Learning and Living...

Hi there! 

Happy Wednesday!  So... I've been learning a LOT lately! I haven't been able to figure out how to say it all yet... but I am surely learning.  I guess when you stop throwing pity parties for yourself and start asking God to make your teachable... He does it. Not to say that I don't get sad or just miss my kiddos that live miles away... I'm just trying to learn through the tears and the thrills instead of dwelling in discouragement. 

Anywho... check out what we've been doing...

I love taking pictures that the Bible study girls can look back on and see where God has brought them. So... for the last Bible study of the year... I took pictures of the girls with a verse that they could cling to no matter what the future, or the past, held! Aren't they cool? 

Then... we graduated off some really great people...

And had a really great service to celebrate them...

I'm excited about our next group of seniors movin' on up! They are awesome too! Can't wait to eat lunch with EACH one of the girls this summer... that's my goal! 

Just a reminder... our dogs are ridiculous... Jubi is lounging... on a table... she's weird. She's gotten on the patio table and just laid there everyday this week... strange! 

This is how they greet us.  Yes... the black blob at the bottom is Jubi.

For Memorial Day weekend we got to spend time at the beach with Ashley and Jared.... it was fabulous!!! Love spending time with them... and JOHANNA!!!! 

Life is good. It's good to be taught. It's good to live and learn... to enjoy the moments in the waiting.  To be thankful for the here and now and excited about the future.  

There are times...

Hi y'all. A few thoughts.

There are times...

your momma sends you a gem of a picture... 4 generations... of great mommas (hoping I'm a great momma... I have some pretty great women to copy).

you have a really great clogging class that you are gonna miss so you give each of them an award... because they all rock! Aren't they presh? :) 

you realize how great your man is. he loves spending time with me. he would rather have fun with me than the house be clean. he likes my cooking (shocker). he knows me. he encourages me. he likes that I'm crazy. he says he even likes my corniness. he sits with me at baseball games... even when I scream like a teenager. he teaches me. he is super cute. he is a keeper... 

you need to take off work at go to a Braves baseball game and be silly with your man! 

you are super thankful for 2 college students who have truly made life better! Love these crazy love birds! 

when there's a group of seniors who are graduating and you know you will really miss them.

your dogs make you smile... even when you don't feel like smiling. So photogenic...

when it's okay to cry. Throughout this adoption process... I wanted to be 'okay' and I didn't wanna be emotional. i see all these adoption families and how super happy they are all the time... and I thought I needed to be like them. But... sometimes... the adoption process IS NOT FUN! Sometimes it's good to cry and to weep while I'm waiting. I KNOW it will be worth it. I KNOW He is FAITHFUL. I KNOW He is GOOD. I KNOW His timing is perfect. I KNOW His promises.  BUT... that doesn't mean I can't cry or hurt... because I can. I can cry for my kiddos and wish they were here. I can be super joyful thinking about when they do get here. I can always praise God for the amazing ways He is providing... IT IS TRULY amazing! But... I can cry and I can be 'not okay' sometimes.  I believe God weeps with me... and that is a good thought.

I AM okay. I trust my God... He is trustworthy. Sometimes a momma just has to cry! :)

So if you are waiting or hurting... IT'S OKAY TO CRY! We don't have to be happy plastic people all the time. It my emotional week, I have been so encouraged by my mom, my hubby, my friends, church family, and co-workers. There are times when us encouraging people NEED to be encouraged... JUST TAKE IT! Stop being stubborn... just cry... you'll feel better. And then remember...