And the birthday celebration goes on and on...

Friday was Anli's birthday, but the celebration started on Thursday night! We met the Goltz family at Stevie B's for a pizza dinner and then headed to the bowling alley for her "not party"! See our kids do a big party with lots of friends, family, presents, etc. every other year. The off years we celebrate with either family...or a few friends. Jay just smiles and shakes his head at me, because the "not party" years always seem to be the biggest parties...and go on for days!

Opening presents...fun! She got the cutest Littlest Pet Shop stuffed animal ladybug (my favorite!) that can be online too for fun and games. Thanks Goltz family for coming and making her birthday extra special!

Caleb and Lily had never been bowling, so that was even more fun! The kids got a lane with bumpers and the adults got a lane too. Of course, my score never broke 70..so I was wishing for those bumpers myself! Here the kids wait anxiously for their ball to come back! We had to keep them back for fear that they would get a bowling ball in the face!
Virginia about to go! Anli is so like me when she bowls...it's a whole body sport. We try our best to encourage and direct the ball as it goes down the lane. But, from my score...Anli does a much better job at that! Isn't she the cutest thing? I can't believe she is 9...the last year of single digits EVER!
That evening, we let Anli open her big gift from us so that she could spend her birthday playing with it...and because I can't keep a present from them very well! She couldn't wait to open this HUGE present! Presents INSIDE presents?
Now, you may be thinking...well that's a plastic organizer...nice "big" gift! Anli LOVES to cook. I mean the girl is obsessed! She watches Food Network like a girl possessed. She knows so much more about cooking than I could and she really loves it! So, we gave her "real" cooking things this year. I went to Wal-mart and loaded up on measuring cups, small pans (that she can really cook with), a basting set, etc. I think she opened up like 40 cooking items that Virginia and I wrapped separately! It was a BLAST.

And Anli is also an extremely organized girl, so we got her this organizer/stove too. We added little eyes for the stove on top and the top two drawers are her "double ovens". The lower drawers are for her set of 6 place settings, food, and the rest of her cooking stuff. She loved it!

That was JUST Thursday! I tell you, right now our lives are so busy it takes a whole week to just keep up with the weekends. There are still several things I have to share that I missed last week! What a good life God has allowed us to have!

Thoughts on a Saturday night

Tonight, as I sit alone on the couch bed (Jay's parents are here and we wanted them to have our room) waiting for my husband to come home from Ultimate Frisbee with friends, I have been on a journey with a woman named Angie Smith. I got an email from my friend Jennifer about this blog and a certain post that reminded her of me. So, I went directly to their site and have been blown away.

Many of you know the group Selah...well this is the wife of one of the singers in that group. She found out that her baby would not live when she was at her 20 week ultrasound. Their little girl lived only 2 1/2 hours after she was born. Their journey is filled with real emotions, real joy, real tears, real questions, real anger, real humanity...and a VERY real faith in God. (www.audreycaroline.blogspot.com)

Tonight as I am celebrating the birth of my incredible healthy 9 year old gift of grace...I am filled with the haunting question...why not me? As I read this family's journey and pain, and as we all grieve with Stephen Curtis Chapman's family...as I am still praying for Jaden's family in their loss a few months ago...I am always aware how this life is but a vapor.

Angie said something in one of her blogs that hit me deeply. She talked about how she bonded more with this little girl (in her tummy) than her other girls...because she knew this was all she would have. I don't know what tomorrow holds for you or for me. I don't know the days I will have with the two little girls sleeping in the next room. I am praying tonight that every moment will be seen as the gift it is meant to be. That I will savor the grace of the moment and invest in moments.

Happy Birthday Anli!

My oldest girl is now 9 years old! She is amazing. She loves to cook, draw, dance, praise the Lord, and will be baptized in a few weeks. She is a wonderful friend to everyone she meets. She is the sweetest, funniest, kindest, and cutest kid I know! She is a gift that we are so grateful for every day.

