Our daily bread...

Disclaimer: this is a long post:)

This morning I woke up and rolled myself out of bed.  It was still dark outside, and I really just wanted to curl up in my bed and go back to sleep!  BUT, no need to live in dream land!!:)  There was clearly much to do!  Get breakfast made, lunches packed, children dressed, retrieve a pencil from 2 girls that thought they needed to fight over it this morning.  Yep, a pencil. Sometimes you just gotta shake your head and say an extra prayer!:)

I love to wake up early.   Before the hustle and bustle begins in our home.  It's my time to gather my thoughts.  My time with the Lord.  Our mornings are actually pretty low key.  I try to have lunches made and in the fridge, snack bags made for the week, and clothes out for the week to keep stress to a minimal.  I have discovered, I don't like starting my day with added stress that can be eliminated if I just do a little extra prep work!  It works for us and for that I am very thankful!

This morning I was reading from a book about teaching children the word.  About pouring your love for Jesus and his word into your children.  Into our daughters.  How can they have a love for the word if they are not taught and shown the importance of knowing God's word.  I know some mornings there may not be enough time to sit and read the Bible to our/your children.  But, I was so encouraged this morning that the time spent reading the word to our children is not the most important thing.  Our daughters need to see that God's word is so important to mommy and daddy that no matter how busy we are, we always take the time to speak truth into them.  Whether it be just teaching them a verse and what it means, or share a Bible story with them.  They need to see that Matt and I make spending time with Jesus a priority.

Here is the verse that I shared with Alyssa on the way to school.  It spoke so close to my heart today that I wanted to share it with her.

Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you may grow into a full experience of salvation.  If indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.  1 Peter 2:2

We have indeed tasted that the Lord is good.  He's been soooo good and sooo faithful.  I have also experienced, just this week, what it feels like to not crave the word in a way that it fills my life and my heart in all that I do and say.  I have been busy.  That's actually an understatement!  I have been real busy, but lets face it...whose not?  I have not spent my mornings pouring God's word and his truth in my life.  Starting my day with Him.   I have let all the busyness (good busy) keep me from Him, and it has been obvious in my life.  I have felt down.  I have lacked JOY.  I have felt stressed.  I have had less patience.  I have had a more negative attitude toward my husband and my children.  All because I neglected the spiritual milk that I need.  To get me through my days.  To stay solid.  To walk upright.  The milk I need to fill me!  Nothing else can fill me.  Nothing else satisfies.  Nothing else gives me pure JOY.

Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you.  Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. Proverbs 4:25-26
  

I have known this to be true in MY life- I must start my day with Jesus.  Not finish my day with him, but start my day with him.  If I start with Him, I am more likely to produce the fruit of the spirit in my life.  If I wait till bedtime, I have more than likely struggled through a day that could have been much more smooth if I would have just began it in the word and in prayer.

I want this blog to be real.  It's our life.  It's my struggles.  We are by no means a perfect family.  We do not have perfect children. But we are real people.  I  never want to portray something that is false in our lives.  We are a work in progress.  The Lord deals with us daily.  I'm thankful he does.  I would never want the Lord to let me get away with my selfishness.  The Lord is far greater than holding on to my wants and desires!

Just wanted to share my heart today!  Have a great day!!

Sweet Alyssa...

Alyssa Lauren.  She melts my heart.  This little girl is something else.  She can be the sweetest thing in the world, and then just do things where your like, "Whose kid is this and where is your brain?"  Let's be honest, you have all had those thoughts.  Don't lie!:)

I just wanted to do a little post on each of our girls so I will remember what they are like at six and almost four!  Just typing that seems wrong!

I can remember when Alyssa was a newborn and each day I would ask Matt,  "Do you think she's grown today?  She looks bigger!"  I wanted so badly for her to stay a baby.  A tiny little baby that I could swaddle up tightly and snuggle with all day long.   I loved having a new baby in our home.  I loved to just hold her and rock her and stare at her.  I always loved bedtime when she would get her bath, get in her jammies, lotion her up and put her to bed.  Smelling sweet and delicious and looking so cozy!

...Now we have a six year old who is in first grade.  Time has flown by.  I still love to stare at her.  I spend a lot of time just looking at her and thanking God for her.  I still love when she gets out of the bath and smells so good and gets her jammies on and gets snuggled in to the  bed.  I will always cherish  each and every phase of her life!  The Lord is so neat with his creation, isn't he?


