Remembering Past Victories To Encourage Present Ones

"What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?  Can that faith save him?  If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace, be warmed and filled,' without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?  So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead."

James 2:14-17

I read this passage of scripture this morning in my quiet time.  The question prompted in my Bible study was asking when the last time was that I responded to an obvious need like this.

I quickly began going through my mental rolodex of past experiences where I was privileged to be the hands and feet to those around me.  (BTW, I am not always so quick to lay down my own to-do's to pay attention to the needs around me.) That time we had a homeless mom and daughter live with us on our couch for nearly a month.  Feeding the homeless downtown.  Passing out water with our family to displaced families after a tornado.  Giving our baby gear to a single mom who just had a baby.  

Then I began looking at other victories in my life journey.  You know, those times when God shows off and provides every penny we needed for that bill, or the VISA for our daughter so we could bring her home to America, or the full healing from the almost deadly ectopic pregnancy.

I'm sure you can think of a handful of times when you were obedient to the gentle nudging of the Holy Spirit to act in faith.  And I'm certain you can recall times of God's faithfulness during a difficult season.  Remembering experiences like these are so important to remember.  In fact, God tells us to remember them frequently to encourage one another and to remember His goodness and faithfulness.

But past victories and obedient works aren't enough for the plan He has for us TODAY.  He calls us to be available at all times, not just obedient in stand-alone situations.  We are to die to ourselves DAILY.  Put on the armor of God and fight this battle DAILY. And we fight it by loving our neighbor DAILY.  By being His hands and feet DAILY.  By getting on our hands and knees DAILY and surrendering for what God has for us THIS day.  (Even if it is simply serving your own family with a happy heart instead of resenting the mundane tasks you continually have to do.)

We can't rely on our past victories to be enough for today's mission.

Yes, remember the past victories and Praise God for allowing you to be a small part of His bigger story.  Then loosen the grip you have on today and release it to Him so He can add more pages to your story TODAY.

Still Enough To Write

I have had a hard time focusing enough to write a steady stream of cohesive thoughts lately.

I'm gonna just blame it on the weather, track out, and the lack of routine (not my instability of my hormones or tired brain cells).

I'm currently listening to Alethia and Cai play family in the shade as I sit out on the other side of the yard by the fire pit in the breeze.  I couldn't have asked for more beautiful weather this track out!

I have had my moments, but overall this week has been much better than last.  I mean, I haven't had to write a single apology letter to the kids for my bad attitude, ha!

Can you believe it's almost Easter?  I love that our kids will be tracked out for Holy Week this year so we can really focus on what Easter is all about.  (Remember, "The Fast Track" begins this week.)

Josh took Areyna and Zeke up to VA with him yesterday for the funeral of his HS Youth Pastor.  Since Josh's parents were coming down today anyway (see next paragraph), the kids decided to just spend the night and come with Meme and Poppie today.  Which means that the littlest littles have had a learning curve as they try to figure out how to play with the bossy biggest littles.  It's been interesting to watch.

Josh and I will be celebrating 14 years of marriage on the 23rd of this month, but since it lands on one of the busiest weeks of the year for Josh we are celebrating early.  Josh's parents are going to watch the kids so Josh and I can "get away" for a night.  We've decided to be spontaneous and not plan exactly what we are doing.  Actually, we just haven't had a chance to decide what our plan is gonna be, but whatever it is it'll be amazing, because it will be JUST US!

Happy Thursday!

Because Just Another Day Is A Good Day

The track out between 3rd and 4th quarter is my absolute FAVORITE!

The weather is beautiful.
The kids are antsy to play outside and run around.
My spring motivation is in high gear.
Did I mention the weather?!

We have had a GREAT week so far.

Minus yesterday, where we spent 2 hours in a dentist office with background music playing, the TV on with the volume up loud and drilling sounds coming from down the hallway and the bright overhead lighting..can we say sensory overload?!

But we made it out alive (and Jude is the only one with cavities...4 to be exact...oh boy) and back to the Colony house just in time for some sweet friends to come for dinner.

