Are you up for the challenge?'

Do everything without complaining or grumbling. Philippians 2:14



I remember awhile back this saying was going around on facebook.  What if all you had today was what you thanked God for yesterday? 


That struck me hard and got me thinking. I wouldn't have very much today. Most days I spend complaining. "Ugh there are so many dishes to wash! Elianna I said stop doing that! Can't you just listen to me for once? Hunny there's no hot water AGIAN! Great now we are running late!" and so on.......

Yesterday I posted on my facebook a challenge. What if instead of just being extra thankful this month we also tried to stop complaining. Are we being thankful if in the next breath we are complaining? Isn't it true that most of the things we complain about are actually just the result of being to blessed? When we complain about the dishes, that's a sign we have been blessed with more food then we need. When we complain about the water being cold that's because we are spoiled and always expect to have a hot shower. What about when our children are driving us crazy? We are blessed beyond words to be their mothers. If you ask me.. I complain because personally I am very spoiled. When things don't go my way I think I am entitled to complain. Like somehow I am not deserving of frustrating things. It all sounds so silly when I say it out loud but couldn't be more true.

SO will you take this challenge with me this month? Thanking God for what we have and avoid complaining for what is not going our way? I know I will mess up and complain some. But every time I start to complain and I am going to stop and say something I am thankful for. I hope you'll join me this month and follow along as I continue to write about Thankfulness and complaining this month.

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
   his love endures forever. Psalms 107:1








photo source 

Step by Step

We live by Faith not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7

I know I should write a blog post but really I can't find the words these past few weeks. Every time I sit down to write the things I think I will write about the word just aren't coming together.

But one thing I am sure of, being a Christian is not taking the easy road. It's not hiding behind the fact that one day we will spend eternity in Heaven with our Savior. So instead of doing the hard stuff we just hid in our comfortable little houses and pretend that what is going on doesn't pretain to us. After all it's not our children.

Around a year a go I started begging God to show me his will, to show me what he wanted me to do. I begged him to please help me to step by step follow him. What I didn't realize at the time was that step by step is a lot harder. You see God doesn't show you the steps ahead of time. It's just one step and then you wait till he shows you the next one. A lot of times you are about to step where you think he wants you to and then suddenly theres a wall there and you can't get through. At first I feel sad and confused. God didn't you want us to go that way? But then I thank God. Haven't I been praying he would show us the way? Isn't putting walls up and closing doors a way of showing the way? But what happens when more doors are closing then are opening? Does that mean we haven't found the right one or does it mean we were wrong all along? I don't know all the answers but I do know one thing and that is one step at a time we must walk by faith. We can't see whats ahead and most likely because it would scare us. When we say to God we want to stop living like "Americans" and live like a sold out followers for you things really get scary!

I was tired of just being a Christian living in my comfort zone I wanted more of him and less of me. So I hope one day when I can share our whole journey you will see how God directed each of our tiny baby steps towards being a real true follower of Christ. That we may live and speak Christ love not just have been given the gift of it.

When God closes one door

Our trip to Ethiopia in Nov. has been canceled. Today during my time with the Lord I spent time writing in my prayer journal crying out to God asking him to show us exactly what he wanted us to do and to guide each and every one of our steps. An hour later I received an e-mail stating our trip had been canceled. I know this is an answer to my prayer. I am not mad God closed the door rather I am happy to know God has given us an answer. I just find myself having a hard time now sitting here wondering Ok God you closed one door but now which door is the open one? When will I ever learn to allow God to be in control and not think I must know my future?

Please continue to pray for us as something else is in the works right now and we just really wanna know if this is what God wants us. I pray he would continue to shut the doors until we can finally walk through the one he wants us to.

Chose to say blessed be your name?

This morning was wonderful. We had baby dedication and sweet little Julian was dedicated. I love baby dedication. Declaring to our church, family, and friends that we are wanting to raise our children up in the Lord. This baby dedication was different. I found myself even more thankful.

In the Audience sat a woman about the same age as me. She was crying. She was crying not because she was so happy but because she was not up there. She excused herself to the lobby where someone tried to comfort her. You see her story is very similiar to mine. Like me she had a sweet baby boy who decided he wanted to come early. This sweet angel spent time in the NICU just like Prince JC. Unlike Prince JC this sweet angel did not live.

