Whew! What a YEAR!

by Karmen |

I wasn’t sure how to begin.

Whew….

WHEW!

WOW.

Whoa, whoa, whoa!

I’ll let you read and decide. There are plenty of reasons and/or excuses for not writing more often this year or doing more Facebook Lives but mostly life offline has been full.

Dec 12 2019, HIP HIP HOORAY it’s ADOPTION Day for JAXSON DANIEL SMITH gosh, who knew love could be so deep and so wide in such a short time. We praise the Lord every. single. day for choosing us for this little joy boy! He means much to many. Adoption is beautiful, hard and worth every nanosecond!

Dec 19 Our twin sets moved in. Let me clarify just a bit because those words tend to confuse some. We have two bio boys: Tuck (age 12 at the time) and Jake (age 10)

One week after Jaxson’s adoption decree we welcomed home two more boys: David (age 12) and his younger brother Ayden (age 10) See? Two sets of twins: two twelves and two tens just six days before Christmas and seven days after adopting a baby because why not? I’d love to share more details of our first Christmas together as Smith party of seven except that I can’t because it truly was a blur! I remember being blessed beyond measure by our community. I remember lots of smiles and tears because it was a heck of a transition but gosh, looking back helps us to see how far we’ve come! David turned 13 at the end of the Dec. making us parents of a TEEN! I see more smiles now than then and was recently asked if it’s okay if he calls me “mom.” Wow. What a year.

January 1 We gathered with the extended family for our annual New Year woodcutting session. More hands made lighter work for all! woohoo

Jan 19 We’re off to the Smokies with the whole gang. Mom, dad, both of my sisters, spouses and all the children=18 people and a dog named Waylon inside one LOUD cabin for an unforgettable weekend. Whew! What a year.

February 2 #DEMODAY for our back porch renovation project compliments of Vintage Pickin’ Passion Project!!!

April Wilks and many of the amazing Vintage Pickin’ fans, family and friends gave their time and hard-earned money to bless our socks off! Josh Miller and his construction crew transformed our back porch into a living space and loft area where two of the boys could sleep meaning baby Jax (who had been sleeping in a pack-n-play in my closet) could MOVE OUT! Woohoo!! What a year!

March the cowboy turned a whopping 44!

April Baby Jax turned 1! and Tucker Wayne is 13! What?! Two teens? This is getting good. Also, in April because I was certain I’ve been wasting my time and yours talking so much about the book I’ve been writing for fo-ever I went to one-more-writing retreat so Suzie Eller could tell me to forget it but instead, she said “Your book baby is way overdue. Submit the proposal is ready.” I haven’t. I’m still scared which is funny because the book has much to say about fear. Another reason to write it -to read it. whew. what a year.

May is May is May.. the wackiest month of the year for you, your friends and us every day and at the feed store. Flowers. Gardens and Mother’s Day which is the day we dedicated baby J to the Lord, hosted a family picnic and I headed to Oklahoma to speak at a Mastermind Conference hosted by Danna Larson, the mastermind behind Rural Revival. My topic: How to Keep Going When You Want to Quit! I made a few new forever friends and visited the Pioneer Woman’s lodge. While in OK I decided I want to be Ree when I grow up! WHOA! WHOA! What a year!

June 17th I turned 42, steeped out of denial and into the optometrist office where the Dr. prescribed bifocals (cue eye roll) but that’s small potatoes compared to the happenings that shook down on

June 27th when we stood before the judge, family and friends to ADOPT & decree DAVID & AYDEN a forever home! Thank you, Lord, for the beauty and brokenness of adoption! WOW! WHAT A YEAR!

July the boy I begged God for oh-so-many years ago and I headed to Brooklyn, NY to serve alongside a great group of kids at a local church. He and the team of teens served well. I had the great honor and privilege to speak at the local church where our youth served and to a sister church of Chinese women via a translator. WOW! What a year!

