Happy New Year!

Ok, well the camera thief still has not come and confessed, so I have no great pictures to share with you of Christmas, but we had a wonderful time! It was great to get together again with our family and celebrate the birth of Jesus! I'm enjoying so much the boys getting older and the fact that they (especially Nathan) are able to understand Christ's birth more. (Except for the fact that I had to make a slight correction in my teaching when Nathan said "Jesus was burned" instead of Jesus was born...). Ah, the minds of 5 yr. olds! They had such a good time over Christmas. Michael taught us the meaning of a Christmas tree during family devotions, and it was fun to see that they remembered the next night what each thing stood for!
Now as we head into 2009 ( hard to believe) I have all kinds of things I'm looking forward to, but I want to make Jesus #1 in my life! Sometimes that's hard to remember in the middle of a busy or frustrating day, but oh what peace it brings when I can just slow down and pray for peace and patience in the middle of it all. God is so good, he gives me peace beyond all of my feeble understanding!
We wish you all a very blessed New Year!

Merry Christmas Eve!!!!!

We pray you all have a wonderful and blessed Christmas and a happy New Year! We have enjoyed watching our boys open presents here at home this morning and now we're packing to head to WV to spend some time with family! I'm panicking because I can't find my camera, but hopefully I'll have some pictures to share when we get back!!!

Contentment

(This is taken from a devotional in the Women of Faith Bible)

The words of this hymn by Madame Guyon are especially meaningful because they speak of her attitude during and after many years of imprisonment for her beliefs.

MY LORD, HOW FULL OF SWEET CONTENT

My Lord, how full of sweet content;
I pass my years of banishment!
Where'er I dwell, I dwell with Thee,
In heaven, in earth, or on the sea.

To me remains nor place nor time;
My country is in every climb;
I can be calm and free from care
On any shore, since God is there.

While place we seek, or place we shun,
The soul finds happiness in none;
But with God to guide our way,
'Tis equal joy, to go or stay.

Could I be cast where Thou art not,
That were indeed a dreadful lot:
But regions none remote I call,
Secure of finding God in all.

-Madame Guyon (1648-1717)


Phillipians 4:12-13

"I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all things through him who gives me strength."

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATHAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's hard to believe that 5 yrs. ago today, at 2:14pm, my sweet boy was born into this world. So much has happened since then, and it's amazing to look back and see how God has already used him for His glory. We are so grateful for him!

Here are some pictures from his party that we had for him this past weekend. We just invited a few of his friends over to celebrate, and was it a boy's world! One sweet little girl came, his friend Lydia, and she kept up with the best of them! Nathan had so much fun that day, and I'm sure he'll remember it for a long time!

Thanksgiving in WV

I'm glad we took this one BEFORE we ate our big turkey dinner!







We had been at my grandmother's house, oh, about 5 min. when she found Samuel back in her bedroom sitting at her dresser with guess what? Now what kind of mommy would I be if I didn't get at least one good picture?

We had such a good time on our long visit to WV. We saw many friends and family that we had not seen for a long time. Here is a picture of one of my friends who I've known since we were 6 yrs. old. Look at all our boys (she has 3 and my 2)! We met at a place called Pump Up the Fun near my mom's house. It was a perfect place for all those boys to burn off some energy since they'd been stuck inside for several days!







We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Boys, packing, and priorities

Sorry, for whatever reason, blogger's acting up and these pictures are out of order. Just pretend to follow along!




This was one of Nathan's friends that came over to play with us before Thanksgiving. Couldn't they pass for brothers?


I was also amused to see how Nathan packed his bag for WV. He told me he was going to help pack his bag and this is what I found.....

Who wouldn't need a cap gun, transformers toy, trophy, and harmonica to go deer hunting with his daddy? Ahhhh, priorities. Oh yeah, did I mention the shorts and t-shirts for the 15 degree snowy weather?

thank you Lord for all that you provide.

autumn days

Here are some pictures of the boys enjoying the ENORMOUS pile of leaves we have out back!

gratitude

GRATITUDE

This song has meant so much to me over the past couple of years, I just want to share the words with you.


Send some rain, would you send some rain
'cause the earth is dry and needs to drink again
and the sun is high and we are sinking in the shade
Would you send a cloud, thunder long and loud
Let the sky grow black and send some mercy down
Surely you can see we're thirsty and afraid

But maybe not, not today, maybe you'll provide in other ways
and if that's the case..

We'll give thanks to you, with gratitude
for lessons learned in how to thirst for you
How to bless the very sun that warms our face if you never send us rain.

Daily bread, give us daily bread
Bless our bodies, keep our children fed
Fill our cups, then fill them up again, tonight
Oh wrap us up, and warm us through
Tucked away beneath our sturdy roof
Let us slumber safe from danger with you this time

or maybe not, not today
maybe you'll provide in other ways, and if that's the case...

We'll give thanks to you, with gratitude, a lesson learned to hunger after you
That a starry sky offers a better view if no roof is over our heads
and if we never taste that bread

Oh the differences that often are between
everything we want and what we really need

So grant us peace, Jesus grant us peace
Move our hearts to hear a single beat
Between our allies and enemies tonight

But maybe not, not today, peace might be another world away
and if that's the case...

We'll give thanks to you with gratitude
For lessons learned on how to trust in You
That we are blessed beyond all we could ever dream in abundance or in need if you never grant us peace

But Jesus, would you please...






