Living by FAItH

On most days, I wake up before the family and sneak downstairs (okay, we only have 3 stairs in the RV but I’m so giddy to say we have stairs that I had to throw that in there 😉)… and try to get my daily time in God’s Word and work done for my wellness business. I love starting my day with the Word of God. And I love that my job involves sharing health and wellness from my iPhone and I can knock it out first thing in the am and be present with my family all day (well most days 😉). He fills me to overflowing and I can for sure tell when I start the day without my time with Him (no worries if you prefer to have a devotional time other times of the day… for me in this season, mornings work best).

Well yesterday started off kinda hectic and crazy… and well… needless to say… my time with the Lord didn’t happen in the am. I had a somewhat stressful morning…

And just after lunchtime… I found a quiet moment… a pause in the day… where I could finally spend time with my Lord.

My sweet aunts and I have been studying the Bible together for over a year now and are currently participating in a study called Mindset Victory (if you want more info on that study let me know 🙌🏼).

Well… just as I sat to look up the scriptures for the days study… my phone died. 🤦🏻‍♀️ I was currently outside at our picnic table studying so instead of taking the time to go inside and scramble for a charger… I felt in my heart I just needed to open my Bible and read something else… I’m pretty sure God was saying… “no more distractions… just SIT and be STILL before ME.”

Well… I listened and turned to Habakkuk chapter 2.

The words from the thin page jumped right out at me and I knew those were the words the Lord had for me that day!

“The righteous shall life by FAITH.”

Just before those words, are commands to “write the vision… that the vision awaits its appointed time… if it seems slow… wait for it.”

Wow! What truthful words to hear!

How many of us are in a period of waiting?

My current neighbor at the RV park is facing a huge decision right now… one she and her husband must completely trust the Lord on. I love that we were able to discuss this scripture yesterday and how it applies to her current situation.

But doesn’t it apply to all of us?

Shouldn’t we all be dreamers/have goals and visions?

Dream BIG! Pray BOLD prayers!

Live a life of faith, trusting God every step of the way.

Sometimes when we have a dream or a goal and things don’t seem to be moving in the direction we want… we come to a crossroads and must wait.

When we pray to the Lord He always has an answer.

Yes

No

Wait.

Regardless the end result… His ways and His plans are always best!

A California encounter…

There are moments when the above scripture just doesn’t make sense…
Like when my family fell apart when my dad died.

When my cousin Brenton passed away from cancer.

When miscarriages happen.

When doors have to shut on a family business.

When homes catch on fire.

The list goes on and on. 

I’m sure you could fill in the blank as well with story after story. 

This verse came to mind just the other day when my first born and I had an encounter and long conversation with a paraplegic we met at the beach in Cresent City, California.

I saw him sitting there in his wheel chair and our family, and everyone else for that matter just walked on by.

Moments later, I found myself sitting with my oldest on a bench right beside him. He was selling earrings and bracelets made of stone. 

I decided to walk over and speak to him. I wanted to hear about his jewelry that he was selling. If you know me, you know I love stories… and I wanted to hear his.

His name was Scott. He was an artist, a guitarist and singer, prior to his accident. His eyes filled up with tears as he shared the moment in January when he was hit by a car and his life has never looked the same. I applauded him for using his creativity and hands to make beautiful jewelry that will bless others. He went on to tell me he lost his wife 2 years prior to cancer. At this point in the conversation, we were both in tears. 

This man has had a rough life.

This man has an excuse to give up and quit on life.

BUT GOD

BUT GOD…

As we spoke and I asked permission to pray over Him, I saw joy in Scott’s heart. I saw purpose and passion. I saw a reason for him to keep on fighting and living life to the fullest regardless his circumstances. 

He mentioned there was a time after his wife’s death that he was angry at God. I talked about how God understands that and wants us to wrestle with Him because He gets it. 

Scott said he is able to live again but is trying to find his way. I commend Scott for choosing JOY despite his circumstances. I commend Scott for trusting God even though he’s been dealt a rough pit. I commend Scott for doing something to rise against the ashes. 

Thank you Lord for this journey our family is on.  Praise you for a life of travel, a life where we are free to follow you wherever you lead and have the blessing of encountering people all across the US whom we would have never crossed paths with otherwise. 