When I found my seat again and saw she had come back into the service. It was the most amazing thinkg to me she was singing along to, You give and take away but my heart will chose to say Lord blessed be your name. She sang this with tear streaked cheeks and her hands raised high. I couldn't help it I tried my hardest to hold my tears in but they just came anyways.

Lord,
Why was I up there? Why is my sweet little guy here and not hers? Why do I get to say you give and she has to say you take away? I know we must both chose to say Lord, Blessed be your name! 


My dear sweet sister today my heart hurts for you. Today I hold my little guy a little tighter. Today I say blessed be your name Lord! Today I share in your sadness and say Thank you! Thank you for showing me no matter what we chose to say Blessed be your name!

Then why do we need God?

Why do we think it's our job to be in control?

Why do we think it's our job to convict people?

Why do we think it's our job to always know everyone's business?

Why do we think it's our job to judge?

Why do we think if we don't understand it then it can't possibly be real?

Why do you we think that what we believe to be true today won't change tomorrow as we grow?

Why do we believe that when we read God's word that we only 100% understand it?


So I guess what I am wondering is if we think all these things....
Then why do we need God?

The last thing I want to do

If I am honest, I am scared right now. Scared and excited.

In the past four years God has taken us from "christians" to having a deep desire to follow Jesus. From a broken and corrupt marriage to a beautiful picture of grace and forgiveness. To being selfish and consumed by the American dream to becoming parents and becoming passionate for the orphan.

In November we will be venturing to the beautiful country of Ethiopia for ten days to serve orphans, lepers, and the extremely poverty stricken people of Korah. When I started looking to adopt God put this wonderful country on my heart and since then it has become a love of mine and I feel so blessed to be able to have the chance to go and experience the life changing things God has planned for us there.

Ten days is not long. But it is long enough to touch a life and most importantly have our lives touched by God's wonderful love and plan for us. I am scared of that plan. A few months ago we were praying for two sweet girls in Ethiopia who I thought maybe God wanted us to bring home to be our daughters. It became a constant strain as wondered why God wasn't answering. I mean wouldn't he want those princesses to be ours? If he was here wouldn't he have taken them home to be his? So why weren't we receiving an answer? But then I realized I had. Be still.

I have written a few posts about this because it has been so heavy on my heart. How do you wait and be still for something that would change your life so dramatically? How do you be still when you need to plan and raise money? How do you focus on the rest of your life when something so big is constantly hanging over your head? It has been a constant struggle of mine.

Then two months ago I found out about a friend of mine who was taking her sweet little family to discipleship school to get training to minister better to people. A cord was struck in my heart. The Lord spoke to me. "Don't you remember all those years ago when you and King Los said you would go in ministry into another country? Why not now? What is stopping you? Didn't I sell your house and now you have no debt?".  Since then things have become a whirl wind. We have been praying and seeking God's will knowing again he is saying BE STILL. I know he will reveal his will but it is so hard for me to do that. I want to know. I want to plan. I want to pray and say my goodbyes. I want to pack and sell. But the last thing I want to do is be still.


Our prayer is that this trip would help us to see more clearly the plan God has for us. Would you pray with us? Would you pray God's will is revealed? Would you pray that we can raise the funds? Most important would you pray I can be still?

Pageant Parenting

Last night I watched Miss Universe with my sisters. It got me thinking about my post yesterday and how a lot of  us do this pageant style parenting. I don't necessarily mean dressing our little ones up in little tutus and tuxes or in fashion wear. I mean us wanting our kids to look and act a certain way.

Its easy for us parents to really get wrapped up in the perfect 10 child. The child who dresses and looks spotless, the child who is a genius, and the child who is athletic. We say we don't need perfection from our kids just their best. But sometimes I wonder if we want what is our best and sometimes the world's best.

If you have ever watched Toddlers in Tiaras you have seen the little girls begging their moms not to put another coat of mascara on or another layer of spray tan. "But sweetie it will make your look better to the judges." The mom will sweetly say to her daughter. Do we do that as parents? Maybe not force our children to get spray tanned to the point of looking disturbingly like an Umpa Lumpa but we tell them what to do to "act" perfect.

