Apr. 29, 2009 - We take a moment from this whirlwind called life for an update...
Whew! What a year it has been!!! I haven't had a chance to stop and sit down to update you guys. Things have been speeding along nicely. Toots is now one year old. We had a wonderful birthday party in February befitting a Princess. Bubba is 8 years old. We had a fabulous Star Wars party complete with costumes for him and a couple of his closest friends.
We have added swimming lessons to our weekly to-do list now. We have found a fabulous instructor. I think Bubba has learned more in two lessons than he has in two summers of lessons at the local pool.
I have finished up my term as Governor of District 19 of Quota International. For those of you who don't know, Quota is a service organization assisting the needs of the hearing impaired and disadvantaged women and children. If you would like to hear more or would like help finding a club in your area, let me know.
I'll try to keep up with my blogging duties a little better in the coming months! Stop by and let me know how you are doing! I've missed you guys!!!
Hugs!
Kristi
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Sep. 24, 2008 - BFS Assignment #103: It Keeps Going...and Going...and Going
This week we are to write about what we do to help us keep "going" with our housekeeping. Do I use bouncy music? No. Do I use a nicely organized binder? No. Do I even use that cool Fly Lady for inspiration? No. I've tried all of these and found the bouncy music keeps my little guy from his schoolwork because he starts bouncing around the house. The organized binder gets lost under a pile of clutter. And Fly Lady, well, she sends me so many emails that I tend to disregard and delete. So, what do I do? I struggle to keep my head above water, quite honestly. I live with two guys who are content to live in a pile of clutter. My DH has clutter from paper and work-related *stuff*. Bubba has toy clutter. I have truly struggled this year to get it all contained. I have gotten a new bookcase which is only for school things. That has helped quite a bit. I have gone through some of Bubba's things and convinced him to get rid of some of them (trucks with no wheels really aren't trucks anymore are they?). I have all kinds of plans for the remaining clutter. However, it is so difficult to get started!! Does anybody else have that problem?
I'll write the plans here and maybe that will make everything get started. The toy box/bookcase in Toot's room is going to be moved behind the couch. Then all of the boxes of Legos and trucks can be neatly stacked on the bookcase. The baker's rack in Bubba's room is being moved to Toot's room. All she needs is a place for her books and for a couple of baskets (that I have already gotten!) that hold things like her towels and her hats. Bubba's handmade toy box is going back to his room. I'm also going to purchase a bookcase for beside his bed. Right now he has a stack of crates with a top on them. That doesn't help too much with his book stash, not to mention the Star Wars stash. When all that is accomplished I think the clutter will be better contained and that makes it easier to clean. We also have lost all of our cats now, so the cat hair will be non-existent.
Now, if anybody has any ideas for organizing a very disorganized husband, I'll gladly take suggestions!! The kids are trainable, but I think my DH is beyond training. Thanks for listening!!
Hugs!
Kristi
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Sep. 17, 2008 - Blogger Friend School Assignment #102
Our assignment this week is to do something for someone else. This is one thing that I wanted to incorporate into our school this year. It is something that I want to instill in my son: the desire to do something for others that need it but may not ask for it. Our handwriting curriculum is Ready for Writing. It asks that the child write parts of a Bible verse each day of the week. At the end of the week, he is to write the complete Bible verse on a decorated page. The plan is that we will decide on Monday who we are going to bless that week. Throughout the week, we will keep that person in our prayers. We ask that the Lord will keep them in His care and will bless their lives. On Thursday or Friday we do our final project and send it to the person. I will include a letter to the person explaining what we did and letting them know how special they are to us.
