Friday, February 28, 2014

7 Kids, Home Alone. . .

I thought it would be fun to share some of the little moments that happened over the 4 days that I was home with my 6 younger sibling while mom and dad were gone. Enjoy :)



--


Conversation at lunch on Tuesday. . .

Jim; "fast food people be like; "Oh lets add some Nitroglycerin. Ooo how 'bout half a stick of dynamite....haha they'll never know!""
Bethany; "I love fast food! Its sooooo good!"
Jim; "You're gonna die!"
(Beth looks down sadly)
Me; "Beth, whats wrong?"
Beth; "He said I was gonna die.."
Me; "You ARE going to die!"
(Beth in sad silence looks down at her lap)
Me; "You're gonna die, I'm gonna die, Joe's gonna die....we're all gonna die! In fact we're all dying right now!"
Beth; "what? NO!!!!!!!"

Well that escalated quickly


--


On Tuesday night I put Olivia to bed with Gabe hoping that they would both just settle down and go right to sleep. After 15 or 20 minutes I could still hear them chattering, so I went to check on them and remind them it was time to sleep. . .they were arguing; 
Olivia: "He just squished my face!" 
Gabriel; "I just wanted her to scoot over!" 
Me; "Gabe, you have plenty of room!" 
Gabe, in a disgruntled voice; "Okayy......but I might kick her off the bed in the night.." 
Me; "Oh no you wont."
After I sorted out this dispute they both fell asleep rather quickly. 
but, 1 hour later I heard a "THUD" from the other room and whimpering. Upon entering the kids room and turning on the light, I found Gabe fast asleep, but sprawled out across the bed. And Olivia....was on the floor. 
Olivia, whimpers; "He kicked me out, He kicked me out!"

Needless to say, she slept in my bed the rest of the night. 


--


At the dinner table last night, 5 year old Gabriel was being a boy and kept forcing burps. The 3rd time I tell him it wasn't polite to do so at the table, I gave him a warning that he would get a spanking if he did it one more time, and that he should use his manners and say "excuse me" if he did burp. Eventually everyone was done with dinner and the kids were excused to go play. 
It wasn't to long before I heard Ben running down the stairs with Gabe tailing along behind him crying. . . 
Gabe; "I said excuse me! I said Excuse me! Ben. . .I said excuse meeeee!!" 
Ben; "Rose said. . ."

. . .and I knew that Ben was coming to carry out justice upon his younger brother for burping, whether it was on purpose or not. 


--


This morning; 

Jim come's running down the stairs from the third floor "ROSE! There's like, a dead mouse in your room! Ben; "Do you think Bella (my cat) caught it.? Or maybe it just died. . . " 
(My grandma, who was here to help out with the kids, looks up from sweeping the floor. . .)
Ben; "It's huge! Maybe its a rat, or a vole?" 
Joe come's from the kitchen laughing. . . "Rose, Nanny is standing up on a chair!" 

. . .cause we all know the dead mouse was going to come down two flights of stares to get her :P 

(p.s. my grandma hates mice) 


--


Gabe tonight opens up the wood stove and throws a tiny peace of wood into the flames. Stepping back he exclaims "MAN, its like a FIRE in there!" 


Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Keep Calm....

...and let your creative juices flow
I might be just a [little] obsessed :) I started doing hand lettering and typography in April of last year, and I have found it to be a most relaxing and satisfying activity. So, when I am feeling creative, or just need a little time to be quiet and think (or not think) I grab my journal and find a quote to graph and design. I love it! :):)
Here are some of the pages from my Creative Quote Journal. . . . .as I like to call it










Thanks for stopping by :):)
Blessings always


Quote of the Day...



~


"The truth is that the more intimately

you know someone, the more clearly you"ll see their 
flaws.
That's just the way it is. This is why 

marriages fail,
why children are abandoned, why friendships don't last.

You might think that you love someone until you see the way 
they act when they're out of money or under pressure or hungry,
 for goodness' sake. 
Love is something different. Love is choosing
to serve someone and be with someone in spite of their 
filthy heart. 
Love is patient and kind, love is deliberate. Love is hard.
Love is pain and sacrifice, it's seeing the darkness 

in another person 
and defying the impulse to jump ship."


~


      
 photo yaya_zpse5d3ba3e.jpg

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Whats been going on?!

"Dun  dun  dah!"  This week God blessed me with an amazing Guitar! :):) Thought I would share some pictures. 




So, my new guitar is what I am thankful for this week! 
(I know I missed ANOTHER thankful Thursday....can this count?)
Oh! And I am also thankful for baby goats :):) Two Sets of twins. They are SO adorable!










And just for good measure, I'll throw in some pictures of the most adorable cat ever! :):)
Bella <3




Blessing ya'll
Have a great weekend!

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Break Me Down....


