Weekend Bliss

A little Photo Booth love....

Catching up on some "Nate Lovin"

Fall Festival Costumes...

Big Sis was the Zoo Keeper and Little Bro and Little Sis were her escapees!

(a handsome little zebra and a feisty little cheetah)

~Honey Kisses~

 The Fall Festival at the church where my son-in-law is the student minister.

today i'm thankful for:

~gas in my car~

~my church family~

~visits with my daughter~

~good morning sugars from grandbabies~

~baby wipes~

My Friday faves

Woo Hoo!

It's Friday! Uh Huh Uh Huh!

Not only is it Friday but it's Friday AND the day I get to see the grandbabies whom I haven't seen in 7 weeks!  Yeah, I'm a teeeeensy bit excited. 

Just a little bit.

Anyways, Here is some of my favorite stuff from this week taken mostly with my iphone: 

My new blue kitchen.

It's kinda "smurfa-beautiful" don't ya think?

My sweet girls modeling some new stuff in my shop.

Down here in the south we're getting pumped up for the big match up in the SEC.

LSU vs. Alabama

Being from Louisiana, it goes without saying who we're rooting for.

Lydia was thrilled to do her modeling.

Lauren was a little bummed out.

Geaux Tigers!

Feeling really blessed and thankful how busy I've been shipping out my pretties from The Honey Pot.

I'm so thankful folks are enjoying them and so thankful the Lord is blessing this adventure.

Can I just say how much I love our church family?The Lord has given us more than we deserve with this precious flock to lead.They are a blessing to us and a blessing for us seeing them growing in grace and His Word.Good Stuff I tell ya!

This is a favorite thing that takes place several times

every day.

Thanks Mr. Roy and Momma for spoiling me so.

I know I talk about how thankful I am for technology all the time on here.

But I can't help it.  

Getting texts like these makes living long distance from the grandbabies bearable...

(All you mommas out there...send those grandmas pictures!!   It will make their week!)

And being able to "talk" with them makes life just wonderful.

You worn out mommas of little ones...hang in there!

One day your children will be grown and they will come home from work with happies they bought for you!  I'm telling you...just you wait!

Love these shoes Lydia bought for me. Thank you sweet thing!

Loved our photo shoot we had with Lauren and can't wait to show more of the pics once I get them all edited.  Fun stuff.

And last...did I mention I'm going to see my grandkids today?!

I mean.... look at this face.  Can you see why I'm excited?

Elizabeth said they were in the store and Rosalyn was pretending she was texting on Elizabeth's phone.  She was talking out loud what she was "texting".

Elizabeth sent me a text to tell me...

 Don't you worry Toot Toot!  

Your Honey is on her way!!!

Happy Friday y'all!

Linking up with Rachel and Kristy and Jeannett.


And linking up {here}.
Didn't have a chance to "properly" introduce myself for this wonderful link up but please feel free to check out some of the popular posts on my sidebar  if you'd  like to get to know me and my crew a little better:)
Can't wait to meet you!

Getting Ready! woo hoo!!!

I have so many things I feel inspired to share with you.

Fun party stuff, husband stuff, yummy food stuff, sentimental stuff, gorgeous senior pictures stuff...

The problem is  I am seriously pressed for time the next two days...

Why you ask?.....

The Grand babies are coming!!!!

(can't you hear the trumpet blowing and see the confetti falling?!)

SO, in preparation for this wonderful blessing, I am working my butt off to finish up all my new designs for my Etsy shop..and take the pictures...and upload them to the shop...and then clean up the mess.

Plus,  I (mostly my hubs) have an awesome project going on today on the coffee table my mom gave me on my last trip there. It has been in the family since I was little and I'm thrilled to be the new owner!!  Of course, we are gonna give her a little makeover so she can be best buds with our vintage couch Eleanor. {meet her here}

So.... since I'm kinda short on time,

I decided to re post one of my favorite posts from a while back about being a grandma.

( I can do that right?! )   ;)

Now I"m off to whistle while I work.......

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Honey and JuJu...The Grandmas

This week I was blessed to spend lots of time with my two grandbabies. I'm so thankful for those times the Lord affords me to just be with them.

 I never really had time like that with my grandmas.  My Dad's mom had already passed away before I was born and my mom's mom was..lets just say, not your typical grandma.  My Maw Maw Elenor was a little on the "rigid" side and I have no sweet memories of baking cookies together in her kitchen.  She was strict, liked order and lived by a schedule.  Bath time at her house was NOT playtime in the tub...strictly business. Get in. Soap up. Get out.  Now, she was extremely creative though and made all of her grandchildren many keepsakes which I still have to this day. (I'm sure she would be shocked by that...I was the razz-a-ma-tazz of all the grand-daughters)  But even though she made lots of stuff  for me, she never made stuff  with me.

Now because of this experience (or lack of them) I always vowed I would be the kind of grandma like you saw in movies.  You know what I mean... old and kind.  She always has asmile on her face, fresh cookies in the oven and some amazing story dripping with wisdom to impart.  She is always calm and patient and spends most of days rocking on her front porch knitting  warm fuzzy blankets to have on hand to wrap you up with when you climb up in her big old lap.........

Well Hell-oh! Here I am.  And I ain't that grandma. And about the only of those qualities I possess is the big old lap that I seem to be working on lately!   I often think, my poor grandchildren...I'm supposed to be the one with all the "right answers" to life and full of wisdom and all that stuff.....if they only knew how messed up  I am!   

And then, God in His infinite mercy and relentless love, reminds me of what He has done in my life and what He IS doing in my life.  He takes the pressure of what I think I need to be and reminds me of what I am in Him...

