Hollie's Threads

Aren't they precious?! And those outfits! How ever did you find such adorable matching outfits Lamya? OK, so when the clothes are cute the odds are that I didn't pick them out. These were Valentine's gifts from the very fashionable Hollie. I was so excited when we got to Wilmington and the weather was finally nice enough for the kids to try them on. They fit perfectly and as you can see they were perfectly outfitted for their second Sunday at our new church.

I took this photo on our screened in porch which has become our favorite room in our new house. I am sitting on it right now as I journal and am listening to the distant, yet approaching, rumble of thunder. No bugs bother us, no sun beats down on us, no rain ruins our time outside. We see trees all around us, birds and squirrels galore. A woodpecker interrupts my train of thought hammering into a nearby tree. Life is good. . .no GREAT. . . and the only reason we really know that is because the Lord allowed us to struggle and walk through fierce trials that stripped us of self reliance and pushed us to total dependence upon Him over the past few years and to really begin living what we confess with our lips to believe. That is a journey that won't be complete until we are stripped of our flesh and are face to face with Him. I feel like I am at the top of one of those hills in life and how sweet it is to reach here having climbed for so long, yet with the perspective that there are many more valleys and hills yet to climb.

Mallory's Malibu Party

Little Mallory Terrell ( the daughter of some of our best friends from LA) turned two on March 3rd and her mom Sally thought that there would be no better way to celebrate in Southern CA than having a party at the beach. Sounds good right? Well, I should mention that they are originally from Missouri and have only been in CA for about a year and a half. Sunny SoCal isn't always so sunny or warm for that matter, contrary to popular belief. On this particular March day it was very cloudy and quite frigid at the beach. The wind would blow and my teeth would chatter. So we hunkered down, buried our feet in the sand to keep them warm (which didn't work for me) and proceeded to have a ball. In spite of the cold it was one of the most fun days at the beach that we'd ever had. The kids didn't mind the temperature at all and played so hard that Dane had sand stuck to his scalp and filling his pockets! Sally had packed the most adorable little lunch pails for everyone (her family, Aunt Jen, Jeff's parents and us) in actual beach pails with all kids of beach food; goldfish, Swedish fish, mock sushi, you get the gist.

This day was such a great reminder to me that even when things don't go just as we've planned or hoped not to be disappointed and make the best of the situation because you never know how great and truly memorable things may turn out to be! God is Sovereign even over the most minute details in life and if I truly trust Him and trust that He will work out all things for my good and His glory ultimately (Romans 8:28) then I am learning that my attitude needs to back that up. A little bit of a tangent, but Sally was an awesome example to me of this.