It's Almost Over!!!

The end of school is coming and we can begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel. The week after our last day begins the summer music program for the boys. Shaggy is playing trumpet and Rocker is learning to play the string bass. That thing is huge!!! I guess I was planning on it being a Cello but nope it sure is humongous.

Anyway, things are winding down. I am finishing up traveling into Mechancisburg twice a day. We had a bad bus situation so I just resolved to this running back and forth for the sake of the kids. They are happier and I feel better knowing they are not being bullied and having to hear the "F" word 100 times a day.

Their last day is June 5th. We will head out that weekend for a 4 day camping trip up North. I am soooooo looking forward to it. Sleeping out in the woods, camp fires at night, hiking during the day it just doesn't get any better for me. Granted, one day I would like to make it to Disney World or go on a cruise but I sure do like camping. The best part is just being able to get away as a family. No cell phones, computers or modern conveniences. It works well with three boys. I love the peace about it and that as a family it brings us closer together.

So, I am looking forward to this summer. I have lots of art plans for the boys and I and some adventurous activities planned. I know some of you have already begun your summer fun but what's on everyones to do list this summer? Got any great ideas? Yay for summer break!!

Our Favorite Past Time: Tubing

We love tubing on the Yellow Breeches. Each summer we load up our tubes, pack a lunch and launch ourselves down the creek. Our large stash of tubes comes from Uncle John's generous donation of tractor tire inner tubes each year. He is a partner in a huge dairy farm in up-state NY. The tractors are ginormous. So after a little patching (only on a few) we blow them up so they are ready when we feel the stream calling. This year he blessed us with 3 extra large (like you could fit an entire family in it tube) and 6 smaller ones that aren't really that small. :)

So if you ever look out on the local streams in Pennsylvania and see a family floating along in huge tractor tires having a blast it might just be us!! Now we are ready for summer!

Conditions for a Miracle are Impossibilities!

I highly recommend watching this movie. It can be a little slow at times but the testimony of this family is remarkable. I say testimony because it is based on a true story. A friend at my husbands work told us we needed to watch this and we put it off for a month or so. Finally last night we rented this, Robots and Expelled. Let me rabbit trail here to say I highly recommend Expelled too!

Our faith is being grown. We are standing in a place of impossibilities so a miracle must be around the corner. Watching this movie we began to see what happens when faith is put to work in your life. It can move mountains!! The Lord spoke to me one night about this housing situation we are in and told me it wasn't really about blessing us with a house. He choose the housing process to grow us and work in our hearts. This is more about us than it is about a house. Ahhhhhha! The light bulb went on. Our revelation of God needed an upgrade. Our picture of God needed to be stretched. Maybe we saw Him as an 8x10 but He wants us to see Him as a billboard. So how does this work?

Well, Sat we went to look at a house. It was in a 100% financing zone and it was in our price range. It wasn't everything the Lord had us write down that we needed in a house but it could work. Hint, hint we could make it work. After leaving that house, my Knight and I began to talk. We were heading right to church that evening so we had to talk fast. I heard the Realtor say "This is your only chance guys. It is basically what you wanted and there might not be another. You are asking for too much with what you can do and afford." That hit like a cement truck. During service I could not worship. The weight of this just left me incapacitated. I kept asking God to take it away so I could worship Him but I heard Him gently tell me "I would rather you sit down here and talk to me then sing an empty song to me." I worried about what others might think as I sat in prayer instead of praise but again I hear the voice of God speak softly "I don't care. Just sit."

As I sat there the Father and I conversed back and forth. Like an awesome Father He is it wasn't all about giving me the answer, He asked a lot of questions. The one question that really got me was "Could you make this work?" I replied "Yes Father." "Then do you want to make it work or do you want to see Me do a miracle? The choice is yours. You can make it work or you can watch Me do something impossible. I am using this to not only to stretch you and Scott but also your Realtor. He is a man of God but his faith needs an upgrade. He will be a blessing to many in the real-estate realm if he witnesses My hand. Imagine how he will approach other couples if he see how I blessed you."

This has turned up the heat and raised the ante. It no longer is just about us but it will impact others. To confirm that word the Movie demonstrated this when Angus and his wife Jill heard God tell them to plant potatoes in a drought. Potatoes being one of the hardest crops to raise could not survive a drought. He obeyed at the mocking of many. Come time to harvest there had been no rain. In agricultural terms there should be no potatoes. That was an impossibility. When they dug into the ground they not only found potatoes but huge ones and it became a bumper crop. The whole town came out to witness it and were forever changed.

This is definitely stretching me. I would like to crawl in my self sufficient hole and not emerge until the fall but then I will not encounter God. I choose to be extreme for Him and step out when He tells me too because I want whatever He has got. Desire more!! Sacrifice all so you can go for the full bounty of the Lord. Let God set the table for miracles with impossibilities in your life. Don't pull back from impossibilities but embrace them and get ready for your miracle. We are!

When All Hell Breaks Out Against You, You Just Need The Angel of The Lord

Today my mind was swirling with negativity, sadness, heaviness and hopelessness. I was not sure of anything in my life. I felt abandoned and rejected. I took it personally questioning my own faith in God not realizing all Hell had been charged with orders to attack, kill and destroy.

