Update on home: house up for auction.....

So for those of you following our house saga we haven't gotten very far with things today.  For those of you who haven't been following you can catch up by reading about it here: God's Provision and Here: Update on our house

Today we spent over eight hours making phone calls and doing research on how to stop this!  We called the SCC, the Attorney General, other Attorneys and it just felt like we were getting nowhere!  Finally our realtor found a link that took me to a docket that listed our house for AUCTION set in two days!!  We found the name of the mortgage company's attorney and Nathan gave them a call.  Our closing attorney is supposed to send them paperwork in the morning showing that we had a contract to buy this home, so we are praying that they stop the auction and realize that it would be better for them to just honor our contract!

We've contacted other Attorneys in which we would have to spend thousands of dollars to even pursue this.  We were told most people just walk away from something like this because it is like a hammer squashing a fly.

I'm just in shock I think.  I know God has a plan whether we stay here or have to leave I just wish I knew what that was because not having a home for your six children is a great way to make you feel like a complete failure in every way!  My stomach is in knots all day long, I cannot think straight!  It's hard to function normally and go on like things are going to be okay!  Our kids want to put up the Christmas tree but how do we do that when we don't know if we will be taking it down the next day!  How do I just go on the next few days and keep things normal for my kids so that they do not worry!  How did any of this even happen!  I'm in desperate need of your prayers, and any contacts anyone has in the media, or with attorneys would also be so helpful!

Update on our house.....

In the words of my 7 year old, Ay yi yi!!  We got more news on our house situation this morning and it was not promising.  After living here for two months we've made this house a home!  I strive to keep it clean all the time (although it does get away from me often during the week when we homeschool) because it is God's house that was given to us and we need to make sure we treat it with respect and take care of it.  I've made sure I sweep the floors daily and mop once a week because I do not want to ever take for granted that we have this home.  We have gotten our family on a schedule, and gotten things back to normal around here the last three weeks and even began our search for a new home church last week.  Nathan and I even talked about our desire to start a church and use the play room here to meet in for now, after all our desire for this home was to use it for God whether it be filling up all the bedrooms with our children, adopted children, foster children or just maybe His desire would be to fill the house with the church family we've been seeking!  Those desires haven't changed in our hearts and only makes that desire grow!  

After waiting for our short sale on the home to be approved for the third time, we got news this morning that the new mortgage company (and I may  not be explaining this quite right) #1 does not do short sales, #2 feels they can get 40k more out of the house if they put it into foreclosure.  They have scheduled the house to be put into foreclosure on  Wed, day before Thanksgiving!  From what I have been told our attorney is continuing to work on this and we will hopefully know more Monday.  

My first reaction to this was that I'm not worried, God is in Control, it will work out.  But as time went on today I began to feel sick about it, I mean, weds. does not give us much time to get things ironed out! After talking to Nathan we gathered the girls in the foyer and explained to them (in kid terms) what was happening.  There was many tears but we also explained to them that we were trusting God.  As we encouraged our children that God was in control, and reminded them of all the prayers he has answered for us: I prayed and asked God to allow me to have children, We prayed and asked God to heal our 4th child after having a positive DS test while pregnant, We prayed for this house and we are LIVING in it, We prayed he would normalize our 6th child's heart rate during birth; I was encouraged and realized that I have nothing to fear!  A week before we got the first short sale approval on this home we came over to the house and prayed over the property and claimed it for our family in Jesus Name and a week later they approved it so why can't God do that now!?  We all held hands and prayed as a family and cried and asked God to give us favor!  We (as a family) took anointing oil and prayed over every window, every door, all around the property line, every room, and every porch- asking God to not allow anyone to take it from us and to bless us with this home in Jesus Name!  

Tonight as we settle down and get ready for dinner and get ready to put the kids to bed we are still feeling broken, and lost.  I've continued to pray continually, seeking out wisdom from the Lord and asking for peace, yet I still feel so unsettled in my spirit.  I know that I just need to come to the place where I can say "even if we have to leave we want your will to be done."   "Even if we have to leave we know you have a better plan."  I've been listening to the song "we won't be shaken" by Building 429.  The lyrics to that song are like my life's motto, and yet it's exactly what I needed to hear:  This world has nothing for me

This life is not my own
I know you go before me
And I am not alone
This mountain rises higher
This way seems so unclear
But I know that you go with me
I will trust in you

       