We felt led to come to California. We knew my oldest wanted to see San Francisco and the Pacific Ocean… but the Lord revealed to us over and over again that we were to come to for more reasons than 1. Meeting Scott was for sure one of the reasons. 

California is a gorgeous state! For me, to be surrounded by mountains, farms on one side of the road and the beach on the other was indescribably breathtaking! God, you were showing off when you formed California. We absolutely enjoyed our time there… and can’t wait to return to travel the southern areas.

Here are some pics of our journey through Northern California…

Our first night in CA started off rough (you can read my story about it on social media). We ended up in a campground in the middle of the redwoods that an RV our size had no business journeying to. So word to the wise… if traveling in anything over 25ft… don’t even attempt to head to Little Basin Campground. We survived the drive by the grace of God, and the views were glorious but goodness was it a bumpy and scary journey there. Sometimes the curviest roads lead to the best views…

Just outside of Half Moon Bay was where my kids touched the Pacific Ocean for the very first time! What a memory! A dream come true for my firstborn. 

San Francisco was as charming as ever. One of our most favorite cities to visit. I was able to meet up with a precious friend from GA that I haven’t seen in 15 years! We stayed at a little peaceful campground in Napa during our time here. Check out Skyline Wilderness Park for a great, inexpensive stay when visiting SanFran. It’s a little over an hour drive to the city (without traffic 😜) but oh so peaceful. 

Ferndale was an absolutely quaint little town. We stayed a few nights at Humboldt county fairgrounds, cheap and simple but only a few miles from farms, mountains and breathtaking ocean views! 

Next stop was Trinidad! We were able to meet up with some friends we met in Texas, so that made this stop one for the books! We camped with them at Emerald Forest cabins and campground. Make sure you request a site in the back if you ever stay there… that’s where the sites are bigger and nestled between ginormous Redwoods. Trinidad was an adorable coastal town.

We loved our time hiking though the Redwoods National Forest 

And stopped for another glorious sunset on our drive back from the forest.

Our last stop in Northern CA was in Cresent City. No tips for campgrounds here because we boondocked for the night at the WalMart parking lot with a dozen other RVs. We had our very first beach campfire! What a memorable night!
Oh Lord… we praise you for the journey.

And California… you for sure keep me dreaming.

My fork in the road in Austin…

Our family traveled to Austin, TX over Easter weekend. We thoroughly enjoyed the state’s capitol city and sight seeing. There was one small moment during our trip, when everyone was tired, cranky and just like every normal family… a moment of crabbiness shined through all of us. While we were driving, I saw this beautiful field of wildflowers and a path and asked my husband to pull over. While the rest of the fam stayed in the truck, I decided to take a stroll down this path ALL BY MYSELF 🙌🏼🙌🏼. (All caps is on purpose 😜).

This time alone was brief, but the view was beautiful and my conversation with the Lord was just what I needed. 

I cried out to the Lord to help my family in those moments of weakness, when we are tired and hungry and allow the flesh of selfishness creep in. I prayed to the Lord to help my husband lead our family well and daily become more and more the spiritual leader in our “home on wheels”. I begged God to help me raise my children in a peaceful home (I know we will still be loud 🙉) but I want my tone with them to be peace filled. I want our tribe to love each other well and to speak in kindness. 

As I walked along the pond and prayed (for my 2 minutes of alone time 😉)… I turned the corner to head back to the truck and to my little family that I adore… and saw this scene. I had to stop and snap a photo. What I saw was a fork in the road. And in that moment I had a choice to make.

We all have a choice…

we can choose the desires of our flesh or walk in the Spirit.

Often times, we only think this way when we have a BIG decision to make like taking a new career path, deciding to sell our home, making a large purchase, should we sell everything and travel the US in an RV,  etc.

But really, this scene occurs in the day to day, mundane, tiny detailed moments of our lives.

When our kids are arguing… we can choose peace or yelling (Phil. 4:8).

When anxiety consumes us… we can choose to allow it to control or claim Phil.4:6.

When people say hurtful things to us… we can believe the lies or know who we are in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17).

and the list goes on and on and on in every single fork in the road throughout our day.

In the big decision moments and the tiny ones… will you follow Him, allow Him to restore your soul…

as He leads you on…

the path of righteousness…

for His name sake (Psalm 23:3)?

