~ Growing Through Our Children ~

We spent the last weekend celebrating the birthday of our oldest son, Ben. My how time flies! It is hard for me to believe that he is already 15 years old. As any parent does, I spent the week before his birthday reliving those precious times of his life. What sweet memories I have of him that I will always cherish. You see, his birth was a time of celebration but also of great healing in my life. I knew as a young girl that I wanted to be a mother. I loved everything about babies and would babysit any chance I could get! When Matt and I got married, it wasn’t long after that we were ready to start our family. That was our plan! God’s plan, however, took a much different route than ours.

Our family didn’t begin when we thought we were ready, it began at the time God knew we were ready. As a young married couple, we had to face trials and sufferings, that I believe now, shaped our marriage and made us learn to love each other in the way God intended. As all young married couples, we thought it would be so easy to start our family. That was not the case! After years of trying, doctor’s visits, heartache, and pain, we did finally hear the words that were music to our ears…. you’re pregnant! What an exciting time only to learn that 5 weeks later we would mourn the loss of that child. That brought devastation to my soul. In the months that followed that loss, God began redirecting our paths. He relocated us out of town and began to grow our marriage like never before. This became a time of healing, physically, emotionally, and spiritually! God was strengthening our marriage in a place away from everyone and everything we had known and we began to see God in a mighty way! We knew that God was doing a work in our lives and we were going to accept the task before us!

About nine months after our loss, we were surprised and ecstatic to learn that we were pregnant again! I have to be honest when I tell you that I was scared to death! Yes, I was excited, but scared to think of going through that pain again. Month after month our baby continued to grow and so did our souls! During that pregnancy, God would continually bring this verse of scripture to my heart,

Phil. 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

It was a comfort to know that God is going to complete the work in us that he started and we, no matter what came our way, were going to be okay!

On August 6, 1996, at 10:28 in the morning, we welcomed our beautiful son, Benjamin Matthew Jordan! All 10 pounds, 1 ounce of him! He was prefect and he truly was a gift from our God! As I stared at his little face, just in awe of our awesome Lord, I could sense God’s healing power in my life. Not just because he gave me the child I had prayed for, but because of the healing he did in my life through the whole experience. He is AMAZING GOD!

Over the last 15 years, I have seen our son grow in so many ways! He is such a joy! He is the child that gave me the title of “mother” but we also grew together. I was learning how to be a mother and he was learning how to walk and talk, etc. Matt and I clung to the scripture in Deuteronomy early in our parenthood in raising our children.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”

We knew that a home without Jesus Christ is a home that will fail. Raising our son in the ways of God is such a blessing. Being able to open God’s Word and share with him those dear truths and promises has been incredible. Parenting is not always easy, but the rewards of seeing your children walk in truth are beyond anything I could ever fathom! Watching him grow as a young child asking questions about God and seeing the Lord nurturing his heart was priceless. The night that Ben came to us and knew he needed Jesus in his life was a moment that we will never forget! We, his earthly parents, were able to kneel beside his bed and hear him ask Jesus into his heart and commit his life to his Savior! Praise God! I am watching my son develop into a man that loves his Lord! He is growing closer to his Heavenly Father and is learning and nurturing his own personal relationship with his Lord! I am so proud of him and the paths he is taking. Will he make mistakes? Of course, I make plenty myself! But the truths we want to continue to instill is that when we make those mistakes, that we go to God first and lean on his Word to guide and direct our lives. We are to seek his forgiveness and follow his commands. That is how we learn and grow!

I praise God for the blessing of Ben! He continues to amaze us everyday by his love for God, his love for people, and his generous and nurturing spirit. I am honored that God chose me to be his mom and I am thankful that God took me through such uncomfortable and painful times because my relationship with God grew, my relationship with my husband grew, and we had the foundations set in our home to welcome the blessing of children!

3 John 1:4 “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.”

Allison

~ Tell Me Again! ~

Caleb loves for me to tell him the story of how he came into our family! Several times a week I hear that sweet little voice say, “Tell me again, mommy!” So I start at the beginning and go all the way through our flight to China on a big airplane, touring through the towns seeing where he was from, and finally, walking into the Civil Affairs room, so excited with butterflies in our stomachs, and hearing our name called and as we turned around there he was! Our sweet little Caleb, so scared, walking with his nanny, a cracker in one hand and the teddy bear we had sent him months before in the other hand. As I picked up my precious boy I just melted because he was “home”! He was in mommy and daddy’s arms, right where God wanted him to be! A beautiful moment! I tell him how much mommy, daddy, Ben, and Callie love him and how God made us a family! He smiles so big and a peace comes over him to know just how much he is loved!