Redeemed.  Changed.  Forgiven.  Restored.  Joyful.  His.

He has completely changed my life and given me joy.  He has given so much more to impart to my grandchildren than I could imagine.  I realize I won't always have the answer to every question they have.  And they might not see me smile in every situation.  I don't have a rocking chair on  a front porch and I don't know how to knit.

But I can lead them to the One Who has all the answers. I will share with them that when you don't feel like smiling, it is ok because He is the Lifter of Our Head.  And instead of a rocking chair and a handknitted blanket,  we can bust out the Wii and dance and then wrap up in a blanket I probably bought at Dirt Cheap and watch Tangled for the 18th time.

AND... that aint the end of this story because not only were my grandchildren chosen to have me as their Honey....they were also blessed to be given their JuJu. 

 She aint your typical grandma either! 

We both have been honored and blessed to be invited into the delivery room when our grand children were born.  What a beautiful experience to share with my daughter, the man of her dreams, and his mom, which just so happens to be one of my dearest of all friends.  "Juju" out did herself with her mad skills on the day Rosayn was born.  I was in charge of photography and she was in charge of videography..this grandma was videoing with one hand while texting a minute by minute update to everyone in the waiting room with the other hand!!  Who needs to know how to knit when you can text like that?! lol 

Here she is giving me lessons! 

Most of all, she's in love with Jesus too. She lives that out in her everyday life and before our grandchildren.  Prayfully, between the two of us, the Lord will allow us to pass on a heritage rich in Him, full of joy and sprinkled with loads of fun!

 The Sirven/Holden grandkids better fasten their seatbelt....they are in for a ride!

Stephanie :)

Mountain Climbing

I heard a great sermon this Sunday.

In a nutshell it was this:

God was at work making a mountain to mold a man to mature the messenger.

I know you're like... huh? So let me explain.

source

We often attribute those "mountains" in our lives to the enemy,

when really its God who designs the mountains in our lives and places them there 

when He chooses.

I love this passage in the Psalms that reveals how it was God behind all the trials....

Oh, bless our God, you peoples!
And make the voice of His praise to be heard,
Who keeps our soul among the living,
And does not allow our feet to be moved.
For YOU, oh God, have tested us.
YOU have refined us as silver is refined.
YOU brought us into the net;
YOU laid affliction on our backs.
YOU have caused men to ride over our heads;
We went through fire and through water;
But YOU brought us out to rich fulfillment.

Psalm 66: 8-12

Knowing this about His sovereignty brings such comfort and peace in my life.

No matter how big the mountain is or how difficult the trial is, 

I know He allowed it in my life for a purpose. 

When we understand this truth it brings such freedom!

Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, comes into my life that God is not aware of .  

And  all of it... the good, the bad and the ugly, was lovingly designed to grow me into the woman He created me to be.

(Psalm 139:16)

So back to the sermon..

God is at work making a mountain:

 He at times will put a mountain that is too high to climb over on our own and too big to go around in our own strength and the only option we have is to trust Him.  When we begin to operate in our own strength, As David did in Psalm 30, we might as well begin to look for mountains in the horizon because  He will do what He needs to to keep us humble. Yep. Goes does that. David said in verse 6 "Now in my prosperity I said, "I shall never be moved." Lord by Your favor You have made my mountain stand strong; You hid Your face, and I was troubled."   David recognized that the strong mountain before him was from the very hand of God...and in His love toward him (favor)  God humbled him. The Lord had to teach David a lesson in humility. He still operates the same way today.

God is at work making a mountain in order to mold a man:

He uses these mountains in our lives to shape us into the women He created us to be.

1 Peter 1:6-9 Romans 5:3-4

God is at work making a mountain to mold a man in order to mature the messenger.

Everything God works out in our lives is for His glory. And our purpose is to tell of His glory!

Let the redeemed of the Lord say so!

source

I had a mountain recently in my life.

It was one that rocked my world and effected our whole family.

I told a little bit about it  {here}.

Those of you who have children who  rebelled against everything you stand for and believe in, 

 who have chosen a wayward path to walk down full of destruction and heartache ...you completely understand the kind of mountain I'm talking about.

It's huge and at times it seems to block every ray of sunshine in your life.

I'm thankful for that mountain and how the Lord used that season in my life.

As Psalm 66 says..the Lord brought us out to a place of rich fulfillment  because of it.

Here's some of the abundance, the rich fulfillment,  I gained ......

~That mountain stripped me of pride.

~It deepened my love for the Lord.

~It grew my faith as I had to just trust Him.  

~It taught me to be patient when at times progress seemed so small and so little.

~It developed in me a greater sence of compassion for other families facing a similar mountain.

~And that mountain grew my love for my daughter.

Here is a little more rich fulfillment,  ...

Lauren's Daddy and I took some of her senior pics this past weekend.

I edited a few and sent them to Lauren.

This is the text she sent me...

 To God be the glory for what He has done and is doing in her life!

Her countenance is full of joy and people can see Him in her life.

Transformed.

I want to encourage you today to look at your mountain with a different set of eyes.

Look at it knowing a loving Father who knows the plans He has for you, to prosper you and bring you hope, has created it for you 

to mold you 

and mature you 

so that you can tell of His glory!

Praise God He is at work making mountains!

"Lord please never stop molding me into the woman You want me to be

and maturing me so that I can me a messenger of Your relentless grace!"

ps. 

 today I'm thankful for:

::my husband's sermons that speak to my heart::

::steel cut oatmeal::

:: a clean kitchen::

::Psalm 42::