The move to Sarasota Florida

Sarasota, Florida

I'M BLOGGING AGAIN!!!!!!!! FINALLY!!

Due to high demand :) I am finally blogging again and hopefully this blog will be updated frequently.  I am, however, going to go back to the beginning of when we moved and telling about our journey down here. It's been an exciting yet hard time in our lives and there is a lot to share!

Our House In Birmingham

771 Abigale Lane is still ours and I miss it a lot.

We are renting it out to a newly married couple and there are on a month to month lease now. The Lord is in control of this and it's not something I think about or worry about too much. Here's a picture of our house as we were packing it up :(

The front room was where we put everything!

We had quite a whirlwind of a month in May and again in June.  We packed up our house the last week of May and then left for Nashville, TN May 30th to be a part of the "Lowery Wedding!"  

June started out with the wedding on the year :) ; Ashlee Franks and Connor Lowery! Our girls were the flower girls and Eric performed the wedding as the officiant. I was asked to read scripture.  (We should really start a wedding company. We have all you need...Officiant, Flower Girls, and I can serve as either a bridesmaid or scripture reader.  We are the whole package! haha) We had such an amazing time and feel beyond blessed that they asked us to be a part of their day. Here are some pictures of that day...

After the wedding we drove back to Birmingham on Saturday, finished packing up the house (with movers...thank goodness!) and headed out Monday afternoon.  Because the movers couldn't come get our stuff until Tuesday, our amazing friend Jordan Holt, went to our house and made sure that everything got out ok. For some reason this took about 8 hours to do and poor Jordan had to endure it all! She is such a great friend to do that for us. Thank you Jordan!  

That Monday night we stayed in a hotel in Tallahassee, FL with all of us in one room. That's always interesting! Then Tuesday we finished the drive to Sarasota. It took us quite a while to get there with some wrong turns and back roads but we finally arrived and there was a welcoming party there for us. We had 3 Young Life girls and a leader waiting outside of where we were staying that night, dressed in costume and holding signs for us. So much fun to be welcomed that way and to feel that special. We stayed with our committee chair, Jodi Gemma for a few nights because our furniture wasn't going to be there until Thursday!  

Moving in was an adventure and instead of going into details i'll just list the things we had to deal with:

• Previous tenants belongings still in the house and in the garage.  We had to dispose of them because the management company said they wouldn't!!!
• A flea infestation in the house!
• Asking the cleaning company to come back because the house was not clean when we got here.  Bathrooms were disgusting!
• A few things not working in the house and a management company that didn't seem to care too much.
• Had to stay in a hotel again because of the flea infestation.
• Rained for a full week when we got here...not fun when you are moving to the beach and your children can't wait to go to it!
• Pre-term labor...3 times!
• A very hot house because the air conditioning doesn't work very well.
• A $500 Electric Bill because we didn't know the AC was as messed up as it is!

...I really could go on but i'll stop. I don't want to sound like I'm complaining.  There was just a lot to deal with that was completely unexpected! (to say the least)

Fortunately the Lord is sovereign! And He is the Provider! Despite all of our "troubles" He has still shown that this is where he wants us. We feel very much like all of these things are Spiritual Warfare and the enemy is much at work in this place. It has proven to be a very "dark" place and we see the need in such a great way here.

Once the rain cleared up and we got moved in, we were finally able to go to the beach for the first time ever with our girls!!

Master Bedroom

Living Room/dining room

kitchen

cam and ellie's room

adelai's room

We are HOME!!

Stay Tuned for the next posting coming your way soon!!

Adoption

If you have ever thought about adoption or have a heart for China, here is David Platt's blog (my pastor and pastor of Brook Hills Church).  He and his wife Heather have been in China for the past 3 weeks so they can bring home their new daughter, Mara Ruth!  In this blog post, David has highlighted three boys who are on the special needs list and are awaiting adoption.  They need to be adopted within the next month or they will be put back on a long list of children waiting to be adopted.  Read this blog post and allow the Lord to move.

http://bhglobalblog.org/2011/11/28/the-privilege-of-being-a-part-of-his-plan/

I am thankful for pumpkins.

