It's Monday. It's June. Have a great week!

When you have 30 minutes...

Because sometimes we need a big ole' cup of coffee (or tea or a Sonic happy hour drink) and 30 minutes to ourselves for nothing but a bit of light reading and mindless social media. Here are some goodies to get you going in the right direction. ENJOY!

First start here, You Matter from Simple Mom. YOU MATTER, Mama. Really, you do. 

Then watch this and let yourself have a good laugh as you are reminded of the glory days of your youth. For me, I was in 9th grade, miserable in an all girls school, and talking to my then crush, now husband on the phone until 2 a.m every morning on my own phone line that just happened to be used with a pink neon light up phone.

Once that is done, PLEASE PLEASE, if nothing else go over and read this fantastic post on Why Social Media Doesn't Make You Jealous by Jami at Hello from the Nato's. It will knock your socks off.

Have a dream? Then go here and read a little ditty by Carlos Whittaker, People Will Never Respect You For What You Are About To Do. I challenge you to take some thought into his closing question. Quit thinking and DO IT, Mama! Live the calling He has placed on your life.

And finally, to wrap it all up, go read Big Mama's post on Pioneer Woman Entertainment about the show Nashville. Love the show and the clip she has with the post is sure to make you smile. Then go out and get guitar and voice lessons for your children, or if you are like me, for yourself. Who wouldn't want to learn how to jam to Ho Hey by the Lumineers????

Hope your spirit is filled and your load is a little lighter.

Would love to hear what was your favorite!

One year ago this week

This time last year we were in our daughters birth country for our court date. It was one year ago today that Kyle and I drove through the gate of the children's home where our daughter was waiting for us. It was one year ago that my husband came face to face with his little girl for the first time and I witnessed something so special and life-changing, that uniting of father and daughter. It was one year ago that we got to hug and kiss her to pieces, squeezing those dimpled cheeks and hearing that sweet voice we have come to know and love so dearly.

Time.

I think often we talk about how it goes by so quickly. It does, that I am certain.
But what I have come to realize even more is its ability to change and heal and redeem and teach.

Such a funny little thing that time is.

I look back at her then...

And I see her now...

She is turing into quite the little lady. She is testing her daddy and I, pushing limits, seeing just what she can get away with, a typical 2 year old girl from what I hear. She is also becoming quite the little Mama, loving on her baby dolls and mimicking everything that I do. I believe one of the sweetest things is hearing her say our family blessing before we eat dinner. My hands are full in mothering and raising our Hannah Cate but more importantly, so is my heart. 

sweet simple

It's Tuesday. And for me, Tuesdays are days my boys are in school and my girl and I drag ourselves out of our lounging clothes and slip on something cute and trendy. We do lunch and browse our regular stomping grounds...Tar-jay, TJ's, and the Hob Lob. Today's purchases consisted of camo duck tape and a stack of hunting/camo themed scrapbook paper. Oh yes, the 5th birthday party planning for my oldest is underway. Gone are the days of birthday parties executed solely from my own mind and creativity. He makes sure his input is heard, and I have to admit, it is a bit refreshing to plan according to his likes and interests. Oh, Caden. How you are growing up on me. 

I think that THIS RECIPE is absolutely delicious. My crew gobbled it up last night without a clue in the world that it was cauliflower. I added it to a batch of cheese filled ravioli I had in the freezer. It was a 'use up what we have because we didn't make it to the grocery store' kinda dinner. I have to say it delievered and there was plenty still left to use later this week as a sauce for homemade pizza. I'm going to use HER recipe for that as well.

I also had my first Pinterest fail. Not fail in the taste department, but in the looks department. Case in point (mine on the top, gimme some oven on the bottom)

Oh it is by far the best muffin recipe I have ever made, but why oh why, baking gods, did they fall flat as a flitter? I usually have a good outcome when I bake so not sure what happened this go around, bad baking powder maybe??? Thank goodness my husband could care less what it looks like, as long as it tastes good. The streusel topping is to die for and Caden loved helping out by sprinkling it over the tops of the muffins. They were dessert last night and breakfast today and maybe even snack too. THAT GOOD, ya'll.

Happy April 23rd, friends. For no other reason than that.

