Come Away

The older I get the more I appreciate God's creation.
What I might have missed as a youth - captivates me now as an adult. I'm drawn to discovering the beauty in the woods, specifically, and even more specifically the woods in the Autumn. :)

We spent the weekend at a place that I affectionately call "our cabin", although it's neither "ours" or even a cabin, really. My husband had been recruited to teach a youth retreat and the girls and I got to tag along - just so happens it was at our favorite place. The camp is called Hidden Acres - it's out in the middle of corn fields and then BAM a camp, surrounded by trees. Beautiful. Restful. It's become so very dear to our family as a place of respite and renewal.

Saturday morning I woke up early and stole a few minutes alone outside. The sun was on its way up and it was chilly. Perfect. In my jammies, robe, and leopard print rain boots I trekked through the woods around our cozy cabin - camera in one hand, coffee in the other. I hadn't used my real camera in awhile and it was fun to play around with the functions again. I'm a sucker for the close up macro shot. :) It's all dirt and broken nuts and what not - but so beautiful!

The beauty of dying. Every plant is fading and wilting - yet, it's beautiful. I'm sure there are deep thoughts I could tie in with this, but today is just a post of beauty. Stopping to appreciate what's right under our feet.

The light coat of dew was fantastic! Look at those perfect beads of water.

Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.

The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the Lord, over many waters.
The voice of the Lord is powerful;
the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.

The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf,
and Sirion like a young wild ox.

The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.
The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.

The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth
and strips the forests bare,
and in his temple all cry, “Glory!”

The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
the Lord sits enthroned as king forever.
May the Lord give strength to his people!
May the Lord bless his people with peace!

Psalm 29 

The sun continued to make its way to the surface - and it happened fast. Thinking about scripture and talking to God (alone) always refreshes me. As a mom to young kids - the quiet has become valuable to me. These pictures are special because I can feel and remember the quiet. 

We are blessed to serve the Lord with our lives in full time local church ministry. It's a dream come true for us, really. It's easy to let weeks and months go by without getting some good down time - to come away from the day to day and refocus. I needed those calm mornings. While my hubby was busy preaching to teens on the other side of camp, I was enjoying my indoor fireplace and hot coffee and some time in the Psalms. The girls ran around outside, played in the bunk beds, and explored camp. Time was a treasure this weekend, to this mom heart. 

November has begun and the usual activity of holidays, family visits, ministry appointments, special activities, etc. is upon us. We'll go back to "our" little place here in a few weeks - only with 50 other family members, so it'll be a bit different. I'm thankful we had this time this weekend and I'll look forward to going back in the spring to take pictures of things coming to LIFE! 

Where do you go for refreshment? Have you made time to come away from the busyness of life? 

Happy November, friends! Hoping it's the best one yet! 

Do it yourself: Burlap Canvas Art

What a beautiful weekend we just finished. {Happy Monday, by the way!} My husband and I, along with our youth leader crew headed to a leaders conference just outside of Chicago this past Thursday through Saturday afternoon. I'm a sucker for those cute towns with sidewalk shops and old churches on every corner - so pretty! And of course the air was cool and the big colorful trees just completed it for me. If you ever get to visit Evanston, Illinois, do it. Our group attended the Rooted Conference, a branch of TGC. Made and modeled for those working with teens. It was a great time and everyone had some great take-aways. Isn't this a fantastic looking group?! We have some of the best people who work so hard to love on and lead teens. I'm thankful for them more then words can express, really.

But that is not what this post is about. :)

I hinted in my last post about the DIY burlap canvas I was working on. It's finished and today I'll give you a little step by step so you can try your own. Or, be like me and take what you like about it and then do your own thing.

The backstory:
I'm a big fan of burlap - every itchy, beautiful thing about it. It's easy to use, can be dainty or rustic, and the neutral color works well with most decor. While it's usually pretty affordable - the kind that is stretched across, canvas style, is not. You can plan to spend upwards of $15-$25 for a good burlap canvas. Just the canvas. Enter my FIND at Michaels the other day. I found TWO of these beaut's marked down to $4.99 in the back, scary, clearance section of the store. They were originally marked at $15!

There were a few ideas I'd had about to do with them, when I remembered this little pretty I pinned on pinterest a few days earlier. This Etsy shop sells the most beautiful and simple things. I loved the old hymn quotes, etc. But... I can't spend the money to have someone make it for me. Not right now. :) So I wondered if I could just whip something up myself.

