Slide Show Post

It's been a while since I posted pictures of just the kids. And I honestly haven't been taking as many.

We've been having fun lately just chillin' and enjoying life. Not pictured are our days of playing in the backyard with Gideon's "Light Me Garage", TCBY trips where G voluntarily feeds his ice cream to Naomi with the back end of his spoon, or Gideon helping JR with yard-work and washing the cars.

But life right now is pretty sweet and uncomplicated. And we thank the Lord for these moments in our lives.

Enjoy the slide show!

Support Button

The "Support" button on the right is a link to a page where we put the week's biggest prayer request concerning our journey into full-time ministry.

Check it out from time to time and see how you can support us through prayer.

We really appreciate it!

Photo Viewing

Today I got to see more than just the preview of the kid's professional photo shoot.

I had a $50 credit going in and I knew I didn't want to go much over that. It was hard, but I stayed firm. Less than $5 left me this morning due to the pictures. However, JR and I just looked at all the pics together, and we marked 4 more that we'd like. (an additional $80) :)

If you would like to see all 59 proofs, I'll provide the link here, but for the password, you will have to e-mail me. :)

Daisha

Spring Sing Trip 2009

(There is a slide show at the end of this long post.)

Tuesday (a week ago) was CRAZY! I showed the house to some prospective renters, had a family that has 3 boys under 3 over for dinner, and showed the house to the realtor, and packed for our trip.

Wednesday morning we woke up early, woke the kids and headed out. Naomi looked like she couldn't believe that we were waking her up, and Gideon immediately started talking about Papa Dan. (He didn't want to stop for breakfast at Chick-fil-A b/c he wanted to be at Papa Dan's house.)

Our first destination was Harding Graduate School of Religion library. While JR got some more research done for his paper, the kids and I enjoyed time out of the car in the beautiful day. After about an hour and a half, we got back in the car and made it to Searcy in time to join my parent's for dinner.

We were also able to meet Isabelle Sweet when we got to my parent's house. Isabelle (or "Izzie") is Debby's new dog. My mom was her "foster parent" until we could pick her up. She is adorable and the kids took to her instantly.

Thursday was our "chill" day before I had to report to Spring Sing judging duty at 5:15. So we hung out, played with the puppy, and while Naomi napped JR stayed with her and did some school work. Gideon and I headed out to run some errands.

On our way toward campus I realized that the preschool we registered Gideon for this fall was still going on, so we swung by to check it out. Gideon was SO EXCITED!!! We got there right as the kids were hunting for eggs. I let G find one egg for him and one for Naomi. Several of my friends from high-school and college have kids in the school and we were able to meet some of them. And we were shown around the classrooms and the room where they have puppet shows. If you talk to Gideon anytime soon, ask him about his preschool. He is beside himself with excitement about it.

At 5 Gideon and Naomi's babysitters, Sydney and Hannah, came over. These girls were a blast. Gideon was devastated when JR got home. Apparently, only taking everyone out for treats from Sonic made things better. But while our kids were playing with the girls, JR and I were at a Spring Sing Judges dinner. I felt like it was a little reunion of sorts. Tiffany "Yecke" Brooks was there, as well as Abby Smith and "Sully". I reconnected with Melanie Morgan (some married name I'd have to look up right now). She is currently working at Cabot Jr High South (which is where I taught in the fall of 2002). It was really great catching up with these people.

Judging the show came easily for me. I mean, I always have an opinion. But this time I was provided with a notebook, penlight, and pen. The hardest part was not being able to talk to my mom about the show. :)

When we got home after the show, JR whipped out my notebook and we went through it. :)

Friday we had a meeting to get ready for: Hannah brought Sam to mom's office for his "interview". :) Things in my mom's office are always crazy because people are always stopping by. So I was very glad that Hannah and I had scheduled more time for us to get to know Sam later.

Claudia and Ryan came into town around lunch time. We hung out with them until JR and I checked into our Harding paid for hotel room. The family met up at one of Papa's new favorite restaurants for dinner and then we all headed out to watch Spring Sing.