Happy birthday, sweet Anli. Have a wonderful day! We all love you so very much!

Desert Flower Ministries follows God's Word to South Asia!

Oh what a great God we serve! This morning I got an amazing email from a lady who is the Regional Prayer Advocate for South Asia through the International Mission Board. She has extended an invitation for a small team from Desert Flower Ministries (DFM) to come and lead retreats for missionary wives in South Asia!

We are still in the VERY beginning prayer stage of this...I just got the email today! Please join with us to pray about this amazing change to LOVE ALL OVER missionary wives by offering them a retreat setting to grow, pray, share, encourage, and "linger" which is the theme for these South Asia retreats.

There will be so many ways to be involved! Only a small few will go on this "vision" trip this time...but we are praying that God will allow us to partner with them as they are doing these retreats in so many places all over South Asia...3 countries this year alone!

We will keep you updated as God reveals His plan for DFM and this opportunity. For now, please pray that God will show us how WE are to be involved and where. We know that God is in complete control of all things and this is no exception!

I have been giddy all morning! I have been sharing with my mentor and gleaning from her wisdom about this opportunity...so I am a little late in posting. We'll see what God is up to over the next few day, weeks, and months! We will be setting up a DFM blog in the next week to keep you updated on what God is doing here and overseas! So, check that site often because we will be adding some really neat new things to DFM. I'll do another post soon on the new interactive things we are adding to the site to get women EXCITED about thriving in God's Word everyday!! God is just too good for words...

Fun Fellowship Time!

Well, by the time I finish with our weekend fun...it will be the weekend again! Well, we had a wonderful fellowship this weekend with our Life group at our apartment's recreation area. We all brought picnic dinners and let the kids ride bikes and we all had a great time!

We are so blessed by our Life group! They all have kids the same age as ours and they all got along great. They played in the sand, rode bikes, scooters, played Frisbee and enjoyed watching the dads play bocee ball. Thanks for those who were able to come and fellowship with us...and we can't wait for everyone to come next time!

Here are some of the highlights of the fellowship...enjoy!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I'm such an 80's girl!

Saturday was a crazy, busy day! I had a ladies' event at Mount Pisgah that was awesome! God really came and met with us in such a sweet and intimate way. The ladies were so honest and open. We had fun playing some fun games and then digging into the Word together. There were tears and joy all at the same time. There were several "seekers" in the group and there was time for their small groups to share the Gospel with them! God allowed me to sit with a group and share the wonderful news of salvation with a lady that morning...that's always the coolest!

I came home for about an hour and then it was time for our Sunday School fellowship at our apartment's recreation area. We had the best weather and a great crowd. I'll share more about that tomorrow when I have downloaded the photos...I forgot my camera so someone sent me photos that I have to go through and download. Haven' had a chance to do that yet!

Then, my buddy Mary and I met some other friends at Chastian Park Ampitheatre for the Duran Duran concert! Oh, yes...they are still around and going strong! The tickets were given to us FREE by my friends' the Longs and on the 10th row...amazing seats! We had an absolute BLAST! We laughed until we were bent over crying. Imagine old 80's children (yes I count myself in that category too) jamming to hits like "Hungry like the wolf", "The Reflex", "Rio", and many more. Mary and I thought we would only know about 3 hits...being those I just named. But, in true 80's fashion we knew all but 4, since you never knew who sang what...you just knew all the words! The theme of the evening was..."Oh, I KNOW this song!"

We laughed so hard because at one point the Robot dance was being done by an "older" lady near us! Yep, nothing like a good 80's concert to take you back to middle school days. The cutest thing was the family in front of us who brought their 4 year old and 8 year old. The 8 year old boy was singing at the top of his lungs during the songs! How cute!

There were comb overs, sequined outfits, mock turtlenecks, mohawks, and lots and lots of old people dancing like it's 1999 (no Duran Duran doesn't sing that one).

Here is a clip Mary put together. So, all you 80's children out there...enjoy!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Busy, Busy Weekend!