(By the way, I'm a big supporter of Etsy's everywhere! 

If you can support an Etsy crafter WAY TO GO!)

So I took some time and chatted with my hubby about what we might like to look at daily. :) We agreed on a phrase from the hymn, Come Thou Fount.  So here we go! 

Step 1: 

(You can skip this if you are the confident type)

Lay out your canvas and draw an idea of how you want it to look on the plastic, first. This was really helpful to me as I was figuring out spacing while free-handing. Eeeek!

Step 2: 

Choose your paint! 

I love, love, love this Behr color "Cottage White". It's just a normal creamy white and I've used it in many rooms of my home. You'll also need a paintbrush - whatever you have is fine. I would recommend a wider one though to make broad strokes.

Step 3: 

Make your paint strokes. Working from a diagonal - brush left to right, repeat. Cover as little or as much of the canvas as you prefer. You may have to do a few layers as it soaks into the canvas a bit. Just eye it and DON'T obsess about being perfect. Also, as you can see - and much to the chagrin of my husband - I often just get right to work on the living room floor. Might I recommend putting newspaper underneath? Just.in.case.

Step 4: 

Once you have your desired amount of paint, give it a few hours or even a day to let it fully dry. Mine took a nap time - 2 hours. I was kinda in a hurry. Check on it a few times to make sure it's not absorbing and needs more. Really though, mine didn't need much help.

Step 5: 

Pencil or use a small point sharpie and write on your words. Then go over it with paint, using a tiny paintbrush. Michael's sells these - I used one of my kids paint by number brushes. :) Winning!

For some of you who may stress out about this whole free handing idea... I'd encourage you to remember the beauty in imperfection. And I'd also remind you that stencils are available at most crafty type stores. {grin} I looked up font ideas and then just winged it. It's not perfect, but it's me! I'm getting pretty good at copy-catting.

Once it's dry - hang that baby up! Yep, go ahead. Make a nail hole and hang it up. Bless your family with some good ol' truth to read day after day. I know I need this reminder! Oh how our hearts need reminding!

The lighting in my front room is very low in the evenings, but, you can get the point. Someday I'd love to set this on a shelf with some greenery next to it. But for now, it's hanging out on the wall behind my reading chair and it's a pretty addition to the room.

That's it! Super easy, affordable, and pretty. I paid $4.99 for two of these canvasses and had everything else on hand. Now what to do with the second canvas...

Thanks for stopping by! I'd love to see what you come up with! Happy crafting!

Some beauty - Some crazy.

It's the weekend! And if you live in Iowa it's 55 degrees, sunny, and pure beauty. I read online somewhere that the state of Iowa leaves will peak within the next week - and the sights to behold are stunning! Our big back yard tree is starting to turn yellow and I love how it slowly sheds them. We could probably have leaves for the next month still. Beautiful!

Currently, my favorite thing is to wake up in the morning, grab my hot coffee and walk onto the deck and breathe. The sun is up later, the air is reeeeeally crisp and everything is just giving that last beautiful sigh before winter. Try it!

Today on the blog I'm happy to share some other things in my life that are beautiful, my kids. We had an opportunity a few weeks back to try a new photographer and her location was just perfect for my girls. It was a field of yellow flowers in the middle of nowhere!  They loved it, we loved it, and it went so smoothly. So I'll share them first!

My super sweet 4 year old.

15 months, 6 and 4. :)

This one here is special to my heart and I'm very glad I was "talked" into it. You see, I wasn't planning on being photographed this year. Thus the mom bun, flip flops and baggedy clothes choice. We had planned on just getting pics of the girls. But our photographer wanted to capture the moment and she was right, of course. This is who we are :) Mom bun and all.

15 month old whippersnapper :)

and my biggest girl -

My precious 6 year old

Aren't they incredible? :)
I can't wait to get some printed and on the walls.

Speaking of walls.

Next up in the beauty department is a little diy/crafty type project I'm working on. I'm going to do an entire post about it once I finish - but here's a sneak peek.

