Compassion Bloggers in Tanzania

This week a group of bloggers is traveling with Compassion International to Tanzania, Africa and while there they are blogging about their experience.

One of the bloggers, Maggie, is a fellow Minnesotan and the creative genius behind Gussy Sews. I LOVE Maggie's ruffle bags...but even more I love her heart.

Today she posted on her blog about the beginning of her trip. Please head over here and see what she says in full. But I was impacted when she said ...."I think what God has been trying to teach me these last few months is these earthly struggles don’t matter. my purpose is in Him, and that’s enough. that is what matters."

My purpose is in Him.

Yes - this is what my purpose should be...but lately I find for myself that my purpose is self-focused. Worried about my little corner of the world and what I can do to make it better, what I can do to advance my career, what I can do to be a good mom or wife.  (The list could go on and on)

But when my focus is too much on the me, me, me...I stop looking to God and finding my purpose in Him.  I stop asking Him to be a part of every aspect of my life because I think that I can control it all.

And the reality is I can't.

I NEED Him...I need for my purpose to be in Him. And when it is everything falls back into place.

Would you join me in praying for the team over in Africa right now. Jump over to a few of the blogs to see how God is showing them His purpose. God wants us to seek Him, to seek out our purpose in Him. I am excited for the group and for the people they will have an opportunity to meet. And for the lives of the children that are impacted by Compassion sponsors.

God's blessings to all of you!!

Welcome Little Gavin!!

On Wednesday my sister Beth and brother-in-law Jeff welcomed the newest addition to their family. 

Gavin Jeffrey

He is, if I do say so myself, SUCH a beautiful boy. Today I finally got to meet him and I am in love!!

Sigh....is he not just so adorable?!

And so peaceful...he is a snuggler!!

Oh the faces they make!!

Stretching and yawning!

His little wrinkly hands are so cute!!

This is his very proud, big sister Isabel!!

She LOVES her little brother!

And I can tell she is going to be a great big sister!

Congrats Beth, Jeff and Isabel - Gavin is the perfect addition to your family and I feel so blessed to be a part of his life! May God's blessings shine down on you little one!!

Welcome to the family!

Happy Birthday Sweet Friend....

Most days it is still hard to believe that Karlena is gone. Today would have been her 37th birthday...and it is sad for me not to be able to celebrate it with her.

I think one of the hardest things for me still is that I miss so much that bond that we had. She knew me, all of me and loved me in spite of all of my faults. I still have one of her messages on my phone and I got to hear her voice again a few days ago when I was checking my messages.  Her voice always had a smile in it.  No matter what she was going through...she was positive.

I loved that about her!

As a side note - it seems as though I am pregnant in just about every photo I can find right now of us together! :)  She was SOOO excited when we found out we were having a girl, and that she would carry on her name. Oh how I wish our girl could know her in this lifetime. :(

I guess days like this are just a little harder than some. For me I wish things were different...I am certain that she is having a wonderful birthday in Heaven. But I would love to celebrate with her here too!

I have said it before that Karlena had such an amazing legacy...she taught me so much about loving God despite your circumstances, trusting in His plan for our lives...even if it is a hard road to walk.  I am so grateful that I have those memories of her to hold on to...and pass down to my kids.

The picture below is Karlena with Elijah. She loved him something fierce too. She was their Auntie Karlena!  I have a picture of her in our girls room...hopefully she will love her memory like I do and realize how special it is that she carries her name.

Karlena it is safe to say that you will never be forgotten. Today especially I celebrate you, your legacy and the gift of friendship that you gave to me for so many years. Happy Birthday Sweet Friend.....

Exciting News!!

I have been so excited to share this news with you....but had to wait awhile until everything was in place before I could take pictures and share all of the details here.  

Some of you already know what changes our family has faced the past months. We have felt support and encouragement from so many people - in so many different ways and just feel grateful for each and every one of you!  Our family's success is in large part due to our extended group of family and friends that have walked along side of us. And of course we thank God who has led us to this place. Our faith and family has grown through this experience and our hope is that we can glorify Him as we move forward!

As of May 1st Dominic is a business owner!! Well technically he has been working on this for a few months....but the lease on his rental space starts May 1st and he will finally be able to meet with clients in his new office space!

