One Book at a Time

So if you really know me, you know that I am a slow reader. There are some weeks I could careless about reading, while other weeks all I want to do is read. But the problem is, I'm a slow reader. I try really hard, but it still is such a long drawn out process for me. So I usually get distracted or overwhelmed or irritated and move on to another task. However, I have conquered a few books in the last year which has been exciting. And I've really enjoyed them...


Choosing to See (By: MaryBeth Chapman)
Kisses from Katie (By: Katie Davis)
Miracle for Jen (By: Linda Barrick)


And now I'm on Interrupted by Jen Hatmaker. In all the books I've read (because I'm so slow at reading) I highlight areas that speak to me. I laugh and cry and giggle and share and all those emotions that a book brings with it. But when I got to pg105 of Interrupted, my jaw fell wide open. I even took a picture of the page to share with you.

So you are probably thinking, "What's the big deal?" Well, I've had the privilege in the last few months to become the president of SendMeMissions, Inc. which our focus is to PARTNER, UNITE, SERVE. Partner with local and global organizations to unite people together by serving others to make a difference through Christ. It was like this chapter began, sharing with me, exactly what we do as well; And that to me is so exciting that God can use a book to confirm what we are doing. That He can use Jen Hatmaker who wrote this book a few years ago to encourage me in my daily walk with Him.


It's just ONE BOOK AT A TIME... but He's using each one of these books to draw me closer to Him and reveal to me His magnificent grace, love, beauty and never-ending goodness in my life.

I Will Carry You ... Follow Up

Here's a little follow up to the post about "I will carry you"

Love, love, love, stories like these!

"The strangest thing has happened today & I feel I have to share this with my facebook family. We got to our hotel @ 330 this afternoon & checked in & went immediately to the pool. I stayed in for a few but then decided to get out & read my book, I will Carry You by Angie Smith. I was on chapter 8, (yes Jamie Davis-Samuels, I am a slow reader but also this has been a hard book for me to read so there has been days I couldn't touch it :) ) titled Cherry Blossom. Half way through the chapter and with a picture of a cherry blossom was this:

"The Japenese cherry starts flowering profusely from the first warmer days in April, heralding the coming of spring. The intense beauty and short survival span have associated cherry blossoms with spiritual and philosophicalideas (such as the beauty and fragility of human life)."

After the chapter we decided to go to Walmart & get some junk food. We headed back to the room to change & headed off to Wally World. When we got back Mandy Dockery Latham had arrived & we were all socializing in the room until I spotting a picture, actually TWO pictures of Japanese Cherry Blossoms above both of the beds! I WAS AMAZED at what I saw! I told Allen Bridges & Mandy about what I read & how I felt like Addison was there with us. I even had to call Krystina Andrzejewski Smith because it was giving my chills! I was so bummed because when we left the house this afternoon I left Miss Addison's ashes in the living room beside the tv & just said, "Oh no, I left Addison." I was debating on whether or not to go back & then said, "oh she will be fine." Now I feel she was showing me she will be fine. Whether her ashes are with us or not she will ALWAYS be with us! Her life was short but VERY BEAUTIFUL & touched so many hearts & continues to touch so many people. The words "intense beauty and short survival span" hits it right on the spot!! She was ALWAYS OUR ANGEL! Even when a stranger would come up to Addison they would say, "what a precious Angel." They had NO idea of her medical conditions, she was just so beautiful it reminded people of an Angel. Do I hurt daily over the loss of my daughter, yes. Do I feel there is a hole in my heart that will never be repaired, yes. But do I question my faith in God, No! I do not need to fill the gaps & I do not need to know the answers. All I need is to have my FAITH! I love You Lord & thank you for what you have blessed me with!" -By Jessica Boyett

I Will Carry You...

I know for me, I always try to be strong. I struggle with anyone seeing me down or discouraged as this is a sign of weakness. But God has slowly shown me that I can not carry the weight of the world. I can not carry the hurts, the pain, the troubles of my very own life. I must seek Him and I must allow him to carry me. 


