We Survived Irene

Verse of the Day:
"Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." Isaiah 41:10


Thank the good Lord in heaven we survived Irene. She started her wrath here in South NJ at around 5PM on Saturday mild at first but she got ugly fast. Our power went out Sunday morning around 3AM and was out until 8PM on Monday. There were 75 mph winds here and the rain was horrible. Several parts of the county were flooded and almost everyone was without power.


Now me and the rest of my family sleep with the sound of box fans going no matter the weather outside so when our power went off, we were up and there was no sleep for me for 2 nights. We survived though and there was no damage to our house at all. She left lots of limbs in the yard to clean up and threats of tornadoes none of which touched down thank God. 


We are on well water here as is most of the people in my area so when our power went out so did my water. Luckily we filled the bathtub up with water for flushing and stored lots of water to drink, cook with, and wash our hands with. We also have a gas to cook with so we were all set. It was rough BUT I know it could have been much worse. My prayers are with the people in North Jersey and other places that were flooded severely. You can read an article from JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst here. I didn't get any footage of the storm while it was happening because it was too bad to open my door and way to dark for pics really so here are some pictures they took on base after she left the area.

The damage was much worse in other parts of the county and I wish I had pictures. 

We read books and played games to pass the time. Excuse my shirtless husband but we had no AC and who hasn't see a man without their shirt anyway :)

This next picture was taken on Sunday late afternoon. You would have never know Irene was even here just hours earlier. 

So we experienced an earthquake and a hurricane all in the course of one week. WOW! What a week! I am off for now. I hope everyone has a blessed day and please continue to keep the people affected by Irene in your prayers.

What We Were Up to This Summer Part Two

Verses of the Day:
"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah. There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early. The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah. Come, behold the works of the LORD, what desolations he hath made in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire. Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.


I hope everyone is having a happy Friday. We are waiting on Hurricane Irene to make her debut and be gone. Me and the girls are just chillin out at home today.


Last week Emily had VBS at Bible Baptist Church in New Egypt and she had a blast. She won an award for saying all of her Bible verses and perfect attendance. She was very happy.  The theme was Operation Space and Emily got to make some cool things. One of her favorites is her Robot.

She got to learn new songs and of course learned about Jesus. She loves to learn about Jesus and asked me if you could go up in the sky in an airplane and go see Jesus. I told her one day she will.

Now before we went on our trip Emma had her very first haircut! Yes I said very first! She is 4 and has NEVER had even a trim. Her hair was thick on the top and thin at the ends so I had to bite the bullet and get it cut. She loved it and it made her feel like such a big girl. 

She was all ready to go

A girl named Erica cut her hair for me and did a very good job. She is a fellow AF wife and mommy and was very patient with Emily. This is the very first time I used her and now she cuts my hair.

This was how short it had to be cut to even it out. She is doing the final trimming here.

I was very pleased with how it turned out and now Emma's hair looks so much healthier. AND I didn't even cry! I was so shocked!

Now we are prepping for his hurricane that is supposed to hit us pretty hard on Saturday night or Sunday morning. We are bottling water and have went shopping for canned stuff and non perishable food. I will making and putting up homemade soup and pinto beans just in case the power is out a while. Thankfully, I do have a gas stove so I am good to go. Bad thing is, we have a well and the well pump runs off of electricity of course so if our power goes out, which I am sure it will, we have NO water, not even bad water. Please pray for the people in the path of this hurricane and that God will push it off shore. Right now a state of Emergency has been declared for NJ along with 6 other states.

Hope everyone has a safe and happy Friday. God Bless and please remember us all those in the path of Irene.

It's Almost Friday!

Verses of the Day:

"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:1&2

I hope everyone has a happy and blessed Thursday. I will be doing a longer blog post tomorrow telling more about our summer.

Happy Wednesday

Verse of the Day:
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1


I hope everyone has a very happy Wednesday and make sure to check out my post from last night. 

Today's Devotion

I was reading my Bible today like I should do EVERY day and do most days, but anyway I was reading and today God lead me to 2 different passages. The first one was Proverbs 3:5-7. Now most of you know those verses and I even memorized them as a child in Sunday School. "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct they paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord and depart from evil."

