All Things Puzzle Pieces & A $5 Friday

Posted on December 26, 2013 by Becky Snow

I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas! This year I decided I wanted to start some new family traditions. I’ve come up with a few small ideas on my own and found a few other ideas online. We did a couple of these ideas this year to see if we would like them but the rest I am saving and thinking ahead just a little for Christmas 2014. 😉

Anyway, I wanted to share a short story with y’all about something that Jonathan and I received this year as a Christmas gift. The picture to the right shows the beautiful blanket that we were given. I had been in Hobby Lobby many times and saw this fabric but did not have the extra money to buy it. My Mom bought enough fabric so that it would be a blanket big enough for me and Jonathan to share. I hope to someday soon buy more of it to make for our own little one. I also saw some fabric in Walmart with puzzle pieces on it which I plan to buy someday for making a baby quilt. As you can imagine, I love anything now that has to do with puzzle pieces. 😉 So many plans and so many ideas… maybe it won’t be much longer until we can make them reality.

I hope you enjoyed this sweet Christmas story. Honestly… This blanket matches absolutely nothing in my house, but I could completely care less because what it represents is so special to me! Its new home (when not in use) is spread across the back of the couch where it can be seen by all, and on these very cold days… used all the time. 😉 We are thankful for everything we received this year and for the time we were able to spend with our family and friends. We are so blessed!

It is of course also $5 Friday so we are sharing our blog in hopes that you will pass it along to those you know. Please pray for us and if you have it to give please help us raise the money we need for our IVF Fund. May God bless you all abundantly for what you’ve done for us!

It’s The Last $5 Friday Before Christmas!

Posted on December 20, 2013 by Becky Snow

It’s so hard for me to imagine that Christmas is just 5 days away! It seems like we were just cooking turkey and dressing for Thanksgiving a week ago. Where did the time go? I finally finished all my shopping yesterday which also included buying groceries and food for dinners we will be going to over the next several days.

While Christmas music rings through the house and I sit wrapping presents I am reminded of so many Christmas memories from past holidays as a child to the new ones Jonathan and I began when we got married 8 years ago. I love this time of year and all that it holds… Giving to those in need, saying “Merry Christmas” to someone and seeing the smile as they respond with the same, watching someone open a present they have wanted so much, baking goodies, and cooking a special Christmas dinner that is just for the two of us, making Christmas cards, decorating my house, the smell of cinnamon, being involved with the Christmas play at church every year, watching the bright eyes and big smiles of my nieces and nephews as they see Christmas lights and point with glee while saying over and over “Look at that house!” But….

The best part of Christmas to me… (and its not just a cliché) is remembering that Jesus came to give us hope and life through Him! I love when Jonathan reads the Christmas story every year on Christmas Day! I love the carols we sing that bring Him glory, I love being in church and hearing preaching that tells us of this beautiful story of our Savior! While I love the story of how He came, I also cherish that He is not a baby anymore. He is personal to me, He is always there for me, He guides me and protects me, He loves me… always! I hope as we celebrate this season that we will not forget that HE is the true meaning of “Christ”mas!

Please continue to pray for us and if you have it to give this Christmas, help us along the way to making a new Christmas memory of someday having a little one of our own to cherish!

Thank you to all who have given. May God bless you all with a very Merry Christmas!

One Year Update

Posted on December 16, 2013 by Becky Snow

It’s hard for me to imagine that it has been over a year since we started this journey of raising money for our IVF Fund. I have actually told several people that it was about the second week in December when we started our blog, but when we looked back to find the date I was surprised to realize it was November 22, 2012! Boy was I way off! LOL

When we first talked with our doctor about doing IVF we had many questions. He told us in the beginning that we could need as much as $20,000 for this procedure. To us this was a MAJOR giant, and we had no idea where we could ever come up with such a huge amount of money. He gave us some suggestions and information to check into for help and we left the doctor’s office that day with a stack of papers, and to say the least we were very overwhelmed. We began praying hard asking the Lord to show us if this was the direction He wanted us to take. Even now as I look back over how far we have come I still feel amazed we would be where we are now and facing IVF. I never dreamed that it would be so hard and we would be facing our last option to have a child on our own.

Throughout this past year we have watched the Lord take that major giant and turn it into reality for us. We saw something impossible, but I have come to know personally that with HIM all things are possible. When we decided we would pursue IVF we had a grand total of $0 saved for this procedure, but today after…

1 year
1,594 puzzle pieces sold
1 fundraiser
30 bracelets sold

We have a new total of $8,520!