Alyssa loves:
Chick fil A (who doesn't?)
A close second is Geno's Pizza
Roast with Potatoes and Carrots.
Her breakfast is always one of 3 things: toast with butter only, honeybun, cereal
She loves apples.
She loves to shop.
She loves water!
She saves EVERYTHING!
She hoards cherishes all her little nicknacks.
 Boy does she have some nicknacks.
She loves Jesus.
She started a prayer group at school on recess.
She does not enjoy sports.
She does not play with dolls or barbies.
She loves her sister to the moon.
She bosses her sister like crazy!
She LOVES the thought of being in charge.
She is a great student.
She has the cutest dimple.
She has a loose tooth. Finally!
Her smile melts my heart.
I could listen to her giggle all day long.
She ADORES her daddy.
She likes chocolate.
She is tender hearted.
She is a leader.
She is honest.
She is loyal.
She loves all her grandparents and boy is she blessed with some good ones!
She is spunky.
She is sassy.
She is artsy.
She is creative and spends the majority of her time at home role playing.
She has an imagination like no other.
She is beautiful inside and out.
She loves one on one time with her momma.  Her momma loves this time as well!
She can sass an attitude faster than anyone I have ever met!  :)
She is learning what it means to be thankful.

What an honor it is to get to be her parents. She challenges me daily.  She makes me a better person.  She is a work in progress....but aren't we all?  I pray Matt and I cherish this gift, honor the Lord with this gift, and teach her what it looks like to live for Jesus and look like Jesus.  That's really all that matters!

"Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it." Proverbs 22:6

Amen for this today!

Thankful for this word today! So true. So thankful. So blessed.

Fall Getaway

This past weekend we made one of our favorite trips of the year!  We have gone to Branson the third weekend in October for the past 4 years and it has become one of my favorite things to do with our little family!  The weather is perfect, the food is always fabulous, the shopping never disappoints, and the colors always declare His majesty (1 Chronicles 16:27)  I love fall and all that it brings.

This year Matt's parents joined us for the weekend.  We had a great time.  Little did we know my Mom and Step-dad would be in Branson as well.  We all met up Saturday and spent the day together at SDC. It was so fun to all be together.  The girls just thought it was the coolest that both sets of grandparents were there together!!

Friday we started our trip with the American Chicken House.  Such a fun place to eat.  We had more food than we knew what to do with.  It was soooo very good and a great way to start out our weekend.  Dining over some good grub!

We spent Saturday at SDC.  It was the first time the girls had ever been.  We found some great ticket prices so we made it happen!  They had a ball.  They rode every ride a dozen times and just squealed and screamed their little heads off.  It was so cute!

We were all so tired after a long day at SDC.  The girls came in and crashed while Sue and I ran to the mall for a little shopping.  We shopped for a couple of hours and ran back to get the guys and little girls for dinner!  We ate at Danna's.  So yum.  We all loved it!  Girls chowed and went back to the hotel to swim.  Matt and I then headed back out to look around at the mall.

We woke up Sunday morning and headed to the Landing.  The girls had been asking about a build a bear so we let them both make a new one.  Bella had never built her own bear before so she was all kinds of excited!  They both had a blast and were so thankful for their bears!

We finished the weekend with some Cantina Laredo and a little more shopping and headed back home.

I love trips with Matt and the girls.  It was an added blessing that both our families were there together.

Here are a few pictures from our weekend!

From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. John 1:16

Past wk in pics.

In an effort to delete photos from my phone, I am in need of my weekly picture update!!:).

Some weeks are more interesting than others so that's why some weeks there are just not too many pics!!:).

This past wk has been a fun one!!:)

Pic 1. My big girl like to make my post office deliveries for me! "I'd like to send this first class, please!!" Oh my she's too big. But man it sure is convenient for this momma!:)

Pic 2. You know, just a little toast. One with butter. One with jelly. A cup of coffee to savor the goodness!!:).

Pic 3. Dinner date with the eldest! She is the best. Chick fil a of course. This momma will never complain about that one!!:)

Pic 4. Just a little fire pit night! I love fall!!

Pic 5. Thought I needed to throw in a pic of the man and I! I like him. Lots. He's my favorite person ever.:)

Pic 6. Fish taco night!! My dad makes the best. No doubt about it. No need to argue with me. It's factual. They are amazing. Tasty. Light. (Until you stuff your face-then they are no longer "light") Fresh. So good. My dad rocks!!

Now that my mouth is watering I am off to bed!!:)

A day with the youngest.

Bella Grace Is in preschool three days a week so I feel like I just never get to see her. I Cherish so deeply our two days together.