You know my every longing
You've heard my every prayer
You've held me in my weakness
Cause you are always there
So I'll stand in full surrender
It's your way and not my own
My mind is set on nothing less
Than you and you alone
I will not be moved oh

Whatever will come my way
Through fire or pouring rain
We won't be shaken
No we won't be shaken
Whatever tomorrow brings
Together we'll rise and sing
That we won't be shaken

This is my prayer, and the song in my heart this week as we move forward and strive to do God's will for our family.  I never know the outcome of any situation we find ourselves in but I do know that there has always been a light at the end of the tunnel and there has never been any situation we've gone through where I haven't been able to look back and say, "wow look what God did!"   I'm looking forward to that day with our home!  Please continue to pray for us this week!!  Love you all!  

 

Finding a new normal...

Don't ask me how I had time to sit down and write this blog post because I have no idea!  In fact I will probably forget that I even wrote it today and have to sit down and re-read it tomorrow because that is just what my mind has been doing recently!  Nathan asked me the other day a question about something and I replied, "I don't remember!" He was shocked and said, "what has happened to my wife, you usually remember EVERYTHING!" This is true, I have the worlds best memory-until I had my sixth baby that is.  Matter of fact it was until I was pregnant for my sixth baby, yes, that was when my short term memory took a huge hit.  I went to take Baby Dumplin' to her six week check up and our pediatrician, whom we've gone to since Pumpkin was born, asked me what her name meant because she knew we picked names by their meanings, I had to shamefully admit to her "I don't remember!"  I couldn't believe it!  But I guess that is what happens when you have so many children.  First it's your figure, then it's your mind! lol

This week was our first week of homeschooling for this year.  We are doing 2nd Grade, 1st Grade and Preschool.  Usually the first week or two is super exhausting, chaotic, and crazy with trying to get on a schedule, and everyone learning what they are supposed to do with each subject.  This year seems even more chaotic than last year since I now have more of the younger kids dominating than I do older kids.  They have been taking over the house!!  At the end of the school day there are clothes pulled out and strung from one end of the house to the other, dishes piled to the ceiling from all the cups they keep taking out of the dishwasher and filling with water, toys thrown around the floor, and there is always that one REALLY bad thing that they do that just sets you over the edge.  Yesterday it was my two year old.  She somehow got a hold of an ink pen and poked holes in their little tinkerbell table and chair set.  but not only did she poke holes, she also had to pull out the stuffing and rip the largest hole she could in the chair so that it could no longer be used.  I've been keeping them occupied with Play dough for most of our school day but if I don't really watch them they will run through the house and take it with them, dropping pieces all over the place.

On top of the little kids being disobedient and destructive, every one of them (baby included) have been whinny, tired, and have been crying constantly!  Since we moved into the new house, for some reason, we have been having a hard time getting everyone to bed at the normal 7:00pm bedtime.  We've had so many extra things to be done around here, it seems we start a project and by the time we look up it is after 9:00!!  So everyone has been tired and cranky, whinny and fussy all week!  It's not like they will sleep in or anything, I could put them to bed at 2am and they would still be at the end of my bed at 6:45am on the dot yelling "daddy, hungry!!!"  So getting them to bed on time is extremely important if I want them to be their chipper selves the next day!  So this week we have been striving to get our schedule back and in the process of doing that we have had to make time for lots of correction, and training!

We are in a season right now where ALL our kids are learning new things, not just in school but here in our new home.  There are many new rules and chores that are being learned and implemented at the new house that were similar yet different at the old house.  Hobble-Bobble (4) has chores now for the first time.  While it is going to be very helpful once she learns how to do her chores the correct way it is taking some time to teach her how to do these things correctly.  Pumpkin, and Little-Bear also have new chores here they didn't have at the other house that they have had to learn how to do- and still learning.  Rules here are similar but there are more of them because there is more space and it's a different environment.  Our school room, which we love by the way, is now more of a classroom environment than it was at the old house when we did school at the table.  Now we have to learn how to sit in our seats correctly, and how to wait our turn for mommy's help with our work.  Pumpkin is having a little bit of a time adjusting to the fact that she is now in 2nd grade and has to do school till almost 2:00 now, while Little-Bear is finished by lunch time and Hobble-Bobble is finished after only an hour.  They see the little kids playing with play-dough and they want to be in on the fun!  I can understand that but they will also get to have plenty of fun once we get further into our school year!  We are just trying to create a new normal for everyone right now and that has to take precedence over unpacking and even laundry at the moment.  At the end of the day if I let the chores of the house come before the discipline/correction, and education of our children I have failed them as a mother.

