Friday, March 27, 2009
A Fun Day in Baltimore
It was half price day at the children's museum in Baltimore. Traffic in that downtown area was crazy and the buildings do not have parking. You have to find it a few blocks away and this small town girl was not used to that. I nearly killed one woman. Poor thing, I hope her heart is working again by now. But after figuring out the parking, the big girls had an absolute blast at Port Discovery, and that was the goal since they had been cooped up in the Fl house for weeks and now the Baltimore house for weeks. They needed a break.
Water Works 
Grocery Store 
Cowgirls and Drums 
Trains, Rock Painting and Indoor Soccer 
50's Diner 
The Local Filler-Up Station 
Thursday, March 26, 2009
It's New Day
I have had my few weeks of despair, sadness, loneliness and pity party. Yesterday I woke up ready to get on and get over it. One thing that struck me is that even though my kids are exceedingly happy here, I still need to set a tone of contentment and praise for them, which I am not doing. How good is it for a kid to have a mom that mopes? Even if I don't show it, they know. Kids pick up on that stuff easily. I am not saying that I am over it. I am saying I am ready to get over it.
A good friend posted this verse on her blog for the new year and it has really stuck with me, since it so relates to where we have been for many months now....
Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
YET, I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
The Sovereign Lord is my strength,
He makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
He enables me to go on the heights.
Hab 3:17-19
This farmer has nothing left, all is gone and yet he is choosing to rejoice. Which leads to the point that REJOICING is not a feeling or emotion based on favored circumstances. REJOICING is a choice. A choice to be made in good or bad circumstances. A choice to praise the ONE God that knows what he is doing, even when we do not understand. A choice to love the ONE God no matter what, no matter where.
In Hebrews 13:5 the Lord tells us he will NEVER leave us nor forsake us. We usually stop at the "never leave" part and tend to focus on the fact that God is always near and with us. But this verse also says "forsake". He will not forsake us. Forsake means to turn away from entirely. Entirely! For God to forsake us means he stops working in our life, stops blessings us, stops pouring out His will over us. NO! He says he will not forsake us. So if he will not then it must mean that he will forever, always, each day, each circumstance (bad and good) still be working in our life, still blessing us and still pouring out His will over us.
I leave this post with a few favored verses.
Philippians 1:6...he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Lamentations 3:22-23...His compassions fail not; they are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness."
A good friend posted this verse on her blog for the new year and it has really stuck with me, since it so relates to where we have been for many months now....
Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
YET, I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
The Sovereign Lord is my strength,
He makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
He enables me to go on the heights.
Hab 3:17-19
This farmer has nothing left, all is gone and yet he is choosing to rejoice. Which leads to the point that REJOICING is not a feeling or emotion based on favored circumstances. REJOICING is a choice. A choice to be made in good or bad circumstances. A choice to praise the ONE God that knows what he is doing, even when we do not understand. A choice to love the ONE God no matter what, no matter where.
In Hebrews 13:5 the Lord tells us he will NEVER leave us nor forsake us. We usually stop at the "never leave" part and tend to focus on the fact that God is always near and with us. But this verse also says "forsake". He will not forsake us. Forsake means to turn away from entirely. Entirely! For God to forsake us means he stops working in our life, stops blessings us, stops pouring out His will over us. NO! He says he will not forsake us. So if he will not then it must mean that he will forever, always, each day, each circumstance (bad and good) still be working in our life, still blessing us and still pouring out His will over us.
I leave this post with a few favored verses.
Philippians 1:6...he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Lamentations 3:22-23...His compassions fail not; they are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness."
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
No More Music
I have taken the playlist off of the blog for at least a while because it seems to cause my blog to load slowly for some people. I hope this helps you view my blog quicker and more easily.
Well, here we are
You have to understand that my heart is not yet at home. And my time here in Maryland might be short lived or long term. That is all up to God. And I have certainly learned to boast in God alone, but any amount of boasting, my heart is just not ready for. I am enduring. However, many of you have asked to see photos of our new home and so for you, I made a few journey's around the house with a camera. It is nice here. It's very pretty in Maryland, if only I'd let myself enjoy it. I typed up a post titled "I Shall Not Want" and at the end of that post, I said the Lord was stripping me of much and he did! He stripped me of everything but the 5 people I love the most. I don't know if I quite expected this. I thought I'd still be in Florida just a smaller dingy house and I was fine with that. I didn't know he'd move me 1000 miles away to a beautiful area of the country. I would rather be in an apartment in Florida right now eating Taco Bell. But here I am and if only, I could come out of my denial, my pain, my self-indulgent pity party, I could love it here. Just look...you will see there is so much beauty to love. God created it all. He's the master artist.
