Happy 13th Birthday, Joy!

How can it be that my little girl is turning 13 today? She was just my little girly tomboy (click on that link to read more about that) that slept in sponge curlers every Saturday night and wore her hair in ringlets on Sunday mornings to church and then came home and played “roughest toughest” with her daddy on Sunday afternoons in her dress and hair bow.

Joy loves to tease me with, “I’m almost 13”. After that I'll be 14, old enough to get my driving permit.  In 2015, I’ll be 16”. She knows I don't want to rush it! Although I miss the little girl, I love the young lady that she is becoming. She is such a blessing to us and I know God has a special plan for her life. We have the bond I always envisioned in a daughter.

Joy strives to please not only us, but to serve the Lord. It is for that I’m most thankful. Of course, I think she is beautiful, but what’s even more beautiful to me is her heart. She has such a compassionate heart. She truly desires to live a life pleasing to God and to seek His wisdom.

So today, Joy, I wish you a Happy (13th) Birthday! I pray that you always allow God to guide you through your teenage years and mold you into a beautiful woman for His glory. I’m so glad God gave you to us to be our daughter! We love you so much!

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways, acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths." Proverbs 3:5-6

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future". Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

"Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised". Proverbs 31:30 (NIV)

Joy:  Jesus first, Others Second, and Yourself Last.  You are a joy!

 
(And none of this stuff about turning 16 before we know it or you are grounded). :)

Open for Questions :)

For some time, I’ve thought I’d like to do this.

From time to time, I get questions through emails about various things covering many different topics that I blog about….whether it be our family, our faith, homeschooling, adoption, decorating etc… So my thoughts have been that I would like to just give my readers the opportunity to ask questions and I will try to answer them the best I can in a post this next week.

So, here goes…….if there’s something you’d like to ask me, leave your question in a comment on this post. I’d love to hear from you!  :)

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a wonderful weekend!  :)

~ Tammy ~

Faithful Friday - "Leiney Grace is Coming Home!!!"

I’m sure you remember the Auction for Adoption here on my blog for Leiney Grace? Well, she’s coming home! Today, as you read this post, Jan and her aunt are on their way to China! They are supposed to meet Leiney Grace on Monday (China time).

I just wanted to ask my praying friends to lift up Jan and her aunt in prayer for safe travel and a safe journey in China. Please pray that the Lord prepares 9 year old Leiney Grace’s heart for her family. I know it has to be a scary thing for an older child to leave all that is familiar and embrace her new life. Please pray for a smooth adjustment for everyone involved, as well as a smooth paperwork process. And remember Jan’s husband and seven kids back at home. A couple of the kids were not feeling well.

And thank you to all who prayed before when they were mentioned here during the Auction for Adoption. And to those who participated in the auction, a very special thank you. Know that you are a very special part of helping to bring Leiney Grace to her forever home!

You can follow their journey in China to Leiney Grace here.

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We'd love for you to join us for Faithful Fridays. If you have something to share from your Christian walk, please join us and let us know you participated by grabbing the button above and letting Joy know in a comment here on her blog that you are participating.

God bless you all! Have a great weekend!

What's in a Name?

Almost four years ago now, after enjoying many of your blogs, I knew starting my own blog was something I really wanted to do.

Being the think-it-out (probably way too much) kind of person I am, I began thinking about what I would call my blog. To me, it had to be something that represented me, not only today, but a name that would still be a good fit for me ten years from today. In other words, things may change, but would the title of my blog still make me just as happy many years from now? Because I hoped this blogging thing would be long term.

So as I always do, I probably also bugged my family. Well okay, I know I bugged my family way too much with names to consider. I remember narrowing it down to just three or four. The one thing they all had in common was the word “country” because that’s me. It fit me like a glove. From the time I was a little girl, I’ve loved any and everything country, from the books I read, to the things I pretended as a little girl, loving my grandparents’ home on the lake, walking down the dirt roads and playing in the fields, country based TV shows, and just loving farmhouses and log cabins. And I’ve always liked things old that tell a story.