So where do these children who aren't perfect fit. The one who's reading just comes slower and they stutter when they speak. The children who can't sit still and listen for long and school is just a struggle. What about the children who have a severe mental illness and aren't like "other" kids.

What is the perfect child anyways? Has our comparing and worrying about  how the "Judges" will rate us made us turn our children into something they are not. Do we allow to them to have creativity or do we tell them "Sweetie purple socks really don't match your green sweater you have to change before church.".  Do we look at our children with love and see all the wonderful differences and the beautiful imperfections?

The Mommy competition

I hate The Mommy competition!
It's the why can't my kids sit as nice as her kids?
It's the why is her child potty trained already and my child runs for her life when I mention the word potty?
It's the of course my kid had to throw a temper tantrum in front of miss perfect and her perfect kids!

AND...
It's wow she really needs to discipline that child more!
It's the I would never let my child watch that, do that, ect.
It's the I am so glad my child doesn't complain all the time like her child.

It's harmful, it's depressing, it's prideful, and it's just plain wrong.


I believe as moms we are our own worst enemies. We are constantly comparing our progress of our little ones to other little ones. We think our parenting is good enough when our child makes a mistake in front of another child who seems to just have everything down pat. We think we are great parents when our kids remember to wear their halos and our friends kids are running around like little tornadoes. This is not fair and leaves no room for grace or difference of personality. It also leaves no room for bad days and tired kiddoes!

I wish I could say this is something I have never done. But unfortunately I have sat on both sides of this spectrum a time or two and I am starting to realize how much it is really affecting my parenting.
 It's time to let God set the standard, not other Moms!

The Way

When you say "There is no way I will ever get this house cleaned up."
... Jesus says "I am The Way."

When you say "There is no way I can survive on this little amount of sleep."
... Jesus says "I am The Way."

When you say "There is no way I can ever forgive that person."
... Jesus says "I am The Way."


When you say "There is no way I can ever change."
... Jesus says "I am The Way."


There is no way I can live without Jesus. He is The Way!

Help a family with their adoption

Love this Lady and Love her heart so I really would love if you stop by and consider donating to her adoption. For every $15 you donate you are entered in a giveaway for some amazing prizes!!! I Just know they can reach their goal!!

Lets not turn a blind eye

Things are getting soooo bad over in the Horn of Africa and I really think that us as christians really need to step up. We throw away old leftovers and moldly mystery items from our fridge and the babies and children are starving to death there. I just know we can all give some to help these sweet babies and children survive and also their parents so we will not have more oprhans. Please also get on your knees and pray, pray, pray! Please don't turn a blind eye!!!

Donate here!

Look out world the Vargas' have gone health conscience

Whelp a lot of things have been changing around Casa Vargas. It seems in the past few months things have changed so drastically in so many ways we are hardly the same people that moved from the Castle to the farm.

The past week has been difficult. The Lord asked us to pray seriously about something that is so scary to us. Satan has definetly been on the attack and we are just asking God to send us clarity. I didn't think that I was so stressed out until the entire last week I have been waking in the middle of the night/early morning and can't sleep. Nothing like good 'ol insomnia to make you say Lord what are you trying to tell me. Thank God last night I was finally able to get some sleep. I know God is taking us on a long journey and I know I am not patient but I know God has told me to be still and wait!

Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.
Pslams 37:7


So in order to take my mind off the waiting and wondering I am taking sometime to work on some important things and one of them is....


A 30 day full body cleanse and an eight week sugar detox. Let me tell you I am only on day and wow I am already figuring out most of what I have at home has the awful high fructose corn syrup. YUCK! So that means the next 8 weeks I will be making a lot of stuff from scratch. I have been slowly meaning in this direction for awhile wanting to improve what we eat here on the farm and thought what better time then now. In the past two months I have been slowly implimenting small changes as to not drastically scare my hubby is not what we would call a health food nut. However he has been great about it and has been really on board! LOVE him! So here goes.. I'll keep you guys updated and hopefully I will be putting up some recipes here and there that I find, try, and then love. 


Look out world the Vargas' have gone health conscience!!!

Have one of your priorities become an Idol?

I heard on the radio today that sometimes we have to forget about the stuff we want then God will give it to us. Because sometimes our wants can become Idols.