August we brought in two toddlers to foster for a couple of months making us Smith party of nine for a time. Three toddlers, two pre-teens and 2 teens had us considering starting a reality show because you can’t make this stuff up any more than I could have made up the details God worked out so I could fly back to Oklahoma for a day to meet friends and pray for our gritty gal, Brooke. She was diagnosed with breast cancer the-very-day-she-gave-birth-to-her-first baby, Elsie James. Read more of her story at Rural Gone Urban. Whoa! What a year!

September meant soccer was in full swing and the fair came to town which was great but not as great as a farm the cowboy convinced me to “just ride out and see.”

The farm God moved us to make an offer that was accepted.

The farm that prompted us to list our home-sweet-home-farm in real estate.

October 5th we celebrated twenty-three years of love and matrimony.

A week later Jake, (our youngest bio boy) and I flew south with a group from church to the Dominican Republic. I spoke to women at a marriage conference via Heidy, the sweetest translator on the planet, experienced the most gracious hospitality and coffee- strong & delicious.

Thank you, Father, for your love and matchless grace. Thank you for the faces I cannot forget as well as the privilege of serving along side our boy and the medical team. You are worthy.

November the month of Thanksgiving. The month spent thanking God for so many good years here on our farm on Lookout Mountain. The month of Thanksgiving for the countless people He’s sent our way, the innumerable prayers prayed and answered within these walls. The month spent cleaning and showing and cleaning out. Whoa. Whoa. What a year.

December 12 brings us back to where we started a year ago as we celebrated GOTCHA DAY fro baby J! A whole year of loving +laughing and training baby Jax and

Dec. 13th

WE CLOSED ON the NEW FARM which means

WE ARE MOVING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are packing and moving in faith because God is going to sell this farm to a couple or person, or family who will cherish it as much or more than we have. I wish we could sit on the porch and share with you the many and varied details God has orchestrated in closing this all out because it’s simply supernatural. He IS faithful. We give Him every.ounce of GLORY! Truly.

So, aside from a few wacky stories from my sister, Lily, who has also started fostering, Tuck’s really-bad-terrible case of poison ivy, our camping trip to the beach where the boys saw a gator, the roller coaster of small business, the many and varied called family meetings because parenting prepubescent teen boys is hard, the two times we’ve called nurse Katie to make sure Jason wasn’t having heart attacks that turned out to be pain from the shoulder he had surgery on five days before Christmas I think we’re caught up.

Oh, except that we are selling the feed store (which I will share more about SOON) and I am starting a NEW JOB teaching second grade at Cornerstone Christian Academy in Jan.

CHEERS friends, to ONE HECK-OF-A YEAR and the NEW YEAR to come!

One more quick thing before we go. Lean in. This is for you.

This isn’t dress rehearsal!

As we turn the corner and head into a fresh decade I challenge you to get on your knees or on your face before God. Praise Him for who He is! Sing to Him for ALL He has done around you, in you and through so many of you this year and then, beg Him to tell you how you can GLORIFY Him in the up and coming year!

When He tells you..and He will.

Get out there and get after it!! Maybe he wants you to stay put? or just maybe He wants you to move to a new land? to foster? adopt? to sing? to give? save? GO? to write? paint? pray? serve? teach? stay home and mother the kids you begged Him for? marry? serve Him in singleness? I don’t know and maybe you don’t> but He does!

God is FAITHFUL Even if we’re scared!

Happiest of NEW YEARS to you and yours!!!

P.S. Yes, I am still speaking. I will post dates soon and would be thrilled if you would grab your favorite gal pal and join us!

“Thus far” 2016 the BIG year-ender

by Karmen |

“Thus far the Lord has helped us.” (1 Samuel 7:12)

I could not think of a better way to start a year-end post than to share these words from Streams in the Desert by L. B. Cowman.

“The words “thus far” are like a hand pointing in the direction of the past. It had been a long time, twenty years in all.” (v. 2), but even if it had been seventy years, “Thus far the Lord helped”! Whether through poverty, wealth, sickness, or health, whether home or abroad, on land, sea or air, and whether in honor, dishonor, difficulties, joy, trial, triumph, prayer, or temptation-“Thus Far the Lord helped”!