I found my idea on Pinterest and after pricing some of what I loved on Etsy, decided to just make my own. I'm all about paying those workers their due for what they create, but if you can make it yourself... I say go for it! We'll see if mine turns out how I see it in my head. :) Stay tuned. I'm sure you aren't surprised that it involves burlap and paint. At this point that's just how I roll.
I also found a real, vintage, black metal rolling cart on the curb this week and I'm trying to redo that thing. It's a crafty time around here. Maybe I'll throw those two into one post. Or maybe I'll tease you with knowing I have them and never get around to finishing either. Chances are 50/50 right now. :)

And now the crazy:
Our yard. Bless it's heart. We are so thankful for the SPACE we have out there. We inherited one of those Rainbow play places so the kids can play, we have a shed for storage, a large deck, great landscaping and flowers... and two years ago it looked fantastic. ;) Time has worn on and it's showing up back there. The play place has rotted boards (sad day!) and I'm almost convinced we'll have to tear it down after this winters snow. I'm surveying my wood saavy friends to find out. The deck will need re-stained in the spring and a few planks here and there need some new screws. The landscaping is just sad - after 1 summer pregnant, and the next with a newborn it has been neglected a bit and taken over by vines and what not. Though I will tell you that I rescued my rose bush! And our lillies faithfully bloom. Before frost I'll toss my mums into a new spot back there and hopefully we'll have those from here on out, too.

Our plan before the snow comes is to create a fire pit/hang out space in the back yard. Back by our shed we have already gone to work ripping out trees and planning. I even drew up a little firepit blueprint. Here's our progress on the clear out. Keep in mind this entire landscaped area was full of weird scrawny trees. Thanks to our neighbor and his chainsaw we are on our way!

I'd like to rip up all the edging pavers you see in this picture, and turn the entire corner into our space.

So, hopefully, when we finish you will look at the corner of the yard from this angle and see the fire pit area. :) We'll more then likely cut down the massive branch above this space so we don't catch our tree on fire. It looks saggier to me anyway. As you can see I'm still trimming and burning. Have I mentioned how great it is to live in a township that allows back yard burning!? Pyro's unite! I kinda wanted to paint the shed to look like a mini-barn...thankfully my husband put the squash on that. One crazy at a time! My MAIN goal is to try and reuse what we already have and spend little to none. I'm realizing we'll already need things like pea gravel, etc. to keep things safe. Worth it! I'm dreaming of making it pretty and having a great space to come together. I've pinned a few ideas on pinterest - here's what I'm envisioning:

The person who thought of this is a genius!

So there you have it. Some beauty and some crazy. We sure keep things busy around here. :) Wishing you a wonderful fall weekend, friends. Until next time... :)

.:Autumn Afternoons:.

Despite the temp's reaching back into the 70's and even 80's this week... {bleh} We are enjoying a beautiful autumn. Oh how I love it! Neighbors trees have dropped golden leaves in our yard, I was gifted two beautiful RED mums for my front step, and we picked up our first pumpkin! The colors, the smells, the feel of it all never fails to capture my attention.

It's a laid back Saturday here in Iowa and I've been able to really focus in on enjoying my family and our home. These no-where-to-go Saturdays are small treasures to me. Piddling around in the kitchen, making crafts with the kids, extra baby snuggles - it's all wonderful and most days we are so busy it's easy to miss those moments. Even now as my two youngest sleep it's calm and sunny and watching the trees sway and lose their leaves is perfect! Of course the mug of hot cider was a bonus as well :)

Autumn really is the most wonderful time of the year!

Tonight we'll have some Creamy chicken wild rice soup - my first attempt. It's been simmering away in the crock pot since early this morning and the house smells heavenly. I'm sharing the recipe today because it's SUPER easy, pretty inexpensive to make and I'm hoping will be a crowd pleaser as my kids love rice, chicken and veggies.

What you'll need:

1 c. uncooked wild rice (I'm using aldi's rice blends - red, white, basmati and wild)

1lb boneless, skinless chicken breast

1 c chopped onions

3/4 c chopped celery

3/4 c chopped carrots

4-5 cloves minced garlic

2 bay leaves

6 c low sodium chicken broth

2 c water

2 T poultry seasoning** (keep reading down below)

3 T butter

2 T olive oil

1/2 c flour

2 c milk

salt & pepper to taste

 

You aren't supposed to peek, but I can't help it!

Before I include the link to the instructions let me touch on the seasonings. This summer I found this gem in the grocery store and have been using it for so many things. It's awesome in soups, on burgers, ground turkey, etc. So instead of buying poultry seasoning I'm using it. Cavenders! It's salt free, too! 

