Joshua 1:5

"No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.
I will not leave you nor forsake you."

Joshua 1:5

"As you read the accounts of God's miraculous work through men and women in the Bible, you may wonder if God still performs such miracles today. Be assured that the same God who walked with Moses, Joshua, Elijah, Peter, James, John, and Paul now lives within you. No power can defeat the God who guides you. The God who blessed them is just as capable of working out His purposes through your life. The same God who gave them victory over seemingly invincible enemies, who provided for them when their own resources were insufficient, and who guided them in their decisions, is prepared to work powerfully in your life TODAY. The heroes of the faith had one thing in common: They were all ordinary people with no power of their own. The difference is the mighty presence of God. Times may change, but the effect of God's presence remains the same." --excerpt from Experiencing God Devotional.

Our God is sooo good and will meet you right where you are if only you will just seek HIM first!

Happy 2nd Birthday Cherish

Dancing at her birthday party!
Cherish wanted a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse party... and when I (Christi) was her age I had this cute cowgirl outfit and Cherish wore the shirt for her party since it matched her Minnie ears!

Cherish working on blowing her bubbles...
Precious
"I did it!"- her famous saying!!!

My Proud Girl!

Maw Maw started having a dance party with the kids, cranking the music real loud and we all got into it, enjoying it! Clay even grabbed her for a dance, catching her by surprise. I love this one! Two of my favorite people in the world!!!
I love the looks of surprise, excitement and contentment on present pictures...


Brodie helping Cherish!

Eattin' Birthday Lunch...Yummy!
Excited about Mickey and friends on the cake!
Silly girl tasting her cake!
Cherish and Brodie licking the icing off the figurines...

Cherish Daisy's Little Cake...

Mom and I did the cake again this year.

Cherish picked Mickey Mouse Clubhouse themed birthday!

It's so hard to believe that my precious baby is now 2 years old! That just blows my mind. God is so good. I know I say that over and over, but it's only because He had proved it to me. I can't thank Him enough for my wonderful family.

Cherish Daisy, Mommy wants you to know that I love you with ever fiber within my being and praise the Lord for you. You bring PURE JOY to our lives daily with you carefree spirit and happiness. Always be yourself little one and never let anyone change you. God has fearfully and wonderfully made you! Remember Him all the days of your life. Love HIM with ALL your heart, soul, mind and strength! He will bless you for it baby!

Luke 12:27-28

"Look at the lilies and how they grow. They don't work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow, won't he more surely care for you?" There is no better Artist than the creator of these and YOU!
GOD

Below is an excerpt from my devotional, Completely Blessed by Shannon Ethridge...

" Flowers caught Jesus' eye one day. Taken by what He saw, He seized the opportunity to teach His disciples (and us) a valuable lesson. "Look at the lilies and how they grow. They don't work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow, won't He more surely care for you?" (Luke 12:27-28) Indeed, God has a passion not only for poppies, periwinkles, and petunias but also for PEOPLE. He cares for and tends to our needs because we are HIS own and He loves us deeply. We are the pinnacle of His creation and His primary concern...

(While at Mom's I shot these pictures of a few of her beautiful flowers on her deck.)

...Jesus calls our attention to lilies in order to point out to us that HE has given His children a special gift: a resting place for life's worries. He says to us still, "You are my pride and joy, and I will faithfully provide for all your needs. If i feed, water, and clothe the flowers of the field, won't I do the same for My Beloved Bride? Focus on Me and My Kingdom, and I'll take care of you and yours. Let me be a resting place for your worries."
God wants us to hang up our worries and cast our cares upon Him. Of course, we must be faithful in doing what we can do. We must put forth our best effort to make an honest living and spend our money wisely. But we must trust that God will bless our efforts.
Next time flowers catch your eye, meditate for a moment about how Jesus has given you a resting place for your worries, and believe wholeheartedly that God will tend to your needs as carefully as He clothes the flowers of the field."

At MawMaw & Granddaddy's w Cousin Brodie

When Brodie finally got to the house after their delayed flight, it was almost 12, so the kids all had a midnight snack! And popped bubbles on the kitchen floor! They are having a blast together this week. Brodie is so precious and plays so well with the girls.

Cherish feeding Brodie her cereal!