Today we had a blast together! She is one spunky, precious little girl. I can't imagine our lives without her. She has one bright personality, the sweetest voice, and the most loving heart. She makes our days so exciting!!:)

We started our day with a stop to the donut shop with big sis!
We dropped Alyssa off to school and headed back to the house to fold a load of laundry and go for a ride on her car. In the house. ;)

We then headed to story time at the library. We love story time. It's so fun for Bella and I love watching her. They read stories, sing and dance, play a game, do a craft, and have snack. She absolutely loves it.

Then it was time for some cfa! Chick fil a is always on the agenda!!:).

We ate and played and then headed to A-Z they now have these little kid buggies. So I let Bella be In charge of pushing the buggy and boy was she up for that! It was soooo cute. I left my phone in the car so I have no pics but she had a ball. She was putting all kinds of "favorite things" in her buggy!! I had to do some serious inventory when we got to the checkout counter!!

We then came home and I read her a couple of the books that we checked out at the library and she took a nap!

I absolutely loved this day with her. It is one that I will always remember!!

Thankful for our girls and the gift they are to us!!

Thankfulness...

This is a topic of constant discussion at the Ward house.  It's something we want our girls to have a full understanding about.  Something we want them to desire and to live.  We want them to know the meaning, and LIVE it.  It's frustrating when they don't live by thankfulness.

This morning Alyssa and I had a long discussion about being grateful for what she has, and being thankful for all the Lord has blessed her with...and not always wanting more.  Let me just say, our girls don't really ever ask for much.  It's a snack at the checkout counter, or just stuff. Things. Nothing major, but the principal is, there is so much more in life than "things."

This morning Alyssa took her things out of her backpack and put them in a crossover bag.  She came out and I told her that she needed to put everything back in her backpack because her folders all folded up in a small crossover bag clearly was not going to work.  I told her that I had tried to get her to get a crossover bag for school this year and that maybe I would look for her one if I could find one on clearance or something.  Her reply, "Well, I know you won't get it."  To which I replied, "Well your right, I won't get it now!"  First of all, I should have never even said I would look for her a new bag. She HAS a new bag.  She doesn't NEED a new bag. Her's is perfectly fine and that was a mistake on my part.  Weak moment by mom.  She got upset and began to cry.  So, this is where our heart to heart began....:)

I want my children to understand the goodness of the Lord.  I want them to love Him more than any "thing" in this world.  I want them to know that they are Blessed!  I want them to grasp that their JOY comes from the Lord.  I want them to see that God has given them each and every thing they have.  But, if we are not thankful for what we have, God will take it away.  But, in this world, we are left always wanting more.

Alyssa recently got a new hand sanitizer.  She was very excited!  that day....and maybe the next:)  But, her excitement has worn off.  She still uses her sanitizer (thank goodness), but she is not as thrilled with it as she was last week.  In fact, she wanted a new one last night at Wal-Mart.  

Yesterday Alyssa came in from school and grabbed a starburst.  She ate it.  It satisfied her...for a second, but left her wanting more.  

 This morning I said, "Alyssa your JOY and your happiness is not in the things of this world."   I explained what exactly the things of this world are and she listened quietly.  I told her, "the things of this world do not last.  They bring Joy for a moment.  They are for a time period but your true joy and hope can only be found in the one thing that is everlasting.  Jesus."

"It's just like your hand sanitizer, you loved it the day you got it.  YOu were so excited.  You were thankful.  But now the excitement has worn off.  YOu still use it but it's not near as exciting as it was."  She agreed!  I told her, "Yesterday you ate a starburst after school.  It was good.  You liked it.  You were satisfied....for a second, but then you wanted more.  It left you wanting another one...and another...and another.  But, Jesus is the only thing that can truly satisfy you.  He does not leave us feeling empty...or wanting more.   Jesus is enough, and if we truly love Him, none of the other things matter."

This hit me like a ton of bricks as the words are so confidently rolling off my tongue to my 6 year old daughter.  I needed that reminder just as much as she did.  My absolute joy comes from Jesus.  Not from Matt loving me, or my daughters obeying.  Not from friends or family.  Not from getting something I really want or enjoy.  Nothing in this world will EVER satisfy my longing soul but the one person who gave it ALL away so  I could have life.  I want to be complete in Him.   

My prayer for our girls and for our family is that the Lord will be our desire.  He will be our source of Hope, strength, comfort, peace, love, and joy!  And that we will live a life of thanksgiving.

There is always just enough flour and olive oil left in the containers, just as the Lord has promised.  

1 kings 17:16