Keeping It Real

See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. Isaiah 43:19

Just a quick note to my friends, family, followers, and whom it may concern. I know I mentioned it before, but this is it, today is our last day to receive incoming calls and texts for a while. The thing I will miss the most is getting positive texts from @951SHINEFM and sharing them with you, but you can get them directly to your own cell phone by texting POSITIVE to 884-74. :) We need to turn our phones off so God can come first. As we trust God with our finances, we are focusing on paying back our loan we have with Lifesong for Orphans. Lera wouldn't be here without their help and we know it will help more orphans come home! 

Be blessed everyone! Hug your families and pray for more orphans to find theirs. Adoption is amazing, I'm glad God thought of it! 

Much love, 

Debbie 

i want to fall in love with you (Jars of Clay)

http://youtu.be/xZ6LO_nUsWA

The Last Chapter

20 He who testifies to these things says,“Yes, I am coming soon.”

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. Revelation 22:20

My dad called me before he went to surgery. It was the last time I would hear his voice. He sounded shaky but I comforted him saying, everything's gonna be okay and I'd pray for him. He perked up and said, if you're praying for me, then I know I'll be okay! ! Dad was weak before his accident. He began scooting his feet when the strength to lift his legs had left him. He was barely getting around but determined to do so and he would have no parts of being stuck in a wheelchair when he broke his hip. That's why he opted for the surgery. He had a 50/50 chance of making it with his bad heart and he took it. The surgery to repair his hip went great, but he had a heart attack in recovery that took his life. I know he's in a better place, but I miss that he never met his granddaughter, Lera because he believed in my dream to adopt her. 

It's been a busy month for us with lots to celebrate in October! We had four birthdays coming to keep us pumped, when along came Myah. She is Matt's new daughter. Paw paw would have been so proud! Myah was born on Lera's 4th anniversary being in the a United States. Today Myah is 8 days old, the same number of days Lera was home, before my dad left us. To top things off, my sister launched her first book this month, way to go Sherry! 

We miss you dad. See you in heaven!  

Love, 

Your family 😘

Hannah kissing Lera for 4 years home! 💋10-22-13💋

Jessica holding Myah on the day she was born! ✨💕 10-22-13 ✨💕

Micah's birthday with Caleb lighting his birthday candles! 🎂10-15-17🎂

Visiting Myah in the hospital: Michelle, Matt, Myah, Jessica, Christian, Amanda, and James. James' birthday was on 💙10-17-13💙 and Michelle's was on 💜10-26-13.💜

My birthday with Lera singing happy birthday to me! 🎵10-25-13🎵

My sister, Sherry holding her new book she launched on 10-27-13, dedicated in my dads memory: David Robert Ezekiel 🌻3-16-35 - 10-30-09🌻

Third Day - Cry Out To Jesus 

http://youtu.be/JmVxRl5bc4Y

Perseverance

My sister just launched her first book, yesterday, and I needed to hear the details today, as we talked on the phone. Both of us standing in our windows as she shared how her big day went. She lives in the mountains of North Carolina and I live in the valley of Halethorpe, Maryland. ;) So in order for me to hear her, she had to stand in the bathroom to pick up a good signal, and in order for me to pick up wi-fi, I had to stand in my kitchen. Who says God doesn't have a sense of humor? I listened while she echoed, lol. Intent on hearing her every word about her big day and the events that led up to her book being published, I celebrated her journey, and held on to the details. I enjoyed hearing again how she chose her book cover, and the last day she walked with my dad on this earth to the mountain which is displayed on the cover of her book. I love that she wrote the first chapter about our dad's pond in our backyard when we were kids growing up and how she dedicated her book in his memory. She also made a statement that blessed my heart when she said that God led us down different paths to publish our books and both were good because God was in it. Oh how I love her and am so proud of her! :) 

My sister sitting next to our mom and Mayor Cochran of Mount Airy Chamber standing behind them. :)

My sister and her book publisher, Mike Simpson. :) 

My sister's book: Perseverance: Inspiration for a Strong Heart, by Sherry Creech 

Well done Sherry, I can't wait to read my copy! 

With Love, 

Debbie 

Chris Tomlin - God's Great Dance Floor http://youtu.be/h4IuTQxy9LE

My Birthday Song

I will sing to the LORD because he is good to me. Psalm 13:6

Well, I've been here fifty years now and I am humbly blessed. Nothing that I am or have is because of me, but God has blessed it all. I've thought back over the years, and I can't remember a time when God wasn't a part of my life. Some things stand out, like sitting on top of the hill where I first knew God was with me and knew He would never leave me. To being hit by a car in elementary school, and waking up, asking for my mom in the back of the abmbulance. I believe there were angels around me that day, for one in particular was kind and attentive, and she spoke sweetly. I don't remember if she was speaking to me, but I heard voices, like she was talking to someone. I pleaded to see my mom because I had coins in my lunchbox that I wanted to take home and give her from the change of buying milk that day at school. They rattled in my lunchbox as I ran towards home. I remembered looking out from under a car, seeing my friends standing on the side of the road looking back at me, before the ambulance came, in and out of consciousness. It was wintertime. I was bundled up in a long coat and had on boots that saved me when the car drug me across the pavement. The driver didn't stop until she heard the coins in my lunchbox. Records say there was no woman in the back of the ambulance with me that day. The case went to court as they tried to determine what happened and the witnesses said they didn't know who I described...she wasn't there. 

