Recycling & Quenching Thirst

While I was throwing away quite a few empty coffee bags I work I could not help but think, "There has to be SOMETHING we can do with these!" So I decided we would use them as pots for plants. So far I was able to recycle 13 Starbucks Coffee bags ranging in size from 8 ounces to a pound. (These were obviously free as they were intended for the trash). I spent $5 on a bag of potting soil (which we only used half of) & $10 on a flat of 18 plants. This project took about 30 minutes & the lessons we learned in the process were great! Not only did we have a little agriculture lesson on how to pot a plant but we were also able to apply some real life lessons. 

We discussed that God gave man the job of laboring over the land. Genesis 1:26-30 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so. And we are trying to do our part by being good stewards of what we have been given. We are keeping a few coffee bags out of the landfill & we are repurposing them into something beautiful! 

 We also discussed what might happen to these flowers if we didn't water them. If we do not water these plants they will die. We are a lot like these flowers. Without Living Water (Jesus). We will wither up & die & spend eternity separated from Him & our thirst will never be quenched! John 4: 13-15 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.” I pray that our children will follow in this example & that this will help draw them closer to God. I will continue to sow these seeds into our children as this is my greatest responsibility. 

 If you are interested in doing this project yourself here is a little "How to..." 

First, Collect your supplies: 

Coffee bags

Potting Soil

Flowers (with a small base)

Scissors

Shovel or cups (for scooping soil & watering plants) 

Water 

Helpful hands 

Cute outfits (optional)

You are going to want to "shape" the bags & fill them half way with soil. If you are using the 1 pound bags, you will want to cut them down a little bit.

Prepare your plant & set it in the bag.

Fill in the sides with soil & pack it down.

Water the plants & then use them as decorations or give them to others to show them how much you care! We plan on delivering ours to neighbors, grandparents & maybe even a few for Starbucks! Just Remember no matter how messy this gets, NEVER turn away cute helpers!!

Sarala

Ally

Caitlyn

If anyone happens to have coffee bags that they are not planning on using, we will gladly take them! We have a few other projects in mind!

just a day

Today was a day like many we've enjoyed together. The girls and I rushed out of the house for church, had lunch after church, went to Walmart, took a nap & then PICTURES!! I have begun taking photos for friends & family in the area & I am hoping to turn this into more than a hobby. I really enjoy photography as well as learning more about it.
My most popular subjects get a little tired of posing for the camera as I tell them to do one thing pr another. I am trying to figure out new ways to get them to sit still, look at the camera & give me a smile or a look that I will want to print & frame :) Today I decided to take them along with me to a maternity shoot with my cousin Bethany. I decided to click away randomly whenever I got a chance just for fun. I had originally planned to take them out in cute outfits and have a beautiful sunny setting. Well, it started to rain on the way & became quite overcast.
Here are a few shots of what we came up with. . .

What a weekend!

The end of this week & weekend have been quite tiring for me but also very exciting! On Thursday night I had the pleasure of having a wonderful date night with my husband! We went out for our 5 year anniversary!! It seems so crazy to think that six years ago we weren't even dating & now we are married, we have a home to call our own (along with the bank :) ), we have three amazing & beautiful children and a great relationship!

I have to be honest that Josh & I did not have a typical introduction. My older sister introduced Josh to me at our church in Louisville, Kentucky! When she introduced Josh, she said, "This is Josh the jerk!" Not the best way to meet someone but of course if your big sister disapproves of someone you may keep an eye on them. After attend church together & hanging around some of the same people Josh & I were able to spend a lot of time together. We went on our first date to Cave Hill National Cemetery (Where Colonel Sanders is buried) & Graeter's ice Cream in Louisville. I know this is going to seem crazy but I knew about two weeks after Josh & I started dating that I wanted to marry him!! We were very upfront about how we fe

lt about each other and we were also very sure of where our relationship would be headed. Josh was very different from anyone else I had ever dated. He expressed not only that he liked me but why. Most of those reasons being heart related. We were both extremely attracted to each other for one BIG reason. We both love and serve the one true living God!! Everything about our lives showed that.

After five or six months of dating we were engaged. I love the way that Josh proposed to me & I play it in my mind over & over & over again! He was so charming, h

onest, genuine & he never gave me a doubt that he wasn't the one for me. Josh & I never used the word love in our relationship. So after he led me to a candle lit picnic, he snuck off to get something for me. He came out from behind the bushes with about 5 dozen long stem red roses. Each rose had a little piece of paper attached to it. Josh sat down next to me and began to read each note to me & each one started with I love you... He gave me 59 reasons why he loved me. When he was finished he told me that we were going to go somewhere else.

Here are a few examples of what Josh wrote to me...

I started to clean up our mess & when I turned around he was down on one knee with one last rose & it read,

I love you because Christ first loved me & I desire to love you as Christ has loved me, serving, sacrificing & giving myself up for you and to your needs.

After he finished reading this tome he asked me, "Will you be my wife?" And of obviously I said, "Yes!"

We were married four months later & have had an amazing last five years!!

I am so thankful that the Lord brought us together & that he continues to sustain our relationship & grow us to serve His purposes!

Now this is what we have & it is so great!

Crushed

Let's start things off by explaining the events of last night. I went to the YMCA & worked out while all three of my kids played in childcare. I was exhausted & went to bed later than I would have liked. At 3 a.m. I hear a child screaming but not actually coming to me for help. Something was obviously wrong! I went into the twins room where Caitlyn was laying flat on her back & covered in vomit! I proceeded to make a bed for her in the bathroom, I washed her hair in the sink & cleared the stinky sheets from her bed & took them straight to the washer!! After being up for an hour or so, I finally made it back to bed. When I got out of bed this morning, the girls had taken all of their new soccer & tee ball things out of their packages (Which I was trying to keep up so they wouldn't get lost) & they had taken all of their flash-cards for school & glued them to paper with a glue stick! After saving all of the flash-cards that I could, I was holding & playing with Sarala when I see a TV & a DVD player roll into the hallway followed by the screams of a little girl. I pretty much dropped Sarala & ran into the girls room where I see Caitlyn trapped & screaming under her dresser! Ally & Caitlyn thought it would be a great idea to pull all of the drawers out so that they could climb up to get new underwear out for the day! After putting everything back in its place and examining the girls I was surprised to find only a few bumps & bruises!!! I a so blessed & thankful that no one was seriously hurt & that Sarala had just come into the living room to play with me! Today was a very exhausting & stressful day for me & all I have wanted to do is escape to a quite place! These sorts of things seem to happen to us often & I have decided to start sharing more of these experiences with friends & family through this blog! Hopefully every day will not be quite as dramatic but will be a glimpse of what I go through on an average day :)