His ways are higher

You know what I have been learning these past few months? The fact that God knows what we are going through even when we have no idea. I am so comforted by the fact His ways are higher than mine, He thoughts greater than mine. We will never understand fully how great our God truly is, neither will we fully see His reasoning for things.

God is in control of ever intricate detail of our lives. He knows why things happen even when at the time they break our hearts, or worry us...

My friend Mandy and I were talking about her husband wanting to go to the Police Academy. I have several family members/close friends that are going/have gone into the military. The thought of them being in those lines of work can be really scary IF we don't understand the concept of our lives aren't our own. We could die at any moment, only Christ knows when. It isn't our job to 'protect' our loved ones from dangerous jobs because they are more 'risky'. We are in Christ's hands, and NOTHING can harm us if He doesn't want it to. Likewise, nothing can STOP something from happening if He DOES want it to.

The reason I am thinking this way today, is because yesterday a friend of my went through a devastating day. She was pregnant with twins, Ian and Owen, and was 20 weeks along. Yesterday morning her water broke, and as a result she had to deliver the babies. They both went to heaven shortly afterward, and my heart was broken for that family. PLEASE keep the parents in your prayers, because  I cannot imagine the heartache that they, and their two older boys, are going through right now.

That news was heartbreaking for anyone who heard about it, and I had to catch myself so I didn't start worrying about my own little baby. My sister informed me that once your a parent, (even if you haven't met your baby yet ;)) that  the thought of something happening to your child becomes your worst nightmare. I am rejoicing today that I, and the parents above, have a God that we can trust fully with our families. Christ calls us to deny everything in order to follow Him, and I truly believe that includes having open hands with our most prized possessions. Of course we hope He allows us to keep those people in our lives, but we HAVE to be willing to let Him take them for a much greater good. "ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSE." ALL THINGS.

That is want I'm choosing to cling to, and I'm praising God today that He has allowed me to know Him in a way that does comfort in hard times.

but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 19:14

When's the bAAAby due??

January 26, 2012, thanks for asking. :) Drew and I are so excited and know that God's timing is PERFECT and therefore we are thrilled to know that adding to our family is a part of that plan.

I had this inkling that I might be pregnant the night before Drew's birthday. So that morning (May 21) I got up and took a test. Sure enough, it was positive!!

I hid it in one of his gifts and took a shower like nothing happened. Dumb idea, I was going crazy! I woke Drew up and he opened his presents. I actually asked him which he thought was better, small gifts or big gifts. He said probably bigger gifts (once he opened the small one he changed his mind. :)) He said "Are you serious??" and then got a goofy grin on his face. There may or may not been a few tears shed, but I'll never tell for sure.

I already wrote about the crazy day we had, sorry I left out the best part of his birthday. ;) We wanted to go to the doctor before we told more than immediate family. So at Red Lobster that night we told his family and my mom, and then I called my sister and dad... all who were really happy for us. Oh, I may have taken another test halfway through the day. I couldn't quite wrap my brain about God's miracle to us so I figured if I took a test in the middle of the day (which is not recommended) and it was still positive, I would believe it was really happening. Sure enough...

The first few weeks were smooth sailing, I just needed to eat in the morning and I was fine. Unfortunately the past week has been pretty rough. Nausea all day long, while chasing kids, is difficult, as I'm sure many of you know.

We had our appointment this morning and everything looks great! We are 8 weeks, and the baby's heartbeat is 160 bpm. Drew and I are just so excited to begin this new part of our life. He is going to be a GREAT dad, by the way!

What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

Laura Story - "Blessings" Lyrics

We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know the pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise

Yummy food?? Yes. Thank You.

The parents of the kids I take care of, own several businesses in Roanoke. They own both the Wildflour Cafe and the Rescue Dog in Towers Shopping center. They also own On the Rise Bakery (with the best pizza/bread/desserts/ etc ever! Anyway, they asked me to take some picture of the Wildflour for their new website. I figured I would show you around the Wildflour and tempt you to come try it out. The food is just as good as the great atmosphere!

You can look at the menu, here.