And while you’re here… enjoy these pics of our trip to Austin…

I recently read there is a couple who travels in an RV and paints these greeting murals on walls in cities throughout the US… I have no idea if they painted this one… but if you ever find yourself in Austin, I would for sure stop for a great photo op…

When we were in Amarillo, TX, we took a can of spray paint and headed to Cadillac ranch (google it, such a cool place)… I had no idea Austin had a similar area… they call it Grafitti Hill. From what I read, this was an old condominium establishment that never materialized and over time it turned into an art district…

Take your own can of paint… and if you forget, there are usually street vendors there with cans for sell (and an ice cream truck). 

Our kids have checked off many state capitols during our 2 years of travel… so stopping by Austin’s capitol building was a must. You can even take a tour of the building… but we stopped by on Easter so obv offices were closed. 

Just outside the city (about 20 miles) is a fabulous restaurant called The Oasis. The drive through “Texas hill country” as it is referred to, was breathtaking. I seriously felt as if we had left the state of Texas. The restaurant is one of those… you won’t believe it until you see it kind of places…. but here’s a few pics of our time there and the beauty as it overlooks Lake Travis. If you go, be sure to drive around and check out the gorgeous mansions nearby. 

If you are in Austin and are looking for a great church, we recommend, The Austin Stone Community Church . I asked FB land for church recommendations in the area and had many options posted… we decided to go with this church because it was the closest to our hotel. The sermon was on point and the church was alive! They have several campuses, we attended the main campus in downtown, Austin. Check it out if you are ever near by and want to hear the Word preached in a powerful way. The lead pastor, Dr. Matt Carter preached the day we attended and was fabulous! 

If you are in Austin in early Spring, Google wildflowers near Austin and take a drive to see the beautiful flowers and the Texas state flower… the bluebonnet/ Lupinus texensis. 

Texas does everything big… and the rule applies to their wild flowers! Here’s a few pics of them and my little princess posing in a patch…

Warning… if you do make the wild flowers a photo opp… make sure you check the ground for ants and snakes. Thankfully we didn’t see any… but was thankful for the pre-warning. 

The yellow and red flowers (Indian blankets/ Gaillardia pulchella)were found on the campus of St. Edwards University. 
Speaking of campuses… hello… we had to stop and see the University of Texas! Hook ’em horns! Thankfully my hubby wasn’t wearing his Baylor hat at the time ;). 

And last but not least… we waited on Congress Ave Bridge (with a couple hundred other curious minds) to watch the famous bats come out at dusk… sorry I don’t have pics of the actual bats, but trust me, there were thousands of them… but I suppose they were full on Easter candy and didn’t come out at dusk when the photo opp would have been perfect… it was really dark when they came out so the pics just didn’t turn out. As the story goes, a colony of about 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats live under the bridge and come out at dusk for their evening meal between the months of late March to November.  I’ll post a pic of us waiting on the bridge to watch. Other viewing options are the  lawn just below the bridge or in a boat on Lady Bird Lake, which flows from the nearby Colorado River. Many people observe from their personal boats and kayaks, rent them or take a boat tour on the Lone Star Cruise line or Capitol Cruises to watch. It is for sure a sight to see… although we had never even heard of this concept until we started our travel life and began following other traveling families online. 

We really enjoyed our quick trip to Austin. There are signs, tshirts and souvenirs everywhere that says “Keep Austin weird.” Well, Austin made the word weird a positive one for us, as we for sure enjoyed our time in this artistically colorful, eclectic city!

Living in more…

I’m beginning to feel the urgency to live…

 in “MORE.”

And perhaps my definition of more… looks quite different than what you may be expecting from the concept of living in more.

Living in more…

How many of us live pay check to paycheck?

Go about our days like clock work.

Do the same thing day after day after day?

But what if there is more to this life?

What if we have unfulfilled dreams and callings and desires? 

Why not start living in the more?

You see…

More is where the faith is.

More is where the trust is.

More is in the mundane and the simple.

Yet excites us like no other. 

Let’s stop living mediocre lives.

Let’s stop allowing comparison to be the theif of our joy.

Why not live in the more…

We don’t have to look the part, dress the part, blend in with the crowd…

You see…

More is so much different.

Living in more is going against the flow,

Daring to dream,

Looking different,

Standing out in the crowd,

 Living in more calls us to a life of 

generous giving,

intentional serving,

Being bold, brave and courageous.

Living in more calls us to live with less but to love much more. 

It calls us to give up and sacrifice, but to walk in abundance.

