September, October and all that Jazz!

Since I have been knee deep in "the abode" renovations and school things...I decided just to lump everything that has been going on as September, October and "all that jazz." My mom used to use that phrase as I was growing up, and since then, I think it has often been substituted with the word "stuff." "All that jazz" just sounds so much more spiffy and puts a fancy twist on "stuff." And fancy has been going on over in my household.

Since I last blogged, many late nights ago, we have been busy doing all kinds of jazz!

Here are a few little before and after shots of "the abode" for you...

B/c everybody needs an orange door (I have assured my husband that it won't be sooo orange when we paint the rest of the house)! Painting this door turned my mourning into dancing again! I love, love, love an orange door!!

and I painted the fireplace, which raised many eyebrows but I figured it couldn't get any worse than it was and now I love it!!

my counter space went from this...


to this (thanks dad for all the lighting...just beautiful)...


My base boards still look like this, just with a different paint color...
...but soon, very soon, they will be all jazzed up!

My tummy now looks like this...
so big at 20 weeks, b/c there isn't just one baby in there, but TWO!
I get lots of good looks from little boys thinking I am hiding their ball under there...

My sweet little girls celebrated turning 7 and 5...

And Titus prefers Sports Illustrated with his breakfast...

All in all we are good and feeling the abundance of God. I think the phrase can be true that "when it rains it pours." Since January we have been living in what feels like a whirlwind...some very precious things we lost-like a baby just 12 weeks old inside and at the same time many new things we have gained-a new home (albeit a home in the works) which we have prayed for for quite a number of years. God has allowed so many comforts to be stripped, but all in hopes that we would learn to replace those comforts with more of Him. Still more of Him. We are learning to live in His abundance-an abundance felt through His perfectly placed losses and through His perfectly placed and timed gifts. Learning to have no control over what our lives look like and daily choosing joy. He knows what He is doing.
With two new babies on the way, football season in full swing, and a home in progress we don't quite know how life is going to look, but these two things we know:

Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress. I will not be shaken." Psalm 62:5-6

And a quote from Nicole Johnson says perfectly what we do have
no matter what our life looks like on the outside,
"So we hold this hope: Christ dies for us-therefore we can live. His death for our sin lifts our hearts out of the mire of guilt. His resurrection from death resurrects our spirits to eternal life. This truth is what floats. This is the hope that refuses to be submerged. It will not be held down for long by the oppression of despair. It will come bobbing to the surface, giving us something to hold on to above water, keeping us from going under, This is irrepressible hope."

God's abundance over you today!!