It got me thinking.... even if some our top priorities that are totally God things can still become an Idol. Even if it is stuff that God wants us to do. If we become obsessed with it and only think and pray about that it is an idol to us. It becomes hard for us to wait patiently and we sometimes have a hard time doing the other stuff that is also important in our lives. We just become consumed, sometimes even with the God stuff. But just because God has called us to something doesn't mean that he has called us to it now. It also doesn't mean that our life should become only about that one particular thing and not about all our other priorities.

I am taking sometime this week to just focus on what I have here and now. I want to think how can I glorify God today. Right now. In my mundane normal tasks. I want to serve my family as unto the lord. I want to change diapers, kiss boo boos, make dinner, wash the clothes, mop the floor, smile at people at the grocery store and  find ways to show God's love to my community.

But it's so much easier to say things then to do them. Everyday I am learning and growing and with God's help I think I am up to the challenge. Time to let go of my Idols and just be here in the moment with what God wants me to do NOW!

Media and parenting

I love what Courtney from Women Living Well has to say about media and parenting.

But, the biggest thing I used to struggle with was just the distraction of media. It was a huge distraction for me when we used to have cable and internet. I spent more hours then I care to mention aimlessly perusing blogs and checking facebook.

But then we moved. We can't have cable at our house and we haven't gotten any internet yet and I'm kinda loving it. When I watch all my Amish neighbors I want what they have. Life is laid back and they actually work hard to reap great benefits. They take time to make amazing home cooked meals and baked items. They have huge garden so they grow their own healthy produce and even have some left to sell.

I know media is so helpful. I have learned tons and found many great recipes but it can serve as such a major distraction. Instead of taking time to back something yummy for our family we blog. Instead of making a meal for someone who had a baby we are busy on facebook. Instead of taking a nap when we desperately need some rest we are busy keeping up with our friends through e-mail. It's like we don't know when enough is enough.  It's great to have internet on our phones. We can get directions, find the local gas station ,and check the weather. You name it we can do it! But what I find interesting is we as parents have time limits for children but none for ourselves. We check our facebook 10 times a day, our e-mail 6 or 7 times a day, and our blog another several times a day. It's almost like since we are adults we think we don't need limits. That we don't have to make a conscience effort to stop our media and maybe even God forbid take days off just to focus on our family. Let's not take this good thing we have and turn it into an obsession and distraction from our lives and family!

Take a serious look at your media use and ask yourself is this really taking away time from some of my priorities?

... I must become less

It's hard to be patient...


It's hard to wait.....


It's even harder to wait patiently upon the Lord.



But last week when I was longing for his answer and longing for more....


more love....


more passion...


more devotion....


more of Him...

He spoke to me quietly and said:

(I) He must become greater and I must become less
John 3:30



It's time to focus on what he has given me now. It's time to really work on dying to myself. It's time to become less. For in order for him to become greater I must become so much less.

I need to become less in my hobbies...


I need to become less in my attitudes...


I need to become less in my selfishness...

I just really need to become less because I so need him to become Greater!!!

what if we crossed the reasons off

This so does not just apply to adoptions it applies to being used in any area of what God calls us to. Any area that God asks us to give up our American "dreams" for his dreams!

I am not going to lie I am afraid of what God is showing me. Going out of our comfort zone sounds sooo cool and watching people do it makes me heart beat with enthusiasm for them.  But doing it myself makes me feel all kinds of nervousness and selfishness.

Dream, Dream, Dream

God's plans seldom make sense. They often appear crazy, to us and especially to others.


We hear his voice calling out to us, to step out in faith. It's scary and we often ask "Is that really what your asking God?".  Have we heard him wrong? Was that really him?

Most of us get caught up in dreams. I think dreams and aspirations are great. But I am only human and can only see my plans not God's. I don't always know what is best. I just know what I want. So why is it that we are so willing to put everything on the line for our dreams? Follow your dreams everyone says! If you want it bad enough you can get it. Have you ever stopped to ask what God wants. Is my dream the same as God's plan?

You can find tons of books on following your dreams. Don't you know you will achieve true happiness if you follow your dream? Maybe I am wrong but I think we push to hard on the dreams part and not hard enough on God's plans. We are imperfect and for many of us our dreams change like the winds. We get a taste of success, fame, money and we know for sure that is what God wants for us. Why wouldn't he want us to be happy? Why wouldn't he want us to have money and fame?I think that when we only listen to our wants I believe we miss his plans. Or we choose not to listen because his plans often sound crazy and are hard. We want to be able to see the end of the story before we proceed with it.

