All is Well {Gratitude #41-50}

#41...Fever breaking in my baby boy.

#42...encouragement from a friend.

#43...Spelling lesson in the laundry room

#44...scripture spoken during worship

#45...chocolate chip cookies {for lunch}

#46...Sunday naps after church

#47...Reading through Job with my children

#48...teaching my children

#49...the sound of hungry snowbirds

#50...days we get to stay home together and just "be"

**Inspired to count each gift and be full of JOY by Ann Voskamp and 1000 Gifts



"My every mortal breath, is Grace and nothing less"

I Heart Faces Photo Challenge {Cell Phones}

I have a very sick boy on my hands right now.

Yesterday I stayed home from church with him and we snuggled.

Talked.

And snuggled some more.

I hate to see him so sick.

But selfishly I savored every drop of time alone with him.

The theme at I Heart Faces this week is cell phones.

My favorite app for taking pictures on my iPhone is "Instagram".

Hands down.

But I also use an app called "CrossProcess".

Certain pictures can look fabulous with this technique.

While we were playing a round of UNO on the couch yesterday I snapped this shot of him.

The eyes.

I melt.





"My every mortal breath, is Grace and nothing less"

Snow {again} and Homeschool Buses

Last Wednesday we woke to this.





I know it isn't much.

But here in Tennessee {a.k.a. tornado alley} it is a pretty big deal.



Especially when this happens so many times in one winter that we lose count and my children are no longer enamored with talks of accumulations.



What a wonky winter we have had here.

Makes me wonder if my kiddos will ever get to enjoy this again.



Or this.



Or this.





Personally me and my man would love to know when then heck we can get back to spending our nights out here.



Our glorious fire pit is somewhere under all of that snow.

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Now this guy on the other hand...



He was not phased one bit by the snow and single digit temps.

No sir.

People like this leave me wondering if they are that committed or desperately need to be.

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We spent some time out enjoying the snow.

The kids are sorta over the snow but I made them go anyway.

I think they ended up enjoying themselves after all.

He even gave himself a halo.

Awww..



They discovered a wheelbarrow full of ice and a shovel.

Endless fun.

And yes, those are grocery bags on my kids feet.

Don't judge.

It was my Grandma Margaret's genius remedy to keeping our feet and shoes dry. {we don't buy snow attire here in the South}



Turns out it works for hands too.



Grandma would be so proud.

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Bo enjoyed the snow too.



He sure is cute.

Too bad he likes to eat poop.

The snow totally blew his cover this time.

Poor guy.

Moving on.

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Maggie and Aidan made their Valentine boxes again this year.

They were looking forward to our Annual Elementary Valentine bowling party with our Homeschool tutorial group.

Aidan made a bus.



Apparently it is a "homeschool" bus.



This seemed perfectly normal to him.

As though they pass down our street every day.

Maggie made a "scenic landscape" of sorts.



She has moved on from her days of making caskets.

The snow of course created a change of plans and the party was rescheduled for this week.

We don't drive in Tennessee when it snows.

We just buy colossal amounts of milk and bread (and cookies) and hunker down.




"My every mortal breath, is Grace and nothing less"

Snow Birds {Sweet Shot Tuesday}

Linking up here with Darcy:


"My every mortal breath, is Grace and nothing less"

"Fabulous Finds" Friday {Links}

After seeing this post from Meg I knew what I wanted to get Adam for our anniversary this year.



A canvas of him with his boys in Haiti.

He has this picture as his screen saver on his phone and computer so I knew it was something he cherished from his time spent there.

I hung it over his desk in a collage of things he loves.

He loved it.

If you have never heard of Canvas People they are phenomenal.

The color.

The quality.

And that picture was taken on a cell phone even.

If you head to their Facebook page and become a fan you will get a sweet surprise.




During our anniversary weekend I found these at an antique shop in Nashville.

Vintage salt and pepper grinders.

In red.

*Squeal*

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Ever wondered how to remove those white heat marks from your table?

Not me.

I thought they were there to stay.

Nope.

Learn how here.

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I found two really great articles this week on Homeschooling.

This one is from the perspective of an 8th grader.

Made me tear up.

I could so relate.

Even after all these years.

The other was titled Burying the Big Yellow Bus.

I could not resist.

The title alone was screaming my name.

I have so had big yellow bus days.

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Simple Mom had a great article on how to save money by ditching the cable bill and watching tv on the internet.

We just recently subscribed to Netflix and we LOVE it!

Whole seasons of shows like Liberty's Kids and the Cosby Show at our fingertips for as little as 8 bucks a month.

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I am headed to a Women's Event at my church this weekend.

I am so excited.

Time alone to focus on my walk is much needed right now.

Looking forward to worship with this fabulous lady.

Her song "Mosaic of Grace" is where my blog title came from.

I really hope she doesn't mind me stealing it.

If you have a second click that link and have a listen to the song.

I just did and I am already tearing up.

{and my kids are looking at me like I have three heads}

Profound.

My story.

Our story

Redemption

Over and over in my life.

Redemption.

Cannot wait to see what God has in store for me this weekend.

Come Lord.




"My every mortal breath, is Grace and nothing less"

Valentines Day Banner {super easy craft}

Today while being snowed in {again} Maggie and I were inspired by Ruthanne to spread a little lurve around the house.



