SOMETHING UNEXPECTED

Dress: Ross // Sunglasses: Unionbay // Clutch: Thrifted // Bracelet: Juicy Couture


It would be an understatement to say that last couple of weeks have been filled with lots of emotions. It has been very surreal to say the least.

I have been pondering something a lot lately...."waiting" on God.

The children of Israel waited 40 years in the wilderness before they could enter the promised land. Jacob waited 7 long years for Rachel. The Jews waited 70 years in Babylon before they could return to rebuild the temple. 

 Heavenly Father had a purpose in requiring that His children wait.

Every one of us are called to wait in our own way. We wait for answers to our prayers. We wait for things which at the time may appear so right and so good to us that we can’t possibly imagine why Heavenly Father would delay the answer.

I remember two Sunday's ago at church I was

praying about my strong desire to become a Mother.

As I was praying I felt that the Lord was telling me 

to wait just a little longer and be patient with Him.....that something great was coming.

Just as I said that prayer, the second speaker got up to give a talk on patience 

and referenced this talk by President Uchtdorf " Continue in Patience"

I felt my Heavenly Father's love and tears came to my eyes.

Every Sunday his entire family gets together for dinner 

(all 42 of us...yeah you heard that right...42)

It's a blast! One family brings the main dish 

and all the others bring the drinks, desserts and sides.

Well that same Sunday as we arrived,

I sat down and my Mother-in-Law came to approach me.

  She looked at me and started talking to me out of the blue about foster care. I don't why she said what she said or didn't have any clue why she was talking to me about foster care but I just listened to what she had to say.

All I know is the overwhelming feeling of the Spirit that I felt. I felt exactly the 

same way when my Sister-In-Law Kathy  adopted 2 little girls a few months ago. 

I remember the feeling that I felt when I met these two little girls for the very first time and hugged them. I fell instantly in love with them.

On the way home I told Josh what his Mom talked to me about. 

I couldn't contain my emotions as the words tried to come from my mouth.

Without hesitation he looked at me and said "Let's do it...why not?"

I was shocked, emotional and excited all at the same time!

We called his Mom immediately to see what

 steps we needed to take to start the process.

She told us who we should contact then said...

 "I love you guys so much. I have been thinking and 

praying about you two these last couple of weeks.

I really don't know why I said what I said, 

 I just felt like I had to said it"

That next day on my way to work I prayed that if this was His will

that He would lead us and guide us in the right direction.

When I was researching all the different foster care websites

(there are soooo many) He lead to the following scriptures 

that put strong imprints on my heart.

* James 1:27

* Luke 10:2

* Psalm 68:6

I told my good friend Jessica the news also and she was beyond ecstatic for us.

She then told me that her friend in Utah that she has known since 8

has two little girls of her own and is a foster mom. She text her friend 

to let her know to contact me asap to give me some more information.

Within 20 minutes, I got a heartfelt email from her friend explaining

how God lead her to become a foster parent and the steps she had to take.

We emailed all throughout the morning as she gave me tips, tricks and advice.

When I got home from work, I was laying down reading when Josh 

crawled into bed. I told him what had happened at work and his comment was " that's awesome"

He looked at me with a little smirk on his face and said 

Josh: "I put in an application today"

Me: "Wait! What? Are you serious?!?"

Josh: "Yes I'm serious silly. She responded to me this afternoon and

we are going to attend an orientation on June 10th at 5:30 here in Phoenix"

I didn't have any words to speak. I felt as if my lips were numb and wouldn't move.

All I could do was hug him and kiss his face all over.

Wow! This is really happening!!

I still feel like this is just a dream and I am going to be waking up soon....

but in reality I want to continue this dream .......to continue this journey and path 

that Heavenly Father is leading us on!

I really feel like this is what the Lord is calling us to do right now.... whether it be temporary or whether it be that I may not be able to get pregnant and I am supposed to foster. Maybe both!! That would be entirely awesome and I would love that!! That would mean that the one thing I prayed for, He would be blessing us beyond measure with something even better than I could of ever imagined!! I believe that when you feel God pointing you in a certain direction and everything about that direction feels good, you just go....do it and trust in Him. I didn't know that this would ever be a possibility for us but since God has put this desire so strongly in our hearts, we are just going to press forward with faith and not turn our backs.