In the end, Country Girl at Home was the one that made me the happiest. I knew years from now, even if my decorating style wasn’t exactly the same, it would still have a country flare. It would still be some variation of country style.  I know that because I go in other homes that I think are beautiful and I really do enjoy looking at the different types of décor, but when I come home, I love what welcomes me. I love being enveloped by my country home and country things. It just makes me happy. So I knew that years down the road, I would still be a country girl at heart, no matter what.

I also knew that home is the place that makes me happiest. It’s the place I love to be the most. I wanted to open my home to blog land and share a little bit of what goes on in this country girl’s home and family and hopefully be an encouragement to others along the way.

Thus, Country Girl at Home was born. For my very first post, you can click here.

Early on during that first year of blogging, Mandie of Life in the Craft Lane, out of a random act of kindness, and as a complete surprise to me, created the banner graphic (that you see at the top of my blog) using a photo of our country home.  I love it then and I love it now.  :)

She also created an avatar for me as well.

Mandie is also the sweet lady that made the button for Joy’s Faithful Fridays.

As I was visiting blogs the other day, I was especially taking note of blog titles. I’ve often wondered this, so I decided I was just going to ask! Many times as I visit a blog, it is obvious to me why the blogger chose that name. I can see it fits. Others I know must have a story or special meaning behind it. Whatever the name, I know some thought has gone behind it. It says something about the blogger.  And many times the name of the blog catches my eye and makes me want to visit!

So today, I’m asking all you bloggers out there, how did you choose the name for your blog? What made you pick the title that you decided on and how does it represent you? Please leave me a comment and share your blogging title history!

And as always, thank you for stopping by!  Have a great day!  :)

Chinese New Year

To celebrate the Chinese New Year, Joy, Luke and I had lunch at our favorite Chinese restaurant in town Monday. Luke wore one of his Chinese outfits. Good thing I bought it big…..it still fit him. Joy’s didn’t, however. Everyone that we came across while out and about just loved seeing him dressed up.

Joy made Chinese New Year cards (with a little bit of money inside) to give out to some of the employees at the restaurant, especially one particular sweet man that is dear to us there. He was in the back cooking and we had to send for him. He came out grinning from ear to ear as he always does and was surprised to see this American girl wishing him a Happy New Year complete with Chinese writing on the card. He motioned for us to wait a minute and he went in the back for awhile. He returned with a huge smile and a special dish he created just for us.

Then there was the new host/server. We instantly liked him. He reminded me of my Colt. Although he didn’t look it, he was 29. He was very interested in Luke and asked several questions about him. He told us about his time living here in the states (10 years now) and about his effort to make sure his two children learned Chinese as well as English. He gave us some tips and Joy tried out her Chinese on him from her Chinese class. This is her 2nd semester, so she has improved on her tones. He understood her. He was especially complimentary of her Chinese writing on the card that she gave him though. After a few minutes, he also returned with a red envelope for Joy and Luke. He said it was the first time he had ever been given a Chinese New Year card from a child. He had given them each $5! He even volunteered to be in China if we ever made it there so he could be our guide and help us out with the language.

Through all of this, Luke wasn’t that impressed. He seems to shy away from anything Chinese. He wasn’t even happy to really be wearing his Chinese outfit, but I promised him he could wear whatever he wanted when he came home. (He chose pajamas).

We then spent the next part of the afternoon visiting our friends at the nursing home. We just love our visits there. They especially loved seeing Luke in his outfit and they always love Joy. Luke gives “little hugs” and blows kisses. He’s come a long way with that. In the past, he chose to stay with grandmama while we went to the Nursing Home. There’s one Chinese resident there for whom Joy made a Chinese New Year card as well.

All in all it was a good day. We ended the day with Colt, Amber, and my mom and dad joining us for supper. I’d like to say it was a nice Chinese meal, but the truth is it was as American as ever – breakfast for supper.

Speaking of the Chinese New Year, did you know it’s the year of the dragon? Joy’s teacher says something BIG is supposed to happen in the year of the dragon. She is learning so much from her teacher who is very passionate about her teaching. Not only is she teaching them the language and how to write it, she also teaches about the culture and history of China. Joy is really enjoying it. We’re hoping to get Luke started in classes next fall.