We thought we had a heart cookie cutter.

Turns out we did not.

So I did the drawing and tracing and my girl did the cutting honors.

We used plain ol' computer paper for our pennants.

And red and pink construction paper for our hearts.

Ruthanne used felt...she is snazzy {and snorty} like that.

So if you have felt laying around you could use that as well.



This is also about the time I mentioned to Maggie that the Bible says "His banner over me is love".

She asked me where that was in the Bible.

I said I have no idea.

She said I will get your iPad and we can look it up.

I said swell.

She tells me that it is in Song of Solomon chapter 2.

I tell her to get back to cutting hearts.



We used some old Christmas ribbon from our craft drawer and a glue gun to attach everything.

Are you wondering where the wine key comes in?

I am famous for using things in every way BUT the way they were intended to be used.

This time was no exception.

It was my hammer.

I was too lazy {and cold} to go into the garage for a real one.

Plus I was had the forethought to know I would have to take it back to the garage when I was finished.

Ruthanne...snazzy.

Me...lazy.



I am curious.

Do you see anything wrong with this picture?

Looks fabulous right?

I sure thought so.

All that red and pink against my white cabinets.

Just perfect.

Until a certain teenager decided he needed a drink of water and ruined it all for me.

Punk.

Seems paper banners hanging across swinging cabinet doors is not a very functional idea.

Oh well...at least it looked good.



We used the short piece I had made for my cabinets on the mantle.

No swinging doors here.



And the long piece we decided to place here.

I actually kinda like it here best.

Sets a sweet mood over our dinner table.

I may even make googly eyes at my man across the table tonight now.

"My every mortal breath, is Grace and nothing less"

The Story of Us {We almost gave up}

“More marriages might survive if the partners realized that sometimes the better comes after the worse.” – Doug Larson



A year into our marriage we thought we had no choice but to go our separate ways.

Divorce was our only option.

The world said so after all.

And we almost bought into it.

Almost.

God had His own plan.

Love was there.

It just needed a voice.

We were in a foreign land.

Could not speak the language.

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I had made my husband my idol.

Placed my happiness and expectations upon his shoulders.

I needed to remember my first love.

The one who had never failed me.

The one who never would.

Adam had his own road to walk.

A Damascus road.

Salvation.

We both said "yes".

To brokenness.

To fighting our way through.

To God.

He is so good people.

"You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." Genesis 50:20

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It would not be easy.

Nothing worth holding onto is.

It hurt.

We cried.

I screamed.

Anger.

Pain.

Tears.

Sadness.

They came and went.

In waves.

In no particular order.

Some days just inhaling seemed almost a battle.

"I can't do this God..it's too much!"

Walking away felt so much easier.

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We fought hard.

Sometimes with each other.

Always for each other.

Even when we wanted to bail...He was mending hearts.

Healing.

"Each time he said, "My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness." So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me." 2 Corinthians 12:9

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Each day brought with it new mercies.

New hope.

He was blessing our efforts.

Moving.

My eyes were opened and my heart reminded.

Forgiveness.

Once offered even to me.

So freely.

So messy.

Undeserving.

He saw it all.

He wanted it all.

The whole ugly thing.

Amazing grace.
Unconditional love.

Freely it had been given to me.

Now freely I was being asked to give it in return.


"Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you." Colossians 3:13

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With boxing gloves on we began to fight the real enemy.

Not each other.

We found a Christian counselor.

We talked.

More than ever before.

Safely.

I can not emphasize how essential this was.

God gave us eyes of mercy to see each other as He saw us.

Forgiveness began to take root.

Weeding out hurt and fear.

Bitterness began to die at the roots.

Love began to speak.

Shout.

Restoration.



"When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you." Isaiah 43:2

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This past weekend we celebrated 12 years of fighting our way thorough.

Reaching for each other.

Never giving up.

Speaking the language.



We spent Friday night at our favorite anniversary spot.



Dipping all of this...



...into this.

White chocolate creme brulee fondue.

Spent the night in downtown Nashville in a beautiful historic hotel.

Slept in.

Had breakfast at 10.

Spent the rest of the day antiquing downtown.

It was a fabulous weekend.

In every way.



Old love.

My heart is so full and comfortable with old love.

I will be linking up here:

"My every mortal breath, is Grace and nothing less"

Magpie Photography and a snazzy turquoise necklace {Sweet Shot Tuesday}

Introducing "Magpie Photography"

I received this gorgeous necklace in the mail this week from April at Funky Vintage Kitchen

Love.

My Maggie was quite smitten with this necklace too.

Even asking me how much it cost.

I could see the wheels turning.

Couple of days later I emptied pictures onto my computer from my camera.

This is what I found.

Every single one of these photos were taken by my 10 year old daughter.

With absolutely no help from me. (I did crop and add a bit of color for her once on my computer)

I was floored.

She really does have an eye for photography.

And composition.

And an unreal natural ability to use my camera.

Good.

Maybe she can teach me how to use it.

I have decided to make her the center of attention in this week's "Sweet Shot Tuesday"







I'm linking up here today:




"My every mortal breath, is Grace and nothing less"