It's All Good

The last week or so has been a reminder of how much I have to be thankful for. Not everything has been perfect; it's not as if life is just cruising along without any problems or cares. There are things that keep me prayerfully seeking the Lord's direction. Life is still a matter of daily surrendering to His desires, which are slowly becoming my desires. It's still a struggle. But, lately I have had an overflow of God's goodness. There's never a time where His goodness is less or more, but maybe I am just more aware of it lately.

I think I'll use pictures to illustrate the things that have made my heart sing within the past week.

Having fun with my amazing family

Having fun with amazing friends

Green toe socks make me laugh

Making new friends and enjoying lots of laughter

Shopping and getting fantastic bargains

Enjoying a beautiful sunset over the Pacific Ocean

Knowing I was missed while away from home

Savoring coffee from the coffee shop down the street. Yum!

Learning and being challenged by reading an incredible book. I highly recommend it!

Planting PINK azalea bushes

My life is full of God's unending grace, love, and joy! I am so thankful for the times when I am "extra" aware of His greatness. Whether I am crawling through the dessert, or basking in the sun and blue skies, my God is good all the time. All the time my God is good. It's all good, my friends :)

Does A Mama's Heart Good!

Mother's Day has come and gone again for 2009. Every year it's a day of remembrance for me. I take time throughout my day to remember becoming a mom to my 4 precious girls. I remember the day each one was born and then recall how each girl has grown so much since then. I ponder on how they've filled my life so completely.

When I was very little (maybe 4 or 5) I knew then that I wanted to be a wife and mom. It's ALL I really wanted for my future. I recall my high school banquet at my church the year I graduated. We were to tell everyone what our plans were for college/work and what our life goals were. Even then, my only desire was to be a wife and mom. I'm sure it sounded silly, but it truly was one of my biggest dreams. I remember after announcing that as my "goal," someone saying to me "Ok, but besides that, what do you want to do??" Well, I only knew who I wanted to be. I wanted to be my husband's best friend and helper. I wanted to be the mom who spent time talking with her kids and teaching them things. I wanted to be the one to nurse them through sickness (Boy, have I been able to do that this year!!!), comfort them when they had a bad dream, and assuming I had a girl (try 4 girls!) I wanted to paint toenails, go shopping for earrings, and sing and dance together. I wanted to teach them about Jesus and His immense love for them. IT'S ALL I EVER WANTED!! :)

Needless to say, God blessed me beyond measure and gave me a husband who keeps loving my-imperfect-self, and 4 beautiful daughters who melt my heart on many occasions. Speaking of melting my heart, I had something from our second daughter, Hannah, that I wanted to share.

The week before Mother's Day was my birthday. I was spoiled rotten by my family and loved every minute of it :) When I was ready for church, I came downstairs to find cards and gifts awaiting me. Sweet! Hannah's card was especially touching. You might not be able to make out the pictures very well, but I'll write what she had written, spelling as is.

This is the front page...I think it's legible.

Why do I like Mommy? Because she is sweet. She is nice. She cooks delicious food.

She buys me toys. She cares for me and the hole family. She helps me when I am sikc.

She helps me with my homework. She buys food for the family. She gave me a room. She loves me.

She goes out to the store with me. She does lots and lots of work. She is a Qreen. And that is why I like mommy.

In this book Hannah is telling about why she likes mommy.

And that right there makes me so incredibly thankful to be Hannah's mom! And Lyndsey' mom. And Gracie's mom. And Emily's mom. I have been blessed :)

So Sweet!

As I said in my last post, my parents came for a visit this past weekend. It was for a short time, but I enjoyed every minute of it. Almost all of the pictures we took are on my parents' camera, but there was one shot in particular that we took on our camera. I had to share it with you because I LOVE IT!!!

I will be posting more pics later, but just had to share this one of Lyndsey and her Grandpa :) It's just so sweet!!!

On a side note~ Mom and Dad, I wish you could see Portland now....the sun is actually shining and you can see lots of blue sky :)