"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