Billy the Bee

(I wanted this in color but the file was too big :P, I also wanted some others but again were too big :) )

Man you look at that picture above and you might think that everything looks peachy keen. Well I not trying to brag but I will brag about what God has done with my family. Remember that God’s glory will always shine!!

See about 8 years ago our family was torn apart and from the outside you would think that there was no way to repair it, but that is where you never say never when God is in control. At one point I really thought like Naomi did when she said the Lord as dealt bitterly with me. Little did I know what He had in store. He worked through my bitter heart and a lot changed for me at a Life Action Revival and our speaker was talking about when people squeeze you what comes out and what would you like to see come out! Man I was like I do not want people to see nastiness coming from me and I prayed and prayed for my bitterness to be taken away and over time it became easier and easier. Now my family is on a road if you asked me 8 years ago if we would be on that road I would tell you there is no way.

Josh(he is an amazing storyteller J) told the kids a story before bed the other night about a bee name Billy, so he was named Billy the Bee and he had gotten lost from his beehive and it was becoming dark and he was afraid that he would not be able to find his way home. So he stopped and prayed asking God to help him find his way home. So God lit one flower and Billy hopped on, then God lit another and another. Billy had hopped on a dozen flowers and said God I am tired and just want to get home, and about that time he looked up and saw a light to a house and the light of that house lit up his beehive. Funny how a story my husband told our kids encouraged me! See too often I feel as if I stay on a flower and just tell God I am too tired and miss out on all the growth and blessing He supplies to me along the way. So I love looking at my picture above because we still have many miles to travel but God is in control and I think I will be a Billy the Bee J

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ~~Romans 5:1-3

This could be a birthday to remember

Wow doesn’t that old tune just bring back old memories! Ok, Ok, yes,yes I know it is suppose to be A Christmas to remember but I thought that fit much better for me J

I was not sure what I was going to think of this birthday because this was the first one I have spent away from my family. And in my family birthdays are HUGE!! Don’t know why but they just have always been. I think that is why I try to come up with these huge party ideas for my boys!! Some years I think about how I would love to throw a big fun party for either me or Josh but just never do it! Anyways sorry to get off track. It turned out that I had one of the best birthdays. Tuesday of my birthday I woke up to my hubby making me breakfast and an awesome card from him, he knows how much cards mean to me! Then off to work but then I got to have lunch with three of the most handsome men I know J Caleb told me "Mommy we can go eat wherever you want but I think Chicka-fil-a would be a great choice" J So we went to Chick-fil-a and it was just so nice to have lunch with my family, have not had that in a very long time and I treasured every minute of it! Well when I got home that night I walked into the kitchen to see two men standing there scratching their heads and looking at a cake mix box, I must say I was a tad bit nervous of the outcome of this cake and asked if they wanted me to just go ahead and make the cake. They shooed me away and told me they had this all under control. About 20 minutes later we got called down for dinner. Pop had made his famous lasagna but there was something very special about this lasagna it had my name written in noodles, how many people can say that they had their name written in noodles on a lasagna J So now came the time to blow out the candles and have some cake, now remember how I said that the last time I saw the cake mix box and the men, they were scratching their heads. So can you blame me that I was just a hair hesitant to try a piece. Well I braved it and took a bite and it was actually really yummy, they then preceded to tell me that I probably should not ask what was in it……umm what? I just took a bite of the yummy cake and now you want to tell me that. Well what had happened is that we umm ran out of oil so Pop looked in the pantry to see what we had, we had some shortening so he melted it and used that for oil. Kinda smart and that was actually not to bad to be what was in it. I was really afraid yall at what might be in there since they know how picky I am J That was such a great birthday, loved every minute of it!

