Find joy in life every day, not because life is always good, but because God is.

Find joy in life every day, not because life is always good, but because God is. 

I saw this on the inter webs today. I can’t love it more. 

There is so much truth for this weird season we are in. Life is weird and crazy, it’s not always good, in fact sometimes it’s just downright hard, and scary, and chaotic.

But God is still good. 

And for that I am so incredibly grateful. 

And I’m so incredibly grateful that God still has this whole crazy, out of control world, firmly in His loving hands. 

And I will continue to find joy in life every day because   He is still God and He is still good. ( and because I  have 3 not- so-little- anymore boys who will watch and wait for my reaction to each bump in this road of life. If I stop and proclaim my gratefulness for all the smooth roads we’ve traveled this far we can pause at each bump to see how few and far between those bumps really are. ) 

If you think my hands are full, you should see my ♥heart♥

It happens almost every time I go anywhere with all three of my littles. "Oh my, you have your hands full!" "How do you do it?" "You are one busy mom" and my very favorite "why did you have them all so close together?". But, do they know how I feel? How I really, really feel? I usually just laugh it off or say a quick "yup, I've got my hands full!" Sure, some days I think to myself, what was I thinking? I DO have my hands full. And sure, there are days where I think how can I possibly make it through this day? You know those days where the kids are fighting because......... "he looked at me!" " He is looking out my window!" "He told me he didn't want to play wrestling!" "he is sitting too close to me!".....those days where you just don't feel good but you still have dishes to do, laundry to wash, meals to make, things to clean, toys to pick up, kiddos to play with. Let's be honest, everyone has "those" days. But, 95% of the time I feel like shouting back at them "IF YOU THINK MY HANDS ARE FULL, YOU SHOULD SEE MY HEART!!!"

  Do they know? Do they know how it feels to be greeted with 3 little hugs in the morning? Boys that are so excited to see you that they sneak in to wake you up? Do they know how it feels to get little projects from school that say how much they love their mom? Do they know how it feels to have 3 boys fighting over who gets to sit next to mom? Do they know how it feels to hear true-from-your-gut-little boy belly laughs? Do they know how it feels to have 3 boys yelling I love you more, I love you bigger than 10,000 giants, I love you most-est when they are supposed to be sleeping? Do they know how it feels to see beautiful, genuine little boy smiles every day? They must not know because surely they would understand. My heart IS full, my hands ARE full, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

It happens a lot. More than I'd like to admit..... I'm not an emotional person. Or at least, I used to not be. But here I am.....again......being emotional because I'm just so blessed. SO SO blessed. Sometimes I think, how in the world did I get picked to be momma of these three sometimes crazy but mostly just super sweet boys, wife to that loves us oh-so-much- husband, sister, daughter, in law to that crazy, huge, loud,always having fun, always there no matter what family, homemaker of that leaky, things keep failing but oh-so-beautiful house? How can it be that I am so blessed?

 Because there is one that loves me like no one else, because I put all my trust in HIM, because I am loved more than I will ever know by HIM who died to know me. My heart is full because of HIM. Every good and perfect gift is from above and I will always give HIM praise.

Dear Makeup, I love you.

Dear Makeup,
I love you.
Sincerely,
Me

 I just realized that I haven't typed any words other that those about my faith and my stunningly amazing family. :) (Which shouldn't be too surprising because those are my #1 and #2 things that are most important to me) But..................... up there on my top 20 list of things I love is............ makeup! I LOVE makeup. I love putting makeup on people, I love playing with makeup, I love making women feel better about themselves with makeup, I love, love, love it! If you didn't already know, I'm a licensed esthetician (skin care person) and have been working with makeup and skin care, doing makeovers and selling makeup for 13 years. I've done wedding makeup, photography makeup, and just everyday makeup. There's just something so amazing about a woman coming in feeling down about herself and me being able to pick her back up by doing art.....my type of creative outlet, my art. I've heard stories of divorce, weight loss, and life changing events all while doing makeup. Mother and daughter dates, women who just need a new look, women who have had happy and horribly sad things that make them feel that they need a change. This pigmented substance has the power to make women see themselves in a different way, and I love it for that.

“Beauty, to me, is about being comfortable in your own skin. That, or a kick-ass red lipstick.”
― Gwyneth Paltrow

How true is that! I believe some of the most beautiful women I know are comfortable with themselves, just they way they are. In their own skin...not worried about makeup. But, a kick ass red lipstick just really has the ability to change your day! :) $2.00 makeup $50.00 makeup, I don't judge.... I love it all.

