. What was this, what was happening?

This was no ordinary night.

What had once been a routine, now became something new. What had once been a burden, now offered redemption. What had once been hopeless, was now overflowing with hope and meaning.

In one night, the whole world changed. In one night, the lives of millions of people who had not yet been born-was changed, forever. In the blink of an eye, after one ordinary, normal day.

The God who formed the universe by saying a few words, could now say nothing audible except for a tiny cry. The One who uses the mountains as a footstool, could not even stand on two legs. The God who had never needed food or nourishment, was now dependant on a woman to feed Him. The One who holds eternity in His hand, now grasped the finger of His mother.

Immanuel.

God with us.

All of God, yet all of man, wrapped up together.

Suddenly our lives don't look so ordinary anymore.

"All this took place to fulfill what the Lord has said through the prophet:

"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son,

and they will call Him Immanuel"-which means "God with us".

Matthew 1:22-23

More Than Just a Story

I must give a little explanation before I let you read the following post...ok, more like a confession than an explanation. I wrote the following entry on November 10th. Why haven't you seen it yet, you might ask. Well, I had this great idea that I could add some pictures to it and I needed some of my mom's pictures to complete the task. She emailed them right away and I ...well, it is now over a month later and I am just now getting around to it...but I must explain why. God's timing is amazing.

I have been in a full "Must get ready for Christmas, but totally not feeling it" type of mood since before Thanksgiving. When Thanksgiving weekend was over, it honestly had just felt like we had had some great food and great family time, but not like it had been Thanksgiving. I have been SO BUSY to STOP and really enjoy the holidays. To STOP and really think about why I'm scrounging around to buy all these gifts and make all these cookies. Why am I doing all of this?

This morning, I was making bread, waiting for cookies to come out of the oven, filling out Christmas cards, emailing and helping with Randol's schoolwork-All at the same time, of course. I had gotten this grand idea to email folks I knew on Facebook and get their addresses so I could send them a Christmas card. I was overwhelmed by how many people wrote back and how fast they were, in their response. These were mostly people I know, but don't really talk to very often. Facebook is a great way to quietly keep up with folks. It's kind of sad in a way. I can know so much about people I haven't seen-or really talked to in years...all through Facebook.

Ok, enough soapdish talk, let me get back to where I was. So, I was getting lots of emails from folks I hadn't heard from (and who hadn't heard from me) and a few of those folks mentioned reading my blog recently and something that I'd said, had meant something to them. Wow. That's all I could say. It made me remember the following post and how I'd never finished it and how I need to make my writing more important. Here were people God had reached, through me and I never even knew it. How many more could He have touched, but I didn't take the time to write?

So I went back to this post to do a final read through with the goal to finally post the thing. By the time I got to the end, I almost laughed at what I read. Here I was, the day after I'd bought some presents for people I really didn't need more presents for, all because I was in "Christmas Panic" mode of fearing I wouldn't get all my shopping done. Here I was, all wrapped up in the baking and shopping and Christmas cards and all the DOING that I had forgotten the WHY of what I was doing. God used my own words to give me a slap in the face that forced me to wake up!

Talk about eating your own words, as the saying goes! So here you go, five weeks later, I get this to you. I really pray you'll be blessed and if you're like me worrying about finishing that very long to-do list, you'll remember the Reason for the Season.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My parents recently returned from a trip of a lifetime on a Holy Land cruise in the Mediterranean. We keep kidding my mom who took 1700 pictures of their trip! Wesley kept telling her, "I don't need to go to the pyramids now. Anytime I want to go to Egypt, I'll just come look at your pictures!" (Anyone want to ask where my love of photography comes from :)

Now while I was not there to actually experience everything first hand, I couldn't help but being moved by what I saw and the stories I heard. Out of all the amazing places they went, I was most fascinated by the pictures of the Sea of Galilee and the roads where Paul walked in Ephesus. A lot of what they saw is debatable. For example, how do they know that was the real rock Jesus stood on when He did the miracle of the loaves and the fishes? Is that really the marble slab they laid Jesus body on when they took Him off of the cross? How do they know these things? Did some guy store it in his backyard for hundreds of years until 300 A.D. when some man proclaimed what the rock was?

