Bubbles!

This winter has not been nearly as terrible as some in the past, but nonetheless, we are excited about spring.  It has been uncharacteristically warm this week, and despite some sickness and remaining in our jammies way too late in the day, we decided to play outside this afternoon.  And apparently learn all about bubbles.  Wow.

Picture update, anyone??

One of my goals during Lent is to use my time better.  SO, for those of you who are interested about where we have been and what we are doing, here's a little picture update.  :)

We went to the local Science City and got really excited to finish the maze BEFORE our brother!

We really want to be big.  :) Notice the tippy toes. 

We have played lots of basketball and are improving every day!

We had loads of fun at our one and only snow of the season.

With good friends.

Where we made awesome decorations for a really fun Valentines Party. 

It's been a great winter so far and we are looking forward to a spring with lots of soccer, bike riding, gardening, and general fun outside!  Blessings friends-

Overflowing with Gratitude. . . .

For those of you who know us, you know that we live oftentimes in utter dependance upon the Lord.  Many of you hear from him on our behalf.  We have been overwhelmed often at the Lord's provision in our lives- both financially and spiritually and relationally and emotionally.  (Are there any other ways?? )  Anyway, as I was sitting and thinking lately, I decided I would share what the Lord puts on my heart to pray for you all.  We are blessed and these are the whispers in my heart as I wash dishes and change diapers and such.  :)

Lord, remember the sacrifices that your servant makes when they send a gift.  
Nehemiah 13:14  ¹⁴ Remember me for this, O my God, and do not blot out what I have so faithfully done for the house of my God and its services. 

Lord, give life to their hearts.  That they would be planted by streams of living water.  That they would delight in your law, that their obedience and integrity at work would be noticed, and that all they do would bear fruit.
Psalm 1:2-3  ² But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.  ³ He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.

Lord, grow them in the knowledge of your will, the hope that is set within us, and endurance to make it to Your return. 
Ephesians 1:18  ¹⁸ I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you,

Lord, fill their hearts with such fullness, that a witness of you pours forth.  Like a fragrant offering, from here to the ends of the earth. 
Acts 1:8  ⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." 

And finally, my favorite.  I pray often that whatever they give, to whomever they give it, that it would result in thanksgiving to God.  That their AND my family’s testimony would resound as “men praise God for their obedience AND their confession of the Father.”  That it’s about the Creator of the universe using all things to accomplish His glory in our midst. 
2 Corinthians 9:11-14  ¹¹ You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. . . . .¹³ Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else.  ¹⁴ And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. 

Blessings to you all!  

An education, of sorts.

 This past month we spent a week with some dear friends.  And I would tell you who they are, except they are headed to foreign lands to do things that probably shouldn't be published on the internet.  For that reason, you can smile and pray for them if you recognize.  However, in this last visit we had quite an education.  You see, our sister, has two older brothers.  She knows how to play with cars, run fast, and fight back.  (I know, I'm sorry to all we have hit recently)  Anyway, we only recently received our first baby doll.  We wear pink dresses only because mommy likes them.  But this week, we learned much.  You see, above sis is sitting in with her friend, who is playing dress up in a twirly skirt.  One, I might add, that has sequins.  :) And do you know what she is saying?  Something precious about the baby doll.  Yes, they are having a lesson about baby dolls.  It was priceless. And, as pink and frilly as the dress is, the expressions were even better.  Here, they have found themselves in a crib together, and I just thought it was a priceless pic. 


Let me talk for a moment about this wonderful lady.
She is a mother of three precious girls.  She has talked with me for hours on end on raising daughters.  I have taken priceless insight from her heart.  She recognizes beauty in the simplest of things and she has a heart set before the Lord.  She longs for his heart- and from that place inspires obedience.  She has taken steps of faith that I have not seen in many.  I am inspired.  I am moved to listen to and obey the Lord because of the testimony in this woman.  I am blessed.

It's just for fun. . .

I'm so surprised!!

Or just really cute.  :)

Here we are. . . a bunny, an angel, and a tree.

A bunny in a tree

And an angel on the steps. . .

We had such a wonderful time in Shreveport this year for Halloween- it's about become an annual tradition.  Two years and running.  We are blessed with dear friends, a community of people who are seeking after the Lord in their lives, and LOADS of fun!  Despite the fact that we might have brought the stomach virus, there was so much to do!  We ate wonderful food, drank coffee, created plays, colored pictures, and talked for hours.  It is truly an amazing thing when the Lord unites hearts in such a way as ours are connected to Shreveport, LA and her people. 

And again. . . I am grateful.

Fall and the Generations. . .

A year ago my grandmother died.  She was and is an amazing woman.  She buried two husbands- both with a piece of her heart.  She taught me all I know about wild flowers and birds (though I wish I had learned more about the latter!)  She also taught me much about prayer.  The necessity of it.  The return to it.  The transforming power of it- both in our own hearts and those of whom we are praying for. I think of her daily and the things we talked about.  When she went to be with Jesus, I took her computer.  It was old, heavy, and fairly inefficient.  But it was hers.  And it was a treasure.  Well, this month I was given another computer- still big and old, but slightly more efficient.  :)  So we decided it was time.  For a year I have been logging in as Robbye Bland, opening Internet Explorer to cox.net homepage, and having her log-in come up.  I know, silliness.  It doesn't really matter, and yet for some reason I couldn't bear to change it.  But with the addition of the new, the old had to go.  The computer had to be reformatted.  It would no longer claim to be Robbye Bland.  And though I realize full well that she is beyond blessed and peaceful now, it was momentarily hard. 

