Overwhelmed

Wow. The emotions I am feeling today are so strong. Stephen just left for the airport for his interview in Westerville, OH. This started out as a pretty unsure thing; he was originally hoping to just get an interview. But a lot of things have happened over the last week or so that make him feel like he has a really good shot at this job. I feel like I have been praying constantly over the last couple of days. I know he does, too.

I got home from Girls' Night and I think the reality of actually moving hit me. Community with other believers is so important to Stephen and me. There aren't a lot of churches in the area where his interview is, so we are really scared what that would mean for our family. Jordan said that he is actually praying that Stephen doesn't get the job. We have such a tight-knit group of friends here that it would be really hard on all of us to leave that. But I know that if God does tell Stephen to take this job that He will provide everything there that we need. I know that he will provide the money, church, home, friends, etc. I know that He wouldn't move us to a strange city only to make it a struggle for us.

So I have been earnestly praying for Stephen that he would have clarity. I have been praying for something while he is there that would be that "sign" from God. He asked me this morning if I had any thoughts on what this sign would be. I just told him that he would know God was speaking to him when he saw it. I believe God when He says that when we seek Him with all our hearts, we will find Him. I don't think I have ever sought Him this hard before, so I know that we will find Him. Please pray for Stephen today. Pray that He can clearly sense God's will. Pray that he has safety while traveling to Westerville and then home, and then for safety to Townsend where he will meet up with our Bible study guys (the group of friends I was referring to) for a weekend in the mountains. He will be driving by himself. Thank you for your prayers.

God is faithful!

I am in a study right now called Believing God by Beth Moore. Let me just tell you that it is amazing! I am learning all about believing God, not just believing in God. He is revealing himself to me in powerful ways right now like He never has before; at least I didn't see it before. Anyway, I am learning things about God that I wasn't taught anywhere growing up. I wasn't necessarily taught that certain things were wrong, I just wasn't taught. I am in no way blaming anyone for this; I am just saying that God is teaching me things now that I need to know "for such a time as this." I know that I am probably sounding pretty vague right now about the things He is teaching me, but let me just say this: IF YOU SEEK GOD, AND BELIEVE HIM, HE WILL BE FOUND BY YOU!!!

When everything that was revealed to me tonight sinks in a little more and I can write about this journey in more clarity, believe me, I will love to share it with you. Right now, let me just say that "I'm believing God!"

More job stuff...

Stephen found out late yesterday afternoon that all of the southern zone jobs he posted for will be calling him to set up interviews this morning. Those are in Alabama (Birmingham and Dothan) and I think there was one in Mississippi. Yikes! Stephen was sitting in the recliner last night holding sleeping Luke. I asked him if he wanted me to put Luke down and he said no, that it was comforting him to hold Luke. He said that the reality of all this was finally hitting him. It wasn't real until he had the interviews. But now, we could actually be moving somewhere in the next couple of months. Please keep praying.

Job Update

For all of you who are wondering about Stephen's job and his posting for new positions within the company, he has an interview Friday for the position in Westerville, OH. We thought it would be a teleconference, but the Westerville office doesn't have that capability. So, they are flying Stephen out Friday morning and he will fly home Friday afternoon. Please pray that God will reveal His will for us through this time. We are very torn with what is the best thing to do. Stephen keeps telling me that he doesn't have a very good chance with this one having been at State Farm for just a year, but I think he just doesn't want me to worry about moving away. I know his potential and so do the managers that work around him on a daily basis. His direct manager is going out of her way to make things happen for Stephen, so I think his chances are pretty good. But the most important thing for us is staying in God's will. We know that if we do that, He will work out everything else. We covet your prayers.

My little climber

This is what I found when I walked into the living room this morning. Luke had climbed into the recliner by himself. You can see how proud he is! He is growing so fast.

The Waiting Game

Stephen has posted for several positions at his current job, and God is apparently wanting us to learn patience. We are waiting to see if he will get any interviews and it is so hard. Both of us wish we didn't have to move in order for him to promote, but right now that is our only option. There is a "freeze" on promotions for him right now. We could just stay here and wait for the freeze to be lifted, but there is no estimate on how long that will be. It could be a month or it could be two years. No one knows.