Isaiah 41:10  fear not, for I am with you;  be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you,  I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Just in the past few weeks I've had a few minutes to reflect on some old friendships. You see, here in Hardee County many graduate and move on with their life, typically moving out of town. There's the Homecoming Game that some return for, the Hardee County Fair of course and sometimes even during the Holiday's. But for the most part, we see those who we went to school with and grew up with become adults on Facebook. This is where we meet their husbands or wives, their children and their accomplishments. But this is also where we see their hurt, their pain and their disappointments. And this provides an awesome avenue to pray for someone. 



I'm specifically referring to a friend that I've watched over the last few months poor her heart out in regards to her sick daughter, Addison. I've prayed many nights for their family and for their little girl. But this past week, she went to be with the Lord. I think back when we were young and clueless to what real pain was, not the kind where a boy doesn't' speak to you at school or your mom makes you clean your mom, but the kind that captures our life and brings us straight to our knees begging and pleading with God to have mercy and perform a miracle right before our eyes.


While I've not seen Jess in awhile, she's from Hardee County. And although many leave and never come back... we're all still a family. Our community is amazing and is compassionate. We feel the pain many miles away. We pray many miles away. And so I just share with you tonight, that although most of us in Hardee County never met Addison, she's part of us too. And when one Believer hurts, we all hurt.

If you get a chance to watch this short video and listen to the words of the song, I am so thankful that MY God will carry me through any difficult time. That He will also be their to give me strength.

Faithfulness

I've had the privilege of staying in touch with a dear friend of mine from Hawaii who is going through the adoption process. She began blogging right before she left for Colombia to go pick up her son. Each day I've checked this blog, smiled because of this blog, prayed because of this blog, even shed a tear or two when reading the sadness and uncertainty in Kristen's posts as she waited very very patiently to adopt her son.

The process was not near as quick as we probably all wanted it to be, but like she says below, God has a purpose. I'm proud of her faithfulness in knowing that God will provide and never leave us. Here's a little  something from her most recent post... ENJOY EVERYONE!

I have faith that there is a "purpose" for us being here this long, we might not ever know what that is, but God's ways are greater than ours.  My brother mentioned admiring our perseverance.  The Bible has the following verse regarding that topic:

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. 

1 Corinthians 15:58

The Best Things in Life are Worth Waiting For....Joyfully introducing our son Michael Kenneth (Born on July 21, 2011, Forever Ours March 14, 2012)

 — at Bogota, Colombia.

Just passing through...

I know, the title of my post is the same as my blog, but here's why...

I had a really great weekend (not that it was relaxing) but it was filled with some really cool stuff. Friday night a few of us went to the Strawberry Festival and got to hear TobyMac & Diverse City in concert. They truly are one of my favorite Christian bands. What's extra special about them is that when I was in middle school, I used to listen to their music and even today I still am. I love listening to their older songs and jammin' to their newer songs. Nothing gets me more pumped up than "Jesus Freak!"

Then on Saturday we headed over to Victory Baptist Church to listen to Steven Curtis Chapman, Josh Wilson, and Andrew Peterson. I'll admit, while I do like Steven Curtis Chapman's music & Andrew Peterson... Josh Wilson is by far my favorite. I've heard him several times in concert, had the amazing opportunity to meet his precious wife Becca and I just love them. He is an all-around true artist. We've enjoyed his music so much that my husband, Paul, has worked diligently on getting him to come to Wauchula at First Christian Church on September 8th to benefit our local Hardee Help Center. His song, "I Refuse" always encourages me to get out and do more for Christ!

Ok, so back to the title of my post & blog... "Just passing through." I often get caught up in the fact that life isn't dealing to me what I deserve. Why are some people's lives so perfect and grand and then mine so simple and boring. For many years this caused me to search for more... what was I missing? It wasn't until my eyes were opened to the fact that God hasn't placed us on this earth for our pleasure and desires but yet for his work. He has called us to make more disciples while passing through. He doesn't mention the designer clothes, big homes, nice cars and lots of money that we deserve in the Bible. Yet instead, He actually says, "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in Heaven. Then come, follow me." - Luke 18:22

Like I said before, Josh Wilson is my favorite, but I'm going to have to give it up for Mr. Steven Curtis Chapman for captivating me this past Saturday. He began to tell of a story in his life on how he was rather down and depressed of all that was happening. He picked up the ukelele and wrote this song, "Long Way Home." I'm a fan of the ukelele because I live in Hawaii for 2 and 1/2 years and this was a very popular instrument. And so, it immediately put a smile on my face and brought joy to my soul.

