More than 2 weeks after Christmas, and my kids are still on a Christmas gift high! We celebrated Christmas with my parents this past Saturday, and now my poor aunt and uncle's house looks like a toy store! Today was a beautiful, sunny day so Judah was able to get some good use out of his new truck! Yes, I said truck! When I was a kid, Little Tykes only made the little, yellow and red cozy coupe. Now, they make this! He had such a blast! He even wanted to hook up and haul his Great Uncle's boat! I love this picture!! She was all ready for her 1st day of school! And Olivia is enjoying her new "sister".

I was probably naive in thinking I would be able to blog from the airport on New year's day! The last time I flew on New Years I remember the airport being empty. That was not the case this time!! At 5AM there stood probably 100 people in front of me in the United airlines check-in desk. At the front of that line stood a very angry man who decided to yell at the agent and draw the attention of airport security and customs officers. Thankfully, because I was travelling with small children and an excess of carseats and luggage, we were whisked to the front of the line and sent on our way.  It was a crazy start to a long, but exciting day. I have grown to dispise airport goodbyes; or any goodbyes for that matter! Watching my husband tell our children goodbye was heartwrenching. How could I not have expected this to be so hard? We said goodbye, and off we went.  Through all of the chaos at check-in, security, and customs, we made it to our gate just as they started boarding our pl...

Looking ahead to 2013 brings great excitement! This will be a BIG year for us! On New Years Day, the kids and I will fly to Charleston, South Carolina to start a new chapter in our lives. We are praying Scott will join us sometime in January once his US Immigration is approved. New city, new home, new church, new school, new everything! I'm not sure I could be more excited than I am! This is the city I've dreamed of living in since I was a little girl! God amazes me!! One of the things I hope happens in 2013 is that I can get back to posting here more regularly. It's no coincidence that the first day of our new chapter will be in Charleston! So, I'll post on Tuesday, either in the airport on our layover in Houston or on one of the flights if my children sleep (PLEASE Lord Jesus, let them sleep!), but if not, definitely once we get in and get settled Tuesday evening! Looking forward to a fresh start. For now, I have what seems like a NEVER-ENDING list of things to do...

Romans 12:8 "If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously." What do secure leaders do? 1. Secure leaders raise up other leaders. Ephesians 4:11-13 "He is the one who gave these gifts to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God's people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ, until we come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God's Son that we will be mature and full grown in the Lord, measuring up the full stature of Christ." Jesus didn't carry out his ministry and mission alone, hoarding all of his knowledge and talents to himself.  He was secure in his leadership abilities; not fearing that if others shined, he would shine less. He raised up the 12 disciples around him and poured into all of them so that they would be leaders as well. Jehoshaphat was a perfect example of a leader that raised up leaders ar...

Just days after writing a post about resisting sin and not conforming to the world's standards, I almost had to laugh at the irony of God's testing of myself and my faith. Here is that post.  Last night, I discovered that with the upgrade of our cable package I now get a few of my favorite networks that I haven't had since moving to Canada. Included in our package are Food Network, Turner Classic Movies (TCM), TV Tropolis, and several others I used to enjoy. Among the first shows I flipped through, I was almost too excited to see "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" and the "Real Housewives" series.  I shamefully admit that I used to love watching reality shows like those mentioned, but never saw anything wrong with it because I wasn't copying any of their behaviors in my own life. What I didn't realize though, was the affect those shows can have on your mind and your heart. Proverbs 4:23 says, "Above all else, guard your heart, for it affect...

I read a fantastic article on the phenomenon of "50 Shades of Gray" and "Magic Mike". I share the same disbelief that women everywhere that claim to follow Christ would indulge in these types of entertainment. There seems to be this sort of movement of women saying, "if men are allowed, so are we!", instead of standing against the very things that breaks the heart of God. Sure, men all over the world have become ensnared in the tangled web of pornography. Do I think that's any more wrong than women being involved in the same thing? No, of course not. I do know though, that because of the incredibly high demand for pornography, young women and even girls are being enslaved to supply that very demand. If we choose to begin a new revolution of sex-for-sale with women in mind, are we going to be OK when the same number of boys end up trapped across the earth as there are girls because of our sinful means of entertainment? That's the reality of this sit...

I read these two posts by Justin & Trisha Davis yesterday and had to share. What every husband needs.   (Read the whole post here.) 1. Loyalty 2. Encouragement 3. Sex 4. Common interests 5. Prayer What every wife needs.   (Read the whole post here.) 1. Pursuit 2. Prayer 3. Engagement 4. Leadership I thought they were pretty spot on with these posts. A tweet by The Marriage Bed @themarriagebed "If you decided to start treating your spouse how God wants you to treat them, how much would you have to change?" Pretty good thought! I'm blessed to have a husband who pursues me, prays for me, engages with me, and leads me and our children!