I found this soup recipe on Little Spice Jar's site. It's super cute and she has some great things there! Go check it out here. Her food photography alone will have you drooling :)

As we get deeper into the autumn season our schedules are full. This year we let our oldest take part in the one day cheer clinic our local high school offers. She practiced one day after school and then the next week she and her little cheer friends performed at the football game. It was cute. My hubby was out of town so it was just me and my three little girls - which, was insane. But we survived and have some cute memories to boot.

These girls are such a gift. Some days they really drive me bonkers but then we have precious new mercies the next day. I'm so thankful for all three of them!

Happy Saturday friends! I hope you have a good one, a calm one, full of warm soup and family and all the wonderful things that make this season so special.

My grandma's soup mugs passed down to me :)

There is so much to be thankful for.

As October opened up yesterday I spent a few minutes on my front steps sipping my coffee. It was much cooler then it has been, the sun was slowly making its way up behind our neighbors house, and I could see my breath. Without question this is my favorite time of year. It's the season where, more then others, I find myself lingering. One more glimpse of a sunrise, one more second watching the squirrels in the yard, one more glimpse of that yellowing tree. Life comes alive as the seasons change and I am so thankful for Autumn. There is so much to behold.

In scripture we can read over and over all the passages that talk about giving thanks. This time of year lends to extra thought there as we prepare for Thanksgiving and holidays. It's on our mind. I jotted 1 Thessalonians 5:18 down on my mini chalkboard so I could try and have it on my mind daily. The Lord has done some wonderful things in our life this week and I'm happy to share it with you. In all things we give thanks! The good days and on the bad ones.

Yesterday I stopped by a friends house to pick up a bag of kid clothes. The generosity of people just giving away their kids used clothing blows my mind! I've had to buy very little for my own kids because we are blessed by these great hand me downs. The Lord provides for us in the area often and I am so grateful! Winter coats and boots were a part of this bag and it's exactly what we needed! My girls love ripping open the bags and sorting through whats inside. August, my 4 year old, tried on every coat and jacket proudly shouting, "I love this one!". Such a joy! Give thanks!

While she dug through her new clothes I noticed a card that fell out. I don't want to steal the blessing from this friend but I do want to share why it matters SO much to me. The back story is - our budget has been trimmed immensely this month (and until December) as we pay for my husbands seminary class. There is little to no wiggle room and as far as fun fall extras go, there won't be many. I totally support my husband and his pursuit of his higher degree, 100%, but it does make things feel a little dry at times. I've had to pray and give this over to the Lord many times. So far we've made it through September and I've only pouted a few times about not being able to buy fancy fall coffees. :)
{My splurge} Insignificant, I know. But I really enjoy them and I do find that they add to my joy of fall. Also, who doesn't love pumpkin everything even in coffee?!!?

So, as I opened the card and read the words - I cried. It was EXACTLY what I needed at that moment in my life and the Lord knew it. He always knows! But it wasn't just the coffee card - it was the heart behind it. This already generous friend, who I should be thanking and giving coffee to... was gifting me! It's a busy time in our ministry lives and her appreciation was a blessing to me. Give thanks!

On our way home from picking up the clothes I noticed a curb full of solid wood furniture. For a few months I've been debating what to do with our dining room table. It's coated with glitter and glue and really just looks ragged. We've talked about painting it or staining it or doing something. Right now it's covered in a cute fall table cloth. I saw a nice looking table so we stopped to check it out. It looked like the Duncan Phyfe table I had drooled over on Craigslist! Upon closer inspection, it may not be the real deal - but, it's beautiful! I loaded that beast in my mini van all by myself and back on the road we went! I'm not sure if we'll use it as a dining table after all, knowing how my kids lean and push on our current table. But, I do NEED a laundry table and I do LOVE how pretty this table is! Plus, it was FREE! Give thanks!

So this morning I'm thinking and remembering all the Lord has provided - and I just mention these few fun things, but He has done much more. And not even just "stuff" but in relationships and conversations. We've had a fantastic first two weeks of youth ministry and our adult cell group ministry that meets in our home. The Lord has changed my heart in many ways in how I view people, their hearts and what our deepest need is. It seems the constant theme of every message I'm hearing recently is about loving people, struggling with them, and being the body together. It's been great! And busy.
My home looks like we've been busy. And we'll just keep on serving the Lord and living this crazy good life together.

