Desires and such....

So, I don't write on here as much as I used to because I write on SHINE every day. I am so grateful that the Lord has given me a place to write my heart! Never in a million years did I imagine this opportunity.

I remember several years ago longing to do a bible study with my friends. A study that we could all do together. Of course, my friends lived in different places, had different schedules, and it just was not possible to meet to study the Bible.

Desire after desire, longing after longing, my heart ached for something MORE. I remember telling Lem all year last year that something was coming. I felt it in my soul. I felt God had something for us.

Lem would always smile and appease me. Truth be told he probably thought I was going crazy.

I remember pouring through the Bible looking for answers to what this burning in my heart was about. I was desperate to fast forward to where God wanted me to be.

Hope was my theme for last year. Everywhere I turned, everywhere I looked I saw the word Hope.

It was God's way of telling me to keep the Hope in my heart, something was coming, I just had to trust Him.

I did trust Him. However, I was impatient. I wanted to know what this burning and anticipation was.

He was not ready to show me.

Last Fall was one of the hardest times of my life. I fell into a deep dark place. Anxiety, depression, all that fun stuff. I could literally feel the enemy trying to smother me. It felt like he was sitting on my chest.

I didn't understand what was happening. I felt so close to the Lord. I felt so in tune with Him. Why was I feeling this way?

Looking back, I see that God was growing my dependence on Him. I think He wanted to see if I was truly ready for what He had in store for my life. I think in a way, He was burning off a lot of flesh and a lot of "Jill-ish" ways that needed to be done with.

It was so painful. It felt like that season lasted forever.

Until one day, the clouds cleared. The sun came out and I literally felt warmth fill my body.

God had never left me, but He wanted me to trust Him even when I couldn't feel Him. Oh, so hard. So hard.

Now, I find myself putting on His armor daily. Even days when I don't "feel" like I need it. On days when things seem fine, I sit down and go to His Word anyway. I cannot ever take it off. The enemy gets a foothold quickly as soon as we drop our guard. Trust me on this one.

I have a lot more to say, but my daughter is beckoning me to watch her dance. So, I will stop. :)

grateful for His love,

jill

A day in the life....

Here are some pics of our daily life. Random and lovely. I love these people. The are my world!

Danny at one of our weekly football practices.
Happy as always.

Muffin always tags along too.
LOVE this kid.
He is too young to play, so he is the BEST water boy ever!
The coach gave him a jersey too.
Priceless.

The Princess Presley enjoys cheering her brother on too.

There's my boy!
His nickname is the Tank.
Lem named him that because he is a hard hitter!

Lem giving Keemondra a pep talk

Joseph doing some drills

Football dudes

showing our SHINE

i love this boy. so much.

Our Insta-Week 9/10-9/14.....

Here is a little glimpse of our week.What did people use to do without cameras on their phones? :-)

Joseph's Fun Friday face 

Presley's fun Friday face

Danny's fun Friday face

my handsome nephew, Jordan, graduated Navy bootcamp this week!!!!
 SO PROUD!

Lem went to carpool with me one day this week.
He looks thrilled, doesn't he? :)

Love Dare love letter to my Lem

Lem and his favorite girls (besides me, of course ;) 

oh no he di'nt.
found this in the fridge.
do you think my will power kicked in?
nope.

Thursday lunch date with my girl. 

a little reminder for my kids
(but especially for ME!)

Seriously, this is too much fun....

So, I post a lot of serious stuff on here. Today is not that day.

I found this cool site that tells you who your doppelganger is. AKA=your celebrity look-alike.

You upload a picture of yourself, and it gives you like 5 celebs that your facial features favor the MOST.

It was a tie between Melissa Gilbert and Eva Longoria?? For real??

Before you see the picture--I must tell you: I uploaded a picture of me with dark hair from last year after this picture. My number ONE look-alike was..........Patrick Swayze! HELLO!! HE's a MAN!

HAHAHA! If you try this at home...you MUST show me yours! myheritage.com :-)

My Eleven is a slice of Heaven......

