Adoption

There are approximately 4.6 million orphans in the country of Ethiopia. Blake and I have a burden for these children and a sure calling from God that we are to bring one of these precious ones into our family. We are excited about having the opportunity to do for a child what Jesus Christ has done for us: Adoption - He did it first! We do not have the $30,000 that is needed for the adoption, but believe that God is calling us to step out and trust that He will provide every penny that we need. If you feel lead to support us financially please click on the donate button to the right. Feel free to email us with any questions or encouragement: blakeandchristina@yahoo.com
Also you can follow us at our new blog linked in the post below.
Thank you!

NEW BLOG!!!!!!!

From now on I will be posting on this blog:

christinasdavis.xanga.com

Foundation

After weeks of waiting, our foundation was poured this morning for our new house. Blake's cell phone rang at 7:45 this morning. I went from a sound sleep to shaking Blake and saying excitedly, "Answer it maybe its the house people!"  Sure enough it was the superintendent calling to say the cement truck was on its way!  We jumped up, got ready, grabbed granola bars and the camera and headed that way. 

  

We spent over two hours in our new neighborhood. We played for a long time at the lighthouse in front of the neighborhood while we waited for the cement truck to come back from his refill trip.

 
 
 



After the work crew was done smoothing it out, we each put our hand-print on the patio concrete and then Blake wrote our names and the reference to the verse, "as for me and my house we will serve the Lord."

 
 
 
We also wrote the scripture references to the verses we picked out for the kids when they were born.

Camden's verse: 

"I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand,You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence."  Acts 2:25&28

Hope's verse: 

"You gave me life and showed me kindness, and in your providence watched over my spirit." Job 10:12

Our pastor told Blake that he feels like the Lord has shown him that this building process of our new house is symbolic of the building that God wants to do in our family this year.  I have been thinking a lot lately about what is truly important in life. Striving to focus on that which is eternal. Our house is an exciting blessing for us, but it is temporal. The foundation of our house will not last forever, but the foundation of building our life on Jesus Christ and keeping our hearts turned towards what His heart beats for is everlasting. I love what Isaiah 50:7 says, "Therefore have I set my face like flint" Nothing in this world will ever bring us fulfillment, peace, adventure, and passion like living your life with eternity on your mind. This is how I want my family to live. I want eternity to be the mission statement of our family.

 

"He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure." Isaiah 33:6

 

Mommy Mercy

Last night I was praying and journaling. My heart was on my seven year old: Camden. I was admitting to the Lord and myself what a bad habit I have developed of not really listening when he talks. I refused to push it to the back of my mind and really, really thought about all of the times he talks to me and I distractedly say, "uh-huh" or sometimes not even that, while I continue whatever I am doing. I was slapped with what that must be doing to his little spirit. He loves me. He wants to share with me what is going on in that amazing brain of his and I am "screaming" I don't care with my more than obvious lack of interest. I begged the Lord's forgiveness and asked Him to please heal the wounds that I have caused. Please, Lord fill him with your love and acceptance where I have failed him. As I closed my journal, my heart was heavy with remorse. I picked up my Bible, but then remembered that I had already read it that day so I started to put it back down. At the last second, I thought, well since I have it in my hand, I'll just let it fall open and read a few verses wherever it opens.

The Bible opened to the last page of Hosea. Here are the first two sentences that were on the page...

"He will flourish like the grain. He will blossom like a vine, and his fame will be like the wine of Lebanon."

In my heart, I feel at Jesus' feet. "Thank you, my merciful Savior. You will take care of my little guy. He will flourish. He will blossom, and He will do all the amazing things you have called him to."

I flipped to the page before to read the whole chapter and saw that the chapter was titled, "Repentance to bring Blessing."  How perfectly appropriate. How perfectly God.

Changes

I am trying to make some changes in myself these days. I came to the conclusion after a week of reflection that I was stuck in a rut. I had become lazy. Any part of my days that didn't go perfectly smooth made me feel deflated...tired.....ready for the next break. I came upon a blog on Saturday as I was looking for something to inspire me, to jump start me that did exactly those things.

I was remembering today a night in my dorm room at East Texas Baptist University. I was finishing up my freshmen year and had just received a letter that the grants I currently had, would not continue the following year. It was such a weird feeling sitting on the floor of my dorm room and realizing that I would not be able to afford to come back; hence my life plan sprouted wings and flew out the window. Yet, completely opposite of my personality, I felt an excitement rise up in me. I sat down at my roomate's computer and looked up the website of a Bible school that I had been hearing about from a friend for years. As I read over their website my heart literally began to beat faster and my hands started to shake. This school that I had heard about for years and never thought much about suddenly seemed like a huge "stop here" sign in the road map of my life. I did indeed "stop there" for three years of my life and I never doubted for a second that it was God's plan for me.

