A Room Full of Crosses

A ROOM FULL OF CROSSES

A young man was at the end of his rope one day. He felt as though he had tried everything he knew to remedy his situation. Seeing no way out, he dropped to his knees in prayer.

"Lord, I can't go on," he said. "I have too heavy of a cross to bear."

The Lord replied, "My son, if you can't bear its weight, just place your cross inside this room. Then, open that other door and pick out any cross you wish."

The man was filled with relief. "Thank you, Lord," he sighed as he did as he was told. Upon entering the other door, he saw many crosses, some so large that the tops were not visible. Then he spotted a small cross leaning against a far wall. "I'd like that one, Lord," he whispered.

And the Lord replied, "My son, that is the cross you just brought in."

The young man had just been taught that when life's problems seem overwhelming, he should look around and see the problems of others.

He probably will find — as we all would — that he is far more fortunate than he ever imagined.

When is the last time you stopped and looked around to consider your blessings?

-Tim Woodward


I found this recently and just wanted to share it. It brought me some pretty good insight.

Happy Birthday Kameron!

12 years ago this sweet boy came barreling in my life. I was 14 and he was instantly like my little brother. I loved showing him off to all my friends! :) He coined the phrase "bednight snack" in our family. You know the snack that you have before bed! & "promise me that" when he was trying to say I promise you....whatever. (usually he was arguing with you and he thought he was right!) He has always had a sensitive and sweet heart and a charming and funny personality. We have such a great time with him whatever we do! I can't wait to see the amazing things God has in store for this bright soul! =) We love ya kid!

OH MY GOSH! He's almost as tall as I am! Ahhhh...I can't believe it!

This kid loves some Mexican food! As soon as we put her down she said "mmmm, a chip!" and grabbed one and started devouring it! She even ate an entire cheese quesadilla! Who can blame her, those things are delicious!

overwhelmed

Sorry that I've been a bad blogger lately. I feel like I have 50 million things piled on my plate right now. Some of them important, some not. I have this work thing looming over my head that I have to do on my time off. And we have a ton of stuff going on starting tomorrow until the beginning of May. And although I'm not in a spring cleaning mode, I am in a spring redecorating mode! Everywhere I look in this house I see stuff that needs to be done...floors, new paint, etc. I know that these are not on a time-line, but I'm just sick of having them on my to-do list. I mean, we've owned our house for 3 1/2 years already, we should be done decorating it! And then of course, there is the day to day laundry, cleaning, cooking. I feel very overwhelmed right now! I just need to make a massive to-do list and prioritize the important things and not worry about the rest. Sometimes easier said than done!

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:34

sharing a snack

Presley was eating some goldfish yesterday and decided to share them with one of her toys! She calls all of the Mickey Mouse characters "mimi"!

because I have SO much free time....

I have been in the awful habit lately of finding new blogs. I'm not going and looking for them, trust me, I read way too many to begin with! One was suggested to me by my friend Karri, but the other ones I've just randomly found over the past week. I thought I would share so you can join me in spending hours reading blogs! :)

him & her, plus four~ cute little family who has a singleton and spontaneous triplets...can you imagine? Also, check out the parties & projects tab....such cute stuff!

loving on one (or two, or three...)~ a sweet little couple who adopted their first little girl and are now pregnant with #2! Their story is so fascinating to me because they have a very open adoption with their birth mom, which doesn't seem that common.

forever folding laundry~ a crafty momma to 3 munchkins. I just love the way she writes. Seriously I spent an hour yesterday reading her older posts!

sunny side up~ a momma who has mastered the art of organization with 3 little ones. Her home is beautiful, and she's got all the posts to prove it. I don't know how she does it, but I'm hoping if I keep reading some of it will rub off on me!

sit a spell~ my favorite new one. A Texas family who packed up their things and moved to Haiti to serve the Lord. Their story is nothing short of inspirational. She has such a gift for writing and speaking straight to your heart. LOVE it!

who says a girl's best friend can't be stuffed?

Presley has a few favorite stuffed animals. One is her puppy pal, Violet. They go way back to Presley's first Christmas. Another is her zebra puppy, um.....Puppy. Real inventive huh? Presley got her this past Christmas. She loves baby dolls of course, but out of her other animals, she loves these 2 puppies the most. This morning she wanted to put puppy in her highchair and feed her! Presley was so sweet and strapped her in, put on the bib and then gave her some juice! Presley amazes me at how caring and loving she is sometimes..... and then I wait 5 seconds and she hits me! And I'm reminded that she's a toddler!

