Are you Hungry?

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for 

righteousness, for they will be filled.  

Matthew 5:6

My stomach rumbled for the 20th time as I regretted more and more not grabbing something for lunch before I'd left home.  The pangs were strong and hard to ignore; they consumed my thoughts and were distracting me from everything else.


As we sat around the dinner table tonight the kids were so hungry they could hardly bear the sight and smell of the food without just digging right in.  How often do we, do I, hunger for God in that way?  Might I find life more fulfilling, more bearable if I did.  Might things make a lot more sense?  And might I have more trust during the times things didn't make sense, knowing He was in control?

What consumes you?  What is your primary goal, your focus, the thing that occupies most of your thoughts and your time?  What eats at you...drives you?  And what quenches those cravings when you get them?  How are you fulfilled, satisfied and carried through your days?

These questions, and more, I often ponder.  I've got my faith in God, my one true hope, to fall back on when times are tough.  And oh have they ever been!  

Are you hungry?

Are your days long and seemingly repetitive, meaningless, or hopeless?  From what or where do you ultimately draw your strength?  

Might I suggest a change in your diet, if you will?  I tired long ago of trying to satisfy my hunger pangs with anything besides God.  There was no depth, no staying power, no true quenching satiety in anything the world had to offer me.  

I hunger for God and the things of God...it's how I was created to operate.  Only in Him can I be truly satisfied...filled....

 We had a fun tour of Bruster's Ice Cream shop today.  The kids got to see the inner workings of the store and were even allowed to help make ice cream.  It was fantastic!!!  Of course the tour was concluded with...what else...a dish of yummy ice cream!

Soaring...

I have never seen an eagle fly...

Oh, I've seen them on TV...and I've actually seen eagles in the wild, only they were sitting on a nest.  I can only imagine how majestic these birds must be, out in the wild, rising up on one wind current and swooping down on the next.  When God gives, He gives us the best.  He doesn't make us soar like a sparrow, or a pigeon.  No, He chose the eagle.

The closest thing to soaring I've ever experienced was one time that I did a ropes coarse with Derrick on our anniversary.  We were high up in the trees, walking precariously across narrow rope and wooden bridges.  At one point, we were up on a platform, and the only way across was to step out...off of the platform, and free fall until the slack in the rope harness pulled us swinging across to another tree.  It was absolutely terrifying...something I never thought I could or would do, being terribly afraid of heights.  But that feeling...oh was it amazing when the free fall ended and the rope swung me over to safety.

What a reassurance it is for me to know this about His character.  That in my weakest hour, in my times of incompetence, failure, doubt, and despair, God is quietly waiting to renew and restore my strength and allow me to soar.

Soaring takes some trust...serious trust.  You have to trust your wings, that they'll hold you up and allow you to steer in the direction you want to go.  But you also have to trust in the wind (God), something you cannot see, to carry you along.















Isaiah 40:28-31

Do you not know?
    Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
    and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
    and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
    and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord
    will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
    they will run and not grow weary,
    they will walk and not be faint.

Consider the lilies...

Summer splendor....I truly can't think of a better way to describe it.  I've waited months for this...and finally it has arrived.  The flowers are now in full bloom.  The many months of waiting, watching, anticipating the glorious colors.  There is only so much I can do to prepare for this...I plant, I mulch, I weed, I water...but the plant must grow on it's own.  I can't force it along any faster.   I can't control the development of the buds or size of the flower or it's color.  I must let it proceed as God designed it to do.

Don't worry about tomorrow...consider the lilies

Oh that I could abide by that advice, cling to these promises, trust in His provision for me.  I take pause to consider a God that would pour so much effort and beauty in to a single flower and how marvelous His love must be for me?

Seek first His kingdom...



Before I begin to think about all the things I want, oh let me pause to think first on Him, for His plans for me, for His purpose for me even being here.

Kids Fest Day 1

 Matthew 6:25-34 Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC)

25 Therefore I tell you, stop being [a]perpetually uneasy (anxious and worried) about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink; or about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life greater [in quality] than food, and the body [far above and more excellent] than clothing?  26 Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father keeps feeding them. Are you not worth much more than they?  27 And who of you by worrying and being anxious can add one unit of measure (cubit) to his stature or to the [b]span of his life?  28 And why should you be anxious about clothes? Consider the lilies of the field and learn thoroughly how they grow; they neither toil nor spin.  29 Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his magnificence (excellence, dignity, and grace) was not arrayed like one of these.  30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and green and tomorrow is tossed into the furnace, will He not much more surely clothe you, O you of little faith?  31 Therefore do not worry and be anxious, saying, What are we going to have to eat? or, What are we going to have to drink? or, What are we going to have to wear?  32 For the Gentiles (heathen) wish for and crave and diligently seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows well that you need them all.  33 But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides.
34 So do not worry or be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries and anxieties of its own. Sufficient for each day is its own trouble.

