I AM BACK!!!

WOW, it has been a crazy few weeks. We have been so busy with getting things ready to move and looking for our new home. Last week we flew to Florida to look for a house. We looked at several homes and it was a great trip! We are trying to decide between two that we really like. One is 15 years old almost 1900 sq feet and has been totally remodeled and renovated. It is also 2 miles from the church and has a lower HOA fee. The second house is new and is 1600 sq feet and is in gated community and about 15 miles from church. It is really a hard choice. We are praying so hard that God will make is so clear which house He wants us at!

In the middle of trying to purchase a new home we just closed on our current home yesterday! I have to finish packing today. We have a lot of precious friends that are so sweet and are helping us move our things tomorrow. The next few weeks will be a little difficult on the kids. Me, Jada, and Sky will be moving in with my mom and dad until we close on our new home. Jeremy will be moving in with his Aunt (an hour and a half away from where we will be) until we close. Jeremy is still going to work and his Aunt lives close to his work.

Skyler will probably have the hardest time with this. Jeremy use to travel every weekend and sing at churches. Every time Jeremy left Skyler would grab his own guitar and suitcase and try to get in the car with his daddy. So now being away from his daddy a whole week will be hard. Both of the kids are a little confused right now. The other day Jada asked if she has ever lived in a garage before! I said "No Hunny, why are you asking that?" She said "Well, you said we are moving our stuff into a storage garage!" I just started laughing. She thought she was going to live in the storage where we will be keeping our things. I pray we can make this a fun and exciting adventure for all of us.

This morning I was looking at a Lifeway Catalogue and saw a quote that hit me so hard! "It's not just the destination God is interested in, it's how you make the Journey."

AND THE WINNER IS...

Now it is time to see who won the giveaway by the artist Cindy Gray for the mommyfest week!

AND THE WINNER IS....



Congrats Lisa!!! You are winning a Giclee print of "Becoming Less" (valued at $925.) This print is a limited edition of 25 and you will be receiving number 7. Please e-mail me at tiffanyjohnson0@gmail.com with your address so we can mail you your prize.

Thanks everyone who came to visit during mommyfest! Please continue to come back and visit. I love to receive comments! It was so much fun and great to meet ALL of you. I have had a lot of fun hopping from one blog to another!

UPDATE

I just wanted to give an update on our house. We put our house on the market last Friday. On Monday we had two people come and look at the house and they BOTH put offers down! I could not believe it I thought the process would take months. The inspector is coming tomorrow and if all goes well, we have to be out on May 30. You are probably asking, "Where are you going?" We actually do not know for sure. We have not started looking for a house yet. Remember we are moving 10 hours away. We are trying to figure out what area we want to move in that is close to the church where my husband is going to work. Lots and Lots to do, but it is all very exciting.

My daughter just finished learning about hurricanes at school last week. She is becoming nervous about the move now because she thinks we are going to be blown away. I reassured her we were going to be fine. That we are to trust in God and he will take care of us as He replants our family where he wants us. I will be writing about our journey the next several weeks. Please keep us in your prayers!

"The woman is blessed who trusts in You, Lord, and whose hope You are. For she will be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreads out her roots by the river, and shall not fear when the heat comes; but her leaf will be green, and she will not be full of care in the year of drought, neither shall she cease from yielding fruit." Jeremiah 17:7-8

STORY OF MY JADA GIRL

My husband and I found out we were pregnant 5 months after we got married. We were very excited when we heard the news. I began to get morning sickness. The kind of sickness that lasted all day and never went away. Five months into the pregnancy we went for an ultrasound to find out if we were having a boy or a girl. I will NEVER forget that day. After the the nurse looked at the screen for a while she said, "I will be back, I am going to find your doctor." I knew something was not right. The doctor came back in and told us our daughter had gastroschisis. Which meant my babies intestines were on the outside. As you could imagine I was scared and confused. I had never heard of this before. They immediately sent us to a specialist.

When I went home I did so much research so I would be prepared for the worst. Well, in all honesty, you are never prepared as much as you want to be. Skipping ahead a few months, my husband flew out to Texas to lead a youth revival at my brothers church. It was a few months before the due date so did not think much of him being gone. One morning while he was away I did not feel my baby kick. (I had to count the baby's kicks every time after I ate.) I called my doctor and they wanted me to come in. At that point I called my husband and told him the news and not to worry. That is where our journey began!

