New Blog Name

This will be my last blog post on this site, "blessed with 6".

I felt the Lord encouraging me to change my blog name to: Truth 4 the journey.

If you are visiting my site, feel free to browse my back posts. Then, click on truth THIS and you'll pop over to my new site.

Thank you for stopping by today! I hope you will return.

My new URL is: http://truth4thejourney.blogspot.com

Tomorrow

Summer has turned out to be action packed this year. Between vacation and swim team I don't know that we've had even one day of nothing to do. Every Wednesday night we have a swim meet from 5-10 or 11pm. These meets are great! Everyone is there cheering on the kids while they try to swim there personal best for the season.

The challenging part is what do I do with my two youngest daughters. The parents have to work at the meets, so watching them myself isn't an option. Their Dad doesn't always get there until the meet is under way, so he can't watch them. This is where grandparents come into play. I am blessed to have their grandparents living in the same town! (Mine actually live on the same street.)

Thankfully my parents have agreed to let the two youngest children spend the night with them on Wednesday nights. This has been a treat that they look forward to each week.

On Tuesday of this week, my three year old started talking about spending the night with her Nanny and PaPa. I told her she could go to their house tomorrow night. To that she replied, "Mommy, I don't like tomorrow." My six year old hearing this said, "why don't you like tomorrow?" To that, my three year old stated, "because I don't know tomorrow, I only know today."

This was adorable and we've told her grandparents the cute story. I had to wonder, didn't the Bible address this same issue:

Matthew 6:34 (CEV) Don't worry about tomorrow. It will take care of itself. You have enough to worry about today.

James 4:13-15 (GNB) Now listen to me, you that say, "Today or tomorrow we will travel to a certain city, where we will stay a year and go into business and make a lot of money." You don't even know what your life tomorrow will be! You are like a puff of smoke, which appears for a moment and then disappears. What you should say is this: "If the Lord is willing, we will live and do this or that."


We all get caught up in the worries of tomorrow. For me it's been thoughts like: "Will my articles get published", or "will anyone want to accept my book proposals". These are just the more recent thoughts about tomorrow that can cause me to stress a bit. Thankfully, God used my three year old daughter to remind me that today is the only day I need to even think about.

I hope you too can be encouraged by these words of wisdom. If we put our focus on today, we will be so much more productive and we can live at peace, knowing it's all in His hands. :)

Is it Beneficial?

1 Corinthians 10:23 All things are lawful to me, but not all things profit. All things are lawful to me, but not all things build up.

We've had a vegetable garden for several years now. Some of our favorite things to plant are: Tomatoes, watermelon, squash, and green beans.

Last year we noticed that there were several volunteer watermelon plants just growing in random places within the garden boundaries. Feeling generous, we decided to just let them grow where they were. What we didn't think about, was the fact that I would no longer be able to run my tiller down the rows to plow under weeds because they were growing everywhere. We continued to justify it by thinking we could hand weed our large garden, NOT--

By August, our garden was overtaken by weeds and we couldn't even get in there to harvest those volunteer watermelons!

There are a lot of good things out there, but not all things are beneficial.

As you take the time to plan activities for you and your children, prayerfully consider if the activity is beneficial for your family at this time. Don't make the same mistake we made by letting our favorite plant grow where it wasn't supposed to grow.

Watermelon plants are more than welcome in our garden, but only in the designated place. This was a hard object lesson, but one we won't soon forget.

Trust Me

It was a particularly hot day, Grandma had decided to have her four year old granddaughter, Stacey, over for a visit. They thought cooling off in her pool would be a great idea! After putting their suits on they lathered up with a good SPF sun protecting lotion. Stacey seemed to prance to the pool in anticipation. She carefully put on her water wings, since she didn't know how to swim. With a refreshing splash, they were in the water.

Stacey held on to Grandma's arms with a very tight grip. Grandma realized that her granddaughter was frightened so she began to reassure her that it would be ok. She promised her that nothing bad would happen to her. They both gently kicked and moved around in the pool. Stacey's grip didn't seem to be letting up. Grandma knew that something had to happen if Stacey was going to learn to trust her.