Sunday after Church we stayed in town, ran our errands and then came home. While Dale worked on putting our patio furniture together, the kids and I did a very brief hike in our "back 40". Most of it, I believe is owned by the county or state. But there is so much back yard, over 40 acres.
Here is the back of our house here in Maryland.
The kids and I were out back with the dog and just about to go down a small trail to the creek area.
This is the woods leading up to the creek, that we continue to see deer, fox and beavers come out of.
This is the main trail down the hill, by the creek. It must be owned by the city or state as it has gas lines there (that is the small yellow post.)
That night, after much begging from Autumn, Dale did get our first fire going.
Monday we unpacked and napped. And on Tuesday, I had to get some fresh 40 degree air. Kya and I took a short walk in the front yard to gather these pictures for you.
This is our front yard and the woods across the street.
If you look one direction down the street you will see this set of neighbors. This is towards the front of our community here.
Look the other way down our street and there are more woods and the road leading to the back of our neighborhood.
At the bottom of our hill, looking up our driveway, this is our home.
And here is a close up of the house.
Now if only the inside were so beautiful. It's in shambles and even when we get settled, I'm not quite sure how this place will look. Our furniture is quite the misfit for this home but maybe after this coming weekend when Dale is here to help hang pictures and wall decorations it will look more homey on the inside too.
I am hanging on to this verse and asking the Lord to give me a peaceful, thankful heart.
Colossians 3:15 - Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.
Sunday after Church we stayed in town, ran our errands and then came home. While Dale worked on putting our patio furniture together, the kids and I did a very brief hike in our "back 40". Most of it, I believe is owned by the county or state. But there is so much back yard, over 40 acres.
Here is the back of our house here in Maryland.
The kids and I were out back with the dog and just about to go down a small trail to the creek area.
This is the woods leading up to the creek, that we continue to see deer, fox and beavers come out of.
This is the main trail down the hill, by the creek. It must be owned by the city or state as it has gas lines there (that is the small yellow post.)
That night, after much begging from Autumn, Dale did get our first fire going.
Monday we unpacked and napped. And on Tuesday, I had to get some fresh 40 degree air. Kya and I took a short walk in the front yard to gather these pictures for you.
This is our front yard and the woods across the street.
If you look one direction down the street you will see this set of neighbors. This is towards the front of our community here.
Look the other way down our street and there are more woods and the road leading to the back of our neighborhood.
At the bottom of our hill, looking up our driveway, this is our home.
And here is a close up of the house.
Now if only the inside were so beautiful. It's in shambles and even when we get settled, I'm not quite sure how this place will look. Our furniture is quite the misfit for this home but maybe after this coming weekend when Dale is here to help hang pictures and wall decorations it will look more homey on the inside too.
I am hanging on to this verse and asking the Lord to give me a peaceful, thankful heart.
Colossians 3:15 - Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
What a March!!
WOW!!!! That is one word that sums up the month of March for our family.
FIRST:
I had the honor of being baptized by my husband and our pastor. I was baptized as a child and brought up in the Lord but I was an adult when I truly decided that HE was MY Lord, so I was humbled to participate in Believers Baptism. 34 others were baptized this day along with my dearest friends 6yr old daughter. What a day! It was beautiful!
SECOND:
Dale turned 48! Happy Birthday my love. I promise the lasagna is still going to be made in a belated celebration.
THIRD:
We celebrated Autumn's 3rd Adoption Day Anniversary. We love you so very much baby girl! You are a crazy woman and keep us on our toes, but you are such a huge blessing.
FOURTH:
Dale got a job!!!!! A long term contract with a great company.
FIFTH:
But that job made us leave all those we love dearly and move to Maryland. I have not posted because we have been so busy and because my heart has been broken. I am leaning on the Lord to restore my broken heart. It's so bitter sweet. I love that Dale is working. I love that our home here is wonderful. I hate that everyone that is so dear to me is (literally) 1000 miles away now.