21 months!

This month (& post!) definitely snuck up on me! Not much has changed from 20 months except in increase in language and attitude! ;)

~Presley has started calling us Mommy & Daddy instead of Dada & Mama. It's so sweet and she sounds so grown up!

~ Presley LOVES to be outside, she could spend all day out there! She also LOVES going to church! We tell her on Sundays where we are going and she shouts "Yay!" :)

~For the past week, she has been eating awful. I mean more than just being a picky toddler or losing an appetite because of a cold. She even refused all of her favorite foods. I was getting super worried....but at least she was still drinking like normal to keep herself hydrated. But this morning she got up and started eating again. Hallelujah! I just hope the bad eating is over for good!

Well, I know that's a super short post, but that's really it! I told you not much has changed!

nothing important

Not too much has been happening around these parts....just the normal everyday life and work. But I didn't want anyone to think that we had fallen off the face of the earth! My last couple of days at work were kinda rough (nothing in particular, I just hate it sometimes...everyone can sympathize with that, right?) So I came home to these on Friday thanks to my sweet, sweet husband. =) He's so wonderful! (=

Here is the first monogram that I've done that actually looks like a monogram! :) It's taken a long time to get to here...it's not as easy as it seemed like it would be. Now I just need to practice with some appliques and placement on shirts. This one was just on a piece of fabric and it was so not centered!

HOW is it the middle of March already? & time for yard work again? Ugh! I love enjoying the benefits of it, just not the doing it! But I am ready for the smell of freshly groomed grass and cookouts! mmmm...one of the best parts of the season! We've gone to the park some recently and my parents have a big outdoor play structure in their backyard that Presley loves. So it's got me thinking that we need one in our backyard. Presley loves to climb and slide and swing. And our backyard is so boring! It desperately needs a swing set! I'm going to try and convince that wonderful husband of mine that Presley needs it for her birthday! Cross your fingers for me!

Ok, last random thing of the day. I found this website the other day. & fell in love. Super cheap bows! Most of the larger bows that you find in stores are $7 or $8. It can get kinda pricey, quick. But these are only $2-3!!! Score! I ordered a bunch last night and received an email this morning that they were being shipped today. Hopefully they will be good quality. Anyway, just thought I would share my great find!

toes and a tea party

Last night I went on a Mommy date with some friends. We got pedicures and had dinner at Macaroni Grill! It was a lot of fun! :) & Jeremiah and Presley went to his mom's house and had dinner and a play date with her. She got Presley a tea set and Presley LOVES it! She will pour some into the little cups and then she hands you one (always a gracious host and serves her guests first!) and then she sips some and immediately says "yum!" It's so cute!

Presley had to have her toenails painted as well today! It's the first time she's had them painted. They are incredibly cute, but they make her seem incredibly big! :( My baby's growing up!

& now a completely random and hilarious story~
Last week we had gone to Olive Garden and gotten some yummy Andes mints. I had some on my nightstand, you know in case of any emergency where I might need some chocolate! On Tuesday night, I was getting ready for work and Presley was running around as usual. She came into the bathroom very causally and I noticed that she had some brown stuff all around her mouth. I kind-of freaked out for a second thinking that we don't ever leave stuff out that she could get into. I was walking around trying to find the culprit, when I noticed that there was only one mint on my nightstand and there was a wrapper on the floor. I picked it up and said "Presley what happened to this?" she replied with "MMMM!!" Ha ha! I was pretty impressed that the wrapper was left intact! :)

Is 10 am too early for a nap?

Not for Presley! Lately when I have been in her room picking up or folding her clothes, she has been reaching for the crib and saying "up". Then when I put her in there she waves and says "nigh, nigh!" She gets her pappy and screams for me to cover her up. & then she turns on her bird music box and just lays there. Heaven forbid if I try to get her out of there before she's ready.....a total meltdown ensues! Normally I have to bribe her with going outside or getting some juice to get her to come out of there! My kid has the weirdest, I mean quirkiest, habits, right?