When I arrived they did all kinds of tests and tried to get my little Jada to move. They ended up doing an amnio. Which was not too bad, but I sure was nervous at first. When the results were in the doctor came and told me they had to take her in 24 hours. At that time I was only 31 weeks along. I called my husband and told him to find the quickest flight home that he had 24 hours before they were going to take her. A few hours later I began to get a fever and have really bad pack pain. I will never forget the doctor came in and sat down on the side of my bed and put his hand on my legs and said in a calm voice, "I know your husband is not here yet, but we have to take her NOW." He explained to me that I was starting to get an infection and the c-sec had to be immediately. When he left the room I broke down and just lost it. Not only was my baby coming 9 weeks early and no time for steroid shots for her lungs, my husband was in another state! I am sure the entire hospital heard me grieving. Literally right after the doctor left the nurses came in prepping me for surgery.

(Sorry this is my longest post ever...I am even cutting parts out.) My precious mom was able to be with me while my daughter Jada was born. I did not get to see her until the next day because they hid her from me on the way out for her surgery...she was not breathing. After she was born, she had immediate surgery to try and fit her intestines back in her tiny tiny belly. I had just had a 2lb 13oz baby girl! At that time I had no idea what was in store. Here daddy made it back in time to see her right after her surgery. He has a great story on his blog what happened on his journey to try and get back home.

Jada's surgery went well and they were able to fit it all back in on the first surgery. She has a homemade belly button which looks like a swirl and we say God made her a special swirly!

The first time I saw her I was overwhelmed with so many emotions, I just began to cry. I was so thankful that God took care of my baby girl and I knew I had to have faith that she was going to be okay. She had a long hard road ahead of her. We were in the NICU for 7 weeks. The hardest thing I ever had to do was leave her there at night. She had really good days and then had days we didn't know if she was going to make it. She would take a step forward and the next day step back 10 steps. What a trying time in our life. God taught me patience and gave me unbelievable strength through those times. God gave me a scripture during this time that I claim for her everyday. This scripture still brings me to tears. "My peace I leave you, my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." God is PEACE! God taught me so much and now I am able to talk with others that are going through a difficult time. God uses every circumstance for His glory.

Her only struggles now are with asthma, breathing treatments everyday, and we battle pneumonia every year. (From her having undeveloped lungs) I could not ask for a more beautiful healthy child! God is so good and has so blessed my husband and I more than I could ever imagine.

GIVE AWAY

If you are here for mommyfest please read my intro a few posts down and feel free to comment on all upcoming posts and PLEASE keep coming back! I love ALL your comments!! My first giveaway this week is going to be a free print, of your choice, that has already been painted by a great Christian artist. I am an art representative for Cindy Gray. To be put in the drawing that will take place on Saturday, please click over on her name and go leave a comment on the post "Flowers for Mommy" and then leave me a comment to let me know you did and your e-mail address for shipping info. Have fun and enjoy!

Blessing and Miracles!

The wedding this past weekend went great. My Jada was a great flower girl and continued to empty her basket even when she was reached the end of the aisle. She thought that ALL the flowers had to be thrown. My Sky Sky was the ring bearer and he walked down the aisle and went straight to his spot. He does not have a long attention span so he started to stomp on the rose petals and pull his socks up and down...over and over. He did stay completely quite through the entire wedding, but just couldn't keep still! At one point he closed his eyes, praising Jesus, and was swaying back and forth to the music. Then I saw several rows of people giggling, so I looked over and say my Sky with his head on the ground and his bottom in the air. As a mom, my heart began to race and I was nervous about what was about to happen. Yes, oh yes, he did a flip right in front of the bride and groom and his feet hit and banged on the steps in the front of the sanctuary. WOW is about all I can say! I love that little guy. My precious prince! He keeps me on my toes.







Tomorrow I am going to share a story that is very precious to me. I will be sharing the birth story of my daughter. She was 2lbs 13oz when she was born. She is truly a miracle from God. And watching her walk down the aisle as the flower girl was a blessing. God is always there to listen, comfort, provide strength, teach us...God answers prayers!

BLOG PARTY AND INTRO!

I am very excited about the Mommyfest Blog party. It starts TODAY, May 12. If you haven't signed up just click on the link above and it will take you to where you need to go. This is great because I am a new blogger, and this is a way to meet other mommy bloggers! During this week I am going to be doing a few giveaways. So please keep coming to visit me.

A little intro about me and my family...
I have been married to my wonderful, loving husband for almost eight years. We have begun a new adventure together as a family. We are in the process of selling our home and moving 10 hours away from where we are now. My husband took a job at a church as the evangelism pastor...very exciting! We have two gorgeous children. Jada, our daughter, is in the first grade and Sky, our son, is 3. I am very blessed to be able to stay at home with my children. They truly are my joy!

