How Blessed Are the People Whose God is the Lord...

This year we made the decision to head to Baton Rouge for Thanksgiving. It is a long trip, but it's so worth it once we arrive. This year I found myself thinking about my family.. my extended family. As the youngest of four and now almost 40, I look back and see how I was raised, and how things turned out... with all of us. All together that's 26 people. Sure, no one is perfect, but the Lord's hand on our family has been obvious.


My dad has always been a true Godly man. TRUE.. as long as I've known my dad I have never heard him say a cuss word, never seen him drink alcohol, never heard him make fun of anyone... never. What I have seen is him praying for our family, supporting us financially, and loving my mother. I firmly believe that the blessings that the Lord has bestowed on our family are because of my dad's faithfulness to follow Christ and my mother's ability to always put family first, no matter the cost. What you see is what you truly get where my parents are concerned.

When I think of my siblings and their families, we've been so blessed. We have 16 healthy children between us, four marriages still intact, and our kids are good kids. Now granted, some are still very young, but we have kids who work hard, are not ashamed of the Lord, and who want to do right in all situations. Now, I'm not going to say that none of us have made mistakes, because that wouldnt be true, but to see right win over wrong is encouraging.

Along with all the good,I've seen many hurts our family has endured.. the heartbreak when a baby was lost by miscarriage after years of infertility issues, the loss of a job, leaving a family without work for months, struggles in marriage, depression..on several occasions, a premature birth, unexpected pregancy, health problems, a business falling apart, lots of tears, and lots of other heart breaks that just dont get mentioned. But, what I can see and know beyond a shadow of a doubt is that the Lord's hand of provision has been on this clan for many years. Somehow, He has always worked things out in his time and with His plan in mind, and continues to do so. He has been so good to us! In all of these circumstances, the Lord has reached in and healed hearts, guided decisions and blessed families.

I have truly seen this Thanksgiving that God is so good. He has blessed our family in more ways than we can ever appreciate. It

makes me realize the realness behind "How blessed are the people whose God is the Lord" Psalm 33:12. There were plenty years where hurt seemed so deep and it seemed like God wasn't there, but looking back, it's so obvious to see that He was holding us the whole time.. and He will continue to. We are still trusting Him for complete healing of my sister's Parkinson's Disease. I believe He will do that too!

Just thinking about the song "Blessings" by Laura Story. The last phrase of the song says " What if our greatest disappointments and the aching of this life is a revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy. What if trials of this life are your mercies in disguise." Amazing, strong words. Sometimes it takes stepping back, and really looking. God is so good.

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Happy 14th, Kate Lauren!

Kate, I'm sitting here thinking about when you were born. YOU made me a Mommy. YOU were my first born. I remember quitting everything, because suddenly nothing mattered. I would literally sit and rock you all day. I knew the daily order of all the talk shows and didn't care if you slept through your whole nap in my arms. I LOVED it.

Now you are turning 14! Wow... time flies. I love you so much, Kate Castle!

My 14 Favorite Things about You... in no particular order.

1- You are always willing to be my right hand man. You are a second mother and you bless me daily by serving your siblings.

2- You give everything your very best.. your schoolwork, your orchestra, your friendships, Bibles study.

3- You care about others..genuinely. This is a learned thing for most of us, but I honestly think few are born with it. You are.

4- You turn to God to help you with things. You allow Him to be the Lord of your life, even when it's not the popular thing.

5- You are so much fun to be with. You talk freely with me and make me laugh all the time. I LOVE shopping days with you!

6- You love your siblings. I see you interact with Clayton and see you be patient with him when no one else will. One day you will be an excellent mother.

7- You're Caroline's best friend and confidant. I love watching you take care of her, and her not even realize it. I'm so thankful she has a Christian sister walking along besider her and watching her back.

8- You're beautiful.. but don't know it. I love that you are as pretty as you are, but act like you're just anyone else. On that note, sometimes you need to see the beauty we all see. Inside and out..

9- You are a friend to everyone. I have seen you take in people that others wouldn't.

