Blessings and Raindrops

seeking joy in the midst of the ordinary

Archives for March 2014

a BIG week for Feed Their Tummies!

Another round of food was delivered over the weekend for the Feed Their Tummies program. I LOVE seeing these photos and knowing that these children, whom I have held and laughed with and prayed for, are going to be given the gift of food for another two weeks. 

Two more weeks of security. Two more weeks knowing that their bellies will not be rumbling as they lay their heads down in the dark night. Two more weeks of knowing that they are not forgotten. 

It is not too late to be a part of this work. We need you. We need more friends to step out in faith and give up $10 each month for these children. 

An update from our Pure Charity site:

We continue to work toward securing ongoing support in order to ensure the monthly deliveries are funded. The majority of our monthly sponsors donate $10 per month and we are grateful for the opportunity this week to push for a BIG goal of another 50 monthly sponsors (or a total of $500 in monthly support)!!
A generous donor has offered a one-time gift of $500 to be given when we reach this goal of $500 committed monthly!! 

We have until this Friday, April 4th to raise the monthly support!!
After we reach our monthly goal and ensure food is delivered, we will be able to provide medical care and education opportunities for these children!
Thank you again for being a part of the work of transforming little lives through love!
Please consider joining us in this work and please share this with your friends and family!! Every dollar is vital to this goal!!!!

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, {Matthew 25:35 ESV}

trust & hope.

My parents were here this week for a quick visit. We had a wonderful week and time passed all too quickly, as always. They drove up and brought all of the goodies I received at my recent surprise shower for Charlotte in Florida.

While they were here, we worked to get the disaster that was the girls’ room into some semblance of order.

Why, yes. This is a nursery and toddler bedroom. Isn’t it beautiful? Go, on. Pin it. I wouldn’t mind at all if you use this as inspiration for your own little girl’s room…

There will be no “room reveal” photos in this post. It’s still a major work-in-progress. But, we are getting closer.

We spent hours sorting, organizing, washing and hanging adorable little-bitty girlie-girl clothes…

{Yes, you may also want to use the below photo as inspiration for a major landscaping project. As you can clearly see out the windows, we have been hard at work creating a serene garden landscape out there…ha!}

Anyone that has ever prepared for a newborn knows that this is all very exciting. Holding up the little clothes and imaging that an actual person will be wearing these ridiculously adorable frocks very soon is incredibly fun. The fact that this precious one is a complete miracle that we never could have imagined in our wildest dreams makes it all that more special.

Yet, it was there.

That ever-present ache.

We had to move our S’s clothes out of the closet to fit Charlotte’s vast wardrobe and newborn gear. We boxed up many of the adorable outfits we had for our S because she has already outgrown them.

While it’s amazing to wrap my mind around the fact that we will have another little girl to wear these clothes someday, it doesn’t make my heart hurt any less for all that we have missed with our oldest daughter. And, mostly, all that she has missed. All of the loneliness and pain and loss that she has experienced in her short life… none of that can be filled with a cute room or clothes or toys, I know that and I would never even imply that it could… but what about the love of family? Or, trust? Or, security? Or, laughter?

Several times over the past few days, I have been overwhelmed with doubt and fear. Suddenly finding myself facing IF she will come home, rather than WHEN.

I had to make a very concentrated effort to turn my eyes back to the One Who is the author of this story.

I have to stand on Truth. I have to trust that He is not written the last page.

Renewed hope seeped into my aching heart this morning through these life-breathing words…

Great is his faithfulness. His mercies begin afresh each day. I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him.” The Lord is wonderfully good to those who wait for him and seek him. {Lamentations 3: 23-25}

For surely you have a future ahead of you; your hope will not be disappointed. {Proverbs 23:18}

So I pray that God, who gives you hope, will keep you happy and full of peace as you believe in him. May you overflow with hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. {Romans 15:13}

Precious friends, whatever mountain you are facing, whatever fear you are fighting, whatever grief you are walking through; it is my prayer that His mercies will refresh your heart today. They are real. He is real. He is wholly, completely and wonderfully good. Trusting Him at His Word with you.

the farmhouse restoration. {part 1}.

Y’all may remember that we moved a house. Yes, you read that correctly. We moved a house. 

The restoration has taken a little over a year. It has truly been a labor of love {the line between love and hate is so easily blurred sometimes, isn’t it!?! I’m kidding. We adore this house so much}.