October holds many good things for our family. I'm eager to see how the Lord holds us and guides us! We have a lot on the calendar and I'm looking forward to every single thing!

Give thanks! There is always so much to be thankful for!

Our favorite season

Ah, yes. Autumn, we welcome you! I've been waiting since last year :)
Last night I put together an overnight breakfast casserole and threw some apples in the crock pot to make cinnamon apples. {You can find the casserole recipe HERE} Because our week was so jam-packed we didn't get to really celebrate the first day of Autumn on the first day - but, we made make up for it this morning over a big family breakfast! Now it's calm. Tummies are happy. Daddy and baby are napping, my middle girl is deeply into some play and my first born is watching a show on TV. I LOVE these Autumn mornings at home.

The house has been decorated for Autumn. This year I had $0 to spend on anything extra, decoration wise, so it was a good challenge to dig through my bins of decor and place things in just the right spot. I kept it simple! And I love how it looks! Though, I admit, I did spend $3 on a plastic table cloth at Walmart for our dining room table. That poor old beast - it's in sad shape. It's cheaper to use a fun table cloth right now then try and paint it or figure out what our plan is. And speaking of Walmart - if you haven't seen their BHG Autumn collection, check it out! Super cute stuff! And I need to mention that the Pioneer Woman has her collection there now, too. :)

My girls are still growing and changing and making life busy and fun!
Jane is 15 months old, has tons of teeth, finally starting walking and is such a joy. She recently has taken up wrestling her sisters and I'm so thankful they all love each other.

August and I have completed TWO days of preschool so far this year. Ha! I'm so bad at this organized at home education stuff. :) Thankfully, she's a smart cookie and so go with the flow. Recently we were gifted an enormous box of colored beads and she loves making her jewelry! While I do believe math and reading and all of that is so important - this girl loves learning things of the home with her momma, and I'm enjoying having her around during the day. She loves cleaning, cooking, organizing, caring for Jane and all things a little momma would do. :)

Ava continues to thrive in 1st grade! In the near future she'll be doing a cheer clinic at her school and seems to be doing pretty well in her piano lessons on Thursdays. We've entered the stage of life where she is invited to birthday parties and has already enjoyed TWO parties this month! I'm not sure we are ready for it - but, here we go. :)
She's also been asking some good questions about God and creation and general "why" questions. This is so encouraging as parents! We pray that soon she will come to know and Love Jesus as her savior!


Iowa is beautiful in Autumn. Thursday we had some family pictures taken and I fell in love with the field of flowers we visited.

I am truly thankful to the Lord for bringing us here. Couldn't you just spend a few hours sitting right here? I could!

My husband and I are learning so much right now about life and ministry and loving people. It's a busy time in our lives as we serve the teens - using our own house as the meeting location on Sunday nights. We are hosting an adult cell group on Tuesdays and life is really full. I need to sit down and journal everything, someday, when I have the time. But right now I am thankful. I'm thankful for the Lord's love for us, His care, His provision.

Sometime soon I hope to do a post about new book recommendations and thoughts about ministry life. I'd love to hear what you are reading and ways you are involved in your local church!

Happy Fall ya'll!

F-A-I-L. There, I said it.

It has been a week.
Quite a week.
And truth be told, the week before that was quite a week, too. 
And, unfortunately, I don't mean that in a happy way.

But today is Saturday and the week is over and tomorrow a NEW one begins! I'm praising the Lord for that and for the very real truth in scripture that each day has a brand new set of mercies. That has been my reality! Leaning on Jesus and at times feeling like I was clinging - and today I hope this post can be an encouragement to you. I can't pretend to know who all reads this little blog. I'm blessed by the feedback I get from time to time {although, that's not why I write}. I'm in this life with my readers and some of us feel like we are in the trenches. I'm there. I honestly believe that just by reading and knowing that someone else is in the same stage is a help. And in this virtual, internet age, maybe this can be the hand reaching out to encourage you.