So, what do we do? For his career, it is absolutely the best thing for us to look for other positions in other cities. For our family, there are about a million positives to stay here and wait. So right now we are praying for God's will. We are praying for Him to open doors for Stephen and lead him through the right one. We know that God has a plan for us, for prosper and not harm, and that if we call on Him and pray to Him, He will listen and if we seek Him we will find Him if we are seeking with our whole hearts (Jer. 29:11-12). So we have confidence that He will lead us. But the waiting is pretty hard.

So, what do we do in the meantime? Go to the pool. That is my answer for everything in the summer. I can seek God there, right? After all, I tell Stephen all the time that Heaven is going to be on a beach so he better start liking it. Joking of course. I hope everyone has a wonderful day. Seek God; you will find Him!

Happy Late 4th!

Hope everyone had a great Independence Day. We had a lot of fun. Stephen's mom and stepdad have a pontoon boat and we were on the lake all day. The kids had a blast! It was the first time they have ever done anything like that before. I forgot my camera, but Becky took hers so I will have to download her pictures. Anyway, when we got home we went to our class party at my friend's parents' house. We shot fireworks, ate, just had a really good time.

Now the kids have gone to Stephen's mom's house to spend the night. Luke is still home with me. He isn't quite big enough to go yet. So, the house is relatively quiet. I am just thinking of all the things I should be doing, but I really don't want to do any of them. So I am just sitting here. Hope everyone has a great day!

Let's try this one more time...

Family Game Night - Of all the games in our house, the kids chose Twister.







Claire with her nails painted

Ellie, Lily Beth, Claire

From the Princess Party, the birthday girl is the third from the right in the pink and blue dress, Ellie

Pictures

Well, I was trying to post the pictures that I mentioned in my last post, but we still have dial-up and it is taking FOREVER! So, I will have to do it later. I am going to mow the back yard and then we are going to the pool! So, I hope everyone has a great day. Check the blog later this afternoon for the pictures. Later.

just saying hello

We have had some crazy days here lately. We are trying to tighten the reigns on the kids. When we are out they are usually pretty good, especially with other people, but at home they have just gotten out of control. So, we are trying to get a grip on that now before it gets totally out of hand. We have just gotten too laid back and not being consistent and it is starting to show. We broke some bad habits two years ago when we took a parenting class at church, but those things have creeped back into the Shirley household.

Anyway, Claire had her first princess birthday party today. Her friend Ellie turned four. It was so fun. There were seven little princesses at the party. They had their nails painted and got to make a bracelet. Claire had a blast! She loves playing dress up, so getting to leave the house in her princess clothes and make-up was a real treat! I will post pictures of that when I get them on the computer.

We had family game last night. Our kids LOVE to play games, so we told them to go and pick out a game and we would have game night. Out of the 49 or so games in the playroom, they chose to come back upstairs with Twister. That's right, TWISTER!!! Needless to say, I wasn't thrilled, but I think I put on my happy face and played anyway. I ended up having a lot of fun. I think we played about four times. I also happen to have a picture of that, thanks to my husband. I will also post that picture later.

Anyone have any tips on cleaning out clutter? Stephen's sister is moving in with us at the end of July and we have to completely clean out our playroom and move everything upstairs. YIKES! I am really going to enjoy her living here, I just don't know what we will do with all the stuff. Anyway, any tips would be greatly appreciated.

I hope you all have a wonderful day.

Vacation update

I know you all are on the edge of your seats wondering what we have decided to do. We are still going to the beach for our family vacation, but for our anniversary, Stephen and I are going to DC. We had a Southwest gift card that Stephen's brothers had given us for our birthdays and we didn't want to never use it, so I bought the tickets yesterday and we will figure out the rest later. Part of the adventure. We are very excited. Our family vacation will be the first time we have taken a trip with just us and the kids. We usually go with other family. And our trip to Washington will be the first big trip Stephen and I have taken together, so I guess it is an anniversary/delayed honeymoon. 'Bout time after 10 years! Anyway, now we are excited about both trips! Yyyeeeeaaaa!