You know, that is exactly how I feel when I think about how much my Savior loves me! What peace there is in knowing that no matter what, he loves me with a never-ending, unconditional love! That makes me want to shout! (And out here in the country on my front porch, I have shouted a few times! Lol!) His love for me is deeper than the ocean, wider than the sea and taller than the tallest mountain!

Psalm 36:5 “Your love, LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.”

I guess it can be hard to fathom a love like that but God’s Word is clear when it talks about his love for us:

I John 4:9-10 “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

There are many verses in Scripture that account for God’s amazing love for us! I’m sure I could fill up several pages with precious verses that bring me comfort! What a blessing it is to open his love letter to me and read over and over again the beautiful stories of how he loved me enough to sacrifice his life for me. I love to read how he cares for me and will never leave me! I love to read of the many promises he has made and you know, it brings a gentle peace over my soul and joy to my heart! I hear myself calling over and over again to him, “Tell me again, Daddy!”

As a child of God we are blessed to have the assurance in his Word! We have that sweet fellowship of our prayer time to converse with our Creator and express to him how much we love him! What an honor!

This morning as I sit on my front porch and watch the deer across the field graze for their breakfast, I am again in awe of my Lord! In the peace and serenity of the moment I praise him for all he has done and all that is yet to come. My front porch has become a place of worship for me this summer! A place to soak in the very presence of my Lord and give him praise for his glorious love and mercy! A place to be reminded over and over that he is in control! A place where his glory dwells!

Psalm 26:8 “LORD, I love the house where you live, 
the place where your glory dwells.”

So, as I go about my day, I will dwell on his love that is so abounding, I will talk of his goodness, and I will praise his name because he is so worthy! And when times allow, I will sit at his beautiful feet and say, “Tell me again, Daddy!” because it will never get old hearing of his love for me!

Have a blessed day in the Lord!

Allison

~ Be An Encourager ~

Have you ever thought about how your words, whether spoken or unspoken, affect another person? Well, it is no secret how much I love my family. I speak of them often and I thank God every second for the blessings I have in my husband and three kiddos. God uses them in a lot of my “teachable moments” and grows me in ways that stretch and reshape my life. I praise him so much for that!

My kids are fortunate enough to have both sets of their grandparents here in the same town. They get to see them quite a bit and that is such a treat for them. They also get the privilege to spend the night with them from time to time and be spoiled as grandparents love to do. I am so grateful for the time they have with their grandparents!

The other day, the kids spent the night with their grandparents and I called to talk to them. I love hearing each one of their sweet voices on the phone! When Caleb got on the phone the first thing he did was ask, “Are you having a good day at work, mommy?” Well, of course, that blessed my soul! Here my precious little 7-year-old is asking me how I am doing. It made me stop and think of how many times I get wrapped up in my own “things” that I forget about all the people around me who may just need a word of encouragement.

I am so blessed to be surrounded by a family of encouragers! We really try to find ways to encourage each other in our home. I love leaving my husband love notes in his car or suitcase as he travels and sneaking notes in the kids lunchboxes or under pillows. My husband is always quick to leave me a note or an unexpected text message just to tell me he loves me, my teenage son, Ben, will come through the kitchen as I cook and give his mama a big “bear hug” and say “love ya, mom”, my sweet Callie-boo writes me letters and even sneaks notes on my phone to tell me all the things she loves about her mom, and little Caleb, just smiles and says “I love you mom, you look beautiful.” What a sweet aroma to the soul!

As Caleb offered me that encouragement the other day, I wondered how many times I have missed an opportunity to offer that encouragement to someone in need. You know, our words can be a powerful thing, but also our lack of words can be just as powerful. I admit that there are times that I am so distracted by life that I have missed an opportunity to be the word of encouragement that a person needs. Sometimes it could be as easy as just stopping, paying attention, and offering a smile. Think of a time when you were having “one of those days” and someone encouraged you. Think of how that brightened your day! We can all be encouragers and take after the Master Encourager, Jesus! He has given us a whole Book of encouragement and we can share that with others!

We are in a day and time when tough times seem to be the “norm”, but what power we have to make a difference in the lives of others. That power is the gift of encouragement!

Proverbs 12:25 “Anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up.”

I have been challenged this week to be more aware of times that I need to encourage others. I thank God for his sweet gift of my family and their encouragement but I also thank him for reminding me to love others through my encouragement. He has set the example by loving me so much and I want to imitate that love and encourage others!

