American Girl

This is Ella's 6th birthday cake. The theme for her party was American Girl. We went for pink and silver as the colors. There are stars on the doll boxes and throughout the magazine so these were the main decorations for the party. The cake is vanilla with a pudding filling. It is covered with pink buttercream and has silver fondant accents. I painted the fondant stars with pearl dust to make them sparkle and used edible silver star sprinkles around the writing. The cake did not turn out exactly as I had envisioned it in my head, but Ella was pleased and that is really all that mattered!

Discouraged

Wow, this has been a difficult morning. Doubt has crept in. I know I have only recently begun posting about my personal life and my desire to come home full-time, but it has been my prayer for at least two years now. A couple of years ago, my cousin Cantina told me she felt like the Lord was urging her to speak to me about homeschooling. She asked if I would "just pray about it." Quite honestly, I had never thought about it before. I just assumed we would send our kids to "regular" school. But, I said I would and so I did. And the more I prayed the more I felt like this is in fact what God would have me to do. So then, I began to pray for a way for God to bring me home full-time so that I could homeschool my children. I am currently homeschooling Ella in kindergarten and she will begin first grade this fall. God has opened up doors at work that allow me to work part-time doing a job I love. But I feel this ever increasing burden to be home full-time.

So, I have sensed God's telling me this is going to happen and I just need to wait on him. I see other people's prayers getting answered, but what about me? Others I know haven't been praying for this as long as I have yet their prayers have already been answered. Have I misunderstood God? I have prayed for wisdom. I felt as if God had confirmed His plan over and over. Doubt. An ugly word. What does God have to say about that? Well, in James 1:6-8 He says, "But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does."

So, this morning I got on my face and cried out to Him to either confirm (yet again) what He has been telling me or change my heart. Well, ask and you shall receive.
According to James 1:3-4, "...the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."
Psalm 27:13-14 "I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.
Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight."
Isaiah 33:6 "He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure."
Zephaniah 3:17 "The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing."
To top it off, In Touch with Charles Stanley this morning subject: waiting on God.

What a truly amazing God! So patient with His children. Me? Wouldn't I have told mine by now "How many times do I have to tell you?" But not God. He just opens up His word to me and speaks to me and encourages me over and over. How I wish I were so patient and encouraging to my own children. He is the perfect example. And the perfect, loving Father. Thank you, God, for loving me more than I can even fathom. Thank you for encouraging me day after day. Thank you for your living Word. Thank you for your Holy Spirit that lives in me and speaks to my own spirit. Thank you for quieting me with your love.

I don't know if anyone really reads this blog or not, but it's good for me to get this out. I want it to serve as a testimony to God's work in my life. That when all of this comes to pass, it will be clear that only He deserves the glory. I hope that it will serve as an encouragement to others that only God and your relationship with Him is all that really matters.

Now, time to go decorate my oldest blessing's 6th birthday cake! Post to come tomorrow!

God is so good!

I am so full of expectation. God is soooo good. He is so actively at work all around me and it is so exciting! Let's see if I can even put this all into words and make it flow right.....

As most of you know, God has laid a huge burden on my heart to be at home full-time. I have been praying and figuring out a way to help God make that happen. I am an immediate results, instant gratification type of gal....hence why I love the emergency department ;) Nonetheless, God has been dealing with my patience (or lack thereof) for quite some time. I finally realized that God does not need my help...imagine that! So there was a revelation and peace. Since then, I've been waiting and waiting and waiting and guess what....I'm becoming impatient.

I believe that God is laying the foundation and opening up doors. Last night our pastor talked about having small Bible study groups in the home. This made Charles and I very excited. We have been interested in this since last year when we went to a marriage conference by Family Life Today and they have a Homebuilders series that we were very interested in. God has grown us individually and as a couple during the last year and the thought of ministering to others is so exciting. But, no one from Prattville is going to drive to Lowndesboro for it I'm sure.

I've been doing a Bible study by Priscilla Shirer called Discerning the Voice of God. Wow is it good!!! She is amazingly gifted and I am learning so much. The first week talked about praying expectantly. So often we pray but don't really expect God to answer. Then she talked about waiting patiently...there it is again! It went on to teach about taking the time to listen to God and stop talking so much, planning to be obedient when He does speak, and having faith that He will speak. And that's just week one!

Then, I got this email devotion by James McDonald at Walk in the Word about the benefits of waiting. He uses the process of waiting to mold us into the person that He wants us to be...to advance His purposes for His kingdom. Then he quotes many Scriptures to support these claims. (This is already becoming quite lengthy, but you can check out the posts on http://www.walkintheword.com/).

So as you can see, this waiting is becoming a persistant theme in my life right now. But aren't the best things in life worth waiting for? I may have an end result, but God has the plan...and His plan is best. He is teaching and molding me so I can be of better use to Him. Again, the expectation is building...I am so excited to see what He is going to do. And it will be worth the wait and He will get the glory. Isn't it amazing that with all of the big, major events that are happening in this big world that He still cares about little me and my little piece of the the world? I get overwhelmed with just my little piece of the world....THANK GOODNESS I SERVE A GREAT BIG GOD WHO IS STRONG, MIGHTY, ABLE, LOVING, PATIENT, FORGIVING, AND WORTHY!!!!

So, until His perfect timing is brought to light...I will continue to wait...patiently....