God is always with us, no matter what we may be doing...

The time of business does not differ with me from the time of prayer; and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God in as great tranquility as if I were on my knees.

                                                                                      - Brother Lawrence

Brother Lawrence working in the kitchen

   This quote, from a 16th century monk, was a good reminder for me today. When my young brothers are being loud, laundry needs to be done, and meals need to be made, God is still there. Everything we do in our daily lives matters to Him. He understands the necessity of many of the trivial (compared to Heaven, I mean) things we must do in order to live in this world, and He promises us His presence.

But, He wants our hearts. We must not allow our daily lives to get in the way of God, but rather, to be lived 'as unto Him'.

I love this other quote of Brother Lawrence from the book 'The Practice of the Presence of God'. 

Whatever we do, even if we are reading the Word or praying, we should stop for a few minutes - as often as possible - to praise God from the depths of our hearts, to enjoy Him there in secret. Since we believe that God is always with us, no matter what we may be doing, why shouldn't we stop for awhile to adore Him, to praise Him, to petition Him, to offer Him our hearts, and to thank Him? 

                                   
Aye, why not?

Just a little pondering in my heart today. 

Jeremiah Heart Update

Yay! My heart rate went from beating 42 beats per minute at my last doctor visit to 50-55 today!!!! Thank you for praying for me! 

Hillsong United - Like an avalanche.mp4

A Few Pictures

 I realized today how long it has been since I've posted some pictures! Here are just a few of the little guys, who are actually getting so big! Where does the time go?!

  

Sorry for the blurriness of this pic. He moves so fast, it's hard to get a good one of him sometimes :) Jeremiah's birthday is on February 16th! I can't believe he's going to be 7 years old already. Feels like it was just yesterday when he was born. Please be praying for him on Wednesday! He goes to the doctor for his 6month heart check-up. Only this time he they will be doing an ultrasound. He tends to get scared easy, so we would appreciate the prayers :) Thank you!

Matthew is an amazing kid. He's always making us laugh! He's getting pretty quick witted like John.  I love this little snuggler! 

At the time this picture was taken, Malachi was very intently watching Thomas The Train :) This boy loves to run and jump. He barrels into a room with a smirk on his face and a twinkle in eyes. He also can scream like nobody's business! - I can't help but kiss his cheeks whenever I can get a hold of him long enough. 

   I feel so blessed to have such wonderful little brothers ( John too! ). The more time goes on, the more thankful I am for this time at home God has given me. I hope that as the years go by, these foundational years will serve to keep all of us close. 

Via Pinterest 

Rend Collective Experiment-True Intimacy

Whatever I have
Whatever I hold
There's nothing compares
To having You close

True intimacy
Is my desire
To catch Your whispers
To carry Your fire

You're my ambition
My destination

More than living
More than breathing
You're the reason
My heart's beating

There's nothing greater
Than knowing You
You unlock my joy
You waken my soul

Forever I'm Yours
Forever You're mine
A wonderful truth
That you are my life

You're my ambition
My soul's true mission

More than living
More than breathing
You're the reason
My heart's beating

So I'm giving
Freely yielding
You're the reason
My heart's beating

There's nothing greater than knowing You
Nothing greater than knowing You

Waiting

   Not long ago, I wrote the following paragraph as a status on Facebook. I shared it to, yes, be honest and vulnerable, but also because I felt like there was another young woman who might possibly be encouraged to know she wasn't alone. Since then, my best friend gave me a quote that I think is a perfect ending to my status and really describes how I feel about waiting (which is way more than just waiting for marriage). 

    Every once in a great while, I feel the temptation to wonder what other people think of me being a daughter at home. Realizing for a 20+ year old to still be at home and not working outside the home (other than a volunteer job) is not quite the "norm" any more. It is sometimes easy for me to feel a bit insecure of what I think someone's possible perception of me could be. Such as - Do they think I'm lazy? Why aren't I in college preparing for plan B? Do they think I'm oblivious to what goes on in the world around me? Do they think that I'm weird for choosing to allow God to write my love story? - When, at times, I begin to feel this way, I am thankful for a God Who is faithful to remind me that it is HIS thoughts of me I should be concerned about, not the world's. It is very humbling that the Lord would choose to use me in any capacity, great or small. And as I sit here watching Thomas The Train with my little brothers, I am reminded that I am exactly where He wants me to be.

The following is the quote/excerpt from my friend. It is by G. Campbell Morgan. I found it to be so encouraging! I hope you do too.

   Waiting for God is not laziness. Waiting for God is not going to sleep. Waiting for God is not the abandonment of effort. Waiting for God means, first, activity under command; second, readiness for any new command that may come; third, the ability to do nothing until the command is given....Waiting for God, then, is the adjustment of our lives to the truth concerning Him which we know. . . . God is the one unchanging fact from everlasting to everlasting. Waiting for God means putting this life, of which I am so uncertain in a thousand varied ways, into right relationship with Him of whom I am absolutely and everlastingly certain. Waiting for God means that I adjust my life to Him rather than to circumstances, and that I set my hope on Him rather than on the wit and the cleverness of men. Waiting for God means that definite personal activity which is busily occupied in adjusting the whole fact and circumstances of life to the unchangeable and unalterable fact of God....Waiting on God means power to do nothing save under command. This is not the lack of power to do anything. Waiting for God needs strength rather than weakness. It is power to do nothing. It is the strength that holds strength in check. It is the strength that prevents the blundering activity which is entirely false and will make true activity impossible when the definite command comes.....Waiting requires strength. It demands absolute surrender of the life to God, the confession that we are at the end of our own understanding of things, the confession that we really do not see our way and do not know the way. The waiting that says: "Until God shall speak we dare not move and will not move, we will not be seduced from our resolution to wait".

- G. Campbell Morgan (From his sermon ' Secret to Waiting on God')  

I won't write anymore, because I feel like everything speaks for itself. I hope in whatever waiting circumstance you are in, that you were encouraged by this today!