Camp Choo Choo

One of the most amazing blessings of living in O'Fallon is seeing your tax dollars at work. They have incredible parks, libraries, schools, etc. here. Right down the street is a super park the girls love to play at. All in the shade...which is super nice.

While we were there, I saw several children at this camp. So I enquired about it, and signed the girls up to attend their last camp session. It is from 9-12 p.m. (M-F) and is hosted by the Community Center. We are on day 3 and they have loved every minute. They get to play at the park, do arts and crafts, swim for an hour. It has given me a break and also shown me how independent they are becoming. Here they are with Grandma right before camp.

Study going so well....

Oh, how I am loving this study by Henry Blackaby, Experiencing God. Here are just a few of the powerful statements and scriptures that have touched my heart.

"To be a servant of God you must be moldable and remain in the hand of the Master."

The World's View: a servant asks the Master what he wants him to do and then he goes "by himself" and does it.

The Biblical View: Is more like the potter and clay analogy. The potter makes a cup from the clay (moldable) but only when the potter uses that cup is it being used for its intended purpose (remaining in the potter's hand.)

Honestly, I have followed the "World's View" of being a servant more than the Biblical view. I felt called to be in leadership at MOPS, but then as the days turned into months...I was relying more on my own strength vs. God using me as His instrument. Perhaps, we are all guilty of that to some degree. We are asked to teach on Sunday mornings, and due to the duration of the task we forget that our outlook should be more of "remaining in the Potter's hand" vs. continuing what we have committed to do several months ago.

Having left Abilene, I can see that a lot of what I was involved with I was trying to do in my own strength. I don't think burn out happens as often when you allow God to be the potter and you the instrument.

Have you ever heard this statement, "Don't just STAND there, DO SOMETHING." Henry B. changes it up a little to say, "DON'T just do SOMETHING, STAND THERE...in God's presence, in a loving relationship with Him..."

The study is laying the foundation for what Henry B. calls the Seven Realities:
1. God is always at work.
2. God is always pursuing a relationship with us.
3. God invites us to be a part of what He is doing.
4. God speaks to us via the Bible, Holy Spirit, prayer, circumstances, others/church.
5. God's work sometimes causes a crisis of belief where faith and action is required on our part.
6. We can't remain the same for God to be able to use us. Adjustments must happen.
7. We experience God as we obey and allow Him to use us.

The character of Moses and his call to go back to Egypt to free the Israelites portrays this idea of God calling us to be involved in His work, equipping us, us making the necessary adjustments to follow God's plan, and then acting in obedience.

I guess the question is really, "What stage are you in the process?" Is God asking you to make some adjustments to truly be able to join Him in His present work? Are you at a crisis of belief point, where you are questioning God's presence in a particular situation...wondering if He can truly do what He says He can do? Are you feeling God mold you to prepare you for something that is in the future that He has planned for you to? Or is God calling you to follow in obedience the plan He has already laid out for you?

We can't help it!

You try being a princess! IT IS HARD WORK!!

You can't catch me!!!

Grandpa trying to catch those girls!

Fast Cars, Fast Friends

Cousins are so fun!!!

No Ellie yet, therefore I blog...

Good Morning! It is early at the Walter's home, but I can't sleep. Ellie is as active as can be and yet still content to stay right where she is. Though, I will be 39 1/2 weeks pregnant, tomorrow. The nurse said my cervix was posterior...not quite sure what that means. I feel like "ALL BABY."

God has quite a sense of humor. I have tried to nail down when Ellie was coming as much as possible. Travis' family was here in the early part of July, then my mom took the girls to Chicago for "Cousin Camp" and now we are extremely blessed that Travis' parents were willing to come back a 2nd time.

