No Cavities

I was a little concerned about Izzy's first dentist apt. She is def. more dramatic than her brothers, she is full on girl! Hoping it would help I took her the week prior to watch both her brothers get their teeth cleaned...thankfully they did great! I guess they have both been enough now that they are pro's.

Meet the magnificent Ms. Susie!



Little intimidated by the bright light & chair that makes you feel like your falling...



Notice the pig that is under the napkin - he was her comfort, but the light was too bright for his eyes, so he was hiding.

Thankfully Ms. Susie has sunglasses to help



All done! No cavities! Ready to go home with new friend "glove girl" complete with pink ribbon of course :)

Change in scenery

If you have followed my blog long you know that I can't keep the same background more than a few weeks. There are too many FREE choices out there that I like. Just in case you like to do the same....my two favorite websites to get FREE backgrounds are Aqua Poppy Designs and Cutest Blog on the Block.

A different crowd

I get in front of a "crowd" to speak 5 out of 7 days a week, but my normal crowd is different than it was this past Sunday. My normal crowd is none above the age of 3 and no more than 10 at a time. When I tell them something they hang on every word and don't ask twice. If Mrs. Kylie says it's so, then it must be!

For those who do not know, this past Sunday Ben preached at Brook Hills while David was out of town. The text was Deut. 6, but the main focus was on Ben & I's story of moving to East Lake. After Ben spoke for about 25 min. a panel of people came out and were asked some questions. Each person on the panel had something to do with serving in East Lake. Yes, I was on that panel.

It's really weird, you would have thought that I would have been nervous. I thought I would have been. However I really was not. At the 9 o'clock hour I was more nervous than the other services, but it was more that we were running off schedule and time wise were not where we were supposed to be. We all had a time frame and didn't want to exceed our limit.

There were lots of things that I wanted to say, but like I said we were limited on time. I also didn't get to pick the questions that were asked. The crowd this past Sunday isn't like my normal preschool "crowd" where they will take everything I say and believe every word. In this process of telling our story there have been lots of opinions shared. Some uplifting and others not. It really reminds me of when I was preg., esp. with Isabel, even if I didn't know someone it seemed I had a sign on my forehead that said "Please tell me what you think of me being preg. as I already have two little ones by my side". You really learn to grit your teeth and smile.

I know things will not be easy with this move, I'm sure there will be many trials we face. I don't have any expectations, good or bad. I pray for wisdom daily. I am following Ben as the Spiritual leader of our home, but more than that I am following Christ as Lord of my life! A verse that Ben used on Sunday has become one of my favorites as well as my prayer for our lives.

Psalm 67:2
that your way may be known on earth,
your saving power among all nations.

I came to realize that when you are speaking from the heart & you just want to be real with everyone and the focus is not on you, it's on Christ then it's easy to speak in front of even hundreds of people. I pray that people will hear what was said and not let fears of this world inhibit them from sharing the good news of Christ, even if that means it is in a less comfortable environment than they are used to.

Fearful

At times throughout my day I have to admit a hint of fear sometimes hits me. Fear of the unknown of what I'm getting myself into. This move to East Lake is really a big deal and I don't want to take what God is doing in our lives lightly. Hints more fear. I often find myself trying to do things myself and not letting God be in complete control. This move however, I have no control over. I have no control over our house selling. I can't pick what people we will run into once we are there. I am already trying to come to terms with not be able to "fix" all their problems & needs. Everything will depend on God and that means me trusting fully on Him.

I wasn't able to make worship with my faith family last Sunday b/c of a sick child. Thankfully you can download notes & weekly teaching online. The Church at Brook Hills weekly teaching The only thing that was posted at the time I looked was the notes so I printed them out. What an encouragement!

Dr. David Platt
Chapter 8: Fear or Faith?
Numbers 13 - 14

Portrait of the Fearful....

They disregarded the goodness of God
They doubted the greatness of God
They magnified potential problems
They minimized powerful promises
They disobeyed the Word of God
They disqualified themselves from the blessing of God

Portrait of the Faithful...

They believed the goodness of God
They trusted the greatness of God
Where others saw an obstacle, they saw an opportunity
While others worried about man's power, they were confident in God's presence
They obeyed the Word of God
They would experience the blessing of God

What about us?

Will we turn from God and trust in ourselves...
Or will we turn to God and trust in Christ?
Will we sit back in fear of the world...
Or will we step forward with faith in the Word?
Will we waste our lives in routine religion...
Or will we spend our lives in radical devotion?

I want my life to be a portrait of the faithful...how about you?

To do list

Thurs. night the sickness bug hit the DeLoach house yet again. So Friday I took off work and stayed home with Caden & Isabel. Carter still went to school, it was the Boosterthon Fun Run he wasn't about to miss! Since the sickness had hit during the night most of my Friday was consumed with cleaning. Carpets were cleaned, bathrooms were scrubbed, sheets, comforters, blankets, pillows and even the shower curtain had to go through a hot wash cycle in the washing machine.

This is where most of Caden's Friday was spent.