This has been so hard for me to finally give into!  It seems that in the last few years I have become somewhat OCD when it comes to having the house cleaned up.  I'm not talking about scrubbing the floor with a toothbrush clean but mostly I need everything in it's place!  I'm sure if any of my family are reading this they are going, "WHAT?! YOU!!" Yes me!  LOL  Nathan has finally rubbed off on me after all these years!  My philosophy on cleaning has changed drastically over the years!  When we first got married I didn't feel that cleaning was important, spending time together was most important!!  Then I realized that I needed to keep things cleaned so I can spend time with my family and not worry about the house, now...well now you will find me up cleaning all day long from morning till night trying to keep things cleaned up and decluttered!  It seems the more children we've had the more I have felt the need to keep things cleaned up and keep the house cleaned so we can breathe!  HOWEVER, the more kids we've had the WORSE the house has looked and the MORE I have found myself cleaning!  Since being in the new house it has been a little easier to keep things straight but also harder in other areas.  In the old house I felt like I had to constantly move things around, organize things, clean things in order to make the house not so suffocating.  Here it's not suffocating but I'm so used to doing that at the old house that if something gets messy here I start to panic until I get it together!  I've always panicked as well when people come over.  I used to rush and clean everything spotless top to bottom but I'm starting to realize that there is no purpose to doing that for other people!  I need people in my life who understand that I have to put my kids first, their needs first and that is more important than keeping a home to where you can eat off the floor at all times.  I've come to the conclusion that if people want to judge me by the fact that there are dishes in my sink and laundry that needs folded on my couch then they probably shouldn't be a part of my life.  It is okay to put aside the daily chores of the home in order to take time to teach your children how to act properly, how to have compassion for someone, how to treat their sisters with respect, how to react to certain situations correctly that is what parenting and being a mom is all about.

With that said, I have three baskets of clothes waiting on me and a pile of dishes I need to get too!


       

Bitter-sweet...

I've been having an inner struggle the last few weeks with frustration.  God has blessed us above and beyond all I could have ever imagined the last two months; yet those blessings have not come without lots of sacrifice, patience, long suffering, and physical labor.  The best I can describe my struggle is a natural childbirth.  You know you are going to have an amazing baby that you have prayed over and loved, yet you have to wait 9 months to hold her, and you have to go through some uncomfortable times, then during labor the pain builds up from a dull uncomfortable pain to a thriving intense pain that is not relieved until the birth of that baby.  During that time of labor (in my experience) I didn't really find much to complain about.  Everything was happening mostly the way I had planned, and I knew holding my baby was just around the corner so what was there to complain about...just make it to the next corner- it was almost over!

That is how I've lived my life this last year, "just a little longer, just make it to the end of the month!"  Last time I wrote we were about to close on our home.  It seems our journey to purchase this home has taken another turn.  We had a closing date for 9/27/13.  We had all our movers lined up, carpet cleaners lined up, flooring was going to be put down; just the essentials for moving in.  We did the home inspection and found out both HVAC units were broken, and the water heater was broken.  So we planned to repair (but ended up having to replace) the water heater but the HVAC units would have to wait.  We would have to tough it out for a while with no AC or Heat until we could save up the money to get them working again.  Again, I couldn't complain, God gave us this house we can do without for a while right?!  When our closing date fell through our agent arranged for us to have early occupancy of the house so we didn't have to reschedule everything!  We moved in that Sunday with the intentions of closing on the house Monday!  When closing didn't happen monday we were told FOR SURE Thursday!  Thursday comes and NO Closing!!  Appearently the lady who owned the house had two mortgages on it through the same bank, that bank decided to sell the second mortgage to another bank in the middle of us closing!  So after waiting on the short sale to be approved for over a year; we were back at square one and had to wait on it to be RE-approved by the new 2nd mtg. holder!  (LONG SUFFERING I TELL YA!) Not only did it have to be re-approved, but it also had to be re-approved through the bankruptcy court which that process alone takes 30-60 days (from what I was told).  So here we are still living in the house rent free and we haven't closed on it yet! So you see my delema, I'm living in this wonderful home that God has provided for us, yet we don't own it and at anytime they could tell us to get out!  Do you allow  yourself to be frustrated about things or enjoy the blessings that you have?!  Unpack or live out of boxes?!