A thankful heart is a happy heart. My heart is happy because I am THANKFUL

As I was dropping off my older boys at school today, their PE teacher stopped me.....this isn't abnormal, we talk with her almost every day while walking to class.....about tying shoes, about funny kids, about whatever pops in our heads. But today, she said something that really spoke to my heart. She said to me as she was touching her heart, " Your boys.....your boys, they are the sweetest things! They really touch my heart!"  I LOVE hearing those words......and it got me to use that old, sappy brain 'o' mine yet again....... To tell you all a mushy little story! :) Don't you just love when I do that?

So, lately I've been just THANKFUL. Thankful especially for those boys "that touch my heart" SO SO deeply that it makes me emotional thinking about how thankful I am for them. THANKFUL that those boys" touch other peoples hearts" with their sweet smiles, silly laughs and happy words. THANKFUL for all that we have and all that we are blessed with. Our home, our marriage, my husband, our health, Shane's job and not just his "job"......a job that he loves, our faith, our family, our extended family, this beautiful earth, those rains that we love so much, all the beauty we see with our eyes and hear with our ears. We are just SO blessed......so, SO, SO blessed. So thankful that it just brings me to tears. I read somewhere that a thankful heart is a happy heart. Those words could not be more true. My heart is happy because I am thankful. Thankful for EVERY LITTLE THING.........and then I read this little post here:


"Genuine thankfulness is inextricably bound up with trust. We will never truly thank God until we first truly trust Him. We will not be grateful to God for all that we have until we first recognize that we’re dependent on Him for all that we have.

By nature, we’re not trusting creatures. We’re creatures of necessity. We trust God when we’re forced to trust Him because our problems go beyond our abilities. The rest of the time, we get along just fine by ourselves. If we can solve the problem by ourselves, we don’t resort to prayer and trusting God, because we don’t need to trust Him. But it’s only when we come to the end of ourselves and cast ourselves in total dependence on the Lord that we begin to experience genuine praise and thanksgiving.

Psalm 33 was written to those addressed as “righteous ones” and “the upright” (v. 1). That is, it is written to those who know God personally and who are seeking to please Him by living obedient lives. But even these people need to be exhorted to “sing for joy in the Lord” (v. 1), to “give thanks to the Lord” and “sing praises to Him” (v. 2). The psalm tells us that…

 

 

The key to a thankful, worshiping heart is to rely completely on the Lord."

Written by: Steven J. Cole

"The key to a thankful, worshiping heart is to rely completely on the Lord" keep saying it until it sinks in......... It took me 30 years to fully put my trust in God. 30 years. Yes, I've always been religious. Yes, I've always been to church....and Yes, in my life I thought I was thankful for things. I also thought I had already put my trust in God when I asked him to be in my heart forever....... A few years ago while at church on Good Friday service, our pastor asked us to write down something on a paper that was holding back our full devotion and relationship with God. He then asked us to walk up and place our paper, along with this thing that was holding us back into the basket. He asked us to completely trust in God and to let all those things that may be holding us back in our relationship with God go. Just let it go he said, trust completely in Him. You know what my paper said? Trust in God. I had a problem in trusting in God for everything. I couldn't just completely let go and give my life, my trust, my everything to God. So that day, I did. I gave ALL my trust to God. I let God rule my life, I let God do my worrying. He is the leader of our family. He is the answerer of our prayers. He is who we go to for our everything. I will trust completely in HIM.  That same year, I got baptized in the Lewisville River at the same time as my Dad. My brother, my Dad and my sister in law's father (the pastor who married me and Shane) dunked me in the river. That was one of the best days of my life. Not only because I will always remember that I got baptized with my Dad by my brother with most of my family watching........but because I let it ALL go. I let the water wash it all away.

I was re-born with this thankful heart. This thankful heart that has me in tears more often than I'd like to admit. This thankful heart that is relying completely on Him. This thankful heart that I thought I knew for 30 years. This thankful heart that I thought loved God completely. This thankful heart that I thought had an amazing relationship with God. I'm thankful that I figured it out......after 30 years.

 

"The key to a thankful, worshiping heart is to rely completely on the Lord."

 

This truly, truly thankful heart will always rely completely on the Lord. And once you figure it out and feel the closeness you get with God when you completely let go and trust in Him, You'll never go back to your old thankful heart. The only problem with this "new heart" is that it gets weepy all too often when you start thinking about all those things He blesses us with each day.

 

 

10 years and 3 kids

........and yes, I still love you. Through thick and thin. Ups and downs. Till death do us part.