It’s that time of the year when many take a deep breath and look back.

Tell me friends. How does it look from where you stand? As you glance back over your shoulder are you overwhelmed with gratitude or are glad to call it a wrap?

If I may be so direct as to say, “It’s been more than a heck of a year!!!” As I look back down the dirt road of 2016, I see love and loss, success and failure, laughter and more tears than I’ve shed in several years!

I grew up on a dirt road. My sisters, cousins and I ran barefooted as country girls do. Growing older and learning to drive we’d do our best to dodge the all-too-familiar-potholes. There were a few “potholes” I wish we could’ve avoided this year but then I remember it’s the running barefooted on the rocks, and unexpected potholes of life that make us what we are.

On this last year in my thirties, less is more. So instead of a month by month playback, I’m going to share just 3 areas of our life where we have lived, loved and been AWED by the faithfulness of God:

FAITH

I had heard, been taught and even proclaimed to many the truth of Ephesians 3:20, that God can do exceedingly and abundantly but this year- we have experienced it. He has strengthened and stretched our faith in ways unexplainable. God is His wonder has taken the little 6-week prayer journal, written by a woman scared of punctuation to Honduras, Canada, a women’s prison in Georgia, to the Dominican Republic, and more states than I can count. I hope I never get over it!!

With it, He has birthed a message, a challenge, a movement for His people to #PrayBig. You all have supported us and made my dream of sharing His faithfulness a reality!! You are praying and listening to God. Many of you have learned to plead the promises of God through prayer and have seen the activity of God in your lives. You have seen your laundry list of requests transform into intimate conversations with Jesus!

You have bought “PrayBig” journals, mugs, hats, t-shirts, jewelry and you are sharing them with YOUR PEOPLE! (Pause for a –>SHOUT OUT to Gina Dorough, the salt to my pepper, a Godsend who has graciously traveled with me to all of the places and kept us organized and blessed each one of you with her kindness and selfless service!! I love u!)

We love seeing hashtag #PrayBig online and are overjoyed at how the community is growing! I can’t get over it, and I wish I could hug each one of you and look you in the eye and say, “THANK YOU!!”

Thank you for allowing Him to use YOU to grow our faith. Thank you for sharing your burdens and blessings with me through your emails, texts, calls, and conversations. It has been and is and my great honor to share with you through prayer. I consider it a privilege that you would invite me into the intimate places of your heart. You are loved and lifted up, and I am eternally grateful!!!

Lastly, for inviting me to speak to your women’s groups, your podcasts, churches, camps, your living rooms, Mentone Inn den, prison domes, parks and more. It has been my sheer delight to Skype, encourage, and exhort you in the Lord. He has fearfully and wonderfully made you and has the-most-perfect plan and purpose for your life. If I haven’t yet made it your way or you’d like to get together again, email SOON as we are working on our calendar and scheduling less this year because of area number two…

FAMILY

Just when I think I can’t love them more, I do.

J & I celebrated two decades of marital bliss in October of this year. Yes, that’s sounds cliché’ but for two who are opposites in every way minus our faith and rearing our children blissful is pretty spot on. We didn’t go all out and travel out west or get that getaway for a romantic weekend like I had planned because life happens but instead we enjoyed a quiet steak dinner and was able to share an uninterrupted, quality conversation. That anniversary meal fed more than our stomachs and was more than enough for the day.

To know J, (aka the Cowboy), is to know simple. Honest and upright. Quiet is his favorite. He’d rather be at the barn than anywhere else on the planet. Barn chores are where he finds serenity. Our feed store is where he makes a living. A very engaged father to our boys and now, a father to the fatherless. He was recently humbled having been asked to become an elder at our church. It is my honor to be his wife, now forever and always.