I stand amazed! Why I doubted that the Lord could handle such a task I don’t know. He somehow understood my weakness and very little faith. He didn’t scold me for not trusting Him. Instead, in this past year He has made Himself real to me! He not only worked a miracle in helping us to where we are, but He has worked a miracle in my heart! HE is SO good to me!

It has been through Him and your generosity that we are making progress toward our goal. The end is finally in sight and it feels so good. 🙂 May God bless all of you for the blessing you have been to us over the past year!

Another $5 Friday

Posted on December 6, 2013 by Becky Snow

Today is another $5 Friday! We are very excited about how the Lord has been working for us and how we have seen Him provide this GIANT of a need in our lives. We knew once we started this process that it was going to take a miracle for this to happen for us. Through the money, and the procedure itself. We certainly knew that the Lord was very capable of providing this for us, but I’m not sure that we thought it would happen so fast. We do still have a ways to go, but from the start we began setting smaller goals for ourselves of what to reach rather than always looking at it as 14,030. We have been so blessed to see each one of those goals met!

Our latest goal was to reach 8,000 and we have definitely passed that one so we are now getting close to reaching a new goal of having sold 2 puzzles. Once that goal is reached we will have 10,000! :O The amount of puzzle pieces we have left to reach that goal is 413.

The picture to the left (as you can see) is of a puzzle piece frame. It was given to me by my secret sister this year for Christmas. I immediately fell in love with it because I decided from the start that I wanted to have something like this for after we have our baby to put their picture in! Of course… prayerfully that we do IVF and it is successful. 😉 So… If you are able today, please help us get a little closer to this new goal and in doing so it will also bring us closer to bringing home our baby someday and having a beautiful picture to put in my new special picture frame!

God bless each one of you during this Christmas season! Thank you to all that have given and most of all for your prayers, and love shown to our little family. The Lord sure is using all of you in a very special way!

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above… James 1:17

Yay For $5 Friday!

Posted on November 22, 2013 by Becky Snow

Good morning to all of you on this very rainy and dreary friday in east Tennessee! For us… Friday means sharing with y’all our story and what God has done, and is doing for us. He has blessed us abundantly and is using all of you to help meet a special need in our home.

Some of you may have seen a few days ago where I shared on Facebook that we passed our $8,000 mark. Praise the Lord!!! When I realized we had passed that point I sorta felt like Daffy Duck in this picture! LOL 😉 We are so excited and thankful that we have made it this far. Please continue to pray for us though because while we have come this far we still have a little ways to go. $5,820 is the amount we still need! It feels so good to see that number shrinking. 🙂 Y’all have made it possible for us and are helping to make our dream come true. For that we are so grateful!

I hope all of you have a wonderful day, and may God bless you all!

Tupperware Fundraiser!

Posted on November 13, 2013 by Becky Snow

Hey y’all! We have something new going on. We have a friend that sells Tupperware, and she has offered to have a fundraiser in our name for our IVF fund. 40% of your purchase will be donated to us, and you will get to have some nice new things from tupperware. We are thankful to her for doing this for us. What a blessing that she can use her business not only for herself, but the Lord has used her to be a help and blessing to others as well!

Below is a flyer with a little more information on it including my name and number, and also Mrs. Christy’s. You can call if you have any questions or if you want to place an order by phone. Or you can click here to shop online. I will also have brochures and order forms with me all the time so you can order that way also if you would like.

Of course, we are still selling puzzle pieces, and puzzle piece charm bracelets! I ordered more stuff yesterday for making more bracelets so stay tuned for a post about those as well. Thank you again to everyone who has already given! It feels good to be getting so close to the end of what we need! There is no way we could have done this without y’alls help. Also, keep watching for another fund raiser that will be coming soon with Premier Jewelry!

Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. 2 Corinthians 9:15

Happy Friday Y’all!

Posted on November 8, 2013 by Becky Snow

Another week has come and gone and it’s friday again! As usual we want to share our blog with everyone as a reminder to please be praying for us. The other day Jonathan added the new total of what we had to the right. When I saw it I realized we need just a little more than $200.00 of having $8,000 saved. This is so amazing to me! We crossed the half way point and the end is finally in sight. I told someone the other day that we were almost down to just having to raise about another 6,000 and they looked at me like I was crazy to be excited about that, but I don’t think they realized the full amount that we needed. Once I explained that their eyes got really big and they replied with a “No wonder why you are so happy!” It was then that the door was opened for me to tell them how good The Lord has been to us in supplying the need and He used all of you to help with that.

