Thatsathought’s Weblog

On Monday, Nathaniel and I had some precious Mommy-Nathaniel time together and went on his class field trip to the Baa Moo Farm. We had so much fun! It was FREEZING–as you will notice he’s wrapped up in my scarf! Us Charleston folks just aren’t used to 30 degree weather in October. That is crazy.

The highlights of the morning, other than having some time just the two of us (like old times!), was feeding the baby calf his bottle, going in the hen house and finding the eggs, meeting Jake and Tammy Faye the long horn cows, petting a giant pig, getting nipped by a huge naked sheep (his wool had been sheared), and milking a cow while a kitty cat drank the milk from the bucket! What a great time! I’m starting to suspect that I really am a country girl at heart.

After four years of vacillating between infant baptism and child dedication, we finally decided to adhere to Mosaic’s viewpoint of child dedication. Thus, our children were dedicated to God this past Sunday at church! Not only was it special to have them dedicated, but the company we were in made it all the more special. Three other Mosaic Pastor’s kids were dedicated at the service. It felt like family to share such a special moment together.

At the dedication, each child was given a Bible. Nathaniel has been fascinated with his Bible and takes it with him everywhere! Sunday night he asked if Nate and I would read it to him. I read Psalm 23 and talked to him about Jesus as his shephard. I also showed him where a few of his past Scripture memory verses were. He was amazed they were all in the book! Then Nate read to him from Ephesians 6 and told him about the Armor of God. It just so happens that we have a Knight’s costume, so Nate put each piece on Nathaniel and told him what they stood for. It was a special night. His little heart for the Lord is so tender and ready for seeds to be planted. I can’t believe it! He’s such a big boy…

My computer died a tragic death, and then our internet connection got capped. SOOOOoo….I’ve been total Slogger lately. Here’s the latest with us. Bear with me til we get into our house and I can be back to my usual blogging self.

For some of you, this’ll be a boring post so just scroll down to the next one. This one’s for the family so they can keep up with the growth of our three babies (Nathaniel, Ella, and Troubadour Lane).

XOXO,
Carrie

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

Yesterday our Pastor’s wife, Ashley Fazal, invited Mom’s of the church over to her house. Each Mom brought clothes their children had outgrown, toys no longer played with, & maternity clothes they didn’t need. We laid everything out in a room and then took turns pilfering through it all to take home what we needed. I came home with an entire winter wardrobe for my two kids…for FREE.

All in all, we had over 32 kids running around. At one point, all the Mom’s sat together while Ashley shared what God had been putting on her heart. Times are hard for everyone, and scary too, especially for one-income families who have multiple children. (Ashley, Mandy Devine, and I were the Mom’s with the least amount of kids…everyone else had at least four!) Ashley shared that God was teaching her to stay focused on Him, regardless of what was happening around her. Other Mom’s shared their hearts.

We can read about the early church and be inspired by it. We can even romanticize it, turning it into a Camelot-ideal. But yesterday, I feel like we lived it. Not only did we come together and help meet each other’s material needs, but the Lord used us to meet each other’s spiritual needs as well. We shared the miraculous wonders God had performed for us in past hard times, encouraging and reminding ourselves that He will be faithful again…and again…and again.

We are building a house in the worst market America’s seen since 9/11, and possibly since the Great Depression. With the credit freeze, even the most likely candidates are getting denied loans. The couple buying my childhood home found out three days before closing that they were denied their loan. It was baffling for us all, since they seemed to be ideal candidates. Regardless, the word resounding in the ears of the American Market these days is a big fat, “NO”.

For us personally, it’s been up and down, where one minute it seems like we won’t get the house and the next minute God provides some form of amazing encouragement. Every low has faithfully been followed by a high, and then followed by another low. Here’s my thought on that:

As the Israelites wandered in the desert, they had no way to get food. Miraculously, God provided manna that appeared on the ground each morning. Here’s what struck me—God’s provision was sufficient for one day at a time. Each day the Israelites received fresh manna as a reminder of God’s love for them. If they attempted to store it for the days to come, they found that it had spoiled by the next day. It was impossible to stockpile God’s provision, because God wanted them to trust in Him, not in their pantry. God’s grace was sufficient each day.

God wants us to trust Him daily with our needs. God is aware of what tomorrow will bring and how we should prepare for it. He knows the problems we will face, and He has already made provision for us to overcome them. He asks us to trust in Him daily. Our faith in Him today cannot substitute for our trust in Him tomorrow. If we walk with Him closely today, we will be prepared to receive His love and provision tomorrow.

“Give us this day our daily bread.” Matthew 6:11

I don’t have any profound thoughts today…just joy and gratitude that I wanted to share. 

Last night as we were going to bed, Nate and I were thinking back over the course of the past year. Wow! How far God has brought us! It blows my mind to see how He has been faithful to answer our prayers. I’m ashamed when I consider my doubt and frustration, especially now that I look back to see that He was working the entire time…just in a different time frame.

Prayers Answered: 

• Three years ago we began to ask God for an Adventure. We didn’t realize that we were in the early stages of it at the time, but nevertheless…here we are! Riding the tidal waves of Adventure in Charlotte, NC.
• Nate has been ordained as a Pastor. He is doing what he loves, and thriving while doing it. And the best part is that he knows that he is doing exactly what he was created to do. What a privilege. 
• With Nate’s new position has come a salary increase, which is a HUGE answer to prayer since we are a one-income family. Now Nate is getting paid well to do what he loves! We are so grateful.
• We are building our dream house. To own a home, much less build it ourselves, is a huge dream come true. God is so good.
• Mosaic has given me an outlet for my creativity and passion for writing. I volunteer as the Communications Specialist (I invented that title) three times a week and have the opportunity to write, create, edit, etc. It’s wonderful. I have the chance to use my gifts for a great cause while still staying at home with the kids, which is important to our family. It’s perfect. 
• We have an amazing group of friends with which we foresee lifelong friendships being formed. We are all in the same phase of life, we have the same goals for our families and ministries, and we’re all on the same mission together…to live a life of faith, be a voice of hope, and bring the power of God’s love to the world around us.