You may remember me writing about our experience at Family Camp last year and our wonderful family assistants that shadowed and served us all week long.  Well, one of them has been scouting out  schools to attend after she graduates college a great school just happens to be 10 minutes down the road from us (Noel, the Lord told me that you are supposed to go to Southeastern;) so we KNEW we had to get together.  So she and her mom came for dinner.  Josh and I had a great time getting to know Noel's mom and our kids had a great time pulling Noel in 100 different directions and running around outside until they could no longer see.  What a fun night.

Josh just completed his first deadline for his doctorate project/paper yesterday.  That's a huge relief off of my shoulders for him.  (Josh told me I probably stress enough over this project for the both of us, ha!  What can I say, it's a gift, ha!)

I took a power nap, in the sun, in the hammock.  It was lovely.  And I didn't feel guilty about it ONE BIT.

I think I have figured out all of the curriculum for Rainy's 6th grade year at home and I'm getting really excited.

The Colony garden is done and most of the seeds are planted.  I'm still waiting on a few of them to get a little stronger inside before  transplanting them, but other than that everything is in its rightful place.  I realize that I will never fill up the entire garden area because it is HUGE, but maybe each year it will grow a little bit as I learn to do this whole gardening thing.  I'm anxious to see how it goes this time around.

We may not have extravagant plans for this track out, but we are having a great time being together, laying low at home, having sleepovers on the floor, staying up way past our typical school day bed time, filling up individual love tanks and playing lots of Dutch Blitz (what did we ever DO before we got that game?!).  And all these things make for a good day in my book!

Happy Thursday everybody.  It's time to unleash the kids for another full day in the great outdoors.

I Can't Run And Hide

"To avoid criticism say nothing, do nothing, and be nothing." 

- Aristotle

I don't do very well under criticism.

Quite frankly, it makes me nauseous.

Unfortunately, it is just part of life, unless you just shut yourself off from society or run and hide, resulting in little to no impact for the Kingdom.

Because Kingdom impact necessitates being relational, even when being relational is almost always messy.

Recently the Lord has orchestrated events and activities which have forced me out of my comfort zone and made me HAVE to get relational.  Oh yes, I could run and hide because the more "out there" I get, the more chances for there seem to be for criticism, judgement and misunderstanding.

My writing gets misinterpreted ALL.THE.TIME. and offends someone.

The jewelry I made wasn't what the buyer wanted.

The Norwex order wasn't right.

The oils didn't work "magic" and make life any better.

I have my hand in all these little areas and my day has the potential to be completely ruined by an email from an offended reader or a disgruntled customer.

But I have to remember that God has allowed me to do all these little things and I have a choice to let these things rock my very being or just keep moving forward, knowing that I am doing my best.

I want to be quick to listen and understand, and apologize when I am in the wrong.

I also want to brush off the hurtful things that are said and be able to move on when something simply is not true.

But I can't run and hide, trying my best to eliminate all areas where criticism could occur, because, like Aristotle said, I would have to "say nothing, do nothing, and be nothing."

And that isn't what we, as followers of Christ, are called to do!

Luckily, God has given us tools (and the residing Holy Spirit) to help us get past the fear and timidity of being relational and all that comes with it.

"For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid,

but gives us power, love and self discipline."

2 Timothy 1:7

Areyna Joy Turns 11 Today

This girl is turns 11 years old today.

She is full of adventure and curiosity.

She loves everything animal, science and art.

She hates girlfriend drama.

She strives for peace.

She is often praised for being so patient with others.  I'm sure she gets it from living in such a crazy family, but it carries over into all of life for her.  Her teacher knows she can count on Rainy to split up the trouble makers in the class and I know that I can count on her to step in when I am at my wits end with a Colony kid to offer assistance and help.

She doesn't like attention on herself, yet LOVES being part of the worship team for her peers at Journey.

She'll take playing outside over playing electronics any day.


Areyna Joy,

I love you so much.  Thank you for being so patient with me as I learn to parent an 11-year-old tweenager.  I am so proud of you for loving your friends the way Jesus wants you to and for listening to the Holy Spirit that lives in you.  You make me a proud mama.  I pray that you will continue to grow in your relationship with Christ, that you will keep letting me give you goodnight kisses and that you will always come and tell me what's on your mind.

