Sometimes you have to ask why.

Things have been going well for us as a family these last few weeks. Which is good considering our circumstances. God is faithful and we have not missed a bill, and always had enough for food. Although there have been weeks that we don't know how we will buy food or pay our bills, our pastor finds ways to help us and get us extra side jobs to make money, and although my parents are financially struggling,they help where they can and give us money for food. They are great!
But today was a day that although things are going good for us and we see God working everyday on our behalf, today I had to ask why God, why?
I got up and planned my day and got Ava all dressed and myself ready and headed out the door to get the first of many things checked off of my list. I walked to my car to find the passenger window smashed in and my dashboard torn to pieces. The stereo and cd player were gone and the surrounding area ripped apart. The starter looked as if something was shoved into it, but I'm not sure. Marks tools are gone, all of them that he uses for work, gone. I would say about $700 -$1000 worth of tools, gone. Ava's diaper bag was gone as well. It had some clothes and her summer shoes and her bow she had in her hair yesterday, gone. They did however leave her dress she had on yesterday and her diapers and powder on the passenger seat on top of the shattered glass. So we had thoughtful thieves, leaving us her diapers, thank you. I guess.
I stood there holding on to my little bean feeling so vulnerable. Mark is at work and I'm standing there looking at my car thinking "Why God, Why" We cant afford this, how are we going to fix this? Why in all the midst of us trusting you for every penny that comes our way, would this happen?
I don't understand why this happened or how it will all get taken care of, but one thing I do know is my God is faithful. He doesn't give us more then we can handle, and He works all things together for the good of those who love him. I know God knows and he cares. I trust Him and I know that He knows every part of my day, and he knows how this will all work out. I don't think that you can really understand all that God does, or God allows, but I guess that's the beauty of trust. You have to know that you will be taken care of. I don't run my life, I don't make my heart beat every second, I cant control if I eat, but God does. He is good all the time,and all the time he is good.
Thank you to those of you who support our ministry and pray for us on a daily basis. Pray for us with this latest hit, and favor for it all to be taken care of.
For those of you who have no clue what we are doing, please check it out at www.compel2020.com Its really amazing and even more so that we get to be apart of this movement of God in northern California! We also need more supporters. I'm just gonna put that out there. We're all friends right, lets be honest we need more people to step up and help us accomplish this goal! Well that's a whole other blog =) I'm going to stick to my car and figure out how to go about this for today =)
Thanks for reading and caring, I'll let you know how this all pans out!

5 Years and counting!

Today we are celebrating our 5th year of being married! It does, yet doesn't seem like it's been that long. When I stop and think of all of the most amazing memories that we have had together it overwhelms me. Mark and I started dating when I was a senior in high school, and yes we went to my senior prom together. AWWWWE!

We dated for 2 1/2 years long distance while Mark was in Oklahoma going to school. Yes those were the most trying, difficult, stretching, yet oh so rewarding times of our relationship. But God is faithful and brought us through it, and now we look back at those times fondly knowing God was our source of strength and our saving grace that lead us to where we are now.

In 5 short years we have lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma making some of the most amazing best friends we will ever have! And oh do we miss them all so! We found out by shock and awe that we were going to welcome our first child into our lives, and decided to make the move home to be with our family when our sweet Ava made her appearance. Watching her grow and do this together has been the joy of my life. Mark is such an amazing dad and a wonderful husband, I couldn't ask for anything more. This year has definitely been the most challenging, and lets face it, the most stressful of our whole marriage. But like I said and will always say, God is faithful and is making us stronger day by day.

God thank you for blessing me with this life and for giving me such an amazing man to share it with, when we both know its only by your grace that I deserve it.

Happy 5th anniversary babe, the best is yet to come!

Here are a few of my favorites from our wedding!

Ok what just happened?!

I will have no pictures for this post and you will understand in the next few sentences why. I was cooking dinner the other night and cleaning the kitchen at the same time ( I love multi tasking in the kitchen, clean as you go, that's the way to go) and my little bean decided to come up behind me and hug my legs. I love this feeling, its the best in the world, but the next step left me just baffled. As I am standing there enjoying the cuddles, she pansted me and then slaps my butt and laughs hysterically! I was left standing there looking at my pants around my ankles thinking "Ok, what just happened?"
And no not only does Mark NEVER do this to me, but definitely not around Ava. I have no idea where she got it from and for the next few days she kept reminding me that she got my hinne. Yes, now you understand why there are no pictures with my post, one one wants to see this hinne that's for sure!

My life as I now know it

Being a mom is the most rewarding job in the world, and anyone who is a mom will tell you that. But life sure does change. My day consists of diapers, explaining why we don't play with our dirty diapers, and asking when we will use the big girl potty only to be told "no", getting songs stuck in my head that I wish were never written, cleaning the highchair after my precious one decided that lunch belongs on her lap, getting baby dolls out of strollers only to put them back in, watching signing time over and over and over again, calming down my sweet heart when she doesn't want to nap because mama really could use a break, putting care into making the sandwich she asked for only to be told "no" when its put on the tray of her highchair, changing my clothes after HER bath time, cleaning two rooms when one used to be a chore, realizing that when I choose to carry my coach purse I am subjecting it to anything that Ava has in her hands, and list could go on and on. But at the end of the night when I am rocking her and we are having our talk about the day, and she grabs my face with her two little hands and tells me " I low you so much" every care in the world, every annoying part of my day, every frustration that we had that day melts away, I cant even remember them. I never knew I had this place in my heart that my little Ava Grace consumes. She has single handily made me a better person.

Being the one to watch her grow, and teach her how to love and be kind is the best job I have ever had. I am blessed.

It's a new day.

So I have decided to get my act together and make a blog. I have a few friends who have one that I faithfully keep up with, and I thought, I am sure they would love to keep up with us and our crazy lives as well. So here is to blogging and adding one more thing to my to do list everyday. God help me, I think I'm crazy!