If it seems we are crazy...

Boy have I been wallowing in self-pity the past couple days. "I'm so tired of being tired. Seth works too much. He's gone too much working on the new house. I don't want to pay two house payments anymore. I need a vacation from the kids. I'm tired of doing so much for everyone else..." God quickly reminded me of where we were at this time last year. April 29th of last year , Seth lost his job. We had to fight for unemployment because his previous company refused to pay it. He didn't get a job offer for 8 months. We lived off of God. And He provided every week. I would ask for forgiveness for complaining that Seth worked too much and that he got paid too little.  If only God would provide Seth with another job so that he didn't have to sell plasma every week for gas money. And now, just ONE year later, I have the audacity to complain about Seth working too much (40 hours) at a job that provides enough money to easily pay two house payments and still hav

I feel like I've been downplaying my excitement over this in an attempt to be humble, but God is showing me that not praising Him from the rooftops over this amazing honor is dishonoring to Him. God took our far-from-perfect family this past year and gave it an extreme makeover. He has done so many amazing things through our life this year that our church, Life Church , one of the biggest mega-churches in the country, used OUR story in their annual report for 2011 . What?! If anyone would have told me this was going to happen this time last year, I would have had them committed. A few other things that I can't believe God has done through us this year: Poetry and Prose Photography We have parented 6 kids under 6 in a 1200sqft, 3 bedroom house for almost 6 months. This was something that I never EVER considered doing until I met Miss A on Thanksgiving . It would be impossible to do this every day without God's help. God provided us with a truck for Seth out of no

This post is a call to action for current and future foster parents. The number of children in state custody in Oklahoma is up by almost 300 this year to 8308. We need more foster parents, but in addition to that, we need foster parents who are willing to reach out to these birth parents. The children in foster care are only the symptom. We have to treat the cause, otherwise we will never have enough foster parents. Many of these parents are orphans too. Both the birth moms of our 3 foster children were raised in foster care. They aged out of the system, which means that when they turned 18, they were on their own with no help. They have both told me that they didn't know nice foster parents existed. I can only hope and pray that God has put us in their lives and in their children's lives to break the cycle. I am asking that you pray for compassion for the birth parents of your foster children. Listen to their stories, be their friend and their mentor. God has brought you thi

This time last year , God had really laid a verse on my heart, "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked ." Luke 12:48 Out of the meditation on this verse, our call to become foster parents was born.   Now with 6 wonderful kids, a bigger car, a bigger house and a higher paying job for Seth, to be honest, I'm a little intimidated thinking of what God will call us to this year. Seth is speaking at the statewide 8308 foster care awareness conference at the end of this month. Please pray for wisdom and guidance for him when it comes to writing his speech and that the Holy Spirit speaks boldly through him. The father of our 15 month old, Baby H, has forfeited his parental rights due to not showing up in court. This is a victory for Baby H and her mother. This man has never once expressed interest in his daughter and I don't think he has even met her. The rights of her mother a