All that said, I wasn't supposed to tell you about our project - just how it made me feel. I sent off our package with a smile and a kiss. It was such a neat feeling to know that the love I feel for this person was being sent on to them. I truly felt like an instrument of the Lord - like I was the piano and He had struck the chords. Together we were making the music. On rare occasions in my life, I have felt like I was truly walking in the way that the Lord wanted me to go. This was one of those times. Our "person" thanked both of us on Sunday, but that was just the icing on the cake. I already had the cake!! Bubba and I talked on Monday and chose our next person. He asked if I had heard of anybody at church who could use a boost. Wow!! He is listening!! It is the MOST important thing I think I have ever taught my children: to listen to the calling of the Lord and move in the way that He leads them. I'll let you know how it keeps going!!
I'll close with the words of my favorite chorus which is taken from Isaiah 40:31:
Hugs!
Kristi
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Sep. 11, 2008 - "School" cancelled due to...INTEREST!
Due to much begging and an increased interest level, I decided to keep "real school" in my Mom's Bag of Tricks. We've got to keep a couple of things in there!! Bubba promised that he would do better. I talked to a friend of mine at church who happens to teach 3rd grade in public school. She said that she uses a ticket system. Now, we have tried that around here before without much success, but I'm always up to try something new. How is works is this...Bubba is given an assignment and an amount of time that he has to complete it. If he completes it in the time frame given, he gets a ticket. If he doesn't, he owes me a ticket. Each ticket is valued at a nickel. This is going to be in lieu of allowance for us.
We had been having issues with time other than in school: bathtime, pajamas, eating, etc. Now I just give an amount of time and a number of tickets. You would not believe how much better things are going. School is no longer a fight. I have not raised my voice for him to do his work all week. I haven't even had to remind him to keep on task. In fact, he is getting things done in record time. He doesn't get all the tickets. Sometimes I make allowances because something turned out to be harder for him than I thought it would or because he watched his little sister for me. But for the most part, I'm sticking to my guns and I think he respects the program (and me!) for it. Who would have thought?!?
Hugs!
Kristi
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Sep. 5, 2008 - "Real School Day"
We are back at school, but having issues! Apparently my little Bubba doesn't appreciate being able to sleep in, do school at his pace and get done much earlier than his ps buddies. Soooooo...
...on Monday we are having a "Real School Day". He will rise and shine at those hours that he doesn't know exist like 6:00. He will eat breakfast, dress to the shoes (thanks FlyLady!) and pack his school bag. He will stand in the living room and wait for the bus to come by. He will then "ride" the bus by sitting in an uncomfortable chair (the bus seats were never comfy) where he can see out a window, but he won't be able to talk, watch TV, or do anything that he didn't bring with him in his bookbag. Once at school, he won't be able to talk (even to his little sister Bubbles) or speak without raising his hand. He will sit at his desk (not on the couch) and do ALL of his work. Lest you think that I am going overboard, he will get a 20 minute recess where he can run around outside like a crazy fool and in the afternoon we will have PE class where he will run sprints in the backyard. Of course we will have a 30 minute lunch time but without the TV that we normally allow.
The problem that I am having is that I don't know how to make our day stretch into a 6 1/2 hour day like their day would. If we really push and include everything I can throw into a day, we might have a 4 hour day. Any suggestions that you have on how to make our day longer or more "public school-like" would be most appreciated!!
The other bummer is that our curriculum has scheduled the coolest stuff for Monday. But they are not things that a teacher would do with 20 kids. We are studying dirt, so we are supposed to look at dirt under a magnifying glass and discuss the layers of the earth using real dirt. Any ideas on how to make that a little less fun without losing the whole idea??
Thanks for the input! I'll let you how this goes and whether or not it works on the attitude!! I don't know what we will do if this doesn't work, maybe hibernate for the winter!!!
Hugs!
Kristi
P.S. Our Little Bubbles (Toots) is doing great! She is 6 months old and weighs 16 pounds. She is 26 3/4 inches tall. She is setting up and trying really hard to walk. She is such a happy soul!! She rarely cries (unless she is hungry or needs a diaper change) and she always has a ready smile to share with anyone! I want to be like her when I grow up!!!!!
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Jun. 7, 2008 - Where have you been????