Happy Birthday sweet girl!

Love always,
Your Mama

PS - I also pray that you will let me take a few more good pictures of you so you don't resent me for having more photos of everybody else but you when you grow up;)

Just Move

When you have a dream do you wait for something to happen before you start moving?

Sometimes I do.

But sometimes God will birth in you a dream that you know will not come to fruition for a while, but something in you just won't let you sit and wait.  There are steps you can take to make sure you follow that dream and calling.

For Josh and I, we have a dream of having a large ranch or farm(ish) place to live.  Just a big enough house for our family, but with additions on the land for other families to come live with us.  To live alongside us for a set period of time as we mentor, teach and do life together.  We'd love to have a pond, at least one separate living quarter for another family, a garden...

...and a HUGE farm table.

The table is going to be the focal point of life.
We get our sustenance from this table.
We talk about our days and aspirations.
We discuss where God is taking us and what He is teaching us.

Right now we have a table just big enough for our family, so any time we have a couple or family over we are scrounging around for seating so we can all eat together.  And we have people over A LOT!

So, the next step in the Colony home is going to be the biggest table we can fit into our dining room.

But all of a sudden we had a problem.  Our dining room couldn't fit a larger table even if we wanted it too.  (We already have 7 people squeezing in around it and limited room to walk between chairs and wall.)  Now, I know we need to wait on God's timing and all, but sometimes we can move in the direction He is calling us, before it is actually time, because it gives us accountability to KEEP MOVING.

After mentally rearranging several different times over multiple sleepless nights (this is the time ideas birth people) I decided we just needed to make a change.  Knowing that we were nowhere close to having the resources to make our dream table and benches, knowing that we were no closer to moving to a place like we are dreaming, but KNOWING that we have steps we can take before actually getting to the final destination.

For us, that meant moving our dining room table into one of our living rooms.  That's right we have two, so it kind of makes sense!  The kids were a little bummed because we took their "ice skating room" but they will get over it, ha!

Our used-to-be dining room is now a reading/music room, which also makes sense!

Now we are ready.
For whatever and whenever.

Look for the little steps you can make along the way to waiting.
You will still be patiently waiting for God's perfect timing, but personally preparing the way for it to realistically work.

Writing Apology Letters To My Kids

This morning my mouth, and the fiery darts that came from it, completely dictated the temperature of the Colony home.

I had a normal morning.
Quiet time, office work, prep the house for the day (open curtains, turn off nightlight and make beds) had all been completed, but I had this nagging in my heart that wouldn't go away.

My personal feelings of discontentment, whether they had birthed from disobedient children or 3 of them not using common sense (for the LOVE, could you please tell my kids that common sense will take them so much farther in life that not using the intellect that they were given!), or my own personal failures, were boiling up until I hear one little bickering argument over a noise that one child had asked the other NOT to make...

It was not pretty.

Moments after waking up my kids,
the atmosphere became frantic,
the kids began melting down one by one,
and the unsympathetic, accusing, dictating words began to flood out of my mouth before I could even realize what was happening.

I could literally see my kids hearts bleeding...
but the words just kept coming,
which led to more inward frustration at myself because I couldn't get a handle on myself.

Not one ounce of self-control.

Have you ever had one of those days?
No?

Well, I'll admit it.
And I'm ashamed of it!
But I know my God is bigger.

And then the realization of how much I am loved by a Father who is nothing but love comes crashing down on me and I am undone.

After getting the kids to school Jude and I had to run some errands,
and I cried the ENTIRE TIME, ya'll!
Cried and prayed.

Because praying is the only thing that will center me again.
The only lifeline back to the perfect Father, who gives so abundantly and graciously to those who ask.

So I asked.
I BEGGED that He would be the one to guard my mouth and put a watch over my lips (Psalm 141:3), so I can speak healing, truth and love to my kids (Proverbs 12:18).

And, as if writing those verses 5 times in apology letters to my kids weren't enough to get them engrained on my heart, in my head and over my mouth, I wrote them on the walls in my dining room table.

Our words have so much power, and I'm praying mine can become more life-giving than spirit quenching.

"There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts,

but the tongue of the wise brings healing."

