2 Samuel 22

I’ve been following a reading plan to read the entire Bible in a year. I’m really enjoying it and getting a lot of out. I’m reading things in God’s Word I have never read before…or that I have read but is speaking to me differently. I love how alive and relevant God’s Word is!  I’ve gotten a little behind in my readings due to moving and then helping with Vacation Bible School. I don’t think it’s anything to fret about, though, as long as I am staying in the Word, etc. Anyway…

I have really enjoyed the 22nd chapter of 2 Samuel (read it…I promise you will not regret it!). It’s a Psalm of deliverance by David. I think it’s so beautiful.

One verse in particular has stuck out to me…

“For You are my lamp, O Lord; And the Lord illumines my darkness.” (vs. 29).

You see, I have been in a bit of a dark place the last year and a half or so. A place of depression and sadness and anxiety and confusion…and reading this verse is so comforting to me. (If you’ve been there or are there, I sure hope this verse brings comfort to you as well!). In the midst of dark moments/days/times, the Lord illumines my darkness. Oh I am so glad I have the Lord in this life. I treasure this verse…and I pray that I will remember it when life seems dark. And I hope & pray the same for you!

Thank you, Lord, for your Living Word!!

this and that…

it seems I can never keep up with this thing, haha. we are all moved into our new house…although certainly not all unpacked! we are really enjoying the house so much. the girls are loving the back yard…mama & daddy are loving the deck. everything is all on one floor, so we are all “together” all day long and it’s so nice. the girls seem to be sleeping well (although the have had a hard time getting to sleep), and so am i! the neighborhood is really nice and quiet.

we feel so blessed to have our very first home.

~earlier in the week a dear friend came over for a few hours on 2 different days to help me decorate. it was fun. she has a good eye for decorating, and I certainly do not. we’ve had fun coming up with ideas for different rooms. some stuff we’ve done, some will take a little while…but it’s been fun starting to make this house our home. here are a few sneak peek pics of the family room (although more has been done):

above the rope/knots picture is one of my dad’s army medals.

on the left top is a doll cradle my gram made for me when I was a little girl. inside the cradle are a pair of jonathan’s baby shoes. on the right top is my bodhran (irish drum) I got while in ireland. my flute is on the wall, too. I never would have thought to use all of that for décor!

I know the top left pic is sideways, but I am waiting for a new family pic print to come in the mail to replace that one :).

~jonathan has been working hard around here, too. he put together our new kitchen table & chairs, changed the locks on the doors, and hooked up the washer and dryer (among other things). he had a little help with the kitchen table.

there are two more chairs to go with the table.

~the other day we finally had some warm, sunny weather so the girls and I had lunch on the deck. it was so enjoyable! and after the girls went to quiet hour, I was able to enjoy some Bible study time out on the deck…bliss!

~I looked out our backdoor a couple days ago in the evening, and the sun was shining on the mountains…it seriously looked like the mountains were illuminated while everything else around looked normal. I took a couple of pictures, but of course they don’t do the real thing justice…I’m not even sure it really looks like that in the photos…oh well, I tried. Our God is so majestic, isn’t HE?!

~the Lord has really been blessing me/answering my prayers for friends here…and I am so so thankful. one new friend even has a little girl who is liberty’s age (I was praying for a friend for libbs, as well)…those 2 girls are the best of friends already. and that same friend watched the girls for me more than once last week while we were moving. another friend’s husband came over to help jonathan & our neighbor move our furniture, etc to our new house…what a blessing! and I have met the sweetest women in a ladies Bible study I have been attending. Thank you, Lord, for this answer to prayer!

~and I want to leave you with a beautiful and exciting verse from the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 3, verse 11:

“HE has made everything beautiful in its time. HE has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”

it’s a great reminder that God will make all things beautiful in HIS time…and that we are not truly meant for the here & now…we were made for eternity…and it is set in our hearts. like when we look around and wonder if this is all there is…or think there must be more to this life…that is the sense of eternity that God placed in our hearts. isn’t it so great to know that this isn’t all there is when we have the Lord?! I don’t know about you, but I am longing for that eternity with our Lord!

blessings to you, friends!