Dinner plate Dahlia...it's HUGE!!

It goes both ways...

"Don't hold the button down, Lawson!"  Carter screams for the 10th time.  They're playing (or trying to play) walkie talkies again and it's just not working out.  Lawson gets so excited the minute he realizes he can talk into the walkie talkie that he just grips it tightly and holds that button down....rambling on and on.  It's a bit of a power trip for a 2-year-old I'm afraid. Carter never gets a chance to get a word in.  He tries to be patient, but it's a completely one-sided conversation.

Listening to them play...Carter desperately trying to have a conversation with Lawson...I saw a parallel to the way we often communicate with God.  How many days are my prayers a quick list of to-do's I want to lay out before Him?  How often to I stop to listen...to really be still and quiet and hear what He might have to say to me?  The minute I realize I've got a captive audience, I'm so quick to dominate the conversation...then when things go awry, I'm just as quick to question God and wonder why my prayers aren't being answered the way I would like.

I've got to loosen my death-grip on that button...the key isn't getting in as many words as I possibly can each day....the key is recognizing I have God's ear, anytime, any place, every day...and then humbly asking Him to help me through whatever life may throw my direction.  He's waiting to talk to me if I'll just let go and listen.

Psalm 27:14 Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.

The Shortstack Anniversary...

Supposedly the 13 year Anniversary is commemorated with a gift of textiles or lace...for us, it was celebrated with an action packed day of Vacation Bible School, a play date, freezer pizza for lunch and a dinner with all 5 kids celebrated at IHOP.  It felt appropriate really, since IHOP was celebrating their own anniversary today...a 59th Anniversary with 59 cent pancakes for all.  It's not often you can feed a family of 7 for under $5!!

If anyone had told me I'd ring in 13 with 5 kids under my belt and 59 cent pancakes on the menu I might have passed out.  That was then....this is now.

Dinner was far from elegant or romantic with the baby fussing and wolfing down two containers of baby food in the first 5 minutes, Sienna insisting that all she wanted was French Fries, Carter so impatient he couldn't even stay in his seat, Lawson falling out of his seat at least 3 times, Sienna dropping her burger (yes she had to get a burger and fries at IHOP) in my purse...after she loaded it up with ketchup, Lawson trying to stick his straw directly into the pitcher of maple syrup so he could "drink some," and Reese insisting she wanted her pancakes with a scoop of ice cream on top.  Well, why not??

As I drove home from our sumptuous dinner, I marveled at how perspectives can change...how much I have changed over the past 13 years and how much my relationship with Derrick has changed...all for the better.

Our relationship has been put to the test...oh boy has it ever!  But I'm a believer in the power of trials to shape character.  I've learned more in the past 13 years than I ever thought possible...life is crazy hard right now...no sugar coating it...but I wouldn't have it any other way.  I lean in harder on God day by day...I am ever thankful to be blessed with the sacred duty of raising 5 beautiful children and incredibly grateful to have the most amazing husband I ever could have dreamed of by my side for this unforgettable journey.  Who knows what the next 13 years has in store for us...

Light Seeking...

Light...

I am always reveling in the power, the mood-boosting quality of, the beauty of light.  Whether sunrise or sunset...or everything in-between....I'm a light-seeking creature.

There is something very gripping about powerful contrasts...something that makes us stop our busy lives and pause...  The first light of morning brings new hope after the long, dark night.

I had the opportunity to attend my second Lantern Festival last weekend and oh, what an amazing sight it was.  Over 5,000 people attended this year and watching those thousands of lanterns rise simultaneously into the sky was absolutely magnificent.  Compared to the vast blackness of the sky, the lanterns were such tiny specks of light...and yet...they made such a dramatic impact.

I couldn't help but think of the many references to light found in the Bible, and how I'm called to be a Light in this dark world.  May I strive to live my life in such a way that it brings inspiration and light to those around me.  I haven't the will, the strength, or the motivation to do this on my own...No, that kind of strength could only come from God.

Psalm 27:1 

The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?  The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?

Reese's 8th Birthday...

The request this year was for a "Beanie Boo Birthday Party."  OK...Beanie Boos it is, Reese!  We had a Pet Adoption station where each girl met her new beanie...they then filled out adoption certificates, blinged up their beanies, and decorated a little pet carrier (aka gift bag) to take their pet home in.  Everyone had so much fun.  We did a Beanie Boo Owl Pinata and an Owl cake to match.  I can't believe my crazy-hair little baby is 8 years old already!!!