Vacation battle

We are having somewhat of a battle in our house today about vacations. I love the beach. When I was growing up, that is what my family did for vacation. Yes, I know, there is so much more to do in our country besides go to the beach, but that is what we did. So, I love the beach. I would go there every vacation if I had it my way. Stephen, on the other hand, hates the beach. His idea of the perfect vacation would be to go to Washington, D.C. While that sounds fun to me, it is not a trip I want to take with a 6,5,and 1 year old. It just sounds tiring to me. I am writing to get opinions. Am I crazy to want to go to the beach all the time and relax? I want to do those other things, too, but I would rather wait until the kids get older. So does this mean that we don't ever take vacations when they are little because he doesn't want the beach and I don't want D.C.? What do you think?

Fun day

State Farm gave all of their employees a half day off to take their families to see the new movie Cars. They rented out some movie theaters in town. It was a great movie. There were a couple of things that they could've left out, but I don't think our kids noticed. Anyway, Stephen just left to go back to work. The kids want to go to the Y to swim, so our towels and pool items are in the washer. Probably should've done that last night, but who wants to do laundry before bed? Not me. Hope everyone is having a great day.

Funny Story

We were trying to put the kids to bed tonight. Jordan is the "staller". Claire always just goes to bed and goes to sleep. Jordan is constantly trying to find reasons to get out of bed and NOT go to sleep. Well, he had gotten up about five times, and finally Stephen said, "So help me, do NOT get out of bed again. Go lay down and go to sleep." Jordan replied, "I don't know how to go to sleep." Stephen then said, "Well, number one, stop talking." Jordan waited a few seconds and yelled back in a rather sarcastic tone, "What's number two!?" It was one of those times where the discipline had to wait for the laughter.

Off to Kinder Camp!

Claire and Jordan started their summer programs at school yesterday. Claire is going to Kinder Camp. It is a two week program that prepares her for Kindergarten. Although, she is so excited about school, she doesn't really need much preparing. She goes everyday for two weeks.

Jordan's program is called Summer Spectacular. They do all kinds of activities like cooking, art, drama, computers, etc. They will go on at least two field trips. He is really enjoying it.

I can't believe my kids are so big! The house was pretty quiet yesterday without them at home with Luke and me. Jordan and Claire are both pretty constant talkers, so it was nice for the first little bit, but after a while it was too quiet. Luke took a really good nap, though. He doesn't usually do that when they are home. I guess we will have to get used to it being the two of us. I am actually looking forward to it. When Jordan was Luke's age, I was 3 months away from having Claire. While I enjoyed my babies, I didn't get to really pay attention to every little thing they did because I had two babies at different stages and it was hard to be everywhere at once. I am looking forward to being with Luke by himself because I will get to enjoy all the things I feel like I missed out on with Jordan and Claire.

Take time today to count your blessings; I know mine are many!

Milestones

Luke turned one on Saturday. I can't believe it. This year has gone by so fast. He has been the best baby and Jordan and Claire have been so great with him. LUke is just so happy and brings so much joy to everyone he meets. I can't imagine my life without him.

We spent the weekend with my grandparents. Stephen went to Memphis for a soccer tournament so I took the kids to Joelton. They still live in the house that my dad grew up in. I lived next door to them from the time I was two until I was a senior in high school. I love to go out there. I have a picture of their front porch in my living room. It is a long porch and has a swing on each end. You can just sit there all day and relax. It is my favorite place on earth. I am so glad that my kids are getting to enjoy it as much as the rest of us have.

I think it is no neat that my kids know and have great relationships with our grandparents. A lot of people our age don't have their grandparents anymore, and I feel so blessed to still have them around. My maternal grandmother, my paternal grandparents, Stephen's maternal grandfather, his paternal grandparents are all still alive and doing very well. I love that my kids know them and love them so much. Family is so important to Stephen and me and I hope that we instill that in our children as well.

What a fun week!

We have had a really fun week. On Monday, we went to playgroup at my friend Staci's house. On Tuesday we went to swim at the Y. So fun! Luke is really enjoying the water.

On Wednesday, we went to Franklin for WayFM's first Brown Bag Concert of the summer. Barlow Girl rocks! Claire had so much fun. She told me she had to wear her best outfit for Barlow Girl. She is only 5; what is 13 going to be like?! Yikes.