What can I say? Life is good.

While all those things are amazing blessings, I will have to say that the greatest gift has been walking through such a low valley earlier in the year, and coming to know the Lord in a new and intimate way through it. There were multiple times in the past 365 days when it seemed like the Davis world was falling apart. We’d get to the point where we had done everything we could possibly think to do, and still came up unable to resolve the situation. God literally was our only hope. And every time we got to the end of ourselves, He showed up. He proved that He honors His Word. He fulfills His promises. He holds us in the palms of His hands, and WILL NOT let go. 

In reading my journal from last year, I remembered that my prayer at the time was to be “rooted and established in love”. From where I stand now, I think that’s exactly what has been accomplished this year. If nothing else, God answered that specific prayer. I can honestly say that Nate and I feel more firmly rooted and established in the Love of God—-we love Him more because of what we’ve learned about His character this past year, and we are more confident in His Love for us. Praise God.

Since my life in general seems to be undergoing a serious makeover, I figured it was time to revamp the Blog and give it a new ‘do. I can’t guarantee this look will last. I may get wild and try on a few skins for size. Bear with me during my blogging identity crisis!

(On that note, does anyone know of an affordable “blog stylist”? I’d like something kind of edgy and urban…with a b&w photo or two from my archives.)

On a similar note, you know you’re in a blogging identity crisis when you start to ask yourself, “Why am I doing this?” I don’t really know the purpose of my blog—and I am the type of person that HAS to have purpose in everything I do! I also don’t know who reads this thing or why you read it.

So, if you’re a reader and you’re not linked on my page, that means I don’t know you yet. Drop me a line…I’d love to visit your page and add you to the blog roll.

Thanks for reading, people!

Love,
Carrie

Thursdays are like the Summer Soltice in our house…they are the longest day of the week. My husband Nate leaves the house for a 9:00 a.m. meeting and doesn’t roll in again until 9:30 p.m. That means I’m left to work a 12-hour shift on the home front. Thursdays threaten to be my least favorite day of the week, but I try each week to do something special and different with the kids so that we can all enjoy the inevitable day!

Today, I was trying to combine creativity with frugality. I know, I know. Those two words seem to be polar opposites. But I think we defied the norm and married the two nicely. First, we made a trip to Lowe’s where the kids enjoyed playing on the “tractors” (aka lawn mowers). Lowe’s also just happened to have a model kitchen with the exact cabinets and knobs that I picked for our new house. Bonus for Mom.

From there we enjoyed going to the “Red Store” (aka Target) where we played with the toys in the toy section and enjoyed the cool A.C. We found some Dora band-aids that we each put on our “boo-boo’s”, and then we bought some orange Tic Tac’s (Mom’s favorite) to share. Next we hit the “Zoo” (aka Pet Emporium) where they had little buggies for the kids. We walked around the entire store and looked at all the animals…and then Nathaniel had the great idea to buy a fish for Daddy. So we proudly left the “Zoo” with the newest member of our family, Sam, in tow. Welcome to the REAL Zoo, buddy.

(”Playing” with Sam)

Anyone else have creative and frugal ways to spend long days? Please share!

For the Fourth Festivities, the Davis Clan boarded the Hamic’s boat and headed out for a sunny day on the lake. We met up with more friends at a small secluded beach and made camp. With 9 adults and 11 kids ranging in age from 12 weeks to 9 years old, we enjoyed the traditions of Independence Day.

It was a picturesque Fourth—the women were sunning and talking, the kids playing in the water, and the men standing around grilling. There was a distant cloud in the sky that seemed innocent enough, when suddenly, before we knew it, rain was upon us! Everyone made a dash for the tent, and we all laughed about the miracle of cramming 20 bodies under a 10×10 tent. Thinking the rain would quickly pass, we laughed and waited. And waited. And waited…

Five minutes turned into ten. Innocent raindrops morphed into sheets of rain. Cloudy skies turned into flashing and thunderous ones. Being that we were only a few feet away from the water and were standing under a metal framed tent, some adults began to worry. The storm seemed to be gearing up, rather than passing over. Our options weren’t appealing: 1. Remain under the small metal framed tent that we were now having to hold firmly onto it in order to keep it from blowing away 2. Make a dash for one of the two boats and drive in the rain to the nearest dock.

After weighing our options, the Davis’ decided to make a dash for the boat where the Hammics were already onboard with their four daughters. We had the boat cover over us, which Jimmy poked his head out of to pioneer us back to the dock. Praise God we made it safely, but the worst was yet to come! We had to run in the rain on the boardwalk through the woods, lightning flashing and thunder rolling all around us, carrying all our stuff and six scared kids! There was one point where the lightning seemed to strike a tree right beside us, and both Nate and Jimmy shouted simultaneously to all the women and children, “RUN!!!” And boy did we!

Once we made it back to the cars, we waited for the rest of our group. About thirty minutes later they made it back. We all headed to the Hammic’s house to dry off, put on some warm clothes, enjoy some ice cream, and laugh at what an adventure we’d survived! Oh what a day!

(Here we are, safe and dry!)