My Joseph turned 11 on August 5th. I know, I can hardly believe it myself.

On the 4th of August, he asked me if his birthday post was up on my blog yet. He knows the drill, and he loves it.

He loves reading about his life on here. I must admit, I love sharing his beautiful life on here as well.

Today, he asked me one final time: "Mom, please do my birthday post. It's my favorite!"

Okay, here goes.

So, this is my Joseph:

• compassionate
• kind
• faithful
• obedient
• smart
• loving
• funny
• witty
• caring
• heart melting-ly cute

The list goes on. I will stop there. If you know Joseph, you already know these things.

I have people all the time stop me to talk to me about my Joseph. They are intrigued by him. His sweet and compassionate heart. I tell them I have NO idea how he turned out that way. Seriously. He's a gift straight from Jesus.

Joseph just accompanied me to the recycling site. He hesitated going because he was in the middle of playing a video game. However, in pure Joseph-style, he changed his mind at the last minute when he saw that I would be going alone.

That's my Joseph. Ever considerate, ever thoughtful.

Before I could even pull out of the drive way, he said this: "Mom, I wish I could just live with you and Dad forever. I really don't want to grow up."

With a lump in my throat and tears on the verge of spilling, I said: "Joseph, remember what I told you about getting married and having children?"

Joseph: "Yes, Mommy. You told me that those would be the best years of my life. That's what you say about your life. Is that really, really true?"

Me: "Absolutely 100% without a doubt, it is the truth. THESE are the best years of my life so far, Joseph. You have so much to look forward to."

He swallowed hard, wiped his eyes, then smiled a faint smile.

This kid has a gigantic hold on this heart of mine.

A quick panic fell over me: "Am I doing something wrong for him not to grow up?? Don't all kids want to grow up?"

Then I remembered that Joseph was JUST like me. He lives in the moment and cherishes every ounce of it. He's thankful and he's grateful. He is not big on change.

 Little does he know that this is just a brush stroke of this beautiful canvas of his life.

Joseph told me in the car that he really wanted to have a little brother. A baby brother.

I told him that if he really had that desire, the best thing to do was pray about it. I was honest, and told him that Mommy probably could not have more children. He said: "Unless God puts one in your stomach, Mom. God can do that, you know."

He grabbed my hand and prayed the sweetest prayer. We both agreed that this prayer would be just between the two of us.

Joseph tells me at least twice a day that he loves me and he thanks me for being his mommy.  It always takes me by surprise. I often wonder why he feels like he needs to tell me so much. Whatever the case, it always
makes my day.

This Summer, it really, really hit me how fleeting this time is with him. It hit me hard. I never want to look back and regret missing these little moments with him. The little moments are the best. The moments when he has my full attention. The moment when he KNOWS I hear him and am intently listening to that sweet heart of his spilling out to me.

He and I had the pleasure of serving together in a community this Summer that is less fortunate. Several of his friends, we soon discovered, live there. We have become close with a few of the children there, and Joseph has been a huge part of that. One of the little boys told me today that he wishes Joseph was his brother. Melt my heart.

He prays for these children every single night. Yes, every single night. Unprompted. He just knows. He gets it. He understands.

I love you, Joseph Lemuel Hill! I hope this post is up to par! You have been very patient with me....as always! :-)
Here are some things that you did this year for the VERY first time:

• football--and you loved it!
• serving others in a local community
• finished 5th grade
• canoed with the family
• got an xbox 360
• saw your first broadway play "Annie"!
• went to your first Falcons game
• placed 4th in Morgan county spelling bee!
• you won the young authors award 
• wrote your first book and gave it to family for Christmas--"The Escape"
• tried crab legs at Crab Trap and liked it
• caught your first fish with Daddy
• roller skated for the first time at Anna-Joy's birthday party

Joseph's Life Verse:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart

    and lean not on your own understanding;

 in all your ways submit to him,

    and he will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 3:5-6

Here are some pictures of Joseph over the past year: