Monday, February 16, 2009

Rub-a-Dub Two Boys in our Tub!





It has been a while since I shared some pictures of our silly little boys, so I thought I would post a few from bath time tonight. The boys LOVE to take a bath! Now that Karter has tubes he has to wear those neon orange ear plugs but so far they haven't seemed to interfere with his love of the water.
Once again I just so thankful for healthy children!

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Elvis in IN the building!

Today a sweet lady from our church hosted a Valentine's Day luncheon for all of the widows in our church. It was the most fun girly day. We spent time fellowshipping, playing games, enjoying the most wonderful food (if you haven't been to Seasons in Mabank you are missing out), and who could forget our visit from ELVIS!! Our wonderful music minister does a great Elvis impersonation. He spent the afternoon serenading us.



I was blessed to be there and to get to know some of these precious women from our church.
Here are few more pictures of our beautiful day.


PS. For those of you who have been praying for us, I wanted to say thank you! We had a wonderful time at the Valentines Banquet in Joshua last night where Nathan spoke and I sang. We covet your prayers and we are so thankful for you. Please pray that God will continue to use us as we go to minister on Tuesday of this week!

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

And God Sent a Baby

Last week while reading a devotional from "Living by the Book" my heart was really touched. The passage I read was from Exodus and it talked about the birth of Moses. The writer of the devotional mentioned that often times when God wants to do something big he sends a baby. This got my mind going and I began thinking about all of those special babies mentioned in the bible.
There's Issac and the miracle of his birth to two people who were well beyond the "baby years"...He lived on to fulfill God's phophecy to Abraham that he would in fact be the father of many nations. And what about baby Samuel...the answer to Hannah's faithful prayers. And there is baby John born to Zechariah and Elizabeth who were once again well beyond those baby years. John went on to prepare the way for the most special baby who was ever born. God could have picked any other way to send Jesus...I am sure there were other ways that would have been much more glorious, but still he chose to send our savior as a tiny baby and the things God has done and the lessons we have learned from this precious baby are too many to even begin to count. God has defiantly used babies in a big way.
Since my mind was already on a roll, I started thinking about the things God has taught me through the babies he has allowed me to carry. I noticed a running theme...God does big things through these precious little ones.

Pregnancy #1- Kaden taught a lesson about God being our provision. While I was pregnant I was in a car accident and put on bed rest. At that point I was our main source of income as well as the insurance provider. We were young and totally scared about how we were going to get through it. God showed up big time and provided in ways we never dreamed...I even ended up being able to stay home with Kaden after he was born!

Pregnancy #2- Konner was anything but normal. What I learned from loosing him is probably the biggest lesson God has taught me thus far in my life. I learned that God is faithful even in the valleys. I learned the truth of "you give and take away...but Lord, blessed be your name." I learned the value of christian friends who are there to hold you up when you cannot stand anymore. I learned the sweetness of just sitting at his feet and letting him quite me with his love.

Pregnancies #3&4- they were short and to be honest devastating after losing Konner, but God still moved and used this time to minister to me and to teach me the power and sweetness that comes through worshipping him through the hard times. I learned that he is my hiding place, the shade at my right hand, and that no matter what he would not let my foot slip. I learned what a blessing having children is and that healthy babies aren't just born everyday.

Pregnancy #5- Karter! We learned a huge lesson about the power of prayer and that God is truly the ultimate healer and physician. Karter had more people praying for him than I could even count...I always say that he is a living testimony of the power of prayer.

Pregnancy #6- K3 (he is still nameless at this point). Wow, he is teaching me a lot about God's sovereignty and trusting in God's timing. Every time I am nervous about the thought of two little ones under the age of 2 I am reminded first of the blessing a baby is but also that God has promised to equip the called.

And God continues to use these precious children to teach me big lessons about who He is and his grace. I am so thankful for each and every one of them and I am looking forward to seeing how God will use them in the future.

So... what have your babies taught you?:)

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Prayer Request

I am writing today to ask for your prayers. Don't worry...everyone is healthy and well and our still yet to be named baby boy is growing just fine. This prayer request involves praying for my family and the opportunities God has sent our way during the month of February.

As most of you know, Nathan and I met at a revival where he was preaching and I was helping lead worship. We met in the ministry and God in his graciousness has seen fit to keep us there ever since! However, most of the time we are ministering separately...he is preaching and visiting the sick while I am teaching children's choir and volunteering the nursery. It is a great privilege when we get to "go back to our roots" and minister together on the same stage. February will provide us with 2 opportunities to do this very thing.

On the 13th we will be doing a Valentine's Banquet where we will be encouraging people in their marriages. On the 17th we have to great privilege of ministering to those church staff members who were effected by the hurricane last year. Please be praying that God will use us in spite of us. That He will shine and get all of the glory. February is crazy month with the TAKS test coming up for me at school, the revival at our home church, and I will also be doing a Ladies Retreat during the 20-21. With all of that I am feeling like I don't have much to offer...I am trusting in the fact that God has EVERYTHING to offer, and hoping that if He can use a donkey He can use us!:)

Thanks in advance for your prayers!
I hope everyone is having a great week!