WOW! What all has been going on??? Things have been fun around here...we now have Toots, except that we call her Bubbles. It fits her better. She is almost 3 1/2 months old already. I'll fill you in on her exciting arrival another time. It's too long a story for one day!
Bubba has been toiling on with school. It has been going remarkably well considering that his sister inevitably wants attention at the same time that he has a question. We had our year-end testing this past week and he scored high. The only thing that threw him was a timed drill. We don't do timed things around here or at least we didn't. I guess we will start so that he doesn't get so worked up about them. Testing itself was a stressful time for both of us. For him, it was a whole new experience. We don't test in our school. I figure with one student I can tell (for the most part) if he has mastered a concept or not. So a half-day test for him was scary! For me, I felt like I was going for the biggest job review of my life. A lifetime ago, when I was still in the working world, I hated job review day. I got myself so stressed out that I would almost be sick. His testing was like that for me. I worried about HIS stress level. I didn't know how he would test. Some people don't test well, maybe he would be like that. I worried about the results. I knew I shouldn't and I knew that I didn't have to because he is a bright kid, but I worried all the same. Wouldn't it have been much easier to give it over to the Lord and let Him do the worrying?? Yes, but I felt that I had to do it all. Guess I passed the teacher review, but flunked the faith review!! There is something for me to work on in the coming year!!!
Take care everybody!! I'll try to be around a little more now!!
Hugs!
Kristi
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Jan. 28, 2008 - Stay put Toots!
At about 1:30 a.m. on January 20, Toots decided to try to make a run for it! My water broke. It was really a deja vu moment because it was exactly like with Bubba. We took Bubba to my Mom and went to the hospital. After much poking and prodding it was determined that yes, my water had broken. We were transferred to another hospital about an hour away that had a NICU able to take care of a premature baby. Once there, the doctors kept me in bed until early Monday. We had a couple of contractions but nothing that would rock the boat. We stayed in the hospital until Thursday when the doctors determined that I could go home and wait it out there. Apparently, the rupture had healed. I was just glad to get back in the care of my regular OB/GYN that I knew and trusted.
Our biggest concern now is my sugar. The steroids that they gave me to develop Toots' lungs also caused my sugar to go a bit high. I was started on medication for my sugar as well as a diet to help control the sugar spikes. Once home, I continued the diet as best I could and the medication. Friday morning, my sugar dropped. Evidently it dropped even farther than I realized because at the doctor's office when I was feeling better, it was still at 65. On Saturday night, I went into a heavy sleep after taking the medication with dinner. We are currently off the meds until we are able to monitor my blood sugar. Tomorrow I go to the dietitian to learn what to eat and when. I also learn how to check my sugar tomorrow.
But the long and short of the story is that Toots is fine, she has plenty of fluid in her swimming pool, and we are hoping that she will take a couple of weeks to make her grand arrival. Keep us in your prayers!
Hugs!
Kristi
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Jan. 4, 2008 - Long time no see!!
Well, it's been so long since I have blogged. I know you think I've fallen off the face of the Earth. No everything is just fine here, but I really need to update you...
A little background...after 3 years of fertility testing and treatments, the Lord gave us a miracle with our little Bubba. We determined then and there that if the Lord wanted us to have more children, He would do it because we weren't helping it along again. Last April I was diagnosed with PCOS and told that more children were probably not in my future. We were fine with that. If we wanted more children, we would adopt. That was an idea that we had entertained several times in our marriage.
Then in July, I started having those symptoms again. I finally went for a pregnancy test. It was negative. But I was strangely not upset. I remembered all those pregnancy tests from the past and this one didn't both me. On the way home, I heard the song by Casting Crowns (my favorite) called The Voice of Truth. It talks about having faith in the face of trials. All the while the Devil is telling you that you are never going to win. But the Lord calls out with the Voice of Truth and tells a different story. It says not to be afraid or worry! All the trials are all for His Glory! All those negative pregnancy tests and even my PCOS diagnosis, all were a part of His plan!! I was certain now that the Lord had a plan. I just had to wait and see what it was. All the trash-talking the Devil was doing would not amount to a hill of beans because the Lord had a plan! So I thought maybe the Lord was saying to start looking at adoption. And we did. But the symptoms kept coming and stronger. Finally a week later, Adam insisted that I go for a blood pregnancy test. We don't have a lot of faith in those pee-on-a-stick tests.
