It just might not be the plan we had in mind!

God is always working in our lives, sometimes we just can’t see it. We see trials and tribulations as God’s way of socking it to us, instead of looking at them as lessons learned.

Maybe God has a better plan for you than you had in mind for yourself!

God knows what we need and tells us that our needs will be met if we believe in Him. Not the kind of needs that park a sports car in our driveway or give us a house on the hill, but the necessities that keep us alive and thriving.

What is your plan? Can you feel God working in your life?

Sometimes it’s a tap on the shoulder. Sometimes it’s a clunk on the head. God is always with you, watching over you and guiding you. Unfortunately we don’t always want to listen to Him and we try and make our own plan. How can we call ourselves believers if we don’t listen to His nudge or His poke at our heart?

I love this verse from Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV): “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Right now, at this very moment, I have no idea what God has in store for me. I never planned on being a stay-at-home mom. My mom didn’t get to stay home and neither did my sister. I just assumed the same would go for me too.

Fortunately, God had a different plan for me. I’m not quite sure what my plan is for myself when Ryan gets older. Will I go back to teaching? Find another career? Volunteer? Eat Bon Bons all day while watching the last few soap operas left on TV? I have no idea, but God does. That’s all I need to know to help me sleep at night.

What about you?

1. I’m thankful for my flowers from the Farmers Market that still look good after almost two weeks.

2. I’m thankful for my sweet boy Ryan who doesn’t mind being dropped off at preschool anymore. I give him a kiss before I go and then walk out the door. But that’s not all…I blow him kisses through the window and he blows them back. Boy, he melts my heart!

3. I’m especially thankful for all this sunny weather we’ve been having. I know everyone isn’t experiencing what we are here in Southern California, but I wish they could!

I love opening my door out to the backyard and letting the fresh morning air come inside. I can hear a bunch of birds chirping in the trees outside and Charlie can go in and out as she pleases. God is good!

4. I’m also thankful that Ryan has adjusted well to his full-size bed. He’s slept through the night since we put him in the bed on Saturday. We had bought him one of those lifetime cribs that goes from crib, to toddler bed, to full-size bed. For some reason I didn’t really like the toddler bed. I was sick of him being so low to the ground. It was hard if I had to pick him up or put him down.

Todd and I felt he could handle a regular size bed, even though he’s only 2 years and 8 months old. We all went shopping for his new mattress and Ryan helped pick it out. He looks so tiny in it, but I will say he’s sleeping like a champ these days. It’s a little difficult to get him down for his naps, but that was pretty typical with the toddler bed too. But he must really love his new mattress because he’s been sleeping-in every day. It’s awesome!

Since he got a bigger mattress, he needed a new comforter and sheet set. I bought him this transportation theme from Target.

I really liked the colors, plus I didn’t have to get new artwork since he had a similar theme with his baby stuff. I’m picking up his nightstand today, that I had to order, so I’m looking forward to having all the pieces of his furniture set. I also need to get a new lamp and hang the navy blue valance I bought. The finished product should be pretty cute!

How about you? What are you thankful for today? Leave a comment below or link up your Thankful Thursday post!

I hope you all had a blessed and wonderful Easter with your family! I know I did!

We started off our day by going to the early service at church. 8:30 am. It doesn’t sound too early, except when you wake up at 7:30, giving you only an hour to be in your seat. Yikes!

Unfortunately, I had to miss the excitement of the kids seeing their Easter baskets. Actually, Ruby was with me when I purchased the items, so it was no surprise to her! I must admit I shopped at the last minute and so she happened to be with me. And when I say last minute, I mean last minute. We were at Walmart at 8:30 the night before!

On Sunday afternoon I had to bring cupcakes to our family get-together. Of course Walmart didn’t have the stuff I needed, so to make things worse, we ended up at the grocery store – right after Easter basket shopping – which was at almost 9:30 because I had to stop and get gas first or we were going to be pushing the car home.

Needless to say, I was very unorganized this year, but I got it all done. Thankfully I made the cupcakes after church and they turned out exactly the way I wanted them to. They were Lemon Supreme with Cream Cheese frosting and coconut. I used food coloring in the coconut and frosting to give them a green tint.

We made it to our family’s house for the Easter egg hunt and dinner. I thought it was funny because the first thing Ryan wanted wasn’t the candy eggs, it was the lemon tree! He wanted to pull the lemons off the tree and put them in his basket. Once he realized all the kids were grabbing the eggs, he finally decided to join the fun.

As you can tell in the next picture, Ryan did a fine job with his second – EVER – Easter egg hunt. His basket was so full the eggs were spilling out. Next year I need to remember to bring a big bag instead!

And here are some photos of Ryan with our family.

Uncle Rob (my brother)

Grandma Karen (my mom)

Great-Grandma Peggy (my mom's mother)

This picture probably doesn’t do it justice.

The sky feels so close…like you could reach out and grab it.

And the clouds are amazing.

Another one of God’s amazing creations!

Happy Sunday!

I know I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again…I LOVE OUR NEW HOUSE!!

I can’t even begin to explain what a blessing this house is for us. We wanted to live in this area for a long time and now we do! Praise God!

**I only have to leave the house 5 minutes before Ruby gets out of school to pick her up. Plus, it only takes 5 more minutes to get home! That sure beats the hour and half it was taking me to go there and back before we moved.

**I’m saving on gas because of this!

**Another gas saver is that Ruby’s mom is right up the street! Our schedule is much more flexible with her. It makes life a lot simpler!

