A dream for Thomas

its time for a new post. i had a very relaxing christmas with my family. it was kinda cruddy that thomas had to work on both christmas eve and on christmas day, but it was workable. he didn't miss out on much. we just had to change a little bit of our traditional routine.

what am i looking forward to in the new year? Hmm, let see. The typical, i want to exercise more, eat healthier, figure out how to get my kids to eat more veggies. i want to better at cleaning and keeping my house 'guest' ready all the time. i want to find a way to spend more quality time with my husband. We will celebrate our tenth anniversary this July. Maybe finding a way to do date nite more often. I would like to have another baby this year, but we'll see what God has in store. i want to do better at emailing and staying in contact with friends and family that i don't see regularly. i also want this to be the year we are finally out of debt. we've worked hard over the last year and half, and we're almost there. Our van will be paid off this year, yeah no more car payments!

what i really want for this coming year, is for Thomas to FINALLY experience his dream. His dream of being in full time ministry. He has know he's been called since he was young. It has been many and many a year that his dream has gone unfulfilled. I have seen my childhood dreams, my marriage and my children. Not, that to thomas those things are not important, because he loves us all dearly. But, something about seeing him day after day trekking off to work towards one more day of an unfulfilled dream. For those who don't know, my husband has this awesome ability to teach. I promise, he knows EVERYTHING!!! he is so close to finishing his theology degree. However, its really hard to go to school at night, when your job mainly consists of working at night. i desire for him to realize fruit in his abilities. If you've ever seen him with youth, those kids adore him. he is not teaching his youth sunday school this year. the opportunity is no longer there. it truly breaks my heart that he has all this talent and love to give to the kids and yet it stays all bottled up inside him with no place to pour it out. A couple of summers ago, he got to fill in for a youth pastor at a small church. We had so much fun! Im telling you people, this guy would make the world's best youth/college pastor. he is a perpetual teenager. he loves his video games, staying out late, going to movies, hanging out with people, playing games... and so much more.

so, all of you out there is blogger world, if you know of or hear of a need, my hubby needs a job where he gets to daily pour into the lives of those who need to know about Christ. Youth who need to be equipped with the tools to lead and know why they believe. In our country where our faith is being squashed and diluted, where are our leaders going to come from? That's a whole different direction that i will leave for thomas to blog about.

will you keep thomas in your prayers? pray for 2009 to be the year that thomas sees the callings and the prophecies spoken over him to be realized and fulfilled.



i know its a hunting picture, but i promise, he will not hunt any kids or teach them to do so without parental approval.

Why oh Why

why oh, why does that googy guy always think he needs to butt his head in somewhere that it doesn't belong? huh? I guess because that's what he does. He is here to steal, kill, and destroy. Here I have been cruising along, getting ready for Christmas and "whadda ya know?" Here he comes rears his ugly head and tries to steal my joy! i could go on and tell all the little things going on that are not right. But, mostly i would be whining and he would be winning. i have so much to be thankful for!

well, I say: oh, no you don't! not this time! you may not steal my joy! i do not belong to you. i belong to God my Father! i am going to celebrate the birth of my Saviour and you can't stop me! you are under my feet, you dirty little snake! so, get thee behind me!

Girly

I am so stinking excited, I just had to blog about it. Thomas bought me a new hat today. I have been trying to find myself a camo hunting cap. I found one at wal-mart this evening. It is the traditional mossy oak pattern, but it has Pink stitching and Pink buttons on the top. Plus the underside of the bill is Pink too! Now I can go hunting with my husband and boys and still maintain just a little of my girly-ness! Yeah! I now have a camo shirt, camo coat, camo hat, and my gun. Next on my wish list is some camo boots.

Random?

well, I'm just sitting here trying to decide whether or not i should post something. I'm not sure if what I might have to say is worth a blog or not, but I felt like writing, or typing, I guess. Today, I made some stew/soup that I call Stoup. It's super easy to make. I have it in the crock pot so we can eat some for supper. It smells really good.

Nathan heard on the news that it snowed somewhere. He got really excited, thinking there was going to be some snow for him to have a snowball fight with his daddy. I explained to him that they were talking about some where that was not Lubbock. He was completely heart broken. So, "Lord, Please let there be at least one time that it snows enough for Nathan to have a snowball fight with his daddy."

