New every morning!

 

Lamentations 3:22&23
22 Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
23 They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.

Hallelujah!

Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things.
Luke 24:46-48

according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him.
Ephesians 3:11-12

For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ...
Ephesians 3:14

"Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns."
Revelation 19:5-7

Happy 1st Birthday Grace!

My gift
It was one year ago today that I received a most precious gift. A gift that has brought me immeasurable joy, endless hugs and giggles, and to my knees in prayer.
A doll
An angel
A precious gift of life
A girl

I stumble as I try to sum up this year and what this precious life means to me...words are inadequate.
She has changed me.

My year
Anticipation, excitement, initial joy, concern, struggle, panic, a rush to the hospital, a long stay, a diagnosis, sadness, a surgery, release...relief, home, family life begins, hope, joy, Dr's visits, therapy, prayer, a milestone met, laughter, sitting up, "Mama", teeth, giggles, playing with brother, "Dada", peek a boo, a gift, our gift.

My Grace
I love...
that she smiles with her whole face
the way she looks at me
when she buries her face on my shoulder
when she lifts her arms to be held
when she talks to me
the way her face lights up when she sees daddy
when she does something she is proud of
when she laughs at Gavin
her hair
her four silly teeth
that I see Jesus' craftsmanship in her
that she lights up my day with an instant smile every morning
what she adds to our family
her chubby little legs
her happiness
that I get to be her mommy

Happy First Birthday Gracie Goo!!!!!

Happy 4th Birthday Gavin!!

This morning we couldn't wait to wake Gavin up to celebrate his 4th birthday. I'm surprisingly emotional thinking about how much joy this child has brought into our lives. He is fun, witty, tall, adorable, loves to run, energetic, loving, kind, thoughtful, and smart like his daddy. I could go on and on. As a mom, I am so grateful that Jesus gave me such a wonderful child. I am so blessed to get to be around him everyday. Besides he makes me laugh constantly!
This morning we opened the door to find a box of donuts with a cluster of balloons and a card with a link to Gavin's special birthday song. Just this morning I was thinking about how Patsy always played a special birthday song for her boys every year and how we should do that for Gavin. But what would his song be??? Well, here was our answer. We laughed so hard we cried. This is one of Gavin's best friends singing a birthday song that she made up all by herself. Hang on, it gets really good!
It is so wonderful to have friends that love and celebrate our son like we do! :)


Love you!!

Our work in progress

Someday I plan to print and bind this blog into a photo album. So not only is this a great outlet for me, a way to connect with friends and family, it's also my form of scrap booking. :) So these pictures might only be for me eventually...but I thought I would share since we posted before pictures of our house last year.
We still have a million projects we want to do and things aren't quite finished...but let's face it...it will always be like that. We love where we live, feel so blessed, and everyday we enjoy what God has given to us.

Here is the bathroom we worked on this week and are close to finishing...


Our living space

I love how Gavin is playing with Grace in this picture.


Daddy in the kitchen!

An all day bike ride!

This Saturday we had ABSOLUTELY nothing planned! Hallelujah! It was so much fun to wake up and wonder what was in store. So here it goes...
9:30am-We decide a bike ride would be perfect. The weather is absolutely gorgeous and a chance for Gavin to get his wiggles out makes it the perfect family activity.
11:00am-We realize there is no way Grace is going to fit in the bike seat we have...she is WAY too small.
1pm-Josh and Gavin are back from Chino Hills picking up a bike trailer for Grace (and eventually baby boy). Thank you Craigslist! We quickly realize a nap is going to be crucial for a successful bike ride.
3:30pm-Nap time is over and its time to get ready.
4:30pm-We are finally off on our bike ride. I smile the whole time. Watching our family "bike train" make it slowly down the tracks is just too cute to me. After breaking down and yelling, "Just peddle" a few times we happily make it to Nannie's house.
Just in time for dinner!

Our protector

So, we had an amazing day at bible study today, we made it home early, all had a nap, and then Grace began to have a really hard time.
She has been struggling the last month and a half with these horrible bouts of constipation. It is horrible. She just bawls unconsolable because she is in so much pain. We have tried and tried, with a Dr's supervision to keep her regular with no success. It is so hard as a parent to watch your child go through something so painful and not be able to do much. I rubbed her back and rocked her through it, and she finally caught a break. I finished feeding her and as soon as I picked her up she threw up everything she just ate. I started to cry. For the first time in a while I felt completely inadequate to take care of her. "Lord, what am I doing wrong?", I thought, "How do I care for her?" Just then Gavin dropped a little box filled with bible verses all over the floor. He quickly said, "Mommy will you read these bible verses to me?"
Of course. Of course a box of bible verses just fell and you want me to read them to you. Of course.
It was a divine appointment.
After reading through quite a few, I was comforted, so encouraged, so reminded of God's love, His constant presence, and His desire to take us under His wing.
So, together we walked back over to Grace and Gavin said, "Don't worry mommy, God is protecting Gracie."

It was the sweetest moment. God just spoke through my precious little boy, to remind me that He is her protector.

I find it funny that my post just days ago was about God's faithfulness and how He calls us not to worry...Thank you Lord for the quick reminder.

It's a BOY!!!!

We are proud to announce that we are welcoming a new member into the Young family. I am pregnant with baby #3-a BOY! I am 20 weeks along and due June 25th(Mimi Patsy's birthday)! We are thrilled. Gracie and her little brother will be a whopping 15 months apart. I've met many people that say it can be done...so I'm counting on that! :)
I think God will remain faithful, as He always has, to provide us exactly what we need to raise 3 kids!
We are so blessed and excited to share this with all of you, our friends and family!! Please keep our baby boy in your prayers!

Orphan runner

I'm so proud of my dear friend Sally!! She ran an incredible race today at the HB Marathon. She finished in 9th overall and 2nd in her age group with a time of 3:18. The amazing thing about Sally is that she uses every ounce of her being to serve the Lord and today's race was no exception. She radiated joy as she ran, doing exactly what God created her to do, among other things. She is incredibly gifted, works incredibly hard, and loves and encourages others along the way. Thanks for always being such a godly example to me friend!!

Please visit her site!!
just copy and paste this to access it.
http://members.shaohannahshope.org/site/TR/Events/runninghope?pxfid=1940&fr_id=1000&pg=fund

Don't worry

Luke 12: 22-29
22 Then He said to His disciples, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. 23 Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.
24 Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds?
25 And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
26 If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest?
27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28 If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith?
29 “And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. 30 For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things.
31 But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.


This encouraged me so much this week. Do we not know that our Creator understands His creation? He knows our struggles and our fears. Jesus is so gentle and gives us such a beautiful word picture to help us remember His faithfulness. So whenever you look out at the birds or blooms remember how much more valuable you are to God and put your trust in the One who created you and values you.

(artwork by my uncle, the late Tom Cash)