So I went in to my regular doctor to have blood drawn. Jen said that she would have the results in about 10 minutes. I told her that Bubba and I were going to lunch so she could call my cell phone. After all I already knew what the results were going to be. Right?
Wrong!!! Jen called and calmly said, "Congratulations!" I almost wrecked the car! So that was the Lord's plan!! I spent the afternoon laughing and crying. It was an amazing feeling to be hit with a miracle. And still is! We told Bubba later that night and he decided he wasn't ever having blood drawn. If you have blood drawn, POOF! you are pregnant. Watch out for that blood drawing thing!!
So I spent the next 2 months with a very pessimistic OB/GYN who was certain that this pregnancy wasn't going full term. My levels didn't go up like they should, but I wasn't worried. I knew that the Lord had a plan. I just happened to be along for the ride. Once I made it through the first trimester, the doctor was worried about down's syndrome or spina bifida. We did more blood tests. Of course, everything was fine. I wasn't worried. The Lord has a plan. Nothing I do is going to change that. If the Lord's plan is that I am to be a Mom to a special needs child, then he must think I'm more capable than I do, but we'll make it. The tests all came back fine. They were afraid of preterm labor like with Bubba, so we are taking weekly progesterone shots. Ouch! Now the baby is on the high side of normal in size and I have a lot of fluid. Something else for them to worry about, but not me. I'm just sitting back and basking in the miracle.
Right before Thanksgiving we went for THE ultrasound. The one that tells us if we are having a boy bundle of joy or a girl bundle of joy. I knew that He was going to give us what we needed. If He thought a boy would fill our family, well, I can cuddle with 2 boys. After all, he gave me this left arm for something didn't he? It certainly isn't to write!! If it is a girl bundle, well, I can play dolls and Barbies and think pink!! I just waited to see His Plan work out. Low and behold, it's a...
GIRL!!!
Can you believe it? After 7 years of monster trucks and cars and boy stuff, I get to think about dolls and Princesses. Do I know how to think girl? I'm not sure, but we'll figure it out!
My doctor seems to think that Toots (like Tootsie Roll) will make her grand arrival on April 8. I personally think she will have her hair and nails done long before that. I'm betting on my grandmother's birthday which was March 3. I guess we'll see who is right.
Take care! I'll check in again when Life with Bubba and Toots gives me time to get to the computer again.
Hugs!
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Sep. 22, 2007 - I'm Still Here!
Hi everybody! I'm still here! Sorry it's been so long!! We started school on Labor Day. It has gone very well although we certainly have faced our share of obstacles - planned and unplanned. The first week of school, my little Bubba got a flu bug and it was a nasty one. Bless his little heart though, it didn't deter him from doing school! We'd be working along and suddenly he would just say, "Gotta go!" Then he would come back and we would pick up where we left off. The next week we had a planned trip to visit Quota friends in North Carolina. We had a wonderful "field trip" to the Greensboro Natural Science Museum (WOW!) and the Greensboro Children's Museum. With all we learned at those places, I felt like we had done several days of school!! This week, I've come down with a cold. Unfortunately I'm not as good a trooper as Bubba and I've been on the couch most of the week. We've managed to do school as Mom felt like it, but it's been a struggle (for me, not him). Next week I think is going to be more normal, but who knows. We are definitely teaching him to care for others and to roll with the flow of life! I guess that is one of the most important things that I can teach him.
Thanks for worrying everybody! I may be a little more scarce with the school year in full swing. Our Moving Beyond the Page curriculum is wonderful!! We are studying communities, the people that make them up and the functions that they provide. This week we have studied goods and services, and wants and needs. It has provoked some interesting discussions. We have also been making great strides in LLATL. It provides him with lots of hands-on things to do and he is learning without even realizing it! His handwriting was one of the things that most concerned me at the beginning of the year and it is improving drastically! Alot of things are falling into place!
Please keep Misty over at www.homeschoolblogger.com/3boyz in your prayers. Her husband had one of those accidents that we construction wives always worry about. She is such an impressive lady, but she is carrying alot on her shoulders right now.
Take care everybody!
Hugs!
Kristi
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Aug. 27, 2007 - Thank you Secret Sister!!
My Dear Secret Sister,
I must apologize. I received the most beautiful card from you as well as the gorgeous angel pin. I have had some trying doctor's appointments lately and have worn this pin to remind me that you are praying for me. It has helped me through some potentially dark times and they have all come out wonderfully!! Everything is great!! Thank you so much for being my Prayer Warrior. I think you have a direct line to the Lord!!! Things are going phenomenally well. I'm not able to tell even you the details yet, but all is well!! Thanks again!!!
Hugs!!
Kristi
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Aug. 27, 2007 - Wow!
It's been a good while since I posted. Sorry! There has been alot going on around here. I'm not at liberty to tell you all the details yet, but the Lord is good!!
School is going well. We've been doing what I'm calling "School Lite". We do the basics. Next Monday we are adding in all the other stuff as well. I'm so excited about starting our new curriculum!! I have a field trip planned for the first week, but I need to get off my tail and do some calling around to get it all lined up!
I was just referred to the neatest website. It is a live cam of a pond in an animal reserve in Africa. Check it out!
http://www9.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/wildcamafrica/
Take care everybody!!
Hugs!
Kristi
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Aug. 1, 2007 - Out of the mouths of babes...
At church on Sunday, Bubba went forward for the children's story. There were only two kids including him this week, so I'm sure he felt compelled to talk more to make up for the lack of kids. The preacher was doing a wonderful demonstration about all the things that we do in our days. For each activity he was putting a packing peanut in a mason jar. He started listing the things that we do each day...eat breakfast, get dressed, brush our teeth, etc. Then he says, "And you go to school." Bubba quickly pipes up, "I don't. I'm homeschooled." The preacher says, "Yes, but you still do school." Bubba responds in a matter of fact tone, "Nope. We just play all day." How wonderful!! I love that he feels that we are "playing" when we are really learning!!
Well, we're off to "play". Have a great day!
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Jul. 31, 2007 - Homeschool Open House 2007
My friend Tiany over at Less of Me~More of Him is sponsoring a Homeschool Open House. So here goes...
My name is Kristi and we are homeschooling our 6 year-old son, Jesse. We live in a small town in northwestern Virginia where there aren't many homeschoolers. Those that there are tend to be looked upon as strange. We decided to homeschool Jesse when he was 4. He wanted to learn to read. Well, I couldn't turn down that request just because he wasn't old enough to go to public school. What we found was a blessing in disguise! We truly love homeschooling!!
Last year was our "kindergarten" year. We used Sonlight which provided us with some great read-alouds. We learned to read with 100 Easy Lessons which truly were easy!! And we started out our Math-U-See journey with the Primer and quickly advanced to Alpha level where we still are. This year at the HEAV conference we found a wonderful curriculum that has been around for a couple of years (unfortunately I haven't found it before now) called Moving Beyond the Page. It is geared toward age groups instead of levels. It is so exciting!! We are starting with the 6-7-8 year old level which provides some easy reading books and some terrific projects!! We are going to lapbook our way through the curriculum. My only worry is that it may take us forever to do everything we want to do!! But we are just going to take our time and go day by day. If you would like to check this curriculum out, go to www.movingbeyondthepage.com.
