Thanks!

1 Thessalonians 5:18 "Rejoice always, pray comstantly, give thanks in everything for this is God's will for you in Christ."
What am I thankful for? I'm thankful that I enjoy spending time with my family and have been so busy with the festivities that I haven't had time to sit down at the computer. :-) I am unbelievably thankful for my husband! He is more than I ever asked for. He is loving and supportive. He cares for me and provides for me. He leads our family so well. I am very thankful for him. I am thankful for my beautiful daughter. Even when she is a stinker. She brings so much joy to my life. I look at her 100 times a day and think about how much I love her and how grateful I am that God has given me the privilege of being her mother. I am thankful for God's faithfulness. Time and time again he says to us, "I've got your back." Blessings come to us every day. Not just little blessings here and there, BIG blessings. God is so good to us. I would have to be really rotten to say that I don't have anything to be thankful for.

We will begin our 5 hour journey home tomorrow from Hot Springs. Afton was so good on the way here, I was so proud of her. I am so proud of her everyday! It's always something new. I cried last night because as Todd and I were playing with her she started standing up on her little bitty legs, and she did it over and over again. It just made me realize how fast she is growing up! I am trying so hard to cherish these moments and lock them away deep in my heart because I know I will never get them back. This morning I decided that I missed her too much to let her sleep any longer. As I made my way up the stairs Todd flew by me to get to her first so HE could have her morning smiles. Jealousy and joy all at the same time. I love how he loves her! He is the BEST daddy! I'm not just saying that because he is my husband and it's what you are supposed to say. I really mean it! I am so thankful that God led us to each other! :-D

Busy Working Bees....

I have been so busy the past two days. We're allllmost unpacked :-) and today was warm enough to paint. I just wrapped up because it was getting a  tad chilly for Sweet Afton, but Todd is still busy painting. We have the front and two sides painted and almost all of the trim has been kilzed (it was a dark blue). 

My sister, Jackie, and I Painting Trim

My Handsome Todd Painting

The back should only take about 30 minutes. Sooo, by tomorrow around noon we should be ALL done painting! Once it gets dark Todd will come in and we will finish getting busy on the unpacking. All I have left, other than wall hangings, is the kitchen. It's about halfway done, but we are painting the insides of the cabinets first and we have two more to go. I am so excited and so ready to close the painting chapter. I will definitely be posting more pictures once it's all done.
I must run now, for my Sweet Afton just filled her diaper. :-) Oh the joys of motherhood.

I love spray paint!

So in our 'cozy' little house we have a serious lack of cabinetry in the kitchentry. My MIL gave me some cute little shelves a while back that were all cutesy and painted with flowers. I like flowers and all but they just weren't quite blending well with my decor, and I had no earthly idea where to put them. Lack of cabinet space, extra shelves, think..... light bulb! A can of pretty blue spray paint, some hollow wall fasteners and a drill and viola! I have spice shelves! So unbelievably easy. I love spray paint! It can fix anything. Now to find some cute little spice jars so it doesn't look so janky. :-)

Love this!

Flowery Shelves

Blue Spice Shelves 

(btw these are above my oven, but I cropped it because it's still unlevel)

I also spray painted an extra frame and some ugly orange flower buds just for fun.
I have a new goal. I want to be completely unpacked and have the house ready for a CHRISTMAS TREE!!!! by Sunday. Cross your fingers because I will be seriously disappointed if I don't accomplish this. My dear husband is busy painting our cabinets right now so that I can finally unpack all of my kitchen boxes.

It would be so much easier to get things done if my Sweet Afton didn't want so much mommy time. Although, I absolutely LOVE spending time with my sweet girl.

Isn't she precious!

Faith tested

In our d-group today we studied Genesis 22, where God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac. I know Abarahm must have been confused because God had promised him many descendants, but He trusted God. I'm not going to tell the whole story, you can read it for yourself. It got me thinking about my life and my trust in God. I've always felt like I put my trust completely in Him, and I do... For the generic things. It's easy for me to trust that God will continue to provide for us and to trust that He will keep us safe and healthy. It's easy for me to trust Him. We trusted God when He provided Todd with a new job opportunity, even though it meant cutting our monthly income almost in half because we knew it would be better for our family and that we wouldn't go without. I trusted God when He blessed us with a baby that we hadn't planned on. What about day to day living? Do I trust that He will guide my decisions if I ask? Maybe it's not so much about trust as it is about control. Maybe it's that I don't want to seek Him in the little things, the decisions and daily living because then I won't be in the driver seat. I know that God knows what is best for me and my family. I know that He will take care of us. I also know that if I turn to Him to guide me in everything that may mean sacrificing things we enjoy or doing things differently than I want to. It will mean that I will be doing what is best for us and not necessarily what is easiest or most enjoyable. I don't know that God will redirect us down a different road. We may very well be right where He wants us. But do I trust Him enough that if He wants something different for us I will follow His lead? Would I allow Him to change me? I guess I don't trust that God will guide me in a way that I'm comfortable with, but He never promised that. He never said, I will direct your paths down a sunshiny, flower filled path. No, He only promised that He would guide me. Where will He guide me to? I don't know, and I haven't let Him have that part of me. I haven't let Him guide me into the unknown. I've only trusted Him with what I can see. I knew that a baby would be the greatest blessing, I knew that working at New Beginnings would be better for our family... But what if I hadn't been so sure? Would I have allowed Him to change our life so drastically without kicking and screaming? Would I have trusted and obeyed if it wasn't so clear? Why is it so difficult to rely on God's faithfulness?