After a lot of praying and seeking we felt like God wants us to have a larger home and we really felt like things were going to work out.  So we unpacked...and we are still unpacking!  We also decided to go ahead and find renters for our old house and get it cleaned up!  With Nathan's back problem he cannot do a lot of physical work so most of that burden would lie on me.  I have spend the last three weekends at the old house along with a few days during the week painting, repairing and cleaning.  My parents have been great with helping us when they have been able too and as much as they could (with their health), but the majority of it has been on my plate.  So from the day I came home from the hospital on 9/6 till today I have packed up an entire house, moved, unpacked most of the house, painted an entire house, done minor repairs, planned for our homeschool year to start in november and nursed a baby every hour in a half in between.  I found myself painting the old house some nights feeling like I wanted to lay on the floor and cry!  I'm still sore from having the baby, my entire body is sore from all the physical labor, and emotionally I'm barely making it through because I just want to get finished to enjoy my new baby and spend time with my family!  I didn't get that week or two in bed nursing the baby and having pajama time with the girls and I want it more than anything!!  So each day I've painted with a bitter-sweet disposition that I want so badly to be finished and be with my family, yet, I'm almost done!  So this week is the final week that will complete it all!  All the painting inside is done, outside is being done today and tomorrow; carpet is being laid thursday, appliances are there, and we just have to stain the porches this weekend and put the final touches on things.  We have a great renter and that is another blessing and answer to prayer!

Today I took Hobble-bobble and Baby Dumplin' to their well-checkups.  Baby Dumplin' is 9lb 14oz!  I wasn't surprised because she does nothing but eat; and Hobble-bobble was in the 50th percentile!  They are doing great!  On the way home I got a call from my husband that Pumpkin had a fever!  Well, with us not having any AC or Heat it has been pretty cold in here at night and we've all been waking with sore throats.  I had thought this morning when Pumpkin told me she didn't feel well it was just from that but by the time I got home tonight she was burning up!  She had two baths and tylenol and still had a fever of 101.2.  Finally before bed she was able to eat a little something and I'm praying we get through the night without any vomit because I'm exhausted!!

So there it is my bitter-sweet life I love it all and don't want to be frustrated or complain yet I just need a week long pajama party with lots of dancing, singing, and sleep!!  It's just around the corner- I know it!!    

Baby-Dumplin's Birth Story.....

On September 4th, 2013 at 6:30 am, Nathan and I met our 6th daughter!!  Throughout my pregnancy we prepared for this day through reading books on natural birth, watching documentaries, and taking a Bradly class on Natural Birth.  This would be my first attempt out of 6 births to have a natural- drug free- delivery.

For five weeks prior I had been having contractions every night and lost so much sleep!  Anytime I would lay down, or sit down the contractions would start and last all night long; the minute I got up and walked around they would stop.  I assumed they were probably Braxton Hicks; however, they were slowly changing my cervix.  At 36 weeks I began taking Evening Primrose Oil, which is supposed to make it easier to dilate as well as Red Raspberry Leaf Tea which is supposed to strengthen your uterus.  We also hired an amazing Doula to help us through the labor and delivery process, we were really excited to work with her since she was also a believer and was committed to praying for me through my pregnancy and delivery.

We put together a birth plan for this pregnancy which was super new to me but fun to think about and type up.  From all I had gathered most Christian women have people speak verses over them while in labor and pray over them and that helps them to get through it.  For me I decided that I wanted to worship through labor.  I put together a playlist of praise and worship songs and let my Doula know that while having verses spoken over me was great, I would rather praise God through the pain.

At 2:20pm that afternoon I went to my 39 week prenatal appointment with my midwife.  The whole time I had been seeing the midwives (there are 4 of them) I knew that there was one in particular that I adored and would love to be in delivery with.  Not only that I knew she had a large family, homeschools her children and was a Christian.  Knowing that my midwife was a Christian made me more comfortable with my birth plan of praising God through the pain.  Anyways, so this appointment was scheduled with one of the other midwives and for weeks I had been trying to get in with the one I had wanted to deliver with but she wasn't available.  So I was super surprised to see her when she walked through the exam room door and my appointment ended up being with her after all!  I expressed to her how I've tried everything natural to get this baby moving, I ended up not being much more dilated than I was the week before but was 80% effaced.  She told me that I should take the "birth cocktail" and that would get things moving along for me.  I was to take 2 tbsp of peanut butter with 2 tbsp of caster oil.  The peanut butter would slow the oil down so that it didn't make me sick and on the toilet all night long!