Well then on Saturday I got to have my birthday gift and my Mother’s Day gift. I got to spend my morning with a really great friend and we got to have facials!! Can you say AWESOME!!! It was so nice to just relax and not have a care in the world, kinda takes you to those calgon commercials when you wish that calgon would take you away, well I was away…far away! We then headed out for some lunch and to do what girls do best…SHOP!!! Oh can I just tell you here that since we had a facial we were not aloud to wear make-up for a couple of hours, WHOA I apologize to anyone who may have saw me, which I guess without my face on you probably did not recognize who I was, I will look at that as a blessing J Well in true girl fashion we got back just in time to put on our faces and touch up our hair a bit and then it was time to leave. And then we headed off to Memphis to go have dinner at the Melting Pot!! It was so yummy and we had so much fun. It has been a long time since me and Josh have had that much fun. Oh I do have to say that I tried a nibble of a strawberry with chocolate, Josh won't say that I actually tried it cause I did not eat a whole strawberry but I consider this to be a huge success and milestone. It only took 27 years :)

I have felt so loved this birthday and am so thankful for all the cards, messages and messages on FB. This has been a birthday to remember J

Emily at Speaking the Truth in Love and Laughter tagged me in a fun little game. I am guessing in hopes of learning something new and just wonderful about me J If anyone else would like to play along you can leave some in the comments box, I would love to hear some answers!!

Three names I go by:

1. Amber

2. Mommy

3. Amber Q

The jobs I have had:

1. first job was at Winn-Dixie

 2. teller and then work in accounting at PEFCU(Panhandle Eductators Federal Credit Union.

3. Current job is Head Teller at Southbank, hopefully not for too long J

Three places I have lived:

1. Panama City, FL.

2. Abbeville, MS

3. can I count the 18 houses/apartments I lived in before I got married J

Three fave drinks:

1. COKE!!!

2. sunkist

3. Smart Water (I promise it tastes better than any other water!)- Emily I am so with you on this one J

Three TV shows I watch:

1. Lost

2. Days of our Lives, yes I am one of those soapies J

3. The Biggest Loser, it makes me cry every week!!

Three places I have been:

1. Disneyworld!! LOVE this place

2. Las Vegas, NV

3. Mexico

Three places I would like to visit:

1. Ireland

2. Italy-have to see my sissy, I am thinking of having a fundraiser, anyone want to donate, just kidding J

3. anywhere tropical

Three fave retro TV shows:

1. Loved the Dick Van Dyke Show, weird I know

2. Saved by the Bell

3. Can I pick the old Let’s make a deal

J Three fave dishes:

1. Cheesy Garlic Chicken (you know something with garlic had to come up)

2. my mama’s lasagna

3. any kind of breakfast casserole

Three things I am looking forward to:

1. being able to stay at home with my boys again!

2. to maybe being called Auntie Am one day

3. A date night with my hubby Friday night. The WHOLE night!!!!- up Emily I think I am with you on this again!

Three bloggy friends I am tagging:

1. Well I am such the loser that I only have two people J

2. Patti @ Ain’t Life Grand

3. And my awesome hubby @ Excellence in Mediocrity

There is a time to let it go

So yesterday was kinda like any other day, sitting at work thinking about my boys. Well I was inspired to write a blog about how far God has brought me with the trust issues I had when I had given birth to Caleb. See let me start this off with saying when Caleb was first born I was so happy God had blessed us with a child but then when Caleb was born I got scared, and that May was baby dedication and I was not sure I wanted to go through with it. See baby dedication for me was not just about bringing up my child to grow such love and faith in God, it was about turning him back over to the creator who created him. And quite frankly that thought scared me, even though in my heart I knew he was already His, I just did not turn my full heart over to Him. Well I think it was the Friday before baby dedication and I was driving home and felt like 50 tons of weight was just lifted off my shoulders and I knew that I was now at peace and ready to dedicate Caleb to the Lord!

So I tell you all of this because I had started writing my blog about how far He brought me and has showed Himself so glorious through a lot of situations that Caleb has been through and God has always reassured me that He was in control! Well I took a break and that is when I got this phone call from Josh’s dad. He had told me in a very calm voice that Caleb had cut his cheek on a piece of metal tin roofing and Nana had rushed him to the ER. I tried not to get too panicked because I did not know how bad it really was. Well I had that peace that God was taking care of everything and that I was inspired by all of those things I wrote up top about because He wanted to remind me of how much in control of all the situations and that He was in control of this one as well, and was holding tight onto my little man. Is that not just amazing what God can show and do for us!

Ok so now I am going to brag alittle bit about Caleb, yes I know me brag…never J Well right after Caleb had ran into the roofing he came running to the back door, holding his cheek and crying. Taylor answered the door and as soon as Caleb walked in Pop saw that he was bleeding and about that time Nana walked in and saw what had happened to his face and scooped him up in true mother form J and took him to the back and put a towel on his face and had him sit in the chair to get the truck ready. Well by the time he got to the chair he had already stopped crying and did not cry really at all since then. Well being that Nana is a mother did not spare any red lights and rushed to the hospital, she even told me that Caleb got onto her for running one of the red lights J When we arrived at the hospital they took him back fairly quickly and then it was just a waiting game. They started to prep him for the plastic surgeon to come and stitch him up, now how is it that my 4 year old son got to see a plastic surgeon before I did, just kidding J And they had to take the bandage off his face and that was the first time he actually started to cry a bit! That was also where I saw how bad the cut was, if you can even call it that (yeah it was that bad!!) and there I kinda went into panic mode and started to shake A LOT! So I started to do my Lamaze breathing exercises (oh now they came in handyJ) and calmed myself down abit. They came in with the stuff to put an IV in and the first time he cried for a minute but the second one they put in he just sat there and watched them!! and did not cry at all. He had all the nurses amazed throughout our time there, several nurses would come in to see him and said what an inspiration he was because he was so calm and did not cry! That will make a mama proud! Now there were about to put in the medicine to make him loopy, I think they called it truth serum(it had some fancy name but I do not remember that one) and said that he will say some crazy things and not remember it. And that was so the case at one point he told Josh that he was Jesus, told Josh he had green teeth and should brush them like he brushes his, and that he had three eyes. Made us tickle! Caleb is an awful lot like his daddy and is very curious and he kept trying to watch what the doctor was doing to his face, the doctor was just so patient with him and would chuckle at him being so curious. Oh I need to say this real quick, Josh in true Josh form manages to always find a way to put a smile on everyone’s face and makes sure I am mortified passed gas halfway through the surgery. Man I love that man J Soon after his doctor finished Caleb had a visitor from someone he knew, it was Bro. James, he came to check on him and prayed with us before we left. Want to hear something awesome the nurse in the room with us stood with us held Caleb’s hand and prayed with us!! God is just such an awesome God!! Well we my little moneymaker face all fix up and by this time it was 8:30 and Caleb was very hungry, poor thing had not had lunch nor dinner yet. So we went to Chica-fila-a and he ate all of his nuggets, fries and some ice cream and the last part of his daddy’s!! We went home and tried to put some minds at ease, and had just wish that Taylor was awake to see his bubba, because he was worried about him all day and asked about him a lot! We are so thankful for the people in our life. Josh’s mom did a great job of taking care of my little man and holding things together, Pop took great care of Taylor while we were at the hospital, for my mom and dad who I know were lifting him up in prayers. And for our awesome church family who said a special prayer for him last night before supper. Now I have to put my faith in God as Caleb will have to have some more blood test ran to find the cause of the fevers he has been getting at least every 3 weeks. So if you could please continue to lift him in your prayers, as we seek a specialist in Memphis. One thing is for sure I know he is in the hands of the greatest physician!!

"This is taking WAY to long"

I just wanted to share alittle about my week/end, share a couple of stories. I got to go visit my hometown, now I used to actually say my home instead of hometown and sometimes I slip and say it but before it was because that is where my heart still was. Well the Lord got a hold of my heart and made me realize that my home is wherever my husband and kids are and I don’t mind too much where that is as long as I have them.