Of course though today is Friday so we are looking to y’all again. Every little bit helps and so if you have it to give then we would really appreciate it but if not, the greatest thing you could do for us is just pray. It’s the greatest blessing knowing that we have the love, prayers, and support of our family and friends! We don’t take for granted all that y’all do for us! I pray God will bless each of you for the blessing you’ve been to us. 🙂

Puzzle Piece Charm Bracelets

Posted on October 26, 2013 by Becky Snow

We have something new to share. Jonathan and I have always wished we could think of a way to give something back to everyone who gives a donation to us, but have not been sure on how to go about doing it. A few months ago I was doing some shopping and came across these sweet puzzle piece charms and I immediately wanted one so I could make a bracelet for myself. I just couldn’t pass it up! Then that gave me the idea to share them with others that we know.

My original thought was to use pink and blue ribbon, but I was given the idea to do the ribbon in all different colors because that way people could choose whatever they want. Whether it be a solid color or print. This one is a sheer ribbon, but I could do satin or gross-grain ribbon also. I even have one that I am about to make for my Mom that will have orange and white ribbon on it for the University of Tennessee. So, for all of the sports fans out there I can even do ones with ribbon for your favorite team! Of course team colors may not be perfect but I will get it as close as possible. Since this is such a new idea, I’ve only made a few to give this a try. If you are interested in purchasing one for yourself let me know and I can make it for you and then send it through the mail if you do not live here locally. We are selling them for $15.00 and as it has been up till now whatever is given through these bracelets will go into our IVF fund, and you will have a cute, sweet bracelet to wear. I hope when you wear it it will also be a reminder to continue praying for us! I realize that there might be some who would be willing to give, but may not be interested in the bracelet so we do still have the Paypal account that you can give through with buying the puzzle pieces and we will also continue the $5 Friday posts that you can give through. This is another way that you can give, but also receive something in return! I hope you all will like them as much as I do. 🙂

Smile… Because It’s Friday!

Posted on October 25, 2013 by Becky Snow

It’s $5 Friday again y’all! We are so thankful for what the Lord has done for us, and for all of you who have been so kind to help us. Many of you have been such a blessing to us whether it be through praying for us or financial support or both.

When Jonathan and I got married we knew that there was the potential for us to have some struggles, but I have to say I never thought we would be facing IVF because it was our last option. When we were told the approximate amount that we would need for this procedure we were completely overwhelmed. To us the idea of having to come up with possibly $20,000 just seemed unfathomable!

When we started raising the money about 10 months ago we knew that people would help, but I’ll admit that I didn’t think it would be like this! I don’t take for granted that we have what we have. What a blessing it is!

When we found out that we were not going to receive the grant I told Jonathan that while it would have been great to have help from the Cade Foundation that I thought it would be more special and meaningful to receive the total amount through our friends and family.

For all of you who do not know us as well as some others do, I hope that as you read our blog you will see our hearts desire is to have a family, but first and foremost is the desire to please the Lord. After all… He alone is the giver of life.

Thanks again to all of you for your love and support. Please continue to pray for us and if you are able, give.

I can honestly say first hand that I 100% agree with the small and simple promise found in God’s Word… For with God nothing shall be impossible. Luke 1:37

A Baby With A Purpose

Posted on October 11, 2013 by Becky Snow

A few days ago I did a blog post and talked a little about the messages we heard preached on Sunday. I said I would do a separate post talking about that, so as promised here it is. I hope this will be a help to you like it was for me!

Sunday at our church we had a visiting preacher, Bro. Larry Wells. He preached a wonderful message Sunday morning about Samson. I was unable to be in the service due to working in the nursery, but I was able to listen to the message afterwards once we got home. I had more than one person tell me that I needed to listen to it. I quickly understood why… This message truly touched my heart! He talked about this baby having a purpose for his life. His Mother was barren, but God gave them a promise that they would have a son. (Stories like this hit very close to home for us.) In Judges 13:2 the bible tells about his parents. It doesn’t say much, but we know his father’s name was Manoah. However, his mother’s name is never mentioned. All it says about her was that she was barren. As Bro. Wells preached he talked about how being barren in those days was different from what it is now. In those days if a man’s spouse was barren, by law he could take another to bare children for him. I honestly cannot imagine that my husband would get another wife! I know it was their way and their custom, but in my mind I still can’t fathom such an idea!

Bro. Wells talked about how it tells in vs. 3-5 that she would bare a son. It was a promise from the Lord, but he also told her things she was to do and not to do. She was to keep her life clean so that as she lived before her son she would be able to teach him and train him right. His Father was of course to do these things as well. The Lord told her that Samson would be a deliverer to the Israelites. He talked about how her name was never mentioned, but she was to have a son that would change the world! Can you imagine that…having a child that could have such an influence on so many lives? Could it be that the children we are praying for could have that kind of influence on our small community or maybe even more? It does not matter to me what our child might do in life as far as being a firefighter, pilot, scientist, construction worker, doctor, lawyer, preacher, teacher, etc… What matters to me is that God’s purpose would be fulfilled in our child’s life.

