This will give you "God"bumps!

I have no idea why the the first few sentences are so spaced out or how to fix it!  Sorry!

You Can Run, But You Can’t Hide 

posted by cindy beall on aug 12 2008 | mentoring

I got a phone call several weeks back from a friend of mine. She was beside herself because she recently learned of her brother’s infidelity in his marriage. Upon hearing the news of her brother, she immediately thought of Chris and me and felt that maybe we could help since we’ve been through the same thing.

She asked if I would consider talking to her family. I spent a good hour on the phone with my friend’s mother since she was obviously distressed about what was going to happen to her baby boy’s marriage. I tried to encourage her as best as I could but the situation was looking bleak. For, you understand, her daughter-in-law wanted to call it quits.

And rightly so. I felt the same thing after learning about Chris’ infidelity. It’s a natural, understandable response to such news.

My friend, her mother and I joined forces in praying for reconciliation. I specifically prayed that if I was to speak with the wife, that she would contact me. Since she had not contacted me in the weeks that followed her husband’s confession, I could only assume she was not interested in hearing what I had to say.

So I kept praying.

Fast forward a few weeks to August 1st.

I learned that the wife, let’s call her Stacy, had decided to visit her family in Texas by way of a one-way ticket. However, in the midst of her desire to remove herself from her marriage, Stacy decided to go to the Beth Moore conference via simulcast at a local church. After searching the internet, she found one about 45 minutes away from where she was staying.

She attended the Friday evening session and was obviously moved to tears. Noticing that Stacy was sitting alone and fully emotional, another lady, Joyce, came up to her. Stacy shared with this stranger all that she was going through and Joyce said, “Please come back tomorrow morning. There is someone I want you to meet.”

Saturday morning dawned and Stacy awoke with a sense of awe and amazement as she traveled back to the church where she met with God the night before. When she arrived, she found Joyce standing with a group of ladies. Noticing her, Joyce pulled her friend Nancy aside and walked toward Stacy.

Stacy began sharing her story with Nancy. After several minutes of sharing, Nancy said, “My daughter went through a similar experience. She lives in Oklahoma, but I know she’d love to talk to you.”

And then Nancy, my mother, took out her phone and Stacy called me.

I…KID…YOU…NOT. 

Folks, Stacy journeyed four states away from her problems, only to find that God would chase her down wherever she went.

If you are running from something that you need to deal with, stop now. Face the music.

The Creator of the universe….

CARES

FOR

YOU.

(Originally posted here.)

After you've read this post, you must read this.

* All I can say is wow!  To think the Creator of the universe would care enough to go to all that trouble for us. I don't feel worthy.....

Why I love Spring....

I love spring time! I decided to catch some of the beauty that is popping up around our home. Not only do I love spring because of the flowers and warmer weather, but also I think, seeing all this wonderful new life come up from beneath the old, dead, browned plants or branches is such a beautiful glimpse into what the Lord can do in your life if you 

choose to walk with him. : )

Wordless Wednesday

Our Trip to MN...

So our trip to MN.  We went up to the far north to visit my grandparents, and my dad who was there, from CO,  helping them out.  I was so excited for them to see the girls (it had been a year).  My grandma has been especially sick so I think the visit was just what she needed to put an extra spring in her, careful, steps! : )  Here are some pics from our trip (oh my goodness, it was turning into the longest post ever -actually its still pretty long- so I had to cut back and only post some of my favorites : (  )

Here is the $7 flat bread sandwich the hubs got at Dunkin Donuts as we began our adventure on northward. (And no your eyes are not deceiving you.  We were complaining how expensive the flat bread sandwich was and opened the bag up to see we received a $7 muffin!)

Here are the girls, still in their jammies, and ready for a nice long drive!

And here are the hubs and I bracing for a long trip. : )

We made a stop in Madison, WI because the hubs was still working as we traveled and had a meeting there.  The girls and I enjoyed some hot cocoa and veggie bootie with the locals as well as some walking around downtown, while finding little bits of life as spring begins to show itself.

