Ben's working on the church.

Here are a few pictures of the progress that is going on at our new church.  Jeff Robbins and Ben are putting up boarding so that the drivit can be putover it. Things are coming along so fast and it is going to be beautiful when they get done with it. As you also can tell, it is a BEAUTIFUL day in Va!

the first moments of K-4

Quintana started her first day of school today and I am sure that she is loving it. She was wide awake, I mean WIDE AWAKE, at 6 and so giggly. SHe will have a great year. They are starting cursive this year and she has practiced her letters already at home. She was sure that her teacher was going to be so impressed with her. I am also glad that she was able to wake so easily. She has been having night terrors and I am convinced that the scripture has helped calm her fears. She went to sleep by herself for the first time in our new house.....we have been there for nearly 3 months. This smile is  woth everthing!

When God........

...........closes a door, somewhere He opens another. After trying to buy a house, living in the unknown, being homeless and then hopeful, God gave us exactly what WE needed. We are now living in the middle of a farm with goats across the lane and horses in the field behind us. I have always wanted a gray cement porch, with a swing and I have exactly that. I love old things (they have history and have been tested) and this house was built in 1929. I also have a mantle and hardwood floors. I knew that God answered prayer, but now I know He answers prayer.

Quintana's First Day of School.......

Zoo trip with Daddy.....

Tea Party with Momma ( and a few others).......

These are a few of the things that we have been doing here in Virginia in the last few months.

We are ever changing and having new adventures....new jobs, new living arrangements, new house sittings and new things experienced.

You just never knowwhere life will take you .

life.....

life can leave you in a place that you don't recognize. you have your plans and your goals and your wishes and then you wake one morning and nothing is the way you want it. questions ramble through your mind like lost miners in the dark....stumbling from one "i had it all" to the next "what if". but i have found that you have to have a foundation, a point of origin, a north pole and compass to find your way out. just like looking at the trees or the stary sky remind us of our great designer, so must the struggle bring us back to the one that can make sense of it all. to give purpose to the insanity. we see only in frames, but HE knows the movie by heart.

We are finally moved and we have all the boxes that matter put away. For some reason the little girl seems to get in the front of the camera everytime it flashes. We are getting settled in and we are enjoying the beautiful area.

My Mother's Day.........

This is Mother's Day and I am a blessed mother. God has given me a little girl that is such a wonder and a joy to have. But as a mother, I want to take this day to evaluate myself and how I feel that I am doing as a mother.

I think that the most important things are... is my child learning Jesus from me and is she a happy, obedient, respectful child.

I am the "Jesus" that she learns so am I living the life before her, am I as kind as He would be, am I as understanding as He, am I as teaching as He was? Do I pray for her and the person that she is to become and ask Him to give me the guidance that is required to get her there?

Have I laid the ground work for her to respect her elders and those around her? Am I flexible enough to let her be herself, and yet firm enough to learn the boundaries? Do we have fun together and do I make it a priority that she is stimulated to learn and grow?

I have been so blessed, yet I feel the great responsibility that it brings with it. I love my girl and I want to do my best at all that I do with and for her.

Quintana, you are my joy and I love you very much. I am still glad that God sent you to my house!!