Thanksgiving

I want to make my list of all that I am thankful for

I am thankful for:

The Grace of God
For my right to own a bible and attend church
for Shawn
For my parents
For Shawn's parents
Chad, Rachel, and Megan
Susun
My extended family
Shawn's extended family
For my next breath
for a roof over my head
for the money to pay for my needs

We as Americans take so many things for granted. Such as food, a home, and running water. We have no idea what it is like to live without nothing. So I am taking note everyday for the little things and being thankful for those things. For example do you even think about being thankful for flipping the light switch and bam you have lights? I know I don't. What about when you turn the faucet on and water comes out? Are you thankful? How about this turning the key in your car and it automatically starts up? Are you thankful? I take all of these things for granted. You know the saying stop and smell the roses, well shouldn't we stop and smell the roses? Be thankful for what you have and do not take it for granted!!!!

Heading into the New Year!

So I don't make New Year's Resolutions because I know that I won't keep them. So every year I asked God what next. What is it that You want me to do with this year. One of the questions that our Pastor has asked us is: "What are you going to trust God for this year?" My answer to this is a two part answer. The first thing that I am going to trust God for is Shawn's job. We are wanting to move from here but we want to make sure that we are in God's will first. My second answer is that we are going to trust God for a child. I have wrestled with this issue for many many years. I trust God somewhat but still hold on and try to control parts of it. So for the year 2009 and I am not going to doubt that God will give us a child.

Our pastor is laying out over the next few services a Faith P.L.A.N. Here is what the first part says:

1. Prepare today for tomorrow's opprotunites- Ephesians 5:15-16.
1.) Prepare by Faith because there Are:
a.)Surprising interruptions in Life-Judges 6:11-16
"Champions don't become champions in the ring-merely
recongnized there." Dr. Jerry Falwell
b.)Unexpected opprotunities in life- 1 Samuel 17:33-40
"The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his time, when it
comes." Benjamin Disraeli

In the Judges verse Giddeon was a coward. He did not want to stand up to the Midianites. But if you notice God calls Giddeon a warrior. This is even before Giddeon is a warrior. God knows what lies ahead of us, what paths were are going to take. So God knew Giddeon was going to be a mighty warrior. Take confidence in what God has pre-planned for you.
In the Samuel verse David is going up against Goliath. No one believed in him. But David knew exactly what God can do. So he had the courage because the Lord was with him. I want to have the faith that David has. God took a little Sheppard boy and made him into a King. David did not know he would be king one day he trusted God at the moment to get him through this battle in life. He had FAITH!

2.)Practical Steps to Prepare for Tomorrow's Opprotunities:
1.)Never Allow those who "will not" tell you that "you cannot"
David did not let the king sway him to back down from the fight against
Goliath
2.)Study the battle plans before tomorrow's battle- read the Word
Psalm 8- David wrote this passage before the battle of Goliath- He knew
how great God was/is , David had faith in God
3.)Learn How to use the sword and shield- memorize the word
4.)Keep your life spiritually sharp-get in a Sunday school Class or bible study
5.)Do something radical in the faith- Get your passport. (basically saying be
prepared for where God can take you)
I hope that the above makes sense. Basically what I am trying to say in a nut shell. Wherever God palces us for a season of life we need to trust Him, have Faith God.

The Election

I am very disappointed in my generation. We have just allowed our country to take one step closer to a socialistic government. It is so sad. After listening to the news and hearing from voters that voted for Obama it broke my heart. They voted for him based on his skin color not his policies. I am not a racist and if Obama had good policies and was pro-life I would have voted for him. But our country is in a world of hurt. My husband's job could be at stake. The military is our life. We love it and now our future is uncertain. I have posted a link for a video from Howard Stern. I am not a Howard Stern fan but this video shows you just how ignorant the voters were.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyvqhdllXgU

Go and check this out you will be surprised.

