A NEW DAY

I'm gonna sing this song
To let you know that you're not alone
And if you're like me
You need hope, coffee diet coke, and melody
So sit back down
Let the world keep spinning ‘round
For yesterday's gone and today is waiting on you to show your face

It might not be
The prettiest thing that you'll ever see
But it’s a new day, oh baby, it’s a new day
And it might not look like
A beautiful sunrise
But it's a new day, oh baby, it’s a new day

I claim this as my song... as a stay at home mom.  For me morning is the hardest... just getting out of bed.  I'm always so tired and there's always so much waiting for me in my day. The responsibilities and needs are endless. BUT... "Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23   

This little face in my bed (below) was the first thing I saw this morning... in spite of my disdain for mornings, how could I not be happy waking up to that??!!  And then the girls joined him... precious... so so precious.  So on that note, I started my full day.  I grabbed a can of diet coke, some pretzel m&ms (breakfast) and faced a new day.   So my recommendation for all of you non-morning persons... crank up "New Day" by Robbie Seay Band and grab a can of diet coke first thing each morning.  It does the trick :)  Listen to New Day...

Blessings,

A Father to the fatherless...

 

 Every child loves bear hugs...Every child deserves someone who will give them one...

"You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed..." Psalm 10:17,18a

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27

These scriptures come to mind this week as I've been in contact with some people whose hearts are burdened and full of love for the orphan.... That's one of the lovely things about Blog Land; you get to connect with so many people, in so many place, that otherwise would never have crossed your path.  And of course, our Mighty God has his hand on this...  I love thinking about how he delights in using our technology...our blogs to accomplish his purposes!   So I will attribute it completely to God that I am now aware of a few more homes that are flinging wide their doors and inviting God to do his work through them through adoption.   Specifically two...

Stina from "Anchor & Evergreen" who is in the process of adopting Mateo.

 Under her blog header she writes:
"i am a lady who fell in love with an island and then without trying, fell in love with an ill island baby. i had the pain and privilege of saving his life. leaving him was very very ... VERY difficult.
i went from being like a bird to being like a tree. this baby became my anchor. i stopped traveling all the time so that i could grow roots and pursue adoption to make matthew my son. this blog carries our story."  Read more...

Danielle from "Loving Every Moment" who is in the process of adopting Sergey.

From her latest post she writes:
"So as many of you know we are adopting a little boy from Eastern Europe and we are so very excited about this!  But as many of you also know International adoption is not cheap, after all is said and done we will be paying close to $30,000.00 for our little boy, who by the way is completely worth it:)  And seriously which one of us would not pay even more to save the lives of our children? Some of you may be asking yourselves,  "Why are they adopting if they don't have the money?". Well we believe that God is calling us to bring this beautiful, precious little boy into our family and He has asked us to step out in faith.  We already know that He has gone before us and has prepared the way.  And we also believe, and know from past experiences, that when He asks you to do something the best thing to do is listen and obey.  I also believe that He wants to be glorified throughout this process and wants to see His beautiful bride, His body of believers be His hands and feet.  And what better way than to come along side fellow believers and play a part in bringing home this sweet angel." Read more...

Both of these ladies are asking for crafty items for donation to help raise funds, in addition to monetary donations.
Visit Stina's blog here... her fundraising has not officially begun, but she is currently trying to spread word in preparation for it.  An Etsy store will be available to purchase items to support Mateo.  Follow along on her blog to keep up to date with her progress and what you might be able to do to help.
Visit Danielle's blog here... she is in the process of collecting crafty items for a fundraiser, "Dream Big" which begins April 11-25.

Go and read these stories... allow your heart to be vulnerable to their joy, their pain, their hope, as they strive to bring these little ones home.  Consider what your part might be.... and then attribute it to God's mighty and powerful hand, that he can use you... to encourage and provide for the fatherless! 



Blessings,

FUN PROJECTS Beautiful Jewelry

Lately I've been working on some fun projects...  for a fellow Etsy shop owner and fellow lover of little birdie graphics!  She requested mailing labels, stickers with her web address, and thank you stickers for packages.  Then we also collaborated together for some more custom needs... earring and dog tag product cards, display signs for her shows, a T-shirt graphic, her Etsy banner, and even a graphic for a custom notepad..fun!  I wanted to show you some of that design work and encourage you to visit her lovely shop. Happy Viewing!! I hope you feel inspired after seeing both of our designs :)

Blessings,

GRAPHIC DESIGN...Birth Announcements

Hello All :)
Thought I'd wish you a wonderful Friday and show you some Birth Announcements I designed awhile ago...

First up is an announcement for a friend, back in November.