With this curriculum, our goal for the year is to spend roughly 3 hours a day in school (that doesn't count read alouds at bedtime/naptime). Jesse will get up by 8:00 a.m., get dressed (maybe, we tend to do school in our jammies!) and eat breakfast. School starts at 9:00 with devotions. We are going to be using Karen Henley's devotions this year. We may add in Sword Fighting as the year goes along. We are going to be doing a Bible curriculum from Answers in Genesis, but that probably will be a once a week thing on Mondays. Then we will do our core stuff, LLATL and Math-U-See. Handwriting will also be an every day thing. Jesse really enjoys spelling so that will probably be an every day thing or at least every other day thing. We also purchased a Spanish Curriculum (the Learnables) that Jesse just has to listen to and do on the computer. We also have a music curriculum that will be a once a week thing, but I haven't decided which day of the week to do that. Whew! That sounds like a lot!! Hopefully we will work on school work until around lunchtime, then we will eat and take our nap. Yes, Jesse still naps. It maintains both of our sanity!!
Where do we do school? All over the place!! We do devotions cuddled on the couch. Schoolwork is done at his table in the living room and most of our read alouds are read at naptime and bedtime. Jesse is definitely a cuddler so the more of school that we can do snuggled the better!!
My biggest problem with school is organization. We live in a small house (880 square feet). Jesse's bedroom is tiny, so most of his toys gravitate to the living room. We have a spare room, but it is full of stuff. I haven't figured out totally how to organize all of the books that we use regularly and the book that we will use occasionally AND the manipulatives of MUS. I have rearranged the living room and there is a bookcase devoted solely to school books. I'm also going to get Jesse and big plastic case of drawers to put under his table to hold things like crayons, rulers, paper, that sort of thing! We are also going to lapbook our school work this year so that all those loose papers end up inside a lapbook instead of everywhere!! I think that will be a major help!!
My best advice is to use things on the internet to "spice" up school. Jesse loves Spelling Time and now they have introduced a math program, too. Now these used to be free and they have been forced to charge for them. But trust me, the results are well worth a little expense! Jesse loves spelling because of this program and I am hoping that his math skills improve as well.
Well, I hope you have enjoyed your journey through our homeschool!! Sorry this has gotten so long!! Good luck on your coming year!!
Hugs!
Kristi
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Jul. 25, 2007 - Hope...
You know, my Momma told me years ago that you can ask the Lord for anything. Sometimes He will say "Yes", sometimes He might say "No, and sometimes He will say "Wait a while." Always before I have dreaded that "Wait a while" answer. It meant...
well...
waiting, and I HATE waiting!! My impatience always would kick in and I would want an answer, any answer, NOW!! But I have recently found that sometimes that "Wait a while" answer is good. Somewhere between the asking and before the Final Answer (Thank you Regis), there is HOPE. There is HOPE that the answer will be YES. I like existing in this limbo-land of hope. So I am happy "waiting a while"!
Hugs to you all!
Kristi
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Jul. 25, 2007 - My Dear Secret Sister,
I thought that I would just jot you a note! Kinda turns the tables doesn't it?? 
I got your card and let me tell you, you must have a direct line to the Lord. Your prayers work miracles! Attitudes around our house have gotten much better lately. I must say that that includes my own. 
Thank you so much for your cards. I'm like a little kid and when I get mail (that isn't bills!) it just makes my day!! Keep the prayers coming and keep watching...you never know when I might jot YOU a note!! Take care of you - can't have anything happen to my very own Prayer Warrior!!
Hugs!
Kristi
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Jul. 23, 2007 - What Gemstone are You?
***Your Gemstone is Orange Saphire***
Courageous, optimistic, and successful.
Your confidence helps you handle the ups and downs of life
What Gemstone Are You?
http://www.blogthings.com/whatgemstoneareyouquiz/
**Sorry I couldn't insert the pretty picture of the orange sapphire. Maybe somebody can tell me how I do that? Try the test and let me know what gemstone you are!!