I think now it is time for Christians to stop becoming complacent and stand up for our country. We need to bring God back into our churches and back into our nation. Our country was built on God's word. We have laughed in the face of God. We as Christians take for granted our freedom to be able to worship whenever we want to. Before too long we won't have that right. It makes my heart break for those that just want to set back and "be safe" . There is no doubt that Tuesday was a defining moment in US history. It was a historical election. I will agree with that. Our country has come a long way. But when did we stop voting based on the canidates policies and start voting on the color of their skin?

Bearing my Heart

Out of my devestation this week came an overwhelming amount of peace. Now it has taken awhile to get to this place but I have made it. This past weekend I had my time of yelling at God and asking Him WHY!!! I shed many tears and fought off depression but through the grace of God I have come out on the other side.

God all ready knew that this would happen and he placed a special lady in my life to help me through. Now don't get me wrong our friends have been the best during this time and without them as well we wouldn't have made it. But there was one special lady that spoke truth to me. She let me vent, be angry with God and then she put me in my place. Of course she did it out of love. But I needed her and God used her to speak to me. She asked me a few very tough questions and those were: "Have you given your desire to have children completely over to God? Have you laid your desire at the foot of the cross and walked away from it? And finally Are you able to tell God whatever the outcome I will still serve you?" My response to her was this: "You know Shawn asked me these very questions a few months ago and my reply to him was that I was not ready to give that up to God because I was afraid of what His answer to me would be." She then told me you know what you need to do Lay it down and walk away and out of that God will bless you.

She stressed to me that if I did not leave my burden at the cross then God could not truely bless me. The more that I hold onto my burden the more trials I am going to go through because is trying to teach me to just trust Him. She also encouraged me to be like Hannah. God belseed her bearaness and her faithfulness with Samuel and look what kind of man Samuel turned out to be.

So this week I have been prayering and seeking the face of God in this matter. I have finally laid down my desire to have children at His feet and I have walked away. I know that God's plans are better than I could even begin to imagine for me. He sees the whole picture and I see just a tiny puzzle piece. So I know I just need to trust him.

Some of the passages that I have clinged to our now my foundation for this new season of life that I am in. They are:
2 Peter 1:3 "His divine power has given us EVERYTHING we NEED for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness."

1 Peter 4:12-19 "Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. (13) But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. (14) If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. (15) If you suffer, it should be not as a murderer or thief or an other kind of criminal or even as a meddler. (16) However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear the name. (19) So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good."

1 Peter 5:6 &10 (6) "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. (10) And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm, and steadfast."

So there is my heart laid out. I want to thank everyone for their prayers. I have felt them and needed them. I rest in the fact that I know God has great plans for Shawn and I. I can't wait to see His plan unfold.

Our New Addition!!

So some of ya'll know what happened to us yesterday. We got a phone call at o12:15pm wanting to know if we would like to take in a baby. Of course we said YES!!!!!!!!! She was born October 13, 2008 at 8:40 pm she was 6.5 pounds and 19 inches long! She is so precious. God has overwhelmed us with his goodness this week. A new car and a new baby to put into the car.

Now the journey is going to be a long one with lots of ups and downs. Right now she is considered a Foster child but this is how it works. Eventually her status will change but it may take awhile before it does. So please be in prayer for us as we start this journey.

So last night was definitely a long night. We were up about every hour and a half. Not much sleep but there are NO complaints here!!!!! I enjoyed every minute of it. Shawn took a couple of shifts and did fabulous with her. We are enjoying our time with her and can't wait for her to meet all of our friends and family!

What a way to end the Week!!!!

So today we found out that the insurance agency totaled our car out. Of course we wanted this just because if they fixed up the van we did not feel safe that it would run right. They say after a car is in a wreck it just never drives the same again. So of course as many of y'all know Shawn and I seem to like challenges. hahahaha Shawn also found out yesterday that he has a funeral Friday and then one on Saturday. So here is our delima that we were faced with. The insurance company was only extending out our rental car until Monday Oct. 13. So we had really only 2 days to search for a car. Shawn spent all afternoon yesterday looking at cars online.