The second, is Virgil's announcement... which has not even made it into church mailboxes or the mail!  Oh, well... I have half of them done, at least I've started :) 

 

Blessings,

HOME SWEET HOME Our Bedroom...

Welcome to our Bedroom!!  This is one of my favorite rooms.... I like how its a little bit separated from the rest of the house, down a little hallway.  It's a very calm and soothing room... no toys, no kids, no messes (as much as we can manage)!  Our bedroom used to be red, turquoise, and green (see our old house HERE), but this Christmas I received a gift card to Bed, Bath, and Beyond so I decided it was time for a new look!  I found this bedding on a great sale and just loved it!  I'm really into gray right now, but I couldn't give up the turquoise. So this color combo was perfect and I loved the added yellow.  .... I'd like to add more bursts of yellow to room also; maybe some gray and yellow throw pillows ??   Anyway... hope you enjoyed the tour :)

My Day...so far

Sadie is still quite sick.... the past few nights she's been randomly waking up and screaming bloody murder.  It's fun.  This morning she started in around 5:30... and never went back to sleep.  Grumpy Sadie, grumpy mommy...

I was eating my cereal this morning, while V chilled on the floor.  He started to cry... Elsie said "Mom, Virgil's crying."
    " I know", I replied. 
     "You should do something about it... you're his mommy." 

That about sums it up.   Lots of things I should do something about...because I'm the mommy.  :) 

Blessings,

It's hard not to worry...

Last Saturday, I was kinda blue as I anticipated Jeremy leaving the next day for a little conference in San Diego.  Only four weeks out from having Virgil I wasn't excited about being alone for 3 1/2 days.  BUT... my amazing mom came to my rescue at the last minute.  One moment she and dad were just visiting for a few hours (they live in KS...3 hours away), and the next she was whisking my girls away in the Yukon back to KS so that I could attend the conference with JJ!!!!  ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!  She originally had thought it wouldn't be possible to watch the girls with her work schedule, but after hearing how bummed I was at the thought of staying home, she did it anyway.  All to say... I got to go to San Diego for a few days and hang out with other new pastors and their wives... it was wonderful, refreshing, encouraging... so needed. Little V did amazing on the trip.  He slept on all the flights and through most of the sessions, too.  (He is rather spoiled as a result, though... he thinks he needs to be held ALL the time!) 

The day we were flying home I called my mom to see how things had gone.  Alice had been sick with a fever and a cough... and  now Sadie had a pretty high fever and cough also :(  Oh, boy.... not what I was hoping to come home to.   You see, I have a bad tendency to worry, especially when it comes to sick kids.  Somewhere along the course of parenting, perhaps when we lost Sophie, or as we witnesses good friends lose a child, I have developed what JJ would call a "pessimistic" view of what could happen.  I prefer to call it a "realistic" view :)  As much as I believe and trust that God will see us through anything and everything... and as much as I believe that God in all his power can prevent and protect us from anything... I also know that trials come.   So when my kids get sick, I always fear the worst...   I fear another trial... 

So in this season of parenting, I have a hard time not worrying about Virgil getting sick from the girls and ending up in the hospital.  It's really awful... It's a real weakness of mine.  I get really worked up with all the things that could happen and it consumes me and robs me of my joy.  Not good.  So as we flew home from San Diego, I made a decision.  I prayed, "God, you know my fears.  You know how I struggle with worry.  You know how I want to hold on to things by worrying about them... as if somehow it will help.  Virgil is yours, and I'm laying him at your feet.  You already know whether he will catch this bug or not and it's in your hands.  So... I'm done.  No more worrying."  

All three girls are sick still today, but Sadie's fever is finally gone after 5 days.  It hasn't been easy evading the worry filled thoughts.   Satan is persistent... he slyly keeps trying to convince me that I need to worry.  But praise be the God, who gives us victory over temptation... even the thoughts of our minds.

"You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you." Isaiah 26:3

"So we say with confidence, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.' " Hebrews 13:6

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Phil. 4:6,7

Blessings,

sneak peek at future stuff

I've always loved those stores/sites that create custom little graphics of kids to looks like your children....  So this past Christmas I gave it a go!  I made note cards and a couple prints for various family members.  Unlike some of the other designs I've seen, I modeled my little children (well, actually little girls, I'll tackle the boys later) after the 1960s paper doll line...Betsy McCall.  I love how they turned out!  My plan is to develop a full customizable line of these children to put in my Etsy shop, over the next several months (or year!)  I mainly envision offering note cards and prints.

So if you don't see them in my store come Fall... holler at me!!  I really want to get this going, but I fear how time can slip away from me on big projects like this.  So keep me accountable!!  Anyway... here are the few that I developed last December.   Enjoy!

 

Blessings,