Introducing....Legal Estate Planning Solutions, PLLC!!

Oh my goodness I can't even tell you how proud of him I am! Opening your own business is scary and exciting all wrapped in one.  There are so many details to finalize from office furniture and where to buy printer paper, creating a business card etc. But we have had fun planning out all the details and are excited that by opening his own office in Marshall he will be able to be home much more often, instead of traveling across the state all week long.

Dominic's focus will be solely on Estate Planning - so if you need a will or power of attorney, a trust or farm/business succession planning - he's your man!

Yesterday we did some final set-up and cleaning at the new office space and I have a few pictures for a sneak peak! We will be having an open house soon and I will let you know when that is later and hope you might be able to come see the entire space in person!

This is his waiting area/lobby...

His office space...

The conference room...

And another view of the conference room.

And hopefully soon his sign will be up here too. The sign has been the most difficult to coordinate and will take much longer to be made and delivered. So it may be the middle of May or longer before it is ready. But it is exciting nonetheless!

His office is located at 1411 East College Dr, right between the steakhouse and the bowling alley! It should be very easy to find him!

Again we can't thank you enough for all of your support as we have prepared for this next step for our family. God has blessed this process and we all love Marshall so it is exciting to set down real roots and make this town a long-time home for our family and Dominic's business.

Oh Boy, we are in trouble!

 

I was in the front sitting room talking to Gabriel for just a minute, maybe two...and then went into the kitchen and found this.

What happened to my sweet girl that just sat down nicely to play with toys?? Apparently she has figured out how to pull back a chair and climb up that and onto the table to play with the napkins.

We are in trouble!!

 

Of course after I took the picture I had to take her down and tell her no that she couldn't climb....she wasn't happy being told no! But first the table and then what??

 

Any tips for discouraging this kind of climbing??

A "Thirty One" Party!!

I don't do these types of parties very often, but after I attended a Thirty One party last month, I thought it would be fun to have one of my own!! And Ami our Consultant is fairly new to the Marshall area and this is a way for her to meet some of the wonderful people that live here too!!

So this coming Thursday - April 19th, starting at 6pm, we will be having a Thirty One party at my house!!  And I would love it if you could come!  I know that some of you don't live close...but I still wanted to post this open invite and a link to shop online if you are interested!!

This is the lunch bag that I ordered at my last party.

I love that it is insulated so it keeps things cold, and it is the perfect size too!

 

And in April if you spend $31 you can get ANY purse for 1/2 off!! I am really excited about this part. There was a purse that I really wanted and now I can get it for 12/ price!! YAY!!

So if you are available I would love to have you come this Thursday...there will be food and desserts and fun products...and just some good ol' girl time! :) If you don't have and need my address leave me a comment and I will e-mail it to you!

If you can't come but want to take advantage of the great specials they have this month - click here to access the online catalog!

Hope to see you Thursday!!

A Week in Review

Has another week already passed? I meant to post before..during...and after Easter and it just didn't happen. We had a fun weekend with both families. Good meals, 2+ Easter egg hunts and Karlena's first bang trim by our good friend, and old stylist Angie!

Angie always said she wanted to do Karlena's first trim so it was fun to be able to visit Beresford again and catch up with her too!

Elijah really enjoyed looking for eggs this year. My sister had a great idea from a co-worker and had different colored baskets and matching colored eggs for each of the kids. That way we could tell Elijah to just look for the blue eggs and there wasn't fighting between kids!

When we were in Parker I think the kids hid and re-hid the eggs at least 2 times. It turned out to be beautiful weather all weekend!

We had Gabriel's school concert this week. Here in Marshall they just do 1 big concert at the end of the year, instead of one in the winter and the spring.  It was an AMAZING show!

It was just the 2nd grade classes - I think there are 7 of them and they did music and dances and then a musical. Gabriel had a line in the play..."Yeah, like Science" :)  He did a great job - they all did. So very impressed!

And we ended off our week with a PTA carnival at the school. It was packed, but the kids had fun and came home with some candy and prizes!

How was your week? Do you feel like me that the days are just flying by?? I have so much that I want to get done this weekend and I am afraid it can't/won't all happen! Enjoy your weekend friends!!