The car search:
So we headed out last night after all my kids left for the search. We started at the ford place and we found an explorer that we fell in love with. It had the 3rd row seating and was leather. It was in our price and the milage was okay. So they talked us into taking it home for awhile to help us decide if this was the right vehicle. We told each other before we bought that unless the deal was so amazing that we could not pass up then we would go home for a night and think about it. We then ended up at the Chevy place. The salesman took us to the Trailblazers and we first started off with a new one. The price scared me because it was not in our price range. Well the salesman said lets fun the numbers and see what we can get it for. So he did and the monthly price was out of range. Now take into consideration that our down payment went on our van 5 months ago. So we were looking at no down payment. Well he was going to put us into a used trailblazer and when we still weren't satisfied we then told him we would go home tonight and think about it. We also told him we were leaning more towards the Explorer. He asked us to give him one more minute and so we did. He came back and with only $50 dollars more than what we were paying per month he could get us into the 2008 Trailblazer with only 96 miles on it. Plus we also go an extended warranty of 6 years 100,000 bumper to bumper. So it was the dealbreaker and we walked away with a brand new car!!!!!

God is so Amazing!!!!! We have been praying since Saturday that God would bless us with the right car. And we have been blessed. So God has been graceful towards us and blessed us even though we don't deserve it.

As far as my medical injuries go, I am still having some back and hip problems. When I am on the medicine that the doc gave me I feel fine but when they wear off it is a different story. I am suppose to start physical therapy here soon so hopefully that will help out. But those are minor problems I could be worse off. I am just happy that I walked away with minimum scratches and bruises. Again God protected me!!!! He placed a protection around the van and held me close.

Oh and on the upside of things as well. Shawn got accepted into IDMT school. So he goes April 24, 2009 to school and will be gone until June 24, 2009. After that we could come back here or they could move us somewhere else. So we shall see where God will take us.

So there is the update!

A bad Saturday!

So here is how my Saturday October 4, 2008 went. My parents had been in town for the week and I had just gotten back from driving them to Birmingham Alabama to catch a plane home. On my way back into Warner Robins I thought to myself do I want to go home and nap and then get something to eat or get something to eat and then nap. Well I opted for the later. I drove myself to Sonic, splurged and grabbed a burger and a soda. After I got my lunch I headed off to eat it at home. I took our usual route home. As I made my left onto Moody road I had just picked up speed to about 25 mph when out of nowhere a red pickup truck comes flying across the road and low and behold right into the side of the van. I have the right of way on this road and the guy that hit me was suppose to stop. He was coming so fast that I didn't even see him coming until it was too late. I couldn't even break. Needless to say the guy broadsided me and pinned me into my car on the driver's side. The cop thinks he was going about 40 mph +.

Luckily on this road on Saturday's it is very busy so I had lots of witnesses. I finally was able to get out of the car on my own, crawling over to the passenger side. I escaped with a 1st degree burn on my left forearm and a horrible back/neck/chest ache. When I got out and looked at the damage that had been done I wondered how I escaped with such minor injuries. The fireman wanted to know the same. The Grace of God!!!!! My angels hugged me close and protected me. What a wonderful experience. I am so thankful that my life was spared and that I was not hurt badly.

The other guy walked away without a scratch on him and a bad attitude. I did have to go to the hospital for x-rays and to get my burn checked out. The x-rays came back fine and my burn will heal in time. In fact this morning it looks even better.

So you might be asking "Where is Shawn?" Well, the government calls :) Shawn had a detail (funeral) in Tennessee that he had to attend this weekend. He left on Friday and won't be back until today. So he has been stuck in a hotel room trying to cope and do the husband thing from there. I have an amazing husband. Within just a few short hours he had one of our good friends meet me at the ER, called the police department to find out details, called USAA our insurance agent to start a claim, and got our rental car reserved. He did all of this traveling on a van back to the hotel on Sat. But when the men are away that is when things go wrong. So you just get used to it and deal with it. Plus if God didn't think I could handle it he would not have put me in this situation.