Gideon and Naomi loved it. Apparently, Naomi like the jazz band numbers the best. And since the Hosts and Hostesses sang "God is Bigger Than the Boogie Man", G was delighted.

After the show, we sent the kids home with Ryan and Claudia and JR and I headed out to meet back up with Hannah and Sam. After driving around for a while, we finally found "The Underground". The coffee was good, but the conversation and company was the best. Sam gets our stamp of approval and it is wonderful to see Hannah so happy.

Saturday: not that we celebrated it, but it was the 5th anniversary of when JR and I met.

Saturday was a pretty busy day for me. We got to my parent's house by 9 for a big family breakfast. We also started a new tradition: Resurrection Rolls. Claudia found the idea and we love it. You take a large marshmallow and it represents Jesus' body. You dip it in melted butter (represents the oil they prepared His body with) and roll it in cinnamon and sugar (represents the spices) and roll it up in a crescent roll. Bake according to the directions on the rolls and when you pull out the "tomb", Jesus' body isn't there anymore! (and they taste like cinnamon rolls) It is a winner in our family. :)

After breakfast, Claudia and I headed out to spend a JCPenney gift card she had. While we were shopping, Katie called and we planned to meet up at 1. (Then I realized it was 12:15.) So, after about another 20 min., Claudia and I headed back to the house so I could grab everything I would need for the rest of the day, I kissed my family and headed back to meet Katie and judge some more Spring Sing.

Katie and I had a little time together, and then I was off again to have my opinion count. :)

After the Saturday matinee performance, the judges have another dinner at which they cast their ballots. So, this lasted until around 6:45, so instead of seeing all of the last (most exciting) showing of Spring Sing, Tiff and I headed out to my parent's house. She wanted to meet Izzie and I wanted to help JR get the kids bathed and down to bed. After that, I headed back out to see the results of the judging and join up with Chi Sigs/Regina for the traditional singing.

I got to the show durring the last club act and made my way to my seat. The judging went like I thought it would. I was only one of 3 judges judging Visuals. Other catagories were judged by other people. And I headed out to the circle.

I ran into people I haven't seen for years. But the person I was hoping I would run into was Dustin Vyers. And he was there! In the slide-show below it says I hadn't seen him for 6 years... but I think it's actually closer to 7 years. He and Tiff talked me into hitting the party and I was out partying old-school style (meaning, people standing around talking about how there was no more Dr. Pepper left) until 11:35. But it was great seeing Dustin. And Carla said she has a cute daughter Gideon's age... so we're beginning to talk about cute grandchildren. I was able to visit with both of Hannah's parents. (get their take on Sam) :) We were the oldest people there, which was weird. I felt like I was 20 again with all those old friends (and without the rest of my family reminding me that I graduated 7 years ago).

When I got home, everyone but my cousin, Elaina, was in bed. And I found out that we were LEAVING for church at 7:30 am. Yikes.

But Sunday morning found us at first service. During class the Tanzania team took our class through their presentation. They have set up a huge area as different parts of Tanzania and took us "on a trip." It was a really neat experience. And JR had never been exposed to anything like that before. So, I'm glad they took our class instead of someone else's. :)

We headed back to the house, packed up our stuff, and since the roast wasn't cooked (like it should've been) we headed to a restaurant. In all our haste to get on the road, we never took an "Easter" picture.

The family headed for home as soon as we finished lunch. All 5 of us. (Remeber Izzie?) We only stopped once. And during that hour, the dog pooped in the car, Gideon peed on his pants (he was on the toilet, but got messy), JR and I didn't sit still for the whole hour.

We got home at midnight and our crazy trip was over.

Sneak Peek

The kid's free photo shoot with Linda and Olyn Long was this past Saturday.

For a peek at the pictures, click HERE.

And, tomorrow (early) morning we are heading to Searcy. I happen to be a Spring Sing judge this year. (FINALLY!!!)

So... if you plan to be in S-town this weekend, maybe we'll run into you. :)

Baseball's Opening Day

This is celebrated like a holiday in our home: JR leaves work early, pictures are taken, we have decorations (well, at least wardrobe-wise), and this year we even added baseball and baseball player cakes.