Adelai absolutely loves school.  This past week she came home with a picture that she painted and on this painting she had to say one thing she was thankful for.  Eric and I both laughed when we saw her answer...and by the title of this post, I'm sure you can figure out that her answer was pumpkins.  Not really sure why pumpkins, but this is too funny, nonetheless!!

This past Wednesday her class had a little performance in front of the whole school to celebrate Thanksgiving.  The whole fam went to watch.  She was dressed as an indian princess.  They recited a poem and they also recited Ecclesiastes 3:1, "To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven."  The poem they recited was called "Hiawatha's Childhood" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

By the shores of Gitche Gumee,

By the shining Big-Sea Water,

Stood the wigwam of Nokomis,

Daughter of the Moon, Nokomis.

Dark behind it rose the forest,

Rose the black and gloomy pine-trees,

Rose the firs with cones upon them;

Bright before it beat the water,

Beat the clear and sunny water,

Beat the shining Big Sea-Water.

The 4k is absolutely precious.  Here are some pictures of their performance as well as afterwards, in their costumes.



"Bless you, Keep you."

Numbers 6:24-26

"The Lord Bless you and keep you.  The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you.  The Lord turn his face towards you, and give you his peace."

We had the honor of spending 2 years in a small group of amazing people who will prayerfully be my friends for life.  And during this small group we studied the book called "The Family Blessing".  Basically it broke down the concept of blessing your children.  Eric and I had never heard of this but we were excited about a new way to incorporate scripture into our children.  What you do is, pick a verse that speaks one of God's blessings over his people, and at night while tucking your children in, place your hand on their chest and recite the verse while looking them in the eyes.  It doesn't sound like much, but first of all, speaking truth over your children is so essential.  And secondly, they need to hear you reciting scripture out loud.  It allows them to see your dependence and faith in God's word.  It also allows them to hear God's word.  AND it allows them to eventually memorize God's word.  Now at night as we are tucking our children in for bed, they ask for their blessing.  It has now gotten to the point where Campbell will say "Bless you, Keep you.  Bless you, Keep you." , in sort of a worried voice...like we're going to forget.  And if we don't place our hand on her chest, she pats her chest until you do.  Blessing our children has gone from this foreign idea that we read in a book to this amazing gift that the Lord has given us.  Adelai now recites it along with us.  So like I said, not only do they hear God's word, they now KNOW God's word.  And that's the best gift you could ever give your children, as far as I'm concerned.

My Beloved, Mine, I His

This morning I woke up to Adelai breathing in my face asking me for Cheerios.  It's a typical Sunday morning already.  This week has been fast paced with so many things going on, but I am looking forward to church so much.  I'm ready to worship the Lord in music and hear about his truth.  But the truth of our household hit when Ellington woke up with a fever, therefore putting an end to my church experience for the day.  The other two girls and Eric headed out the door and I have to say I was sad to see them go without me.  But then I found myself somewhat thankful for the time I would have to spend with my sweet Ellie Paige.  We played for a while but due to her fever, she was ready to go back to bed.  I put her down, started cleaning around the house, and then found myself stopped dead in my tracks as the words to the song "My Beloved Mine, I His", were playing in the background of my house.  The spirit called to my heart.  I was struck by the words..."Mighty God.  Faithful One.  My Beloved.  My Beloved.  You're the lamb of God.  You're the Holy One.  My Beloved.  My Beloved.  My Beloved."  Words that pierce my heart and rock the core of me.  The peace and comfort in these words has at the same time brought perspective of my sin of putting my selfish desires before Him and His will for my life and my family's life.  HE is the Mighty God.  HE is the Faithful One.  HE is the lamb of God.  HE is the Holy One.   NOT ME!  How wonderful is the Savior's love for me...I am HIS and HE IS MINE!

Jesus change my heart...
I long to live for you and you alone...

(Song:  My Beloved, by Chris Tomlin)