But here is what all my friends have been asking for, pictures of our life in Maryland! It's not a tropical paradise, but it is very pretty here.
Our 3rd night here, this family of 6 deer were grazing in our back yard.
The kids and I went on a picnic at a park that was seperated from a golf course by a pond. It was small but very pretty.
Then today, our first Saturday here, the deer showed back up again. Only 5 this time. This photo was taken by me inside our glass slider door.
FIRST:
I had the honor of being baptized by my husband and our pastor. I was baptized as a child and brought up in the Lord but I was an adult when I truly decided that HE was MY Lord, so I was humbled to participate in Believers Baptism. 34 others were baptized this day along with my dearest friends 6yr old daughter. What a day! It was beautiful!
SECOND:
Dale turned 48! Happy Birthday my love. I promise the lasagna is still going to be made in a belated celebration.
THIRD:
We celebrated Autumn's 3rd Adoption Day Anniversary. We love you so very much baby girl! You are a crazy woman and keep us on our toes, but you are such a huge blessing.
FOURTH:
Dale got a job!!!!! A long term contract with a great company.
FIFTH:
But that job made us leave all those we love dearly and move to Maryland. I have not posted because we have been so busy and because my heart has been broken. I am leaning on the Lord to restore my broken heart. It's so bitter sweet. I love that Dale is working. I love that our home here is wonderful. I hate that everyone that is so dear to me is (literally) 1000 miles away now.
But here is what all my friends have been asking for, pictures of our life in Maryland! It's not a tropical paradise, but it is very pretty here.
Our 3rd night here, this family of 6 deer were grazing in our back yard.
The kids and I went on a picnic at a park that was seperated from a golf course by a pond. It was small but very pretty.
Then today, our first Saturday here, the deer showed back up again. Only 5 this time. This photo was taken by me inside our glass slider door.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Dedicated to My Love
When you have to face a storm, go through the dessert or the wildnerness, who on earth would you want to be with?
The last 8 1/2 months of our life has been quite the wilderness period. We only had income for 8 weeks of that 8 1/2 months. It could easily have been the setting for tension, arguments, ignoring one another, resentment and the list could go on. But, in my storm, in our wilderness period, I got to dance all the way through it. I have the most amazing husband and I am honored to be his wife. He put forth every effort to find work and to remain dependant on the Lord and to honor our family. He held me when I was scared and made me laugh when there was nothing to laugh about. The memories are of over 2000 world-wide applications, a van load of Yellow Pages to try and earn a buck, almost having to clean U-Haul trucks, by God's grace every bill paid, 3 meals a day as a family around our table and prayer preceeded each of those meals, many afternoon talks, the quite mornings before the kids woke ....We spent 8 months of every day together, every waking hour and we had lots of mid-day hugs, on the spot kisses and even a few little slow dances on the kitchen floor. Dale, you knock my socks off. You are the most amazing man I know. I love you more than I did 8 months ago. Nobody ever wants to really go through a wilderness period. But, I can tell you, that when I reflect back on this one, I will not ever look at it as a wilderness period. It will forever be the very best 8 months of my life. Thank you my love for being by my side and for the dance.
~ The song on my blog is for you!
The last 8 1/2 months of our life has been quite the wilderness period. We only had income for 8 weeks of that 8 1/2 months. It could easily have been the setting for tension, arguments, ignoring one another, resentment and the list could go on. But, in my storm, in our wilderness period, I got to dance all the way through it. I have the most amazing husband and I am honored to be his wife. He put forth every effort to find work and to remain dependant on the Lord and to honor our family. He held me when I was scared and made me laugh when there was nothing to laugh about. The memories are of over 2000 world-wide applications, a van load of Yellow Pages to try and earn a buck, almost having to clean U-Haul trucks, by God's grace every bill paid, 3 meals a day as a family around our table and prayer preceeded each of those meals, many afternoon talks, the quite mornings before the kids woke ....We spent 8 months of every day together, every waking hour and we had lots of mid-day hugs, on the spot kisses and even a few little slow dances on the kitchen floor. Dale, you knock my socks off. You are the most amazing man I know. I love you more than I did 8 months ago. Nobody ever wants to really go through a wilderness period. But, I can tell you, that when I reflect back on this one, I will not ever look at it as a wilderness period. It will forever be the very best 8 months of my life. Thank you my love for being by my side and for the dance.
~ The song on my blog is for you!
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