Bits of Randomness

Thirteen Bits of Randomness

1. You might have noticed I have been a bit random in doing memes lately. I have moved to doing whichever one comes the easiest at the time rather than sticking to them on a regular basis. Sorry about that but right now easiest is the best.
2. I had my first OB appointment yesterday but it is still too early and we did not hear a heart beat yet. I will have to wait until next time.
3. I have an ultrasound scheduled for May 12th!
4. They are going to finish resurfacing our street today. It is a good thing I am not going anywhere!
5. I have to finish filling out a mortgage application. I do not know how we are going to qualify for enough for the size of a home we need, have you seen the prices for a 5-6 bedroom in the Anchorage area??? Ouch! It is double than what we pay here! We may end up having to rent!
6. 68 days until we pull out of town and head to Alaska.
7. One month until I head to the midwest to visit my parents and siblings.
8. I am still dealing with morning sickness and feeling a bit crummy but I am hoping it passes in the next couple of weeks.
9. I cannot wait to move somewhere without the big nasty Texas bugs that are creeping into my house!
10. Only 3 more weeks and we are finished with Sunday evening programs and AWANA.
11. Only 4 more weeks of piano.
12. We only have 2 out of our 6 spring birthdays left to celebrate which is good because we are running out of money with that many birthdays!
13. Randomness is the state of this pregnant lady’s mind and you are stuck with it for the next 7 months! If I can get anything coherent out then I am doing pretty well!

QF Carnival #4

It is that time once again to share more testimonies and stories from others. I pray that you are touched and blessed by those who are sharing the work of the Lord in their lives.

TF at Made from Scratch shares her journey. She says “I told J what I had been reading, and we read scriptures in the Bible together that concerned having children and trusting God completely, we talked about it and we both knew this was the way we wanted to live. We wanted to show God how much we loved him, We wanted to trust Him in every aspect of our life. Having children shouldn’t be any different. I refuse to make excuses anymore. No matter if I have 2 children or 10, I will accept them joyfully, and I won’t forget for one second how blessed we are.” Read more of her article, Living a Quiverfull lifestyle.

Lisa shares, “One of our family’s passions is letting others know about our conviction to let GOD plan our family. Of course our beliefs must always be Scripturally aligned with our convictions, which is why we seek out GOD’s opinion on the issues first and foremost.” Take a moment and read the rest of her post, Obedience Results in Blessings of Children.

One of our newest blogroll members is Raani. She addresses several questions often asked of those who hold this conviction of God’s sovereignty over the womb. Stop by and see what she has to say as a means of Answering the Questions.

Quiver Mamma shares, “Early in our Christian walk we also learned that walking in obedience to the word of God brings blessings. People often say that life does not come with an instruction manual, but it does, and it is called the Bible! And when we step out in obedience and apply the word of God to our lives, great things happen. When we trust in Gods promises for us and our lives he fulfills them. And this was the backdrop for what became our quiverfull conviction.” Read the rest of her story, Yes, We are Quiverfull.

Bloggy Giveaway

I decided to participate in this quarter’s bloggy giveaway! This is my first time participating and it looks to be a great giveaway! As my part of the bloggy giveaway carnival I am offering the Bible on cassette. This is the Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible, Volumes 1-2. Volume 1 is Old Testament portions and volume 2 is New Testament. This is on audio cassette narrated by David Carlson and put out by Aurora Ministries.

If you are interested in entering please leave a comment with an email address. I will be drawing and announcing the winner on April 26th.

For more great giveaways visit the Bloggy Giveaway Carnival.

Wild Fires

When we lived in Colorado several years ago, we experienced some of the effect of wildfires. There was a large one on the other side of the mountain range. The sky was brown and it was difficult to breath. This past week things got much closer than I would have ever liked to be (and I am here in Texas). There was a wildfire that went through the town of Ordway, Colorado. (you can do a search and read about it) Ordway is a small town of about 1200 residents. We are familiar with this little town because my hubby pastored for several years in a nearby town. We still have some very dear friends who live there.

