Resurrection Songs: "In The Highest Place"

So, this is the moment you all have been waiting for!  Well, at least we've been waiting for:)

Every week during the 7 weeks of Lent, we will release a new track. Each track is a Scripture memory song based on my 7-week devotional called "So Much Bigger Than The Bunny." Our prayer is that it will be a blessing to you and your children, as you hide God's Word in your heart together.

 Today is Ash Wednesday, which means, this is the first week of the devotional.  You still have time to get your copy.  (There is a section at the end if you just want to make it a one-week Easter devotional as well.)

Anyway, here is the first song "In The Highest Place"
Take a listen.  It's SO FUN!


Now STOP!

Go to joshvia.bandcamp.com to download it for $.99.  (or just click the "BUY" button) Not only will you have fun hiding God's Word in your heart with your kids, but when you buy these songs, you are helping our family adopt a little girl from an orphanage in Uganda, Africa.

My kids hadn't heard these yet and they immediately jumped out their lunch chairs, grabbed their guitars and began dancing and singing along!  Even Cai keeps singing "lalalalala":)

Now go download it already!

Lessons From The Classroom - Beginning Our Garden

Last week we took a trip to a farm in Henderson and picked out the perfect bales of straw for our garden.

Straw bale garden?  Yup, you read that right.  I'd never heard of it either, until last year.

I was reading one of my cyber-friend's blogs and she was documenting her progress.

After seeing her progress, and for the little fact that the entire town of Rolesville sits on top of Stone Granite (which is only about 6" under the soil), I decided to go another route with our own garden this year.

So this past week we began our garden.

Well, not really, but we did began prepping the bales.

We will be watering them on a daily basis until they are completely soaked.

The next step for the bales is to "fertilize" them.  "They" (whoever "they" are) say that you need to nuke it with a Nitrogen-dense fertilizer, but after going to Lowe's I found out that most places are not allowed to carry that anymore because that is what was used to make the bombs in the Oklahoma bombings.

So, in order to keep a low profile, I mean, I'd hate to be flagged as a terrorist in the middle of our adoption process:), we compromised and chose a 29-0-5 Lawn Fertilizer, which should do the trick just fine!

Really, all we want is an "exploding" garden, haha!  OK, that wasn't really that funny...

Anyway, so, like I said earlier, right now we are just watering.  I'll walk you through the fertilizing stage when we get there.

If you want to join us in our experience, go out to your local farm (or just go to a hardware store, they probably have them for sale) and pick up a few bales.  You can get them for about $5/each.  We are starting with three this year.

Here's to a juicy harvest this season!

Rejoice In The Lord Always, And Again I Say Rejoice

Brace yourself.  This post is full of rejoicing and rambling!

I was having a really hard time rejoicing this week.  Our home study experience has been less than lovely.  Our social worker has been very difficult to get a hold of, not answering emails or voice mail messages.

I have really been praying about my attitude.  You know, the whole "loving your enemies", although she isn't technically my "enemy", she is standing in the way of our process that should be moving.  I've been struggling with the words to use, when to say something, when to push,when to step back, when to show grace, when to be firm...

In her own contract she specifies that she should have our home study completed within 4-6 weeks of our last visit, which for us was January 10.  It was going on 2 months and we could hardly get any kind of response from her at all.

So, this morning I sat down with the kids for breakfast and after we prayed for the day I said, "You know what guys?  We really need to pray for our home study and Miss __________."  I explained that we needed this paper so we could keep working to bring our little girl home.  I talked about how we were going to pray boldly to the Lord to move in our social worker's heart and we would pray boldly that we would have our home study by the end of the week.  I also told them that we would be grateful for however the Lord chose to answer our prayer because He knows what is best for us.

Well, the Lord must know that my anxiety-prone self couldn't handle much more because not 5 minutes after I wrote this post, pleading for others to join us in this bold prayer, I got the email with our completed home study!

I mean, I know the Lord hears, but when you see such a rewarding display of His hand you can't help but rejoice!  I went in to the kids to let them know as soon as I got the news and we praised and rejoiced the Lord together for his goodness and faithfulness to our family!

So, rejoice with us!  We're Home Study Approved!

The Weight Of Your Word

As I am reading through the Old Testament it is amazing to me to see how much weight our words can have.  Let me rephrase that, how much weight our words should have.

Take, for example, I Samuel 28:10.

Saul had banished all mediums and spiritists, yet he finds himself so desperate that he himself goes to seek council from one such medium.

She is terrified that she will be found out, but he simply gave "his word" that nothing would happen to her.

But, really, there is no "SIMPLY giving your word".  Back then, if you gave your word it meant something.  It carried the weight of truth.

I wonder what has happened?

Now we have to sign contracts and get them notarized and approved by court, to make things legal "just in case" something were to happen.

What happened to just trusting someone else's word?

Not Me Monday

I never used to have allergies.

Then we moved to North Carolina.

Now, at the change of every season my allergies get out of control.

And by out of control, I mean, Josh puts his ear buds in during our quiet times in the morning because my sneezing and snorting is just too much for him to handle.  It's ok baby, I still love you;)

But, even when my allergies get so out of control...

I always have complete control over my bodily functions.

Yup!

So, I would never sneeze so hard that I would pee in my pants.

Nope, not me!

That is SO elementary.

In fact I practice my Kegels on a daily basis, don't you?

Alright, I suppose that could happen to me, but only once...

...not continually

all.day.long.

No way, not me!

But if that did happen, I'd blame it all on the fact that I have given birth to three lovely children and tell myself that every cool mom pees in her pants.  Right? Right.

Story In Pictures - Keep The Sand In The "Tirebox"?

To some, an old tire in the surrounding fields might be considered trash...

... to us it's the perfect treasure!

The perfect fort around our sandbox!

Fun Facts For Friday

I'm such a systematic girl:)  I drove to Charlotte to play with my friend Sara Scott at CharlotteONE  on Tuesday and by the time I got home Wednesday morning I felt like my whole week was thrown off!  We've only done school one day and I've been catching up on my sleep from the late night.  Oh well, the signs of getting older have begun...besides it was SO good to see some friends I haven't seen in forever!

Areyna's 6th birthday was on Monday.  She told us, several times, that it was her BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!  We took off to Henderson for a day with old friends and a real farm outing with...

 tractor rides, bird nest spottings,

 straw bale and rock climbing.

We all had a wonderful time!

Well...most of us did:)  Mondays are tough on little Cai-bo;)

One of the first things on the agenda, after deciding to adopt, was to let all our used car dealer friends know that we needed a new vehicle.  One that could hold all of us, plus all our music stuff.  Well, yesterday we drove around THE car...I think.  It's a Yukon XL and we LOVED it!  It is at a mechanic getting checked out to make sure it is in good condition.  It will be SO nice to have 2 vehicles again.  Especially one that we know will work for our growing family!

Josh and some of his buddies have been in the studio all day today tracking some Scripture Memory Songs that will go along with my book that starts next week!  You still have time to enter to win a FREE copy at the Internet Cafe  HERE!  Make sure you come visit me at the beginning of every week to download your mp3 for that weeks lesson.

You all did pretty good at guessing who sits where at our table.  Here's the correct answers:)

Happy Friday Ya'll!  Have a GREAT weekend!

Who Sits Where?

Can you guess who sits where according to the amount of crumbs on the floor?

And this is only after ONE meal!

Favorite Space

Each season I create a new favorite space.

A lot goes into creating the perfect environment.

It all depends on the season, the weather, the mood...

This has been the perfect get-away for our quiet evenings together

as we transition into the spring!