Hello bird , Good morning Mr. Bird!

It started out as one of those days where you just don't want to get out of bed. You didn't get any sleep because that one sick little person decided he needed to sleep basically right on you all night.......... all while kicking and punching and doing ballerina twirling........ just to finally decide to be awake at 5:15. Ya, one of those days. One of those days where you wake up and you've got cleaning, laundry and grocery shopping on your list for the day. Yay! One of those days where you'd just like to kick up your feet and do nothing. One of those days where your mind trails off to all those things that are on your list of to dos for the day, the week, the month, the year. And all those things that you keep putting off seem to just creep up on you and make you feel horrible about not doing them. Yup. That's today!  And, just as I was sitting down to have my coffee and plan out my list of to-dos for today, I heard a bird right outside the window. He was sitting in our tree singing sweet songs. Then I heard a "Hello Mr. Bird! Good Morning Mr. Bird!" From that same sickly little person who should be as grumpy as his momma. He who did no sleeping, he who does not feel good, but HE who has nothing on HIS list...........As we were going out to the car to drop off his brothers the bird was singing us a song again. Then I hear "Hello Mr. Bird! Good Morning, Mr. Bird!" All day today! That bird's sweet songs to us.....and Gavin's response "Hello Mr. Bird, Good Morning Mr. Bird!"  I thought to myself, Gavin has really got it figured out. Not a care in the world! He's grumpy, but he's loved. He's sick, but he's cared for. And he's happy! I'm grumpy but I'm loved. When I'm sick, I'm cared for too.... I should be happy!

So, I did what any right minded woman would do who feels like she can never just catch up to that ever growing list of things to do.......... I decided not to do any of it!!! No cleaning, no laundry, no grocery shopping. Not one thing on that ever expanding to-do list....not one. Instead, I loved on my boys who are growing so fast it makes me weepy. I went shopping for some things to spoil people I love with. I said Hello Mr. Bird, Good Morning Mr. Bird with my Gavin. I watched Gavin fall asleep laying right next to me, I thought about those important things on my to do list that I'd really love to do....not feel like I have to do. I would love to write a journal to each of my boys....about them, about all these silly things they do. About times that I am proud of them. About times they make me cry with joy........about all those little moments that we soon forget. I don't have enough little time capsules in my heart to store them all. I'll always remember the big things like first time they rode a bike, first day at school, first tooth lost. But will I always remember the way Gavin likes to hold my hand while he falls asleep? Or the way Abram used to make me sing Jesus loves me every night or he'd cry? Or the way Caleb first said his prayers with his sweet little voice? I want to remember it all! And days like today, when I have all these busy things I need to do called life, remind me of just that. We all get too busy and don't get to enjoy those little things. Sometimes you have to just say I'll do it tomorrow........because today......it's all about those little things. So, I drifted off to sleep and when I woke up all cozy next to Gavin this song was stuck in my head.....


http://youtu.be/pLLMzr3PFgk

"How Great Thou Art"

O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.
When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur
And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

And when I think of God, His Son not sparing;
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.
Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,
And then proclaim: "My God, how great Thou art!"

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

 

And I remembered that every single one of us is tired, but LOVED by HIM. Every single one of us is Sick, Sad, Hurting.....and cared for by HIM.

HOW GREAT THOU ART!

 

............and my grumpy, tired, lazy day turned out to be great because of HIM....and those other 3 little people.........and that one hubby-o- mine who brought me my favorite juice.........my relishing in all the little things today...................and you sweet little birdie...sitting in our tree singing us songs every morning. ♥

It's not that we are weird, it's just that we have more fun than everyone else.

The other day Caleb asked why our family is so weird. Shane and I looked at each other and laughed. What did we expect our children to be like when we were constantly playing jokes, singing silly songs, teasing and laughing with/at each other? We both said it's more entertaining to be weird. Weird isn't bad. It just means you aren't afraid to be different. Also, it's not that we are WEIRD, It's just that we have more fun than everyone else whilst choosing to be different......to be us.......against the norm....not afraid of what other people think while we sing and dance in the car.....while we make up funny songs at the store......while we have inside jokes that make us crack up.....while we always make funny faces at each other. I'm thankful, oh-so-thankful that each one of you are weird. Weird, hilarious, crazy, silly little minis of your daddy and your momma.  Because each of your little weird personalities just make my day that much brighter! Please always remember to be you.....your silliest little you....and please......no matter what other people think.....or what other people tell you.....being weird is not bad. It's good! Because it's you and that's the silly, crazy, hilarious, weird you that I love so much!