I believe the term is "Planking"

So my husband went to school with this guy. He is a great guy and ended up marrying a girl Drew and I actually grew up with. That has nothing to do with the story. He decided to join in the fad that is called planking. Basically what you do is you lay down on anything  (car, waterfall, railing, roof, rocks, table, etc...) as flat as you can, face down. Then someone takes your picture. It's totally ridiculous, but if you YouTube it, it's completely legit. I guess. Anywho, after seeing his friend get into it up in Indiana, he decided to join the ridiculousness. I'm not going to lie though, trying to do it while tubing down the New River was actually kinda fun. In its own way. Only time will tell if my husband gets into it as much as his friend. But seriously, you should watch this. For real, it will be 1 minute and 58 seconds that you can never get back, you may roll your eyes or laugh hysterically, but you will be changed.

sun, water, inner tube = great day off [43]

The family I take care of decided to go camping Monday night so I had Tuesday off. I nicely asked begged Drew to switch his day off so we could spend the day together. One thing that I had really wanted to do last year was float down a river. Unfortunately whenever we decided to do it it was either about to rain, or the water level was too high. Well Tuesday was the perfect day so we headed to the New River Junction to spend the afternoon soaking up the sun. It was SO much fun, I would recommend it to anyone. Relaxing, refreshing, and togetherness described our day perfectly. :) We made breakfast before we left and then ate at Moe's in Blacksburg for an early dinner. This will definitely be happening more throughout the summer. Although I've got to remember to keep my butt up, because there are some rocks that jump out at you!!

Most Productive Date Weekend Ever [42]

This weekend I decided, that with no specific plans all weekend long, we were going to be productive. We have a to do list a mile long, and keep putting it off. Mainly because it isn't a list of fun things. The goal of the weekend went from cleaning out the fridge, to painting. ALOT., to taking pictures for the Wildflour Cafe's website, to caulking, putting crown molding up, grocery shopping, squeezing our niece and nephew that were in town for a few short hours, etc... You get the idea. We stopped with the house construction once all the big things were done, and as I predicted, we never finished. Welp this weekend I was determined to cross out as many things on that list as possible. We listened to music, took a few relaxing breaks, and worked hard. I'm proud to say that we accomplished a lot, and although we didn't finish, I think the end might possibly be in sight now. Shesh... I'm so over the flood of December '10.

While I didn't take any pictures of Drew and I working hard, I did get some great ones during the relaxing part of our weekend. You would rather see these anyway! 

Oh mylanta what a busy weekend... [41]

 Drew and I had our plates full this weekend. Literally. ;) We are so blessed to have tons of friends and family to spend time with on the holidays. We were definitely ready to relax, just the two of us, by Monday evening though!!

We started our weekend out by having Lewis and Christine over for dinner. It was supposed to be a big cookout with all our friends for Drew's birthday, but when I was planning it I didn't realize it was Memorial Day weekend so everyone was out of town. We were fine with that and had a great time catching up with our newlywed friends. They are so encouraging and a great couple serving our Lord. I just love them.

Jeremy, Katie, Owen, and Audrey came into town Friday evening and stayed til Monday evening. Chaos reigned our house but I loved all the talks and snuggles that ensued.

Saturday morning we headed over to my grandparents' house for some yummy Farmer breakfast. Eggs, Bacon, Pancakes, Biscuits/Gravy, sausage, apples... my stomach is growling just thinking about it. Almost everyone was there and it was a  relaxing morning of chatting on the screened in porch, watching the kiddos play and eating Popsicle.

Saturday evening we headed to my other grandparents' house (My mom's side) for a cookout. Again, chats, laughter, kid watching continued... + some squirt bottles = soaked kids.

Sunday Drew preached because Scotty was out of town and he did a great job! I'm always so proud when he shares his convictions with others. :) He spoke on us being Holy (we're going through 1 Peter). Afterwards we cooked on the grill and napped before we headed out to a Red Sox Game. Drew decided to end the school year for our kids and teens by treating them to a baseball game. Although it was super hot, we had a good time catching up with friends. We didn't see the teenagers the whole time because they would way rather walk around the whole time, but the kids love it!

 These girls had the expressions that we all had. 'Ugh, its HOT!'

 Poor boys. They wanted the bat boy to through them a ball so bad... they just didn't understand the concept of being directly behind an incredibly tall net!

Monday we were able to slow down. Family stayed over until around 6.. We were able to watch the kids play in the pool, try a new taco pizza recipe, and spend some quality time with the Gilmore Girls. Oh, and Jeremy mowed the lawn since Drew has been too busy with opening pools to do it! :)  Drew and I went out after everyone left because the last thing we wanted to do was cook dinner.

Shew... time for a nap!!