Ok so sorry about that back to my trip. We started our trip on Sat. and as any of you know that kids don’t like to be in the car for too long, what does that really shock you J Well Caleb is my really good traveler but now he inquires about how much longer it might be till we get to where we are going. Well we were about in Ozark and

Caleb asked “Mommy can we just turn around and go home?”

I said “Don’t you want to go to Disneyworld?”

“Well I do mommy but this is just taking WAAAYYY too long!” J

Man Josh’s mom and I laughed and laughed. Well God challenged me to think about the very same pharse that Caleb had asked me about how much longer it might take and I am so thankful that my boys challenge me to think about my relationship with God. And I thought about how many times I ask “how much longer till we get there” and Him saying to me “Don’t you want the blessings I have for you along the way” or “Just be patient I have something planned” and me being that stubborn little child of His and say “this is just taking WAY to long Lord” All I can say was WHOA! In my life there are far too many instances that I do that God has already told me in Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

I can tell you that this is applying to my life right now and with our house, but I have gotten such a peace about it and I hope I can continue to have that peace in Him that I know he supplies!

Well since we are on the subject of driving let me tell you what else that little stinker said about me. First let me tell you that I did get alittle turned around when coming back home twice, the last one being at night. (Please keep all laughter in a minimumJ) So on Wed. night before they went to bed they said alittle prayer for me to drive home safely. On Thursday morning Josh’s mom told Caleb that I had made it home safely and Caleb responded “So my mommy got lost didn’t she?” Josh mom a bit confused said “why yes Caleb she did” he responded by saying “yeah mommy gets lost when she drives at night” J

Alittle about my trip and weekend after my trip was really great. I got to spend almost the entire Sunday afternoon with my parents and I have not got to do that in a really long time, it was much needed. I really enjoyed my visit with my sissy it was just good to spend quality time together and not have to be rushed to do anything and we got to catch on A LOT of things that sometimes you just can’t get across over the phone. On one funny thing that happened we were at Hobby Lobby and she saw her friends’ mom and they got to talk and catch up and then she (the mom) looked over at me and said “Is this your mom”. All I could do was laugh that was just so funny to me. I felt so honored that she would think that I might look anything like Leah to be her mom J I got to go and be with her family while they had some pictures taken and I had such a great time. They are such an awesome family and always make me feel just like one of them.

I must say that one of my favorite parts of that week was that I got to come home and spend some wonderful one on one time with my hubby. I can not remember the last time I got to spend that much time with just him, no kids for a couple of days. I mean we really missed our kids but we also really loved the time we got to spend and reconnect with each other. I appreciate so much what Josh does for our family and we don’t get to talk about it with kids grabbing for our attention (which we don’t mind at all). We got to go on a couple of really awesome dates. Our time just made love him just that much more J

The kids had a really great time at Disney. Caleb actually could ride almost all the rides they went on. Taylor wasn’t quite tall enough yet but he just enjoyed being there. From what I hear their favorite day was the Magic Kingdom, there was so much for them to do there. They really both enjoyed getting to know their cousins and just spending time with their family. Josh’s mom said their favorite part was probably the pool, is that not how it usually works they like the part that is not even part of what you went to do, but as long as they had fun right? J I can't wait till we will be able to take them down there and we can all be able to have that much fun together as a family! We are so glad the boys are back, the house was just too quiet without them in it and they came back in full force and I would not have it any other way!