**The house is much bigger so you can’t hear everything going on in the house. This is great because a) I’m a light sleeper, and b) I like it quiet! When Ruby takes a shower, you can’t even hear the water running! At our old house, the second she turned on the shower, we had to turn up the TV! The pipes were so loud!

**The city is beautiful! There’s lots of shopping and restaurants close by. Plus, we finally live close to a mall! It’s great having a new selection of restaurants, although the ones around here will eventually get old too! But until then… :)

I could probably go on and on, but I’ll stop there. I don’t want to bore you to death! Ha!

What are you thankful for on this Thursday? Leave a comment below…

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Once again, there is so much to be thankful for today. Last week I had been fighting a cold that took all of my energy from me. It started with a sore throat and then just lots of congestion. No one could really tell that I felt sick from the outside, but on the inside I was miserable. Thankfully, today I can say that I’m feeling back to normal.

I am also thankful that escrow will be closing very soon on our new house! The stress of all the paperwork and finances has been draining, mostly for my hubby. It will be so exciting to get the keys to the house and fix it up the way we would like before we move in. That will also be stressful, but at least we’ll be able to see what we’ve accomplished when we’re done!

So last, but not least, I’m thankful for my wonderful husband. He works so hard – all the time – to give his family what they need and want. He knew we really wanted to move and he’s making it happen. He takes all the burden and just gives it over to God. And God is so amazing because he takes the burden and eases our hearts. As we say around here – G.I.G. – God IS Good!

On this beautiful Thursday, there are so many reasons to be thankful.

I’m thankful for this – and every other Veteran’s Day – where we get to shout from the rooftops how grateful we are to all of the men and women who have served our country in the past and present. Thank you to those who risk their lives in order to protect ours!

I’m also thankful for the children’s ministry at our church. Every Thursday Ryan spends a couple hours there learning about God, reading stories, making crafts, singing songs and praying –  while I enjoy my Bible study group. Ryan leaves smiling and happy because he had such an amazing time. What a wonderful group of women who teach Ryan about God!

I’m thankful for this cool weather, even though the winds have picked up instead!

And last, but not least, I am thankful that even though Ryan has been waking up at 6:00 a.m. for the past two days, I’ve managed to find a different part of the day to do my Bible reading. Last week I had made a promise to get up before the rest of the house and read my Bible and pray. You can read about that here.

What are you thankful for today? Leave a comment below and let us know!

Lately I haven’t been feeling very close to God, so I decided to do something about it. Instead of continuing to distance myself from the Big Man Upstairs, I have chosen to wake up at 6:30 in the morning, before the rest of the house, and read my Bible. And not only read my Bible, but pray.

We’ve been studying the Book of James in my Bible study and this past week we were working with chapter 4. A verse that has been jumping out at me is:

James 4:8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

God has promised to be there for us at a moments notice. All we have to do ask.

If we are not seeking God then we are seeking the ways of the world and that’s going to lead us down a path of sin. I don’t know about you, but I’d much rather live in God’s favor, than in the sinful path of the Enemy. I want to live an eternal life with Jesus and my Christian brothers and sisters.

So my plan is to get up at 6:30 everyday for a week (baby steps) and read my Bible, as well as pray. I’ve managed to get up the past two days, so I’m doing great so far. It has actually been easier than I thought. Especially when my husband announces, “It’s 6:30!” when I’m in the middle of a deep sleep. That’ll do it for anyone! {Thanks Honey}

Are you Saved? Because I hope to see all my friends, family, and bloggy friends in Heaven!

For two months now we have been searching for the perfect house. Do you know there’s no such thing? I was shocked to make such a discovery.

We are trying to move closer to Ruby’s school and her mom’s house. Driving there and back takes a minimum of an hour. Ryan is usually going crazy by the end of our drive. For Ruby, it isn’t fun to sit in the car for 30 minutes after sitting all day long at school. The other reason we want to move is that Orange County is considered our home. Not out here where our friends don’t even want to visit because they have to sit in so much traffic to get here.

Besides location, location, location, we are focusing on local schools for Ryan, certain square footage, an upgraded kitchen, a nice backyard and something in the price range we’ve been approved for. We are also hoping for a house with a view of the city lights, but that might be something we need to compromise on down the road.

I don’t know about all of you, but when I want something, I want it now – or in the very near future. Often times things don’t work that way and God is either closing the door or wanting us to wait. It is up to us to seek Him to figure out what He wants us to do. But I’m not patient. I will admit that this is something I need to work on and being tested by God in the patience department isn’t fun.

Being impatient doesn’t get things done faster. It only festers in our hearts and minds and causes unneeded stress. I know if I just stop and wait then the “perfect” house will soon be in our grasp, unless God closes the door because He doesn’t like our timing.

Either way I know that God is looking out for us and He’s going to put our new house right where it needs to be.

Ryan is only two, but he’s the most frequent prayer I know. And I love it!

He reminds us to pray before every meal, before bedtime, and other random moments throughout the day.

Today we came home from a 20 minute ride in the car and he had fallen asleep. He was sound asleep when I took him out of his car seat and as I carried him up the stairs to his room. I know this because I could see he was sleeping peacefully on my shoulder as I looked at him in the mirror going up the stairs.

Right when I set him down in his crib, he looked up at me and said, “Pray.” So I did what any other Heavenly Mommy would do. I prayed. I said a quick little prayer about what a wonderful little boy God created for Mommy.

Then I did what any other smart mommy would do. I ran out of his room, shutting the door behind me, hoping that he would fall back to sleep so Mommy would have time to write this blog post.

And all God’s children said, “Amen!”