 And while I am on that thought, the same week the middle born and I had a conversation.  We were headed to school one morning and I was telling him to look for different color leaves outside.  It's been a beautiful fall.  Anyway, as we were looking I mentioned to him that his Papa's daddy used to love the leaves.  I was telling him that when I was a little girl, he would take a trip in the fall, just to get to see them.  And then, when he went to be with Jesus, it was fall time.  And the leaves were beautiful.  The next day we were back in the van, and the second chief told the whole story to the first-born.  Yes, amazingly enough he was listening.  :)

Anyway, I have been filled with gratitude today.  Gratitude that the Lord placed before me such a testimony of belief.  A line and heritage of faith.  Prayers prayed over my children 60plus years ago.  For generations the Lord has been building himself into my family, and I am humbled to be a part of it.  Humbled to continue the process.  SO, here's to remembering there is more to life than THIS life.  I am blessed beyond measure, I have hope for His return and the saints who will come with him. 


Psalm 127:3 Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward.
 
Psalm 145:13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The LORD is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made.

Just Cause. . .

This is really cute.  :)

The Heart of Adoption

For those of you who don't follow- these are some amazing, dear friends of ours serving the Lord in China.  They are amazing people and I could tell you many stories about their hearts, their boys, their lives, their "work," and their God.  But they have just adopted a baby girl and she said so beautifully what adoption is.  Let me warn you, if you are already thinking about it- this might send you over the edge.  Adoption is an amazing journey- I would do it again in a heartbeat. 

And probably will sometime.  ;)  Read and enjoy. (or weep as I did)

Rupp Life

She's excited about the new Rupp friend!  :)

So. . .

I don't have much time here- as usually happens these days, but I couldn't miss the opportunity to show you this.

 

Brother was at school, Daddy was talking to Memaw, Mommy was cleaning the kitchen, and sis was asleep.  What was my precious second born doing?  He was following the directions and building a lego helicopter designed for 7-12 year olds.  I think he's a genius.  And I love him very much!

And while we are on a roll, I thought you all might like to see how far we have come this summer.  At the beginning, we weren't even going under.  Though we are still securely attached to our floaties, we jumped off the diving board last week and were so proud he actually asked mommy to get out the camera and be sure to take a picture.  We are blessed and we rejoice with one another.  

 

"When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.  I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."  And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them." Mark 10:14-16 


"Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!"  Psalm 32:11

A birthday story.

I wanted to show you everything- all pics from years past.  And then I couldn't get them off the network.  So, I decided to tell you about it instead.  We have started a tradition in our house of telling the story- first thing on the morning of a birthday, we tell the story of how the Lord gave us all breath.  And so this is how it went Saturday morning at 7 sharp, with three little people and two not-so-little in one queen sized bed.

It was late one evening, really hot outside, and Daddy and I were putting together a new piece of furniture for the TV.  I was really concerned that the one we had wasn't safe or childproof, and we must get a new one before you were born.  ;)  Mommy's belly started hurting, but it wasn't the normal kind of baby's coming hurting.  Besides, you weren't supposed to come for another five weeks!  After an hour or so, it was getting worse so we called the doctor.  She didn't realize it, but she was listening to the Lord when she told us to come in to the hospital.  We stuck some stuff in a bag and went out to get in the car.  When daddy helped me out, there was a big white german shepherd dog sitting in my seat!!  It was craziness.  A dog that we had never before seen in our neighborhood, and he wouldn't get out of the car.  Daddy had to pick him up so that there was room for me!  After he walked away I sat down and we went straight to the hospital.  We called NaeNae and Papa and they started packing.  We got there pretty late, and the nurses started listening to your heartbeat.  It wasn't quite what they like to hear, so they called the doctor and as soon as she got there she said it was time for you to come out!  Very quickly she and daddy changed clothes and we went into another room and it was there that you were born!  You came out of mommy's belly and your cry was the most beautiful sound I had ever heard.  The doctor that was there to take care of you said he had never seen a baby born early that was as strong as you were.  We knew right then that the Lord had given you breath at the right moment, that he had protected you inside mommy's belly, and that he had special plans for you.  The verse that he spoke to daddy that night was:
"You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being." Revelation 4:11

 The Lord said to us that it was Him who created you and I, and it was by His will that we had our being.  And that He is worthy to receive glory and honor for the work He did on the night you were born.  Then the doctors took you to one room and they took mommy to another room to make sure that we were going to be okay.  NaeNae and Papa were driving as fast as they could to get there, but it was a long way.  They were really excited to meet you!  The next morning, I woke up and you were in the nursery and I was in the ICU.  I begged and begged the nurses to bring you to me so that we could be together.  And I kept sending your daddy to be with you.  Finally, they put us in one room together and we were all soooooo happy.  Mama Candace and Daddy Jack came, and even Anna Grace, who was in her mama's belly.  After that, NaeNae and Papa got there and we were all together.  After a week we got to go home and NaeNae stayed with us for another two whole weeks!  We had so much fun together.  In the beginning, you loved to eat and sleep.  I guess we both did the same thing for a week or so there.  The Lord began speaking to us so clearly about how he had been with us on the night you were born and we have never forgotten.

You are an amazing little boy and I am so proud of you every day.  You are caring, compassionate, strong of heart, and sensitive to others.  You are smart, easy-going, and love to play with friends.  You are a great soccer and basketball player.  Your growing love for the Lord is beautiful and I am so blessed to have you as a son.  I love you, my firstborn.  

 About Benjamin he said: "Let the beloved of the LORD rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the LORD loves rests between his shoulders." Deuteronomy 33:12