Happy Snowy $5 Friday!

Maybe we should have been a little more specific in what type of ‘Snow’ we’ve been praying for! Wednesday night into Thursday morning, we got 7 inches of snow (the white powdery stuff) – the most we’ve seen all at once in years. Of course we’ve had a few other smaller snow accumulations this winter, but none like this.

It’s funny to see Facebook comments on some of the ‘shares’ we’ve gotten – people saying they’ve had enough snow, or they’re ready for spring, or other similar comments. While I totally agree (I can tolerate 90-100 degrees way better than 25 degrees!), I can’t help but chuckle about it all.

As you share this (and thank you so much to those who do!), please encourage others to read about our story and to give just $5 if they have the ability. Thank you for praying for us…and don’t forget to pray for the right kind of snow! 🙂

5dollarfriday

An Example… Good or Bad?

This past Sunday night after church Jonathan and I along with our Pastor and family went to some friends’ house for a get-together they were having. It was an evening of fun, fellowship, food, football, and good friends. While the guys sat watching the football game the ladies had fun gabbing about anything and everything.

Everything from food recipes to family members, upcoming church events, and even some questions were asked about the progress we are making in raising the money for our procedure. As we continued to talk I expressed my concern that I sometimes feel hesitant to share our blog on Fridays. Not because it embarrasses me for others to know about our story or anything like that. My hesitation comes from a fear of what some will think or say. Now… I know I shouldn’t let this bother me, but when you are sharing things about your personal life it’s hard not to wonder what other people will think of you for what you are doing. There are so many people who have been an encouragement to us and have helped us, but I have to admit that I’ve come across some people that have been very negative toward what we are doing. I suppose it’s these few comments that the devil has used against me to make me feel this way.

Since we started our blog, we knew all privacy for our situation would go out the window, and we were willing to accept that fact because what we wanted most from all of this was not solely about raising the money we need, (of course the financial support is a great need) and we desire your prayers very much, but our greatest desire is that people would see the true desire of our hearts is to please God throughout this whole process.

Jonathan and I are not perfect. We don’t have a perfect home, or a perfect marriage. We fail and make mistakes everyday. I fail so bad at telling how good God has been to us throughout all of this. I’m thankful that in spite of my failures He still chooses to use ordinary, everyday people, and while we do fail we are trying our best to do what’s right.

Sometimes I feel like I’m being so selfish in sharing something else about “us…” every Friday, but at the same time I do believe that it’s a good idea to share often so that it helps people to remember to pray for us. We want people to see the Lord in our lives and our story. To see that we love Him no matter what will happen. While this is OUR story we want the whole thing to be based around Him. He deserves the glory and praise for the miracle that we are seeing happen in our lives!

We know that He has used many of you to help us financially and we do not take this lightly. We know there are many of you that pray for us, and there have been many days when I know God has heard and answered your prayer because some days are hard. It’s in these times that I’m reminded again of how weak I am, but how strong He is! I know many of you know where I’m coming from because in some way or another from your own experiences you know how hard it can be waiting for God’s timing so we appreciate those prayers very much as we are learning patience. 😉 This is my favorite Bible verse and it very often comes to my mind.

Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord. Psalm 27:14

I know that while we have shared our story many times here on our blog and different social websites there are still many people who don’t know what our story is about, and maybe some will not even be interested to know, but we do hope that each time we share our blog that it will somehow be a blessing to someone else, that somehow we will be a help and a good example through all that we do, that somehow God will get the glory!

Thank you to all those that follow our story, and may God bless you all!

 5dollarfriday

A Snowy $5 Friday

374466_10202993396663471_88877225_nWell, maybe it’s not quite so snowy any more, but we had a decent snow here earlier this week while we had 3 of our nephews. They were dying to get out and play in the snow, so Becky went and dug out a couple of sleds to play around with. Maybe there wasn’t quite enough to sled with, but they had a lot of fun anyway.

Today we’re seeing only the second day that we’ll get above freezing temperatures. I’m ready!

While we’re trying to stay warm and cozy in the house during all this cold, spending time with our nephews, we continue to imagine and be excited about one day having our own child to get out in the snow with, teach, love and raise. We’re getting closer to reaching our financial need to do our IVF procedure, but we’re still not quite there.

Anything that you could give would be so greatly appreciated, and will help us get closer to meeting our goal. As always, we appreciate your prayers as well. Without God’s hand in all of this, it would never succeed.

