2014 The light is Green until it's Red

2014 Was a year of adventure for us. I started off this year thinking my 2014 motto would be " Do less be more" sounded like a great idea. Well God had other plans.

Early in the year I was introduced to the speaking ministry of Graham Cooke.  I listened to hours of his teachings. The stories he shared about his relationship with Christ captured me like nothing I'd heard before. A statement he made kept resonating with me..." With Jesus the light is Green until it's Red". I shared this statement with Bryce and we began putting this principle to work in our daily lives.

In the Spring I was given a book by Jennie Allen called " Anything" . Honestly rocked my world but not in a fun way.  Basically she shares how her and her husband came to place where the truly prayed the prayer of " God we will do Anything you ask us to" .  This lit a fire in me but scared me to death at the same time. Bryce and I discussed how we would like to be at that place in our walk but we just aren't there yet. We are like 70% out of 100%. But we did pray that we would hear Gods voice more on a daily bases and that we follow that voice.

In April we felt like God was telling us to hold Addie back from starting Kindergarten and homeschool. What?  ( see blog post "when God asks you to homeschool" for more on that)


In June we found some property that we loved. We were excited to have land and build exactly the kind of house we want. So we put a offer in. ( The light is green until it's red)
They counter offered and then we got that "gut feeling" . The Red light. I have to be honest I wanted to blow through that yellow light. I wanted that land....that dream house. Thank God I have a wise husband and Dad who both spoke truth to me when I was functioning on total emotion.
So I pouted but we moved on.

In Oct together with other family members we were able to "plant seeds" in Haiti for a new orphanage due to be finished in Fall 2015. Can't wait to share more on that.

Also in the Fall we started looking at houses. Again we just didn't have a peace about moving from our neighborhood. (The neighborhood and house I've lived in most of my life btw)

To top it off our quiet little neighborhood all of the sudden wasn't all that quiet anymore. ( I'm going to try really hard to make this very detailed story as short as possible)
There had been police cars at a house on our street several times in September. One day I was outside with the kids and noticed a older couple in the yard of this house.
It was one of those God's voice moments again.... "Go talk to them" . As I'm walking over there I'm thinking " this is crazy... What am I going to say to them?
I introduce myself they tell me they own the house but it's their son and his wife who live there. A lot of bad things are going on and they are just going to let the bank take the house back. It's the only way to get them out.
I gave them my number told them to let me know if we could help in anyway and that was that.

On Nov 4th I got a call from this couple asking if Bryce and I would be interested in buying that house by the end of the month.  Again the light is green until it's red. I went and looked at it.  Not gonna lie It was scary!
But we had a peace to move forward. Every detail fell into place with little effort on our end.
So on Nov 22nd we had a 2nd home that needed a total renovation.

We went and prayed over every room of that house. As we were praying God gave us a clear plan for the house. He had a family He was going to place in there and it would be a place of prosperity and restoration for them. I didn't know what that meant but 3 hours later I got a message on Facebook from a couple we used to go to church with. They wanted to know if we were renting the house. They needed a place by the end of Dec.
I told them the soonest the house would be ready was Spring.
They still wanted to come look. I thought "sure come look and you will understand why it won't be ready until Spring".

Within minutes God said " This is the family..... Let them live there while you renovate. "
Long story short.... Bryce and I , the couple moving in and our sweet little retired neighbor have worked non stop the whole month of December to get this house livable.
In the midst of full time jobs, my busiest time at the salon, going on tour, caring for small kids, doing all the normal Christmas stuff and keeping a house hold functioning we have renovated a house!!!

There is still a lot to do but it's amazing how much we've accomplished in a short time span.
There are so many more details to this story that I'd love to share but that would make for a ridiculously long blog entry.

So I've learned that hearing Gods voice and following it is often uncomfortable and a little scary. But I'm praying for more of this in 2015. It's a adventure that I don't want to end.

A man's heart plans his way, But The Lord directs his steps.
Proverbs 16:9

When God asks you to Homeschool....And you don't want to.

