One Very Bad Day: day in the life of a 7 year old

I was six, maybe seven. I was a first grader in Mrs. White's class down in Houghton, LA. I had lived there for almost five years enduring the very hot humid temperatures and large bugs. We may or may not have had a random lizard living with us, but that was as normal as finding a spider in your house down there. My parents were in route to the Chicagoland area in search of finding a new house. My dad took a job transfer and we had the choice to either move to Illinois or Ohio. They wanted to be closer to our family, who lived in Indiana. They sat us down a few weeks prior and asked us to vote on the place we wanted to live.  I chose Illinois because as a 6ish year old I couldn't say Ohio for some reasons. Came out Hawaii....oh I wish that was one of my choices. Chicago area it was and they began the search for a new home for our family. While they were gone they left us with a family friend name Lori. She had three kids close in age with my sister and me.  I don't remember much of my time there but I do remember one very bad day.

I had been there a couple days, maybe, and I attended school as normal. It was lunch time, the dreaded lunch hour where you are showcased for all to see as you walk down the row of lunch tables to your seat.  I stood out more so on this day because I was wearing the most beautiful dress I had.  It was a hammy down but new to me and very fancy.  This dress was a beautiful color red with lace lined edges.  Under the skirt was a billion layers of ruffles, I could spin for hours in this dress.  I was proud to walk this isle, it was my runway if only for a second.  Panic set in as I tried to find a seat.  Which seat do I pick, what if I don't pic the right one?  Will they let me sit with them?  As I found my seat next to some classmates. The circular plastic seat was attached individually to the table.  My bare legs stuck to the plastic as I adjusted myself and made a farting sound. My face became the color of my dress and I kept making the sound with my legs so they knew it was the result to he seat and not me.

 

On this day I ate a chicken sandwich.  The kind that comes frozen and sits under a heat lamp all day, but you devour it only to want more because it is that good!  Sitting on the lunch tables every few feet are a ketchup bottle and mayo bottle. White and Red, no yellow.  Thank goodness there was no yellow, yuck!  They were the plastic squeezable kind of bottles, I reach for the mayo.  This is the real deal, not the fake stuff.  The south knows the difference between the goodness of real mayo and their understudy that will never get the lead.  I lift my bun off the top and begin to squeeze the mayo out onto my sandwich, instead of going on my sandwich is went right on my fancy red lace lined dress.  Shock ran across my face and colored it a fancy color of red, laughter filled the table.  For the rest of the day I walked around with an oil stain & stench right there on my stomach.  I was bummed to say the least and for a little girl, it is a tragedy when your favorite fancy dress is ruined.

The end of the day came and I was glad to be getting on the bus, so thankful to be going "home".  I stepped up onto the steps of the bus, stretching my legs as far as they could go to get to the next step.  My hands grazed the leather seats as I passed by.  I made my way to the very back were I found an empty seat.  I looked for my sister but remembered that she wouldn't be taking the bus that day and I had to keep watch for my stop on my own.  As I looked out the window and watched the trees get blurry, my eyes closed and all my worry went away as I drifted off into a deep sleep. I dreamt of being home with my family and wearing my beautifully unstained red dress.  Then, a bump startled me and I awoke to an empty bus and unknown scenery around me.  I immediately jumped out of my seat and raced to the front of the bus to the seat right by the driver.  She was just as surprised to see me there as I was to see an empty buss.  She quickly figured out where I was suppose to be and took me to my stop, where my sister was waiting for me.  My heart was bounding but I was never so thankful to be back in the arms of the closest thing to home in that moment.  I was finally safe.

This may not seem like such a bad day to you, but it was a real day for me and as a seven year old it was a very bad day.  Maybe you have had one of those days, a day that just doesn't seem to be getting any better.  It may be a day you want to just crawl right back into bed and push the do over button.  Maybe you "stained" something and feel like there is no way of getting that stain out.  This stain may make you feel ugly and unpleasant to be around.  Maybe you feel lost and are not sure how you will get home, you don't have the directions to get to the place God wants you to go.  Know this, God is hear to wash out that stain.  Think of him as having the super fancy tide pen that you can keep in your purse.  He just whips it out and says "Don't worry, I Got THIS!"  You are brand new and just as fancy! I wish that pen was around in the 80's.......anyways!  I'm not bitter or anything!  If you are lost, turn to God and he will give you the directions you need to get you where you are going.  All you have to do is ask. God is waiting at that bus stop with arms wide open, waiting for you to leap off that second step right into his arms.  Full force!  Take that leap of faith off the second step in your life and embrace the one place we can all call home.