5dollarfriday

Stand Still…

And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. Exodus 14:13

God gave Israel a great promise that day. They saw what He could do. I’m thankful this verse still holds true today for us too if we will just believe it.

This verse has been on my mind again for the past few days. It comes from a Sunday School lesson that Jonathan did in our class last summer. He actually was not teaching on this verse but it was one that he skimmed over in part of his lesson, but it jumped out at me that day. I can’t even remember what his lesson was about because I was so fixed on this verse.

During that time I was going through a struggle over being scared and a little overwhelmed of doing IVF. Honestly… I don’t know where that came from because when we first made the decision to do IVF I was just very excited and anxious. Throughout the past year there have been some times that were still a little hard but for the most part it’s just been exciting to see the Lord working for us. He has taken what was impossible and made it possible for us to do this. As I thought about this the other day this verse came back to me again and I couldn’t help but thank the Lord for His unending faithfulness.

The part of this verse that stood out to me so much was  “Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you to day.” I was so scared that what if we do all this… raising the money, the process we will go through leading up to IVF, and then the procedure itself and then it doesn’t work! I was scared of becoming bitter, of failing Him after everything that He has done for us, of ruining my testimony, and still not having a child of our own. All these things that kept me so upset, I realized I didn’t have to if I would just stop trusting in my own self and trust the Lord like He wanted me to. I realized the risk that is involved here, but I’ve also seen what God can do when we just trust… I discovered that day that what I really knew all along, that I don’t have to be afraid of all those things because He is gonna take care of us. His way is best and so if we do all these things and it doesn’t work then He has a reason for it and a better plan in mind. It was then that I was able to just focus on what is ahead and be excited about it. I have peace in knowing that I can just be still and see what HE will do!

I promised myself when we started all of this that I would always tell what He has done for us to anyone that wanted to hear about it. He’s done too much and been too good to keep silent about it! I’m so thankful to be His child. I honestly can’t imagine my life without Him in it. He didn’t have to give me peace through this verse that day, but He knew what I needed and He took care of it. There are so many promises in His Word for us. This just happened to be the one I needed for that day. And since He cannot tell a lie, it is through promises like this that I’m learning I can lean on Him. What a wonderful God we serve!

Please continue to pray for us! We ARE very excited. Seeing how far we have come… I can’t be anything else but excited. We are not done yet though so we are asking that if you have it to give please help us. It may not seem like much to some but $5.00 goes a long way. I don’t know if y’all really know how much of a blessing it has been to us. So many that have helped us financially and to all those that are praying for us. We are SO grateful. May the Lord bless you all in return for what you’ve done for us!

5dollarfriday

Alexandra Grace Boyer

1521955_10151989757924263_1121373202_nWe want to say a big congratulations to Jamin and Joy on the birth of their new baby girl! Alexandra was born on January 4, 2014. Jonathan and I went to Ohio for a few days earlier this week for a visit to meet our new sweet niece. She is beautiful and precious in every way.

This makes us have 8 nephews and 2 nieces now. There’s Ryder (14), Braden (13), Daniel (8), Jackson (6), Zechariah (5), Timothy (4), Colt (4), Eva (2), Gunner (4 Months), and Alexandra (2 weeks). Each one is special in their own way and they mean the world to me. I love being Aunt Becky, and I know how much Jonathan loves being their Uncle. I’ve watched him around them, and I’ve seen how much they love him. I know these kiddos are not ours but I love every moment we get to spend with them, and I hope that someday soon all these nephews and nieces of ours will someday soon have some more cousins from us!

Rejoicing In Heaven!

May 6, 1936 - Jan 14, 2014

May 6, 1936 – Jan 14, 2014
Fay Sue Powers

It’s Friday again and while I am always excited to share any updates we may have in getting closer to being able to do our IVF procedure instead today I am very sad. Today my family will be spending much of the day at the funeral home and graveside for my Grandma who passed away on Tuesday. This was very sudden and a major shock to my family. Grandma had battled with dementia for the past several years and while she had bad days and good days, she seemed like she had been more confused lately than usual. While we all know that my Grandma is in Heaven today sitting at the feet of our Savior we are all still heart broken. We know she will not have to face any more pain, no more confusion, or bad days. For this we all rejoice of course, but my mind has still been filled with many memories of years gone by of my Grandma. I spent many summers with my Grandma and Grandpa and also my Uncle and Nanny.