While standing at my oven battling thought after thought something moved out of the corner of my left eye. It was something like a person. It was so real I thought my Knight had come home to help his crazy wife. Then it quickly walked behind me. I felt the floor move and I could feel a person brushing by my back. As I turned I was met with a Man in Armor in my Kitchen. I just stood still.

I asked the Lord why was he here. This is the conversation that ensued "All hell is coming against you and Scott. He is the 'Angel of the Lord'. He will be your rear guard." My mind immediately flashed to Joshua. The 'Angel of the Lord' came to him in a time of great struggle and battle. But wait! That was really Jesus! As I looked at Him I asked if that meant what I thought it meant. I heard the Lord concur. I was standing in the presence of Jesus seeing Him as a Warrior. Silence fell on me and I couldn't speak. Finally I felt prompted to go downstairs and put on praise and worship music and soak. Jesus disappeared. I could no longer see Him but as soon as I sat on our couch I felt someone sit next to me. Again I could no longer see but I felt Him. I felt a hand on my head.

I tried asking what to pray and what to do but all I heard was "be silent and rest." I sat their with my head in my hands and for the first time in my life I had not one thought. My mind was at perfect peace. I listened to the music and in the midst of the peace fell asleep. I awoke to my husband calling. We talked about what happened. I feel so refreshed right now. My mind is quiet and peaceful. I am ready to continue this journey. I believe this all came about because the love and prayers of my spiritual mom and dad. Apparently my dad prayed with my husband early this morning that the Lord would encounter me. Uhhh, can you say the prayers of a righteous man avails much!

Lord continue to encounter me and my family and my loved ones near and far!! We need you in the midst of these dark days. Come and reveal yourself to your Bride more and more. Let this be but the beginning!

I Just Wish I Knew What We Are Supposed To Do Next...

We have felt the Lord say to us go and buy a house this year. It isn't that we have been wanting a new house or frustrated with the one we are living in, we just heard Him say to go buy a house this year. In obedience we began the step by step process. First we had a financial counselor at our church go over are finances. It was kind of our fleece. If the financial counselor told us no this would not be a wise decision than we would stop moving forward. To our surprise he said he thought we were hearing from the Lord and we could keep moving forward.

This has been the most stressful and nauseating experience I have ever been through and we have been through some tough times. Our marriage has been dropped into a pressure cooker and it's not holding up to well. On top of that my Knight's job has just been horrific. Late nights, working weekends and little to no communication has just made for a perfect storm in our life. We feel it, the kids feel it and probably our neighbors see it.

We are stalled out in the process of buying a house and we just don't know what the next step is. Right now it is all God or nothing. I knew this would be a leap of faith for us but I didn't realize how much we would be tested on it. I didn't realize just us believing we heard the voice of God would be tested. I thought people got amazing revelations from God and bada bing bada bang things happen. That's not quite the case here. I haven't been in this process long and I am already done. I am quite satisfied to stay where we live now and quit looking for a house but I know that isn't what God has for us. So we now wait for the next step. I feel like I am totally missing the mark and not hearing and not understanding and ....well you know the deadly spiral this could turn into. If you think about us at all in the next several days or so please pray for us. We want to be obedient but the pressure of it all feels to overwhelming. We also need a big breakthrough. We have hit a wall and without God's complete intervention we can go no where. So please pray for us. Things are hotter than hades at our house and I imagine things are only going to get worse before they get better. You know the old saying "It gets darker before the dawn."

How Dinosaurs Really Got Extinct

Only a video a mom of three boys could love. Apparently they think the pig reminds them of me in the morning. :)

Happy Crappy Birthday!

Yesterday was my Knights 32nd birthday and yes it was unfortunately very crappy. We love celebrating birthdays here at our house or at least I do but for reasons beyond my control there was nothing I could do to redeem this day for him. We celebrated a little on Sat. with our spiritual "mom" & "dad" but I really wanted to do something for him from us.

Well, we knew a head of time yesterday was going to be a bad day, we just didn't realize how bad. My Knight had a terrible day a work. Everything that could go wrong went wrong. On top of that he discovered that our air condition in the van is not working. Something about the pump or thingy is broken. We have been waiting to get another wheel baring fixed on the van so this is now becoming an exhaustive list of fixes. Then we had to meet with a Realtor to start our house hunting process. My Knight no more than stepped in the door and then was whipped back out to the Realtors office. This has been a huge leap of faith for us. We knew the meeting was going to be difficult but it turned out to be very discouraging.

On the way home we got into a huge argument and we just needed some time a part, so I headed to a woman's event a church. By the time I got back we still weren't seeing eye to eye. We went to bed angry at each other. Yuck!!!

At 2am I woke up and I mean I was wide awake. I laid there for at least half an hour trying to fall back to sleep. Then the Lord said to me get up and go pray. So I did. I prayed until 4 something this morning. I am exhausted but I have a better prospective on things. One thing I do want to do is redeem my Knights birthday today. So tonight I am going to try and sneak a balloon and cupcakes into our class just to surprise him. I know we don't have the extra to do this but I am going to make it happen because he is just that important to us as a family. I am also going to go buy him his favorite movie What About Bob. We are going to turn this "crappy" birthday into a Happy Birthday if it kills me!!! If you see him tonight or sometime this week give him a hug and wish him a happy birthday please. He needs some extra lovin' right now!