She decided to pry Stacey's hands from around her own arms. She spoke gently and softly, "Stacey, I would not allow you to drown." Stacey replied, "I know Grandma". "Stacey, don't you trust me?" she prodded. Stacey, still holding on tight replied, "yes, I do trust you, but I still SCARED!" With that Grandma held her close and the two floated together the rest of the afternoon.

I can relate to Stacey. There have been times in my life when I've held on too tightly. Times when He was saying to me, "Sonya, don't you trust me?" and my response, "Yes Lord, but I'm still scared!"

Saying we trust someone and learning to step out in faith are two very different things. Consider how Peter experienced this very thing in Matthew 14:

Matthew 14:29-31 "Come!" answered Jesus. So Peter got out of the boat and started walking on the water to Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he was afraid and started to sink down in the water. "Save me, Lord!" he cried. At once Jesus reached out and grabbed hold of him and said, "What little faith you have! Why did you doubt?"

I think Peter was thinking, "Lord, I trust you, but I'm scared!"

What is it that you are afraid to do today? Is there a calling that has you unnerved and holding on for dear life? If so, pray and then, like Peter, step out of the boat knowing that God is with you and He won't let you drown.

Vacation?

We are leaving Massanutten Resort today to travel home. The view up on this mountain is breathtaking. Pictures cannot do it justice!

As the mother of six children I'd like to point out that vacations don't mean a break for mom! For years I would go with the wrong expectation and I would end up discouraged and depressed. Over the years I have grown (thanks be to God). I now know that vacations are a time to spend together.

This vacation came with its own set of issues. It all started on Tuesday night when I got sick! I spent half of the night in the bathroom and I awoke feeling achy and out of sorts. Wednesday was the day we had planned to go to the indoor/outdoor water park. That said, I got up and we went to the water park! As a mother we make these sacrifices. You know, in the end I had a good time. I didn't stay as long as the rest of my family but I made memories while I was there.

Being a mother is a very hard job, it's also the most rewarding job of all. I am thankful for these vacations, issues and all. I hope that if you are a mother and planning a vacation this summer that you will have the right expectations. Remember that vacation isn't about a break for mom, but time together as a family. Then go and make good memories! Enjoy your family while you have them with you.

Proverbs 31:18 She senses the worth of her work, is in no hurry to call it quits for the day.

Happy 4th of July!!!

Vacation in the Mountains

My family and I are vacationing in the mountains of Virginia this week. It is absolutely gorgeous here!

Here are some of the highlights of my trip.

On the way up here we saw an accident involving a motorcycle and a black bear! The man on the motorcycle seemed ok, but the bear didn't appear to have made it! This is the kind of thing that you could only see in the mountains!


Bubble time in the jaccuzzi, a must during the rainy times.




We spent a lot of time swimming in the various pools and also playing hours of games as a family. Since we don't have cable TV back home, the kids (and my spouse) really indulged in the TV while we were here - I hope they don't have TV withdrawals when we get home!


Fishing together brought lots of smiles. Here is a picture of Daniel fishing and Ashley with her very first fish!


The mountains are a very peaceful and enjoyable place to be. Here is a picture of the mountians that I took while on a morning walk! Only God Almighty could create such a dramatic and beautiful scene!

Psa 65:6 The mountains are established by Your strength, banded together with might,

Sunday @ She Speaks

What an amazing weekend it was for me! (This is a picture of my writers on-line support group)

I had a fabulous time meeting other bloggie friends, hanging out with my special friend, Kelly, and soaking up all that God had for me.

The final session on Sunday was a general session called, "What have they got that I don't Got?" This was given by Micca Campbell.

She is a fabulous speaker and I enjoyed it very much. The main point I walked away with was this, Courage is not the absence of fear, it's pushing through your fear. I hope to post this point in my bathroom, too!




After this last session we broke up and the writers/speakers/leaders separated into our groups for a lasting connections time. It was a time to exchange blog addresses, and say, "good bye". (This is a picture of me and Robin)



One little treat was that Glynnis Whitwer decided to have us create on-line writing support groups! How fun! I was placed with 7 other ladies (Robin is one of them!) and I am very excited about this opportunity.


The other opportunity that I had was to sign up for conference calls. They will begin the end of July and go into the fall. I am so excited about these as they will allow for Q & A sessions at the end of the calls. :)


I think that every woman who is called to write/speak/or lead should attend at least once! Praise God for His goodness.