What My Boys are Made of...

Grass stained jeans.
Dirty fingernails.
Constant hunger.
Cardboard guns.
Saturday morning cartoons.
Bruises and scrapes.

Tossing footballs.
Dirty, bare feet.
Lego creations.
Peanut butter and jelly.
Nerf gun wars.
Wrestling.
Bicycles and skateboards.
Newfound acne.
Tree climbing.
Stinky socks.
Adventure books.
And GREAT BIG BEAUTIFUL HEARTS!

Spilling Sin

Again. Really, AGAIN?

The ugliness of my own sin makes me cringe to admit that it happens not so often

FAR. TOO. OFTEN.

I watched them, those words of sin,
spilling from my wretched mouth.

Nearly as soon as they came tumbling out
 I longed to shove them back in.

To swallow them hard and to choke on them
if that's what it takes.
Lord, help me be a women of few words.
Help me season them with mercy and grace.

^"Words from the mouth of a wise man are gracious,

while the lips of a fool consume him."

Ecclesiastes 10:12

Romans...The Depth of His Great Love

If you had asked me a couple of weeks ago what my favorite book of the Bible was I would have said James. I don't know why...I am weird I guess. Not that James is so uplifting, really it is disturbingly challenging. BUT lately I have been dwelling and soaking in the book of Romans and I am falling in LOVE. I've read it many times before but isn't it like GOD to put you right where you need to be for a moment or a season.

I need Romans and I find it filling the depths of my heart with HIS great love. We, so undeserving, so sinful, so full of our own selfish, prideful flesh. Yet, He, so full of GRACE and immense love that He purposefully lavishes upon us. I know nothing sweeter and I am in awe of such a wonderful savior.

Getting Older

Today is my 38th birthday. Weird. When you are a kid you think 38 is SO old. Although I am "feeling" 38 more than previous birthdays (it seems so close to 40) many days I still feel like a kid myself. Honestly, there are those days that I look at my husband and boys and wonder how did I get here? How is it possible that I have been married to this man of mine for nearly 15 years? How is it possible that I have two sons in Junior High this year? Funny how life just sneaks by and you find yourself looking back wondering where have so many hours, days, months, years gone.

After Africa

You may have noticed that I changed the name of my blog from After Africa to Grace"FULL" Moments. I felt it was time. After Africa hung almost like a question in the air. Me wondering Lord now what? What is after Africa? I am not sure what the answer is honestly other then living in the moment which I am finding FULL of HIS GRACE which helps me be present with Him here, now.

One Simple Lesson this Year

Today marks one year since we left our life in Mozambique to return to the States. I can't believe it has been that long already. It has been a year of me trying to learn one simple lesson. I am a very slow learner. God knows my struggle. Being content right where He has called me to. I trust, because I know He knows. If I am confident He has called us to stay in the States for now (which I believe) then to be constantly thinking, dreaming of and hoping to return is not being content in the place I am now. It is a delicate balance to be sure. I do not want to forget Mozambique or those there or the things God taught me while there. I have fears of becoming the typical "American." I teeter on the edge of becoming consumed with things I do not feel are close to the heart of God. There is only so much Walmart, malls, restaurants can fill. There is always that longing deep within meant to filled by only Him. Maybe there lies the real challenge for me. Perhaps that is the real growing I need to do. Here, in this land of good and plenty, where I find it difficult to put off the things of the world, to not become distracted but instead remain focused on HIM alone. Resting in His leading for the moment. Not trying to be somewhere else. Not looking to a place or a person or even a calling to find contentment. But deciding in HIM alone, He is enough. Truly more than enough.

Stone of Remembrance...

JULY 22nd

The date came and went like it did every year.
Just another day to most but not in our family.
July 22nd marks the day that our youngest son, Nate, fell in a well in Africa and SURVIVED.
Not only did he survive, God rescued Him and then went on to heal him.
Like God commanded the Israelites in Joshua 4
His faithfulness and deliverance is always something worth remembering.