I believe if we ask God he will see the desires of our hearts. He wants us to be happy and live a life full of peace, love, and Joy. It's just that he can see the whole picture and we can't. That means he always knows what best for us even if its not our dream!

Learned Truth or God's truth?

I never really knew what Grace was... They didn't preach it at the church I attended as a child.


I knew salvation was a gift. But then I thought you had to continue to earn it. I thought through somethings I saw lived out that really grace was just a word in a song. I thought that works were what saved you. Choices and never sinning where what saved you. I even remember thinking if I die now that I didn't know where I would go because I had so many things to ask forgiveness for.

I lived under this awful need to be perfect, live perfect, and never sin.

Then one day God blessed me with this amazing friend.  A friend that streched me. A friend that caused me to reavualate everything I thought I knew.


Salvation is totally a free gift. No exceptions!

Grace is extended to all who ask the Lord to come and be their savior. Nothing we do will ever be good enough to deserve God's love or forgiveness. WOW!

I still fight the battle often with believing that obeying rules and your actions are what make you good enough.  But I am growing everyday and God is constantly showing himself to me. So for now I am trying to relearn God's Grace. It's out of my comfort zone that someone would love me without me being good enough.

But what I have most grown to understand is that there is a difference between God's truth and a truth that you have been taught or come to believe. Sometimes on purpose or not we are taught things wrong or precieve things wrong. We are all human after all. So lets not take anyone elses word for it not even our own. Lets be on our hands and knees constantly asking God to reveal to us HIS TRUTH!

Is there something in your life you are holding onto that God is trying to tell you is a learned truth not a God's truth. Let's all ask God to show in what ways we are not listening to his truth or have been swayed wrong. Because all of us have so much growing to do. I know I sure Do!

But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift.
Ephesians 4:7

Don't be afraid to ask!

God is a God of wisdom! He is wisdom and he gives wisdom.

He is not a God of confusion. If you truly seek him and his wisdom he will help guide,direct, and show you what he wants for you.

I have found this sooo true for me in my life recently. With the sale of our house and a new job I have been blessed with. (it's a work from home job for one of my closest friends)

Lets all seek God's will because though it may sometimes seem crazy and a little over the top he knows best and always rewards obedience. Just remember it is all in his timing.

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. James 1:5

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
Matthew 7:7

Happenings round here

First of all my computer has finally bit the dust. (God sure knows how to tell me I don't have time right now to focus on blogging.)

We are busy busy busy. We are in full swing with moving things to the farm. But, God has been so wonderful I actally don't feel overwhelmed I just feel excited to start this new chapter! God has been proving time and time again that if you are faithful he will provide for your needs!

 I know I need to get some pictures up of the farm and everything and of course of the little munkins because they are so big already. Especially Prince Jules who rolled over for the first time last night. He is so different In personality from Princess Eli. It's amazing to see their differences as he gets older.

Here's a little more to sum up this new phase in my life....
1. Why did I ever used to complain when I had to mow for 45 mins? Now it takes me atleast an hour and a half to two hours.
2. Speaking of mowing I am deathly afraid of being shocked by the electric fence while mowing. I am pretty sure this is what makes the process take longer.
3. Living on a farm is inspiring me to do all kinds of  "down on the farm" stuff. Like planting some veggies and other things. (Ash I'm still not getting a chicken coop, atleast not yet.)
4. I have accumulated lots and lots of things in my first few years of marriage. I need to clean out my closets!
5. We even have cows on the farm now. They are not ours but Princess Eli sure does enjoy to watch them.

I hope to get some pictures up soon and I will keep you updated as I adapt to my new life down on the farm.

Everyday should be good friday

I  was having such a hard time focusing on Good Friday and Easter. Of course I had planned so much for this week including a yardsale for yesterday morning. I was feeling emotionally and physically exhasuted and found myself constantly snapping at King Los. So we decided to watch the passion of the Christ as we often try to do on Good Friday.


I am so ashamed... ashamed I forget. Ashamed I tell others to do the hard stuff but I dont always do it myself. Ashamed I use my tongue as a weapon and not always as a device to build others up. Ashmed I don't always put God first.