Ephesians 5:1-2 “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

So as we begin our day, may we all be encouragers and love those in our paths!

Blessings~

Allison

~ Laughter In the Air ~

I have really enjoyed spending lots of time with my kids this summer! We spent a fun ten days in Orlando, but most of our time has been right here at home just relishing in the comfort that is HOME! During the busyness of the school year (which we are NOT ready for yet), time at home is not as accessible so we are enjoying this precious time. One thing I have really treasured this summer is the sound of my children’s laughter. Wow! Though I have heard it many times, because we laugh a lot in this house, the joyful sounds of their laughter really are music to my ears. Each of my children’s laughter is very different but when I hear them, I praise God for it! Our family dinner times are a lot of fun! When I grew up in a family of five kids, dinner times were a hoot! I recall macaroni noodles being flicked off of forks seeing if they would stick to the ceilings and lots of laughter. Well, now the dinner table at my home is becoming the same special time (minus the macaroni noodles flying through the air!). We use that precious time to enjoy each other and laugh! It is not a time to see how much etiquette we have, though manners are important, but a time to enjoy each other and the uniqueness that makes us family!

Have you ever noticed when someone is laughing it begins to be contagious? I remember a YouTube video going around with a group of baby quadruplets lying on the bed with their mom just giggling and cackling. That is all it was but anyone who watched it found themselves laughing along. It was adorable! I have realized that people are so busy and stressed lately that they forget to laugh. We are in a day and age that is very difficult. It is hard to even cut on the television or radio without being bombarded with depressing news of where this world has gone. What I do know with all certainty is that God is in control! That in itself brings such comfort to my soul! During these uncertain times, we need to be more consistent with finding the blessings right in front of us. So many times we miss opportunities to celebrate and rejoice because we get wrapped up in the negative things in our paths. God’s Word says:

Psalm 118:24 “This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

Every day is a day to rejoice to the Maker and Giver of that day! Life is so precious! It truly is a gift from Almighty God and finding the blessings, make the day even sweeter. I have rediscovered three beautiful blessings this summer in a new way. That is my children’s laughter! Though it was there all along and I have always enjoyed it, I have listened with fresh ears and a renewed spirit! Priceless!

I am so thankful to my Heavenly Father for alerting my spirit to many things this summer! Things that have been there all along but have a newness that is refreshing to my soul! I praise him for his mercies, which are new every day! I encourage you to rediscover laughter and enjoy the beauty of this life that God has blessed us with! Listen to your kids as they laugh and laugh along with them! Find ways to celebrate life! Life in Christ is worth living for and worth celebrating!

Psalm 96:11-12 “Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; 
let the sea resound, and all that is in it. Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them; let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.”

Is God Really Enough?

I know my blog has been pretty quiet over the last few weeks as I have been out of town for the better part of a month now. It really has been an amazing month with such sweet time with my sisters and then a wonderful vacation with my hubby and kiddos to Disney for an awesome reunion with our China family! Though my blog has been quiet, that doesn’t mean that God hasn’t been teaching me quite a few things, to say the least. If I had a computer keyboard hooked up to my heart I think I could have written a novel with all the truths he is showing me from his Word. Lol! Upon our arrival home from vacation, I got the word that my dear cousin, Lea Ellen had gone on to be with Jesus. I spent the next couple of days celebrating her life with our family in Virginia and was reminded of how precious life really is. Through her 42 years on this earth, physically she endured so much. Never being able to walk and run and do the many things that we take for granted every day, but to think that she is up in heaven with my Jesus running and dancing brings such a smile to my face. I praise God that she is healed and whole right now and I look forward to the day that I will see her again!

Over the last month of jet-setting and family fun time, God continued to teach me valuable lessons. My prayer will always be to remain teachable so that through any and every circumstance I “get” exactly what he wants me to see to ensure that my strength and dependence remains in him and him alone! Over time, I will Lord willing, share with you many of the special moments that have taken place during this last month. I don’t want to forget any of them so I love to journal as a way to keep them embedded in my heart and mind.

One thing that God kept bringing to my heart over the last few weeks is the question, “Am I really enough for you?” I won’t go into all the details of why this question kept coming up, but I will say that this last year has been a time of real growing in my faith in a lot of different areas. God has been doing a work in my life and my faith has been tested. This question when you first look at it is easy to answer. “Well, of course God, you are enough for me.” But when times of trial emerge, can we still answer with all certainty, “Yes, God, you are enough for me.” I can’t even begin to tell you how I love studying through Scripture. The pages just come alive for me like never before! His Word says,

“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12

That is so TRUE! His Word penetrates to the depths of my soul and I long to stay right there and continue to immerse myself deeper and deeper!