Among tons of toys... they still pick the box!
Laying on the water spouts at the waterpark...chillin together!
Chas giving Brodie a ride to the waterpark in her new Jeep!
Sweet kisses!!!

Jumping Beans

All week long Chas wanted to do the bungee jumper at the Mall... so when Daddy came in town they did it together on his birthday!!!

Clay- you are such a good Daddy! I hope you've had a wonderful birthday. We are blessed to have you in our lives. I love being your wife and look forward to spending many more years with you! Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

She was sooo excited and loved it!

This was the only picture I got of Clay unfortunately, because there was a suspicious man eyeing my kids... so not taking my eyes off them, I wasn't able to get any of him flipping! But I think he had as much fun as Chas!

As you can see in this picture, Chas would jump as high as the second floor in the mall!

She wanted to do it again and so did Cherish might I add! :)

Sermon Notes

Just like the song by Point of Grace... "You do it again, do it again, speak to me just like a friend, you always seem to show up right on time!" That was so true for me this morning. God knew what I needed and He met me there! I wanted to share some of the notes I took this morning at church, First Baptist of Woodstock.

During Frustration, what to do when

our expectations and reality collide.

(Genesis 40)

1. Recognize it's God's source of preparation.
2. Refuse to compromise.
-it prolongs the process.
-miss out on the blessings of God.
3.Request Courage!
-continue to ask God to give you HIS courage to make it through this time.

"Choose to stay until GOD brings you out on HIS terms!"

Atlanta ZOO

Saturday we set out to go to the Atlanta ZOO! Chas loves to push the stroller- she thrives off being the BIG sister and helper! Its nice to have extra hands too! She's got such a sweet heart!
Here the girls hopped up in the foot massager chairs- funny thing is their sweet feet couldn't even touch and plus we hadn't even walked no time yet... we had just got there!

This isn't the best picture but I'm now realizing its the only one I got because the kangaroos were Chas and my favorite animals to see. Mainly because the Mommy kanga was carrying her little JOEY- which is what a baby kangaroo is called- in her pouch and we stood there for the longest time waiting for the baby to come out! He did stick his head out eventually and that was pretty neat but he stayed tucked away safe in Mommy's pouch mostly! Chas is now wanting a pouch to carry a kangaroo Joey in... so I'm planning to sew her a special shirt with one when we get home.
Here was a cute sign asking "How does your Mom carry you?" Well it wasn't designed too well for short people like me as you can see, but it works!
There was a neat carousel there and of course my girls loved that! Chas picked the pandas to ride!

Above is the humor of the day... coming out of the Panda exhibit was a stamper for kids to get a panda stamp. Which I at first thought was really cool, because if you think about it there isn't anything free anymore, especially at the Zoo. It all cost at least five bucks or more! But they had the stamper and we all got one. However, Cherish thought the panda stamp was so cute she started kissing it... and it wasn't dry!!! So below you will see the results...
You can barely see the stamp on her arm in these but that is it also on those sweet lips! :)

Grandaddy and the girls!

Can anybody find Cherish??? She loves to hide! I told Mom she can be silent when playing hide-in-go-seek so she will probably be my kid to hide and be silent and I wont be able to find her!
The panda baby sleeping.

Chas with her favorite animal... the flamingos!!!
Here she is standing like they do... on one foot!
Check out the flamingo fight sissy! They really were fighting over food that had just got put out!

Chas wanted to give her baby sister a piggy back ride... Cherish loved it!

But by the end Cher was choking Chas so that ended that!

Chas on the horsey at the Zoo park.
They had a giant fake nest for kids to get in and pretend to be baby birds...
...I asked them what kind of birds they were and Chas said Woodpeckers! So then off they went pecking the wood. Cuties!!!
Then they flew out!

Grandaddy and Chas on the four seater see saw! ( I was pretty impressed never have seen a 4-seater before!-lol- guess I need to get out more!)

Cherish loved the Ducky!

This thing was pretty neat too... they could bounce on it~ the girls thought it was funny!
Thanks Maw Maw and Granddaddy for a fun day at the zoo! Its so amazing to see and think about what detail God put in HIS creation and we get to enjoy it too.

HE IS SO GOOD!

(& that's an understatement!)