Proverbs 12:18

Jude Turned FOUR

Jude, the fiery bookend to our Colony.  I can't imagine life without him.  (I imagine it being much task productive and oh so much quieter, but I wouldn't trade it for ANYTHING!)

Jude is anything but reserved and compliant.

In fact, I'd say he's quite opposite.
He wakes up every morning ready to tackle life and all that the day has in store for him.
He plows through his day with passion and vigor.

He is a fighter and a kid with intention and mission.

He is obsessed with drums...or drum.ing on things.  My poor poor furniture!  But we found an awesome deal on a used drum set that connects to the wii so he can play along with his LEGO Rockband game (and all the surfaces in my home rejoiced!).  Did you know he snuck out of his class one day to go play the drums?  I didn't know WHERE he was until I heard the steady beating on the snare.  I guess I should have looked there first.  I love this about him.  Not just because it's music and a shared passion with his daddy and me, but because he is unashamedly smitten by something and will do anything to be able to get better at it.

The downside is his temper when things don't go the way he wants (RIGHT when he wants them to) and the drive he has sometimes drives a wedge in our mom/son relationship when, say, I need him to take a break and accomplish something else that isn't on his task radar (like cleaning up the basket of cars he just dumped out on the floor).

Jude loves cuddles.  LOTS of cuddles.  And often comes runs to hand out hugs and kisses just because.

He is my little shadow throughout the day.
He's still working on how to play by himself.  The kids have been in public school for 2 years now and he still can't stand them leaving every day and not having anyone to play with.  But he has learned how to do laundry, load and unload the dishwasher, and he LOVES to help me clean!

This boy certainly knows how to run this mama ragged and push my buttons and make me feel as though I may implode, but that smile, and that laugh, and those silly things he says kinda even out the crazy he makes me feel, ha!

Dear Jude,

Man I love you!  Every bit of you (although sometimes I wish you'd wait to exercise your leadership qualities and abilities until you get a little lot older)!  I love the time I get with just you during the day when the kids are in school.  I love watching you do things you enjoy with all your heart.  I love how you tell me and Daddy how we can "kiss and get maweed tomorrow" almost every day.  I love how you bring so much life and chaos energy to this family.  I just love you.  And I can't wait to see where God leads your life.

Love,
Your sometimes crazy but always loving mama

Friday Free-For-All : links to click on and devotions to begin

I CANNOT believe believe we have begun February.  In fact I just realized that Ash Wednesday is NEXT WEEK, which means its Bigger Than The Bunny Time!  If you don't have a hard copy make sure you head over and download the ebook version and then go over and get the songs (one day we'll finish the last 2.  Life kind of happened rapidly around this point as we worked on adding two more littles to the Colony.)

I had the privilege of leading worship with my hubby at the SEBTS GO conference last weekend.  The spirit was thick and moving and it was an honor to be a part of it!  Here is one of the songs we did:
GO Conference Worship: O Praise the Name - Lead by Josh Via from Southeastern Seminary on Vimeo.

This month is a HUGE month for a couple of products that I am pretty passionate about.

Young Living's starter kit is 10% off this month.  Make sure you head over to my YL site and put your order in before this deal runs out.  (PS- you only have a few more hours to add onto my monthly order so if you are wanting the wholesale price without signing up let me know so I can add your oils onto my order!)

Next up is Norwex.  I actually just took advantage of their February sign-up for FREE incentive.  I was asking my sister-in-law (who sells this stuff like its going out of business!) if she could tell me how to get the dusting mitt.  (the dust in the Colony casa is OUT OF CONTROL!).  She told me that it actually came in the jump starter kit, along with a handful of other amazing products.  All you have to do is pay the $10 shipping fee, no strings attached, no sales required!  And I said, I'm in!  So if you love the products and want to be able to buy yours at a discounted price head on over here and sign up, or just look around and order some of your own products to see for yourself how amazing they are!

I know, short and sweet blog post today but I just finished  putting on a pot of chicken bone broth, eating up a couple of eggs my chickens just laid this morning, and am heading outside to begin my pallet fence around my soon-to-be-garden.

What have I become?!

Happy Friday friends!