King Los said to me last night as I sat distraught... You know we arent supposed to just remember what he did on today but everyday.

Hes right. It's great to remember on Easter weekend, we should celebrate and commemorate what Jesus has done for us. But let us not forget that because of what he did grace is extended to us everyday!! You and I no longer have to go to the temple to make a sacrafice we just have to go before Jesus and ask for forgiveness.

How great the fathers love for us!

Do the hard things

I didn't want to tell her that...


She sat with her head in hands, tears streaming down her face. She had been through so much and now this?! She looked at me and said... "Why is this happening to me? Please tell me what you think I should do!"


I told her... "I can't tell you what to do. All I can tell you is what I believe from the word of God and that you yourself have to look to God and in his word for the answers. But life isn't easy and God calls us to do the hard things!"

"My father will disown me and everyone will think I am crazy. Even some of my christian friends." She said to me.


We can't see the big picture. God can! We worry and fear. God teaches and encourages! We hurt and cry. God loves and catches every tear in a jar. We can't do the hard the things by ourself, but God Can help us!

The christian life is not an easy one. Its full of having to do the hard things. Things the world think are dumb and crazy and things even some christians think are crazy. But live by God's word and not by any man's word!

Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. Luke 22:31

Satan has asked to sift us all.. we can allow God to prove himself faithful by doing the hard things he calls us to! No matter the circumstance.... there is no excuse. We must do the hard things!


Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
James 1:12

But what Can I do?!

Picture from BBC News

I need to stop saying "But, what can I do?"

I waste so much time sitting around asking that question

picture from endingextremepoverty.com

God is saying to me.....

As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

James 2:26

Stop thinking you can't do anything. It's not you that does something, It's God!

The Stirring....

You know that feeling when you know God is busy at work concocting something big and challenging up for your life. I have been feeling like this for a month or more now. Sometimes I become overwhelmed with everything he is showing me. But the best thing is.....

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11



Sometimes we get so busy looking for that next "THING" we forget to....

Wait for the Lord; Be strong, and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord.
Psalms 27:14

All about me...

I guess I am at one hundred posts... Sooo therefore you are supposed to write 100 things about yourself.. I don't think I can do that but I guess I"ll see how far I get

1. I am the oldest of four girls.
2. I am one of 68 grandchild on my dads side.
3. I will be married four years in May to my best friend!
4. I got married when I was 19
5. Which means I will be turning 23 on April 29th
6.I have a daughter Elianna she is 19 months old
7. I have a son Julian he is 3 months old
8. Yes that makes them 16 months apart :-)
9. I love to read! Anything and everything but especially non-fiction.
10. I love to purchase books because I will reread them lots of times and love to pass them around to friends!
11. I have recently decided to embrace my calling to be a homemaker as something I actually enjoy!
12. Which means I have discovered I love to bake! (My hubby also loves this!)
13. I have been a christian for a long time but until I got married had really never lived out my faith the way I should!
14. I love kids... love love love them.
15. I do lots and lots of babysitting from my home and at other's homes.
16. I love adoption and my husband and I plan to adopt someday.
17. I sponsor a little girl who is around 10 through compassion who I try to pray for often and seriously get so excited when I recieve letters from her!
18. I love to laugh and make people laugh!
19. The best kind of laughter for me is the kind where I laugh so hard I start crying and can hardly breath.. this happens often to me because my husband is absolutely hilarious!
20. Speaking of tears.. I cry so easy. I cry when others cry. I cry at commericials. I cry at stories. I just pretty much cry over anything.
21. My two closest friends are my Mom and my Granny.
22. But I am blessed to have so many friends.
23. I just love people!
24. I also love to talk.
25. I have a serious love for learning.. which ties into reading but I absolutely love reading the bible and studying it and I sign up for any bible study I can attend.
26. I have led a biblestudy from my home which I loved.
27. I love to help others.. compassion and serving are my spiritual gifts.
28. My love language is words of affirmation and then quality time.
29. I am a serious bargin hunter.. I shop at godwill and tons of yardsales. I get most of my groceries from a dent and bent grocery store.
30. I only do one big grocery shopping trip once a month.
31. When I cook I look up recipes then I tweak em to how I want them or to put in what I have.
32. When my groceries are low I throw together whatever I find in the pantry and fridge.
33. I love to sing.. but unfortunatly am not great at it. Yes I am one of those drivers who is singing obnoxiously along to every song on the radio.
34. I know pretty much all the words to country music from the 90s especially Tim Mcgraw.
35. I love christian rap! Mostly because of my obsession with shaking my bootty..
36. This obssesion has been passed on to my lovely daughter who now proceeds to shake her booty anytime any kind of music is turned on. To cute!
37. I keep a prayer journal and write in it a lot.
38. I love to write and once started to write a book when I was around 18 or so. My sister recently found it and read it. She said she couldn't stop reading it... Now she said I need to write the end so she can find out what happens.
39. I like to sleep in... which isn't a great thing for a wife and mom since the most productive hours really are in the morning.
40. However I do my devotions.. God time, in the afternoon when both kids are sleeping.
41.  I am very girly.. I love pink and seriously love stuff with sparkles!
42. Love going for walks and especially love when my hubby goes with.
43. Some of my goals for this year are making soap, learn to cook healthier, work on learning to sew better, grow some food, and run a 5k. There are so many more but that's just to name a few.
44. I have been to a lot of different countries. Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, Jamica, Cayman Islands, Haiti, and Colombia. We love to travel!
45. I have went on vacation to my granny's florida house every year of my life!
46. I attended private school till 10th grade then homeschooled till I graduated.
47. I hope this year to spend a lot more time volunteering and really spending time being Jesus' hands and feet to those around me!
48. Did I mention I have two kids... because I absolutely love them!
49. Oh yeah! In case you haven't noticed I also have a serious obssesion with exclamation marks!!
50. and well thats all folks I am sure you're tired of hearing about me after all I sure am tired of writing about me!