10- You strive to do what's right. Not just the Christian what's right, but what's right in all matters.. and if ever you mess it up, you fix it and make it right. Love that about you.

11- You set your mind on a goal, and work your very hardest to achieve it. This goal setting will truly help you as you continue through life.

12- You made me a mommy. That is certainly a favorite thing about you.

13- I love how you support our family. You don't like missing others soccer games, baseball games or gym meets. You're all of our cheerleader.

14- And last but not least.. You are truly my friend. I have to remind myself often that I'm your mom and not just your friend. Thanks for giving me that spot.

I LOVE you with all my heart. Here's to a great year as a 14 yr old!

Happy Birthday, Caroline

Well.. it's birthday time again. My girls are both having a birthday this weekend. I can't believe they are 12 and 14. It's crazy!

Caroline had her bday party this past weekend. She did a Halloween/Birthday party. She was unable to narrow her list down and had 56 kids at her party.. Boys and girls. It was a TON of work, but crazy fun for all. The kids loved it and Caroline was on Cloud 9. Even though the girls share a birthday, I'm going to post their birthdays seperately... So, here goes...

My 12 favorite things about Caroline Grace.. in no particular order..

1- You have serious determination.. I mean.. serious. You never give up and never let something get the best of you.

2- You are friendly to everyone.. even my friends. I love that you love them and in turn, they love you back.

3- Your sense of style is so fun. You love to wear your personality.

4- You are resiliant. You just take life as it comes living each day to the fullest.

5- You have an old soul. A maturity that most kids your age don't have. It's fun to watch you as a little adult.

6- Your smile is gorgeous.. It shines all the time and shows your love for others.

7- You are extremely protective of those you love. You aren't about to let anyone hurt your siblings, even though you would never admit that to them. The way I've seen you stand up for them in situations has been beautiful to me.

8- This one is not too sweet.. but I think it's impressive that you can not study, be in all GT classes and have straight A's.. Makes that part of parenting easy for me.

9- You compliment your parents in front of your friends. That makes me feel like the best mom ever.

10- You're fun to hang out with. You make me laugh and can have full conversations with me. I love it.

11- You love Jesus and aren't ashamed to show it.

12- You love and care about your friends by honoring their friendship and protecting it.

Caroline grace, here's to your last year as a preteen. Live it to the fullest.. Stay a little girl as long as you can and keep living for Jesus.. We love you so much and are so glad Nov 5, 1999 happened!

9 of my favorite things about you.

My handsome little son is quickly becoming a big boy. I remember the day I discussed with Daddy that we should have another baby. We had two adorable little girls, but I always wanted lots of kids. As I was trying to convince daddy that we needed another baby, I remember him saying.. " I just don't know. We are living tighly right now and I don't know if we can afford another child." I explained to Daddy that we won't always be living on such a tight budget and that we should not let today determine our forever. He agreed with me and about ten months later, you were born. We didn't let that day determine who we'd be forever. God has blessed our family and we are truly grateful.

So, today, Cort.. Since you are turning 9 years old I want to tell you 9 of my favorite things about you.. in no special order!

1- You live life to the fullest everyday.. enjoying all that you do.

2- You are an encourager to others.

3- You are super polite and kind.

4- You love your sisters, even when they don't treat you with love. This is called unconditional love.

5- You truly know how to make me feel like I'm doing a good job as your mom by appreciating me and making me feel special... even if this means informing random people that I am already "taken". :)

6- You remind me of how much I love your Daddy. Looking at you is like looking at him. In your personality, appearance and your heart.

7- You are ALL heart. You play ball like you mean it. You give it all you've got and always try your very best.

8- You love Jesus by doing what is right and listening to the little voice in your head reminding you that He's the most important part of your life.

9- You are the best big brother EVER to Clayton. You make him feel like a superstar at anything he tries to do. You protect him from others and always stand by his side.

Happy Birthday, Cort... Here's to many more great years.

Conversations with Clayton

Today I had the sweet pleasure of about 10 minutes alone with Clayton in the car driving kiddos to and from. I just wanted to give a run down of how this sweet time went...

