Gardening

Our garden is producing lots of green beans, which in turn means lots of canning! We love it though..... There's something so rewarding about praying over your garden and watching God bless it each day with new surprises:) The squash is beginning to make and the peas are about ready! Looks like we'll have plenty to do this summer!

Pride

"So obey the ways and commands of the

Lord by walking in His ways and fearing Him."

"For the Lord our God is bringing you into a good land of flowing streams and pools of water, with springs that gush forth in the valleys and the hills. It is a land of wheat and barley, of grapevines and fig trees , pomegranate, olives and honey. It is a land that is plentiful and nothing is lacking." ...."When you have eaten your fill, praise the Lord your God for the good land that He's given you."

"But that is the time to be careful! Beware that in your plenty that you do not forget the Lord your God!"....

"Do not become proud at that time and forget the Lord your God!"

"But I assure you of this: If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods (money, possessions, material things, hobbies, work, etc...) and start bowing down to them, You WILL BE DESTROYED!"

Deut. 6

His Word is quite clear.... Don't be consumed by the world and what it has to offer! Ultimately God gifts us with things in order to test us to see if we will remain faithful. So many forget the Lord or give Him just enough to get by, don't let this happen to you and risk being destroyed!

Love ya'll! Strive to be Different!!

Pics below are from our potato harvest with grammy today!

Beautiful, fresh picked blackberries I gathered this week.

This afternoon Nate and his cousin, Dylan were supposed to be outside playing baseball, as they often do. But, things got quiet and I didn't hear them anymore! Much to my surprise I found them out in the garden picking green beans:) Hot and tired, their little hands worked until they gathered them all!

This is how I found Dylan, complete with helmet for safety!

Working together

Making sure he got "just" the right ones

After a long days work, these two were exhausted!:)

Had to go inside for some koolaid and snacks!

Call to the Ministry

Just wanted to share a little glimpse into my life over the past few years since being called into the ministry. In hopes that there is someone out there who has faced the same struggles I have or is going through them now and needs some encouragement.

To take you back when I was a little girl, I always felt called to be a missionary, then as life went on, I slowly let that call go and turned away from God for a number of years. As life pressed on my husband and I were constantly being pulled back and forth between the world and being completely sold out to Him. Then in 05 when my husband was called into the ministry, I knew in my heart that God was calling us both to let go of the world and follow Him, but I struggled.... with letting go of the "world."

Regardless, we stayed obedient to His calling and went forward with following His will for our lives. Then reality set in for me.......

I loved the Lord, I wanted to do His will, I wanted to serve Him with all my soul, I wanted to be completely sold out for Him! But, I was sooo angry and resentful at the same time! So, what was wrong with me?!!!

For two years I struggled. I fought and rebelled against the Lord as well as my husband! I had all these feelings going on that I didn't know what to do with or how to deal with them.... anger, resentment, sadness, insecurity, anxiousness.... There were so many times that I wanted to give up and walk away, so many times..... But I kept pressing on...only by God's grace.

I will never forget the morning as we were driving to church, I was usually pretty bitter and angry at that time, I had tears rolling down my face and I cried out to the Lord, "what is wrong with me???! What is wrong with me Lord?" "I know you've called our family into the ministry, I want to serve you! Why can't I get it together?!" "WHY?!"

And do you know what He said to me?

In a soft gentle voice, God said,

"Jamie, I'm molding you into an extraordinary, Godly woman."

"You're going to be ok my child."

I will never forget those words He spoke to me that morning. It was like a cloud had been lifted and the angels began singing, I felt released from all those insecurities I had been feeling, all that depression I was holding on to......I felt such gentle peace like never before. God welcomed me into the ministry that day.

As I think back when we first started this journey for Christ and how emotional and hard it was for me, I'm just so thankful that regardless of the difficulties, we remained obedient.

God isn't looking for someone who can handle it all on their own, who is prideful and has all the plans already together.... He's looking for the weak, the humble.....the ones He can mold into something extraordinary! He's looking for the obedient!

"I love you Lord. I'm ready. I'm willing.

Mold me and Use me for your Kingdom. I'm all in!"

Love,

Jamie

Time of restoration

Life's Simple pleasures... enjoying precious family time together and fellowshipping with Godly friends that the Lord put in our path.

These are some photos of our recent family getaway.

I want to encourage you to spend some "simple" quality time with your family this week. I think we tend to try to please our children with these grand, expensive vacations, when in reality, all they want is a little quality time with you!:)

Maggie "driving" the boat
My huge catch!:)

So proud momma!

It's the simple things....

Relaxing on the pier

Taking a nature hike

This is what it's all about......

Love ya'll! Strive to be Different!

"If you are too lazy to plow in the right season,

you will have no food at the harvest." Proverbs 20:4

Our garden is beginning to prosper:)

Britt is so proud of his new tomato experiment,

stringing them up rather than caging them.:)

Lots of squash and zucchini


We've really enjoyed growing a garden the past few years, especially since Nate has gotten old enough to help with the harvest and picking. He loves to help us in the garden, such sweet family time.

"My heart is steadfast, oh God, my heart is steadfast;

I will sing and make music."

Psalm 57:7

Nate's first Piano recital.

One thing we've always wanted to instill in our children

is the love for music and to encourage them

to sing and play unto the Lord!

We were so proud of him this year.

He has an ear for music and loves to play.

Summer fun with good friends

"Many will say they are loyal friends, but who can find one who is really faithful?"

Proverbs 20:6

Faithful and loyal friends are few and far between, but we have been blessed to have dear friends like Tom and Jeanne who have been so supportive and encouraging to us since we've surrendered to the ministry. They've stood beside us and remained faithful to our friendship throughout the journey, we love ya'll!

Enjoying a Southern Miss Baseball Game

Had to get a pic of her curls:)

Looks so sweet and innocent:)


Waiting on Mr. Tom and Mrs. Jeanne

God's Special blessings in my life





End of School Year outing with Cousins!

It was such a hot day at the park, I think they were all ready to go!

Grammy driving her "short bus!"

It was such a treat to go by and see where Grammy works!

"Look out people! Grammy's comin!"

Before the park, we stopped at Wendy's to eat lunch and guess who we ran in to???

GRAMMY!!!

Poor Grammy didn't know what hit her to have

all those little ones barrelling in there to greet her!:) Such fun!

"Children are a Gift from God."

This year has been an amazing adventure for us with it being our first year to home school! As I reflect back and see where we started and to think of all the blessings God has bestowed upon us, it brings such happiness to my life. I consider it a privilege and honor to teach them and I thank God for entrusting their little lives to me!

Love ya'll! Strive to be Different!