Michaela has really started to enjoy playing with her dolls. Nana L. got Michaela this vintage Little Tykes doll house and she loves it! It is very basic but she finds so much to do!
She likes to transfer the people from one chair to the other.
She always wants to show me that she can put them in bed. 
She is showing off her work!Get those high dollar coupons out and go to K-mart this weekend! Between now and Sunday, K-mart will double all coupons up to (and including) $2.00.
Today, I spent $14.07 for all of the items below. Without my coupons, the total would have been $51.26. That is a savings of $37.19.
Proceed with caution and do not get too frustrated while shopping. A lot of the items I had coupons for were already sold out. Of course, it was the items that would have been free after coupons! Just be thankful for what you are able to purchase.
Beth Moore is an amazing Bible teacher. Well, let me rephrase that because she would not want me giving her the glory... God has made Beth Moore an amazing teacher of His word. I have learned so much through the studies He has instructed her to write.
Presently, I am going through Believing God with Beth and a group of women at our church. It was God's perfect timing to do this study right now. It has been exactly what I have needed in my life. The basic gist of this study can be summed up in one question: You believe IN God, but do you believe Him? It has been very eye opening.
She said something tonight that I can't seem to get out of my head. I actually felt like I had to get up out of bed to share this with you all. Maybe this is for someone else besides me or maybe God just really wants this to sink in. Either way, let me back up and give you a scriptural starting point.
Luke 22:31, 32: 31"Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you[a] as wheat. 32But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."
The person speaking to Simon in this passage was Jesus himself. God gave Beth so many nuggets in these 2 verses and I am grateful that she passed this knowledge on to us.
First of all, Satan didn't just ask to sift Simon. The "you" in verse 31 is plural. Satan was asking to sift all of us. This verse wasn't intended for this lone disciple. Satan doesn't just seek to sift the people in the ancient days. He looks to sift all of us.
Secondly, and this may be the most important point, is that God will allow Satan to sift you if there are things in your life that need to go. Otherwise, he gets a big fat no. This was very profound to me tonight because I feel like I am being sifted over and over again. Unfortunately, sometimes I feel self righteous about this because I wasn't the "cause" of the problem. I didn't throw myself into the pit, so what can I learn? It's not my fault.
Either way, God has allowed this to happen in my life. Maybe, just maybe, there hasn't been a major healing because I am not allowing God to do what he wants to do in my own life. I need to get rid of some of the fleshy things in order for the things of the Spirit to move in.
Thirdly, if Satan is allowed to sift Jesus will pray for you so that you may not fail. I can really relate to this point as well. Lately, I have felt as if I just didn't have it in me to press on. I was at my breaking point. I actually said to myself recently, "I am at the end of my rope and letting go. I really hope God is there to hold on to me." Thankfully, He was there and He will continue to be there for me, especially when I don't have the strength to pray for myself.
Lastly, when all the dust has settled we are to strengthen one another. We are to encourage one another. This was very affirming in my own life. I know that God has called me into ministry. It happened 7 months after He so graciously saved me. It has been 3 years since that calling and I have felt like maybe I got it wrong. Like maybe I was just really excited about the transformation in my life and got ahead of myself. Maybe I was ahead of myself, but I do not doubt the calling that God has on my life and Chris' life. God's timing is not mine, which is a great thing. I can tell you that if I were to pursue what God has envisioned for me right now, I would fall flat on my face. I am just not ready for that yet. I see too many things within myself that just aren't right. There is still way too much me and not enough of Him.
As for the struggles and trails, I have a new perspective. I can look at this through the lens of sifting. I will try to ask myself daily what needs to be removed from my life. I will close with a paraphrase from tonight's lesson:
He has places to take us, but there are some things in us that can't go there and some things of the Spirit that need to go there.
I am going to believe God to take us to that place...no matter the cost.
Michaela and I tried our first art project today. Since everything goes into her mouth, I decided to use instant pudding instead of finger paints. At first I was bummed because I had bought vanilla instead of chocolate because the vanilla would not show up on the paper. But then a light bulb came on in my mind-Food Coloring! It was even better then having chocolate. (That will be the only time in my life I will ever say that again!)
I introduced Michaela to crayons today. She wasn't as thrilled as I thought she might be but she did manage to keep them out of her mouth most of the time.
As you can see, she helped me with the sign a little bit...
but she was really more interested in taking out the crayons and putting them back in the box. 
Better luck next time.
My dad was watching the news on CNN and I overheard a very disturbing report.
The reporter said that schools were back in session in Houston, TX. That, obviously, was not the disturbing part. She then continued to say that a lot of the parents were glad to send their kids back to school because they did not know how to entertain their children without electricity.
Sad.