We have been crazy busy this past weekend, so I haven't had one minute to sit down and post. I will post a little every day because there was so much going on that it wouldn't fit in one post!

On Thursday afternoon, we went to look at a new house that we were interesting in. So, as we were there looking...we fell in love with it! It was a GREAT deal and we wanted to go ahead and make an offer on it. Well, that is when the fun started!

We called our agent and told her to draw up the papers to make an offer on it that day. She was thrilled and immediately went to pull the comps on the house to find out what offer we should make...in this buyer's market. She called me back in a few minutes and said that she couldn't find the listing on FMLS...strange we thought.

So, I gave her the agent's name who had shown us the property (our agent was not able to show it to us) and she called him. Now, I must add a little bit of information right here...I had asked the agent two times if there were ANY offers on the property, or ANY contracts. He said no...Jay even was standing there to verify no misunderstanding. I'm sure you see where this could be going...

Well, my agent called me back and the agent we had talked to has a partner and at the time he was showing us the house...the other agent was at the closing table! It was already SOLD! How crazy is that?

I tell you all of this to let you know how ACTIVE God is! He DID NOT want us to have that house at all...so He sold it that day! I love when he literally closes a door:) So, we are headed out in about 15 minutes to look at other houses today with our agent this time! We are excited to start looking because the market is prime for buyer's. We so love our apartment and would stay for a while longer...but now is the time to buy...and we want to see what God may have out there for us. If He wants us to stay here for another year and renew our lease, that's awesome too!

So, Thursday started our crazy busy week...and boy was that day crazy!

Fun with insomnia!

Well, I have to tell you that I have insomnia. I had a full hysterectomy about 3 years ago and one of my side effects from that was insomnia. It's not fun...and the other night I had one of my worst nights ever!

So, I have had a lack of posting because my day yesterday was so thrown off that I didn't sit down to have my time with the Lord until later that day! OK, for those who know me...that is NOT me. I have to fill my cup to the brim with my Lord every day...or I am not a pretty thing to be around. I am one needy girlfriend!

I longed so hard to be with God and it just doesn't work without Him. I'm hooked on Him. I can't breathe well without Him and His Word. He amazing! He's everything! He's the love of my life...but Satan knows where to hit me.

So, I will be claiming my evenings for Christ...does that sound kooky to you? Well, what I mean is that I am going to be not only starting my day with God...but I need to end my day in the Word and on my knees.

This passage was brought back to mind today...
"But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. "
Psalm 1:2.

If I can't sleep...I can pray! I can end my day with the Word of God resting on me and the Lord's voice singing over me...now that's one "natural" sleep remedy that can't go wrong!

What a great Mother's Day!

On Saturday we went to visit my family in Alabama. It was wonderful to see my grandmother and enjoy eating lunch out on her patio in the gorgeous weather. My grandmother "Honey" has been extremely sick this year. She has spent months in the ICU and to see her smiling face and how good she looked was the best gift I could have ever gotten this Mother's Day.


I am named for my grandmother and we share a very special bond. I stayed with her during the summers when my mother had to work as a single parent and she always taught me the Lord's prayer and to talk to God. She has been an amazing example of servanthood and love.

We also got to spend lots of great time with my wonderful mother. My kids call her "Sassy" and they literally jump for joy when I tell them we are going to see her. We ate lunch with she and Honey and then she took us and my nephew Julian to the McWain center, which is a hands on science center for kids of all ages.
We gave Julian some "guy" videos and he loved them! Isn't he the CUTEST thing every???
We had the BEST time! The girls and Julian ran around and touched everything in the place. They went to a dinosaur dig, made a video as a meteorologist, played in water, laid on a bed of nails, and much more.


We finished the day with a dinner at our favorite fast food place, Milo's (which is not to be found in Atlanta!) with my sister Holly. She was so sweet to buy everyone dinner...yummy!

Exciting Ministry Opportunity!

There is something on my heart that I wanted to share with you today. For the past month, God has been laying a heavy hand on my heart. He is leading Desert Flower Ministries onto a new journey. We have been blessed beyond measure this year so far and many more opportunities are already scheduled for the fall! So, since we are now bringing in more money, selling more books, speaking at more places...God spoke so clearly to me about the vision and mission of Desert Flower Ministries.

What He said (so lovingly) is that "this is not about You." Now, I knew that God was in control completely of this ministry...but up until now that "ministry" meant speaking and writing for women's groups. So, I stayed up late into the night allowing God to speak over me. The next morning after I spent my time in His Word, He gave me the words to put with the burden on my heart.

I won't post everything that He said...that will be up on http://www.desertflowerministries.com/ very soon as our vision statement for our ministry. But, the drive behind this ministry will be to encourage and exhort women to thrive in this life by the power of God's Word in their daily lives. This will be worked out through many exciting ways from online classes, short Bible studies, our new Biblical curriculum: Foundation Bible Series, mission trips for women to women (I am counting the minutes until God makes this one happen!), yearly retreats to teach and encourage women to be in God's Word daily, and investing financially in ministries passionate about taking God's Word to those places outlined in Acts 1:8.

So, why am I telling you all this? Well, our very first opportunity to serve is coming very soon! We have been invited to share Satisfy Our Souls: A Cry from the Desert with the ladies at the Atlanta Union Mission. We are also going to be able to donate over 200 New Testaments and evangelical cds to the over 260 residents that live there.

My Sister's House is a transitional housing for women and children who are dealing with deserts some of us will never comprehend. We have the privilege of sharing with these ladies through God's Word and Bible study and mentorship. Do you feel led to be a part of the amazing opportunity?

Well, here are a few ways that you can become involved:
1. Pray, pray, pray for those whom God is calling to come and lead, for the ladies there, for their children, and for God to send workers into this awesome field.

2. If God is leading you to come and help facilitate a group during the 7 weeks that we will go through Satisfy Our Souls please contact me at frances@desertflowerministries.com or comment below. There is a volunteer orientation that EVERYONE who comes to My Sister's House MUST attend May 20th from 6-8pm. If you would like to come I am going and can take any others who are interested in volunteering.

3. We will be donating the books for the ladies to go through this bible study. I was just going to donate these books myself, but again God told me this is not about me. If you would like to donate a book to a lady that will go through this study please contact me. I would like for you to perhaps write a note of encouragement and prayer to the woman God will give that book to. The books cost $10 (I am covering shipping and handling). We will be donating 40 books total.

4. We are also donating over 200 Bibles and the same number of evangelical cds called "The Invitation" by Rick Warren. These cost $1.00 each. If you would like to specify a number of Bibles or cds that you would like to donate contact me at the same email and I will get you the information.

VERY IMPORTANT NOTE:
Desert Flower Ministries is in the process of becoming incorporated which is the first step in Non-profit status. But, we are NOT there yet. Our prayer is that we will be there by the end of the year, but we are NOT at this time! So, the donations that you make go directly to the supplies which have already been purchased (I am covering sales tax and shipping). Your money will simply go to the products themselves being donated to these women. But, it will NOT be a tax-deductible gift, as we are not non-profit yet. If you have questions about this please contact me personally and I will try to answer them.

Thank you for being a part of this ministry in whatever way God leads. Our only desire in letting you know all of this is so that we can partner with others who are called to invest in the lives of those who are truly in deserts.

Here it is!

Well, here it is!! The NEW blog design that Jennisa has been working on for the past 3 days with me! I love it and am so grateful to Once Upon a Blog for helping me to get to where I didn't even know I wanted to be!

On Thursday, I got the email that she was starting on the blog. Well, I hadn't even thought about what I wanted!! I know that is crazy, because I knew it was coming. I had just been so busy that I hadn't really decided on a title, a design, or anything! So, Jay and I decided that we loved the thought of journaling about our live on the Vine.