I don't know....

I don't know how this is all going to play out...

I don't know how long the process will take...

I don't know how much it will cost...

I don't know if maybe I am just called to be a foster/adoptive mother

or if I am supposed to have kids of my own...maybe both!!!

I don't know if we can afford financially to do this....

I don't know if we are staying in our house or moving to a bigger home....

My mind has been racing with these questions among a thousand others!

But you know what it all boils down to for me... TRUST & FAITH.

Trusting in God's perfect plan and timing and having unshakable 

faith that everything will work out just that way that He wants it to.

 Each child is a son or daughter of God and deserves all the love and more that we will be able to share with them. I want us to be a calm in the storm of their often chaotic lives. I want our home to be a refuge and a sanctuary from the world for them. I want to be able to give them everything they need and so much more. LOVE. All I want to do is show them all the love that my heart can possibly give to them. 

The Savior teaches us to be His hands and to serve one another in love. I am grateful for this opportunity and journey that He is leading us on and I am so excited to see where He takes us and what He has in store. With God anything is possible to those that believe.

 Leaving it all in His hands!

I hope that you will follow us on this exciting journey.....

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers!

Pure and Simple Faith

 

I realize how blessed I am to have such easy access to church every Sunday. After viewing this I felt extremely humbled. I look up to those who do everything they can to worship our Father in Heaven who blesses us with all we have.

The Lord will bless us if we but put our faith and trust in Him.He really does care about us and our situations, no matter how small and insignificant it may seem.

 

Mood Swings

 

I believe that there's a time to pray and a time to act. And even though it's not easy sometimes, confrontation is often necessary. If you feel the need to confront someone or something in your life, make sure you do it. 

If someone has treated you badly, you don't have to let them continue to disrespect you, de-value you or mistreat you. Obviously it won't help you, and it won't help that person either. Confront them about it in a nice way.Maybe what you need to confront isn't a person. Maybe it's something you've let creep into your life uninvited, like negative thoughts, a bad attitude or habitual sin. 

We shouldn't let these things control us...

We need to confront them face first...

Some people let unstable moods and out-of-control emotions take control of their lives. They feel miserable all the time and feel like nothing good can happen to them. 

Does this sound like you?

Challenge: Start with saying

 "I'm going to do something great with my life!" Get rid of small thinking and begin thinking according to what God's Word says and promises.

When you first feel your mood sinking, that's when you need to get a hold of yourself. As the Bible says, "Resist the devil at his onset (James 4:7)

 Even if someone's done you wrong, forgive them in the first 5-10 minutes or you'll sink deeper into that bad mood, and it will be harder to deal with and let go of.

You don't have to feel like doing the right thing to do it. Just take that first step and make the choice to do it.

Stability is defined as the ability to quickly return to a calm, stable state when disturbed, disappointed or upset; the strength to stand or endure any situation and remain calm. One of the most wonderful gifts we can give others or ourselves is stability, or dependability. It's a sign of choosing to trust God. Once we're stable, we will have the ability to do what we're called to do.

Trusting in God and relying on Him is the key to moving forward into the things God has in store for us. 

You never know what's going to happen when you get up in the morning for that day, but God wants us to rely on Him and look to Him all throughout the day for guidance and direction.

A dozen opportunities may arise to get you offended or to say stupid and negative things, but no matter what you feel like inside—even if you feel like you're going to blow up—you have a choice. Are you going to throw a fit, or are you going to go to God and ask Him to help you to change your mood? 

I had a situation this week happen and made me feel like I was going to "blow up" and I felt like I had to vent and tell everyone around me. I have to admit...it was hard trying to take a step back, take a deep breath and get a hold of my negative mood. I feel so grateful that we have the gift to communicate anytime we want with God and tell him what we are feeling. I said a silent prayer to myself and asked God to help me with the situation and help me to calm down and relax.

He did just that :)

When you immediately go to Him, suddenly something will change inside you. Once you get into the habit of this, you will start to see those moods and bad attitudes leave a little sooner. That "uninvited guest" may try to come back, but you will have already decided to not let him in! 

Make a choice...then do it.