Saturday of last week I spent the whole day just on the brink of tears. In my head I was struggling with a lot of fears of the unknown. I was struggling with disappointment  because of some doors that God had recently closed in my life. Struggling with frustrated because, once again, I felt like I had no idea what God wanted for me. Feeling totally overwhelmed by what everyone and the world thinks and says I should be doing right now, I was feeling stuck and confused as to what to do, and who I should listen to. So many thoughts, and idea's, and emotions rushing through my head--and yet--out of the chaos of that day God blessed me with a song. In-between tearful talks with my mom, and doing chores around the house, I was able to sit with my guitar and  pen and just poor my heart out onto the blank pages of my notebook. Words just seemed to flow, and click. And by the end of the day I had in my hands, a story--an explanation as to how I was feeling--in the form of a song. I would like to share my lyrics with you....this is my heart...

Right now I'm overwhelmed by the choices in my life//
I try by my own strength to make it through//
Blinded by my own pride I stumble and fall//
then I turn to you//

Bring me to my knees//
Break me down//
show me what you want for me//
I need to hear you calling//
Father please//
show me what you want for me//

So many voices telling me what I should do//
I'm so confused right now, who should I listen to//
God I need your hand to guide me in the way i should go//
I cant do this on my own//

Bring me to my knees//
Break me down//
show me what you want for me//
I need to hear you calling//
Father please//
show me what you want for me//

I hunger and thirst to hear your voice//
I'm on my knee's humble awaiting//
you've broken my pride and opened my eyes//
here I am Lord humble awaiting//
humbly awaiting//

Bring me to my knees//
Break me down//
show me what you want for me//
I need to hear you calling//
Father please//
show me what you want for me//

To know God, and know what He wants me to do is the strongest desire that I have ever felt in my life. Sometimes it is so strong that I am incapable of doing anything other than cry...
And this is where I am right now.


Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Love Never Fails.....Jesus Never Fails...

....But I do

Have you ever really thought about 1 Corinthians 13, the passage that talks about what love is? And have you ever asked yourself how well you fit into the description of love? Have you ever thought to yourself...."yeah I'm a loving person." or "I know what love is." Really? Are you? Do you?
Here is a definition of Love; 

Love is patient
Love is kind
Love does not envy
Love does not boast
Love is not proud
Love does not dishonor others
Love is not self-seeking
Love is not easily angered
Love keeps no record of wrongs
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth
Love always protects
..always trusts
..always hopes
..always perseveres
Love never fails

As I was driving home late one night I was listening to a couple of people on the radio, talk about love and 1 Corinthians 13. They suggested--if you've ever wondered whether or not you are a loving person--taking that passage (2 Cor. 13) and replacing the word "love" with your own name. How far do you think you will be able to get and be telling the truth?
Lets see in my own life....

Rose is patient
Rose is kind
Rose does not envy
(see....already this list is just a lie)
Rose does not boast
Rose is not proud
Rose does not dishonor others
Rose is not self-seeking
Rose is not easily angered
Rose keeps no record of wrongs
Rose does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth
Rose always protects
..always trusts
..always hopes
..always perseveres
Rose never fails


Wow. I fail at loving. To love is to be patient and kind, and not envious, and not boastful, and not prideful, and not rude, and not self-seeking, and not easily angered. To love means not keeping record of wrongs(a.k.a grudges) and not delighting in evil, but rejoicing with the truth. Love means you always protecting, always trusting, always hoping, always persevering....and never ever fail.
....Looking at this definition of love, I have to be honest with myself....I don't think I have ever truly loved anyone. I know that I have made a lot of half-hearted, poor, lousy attempts at loving. But that is it.
Here is another thought; Try replacing the word "love" with Jesus.

Jesus is patient
Jesus is kind
Jesus does not envy
Jesus does not boast
Jesus is not proud
Jesus does not dishonor others
Jesus is not self-seeking
Jesus is not easily angered
Jesus keeps no record of wrongs
Jesus does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth
Jesus always protects
..always trusts
..always hopes
..always perseveres
Jesus never fails


Woah! It totally works! And do you know why? Because, Jesus IS the definition of Love! And the hard truth is...if we don't know Jesus there is no possible way for us to love anyone or anything with a 1 Corinthians 13 kind of love....a Jesus kind of Love.
I realize this is really hard to take in, and for some of us it just makes us want to give up, or not even try. It sounds too hard! But we are commanded to love! John 13:34 || "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." And if we are commanded to love, we need to know HOW to love right?


Our world today has really screwed up what our idea of love is. Love isn't a feeling, and its generally not something that just happens. Love, as we see in 1 Corinthians, is an action. Its a choice. It's something you do! Gods word is full of verses about love. 1 John 3:18 says "Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth."

1 Cor. 13:1-3 says "If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing."  


Wait, why is it so important to love again? God has called us to be Christians for two primary reasons: To love Him, and then to love others. We were not called to be "Christians" just for our own good,  but to be vessels of God's Love. God's Love is a way that others can know and see that we are, indeed, Christians. John 13:35 || "By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another ." 1 Peter 4:8 says, "Above all things have fervent Love among yourselves; for Love shall cover the multitude of sins." 


We are called to be like God; and God is love, therefor we must love. But, I know I can't do it in my flesh.
The answer is to be so saturated with God that His love would overflow through me.  I know I'm not always patient, but God is...so if I am "in Him" I have His patience.  Ultimately, it looks like this:
Rose abiding in Christ is patient.
Rose abiding in Christ is kind
Rose abiding in Christ knows no envy