frost formations

by the breath of God, frost is given...}}

job 37:10

n o v e m b e r in review- [goals + highlights + what I learned]

HIGHLIGHTS//

-coffee dates with Mom <3
-Girls day out + getting my hair dramatically layered =D
-Micah is walking....like wow!!!!!
-Celebrating Mom's and Micah's birthday + going to Chuck e Cheese :-)
-finding 2 new jackets at the thrift store
-PLAYING VIOLIN ON TALENT NIGHT. (this was so awesome and I'm so glad I did it!!! #doitscared )
-Having our adopted Grandpa over for Thanksgiving & he cried because it was the first time he's had Thanksgiving in 5 years <333
-Ashley's friends coming over and becoming our friends too =)
-THE LEAVES BUT ALSO THE GREEEEEN. (yes orange leaves and very green grass...in November.)
-Making snowflake crafts and leaf crafts with the siblings <33
-Lilliana helping me make cookies 
-Putting together a treasure hunt for all the boys (and lilli ;))
-Finishing almost every goal wrote down in my journal xD
-GETTING A NEW BEAUTIFUL JOURNAL!!!!!
-Also totally getting into art and really liking it and I'll have to share pics xD
-FACETIMING WITH AMELIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! sooooooo muchhh funnnn!!!!

[and i just knowwww that as soon as I publish this I'll remember three thousand other things I should've put in this post. ^-^ ]


RANDOM // F U N N Y :D

Me: *poetic voice* "We all face battles..."
Caden: Yeah, and I'm Strider!!!!! 
Elias: No, I'M Strider!!!!!

When we're playing hide-n-seek and me and Lilli are hiding. I say 'He might get us!' and she just looks at me and says 'At least we have each other!' #yesiammelting #youshouldbetoo


Elias, [to  Mom] : Hey, look at my muscles...I HAVE LIKE 5 NEW ONES!!!!

and like sitting here writing up this post and my bros are behind me cracking up..xD #lovethem
:also don't mind that fact that it's 11 at night and we're laughing our heads off about hashtags XD

Joshua: Wait..whats XD???? 
Me: It's like, you turn your head sideways and have really excited eyes or something... XDD 

Lilli: *licks the cookie batter spoon* Ooooh i just lOVe sugarrrrr!!!! 

*sitting here thinking about something funny that must've happened*
Elias: ummmm, you could do lilliana saying that she wants more of the food that tastes like nothing..
Me: That was last month.
*looks around and realizes that we're genius'. 😎

Lilliana: HEY i want to be a genius when i grow up!!! ...but how do you be a genius? 


Lilliana: Adults were once just little children....but now they're adults. (this came from nowhere XD) 

Lilliana: AWwwww, look that that baby doll, it has no food!!! *continues to say in the most sorrowful voice* 'and that one and that one don't have food and neither does that one....'

Elias: Do germs go to heaven????


DECEMBER IS UPON US// GOALS

-finish 7th gradeeee
-read 6 books
-figure out things that need figuring out
- and just live and be joyful. <3 <3 
(my goals will probably expand over the next few days ;))
.........................................................................

What I've learned:

I've been learning a lot about actually excepting yourself for who you are. Mindset & how it changes everything. 
To do things scared. Be brave. Just to give my best at something no matter what.
Learning about some kinda cray stuff like Schizophrenia and such and personally I just think the world is kinda messed up....so many things are clearly spiritual and Doctors just give it a name and prescribe all sorts of pills. Which isn't right. 
To fully trust God, His plan is greater then what we could have even imagined. <3
Learning a lot more about connection, how every human no matter how different wants to share a human connection, and how they do. Just lots of stuff. ;D


Your goals for December??? (I CANNOT BELIEVE IT IS RLY DECEMBER WAHTT EVEN????) 
Do ya like the new blog design thingy?? =D

Job summed up + Gods unfailing mercy 💗

I read through Job in April, and as always it amazed me!! Yet, I wondered about something, so I read it and re-read it, and found my answer.

"Why does everyone always just note everything good about Job...He actually cursed Jesus!!"

So, I was thinking about this so often, and talked with Mom about it. 

1. Read the start and ending, the first 4 chapters and the last chapter. Those are the only chapters actually showing that Job was praising God.
2. Everything in between is his grief, his utter awful depression. But of course that normal because HE LOST EVERYTHING! But I still wondered why people never brought up that he grieved for like, 35 chapters. 
3. But then I read the very last chapter again, and a smile spread across my face. There it the ending, Job repents. And God STILL forgives him..after all his curses and depression. Because yes, I know, he said "He gives and takes away, blessed be the Lord" - But people made it all about that, and not about how the Lord forgives him. 

<3 <3 <3

^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!

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~

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."

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!