Thursday, June 18, 2009

Gardening

Yes, I think I can finally say I am a gardener. Last year we started with an 8x4 boxed bed, where we grew tomatoes and herbs, this year we went bigger. 16x16 to be exact, plus our box :) I am so excited as most of our tomato plants (7 out of the 9) are not only flowering but growing tomatoes. The other night I was able to pick 3 zucchini's and today I just trimmed our sweet basil and Italian basil down. We had so much basil that I took some over to my friend Annette's who offered to dehydrate the rest of what we had. With all the basil we filled 8 out of 9 of her trays, lol. So now we will have dried basil (Thank you sooo much Annette for blessing us). I also have about 15 yellow crook neck squash that will be picked in the next few days and some of the cherry tomatoes will be ready to go by then too.
It is amazing to see how God works everything together, even in a garden. I mean things as simple as the plants need good soil and the worms need good stuff to eat off of and they all work together to grow both.
Lastly, I am addicted to a magazine all about gardening it is simply called "Grow." It has so much information, tips and tricks. I have tried a couple of them and they have all exceeded my expectations. If you see it in Lowes or Home Depot (I can't remember which one it is at) pick it up and take a look, it is a great find.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Can you believe it? He is 4!


Yes my baby is 4, well not quiet my baby, but you know what I mean. I remember like it was yesterday when I found out I was pregnant with him. The fear was beyond overwhelming and God just kept telling me "be courageous, if you really believe this is from Me, then be courageous!" I do not like it when God tells me something I know that is obvious, but my fear is such a mountain it is sometimes hard to see Him. After Noah died having another baby was unfathomable. It is truly through His mercy and grace that we have Joshua.

Joshua asked me the other day "Mama, why am I Joshua?" I told him "you are Joshua, because God told us to be strong and courageous just like he did Joshua in the Bible. When we found out we were having you we wanted to honor God for pulling us through our owies." Yes I know honor and owies in the same sentence, lol.

So here goes my trying to be creative, lol.

J is for Joshua - because God is making him a strong and courageous little man

O is for Ornery - because he likes to push the limits

S is for smiles - because his grin will melt your heart

H is for his heart - that reaches out to everyone

U is for unimaginable - because we never in a million years thought that God would bless us with more kiddos after Noah, boy are we ever glad he did

A is for amazing - because everyday we are amazed at this little guy and how God is using him even though he is only 4.


Wednesday, June 3, 2009

God is slowly working ;)

I have been praying for awhile that God would help me figure out how to run a house. I know I am a mom of 5 kiddos you would think I would know and yet... I guess it comes from that old adage "you don't know what you don't know." Last night I went with my friend Rachel to a meeting at my friend Amys house. It was a budgeting meeting and in all honest I went begrudgingly. If I had not told Rachel I would drive us then I probably would not have gone. The bottom line was that I did not want to hear it again, I was sick of hearing the problem and the solution, but people forgetting that sometimes (many times) finances are a heart issue. That is where Beth comes in, she is the woman who spoke last night. I had the walls around my heart built up because I knew I would get blasted and yet as she spoke tears filled my eyes as I realized that God was using her to speak to my heart! She kept reinforcing what God has been laying on my heart "In ALL labor there is PROFIT." Now all of you know I am not a morning person and yet I keep waking up at 6:30 which is when I toss and turn and try and do everything I can to stay in bed. It was funny though this morning after I got in bed I realized I have a lot of profiting to do today. So I got my crockpot out and planned out our dinner (sides and everything). Total off note: Another friend of mine was at this meeting and she made a great point that shot me awake (about dinner), know what you are doing for dinner by 9am other wise you will not get it on the table, it will not be as healthy as you wanted it to be and/or you have a higher chance of getting fast food. So ribs are cooking (they smell yummy already and it has only been an hour, the kids are dressed, I am dressed, breakfast is about to be taken care of, then school for them and then go pick up Bran. I know my day will be profitable!
I want to leave you with a story that Beth told that brought me to more tears last night. She explained how she did not have money to buy clothes for herself (her and her husband have 8 kiddos-and you thought I was blessed ;) . As she stood before her closet she prayed "God I have nothing to wear, will you please get me some clothes." Her husband had told her they did not have the money and yet she was tempted to just go buy clothes. A friend of hers called and said hey can you meet me on Saturday. Beth agreed and there was her friend with a huge box (almost as tall as her and about as wide as a washing machine). She opened it up and would you believe it, it was full of summer clothes! As she hung up her clothes she thanked God and then prayed again "God it is awfully cold, could you please get me something warm to go with these clothes you have given me." The next weekend at church someone had given her a bunch of cashmere sweaters that would go perfectly with her new summer clothes to keep her warm through the winter. She concluded with this "If I had done what I wanted too, which was to go take care of it myself, I would have first been disobedient to my husband and second I would missed the opportunity of God doing his work for me, God dressed me and I could have easily missed it."