How God Used 5 Ordinary Women in the Bible for Extraordinary Things

Have you ever wondered if your life matters?  Or asked the question, "Can I really make a difference?"  Maybe you are a stay at home mom and you are just trying to catch your breath from the endless piles of laundry needing to be tended to or the gazillion toys that need to be picked up, just to be right back on the floor again in two seconds.  As you sit on the closed toilet seat trying to escape that tiny human with their fingers swishing under the door, you ask yourself, "What can I do?"  Maybe you are at the other end of the spectrum.  Maybe you are a retired empty nester with loads of time on your hands.  You went from a house full of kids and forty hour work weeks just trying to fit everything in, to a spotless house and the Hallmark channel playing in the background.  As you sit in your comfy chair sipping your third cup of coffee, you ask, "Now what?" Or maybe you are recently married and married life isn't what you thought it would be, it's much harder.  As you grab your keys and coffee mug you rush out the door you give your husband a quick kiss as you head to work.  You open your car door and sit a minute before starting the car, you let out a deep sigh and ask, "Where do I go from here?"

Your life may seem ordinary and you doubt that God would ever use a women like yourself.  You believe the lie that you are insignificant and you are destine to just survive this life and let other women do the amazing works of God.  These women may look like they have it all together, or they may have a published book, they may have a nanny or an endless supply of fund to support this amazing dream.  These women may come off as extraordinary and self equipped to accomplish the task God has sealed upon their life.  Let me tell you ladies, those qualities are not what God needs to move mountains.  Let me briefly introduce you to five ordinary women that used to make extraordinary things happen.  I could write for days on these women but since we all have places to be I am going to paraphrase a lot of there story.  I may expound on their stories later in another blog post but for now lets just take a quick look into their lives.  

You have heard their stories before but lets look into the lives of Sarah, Rahab, Ruth, Ester and lastly but most importantly Mary.  Sarah was the wife to Abraham.  She was old and she was barren, unable to give her husband the heir he so greatly desired.  As they prayed God spoke to Abraham and promised him a child.  Sarah had little faith at this moment because she was past her years to have a child of her own.  She decided to take matters into her own hands and have her husband marry her maidservant, Hagar.  Hagar became pregnant but not with the child God had promised Abraham.   Once again God spoke to Abraham.  He told him that He will bless Sarah with a child of her own.  So the day came with Sarah became pregnant with Isaac at an old age of ninety.  The Lord said to Abraham, "I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her.  I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her." I could go on and on about Sarah but I will save that for another day, but what I want you to take from Sarah is that she was old and her days were numbered, she made mistakes and had little faith at times but God still used her and blessed her through her son Isaac.  (Gen. 15-18)

Next we look into the life of Rahab.  This women has faith that can move mountains and it did.  I love her story.  Rehab lived in Jericho, a corrupt town surrounded by walls, and she was a prostitute in that town.  One night by a divine appointment two spies were sent by Joshua to her house to take refuge.  She welcomed them into her home and hid them on the roof when the King of Jericho went looking for the spies.  She offered her house and in return they gave her the greatest gift, the love and grace of God.  Through Rahab, the Isaelites were able to take over the town of Jericho and enter the promise land.  Rahab later became the wife of Salmon, one of the spies, and she had a son and his name was Boaz. God chose a woman who's sin was on her sleeve for everyone to see and used her for something greater.  As a result grace and love poured out for all to see and washed the sleeve as white as snow. (Joshua 2)

That leads us right into Ruth.  Ruth was a woman who suffered great loss, she lost her husband, father-in-law, and brother-in-law and yet her faith remained.  Upon their death she decided to follow her mother-in-law, Naomi, to her homeland.  Ruth spent her days caring for Naomi and did so by gleaning in the fields.  This is where she would pick up the left over wheat stalks that the workers left.  The field was owned by Boaz, a relative of Naomi, and he took notice of her and later married Ruth.  By marrying Boaz, Ruth saved Naomi's family name and gave her a grandson, Obed.  God used the brokenness and hurt of a widowed women and brought out love and second chances.  (Ruth 1-4)

Another women I want you to meet is Ester.  Ester was an orphan raised by her uncle.  She was hand picked by the King to be his wife.  It was through her persuasion that the King decided not to persecute the jews and they were saved.  God picked her, an orphan, to save His people and she became a queen and a great leader.  (Ester)

Lastly, Mary was chosen to carry the Son of God.  You all know this story, it is engraved on our hearts.  Mary was chosen by God not because of the things she did or because she was perfect, but she was perfect for the job because God chose her.  She had the faith to see it through and great things happened.