Bro. Wells talked about how Samson’s mother was what some might have called a no-name, but what a GREAT roll she played in the life of her son. I’m sure the ridicule she received and the snubbed noses and cold eyes from other people was almost unbearable all because she was barren. I can imagine the thoughts that might have played through her mind at times. Maybe feeling as if what was HER purpose in life if she could not have a baby?! I know the Bible doesn’t say that. I suppose that is just my own thought because in some ways I’ve felt that way too.

I’m definitely not gonna say things have always been easy! I’ve questioned what else would God want me to do…especially when that is all I have ever wanted? Feeling as if I was a burden to my husband, to my family, my church, and my friends. I’ve even questioned at times “God, where are you or are You even real?” I’ve gone through times of doubting my salvation because I would read the Bible and it seemed like there was no point. I’ve prayed and thought it was meaningless. I began to think…If I was saved then why can I not find any peace? I have felt empty and lonely while searching for a place to just be me, and not have to feel ashamed. I am who God made me…definitely not perfect, and coming to a point of having to realize my complete dependance on the Lord or I would never make it through! I’ve failed Him terribly, yet He still chooses to use me and bless my life!

Someone once told me that the most important thing was being HIS child and loving HIM no matter what happened. Can I be honest though and say that I did lose sight of that? I had bitterness in my heart… It was so easy, and the next thing I knew I was looking back and asking myself, “How did that happen?” Sadly…because of my bitterness, there was time that I lost with the Lord that I could have had, but instead I let so much bitterness and anger consume me. Yes, I’m ashamed of it. Thankfully though, I know He will forgive me and has. I KNOW He loves me! I’ve learned a little of what it means to be on guard more. I must keep myself in His Word and keep my eyes on Him. I KNOW my help comes from Him if I will only allow Him. He wants to help us, but He won’t force us to come to him!

It makes me think of Samson a little later in his life. God did tell his Mom that He was gonna use him greatly. God knew what Samson would be and the awful things he would do, and yet He still chose to use him. He still chose to use me. All I can really say is…

I stand amazed!

In times when I felt like I was at my lowest I have also found the peace and comfort that only He can give when you are facing heart ache. I HAVE found comfort in a secret place when I couldn’t even pray. He knew my heart and heard my unspoken cry. I HAVE found comfort through His Holy Word when nothing else could be said to help. Only His Words could speak to my brokenness. I’m not saying any of this to make any of you feel sorry for me or toot a horn. It is through this I have come to KNOW God has a purpose for the things we have faced. While I may or may not ever understand it while on this earth, there is a reason for everything HE does! I KNOW HIS WAYS ARE PERFECT even though we might feel pain. I realized that maybe my purpose was to go through this not because I did something wrong and deserved it as a punishment, but maybe it has been because God needed to test me to see how I would react? Would I trust Him through it all or would I let the pressure and hurt push me away from Him. I also realize that maybe someday there will be some other family that we can be a blessing to because the Lord has used this in our lives!

I know that I am not a Mom yet, but I still have responsibilities. While we are not responsible for the life of a child yet and teaching them and training them in the ways of the Lord, I am responsible for how I live. I want to make sure that I am doing everything now that I can. Don’t get me wrong… I am far from perfect and never will be, but I want to be striving to do right and live my life in such a way that when we do have children there will not be any question in their minds that their Mommy loves the Lord. I do love Him, I’ve not always lived in such a way that would show it, but I want to. I want to be so much in love with Him that I will be consumed by Him! I don’t think that is a bad thing, and I sure don’t think it is a bad thing to show our (hopefully soon to be) children. I know if we don’t show them then the devil will surely find a way to lead them astray. It makes me scared to think of it, but the devil wants our life and the lives of our children too. Knowing that there will be a battle between the Lord and the devil for our child’s soul makes me want to always be on guard! I want to be able to be a prayer warrior for our children and my family! My home is too precious not to… I want to be able to stand firm against the devil and his wickedness. I know it is only through the Lord and His strength that I can. I pray I can be what He wants me to be, and as I said in the blog post before, be happy in the place that He has put me for now.

I hope I’ve not been boring to y’all with such a LONG post again. I just found myself pouring out my heart after I listened to that message Sunday morning! Please continue to pray for us.