On my blog I write stories about my children and will write about our new family adventure. Also how God is speaking to me and what he has laid upon my heart! Please come and visit. I love to read others comments, so please do not be shy about leaving a comment!! I am excited about meeting and making new blogging friends!!

Never Thought...

I never thought a store owner would tell me to take my business somewhere else!! Today has been very humorous. Let me start by saying that last night on the way to church I realized I have not taken the kids wedding outfits to be ironed. I could NEVER iron them myself. It would be a disaster. If I attempted to iron them myself you would be looking at pictures of the burned dress...which would not have been good.

So this morning I called a few places to get the price of how much it would cost for them to be ironed. I found a place that quoted me $8.00 and it was close to where I live. So, I was on my way. When I got there I handed the lady the two outfits. She kept looking at them and told me it would be a little different than eight dollars. So I just stood and waited for her to tell me how much. She was on the computer for 10 minutes. No kidding, it was the longest 10 minutes ever because I was in a hurry, trying to get Sky to his haircut appointment. After waiting she handed me a receipt that said $15.00. Now I know that is not a big difference but I wanted to know why she went up seven dollars. So, with a smile, I asked her why and she kept telling me she was giving me the discount and it was cheaper than she normally would charge. I reminded her again the price she gave me on the phone. Then I asked to see the price sheet to better understand. She then wrote VOID on my ticket and said "You go somewhere else...you take somewhere else!" Well, as you can imagine I was very shocked and very tickled. I told her I would leave the close for her to do but wanted to see the price sheet. Again she said "You go somewhere else" and she walked away and left me standing there with my clothes in my hand and speechless.

It is totally something you would have seen on a Seinfeld episode. I couldn't stop laughing when I left. I told Sky we needed to pray for that lady. We made it to the haircut place and she did a GREAT job on Sky hair. Then we found another dry cleaners to take the wedding clothes. So everything was accomplished after all!!

It's Official

The last few days have been like a whirlwind. My family, after praying the hardest we ever have, has made the decision to move. My husband accepted a call to a church. God has been working on our hearts this last year about going back into full time staff ministry. We are very excited. This will be an adventure for all of us. When we told Jada she was jumping up and down with joy because she thought she was going to be neighbors with Cinderella!

When we knew for sure we were going to accept we started to work and prepare the house for sale. My precious mom came up Tuesday and spent the night. I would have never got done without her help. She is always there for me! We painted and de-cluttered the house. My Sky Sky became very involved at one point. He grabbed a paint brush and said "Mommy I am a big helper. I want to paint too!" So, I let him paint a little in the closet.


Our agent then came out yesterday and we filled out all the paper work. She took pictures of the house and now it is official we have the sign in our yard!

Then last night we went to Jada's soccer game. She played great!! I am sad that soccer is almost over. It has been so much fun watching her out on the field and she enjoys playing so much. She only has two more games left before the season is over.

So, what is in store for today:
1. Contact a realtor
2. Get pre approved for home
3. Book flight to look for homes (anyone want to go!)
4. Try to continue to keep house clean
5. Go find an outfit for the wedding this weekend
6. Play catch up on my reading for bible study

I am off to start the adventure of this day!!

Plants or Weeds

Today after church, while the kids were taking a nap, I decided to go out and work in the yard. It was such a beautiful day outside! I like to go out and work in the yard because it is such a peaceful time for me. It is a time where I am alone and can spend time with God. As I picked and pulled the weeds I began to pray. I prayed for my husband, my children, and our future. I thanked God for who He is and how He is so faithful to me and my family. I thanked God for giving me patience this last year as I waited on Gods direction for my family.

As I was pulling, picking, and praying a thought came to mind. I was really working on this one weed it would not come out. I tried to twist it and dig, but it was a really hard one to get out. Then I looked over at the flower plant that was right next to that weed. I thought am I a blooming plant or a weed. A lot of times in our life we are like weeds. We are stuck and are very hard to pluck or move. Sometimes when God tells us to move in one direction we want to stay planted and the longer we are there the harder it is for us to listen to God. On the other hand we can also be like the beautiful plant that grows. God waters and feeds us as we continue to grow spiritually. When we have blossomed and God asks us to move in another direction, if we are like the plant, we can be easily dug up and replanted.

I want to be in the center of Gods will and be obedient to His words. God is calling our family to pick up and be replanted! I know that God has planned every step for us. My prayer is to be totally dependent on Him and have faith that God is in control!