12.31.2015

Lord, please be With us.

My second little sister has went to heaven to be with the Lord. We are all very heart broken but we know that He doesn't make mistakes.

I won't go into details right now. Today has been so hard and we would really appreciate your prayers.
Thank you all,
Paige

12.16.2015

^let your light so shine^

"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."
-Matthew 5:16




This verse is such a reminder to me! "That they may see your good works" yes, we serve God by serving others!

What describes a brother and a four-wheeler?

HOLD. ON.



                          (Pictures coming soon! :)



             

12.14.2015

~sisters~

i love this picture of us!!!!!  so excited for another little sister to have fun with!

Baby GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As I sit here writing this, I am rocking a drowsy almost 2-year-old that in 5 more months is going to be a big sister, to a LITTLE SISTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am going to have another little sister!!!! SSSSOOOOOO EXCITED!

                                            My little sister

      She is very active, and quite adorable, don't you think!!?!!
"Hi guys!"

12.13.2015

no pictures :( :(

We here recently lost everything on our computer. Everything.
So I will just post this so that you all know that that is why I have been doing "just word" posts!
Also,  photo-shoots and my photography will be on my new blog, paigelavayphotography.blogspot.com
Would love for you to check it out, I will soon post pics on there!
Have a really awesome day/night!

Faith is, "I don't understand, but I will."

I don't understand why I am to do this, but, since you said I should, I will.
When we don't understand something in the Bible, do we say, "I know that the Lord knows what He is talking about, He knows what He is doing!" I don't!  I want to figure out why I should do this. I want to make sure that there isn't another way to do it, before I actually do it.
Faith is also a matter of trust. "I trust that YOU know what is best Lord." How could Noah build the ark if he didn't trust that the Lord was right and was going to keep His promise? He couldn't. We need to trust the Lord if we are going to obey Him.
Faith is also blind obedience. We know the commandment, "Thou shalt not lie" and we could ask "why?". But {most} of us try not to lie, just because it simply says not to. Is it any different then other subjects? No!
Lying is just easier to not do, sometimes. It is the things that are harder to do that takes faith, in other words, blind obedience. ( Dressing modestly, praying, memorizing scripture, etc.)
For another example, what if the Lord laid it upon your heart to go to China and share the gospel. He provided the money, supplies, and Bibles. What if the Lord wanted you to deliver Bibles and get them across the Romanian boarder and into the hands of Christians that have waited their whole lives for one. Would you?
It would take a lot of faith to do a life-risking job like that, well, probably a ton!
Faith is something that we will never be a professional at. Faith always can grow a little more!


                       "This is what the Lord says.
                        If you have faith,
                        like a little grain of mustard
                        you can say to a mountain,
                        move away, and it will move."
                            ~Matthew 17:20~

12.11.2015

God's dishes ( :

A few days ago we were deciding who would have what chore/job and Joshua and Levi got picked to be the dishwashers and counter cleaners. Well, I was happy that I wouldn't have to do dishes, but Josh wasn't. With a family this big it is not a fun job, if you look at it as not fun.
Tonight there was a load of dishes and so he wasn't at all looking forward to washing them.(Probably cause they couldn't all fit in the dishwasher! :) I decided that I would do all of the dishes tonight, so I came up with a fun way to look at doing them.
I pretended that all of the dishes were God's dishes and we had just finished a great big meal in heaven! Every time that I was tempted to "half" wash a dish and hope that no one notices it, I thought, "Everything has to be sparkling for the next meal and God would not be very happy if His plate was not clean!' It worked quite well and before I knew it, all of the dishes were clean and ready to use for the next big meal!
Joshua was SOO happy that I did all of his dishes and I think viewing it as God's dishes will help him to get done with them on time and not look at them as a burden. Maybe this will help you too! : )


   Oh, and I don't really know if there will be meals in heaven, but we will see when we get there I guess! Tell me if you would volunteer to wash dishes even them!!! :D


12.07.2015

*God's Handy Work*


                             
                                           

                      I love this picture!
              Autumn, almost everyone's
           favorite season,  at least, mine anyways!
                        Fall...
            #leaves
            #changingofcolors
            #brightcolors
            #beauty
                And to sum it all up in a few words,
                                                * God's Handy Work *
I have no clue how someone can say that there isn't a God when there is proof all around them! How could there be NO GOD? Think about bees, how the Lord made them so magnificently and so complicated that man has still not figured out how things even work with them!
I am so honored to be able to serve the Lord that made everything all around us. I am so privileged to  be a child of God. I am so thankful that I can call Him my Savior and my Friend.
I AM SO BLESSED~

