I LOVE this family!

This is one of my bestest and dearest friends Angie and her beautiful family! I love them so much! Angie is so loving and caring and is always putting others before herself. She has such a giving spirit and such a kind heart! Her hubby's pretty cool too! lol... He is also a great friend and I love watching him with his kids. You can tell how much they mean to him! I had a lot of fun taking their pictures!

At The Foot of The Cross (Lyrics) Kathryn Scott

Just Stop and Think

Reflection...

I am turning 29 on July 1st. I know that isn't 'old' but I think back when 30 was ooooolllllddd! I think about when I was in high school and 30 seemed like it was forever away and I remember thinking about what I thought my life would be like at 30. WOW! My life is in some ways how I pictured it and in some ways absolutely nothing I would've dreamt up! I have been through a lot of things in my life since I was about 14 that have taught me a lot about life, about God, and about love. Some things I have learned along the way and some things I feel I am just now learning from. I have been blessed with the fact that nothing 'horrible' has ever happened to me, I have only lost 3 people I can think of that really impacted my life and that I still think of often. I have had to experience divorce as a child and have had to deal with that my whole life but I believe that God brings out something wonderful in everything that is horrible. Sometimes it may feel like you have to look for it and sometimes you have to wait for it but its always there. God can bless you or sometimes someone else in every bad decision, death, sad situation, angry thought or word spoken and through forgiveness all things can be made right! I thank God for forgiving me! He forgave me when I asked for forgiveness at the age of 10 at Baptist Hill Girls Camp and asked Him to come into my heart and SAVE me. He forgave all the sins I had committed and all the sins I would commit after that and I can take comfort in that. At the same time I want to stay away from sin and live a life that will glorify HIM! He is my savior and He has given me sooooooooooo much to be thankful for. Sometimes in my life I forget about how much I do have and I let my 'feelings' take over. One thing I have learned in the past week or so is when something happens in my life and when I am upset or have a decision to make the first thing I should always do (even in the littlest of things) is go to GOD! No one else. Just God! God first!!!!!! I have learned a lot about myself and about who I am in God this week! I have been seeking His approval and what He desires for me instead of anyone elses (including my own)! I read something in the 'Love Dare' book a few weeks ago that has stuck with me. "Don't let your heart lead you, lead your heart!" I forget to do that sometimes and I let feelings take over. Again...I am sooooooo thankful for the forgiveness God gives me! Our feelings can deceive us, they can destroy us! Our hope, our longing, our comfort, and our needs should always be full filled by God and God alone. We should never rely on someone else or ourselves to meet those 'needs' because people will ALWAYS fail! GOD IS GOOD... ALL THE TIME!!!!!

I have started reading a book and I am not even done with the first chapter but I am loving it! It is 'Crazy Love' by Francis Chan. My husband is reading it with the Drama group at our church so I decided to start reading it as well. It has videos that you can watch online along with reading the book. I watched one today and want to share it with you, please watch the whole thing! (It is the video I'm posting after this post!) I really like when he talks about Gods commandments and 'laws' and how we don't need to look at them as things He is telling us to do just because they are right or wrong or to punish us or make life hard. He is giving us those commandments to make our lives easier and happier because when we are loving one another and treating each other the way we want to be treated that is making life better. Can you imagine if we all put each other first and loved each other the way we want to be loved ALL the time what a wonderful world this would be? That is Gods desire for us because He first loved us!!!!

'Learning As We Go"

Hey! So, I am obviously not doing a very good job

at blogging everyday. I think I need to just try my best and

not 'overwhelm' myself with everything else I am trying to do and

just blog as I have time! I really enjoy it!

So, Today is Tuesday. 'Learning As We Go' Today I was talking

to one of my sisters about being pregnant and being a

mommy. About the way you feel the first time you

experience your baby kick in your tummy. That overwhelming

joy, the blessings of pregnancy. We also discussed the not so pleasant

parts of pregnancy but the joys soooooo outweigh the bad!

Sometimes I am sad that I will never experience being pregnant again

but I also know how extremely blessed I am to have four

healthy, vibrant, amazing children. I love being a momma! That is

what I always wanted to be and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

I get to share this experience with my best friend too, so of course that

makes it even more of a blessing!

Prayer Request...My Bubba Maxter...And my Amazing Momma...

I am asking all my friends to pray for my mom.