Strip yourself from all that entangles you… walk out on a limb… and step forward in a sold out life of MORE! 

A recent living in more opportunity was spent with my daughter at a tulip garden. This day was an ordinary, drizzly Sunday… she and I actually had a little “disagreement” earlier that day… and instead of allowing the day to be cloudy, rainy and filled with our yucky attitudes… we spontaneously stopped and picked tulips and decided to live in MORE! It changed our gloomy day and gloomy hearts and filled our souls with sunshine and beauty. 

We love finding fun little places to visit during our travels… and love meeting people and taking the time to hear their stories too. 

If you are in the Dallas area near Springtime, I highly recommend visiting Texas Tulips in Pilot Point, TX. Check their website first to make sure the tulips are still in bloom though. The tulips are beautiful and we stopped and chatted a bit with the owner’s wife and heard her story of their family moving to the states several years ago from Holland, as this was her husbands dream since he was a little boy. This family chose to “live in more.” They had a dream and made it a reality! He was a master tulip gardener in Holland and moved to Texas to open one of the few tulip gardens in the U.S. 

Lovely family and fabulous visit. Here’s a little photo of the owner and my daughter. 

Home

Mama’s keep praying

I have been praying for my first born on a deeper level over the past several months. 

He turned 12 on 05.05.05 (cool birthdate, right?) and I have been praying for him to grow personally in his walk with the Lord. Obviously, as parents we do all we can to point all of our children to Christ.  We have family devotional time, bible time with roadschool and we pray at night and take them to church…

but I’m developing a burden to visually observe my preteen grow deeper on his own… to crave that personal relationship with God and not just be a druggy… “drugged to church lol”

And mama’s if that is your heart cry for your children… keep praying…

 Keep believing…

Keep approaching  the throne of grace with much confidence over your treasures. 

I have been praying and lately… I have seen first hand the Lord at work in my little man. 

Last month there was an opportunity for a baseball game… it was a scrimmage and not a real game and my husband encouraged the boys to go for extra practice… and my son said no. 

You see, going to baseball would mean missing church and my son didn’t want to miss church. I love that he picked Jesus over baseball… and trust me, my boy LOVES baseball… but it’s clear that his love for Jesus is even greater. 

Then a few weeks ago, I noticed he had been carrying around a little red bible in his pocket. He showed it to me and said he had been carrying it around because it always brings comfort and strength. Hello! I can learn a thing or two from him! That was for sure a “melt my heart” moment.

In His youth class at church, the leaders encouraged the boys to write down a verse and prayer request each day and turn them in the following week… now my son is a rule follower and it didn’t surprise me that he did this requested task… but I was absolutely amazed at his dedication each day to read the Word on his own and pray.  

I love what I am seeing the Lord do in and through my boy. I am honored to be his mom. I will continue to pray, continue to trust and continue seeing him grow in the Lord and shine the light of Christ! 

Mamas… be encouraged! 

Keep doing what you are doing to point your babies to the Lord. 

Even the quiet ones… like my Jonah… are watching. 

Don’t quit praying…

Don’t give up…

Keep looking like Jesus…

Continue leading them to Jesus and you will see the fruit of your labor!!! 

And since my fella just turned 12… I figured I’d show you a few pics of him over the years and the fun time we had celebrating him turning 12.

As you probably know, we travel the US in an RV and actual parties are rare these days for our kids birthdays because it is unusual for us to be around family and friends during our travels… well this year we happened to meet 2 precious traveling families like ourselves and we had enough kids between us to have a party… so Jonah picked to go to an indoor trampoline center to celebrate turning 12. 
1 John 3:1: “how great is the love the Lord has lavished on us that we shall be called children of God.” 

Every moment being your mom has been a blessing Jonah! I couldn’t have asked for a better first born son.

And a few pics of his 12th birthday…

Wonderfully made…

Psalm 139 is one of my most favorite Psalms. 

I remember memorizing it with a Bible study group I was a part of in college.

But I absolutely began to hold it near and dear to my heart when I was pregnant with my second child, Jacob Avery. 

I claimed a particular scripture over each of my children while they were in my womb and Psalm 139:14 was the one the Lord impressed upon my heart for my Jacob.

He turned 10 this past year and I can’t even believe he is now double digits! My, oh my how time flies! I try and blog around my kiddos birthdays but Nov and Dec were very crazy travel months for our family and I have yet to blog about my little 10 year old sweetie. 

