"Diligent hands will rule,

but laziness ends in forced labor."  Proverbs 12:24  The other morning before I sat down to do my quiet time the word diligence was placed on my heart.  I am not sure why, but it was.  Then I opened my Bible to Proverbs 28 where I was reading that morning.  At the bottom of the page (since I use a study Bible) it had a segment on "The Diligent vs. The Lazy".  It had references to all the verses in Proverbs that dealt with the two categories.  The Holy Spirit was definitely moving in my quiet time that morning.  The words "on purpose" had been on my heart over the last month.  To do things on purpose.  To live on purpose for the Lord.  To be a mother of purpose.  To be a wife of purpose.  To carefully think about things, and do them.  Do them completely.  To purposefully make each day wonderful, because that is what we should be doing.  We should not just so happen to get the laundry done.  We should attack it with Tide and Downy in hand and with a purpose.  This next year I want to not only make sure I am doing things on purpose, but diligently on purpose.  There are so many things that I want to get done and accomplish, but the only way I will ever even set one foot in front of the other is if I do it on purpose.  I challenge you to daily live on purpose for whatever it is you are doing.  Even us stay at home mommies have a diligent purpose to be carrying out.  When we live on purpose for the Lord, I envision sharing His truths with those you may have been putting it off with.  I see helping one another in love, not out of "have-to".  I picture a house full of projects that need to be completed, getting completed with smiles, hugs, and cheers.  I close my eyes, and I feel warmth and heavy hearts being unloaded because your purposefully asked a stranger how you could help them, and meant it.  Not just because it's the new year, but because this is on my heart.  I purpose to be on purpose!

"The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty." Proverbs 21:5

"The Lord is my Shepard,

I have everything I need." This is my new favorite translation of the well known 23rd Psalm.  It puts it so simple, yet so profound.  When you have the Lord, you have anything you will ever need.  Even if you were stranded on an island with nothing around, you have your Savior, Mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, if you are a Christian. It befuddles me that some churches did not have church this past Sunday morning.  Are you kidding me?  What better day to have church than on Christ's birthday.  If your church did not have a service that day, you may want to question the heart of the matter.  Just saying.  Bill continued his Christmas message this past Sunday, and this one was on "The Baby Changes Everything".  Everything.  If it were not for that babe, we would not have the promise of eternal life.  This morning I want you to know something.  If you do not already truly know and believe this, please re-read it a few times and let it sink in.  This is from the commentary in my Bible over Luke 2:11-14: "Some of the Jews were waiting for a savior to deliver them from Roman rule; other hoped the Christ would deliver them from physical ailments.  But Jesus, while healing their illnesses and establishing a spiritual kingdom, delivered them from sin."  Ok, here is where I really need you to focus and meditate on: "His work is more far-reaching than anyone could imagine.  Christ paid the price for sin and opened the way to peace with God.  He offers us more than temporary political or physical change - he offers us new hearts that will last for eternity."  (Life Application Study Bible, 1663)  It is just like God has given us a signed blank check, all we have to do is cash it in.  How do I cash it in, you ask: Pray for Him to come into your heart and believe in your heart that He is the only way to heaven.  Believe that there is nothing YOU can do to get into heaven on your own.  Jesus says, ""I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6  "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this is not of yourselves, it is a gift from God, not of works, so that no man can boast."  Ephesians 2:8-9  If it were something we could work our way into, then what glory would He receive?  And who would decide what was good enough to get in?  I praise the Lord that all I have to do is ask and receive, and that He is all I need.
With all that said and understood, Christmas should be different to you.  It should no longer be about receiving, but about giving and about being able to freely celebrate His birthday.  With Christmas in mind, meet our newest member of the family ... Rooster Cogburn, my gift from C.R.

 Christmas morning we decided to try to capture a picture before church. My bangs look like the Red Sea when it split, but everyone else looked cute so I went with this one to share!  I hope that you and yours had a very, Merry Christmas!

Christmas morning giving time:

 And the perfect ending ... this wraps up what the day was like; relaxed, peaceful, and a blessing!

"Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."  Romans 5:1

Stationery card

Glitter And Gold New Year's Card

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Brayleigh Nichole Cunningham

Brayleigh made it to the world Monday, December 12th at 5:10 pm.  She is beautiful and healthy as can be, praise the Lord.  E had a long pregnancy with this, even though she came early at 36 1/2 weeks.  E had really high bp most of the time, so she was on bed rest the last 3 weeks.  Lord willing they are about to check out of the hospital as we speak to go home from the hospital.  Here are fresh out of the womb and day after pics ... newborn photo shoot coming up next week so stay tuned!

 "But the very hairs on your head are all numbered."  Matthew 10:30

Brayleigh came on a very special day.  It was Kyleigh Anne's 9th birthday!  2 daughters with the same birthday!  It was great to be there with Kyleigh to celebrate.  Tuesday morning before we left she told me this was the best birthday she ever had.  I said, "Ya, getting a sister is a pretty good present."  She said, "No La La, it's because you were here and I got to spend the whole day with you!"  Love that girl!

I made her a scrapbook for her birthday.  She loved it and we had so much fun reliving the memories!

 This is from while we were in San Antonio.  Her first carousal ride.  She liked it better than Santa!

 This is what we do when momma has no help and she wakes up at 5:30 in the morning.  Kept her entertained and I got some cute shots!

We had a great visit, although short, in Montgomery.  Kirby has a hard time sleeping there.  We got a crib thinking it was the pack and play ... that was a fail as well.  Any hints???!!!

Men have duck tape, women have olive oil

I will say that again and let you ponder for a moment.  Men have duck tape, women have olive oil.  What do you think I am getting to?  Men have duck tape to solve all of their problems.  I have heard the saying, "If you have duck tape, you can fix anything."  Well, olive oil is my duck tape.  Kitty and Ray left for India Friday December 2nd for 10 days.  CR left for Friona with my father the following Thursday for 5 days.  That left this girl and her 15 month old alone here at Far, Far Away.  That's right, we held down the farm.  Not the fort, the whole darn farm!  We survived, despite the thought every night I had that someone was going to come out here and get us and no one would ever know.  Ha!  So about my olive oil.  I took CR to meet my dad in San Antonio.  Kirby and I stayed in town for a bit because I love that place.  See earlier posts for my affair with the Hill Country.  Anyhow, I knew I wanted to get back before dark because that is when the boogie man comes out.  We were successful with getting home before it was dark, however, in the house before then was another story.  We decided to lock the gate before we left town that morning.  Low and behold, the lock was a janky lock and I could not get it open for the life of me.  I broke my thumb (not really) trying to pry the sucker open.  This gave me hope that if I were to get the darn thing open and lock it back again that no one would be able to get us!  Finally after putting my whole 125 pounds and "then some" into it, I got it open.  I almost tried to use my teeth, that is how desperate I was.  I called CR and asked if there was another lock that I could use.  Well, the one he suggested with a key was just as bad.  I figured out that the lock was just rusty and not used very often.  Olive oil to the rescue. I rubbed it all over and in the lock part, walked back out there and open and closed the lock about 10 times just for fun.  Kirby and I laughed for awhile.  Pretty sure she had no clue why, but I filled her in on everything we were doing and how silly daddy was to leave us with such a lock.  Ha, I was so proud of myself and I had only been on the farm for 10 minutes alone and had already solved a problem.  So there you go, men have duck tape, women have olive oil.  CR was mighty impressed.  The rest of the time went by ok.  I told CR that living single on a farm with a toddler is for the birds.  I could do it all the time if I absolutely had to (Lord I pray it never happens) as long as I had automatic gates and feeders for everything because feedings dogs and pigs in the rain is the pits.  Literally the pits.  And PS... Kitty and Ray made it home safely from their trip Monday night.  Tuesday evening when CR and I pulled up from Montgomery there were cows out.  That made the whole weekend worth it because you know what, cows never got out on my watch, and if they did, I am sure I would figure out how to use olive oil to help the situation.