I have an adorable brother that is a huge blessing in our family.

He is our little angel and is full of love and giggles.

He has become more and more work as he has

gotten older. He has Down Syndrome and also had Infantile Spasms

when he was an infant/toddler which is a type of epilepsy.

It has caused him to be extremely delayed.

He is 9 now and is still just as precious as the day

he was born. he doesn't walk, talk (some sign language),

and he doesn't feel pain like the rest of us so he will do things

to hurt himself on purpose so that he can feel something.

This has been really hard on my mom and step-dad. He will bang his face

on his bed, well anything he can get close to, so they can't just lay him

in the floor to play. He has to sit in his recliner, his bed that has padding all around it,

his stroller/wheelchair, or has to be held at all times. To be honest I think

even as strong as my amazing Momma likes to 'act' she is exhausted.

I really wish I could help her more then I do but I do know that I

can pray for her and that God will show her His purpose for the beautiful

son He has given her. I know she wouldn't ever give Maxter up for anything,

just like any mother, but that doesn't mean its easy!

I am just asking that you will pray that my mom will look

to God to be her strength and that she will have

patience and strength when its hard and when she

is exhausted. In a lot of ways her life is just going to get

harder, as Maxter gets bigger and bigger so please

pray that God will bring someone or something in her life that

will help her. I pray that God brings her to him so that

He can be her strength.

Thanks everyone! I hope everyone has a blessed day!

Smiles, *Christie*

'Learning As We Go'

I know it is technically Wednesday now but to me it is still Tuesday

because I haven't went to bed yet! Lol.

So today (Tuesday) I am writing about 'Learning As I Go',

being a momma of four...

I am going to write about my sweet Arianna.

She is sensitive, gentle, kind, very independent and stubborn at

the same time! She loves to make others happy and she has

the funniest faces I have ever seen in my life.

Today she gave me a HUGE scare. I was on the phone with my

sister Nikkie and heard a big bang in the other room, then a

horrible scream. Moms-you know your kids screams...

They have their frustrated screams, their angry

screams, their I'm being hit/pinched/bit/pushed... by my

sibling screams and then they have their 'I'm seriously hurt'

screams. The ones that make your heart sink and you feel like

you are going to have a panic attack.

Well, today, after I heard the big bang in the play room I heard

one of those screams from Arianna. I jumped up and started saying,

'Oh my gosh, Oh my gosh, Oh my gosh... and told Nikkie I had to

go and hung up the phone. I ran into the play room and one of the very

large sliding closet doors had completely fallen and landed on Arianna's legs.

She was laying there so helpless and I almost started to cry because

she looked so upset and hurt. I took the door off of her and looked her over.

She had an instant bruise on her ankle and was upset for about an hour but

was okay. It took me about that same amount of time to be 'okay'. It had

scared me so badly and you know how it is after something

like that happens you always think, 'What if... it had landed on her head,

her back, her arm and broke it...' It is so hard being a momma

sometimes because you 'worry' about your kids all the time

and you want to always keep them safe and sound, and to protect

them from all the things of this world.

I didn't really have a real reason for sharing this story, it was just

something that happened today. I hope you are all having a great day.

I am so thankful that my Arianna was okay and that

no one was hurt worse!

Good Night everyone! Smiles -Christie*

What Have I Done- Adie (with lyrics)

LOOOOOOOOVE this one! She has such a beautiful voice!

Meredith Andrews - In Your Arms

I love this song. It is so beautiful!

PRAYER REQUEST!!!!!!!!

Our Beautiful Shana...

This is my adorable friend Shana and her sweet hubby Dustin.

The past few years have been really hard for them in so many ways.

She has an eye disease that will probably cause her to go blind someday

and she found out about a year ago that she had Melanoma (skin cancer).

The past few weeks she has been having some severe stomach pains and

they figured out that she had cysts on her ovary's. Today it was so bad

that she had to go to the ER and they have decided to do surgery and

may possibly have to remove one of her ovary's. She has been

through so much and another surgery is definitely not something I

know she wants to experience again. I am asking all of you to pray for her,

her hubby, and their three children. Pray that this surgery is as easy as it

can be and that she heals very quickly! I love her so much and I hate to

see her go through so much! I know God is in control so I know that
all we have to do is pray for her and He will give her peace!

