Dreaming with God

"Encounters with God as an intimate are quite different from those of a servant.  His heartbeat becomes our heartbeat as we celebrate the shift in our own desires. The realm of His presence becomes our greatest inheritance, and divine encounters are greatest memories."
~Bill Johnson, Dreaming with God

This past week began our new schedule for the next several months.  It has been great to finally get to this point, as we have been anticipating this all summer.  We are excited but already feel that our schedule will not be doable except by the grace of God...which we have experienced over and over again SO I am trusting Him to sustain us.

On Tuesday morning, we came into Waco early to sign Josiah up for Muttin' Bustin' (an event in the rodeo where little ones ride sheep! Adorable and hilarious!).  Josiah has been looking foward to this for sometime and was so excited to finally be old enough to sign up to be in the rodeo just like all those cowboys he admires! 

WELL....signups started at 8am with a limited number or entrants...the little boys and I stood in line for sometime...and missed the cut off by one person.

It was so sweet and sad explaining to little 4 year old Josiah why he wasn't able to be ride in the rodeo after all.  He was disappointed, for sure.  But took it in stride.  Once I dropped them off at their mother's day out program, I started crying!  Just knowing that this was his one chance since next year we will be gone.  I was so sad for him...and me, too!  I started thinking about all the "normal" things that I expected to see Josiah do as a boy...little league, 1st day of Kindergarden...Mutton Bustin'.  I knew it was silly but I grieved the things our boys will not experience because we are moving to Haiti.

Tonight, while sitting on the front porch with my current read, plus amazing weather and a beautiful sunset,  God brought me to this quote by Bill Johnson...about the realm of God's presence being our greatest inheritance and Divine encounters our greatest memories...It grabbed my heart.  And I rested.

Thank you, God!  The boys and I may not have all the expected memories and experiences of an American mom with 3 boys but wherever we are (America, Haiti, or elsewhere),we WILL experience God's presence and His divine encounters.  It will be our greatest treasure...our most prized possessions...cherished memories of being friends with God and not merely servants.  Of not just obeying God but living our life on earth with Him...experiencing Him and his adventues.

HOT Fair & Rodeo...Yummy!

We hit the Heart of Texas Fair & Rodeo last Saturday...it was fun and yummy, too! Central Texas has an awesome fair/rodeo--it is the perfect size and yet done very well. Our favorite part is the rodeo (you get in free most nights...bonus!) but the fair food is always very delicious and artery clogging. We tried (keyword tried) to go cheap but still managed to shell out a fair amount of cash. free balloons and suckers...what is better? It kept the boys satisfied and plus I love free stuff. Jody likes to say that if they were giving away crack I wouldn't be able to turn it down.

kinda makes me want to get a little pig...they were so cute!! Josiah really enjoyed the petting zoo this year...the worst part is having your clothes chewed on by the goats. They are very diligent creatures and quite annoying.

I love the excitement in Josiah's eyes in this picture...I took this picture of us with the Llama for two reasons: 1) my family had a llama when I was a child and I hated/feared it with great passion and 2) we recently checked out a library book "Llama, Llama Mad at Mama" that I thought was adorable and should be checked out by all moms who have ever gone shopping with young children. very funny.

Tractors!! Josiah could have stayed here all night...I don't know if we were supposed to let him crawl on these but we did and he loved it. He has a strong love for anything with wheels.

Overall, a great time and worth every cent...makin' memories.