Kirby is 15 months

So this is way late ... like, 2 weeks late!  Sorry, sorry, sorry!  Here is a quick run down of what she is doing these days and her last doctor visit:
Weight: 23.5 lbs
Height: 30.5" (she was 17.5 when she was born, so the dr was blown away by this ...)
Teeth: 12, working on 2 more.  4 of which came in while in Montgomery for a week ... you know that made it fun!
Words she says that we understand: go, bye, hi, hey, mommy, dadda, daddy (when she is talking about daddy ray), shhh (with her finger on her lip), moo, quack, uff uff (ruff, ruff), fish, down, tweet tweet, dog, cat, meow, whoo whoo(like an owl), kiss, aww, night night ... she jabbers all the time and sometimes we make out what she says, but these are the most often used.
Signs that she does consistenetly: eat, please, thank you, more (and more please together), all done (recently she does this while we change her diaper ... she hates having her diaper changed so she is always all done with it), - she knows drink and water, but does not do them, just responds to them
She is now walking officially on her own.  After 4 months of holding on to whatever she can, she will now let go and walk.  This settles our thoughts/concerns of hip issues.  Praise the Lord!

She recently picked up shrieking from another little darling.  Any tips on how to stop this, please let me know.  This is how she picked up the "shhhh ... " from mommy making a game out of it when she shrieks.  Please tell me any tips what so ever, we will try them!! 

"For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them."  Psalm 139:13-16

"Faith ...

is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."  Faith.  Faith.  It is what I live and breathe on.  I can not imagine not having faith in God.  Where would I be?  Totally lost and in a dark, dark place.  This past month I have dug deeper than ever in faith.  People tell me all the time, "You are so strong,", "If only I had your faith" , and more recently, "Lauren, you have so much faith, can you please pray for me ..."  I LOVE to be that person for people to feel they can call on.  Two things though; 1, honestly, I am so weak.  I feel like people that say these things put me on a pedestal when really, which brings me to number 2, YOU CAN HAVE IT TOO!  Yes, God makes our personalities and our dispositions different, so there may be "stronger" people in your life, but you can have the same faith that I do.  Jesus says, "if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."  Matthew 17:20.  I love to pray for people.  I love for people to come to me for comfort and support, but hear me now, I AM WEAK ... I AM JUST A MUSTARD SEED, but He says that is enough.  You can have it too!  Let me know if you want to know how. 
We lost my cousin Jenny to cancer the day before Thanksgiving.  We knew it was coming, but it still did not make it any easier.  I am definitely comforted, though, because I know she is with Jesus.  Last year at Christmas she pulled me into a back room and told me that she walked the aisle in church and she knew the Lord now.  It is amazing how her attitude changed with this cancer.  She had FAITH!  She knew that whether it was here on earth or up in Heaven, she would one day be healed.  Praise the Lord she now has a glorified body and is no longer suffering from the pains of deterioration on her body from the cancer.  We sure miss her, and the holidays will be hard, but oh what a feeling to know she is no longer in pain! 
My daddy was able to take a break from some of the hustle and bustle of owning his own business and spend a couple of weeks with us.  What a blessing this time was!  Kirby enjoyed him around that is for sure.  He taught her how to rock side -to-side, do 1,2,3 on the bed, and this funny swishing noise with her arms.  Cute as a button.  It was refreshing to actually get to visit with dad.  When we are in Montgomery we get time here and there, but we are usually there for such a short period of time that we just do "surface" visits.  You know what I am talking about, the, "how are things going?  hows the farm?  whats new with Kirby?"  These weeks were filled with much deeper thoughts and convos.  Our morning walks everyday were much more fun with him around!  I am so thankful that God allowed this time in our lives to have him here!  We already miss him and can not wait for the family to get to visit during Christmas time!
I have been putting off sharing something that is big on my heart for a few months now.  In my head I keep trying to rationalize and tell myself not to "go public" or put it out there until everything is ready to set and go.  I am one of those people that likes to have all the ducks in a row completely before I set out on an adventure.  Well, this morning in quiet time I read, "Too many of us stand on the dock waiting.  We want the ship in place, the gangplank perfectly positioned, the weather right, and an engraved invitation before we're willing to launch out.  It will never happen.  Dreams don't move toward us, we have to move toward them."  So, without much more ado ... I am going to start a photography business!  Don't ask me many questions because I do not have all the answers yet.  A couple of months ago I was uploading some pictures of Kirby (of course) and I said, "I wish I could do this all the time with other kids, too."  God whispered, "Why don't you?"  I tried to come up with a million reasons not to, but none of them came to complete thoughts.  One thing is for sure, I do not want to go back to teaching any time soon.  I do not want to go get a night job teaching in Kingsville.  I do not want to miss time with my family.  We are making it (by God's grace, praise Him) ... not missing a beat without me working.  God is good and faithful all of the time.  I want to do this because it is something I have been passionate about since my yearbook days in high school, but just never gave enough time and effort to learn more about it.  So stay tuned ... I am working on getting a blog/website set up just for that.  I am taking some mentoring sessions from a photographer whom I adore.  I am trying to learn from the best so that I can offer the best.  Working through names right now ... I thought I had the perfect name, but it is already taken.  Imagine that!  I have faith that this is where God wants me to go for awhile, in order to be home and still take care of what His word calls us to do. 