Our boys.

photos compliments of the uh-MAZING Rachel Clarke Photography (now Mrs.Mashburn)

Are you following #adventuresoftuckandjake on Facebook? If not, why? No really, the hashtag started as a joke. In sharing one of the boys’ adventures one day with a woman, she said, “People don’t let their kids do that anymore!”

“We do” was my response as I share the video from my phone.

Boys need to be boys. Boys need to climb, run, hunt, scavenge, adventure, scout, explore, fight, rescue, fix, create, imagine, scream, innovate, pretend, swim, and jump!!!!!! Did I mention ROAR! We don’t own a gaming system on purpose. Before we start homeschool each day on more days than not, I have the boys run a few laps around the pond just because. Best I can tell, boys and dogs (according to the dog guy on TV) have some of the same basic needs: exercise, discipline, affection.

If you are a #boymom and you struggle as we all do from time to time– try this! Get them OUTSIDE, make them run, touch five trees, race back and forth down the driveway or sprint five laps around the house before they get in the car. It helps. I promise. Their teachers will hug you!!

Speaking of thanks, one of my most cherished friend’s, Jeanne Manning, sent our boys a Christmas card. In the card, (which just so happens to be my favorite gift this Christmas) she shared words of love & gratitude for our two superheroes. She encouraged and thanked them for the ways they have loved the new children God has brought into our home which leads me to…

FOSTERING

I had no idea that prayer whispered from a porch in Honduras would lead us here.

I had to take a few deep breaths and wipe a few tears before beginning this final part of this post and believe it is doubtful you will feel the weight of the words shared in this last and very best part of 2016. It was a couple of weeks ago now that I wrote in my journal things fostering has taught and continues to teach me:

It’s not about us.

With each child that has visited our home whether for a day, a week or months God is his graciousness has reminded me this life is not about me. How comfortable I am, what I want or what we think we need. This life is about more-so very much more than that. Down to my bone marrow, I’m convinced the reason any of us are here is to bring God glory. We can do this by sharing and showing others Jesus. Yes, once again, I realize that sounds cliche, ‘ but it’s true.

More than what I know, may achieve or attain- Am I making the most of every opportunity? does my life cause others to marvel at Jesus in me?? Am I loving the unlovely? The unclean? Those invested with lice, the downtrodden, deserted? Do I love them like Jesus loves?

Love without abandon.

Unconditional, relentless, immeasurable love?

Fostering has forced me to stay offline and be present with the people under this roof. We look each other in the eye more. You can tell a lot about where a person is and has been by simply looking them in the eye.

We have read books, listened, talked, laughed, and cried. Lots and lots.

Fostering is HARD.

We have gotten attached and had high hopes of forever only to find ourselves disappointed and heartbroken. No words, class, or training could have prepared us for the gut-wrenching pain of the first removal, but God is near to the broken hearted-He binds up their wounds.

Just a few weeks ago after losing one whom we cherished new littles came in need of as much or more love than the one before. J turned to me as he closed the new little one’s bedroom door after giving big hugs and ‘sweet dreams-goodnight.’

“What will we do when they leave?”

My tear filled reply, “We’ll cry and love again.”

Which is what we are doing. Crying & loving again. While we are talking about crying. If Facebook doesn’t lie (LOL! surely Facebook wouldn’t lie???) Nonetheless, hundreds or according to Facebook thousands of you watched the video where I fought the gigantic lump in my throat the day after we lost out little buddy.

While we are talking about crying. If Facebook doesn’t lie (LOL! surely Facebook wouldn’t lie???) Nonetheless, hundreds or according to Facebook thousands of you watched the video where I fought the gigantic lump in my throat the day after we lost out little buddy. We were seriously overwhelmed by your compassion and comforting words. If you missed it or struggle with what to do when you #PrayBig and the things you want to happen you can catch it –> HERE

We’re often asked, “How do you do it?” “How do you bring them in, treat them like your own and then let them go?”

We pray more, pray always, pray hard, #PrayBig and trust God with the details.