Two weeks ago I found little black pellet-like things in my silverware drawer.
Then they were found on the dining room floor, another drawer in my kitchen, under my kitchen sink and even some on the baby's high chair. I shook off the idea that we might of had a mouse - I was in denial. But FOUR dead in the mousetraps later... there was no denying. This was the beginning of maybe some of the worst couple of weeks I've had in a while. The mouse problem {we believe} has been dealt with and if I never have to see one of these again - I will rejoice! And our sure fire recipe to catch intruders: peanut butter with a potato chip on top. Worked EVERY time. Gross.

These mice got into my head in a big way. And while there were other factors going on - I found myself afraid to move in my own home. I couldn't use my early morning bible study chair (because I found mice droppings behind it) so I gave up my early morning bible reading. I was afraid to open my kitchen drawers, let alone go into my kitchen. Obviously, as a mom that's a problem. I felt so overwhelmed by this mouse issue. I thought about it at night when trying to fall asleep, I kept thinking I'd hear a trap snap when Brad was gone. I was fearful of my basement and finding a mouse nest. It was driving me batty!! Apparently, even my daughter was feeling my angst as she wrote about it at school. Winning! And the story to this picture is that as I was preparing breakfast for the girls a tiny black mouse ran across my feet at the EXACT time I was opening the microwave. It scared me so much that I ripped the microwave door handle off - thus leaving mom in tears and 3 girls staring at said mom confused at the whole ordeal.

"When a mouse was in my moms kitchen she pulled the microwave handle off."

While I was dealing with the mice and the fear my housework started piling up and we stopped doing preschool. As I mentioned I was afraid and grossed out and convinced I'd get a disease or something if I touched anything. At the same time we discovered that someone in our home had shared pinworm with the family. And I'm not even going into that whole story because it has officially grossed me out to no end and it's humiliating. If you aren't familiar - pinworm live in your intestines. DO NOT GOOGLE IT. Long story short: we've all taken our "worm" medication and everyone is fine now. SERIOUSLY. With a first grader in school touching everything, a 4 year old constantly digging in the dirt and a baby crawling over the floors... I don't know who's to blame. All I do know is that at several moments this week I thought I was losing my mind. All I could think about was mouse poop and pinworms and my nerves were on edge. Apparently it's a BIG deal right now in our area, too, as every pharmacy was sold out of meds. Who even knew?!  Throw in some major financial things going on in our lives and you've got an uptight, stressed out, maxed out, emotional, cooped up momma. {Raising hand, it's me!} All this right on the verge of my favorite season, starting up a few new ministry opportunities in my home and preparing to help lead a ladies bible study.

WHY WHY WHY?! At why is it always all at once?!

My stress level has been up and finally after two weeks my body was starting to let me know that something had to give. The migraine settled in on Thursday morning and is just now going away this afternoon. I get migraine aura's which greatly impare your vision - I see moving triangles and need as much sleep as possible. Our bodies weren't made to live in fear and stress. I confessed to my husband through tears that my body was shutting itself off. (that sounds dramatic but I think you know what I mean) I knew the signs. We spent some time the last few days holding hands and praying.  I am so thankful for a husband who cares so much about me to take me before the throne of God - even at my lowest, most unlovely, Brad is faithful and committed to me. What a precious treasure he is. He also committed a large chunk of his day off yesterday in helping me clean up my two biggest mental hurdles: the kitchen and the basement. Last night I slept like a rock. Peace. Calm. Why do I forget to ask for help directly? Men need us women to be direct. Hinting never works.
There's a mini lesson in here!

So many times in the last two weeks I have cried out to God, called scripture to mind to meditate on and just sat still with nothing else left to do but be quiet. Looking back I can see how he cared for us and moreso how he is chipping away at my pride and lack of faith.

The decorating still hasn't happened. My buffet currently looks like a hot mess of life and seasons changing and school work - right there in my front room waiting for all to see.

Instead of cleaning and decorating and being home - we dropped the girls off at a sitter who so graciously offered - and went on a date morning! It was exactly what I needed! While I had hopped HGTV has stopped by to redo my house, they didn't. And that's ok. :) Cooler days are settling in, the mouse are gone, the unmentionable other thing is gone and money will never satisfy.
The Lord is good. It has been a couple of FAIL weeks for me in my responses and heart attitudes, but God never fails and He always, always, ALWAYS loves. Driving home this morning we passed by this corn field and I was washed over with the reminder of the beauty of our all sustaining, mighty, and loving savior.

Hang in there, friend. We'll have these fail weeks but the new mercies are fresh again tomorrow!