I have been going through a couple of very personal things lately and I have found that when I am in God's Word and praying like I should, I feel better! Everything seems to go smoother but when I am not reading His Word like I should and not praying like I should, I feel bad and things start to go sour again for lack of a better term. I get bitter and angry. And while my friends are awesome people I find myself going to them BEFORE I go to God when I am struggling with something. Now why is it that I think the King of Kings cannot help me with my problem more so than my friends? Now don't get me wrong. My friends are awesome and I am not saying to not go to your friends for advice or to vent or to cry. We NEED that. What I am saying is we need to go to God FIRST because He ALWAYS knows what is best for us and if we get in His Word He is going to show us what he wants us to know or give is the answer to our problems and questions.

Well the next passage of scripture He led me to was Hebrews 4:12&13 "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of the soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do." I had someone say to me once, reading my Bible is not going to change what I think about certain things. Well this passage of scripture disproves that in and of itself. Of course we know when we read our Bible our minds change about certain things for the better of course. Basically, what this verse is saying is, The Word of God is living and operative. It has the power to reach to the inmost parts of one's personality and to judge the inmost thoughts. It pierces  to the depths of the soul and spirit not between the two. They stand for the innermost facets of our immaterial nature just as joints and marrow, the material aspect. Both soul and spirit can be involved in what pleases and displeases God.  See His Word can change how we think and act. It more powerful than anything we can say or do.

Maybe that person that said that to me is reading this now I don't know, He gave this to me for a reason and that reason is, I needed it! I think what we all as Christians need to do is stop praying for God to change that certain someone that does us wrong or drives us nuts, but say, "God change me." As Stormie Omartian said, those are the three hardest words to say. Oh of course ask God to help those others and of course ask God to guide their thoughts and prayers, but we cannot even begin to pray effectively for others until we first pray for God to change us, as wives and mothers. Change us into a woman in His image.

What We Were Up to This Summer Part One

Verse of the Day:
"From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I." Psalm 61:2


Hello everyone! It is really good to be back :) Things have been a bit crazy for me but are starting to get much better. I have been through some personal things, but with God in charge, things are starting to get better.  Thanks to all who follow for not abandoning me while I was MIA. I am back and will start out slow at first before I get back into my daily posts. 


We have been busy bees this summer. We started with a trip to see family. What a trip that was but I do believe it was worth it.  Our first stop was in Garner, NC to see my wonderful SIL and her beautiful family. The girls had a blast playing with their 3 cousins who happen to be all girls.  We had a blast as well.

We went swimming, 

and visited a place called Marbles in Raleigh while we were there among a few other places.

From there we headed to Milton, FL which is right outside of Pensacola, FL to visit my parents and 2 brothers. I really miss my mom and dad so it was a good visit. We also got to visit Eglin AFB while we were there. AWESOME base by the way. We also go to visit The Creation Store and got to meet and talk with Eric Hovind son of Kent Hovind which was  real treat. It was such an awesome store and anyone in the Pensacola area needs to stop by for a visit.

 

 

We also went to the beach of course. Who goes to the "Emerald Coast", as that area of FL is known, and does not go to the beach? Now those are real beaches, where you can see to the bottom and the water is a clear emerald green and the sand is softy, white, and fluffy!

The girls had a blast in general, seeing Nanny and Pawpa

While we were there we also went to the Air Force Armament Museum right outside of Eglin AFB. What an awesome place.

There were lots more pics of course. They had tons of stuff. Our stay was too short to enjoy everything really and of course I can never see my parents too much. I miss them so much. I got to see them though and enjoy my daddy's good preaching.

After Milton we headed to TN to see my sisters and their kiddos. Also got to have dinner with some friends whom are really just like family. Had a good time. Only stayed for 1 day and 2 nights so not nearly long enough. My I did get to see my niece Bryleigh, the one that was born at 32 weeks. She is doing fantastic and is a little butter ball! 

She went from this

to this! 

God is good! I just think back to February and how her Mama and Daddy almost lost this precious little gift from God and I tear up and smile at the same time. To see her smile and doing so well makes "my heart feel super happy." 

We also stayed at Cumberland Mountain State Park in a rustic cabin. Very nice and very good price.  On the way back home we also had lunch with my sister Sarah and her son who is just 6 weeks older than my Bella Bear.

Sarah and Alex at Mimi's Cafe

Our time at the cabin

For our last stop we headed back up to NC to see my SIL one last quick time before heading home. It was a gorgeous drive. We drove through the Smokies. Man I miss the beauty of East TN! I will end the post now with some more pictures and a bible verse. I will post again this week about some more things we have enjoyed this summer. I hope everyone has a very blessed week.

"And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good....."

Genesis 1:31a