Back in March of this year a note was sent home from Adelaide's pre-K teacher reminding me of Kindergarten enrollment coming up. I noticed her little Christian school was going from a half day K5 to a full day. I mentioned to her teacher that I had wished they would have kept it half day since Addie will be turning 5 just a week before school starts. Full day/ 5 days a week seemed like a lot at barely 5.  She suggested I wait another year to start her for social reasons.  I honestly thought she was crazy. She went on to tell me that although Addie was one of her top academically she was the youngest by 7 months.

I spent the next month researching this " Academic red shirting" concept. I interviewed every teacher and parent that sat in my salon chair. I also prayed and prayed and prayed for wisdom and guidance.
I wrestled with this decision. I didn't want to hold her back. I felt like she was too smart. My conversations with God mostly involved me telling Him how she could already read and do simple math etc..( like He didn't know)

But through my close friends, family and clients God was confirming what I was stubbornly trying to not hear.
One of my sweet clients who used to teach Kindergarten was thankfully in for a hair appointment during that month. She had held her July birthday child back a couple years ago and encouraged me in my decision. She also was teaching pre-K at the church my son was attending Mother's Day out. She said " Put Addie with me and during nap time her and I will do Kindergarten work to keep her challenged".  Bryce agreed that plan sounded great. Not to mention the thought of taking both kids to the same place just might help simplify our busy lives a little.

So it was decided. We enrolled her and that was it..... Wrong!
God wasn't done changing my plans. I still didn't have a peace about something. Bryce mentioned homeschool. I'm pretty sure I rolled my eyes.

 (quick back ground.. Bryce was homeschooled until his Freshman year then he attended public school. After going to Christian school K-8th I started homeschool to be able to travel and sing more. So I was homeschooled all of high school  )

God began working on my heart with the homeschool idea. The more I prayed the more I felt Him calling me to trust and obey.

I have to be honest, I'm not the biggest fan of Homeschool. I didn't exactly academically thrive in the environment and it wasn't on my radar for our kids. Patience, organization and teaching.... not talents of mine.  And how am I supposed to fit this in? I have a salon business and I travel on tour 2 weekends a month. ????
None the less I went to a homeschool fair picked out kindergarten curriculum and registered with a umbrella  homeschool.

So we find ourselves doing a hybrid homeschool year. Attending pre-K 2 days a week doing kindergarten homeschool 3 days a week. Yeah it doesn't make sense to me either. What does that mean for next year?.... Kindergarten, first grade, public, private school or homeschool??... NOT
A CLUE! Oh trust me I have asked God and all He's said is "I'll let you know".

Let the journey begin. I'm excited to see what God has in store. I'm sure it's more about my character development and obedience than my child's education this year and you know what?.. that's ok. We made it through our first week and Addie only said she hated homeschool and didn't like me being her pretend teacher once.... So we are off to a good start. lol!

What I wish the Church knew about Mothers Day

 

This morning my thoughts go back to Mothers Day 6 years ago. It was the saddest time of my life. Bryce and I had lost our first baby and had watched that expected due date pass by (May 2nd). I was on tour, lonely and heart broken. I watched the Pastor honor the mothers in the crowd that morning and felt like my heart was being ripped out. Then only by God's Grace was I able to get up and share His word through song. And let me tell you.... I did not want to!  Later that day my sweet mom gave me a card that stated what a great Mother I was and a package that contained this baby yard angel. From that day on I stood on Gods promises to give us a child. I planted this Japanese maple tree in honor of our little one. I'd like to say the road was easy after that but we faced another lose a few short weeks later. But I look at my 2 healthy Children today and I'm reminded of His faithfulness through it all.

 But I have to be honest I don't look forward to Mothers Day each year. Maybe because It reminds me of that day But mostly it's because all I can think of is how many women are feeling left out and heart broken when it rolls around each year. So my prayer is that as the church honors mothers on that day we don't forget to look around for those that may be hurting. Maybe it's the woman walking through the uncertainty of  infertility. The Woman mourning the child she prayed for but had to say goodbye due to miscarriage or infant lose. Or the single Woman waiting on God as her heart desires to be a mother one day.  Or maybe it's a Woman who has lost their mom and sure misses her presence on this special day. Seek out these woman this Mothers Day and LOVE on them! Take them shopping, for coffee, out to dinner or just sit and cry (or laugh) with them. 

