Steps of Faith

The pathway is broken

And The signs are unclear

And I don't know the reason why You brought me here

But just because You love me the way that You do

I'm gonna walk through the valley

If You want me to

Chorus:

Cause I'm not who I was

When I took my first step

And I'm clinging to the promise You're not through with me yet

so if all of these trials bring me closer to you

Then I will walk through the fire

If You want me to

It may not be the way I would have chosen

When you lead me through a world that's not my home

But You never said it would be easy

You only said I'd never go alone

So when the whole world turns against me

And I'm all by myself

And I can't hear You answer my cries for help

I'll remember the suffering that Your love put You through

And I will walk through the darkness If You want me to

Cuz when I cross over Jordan

Gonna sing, gonna shout,

Gonna look into Your eyes and see You never let me down

So take me on the pathway that leads me home to You

And I will walk though the valley

If You want me to

Yes, I will walk through the valley

If You want me to

The words of this song by Ginny Owen brought so much encouragement to Davin and I couple of weekends ago. It's been quite a long journey for us since we left 2 1/2 years ago to pursue God's calling on Davin's life. We sold our home and moved to Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Davin finished his degree in May and now we are waiting on the Lord to lead us into the next phase of life and ministry. God has been so faithful to us and we have never once gone without something we've needed. Not to mention support from our families and friends. We are so grateful for all He has done. However, we have found ourselves in a time of discouragement unlike anything we've experienced as a couple. What has amazed me is how the Lord has encouraged us through this time with sermons we've heard, scriptures from our quiet times, and songs like the one above. This song came on the radio as we were headed to church, and just at the right time! I write this simply to be "real". If you are reading our blog it's because you want to know what's going on with us, so why not share, huh? I hope the words of this song will encourage you if you are going through a time similar to us.

Rental Home
As you know we have been looking for a rental home for about two months now. We found one that we liked, but we didn't have enough money to get into it. Our dear friends Jay and Shana have offered their home to us at a price we couldn't refuse. They are preparing to go overseas. We will be staying in their home until it sells or until the Lord opens the door for Ministry. I can't begin to tell you how excited and grateful we are by what they are doing and what the Lord has done. They have an amazing house that is less than 5 miles from church! We will love living there as long as the Lord allows. I can't wait to move in next weekend. I will post some pictures after we get settled in.

Thank you Jay and Shana!

Davin's Job
Things are finally beginning to pick up for Davin. When you start a sales job like this one it takes some time to get your feet on the ground. He finally had his first roof completed and will hopefully get his first commission check soon! We have also heard from a church that requested a DVD of one of Davin's sermons. We will keep you posted on how everything turns out!

The Kids
There hasn't been too much changing or going on with the kids lately. They spend the days playing and spending time with Grandparents and cousins. They were very excited to see the rental house and Hudson was thrilled when we showed him where his new room would be.

Hudson did request a haircut. He specifically wanted it out of his eyes. He did such a good job holding still. I was very impressed! Here are a couple of photos...

Lazy Days of Summer

I was finally able to get some photos up on our blog. Now you can see what the kids have been up to. I had to get these from my mom's camera. She is quite the photographer.

Let me just say that Davin and I have been blessed with wonderful families. What a treasure to be able to spend so much time with them!

Here is Gran (Alisia's mom) with three of her grandchildren. She has five. Kaitlyn is the oldest. She came and spent a week with us and has been such a delight to have around. She helped me change diapers and played with Hudson and Naomi in the pool. They love their "Kate". My sister and her husband came into town for the 4th of July. Here they are with their son Chandler.

I am proud to announce that I am big sister to the "Officer of the Year". My brother Ray received this award a couple of weeks ago. He is doing an outstanding job. He wrote over 500 speeding tickets last year. And had several DUI arrests as well. So, next time your in Jasper watch out!

The kids have been spending most of their days playing outside and at the pool. They have also spent lots of time with their cousins. Here the kids are with Lila (Ray's daughter). As you can see, Naomi isn't happy. I wanted to share one of our not so special moments. I know we generally save our best pictures for the blog, but life has it's not so fun times too. Poor Naomi!

And look she's alright after all...

Fun by the pool!

Hiding with Lila...

Here is Hudson with Grandaddy. My father used to do Landscape design on the side. He does an amazing job with plants and landscape. They have a beautiful back yard! This is the back deck where we spend a lot of time in the evenings just relaxing.

This is the sandbox my dad made for the kids near the pool (that's why they are wearing life jackets) This is a photo of Hudson and Chandler.

This is a photo of the kids with Kaitlyn. (Notice the great landscaping!)

Okay, so after two days of working on a nine-piece frog puzzle we finally figured it out! This is one of the most challenging puzzles I have ever done. Kaitlyn and I worked on it together and, after it was finished we numbered the back and took a photo. Good job Kaitlyn!!!

No Picture Post

Well, I have been slow on my post these days and it's not due to all our transition. Davin needs my camera for work so I am without it these days. I don't like to post without pictures, but I feel the need to just put an update out there. Davin has also been using our "family" car. Which is now Davin's work truck.(I'll post a photo when I get one) When I need to go somewhere my mom graciously lets me drive her car. I guess once we move out I'll have to cruise around town with the kids in the back of the caddy. I took them to the store in it the other day and you would think they were in hog heaven ridding around in daddy's car. I cannot thank my parents enough for all they have done for us! They are willing to let us live with them until we get on our feet, borrow their car, share their food, and they help me watch the kids. I am definitely enjoying there company along with seeing my brothers and sisters often as well.

I posted earlier that Davin has gotten a job with Academy Roofing. It is a wonderful job and we are very blessed by it. He has been working really hard and seems to be doing well. In this line of work it takes a month or so to get established and going. We are hoping to move into a rental house by mid July. We even have the house picked out already, just waiting on the funds.

We are attending First Baptist Woodstock and we have been going to the Dorminy's Sunday school class. There are a lot of old friends in there and we are hoping to make some new ones as well. We spend our Sunday's with Davin's parents. They have blessed us the last two Sundays with grilled steaks for dinner, and this past Sunday they took us to Moe's for lunch. Needless to say I've got to start counting my Weight Watcher's points again!!!

Mimi took me and the kids to White Water this past week. We had a blast playing on all the water slides. The kids really enjoyed it. It has been years since I went to White Water and was really surprised at how nice it was. Sorry, I don't have any pictures to show!

The kids have been eating up all the attention from their grandparents. They love to play at the pool at Gran's and swing at Mimi's. We have also enrolled Hudson in Wee School(FBCW's Preschool program). He should start in August. I know I had planned on Homeschooling, but I think that this will be really good for Hudson.

I'll try to get a photo up of Davin's "work truck" so you can see what my car has become. When we get a rental I'll post photos of that, too.