After daddy's 45 minute, that turned in to an hour and half, meeting we grabbed a bite to eat in the car and a little while after that we had two sleeping beauties!

After a short snooze (unfortunately my girls lack the ability to nap more than 45 minutes in the car) we made a quick gas stop and got a quick stretch and run around time in.

And then we drove on!  There were times when we had to be very quiet while the hubs was on business calls.  At one point he had the hands-free speaker in his mouth to muffle the sound of road and talking kiddos in the back.  

Soon enough the MN border was in sight!

Soon we arrived at our destination!

As we unloaded the car we got the wonderful surprise of Brynn being covered in poop!  Up to her arm pits!  Well after a quick bath and unloading of the car our trip could finally begin.

The following are just SOME (so hard to choose) of my favorite shots from our visit with Papa, GG, and Poppi!

Unfortunately Brynn had a fall right in to a table leg.  Can't really see it but she had a line all the way down the front of her face and this massive welt on her forehead. : (

Each day my dad would do exercises with my grandparents and Bella loved to join in too!

One afternoon we did enjoy a trip to Mall of America, where Bella enjoyed a couple of rides.

The rest are just special moments that we captured!

Thanks for the visit Papa, Poppi, and GG, we'll miss you!

Bella and her Papa Bear (her affectionate nickname :) )

Phew!  Hope I didn't bore you with pictures too badly!

Why?

Bella has finally entered the "Why?" stage.  More often than not when I tell Bella something it is followed by a why.

Recent conversation with Bella and Poppi Glass:

"What doing Poppi?"

"I'm cooking dinner."

"Why cookin dinner?"

"Because we need food in our bodies."

"Why food in our bodies?"

"So we can grow up healthy and strong."

"Why grow up healthy and strong?"

"Because Jesus loves you!"

Hey when you've got nothing left, go with one answer that always works!

: )

Not exciting, but wonderful....

So I wasn't planning on posting while on vaca in MN but here I sit, posting, while the girls are asleep, the hubs is watching some playoff game and my dad does their daily exercises with my grandparents. We decided to come up to MN because my grandma had been in the hospital and my dad is in town from Colorado to help them out. Since you never know what precious time you have left with love ones we thought is was important for the girls to spend time with their great grandparents. It has been a year since they've seen Bella and they've only seen Brynn once and she was 3 months old.
I have to say this vaca has not been exciting but it has been wonderful. Our time has mostly been spent sitting, in a sauna very warm (these Floridians will never get use to MN, although I have to say it was about 80 degrees here!) home, while watching my two babies play around us. It has been my complete joy to watch my grandparents eyes come alive while watching what energy a three year old and one year old truly behold. Grandma uses a walker these days to get around and Bella enjoys holding on to it and "assisting" her to different location around the house. The girls have also enjoyed hopping up on Grandma's lap for a good story or snuggle. Grandpa is very hard of hearing these days. I've enjoyed watching him sort of in his own world in his comfy recliner as he spends most of his day in The Word. I envision him spending most of his day talking and listening to God. Every so often he would chime in and say, "Look Vonnie" or "Unbelievable," as he watches his great granddaughters playing or reach out with a tickle for Bella or a pat for Brynn .
We did get out today and went to Mall of America. Whoowee, it was crowded! Fun though. The girls enjoyed watching all the goings on. Other than that our time was spent playing hide and seek and doing exercises with the grandparents. I love spending time with my grandparents. Just the knowledge, perspective, and wisdom they have is awe inspiring. I hope Bella and Brynn will look back on these pictures and know that they were in the presence of two amazingly, Godly people that helped shape our family! More pics to come later!



Neil and Yvonne Glass with Bella

Wordless Wednesday

Why I'm crazy....well, a part of it. : )

So the hubs thinks I'm totally crazy.  Last night I got us all dressed up in orange and made him take a family picture of us.  (if you're following Stellan's story, you were suppose to wear orange today to remember to be praying for him)  The hubs has asked me multiple times why I'm so crazy about this little baby and family I don't even know.  So today I decided to take some real time and truly think about that question.  Here's what I came up with:

* First and foremost I would have to say her relationship with the Lord has inspired me.  MckMama (as well as Angie) in so many ways has helped me be a better mom, wife, and daughter of God and I would hope this has trickled down to all aspects of my life.  Her honesty, her humility, her passion, her transparency, her humor and all the things she has shared that she has discovered in her walk have touched my life and challenged me to learn and put in to practice in my daily walk.

