O Love That Will Not Let Me Go

Oh my goodness! I can't believe that my little man is 1 year old!! We had a great celebration where I took A LOT of pictures, and I had the hardest time choosing which ones to show you! Thanks to my handy Cricut machine I made everything for the party including invitations and games! We made it a fun, small, family party. Pin the nose on Elmo game, which all of the kids LOVED to play! (eyes and noses made with Cricut. Elmo head cut out, thanks to Aimsey, and mouth drawn on.) How many of Elmo's favorite fish are in the jar? Coloring Books printed from my computer. Thanks, Mimi, for the balloons! I had 2/buy 1 pizza get 1 free coupons from Little Caesars. Grandmom and Walt. You can't tell buy the following pictures, but Walt was so tired and definitely not his normal, smiley self. Walt and his Gigi Walt and Aunt Beuk Walt and Daddy Loli, Stephen, Caroline, and Emma gave Walt this super cool chair!! He is already enjoying it! Colorbooks were homemade and I bought the ...

I am sorry that I forgot to post this yesterday, but Ann Wrigley won the watch using Random.org!! Congratulations!! Please send me an email to let me know where to mail it!! Stay around because Gigi's donated some luggage to be given away, which I will post soon!

Don't forget that there will be a GIVEAWAY on Monday. Click HERE for more information!! Danica donated so much of her time to take these incredible pictures for us from the party and creating this video! Thank you!!! ( Be sure to push pause on the blog music before playing this video.) Thank you so much to all of you who came and/or sent gifts to help us celebrate the day that we met Magdalena face to face. She sure was a beauty! I know that the kids at the Blair E. Batson hosptal are going to love all of the wonderful gifts that were given. Thank you for helping us to honor Magdalena's sweet life in such a very special way. You guys are amazing!

GIGI'S is giving away a watch!! You can have multiple entries to your name! For each entry, post a comment saying which of the following you did ! Subscribe (and confirm by email sent to you) to this blog! Join Joy in the Morning on Facebook Follow me on Twitter @juliejoyingod Like Gigi's on Facebook ! If have already done any or all of the following, simply leave a comment for each one saying how you are already ahead of the game! These will be checked! Winner will be announced Monday, September 27, 2010!

You know how there are movies that you want to see, but you aren't sure if it will be worth it to pay money for curiosity's sake? After much interest, I finally was able to watch The Nativity Story, which tells the story from the point when an angel visits Mary to bring her the news that she is with child to Jesus' birth. It does assume some of the character's feelings, but they were not too extreme and probably safe assumptions. For example, Mary and Joseph share that they both fear what lies ahead for them carrying this child, but, yet, the honor that they feel is obvious. What I really liked most about the movie were a lot of the culture aspects that you have to study beyond The Bible to know. To see a very pregnant woman on a donkey was painful! However, the traveling to Bethlehem had to have been a difficult journey for Mary. Also, the wisemen journeying and the king's quest for full power were connected in the story too. I would definitely recommend th...

"God's sovereignty is our greatest hope as we face an uncertain an unknown future." The plans of the heart belong to man but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord . - Proverbs 16:1 Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. - Proverbs 19:21 When Noah and I returned from Mexico we were desperately looking for jobs. It was July so that meant that most of the "good" teaching positions had been filled, and I was certain that I would not find one. But Noah and I need insurance, money, and what we thought was most important, security. Within the first week of our arrival in the states, I sat next to a pregnant woman at the pool and as we talked my future insurance plans began to be formed. She told me of how her husband drove a school bus in order to provide insurance for the family, and just as we were talking her husband walked up and handed me all of the information that Noah would need to apply. This ...

Trying to juggle my time as a work-from-home mom has been the toughest thing about the change from working full-time. No matter how early I awake or how late I go to sleep, there never seems to be enough time in the day. On days when I feel like I have been pushed to the max I get little moments like these below are just a reminder of why I am doing this. God has blessed me with a job where I can do things as Walt naps or Noah studies, and when it seems to be too much, God always finds a way to remind me that this was the journey that he called me on. But if you would say a small prayer for me I would appreciate it...that I would let the little things go so that I can focus on the bigger picture. Also, that I would do everything to the best of my ability, work, wife, and mommy so that God may be glorified in it all. God is definitely molding me, and just as Magdalena showed me so many of my sins, Walt does the same. Children are such an amazing gift. I think they have both taug...