Many people choose a word for the year. I have chosen words over the last few years and have been fascinated by the ways I have seen the word play out in my life throughout the year. My word for this past year was “watch.”

“Watch for the new thing I am going to do….” Isaiah 43:19 (GNT) I have seen Him do things I never could’ve or would’ve imagined. I will praise Him as long as I have breath for ALL of it. The good, bad, ugly and GREAT of 2016!

Dearest friends, from our herd to yours we wish the HAPPIEST OF NEW YEAR’S. May it be one of peace and hearts overflowing. Do not lose heart. Be confident:

“The Lord who “thus far” has helped you

Will help you all your journey through.” ~L.B. Cowman

Much love & always,

P.S. You know the post wouldn’t be complete without at least one P.S.

2017 plans/DREAMS/things to do:

Turn 40!
Finish the manuscript of our story
sit on the porch more in the evenings
adventure more WITH my boys instead of watching from afar

P.S.S. If you’re new or late to the #PrayBig party

Follow on Instagram @blessingsbrnyrd

Facebook: Blessings Beyond the Barnyard

Visit & share www.karmensmith.com for questions, prayers or speaking inquiries

#12 hashtags and The BIG-YEAR-ender!

by Karmen |

#WHOA! What a year! Let’s take a quick look back, shall we?

JANUARY

We move like molasses in winter, well, because it’s winter.

The boys suit up and play as usual because outside is necessary.

The family sings, “How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?”

Because wood-burning fires are warm and dreamy and way better for the budget.

P.S. This moment was just before little man lost his fingernail.

Near month end, I had a delightful time speaking to the ladies of Chelsea Village. It was oh-so-Pinterest-y & I am looking forward to joining you again in a few weeks for a great time in The Lord.

This year our family is especially grateful for loyal patrons and small town support as we look back on some scary days at Fort Payne Feed & Garden. Small business ownership is hard. Thankful for lessons learned. WE APPRECIATE YOU! #shoplocal

FEBRUARY

The month of love.

Stampeded a herd of new forever friends

as I traveled to Austin, TX to volunteer at IF: GATHERING.

Love this ministry. Love their passion for Christ.

Love Jennie Allen, her heartbeat & the people behind IF!

And still, there’s no place like home.

Because in winter, at home, there is snow cream and Girl Scout Cookies. #yum

MARCH

Ushered in an interesting conversation with our oldest son the day he “saw the pigs hatch.” #goodtimes

Thankful for exciting discoveries that hindered the completion of the “hatching” conversation.

The ground thawed and Spring burst forth #HALLELUYAH as Bonnie vegetable and bedding plants arrived at our store.

APRIL

The last year of single digits for this dude. How can this be?

What a fine, young man you are becoming.

MAY

The cowboy readied the horses for summer camp.

WHAT A HUNK!

Humbling opportunities for me to speak increased, and

the boys declared, “Bring on SUMMER!”

JUNE

My baby hunk turned seven.

Which is why I need therapy. #babiesdontkeep

The hot sun warmed the pond

and inspired a new adventure series on the farm, Facebook & Instagram #adventuresoftuckandjake because tree houses, skinny dippin’, wrangling milk cows and ravioli cooked outside are moments worth documenting.

To God be the glory for doors of opportunity. Sharing Christ at Ponderosa Bible Camp, Camp ToknowHim & Riverview Camp for Girls was more than exhilarating!

JULY

Translates hayfield in the #South

because the harvest is ready, but the workers are few

#sisters

AUGUST

#Honduras.

These people.

This ministry. This place, Good Shepherd’s Children Home

Forever changed.

A late Summer beach trip with MawMaw & Pop is always good for the soul and Woody.

Toy life is hard.

SEPTEMBER

A messy dining room table and fuzzy hair must mean it’s #BACKTOSCHOOL on the farm

which also means it’s pumpkin time at the store!

The Cowboy and I had a ball shooting a VIDEO and were humbled by how many of you WATCHED IT and shared it with your friends! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!!!