Thus began the mad search on istock to find the perfect image. Well, when you are a photographer...that is not easy. I am VERY crazy about photos. So, that night we found the image and got started. Well, Jennisa was wonderful and walked me through everything and she created a wonderful blog on the first try.

We did make small changes (which we ended up right back where she started!) and there are lots of details to think about...but within 2 days she had the design and today was just about putting it online.

So, here it is! I will be posting tomorrow about our Mother's day weekend. It's been really busy... but wonderful! I hope all of you enjoyed your day of worship today and enjoyed time with family.

Been working on the new makeover!

The past few days...starting from a long awaited email on Thursday has set forth a flurry of work on my blog. Jennisa has been doing a great job and I can't wait for you to see her work. She is AMAZING! She has over 90 women on her waiting list and I can now see why! She is really creative and super easy to work with!

I have been really busy over the past few days having a girl's night with friends (we even saw a chick flick...a first for me in a LONG time!), lots of afternoon meetings with my mentor, friends, prayer partner, college girl I disciple, and finished with a drive to Birmingham to spend the day with my mom, grandmother, nephew, and even a quick dinner with my sister! Whew...I am WORN OUT!!!

Hopefully my new blog will be up soon (I am having a tough time with all the choices...so much wonderful to choose from!)! Keep checking back often to see it!

I pray that each of you who are mothers or have mothers will enjoy a day to thank God for that gift!

Blog Makeover!

Well, I hope that imitation is the best form of flattery because I am getting my blog makeover just like my friend Ginger! I got on the extensive waiting list for "Once Upon A Blog" which is a lady who totally designs great blogs. The minute I saw Ginger's new blog, I emailed Jennisa and got on the 6-12 week waiting list. I am now only 6 blogs away from getting my makeover and I can't wait!

You so should check out http://www.onceuponablog.org/ for a great idea on redoing your blog...but I must warn you she has closed her waiting list due to 90+ ladies waiting for a new blog makeover...can you believe that!!! I'm so excited for this stay at home mom and pastor's wife who has found a GREAT way to make some money being at home! What a cool thing...I'm so thrilled for her.

So...I am looking so forward to my makeover. I hope to still keep the same elements, though soon we will be offering the Daily Bread to be emailed to your inbox each evening so that you have it waiting for you each morning...that will be through the Desert Flower Ministries website.

So, keep an eye out for our new makeover...and thanks for those who follow this blog. It means so much to have over 50 people to check it out each day (plus or minus a few). We are coming up on a year of blogging, so I am ready to get a whole new look and giving some business to a neat girl who has had a GREAT idea. Thanks Ginger for passing that along and designing a great blog to inspire me!

Beautful Moments...

What a blessing to have this family...


These are some photos that I turned into watercolors. Though they are small here...I am having them blown up and then I will work on painting over them with clear to give it true texture and brush strokes. I will stretch them over a canvas to give as gifts for Mother's (that includes some for me too!) and Father's Day! It's a great and easy project I have done for several friends as gifts too.

Having fun at the water park!

The next morning we headed back to the water park. It was deserted and we had the run of the place. We loved the lazy river and where Jay and I spent most of the time relaxing while we watched the girls play. They had these cute dolphin "carts" that you could sit on and ride the river. They were really fun!
There was also a water playground that the girls enjoyed greatly! They had these cute squirting elephants. Jay and I both got squirted in this picture!
It also had these run mushrooms that sprayed water. Virginia enjoys hiding behind the wall of water...like a giant umbrella!
This side of the hotel also had a dunker bucket...but not nearly as big as the one in our hotel. But, it was super fun and the girls and Jay enjoy a splash!
There was a neat little rain tunnel that reminded me of a mini car wash. The girls loved running through it back and forth.
The water slides were so much fun!! They were adult and kid sized so that we could ride them with the girls. There were two slides...one that had a huge curve and the other had a big drop...both very fun!

We had a great time and really was grateful that we found such a neat hotel that had so many fun things to do!