Next story...I knew I wanted to get married when I was in the third grade and announced it out loud to my little sister and best friend that I would marry the little boy across the street whom I had a crush on. But just like that, I remembered I liked Jim too! (Complicated stuff for a third grader). I met Jim in the third grade. I liked him because he spoke to me in school. (Never mind, he shouldn't have been talking to me while the teacher was talking and it got me in trouble!) Even still, he happened to run past us at that exact moment (probably late for supper!) and remembering I liked him too, I announced, "Or Jimmy Norsworthy!"

 

Life is funny like that, just when we think we know what's best, God steps in and shows us His best! 

Dear God, I'm thankful for the road that led me to You. Thank you for my life and every opportunity to know You better through my husband, children, grandchildren, family, friends, and for all of them putting up with me and loving me, even when I don't deserve it.  But most of all, thank You for sending Jesus to save me from sin and death. I look forward to seeing You when life is done. Until then, help me to love all that You have given me. Thank You LORD! Amen.

Holy - Nicole Nordeman http://youtu.be/HJaR5D2EDSs

The love of my life

For your Maker is your husband-- the LORD Almighty is his name-- the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth. Isaiah 54:5 

He didn't kiss me goodbye....!

I needed the car to take our kids to their dentist appointment, and on the way with my husband to his work, I started looking at last nights pictures....

I didn't want to forget the time I had with our daughter last night. I smiled again as I looked at the pictures we took. I could see her running again as she took over the camera going from flower, to tree, to sunset, picking up leaves and throwing them in the air, to finding wishes and asking me to take her picture, blowing them in the air :) 

...I didn't realize when we arrived at my husbands work, how caught up I was in the moment. Seeing again the one she took of me, before posting it on Instagram. I would have gladly shared a smile with him, had he not walked off... I know I should have been paying better attention to him! Just wish he had realized what took me away, and remembered to kiss me goodbye... 

Me looking at Alice ;)

...just keep wishing on your dreams but don't give up on them! (A phrase by Alice)

(: a few pictures I took...

(: Alice took these...

Lead Me - Sanctus Real 

http://youtu.be/yLr6G8Xy5uc

SOS

 Yesterday's sky after the storm :) 

But Jesus immediately said to them:“Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” Matthew 14:27

I love it when God wakes me up to hear a favorite song. I have lots of them! I'm pretty sure it's the first thing I'm gonna hear when I get to heaven and a song will lead me home. 

Lately, I haven't been myself. I cry a lot. Not that the tears are unusual, just more often and I feel sad.. Thank God-He lifts me up! 

I noticed, yesterday, I was playing Candy Crush like it was my job! It's funny now, but it was like I was hiding myself in the game and couldn't face real life. I wanted to reach out and tell somebody, but I didn't know who I could turn to, or what they could do to help me. 

Isn't it sad how isolated we feel at times, and the lies that surround us in that moment? But, in my desperate state, I cried out to God for help, and immediately, He calmed my heart, and wiped away my tears, and gave me perfect peace.

The reasons aren't important. I just know God rescued me from that terrible feeling attacking my being. I also remember my husband calling me. Sometimes he can be upset at the same time, but it wasn't like that. It was like he exhibited the same perfect peace God had given me. It was amazing the love I felt at that moment. Thank You Jesus! I could have walked on water at that moment and literally felt His hand beckoning me to. :)

What happened after that took place when the kids came home from school...there was a snake in our house! Micah pointed out what Hannah meant when she cried out, "bug"! I didn't realize she meant, "snake!" until Micah who was standing near her in the kitchen saw what she saw, and said, "uh mom?, there's a snake in the house!"

Just goes to show what kind of day it was. I don't know how a snake got inside our house without me noticing it, or our cats who were sleeping the day away because of the rain. Our neighbor came rushing over with gloves on after the kids ran outside and knocked on his door for help! ...there was a crack in the back door and our neighbor said maybe there is how it came in. I don't know? 

I'm just glad Jesus is the light of the world and there's no darkness in Him. I can count on The Lord to keep us safe, and when I can't do anything I want to do, I can still pray, and He answers! 

This might be the strangest blog I have ever written. Maybe you have had days like that? If so, isn't it nice to know God is with us, and He protects us, even when we don't understand or see what's going on, and He's a close as a prayer?

Dear Lord, Thank You for washing over me like rain. The harder it poured yesterday, the better I felt. You calmed the storm in me. Jesus help us take care of orphans the same way You take care of us. Bless them all and keep them safe. Thank You for their families trying to adopt them and for all the ones still waiting. May they, too, be loved and found and know You are with them. In Jesus name. Amen. 

❤️ The song that woke me up ❤️ 

Kings & Queens - Audio Adrenaline 

http://youtu.be/HA_U11B1Ss8