Momma... Who do you think will die first? Me or Reagan?
Well, Clayton you both are very young I bet you will both live a very long time.
Hmmm.. when I die who do I give my money to? I know, I'll give it to you, Mom. Wait... no that won't work.. You'll die before me because you're old.. that won't work. I guess I'll have to give it to Cort. That sounds good.
I take this opportunity to be spiritual and hope for a divine moment...
You know Clayton, when you die you will go see Jesus, but you must ask him to come live in your heart.. like Cort did when he got baptized.
Oh Umm Yeah.. Ummm Mom... how does our car run?
Well, we have to put gas in it.
What is gas?
It's a liquid that makes our car run.
Where does it come from?
Ummm Not sure.
Oh well. is it under the car in bottles?
Well, kinda its a tank that allows the gas to run through the car.
Where does it go after it runs through the car?
It evaporates into the air.Oh...
Mom, Do you think roadrunners can fly?
Well, I've never seen one fly, but I can't say for sure.
Why is it a bird if it can't fly?
I'm not sure, Clayton..
Well, why do they call it a road runner if it's sitting in my front yard?
I don't know baby. Somethings just don't have an answer...
Mom, is Dad home.. I need to ask him the stuff you don't know.. :)
Love me some sweet 6 year old boy! An inquisitive child is a good sign for sure!

Some things never change...

Last night I came across these pictures and BOY!! did it make me sad. My kids are GROWING UP. As I was looking through them I started noticing a pattern in my pictures. It seemed like in all of these pictures Cort was either holding a ball, throwing a ball, watching ball or hitting a ball. Then Caroline was either hanging upside down, running around in a leotard, or standing on her head. It made me think about the passions they were born with.


I spend my life trying to help my kids pursue their passion. I know we all do as parents. It's what we love to do... see our kids excel in what they love. From the day Cort could talk he said "Ball". Literally, it was his first word. He just wanted a ball. Ask our babysitter, Sarah Dalton, what she was paid to do. Of course, she was paid to make sure our kids didn't kill themselves or somebody, but pretty much she was paid to pitch a little ball back and forth to Cort for him to either bat or catch. He was born with a passion to play ball.


I also remember Caroline being on the playground as a little bitty girl and another mom saying " Ma'am, Your daughter is flipping around that bar". At 3 years old she was scaring me to death trying to swing around bars over concrete. I knew she needed a safe place to flip, so we started gymnastics and she was in LOVE. Gymnastics birthday parties, every fun day there was, extra practices... the gym was her second home.


These two still have that passion inside them. They both still love to play. When a game is going on, Cort just can't drive past and not take part, or watch. Caroline is the same way. While there's not always a gymnastics meet in town, the athlete in her wants to play whatever is going on.

I spend my time reminding my kids to "Commit your way to the Lord, trust HIM and he will do it" Psalms 37:5. We spend a lot of time talking about how we should commit our gifts to the Lord and ask Him to give us the best He has for us. We pray with the kids before games or meets, even if just a whisper in the ear, for the Lord to do a good work in them to HIS glory. Even when we have our down days, we remind them that God has a plan even in that.

More than often I feel judged by other people for keeping such a schedule. But even though other parents don't understand my willingness to drive to out of town tournaments, make the effort for the extra practices, sit out in the burning up hot each Saturday, run like a mad woman in the afternoons trying to make it happen and live in a modest house so that I can afford all of this, it's all worth it to see my kids living out their passions. I hear so many comments and opinions from other families on how busy we are, and how we just need to say no, or how they would never run all over like we do... but as I try to defend myself all I can say is..as long as my child still has the passion for their activity, gives it their all, makes the best of their opportunity and keeps up with their schoolwork... what have I to lose? Shooting for the end result of winning a tournament, perservering through the hard work of achieving a skill, and learning to work together as a team are all excellent skills that will help my kiddos their whole life. Watching them do their thing is the highlight of my life. I guess.. that is MY passion :) Now.. here's to a crazy busy fall. May I please stay strong... in the name of Passion :)