Garage Sales

We had a garage sale this weekend. Out with the old and, prayerfully, in with only a little bit of new. The Lord blessed us with bearable weather and I got to hang with my friend, Renee. I made my goal … enough to get a refrigerator and return the one we’ve borrowed and a little extra for a bedspread … since I sold the one right off our bed in order to motivate myself to get on the task of making our master bedroom a haven. Two cool things happened those two days … we met some fun people who shared their garage sales stories, but really, it was little bits of their lives, with us. And, I was reminded, again, of how God always provides when we ask in faith.

Artists

It's the time of year when home school classes start and one of our favorites is art. We are constantly awed at the skills and talent that God has blessed the girls with. How cool is it that our Heavenly Daddy would share His gift of creativity with us. Here is just a sampling of our favorites from the last two years. Thank you, Lord, for creativity!

By Madison: Blue City, Weasel, Great Whale and Eagle.

By Peyton: Flowers, Puppy, Orange City and Penguin.

Cody

We had a great time celebrating with Cody and a large majority of the Morel siblings in Decatur, Texas, last Saturday. Cody recently “graduated” from Army boot camp. It was a proud moment for his Mom and Dad, but also for those of us who have been standing in Cody’s corner in prayer for his future. Cody not only looked much slimmer and handsome, as always, but there was an air of maturity around him that hasn’t been there before. Comes with growing up and having responsibility, I guess. We are very proud of our nephew … and the other two nephews, Jeremy and Josh, who are serving our country in the Navy and Army.

Brian and Cody

Of course, there’s a photo opportunity in every event …

here’s a group shot of 5 of the 7 sister-in-laws and 6 of the 8 siblings. We were missing Nathan & Rolanda and Joe & Vicki.

Jenni, Stacie, Shelly, Addie and myself ...

Justin, Bubba, Travis, Stacie, Heath and Brian ...

I'll let the fellows explain the horses' pa-tootie!

A Little Gushing . . .

I want to thank my sweet friend, Gina, for this awesome blog design. God has gifted her in so many amazing ways with creativity. If you know her, you know what I mean. Wow! So, thank you, Gina, for your cool design (and for fixing it when I made a boo-boo). She can design something amazing for you, too. Just click on the right on “Little Black Desk Designs,” and let her wow you! And, thank you to my sweet friend, Kimberli, who God has gifted with an eye to take pictures in His light. The picture at the top of this blog is one of many she has taken of our family and life events. Now, we’ve had our family photo’s taken before and thought they were good, but these …. wow! To contact her, to browse her gallery and see God's amazing work through her or just to contact her, click on the right on “Inner Light Photography.”

Why Blog?

Lots of reasons to blog … because it’s fun, it’s a great way to keep family in the loop, it’s a way to show off how awesome our girls are … but it strikes me, too, that it is another way (besides journaling and photography) to record and share God’s glory in our lives. Throughout the Bible, and a lot during the journey out of Egypt and into the promised land, the Lord instructs Moses to “write this down,” to “remember,” to “tell the story.” He instructs it a lot throughout the Bible. Why? Because when we write it, remember it, rehearse it, tell it … our lives are changed. We remember that He will not forsake us. We get to see and share His Glory. We can review it when satan is lying to us and know the truth. We begin to live with the reality of how great our God really is. I get why God told the Israelites in Deuteronomy 11:18-20 to … “Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates ….” so they wouldn’t forget that He loves them, that He does miracles, that they really are miracles, that He shows up to the party (actually, it’s His party), that He is faithful to His promises, that all He has in mind for us is good. So, we started this blog for that reason … to share His glory in our lives with you. Thank you Jesus!

A Party in Heaven

I know we rejoiced with the angels in heaven as our oldest daughter Madison put on Christ in baptism on Sunday, August 3rd, 2008.

"I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."

Praise God and what a glorious day!

Darren & Misty

I love God stories … Darren and Misty are linked here. I don’t know them, in fact, I have never met them, but I know the journey they are on. They are waiting for God’s word to them to manifest on this earth … they have been given a word that Misty will be healed on this earth. Misty has stage IV brain cancer and six weeks ago was sent home with only two weeks to live. Since returning home, Misty has only progressed … God’s glory! She even beat pneumonia in a body that isn’t supposed to heal … God’s glory! I link them so you might pray for them, but also be inspired by their story. Never give up. I can’t wait to hear the full testimony from Misty’s mouth when she is fully healed and can speak again. Go God!