I just love him to pieces. He has the biggest heart! He loves Jesus something fierce… and wears a cross necklace around his neck daily! He is strong, tough and athletic. He doesn’t conform to the pattern of this world… he is true to his cowboy ways… rather we are in NYC, Boston, Wyoming, Colorado or Texas… you will find him sticking with his cowboy attire regardless of the way others around him dress. We could all learn a thing or two from that example!

We happened to be in Georgia during the time of his birthday so we turned his celebration into a birthday week and had lots of fun with family and friends throughout the week. 

And we are really all about experiences instead of things for gifts around here since there are 6 of us and we live in a tiny space. So…. his favorite team, the Georgia Bulldogs, just happened to play on the day of his actual birthday so we snagged some tix and surprised him with a day trip to Athens! Go Dawgs!!

Prior to our trip to the South, our traveling life landed us 4 months in Colorado and it was amazing! While there we had the opportunity to visit the Great Sand Dunes National Park!

We actually went for my hubbys birthday! Again, experiences not things. Sand galore!!!! We had a blast! 

One of my favorite memories there was when my son mentioned that all of this sand reminded him of the verse in Psalm 139 where it speaks of the Lord’s thoughts towards us outnumbering the grains of sand. 

Psalm 139:1-18:

“You have searched me, Lord, 

and you know me. 

You know when I sit and when I rise;

 you perceive my thoughts from afar. 

You discern my going out and my lying down;

 you are familiar with all my ways.

Before a word is on my tongue

    you, Lord, know it completely.

You hem me in behind and before,

    and you lay your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,

    too lofty for me to attain.

Where can I go from your Spirit?

    Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

If I rise on the wings of the dawn,

    if I settle on the far side of the sea,

even there your hand will guide me,

    your right hand will hold me fast.

If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me

    and the light become night around me,”

even the darkness will not be dark to you;

    the night will shine like the day,

    for darkness is as light to you.

For you created my inmost being;

    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

    your works are wonderful,

    I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from you

    when I was made in the secret place,

    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw my unformed body;

    all the days ordained for me were written in your book

    before one of them came to be.

How precious to me are your thoughts, God!

    How vast is the sum of them!

Were I to count them,

    they would outnumber the grains of sand—

    when I awake, I am still with you.” 

Yes! I love when scripture clicks for them and they apply to every day life! The word of God really is live and active! 

The Lord has a beautiful story already written for each of our lives. From conception to death… He has a plan! 

I wanted to end this post with a little art I doodled in my journaling Bible on Psalm 139. 

My daughter and I were playing a game of Old Maid and loved the characters on the cards so much that we decided to draw them! 

I picked a boy and a girl to represent my 4 arrows! I praise the Lord for these 4. They are absolutely amazing gifts the Lord has entrusted to me and my hubby. 

Giving Tuesday

L I G H T 

are the 5 tin letters that hang over the door to our home on wheels.

LIGHT

is a reminder for our family to live out our calling. It is a reminder for our family to remember whom we serve. It is a reminder that this life is not our own and we are here on Earth for so much more than ourselves. It is a reminder of the scripture we have claimed for our family.

Matthew 5:16: “let your LIGHT shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
Our desire as we travel is to shine the light of Jesus everywhere we go and to do so with open hearts and hands.

We have traveled 37 of the states here in the U.S. since we embarked upon this journey almost 2 years ago. We have traveled many miles, explored beautiful lands, have met many new faces, and have reconnected with familiar ones. Our intent with every mile traveled and every mapped out encounter has been to love well and live intentionally. 

My prayer for my children is for their love for the Lord will shine so big that it becomes contagious to those around them. I became most certain the Lord is answering that prayer when I witnessed the generosity of my little one unfold over the past few months.

I can’t even put into words how precious my sweet Emma Rose is to me. She has the biggest heart ever and loves others well! She decided to save up all of her money from her birthday and allowance to give it away to those in need. She wanted to buy things for kids who are less fortunate. She said that she has everything she needs already and would rather give her money to those who may possibly be without. (See how camper life can make everyone a minimalist lol). 

 With the help of a few other sweet folks who contributed to her plan… she was able to extend generosity to so many children. 