Now, like I said these are a very brief description of their stories but what I want you to take from this is that all these women were normal, ordinary women who were chosen by God to do great things.  Four of these women were even part of Jesus's lineage.  God doesn't use saints, he make the normal ordinary woman a saint and they become a part of God's amazing history. If you think your life is insignificant just look at these women, the only difference between them and you is they said yes.  Say yes to God and he will take you to places you never thought was possible.  Be encouraged.  You are strong, capable & most definitely desired.  Don't worry about not being equipped because God will equip you!

                                         

Dream interview - Adam

We recently celebrated the wonderful life of a legend. What made this man a legend? He had a dream. A dream that probably kept him up at night. A dream that started long before he was old enough to voice his longing to make a difference, a change. A dream created in the root of his soul. It was a dream that seemed impossible at the time. A dream that either shook people to their core or inspired ones to drop everything and go after that very same dream. Have you ever thought where we might be today if Martin Luther King jr. gave up or let obstacles stand in his way? I have and I'm so thankful for this man and his courage to fight after his dream. He didn't let anyone stand in his way. This act of courage ultimately cost him his life but as I sit here rocking my beautiful daughter I see how his dream was reach and it moved and blessed many. 

Do you have one of these dreams? The kind that keeps you up at night or wakes you with the first ray of sunshine that hits the earth? One that may seem impossible to reach? My desire is to know your dreams and voice them to everyone, so that myself and others can be praying you through these dreams. I am going to interview people on my blog and do just that. These could be people I know or people I just met in a cafe. 

My very first interviewee? My husband, Adam. He is a very good sport and loves to support my crazy ideas. He is my best friend. The fuel to my flame, the cream in my coffee and the almond icing on my homemade cake. He makes my life better, peaceful, more joyful, helps me slow down and keeps me going. I'm so thankful for him. He answered my questions as he sat on his old black army tub that once carried his army belongings but now was the home to our precious Christmas decorations.  The tub had been there for weeks taking up space in our small cozy living room, I almost started charging it rent! Anyway, this man took me by surprise. I would've bet I could answer these questions for him but I learned so much about this man in that short 10 minutes. I began with the most simplest of questions and I almost didn't ask it, but I'm glad I did. 

What is your name?

"Adam Robert Ohm the 2nd, from the 3rd prestinct." 

Oh boy...what did I get myself into?

What do you do for a living? 

"Distributed Sales Manager for a Global chemical company. Largest in the United States."

Yes, he is important! :) 

I went on to ask him about his lifelong dream. He told me that his dream is to own multiple businesses that fuel his deeper longing, to be the founder of a ministry that spreads the Love of God to all the nations. He doesn't know what, when or where yet but he has a good foundation for the who and why. 

"I want to pursue this dream with 100% honesty, I want to be honest in who this dream is for and that I'm not running toward the dream for all the wrong reasons."

This dream is for all Gods people, to share with them the love and grace that bought us all out of the deepest place. 

What obstacles might be standing in your way?

He began to list a few:

-lack of confidence 

-distraction

-questions I can't answer

-selfishness 

Sound familiar? These are lies and they only come from the one that comes to steal,kill and destroy. He doesn't want us to reach our dreams.  He wants us to give up so that those dreams are never played out, so he can see us fail. He loves that. I say "NO!" I am going to fight back. I am going to fight and make the impossible possible. 

One way to fight through these lies is the power of prayer. So I asked Adam one final question:

How can myself and the readers be praying for you?

"Pray that I not always go with my instinct, because sometimes my first instinct is to go with what the world thinks of me and I base my decisions on that. Pray that I can think things through, through a different lens of that of the world. Gods lens."

I pray we all can do that! Martin Luther King Jr. defiantly looked through a different lens of that of the world. He saw a different kind of world. 

"I have a dream that one day little black boys and girls will be holding hands with little white boys and girls."-MLK

Go look at the world from Gods lens today! 

