Trusting in Him

Earlier in the summer I felt the Lord saying He was going to call me into a season of learning to trust Him in greater measure.  My first response was "God, I feel like I have this trust thing down.  I trust You; of course, I do!".  Only since then, He has done what He has said He's going to do...He has continued to offer situations and circumstances where I can either say "Yes, Lord, I am going to trust you with this" or try to handle it on my own.  One of the things I continually offer up to Him are my kids...to trust Him that He is developing them into mighty warriors for His Kingdom and that He is giving me the wisdom and love I need to raise them.

SE started preschool in August.  Three days a week, we drop him off and watch him confidently walk into his classroom without a glance back at me.  Fin fondly calls after him, "bubba, bubba".  She took his first day harder than I did, crying for her SE from the moment we dropped him off to pretty much the moment we got to pick him up.

I'm thankful he goes to school with such good buddies.  And he's making so many new ones.  One of my heart's desires for him is to be the kid who will seek out the kiddos who are playing alone and invite them into friendship.  Some of the sweet stories he brings home from school tell my heart that is the path he following.

And then there is this little one...she's a powerhouse, that is for sure.  Vivacious, persistent, sweet, fiery, opinionated, and absolutely beautiful.  She has stolen my heart and her daddy's.  Sean and I race to her crib after she's gone to sleep, get her out, put her in bed with us and cuddle her. 

My goal everyday with them is that they would feel loved and poured into...to speak into the places of their hearts that will respond in the knowledge they are loved, they are secured.

When I first heard the Lord speaking about trusting Him in greater measure, I immediately thought of the brother and/or sister Sean and I have been desiring for SE and Fin.  We've been waiting to be pregnant for almost a year now.  As I've been praying for our new little one, the Lord has revealed some sweet things over my kiddos and kiddos to come.  Last week, He spoke over Sean Edward that he was our promise of faithfulness.  When we were trying for SE, we just knew we would be pregnant with him, and after 9 months, we were.

Finley is our promise of hope.  He gave her to us after a sad miscarriage that took me to a place of wondering whether we would ever have another.  Somewhat of a surprise, she came at the perfect time fulfilling the promise of God's hope.

And now we wait for Him to fulfill His promise of trustworthiness (the promise He's spoken over our next little ones).  My trust is in Him because with God, a promise made is a promise kept.

A summer adieu

Well it's official...summer has come to an end.  Not particularly the season but the time of year.  We had a blast over the summer.  Several trips taken and goals accomplished and some little ones who decided to grow and become not so little anymore. 

SE has turned into a full-fledged little boy.  He learned to swim without any flotation devices, and man is he a fish!  At first, he was swimming pretty short distances but that lasted about a week and then he began swimming the entire length of the pool. 

Sean and I got to take SE to his first Texas Rangers game.  We had a blast.  Little Fin got to stay with the grandparents so she didn't know she had missed out on anything.  SE loved it!  He got to do a little pitching game where he "won" a hat and brought home a new bat and ball.

We had plenty of time for friends!  We did a lot of swimming with them because it was entirely too hot for several weeks to do anything else. 

Look at all these sweet faces!

We had a sweet visit from Sean's dad...

We had several movie dates with our buddies the Bentons!

As for the Fin-bug, she is her ever crazy, ever super sweet, ever smiley self and getting into everything imaginable. 

Not so happy...I had to get pics before I rescued her!

Fin was also the recipient of several tosses in the air while in the swimming pool.  Sean loved throwing her up in the air...she had mixed emotions about it.

This was one of the best summers of my life.  The kids were at such a fun age, able to enjoy and appreciate so many things.  Sean's job was so flexible that he got to spend a lot of time away from the office and with us.  It was pure bliss!  So as we bid summer adieu, we enter into a season of preschool and Mother's Day Out, YMCA soccer, OU football and many more memories of family, friends, fun and love!

Trail West Family Camp Day 5

Last day of family camp.  It had been such an awesome week, and it was tough to not let the looming trip home steal our joy.  But there was still some fun stuff to do and some fun stuff to do again!  First off, though, a delicious brunch complete with the best cinnamon rolls I've ever had and a happy face waffle for SE.

We needed to get another cute picture of Fin-bug, because let's face it, we can't get enough of her (except when she's screaming).  Then another game of Frisbee golf and some awesome jumps off of rocks.

We had heard that the Jeep tours were super fun so we signed up for one.  You get to drive a Jeep out into remote Colorado, see some awesome views, visit a "ghost town" and one of SE's and Fin's favorite things they got to do, feed chipmunks!

Finley was screaming in this picture...she was a little unsure of the chipmunks.

SE LOVED them!

By the end I called her the chipmunk whisperer because they were lined up!

Cute little guy posing for me before we left!

On the way back to camp, you take an alternate route and get to stop off at some water falls and take pictures.

After dinner that night, we had our last club.  It was probably the most special one for me.  The work crew who had all week been preparing our meals, serving us unselfishly with joyful hearts, taking care of our kids with so much love, cleaning our bathrooms, making our beds, and straightening up our rooms got to share their names and a couple of them shared their stories.  They are the reasons Sean and I are involved with Young Life...because they, like us, were broken and needed love, and Young Life provided people to do that for them.  It's so great to be at camp.  The work crew does an amazing job pouring into tired and weary moms and dads who need a little refreshing.  But what we don't realize, is that just by being a cohesive God-centered loving family unit, we are pouring into their lives as well.

Our week at Trail West was an absolute blast!  I would highly encourage families to go if they get a chance.  Check it out here if you have any interest!  It's a place where husbands and wives can reconnect, moms and dads can focus on their babies and learn new things about their little selves, you can shut out the rest of the world and just be a family.  It also encourages you to take the lifestyle home and apply it there.  We cannot wait to go back next year!!