This summer has been "RUSH, RUSH, RUSH"...and then "WAIT, WAIT, WAIT." Fortunately, the girls have made wonderful memories they will cherish for a lifetime because of the circumstances. The grandparents and Aunt Marcella have made sure to fill their LOVE TANKS to the brim...knowing soon, hopefully, they will have to share with our soon to be newest addition, Ellie Grace Walters. Here are some cute pictures. Proof that the girls have been "quite" entertained this summer. LOL

Sweet Fellowship

Did you read Tammy's blog entry? Oh, what a precious sister in Christ. I was so blessed to be a part of her life during our time in Abilene. As Anne of Green Gables would say, "She is a kindred spirit."
I posted her blog entry on mine, because so much of what her heart is struggling with...my heart is, too. I guess I should explain.
One of the many benefits of moving is finding things you had forgotten about. One such thing, is a Bible study I did almost 12 years ago called "Experiencing God...Knowing and Doing the Will of God, by Henry Blackaby." I've made it a habit over the years to save all my journals, studies, etc. never knowing when I might want to go back and reflect on them again or do the study another time. I have several of Beth Moore's, but this study is before she became so popular among women...very similar, though.
Oh, how timely it has been. Praise Jesus for giving us the Holy Spirit to work in our lives. The first day's scripture to reflect on was from Matthew 6:33-34, "...Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." What a true statement. Take TODAY for example. Travis awoke with a spinal headache...though for 3 days he has followed doctor's orders to remain in bed, rest, and drink caffeine. He still was suffering after 48 hours of dealing with the pain...having had a procedure done on Monday to see a clearer picture of his herinated disc. Going to the ER was our last option. Fortunately, I was able to take him and drop him off and he was able to get a "Blood Patch" to relieve it. I could bring the girls back home and wait. Having done this before our ER visits usually take more than 4 hours. The girls and I came home and my contractions and pain continued...by the time I needed to pick Travis up, I was wondering if I could even drive...the pain was so intense. Fortunately, Labor and Deliver offered to check me out and make sure that today was not indeed the day Ellie decided to arrive...considering Travis was occupied with his own outpatient care. The neighbor who I have known for only two weeks was so kind to watch the girls for me. I was able to drive, and the Lord watched over me. I was checked and though I was having contractions every 10 minutes, Ellie was doing great and there was no need to admit me at that point. Travis was doing better, and we were able to come home. I was thinking at 2 o'clock today, "Oh, perhaps the scripture should read, even 1/2 days can have enough trouble of there own."
Needless to say, I'm struggling and scared...but the study is helping. Taken from the book, "What is God's will for my life? Is not the right question. I think the right question is, What is God's will? Once I know God's will, then I can adjust my life to Him. In other words, what is it that God is purposing where I am. Once I know what God is doing, then I know what I need to do. The focus needs to be on God, not my life."
The last month has been one of the hardest for our family that I can remember...so many uncertainities, so many unexpected disappointments, so much physical pain...But this study has helped me to mediate on this truth, "God has a purpose in all of this." I'm not sure what it is, but neither did Abraham know or Peter or Paul when they signed on to walk obediently with Christ. You don't see often in scripture God telling His servants the entire road map or what lies ahead. He just calls them to obedience.
My heart is wrestling with the idea of, "Am I dedicated enough to truly seek what God is doing in our present situation? Am I willing to accept that finding the answer to that question will require work on my part via more study of His Word, prayer, mediation, and outright obedience." As Tammy said, I can't just ask for God to help me get through this...but to increase my faith. Help my unbelief! So I pray this prayer, "Lord, I will continue to study Your Word to understand You more. I will remain obedient in my marriage, as a mother, as a friend...I will seek to see You and Your activity/purpose more clearly in my life. Help me Father, via Your precious gift, the Holy Spirit, to do just that. I want to TRUST YOU MORE!

Inspiration from Tammy

Taken from Tammy's blog...I'll comment later.
"I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief."
Thanks for all the comments on "Do you believe God is always good?" I talked about my season of darkness last summer, where my faith and belief had grown weak. One scripture the Lord gave me in my reading, you know when you are reading the bible and a scripture almost jumps off the page, you continue reading, but it is like a blue light special is happening all around that scripture, the words are pulsating, saying "come back and read me again, grab your highlighter." That is when I know the Lord is calling me to park there a while. I mediate on those words. I will say, "What do you want me to learn from this God, open my eyes, open my heart, let me be in the center of your will."

The scripture that God had me park on last summer was: From the book of Mark 9:23,24 'If you can'?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for him who believes."
Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief.

Those words hit me right where I was, I did believe "in" God, but did I believe God? Did I believe that He would work EVERYTHING out for good?Did I believe His words that I shouldn't worry?Did I believe His words that he was LOVE?When things were dark and gloomy for me when Jack's face became paralyzed last summer, did I really believe these things, or did I just believe that there was a God in heaven?I did a bible study the year before Jack's initial diagnosis.

