Blessings

The Lord truly has blessed us. We haven't always chose His path or followed His plan, but throughout everything, He was still guiding our lives and watching out for what was best for us. In 2005 we gave birth to our first daughter. She was perfect in every way and although she wasn't our easiest baby, she wasn't much trouble either. Doug graduated from Morrisville shortly after that and we searched out a career and a place to live. Grandma Benedict had passed away a couple months before and her house was open so after some prayer, we moved back to Doug's hometown. Moving back to his hometown, meant we moved back to his home church also. Very quickly we found ourselves missing the church from Ithaca. We were lacking friendship. Although we loved the preaching and the church family was very warm and inviting, there was really no one our age. Marissa was the only kid and there wasn't any signs of another one joining her. Then the Lord heard our prayers and this little girl came along...
Her parents started coming to our church and Marissa was no longer the only kid. Since then, we have had so many other young people join our church. We have so many young couples and individuals now that its hard for us all to get together and meet in a home because no one has a house that big! There are also plenty of kids, roughly 17 kids with at least one more on the way and a couple others that are trying to join them. Its just such a blessing. Knowing where and how Doug and I started out on our journey together and knowing the path we chose... Yet today here we are He hasn't left our sides once. There are two kids especially at church that our girls have taken to and that is Grace (in the pictures) and Sarah. Grace is almost smack dab in the middle of the girls and Sarah is the same age as Marissa. We had Grace here to play on Friday and it was so much fun watching the girls play. They had a blast and it made me remember that we need to make a habit of doing it more often.
One more blessing...
Before we even got pregnant Doug and I decided that when we got married and started a family, I was going to be a stay at home mom and we were going to home school our kids. Again I felt alone as I felt like I was the only one. Since then 3 other homeschooling families have started coming on a fairly regular basis and I even found out that there was a homeschooling group. There is also at least one couple that is trying to get pregnant that is planning on homeschooling. I still have one more year before I have to worry about it, but it is nice to have stuff kind of put into place before then. There is also a handful of women that are homemakers who I can call and visit when I feel my sanity is at risk! God is good...

One thing I have learned over the past 5 years of my life is that no matter how small or big our "needs" as a family are, the Lord is always there to answer. Maybe not in the way we planned or desired, but He always responds. Whether it be a money issue, a personal need, or a business need, we have never been left standing alone. Philippians 4:19 "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Ok, enough rambling...Madalyn wants some chocolate milk. The day has begun! Hope you all have a great day and beginning of the week.