"By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. "  Hebrews 11:27

Just pictures

I know my blog has been neglected my friends.  Things are super crazy right now.  Some great, some not so great, but we are truckin!  I will catch everyone up when I get a chance to actually think to write.  Until then, enjoy precious!

Road Trip and Raising Children ...

... the way that God wants you to.  This morning Bill continued his sermons on the family.  I am so thankful that we are getting these family lessons now when our child is still young.  I like to think we already know how God wants us to raise our family, but there is so much still out in there in the realm of the unknown for me.  I am scared to death to raise a little girl in this day and age.  I know with the Lord's direction, though, we can do the best we can do.  Today's message came from Deuteronomy, which starts out the whole idea with me still having so much to learn.  I didn't even realize Deuteronomy spoke on raising a family!  As Brother Bill put it, "God speaks on the family all the way from Genesis to Revelation"!  There were 5 important bullets that Bill gave us as "must dos":

1. We must lead our children to know God.  (There is a God.  There is only one God.  God is the Lord.  He is our Lord. 
2. We must show our children to love God.  (We must show them!  Not tell them, but show them how to love God.  Our #1 responsibility as their parents is to see that our children enter into a real relationship with Jesus.)
3. We must guide our children to fear God.  (They see what we watch and read, where we go, how we speak and the music we listen to.)
4. We must instruct our children to live God's word.  (Help them to find the will of God for their lives, obey the word of God, and walk in the ways of God.)  He made a great point here: "The home is where the next generation decides how they are going to live their life."
5. We must train our children to depend on God. 

Our homes and marriages are supposed to have a permanency to them.  They are to happy and reap God's love.  If yours is not reaping God's love, I encourage you to find a church home.  It is amazing how God uses His people to bring love into other peoples' lives.