I think I could write a book and still not describe the wonderful lady that she was. She lived for the past several years in a nursing home more than an hour from where I live. This made it difficult for us to get to see her as often as I would have liked to. I know that is not a really good excuse and I have struggled with feelings of regret for not being there more often. The saying is true that “You don’t realize what you’ve got until you don’t have it anymore.” Now that she is no longer with us I realize how much I miss her and I wish I could see her again. While I didn’t say it as often as I should, I did love her very much and I know that someday I will see her again!

Yesterday morning I was thinking about her and the things our family would face as a whole and individually in the days, weeks, months and even years to come without her. I realized that the next great-grandchild to be born into my family could quite possibly be ours. It was then that I realized that my sweet Grandma will never be able to meet our children. I decided then that I wanted to make her a bracelet with our signature puzzle piece charm on it. I know of course that it is something very small, that in the grand scheme of things does not matter and is going to fade away with time, but it is sentimental to me and so I chose to make it anyway.

I don’t want to end this post on a sad note so I will just ask that you please pray for my family today. Also… please keep praying for us as we continue raising the money we need so we can do our IVF procedure and if you have it to give please help us. We are getting closer and closer to our goal and we are very excited and can’t wait to see even more miracles that the Lord has in store for our family.

Thank you again for your prayers and support. I cannot begin to describe the blessing that y’all have been to us!

5dollarfriday

$5 Friday – Warming Up!

Happy Friday to everyone! Here in East Tennessee we saw some record lows this week. It was the lowest temperature I’ve ever seen – we hit -3 on Tuesday morning! But we’re on a warming trend now, and are supposed to see temperatures in the 50’s tomorrow.

While cold weather brings some beautiful scenes, I’m personally ready for some warmer weather. I’ll have to be patient, though – I’m sure we haven’t seen the last of the cold weather.

Until then, we’re still raising money to have an IVF procedure. We are excited about what the Lord has done for us through your generosity and prayers! We also have some other exciting things we are working on, so stay tuned for those!

In the meantime, if you’re able, we would most sincerely appreciate your help by buying a puzzle piece for just $5. When bought, it is numbered and we keep a record of your name so that someday we can show our child just how many people God used to help bring him or her into this world.

Thank you again for your generosity, and for your prayers!

5dollarfriday

Snowy Days

img_1312

As everyone knows all of the U.S. is facing some extreme weather. Some areas are much worse than others. The only state that seems to have it easy is Florida. They still have perfect temperatures in the 70’s. I heard today on the news that the last time we saw temperatures this low in Tennessee was in 1996. That was 18 years ago! That is so hard for me to imagine because it seems like 1996 was just a few years ago. Now I just feel OLD! 😉

Anyway, when we woke up this morning the thermometer said -3! I poked my head out the back door for just a few seconds and saw the pond. It was so beautiful. In spite of the very frigid temperature the sun was shining very brightly on the pond which made it look all sparkly. I enjoyed the beautiful view for just a few seconds before quickly closing the door due to the fact that even though there was sunshine it was very deceiving.

img_1309

I jokingly told Jonathan he should go take a picture of the pond. He surprised me and said that he was wanting to go outside anyway just to say he had been in weather that cold. I told him he was nutty, but honestly I’m glad he did because he got some great shots of his uncle’s pond. I think we have pictures of this pond from every season, but these are definitely some of my favorites.

I love living up on this big mountain way out in the sticks. It suites this country girl just fine. Way out here… in God’s country, every season seems to bring with it its small charms that can so easily be taken for granted. I love being so close to it all and being a part of it everyday. I just wanted to share with y’all some of the pictures that were taken this morning. Here’s to 0 degree weather, fireplaces, ice, and a whole lot of praying for a little snow… pun intended! 😉

img_1307

 

$5 Friday – Happy New Year!

God has sure been good to us this past year! He’s always good! With your help and generosity, we’ve raised nearly 2/3 of the cost of IVF, making leaps and bounds toward our goal.

Sadly, insurance in Tennessee still will not cover infertility treatments, so we’ll need to continue to raise the money for the procedure, which we hope to have complete in the next few months. With your help, we can meet our goal!

As of today, we have 1,086 puzzle pieces to sell to meet our goal. If this post could reach 1,086 people, and each bought just one piece, we’d be at our goal! Please share this with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or any other social media outlet you use. Encourage them to share as well. I know we can get it in front of 1,086 sets of eyes. If we can do that, then just $5 will go a long way!

As always, we covet your prayers as well. Without God’s help, leadership and guidance, this is all for nothing.

5dollarfriday

 

All Things Puzzle Pieces & A $5 Friday

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. 😉

Photo Dec 27, 9 38 54 AM

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!

5dollarfriday