I Am Weak...He is Strong!

STOP....I want to get off!

My baby girl is about to be FIVE!

My oldest baby is in high school!

My smack dab in the middle child has one year left in elementary school!

My boy has one year left in middle school!

My 4th child...well she's still only in second grade...whew!

I'm thinking I'm way past being middle aged!

I have a job!

The craziness of the school year is completely upon me...oh and the rest of my family!

I'm drowning in paperwork!

My organization needs to be organized!

I'm more restless than ever!

And then I remember this..... that where I am weak, HE is strong! He lifts me up and continues to walk right beside me in the things that overwhelm me!

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

H & D....Ain't Love Grand?

These are engagements I took about a month ago. Tomorrow I have the wonderful pleasure of shooting their wedding! I love LOVE! To see more of this super fabulous couple, click here!

First Day Of School

Last year on the first day of school....Elliot waving goodbye to her brother and sisters. She said, "I hope they come back!"

This year on the first day of school,

Elliot waving again and hoping they will come back.

This year she knows they will.

Next year, it will be a photo of me waving goodbye.

Well actually it won't, because there will be nobody here to take it.

Next year, it will be me with a box of tissue and a sedative.

I'll be home without a little for the first time in 15 years.

I'm verklempt just thinking about it.

M is for Molly.....a beautiful bride.

To see more of Molly's bridals, click here!

My Baby Girl

She is almost FIVE.....sigh!

I can't believe it.

NPayne

Time...

And Time Again....

He has stood by me!

RESTLESS

I have been discontent. I'm not sure why, because my life is full and happy. But still I remain discontent. I have felt this way for a very long time....at least a year or so. Please don't confuse discontent with being ungrateful, because that I am not....ungrateful that is. I am so very grateful for so many things....big, small, simple, complex....I am grateful. Praise God! I'm just not content. I've struggled with it and tried to figure out what to do with this looming feeling....move, change jobs, etc. I really had no idea what to do about this feeling, and then I realized.....TODAY....while sitting at my desk....I realized that I don't think I'm discontent as much as I am restless. This struck me as odd, because I am not a fan of being busy; so being "restless" seems contradictory. As I sat there, putting together a bulletin board for the school where I work, I kept wondering why I was so discontent. The more I thought about it and what that meant, the more I realized I am not discontent but restless. How could that be? When I thought about what restless means, I kept thinking of not being able to sit still....and that is definitely not me. I can sit still all day long and be completely happy! ;)

I looked it up, and these were the descriptive definitions I found:

restless (ˈrɛstlɪs)
— adj
1.	unable to stay still or quiet
2.	ceaselessly active or moving: the restless wind
3.	worried; anxious; uneasy
4.	not restful; without repose: a restless night

Really the only that could apply to me would be #3...worried, anxious; uneasy; because yes I am a self admitted worrier. But I am not a person who likes to be on the go or busy, so how could this feeling be what I've been feeling for so long. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I am restless with my time. I haven't been able to spend the time I want to spend in the way I want to spend it and in turn, I have become quite restless. I need to be more conscious of managing my time and the way I spend it. I need to consult GOD instead of needing to be in complete control of my day, but what I really need to do is to listen....and spend it the way He tells me to. I think that's why I've been so restless, because He has been laying so many things on my heart; and I have not had "the time" to carry them out in the way that I would like to. I really need to continue to consult Him and let Him control my time. Praying I can do so!

How Do You Pray?

I pray for people I don't know. Yes I do. I pray for people, that I don't know that others may ask me to pray for. I pray for people, that I don't know but have stumbled across their need for prayer. I pray for people I don't know in a general, blanket type of prayer. Yes I do. I have been praying for Kate McRae for a few years now. I have never met Kate or anyone in her family, but still I pray. Kate is a little girl with a brain tumor. Tonight when I read her blog, that her mother writes, I realized that I have only been visiting it when I have a moment....which honestly isn't that often lately, but I also realized that I have only been praying for her and her family when I visit the blog. That is a PROBLEM. I need to be more intentional in praying for those who have asked me to and those who have not. I will admit that oftentimes when I'm sitting in the carpool lane, at a stop light, in the bath tub, reading my devotional; I will talk to God and pray for those who need it. Sometimes I become overwhelmed with the amount of people who ask me to pray for people I know and don't know, so I try to keep a prayer list; so I don't forget one. Now I know, and you know that He knows who needs prayer; and He knows what's on my heart and mind. But I know that you know that He enjoys it when we talk to Him....although He already knows what we are going to pray. He wants us to come to Him for everything.....prayers for needs and wants, prayers for praise and thanksgiving, prayers of supplication, EVERYTHING! I pray a lot....not as often as I should but a lot, and I always start my conversation....because I usually do prayer as if God and I were talking with each other.....with praise and thanksgiving. Then I get into the specific requests, the love, the blanket requests. Sometimes I don't say anything but simply "THANK YOU!" and that's enough!

Ten More

I wish I had TEN MORE:

babies

dollars

cars

gallons

Bibles

pets

books

years

days

minutes

But I don't.

But if I did, I would give them away....except for the babies and the years; those I would definitely keep!

More Photos

Wanna see more? Click here to see who these cute toes belong to!