Today is GIVING TUESDAY and I would love to share some photos of her shopping and info on the ministries she prayerfully chose to support…

For years we have partnered with Samaritans Purse and filled shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child. 

“It is the world’s largest Christmas project of its kind, Operation Christmas Child, uses gift-filled shoeboxes to demonstrate God’s love in a tangible way to children in need around the world.”

She wanted to use her money to fill a box or two this year for children around the globe.

You can learn more about Samaritans Purse at http://www.samaritanspurse.org

We enjoyed shopping for the suggested items and made sure we stopped and prayed over the children who would receive these goodies. 

She was so adorable counting out her money and paying at the register for her purchases.

I decided she deserved a little treat while shopping so she picked to sit and have a frozen frappachino (caffeine free) while I enjoyed a coffee (with caffeine). One on one time is so much fun. She was a ham at the coffee shop!

As mentioned earlier, we travel the US in a 40ft travel trailer and we stay in RV parks and State Parks while traveling. The Lord always orchestrates our travels and allows us to meet the neatest people. At the park we are staying at here in GA, this God ordained encounter was no exception… we just so happened to camp right next to a mother and daughter team who travels in their camper to volunteer for Operation Christmas Child. June and her daughter Andrea, were volunteering at First Baptist Atlanta and were more than happy to hand deliver our shoeboxes for Emma Rose. We loved our time with this family. They for sure blessed our lives and we hope to meet up with them down the road at their farm in Alabama! 

Emma Rose desired to bless children and families who live in other countries but also knows there are people here in the U.S. with needs she could bless as well. A precious lady that is on the same Plexus Worldwide team with me is part of a ministry called I 58 Mission. 
Here is a little more about that ministry:

“Our heart’s desire is to support those in need in our community. Your participation is valuable to this ministry. Will you pray with us, volunteer alongside us, minister to the hurting? There are many ways to plug-in. You can also participate by donating items such as household goods, appliances, furniture, clothing, and food. Those items are given to people who are in a difficult place in life. We want to help meet the physical needs of those living in painful circumstances and show them the love of Christ.

Ways to learn more or reach out to this  minstry:

Website- http://www.thei58mission.org

FB- http://www.facebook.com/thei58mission

PayPal- thei58mission@gmail.com

*********************************

My girl also has a heart for children in India. We have precious friends who currently live in India and partner with a ministry in India that serves women and children who come from troubled backgrounds. We often lift up our friends in India in prayer when we have our family prayer time before school or bed.  It was such a delight to pray over these specific women and children and ask the Lord to guide our shopping and lead us to the items that would be perfect for them.

Here are a few more pics of shopping spree day 2.

The smile on her face was for sure contagious! I know the LIGHT of JESUS shines bright through my little 8 year old… and our prayer is that her desire for generosity will move you to do something extra special and give back to a cause/ministry/group on this special day on Giving Tuesday. 

 Emma Rose, you are one of a kind, you shine the light of Jesus BIG, and we couldn’t be more thankful to have you as our precious treasure. 

I would love to close with the words that inspired our friends GA ministry I58, with truths from the prophet Isaiah…

““Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. “If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭58:6-10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Brown eyed girl

I can’t believe I have my very own brown eyed girl. 

For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to be a mommy… my desire was to have four boys and one girl, to be exact. 

And the Lord saw fit to just about fill my quiver with my ❤️ desire. Psalm 37:4

I have three amazing boys and one phenomenal little girl. I also have a tiny treasure in Heaven… So we must wait til we are all united to find out if that little arrow is a boy or girl.

My desire to have only one daughter was quite a selfish one, if I’m honest. 

I didn’t want to have to share.

I didn’t want to have to shop, or dine or vacation with more than one darling daughter. 

I didn’t want to have to watch her and her sister grow up and do things without me…

So selfishly, I wanted just one little girl to have for me, just me. 

Now that makes me sounds just plain rude, doesn’t it? And obviously I would have been estatic with a house full of girls… And obviously, I think it’s lovely and grand for those of you who have more than one daughter. Girls are amazing! And now that I have one of my very own… I wouldn’t mind having an entire slew of them (until it was time to pay for those weddings 😉).  Being a girl mom is the best! 

I can still hear the words “it’s a girl” ringing loud and clear in my ears from the doctor who helped bring her into this world.  From the moment the delivery nurse laid my beautiful one in my arms… I was smitten with pink, frills and bows. 

