"And whatsoever ye do,

do [it] heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;" Colossians 3:23

(pictures by Cotter and Hannah)

Jeremy and the boys have taken the tractor and weed whackers to blaze a nature trail through the property. It goes under, over and through the trees, by the pond, to the open fields and back again. There are butterflies, wildflowers, frogs, snakes and plants to see and observe and avoid :)


It is so nice to go through, with Grady quiet in my arms, looking and loving the sights and sounds of summer.








Abby is the brave one, catching the frogs with her own two hands while the boys use nets. Can't say I blame 'em.



I have been giving a lot of my thoughts and seeking and praying as to God's will lately. I heard once that when one serves Him, you must mentally take people right out of the picture so that one remembers the One whom they are really doing the things they do for. Whether it is a quiet activity or loud activity, a surrendered heart, is a surrendered heart. Being faithful in the small things is still being faithful.

Small things collide and suddenly become bigger when an open door to a child's heart is present and a heart to heart on the fruit that has grown from an undesirable longing or seed happens and the person listens and lets you pray with them because they trust you because they know you. A mother's heart reaches out and learns to find rest in God as she talks to Him about her kids and learns to listen and extend mercy and truth together. God's will is every minute, every hour, every day, everywhere. It's up to me to set my sights on Him.

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The best is love.

The days that move slowly
are filled with dancing and music if I take the time to sit and watch



I laugh and say I'm part childhood facilitator. Giving them time to play, be known, to explore, to learn.

^{1 Corinthians 13: 12} We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!

¹³ But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.

Dear Blog,

(Pictures by Abby and Jeremy)
Just when I think, perhaps it's time to stop this blog, my children pick up last year's blog book my Mom and sister gifted me with, and they laugh and look and ask me sheepishly, "Can we do fun things like that again?" And I smile and tell them, we still are doing fun things like that, every day.

Every day, we get up and do the next thing, live life for Him, and somehow, even when we don't see it, we get to look back over the past, and see the ordinary days have their own special glimmer where God's hand and heart designed and spoke, "love them," and it turns beautiful but not because you made it beautiful for a blog or for other's eyes, but because it just kind of happened, and one is surprised and glad all at the same time. Even the fingers that have typed this, come back here and read and I'm encouraged by the threads the LORD has sewn.

We remember His creation, the works of His hands. They testify of His greatness.
We wrestle with life, lose our cool, repent and ask forgiveness, stand back up, and move on again. Isn't His grace like that? Isn't His love and kindness like that? It's amazing.
And each other, people in the grocery store, neighborhood, online and realtime. Made in His image. All of value. He has no favorites. And His heart beats strong for every one. And we ask, help me love like You do father.




This is life. For today. Not tomorrow or yesterday. I'll live it for Him. Do it all for Him.

Bella's Day

"I go to Maureen's house for my berday..." said Bella. And Maureen said yes :) So we went!











The FACE that was receiving her "Happy Birthday" song.


Later in the day after coming back home, having a family dinner of hot dogs and a celebration with chocolate sprinkled donuts, she put on her new bathing suit, unwrapped her chalk and went outside to draw on the rocks. She declined swimming to color instead. At one point she stopped and happily pointed to something she spotted in the sky....
The moon.




3 is a beautiful age.

:"You fill our hearts with more than we can hold inside and so we sing"

Playtime comes to an abrupt ending. The air is filled with yelling and children are running. A car horn beeps and there is a happy reunion after Daddy has been away for the day working. There are hugs and a wrestling match with smiles and laughter filling the hearts of little ones with a Daddy's love.







And I'm in the days of remembering I am a child. Discovering a Father's love again every day fills my heart and I make sure to do my gratitude list because while I'm busy in my days and my heart wanders to look elsewhere, there is a Father who is gracious and compassionate and knocks at the door of my heart. He is generous and a Giver and I choose to open wide my heart to His love.
"Even if all we do is lean our heads back in the sunshine of our soul's Sabbath and take a minute to feel the glad emotion, it is meant by God to be medicine for our weary souls. Times of happiness are glimpses of heaven until we get there." ~Beth Moore

I am thankful for:

• falls that seem protected by an angel's hand
• studies with others that provoke growth and deeper understanding
• birthday celebrations
• pink sunrises
• puppy tug of wars
• conviction and correction in my life to be childlike not childish
• little hands that hold on
• laughing so hard the tears fall
• seeing princess hearts from the littlest to the biggest, and making sure to tell them they are
• cereal for breakfast