Change

{Abby and Mia after a wet afternoon of swimming}

At all times we should commit our all to Jesus' faithful hand;
then, though life may hang on a thread, and adversities may multiply as the sands of the sea, our soul shall dwell at ease, and delight itself in the quiet resting places.

"Into Thine hand I commit my spirit; Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of Truth"
~Psalm 31:5

~Charles H. Spurgeon
Morning and Evening, page 481

This wonderful and encouraging quote by Charles Spurgeon has reminded me of a recent "light-bulb" experience in my walk with the Lord.

Very simply put, I prayed for God to change my heart about a situation, and He did.

It was a circumstance in which I knew the right response but I hesitated, and I knew that it was an important and deciding point. On the one hand, I could be very miserable and selfish or I could release, love, and move on in life, but I knew I couldn't do it on my own strength.

There was no way I could truly "stay strong and carry on" by myself,

I know because I've tried it before.

But this was a vivid time when I can clearly see His hand in changing my heart and renewing my mind. My old self would have held onto hurt feelings and let them quietly grow,

but praise the Lord I'm not myself anymore :)

So we do not lose heart.

Though our outer self is wasting away,

our inner self is being renewed day by day.

{2 Corinthians 4:16-18}

Nate's 2nd birthday

 Grain free, dairy free chocolate chip brownies instead of cake :).

 It took him a few minutes to blow out the candles.

 Pinata time!

 Even Naomi got a turn!

Happy 2nd birthday, Nate! We love you!

Faith

{National Geographic}

So, you've heard about the Frye's new addition to their family here and on my art blog, well, Wednesday they arrived home and today I got to see her.

It was so unreal.

This little bundle of joy that has been prayed for, longed, and loved little girl was in my house! I've only ever seen her in pictures on their blog, so it was so precious to see and hold her in person. I think what struck me the most afterwards was the beautiful picture of God's faithfulness and the perfect picture of a believer's adoption.

God gave Alice to the Frye's and what is so sweet to me is that from before time, it was His plan that they have her. Already, there are so many connections being made between physical and spiritual adoption floating around in my mind.

Alice knew nothing other than that orphanage, we knew nothing other than our state of sin.

Alice didn't know to desire anything else, if someone offered us eternal life with the Father, we wouldn't and couldn't know the precious value of that.

Alice have everything to gain and nothing to give in her adoption, everything we do before being saved by God was nothing more than filthy rags and we contributed nothing to our conversion.

Alice is being loved unconditionally and abundantly right at this moment by her family,

how much more does God love us?

I could go on, but I pray that you see the picture,

I mean the big picture of God's saving and amazing grace.

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;

his mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.

“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,

“therefore I will hope in him.”

The LORD is good to those who wait for him,

to the soul who seeks him.

It is good that one should wait quietly

for the salvation of the LORD.

It is good for a man that he bear

the yoke in his youth.

Lamentations 3:22-27

You can read the beginning of their journey (well, the beginning of the blog at any rate), and see His faithful, guiding hand in every bit of it; from infamous garage sales to special hiding places, God has shown Himself a faithful and loving Father.

Here is one of my favorite quotes, it was written after a long day in the middle of a busy process! But I find that it is in the frazzled, broken moments that show His sovereignty the brightest in a way that we cannot avoid.

So, as I felt trampled upon today, I remembered that the Lord has called us to this. He will equip us to do what He is requiring of us.

His will is the hiding place. His will is the safest place.

As we go through this storm, His will is the shelter. We can rest.

When I remembered that today, I felt the tension go.

I know that this, too, will be worked out.

This I know for sure.

Our Trip: Quail Eggs, Good stuff, and a Big Red Shoe...

Here are some pictures of our trip. And these pictures are specifically Virginia and Washington D.C. which, for me, I really enjoyed seeing the sights in D.C ; of course I enjoyed the entire trip, but for starters, here are pictures of mostly D.C:

Virginia Welcome center!

Some leaves Elena picked up while waiting for mom.

The Whole Foods in D.C. had non-homogenized milk, Ostrich eggs, duck eggs, and quail eggs!
This is the inky-dinky quail egg.

Right outside the train station a huge red shoe presides. So of course, mom makes us take a picture in front of it.:)

Walking in the beautiful scenery!

OK, we are from Texas, so to see a real tree so YELLOW, deserves a picture.
We like colorful trees.

Inside the capitol during the speedy tour.

I just couldn't get enough pictures of the capitol, it's so pretty and photogenic!

It also makes for great background in pictures.

When we got pizza ( at a restaurant called We the Pizza) for lunch, Mica was able to get some food of her own ( gluten-free).

The art gallery.

Elena's special day to find a $20 bill on the ground!

Walking up to the Washington Monument.

It was getting darker by the minute, but we continued to the Veterans Memorial, and we simply had to take a picture with Texas. :)

Sadly, this is the last clear picture that I have, but this was just Washington D.C.


P.S I had such a hard time deciding what to post of pictures. :)

Just another day in life with the Hoods...

Fun day outside with the Webbs

Nate in the knitting basket

Out to dinner for Mom's birthday

Antlers in our compost bin :)

Two Thousand Ten {in pictures}

This year has been bursting with growth, blessings, trials, joys, and lots of ways to see His faithfulness and tender mercies.

Here are some glimpses into what we have been up to in the year 2010.

Enjoy :)

As you have read, we have the blessed opportunity to have the Hood family live with us.

Nate is one of the reasons we smile during the day--he's a cute, silly monkey.

Mr. and Mrs. H celebrating Mom's birthday.

Thanks to some dear friends being out of town for the holiday's, Mica was able to experiment with a dehydrator, we're still enjoying the delish coconut macaroons.

See her account for more yummy details!

You wouldn't know that we were in the Sleepy Hollow cemetery in the middle of November would you?

Times Square

This was one of my favorite parts of our visit to Virginia.

Naturally we had to take a picture with the shoe :)

This time with my sweet friend Maria is something I treasure.

We also went camping this year--with the Webbs!

Although, I'm afraid it will take some more time for Dom to get accustomed to getting dirty.

I had the wonderful opportunity to spend a few weeks with the

Apodaca's after the birth of Rebecca.

Group pictures can be a challenge but here is our best attempt!

So many faces :)

Our cousin Emily spent her Spring holiday with us and helped us model all of the cute scarves Dad got us from his trip to the UK (We were thankful that he was able to take quite a few trips that year, so many fun pictures and memories that we were vicariously able to make through him :)

Dom also got the chicken pox that year :(

But you can't really tell.

We also spent sweet time with the Neals!

Their friendship is treasured and we love when they make their annual visit from Dubai.

As I am thinking about this past year, Isaiah 58 is a strong representation of the hopes I have for the coming year. Naturally it's difficult to sum up all of the little things that God has shown you over the year but that passage is a good representation of what I've learned and what I strive for this year. Isaiah 58 has been both encouraging and convicting for me, I'm sure there will be future posts about it but in any case I hope that you will read it and that the Lord would use it to humble you and show you His great mercy.

May He bless you this coming year.