Through my Christian walk, there have been many trials come and go, and many more still to come. I thank him for his Word that is the “go-to” book for every issue that comes forth. There are many times we don’t know why we go through certain things and we just want them to end but God allows those things to happen for a reason and it is not for us to ask “why” but to stay steadfast on him for the strength to make it through. Our human natures want to figure it all out and “fix it”. That is where I am! But, oh, how my gracious Father has reminded me that he is enough for me. My hope, my trust, my faith, is in him alone and I desire to learn and grow through the trials. Now here is the hard part (yes, it gets harder! Lol!) I am going to rejoice through the trials and praise my God through it all!

James 1:2-8 says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.”

You see; these times of trial are opportunities for us to grow toward our Father. Times to mature and grow in wisdom. Are they easy? No! Absolutely not! But praise God that he is with us through it all. In the midst of the trials are when we really have to face the question, “Is God really enough for me?” When we don’t understand and things really don’t make sense in our human eyes, is God enough for you?

There was a song we sang years ago by the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir that really ministered to me. The words are a beautiful prayer to God and I find myself singing this to my Lord even now. I encourage you to look this song up but here are the lyrics:

Jehovah Jireh, my provider

You're more than enough for me.

Jehovah Rapha, You're my healer,

by Your stripes, I have been set free.

Jehovah Shamma, You are with me

and You supply all of my needs;

You are more than enough,

You are more than enough,

You are more than enough for me.

Dear Abba Father, your grace is sufficient for me; your power is made perfect in my weakness. I thank you for your never-ending love and your comfort during the times we don’t understand. You never promised that this life would be easy but you did promise that you would never leave us nor forsake us and that you would give us everything we need to make it through. I thank you for the trials, I thank you for Word, I thank you for your sweet fellowship through prayer, and I thank you for your comforting presence! Lord, you are good and your mercy endures forever! No matter what comes my way, I praise you and I say with confidence to you my precious Savior, that YOU are enough for me!

The Beautiful Bond of Sisters

“Mom, she’s touching me”, “Mom, tell her to get out of my room”. Well, these were a couple of the phrases that came out of our mouths as four sisters growing up together! If you have siblings you know exactly what I am talking about here! Ha-ha! I was the youngest in a family of five children with three sisters that were 4, 6, and 8 years older than me. Growing up I always admired my sisters. They were beautiful and so cool, but we weren’t best friends. I guess with the age difference they were in college or married by the time I started high school and we didn’t have a lot in common. We definitely had some crazy times in our home!

When I look at the relationship I have with my sisters now, it just warms my heart! God has truly blessed me with the most beautiful sisters inside and out! I just came back from a wonderful trip with two of my sisters and we had a great time laughing and cutting up together. To have that time away from the every day stresses and enjoy being together was such a priceless gift (throw some shopping in there and you can't go wrong, lol!)! I couldn’t help but think of how blessed I am to have them in my life. The older we get, the closer we become. My sisters, all three of them, have become the best friends I have ever had! Though God has taken us to many different places and paths, our bond remains so strong. I look at each one of my beautiful sisters and see their love of our God and the wonderful mothers they are and my soul is touched. I know that any second of the day I can call them up and they will be there for me. More importantly I know that my sisters are lifting me up in prayer and that is the best gift they could ever give me.

We have seen each other through a lot over the years. The loss of a child, cancer, parenting struggles, family moves, and many other obstacles, but we have stood by each other through it all. There have been many tears shed and lots of laughter shared but the times we talk about what God is doing in our lives and pray together are the most precious times of all. God is doing a mighty work in each of us and our lives are for his glory alone!

I am so thankful for these beautiful women in my life!

Amy, Stephanie, and Leslie, you inspire me! Thank you for being such godly examples in my life and encouraging me to remain obedient in the paths that God is leading me. I am honored to be your sister and your friend. I love you all!

Proverbs 31:29 “Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.”

~ Loyalty to Our Master ~

I think I have one of the craziest dogs alive! Louie, our Golden Retriever, is truly “one-of-a-kind”! Right after we moved back from our time in Florida, Ben and Callie were begging for a dog. We had a great big, fenced in, back yard now and they were dying for a “four-legged friend” to run around with. I am not a huge animal lover, but I do like dogs. Having animals is a huge responsibility and of course most of that responsibility rests on mom’s shoulders. After much begging and pleading on their part, Matt and I gave in and decided to get a dog. Then we had to make a decision on what kind of dog to get, big or small. I, of course, was all for a small dog but everyone else didn’t care, they just wanted a dog.