I would like to ask for your prayers this week. As most of you know Shawn and I have only one car. We will have a rental car for at least 30 days. We think our van will be totaled out so we will have to start the process to look for a new one. I am just asking the Lord to help pave the path before us to find the perfect car and the perfect interest rate :)

I am doing okay just really sore. I am thankful for just the soreness because it could have been worse. Below are the pictures that were taken with the cell phone. I will post more pictures once we go and look at the van.

The month of September

So its been a few days since my last post so I will catch everyone up. Shawn and I have changed churches. We were going to a small church about 20 minutes from here. Everytime that we tried to get involved doors were closed. No return phone calls or emails. We were met with resistance. Not nesccissarly with the body of the church but just God shutting doors. I don't know if that makes sense or not. So we started praying that if this was not the church God had for us that he would start showing us. Not long after our home group disbanned. The leaders were feeling called to another direction and no one else felt called to take the lead.

So a little background on our home group. There was about 8 couples and only 3 of the couples were faithful in attending and doing our bible study. The other 5 couples were always too busy. Then when we did finally get together the other 5 couples used that time to play catch up on their day to day lives. So we were not ever able to actually do our bible study. This was very discouraging. Shawn and I trudged through this hoping that all the kinks would eventually be worked out. But God finally shut it down which was for the best.

After this door was shut we decided that it was time to search for a new church. We ended up at a church down the street from us. The pastor is amazing. He is a man of God with a passion for the Lord. My toes get stepped on from week to week with conviction. The pastor encourages a growth from each member of the church. Pastor Jeff is just not afraid to tell it like it is. He holds his sheep accountable for their actions. Which is something that you don't find in all churches. So after much prayer this is where God is calling us.

As for Shawn alot is happening for him. I posted before he starts honor guard Sept 15 and finsishes it on Dec 15. On top of all of that he is having to cross train into a new job. His career field is over manned so they are wanting people right now to volunteer for a new assignment. Later on it won't be volunteer and you won't have a choice as to what new job you want. It is either what the military offers or get out. So since we are career military then Shawn decided to volunteer, that way he can pick his job and not have it picked for him. So he is going to become and IDMT. Which is Idependent Duty Medical Technician. Basically he is an enlisted version of a Physcian's Assistant. So we are waiting on his acceptance into the program. We should know that before the end of the month. Shawn will have to go back to school for 10 weeks and then who knows what will happen from there. He could come back here or we can get assigned to another base. But that is life with the military. Now I will say I will not be heart broken if we had to leave this base.

As for me not much is going on. I am now full with daycare kids. I have 5 kids most days. I goes to school and the other four stay home with me. I have a 9month old, 1 year old, and 2 two year olds. So my day is full and crazy. But I love it. No word on our adoption. I know it will all happen in God's time.

Trip to Texas

So we made the long 14 hour journey to Texas last week. I think I need a vacation from a vacation. :) We had such a wonderful time. It is so good to see family and just be able to spend quality time with them. Of course we spent lots of quality time with the fam. We helped Bernie (Shawn's dad) take down the old fence and put up a brand new one. Now that was an experience. As some of you know I am not really big into manual labor, but boy did I put in my hours of manual labor. I did not do as much as Shawn, Bernie, Susun or Deigh but I did more than I usually do! On Monday we started to pull the fence down. Well guess what It rained the whole entire day. Did that stop us, NOPE we trudged through the rain. We got all of the fence down on Monday! On Tuesday Bernie and Shawn dug holes to set the new poles. We started to work on Wednesday but it stormed and the guys were going to be usuing electrical tools so that wasn't really that wise. So instead we worked on Thursday putting up the new fence. We got most of it done except for the two gates and the sides of the two gates. OH and we did not stick around to help out cut the tops off of the poles and put a border around the fence. Let me just say that my muscles ached in places that I did not know I had muscles.

So the fun part of our trip was the surprise party for Bernie. Bernie turned 50 this year!!!!!!! So we tried to keep him out of the house all day on Saturaday but do you know how hard it is too keep men from wanting to come home. Let's just say men don't shop as well as women. Chad and Shawn had a hard time keeping Bernie busy for the afternoon. But come to find out Bernie all ready knew about the party. A few people slipped up and spilled the beans. But he was a good sport about it all!