Jumping back to the present...as I read through this blog that I found on Saturday, I felt similar to how I felt the night I looked up Christ for the Nations Institute in my dorm room. A stirring from God that I was looking at my destiny. The author of this blog is a wife, a homeschool mom of seven, an incredible  photographer, amazingly creative, a take your breath away writer, and a passionate lover of God.  Seriously I don't ever want to meet her because she is my hero and I don't want to be disappointed! I read her thoughts and looked at her photos and was floored by the way she embraces her life and her family. Every day is an adventure, beauty is everywhere, hardships are opportunities, your kids are incredible treasures, and the day to day love affair with your husband puts the world's view of romance to great shame. I lay in my bed well after midnight surrendering to the Lord my life once again. I prayed and meditated on His word and listened to His nudging.  His nudging to listen more to my little boy, His nudging to serve my husband with joy, His nudging to have fun, His nudging to get rid of things in my life that have no meaning or purpose, His nudging to play in the rain, laugh at spilled milk, find my own style in my house, my clothes, my mothering, my "wife-ing", my teaching, my be-friending and forget about how it compares to anyone else. I want to be ME!!  I always thought I was being me, but its like God just came in dug a little, tossed a few things over his shoulder and then threw open a door and showed me a bunch more of me that I didn't know was there. Potential hidden by fear and insecurity. Potential hidden by laziness. Potential hidden by lack of faith. But I saw it - I saw a glimpse of the me that God wants me free to be. And I have faith that if God showed me - if He started it - He if faithful to complete it.


"being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."  Philippians 1:6



I am going to work harder, play harder, laugh harder, love more expressively, pray more, and be crazy every once in awhile because this life is a gift, these two amazing kids are my miracles, and my husband is stinkin' adorable.

Strawberry Pie

Today we had a birthday luncheon for our church secretary Mrs. Corinne. It was an only-ladies party and we had such a fun time. Our associate pastor's wife made a super yummy lunch! I was supposed to bring a dessert that had something to do with strawberries. I immediately knew I wanted to make strawberry pie. My grandma made this for us when I was in high school and I loved it. I made it for the first time when my in-laws came for their first visit after Blake and I were married. Instead of condensed milk...I used evaporated milk and it didn't set. My father law and mother in law sweetly sipped their strawberry "soup" from a bowl with a spoon and told me that they still thought it was delicious. Thankfully, today it set quite well! I posted the recipe for any of my numerous readers who would like to try ;) Don't forget... CONDENSED milk!!

Ingredients:

2 - 3oz. pkgs. of strawberry jello
2 1/2 cups of hot water
16 oz. frozen strawberries
8 oz. cream cheese
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 - 13 oz. can of condensed milk
2 10 inch deep dish graham cracker crust pie shells

Directions:

Dissolve Jello in hot water. Let it cool slightly then pour it into a blender with the frozen strawberries and blend until smooth. In another bowl, mix cream cheese and sugar. Add the condensed milk and mix. Stir in jello mix and pour into pie shells. Let set in fridge for several hours. Add sliced strawberries and cool whip to each piece before serving.

Hope this makes sense!

Curious and Shy

My family has gone bird crazy. We started studying them in science and because we have such a wide variety of birds here in the valley, I decided to go all out and buy bird feeders and go looking for as many birds as we could find in the area. The kids are like little bird geniuses. I love to hear Hope hollar out, "Hey, Mama, come look at the titmouse in our backyard" and hear Camden yell, "I hear parrots!" and start searching the trees and sky for them in the middle of soccer practice. They sound like such little homeschool geeks and I LOVE it! Never thought I'd say that!! It has inspired me to make learning more hands-on in other subjects. I'm praying for God to help me find a way to inspire such excitement for spelling words!

We have two ducks that have started coming to our backyard to join the other birds at our bird feeder. They look so awkward out there among all the other birds a quarter of their size. They peck at what has fallen on the ground and when its gone they flap up to the bird feeder and cock it sideways until it tips some seeds out. It is a bit annoying because we have to go out there several times a day to fix it. They're so darn cute though that we really don't mind. This past Thursday the kids and I got home from running errands to find the bird feeder had been knocked off the tree and was laying on the ground and completely empty of birdseed. I asked the kids, "What do you think did that?" I went outside to fix it and hang it back up and then turned to go back inside and up on the roof of my house I saw this:



They were standing completely still like statues up there and we all laughed imagining them saying, "Maybe if we stand real still she won't catch us."

This afternoon we had a big storm. After it passed our little friends named Curious and Shy were using the water puddles as their own personal pond.







I wonder if we can talk these two into moving to Olmito with us?

well, thank you!

