I was reading in 2 Kings and 6:15-17 stuck out to me. This is the passage: ¹⁵Now when the attendant of the man of God had risen early and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was circling the city. And his servant said to him, "Alas, my master! What shall we do?"   ¹⁶So he answered, "^(A)Do not fear, for ^(B)those who are with us are more than those who are with them."
   ¹⁷Then Elisha prayed and said, "^(C)O LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see " And the LORD opened the servant's eyes and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of ^(D)horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

  Here are my notes: Sight looks at appearances (of people, circumstances, etc.) and produces fear; whereas faith looks to God and finds peace in ANY circumstance. :o)  

  Here is another good quote I had written down: "Peace means the absence of fear (I would also add "worry") and turmoil - NOT the absence of pain and grief." I really like this quote and the truth found in it. This is one truth I cling to like right now, when we have our 11th baby due in 6 weeks. We are not guaranteed any safe, easy-going birth/deliveries and every birth/delivery is different...so, when fear and worry creep in, this quote really comforts me! I also have a handful of bible verses I cling to right now. :o) 

  Like us, you may be in a circumstance right now, that when viewed at their "appearance," would cause us to be fearful (and cause our relatives and friends to become fearful for us)...but, when we keep our eyes on the Lord, He gives us peace amidst our circumstances and we can rest in Him no matter what!  And, we can encourage our critics to do likewise. :o)

Bite, Bite?, Bite Please

We are blessed with lots of fresh eggs due to some generous neighbors who bring them to us often. We are also fortunate to have several egg chefs too, the most popular recepe requires gentle frying in coconut oil until the yokes are that perfect consistancy just between liquid and solid state, and salt, pepper, and parmisian cheese... Whenever someone is enjoying a few eggs Mary, our almost two year old, is usually near by saying "bite, bite?, bite please." As you can imagine she gets plenty of bites...how could we possibly resist.
Mary has set a great example for us to follow in our relationship with our heavenly father. We need to have a nose for something good, draw near, and persitently and politely ask until He satisfys us. The only trouble for me is believing that I could ever look as attractive to God as Mary does to me. But then again, with the covering of Christ, I am His beloved child!

Are you drawing near to the One who loves you more than you can imagine and asking for fulfilment?

I could write more but for some reason I'm hungry now.

God's Timing is Perfect!

This journey our family is on is such a journey of faith...and it's an incredible, fun-filled journey! I've already talked about Don resigning his previous job and dealing with the financial challenges of starting up a new business with After Eden Pictures.  We know we are right in the middle of God's will and every time we are tempted to doubt, God is right there to encourage us...at the most unexpected times...from the most unexpected people!

Sometimes His encouragement comes in the form of others blessing us with their words. Sometimes His encouragement comes from tangible gifts like food, clothing or money. God is so creative and He knows what we need...and when we need it! We haven't wanted or needed for anything and we've been able to pay all our bills on time. The only exception to that, Don said, was when he wrote the check for a bill and God told him that morning to pay it. But, Don knew we didn't have the money in our account, so he held on to it to let it be late. And do you know, that money was provided and in our account by the end of the banking day! Don said he learned a big lesson about being obedient to the Lord that day.

Let me tell you about a way God provided for us two weeks ago: Don and I were in bad need of a date! However, we had no money. Don suggested we sell the rest of our books to Half Price Books, knowing that they pay very little for books. We picked through the rest of our books and found some to sell. Don was even willing to part with some old books that we've had for years and that was HUGE for him to be willing to part with them! I remembered the set of Elsie Dinsmore books we had for the s to read and I was finally ready to part with those.

So, we loaded up our books and headed out for our date! On the way, we prayed for God's favor in the selling of our books...

Half Price Books was so busy that day, that we had to wait in the store for an hour until they got to them, but we enjoyed the time in the store together, playing Scrabble on my cell phone. We watched as the store employee started going through our books, when a man walked in the store...as the store employee picked up the Elsie Dinsmore books to place them on the counter with the others, the man walked up to him and said, "I'd like to buy that set of books in your hand." The store employee told him that if we accept their offer to buy them, he can buy that set.

Don and I were wondering if that man inquiring about that set of books, at just the right time, would impact our offer or not...well, it did! They offered us $40! Now, that may not seem like much, especially when we could sell them on Ebay (we didn't have time for that), but for Half Price Books, that's a lot! Don asked him if the man inquiring about the Elsie Dinsmore books had any effect on the offer and the man said, "Because he offered to buy that set of books, I gave you the highest amount I possibly could!"

We were so excited and grateful...I was only hoping for $15-$20! We had enough money to go out to eat and go get dessert and have $17 left over for gas for the truck! That might not seem like much to some of you...but, to see God work in our lives like that is amazing! God worked out the timing of the store employee looking at our books and the timing of the gentleman waking in the store and walk by, just in time to see that particular set of books in the man's hands...God's timing IS perfect! And we can trust Him for everything...even a badly needed date with our spouse! :o)

God's Blessings of 2010...We are God's Most Treasured Possessions!

Normally, I would not post an article like this until the end of the year; however, God has been so good to us that I have to share it!

Many of you know, that God is taking our family on a "different" kind of journey right now. My husband quit his full-time ministry job of 10 years and we have been without that income since the beginning of the year. Don is helping to start a new motion picture company (After Eden Pictures) and we are not receiving an income from it yet. God wants us to be patient and trust Him to provide in His time and in His way.

I have to say, that we know, without a shadow of a doubt, that we are exactly in the middle of God's will. Is being in the middle of God's will always easy? NO! But, I can tell you that being in the middle of God's will is marked with God's peace and blessing. Now, His blessing is not always the kind of blessing we think is best for us, but His blessings are always best for us!

I have been writing our blessings for the year. Normally, I would have a couple of pages with about 100 blessings for the whole year. But, this year, I am already on page 15 and about 150 blessings and only 1/4th of the year has gone by already! Suffice it to say, that even though we are going through a trying time financially, God has provided for us miraculously and abundantly! We are so grateful for His provision. And, that's what He's reminding us of right now, among other things, that we are not dependent upon "man" for our provision...ALL provision comes from God! :o)


God has been so faithful to provide odd-jobs for Don to do, family and friends who have given gifts (both tangible and intangible) to us from their hearts. Our family has been very blessed through this journey God is taking us on right now. We have all had to make sacrifices in many different  ways, but we've all learned that all of this is SO worth it! It's helped us grow closer as a family. We have also grown closer to the Lord. There is no dearer possession to Don and I than our children. Likewise, we are God's most treasured possessions...

The Big Book of Memories

I've never considered myself a writer. However, when my oldest son Michael, was 6 and my second son Nathan was 2, I realized that I was forgetting the things they did when they were younger. So, I started writing down funny things they did and things I wanted to remember about them. Well, after 10 children, you can imagine how big that book is now! It's all in a 5 inch binder (and growing everyday)!

Ever so often, the children will go get the book and ask me to read them a story about them or their brothers and sisters! We laugh and reminisce...it's such a blessing!