Seeing the one who sees

(I ran into countless obstacles in trying to post this today. Blogger not saving, pictures not loading, computer acting up, etc. The enemy clearly does not want this to be published. I persevered and thank goodness it finally worked!)

It was an experience so suffocating and intoxifying that I rushed to write it. Screaming to escape, so clearly heard that I wanted to weep. A plain and simple and raw sight of Jesus that made my heart leap out of my chest. 

And it was through my son. 

See, last Friday I took him and sister to a friend's house so that I could take my three year old to a checkup. What a friend to take on 2 of mine, adding to a house of 4 for her to watch over that day. (Thank you again, sweet friend.) While there, he did as any 4, almost 5 year old boy would do. Hopped on a bike and took off. As soon as he was rolling along, he fell and scraped knee and crying ensued. Bless my friends heart. Not her idea of a fun Friday afternoon, cleaning and calming the boo boo of a girl friend's child. And in that fall entered a small rock into his knee, an event that we have somehow managed to escape in the 5 years we have been parents. So that night we tried to extract that said rock from knee. Traumatic? Hmmm...guess you could say that. As an understatement. Screaming and holding down and begging and tears and snot and then, out of nowhere, a prayer. Uttered loudly from my child's lips, totally un-prompted, totally unrehearsed. "God, thank you for letting me have Mommy's phone to play Angry Birds (we had let him do that as an attempt of distraction) and God, please don't let it hurt, and God, please help me." 

So simply stated. Thanks and then petition. 

For me, as a Mama, that was Jesus, to my eyes and to my ears. 

It was Jesus to work in his little baby 4 year old heart, to cry out to God and ask for His help.

I wish I could say the rock was gone after that. It wasn't. The hand of Mama and Daddy could not do the job, so after several texts to a friend in the medical field the next morning, she agreed to help us get that little sucker out of his knee before his big baseball game that afternoon. 

So we met, her armed with medical tools, me armed with too much caffeine in my system, him armed with fear. And again, as we laid him back to start the whole process of "Operation Rock Extraction" he yelled out "Stop, stop, STOP. Mama PRAY!!!" His fear had led him again to prayer. Again, it was Jesus. 2 days in a row. I saw Jesus in my son. 

I have replayed those 2 events in my mind over and over again in my head since last week. I have praised Him for those moments. 

And this morning, as I drove my 3 littles down the long country roads into town, I thought of what marked this week in history...bombings, and explosions, and gun control issues, and the weight of the world, fearful of what tomorrow and next week and next year would bring to myself and my family and my babies. Dear Heavenly Father, return to us soon! And there came that still, small voice..."See Me, Amy. See Me." 

Just like when I heard my son pray and ask for prayer, just like the dogwood in the front yard goes from naked limbs, to buds, to blooming flowers, just like the thunder and lightning of springs storms, just like interlocking my man's hands into mine and seeing the vows of husband and wife, just like the dimpled smile of my daughter...I see Him. I see Jesus. 

Yesterday, today, and tomorrow. I choose to see Him. 

Amidst the disasters and the destruction and the heartache and the ugly and the bad of this world. Choose to see Him. 

See His good. See His grace. See His faithfulness to those who follow Him. See Him for who He really is. 

A good God, merciful and loving. 

I believe if we see Him, we see hope. Hope for us and for our families and our babies and our future. 
Have faith that He will reveal Himself to us who seek Him. 

"For I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11 NLT)

"I love all who love me. Those who search will surely find me." (Proverbs 8:!7 NLT)

I've never done this before on my blog, but for whatever reason, I feel I am suppose to today...If you don't know Jesus, if you don't have Him living and breathing in you, if you have never asked Him to be the Lord of your life and have the desire to know Him, pray and ask Him. I don't believe there is a right or wrong way, just admit that you are a sinner, ask for forgiveness of your sins, believe that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, and ask Him to be the Lord of your life. 

According to Romans 10:9-13...

⁹ If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. ¹¹ As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” ¹² For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, ¹³ for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Don't let what you get (or don't get) from the news drag you down in seeing the bad and the demise of our country and this world.

Have HOPE, have FAITH, and SEE The One, El Roi, who sees YOU! (Genesis 16:13)

Be blessed today, friends!