Lilies of the field

I really feel like God has put this on my heart (and is allowing us to go through it) for a reason so I wanted to share with you all.

As you all know, we moved out here on the faith that this was what God wanted us to do. We prayed about it and really felt that this was where God wanted us for multiple reasons. Once we knew this was where we were going, we then prayed about when we should move out here and felt that God was telling us to leave in March. In the "wisdom" of the world, this did not make sense to do. I didn't have a job, Cory would have to quit his job and find a new one (and there was the possibility he would not get one), and we would still be paying rent on 2 places for a couple of months. Despite all of that, we could not escape the fact that this is what God wanted us to do...so we knew that it was what we had to do. It was scary to move out here with all of that going on, but it would have been even scarier to stay where it was easy instead of stepping out in faith to where God wants us. The easy thing to do would have been to stay in Gainesville until right before Cory started school, but I'm super glad that we didn't do that. (Not that I don't miss you all in Gainesville-please don't think that, because I truly miss you all a ton!!)

I will not lie and say that it has been super easy, especially when we literally had no idea how we were going to pay our next month's rent- let alone the other bills that are unfortunately piling up, food, gas, etc. But I will tell you this- it has been the biggest blessing and time of growth that I've had in a LONG time, if ever in my life. If we had listened to the "wisdom" of the world that said not to leave until we would be comfortable, we would not have been able to experience that and truly see what it means to trust God when you have nothing left. We also would have missed out on a ton of opportunities that we have had here, all for the sake of our comfort. Just being able to see God provide in those circumstances- above and beyond what we could have ever imagined- has been so amazingly awesome. I have a new outlook on verses such as these: 

"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Matthew 6: 25-34

I've seen and experienced the truth in these verses for myself now...and its so awesome. 

Please don't think that I am saying to spend money carelessly because God will just provide or that I'm saying not to use the wisdom that God has given you when it comes to money (or everything for that matter), because I am definitely not saying that. What I AM saying is to use the wisdom that GOD gave you and not the wisdom of the WORLD. Its so easy to get caught up in the things/ideas of this world and think that its from God...especially when it comes to things that scare us (the new job, a big move, financial "insecurity", marriage, etc). We want to make sure that we are going to be "safe" and "comfortable" but what are those things to God? I don't think He ever once called us to live a safe or comfortable life- He asked us to live a life in obedience to Him-whether that means staying right where He has you now or making a 180 degree change in your life. 

My biggest prayer is that Cory and I (and all of you) will never live a life that is comfortable. That we will never stay complacent where we are and be disobedient to God. That we will never choose the wisdom of this world over the wisdom from God. There are too many things at risk when we do this- way more than is at risk when we are obedient.

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Matthew 6: 28-30

(Note: I know that flower is not a lily but its as close as I could get :) Its from our trip to the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens, more pictures from that will be on here another day!)

Our home

Some of you have been asking since we moved to see pictures of our house...so they are finally here! :) Enjoy...

Our room. We still have nothing on the walls...

The office/Gator room :)

Pictures with friends at Gator games 

This is at the end of the hallway...and yes, thats my bouquet from our wedding! 

The guest bedroom...ready and waiting for someone to visit!! ;)

Our pictures from mission trips and trinkets that we've gotten from all over the world

Guest bathroom/tornado safe room :)

Living room

Dining room

 The kitchen

I love our washing machine and dryer!

Riley's room/ the workout room...not quite sure what we're going to eventually do with this room. Riley sure does love looking out those sliding glass doors though! She would sit there all day!

The front

Most of the backyard

Our garage

The Rangers game for my birthday :)

This is in one of our neighbor's yard...I wanted to share because it just cracks me up how much pride Texans have for their state. I just can't imagine people in Florida (or any other state, really) having Florida shaped pavers! They also put the Texas flag on EVERYTHING (tattoos, bumper stickers, etc etc)...I bet most Floridians have no idea what the Florida flag even looks like ;) Its just funny to me!!

Well I hope you all have had a fun and relaxing weekend :) Our area was super blessed to not have those storms hit us this weekend...but be praying for those in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska who are affected by all of the tornadoes that went through!  Also, please continue to pray for my job search...its getting pretty critical that I find one soon.

<3 

Birthday/Easter weekend

Two of my favorite holidays were this weekend...and we had a great time celebrating both, despite being hundreds of miles away from friends and family. 

My birthday celebration started on Friday since Cory had to work on Saturday!

