Another Change... God's mercies are new EVERY day.. Great is Thy Faithfulness

Well, It has been very very long since I have blogged.. WOW.. The changes in our lives and family over the last 3 1/2 years are numerous and we thank God for His continued faithfulness in our lives.  Without Him how lost we would be!
First off, we have a big change.. We no longer live in McAdam.. Our church in McAdam closed in October 2015. This was for sure a time of testing for all of us but God was faithful to us even in that time. We saw Him provide in so many unexpected ways are it was a great time of learning for our family. We were certainly not expecting 8 months of Dan being unemployed but we never went without anything and were blessed with special things.. 
God has brought us here:

 This is the view from our new home. We now live in Wood Point,New Brunswick and have a precious little church here.  We are so thankful..

Backing up a little our family has also had quite a bit of loss over the past year or so. In March of 2015 my precious Grandfather was finally reunited with my Grandmother in Heaven. We were so thankful for being close to him in recent years and our children being able to really get to know and love this precious man

6 Months later we were faced with the sudden loss of Dan's father.  It was not expected and so hard to say Goodbye for now ... 

As you can see from the above picture taken almost 2 years ago, our babies aren't babies anymore.   Karyss is a young lady now entering her final year of high school and tomorrow she will turn 17!!! In the picture below she is holding something VERY special. It is an award given to her as Manager of the year for her work with the Volleyball team.. They specifically pointed to her honesty and trustworthiness.. WOW!! What a beautiful testimony to hear about your child. We are so proud of her. 

 And Riley, my sweet baby boy... Not a baby any more... He is 9 years old now and entering grade 4. I do not know where the time has gone... 

 He is still my goofy little boy though as you can see!

It has been hard for my kids as we have moved from 3 years in the same place, at the same school. Both of them had really started to settle in and make friends

 So , where do we go from here? How do we TRUST again? How do we settle in to the new life God has given us??  I think the main thing we have learned through all of this is that we have to remember God's faithfulness to us.  Have there been hard times? YES!! Have we struggled? YES! Have we wanted to quit? YES!! Has God EVER left us? ...... NO! NEVER!  God has been there every step, in Every change, in every turn of our lives.. God has been there. These are the things we are rehearsing with our kids as often as we can. We are reminding them of God's goodness to us, HIS faithfulness to us and His great mercy to us when we doubt. 
As we "start over" again, we know that God has a great plan for us.  We are constantly learning. Constantly changing and growing . Our prayer is to be a testimony of HIS goodness to us.  and that our children and family can see that as we carry on serving HIM

 

First Day of Spring in McAdam

 WOW! What a change a year makes.. I am pretty sure this is not the weather we were seeing on the first day of Spring last year in Georgia!  

Lots of snow and as I sit here typing this it is still coming down.  Schools are closed all over and my children are having a late start because I have decided to let them sleep in a little bit.

Here is where I am today:

So blessed to be able to enjoy the warmth of a home that God has provided for us. Enjoying a cup of coffee and some precious quiet time. I may not enjoy the snow in any way but I am thankful for the protection God has given us and that He sometimes alters our plans to draw us to HIM and to cause us to take some time to just "Be Quiet" and listen for His teaching and leading in our life.
So for this morning I am going to do just that. Sit here by the fire and take some time to just "Be Quiet".

Join me?????

I miss you Nanny B!

I have been spending a lot of time today thinking about my Grandmother.  She has been such an influence on my life and even though in less than two weeks it will be 8 years since she passed away (March 25, 2005),I will never forget the time she spent with me and the lessons I learned from her. 

  She was precious and patient and she gave so much to others. When my mom was young and my grandfather had to go fight in the war leaving my grandmother with two small children, she did all she could to support her family. She ran a store out of the front of her home and after she passed away we heard stories from people who came into the store as children and she would just give them food for their lunches... never expecting money in return. She was wonderful with children and would have done anything for any child. She ALWAYS played with us when we were kids. ALWAYS.. After we ate .. And it was ALWAYS DELICIOUS and homemade.. no mixes for her!... she would gather the kids and we would play games.. It was such a precious time. When she would visit us she would always go out on walks with us. I really enjoyed the time she took with me and how she patiently would listen to my "drama".. I am sure the things I was worried about were really ridiculous and inconsiquential but she was so patient with me and gave me such wonderful advice. 
I miss her so much now. There are so many things I wish I could ask her and so much wisdom I wish I could seek from her.. I am glad for the days I had with her before Altzheimer's stole her away from me. I know someday in Heaven I will see her and be able to ask my questions and just spend time with her but I wish I had valued the time more when she was here with me.

 

As we continue to adjust to our brand new life in small town Canada, I know it is taking its toll on all of us but there are advantages. It has snowed a LOT here since we have moved and for some reason snow makes me want to bake.. Isn't that weird? Anyway, here are some photos of yummy things I have been able to have time to make on some of those days:

Yummy Carrot raisin muffins

Whole wheat chocolate chip cookies.. These were especially delicious . I may never go back to making regular ones again.

Whole wheat rolls. I have been making these a LOT to take to people as well. I like them because they have molasses and honey instead of sugar. YUMMY!!

 

 

 

 

 

 I have also recently made cinnamon rolls, chocolate chip cookie bars, and two kinds of squares but I don't have pictures of those. I keep telling Dan snow is not a terrible thing.. especially when I get in the mood to bake yummy stuff :-D

Anyway, that is one of the things that I have enjoyed being here. There is lots more but I think one thing to share today is good. God is good to us all the time. I am so thankful for where HE has led us. I want to continue to follow HIM. .

New Home, New Country, New Job, New Life

It has again been ages since I have posted on here. I am really going to try to get going on this again. I think it helps me to take this time, if for no other reason, to focus on what God has done and where He has brought us.
In January God took us from the home we loved and were comfortable in in Georgia to a brand new place in McAdam, New Brunswick, Canada. Sometimes God really needs to pick us up literally and take us out of our comfort zone. That is what he did for us. We were in Georgia for a long time and we knew that God was prompting us to move on but we wanted our own way. We were comfortable. We found out in July that we would have to find something else. We knew about this church but we never expected it would wind up being exactly what God had planned for us. I am so glad that God doesn't give up on us. He keeps calling and directing and leading and guiding us until we finally follow. That is not to say there are not twists and wrong turns along the way but ultimately if we seek HIM he will guide us to His perfect will.
Here is a little of HIS perfect will we have found so far..

The door of our new home.. God provided a Parsonage for us to live in. Complete with 3 bedrooms :_D

 
   Lots of snow and cold weather for our Southern kids to enjoy winter activities (And mom too sometimes)

Happy kids.. They are adapting to the changes sooo very well

 One of the most important things is that we are all together. This sign is hard to read here but it hangs on our bedroom door and it says 

"FAMILY: All because two people fell in love"
So thankful for God's grace and leading.