But then there is much that is not debatable. There is only one Sea of Galilee and we know from God's Word that that is where Peter walked on water and that Jesus calmed a terrible storm. There is only one Jordan River and we know that Jesus was probably baptized in its waters. There is only one Garden of Gethsemane and we know that Jesus went there to pray, even on His last night before His death. These things, are not debatable. To look at the scenery that Jesus once looked at is fascinating to me. I'm sure things have changed, but when you look out into that wide open water with the mountains in the distance, to know He once was there; to see bits and pieces of the town He grew up in, played in and walked along telling others about His Father in Heaven, it really puts my life in perspective.

God in the flesh, on this earth, walking, eating and sleeping just like we do now. He was real and He really lived and died for you and me. Recently while studying 1 Thessalonians, I came across a verse that I cannot get out of my head. In 5:10, it says, "He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him."

The whole reason He died is so that He could be with us! Right now! We don't have to wait until we are in heaven to be with Him. How many times do I take that for granted? One of my pet peeves is when I talk to my children and they don't listen. I cannot stand it! So often the Holy Spirit is quick to remind me-I do the same thing to my Heavenly Father. He will tell me to do something and I will pretend I didn't hear or I'll be too busy to stop and listen to His voice.

But that is why Christ suffered on a cross...so that I could be forgiven and without sin and so that His Spirit (the Holy Spirit) can reside in my very being. How humbling is that thought? As we are in the midst of this Christmas season, I encourage you to reflect on that. Don't forget that there really was a baby who was sent to the be the Savior of the world. There really was a manger and a stable and a star shining bright in the sky.

He really lived.

Last Christmas it really struck me that without that tiny baby lying in a manger...there never would have been a cross. Calvary never would have happened and His Spirit would not be here with us today. We would still be under the Law that Christ's blood freed us from. Christmas is about so much more than lights and presents, it's about grace, sweet grace and the tiny baby that started it all.

"Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God...And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him."

Colossians 3:2,17

Picture #1: The Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. You can see the tiny prayers written and shoved in every crease of the wall. This is the last wall standing of the second temple, built after King Solomon's temple was destroyed.

#2: The Jordan River

#3: Sea of Galilee

#4: A view of the Sea of Galilee

#5 An amphitheatre where Paul preached in Ephesus.

#6: Mosaic walkway the dates back to Paul's day in Ephesus.

Two of the Hardest Things to Do

Last night Wesley and I went to the Deacon/Elder Dinner at our church. After a wonderful evening, when everything was coming to a close, our Pastor said he wanted us to pray for our Children's minister and his family. They moved here nine months ago and still have not sold their house in North Georgia. They come from a very tiny town and there really isn't much hope of it selling anytime soon. Thad had the couple get in the middle of the room and we all stood up to do a "popcorn type" prayer, where anyone can pray and then he asked Wesley to close us. After a few people prayed, a mighty prayer warrior in our church began speaking. One of the first things out of her mouth was, "God we are asking for you to sell this house. We are asking that you would send some family down Clint's street and see his house. They may not be in the market to buy a house or even know how they ended up there, but we know that is was You who sent them. We are asking for you to send a buyer to purchase this house."

I was blown away. She didn't ask that God would give them peace in the midst of this trial, she didn't say for God to comfort them or any of the other things I personally would have thought to have prayed for. She prayed specifically and more importantly, she prayed expectantly. I could actually picture in my mind a family in a minivan driving down Clint's road, seeing the For Sale sign and calling the number on the sign. I could picture it all in my head as she spoke the words.

In Psalm 5:3, it says, "In the morning, O Lord, You hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before You and wait in expectation."

Wait in Expectation.

Jesus Himself said, "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." (Mark 11:24)

Believe that you have received what you asked for.

How often do we do those two things? And why is it so hard to do?

In Sunday School last Sunday we were talking about how important it is to pray God's Word. What a powerful weapon when we actually pray His Words back to Him. One man commented how prayer is one of the hardest things for him to do. It's easy to sit and read your Bible, but to find a place, away, alone to pray, that is hard. I started thinking about how I pray all day long, in the midst of the chaos in my house. But it is more like a one way conversation. I don't listen for His voice and I don't wait long enough for an answer.

So often when I see a hard situation I don't pray for the big things. I don't pray that God will get rid of the cancer, I pray that He will give them peace in the midst of this trial. It's almost as if I don't believe that He really can get rid of cancer. satan's small voice whispers in my ear that it's an impossible situation and I should just accept it. Instead, I should remind myself what Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 19:26, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Even the angel told Mary that, "Nothing is impossible for God." (Luke 1:36)

Nothing.