The fire was so bad that they evacuated the town. Three lives were lost, about 20 homes destroyed, and several other buildings in town. We received an email from these friends about what had happened. Here is a small excerpt of a very long and heartbreaking email…

On Tuesday afternoon the children noticed a large amount of smoke in the
sky coming from the southwest of us. I watched it for a couple of minutes and
grew uneasy….

I told all the children to grab their bags and put in two sets of clothes. I told (son) to pull out both the mini van and the big van from the garage and park them in the driveway, then I told him to grab the CPU from my computer and his Dad’s laptop. I told (daughter) to grab all the pictures from her room (that’s where we scrapbook) and grab as many off the walls as she could. …

Less than 2 minutes after (hubbys’s) last call, he called again and said,
“GET OUT! they are evacuating the entire town you have to go now!”…..

The small children were already in the vehicles with all the bags. The
older children were still helping me grab the last pictures and the “blankies” of
the youngest children. I looked out the back door and saw our field on fire
to the west just on the other side of our duck pond and the fields to the north
were completely engulfed in flames. The smoke was horrendous, we could hardly
breath. I told (daughter) to open the gates on the pens of all her animals. That
was the hardest thing she has ever done in her life. I was sobbing by then. A
neighbor girl, came running in our front door and said “Mrs. M, you have to leave NOW!”, she literally pulled me from the house…..

(Son) was driving the mini van following me. All the other children were with me and we were all just sobbing. (Daughter) for all the animals she cares for and has poured her heart into. (Other son) was crying “I want my Dad, I want my Dad”. It wasn’t just the house we felt we would never return to, it was the home, the memories. It is so hard to express those feelings in words. And then (Other Daughter) began to pray out loud. Her words were so soothing. The crying did not stop completely, but it softened…..

When we reached my sister-in-laws house we were glued to the TV news of course. The
pictures they were showing were horrific. And then we heard that a family with 12
children had lost their home.(THEIR HOME) By then we were just numb. So thankful for our own safety , wondering about all our friends and neighbors……

Later, we decided to try and get back into Ordway and just see for ourselves if the house was still standing and to check on our animals. That was quite a drive. There were downed power lines, some still in the roads. Their were flames just everywhere still. The night was so dark, all you could see were the flashing lights of the emergency vehicles everywhere and the red flames and embers glowing all around us….

The homes of two of our neighbors to the west were completely burned and the barn and corrals of the neighbor to the north were in flames. The house just on the other side of them was also totally destroyed. It was so good to see our home, just standing there in the dark. The fields all around completely scorched. All of our animals were there. In fact they were all in their pens except for the lambs. Their shelter had been completely destroyed and the field where their pen is was burned, so they were in the milk barn where we store the feed. The wind was still terrible and soot and ash was blowing so bad. My eyes burned for 2 days. All the fields on three sides are either blackened or just completely gray with the ash. But the flames just stopped all around our home. But we are so thankful we were spared. If you look at our land, you can see God’s hand of protection.

Please pray for the families in Ordway. I am so thankful for God’s hand of protection where our friends are concerned but there are many families who have lost everything. There is mourning for what was lost and for the lives that were lost. Two that died worked with our friends husband. There is a need for great healing in that community and I ask that you pray for them and for the Christians in that community to minister with the love of Christ.

Good Cake

For show and tell today I thought I would share my birthday cake with you all. It was so good! My two oldest daughters made it for me. It is filled with chocolate pudding and strawberries!!! Yum! I think they did a wonderful job! What do you think?

For more show and tell visit Mary!

Happy Birthday

Another occasion for cake! My son has turned 12! He has a cousin with same birthday and the two of them got together and went for a game of lazer tag with a few siblings and other cousins. I think they had a great time. Our families actually bought the same gift each other and that was rather funny!

Happy Birthday Micah! We love you!! Even if you are a little bit crazy!!