San Antonio Road Trip
So San Antonio is one of my favorite places on Earth.  I could live there.  Some of you have heard me tell the (what CR thinks is a joke) story about me asking CR about moving to the Hill Country.  In case you haven't heard, let me enlighten you.  The conversation went like this:
We had been married about 3 or 4 months at this point
ME: CR, it would be so wonderful one day to move the Hill Country.  I know you don't like cities, so it could be on the outer sides of San Antonio.  Maybe Boerne, Comfort, something along those lines.
CR: Lauren, you can't farm there.  Too much rock and hills.
ME: OK, so maybe we could move there when we retire. 
CR: Oh dear, you have so much to learn.  Farmers don't retire, they just die.
ME: Ok, well then when you are 6 feet under I am moving to higher elevation!
You get the drift, it is an amazing place to me.  I love the drive on the Devil's Backbone between San Marcos and Boerne ... how can anyone ride on that road and deny there is a God of all creation?  The landscape is beyond description and well the shopping in San Antonio, oh the shopping.  CR says we save a ton of money not living there.  Just a note - I have been looking for this certain gray nail polish for 3 years now.  Not a specific brand, just a specific color.  A muted one.  Not sparkly or shimmery and no hints of purple.  Guess where I found it?  La Cantera.  I have also been looking for plaid, lumber jacky button down shirt - not expensive.  Guess where I found one?  San Marcos Outlet.  CR has been looking for a comfortable Aggie and Ranger cap ... guess where he found them?  La Cantera!  Kirby has been looking for a pair of shoes that she would keep on.  Guess where she found them?  San Marcos!  Successful trip I would say. 
The main reason we went up that way for our niece Eva's 3rd birthday.  We went a day early and took the kiddos to the San Antonio zoo, did some shopping for all of us, spent the night with Rob and Meg, then partied hard at Chick-Fil-A with the family.  It was a blessing to us all to just go on a whim and take a trip.  We all needed to get off the farm for a bit and, as always, being in good company just blesses you to the bone.  Here are some pictures from our adventures:

 Eva playing in the sand by the beach part of the zoo.

 Playing in the learning center.

 Feeding the huge tortoise with Daddy.

 CR says this is one of the ducks he wants on the wall.  Took his all to walk away.

 With Eva and Daddy Ray at the birthday party.

"Oh that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep my commandments, that it may be well with them and well with their children forever!"  Deuteronomy 5:29

Sermon Sunday and Ladybug Lovin

This morning Brother Bill preached from Song of Solomon.  Some of you may be saying, "Uh oh, tread lightly or you may scare us away!"  Ha, no, he did not go into detail or really much on the lovin' side of Solomon's melodies.  He is preaching for the next few weeks on families.  He feels, as do I, that if more of our families were braided with the Lord and the two parents, then we wouldn't be in all the heaps of trouble we are in these days.  "Think about a braid," he pointed out, "from the looks of it there seems to be only two strands.  But if you were to take two strands and twist them around like a braid, they would unravel.  It is the third strand that keeps it all together.  That is how your family needs to be.  The husband and the wife are the two strands that twist together, and the Lord needs to be the third strand that holds it all in place."  He told us about one time Johnny Carson interviewed this little 9 year old boy about saving his friends from drowning.  They got on the subject of church and the young man told Johnny that, "last Sunday in church we learned that at a wedding, Jesus turned water into wine."  The crowd and Johnny roared with laughter and he said, "Ok, now then what can you tell me you learned from that story?"  The boy replied,  "Well, sir, if you're going to have a wedding, Jesus needs to be invited!"  How true that is.  I have seen many families fall apart in my (almost) 29 years of life.  I have seen families stay together that are basically apart.  I have seen families fall apart from physical abuse, from betrayal, and from just plain boredom.  I never know the full story, no one ever does unless they are the story, but I often find myself wondering if those families had the Lord involved.  I mean involved.  I pray that you and yours know the Lord and make Him a part of your daily lives.  I pray that you and yours communicate and spend more time together than the average married couple (26 minutes a week!!).  I pray that you purposefully plan time with your loved one, make them feel loved and special to you, and that you go out of your way every once in awhile to do something extra special just because.

 Who is that cute little ladybug on our porch?

 Oh my, it is Kirby Rose!

 And she is throwing the pumpkins because she thinks they are balls.  Even though she tries her hardest to say pumpkin!

 "Here daddy, you take this one, I will get the big one."

 We took her to the Harvest Fest at River Hills tonight.  I set her in a jump house that no one was in and she did not know what to think of it.  She just say there with this, "um, what am I supposed to do here?" look.

 Then a sweet little girl got in and started bouncing! 

Of course we had to get a snapshot with some of her best buds!  I love how the two girls posed as soon as I pulled the camera up.  I. love. kids!

On our way out we ran into one of C.R.'s favorite pig customers!  Kirby is mooing at the tiger on the outside of the jump house.

"For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."  Matt. 18:20