Peaceful shower

Peaceful sleep 

An old house rest for a moment.

A young family builds a strong family carefully...with little rest.

As I look at this picture my sweet baby girl's cheeks stand out.

I just want to softly rub them against mine, like I used to.

Or kiss her little nose, forehead, or tiny lips. 

As I look longer I see my Knight:)

I notice first his hair.

How dark it is and I smile to think how the years have lighten it. 

I think he looks very handsome with the salt and pepper color.

~~Going beyond~~

Truth.

My husband and I are a match made from heaven!

We both had rough roads in our past.  

God knew what he was doing. 

WE HAD A PLAN!

Our plan was just fine by the worlds view and even most Christians. 

BUT IT WAS NOT WHAT THE BIBLE SAID!

Our plan would not make us...maybe I should say ME...

 have to felt humbled many times when questioned on curtain things.

 BUT

Like I said...Our plan was our plan...Not Gods.

Since God knows better than us we decided to go with His way.

Even if it doesn't look right.

(Very proud if my time in the Army. This is me after graduation)

One really great thing we have been given from Him is a Heart for Him.

AND

An ear for Him.

First things first.

We united as one, with God as the head of our marriage.
Think of a Triangle or a pyramid, God at the top and Todd and I at the base.

This was of the top most important things.

We both have divorce in our background as children.
We did not want this for us as adults or to our own children.

We were marrying young.

In the worlds eyes, we were stacking the deck up for disaster.

Little money didn't help.

My Knight is a dreamer and a hard worker.

Not only that BUT we had and still have the most wonderful help from his 

example of a successful marriage,
Grandma and Pa.

They NEVER failed us. 

My Knight worked 2 jobs and sometimes more (side jobs) to make sure

he provided for his family.

I became pregnant very early on..ok like 2 or so months.
Hannah was very late and born 2 weeks after our 1 year anniversary.

This was not planned and was not easy on us as a young couple.

oh, there's that time when our new baby almost died:(
But God sees her through too, like a champ!

If ever there was a weight stacked against us...surely it would have been then.

I dare not sit here and tell you how peachy it has always been.
IT HAS NOT ALWAYS BEEN PEACHY~

In 17 years, we've had 4 times when it's been really hard.

Let's be clear, I don't get mad or hurt easily but get me there and we need
to get through some issues.

Early on there was a learning curve...and then, we learn.
Learn what God says..and how our love mate reponds.
We respect.  We gave space.
We learned to be up front and not build things up in our hearts and mind.
AND

this is important....

We LAUGHED and still do A LOT!
many times to "lighten" a topic we kind of laugh about it.
Half joke...half not so much.
It's a gamble that normally turns out on the bright side.

Before I move on I need to clear and say that nobody is perfect.

Sometimes, my Type A hubby gets in a funk.
He'll get grumpy or want things NOW.

Since he didn't marry a Type A
 it doesn't work very well when this happens, lol.

It's not that he's wrong...or I'm wrong...although since it's my blog I'll say
I think I'm right....hahahaha! Just kidding..sorta:)

It's just that we have a different way of seeing things or handling things.
I'm so glad he is not just like me:)
AND
I'm so glad I'm not like him.
Refer to the first part where I said we are made from heaven!

I need to steer this ship back on course...

Looking at the photo I felt blessings showering over me.
How blessed I was to have a 100 year old house? Indeed.
And a hard working, brave man...along with an able body to remodel it.
How the blessings didn't stop with wonders of Grams and Pa's gracious hand.


Showers keep falling:)

We always had insurance and never did without. Todd made sure of that!
How blessed we were to get a Job at Toyota, the beginning to great adventures!
The blessings continued when someone came up to us and asked to sell our house.
The house we remodeled.
The house we bought for $24,000 and the house we sold in less
than a month later for $95,000.

Still blessings fall like rain on us.

How we remodeled our new home and built a barn and built...

memories...oh the memories

Here you See Grams making one now.

A pie eating contest with her great grandkids!

DO you know ANY GREAT GRANDMAS WHO DO THAT?

I do:)

 More here at the pool...

How Texas Called and we answered.
Our house again sold quickly.

This time nothing old but a new house.
We found out that as much as we loved this house...the purpose for
us moving there wasn't the house.
We had to move but not before I was able to witness to more people
than ever in my life!
I was able to give a friend freedom to find her way around a new city,
even I myself was new.
Ministry was my new role here in Texas.
A role I had never had in Indiana.

So, I'll skip to here...Another new home.
I am married to prince charming....my knight in shining armor.
We've come so far these past 17 years.
We build our family carefully. Every action taken has a purpose.
Each year brings more memories and more struggles to make us stronger.
This past year was one of those years...
One to gain strength from.
One to learn from.
One to never forget.

As I prepare for our daughters sweet sixteen birthday...
I can't help but remember the life the Lord allowed us to build!
The life we continue to build.