Last year the kids looked like this:












This year:

Their cousins in Germany celebrate this "holiday" too.



Thanks to Janay for making the shirts again. And thanks to Debby for getting them for all the kids.

Oh, and "GO ORIOLES!"

Müller-esque

He (George Müller) had prayed in millions of dollars (in today's currency) for the Orphans and never asked anyone directly for money. He never took a salary in the last 68 years of his ministry, but trusted God to put in people's hearts to send him what he needed. He never took out a loan or went into debt. And neither he nor the orphans were ever hungry.

John Piper
George Mueller's Strategy for Showing God
Simplicity of Faith, Sacred Scripture, and Satisfaction in God

2004 Bethlehem Conference for Pastors

But what does that look like today in the 21st century? We live in a global community connected by the internet. Just from our family blog, you can link to families from Africa, Germany, Scotland, Peru, NYC to California. And we (currently) live in Florida.

How does a global community know the everyday needs of a family not asking for things? Only by the prompting of The One providing for us.

So what ARE we asking for?

Prayer

Join us as we pray for the Lord to show HIS GLORY to the world (through our blogs) by how He provides for us.

You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.

II Cor. 1:11 (ESV)

We crave your support in prayer more than anything else.

However, we know from experience, that the Spirit prompts us to action. And if the Spirit prompts you to give, we want to have things set up to make it easier for you to follow that prompting.

Toward that end, you will find a "Support" button on this blog. It is connected to a another page with a PayPal account.

Again, we are only requesting you pray for us as we step out in faith and trust in the Lord's provision.

If you want to make sure that you don't miss any of this adventure, subscribe to our blogs or become a "follower". We'd love to have you along for the ride!

Grace, Mercy, and Peace,
JR, Daisha, Gideon and Naomi

Our Next Chapter

..."He's always been faithful to us."...

These were the parting lyrics JR and I recorded for our wedding. What a fitting way to begin our journey as newly-weds.

God continues to be faithful. He has provided us with children, jobs, family, friends... And we are truly blessed. In our wildest dreams we could not have predicted getting pregnant on the honeymoon, a pregnancy without insurance, JR quitting his job, moving to Florida, being introduced to the Dave Ramsey way of thinking, paying off the bills from our first child as we welcomed his (insured) little sister, being debt-free, and now... JR's calling to get his Masters of Divinity.

And God's gracious, loving hand guided everything.

So now on to the next chapter in our lives as we continue Growing Together...

This summer JR is signed up for another intensive class and this fall he will be a full-time grad student at HUGSR. At some point (most likely August so JR can keep pulling in a pay-check as long as possible) we will move our family to Searcy, AR.

"What will you be doing?" you ask.

Good question.

God will provide.

"Where will you be living?" you ask.

Good question!

God will provide.

"How will you pay for school and living?" you ask.

Good question!

God will provide!

"He's always been faithful to us."

JR and I have been praying about his calling and what it means for our family since last summer. And one day a few weeks ago Gideon and I were watching "Gideon, the Tuba Warrior." The first story on the DVD is about George Müller.

When the story was over I immediately called JR and told him to look him up on the internet. JR was captivated by Müller's faith.

Since reading about the gift of faith God gave George Müller, we have been made aware that our struggles with trying to line things (ie: jobs, housing, ect...) up for JR to pursue his calling full-time was really us lacking faith that God will take care of us. (I am NOT making a blanket-statement about planning for the future equaling a lack of faith.)

For us, we believe that God is telling us to let go of the things we think we need to control.

For us, this is another area that we are being called to place entirely in God' more than capable hands.

"So what does this look loke for your family?" you ask.

Good question.

Follow our blogs and watch God at work. He does amazing things!

Naomi's 14th Monthabirthday

14 Things about my amazing little girl:

1. Her words:
Momma
Dada
Dog
Duck
Eyes
All done
Up up
Down down
Stop
Bible
Gentle
Thank you
Big Bird
George
Diaper
Bye bye
Uh oh
Baby
No

2. Sounds she makes:
Quack
Moo
Woof
Oooh ooh (monkey)

3. Non-verbal communication:
Naomi is great at non-verbal communication. She nods yes or no. She points at things. If she wants it she will either ask for it by name and then point to herself or sign "more" (which she uses for "asking nicely").