Let those truths seep into your very soul and pray those things that seem impossible in your life. Pray for complete healing, pray for a new job, pray for a buyer for your house, pray for all the things that look hopeless in your life. Allow the world to see your Mighty, All-Powerful God turn a hopeless situation into His glory. I have found in my own life that it is in those situations that others can see God so much more clearly. When man cannot explain how things happen, they are more likely to recognize God's power.

A Prayer Based off of Colossians 1:9-14

"Lord, I pray that you will fill me with the knowledge of Your will and that You will give me spiritual wisdom and understanding. Help me to live a life worthy of You and that every aspect of my life will be pleasing to Your sight. Help me to bear fruit in every good work, grow in Your knowledge and be strengthened with Your power. I ask these things so that I might have endurance and patience and be able to joyfully give thanks to You. Lord it is You who invited me to share in Your inheritance and be apart of the kingdom of light. It is You who rescued me from darkness and brought me to Your Son. Thank you for redeeming me

and forgiving me of my sins.

In the Sweet name of Jesus, Amen"

I Heart Faces: Sun flare

I have been looking forward to this weeks I Heart Faces and I almost missed it! My mind escapes me lately! Anyway, better late than never right?

I wish I had lots of sun flare photos lying around, but I don't. I am definitely excited about trying to take more of them, after this weeks challenge! (Thank you I Heart Faces for constantly challenging me! So. Much. Fun.) The picture I chose is from this summer on our family vacation to Myrtle Beach, SC. I love seeing my husband holding one of our little guys! Melts my heart, every time!

Make sure you go to http://www.iheartfaces.com/ to check out all the neat sun flare pictures!

Giving Thanks

One week from today it will be the day after Thanksgiving ~the busiest shopping day of the year; a day when some people's true colors come out. I will never forget when I worked at Target and a little girl was trampled and had to go to the hospital because people were more concerned with getting inside the store first to grab whatever treasures they wanted, than to stop and help this precious child up. We are about to enter the Christmas season, a time when everyone becomes very aware of what they don't have and what they really "need". I must have already heard my own children say 100,000 times, "Mommy, I want that for Christmas!" as they watch cartoons or look in a retail catalog.

Do we ever really stop to give thanks for what we already have? Webster defines "thanks" as, "an expression of gratitude". Gratitude is defined as, "thankful appreciation for favors received". I wonder how many favors the Lord has given me that I have not appreciated or even noticed.

I think we often forget that nothing in life is perfect, even good things come with their own trials and hardships. When I look at my own life, I am thankful for my husband, but that means I must also be thankful for all those times he forgets to take out the trash or can't figure out how to fix something around the house. I am thankful for my children, but that also means I must be thankful for endless piles of laundry and dishes, for toys scattered on the floor and broken blinds in the windows. I am thankful for my church, but with that comes mornings when the music is too loud or times when I hear about someone who does not like something my husband has said or done. In the economy we currently live in, I am thankful for my husbands job, but that also means being grateful for lots of stress and the huge responsibility that rests on his shoulders everyday. Without all the bad, I would not have all the good. If I had no children, my house wouldn't have toys on the floor or dishes piled in the sink...if I had no children, so much joy in my life would be gone.

In Romans 1:21, Paul writes about a group of people who, "although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened." A few verses later it says, "They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised."(Romans 1:25).

How often do we forget to really thank Him and glorify Him, but instead we become so wrapped up in ourselves that we forget? Our thinking becomes futile and soon we start to care more about ourselves than about Him. We trade His truths for our emotions. To show real gratitude means thanking Him for every aspect in your life. So often Wesley and I can look at the very same situation, in two totally different ways. For example, take the faded, paint chipped off, 140,000 mile Geo Prism he drives everyday. There are times when he'll give a coworker a ride somewhere and I always feel so bad for him when others see the kind of car he drives. Everyone else in his office drives "lawyer type" cars, not a falling apart at the seams, Geo Prism. Whenever I talk about that car Wesley always reminds me that so many people told us that it wouldn't last past 100,000 miles, yet it is God who has blessed us with an extra 40,000 miles; and he'll keep driving it until it dies. "It's just a car, Marion!" He'll tell me. I can look at it and see something that is old, not desirable and flat out embarrassing. He can look at the very same thing and see God's provision for our family and a blessing wrapped underneath all that chipped off paint and peeling tinted windows.

