Our Family Circus

My Dear and I have supported our local Pregnancy Care Center since moving to this community. We have donated items, we walk in the Walk for Life, and host a table at the banquets. We get their newsletter and try to know what they are up to. My Dear has volunteered time teaching and has used the center's educators for youth events. We pray for the centers and with church members working there, we have learned even more about this ministry. With all of that being said, we know about this organization! Today, I joined the staff of this ministry for my first meeting as a part time team member. It is way cool! God has been preparing me for this ministry for years, although I was unaware of it. In fact, if the opportunity to work for them had been handed to me at any other time in my life, I likely would have walked away. Well, let me tell ya! Today as I sat at the table, for the first time with these amzing people, I heard testimony after testimony of the WONDERFUL things that...

Nana purchased the children sand pails and shovels to have at the beach while we were there. The kids were looking forward to using them. They used them in the house holding their goodies but B. really wanted to go to "Nana's sandbox." We went to the beach and the parking area of course had sand in it. The children hopped out of the car and grabbed their buckets while My Dear and I unloaded the rest of the comforts for the afternoon. They collected sand into their buckets and were content to play with this small amount of sand. They were completely satisfied with the sand in the parking lot but an entire beach of sand was just beyond their sights. Made me think of how long God has been waiting for me to come to the beach instead of "settling" for the sandy parking lot. What about you? What is it that He is calling you to do, to step out and trust Him? What is it that you are throwing into your sand bucket when He has a beach waiting for you? Wait no longer! Kic...

I know I have not be around much but God has been busy blessing me and teaching me. I wonder if I will look physically different soon! More on that later... When God calls couples to ministry it often means that we are to leave our extended families behind. We miss out on Sunday lunches and holidays together. We miss out on the free babysitting services. Birthday gifts are mailed and since your time together is limited it is sometimes hard to know what to purchase for one another. God fills those gaps for me. We have friends that fill in those roles for our children. They hug, cheer, congratulate, babysit, and one even baptized for our family! So thankful for those people but they do not replace our family. My Dear went to Puerto Rico this summer. On the way back, the flight was overbooked. So My Dear and a few others opted to stay the night in a hotel and give their seats up. My Dear was rewarded some sky miles so we put those to use. God blessed us by allowing our family of 5 to fly...

The little ladies enjoyed a picnic lunch this weekend. We awoke to cooler weather and both girls were excited about wearing jackets. The hood was likely not necessary but hey, they are excited about jacket weather! I noticed this little Barbie shoe in the back window of My Dear's car. Made me smile! We would have never dreamed we would have a single Barbie shoe in our possession 10 years ago and that it would be on display in our car window. I know it is fuzzy but for some reason I love this picture! Took several pictures of those tiny hands wrapped around the neck of her hero but just could not capture the innocence of them. The little girls sure loves that man, but so do I! Proof that even princesses need an education. It was way fun to go to a couple of yard sales dressed as royalty . Seeing that Dolly has never met a stranger, she and her dress made lots of friends. Each child had a dollar that they received in the mail. Billy bought ski gloves for a quarter. Dolly...