quite blog & flooding . . .

Blogs been a little quite lately, but that's not by my choice . . . my computer is very ill. Some days, it starts right up & others {like today} it made a loud, ear piercing sound & did nothing but a black screen. Thankfully, Brock has been bringing his home @ night, but all my pictures are on my computer - see my dilemma?! I'll be up & running again soon {hopefully}.

At this very moment, we are surrounded by water. My last measurement had the entire back of our house @ 7 inches of standing water - that was about 4 hours ago & it has been p.o.u.r.i.n.g. since then. We can still see the road & some grass in the neighbors yard, but other than that water is everywhere. We're a little concerned, but hope that it will begin to let up tomorrow {been raining since Sunday!} I'll put pictures up tomorrow . . .  it we don't float away.

you can not . . .

If God has called you to be really like Jesus He will draw you into a life of crucifixion and humility, and put upon you such demands of obedience, that you will not be able to follow other people, or measure yourself by other Christians, and in many ways He will seem to let other people do things which He will not let you do.

Other Christians and ministers who seem very religious and useful, may push themselves, pull wires, and work schemes to carry out their plans, but you cannot do it, and if you attempt it, you will meet with such failure and rebuke from the Lord as to make you sorely penitent.

Others may boast of themselves, of their work, of their successes, of their writings, but the Holy Spirit will not allow you to do any such thing, and if you begin it, He will lead you into some deep mortification that will make you despise yourself and all your good works.

Others may be allowed to succeed in making money, or may have a legacy left to them, but it is likely God will keep you poor, because He wants you to have something far better than gold, namely, a helpless dependence upon Him, that He may have the privilege of supplying your needs day by day out of an unseen treasury.

The Lord may let others be honoured and put forward, and keep you hidden in obscurity, because He wants to produce some choice fragrant fruit for His coming glory, which can only be produced in the shade. He may let others be great, but keep you small. He may let others do a work for Him and get the credit for it, but He will make you work and toil on without knowing how much you are doing; and then to make your work still more precious He may let others get credit for the work which you have done, and thus make your reward ten times greater when Jesus comes.

The Holy Spirit will put a strict watch over you, with a jealous love, and will rebuke you for little words and feelings or for wasting your time, which other Christians never feel distressed over. So make up your mind that God is an Infinitely Sovereign Being, and has a right to do as He pleases with His own. He may not explain to you a thousand things which puzzle your reason in His dealings with you, but if you absolutely sell yourself to be His love slave, He will wrap you up in Jealous Love, and bestow upon you many blessings which come only to those who are in the inner circle.

Settle it forever, then that you are to deal directly with the Holy Spirit, and that He is to have the privilege of tying your tongue, or chaining your hand, or closing your eyes, in ways that He does not seem to use with others. Now, when you are so possessed with the living God that you are, in your secret heart, pleased and delighted over this peculiar, personal, private, jealous guardianship and management of the Holy Spirit over your life, then you will have found the vestibule of Heaven.

- G. D. Watson

my motivation this morning . . .

this & that . . .

Little collage of us doing some of our school work- I wrote more about our basic schooling this year in the tab above {Our Homeschooling} You can also click here to read it.

When I find the time, I hope to write more about our first few weeks {the good, the bad & the ugly!}

On Fridays, the girl participate in a volunteer service & we do some sort of family 'feild trip' - Right now, they are helping us with the Food Backpack programs at the local elementary school. We pack around 25 backpacks each week with enough food to fed a child through the weekend. We have been blessed by that school for letting us serve them in this way and I have left several times broken hearted when I see the little faces come to pick up their bags- so wishing I could do more for them.

Their field trip was to the downtown library for a book scavenger hunt - they loved it! {They thought it was just a game, but little did they know they were learning how to use a library ;) }

Downtown Wilmington is one of my favorite places- the culture, the atmosphere, the shops - We enjoyed a nice lunch outside overlooking the Cape Fear.

The girls also had their first soccer game of this season Saturday morning- they won 5-1! {Sorry no pictures-they don't have their uniforms yet} and Ella scored a goal! Of course the day ended on a bad note when our beloved Tennessee Volunteers lost to Oregon - boo!

We still look good in orange :)

Here's to weekends in the fall . . . . sports, food, family & fun!

guest blogger: meet maria!

Maria is my real life friend. 

She started out in our youth group way back in 2003-I think she is a little psychic because she told me I was having twins several weeks before I found out I was having twins. She was my first phone call.

She has gone from the girl in our youth group to a good, close friend.

We like to vent to one another about how we just don't feel that we fit in anywhere. {we're just cool like that}

She has become quite the blogger- we decided it would be fun to do a swap post for the day.
Here's my interview with Maria . . .


1}Why do you blog?

