Sunday Choose Again..

Im not even going to comment on how long its been since I wrote last. So much has happened in our little world.

As I look back and read through some of the blogs from the fall I see places where God has literally worked miracles on behalf of us and our cottage of girls. 

The biggest one being that one of our residents, the very one in fact that nearly broke us earlier last year and who I agonzied over in prayer for months, even writing the blog entitled The Hope for Honey primarily about, has become a Christian! She has been changed from the inside out and we are praising God all over the place for this transformation that we did not know if we would ever see come to fruition. This is truly proof that we are here for a reason and that even in the moments when we can not see the big picture, God does and He has a plan if we will just trust Him to bring it about. 

Some of you may have seen hints of it on Facebook here and there but, in other news, we have gotten an official diagnosis of Autism for our four year old son, whom we call Bug. He is our little sweetheart and our pride and joy and though this has been and continues to be a season of struggle dealing with the different emotions that come with this type of thing, mostly we are just thankful for answers and for help to better allow him to cope with his anxieties. I will write more on this in the blogs to come I am sure, but for now I will just say that this is a prayer concern on our hearts as we navigate the road ahead with him. 

Spring Break has come and gone and the end of the school year is fast approaching. We can not believe how soon Kelly will be graduating and all of our remaining Jr. High girls will be moving up to High School in the Fall. This also means that we will become a cottage of six after graduation so it is also a prayer request as we begin the process of finding the next right girls to fill those places. 

Kelly is excited about her move to our College and Career Campus. In fact, as I write now I am waiting up for her, after the rest of the cottage has gone to bed, to get home from applying for  scholarships at Lone Star College. She has still not narrowed down her career path totally but we are happy for her as she will transition to the other campus this summer and trust that God will reveal these things to her in his due time. We also trust greatly the awesome staff over at College and Career who will help guide her in her next steps. 

There is still much to be done in this busy end of the year season. With  final six weeks grades to finish strong on, baby Tobias (my sister's baby) coming soon, Easter, Prom and then Graduation close on its heels I know that this Spring will fly by. 

As the days fly and the weeks roll over into months I am reminded once again by my precious son to stop and take time to reflect on the important things no matter how busy I get. We  have been learning the days of the week in our homeschool preschool that Bug and I do and we have a little song that we sing each morning that goes through each day and at the end says, "and Sunday comes again." 

But lately Bug has insisted that the line says, "Sunday CHOOSE again." 

I fought with him over it at first trying to get him to sing it the right way, until it hit me that he was right. 

Each Sunday we do have the opportunity to choose again.

 Who's child am I? 

Who do I represent? 

How will I live to serve Him? 

Some weeks it is harder than others to choose wisely. 

But his little switch has reminded me that each week I should take the time to stop and recommit my life and my actions to the Lord, reclaiming over our cottage that old familar verse from Joshua that states, 

"As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

It is my prayer that others will see us claiming and committing to this as well. 

I will leave you now with the promise to try to be more committed also to writing more in the near future but for now I will leave you with a few photos from our time here lately and as always some prayer reequests at the bottom. 

Bug gives his lawn mowers a wash! 

Bug-School in full swing as he lays out his numbers 1-100

Bug in his great grandmother Jefferson's hat (his namesake!) 

Bri with her new short do! 

Kelly posing outside the church where our friend was baptized 

My heart! 

Trying out the new swing at Neano and Daddy-O's! 

Brandie at the Texans game 

KK getting ready for some football! 

Bug getting excited and prepared for baby Tobias! 

Proud of his handy work writing his numbers 1-10.



Please pray for us as we choose this work each day. Pray for us strength and endurance during the difficult times and the love big enough to last unconditionally even when it is hard.

Pray for our community here on campus with our relationships with each other. We are called to be one big family and that can sometimes be hard. Pray for us as we do our best to be Christ.

Pray for our girls continued spiritual growth.

Pray for them to finish strong and for those who are transitioning soon to new schools to do well.

Pray for our sweet Bug and for him to continue to learn and for our new journey into understanding the world as he sees it and copes with it.

Pray for Erin as she will have surgery to remove a cyst on her thumb on April 19th. She is very nervous about this even though it is really a pretty minor thing.

Pray for my sister Minda as she is soon going to deliver my first nephew on the Anthony side. Pray that she and her husband will have thier fears and anxieties over this chapter calmed and for them to settle into baby bliss.

Pray for our marriage and for us to stay strong and steadfast to one another and our choice to work here.

Pray for our families and for the families of the children that we serve.

Pray for my mom and dad as they deal with some difficult family issues.

Pray for a dear frind of ours as he navigates a hard road with his son.

Thank you so much for all your prayers. You will never know what they mean.