New Home

Today the girls and I had a very cool opportunity to bless some brave, resilient refugee women living near our community.  You see, many years ago, we were gifted with Justin's grandmother's sewing machine along with all of her supplies that she used for many years.  She was an expert seamstress and had collected many materials through out the years to use for her projects.  My hope was that I would be able to learn just a fraction of what she knew so I could use the sewing machine myself.  Well, many years and 2 1/2 children later, I have yet to learn and that sewing machine has been sitting unused for too long.  In our efforts to prepare for a fifth member to join our family, we have decided the sewing machine had to go.  When we found out about the Refugee Sewing Society, we knew we had the found the perfect new home for Grandma's sewing machine.

  

We live fifteen miles from what Time magazine named the 'most diverse square mile in America.'  There are countless refugees living here from all over the world.  These people are forced to flee their homeland and make a new home for themselves here.  They have to learn the language, figure out life in this foreign land, provide for their families, etc.. Enter the Refugee Sewing Society.  Some passionate people started this organization, whose mission is "Healing the hearts and Souls of Refugee Women."  These women are taught how to sew, knit, make jewelry, and speak English as well as being loved by the volunteers through the love of Christ.  They also earn 70% of the profit from each sale of the items they make.

We were THRILLED to use the blessing of the sewing machine we were given years ago to bless this ministry and these women.  They were so sweet and thankful for our contribution.  (My pictures are super blurry.. but here they are anyway.)





I made a few purchases and got to take a picture with the women who made them!






Claire sat by this woman and watched her work for a long time.  It was sweet!



I love how we can use the things/ways/talents/gifts God blesses us with to bless others.  Local friends, if you ever want to visit and shop at the Refugee Sewing Society store, let me know!  You can also check it out here.

Kid Quotes

Some recent Emma originals....

When someone asks her if she thinks the baby is a boy or a girl, Emma always says, "God's gonna pick!"

E: Mommy, I'm not a white lady.
Me: You're not? Well what kind of lady are you?
E: A black lady

Out of the blue the other day, "If I was God, I would live in the sky and make things new."

And Claire has said some sweet things of her own lately...

When watching a movie with a 'bad guy' recently, Claire said, "Well he just doesn't know Jesus!"

I was talking about how the weather forecast for the day ended up being wrong and Claire said, "Well the weather people don't always know about the weather.  Only God does!"

Goodness, I just love being mama to these little loves.

To find out or not to find out

So, I'm 16 weeks pregnant now and just a few weeks away from THE ultrasound.  You know the one where they can tell you the gender??  THAT one.  Since this is likely our last baby (at least last baby coming from this uterus), we are considering not finding out.  With both girls we found out (I was a freak about wanting to prepare and despised the idea of 'gender neutral stuff'  i.e. green and yellow clothing. I couldn't imagine dressing a baby girl in green and yellow.  Lame, I know.  #firstworldproblem)

Anyway, up until this point, I've been pretty solid in our decision to go for the surprise.  I have thought I might regret it if I never get to experience that moment of true anticipation in the delivery room when they say, 'IT'S A... (girl, most likely in our case)!!'  But yesterday I had a minor major freak out.  I realized we literally have ONE baby boy outfit.  And, as previously stated, zero gender neutral outfits.  WHAT IF WE ACTUALLY HAD A BOY??  You can't even make it through a few hours in one outfit with a newborn, let alone an entire day.  And then I started thinking about prepping for the baby.  Do I wash and hang the girl clothes in the closet?  Do I buy boy clothes?  Do I put the girl bedding on the crib?  Or the boy bedding? (I did buy a used crib bedding set from a friend so I at least have that.)  Do I just get NOTHING ready and then come home with a possibly naked newborn with zero clothes in the closet and no bedding on the crib?  How do people actually do this and feel somewhat prepared?

My other major stress is names.  I can't imagine having to go to the hospital with two names we absolutely love ready for whichever gender we have.  YIKES.  All this to say, I still kinda want to experience the surprise.  So, talk me into or out of it, friends.  What should we do?  And if we don't find out, how should we prepare?  HELP!

It's happening

Paint & a DIY

We decided to do some work on our bedroom this weekend. Such a quick, easy, & cheap way to update but it makes such a difference.

Our house, thought built in the 80's, was completely renovated before we bought it.  They put on new siding, painted the entire house, updated the kitchen, updated the bathrooms, and put in new carpet and wood floors.  Such a blessing to not have much to do to the house after moving in!  I have started to get a little tired of the white walls though, so I have a feeling there will be even more painting in our near future.  Here are a few of the before pictures..








