That's how we roll

Yesterday we made reservations to go the beach in 8 days (7 now)!! That's right, a week in advance. That is pretty good for us! We aren't much for planning. It is all my husband's fault. I used to be a planner...then I married Brad...then I had a bunch of kids. Now we do good to know things day by day around here! It doesn't bother me much anymore but I know it gets annoying when other people are involved. Sorry, that's just how we roll! =)

In other news, you might be wondering how I am spending my summer. We haven't been doing much but I feel like I am constantly doing something but never getting anything done! We aren't ones for spending our days away from the house. We go out once a week for groceries, maybe twice a week if we decide to do something outside the home or have appts. The older kids spend their days outside while I spend my days chasing the monster around heaps of laundry. =)

Abigail helping Hannah do her worksheets

plans

We all have plans. Plans are necessary in some cases; your child' future, vacations, retirement, etc. But, ultimately, I think everyone who reads my blog will agree with me when I say that our plans change and God has the final say-so no matter what we plan. Agreed? That being said, Im sure you all know of our "plan" to sell our house and move to the country. I know, we live in the country already but we want MORE country!! Anyway, we were doing really well for awhile, getting clutter packed up and painting and talking about all the things that need done before we can even put the house for sale. Not long after that progress.halted with school being out and brad being too busy to do much of the work. Not to mention I can't.keep our house clean long enough to let anyone in here!! We just don't feel like now is the right time for us to move. I think God wants us here for a reason. We are surrounded by kids who are all Hannah's age and younger. Several of them went to vbs with us. We are the only Christian influence they have. I really feel like it is up to us to make a difference in their lives. All this being said, we are now thinking of renovating our kitchen/diningroom area. Not only will it help us sell when that times comes but it will be nice to have a kitchen that holds more than one person comfortably.
I hope it didn't sound like I was bragging when I was talking about the neighbor kids. I only want God to have the glory but I think he wants to use us for now. That feels good! Not to mention my daughter has a major crush on one of the boys and so I am going to take him to church every chance I get!!

a new favorite

I know that I will never know everything there is to know about God and the Bible. That's a given. There will always be that verse that I miss. But don't you just love when you hear a verse that is just so wonderful and touches your heart so close and you think, "I've never heard that before!"

Here's one that I heard on Sunday night at church: Isaiah 40:12, "Who has measured the waters[c] in the hollow of His hand, Measured heaven with a span, And calculated the dust of the earth in a measure? Weighed the mountains in scales And the hills in a balance?"

Can you imagine being big enough to hold all the earth's waters in the palm of your hand? Or being able to weigh the mountains in a scale? Wow! My God is big enough to do that! Is yours?

the power to prevail

Here is the long and short of my last two weeks:

VBS. Enough said if you have ever been a part of it. We started on Sunday this year so we would be able to commit the whole two hours Friday to the cookout, water games and obstacle course that I had been planning for weeks.

Major storm on Friday evening. Of course it started right after everyone showed up for our final day of VBS. Within half an hour 40-50 kids and sdults were eating in the church in the dark.

Sunday Am: power was still off after about 36 hrs. 100 degree weather outside and 86 degree weather inside, around the clock is NO FUN. Two nights of that was enough for me. As soon as I woke up I packed bags for 4 people (one of which is a baby and requires everything but the kitchen sink) and we were on our way to Columbus in half an hour to stick it out in the AC with my sister. =)

Fast forward to Tuesday. Power was still off at our house but I decided we were going to come home that evening bc the next day was a holiday and Brad would be off. Besides, Brad's mom had power again.

A few hours later I heard thru the grapevine (facebook) that the electic comp was working in front of our house and a few hours later I found out we had power! I would say lucky me, but I don't think there was any luck involved!

I was excited to come home but not excited to open the frig after just shy of 4 days with no electric! Brad had told me that was the last thing on his list so I was expecting to have to do that when I got home.

I stopped and got a few groceries. Things I knew we would need right away and was home around 9. I walked in the door and I just couldn't stop smiling. It smelled like cleaner, the lights were on and it was a lot neater than when i had left! AND Brad was cleaning out the frig! I unloaded everything and got right to work. Together we knocked out the frig/freezer and our other small freezer in under an hour.

Wednesday (yesterday) was a holiday. The kids rode their bikes in the parade and then we went swimming at mamaw's. Hannah had two friends (they are sisters so you can't get one without the other, which is fine) spend the night after the fireworks.

And here we are today. I'm finally sitting down to get caught up on emails, blogs, church newsletter, and I passed on my SS class so I can get Wed night Bible Club started up so I have lots of work to do there.

That's all folks!