I have been feeling very blessed the last couple of days. I am being constantly reminded about how blessed I truly am. I know of families right now that will have nothing to give their kids for Christmas. I have a friend who is going through a very serious pregnancy. She is a very private person, so I don't want to share her name, so I'll just call her "Sarah". Sarah has a very rare complication with the baby's placenta. It also looks like the baby (a girl) will need to be delivered as early as 27 weeks. She needs God's divine intervention and for Him to work a miracle in her body and in the life of her baby. Sarah's life and the life of her baby are in the hands of God. It's the only place they are truly safe. If she crosses your mind please, please, say a prayer for Sarah. God knows who she is and what she needs. Pray also for her many doctors, that they would make the best possible choices for her and her baby. The best scenario would be that God heals her, and that when she gets her next ultrasound, there is no evidence of a problem. And, no explanation other then God's miraculous healing. Then, Sarah could continue to carry her sweet little blessing to full term and deliver a healthy baby girl with no threat to her own personal health.

Anyone out there in blogging world have any ideas on how I can get my children to pick up their room. They have been in their room for hours now. I've told them they can not come out until there room is picked up. Except of course to go to the bathroom. I'm really not cruel. My children would beg to differ with you though. I'm just kinda clueless. This year for Christmas Thomas and I will not be buying our boys any toys. They are getting some other things, but not toys that have to be cleaned up and put away.

I guess I will close with this last idea and thought. I have heard a couple of times over the last week about women who are wanting to have a baby. Some are having struggles while others are not struggling necessarily, but wanting to become pregnant none the less. Myself included.
Lord, I come to you now, right here on the computer. As we celebrate Christmas, I thank you for Your Son, Jesus, that came to this earth as a baby. I pray for all women who read my blog today that are desiring their own precious baby. I pray for the medical issues to be resolved and the timing to be right. Most importantly, I pray that there be a peace upon the hearts of all the ladies. We know that you grant the desires of the heart and that the desire of a baby comes from You. I ask that we all find ourselves resting in this truth. Lord, I also pray that the time for fulfillment would be soon. Thank you for all the blessings You have bestowed upon all women, those who are mothers already and those who desire to become mothers.
I pray all these things in faith with expectation of receiving from You. In Your name I pray, Amen.

Long Time No Post

well, its been a pretty long time since i posted last, so i figured i'd fill in a few gaps over the last couple of the months.

Halloween flew by in a flurry of very crazy activity. Our bathroom wall completely feel down into the tub. I guess it was time to remodel. the water faucet was leaking and so we had to cut a hole in the wall to repair it. when i pulled 2 tiles off the wall the whole thing came crashing down. tiles and sheet rock and everything. we had been planning to redo some stuff after Christmas. so, we are in the middle of a giant mess everywhere.

just after Halloween we headed to San Antonio to go to a good friend's wedding. Luke and Jana's wedding was so sweet and adorable. they deserve so much happiness. i wish them and their 2 sweet girls many blessing.

Thomas went hunting on opening weekend. He shot a 6pt buck and a doe. i was so proud of him! thanks to my parents we now have a deep freeze and its packed full of deer meat. (Kristi, i promise i will not send you any, or hide it any food, haha!)

lets see... what else? oh yeah, we went out to dinner with some awesome friends. Nick and Tiffany. Had dinner at applebee's then headed to daybreak for some coffee. the guys couldn't handle the coffee so they had tea. it was good to get out for some adult conversation. never once did we hear the words "don't pick your nose" or "sit down and stop fighting." soooo relaxing.

Thanksgiving was really good. did a lot of relaxing and hanging out with family and course a bunch of eating. it was all so very yummy. i did the deviled eggs for both family dinners, boiled and made 3 dozen eggs. YUMMY!

Got my Christmas tree up just before thanksgiving. Thomas let me put it up a week early this year. i was having a little bit of peer pressure from all of you in blog world who put their trees up early. however, i have only put up the tree. for some reason, i just can't seem to get in the mood to put out the nativities. (i have 8) My Christmas animated dolls, Christmas pillows, snowmen, and Christmas dishes are all still sitting in their box. i am looking forward to doing lots of baking. Ummmm, fudge, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate peppermint sticks and so much more.
i can't wait! I'm sure I'll pack on extra pounds and have to pay for later, but i don't care. Christmas goodies only come once a year.

I've already watched White Christmas a couple of times. I still need to watch Elf, The Christmas Story, and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

i guess that's all for now. I'm really sorry that i can't post any pictures. i just don't know how to use Thomas's camera.