I initially started blogging so that our family could see pictures and get quick updates of the boys. Although the boys' grandparents live close by, all of our extended family lives out of state.

Over the past year or so, I'd say my blog has evolved a bit. Instead of of exclusively posting pictures, I've written a lot more. I've come to realize how therapeutic writing can be for me. I've also really "gotten into" reading other people's blogs as well. Its pretty incredible to be able to get to know other people, feel their sorrow and find encouragement.

2} How do you manage family & school?

It's really pretty simple...I have 5 internet classes this semester so I'm able to stay home without having to go to campus. I spend the weekdays doing the same thing any other SAHM does-caring for my kids and cleaning house! But when they take their nap in the afternoon (about a 2 hour stretch) I sit down and do schoolwork. And every evening after they go to bed, I spend 3-4 hours doing the "bulk" of my workload. I work so hard throughout the week so that I can have my weekends "free" to spend with Kane. It's very important to me (and Kane!) to be able to have that time together.

I get asked a lot about how I stay so motivated. Right now, I'm caring for my family as they will ALWAYS come first. But one day...one day my kids are going to grow up. And recently I've realized that I have a passion. A real passion. My heart burdens for broken people. For the underprivileged and neglected. I have to do something. Even if the at the end of my life, I have only helped one person/family- I'm okay with that. So hopefully within the next 2-6 years I'll finally have my degree in Social Work (who knows what life will throw at me? ;).

3} What is your ideal 'night out'?

Any night out {sans kids} with my husband is ideal! Honestly, we really aren't too picky. We love to go out to eat and have normal adult-conversations, and typically we'll go see a movie afterwards. It's really not about where we are or what we do, it's really just getting out and spending time together.

4} As a follower of Jesus, what are some stereotypes that you wish you weren't labeled as?

I'm going to answer this a bit differently because I have the following on my mind. ;) The biggest peeve of mine that I see Christianity being stereotyped as (by fellow Christians, no less) is the "having it all together" facade. More recently, I feel as though Christianity has become synonymous with perfection. Perfect marriage. Perfect kids. Perfect home. Everything is just perfect. And I think that's a major turn off to non-Christians. (I feel) as though Christianity is such a spiritual, mysterious, life-long, Jesus-seeking state-of-mind that has been shortchanged to judgement and hypocrisy. I'm going to end my rant on this note...A while back I was going through the motions of church one Sunday morning, and during prayer requests, a member stood up and announced he had "fallen off the wagon" and desperately needed prayer for his alcoholism. That event remains so distinctive to me because I remember thinking, that is what church should be like. Raw and open honesty.

Okay, now my rant is over.

5} What are someways you cut cost for your family?

Off brand everything. Store brand is just as sufficient-I use to buy my boys' when they were babies "brand-name" items like Swaddlers, Enfamil, Pampers...you get the point. But then I wised up and starting saving lots of money by using the Target brand items. We also just keep our bills to a minimum. We literally have only necessity bills- rent, electric, car payment, car insurance, cell phone. Lastly, I always buy clothes for the boys' ahead of season. Jeans, shorts, sweaters, swim trunks, etc. for ridiculously cheap (as in less than $3 an item).

Thanks for sharing Maria!

{loved your insight on #4- totally with you} 

You can read more from her at:

www.thetrochelmans.blogspot.com

I'll be guest blogging over there today, so head on over . . .

courtesy of matt redman . . .

miscellany monday {labor edition} . . .

Since this Miscellany Monday falls on Labor day, I thought I'd miscellany about my 'labors' . . .

{1} four

That's how many hours I labored with my twin daughters. The story of their birth began quite comical.

I was at bible study {apparently laboring the whole time!} After stuffing my face with some pancakes & sausage, I walked to the fridge to get a drink and . . . splash. For a spilt second I thought I had lost bladder control, then I realized my water had broke! It was like a tv sitcom. Everyone running around - excited, nervous, laughing. From the time my water broke to the time Sophie & Ella were delivered it was 4 hours & I was comfortable the whole time. I'm sure had I progressed further I would have a different view. 

{2} zero

That's how many hours I labored with my son. He was a scheduled c-section.

{3} home

I like the idea of laboring {birthing} at home. If my first pregnancy would have been 'normal', I might have considered it. Seems like you would be much more calm & relaxed in your own home. { I don't think I could try it now for my own health sake.}

{4} really?

How about the show I didn't know I was pregnant? Really???! How could you not know??! I'm just curious. And moreover, how could you not know when you were laboring? Did you think these unbearable pains were normal?!

{5} amazing

It amazes me that a woman's body can grow a human and then labor to deliver & give life to these little tiny beings. Really if you think about it too much your head starts to hurt. Simply amazing.

{6} more labor

I hope to have at least one more labor . . .  wink.wink.