Practicing unbelief?

As we shared yesterday we are planning to go to Africa.  With that comes planning.... as I was going over some of my favorite devotions from this year this one jumped out at me.  

I wanted to share  it with you, it's from Jesus Calling by Sarah Young:
"You will not find my PEACE by engaging in excessive planning; attempting to control what will happen to you in the future.  That is a commonly practiced form of unbelief.  When your mind spins with multiple plans, PEACE may sometimes seem to be within your grasp; yet it always eludes you. Just when you think you have prepared for all possibilities, something unexpected pops up and throws things into confusion.  
I did not design the human mind to figure out the future.  That is beyond your capability.  I crated your mind for continual communication with me.  Bring Me all your needs,  your hopes and fears.  commit everything into My care. Turn from the path of planning to the path of PEACE.  

1 Pet 5:6-7 ~ Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. ⁷ Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Prov 16:9 ~ In their hearts humans plan their course,
   but the LORD establishes their steps.

Ps 37:5 ~ Commit your way to the LORD;
   trust in him and he will do this: 

I desire to be filled with God's peace - so I surrender my plans to His care!!!  This year more than ever I have tried to let go of my plans and do what God's puts before me on a daily basis.  Don't get me wrong, we still have a plan! We just aren't clinging to it as if its a lifesaver... Jesus is and if He brings someone to our door or nudges our hearts to just spend time in his word and prayer... then books can be picked up again later!   
 
Steve shared this picture and it made me think of how peaceful God designed our lives to be... we are the ones who invite the chaos in!   May you find PEACE in following HIS plan today!   

Heading to AFRICA

We are so excited!  In case you haven't heard Maggie and I (Amy) are going to Kenya Africa for a missionary conference.  Why you ask?  We are blessed to have been asked to help encourage these families who give so much full time!  I will be sharing with the homeschool families ideas, tips and encouragement while Maggie will be helping run a childrens program for the young ones -- 

so they don't get eaten by lions as the coordinator says! 

 

So we would appreciate your prayers for us as we  prepare to travel out of the country next month!  If you are interested in more information send us an email and we will put you on our email list.  We hope to post updates here about how God works in our lives, we are trusting as much as we desire to go and bless these families that He will pour blessings on us as well!
THANKS in advance for your support!
Amy and Maggie

Patriot's Day Rally

She loves her big brothers!  and they pretty much adore her too :)

We got to go on a wagon ride watching the beautiful horses was fun too!

We enjoyed the evening with "Mr. James Madison" (aka DAD)

Deep in thought ~ must be preparing an amazing speech to share with the people :)

Mr Madison and Mr Samuel Adams

We enjoyed a wonderful Patriots Day Rally celebrating our countries freedom!  Click here if you'd like to see some amazing videos reminding us to appreciate our freedom.  Great to thank those who have served and be reminded of where we started from!  With speeches from Madison, Henry, Franklin and Adams (well actually a few good actors who did a great job looking the part and sounding it too!!!)  Finishing the night with a fireworks show to be enjoyed by all.  Thanks to the many who have served our country to give us the freedoms we enjoy today! 

A day in our Homeschool

Sorry its been so LONG since posting!  Hopefully we'll get back to updating more regularly!

So we did the homeschool thing, an equation
Seeds+Dirt+Water+Tools+Time+Sweat=Our garden :D

So we found about a dozen Sweet potatoes that were trying to grow in a plastic bag in our pantry......

We also found some pumpkin seeds in the garage, soooooo.....

 We cleared an area in our field and pulled out the grass (well, we tried to ;) sweated, then we dug some holes, and sweated some more, and then we put in the sweet potatoes and pumpkin seeds, covered them with soil, and watered them. Now, we see what happens!!!

Sandy Pines on the Fourth of July Weekend!

Q fam with Gr and Gr K

We were blessed to be able to spend the holiday weekend with family and friends at Sandy Pines.   We made the best of the rain with a picnic  ~ enjoying friends and playing silent card game with 15 kids in a trailer!  amazing how that keeps them quiet :)  Then we were blessed by 3 beautiful summer days, fun at the water park, the beach, the parade, fishing and playing with cousins!  Well here are some photos from our trip. 

Big and Little friends!

Fun on the playground (before the rain)

Luke and Naomi had fun too! Special catching up with these little ones who change so quickly!

another great group game under the pavilion (during the rain!)

Another little buddy!

The Sandy Pines Ice Cream Store is the BEST!  trust us order a baby cone!!! :)

Fun catching up with some cousins too!

Mom and Dad K

Q family red and blue (guess we forgot the white!)

Waiting for the parade to begin

Steve with Dad and Mom Q (color coordinated well for the 4th!)

Exciting times, at 12 you can get your "golf cart permit" at Sandy Pines!  so we now have another driver with her permit as well as 2 with their golf cart license!  we also enjoyed have our 15 yr old get some drive hrs in on the way up (yes we made mom sit in the back seat but she remained quiet enough we didn't have to use the duct tape!)

Our 2nd FAVORITE stop.... the CANDY store :) now with 2 drivers they ended up there often!

 We have completed 8 out of 10 conventions so far this season and this little girl has been a trooper!   We are so thankful to have such great big brothers and sisters to help out with her.  Thought you'd enjoy seeing some of her many faces!  We are blessed to have her smile in our family!   Blessings on the rest of your summers! 

please pretty please more candy???

learning how to swing takes concentration

keep looking up!  

Oh the places you'll go Hike IV

Crazy thing called the HIKE - just for fun going on a 20 mile hike with 80+ friends, it really IS fun! 

After a brief shower the sun came out.

  It was fun seeing all the red in the front yard as they started at our house this year!

Kept telling myself  "If John can do it I can do it!"  Way to go!!!

Yes even Little One tagged along, she made it 8 miles!! (with LOTS of great helpers - THANKS!)

Oh the places they went... up and down and all around!

They even took pet turtles along for part of the hike - amazing.

they just keep coming... (or going!)

Looks like the cadets are out of formation... General wasn't there until the afternoon!

For you out of towners these are HUGE hills!  The kids were amazing.  My friend, who I think was one of only 2 adults to do the whole thing, totally amazes me!!! Way to go Allison :)  someday maybe I'll be able to keep up with you!

She doesn't look very happy here... but she did great!  Even willingly shared her ride with a few other little people for bits of it (until we got to a hill and it got too heavy!) 

Prayer stops along the way were a blessing!  One of them we prayed for our Little One ~ her case was once again in court ~ we are honored to be her pre-adoptive home and trust God's plan will bring permanency for all of us soon!

Long way for little legs!  He made it 8 miles in the morning with mom and then about 4 more later in the day with dad!

In case you were wondering about our route... just follow the shirt :) its the white line on there!

Yes, that is the Cat in the Hat leading the way!

Flower power?  He made it 8 miles in the morning then decided to rest and play with friends!

She was  the ONLY one who needed to stretch her legs!  and Chuck,  he made it all 20 miles!!! way to go!

The girls made it about 16, still pretty amazing to me!  We are all feeling it today :)  guess we should work up our stamina more before next year!