So, here's a post to my dear friend Candace!! We had an awesome weekend in Hot Springs, despite difficulties, it was well worth it. We had an early birthday party for Candace, sang Happy Birthday, had a strawberry cake, and laughed a lot! It is such an amazing gift to be partnered with such a woman of the Lord. She encourages my heart in so many ways, often times just listening to my ramblings. My heart has been blessed by this woman.

Quotes of the Day

Okay, so I have tried like three times now to process through my emotions and post something really amazing about my mom and how I feel about her, but I can't seem to get through it. SO, instead, if you want to read something really cool about her go to my sister's blog. She's got it all.

What do I have for you, you might ask??

Big Boy: "You know what mommy, I want to move."

Mommy: "Like where to?"

Big Boy: "A new house, so we can go to outer space."

Mommy (and Daddy as he has joined in now): "Really?"

Big Boy: "Yeah, we need to move to a house that is closer to a rocket ship so we can go into outer space."

And so it continued for close to 10 minutes. . . . he had really thought this one through.

Mommy: "Little Boy, tomorrow is another day at school! Are you excited?"
(p.s. he did really well last week!)

Little Boy: "No, I don't want to go."

Mommy: "Why not?"

Little Boy: "I like you."

Can it melt your heart any more than that???
(In my head I was thinking, I'll NEVER again make you do ANYTHING you don't want to do, not ever again!!!)

Fellowship. . . . part ???

After a 5 month hiatus (is that a word??) to a foreign land, our friends the Millers have returned! It is truly and interesting story, our meeting, but I will say they have become dear friends. We got to know them last fall, then at the beginning of November, they moved to North Carolina. In January, they spent almost three weeks in our house for a visit, left for another part of the world, and have come back for a three month visit to KC. Yeah! Our favorite evening activity would be to gather in the late afternoon, cook dinner together, and eat. We would put the kids to bed and stay up talking together late into the evening! It has been such a blessing to have them back. On a separate note all together, you know how much you love someone, if you offer to let them stay in your flat in a foreign country for three months! (hopefully when we go next summer)




It never ceases to amaze me how the Lord can connect people together. I find my heart connected to people all around the world, and yet it is a connection that is sometimes as strong or stronger than the ones I have right here. How is it the Lord does that? How is it that our sisters in Christ are so close to our hearts, no matter the distance? I suppose this is just a general shout-out to my dear friends everywhere, especially far away. Helloooooo to East Asia, to Shreveport, to Wilmore, to Fayetteville, to Conway, and to everywhere else! I love you all and know that the Lord has mighty purposes in our lives, in joining our hearts, and in forever connecting us in such a tangible, real way. May the Lord speak to you all, may He make His face to shine upon you, and may you see His heart at work in all the things around you.

Fun with Aunt Erin!

Okay, so last weekend Erin came up for a visit. I have two very important things to say about it all. . . .

1. My children love their aunt. She treats them the best, spoils them at every opportunity, and loves them fully. They had a blast together and she even slept on the trundle bed one night! Big Boy and Little Boy were thrilled.

2. I am so honored to have such a good sister. We have started a bible study together over the miles and she said so appropriately, "Maybe the best thing about this study is that we get to know each other better." You know, somehow switching from just sisters, to friends who also happen to be sisters. It's been really fun and the Lord is doing mighty things in us as well.

Oh yeah, and #3-- you should totally go look at her blog and see some really cute pics of us all at a Royals baseball game!

The Fish. . .

Okay friends, this is really quite funny. We have Thursday Night Dinners at our house, where we get the joy of feeding and praying with 10-15 mostly single, mid-twenties students from around the IHOP base. It's a great night, and I have expanded my creative cooking skills, learning to cook for a crowd, things that still taste really good! (some weeks I am better than others. . . but that's okay!) Anyway, this past week I sent out an e-mail on Monday claiming that we would have grilled fish for dinner Thursday night. I had all kinds of excited comments and such, and as it would go the fish that I had assumed was in my freezer had been mostly eaten. Thursday morning after a brief stint in the prayer room, I headed to the nearby grocery store to grab some more fish. It was a quick and slightly distracted trip, as I had sweet Little Boy with me and he was hungry and nearing a two-year old breakdown. All that said, I did look at the package, read the recipes on the back, and there was NO mention of this- or anything to do with this. Here's what came out of the package. . . . at 4:30 in the afternoon, after it was all thawed in my kitchen sink. hmph.



Fortunately, the kind and very pregnant, Katrina, came to my rescue and ran to get some more fish- this time without heads, skin, and fins!