We were thrilled to be a part of the first ever Vintage Pickin’ Barn Sale! So proud of my friend April Wilks for pursuing her BIG dream!!

OCTOBER

We celebrated 19 years of marital bliss or something like that.

The Cowboy declared it, “the month of calm.”

Which is funny because we don’t do calm here much.

Unless catching snakes is calm?

Goat love is kind of calm?

I mean, maybe they’re calm, sometimes.

No.

It’s just better to keep the boys busy.

So we took them to Indiana to pack a cargo full of Christmas bags headed for Haiti.

Which was fun and exhausting and #AWESOME

NOVEMBER

Makes me emotional.

It’s holiday-season-eve.

The month of reflection.

A time of gratitude for food, family, facepaint, Pilgrims & Indians!

Then we all blinked and it was DECEMBER!!

And with it, a dream come true with the release of #PrayBig Journals!!!!

And a video to share more about the 6-week Prayer Journal I have prayed over and mostly kept secret for the last two or so years.

The release of this journal was #1 on my list of dreams for 2015! I PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW for those of you who have supported this dream by purchasing the #PrayBig journal and are sharing it with you friends!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you don’t have one…PLEASE GET ONE! from Fort Payne Feed & Garden if you are local

OR get YOURS HERE from AMAZON!

We want you to be a part of this growing community who are ready to strengthen their faith as we pray God’s Word back to Him! We are expecting God to do what only He can do as we #PrayBig together!

I wish I had an expression equivalent of my sincere gratitude.

YOU have loved so well.

YOU have shared this space with the people God has placed in your path.

YOU have commented and encouraged me to keep going when I have wanted to quit!

YOU are making a difference!

YOU have made 2015 FANTABULOUS!

I hope you will stay with us! Best I can tell, we’re just getting started…..

Until then, #PrayBig and help us encourage others to use hashtag #PrayBig on Facebook and Instagram as you share your journals and journaling journey because when you believe GOD IS REAL and #PrayBig things happen!

LOVE & HAPPY NEW YEAR~

the Smith Crew <3

P.S. As it turns out, there are way more than 12 #hashtags. #ohwell

Feast of Famine? 2014 Year end review

by Karmen |

HAPPY NEW YEAR!~

Tell me friends, how has this past year looked for you and yours?

More feast or famine?

Some years are either or, other years are both.

For us, 2014 held both.

Emotionally, physically and financially we experienced feast and famine, as was for many of you, surely?

Did you endure car repairs, dishwasher repairs, farm equipment repairs, broken foot repairs?

Doctor bills, hardship, tough choices?

Have some of your prayers answered, others not yet.

You’re not alone.

But then… there were the feast filled days and for those

we’ll, I’d much rather us focus on those days…

Our 2014 NEW YEAR’S DAY

Family and firewood

Where better to clear your head and detox from all the Christmas candy intake than a day in the woods with siblings and spouses, seven kids, three chain saws and a few four-wheel drives? (Which is exactly why we chose to spend 2015 New Years day the exact same way!)

Mid January the bearded cowboy, our boys and I packed and headed south for warmer temperatures and camping with the Maw Maw and Pop.

Fire starter lessons from Pop for the boys and heavy fog on the beach offered New Year renewal..

February was freezing!

The cowboy says frozen farms are hard. I say frozen farms are pretty.

A PILE o’ PIGS

Both are true.

Blessings Beyond the Barnyard turned two years old because of YOU, faithful, loyal reader friends. ((((HUG)))))

If I could I would make you all a cake, show up at your house with balloons and smiles to say THANK YOU, THANK YOU but since that might be a bit too much

Know this –>

I am eternally grateful, humbled and forever over the moon thankful for YOU and the community we have here. It is a privilege to share this journey with you. You’re encouragement and willingness to connect here matter!

March brought warmer days and newcomers to the farm. Lambs and ponies alike.