Look whos becoming a farm girl

.... That's right! ME! O.k. so I am not really becoming a farm girl. Yet anyways. I am just moving to one. Here's how God had it all go down...


I have a bad habit or maybe some would refer to it as an obsession of looking at houses for sale. This is all due partially to my love for dreaming of my next home and honestly partially due to my lack of contentment with my current home. (I am trying so hard to work on the contentment issue.) We had been talking quite a bit about the great interest rates and awesome prices and thought maybe we could buy something now. After much thought and prayer we realized this just would not be the case. After all we only have one income and we want to try and lower our mortgage payments on the next home we purchase. But because of our current super high mortgage we can hardly put any money into savings. This makes it hard to put away for our next place.

One day during my afternoon God time and rest time I was praying and felt the nudge. (Love me some God nudges!) I had talked to my friend once about a farm house that her brother and his wife and rented for such a great price. I spoke to her about it and she quickly found out all the details. Turns out the people were moving out beginning of April. Ok God! If we were to rent the farm we would be going from around 60 to 70% of our income going to our mortgage to about 20% going to rent. Wow! Huge difference.

While on my way to bible study the next day I prayed... God send me a sign if this is what you want us to do. suddenly around the corner came my sign. I was like "Thank you God!" Ok maybe at first I was like "Was that really a sign God?". But ohhh so silly me I knew this was a sign! Because, I had asked for wisdom just as it says in James and God had given it to me!

Even though some dout still filled my mind, can anyone say Hello Gideon? We decided to step out in faith. We told four people that we were going to sell our house. Within twenty four hours one of the friends I had told texted me and said she had a friend interested. Umm What?! You see in this market you can pretty much count on at least six months your house will sit on the market. I was so excited. God is so awesome!

A few days later we received a call from the women who was going to purchase it letting us know she couldn't afford it.  Then it came.. his voice. The deceiver whispering in my ear "See I told you that this wouldn't work out. He isn't really faithful. You misunderstood him." For a few minutes I listened then OUT LOUD I said Satan I will NOT believe you! Then to my faithful Lord I said I KNOW you will work it all out.

Two hours later. My phone rang, she changed her mind (or should I say God changed her mind). She was going to buy the house.

God is so awesome he has been showing me so much lately. Oh how little I have believed but he is so faithful and I certainly do not deserve his wonderful grace! Especially when I am such a doubting Thomas sometimes.

Please pray with us that everything thing would go through with her mortgage so that we will hopefully be settling on our house in may.