'Thank you Jesus for my friend Shana. She is such an amazing friend,

she is so full of life and such an inspiration to me and I pray you give her a peace

and a calmness tonight. Help her to have a good night sleep and to feel refreshed

in the morning for her surgery. I pray for the doctors and nurses that will be doing

the surgery and that you guide them.

I know you are in control and that you are faithful!

Thank you again for this friend you have put into my life and

that our friendship has been able to grow!

I love you and I praise you lord, Amen.'

Blog...Blog...Blog...BLOG...

I have decided to have a daily topic on my blog.

I had started this when I had my blog the last time but

I want to be more strict with it this time and share

with all of you the things I learn about myself and
the things I learn as my relationship with God grows and I change

who I am through Christ as a Wife, a Momma, and in every way

I can allow God to make me a better me. Not because of

me and/or the things I do but because I want

to allow Him to work in me, to change me, and to strengthen

me for His purpose, His glory and because He loves me!

This is my new hair color, I didn't change it for any real

reason. I just thought it would be fun!

Justin likes it so I guess that's what really matters! lol!

I hope you all enjoy my blog and the things I share with you,

please leave comments when you have time, I really

enjoy knowing who reads my blog and let me know what you think

or your thoughts as I share mine!

Sundays- Feeling Blessed!

On Sundays I want to write about how very blessed I am. It will be different things each Sunday. God has given me so many things to be thankful for and this is just another way for me to thank Him!

Mondays- My Safe Place!

On Mondays I will write about marriage, about my husband, and about the things I learn/have learned while being his wife. I will share some struggles or things that I am trying to improve as a Godly wife and the things I want to teach my sweet girls as I am the #1 example they will have as far as what a wife should be like, and also for my son and the kind of woman I want him to grow up and marry someday.

Tuesdays- Learning As We Go!

On Tuesdays I will write about being a Momma. I love being a mom but their are also struggles and obstacles as a mom. Being a mom of four children that are very close in age I definitely have my own struggles and things I am Learning as I Go! My oldest was 22 months old when I had my second, and then 11 months later my third, and then 22 months later my sweet little boy. It has been hard at times and honestly some of those months when my middle two were both so little a lot of my life is a bit of a blur but I have enjoyed being their Momma and wouldn't trade this life for ANYTHING! So join me on Tuesdays as I learn As I Go to be a better mom!

Wednesdays- Keeping It Creative!

On Wednesdays I will share with you my creations. Some may be older and some may be new things I have created or came up with. I really enjoy being creative and making things for people. It is time for me to do things I enjoy/hobbies. This is something I believe is very important for all moms! To have something you do that's just for you!

Thursday- Wearing An Apron!

On Thursdays I will make a new recipe and share it with all of you. Not a new recipe I have created but a new recipe from one of my many Recipe Books that I have not used very often. I have always said that I wanted to learn to be a better cook so now is the time to take this goal seriously! I know my hubby will be thankful for this as well! :)

Fridays- Being Joyfully You!

On Fridays I will write about my own thoughts, as women I believe we all struggle with feeling inadequate and less then what we really are. We worry about what others think about us and while doing that we are not true to ourselves. I actually hate 'self-improvement' books and this is totally not the kind of thing I am talking about. This is not going to be about ME, as in how can I be happier, how can I do this or that, or how can I improve myself for ME. These are going to be things I am trying to learn about who I am in Gods eyes, the love he has for me. Who I can be because I am a child of God. How I can 'improve' myself for other people, the people I love and the people God has put into my life for a reason. God wants us to bless each other, to give to each other and to love each other. I want to be a more selfless person, wife, mom, friend...

Saturdays- Just Makin Memories!

On Saturdays I will share pictures I have taken. Some will be from the week before and I will also share older ones just for fun. I love photography and I haven't been taking pictures as much lately so I am really excited about this one and getting into this hobby I have loved for years again. I will also share pictures of my beautiful family as we go.

Well...I hope you all join me in this new, fun journey of mine. I am excited about this and the things I know God wants to teach me in my life.

Have a wonderful Monday everyone!

Smiles... *Christie*

I am so excited about blogging again!

I have missed writing on my blog! I recently decided to start a blog with my sister(s) and I am excited about sharing our crafts and lives together that way but I also decided to have this one just for me. I love writing about my family, friends, God, my sweet babies and sharing my fun crafts and photography as well! I hope you all enjoy!