I know God was using this study to bring me to a new place with Him to walk the journey with Jack. It was called "Believing God." The study was written by Beth Moore. Of all the studies I have ever done by Beth Moore, none challeneged me like this. I didn't even want to finish it, because I felt so overwhelmed to actually believe the words in scripture as they applied to me personally. The rules were easy for me to apply, it was the promises and faithfulness that I had trouble with. As I was leading the bible study I couldn't quit, I finished it and felt like I didn't really get it.

But over the next year I continued to question if I was just reading the bible like it was a story book of good ideas, a guidebook to life, or if I would allow it to challenge some of the soft places I had chosen to sit, places that were easy to be.

Take worrying for instance. Matthew 6:34, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself." Each day has enough trouble of its own. I had read that verse in the past and thought to myself, to not worry, was a good idea and all, but not really possible, I really hadn't thought that out loud, more like I just disregarded the scripture as more as an old wives tale. Last summer this scripture became one of those blue light special lights, shining out at me whenever I saw it. So I sat there and thought, "God is this really possible?" and then the scripture, "I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief." would come to my mind.

O.k. God I am praying for you to overcome my unbelief. And in His most awesome Glory He did. I had prayed through the scripture on worry over and over for 3 years previous to this last summer, but I never prayed for God to increase my belief (which also means faith) in Him. I was asking Him to fight the fires rather than to just fix my heart, and grow it for Him. The difference between my prayers were huge, and the response from God was amazing. Beware, if you pray this prayer, and God starts increasing your belief, if you don't have Christian friends that are comfortable with their Christianity and their place with God (which I am blessed that for the most part I do), your Christian friends might think you have gone a bit too far out for Jesus. Many Christians like it in their safe and soft places, I know, I still do, but I want what God wants for me more.

The scripture below convicts me of how important it is for me to be in God's will and not where I think I should be.Matthew 7.21"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' 23Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

If you are bored with your Christianity.
If you are afraid.
If you are angry.
If you are desperate.
If you are overwhelmed.

Pray for God to increase your belief, anticipate it, be in His word, pray again, wait on God. This is one of those things that we can confidently ask for, it is in God's will, He wants us to love and trust Him more, He will answer this prayer if you seek Him with all of your heart. Which brings to mind another favorite scripture of mine. "Consecrate yourself, for tomorrow God will do amazing things through you."

SKUNK!!! No where to hide!

Yes, we have had the pleasure of dealing with a skunk or possibly skunks...the last several days. I was watching "Design Star" Sunday night, when I was like, "Yikes, what just died? Oh, I recognize that smell." IN MY LIVING ROOM, the smell of that horrible rodent was intoxicating. I was literally sick at my stomach the smell was so intense. Then I go upstairs. Every room smelled. Turns out the skunk had sprayed by our ventilation system, and literally with every movement/push of cold area...the odor was filtering through more and more rooms, with more intensity.

In Illinois, it is very costly for skunk removal, $200 to investigate the problem, and $70 for each rodent they haul off. I'm not familiar with crawl spaces under homes, so I thought perhaps the skunk was trapped underneath our house. So we called Critter Control. They could fit us in the following day and advised we open the windows to let the air circulate until then. WE DID! Imagine for a moment, me at 38 1/2 weeks pregnant, the odor of a skunk so intoxicating you are sick at your stomach, and the temperature in our house ranging in the high 90s. It was miserable!!!

Finally, they came to investigate...14 hours later. The Critter Control guy assured me that the skunk was outside and had gotten scared...poor little thing, and had sprayed near our AC unit. But not to worry, they usually never come back and spray again, and to prepare for 4 or 5 days of the odor to remain and then dissipate. Great! He set traps outside though as a precautionary act.

This morning, we awoke to a skunk "trapped" by our garage/AC unit, and a possum "trapped" in the backyard. "So, they don't come back usually. Interesting!" They fortunately reset the traps and we will see what happens tonight.

