Conversations with Chloe

I love to do these interviews so that you can get to know these tiny people that I get the honor of raising. Plus, it is so fun to look back on and see how much they change and grow.

Trust

It is the time of year when people start thinking about their New Year’s resolutions. I looked at the goals I had set for myself at the beginning of this year. I achieved ZERO of them. Woof. In fact, a few of them blew up in my face. They were great, and attainable, goals. But, zero accomplishment happened. That is pretty discouraging.

Christmas Recap

Did you have a wonderful Christmas? It is always sad when it it all comes to an end. There is so much anticipation and excitement; then it’s over in the blink of an eye.

Reflection and Provision

I remember the day that we moved here as if it was yesterday..

Change

We have a lot of changes happening in our household. Tuesday night, word started leaking out about what is happening in our lives. It was NOT supposed to be known by anyone outside of a small group of people (deacons) until our Sunday morning service. I am honestly upset that we were not able to tell those that we love on OUR terms, but had frantic text messages and phone calls coming in.. so I am going to let my words be “heard” here.

Photo: Jennieallen.com

In the first week of February, Scott, my family, and myself will be leaving the church that we have served at for the last four and a half years. The financial situation here has been on a steady decline. It has reached the point where they can no longer pay Scott. We were initially told that it would be the end of February.The finances were looked at again and it was realized that January 29th would be the last pay day for us.

So, with 5 weeks to go, we are packing, praying, and crying a lot. We love our teenagers. We have a smaller, but FAITHFUL group of kids who have been growing and serving the Lord in other ministries within the church. It has been an honor and a pleasure to serve them over our time here. There are so many loving and wonderful people in our church family, and we will miss them dearly.

The most common question that we have been getting is “What are you going to do?” Scott is sending his resume to churches that seem like they are a good fit for what we believe that God is calling us to do. Many people are expecting Scot to say “yes” to the first position that gets offered. That is harmful to everyone involved if we do not pray about it and make sure that it is where God wants us. Since it is such a short way away, the chances of being able to candidate and find a new place to serve full-time are very slim, we have a backup plan. God IS ABLE to provide before February comes. But, He may choose not to. If that happens, we will be moving our family in with my parents.

Both of our families have graciously offered up their homes for us to invade as long as we need to. It is incredibly humbling to reach this point. I do not like having to rely on others to take care of anything for me. I know that God is going to use all of this for His good.

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11

That is not to say that were aren’t a little afraid of what is to come. We are facing living with NO income, but still having bills to pay. We have children to take care of. We have to make this fun and exciting for our girls. Trying to help them understand all of this will be a trial.

Change is always exciting! It is unknown. We can’t see the end of the road. But, I know that whatever is around the bend will be good. The God that I serve is good.

Please pray for our family during this trying time. PLEASE pray for our teenagers, many of which are feeling incredibly heart broken. Please pray for our church; that this change will help them to heal and get back on their feet.

Merry Christmas Eve Eve

Merry Christmas Eve Eve, friends! I hope that you have lots of fun and festive plans for the rest of the week!!

Eggless Cutout Sugar Cookies

I meant to put this together last week, but time just slipped away. This is my great-great grandma’s recipe for sugar cookies. It has been handed down through the generations, and is always a family favorite. Since Harper has a dairy allergy, I did a little bit of altering, but the results were still delicious!!

Music Speaks

Sometimes life just gets heavy. It gets so heavy that getting out of bed empties any strength that you had.

I am really good at painting on the fake happy smile and pretending that things are all ok. What do you to do when life gets hard? The best thing to do is open your Bible. Let God speak to you. Drown the pages in your tears.

When you have three kids who are.. well, kids. Kids are loud and energetic. There is nothing wrong with that, but reading is pretty impossible. Some days, I just turn on music and sing. Thankfully, my girls love music, too, so it entertains them.

I decided to put together a playlist. These are some of my favorite songs to listen to when the weight of life gets too heavy. They remind me of what Jesus did for me. They remind me that I am not alone.

What do you do when life starts weighing you down? Do you have a favorite verse or song?

These are the Days

I have no idea what is going on in Michigan, but I am not even going to question it. Yesterday, I took all three girls OUTSIDE to play. There wasn’t any snow on the ground. We didn’t have to wear gloves. Our faces didn’t freeze off.

Try it Tuesday-Baby Jogger

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Around Christmas last year, Scott and I started talking about how we needed to buy a new single stroller. We had a giant double stroller that wasn’t getting used anymore. Chloe and Addison no longer had interest in riding in a stroller, and we no longer had interest in hauling that massive train around. For a double stroller, it was great. But, it was heavy and hard to steer. Bring on the shopping!