Counting Eggs ~ Counting Blessings

It's the end of the month and I know for a fact that we aren't the only family who plays the what-can-we-create-from-our-remnants-in-the-pantry game to get by until the next paycheck.

(Please don't read this and rush out to get us a grocery gift card because our family is starving!  WE ARE FINE;)!  We get paid TONIGHT, woohoo!)

Ahem, back to my story.

As I was cleaning up breakfast and filling up our recycling bin with all the empty containers from finishing up many of the contents of the refrigerator and pantry, I stopped and looked in our bowl where we keep the eggs.  Empty.  Not a huge deal, but the newest ladies outside are still getting used to their new egg-laying job and the number of eggs we get are highly unpredictable.  So naturally I'm gonna pray for them to lay well this particular day.  I counted up the average daily egg requests and asked the Lord to give us 8 eggs for the following morning.

Fast forward to 3:45 when the kids walked home from school and Alethia begins telling me that her friend, Madison, told her that she loved seeing our cute chickens free-ranging in the yard on her way to school that day.  Sure enough, I look out the window and realized that FOUR of our more mature egg-layers had been out ALL.DAY.LONG.  How in the world did that happen?!  Zeke and I then spent the better part of the next 10 minutes chasing after rounding them up and grabbing them leading them back to the coop.  Egg-laying time was over so when I peeked in the coop to see how many eggs God had blessed us with I counted in anticipation.

One.  Two.  Three.  Four.  Five.

It would have been so cool to have seen the exact 8 eggs that I had prayed for, but after realizing that 4 main egg-layers had escaped their responsibilities that day I wasn't surprised.

At breakfast this morning we began taking egg orders.  I didn't say a word about how many eggs we had in the bowl.  And wouldn't you know, we were able to fulfill all the desired egg orders!  Nobody went without their desired egg and everyone had just enough to eat to fill their bellies from breakfast.  Josh even made us adults delicious omelets with the leftover eggs.

I tell you this for a couple of reasons.

One, I prayed to a great big God about my silly request for 8 eggs.  I prayed specifically and in full faith that God could allow us to get 8 eggs.  But I also prayed in Jesus name, which means I prayed with open hands, knowing that ultimately God knows what we need more than I do.  So, regardless of the outcome, I knew that God was in control.

God wants us to bring our requests to Him, no matter how small and insignificant it seems.

Two, God answered my prayer.  Not with the 8 eggs that I asked for, but with JUST WHAT WE NEEDED for the next day...and He accomplished it with 4 of our main egg-layers out playing hooky all day!  My mind immediately went to this verse:

"...for your Father knows what you need before you ask him."

Matthew 6:8

Story In Pictures ~ Friday Night's With The Colony

Josh and I have been on a new adventure for finding family fun outside of technology.

(That is a worth a whole other post.  

Technology has taken a back burner in the Colony Casa these days,

and we couldn't be happier about this mutual decision.)

On a typical Friday night you could find us cuddled up in the family room, watching a family-friendly movie, eating our homemade pizza in the past.

But we wanted to branch out a little bit to intentionally engage with each other.

And in doing so we have found a new favorite spot...

Sandling Beach on Falls Lake.

You only have to pay for parking ($6/car, but even last week when we went it was FREE parking!)

The view is gorgeous,

the beach is big enough not to feel crowded,

picnic tables make it easy to have a picnic dinner,

and it stays open long enough to watch the sunset together before showering off and heading home.

It's the next best thing to a day trip to the beach!

Jude calls this his "dolphin jump".  He is FINALLY venturing out into the deep(er) side of the water.

creativity at its best

***The website says that dogs are allowed, hence all the photos with Jemma,

but after arriving we saw no-dog signs posted on the border of the beach area.

Needless to say, Jemma hasn't made a recurring appearance.***

Cai Turns EIGHT

Eight years ago this kid stole another piece of my heart

(a mama has lots of pieces ya know).

He may have cried through the entire first year of his existence,

but has been working full-time to bring laughter all around him ever since.

He loves to give gifts.

He loves to GET gifts.

He is very descriptive,

loves telling (and hearing) stories,

and illustrating them.

Arts, crafts, Minecraft and Legos are among his favorites these days.

He can be really sensitive toward others.

He is a loyal friend.

And he is FINALLY learning to get along with both of his brothers

(for the most part).

Playing jokes and tricking us definitely keeps him sharp.

And I love hearing his little daily facts that he brings home from school every day.

He is still V-E-R-Y particular with his clothing, but we have branched out people!

He now has a pair of shorts and a t-shirt that he has allowed into his 1-outfit rotation that is soccer-playing appropriate

(which also conveniently allows for more washings of the 1-outfit mentioned before).

And wouldn't you know, he STILL lets me nibble his cheeks at bed time.

Cai (because we're only allowed to call you Cai-bo in front of family and at home now;),

You are a joy to be around and I love to be called "Cai's mom".  I hope you always try to make people laugh.  We continue to pray that you will be a man who only speaks truth, following after the heart of God.  Happy Birthday sweet boy!

Love, mom

Friday Photos

Jemma, meet the ladies.  Ladies, meet Jemma.
So far they are all scared enough of each other to keep everyone...alive, ha!

Zeke loving on his Jemma girl.

Colony baseball consisted of a broken desk leg as the bat and a beat-up baseball that met our lawnmower last week.

Field sledding on the hill with the wagon.

Jude and Cai were fighting discussing who got to hold the handle and the designated seating arrangement...
they BOTH won, lol.

Mr. Daredevil himself.  Never a feat too dangerous or too exciting for this guy.
And if you think I'm kidding,
just start taking inventory of his scrapes, bruises and scars from the ones that didn't end so well.