I have my very own brown eyed girl. With the exception of those eyes… She is my mini me! Life is so fun with her in it! She is 50% girlie girl and 50% tomboy just like her mama. She is an absolute delight and today we celebrate our sweet Emma Rose turning 8! 

Her heart is one of gold. She is kind and tender and will be the first one to cry if a sad movie is on or one of her siblings is being disciplined. 

And she has made my heart wide open to the desire to bring other little children into our home. Our family desires to open a home for foster children/orphan care in the future and I know she will be on the front lines of making this ministry a success.

A few weeks ago, our traveling family had the blessing of hearing an international choir sing at the church we were attending in Colorado. After the concert, you could sign up to sponsor a child from a third world country through Compassion International. I asked Emma Rose to pray and pick out the child the Lord impressed upon her heart. She was very tendered to this one particular little girl named Norley from Ecuador.

I filled out the forms, gave my initial donation, and this little girl became our sponsored child. 

The moment Emma Rose found out that we were not bringing this little one home with us she was devastated. With tears in her eyes, she exclaimed “but mama, I thought she was coming home with us tonight. I didn’t know how we would fit her in our camper, but I was ready to share my bunk with her.” 

Such a precious heart! Emma Rose, you never know what God has in store. He just might bring little Norley to our home one day… And if not Norley,  I assure you He will one day fill our home with lots of giggles and laughter from other sweet little girls that He desires us to open our doors to when the time is just right to open our desired ministry. 

And if your heart wasn’t already big enough… Just last week you told me you wanted to gather all of your money, and any money you received for your birthday to buy gifts for children in the U.S. and other countries who aren’t as blessed. You shine the light of Jesus better than anyone I know (Matthew 5:16)!

Happy birthday darling daughter. You love big and we adore you! May blessings upon blessings be bestowed upon our brown eyed beauty! 

Psalm 37:4 is the verse I have claimed over you since the moment I knew you were in my womb…

“Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” 

Unexpected blessings…

Ever had an encounter with someone and you knew it was a straight blessing from the Lord? 

Our family ventured up to Cheyenne this summer for Frontier Days and if you read my previous post, you would read of a precious little girl that I encountered there.  This little girl was one of several precious people I was blessed to meet there.

During our day, a crazy hail storm decided to greet us and our family scattered and took cover in the Indian village.  I had my oldest 3 munchkins with me and we jetted to a little covered area where you could purchase beautiful dream catchers and other gifts. No pun intended, but these dream catchers, caught my eye. They were beautiful and reminded me of my Aunt Doris. I knew I just had to purchase one for her because she collects all things Native American. 

As my daughter and I peeked through their supply of handmade dream catchers we found the one that we knew would be perfect for my Aunt. 

After my purchase, the hail storm decided to linger a bit… And lasted just long enough for me to have the most amazing encounter with the two sisters who hand made all of the merchandise in this particular booth. We thought we were only coming to this booth for protection from the storm… But received so much more. Coincidence? I think not! 

These sweet women showed me all of their beautiful goodies and went on to tell me a beautiful story. And if you have been around the blog for long or know me well… you know I am an absolute sucker for a good story… and if the story is about history… well we might as well pull up a chair! 

These lovelies shared with me the story and legacy left behind by their mother, a beautiful Indian woman. 

Their mother was an Indian from a tribe in North Georgia.  Hearing the word Georgia for sure filled my heart with JOY because I am a Georgia girl myself.  I couldn’t believe I was about to hear a story about an Indian woman from Georgia while I attended Frontier Days in Cheyenne, Wyoming. 

These ladies proceeded to tell me their mother ran away from home, along with her brother, when she was only 19 years old. They left Georgia and ended up in Colorado. She hid her Native American heritage from anyone she ever met, thinking they would think it to be a disgrace and embarrassment.

 She ended up marrying and growing a beautiful family. It wasn’t until she was well in age that her children even discovered she was part Indian. They took great pride in their Indian heritage and now make beautiful Indian heirlooms and gifts as a beautiful way to keep the legacy of their mother alive. 

These two sisters are absolutely blessed with amazing talent and carry on their mother’s legacy in such a beautiful way. 

I was all ears as they continued to tell me about their mother. 

One sister continued with a story of Berry College. I absolutely love Berry College, located in Rome, Georgia. The campus is stunning and full of history. 

