ON A JOURNEY TO WHOLENESS: Catching Up On My Little Thankfuls

This past month, i have realized something. I like to be in control! I don't remember being like that...until i became a mom. So much of being a mother to little ones is built on protecting, guiding, do's and don'ts.......it brought the controlling side out of me. Not just in my parenting, but it spilled over into other areas in my life.
No one is foreign to the feeling of wanting things to go the way that they want them to. the feelings of uncomfortableness come out if we are challenged to do things differently or go in ways that would not seem ideal to our opinion.
The past couple of months have been just that. Uncomfortable. Challenging.
My darling husband, has started his own business with a close friend - Flipping Houses. This has been in the works for quite some time, but it really did require us to just take a huge......ginormous leap of faith to get started. Ryan has always worked so hard...all of his life. Jobs would come and go that just were not satisfying. Even though the jobs brought blessing of provision, there was still a......hole that was unsettled within him.
We have always desired to live a life worthy to represent Jesus' name. We have built our family on a faith based foundation.
It came down to "are we really going to LIVE out what we SAY we Believe?" Were we willing to trust the Lord with our finances, our family, our dreams, our lives? Because we had said ever since we were married that we did and would.
Control.
With taking a leap of faith into Flipping Houses we could not completely see if all of our financial needs would be met. We were hesitant. We could stay where we were......comfortable and feeling somewhat in control. But is that really living the life that God wants us to have?
He wants us to live a life of TRUST.
Through many days of prayer, pros and cons, fasting......we came to agreement and somehow felt God's peace to go in the uncertain direction of Flipping Houses.
Ryan has been in the business for a few months now.......and it is awesome! We have learned so much about trusting the Lord just from that step. The business is flourishing! My husband is coming home satisfied and excited. We have more time together as a family.

(Their company is called "Encompass Builders" - they are working on a logo for business cards and website - will post more info when it comes) :)

Though worries and uncertainty seep in....i have to continually say under my breath "I Trust You Lord."

I desire to draw closer to the Lord, daily. Most would think that journey is a glorious, "sunny day sweeping the clouds away" type of thing. For the most part, it is hard. I have noticed that as i draw closer to Him and He draws closer to me......my sins are more out in the open. My desire is to be more like Jesus. In order for me to even come a smidgen close to being like Him, light shines upon the things that i need to rid myself of. Worry, doubt, fear, control, gossiping, greed, envy, jealousy...you name i have probably felt it and have acted upon it. haha.
If you find yourself desiring to draw closer to the Lord and desiring to Trust Him more. Don't give up! If we allow Him to lead us, our awesome Creator who knows our in and outs...He will lead us to things that are for our good.
I don't have all of the answers......i am in the midst of surrendering myself to Him. It is hard, but He does give His peace so freely. And there is nothing like His peace! His "peace which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Jesus."
I pray that you will have freedom. Freedom to trust that the Lord that loves and cares for you.....more than you could ever comprehend.

Okay, enough of my personal ramblings......here are somethings that have been happening the past while. :)

I have some pet-peeves. Unorganized shoes happens to be one of them. Our coat closet holds most of our shoes. I would try everything to organize them to close the door - would always end up a stacked up mess. My humble husband made two little shelves for our shoes to sit on. So much more organized and i can close the door without kicking shoes all over the place.

Park day with the boys.

My doodlebug and little man.

These 2 cuties - took James to his first movie "how to train your dragon 2"

OK, this picture really does show how different the boys are. James is the more cautious child. Where as Adam is the more daring, no fear based child. (James holding onto the wall while going down a steep walkway. Adam running down the steep walkway) They are both so different, but equally cute......in my opinion.

Swimming!

Ryan's mom overwhelmed us with awesome bushes and flowers for our yard! Love feeling like i am surrounded by a garden.

A baby bird fell out of a tree. The boys and i looked after it until it was able to fly away. His name was "Birdy." haha.

Poor little pumpkin was sick.

James and his cousin Abbi going to VBS! It was neat to take him to VBS - brought back memories of when i went as a kid.

A couple of days later.......James caught Strep Throat as well. Thankful that even through Insurance changes, we were able to get the care and medicine that they needed to get better.

I always wanted to have a glass kitchen cabinet. I went into this project thinking i could do it all by myself, but I'll be honest, my husband did majority of the work. :) Lowes sells glass - we got ours for $6. Pretty cheap project......except that we accidentally broke our first piece of glass. haha.

Ice Cream!

Getting ready to watch the fireworks in Florence!

This night was just so awesome. We were able to watch the fireworks curled up together in the back of my husband's truck. It was such a sweet moment that i won't ever forget.