In all seriousness, we have been fortunate to NOT be living in the house while it was being restored. It’s still a construction zone today – there are no front steps… you can’t close the door while you use the guest bathroom because, well, there isn’t a door…the boy’s bathroom is covered in sawdust from endless projects…our shower has a giant hole in the wall where the steamer was just installed {yes. I will take that hole happily because the steamer makes me giddy} – but, the complete overhaul of the interior made it not fit for human inhabitance last year.

I have had so much fun looking back at the old photos of the house throughout the process. I needed a reminder of how far we have come {or I may have tried jumping off the front porch – the one without stairs – haha. I’m kidding}.

I really thought I had taken “before” photos of the interior before we {again, when I say “we”, I mean “Dave”} started working. But I can’t find the photos anywhere. They may have been lost in the great computer crash last year. So, these will have to suffice. 
February 2013.
The kitchen. The ceiling was originally covered in these huge tile thingy’s {technical term} that we tore out to expose a much higher ceiling that we left exposed. And, I think the toilet adds a nice touch of ambiance to the dining area. 
The sitting room. 

The living room.

 The guest bath. {Don’t worry, we kept that tub. And, cleaned it. Many, many times}.

The stairs. These were built after the move. The original stairs were a rod-iron curving staircase similar to something you would see in a Disney movie… Rapunzal, maybe?

Master bedroom. I’ll sell that gold-plated fan to the highest bidder…

The girl’s room. {Yes, we put the boys to work}. Should we repaint that blood red color? Spooky or luxurious? Let’s take a vote…

The boy’s room.

The play room. Be careful not to fall through the holes…

And, most of all, I love looking back on how much the boys have grown throughout this process. They were so little here and, at the time, we didn’t even realize it. Slow down, time, slow down.

 Stay tuned for more. I have a year’s worth of renovation to share! “See you” soon…

written dreams and grace.

Call it nesting. Simplifying. Living in the moment. Being present.

For me, in this season, I’m longing for time to slow to a gentler pace.

I find myself marveling as I watch the boys run and play and have conversations with one another. Amazed at how much they have grown. Suddenly, they are these little people with independent thoughts and personalities. They can make their own snacks and fill their own water glasses. They can get up in the night, use the restroom, flush, and go back to bed {I giggle every time I hear their feet pitter patter to the bathroom in the night, why is that? Motherhood never ceases to surprise me}. They can pull their own covers up over their toes. They can walk down the stairs, climb into our warm bed and snuggle between Dave and I in the early morning hours. I can feel their warmth and innocence and I ache to bottle it up forever.

I know the next season is coming. It’s right there, just out of our grasp. These two will be big brothers. Our family dynamic will forever shift. Life will move forward. New adventures and memories wait to be created. We are on the cusp of new and change.

As much as I want to freeze time right now, I also want to jump into the new. The unknown.

I know that the new will not be without hard moments but I remain confident that we will be met in that place with grace. The joy will overshadow the pain. It always does. Joy always triumphs.

Beth said it so well at Created for Care; what my soul aches for is the unforced rhythm of grace.

Slow mornings are savored. Quiet moments to dream and pray and listen. All the while, full of the knowledge that these moments are fleeting. {Newborns have a way of stealing the quiet mornings and slow starts…replacing them with feedings and diaper changes. And more. So much more. Filling the quiet with love, tenderness, and miraculous wonder}. 

I recently started a new family journal for the year. I have already declared 2014 to be the year of hope. I need to record it all. The dreams, the gratitude, the sweet memories.

I need these markers of His faithfulness. Markers that I can read through in the hard. Markers that my children can read when they are grown. Proof that the God we serve is only good and His plans are always worth waiting for.

Because, even though this season is so very sweet, we are so very weary. Weary of the wait for our S. I need these markers. I need to record them and look upon them as we wait. As we step into the new. As we welcome our precious Charlotte and continue to wait for all four of our babies to be under one roof. I need tangible reminders of laughter and joy and written dreams and prayers coming to fruition.

“I am freed to know that my God is huge and my God is able and that if I don’t get what I asked, if I’ll cooperate, I’ll get something bigger.” -Beth Moore

**Isn’t this journal the absolute cutest thing? You can create your own at www.tinyprints.com. I plan to make a new one each year to keep as a special keepsake for our family. You could also make one for each child and write letters to each child in their notebook. I decided to write to all four kiddos in one place…because I’m all about simplifying right now. :)**