On Tuesday we did spend some time with some friends and we had a blast. It is just good to catch up with old friends!

Of course one of the highlights is getting to spoil our neice Megan. She is such a good baby. Chad and Rachel have done an amazing job with her. The picture of her is posing for Uncle Shawn at
On the Border Sunday at lunch. She just has an infectious giggle and a very loving spirit. I don't see how anyone can't fall in love with her right away!!! She is just adorable.

Of course our time with Chad and Rachel was good. We enjoyed our time together. We all played Uno Attack and boy are the Moores competitive. I see a rematch at Christmas guys!!!!!

So on the adoption side of things right before we left we got a phone call for a group of 3. Come to find out it was for a foster only placement. On our way back Friday we had a call again for another placement. This placement was also for foster only. So when we spoke with our caseworker yesterday she explained to us that they had an influx of kids in the last week and were needing homes to place them. So we are still waiting.

So here is a recent update on Shawn. He will be doing Honor Gaurd September 15 through November. It is a great opprotunity for Shawn. He is excited about this opprotunity. So Shawn will be really busy for the next few months. He will be gone alot so I am hoping that my Pampered Chef will take off and that will keep me busy.

The update on our Adoption process is still.......waiting. We are just waiting for the call. We are also still going doing fertility treatments or I should say we were. We are going to take a break on that so I can loose the rest of my weight. I had a rough visit with my doctor this week. He was not helpful nor encouraging. So we are in the process of changing doctor's. We know that God is in control and in His time he will bless us with a child.

Other than that there is not much to report. We are going to be in Dallas next week and we are so excited. I am just ready for a break. I have not had a vacation this year and I can tell it. Dealing with babies and toddlers will where you out.

Here is a picture of the 8th month old that I watch. He is crawling, pulling up and is trying to walk.

I will add pictures of my other little ones. I just don't have those downloaded yet.

1st Meeting with our Caseworker

So we finally had our first meeting with the caseworker. It all went well. We got our manual and we were able to ask our hundreds of questions. Now we understand the process alot more. As of this moment we are waiting for a placement. We are on the list and once a child comes available they will contact us. In August all of the caseworkers throughout Georgia get together and have a "matching meeting". This means that our profile is passed around to other caseworkers and they see if they have a child in their county that needs a placement. So we are praying that maybe we will be a match for a child.

We are just excited to be moving on to our next step.

The First Blog

So we have been asked to start another blog journaling our life and all that happens while we are on this road with the military.

So the picture above is of Shawn's ALS graduation. ALS is a school that he has to attend to make his next rank of Staff Sergant. For some of y'all you know the long journey Shawn has had to endure just to make his next rank. So since we have been at Robins Air Force base life has been complicated. Let's see Shawn was suppose to pin on for Staff in January but the higher ups here held his stripe because of some paperwork that had fallen through the cracks and it took a really long time to get it cleared up. It kind of helps when people do their jobs. After that, they told Shawn he was too fat. So he had to loose like 30 pounds in 90 days. So Shawn did everything under the sun to loose that weight. It was so hard to watch him go through that but he did loose the 30 pounds and was the one person that lost the most weight on the BMI program!!!! Shawn was even interviewed for the base paper!!!! So now he is famous.

Now his new job duties starting in September is the Honor Gaurd. He will be doing that for 3 months. So that should be a new experience for us all.

As for me, I am still doing home daycare! I am loving it, well except for my FCC coordinator but she is retiring at the end of the year and I hope things will get better. Right now I have an 8th month old, 9th month old, and a 2 year old. So my days are pretty busy. But I am loving it!

Shawn and I have started back on the road to starting our family. We are trying the fertility treatments again and we have finally completed the adoption process. We are hoping that we will have a placement within the next 6 months. But God is in control and He knows what is best for us.

So I think that catches up and I will try and be good about blogging as much as I can. I will even make Shawn do it every once in awhile.