And if you are one of these women I'm speaking up it's ok to be sad that day. But don't let the enemy steal your joy or your purpose. You still have work to do..... So many people out there need "Mothering". Be that influence in some ones life. Ask God to show you what that looks like for you and who you can reach out to. You never know what God may due through you between now and next Mothers Day.

Let's be friends Part 1

About 6 months ago I went on a soul search concerning friendship. I was feeling like all my true childhood friends were miles away or our lives had taken different directions. And that it seemed almost impossible to make close lasting friendships now that I was a married with children adult.

I had hoped that God would give me a quick fix answer and bring me instant BFF's. But of course that would mean I'd miss out on the lovely journeys that He loves to send me on.

At first I asked my Dad his thoughts on friendship this is what he said:

"Who would you call first if you were in jail and needed bailed out? Some one that wouldn't ask questions, pay the bail and come pick you up."  I laughed at first but the more I thought about it that was a really good thought.
( I'd also like to add to that list "And not gossip to others about you being in jail ".)
 As I made my mental list of the friends I thought would do this God whispered "Who would call you?"
And I realized at that moment God was going to show me how to BE the kind of friend I was wanting.

After that I met with one of my close friends. We've been friends for 13 years. Now in that 13 years I got married and had kids and she is a very successful single woman of God. So naturally the past 8 years or so we've went many months without seeing or talking to each other because we were on different paths.
During our dinner out we were chatting about church. She asked if I liked my church and if I was plugged in.
I responded with "Yes,we are greeters, we work the nursery and I'm in music." She then said "Do you have friends at church that you would call if you were in distress?" Oh well..... Ouch! Again I heard that voice whisper "Would anyone at church call you?" Umm probably not.

As you can imagine I'm still on this friendship journey.  God has been showing me how to be a better friend to the ones I already have in my life. We all need real covenant friendships in our lives. But in this busy life most of us lead it's hard to cultivate those.
In my next post we will talk about making new friends. It seems simple right?....Ok maybe not.


 

Do less...Be more

So I'm like everyone else, I've made my New Years resolutions for 2014. This year though I really put time and prayer into it.
2013 was a BUSY year. We did a lot of traveling as a little family. We had our annual Gospel cruise that we host in January, our concert tour in February to Florida of course included a trip to Disney World with our 3 year old and 9 month old ( at the time) and 2..yes 2 work trips to Vegas with my husband. In the middle of all of those we went back and forth to Iowa where my husbands father was battling brain cancer. We sadly said goodbye to him in August. In addition to all the travel, there was just every day life. Running a small business, concert tours , serving at our home church all while trying to be a decent Wife, Mom, housekeeper, daughter and friend.

If I'm honest I'm pretty sure I haven't been doing a great job at any of them. For months I've been hearing that little inner voice saying "Something has got to give". The problem is I enjoy and love everything I do. I don't know what to give up. So instead of trying to figure out what those things are, after much prayer I felt like my 2014 theme would simply be "Do less...Be more".
I'm convinced that Satan uses busyness to distract us from hearing God's voice each day.

So just because I CAN doesn't mean I SHOULD and just because I'm asked does NOT mean I say YES.
And for me especially.....just because it's FUN doesn't mean I do it. ( that ones makes me a little sad)

Now let me tell you I was challenged with this no joke on January 1st. I got a text from a very important person asking me to be part of an exciting event that weekend. Yes a great opportunity but it would mean me preparing for the event for a couple days, me stressing about it, Moving clients around and Leaving my husband with our kids for 2 days. None of those things are bad or out of the ordinary for us but I had to be realistic about how it would effect us for the next week or so. And the fact that I needed to follow my resolution.
So I said "NO Thank you it just doesn't work for me this time". Ugh!!! That was not easy for me let me tell you.  

It's going to be a every day, baby steps process for me this year. But I look forward to being MORE to my family and friends.
What might God be asking you to do less or more of in 2014?

Even the youth shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, But those who WAIT on the LORD Shall RENEW their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.
ISAIAH 40:30-31