• Heart Reflections: You Think You’re Safe

    Birds Nest Safely hidden away

    One day as our family was spending time outside cleaning up the yard and gardens something caught my eye.  In one of our small holly trees was a little birds nest.  It was nestled snugly into the trees branches with a road only a couple feet away, across the street from a cat, and on our side of the yard where a dog and kids were running around.   The nest was so low to the ground that the girls were able to look into it.  For weeks they kept checking to see if the bird was coming back.

    It must have been a quiet day on our street for a bird to think that the location she had chosen was a good one especially with it being next to a road, cat, dog, kids, and close to the ground.  The bird must have felt safe in the shelter of the tree despite all the danger around her.  As I thought more about the little bird who lived in that nest it made me think about my life.  How often do I go through life thinking my heart, life, and soul is safe?

    I believe the bird felt protection and safety from the tiny leaves surrounding the nest, however, danger was all around it.  As we go through life we will encounter hills and valleys.  Sometimes we have a false sense of security in things (money in the bank, our health, family unity, etc…) much like the false sense of security the leaves provided the bird.

    Yes, bad things happen to good people, but there are ways to help protect us from falling and that teach us how to be a better Child of God, Wife, Mom, and Friend.

    • Personal Relationship with Him – a heart focused above
    • Reading the Scriptures – not only does this bring you knowledge but it gives you hope, wisdom, and encouragement.
    • Prayer – an on-going dialogue

    Someone recently asked the question in our church Community Group – how much time did you spend reading God’s word this week?  Honestly, my answer some weeks is pretty embarrassing.  I often fill my days with good activities but somehow neglect the most important activity.  Taking time to read God’s word, pray, and having a personal relationship with Him is the best way to not only find contentment but to truly be safe and protected.

    The birds nest is easily seen from up above much like God sees me.  He sees my heart, accepts me for who I am, and challenges me to grow.    Where is your safety found?

    A beautifully crafted bird nest exposed to the world. 

    Love seeing the handiwork of God’s creatures, simply amazing!

  • Family Activities: Yard Clean Up Day

    Karlie Kool Kat bringing down the compost and helping in the yard.  Both girls are wonderful helpers (for the most part) when it comes to doing chores around the house and yard.  Karlie picked out her “outdoor” outfit complete with her fancy hat.  She cracks me up….peeking out from underneath her hat!

    Brina Bee bringing down some drink refills!  It is amazing how thirsty you can get when working out in the yard hauling branches. 

    The fire was too big and hot to cook over so Jake cooked up some yummy hot dogs for everyone to enjoy. 

    We have had some funky weather over the last several months in South Carolina.  One afternoon we had a tree and several branches come down in the yard and our neighbor had one of his trees fall on the edge of his workshop.  We gave away all the good fire burning wood to a local family for the winter since they had a wood burning stove.  When all that wood was picked up we still had all the limbs down so it was decided to have a family yard clean up day.  The girls helped pick up all the branches so we could burn them in the fire.   As it got dark and cooled off we rounded out the night with marshmallows and hot chocolate around the fire.  I love being able to work and rest together with my family.  We got a lot done working in the yard that day!

  • Cleaning Up the Yard & Spring Bonfire

    We are blessed to live in a wonderful area with a creek and woods.  While the trees provide shade they also are known for dropping branches occasionally.  Since we had some limbs piled up we decided to clean up the yard by building our first Spring bonfire.  The girls had fun gathering the twigs and branches in the yard and bringing them to the fire.  Once the fire was good and hot was roasted hotdogs, did a little more work collecting branches, followed by relaxing together and roasting marshmallows.

    Sweet Sisters and Best Friends having fun gathering twigs in the yard together!

     

    Brina loves hanging out with her puppy - Skipper!

     

    Karlie telling a story while Daddy cleans the wire for her hotdog.

     

    Bonfire conversations with the family!

     

    Daddy and the girls relaxing around the bonfire!

    Love spending time with my family.  We were able to get some work done in the yard and relax together.  It was awesome having some time to talk and make new memories with the kids!