Then I will be living on a farm. Oh boy! But more about that later because I hear Prince JC calling for me!

Core Lies

I am super excited to read this ebook and I incourage you guys to check it out too!

My lovely friend Sarah Mae wrote it and I know from our many long chats that this will be a great book! Did I mention its free? Love! Hope you enjoy it!

Super Healthy Spaghetti

One of my New Years resolutions was to cook new things especially healthier things. So I decided to try Spaghetti Squash. It is so simple and Princess Eli and I really liked it. King Los is a big textures guy and couldn't get past the fact that it was chewer then pasta. So this will be a meal for just us girls. It is so inexpensive and so easy to make.

Just poke holes all over the the rind of the Spaghetti Squash then microwave it for two to three minutes per pound until skin is soft and bake in the oven for a hour. Then cut it in half and remove seeds. You can serve it like I did in the picture above or you can twist out the pieces and top with Spaghetti Sauce.

Insecurity

Countless poor decisions are made from nothing more then insecurity.
Beth Moore

God knows what you mean

This made me cry tonight. (and not just because I am super emotional)

God knows that you can’t get it right. You say what you don’t mean. You do what you wish you could take back. You choose one path when you should have chosen another. You get lost. You lose your temper. You strike out, fall down, and forget, but God knows what you mean. He can redeem anything and make a piece of art out of your broken pieces. He can make you so beautiful that it looks as though He broke you on purpose. That’s the unbelievably amazing thing about grace.


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It's been a rough start to my week with a seriously sick hubby a teething toddler and a two week old. I find myself continuosly lashing out at my daughter. Tonight before I put her to bed I sat her on the couch and apologized to her. She smiled and gave me a huge hug. I think kids have hearts a lot like God... they know what we mean!
 
I love when God speaks to me in my time of need and this is just what I needed to hear. Thanks God for knowing what I mean!

He carries me!

Prince J came home on Friday from the NICU which we are so grateful for. It is a blessing to have our family altogether and start transitioning into what I like to call our new normal.

However I would not be honest with you if I said things aren't hard right now. It's been a huge adjustment for Princess Eli not only because she now has a brother she has to share attention  with but because for six weeks she lived with my parents who spoiled her rotten as grandparents should. She is actually doing pretty well with Prince J but has become exceedingly whiny and naughty. I know all this is completely normal and my heart goes out to her as I know this is a hard adjustment for her.

Prince J is doing excellent so far he only cries when hes hungry but he seems to be always hungry. So no sleep for the weary. Little sleep makes the baby blues a lot worse for me. The thing I hate about the baby blues is that I really have no control over my feelings but I do have control over how I handle them. Thankfully this went away around 4 to 6 weeks last time.

But, I say all this not to complain because well honestly this time around is a lot better then It was with Princess Eli. King Los he has been so amazing and so helpful. The Lord, well he is the only thing sustaining me right now. I saw this verse on a blog I read today and it spoke to me so much!

He tends his flock like a shepherd:

He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart;
he gently leads those that have young.
-Isaiah 40:11

Right now I know the Lord is carrying me to close to his heart and I see the light at the end of the tunnel as I know this to shall pass. My emotions tell me I cannot go on and they are right and that is why the Lord carries me.

How Awesome it is to have a Savior who cares so much for us!

Prince Julian Is here!

On Monday Jan. 3rd, 6lb 3oz Julian Carlos arrived rather quickly into our world. He was a little over a month early and was having a bit of a difficult time breathing so he is currently in the NICU but is improving very quickly.

We are so excited and so in love but are nervous about the adjustment of having two kiddoes only 16 months apart. So please keep us in your prayers!

Excited about 2011

I love to set goals and I love even more to accomplish them.

Even though I find I have so many goals and things to work on this year I find that my most important goal for 2011 is....

"Resolved to study the scriptures so steadily, constantly, and frequently, as that I may find and plainly percieve to grow in the knowledge of the same."
Johnathan Edwards

Because no matter what "our" goals are for this year there is nothing more important then focusing on what God's goals are for us this year. There is no better way to figure that out then spend time in God's word and meditate on it. Asking God to show us who, what, and where he wants us to be in 2011.

I don't know about you but I am so excited for what God has in store for 2011!