Gabriel is 4!

Today our 4th baby is 4 years old! It's so hard to believe how much has happened in the 4 years he has been in our life. He has grown so much and God has taught our family greatly.

Gabriel has added another element to our family as he is strong willed and mighty in everything he does. His name means "mighty man of God" and he has mighty down quite well. We pray daily for the man of God part and pray that it comes soon!

In his might Gabriel bucks against God and us, but more than that he is passionate about everything. If you have ever talked to Gabriel you know that he is excited about everything! He will talk your ear off about anything and everything. He loves life and I love that about him. He regularly brings a smile to my face as he laughs, dances, squeals and tells me what he is loving at the moment.

Gabriel loves to sing and dance. He loves to run around outside and explore. He just loves to go, go, go. His energy is contagious. He loves playing with his siblings, especially Sam. They wrestle and go at it all the time. They are fun to watch until they start destroying. But Generally it brings a smile to my face seeing my boys play together.

We are doing pre-K with Gabriel this school year and he loves it! He wants to learn and asks to do school work everyday. It's challenging on the days we have nothing specific to do, but he is content to get his journal and draw or write in it. I'm excited to see how much he will learn this year!

Some of Gabriel's favorite things are giraffes, drawing, digging in the dirt, mac and cheese, pancakes and anything sweet. He definitely loves to eat.

We are so thankful for this spunky personality to keep us on our toes. God has blessed us so much with Gabriel's life. Father, please save Gabriel and make Him mighty for you. Show him how much life with You is a blessing and a joy like he has been in our life. Thank You for this precious image bearer that You have given us to enjoy and raise.

Happy Thanksgiving 2016

I had grand plans to make a list of 10,000 things I was thankful for that were all different, similar to a few years ago. Or doing something every day like I've done before. But best laid plans don't always go as expected.

This year has been busy and full because we have been so blessed! And none of that happened. We've been given marriage, 7 beautiful, busy and crazy kids, a home, many things to fill our home, jobs, church, family, and friends. God has been good to us and we have so many people and things to be thankful for this year. 

But this month I have realized I have not been a good steward of the blessings that have been given to me. The past 2 1/2 years we've been working to be good stewards of our marriage and to be God honoring in it as we seek to live out the picture of Christ and the church marriage is to be. The past couple of months we have been wrestling with what it looks like to be a good steward of our kids and our home as, after marriage, these are our God given mandates to look after first. Women in particular are called to be homemakers and God is teaching me what this looks like for this season.

Right now I'm showing thanks by getting my home in order and teaching my children as diligently as possible. It is hard but good. This month has been filled with going through all that we've been given and seeking to give to others, organizing so we have order, and cleaning from top to bottom. None of these are my strong points. But I'm learning to die to self and live according to God's Word. God desires Thanksgiving and the sacrifice of self. This is what I'm learning this Thanksgiving. 

We were blessed to spend Thanksgiving with Jim, as he did not have to work this year, and the McMillin family here. We are so blessed to have them in our lives. I'm also learning to be grateful for the people in my life and not take them for granted. I don't know what that looks like all the time, but I'm learning and I know that as I learn to fully give myself to God and His plans that I better love others and am less likely to take them for granted. 

It all goes together. As we love God and are thankful for what He has done for us we love others as we should and become the stewards God has made us to be. May I continue to learn this and grow in it everyday.

What did you learn this Thanksgiving season?

When You Just Want To Go Home

Sometimes I just want to go home. Not Smyrna, but Heaven.

No, I'm not suicidal. Life is just hard sometimes and it is evident everywhere that this world is not supposed to be.

A friend's baby is born early and has been hospitalized 3 times in 3 months, fighting for her life.

One of my doctors has a mass and has to have emergency surgery.

People are shooting each other regularly for no good reason.

Friends my age are dying in the most unexpected ways.

Satan is constantly attacking and I just feel drained.

I could name so many other things, but you get the idea. Life is overwhelming. Sin and the effects of the fall abound and it seems as if nothing will ever get better. Those are the times I stare into the sky and look for any hint that Jesus may be on His way back.

"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will [a]dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.”" ~Revelation 21:1-5

See, Jesus has told us He is coming back. He will make everything new. No more death. No more suffering. No more striving to figure out what to think, do, say. Everything will be perfect as it was intended to be. How my soul longs for that. How I want to be in God's presence worshiping perfectly as He created me to do. How I want things to be perfect.

I recognize some of this is selfish in motivation, but the more I get to know God the more I just want to be with Him. I want to be in a place that really worships Him as Lord over all. I want to live the way He intends.

I'm so thankful that Jesus has given me a way to have this and that one day all of this will be true. I will be with God and worshiping Him perfectly. I will be in a place that worships Him. I will live perfectly as He intends.

Sometimes I really want to go home. Until then, I press on. Many days are hard. My heart grieves the loss of life, of health, of sleep, of obedience. I sometimes seek to control it. But God reminds me even in those heart breaking moments, He is in control and by His grace I will overcome and see this great day!

"Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son." ~Revelation 21:6-7

Kids Who Love to Clean

My kids love to clean. No really, they do. Sometimes I wonder where they came from because I cannot say that about myself. In fact, I hate it. But I love that my kids love it!

Because of this I am stoked that Norwex has the Kids EnviroCloth and Kids Window Cloth on sale this month! Slightly smaller versions of the EnviroCloth and Window Cloth, they are perfectly sized for little hands to use and still get an excellent clean. Have them clean alongside you to learn or let them go to clean on their own. Kids like to feel like they own something. This is a great way to build that ownership and teach them how to clean and care for their cloths as well as how to care for their home.

With Christmas around the corner this is a fun gift idea that will be life giving in many ways.

Do your kids love to clean? What is their favorite thing to clean?

Please Contact me with any questions
Emmie Manor Independent Norwex Consultant
Emmie.reducingchemicals@gmail.com
www.emmiemanor.norwex.biz
Catalog (p. 43)