* Since the hubs took up photography a little over a year ago I have really taken an interest in it too.  So after discovering MckMama's site it is clear that she has a gift.  MckMama is a remarkable photographer and one of my favorite things to do each day is to check in and see her latest photos.

* I love kids and she's got 4 adorable ones that I love to see pics of and hear what they've been up to!

* As a newish (not sure I can say that anymore with a 3 year old) mom I always love a silly kid story or learning from other mommies, and she's always good for both of those things.

* After probably 6 months (in fact I've "known" Stellan before he was even born, which is probably another reason I feel such a connection to him) of reading her blog I've gotten to know her and her kids (credit to her willingness to be open and honest with the world) and even though they're a couple states away I feel like I've gotten to know them, fallen in love with them, and care deeply about what happens to them.

So there you have it, that's is why I'm crazy for Stellan.  I hope through my blog (and then on to hers) you too will become crazy for Stellan and be on your knees for him during these hard days, weeks, etc....

So here we are again, still praying!

Stellan needs your prayers!

So perhaps tonight and definitely tomorrow are big days for sweet baby MckMuffin, Stellan.  I've been asking you to pray for him and now comes the time where he really needs your prayers the most.  Stellan is under going VERY serious surgery.  Surgery that they only do 3 maybe 4 times a year and usually on a little bit bigger babies.  So needless to say now is the time to get your knees dirty and PRAY!!  Pray for Stellan and his heart, pray for his doctors, and pray for his MckMama and the rest of his family.  Rumor has started that those praying for baby Stellan will be wearing orange tomorrow/today, depending on when you read this, so will you join us in wearing orange and more importantly praying for Stellan!



Please click here for updates on Stellan, also check her Twitter feed on the left.

Leaving on a jet plan....

Leaving on a jet plan, don't know when I'll be back again.....

Okay not one part of that sentence is true, ah actually just ONE part of that sentence is true.

I'm leaving!!

So this weekend I'm hopping in my Cr-v with the girls and heading to Michigan!  So the past couple of years my hubs and his friends have taken a golf trip.  Every time they go us mommies talk about how we should do something like that.  Well this year we're making it happen.  Never mind that the guys are going to Vegas for 5 days and we're going to Michigan for 2.  I'm just thankful for the opportunity to do a little relaxing with my gals!  Early tomorrow afternoon 3 of us will head downtown to pick of the 4th and then we'll make our way to just over the Michigan border.  We'll be staying at one of my friend's parent's cabin on a lake.  Unfortunately we aren't going during a time where we'll be able to enjoy the lake much (one friend is very preggers so we wanted to get the trip in before the new baby arrives!) we still plan on sleeping in, relaxing, shopping, good eating, maybe a movie, and did I mention sleeping!?

This will be my 3rd time leaving Bella overnight since she was born and the 1st time leaving Brynn.  Vince and I together have only left Bella once overnight with friends.  We've only been on vacation once since having Bella and she came with us. : )  This is not because I'm scared to leave them or feel like I'll miss them too much, nope, definitely not.  We just don't have family near by so its hard to impose two kids on friends, especially ones that have their own little ones.  Plus up until 3 or so months ago I was still nursing Brynn, so that just makes it more difficult.  Don't get me wrong though.  I'll miss them but I look forward to having a little me/girl time. 

So any way....

IIIII'm leaeaeaeaving on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again..... : )

Thanks hubs for watching the girlies! 

DRY CLEANING ONLY?!

All I have to say is...

Who makes DRY CLEANING ONLY clothing for children?!




These are the girls in their Easter dresses from their Mormor (grandma in swedish) Domier! Aren't they just precious!?