Faith Monday 1

Ok time to try out the new schedule! woohoo!!

im totally trying to wake myself up here can you tell?!

B and I spent the morning at the gym then had a lunch date with a good friend. B of course fell asleep on the way home which made me soooo sleepy too. I ended up spending an hour and a half in bed watching tv while she napped.

(of course now that I am trying to knowck out this post she is waking up!).

Im so glad I got up when I did though. I was able to see one of our neighbors take in a new foster child (at least Im 99% sure thats what was going on). At the time I was working on a devotional made especially for busy moms. I couldnt help but prayer for the girl, this new family, and her own family that she is currently seperated from. I dont know her story and probably never will. Thats ok. But it did get me thinking about just how much I want to someday foster/adpot.

Seeing a very nice family take in a child who needs a home only strengthened my desire to be able to be a part of this world. This world of kids who need to be shown unconditional love, covenant love, Godly love. I am so blessed to have a husband who supports this desire that God wrote on my heart so many years ago. We both know that getting into it is still at least a couple years away if not longer depending on the other things that God lays out for us.

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after oprphans and widos in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.   

  James 1:27 (NIV)

It also made me think about WHY we want to get into fostering or adopting (or both). And it has nothing to do with being religious, or looking good to others, or because we have to to be Christians. It has EVERYTHING to do with just being the right thing to do. To care for those around you that need to be cared for. Because no matter what religion you are, that is right. It is 100% what I would want for our own children if something happened to us. For them to be taken in by people who can love them. I am so thankful that God has given me this desire and I cant wait to see how he is going to move and make it happen.

What big challenge/desire has God laid on your heart?

BLOG HOP!

So since I am trying to get more readers, I am inviting yout to join this awesome blog hop today! Check out how many awesome blogs have already linked up! I have already found so many amazing crafty ideas and gotten inspiration for my own blog. YEA! Happy hoppin!

Part 4: our little backyard garden

Our little backyard garden is growing so well! I didn't think it would take off but we have already been able to enjoy some of the lettuce and green beans from it. hopefully my carrots will be done soon so we can enjoy those too. this makes me hopeful that when we move back down to warmer climates I can have a real garden, not just a container one.

So here are some pics from last month:


Right after I got everything transplanted outside and new seeds planted.
Back row is all green beans, middle blue ones are carrots, middle red is lettuce, and front has basil and garlic. and yes that's my giant 7yo chocolate lab Bailey who just had to be in the picture!

first flowers on the beans

and more current ones:

look how much its grown! not a great pic i know and please excuse my very messy porch!!!!

3 types of romaine lettuce. i had my doubts if it was going to transplant well and apparently it just needed to be outside! they are so yummy!!!

these are the carrots i planted outside as seeds. they are as big as my ones that started inside!

can you see all the baby green beans in there too?! the next few warm days should give me enough to use in a meal!

So I don't have any fabulous advice about planting a container garden. Especially because the growing season here is so weird, and because this is the first year I have really been able to grow anything other than pumpkins! I will say that I am glad I did start indoors because its given me some plants that are at various stages of development and so I will have a slightly longer season. The kids have really enjoyed watching them grow. They always let me know when there are beans that are ready to be picked and both kids will eat their salad if I put even just 1 piece of lettuce from the garden in it! Quite honestly the plants just make me happy. I feel accomplished knowing that I can grow food for our family, even if its just this tiny amount for now. Somehow it makes me feel a litle closer to God. Like watching this creation happen before my eyes is one way He is just reminding me thats everything is going to be ok. See how he cares for even the tiny plants?

So what are you growing this year?! Any veggies? Flowers? Tell me! Got any advice to help me make the most of this tiny garden?

part 3: 2-87 Summit Ball

well the end of deployment is official. We attended our final military ball on May 4th. It was wonderful! we had a great time with awesome friends and got to honor even more amazing soldiers. I feel so blessed that we were part of a unit that would care so much. They are family. I cant even begin to express how much I am going to miss my Catamount girls!!!!

me getting ready. i totally went to set up the event like this only with a scarf covering the rollers. it was awesome. my husband claimed he didn't know me while setting up. but my bff did so its all good! lol!

the beautiful early mothers day present I got from hubby right before the ball.

leaving for our last ball.

Lt. V and his minions. Lt. V, Carman, Dutton, and hubs.

centerpieces. we had to scrub all the old wax off these before the ball. it was FUN! :(

in the ballroom. man was it HOT in there!!!!!

me and my other half Jess G. Her dress was AMAZING!

Jess and her hubby Kell

my fav pic of the night. This is the Lieutenant Jeremy had when they left on deployment and his fiancee Lisa. Jake was injured by an IED last summer and lost both of this legs. I think I cried just as much when I got the news about Jake as I did when I first got the call about Jeremy. His strength and determination is nothing short of amazing. We are so proud of how far he has come and cant wait to see what life has in store for these two!

So there it is in a nutshell. We had so much fun. It was over a month ago but I know I wont forget that night. It was a great way to leave the Catamounts.