At 5:00pm I took the Cocktail then sat down to eat dinner with my family.  After dinner Pumpkin and I went for a walk and when I got back I noticed some things starting to change.  By 8:00pm that evening I began to contract.  The contractions felt different than the one's I had been having the last few weeks; however, they were stronger still when I laid down or when I sat up, but when I stood the pain wasn't as bad but I still was feeling pressure.  For the next three hours we texted my Doula, and counted contractions which from the beginning was 2-3 minutes apart constantly but still I was hesitant that it wasn't real labor since it didn't hurt as badly when I stood up!  So we called Nathan's mom and asked her to come over so we could go walk around walmart.  The paper I had from the midwife said that if it was real labor it would get worse with walking, so that was what we needed to do.  We went ahead and loaded the car before we left with our hospital stuff and while walking around getting that all in order the contractions were getting more intense.  We got to walmart around 12:00am and gave my midwife a call.  The one I wanted in my labor was on call that night!!  She said she thought I would probably be ready to come into the hospital in about 2 more hours and to just relax and save my strength.  So then I remembered that if I was in the early stages of labor I needed to get something to eat!!  We got in walmart and they were waxing the floors.  Nathan went and bought me one of their already made subs and we walked around walmart while I was in laboring and eating a sub!  I was in complete fear that my water was going to break on their newly waxed floor!!  My doula met us at walmart about 45 minutes later and walked with us, made me laugh to take my mind of things and gave suggestions on how to get through the contractions as they started to get stronger.  Around 2am we went back to my house.

We sat in the living room and talked and laughed while I rocked on the birth ball between contractions (since it hurt to sit during a contraction).  Then around 3:34am we decided to head to the hospital before contractions got too painful to be in the car.  On the car ride I felt things start to pick up a bit and it hurt worse when Nathan would take turns so to comfort me he prayed over my stomach and then started to sing a praise song "Child of God" and I joined in, in between contractions.  We arrived at the hospital around 4am and was taken directly to a room.  I put on my own clothes and was examined.  I was 6cm upon arrival.  I was preparing to get hooked up to the IV for the first 20 minutes and then the plan was for them to unhook me; however things didn't go exactly according to the plan.  I kept asking when it was going to be done because I was ready to move away from the bed and get in the tub but I don't remember getting much of an answer.  As they were monitoring the baby and I was heading into 7-8cm the contractions got even more intense.  My doula and midwife had me on my knees facing the back of the bed with my arms over the head of the bed.  During contractions my doula had a heat pack on my back and was massaging my legs and feet (which was helping a ton).

Finally my midwife told the nurse "Go get the doctor."  I realized she was talking about me and trying not to scare me but I knew there was something wrong.  She explained to me that the baby's heart rate was above 200 and had been for a prolonged period of time (about 45min).  She said there were several factors that could be causing that and usually it was a fever but in this case I did not have a fever.  She said it was very dangerous for the baby and she wanted to doctor to come in and give us some options. At this my heart skipped a beat and I knew we were talking about a C-section.  From what I know about C-sections most doctors tell you once a C-section always a C-section.  And once you have one it has the potential to limit how many children you can have.  I began panicking and worrying about my baby, and everyone could tell I was beginning to stress!  They kept me on the IV, and added oxygen to see if it would help but it wasn't really helping.  While waiting for the doctor to arrive anytime I had a break in contractions I just stared at the monitor praying her heart rate would normalize.  Then all at once I felt my midwife put her hand on my back, my doula put her hand on my leg and Nathan put his hand on my stomach and it got super quiet...they were all three praying for my baby and I could feel the presence of God in the room!  Within minutes her heart rate began to lower and normalize contractions became more intense and it was time to be checked again.  I was now at 9cm and my bag of water was bulging so we broke the water and it was time to push.

Out of the entire labor I felt like the contractions were tolerable the entire time until it was time to push!  I did not expect pushing to be that hard and that intense pain.  With my other labors I had an epidural and so pushing was easy!  1-2 pushes and the babies were out!  This one was harder, I actually had to work to push the baby out!  It was still just a few pushes but with more effort than I had though I would have to give!  When the baby finally came I was so focused on pushing that I didn't realize they had already put her on my chest!  I couldn't hardly catch my breath in order to calm down and see her!  I could feel her warmth and hear her cries but my mind wasn't putting the timeline together in order yet!  She was beautiful though when I could finally look at her.  She had tons of black hair and weighed 7lbs 5oz; the biggest baby I'd had yet.