Here are the lyrics to the song, check'em out....

I set out on a great adventure
The day my father started needing me home
He said there gonna be some mountains to climb
And some valleys we’re gonna go thorough
But I had no way of knowing
Just how hard this journey could be
Cause the mountains are stiper and the valleys are deeper
Than I ever would of dream

But I know we’re gonna make it
And I know we’re gonna get there soon
And I know some times it seems like we……
Doing the wrong way
But it’s just a long way home

Some rocks in my shoes fears I wish I could lose
They make the mountain so hard to climb
And my heart gets so heavy
With the weight of the world some times
And there’s a bag of regrets
I should have been and not gets
I keep on dragging around
And I can hardly can wait till the day I could lay them all dawn
Well I know that day is coming
And I know it’s gonna be here soon
And I know I won’t turn back even if the whole world
Says I’m doing the wrong way
Cause it’s just a long way home

And when we can’t take another step
The father will pick us up and carry us in his arms
And even on the best days
He says to remember we’re not home yet
So don’t get too comfortable
Cause what you really are is just pilgrims passing through

Well I know that day is coming
And I know it’s gonna be here soon
I’ll keep on singing and believing
What all of my songs say
Cause our God has made a promise
And I know that everything he says it’s true
And he promised he would never ever leave us
He’s gonna lead us, He’ll head us home
Every single step of the long way home
So keep on we’re gonna make it
We’re just taking the long way home
Keep on we’re gonna make it
I know we’re gonna make it
It’s just a long way home

I am only one...

We had our 2nd adoption class with Heartland for Children here in Wauchula at First Christian Church. I'm really enjoying all the new information we are learning and getting to know more about the other families that are attending the class that will be adopting too.

I'm so glad that God has given us this opportunity to have a support group right here in our home town. I can't wait to meet all the kids that God is going to bless us with!

"I'm only one. But still, I am one.
I cannot do everything, but still, I can do something.
And because I cannot do everything,
I will not refuse to do the something that I can do."
-Edward Everett Hale

God Reveals Himself! Part 1

I've begun to understand that if I would just let go of what I think is best and stand in front of God with open arms willing to let Him plan out my life instead... He will always give me so much more than I could have dreamed of. And when you think about it, He is God and I am only human. Why is it that we continue to think we are smarter or that we've got it all under control?

I found myself spending many hours, days and weeks designing a brand new home on a spectacular piece of property. Mind you, this property we could not afford, and when we could... at that point we wouldn't have been able to afford to build; and even so, all this would have relied on us selling the beautiful oversized home that we have now on the golf course. I didn't see anything wrong with this picture until God used many Preachers and Books and friends and strangers and lastly, the poor in the Dominican Republic and Colombia to OPEN MY EYES!

It was like puzzle pieces coming together. And if you've ever tried to put a big puzzle together, in the beginning it's a big mess! Where do you begin, what's the finished product look like, how long will this take me? All these questions began racing through my head. So what was God trying to show me? And once I saw a small blurry glimpse of it... Oh my! The first thing that came to my mind was... is my husband going to even go for this?

You see I knew this what straight from God, so I wasn't questioning it at all. But had Paul been feeling the same way? It took me many weeks to find the courage to finally just ask, "What do you think about Adoption?" And to my surprise he asked very few questions and said, "Yeah, I think we could look in to it."

Adoption was something I've thought of before and felt completely comfortable with but never had I felt as though it was something I should be doing, needed to do, "called" to do... but now with all that God had been lying out in front of me, it was becoming very clear that adoption would be apart of my life in some way.

I titled this "Part 1" because I hope to share some of the details of the events that took place that God clearly used to Reveal Himself to me. But for now, I'm still taking all this in. I'm excited about the journey, scared about the what-if's, anxious for THE DAY, ready for the next step, satisfied with today, thankful for the others that will share this with us and awestruck that God has chosen the Samuels to be used in a mighty way to glorify Him and watch over one of His children as their forever families.