How do you look at your life? It's all about how you perceive things. We have a cheesy exercise in our house that Wesley started long ago. Whenever one of us starts complaining about something, he'll start singing that old song, "Count Your Blessings, name them one by one. Count your blessings see what God has done..." Before you know it, we are all smiling and our perspective changes. Suddenly you realize-life isn't so bad after all!

Like the old saying goes, is your cup half empty, or half full? I think if we really sit back and look around us, we'll see that our cup is neither, for in reality, it's overflowing.

Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His love endures forever.

Psalms 118:1

Pray continually;

give thanks in all circumstances,

for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:17-18

I ♥ Autumn!

Despite popular belief, I have not fallen off the planet...OK maybe the Blogger Planet, but I'm trying to get back! My days have been full of editing pictures, writing World Geography exams, researching online for that special gift to give for Christmas presents, coordinating a Recipe Swap for the ladies in our Sunday School Department, plus if you throw in a few visits to the doctor with sick kids and simply trying to keep up with the laundry and other everyday stuff, I haven't had much extra time for posting. I'm afraid I'm getting really good at starting things and then not finishing them. I have done so many half finished projects these past few weeks! Can I just tell you how much I am looking forward to taking the whole week off of homeschooling next week! I keep thinking I'll have time to catch up, but in reality I know that most things will be put on hold. I'll be spending time with family that is coming home for Thanksgiving (Yay for Jeb and Bonnie and Kelsey!) and when I'm not doing that, I'll be editing pictures from a shoot I have this Sunday. I will try my hardest and finish up a few blog posts I've yet to complete.

Whew, all that being said, when I saw that I ♥ Faces was about Autumn this week, I knew I had to find time to post! I love this time of year in the south! The weather is just cool enough to wear long sleeves, drink hot cocoa and take a walk. The picture I chose for this week is one from a shoot I did two weeks ago. This sweet family is from Florida and they are not used to seeing the bright colors of the changing leaves. The mother's one request for the shoot was that there be lots of leaves involved! If you're interested, you can see the rest of the pictures from that day by clicking HERE.

Make sure you head over to http://www.iheartfaces.com/ to see all the other Autumn pictures! You don't want to miss them!

Bronwen Mae: 12 Months

Recently my sister Katie visited from Washington. While she was here, we celebrated my niece's first birthday! Katie really wanted to get some good 12 month shots of Bronwen and I really wanted to take her picture :) She is so precious! Here are a few of my favorites from Bronwen's 12 month shoot. You can click here to see the rest of the photo's, if you're interested! They've been gone almost a week and I'm already counting down until we get to see them again. Despite the distance from Washington to Georgia, we really have seen them a lot since they've moved there. I am so blessed to have shared so much of her first year! God is so good to me!

This last one, I took at my mom's while she was playing on the floor.

Happy Halloween!

Heavenly Timing

Our sweet Fosterman turned a whole four fingers this past weekend. Every year on his birthday, I can't help but reflect on God's timing surrounding his conception and his birth. Five years ago, I was married, living in Albany, GA and commuting to Columbus to finish up my business degree from Columbus State University. Two nights a week after Wesley got home from work, I'd drive straight to CSU and go to a late class, sleep at my parents house and then go to morning classes the next day. Randol was in kindergarten and she'd stay with Wesley. He'd drop her off at school in the morning and I'd be out of class and back in Albany in time to pick her up. In addition to finishing up my degree, Wesley and I had decided we'd start trying to have a baby. We both wanted me to be finished with school, but I think I really just wanted a child as close to Randol's age as possible and figured the whole school thing would work itself out!

Not long after my last semester started, we found out that my precious Gramma, who is still such a huge part of my heart, was dying. She had been a breast cancer survivor for over twenty years and now the doctors told her Thanksgiving would be our last holiday with her. She was living next door to my parents house, with my aunt and uncle so while I was in town for school, I spent every moment I could with her. This news, made me increase the pressure on myself to hurry up and get pregnant. I wanted her to share in all the excitement and planning of having a baby. Every month, my cycle would be off and I'd excitedly take a pregnancy test and every month it said negative. Finally, after such a roller coaster of going to the doctor only to have him tell me no, he finally said I was under too much stress and that my body couldn't work right. He put me on some medicine to help me ovulate. By this time, I was getting really worried. What if something was wrong and Wesley and I couldn't have children? What if Randol was our only child? Wesley was more worried about me than the thought of not ever getting pregnant. We decided to stop trying for a while, and focus on spending as much time as we could taking care of my Gramma Nance.