I was so surprised at myself that I was able to get through a natural labor, I never thought I would be able to do something like that.  I did think about the epidural once while pushing and wondered why in the world I wanted to do something like this.  After the delivery I decided that having another baby anytime soon would probably not be in the cards right now, I would definitely need some time to allow my mind to forget the pain.  But over all I could feel God's presence the entire time and that is what carried me through to the end.  Knowing that God was there watching over me and my baby, knowing that God heard my cries that if it was His will for us to have more children after this baby then please do not allow me to have a C-section that will limit that.  I also remembered Nathan telling me that the reason I had not had the baby yet (the week before) was because God had perfect timing and he knew every detail of how it was supposed to be and maybe if I had her earlier I wouldn't have had the midwife I wanted there.  He was so right; maybe if I had her earlier my midwife would not have been there to help pray for my baby!  So thankful again for God's perfect timing!  Nathan was amazing as well, he was by my side the entire time (even when his back was hurting he still stood next to me and wouldn't move).  He told me how great I was doing, prayed for me, sang to me, and rubbed my back when I needed him to!  He was amazing!!

We are now at home after two nights in the hospital.  The girls are thrilled to have a new sister and I do not see her having any alone time anytime soon!!  Goobies, was the one I was worried about!  I had thought since she had become so spoiled by all the girls being the baby for the last two years that she would be really jealous!  She is so possessive of the baby that she will tell everyone to leave her alone and "Don't touch my baby!"  She says it is HER baby!!  She even cries when we take the baby from her arms or tell her she can't hold her right now.  She says that the baby is "ADO ABLE" (adorable).  lol

I'm so thankful for my family, God has answered my prayers for a large family, a loving Godly husband, and more love in my life than I could have ever imagined!  I knew this year was our year of "Jubilee" or  "Jubili" -where God was going to bless our family abundantly after  6 years of famine and long suffering.  I am so overjoyed to see that those blessing have started pouring in by the bushels and I could not sing the God's praises enough for all his provision, protection and joy he has given me!  I am beyond blessed!!  

God's provision.....

They say that patience is a virtue, but that is one area of my life I've never been good at ESPECIALLY while pregnant!!  I actually recall a conversation once I had in one of my early pregnancies; I was huge, miserable, and ready for it to be over and someone said to me "I guess God is teaching you patience!"  Well the normal me would have smiled and walked on the hormonal me came out instead and replied, "God doesn't teach pregnant women patience, He knows better!"  While we laughed about my unexpected response (I didn't even expect it) it became something God would later use to prove me wrong!

When Nathan and I got married we purchased a 3 bedroom 2 bath rancher.  We never dreamed that we would have so many children to fill it up with!  While he had about two children in mind, I knew I wanted a large family but never imagined that the definition of large was over four.  Over the 10 years we've been together and talked about our expectations for our family and future our views on what a blessing Children are, birth control, and trusting God began to change and develop into something we would have never imagined.  Never once have we ever had a conversation in our ten years that went anything like, "lets have six children!!"  It began with one, then unexpectedly we were expecting the second and then God began to change our hearts to want what he wanted for us and not just what we wanted for us.  So needless to say our home has filled up quickly!

After the third baby I began praying that God would bless us with a larger home.  For over five years I have prayed that if God wants us to have many children he would supply us with our need for a larger home.  I didn't want anything fancy just something that we could fit in comfortably, expand our family if it was God's will, and have room for homeschooling (which we believe we were called to do as well).  Once we had baby #4 I began to agonize over this home that did not look like was in our future!  I HATED our home, I could not stand to be here, it was suffocating and embarrassing that we were all shoved in here, and I couldn't invite people over because we had no where for them to sit!  Finally after four years of praying for a larger home the economy took a dive and the housing market went down with it.  We began our search to find a larger home for the same price we bought our rancher for and rent out our current home.