12.04.2015

~Love~

Love is the foundation of everything. We can be brave, confident, we can be amazing, but without love, we are nothing. Love your neighbor as yourself. Love your enemy. But most importantly, love God.
"If you love me, keep my commandments." John 14:15
Love a little more today. <3

Blessings + Bronchitis

Lilliana has had bronchitis for almost a week now. (An infection in her bronchial tubes) She has  coughing fits sometimes and is on antibiotics and steroids right now. She has been really fussy and hard to take care of.
Ashley started her job on the 1st so things have been very crazy/busy around here. The little ones also have colds.(and I do to)
So amidst all of the discouraging thoughts that I have already thought some about, I have been trying to count my blessings daily. It is hard sometimes, but that is when I have to stop myself and look around at all that we have and other people don't.
Take for instance, Bibles. We have plenty of Bibles, even different colors of Bibles. Think of all the people in China that pray for Bibles consistently, and the ones that get a Bible are willing to risk their life, just to read God's word and have a closer relationship with Him.
We have SO many necessities, things we don't even need. Things that sometimes, we don't even think about how lucky we are to have them. Shoes, cameras, laptops, doctors to take care of you, sisters, brothers, your family.

Really we are all blessed with daily-life things. No matter how discouraging life can get, try to stay thankful!
"What if tomorrow you wake up
with only the things you
 thanked God for yesterday."

11.28.2015

Trust in the Lord

What does "Trusting in the Lord" really mean?
To me it means-
surrendering yourself completely unto the Lord.
 and, resting in that.

   Don't worry about tomorrow
   Don't worry about what the future holds
   Don't worry about getting sick
 
Instead be thankful for everything you have and live your life to the fullest, serving God in everything you do.
Don't let a day go past where you can't look back on it and say, I did what God wanted me to, and now the rest is in His hands.

I would love to hear your thoughts about what it means to you to really trust in the Lord. He is Mighty and more than worthy to be praised!
Thanks for reading! Have a blessed day!

11.19.2015

~God is great~

A few days ago the sky was just glorious! Sunlight was peeping through the cloud making beautiful golden rays. As the night wore on it formed into a big storm cloud, that was also quite beautiful!
Later there was big booms of thunder followed by lightning that lit up the sky as if it were day time, for just a split second, then all was black again. It. was. Amazing.!






The lightning was so magnificent!

10.22.2015

Joshua & Levi photoshoot

We found an old Chevy truck on a back road and since I had the camera I decided to get pictures of  Josh and Levi. They got all excited and started talking about how in 10 years we can come back to that same spot and get pictures that look exactly the same, but with them older! I don't think it was such a bad idea! :)
Joshua's pictures





Levi's pictures





Both of them



They came up with this idea, little cuties!



                                    I really like how they turned out! I would've done more, but our
                          computer shuts down after just a little bit. Hope you all liked them!


                                                                          ~Paige~



10.07.2015

~Isaiah 40:8 & Job 37:5 & Matthew 16:26~

"God thundereth marvelously with his voice: great things doeth he which we cannot comprehend."
Job 37:5

"For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose 
his own soul? Or what does a man give in exchange for his soul?"
Matthew 16:26



                                                                             I
                                                              these verses!

                                         

Fall and Photography~

Looks like fall is here!!
 So here is some pictures that I took the other day. #simplephotography

Leaves

Fuzzy lowers are my favorite :)

leaves

leaves

and what do you know.... more leaves! 


And  who doesn't like those little tickely weeds?




LOVE PINE TREES!!!!!! : ) ;)

The Lord has given us a beautiful place to live!

He designed everything perfectly

We have so much to be thankful for!!

10.06.2015

October camp

We went to a church camp this Oct! It was a lot of fun!! We stayed in log cabins. They were simple, but cozy!
Getting ready to leave for OK!


On the way!

When we got there Dylan was a really big help with the younger ones!
 Love you big bro!!

We had a campfire! (And don't worry, the chair is not on fire!)



Jared and Ronan

Ashley was also a big help!

My best friend, Devenni

she photobombed when I was trying to take a pic of myself in the mirror!
That is what friends are for!!

Friends




And all the wonderful chefs!