Where I'm From

I am from multiple jobs transfers 

And not staying in one place too long

From moving into that White House on the corner 

That finally became my home 

I am from a house with two teenage girls

And always fighting over something 

From "I can't stand you" and "get out of my room" 

To "Do you want to hang out?" And laughter and joking 

I am from sweet smiles and warm hugs from mom 

to warm cookies out of the oven 

From teaching me about God and how everything happens for a reason

To break-up icecream and "this is only a season"

I am from long Sunday afternoon volleyball tournaments in a hot gym 

to catching a softball behind home plate in the blistering winds

From pajamas on Christmas Eve and traveling out of state

I am from pictures covering my walls of friends and family

To a white wicker bedroom set I bought with my own money

From friends filling the house with laughter to emptiness just a few short years after. 

I am from a house filled with "it's better if you wait till marriage" and "God loves you"

From "I messed up" to "it will be ok" and "I forgive you"

I am from shopping with my mom to it becoming shopping with my best friend

From stable and loving family who is with me to the very end.

I am from Saturday morning French toast and dancing on the table while doing chores 

From "just one more trip because you don't know when it won't be just us four"

I am from love, the purest around 

From faith, I was lost but now I am found

I am from hope, a firm foundation it was built.  To prepare me for the future of loss and quilt. 

The original "Where I'm From" is by George Ella Lyons

Our Adoption Journey

This is our adoption story through pictures & music. Enjoy!

-Audra

Welcome Amelia Mae!!

Our precious girl is here!!! This moment is so surreal to us in so many ways. God had our story written out from day one to have her in our arms. Most of you know our story but one thing you may not remember is where we were one year ago today. One year ago we were in the hospital and we were saying goodbye to our baby girl. We were heartbroken an unsure where God was taken us! One year later we were signing papers to officially become Amelia's mom.  We are blown away by Gods faithfulness and love for us!! 

Amelia's story:

We got to the hospital around 9am. We met another family that was there adopting too! Their son was to be born anytime as well. We talked for awhile then out case worker ran out and rushed me in the room!  I stood by Amelia's birth mom as she quickly pushed her out at 10:08 am. She is beautiful!! She weighed 7.4 lbs and was 18 /12 inches long! We have been by her side ever since!! 

We never understood the love we would have with our birth mom. We have been so blessed by this amazing women and have developed a great relationship with her. We will be keeping in touch with her throughout Amelia's life! 

It has been a whirlwind of a time, full of crazy emotions! We couldn't have done this with out Gods amazing love and your support! We are so very thankful and blessed beyond words by you all! Amelia will know the army of friends and family that walked this journey with us to get her home! Thank you!! Enjoy the pics!! 

Going in Circles

Ever feel like you are walking in circles? Spiritually, I mean? Seeing and experiencing the same thing over and over again can make one go insane. Know the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result. But, as I faced the deadful task of mowing our lawn with a push mower, (we have 1 acre lot and no rider right now) God gave a slightly different view on going in circles.

Lately, as most of you have witnessed through my writing or daily life, I've been going through the same situations and heartache over and over again.  Same hope, same outcome. I began mowing with the intent of praying and thanking God for all that He HAS given me, it's a lot guys! It's amazing how your mindset changes when you change perspectives. I went around the yard and chose a path that would have me go in circles so that I may chop up the remaining clippings.  As I was going in circles, and praying, I began to get tired, weary and wondering if I am even making a dent!  I began thinking of the other neighbors with riding lawn mowers or a smaller yard. "I wish I had their set up" I said under my breath. God quickly, yet gently, said in response to that "dont be envious of what others have, instead be thankful for the tools I have provided you."  

"God, thank you for this push mower."

I was sweating,(much needed for sure after snacking on BBQ chips earlier...don't ask..haha) it was hard and parts of it were really messy but I was determined to finish because if I waited any longer it would be even harder to finish. Higher Grass = more work. So I kept going, praying through as I was seeing the same path over and over again, circle after circle.  Trying to keep my eyes on my yard and not others. 

Just like this scenario, we don't always see the finished product when we are in the midst of our journey. We may have to experience the same trails over and over again, because that is the path we are on. God has each of us on a different path for different reason but with the same end goal.  Some may be on a shorter path and others a longer path, but in the end if you keep going, pushing though those trials and thanking God for the blessings you have, you will get to where God has lead you. And all the pain and messiness will be worth it because you look back over your work and you see Gods beauty in every step. 

In the end as I mowed over the last strip I saw a beautifully cut grass and I got a great work out! Time to rest until I'm at it again in a few days! 

God bless and keep praying through! 

James 1:12

Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which [the Lord] has promised to those who love Him.

Romans 12:12

rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer,

James 1:2

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,

Philippians 4:6-7

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.