We looked at several homes but nothing that would really fit us.  I began looking for something around the same size as what we already had but with 4 bedrooms and a dinning room.  I didn't want anything huge just something that worked.  We quickly realized that we would soon be in the same situation as we are in now if we upgraded to only 500sq ft.  and had to look at larger homes over 2000sq ft.  Nathan would ask me "how will we know when it's the right one?"   I'd tell him "we will just know!"   We found a really nice white house that we liked, we had a few reservations about it but overall we liked it and it would fit us and fit our price range.  We put a contract on it and it was verbally accepted then 30 minutes later we received a call that they received a better offer and was going to go with that one!  We were heartbroken and I almost didn't want to look anymore!  But we kept on.  FINALLY we found the one!  It was over 2200 sq. ft, 4 bedroom, 3 bathrooms, fireplace, dining room, play room, fenced in back yard, and in a culdesac, so the kids can finally learn to ride bikes!!  It was perfect for us!  As we walked around the back yard I prayed and asked God if this was the one, and a figure came into my mind as to what to offer on the house!  The amount I felt we should offer was 20,000 less than the asking price, and 43,000 less than the assessment price of the home!  Once we found out the home was a short-sale and was owned by Indy Mac/ One West we really were hesitant it would go through.  Indy Mac/One West is known for not approving short-sales because they make more money on forclosures sense they are backed by the government.  After a three month wait we were told by BOTH selling and listing agents that they did not believe this short-sale would ever happen!

I had such peace about that house, I just knew it was the right house and could not let go of it!  So we kept our contract on that house (although it was outdated) and kept looking just in case.  We came across another home we loved and put a contract on that one.  It was beautiful but had a lot of water issues in the yard; we ended up not getting that one.  After that we had decided to give up on the house for a while.  I was so stressed at the time, being almost in my second trimester of pregnancy with baby #6, that I couldn't handle all the stress from it all.  We decided to still look at what came on the market but unless it had everything we wanted we wouldn't go see it.  We were not settling.  Mean-while, I was praying and praying for the other house to somehow come through!!  We had so many set backs with it but finally in May we received a call that they would approve and close on the home within 45 days!!  We renewed our paperwork and waited, and waited, and waited and heard NOTHING!

In the meantime I prayed, and prayed and prayed!!  We realized that if we didn't find a home before the end of the year we would have to wait several more years before we started the process again so this was the end of the line for us!  I began to understand the meaning of giving things over to God!  I would get so stressed and have to pray and ask God to take it from me, and my burdens were lifted!  I realized that there was no need in worrying about things because this house belonged to God and it was up to him if He gave it to us or not, not the bank!  So I began to pray differently and think about things differently.  I realized that our home we are in now was given to us by God as well.  Why would he give me another if I didn't appreciate the one I had and hated it so badly?!  so I began to organize our home and make things more comfortable for all of us to fit here.  It gave us so much more room and comfort that I began to really love my home!  I actually began to pray and thank God for this home!!  My prayers changed from "please I can't stand living here anymore Lord I'm drowning!"  to " thank you Lord for this house you have blessed our family with, thank you for giving us shelter and the ability to make it comfortable for all of us who live here."  I also told God that I knew the other house belonged to Him and if it was His will please bless us with it.  Once I finally realized the house belonged to God and not the bank, it made being patient (even while pregnant) so much easier!

We got word they were doing an assessment on the home to see how much they should sell it for.  I began to get nervous because I couldn't see how they would ever sell that home to us for the price we offered  (only 10k more than we paid for our rancher but 1242 more sq ft.) especially after seeing what the homes around it were worth and the house market had started to go up again.  One day we were out and about and the kids all fell asleep in the car (which is rare for all of them)!  We decided to take a drive and let them nap a while.  Nathan told me he wanted me to go over by the new home so he could pray over it and claim it as ours.  He said when Jerry Falwell wanted to buy the land for Liberty University he walked the mountain prayed over it and claimed it as his!  Now he has one of the largest Christian Universities there in the world!  So we did just that.  We stopped by the house and Nathan walked around the home and prayed and asked God to bless us and claimed it in Jesus Name for our family.

After two weeks of hearing nothing more; I became weary.  There were many things I have been praying about for many weeks (not just the house) that had began wearing on me; not to mention I was STILL pregnant!!  One night I just could not sleep so I got on my knees in my living room and began worshiping God.  For over an hour I sang praises to Him and just sat in his presence.  Finally I began praying, first thanking him again for our home, reminding him that his word says, "ask and it will be given to you, seek and you shall find" and then reminding him how long I've been asking and seeking and that I was weary!!  I needed a breakthrough!