One of Matt’s co-workers at the time lived in Greenville, SC and had a 4-month-old Golden Retriever puppy that he was training. He was struggling because he and his wife both travelled so much and were leaving their little puppy at the kennel quite a bit. They decided to find a family that would love on this dog and make them part of their family. Well, guess which family that was? Lol! They drove up from Greenville and let us meet “Louie” and the kids fell in love with him instantly. He was not a little, tiny, puppy. At 4-months-old he was already bigger than Callie! But he was super sweet and already trained very nicely, which I was excited about! So there we were, dog owners! Over the last 5 ½ years that Louie has been part of our family, he has really proved to be a “one-of-a-kind”!

It is funny how I am not the one that really wanted a dog, but he sure does stay right at my feet. Matt calls me the “Dog Whisperer”! lol! Louie follows me around and even sleeps right on my bathroom floor or at my bedside. One of the funniest things Louie does, is that he will not eat his food unless someone is in the kitchen with him as he eats. It doesn’t matter how long it has been since he has eaten, he will not stay in there by himself. I try to sneak out of the room but he will just follow me out and leave the food he was just feasting on. Crazy! That really shows what a loyal dog he is. Even now as I type, he is sitting at my feet on the front porch.

I began to think of our loyalty to our Master. Are we so loyal and in love with our Master that we long to be at his feet? Do we need him there as we feast on everyday life no matter how bad we want something? Do we overlook how busy we are or how distracted we are and just sit at Jesus’ feet?

The story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10 is another one of my favorite “teachable moments”. Wow! You have Martha busy in the kitchen trying to be the “hostess with the most-ess” and then there is Mary, I can just picture it now, sitting right at Jesus’ feet grasping at every word that comes out of his mouth. Why? Because she knew this was her Master and the preparations could wait. What he had to say and being in his presence was exactly where she needed to be at that moment. There is power at the feet of our Master! I get a little tickled when I think about Martha running around getting everything together probably just a grumbling under her breath that she is doing all the work and Mary is just sitting there being lazy. Ha-ha!

Finally, she had enough and went to Jesus and said in verse 40,“Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

I love it! Growing up in a house with three sisters, there were a lot of those statements to our parents! Lol! Martha’s intentions were to have everything in order, but Mary’s intentions were for the soul. She was so loyal and in love with her Master that it didn’t matter to her what else was going on, she was grasping the moment of being in his presence. I love what Jesus response was to Martha in verses 41 and 42. “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Mary has chosen what is better! In this day and age of being so extremely busy, God has really shown me to slow down and sit at his feet. This has been a hard thing for me because my life, especially over the last five or six years, has been a whirlwind of busyness. But when you sit at your Master’s feet and listen intently to what he is trying to tell you, you realize that there is no better place to be! It caused a lot of soul-searching about priorities and reevaluating where I needed to be and what I needed to be doing. My life is for my Master! Listening, obeying, and allowing him to remove things in my life has been a, sometimes painful, but, necessary part of growing in him. We all have areas in our lives that are taking away time from sitting at our Master’s feet. The question is, are you going to allow God to remove the areas that need to be removed, as painful as that can be, or are you going tell God that you are too busy and these things can’t be removed? Are you going to be a Martha, (“But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.” Luke 10:42) or are you going to be a Mary? (“Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said.” Luke 10:39) These are questions that I have had to confront in my own life and feel as though many need to be asking themselves the same questions. Dig deep and be honest about what your real priorities are. That is where it begins!

I think we can all learn a thing or two from our furry little friends and their loyalties to their masters, but the bigger lesson comes from dying to self (Luke 9:23,“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”) and putting our Master and his desires in the forefront of our lives!

Lord, what an honor and a privilege to sit at your feet! As I listen and cast all the distractions of everyday life aside, your voice is what I long for. Just being in your presence is the fuel I need to continue the work you have begun in my life. My desire is to continually sit at your feet as you guide and direct me through this beautiful journey of life. May I always be ready and prepared to obey your will as you pour out your Spirit on me. Lord, give me the strength to resist temptation as unnecessary busyness begins to creep in and follow the example of Mary as she was at total peace at your precious feet. My loyalty is to my Master, my Savior, because you are the Giver of Life!

Your Child,

Allison