Sat. we woke up to a beautiful day, one we hadn't seen in awhile. The sun was shinning and it was actually warm enough to go outside without a jacket. Since it was a day that we were all home with nowhere we had to be, I got out my to do list. Ben loves my honey do list :) ok, not really, most of the time it just gets longer and longer. It was stuff we HAD to get finished though since we have the house for sale. We washed windows, puttied some nail holes, painted door trim, cleaned the garage, and did a little touch up paint. Of course I had two little helpers right under my heels wanting to help.

So I put them to work helping with the laundry...



and dishes....



It wasn't long before my help had disappeared and I found one outside building a fort with Ben's golf clubs.



and the other just running around pushing her puppy in the stroller. Side note - Yes, she dressed herself and yes pink is our favorite color!



Caden was still a little sickly, but came outside with the rest of us just because he couldn't resist the wonderful weather. He didn't stay long and was back resting on the couch. Luckily this "bug" that he got was only a 24 hr deal, it just left him without any energy for a few days.

Now that it's Sunday night we are getting back into the "grind" and my nightly to do list starts again.

Clothes are laid out...



lunches & snacks are packed....



and juice cups are ready for breakfast...



I think it's going to be a great week.

He is our strength now let us sing for Jesus Christ our risen King!

I can do that

Ben and I are both DIY'ers (Do It Yourself'ers) if that is even a word. I absolutely love to get ideas then go try to make it myself.

For example right before Carter was born I saw some blocks in the Pottery Barn Kids magazine that I absolutely loved. So Ben & I came up with this to go above his crib, which is still hanging today above his big boy twin bed.



Of course I had to make Caden one to match.



With two little boys and 9 months preg. I didn't make Isabel blocks (I ended up buying some), but I did see a picture in Pottery Barn Kids magazine for around $65. When I saw it you know exactly what I said....I can do that!



Same with cakes. Now grant it I usually recruit my sister to come help me, but hey she works for free :) Since my sister wasn't available for this particular cake, a friend helped me out.



Ben is a little higher scale than I am when it comes to making things himself. He wanted pull-up rings to hang in the garage for part of his workout. He bought some PVC pipe, heated it in the oven and made them into rings.



He also enclosed our back porch into a playroom.



I say all that not to bring any creative credit to ourselves. Honestly the biggest reason I (we) are DIY'ers is because I'm cheap. I just can't make myself pay the high prices and everything that I like has a high price tag. Esp. since most of what I like & re-create is from Pottery Barn.

Now with that said, we are again trying to do something ourselves. Yes to save some bucks.



Ben did create a website that has lots of pictures of the house, so if you know of anyone looking for a house in Chelsea tell them about deloachhouse.com.

Change for the DeLoach household

There is a lot that comes to mind when I think of the word change.....new start, clean slate, scary, something different, the unknown. Then the phrase comes to mind, change for the better or worse.

Awhile back, I guess about four months ago now, my husband comes to me after the kids are in bed and asks me the question....what do you think about moving? As I dropped everything that I was doing in total shock of his question my first question was, to where? To which he responded still here in Birmingham, just a different area of town...East Lake. To those of you who do not live in B'ham or even AL for that matter, EL isn't the best area of town. There are better parts than others, but it's an area that has lots of poverty & lots of needs. For example 61% of the children are raised by their grandparents (what we've seen is generally just the grandmothers). EL is not somewhere you would move to have a "better" life for yourself. I use the word "better" as a worldly term - better things, nicer things, those things that are viewed great by us sinful people of this world.

My first response to moving was, BUT we haven't lived in this house long AND we just got a really nice privacy fence in the backyard AND we're in a great school system AND we live close to great stores & restaurants AND we have great neighbors AND then I said it...the big "C" word, I'm very comfortable here. As soon as I said it I wanted to take it back, I knew right then that a for sale sign would be in our yard not long after our conversation. Not that we aren't supposed to be comfortable, but we are to care for those who are in poverty. I know for me personally living in this nice house in my "280 world" I get caught up in my comfort and don't go & serve & spread the gospel like I am commanded. James 1:27. Again for those of you not from B'ham, "280 world" means Hwy 280. This is where we live currently and it has wonderful shops, restaurants, and some of the richest neighborhoods in the city.

Yes the thought of moving to an unknown area of town that will not be as comfortable as I currently am now is scary. The unknown, which we would experience anywhere we moved, is more scary to me than the area of town we'll be living in. I have been serving on a monthly basis (Ben more than that) in East Lake and the more I'm there & the more I get to know the people the less scary it seems. I'm not a person that really likes lots of change, but a couple of years ago I told God, my life is yours do with it as you please so that I may live so that You get the glory. Who am I to pick and choose what I do for God's glory? I'm either committed fully or not. If that means being a little scared of the unknown and of what God has called us to do then that's ok. After lots of conversations & tears I can honestly say that I'm excited about the for sale sign in our yard. I'm excited about that fact that we will be making serving & sharing our life and not just something that we have to fit into our already busy schedule. Even if it does means that change is required and nothing is going to be the same as it once was in our comfortable lifestyle. A verse that I quote daily is Joshua 1:9 "be strong and brave! Don’t be afraid and don’t panic, for I, the Lord your God, am with you in all you do."

I praise God for a husband that is a spiritual leader of our home and who loves God more than he loves me. And, in that, I am deeply loved.