Friday, September 14, 2012

"Step back and see"

The Lord quickly spoke to my heart today as I was tying to manage our 3-ring circus school day...some days are smooth sailing...some days I'm a ping pong ball bouncing from one kid to the next...today...I was a ping pong ball with a spin ;P

He whispered, "Step back and see....see what a blessing this is....this will only last a short season so soak it in now!"

I did...I stood back...grabbed my camera...I honestly could not believe what I saw through my camera lens...children everywhere...MY CHILDREN everywhere...my treasures...my gifts from the Lord...what a blessed mama I am....

Even if the 14 month old is sitting the middle of the table eating crayons and coloring in everyone's school books...

THIS IS WHY I HOMESCHOOL!!!
To be with my kids...for my kids to be with each other!!

To embrace that the 'lesson' is in the baby...the 'lesson' is how to minister to each other...

Lord, thank you for this amazing reminder...Thank you for gently telling me to step back and to see all that you have blessed me with...thank you for allowing all of these firecracker children to be ours...thank you for calling us to homeschool......

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

HER name ... 12 weeks to go ...

Yes...HER name...I realized I have been neglecting my blog...stupid facebook ;)

We found out our sweet one is going to be a girl.  We are so excited!!

Then commences the name game...Paul and I take naming our kids very seriously and it usually takes us FOREVER....and EVER....and EVER!!!!

As we were talking through names, I decide to reflect on what one word represented each journey to our kiddos and here is what I came up with....


Timothy - LOVE
God had blessed us with great love for each other and we wanted to have a child to share that with...
Trinity - HOPE
our hearts longed for another baby & every part of our being desperately hoped for another child.
Isaac - PATIENCE
his journey was a test of patience because I nearly went crazy every day waiting for 'the call'
Cana - ENDURANCE
endurance is just the tip of the iceberg with her journey but we continually felt challenged to endure her journey in a way that would honor the Lord...even when we were hurting so deeply.
Solomon - PEACE
we knew from the very beginning that we were going to need to be at the feet of Jesus the entire time clinging to the peace that He promised He'd give for the journey ahead us.
Sarah - TRUST
Her story is super unique and we've chosen to keep much of it private for now but we knew the only way we would survive her journey was to put ALL of our trust in the Lord...that His plans were perfect...
Jubilee - CELEBRATION
our journey was short to our sweet Jubilee...our surprise girl...we weren't in the adoption process...then the phone rang with the most amazing news...all we could talk about was how happy we were...the celebration of this sweet one has been incredible

As I was showing this to Paul, he started to write down the fruits of the spirit...it was amazing how it was all lining up...CRAZY COOL!  EXCEPT the 9th fruit of the spirit...
self-control...SERIOUSLY!! Well...that is a post for another day!!!!!!! Grrrrr...LOL...

Back to our sweet girl....
We have about 12 weeks until her due date...
We finally have a name...
We are becoming more attached to her every day...
The word that continually comes to us as we dream of our girl is...
JOY

She will be called....

Zemirah means 'joyous melody'...
Joylena...Lena is our precious bmama's name...
Jubilee's middle name is Lena after her bmama...
God made it crystal clear that her middle name would be Joylena...


Beautiful, precious Zemirah, we can't wait to hold you in our arms. We love you so much!!!