Say alittle prayer

You know that some of the best prayers are the ones that come from the heart. Hearing a child pray puts so much JOY in my heart, hearing my boys pray makes that JOY so much more . Well Caleb usually prays for our food at any meal time, well a couple of weeks ago Taylor got into praying, and it doesn't have a lot of words to it but it does have an AMEN at the end. Well we were at dinner and Taylor wanted to say the prayer so his little prayer went like this "ank you esus, food…something…something, cow poop AMEN!!! I asked did he really just pray for cow poop, then Josh’s mom brought to our attention that she had cooked that night and wondered if that was meant for her food J It is the small prayers that mean so much J Last night was another night that just made my heart melt. Caleb was saying the prayer and usually he just says “Thank you Jesus for our food, Amen”. Which is fine because he is praying, but I won’t lie and say there are not days that I didn't wish that he would just bust out in prayer. Well last night was his night he prayed “Thank you Jesus for this beautiful day, thank you for letting mommy and daddy have a good day, thank you for our food, and thank you for mommy and daddy getting home safely, Amen” Yep that did it, I teared up at the table, that prayer was so heart felt made this mama feel so joyous inside. Well Taylor now copies EVERYTHING Caleb does now, so he wanted to pray next, his went alittle like this(note I can not make all the jibberish sounds he makes nor am I able to write them J) "Jibber, jibber esus, jibber, jibber mommy, daddy. AMEN!! Moments like this let me reflect in my own prayer life to see if I am praying for the “little” things just like my boys seem to see that is really important to them.

~~In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy~~Philippians 1:4

Reality check

Have you ever felt like you really just need to be slapped into reality sometimes! Well let me tell you today I feel like it is what I needed and it is just what happened! I occasionally I go to this site proverbs31.org to read and offer me some encouragement throughout my day! Well like I said I don’t go all the time but I did this morning and the devotion was what I needed to really hear! All I could say is WOAH!! How true I find that in my own life right now, I feel (now please see that I am saying I feel) like I have gotten pretty good in the ministry God has placed me in but just like she said I feel like I need to be patted on the back every now and then sometimes I did not ask for God to be there! How horrible does that sound! Well my really big insecurity I have is with me and Facebook and even this blog. I would just want someone to say how much they loved or miss me, or that my writing just really touched them or to comment on my pictures that I post of my super adorable kids (I mean really how could you not J). How selfish and self absorbed is that. I felt so ashamed with how I felt after reading that devotional this morning, but there is one thing that helps me bring my head back up and that is turning to my Savior the one who I should have turned to all along, He is one who always leaves comments for me and tells me He loves me and that the serving I do is for Him and that is all I should need and if someone just happens to say your doing a great job, say thank you and don’t fret about the next person who comes along. He also showed me that what I have really been feeling is loneliness I have pushed him around by things…by people, and I wonder why I feel so lonely. He wants to be first and He needs to be first in my life and I find that when I allow that to happen I am fill with such JOY and I don’t feel empty. Funny what alittle slap in the face can do J But let him who boasts boast about this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight, declares the Lord.~~Jeremiah 9:24

The Mini Adventures of Caleb the brave

Deep in the woods of Eegeebeegee there lived a boy named Caleb, he lived under the name Gregory well because that was his parents’ name. One sunny yet chilly afternoon Caleb decided that he was going to go on alittle adventure some may think he would take his mother along but not today, today he decided to take this one on his own. So he went down the stairs sat on the bottom stair and put on his shoes and opened the door and started his long adventure into the Eegeebeegee woods. He saw some truck tracks and thought that they may lead to where he was wanting to go, which was to where his daddy, Pop and Uncle were. And they were down into the woods quite a ways building a bridge of sorts across Caleb’s Crossing. So along trucked Caleb quite a brave little guy enjoy the sun on his face, the chill in the air, the birds singing until he looked down and noticed that the tracks were no longer there. Well he did what any little adventure boy would do in the woods… he hollered for his daddy. Luckily for him his daddy was near by to hear him and went and scooped him up. Well he joined Pop and Uncle, and Pop asked the little fellow how he had gotten down there he said I followed the truck tracks but I put my shoes on the right feet!! He was such a proud little boy not for taking on such a journey into some woods but for putting his shoes on the right feet :0) I love that boy!