Martha Berry, founder of Berry College, actually took in their Indian mother when she was a child.  I am not certain if this was more like an adoption, but their mother lived with her for several years.  Her name is even mentioned in Martha Berry’s book. She was cared for by Martha Berry until her older sister from her biological mother became ill and needed her assistance.  

Their mother helped care for her older sister for many years and when she was 19 (as previously written), ran away to Colorado and began a new life.

Unfortunatly, those are the only details of the story that I can recall as I didn’t come straight home and blog about the story as I had hoped. I suppose, you could create the ending in your mind and dream a beautiful dream for this Indian woman and her family. 

She lived a courageous life, I am certain and the Lord called her home when she was in her 90’s. Her family lives out her heritage and will continue to bless others for generations to come, that I am sure. 

Thank you to these two sisters who blessed me and my love for story…

A blessing in Cheyenne…

I love the idea of community. 

The book of Acts explains in great detail the type of community I long for. 

When Peter addressed the crowd of followers on the day of Pentacost, 3,000 believers were added on that day… Talk about a mega church plant overnight!

3K heard the Word, believed and decided to be followers of Christ. Now that’s church.  The number was astounding… But while studying the birth of the Christian church from the book of Acts, what filled me with joy more than the grand number was the huge sense of community. 

Acts 2:42-47: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles.
They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. 

In the beginning, the idea of community was established. It’s such a beautiful thing. I have always been intrigued by other cultures and their sense of community. During my years as  a pediatric oncology nurse, I had the blessing to really get to know several Hispanic families as I cared for their sick little ones.  They always had a large family and community to help them during thier time of need. 

And now that we are a traveling family, we have had the opportunity to engage in many various communities across the USA. I am forever grateful for this season in our lives. Although community looks different for us now that we travel, perhaps we aren’t able to engage in the same community on a daily basis, we are blessed to meet so many people throughout the country and establish community whether we are. 

You may have read this before in a previous blog or on social media, but one thing I am constantly praying over our family is that we live out Matthew 5:16 (shine His light) everywhere we go and that we have open hearts and open hands. I never want us to miss an opportunity to be a blessing or to be blessed. If our heart and hands are constantly open, the Lord is able to work in our midst and allow us to shine His light to every community we embark upon. 

Having this mindset has allowed us to invite a homeless man, Mr. Jack to a Chris Tomlin album release party at our church in Atlanta and watch as he worshipped the Lord with tears streaming down his face. 

We have been able to buy dinners for people whom we felt we needed to in a restaurant, we have been able to pour the love of Jesus to other families and invite kids to church that we have met at the campsites.  My daughter and I even had the opportunity to lead a precious little one to Christ! Open hearts and open hands… Community! Community can happen wherever you are planted, rather you have a large tribe or a small one and regardless of the amount of time you have invested into an area. 

Last month, our family drove to Cheyenne, Wyoming to spend a day at Frontier Days.

I highly recommend this fun event if you are in the area next July. 

And even there, we desired to live out Matthew 5:16 with open hearts and open hands. Except this time… Instead of striving to bless others… We were blessed beyond measure…

  
This beautiful little one filled my heart with such JOY! 

As I was ordering my Indian taco (because everyone raved about the Indian tacos at Frontier days… And it did not disappoint), this little sweetie came up to me and said “I like your necklace. I like your shirt and hair and jeans and shoes.” Wow! Talk about making someone feel good. Then she goes on to say, “Girl, you are just gorg…e…ous!” With the gorgeous drawn out and exaggerated. I thanked her, we giggled a bit and I begged her to come home with me for my daily dose of much needed encouragement. 

Throughout the day, we continued to encounter this precious one and she would always say to her mom, “Look! There’s my best friend!” She was such a doll.  When we met once again near the petting zoo and horse stables, I had the best conversation with her and her mom about being a blessing to others. She for sure blessed my socks off and filled my love tank that day with all of her compliments.  I was able to share Psalm 139 (being fearfully and wonderfully made) with her and explained how that scripture was speaking of her. As I walked away from this precious one, after numerous encounters throughout the day, my heart was filled with JOY!

We had many other beautiful encounters like this one during our day at Frontier Days. I will share those a little later in another blog post. 

I love that church can happen anywhere you are.  As followers of Christ, we are church… And church can even happen in the middle of Frontier Days in the middle of Cheyenne, Wyoming! 

Here are a few pics from our fun day…