And here are a few after pictures...








We painted the room and then Justin made this super easy headboard for our bed.  And by easy, I mean EASY.  He sanded, stained, and then hung.  Doesn't get easier than that!  We still need to do some window treatments but for now I'm enjoying what feels like a totally new room!

Rivers in the desert

In the midst of sadness and loneliness and missing home, I decided to change my focus today and take this truth to heart:

  Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past.  Behold, I will do something new.  Now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it?  I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.  Isaiah 43:18,19

I have been so guilty lately of pondering things of the past.  I am constantly thinking about what my life was like in Iowa City and comparing it to my life here.  Life here just comes up short.  And of course it does... we have only been here a year and community and friendships and feeling connected all take time.  So comparing just isn't fair.

 Today, God brought to mind some ways He has shown his loving kindness to us over the past year.

*My girls have been so healthy this past year.  Not one time in the last 15 months have I taken either one of them to the doctor for illness.  Not even once!  That is SO unbelievable to me after how sick they both used to be all.the.time.

*We already know many of our neighbors.  We have only lived in this house for four months but we've already gotten to know several families in this short time.  We could have moved to any neighborhood, but in His great wisdom, God brought us here.. to a sweet neighborhood with lots of young friendly families.

*Justin loves his job.  In our (almost) ten years of marriage, he has done so many different things and has never really loved any of them.  His jobs have always been a constant area of stress in our life and marriage.  For the first time, that is not the case!

*We live so close to many vacation destinations!  Since living here we've traveled to Gatlinburg, Hilton Head Island, and Orlando... each trip taking less than seven hours in the car.  And Justin just booked our 10th anniversary getaway to Savannah... we are so excited to check out another close vacation destination.

*We are out of our comfort zone.  Eww... this one is a love/hate.  I kinda hate being out of my comfort zone and being stretched.  But I also know that allows God to work.  And I want to be grow and learn and apparently I'm not good at that when I'm comfortable.  Love/hate.

*I saw a car at the YMCA today with an Iowa Hawkeye sticker on it!  I love reminders of home when I'm so far away.

That's what I have for today... but at least it's something.  I will choose to focus on these and I will try my hardest not to ponder things of the past today.  After all, God promised to make a roadway in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

We appreciate cows

We aren't above dressing like fools for free food!  Justin and I have been known to do this in the past... and last night we included our children in on the fun.  It was cow appreciation day at Chick-Fil-A, y'all! Dress like a cow and get a free meal!  We were down.


You better believe we'll be making this a yearly tradition!  Cheers to free food!

Funky

I am stuck in quite a funk these days.  I hate to be a downer but in the spirit of transparency and being real, I gotta include this on the blog.  I have no idea what my deal has been the past couple of months but these have been the hardest months since moving here over a year ago.  I am just downright lonely and missing my people.  The people who know me and my hubby and my kiddos.  The people who know our stories.  The people who brought us meals when our babies were born.  The people who prayed with us through some major life struggles.  I miss community.  I miss being able to be real with people who are real with us in return.  I miss being called out by friends who love me enough to do it.  I miss running into people when I'm out and about.  I miss my family living 45 minutes away and being within a few hours of every member of our family.  Moving is just.so.hard.  The tears haven't stopped since I started writing this post.  I don't really know why I'm even sharing this, other than to beg for your prayers.  I know that the Lord will use this to continue to refine my selfish heart.  And I truly have so many good things in my life that it's kind of unfair.  God, help me recognize those areas and use them to bless others.  I'm hopeful that some day this will be a distant memory and we will be a part of a new community here that we feel connected to. But we're just not there yet.  Anyway, just being real, y'all.

Camping

Somehow in between this epic rain, our family got away for a few nights camping in the North Georgia mountains.  It was so much fun.  I'm happy to report that it went MUCH better than last time.  The girls had so much fun that they cried when we had to go home!

Our first stop was Brasstown Bald, the highest point in Georgia.

These girls were excited!!

Hanging out at the campsite

Many s'mores were had

Helping make breakfast

Nothing better than a camping breakfast.. yum!

We did lots of hiking.. this girl was a rockstar hiker!

Playing in the creek

The trampolines provided hours of entertainment.. seriously!

Justin even got in on the fun!

The campground had a petting zoo!

More hiking!

We finally made it to the waterfall!

Emma got a little nap in.

We had such a fun trip.. the girls loved it and I enjoyed no cell phone service or Internet for a few days.. it was a much-needed escape!  Thankful for these special times we get as a family!

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