Thank you for making my little corner of blogland part of your day! I appreciate you all!

Faithful Friday - "Fear or Faith?"

I’m not sure how Friday can possibly be here already. But it is, and you won’t hear me complaining.

Friday is the day we’ve set aside to share Faithful Friday – something from our Christian walk. I knew after receiving this email from a homeschooling friend what I would share for today. And if you’d like to participate in Faithful Friday, just hop over to Joy’s blog here and leave her a comment letting her know so we can stop by for a visit!

Here’s the email I received:

Pam's Story

More than 24 years ago, Pam and her husband Bob were serving as missionaries to the Philippines and praying for a fifth child. Pam contracted amoebic dysentery, an infection of the intestine caused by a parasite found in contaminated food or drink. She went into a coma and was treated with strong antibiotics before they discovered she was pregnant. Doctors urged her to abort the baby for her own safety and told her that the medicines had caused irreversible damage to her baby. She refused the abortion and cited her Christian faith as the reason for her hope that her son would be born without the devastating disabilities physicians predicted. Pam said the doctors didn't think of it as a life, they thought of it as a mass of fetal tissue. While pregnant, Pam nearly lost their baby four times but refused to consider abortion. She recalled making a pledge to God with her husband: If you will give us a son, we'll name him Timothy and we'll make him a preacher. Pam ultimately spent the last two months of her pregnancy in bed and eventually gave birth to a healthy baby boy August 14, 1987. Pam's youngest son is indeed a preacher. He preaches in prisons, makes hospital visits, and serves with his father's ministry in the Philippines. He also plays football. Pam's son is Tim Tebow. The University of Florida's star quarterback became the first sophomore in history to win college football's highest award, the Heisman Trophy. His current role as quarterback of the Denver Broncos has provided an incredible platform for Christian witness. As a result, he is being called The Mile-High Messiah. Tim's notoriety and the family's inspiring story have given Pam numerous opportunities to speak on behalf of women's centers across the country. Pam Tebow believes that every little baby you save matters.

Did you guess it was going to be Tim Tebow?  :)

Now I’d like to share a little snippet from my own life. If you’ve read my blog for very long, you probably remember what I’m about to tell you from a previous post, but I’m going to repeat it here today to bring out a point for today’s Faithful Friday post.

While expecting Joy, I turned 35, which meant taking a test (given to all expectant moms 35 and over). That test came back that our baby very likely could have Down’s Syndrome. The doctor strongly urged us to have an amniocentesis to know for sure, to which I strongly objected. Knowing the risk of causing a miscarriage through the amniocentesis, there was no way I was going to do that. Besides, if my baby was born with Down’s Syndrome, then that’s what God gave me. Period. An amniocentesis wouldn't solve anything.  We were having the baby, Down's Syndrome or not Down's Syndrome.  We prayed about it and after a couple of weeks from that point, I had peace about it. And honestly, I never even gave it much more thought. As a matter of fact when she was born, it never even occurred to me to even ask that question.

And so it was that our Joy was born. And as you can see, she does not have Down’s Syndrome, but even if she had, she would have been God’s perfect creation.  And she would still be a blessing.

God doesn’t make mistakes. He can take even the most horrible situation or worst case scenario and make something beautiful of it. He can make something beautiful of that life. It saddens me to think about all the babies that never make it to this world because their mother aborted them, either because they listened to their own fears, to the advice of a doctor, a friend, a boyfriend, or sometimes even a parent.

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." Jeremiah 1:5 (NIV)

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.” Psalm 139:13 (NIV)

“For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)


As you can see from today’s story about Tim Tebow, God does have a plan. He knows what He’s doing. I wonder why it’s so hard to just trust God instead of listening to man? I guess it’s just one of those times when fear and faith collide and we all have to decide which one wins – fear or faith.

By the way, I haven’t read Tim Tebow’s book yet, but it’s definitely on my list! I can’t wait to read it. He is such an inspiration and a wonderful Christian witness.

Thanks for stopping by today!  Have a great weekend!

Be Blessed,
~ Tammy ~

A Most Fashionable Dog

Koda might just be the best dressed puppy around, thanks to Amber’s touch.  :)