I find it interesting having lived on a ranch growing up and living in Abilene for the last 3 years that I have seen more wildlife here in the last 4 weeks then ever before. To date, I have seen while living in the TLFs (Temporary Living Facilities) on Base...a deer, a water moccasin (snake), and heard a raccoon above my head in the kitchen of the TLF. Then once in our home, I have seen several rabbits (Oh, so cute!), a skunk, and a possum. Mind you, we don't live out in the country. I actually have several houses within 50-100 yds of me. First Impressions, though...Illinois is a wildlife refuge...to this home owner's dismay. :)

Two Little Princesses

Carlie would be so upset if I didn't show you her room. The paint color was actually called "Princess." Gotta love PINK! The bedding was a gift from my mom. She is amazing, but so is the lady who sewed it for me, Catrina. She was wonderful to work with, and so talented. If you ever need someone to sew bedding for you, make curtains, help with decor...Catrina is great. You can find her website at http://www.themoderncrib.com/. My precious hostesses even gave me a gift certificate, which I am now using to have curtains made for their rooms. Here they are!

Mirror, Mirror, On the Wall

Mirror, Mirror, On the Wall...who is the biggest of them all? My sweet cousin reminded me that she went 12 days OVER her due date. Bless her sweet spirit. I know I shouldn't be so miserable, but my other two precious girls came at 37 weeks and were perfect in every way and healthy...so why is Ellie content to just happily kick and stay in the oven? I don't know, but I do know that this huge mirror in the master bath is a source of stress. Gorgeous, no doubt...but come on...a see through shower. YIKES! I get scared every night after my bath, and it is not because of CSI. LOL

We are ready!!!

With the girls gone, I've been able to get a lot of work done around the house...and yet the waiting game continues. Sweet Ellie, we are dying to see you! Look at Mommy! I'm huge! I've got your room all ready. The only thing missing is YOU!

Saying Goodbye!

As of Monday, 5141 Millie Court, will no longer be our home. A new family has already moved in, and have started making their own memories. On Monday everything will be official, and a check will soon be sent out in the mail to finish the transaction. A simple check...representing the end of our time there in Abilene...at least temporarily. I can't help but be sad to say "Good-bye."

For over three years, I have seen my girls grow up there. I have seen them have so many "first." I have entertained friends and family so precious to our hearts. I can't even find the words now to express how wonderful our time was there. Between those four walls, a lot of love was shared...tears shed...wounds healed...laughter expressed...Thank you Jesus, for giving us the blessing of being in Abilene. Thank you for reminding me that LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION...does truly make a difference. Living on a cul-de-sac and having the wonderful neighbors we did made it a perfect place to raise a family.

Happy Birthday, Mollie!

Oh, my precious Mollie. What a gift you are! Jesus, thank you so much for bringing this special child into our lives. How compassionate and merciful You are to give us more than we have ever deserved or could imagine for ourselves. I thank you for the last 3 years, and pray many more are to come. Sweet Jesus, thank you for her precious gift of being able to sing Your praises. Thank you for her tender heart that seeks to obey You. Happy Birthday, sweet angel! I love you so much, Mom!

Reinforcements

Oh, can I sing my sister and mother's praises enough!! Here is Carlie and Mollie preparing to take off to Chicago to spend a week with Mammy, Aunt Marcella and Uncle Jeff, and their three cousins Sara, Daniel, and Emma.

At the time of this post, they have been there already 3 days, and loving every minute of it. Marcella, always the gracious host, has gone above and beyond to make their stay absolutely wonderful. I'm so indebited to them for knowing I needed this time of rest with Ellie's arrival soon approaching, and Travis' continued chronic back pain.

Praise you Lord, for placing loving friends and family in our path that have made the journey easier!

Bows, Bows, and More Bows

Since Mammy has had the girls in Chicago, I've been quite busy preparing for Ellie's arrival...our third little girl. THREE LITTLE GIRLS!!! Oh, to be so blessed! So I have come to the conclusion that life will just be "girly" for awhile. :) "Girly" to me means: bows, pretty dresses, tea parties, Barbies, dress-up... So as Carlie and Mollie have been in Chicago, I have had time to add to our collection of bows. Bows made especially for Ellie, our newest arrival. She may be our third, but I have definitely gone overboard already spoiling her. So here you have her personal collection. Then to stay "organized" I pulled out the entire collection of bows. YIKES! I don't know if I'm crazy having this many bows or extremely prepared.

I'm in...

I've joined the bloggin world. Yikes! What do you think about the web address...Renewal of the Heart? Pretty cool, yuh!