Hugs to all!!
Kristi
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Jul. 18, 2007 - Homeschool Book Exchange!
Hi everybody! I just checked out Marsha's blog at www.homeschoolblogger.com/drewsfamilytx and she was talking about a Homeschool Book Exchange. I checked it out and WOW!! am I excited now!! All you need to do is list your want to sell/trade/give aways or your want list. As people join the ring, they check out what you have/want and let you know how they can help!! Isn't that wonderful??? Check it out at:
http://janne.cc/blog/?page_id=167
I've gotta go. Gotta find all those homeschool books I won't be using and get them listed!! Talk to you later!!
Hugs!
Kristi
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Jul. 15, 2007 - Thank you...thank you...thank you!!
My dear Secret Sister,
I just walked to the mailbox and got the neatest surprise!!! I have a card from you!! Your card says "Lord, You brought someone special to mind. I pray You will bless her, give her a day filled with Your goodness, touched by Your love..." You will never know how much I need that right now!!!! Keep praying...pray hard!!!
Love and Hugs to You!
Kristi
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Jul. 14, 2007 - Timing...again!
Did you ever feel like the Lord was hitting you over the head with a 2x4? Now I have often told the Lord, "If you want me to do such-and-such, then you will have to hit me up beside the head with it because I won't hear little whispers." After my last Bible Study (and I haven't done the next lesson yet - sorry!) I have been contemplating "time" and "timing". Then yesterday I was reading through Belinda's blog at !!Blessed By Bunches!! (www.homeschollblogger.com/Belinda) and she is dicussing God's timing. She uses the example of the Israelites. God could have sent them down the short road, the easy road but, unbeknownst to them, it had Phillistines waiting to do battle. So instead He sent them down the wilderness road. Can you imagine the Israelites reaction to having to go into the wilderness (lions, tigers and bears, oh my! well maybe not but...) instead of going down the (apparently) easy road? I know what my reaction would have been: "Obviously I'm not hearing you correctly Lord. I know there is no way that you would send ME into the wilderness. It is going to be hard living out there. We may not have food. I must have misunderstood you."
How many times in life has the Lord sent you down what appears to be the hard road instead of the easy road? Looking back now on the hard times in my life I can see that the Lord has used them to His Glory and to teach me things. Sometimes it is just to give me something wonderful!! Think back now...think of those boyfriends that you just thought were wonderful, but they dumped you. At the time, you thought the world would end. But along comes your Knight in Shining Armor and suddenly you realize what the Lord had planned was much better than what you were going to work out on your own!!! He really does much better if I can just have the patience to WAIT!!
I look at the things going on in my life now: infertility, losing Amy, owning our own business and I know the Lord is going to use those things for His Purpose! Now if I can just avoid planning and making my own decisions before He tells me what His plan is!! I know that what He has in mind is infinitely better than anything that I could possibly come up with on my own, but patience is not something that I was blessed with. Maybe this is His way of teaching me patience!! As the chorus goes:
They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up on wings as Eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. Teach me Lord, teach me Lord to wait.
Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord. Psalm 27:14.
Blessings to you today!
Kristi
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Jul. 12, 2007 - Faith in God's Timing
Our family suffered an unexpected loss yesterday. Amy Marie Zirkle went to be with the Lord yesterday leaving behind an adoring husband and a beautiful, 9 month old daughter. Amy was a dear, sweet person who always saw the good in everybody and seemed to bring out the best in anybody around her. I grieve for David’s loss of a soulmate, a little girl who will never know the mother who loved her and a friend that I didn't get to know nearly well enough.
I was quite upset when I heard the news, as you can imagine. I explained to Jesse what had happened. In his sage-beyond-his-years way, he said, “God said it was time, Mommy.” I replied that sometimes it is hard to accept that the Lord has a plan because it doesn’t seem to make sense. It provoked a great conversation on faith in God’s timing, not our timing. What a wise little boy! I hope someday to have his faith!!
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