Official First Time Homeowners

it’s official…we bought our first house! we signed papers today and got our key…so exciting.  jonathan even carried me over the threshold; isn’t that sweet?! we took a couple pictures when we went to the house to the first time. our realtor (who was amazing and more like a friend) gave us a sweet housewarming gift of a keychain, a picture frame, and candy for the girls.

this is going to be one busy week. we have to be out of our rental by friday. it is my hope to move all the boxes/small stuff by thursday evening. jonathan & at least one other guy will move the furniture on thursday night. I’m feeling a little overwhelmed with how much we have to get done. and I know jonathan has this plus a really busy week at work. that being said, we are incredibly thankful that God has blessed us with a home.

crying over a keyboard

When cleaning out the girls' toy box over the weekend, I came across a small toy keyboard my dad bought for Nadia for her 1st birthday. I remember he was all excited to give it to her because he knew she loved noisy things. And he ordered it on the computer ahead of time. He even had batteries to go with it. We got it all set up after she opened it, and she loved it, of course. All the kids there sat in a circle playing with this keyboard (sometimes fighting over it a little bit) and having a good time. My dad was so happy. He took a ton of pictures (not kidding!). He laughed. When Nadia had her cake, he took such delight in her hesitation to dig right in (thinking she would have, but she didn't right away)...and snapped tons of pictures as she investigated and then finally dug in. He delighted so much in each of his grandchildren.

Anyway. I sat there holding this keyboard that no longer works. We recently put new batteries in it and it died a couple days later. And I cried. I kept thinking I should just toss it because it is broken, but I couldn't make myself do it. Jonathan told me to just keep it...it wasn't a big deal. I couldn't stop crying. I kept the keyboard. For now.

Matching Dresses

I made the girls matching dresses for Easter.  I cut out all the pieces last week…and then when I started sewing Liberty’s dress I realized it was too small for Nadia, let alone Liberty!!  After talking to my friend who gave me the dress pattern, I found out she made the same mistake…the directions weren’t quite clear.  Thankfully I had just enough material left over to make the girls’ dresses.  I think they turned out really cute…and I think it’s so fun to put them all in matching clothes.  The girls were really excited about the dresses as well.

The dresses (they tie in the back):

Liberty (who is turning 5 on Sunday!!):

Leila (3 1/2):

Nadia (2):

All 3 of my girlies:

I hope everyone had a blessed Resurrection Day!  It’s absolutely amazing to me that Jesus would sacrifice Himself like that for ME! I’m so thankful for His love.  At the very end of Luke it talks about Jesus’ ascension…it says, “And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. While He was blessing them, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they, after worshipping Him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising God.” (Luke 24:50-53).  May we also praise God continually!!

7 years & 3 kids later…

…we are attempting to purchase our very first house.  we put in an offer, the offer was accepted. we had an inspection and went over it yesterday with the realtor.  we made  a small list of things we are requesting the seller take care of and are now waiting for the seller to get back to us.  craziness!!

the house is in a nice, quiet neighborhood.  just beyond the fence of the back yard, there is a park.  the house is just over 1200 sq feet, has 3 bedrooms, and needs no major work.  and it has a big fenced in back yard. and it’s all one level (i’m not a fan of stairs anymore after living in a few places with them, haha).

thought i would share some pictures of the house i took yesterday:

the front

from the front door

from the front door…those window things look down into a family room

the family room (this used to be a garage, apparently).

from the window in the family room.

the small kitchen. it as decent counter space, so i think i can deal.  plus it won’t cost much to remodel eventually :).  i want to build a pantry in that corner at the right of the picture.

half bath/laundry room (right off the dining room).

another view of the kitchen

bathroom, obviously…

linen closet just outside of bathroom

smallest bedroom from doorway

smallest bedroom from inside

biggest bedroom from doorway

biggest bedroom from inside

middle bedroom from doorway

middle bedroom from inside

dining area

from dining area (original living room).

yard from deck

yard from other side of deck

back of house from back yard. there is a storm cellar on the right of the deck.

building behind trees is the hospital (i told jonathan if we have another baby, i could just walk to the hospital when i’m in labor, haha).

back of the park from the yard (this is going to be so handy with nice weather!).

i have much to catch up on here on the blog…the kiddos, crafts, things God has been teaching me/reminding me of, my almost 5 year old (sniff!)…but that will have to wait for another day.  we are getting ready to go to a playdate with some new friends (a little girl liberty’s age!). 

i will share this verse i read yesterday. Psa. 94:19

“When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your consolations delight my soul.”

blessings to you!