Thanksgiving came and went and she was still with us. Then Christmas passed and there she still was! The doctors told us that she was a miracle. She wanted so badly to see me graduate from college and God granted her wish in January 2005. I would spend long afternoons doing puzzles with her and staying up late, watching American Idol and talking about stories of when she was young. We drove down every weekend to see her. I would race next door in the morning and make us coffee and watch the news with her. I soaked up every minute I could. There were a few times Wesley and I would sleep at my aunts house and wake up in the middle of the night to take care of her. I still treasure those early mornings.

Three days after Valentine's Day, she went home. As much as my heart was breaking to let her go, I am so glad I was there by her side as she took her final breath. My Grandpa, mom, aunt and many cousins surrounded her, holding her hand, her feet and I was at her head. We all spoke so gently, telling her how much we loved her and how it was ok for her to go. The moment she took her final breath my very first thought was, "She can see my baby before I can...am I pregnant?" I turned to look in the corner of the bedroom and I could feel her eyes on me. I wondered if God had sent her daddy to come get her or maybe her older sister who had died when she was young. I wasn't sure who was there, but I knew that I was in the presence of angels; this world and the spiritual world collided in her bedroom, if only for a moment.

A few days later, after the memorial service and everything had settled down, we went home to Albany. One of the first things I did was take a pregnancy test and this time it was positive! In a time of such grief, God had answered my prayer of having another child. It was a beautiful reminder that He is still in control and that life must keep on moving despite her absence.

Fast forward nine months. I was a week away from my due date. I was tired and hot and just plain tired of being pregnant! While dropping Randol off in her Sunday School class I ran into a friend who told me, "Marion, this baby will come in God's timing. He's getting everything ready right now, making sure the right doctor and nurses are on staff. This baby will come when He's ready!" I took comfort in her words, but had no idea just how true her words were about God's timing. The day before my due date, our sweet Foster Allen was born. All 9lbs and 5 oz of him! The first night in the hospital, our nurse came to our room. She started sharing some hard things that were going on in her life. I shared some of my own experiences and tried as best as I could to share with her God's hope in the midst of what seemed to be a hopeless situation. The next morning before getting off her shift she jokingly asked if I had a sister she could introduce to her son! She started telling me a little about her son who loved the outdoors, drove a jeep and was a senior at the Air Force Academy. The more she talked, the more I could see how her son and my sister, Katie would make a great match. She got Katie's email address and phone number and left. When Katie came to see me at the hospital that day, I told her that a great guy who she'd never met yet, might call! The next morning as Wesley and I waited to be discharged from the hospital, the phone rang. It was that same nurse, telling me had lost Katie's information and asked if I could give it to her again!

A few weeks later, her son emailed Katie, apologizing, but saying that his mother would not quit asking if he had contacted her yet. They started emailing and decided they would meet each other when he was home for Thanksgiving. As they say, the rest is history! They celebrated their three year wedding anniversary in July and have a daughter that will be a year old on Saturday!

Isn't God's timing amazing?!? There are times in my life when I can look back and see His hand so clearly. Yet, somehow in the midst of it, I forget that He has a plan for my life that is so much better than anything I could ever expect. All those times of seeing that negative pregnancy test, the days of crying over the thought of my Gramma not being there for Christmas, my moments of frustration over still being pregnant, God was calmly telling me to trust Him and trust His timing. He knows best-every time and in any situation! In Isaiah 55:8-9, God's Word tells us, "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways," declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts." When life doesn't make sense, when you feel like you keep praying for answers and aren't receiving any, remember, His ways are not like our ways. Our minds cannot even comprehend what He is trying to do! In Proverbs 4:11, God says, "I guide you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths." Keep trusting, keep praying and keep your eyes on the One True Guide for your life!

I Heart Pink:My Beloved Gramma Nance

This week at I Heart Faces, it's all about pink in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness. This is an issue that is near and dear to my heart, having lost my Gramma Nance to breast cancer, five years ago, after a 20+ year fight. The picture I chose this week is of my mom and her, at our last Thanksgiving together, saying "I love you" in sign language. While no one in our family is deaf, my mom and aunt learned sign language in college and use it as part of their job with helping handicap children. The "I love you" hand is a sign we use a lot in our family. What a blessed reminder of her love!
Make sure you head over to http://www.iheartfaces.com/ and see all the other entries!