4. She currently sleeps in a "big girl bed". We moved her into this a few weeks ago when we sold the crib in a huge consignment sale. Even though she can climb out of her bed, she has only done it so far when she is done sleeping. (My fingers are crossed that she won't decide she doesn't want to go to bed and start getting up when I put her down.)

She does climb on everything else. One of her favorite past-times is climbing on furniture and telling me she needs to sit down. In fact, she hears that so much that today she took her Elmo and had him standing on a box. She looked right at his face and said, "down down" and made Elmo sit on the box. At least she's learning the lesson. (and teaching it)

Oh, and she also figured out how to climb UP the down part of the slide over at her grandma's house. This girl is strong and fiercely determined.

5. We got her some new shoes at Target the other day while JR stayed home to get some school work done. She was wearing them when we came in the house and I told her to show them to her daddy.

Naomi crossed the room all smiles and "daddas!" until she got about a foot and a half away from JR. She stopped. Posed. And did a twirl. Then she leaped into JR's waiting arms. It was stinkin' adorable, people.

6. If the house is quiet and I haven't seen Naomi in a while, I usually find her reading a book. When she notices she's being watched, she points out the objects she knows in the pictures. Her proud little smile is priceless.

7. Her hair is growing. Even on the top, although it is still shorter than the rest of her hair. I have pulled it into a pony-tail. However, to keep her hair from looking really mullet-ish, a headband is the best cure. Most of the time when we're at home I just let the curls take over her head. :)

8. The ONLY time Naomi has a really hard time is in the nursery at church. It's the room. It has to be. She's fine everywhere else in the building. And it's not that she's with me or JR in other parts of the building. The nursery/class teachers who are trying to calm the screaming child that is usually so smiley walk around and she quiets down.

I'm not sure what to do about this. It makes it really hard to leave her for Bible class.

9. The other day Naomi and I were sitting on Gideon's bed and Naomi was holding "Mie" (Gideon's monkey). She held it up as if to ask what to call it. I told her he was a monkey and made monkey noises. Naomi echoed my monkey sounds and looked around the bed and found Curious George. She picked up George and started making monkey sounds. I praised her for being so smart and making matches and she went on to astound me. She picked up a pillow in the shape of a race car and I told her it was a car. Then she pointed to a 2-D car on Gideon's sheets.

Genius, people. She's matching things right and left.

And if that weren't enough... today I was sorting laundry. I had a basket full of reds, and a basket full of other non-red colors. She picked up a red frisbee and put it with the non-reds, paused, looked at the basket of reds and decided to get the frisbee out of non-reds and put them in with the rest of the red items. (blew me away)

10. Gideon and Naomi are really getting to where they play together a lot. I'm not talking side-by-side individual play... really playing together. They have tea parties, play cars, have sword fights, and play more cars. They wrestle and tickle and hide under the tables. It's really neat to see them bond.

11. Despite the fact that Naomi is very strong-willed and independant, she minds very well. She is a good listener. She is getting very good about following directions. Almost always she will "put _______ back where (she) found it". I can correct her behavior in most cases with non-verbal ques or a soft direction.

12. She's getting better about cleaning up her toys with Gidoen as well. She loves to put nesting cups inside each other. She has a piggy bank that hold coins and a purse that holds purse-y things and she likes to put the items where they belong.

13. When she doesn't want to leave a room... she does everything in her power to stay. Have I mentioned how strong she is? Have you ever had an almost 30 lb. child dig her toes into hard-wood floors? Come try to get Naomi to leave the bathroom to give her older brother some privacy.

14. Yesterday she SAID her first prayer. For several weeks she's been really good about folding her hands to pray when we do, but yesterday, spontaniously, she prayed on her own. We were out looking for fabric for a commissioned project and she folded her hands in prayer and said, "Thank you." What a great way to start your prayer life, huh?

She's amazing!! and silly, and goofy, and beautiful, and strong, and tough, and... my little girl!