Last night at our youth girls' lifegroup we were eating snacks and talking about exercising/eating healthy/losing weight. I mentioned that I would like to be 10 pounds lighter and one of the girls gasped and said, "But you're such a pretty mom. I would like totally take you to the mall with me." I'm pretty sure that I was paid a high compliment and it is still making me chuckle today.

Promoting the Positive

Cultivate: To promote the growth of.

I am asking myself these questions today? What am I cultivating in my life? What am I am I cultivating when it comes to my attitude? What am I cultivating in my home? What am I cultivating in my marriage? I am constantly teaching the kids to cultivate hard work, concentration, good manners, kindness, and respect. I am almost frantic at times to see them growing in these areas, yet I am realizing that I need to take a look at myself and consider what I have been cultivating lately in ME.

Cielo

I am not an independent person. I am not a dare-devil. I like feeling safe and secure. I love being with those who love me. Maybe its for these reasons that there is something wonderful awaiting for me that terrifies me....Heaven. The thought of my my husband, children, and parents not being to me then what they are to me now is incomprehensible. Trying to wrap my brain around the truth that we will be there forever and ever and ever and ever and...well you get the point... has always made my stomach hurt. Angels, and the book of life, and the great white throne judgment, and the unknown that is inevitable throws me into a whirlwind of trepidation if I allow myself to dwell on it for long. I have prayed and asked the Lord for years to change my thoughts towards Heaven. There have been times during worship where I have truly looked forward to being in His presence forever. Times where worship ends and its like being torn from the arms of a lover. If only I could stay there forever. I catch a glimpse of Heaven during those times, but it doesn't stay with me.

A couple of days ago I had a dream. I was walking by a clear, blue river. I was hearing it bubbling and flowing, splashing onto rocks. I was walking in green grass. There were hills and big trees all around me. The weather was beautiful, just perfect. I felt so completely content. It was as if my mind, emotions, and heart no matter how deeply I searched or how hard I thought could not come up with one worry, one unmet desire, or one thought that would bring me sadness or fear. I had inexpressible peace. I did not have one thought about what was ahead or what was behind. I was just living utterly in the moment enjoying my surroundings and reveling in the contentedness of my soul. As I began to wake up I heard in my heart, whether it was in my dream or in my wakefulness I don't know, but I heard just the same...."This is what Heaven will be like."

I hope and pray this dreams stays with me wooing me like a love letter from my Savior because...I believe that's what it was.

Lift me from that Miry Clay!

I am having one of those moments - you know where you really want to stomp and scream and yell, "How come life doesn't revolve around me!!??"

I am listening to Camden cry from the other room because I have grounded both of my little angels from getting any of the leftover cupcakes today. They fought in the car.... I warned them. Then we come home and I begin my numerous trips from the van to the house carrying school work, trash, groceries, and library books when the fighting begins again. I walk in to the kitchen to hear Hope yell, "I will NEVER love you" to which Camden responds with a swift kick between Hope's legs. Hope screams in anger and I declare over the sound of her yells, "Grounded from Cupcakes!!" Camden goes into anguished, heaving crying. I have two loads of clothes that need folding, my bathrooms are dirty, we're behind in schoolwork for the day due to our errands, and in the back of my mind I am constantly aware that I will be spending my entire evening tonight at the church gym watching Blake and 60 other guys in a dodgeball tournament ...and then..... my husband texts me to say, "Hey, I'm going out to lunch with one of the pastors today, so I won't be home for lunch." Oh, really, OH REALLY, OH REALLLLLLYYYYY!!!!

ahhhhh....... blog therapy.....that feels better. A little blogging and some time with the Lord and I'll be back on track because the truth is:

I'm living my dream. I have a wonderful husband, two children that I really do enjoy being with when they are not fighting or whining, the privilege and freedom to educate them at home, fantastic friends, a home and 2 vehicles, a healthy body and a healthy family, a church family that I love, a city 30 miles from the beach, the opportunity to be involved in ministry, and the love of the Savior of my soul. I am BLESSED beyond measure.

There is an Exalted One (and its not me)

I read this quote today:

"When we genuinely believe that inner transformation is God's work and not ours, we can put to rest our passion to set others straight."

Setting others straight - boy do I love to do this. Now most of the time I just do it in my mind. Someone does something that I find offensive and something in my brain goes off like fireworks. I go over and over in my head why that person is wrong and what I would say to them that would be more powerful than a slap across the head. Its not pretty... this inner rage that comes over me when I want to set someone straight. Then after a period of stirring in the juices of my self righteous anger I begin to get this ridiculous idea that its me and God vs. the culprit (whomever that person is at the time). "What are we going to do with them, God?" I subconsciously think. "Please help me, Lord, put up with their absurdity."