We are to praise our Lord, NO MATTER WHAT.

Please pray

Please pray for us as we have some decisions coming up rather quickly regarding school. We want to fully trust the Lord and get His direction in this!

Thanks and we love you all!

More pics

Here are some more pictures from our day outside...

Sorry, this one turned out a little bright...

Sammy pretending to sleep... I don't remember where Nathan was during all of this, I think he ran inside.

watching the clouds

I know that it's been a while since I've posted. Just one of those things that I've been putting off! Things have been less hectic around the Lilly house these last couple of weeks since Nathan's done with soccer. It's been nice to enjoy this beautiful autumn that we're having! Michael's still working diligently at school, and we can't wait until Thanksgiving break!
The boys and I went outside the other day and boy did it feel good! This is my favorite time of year, the colors always seem so vibrant! Nathan wanted to lay in the grass and watch the clouds. I couldn't tell you the last time I had done that, and it was so nice! We have such a great Creator! No matter what our economy is, or who won the election, or even what we're having for dinner tomorrow, our God is in control! We are to trust in Him always, in good times and in bad. Those were all of my thoughts as I lay there looking at the clouds with my 2 boys, how small we are, and how big God is.
This was part of our view!

Well, blogger's acting up and won't let me post more pictures. I'll post them when it behaves!

Random pictures

"God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing."
-C.S.Lewis

sunset from our back porch

Psalm 16:1-2
"Keep me safe,O God, for in you I take refuge. I said to the Lord, "You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing."

A recent visitor

When Michael's parents came to visit, here's what his dad found off of our back steps sunbathing.
Yes, we killed it. No,Michael wishes we wouldn't have. Yes, it's dead in this picture.

Conversation...

Nathan:Mommy, can we keep him so Mimi and Pap Pap can see him?
(They aren't coming for another week)
Mommy:No, bud. I don't think he would last that long.
Nathan: Well, can we eat him instead?
Mommy:I don't think so.

Ah, that's enough Man vs. Wild for you buddy.

soccer,pumpkins,and grandparents

Here's Samuel spending time with his Pap-Pap...

When Mimi and Pap Pap came down, they brought their 2 little dogs, which the boys love to play with and take care of...
These past few weekends have been quite busy! We've had both sets of grandparents come to visit and watch Nathan play soccer. It was so much fun having them come, we always love when family visits!
After Nathan's soccer game one weekend, we went to a pumpkin patch and the boys picked out some pumpkins. They had so much fun, and we picked out some beauties!
Here is a video of one of Nathan's soccer games. You'll have to ignore the parents talking in the background, but notice how funny the kids are. They always pay so much attention when they're on the sidelines, and they always know exactly where to kick the goal. Enjoy! Sorry it's a little blurry. You can also hit the pause button on our music sidebar so you can hear the video.

brothers-when just playing turns into...well,you know

Here's what happened after we finished breakfast this morning.

sweetness

Here is a picture of Nathan going on his official first "hunting"trip with his daddy. Although they didn't see any deer ( maybe it was how "quiet" Nathan was), they had a great time together and made some great memories!

cvs and triple coupons

I've been really enjoying learning to work deals and making the most use out of my coupons these last 6 or 7 months. I have learned so much from friends and great websites about saving a ton of money, and boy is it rewarding! Here are some pictures of my most recent CVS and Harris Teeter triple coupon purchases.
This grand total came to about 11$ from one Harris Teeter trip ( I went twice more that weekend).
And this purchase came to about 3$ after coupons and ECBs.
I've been reminded of Proverbs 31:20 that says,"She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy."
Throughout all of this shopping, I've been able to stock up on so many items that we will use over these next few months for practically pennies! But the even better thing is I've also recently been able to share some of my purchases with a family that is in heavy financial difficulty. What an opportunity to minister! What started out as a great way to save money for our family has also turned into a great opportunity to give! Praise the Lord for his provision!

P.S. You can learn a lot about saving money and shopping at CVS, etc. from moneysavingmom.com!

Quick beach trip and soccer

As I mentioned briefly before, Michael and I were able to steal away for a few days to his cousin's townhouse at N. Myrtle Beach while his parents watched the boys. What a blessing this was! (By the way, this was when the lightening occured). After a couple days of refreshing and relaxing, his parents brought the boys down so they could spend some time with us at the beach. Here are a few pictures of our fun!

Nathan is also playing upwards soccer this fall and loving it! The boys on his team are so cute, and Nathan's even scored a couple of goals so far! Michael is their team's coach, and he does wonderful with the children. One parent even asked him how in the world could he get 6 4-5 yr. olds to listen to him and obey! God has truly blessed him in this area. Here are a few pictures of our season so far.

Close call

I just wanted to share with you all some of the pictures I finally uploaded into our computer from the last month or so. These are some pictures of the tree that is directly behind our house that was struck by lightening and destroyed our computer tower and tv. You can probably see from the pictures that bark was scattered all over our back yard and how the tree was stripped. Nathan and Samuel were in our bedroom when this occured, which is directly behind the tree. We have thanked God that all were safe when this happened. The tree is very old and our house is right next to the tree. Our landlord told us that the tree's roots probably run all underneath our house, and that the lightening obviously traveled through the tree's roots and hit certain things in the house that were most sensitive (and might I add the most expensive!). Michael's mom had just gotten Samuel out of the tub moments before this happened. How grateful we are to God for his safety! He is truly all-powerful!