I woke up to this...

Then we went on a trail at a park in North Irving...

Then on Saturday (my actual birthday), Cory had to work until 4 but we celebrated after...

This cake was no where near as good as a Publix cake. I miss Publix!!!!!!!!

Steak and Lobster dinner at Outback :) So yummy!

Then he surprised me with going to see the "sunset" at White Rock Lake. The sky was cloudy unfortunately but it was still beautiful! Its the closest we can get to sunset at the beach :)

We ate the cake while at the park!

I just really liked the way this tree looked. I wish I had my real camera!

Once again, I wish I had my real camera so that this was better quality..but I loved that there was a sailboat in front of the skyline. It kind of felt like Tampa or somewhere in Florida for a minute :)

He then surprised me and took me to the top of the parking garage at Methodist Hospital to see the skyline! It was gorgeous!

The last part of my present is that we're going to a Rangers game sometime this week :)

We then got to celebrate our Risen Savior this morning at First Baptist Irving! It was a great service. I love getting to celebrate the fact that my God conquered death and is ALIVE! I'm so thankful that our God is still living, active in our lives, and loves us. I'm thankful that He was willing to come and die for MY (and your) sins. I'm so undeserving, but thats how much He loves us. What an amazing Savior! :)

And I leave you with this picture of our Riley girl :) She was so mad at us for making her get a bath!

Twister!

I just want to start this entry by saying thank you to everyone who took the tornado situation seriously and prayed for Cory and I and the entire DFW area. While some of you may dismiss what happened this week (the tornados) as just another time where I was scared about something silly, this was definitely not one of those times and was actually very serious. I have never in my life been so scared...probably because never in my life have I heard tornado sirens going off and heard over the radio that a tornado was heading straight for my city. Those are NOT things that you ever want to hear.

It was the strangest thing in the world because the weather was beautiful in the morning-so much so that Cory was on his way to get gas for the lawn mower so that we could mow our lawn (for the first time since we’ve moved in, might I add...oops..our neighbors probably hated us!). Anyway, while he was on his way there he heard that the  first tornado had touched down. Then, the cloud started rolling in and about 15 minutes after he got back, the tornado sirens started going off here. We turned on the radio and heard that a tornado was in the city right next to ours and was headed our way...so we got comforters and a mattress and went to the bathroom. We stayed there for a good 2 hours while listening to reports of tornados dropping all around us and while line after line of storms rolled in. It was miserable...but God was good through it all!

All we did for most of that time (besides listen to the reports and sirens) was pray...and it helped so much to bring peace in such a frightening situation. I have never felt the peace of God more clearly than in that time. Praise God that no one was seriously injured in the storms (one of the worst storms they have had in many years...and of course its on the 3rd week we’re here!). I truly believe that Satan is doing everything in His power to scare us out of this city...but it is not going to work. We are here to stay for now :) Here are some pictures of what was happening all around us during that day:

Yes, those are semi trucks.

Hail

More semis flying through the air

These pictures are courtesy of: http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/incredible-pictures-of-the-tornadoes-near-dallas (for some reason the link feature wasn't working)

Please continue to pray for those whose homes were devastated. 

Do not be anxious.

Its something that I've had to tell myself over and over recently. Do not be anxious. I serve a great God who loves me and can make the impossible, possible.

I've pretty much just been applying to jobs like crazy the past couple of weeks. I know that God is faithful and will provide a job even if its not in the timing/way that WE want it. While praying about it, God has given me a big sense of peace and has told me to wait on Him. He has provided thus far, so there is no reason for me to doubt that He will provide now as well. I admit that it is super scary and discouraging at times. There are times when I feel like things will never work out and Satan tries to convince me that we made a mistake by moving here. I know that this is completely not the case, but that he just doesn't want us here...but its easy to believe those lies. At first, I was wanting to hold onto this and do it on my own but I have given it completely over to God. I just pray that HE gets all of the glory through this whole process!

Some verses that have been a huge encouragement to me (and hopefully can be for you too) are:

"For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation. He ONLY is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken." Psalm 62:1-2 (emphasis added by me)

"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into their barns and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?"...."Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble" Matthew 6:25-26, 34 (emphasis added by me)

I know I've asked a million times, but PLEASE be praying for this job search situation. Pray that God will provide; and that we can have the faith to know that God will provide. Pray that God will open doors.  Pray that we do not get discouraged. Pray that God gets the glory.

Thanks, friends :)