However, in the past few days, God has been doing something "not very nice" to me. He's been showing me that I have the exact same faults as the ones I am so angry with in others. It sort of, in a small way, (sarcasm!!) reminds me of that verse: "Judge and you shall be judged." Mt. 7:2 How could I be so blind? How God must roll His eyes at MY absurdity!! Me and God against them?? I am surprised he hasn't slapped me across the head!!

So today I brought to God my habitual anger, my immediate response of rage when I am offended. "What do I do with this God?" This corrupt flesh that has me enslaved? And as I mopped the floor, I waited for Him and He spoke: "Separate the situation from the person." The situation upset me, the situation disappoints me, the situation causes my life to be more difficult, but the person....well that person belongs to God. That person, God made in His image and either longs to call His own or has already redeemed and anointed to be a part of the kingdom of righteousness. If He, the Perfect One, calls that person holy, anointed, and royal (1 Peter 2:9) - who am I to hold a grudge and judge deserving of God's hand of discipline?

There is something that God has shown me in the past that I believe will help me in this situation, and that is that emotions can lie. I can feel intense anger at someone, yet I can call it what it is: a lie from the father of lies. The truth is that God is a God of mercy and none of us deserve His kindness and redemption. I will take revenge....on MY disobedience. Last of all, I will trust God to take care of any and every situation that causes me pain or difficulty. I said above that God did something not nice to me, but in fact, He did something so very loving and wonderful. I read one time (possibly from Charles Sheldon- can't remember for sure) that the most un-kind thing God can do, is to leave us be. I am so grateful He doesn't leave me be, but that He convicts and restores and best of all....always loves.

Casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; and having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled. -2 Corinthians 10:5-6

He loves us

Last week was a hard week. I struggled physically, mentally, and emotionally. Through it all, I had a deep knowing that it was spiritual. Yesterday as I sat and listened as the worship team prayed before service, I felt the Lord wooing me. Asking me to lay down my frustration, my hurts, my fears and to meet with Him in a place of surrender. He wanted my focus. Intimacy is very difficult when we are distracted, and my God wanted intimacy - His spirit and mine, His heart and mine. I knew that there was nothing that I needed more.

As we entered into praise and worship, I sensed Him immediately. Anytime I would close my eyes, I would feel like someone was coming up to my left side. I was sitting alone so I would open my eyes, but no one would be there. This happened several times until I finally decided that it must be the presence of the Lord. So the next time I felt it, I did as Eli told Samuel and I waited for the Lord to speak. I stood in absolute stillness and quiet and I began to know in my spirit His words and His thoughts for me. I kept having to open my eyes and distract myself from Him for a bit because I felt sure that I would fall over if I didn't, but each time I closed my eyes I would feel His presence again and always strongly at my left side. He spoke to me of His love for me. He whispered that if I knew how much He loved me, I would have no desires unmet, no needs that left me feeling weak and vulnerable.

This morning I was remembering yesterday morning. Reveling again in the experience and contemplating the wonder and beauty of meeting with the God of Creation. I began to question if there was something He was trying to express to me by being so strongly felt on my left side. I got on the internet and began to research. What I found is something I already knew, I just didn't put it together. The left side is the side of our heart. In artistry and mythology when something is held in the left hand or close to the left side it often directly or indirectly involves that person's heart. It gave me that dizzy beautiful feeling of being in love. My Savior came to my left side, the side of my heart, to talk to me of His love for me. He had enough intense love for me that He was that detailed in His expression. I am undone. He IS love.

Memories and Resolution

2009 was an amazing year for us. As I have contemplated the past year, I am amazed at the difference a year can make. I know that Brownsville, Texas is not the place that most dream of living, but for us it is home - the place we waited for and prayed for, for seven years. My little girl asked and received salvation this year - a precious and eternal moment that our whole family got to share. We have seen God do many miracles in our lives. He has provided for us time and time again in ways that prove without a doubt that He is our sustainer and is personally and mightily involved in our lives. This past Sunday, Blake and I attended the church we were raised in. Worship was awesome and the pastor that I listened to from the age of 2 until I graduated high school preached a message that changed and will continue to change my life. He asked us if we live a life of doubt or a life of faith. He said that doubt and faith are habitual so that we either live a life of habitual faith or a life of habitual doubt. I was struck with conviction. The incredible conviction of God that always comes with a sure sense of His love for me. A love that surges within and lets me know that He will help me change if I have the desire to turn from my wicked ways and surrender. How in a million years after all that God has done for me, could I doubt His faithfulness? I want this year to be the year of a life change for me. I will practice faith when I want to stress and worry. I will practice faith when I want to over-analyze. I will practice faith when I want to rant and rave. I will practice faith...until it comes naturally. This is my primary new years resolution.

PS. Secondary resolutions - reading through the Bible in a year, studying Spanish, and the one I renew every year: staying un-pregnant :)