Lettuce and pink blossoms let us know spring would not be forgotten.

March meant speaking at Ponderosa Bible Camp’s Spring Retreat. A treat and spring highlight for sure!

April brought fuller days at the store. (Speaking of the store–> BIG CHANGES are just a few days away. “LIKE” Fort Payne Feed and Garden on Facebook if you haven’t already. We want you to stay in the know in 2015 with the latest happenings.)

THANK YOU friends and locals for shopping with us!

For buying your CAT, DOG, BIRD, PIG, HORSE, COW, GOAT & MORE feed, seed, flowers and fertilizer from us! (If you aren’t shopping with us and you’re local we’d LOVE TO HAVE YOUR BUSINESS!)

Our FAMILY is GRATEFUL FOR YOUR PATRONAGE!

Tuck turned eight! (and desperately needed a haircut in this picture but oh, look at those freckles!)

What, wait, EIGHT? Yes, eight.

A herd of friends and family celebrated our tall, skinny fella.

He & his pals shared sweet dreams and crude noises all night in the hay barn.

Easter was peaceful.

The cowboy and his horse-drawn wagon at a funeral for a friend brought April to a somber close.

April showers brought pretty May flowers, slithery snakes and forts back to the farm.

Late May tee ball wrapped and trading fever set in. Ponies were loaded, hauled and traded for a whole new flock of feathered foul.

Hay fields and home school graduation for our favorite Kindergartener!

A couple new batches of piglets joined the summer party! Will we ever get over the cuteness of newborn pigs? Probably not.

My book proposal project got really real late May when the She Speaks assignments were sent.

Remind others and myself to DREAM BIG and “fear not.”

Early June we celebrated our baby turning SIX! Yes, babies are still babies at six!

The rest of June was full of women, fellowship and wise chatter and as we studies the book Restless by Jennie Allen together.

Afternoons were spent trail riding around the farm, poolside chats and lots of porch time.

July meant the mommas and kids back to the beach for our annual sister+grandmother+kids

FUN IN THE SUN trip 2014.

Thank you July for the bountiful harvest and some of the sweetest cream corn I ever tasted.

Mid month back to the beach with Maw Maw and Pop before flying solo to North Carolina for the She Speaks Conference.

How long has it been since you dreamed and BIG dream and did something that scared your socks off?

She Speaks was an event that will go down as one of the hardest and best things I’ve ever done.

she speaks

The messages, inspiring people, endless opportunities, food and fellowship are five months later, INDESCRIBABLE.

August and family and a welcome home party ushered in a much-needed slower pace.

Back to home school, more comfortable and confident about what school at home looks like.

The boys are reading together! WOOHOO! A mother-teacher dream come true!

Our best year yet.

September days mean less summertime gathering and more structure.

And all the mommas holler, “BRING BACK BEDTIME!”

The fair awarded blue ribbons and best of show for the boys.

CATALYST, Atlanta to dream and pray = a perfect day for a dear friend and me.

October= pumpkins and mums at Fort Payne Feed and Garden and another shift of our schedule. If small business ownership has taught us anything it is –> you must be flexible.

November means Thanksgiving and the pressures of the holidays are real.

With so much to be thankful for we took this holiday season one day at a time.

We visited more, shopped and stressed less making this holiday season much more peaceful than last.

“One cannot continue doing things the same and expect different results.”

Delightful December, the festive decor and celebration of The ONE that makes it all matter has come and gone.

Leaving some feeling full others less than full.

Dear friends and family, wherever you find yourself on this New Year’s Day know this,

GOD is GREATER THAN…

He is greater than our greatest month and greater than our worst day.

His love is greater than our most epic fail.

He is greater than our very best.

He is the same this January first as He was last January first.

He is greater than this year’s greatest disappointment and greater than your greatest joy.

If you needed Him this past year He wants you to need Him more this upcoming year.

If you drew close, draw closer.

He never tires of hearing from you.

Need Him. Seek Him.

He is all we need.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

much love