Anyway, Thursday we went to a pool party at my friend Julie's house. Let me just say that this is no ordinary pool. There is a big part of the pool that is shallow all the way across. Then you go under this bridge into the deep end which has a diving board, waterfall, jacuzzi (sp) and a huge concrete slide. The kids had a blast! Jordan got a little sunburned; he only got out of the pool once to eat lunch and I forgot to reapply sunscreen.

Today, we are getting ready to go to my grandparents' house. Stephen is going to Memphis for a soccer tournament, so I am taking the kids and going to Joelton for the weekend. I am really excited. It's been a while since we went to spend the night. I think my grandparents are pretty excited, too. Luke's birthday is tomorrow; I think my grandmother is making a cake. His actual party will be next weekend. I can't believe he is already a year old. I will post pictures from my grandparents' house next week.

I feel really blessed that I am able to stay home with the kids and get to do all the fun things that we did this week. I am so grateful to Stephen for working so hard and allowing me to do so many things that I want to do. He is such a great husband and father. You all will probably get tired of hearing that, but I don't feel like I tell him enough.

I have decided to not keep talking about my two previous posts. I feel like my point was made. I am still praying for our church and am really excited about what God will do. Please pray for me; I am trying to learn what God's will is for some things He has given me and how He wants me to use certain gifts. God is good. Have a great weekend everyone!

Something else...

I saw this quote on another blog today and thought it went with what I was saying yesterday.

"I never knew how to worship until I knew how to love." Henry Ward Beecher

Maybe the answer to the worship thing is that we aren't truly loving God. Sure we are trying to do all the right things, obey all the rules, etc., but are we really LOVING God? Are we falling in love more and more with Him? We are supposed to love God because He loves us first. And we are supposed to love God with the same love that He loves us with. Something tells me that I am not loving God back with the same love. Not even close. I just finished a Beth Moore study called "Breaking Free" and she talked about this in one of the lessons. I am going to try and find it so that I can make my point a little clearer. Stay tuned.

Some thoughts

I have been thinking a lot about church lately. I have been really bothered by all of the talk about whether or not a church is progressive or conservative, reverent or entertaining, exciting or boring, etc. To me, it is not about what songs you sing or how many prayers are led or if the sermon is long or short. I don't "go to church" to be entertained. I go to worship my God.

I feel like everyone today, no matter what side they are on, is worried about what the other side is doing and forgetting why we are there in the first place. Honestly, if you go to church on Sundays to get your ticket punched, then I'd rather you stay home. I know that may sound harsh, but I think that if everyone who came to church on Sundays was only there to worship God because He gave His Son for them, then the worship would be so much more meaningful.

There is this singing in Allensville, KY that I have gone to since I was a little girl. They sing "old" songs and there are a lot of older people there. It is in a very small, old country church. But I have never been anywhere that sounds like that singing does. Stephen and I were talking on the way home about why it sounds so much different, besides the wooden ceilings and other things in the building. We came to the conclusion that there is not one person there who doesn't want to be there to lift praises in song to God. No one is there because they feel like they have to be there. No one is there so people can see what they are wearing. No one is there to socialize, although it is always good to see those people you don't see anywhere else. Everyone is there with the sole purpose of singing their hearts out to God. That is the heart of worship-all about Him and none of it about me.

That is what I wish our church would focus on. Then it wouldn't matter what songs were sung, how many, if anyone clapped or raised their hands to God, none of that would matter because it wouldn't be about the people. Just about Him. I know this is a long post, but I wanted to share what has been on my heart. I would love to hear feed back.

Last day of school!

Today was Jordan's last day of Kindergarten. I can't believe that he is six and a half years old! If you had told me the time would go so fast the day he was born, I wouldn't have believed you. I knew it would go fast, but not so fast that I feel like I have just closed my eyes to get some rest from newborn Jordan and today I picked him up from his last day of school. It truly blows my mind. This is a picture of Mrs. Bargatze, who I am pretty sure will be Claire's teacher in the fall. Another thing that blows my mind even more. Claire starting school. Wow. Luke will be a year old in nine days. Am I really so blessed? Some days I think I will wake up and it will all be the best dream of my life. There is no way that God can bless one person so much. But you know what? He does love me that much and He has blessed me that much. I am truly humbled at God's grace to me. I am so undeserving, and yet through His blood, He has made me worthy. Unbelievable. But yet, I believe.