Finally the end of August (2 days after my prayer) after almost a year wait, we got word they had approved our short-sale!  Not only had they approved our short- sale but they did not even try to up the price, we got it for the price God had showed us to ask!  Not only was I extremely excited but I felt so unworthy that God blessed us in such an amazing way!  I knew if it was God's will it would happen but maybe I just never felt it was God's will to bless us?!

We are finally in the process of closing on our home.  We have all the paperwork in order and inspection scheduled.  It does not seem real to me that we are finally moving, but I will never take that home for-granted that is for sure!  I've never been more thankful to God for showing us that He is faithful to provide all our needs!  Now if I can convince Him to let me go into labor I'll be on top of the world ;)

A man full of love...

I've never witnessed a more loving, caring, hands-on father and husband in all my life!  My husband does not get enough credit for all he does around here that is for sure, and I tend to take his love, patience, gentleness, and thoughtfulness for-granted most of the time.  I pray, however; that God will help me to stop doing that and that I will continue to notice the little things he does daily to show our girls and myself so much love and affection.

Let me start by telling you the things that my husband does NOT do!
He does not go out to clubs or bars with friends and leave me home to take care of our children till the wee hours of the morning.
He does not look at other women lustfully whether it be in person or on television, but instead turns his head or turns the channel quickly in order to honor me.
He has NEVER mentioned anything about wanting a divorce, or separation with any argument we've ever had no matter how difficult the argument was.
He has never taken up for someone else over me, I always come first he is always on my team.
He has never given me the silent treatment or let a disagreement go into another day without telling me he was sorry or trying to make things right.
He has never treated our children or myself like we are a burden, or that he cannot stand to be around us.
He does not lounge on the couch all day, or go out and play a sport all the time and ignore his family.
He does not have hardly any alone time.
He does not expect me to keep our home spotless at all times.
He does not just sit on the couch and watch me do all the cleaning.
He does not try to control me, or tell me where I can go or when I can do things.
He does not talk badly about me to others.
He does not keep things from me.

My husband does however;

Tell me everything
Trusts me with our finances
Helps me with chores around the house
Spends almost all his free time with me and our children
Changes diapers and gives baths
Play wrestles with the girls and hugs them and reads to them
He watches My Little Pony, endures hours of the girls playing beauty parlor with his hair, and even tolerates occasionally being called "princess daddy."
He gets up in the middle of the night and helps me change sheets that have been puked on or peed on, and give baths and medications at 3am.
He takes care of me when I am sick
He once took care of all 6 of us when we were all puking but him, washing out puke buckets, and washing bed sheets one right after another.
He is the first one up with our children in the mornings and closes and locks our bedroom door so that I can rest and won't be disturbed.
He gets up in the middle of the night to refill milk cups
He makes them breakfast and even starts school with them some days.
He puts the girls to bed every night and prays over them.
He makes me feel like I'm the only woman in the world he is even interested in talking to
He makes me feel like I am still beautiful to him after 6 babies and being together for 10 years.
He never neglects to tell me the house looks good, or my dinner was good, or I look beautiful today.
He still holds my hand when we are in public, still opens my car door, still flirts with me like the fist day I met him.
He prays with me before we go to bed at night and talks to me about my fears, hopes, and dreams.
He has taught me about God and leads me spiritually
He listens me to vent about things over and over again and never complains.
He does repairs around our home
He still takes me out for dates.
He sticks up for me even to family when he thinks I'm being wronged.
He puts God first, me second and our children third.
He goes shopping with me and helps me pick things out that look good on me.
He is my best friend without a doubt!

I'm sure there are many other things I could list about this amazing man.  God
did not disappoint when he gave me my husband that is for sure!  I cannot express to the world how grateful I am for Nathan and the the things he has given me in life.  He has taught me about what true love is.  Not only has he demonstrated true love to myself and our children but he has been able to teach us how deep the love of God is through his own examples.  I could never be a mom of this many children without having him as a partner.  People always tell me how they do not understand how I do it with this many children or how they are just amazed by how much I accomplish in a day with this many children, but the only reason any of that is possible is because I have an amazing husband who does just as much (if not more) that I do in order to keep our home running smoothly and our children raised up in the way of the Lord.  I am so blessed to have him in my life.  He is truly my best friend!

Thank you Lord for blessing us with this man, please give us all a long life with him and help us to mirror his self-less, loving character to one-another.