My big Dream!!!!

What is your dream? I mean your BIG dream from the Lord??? Do you ever feel like it is so big that it is ridiculous? I do!!!!! We moved into our house 15 years ago. It was such a blessing....it was owned by a drug dealer who went to prison...it was trashed but we could see the potential! We worked hard to restore it and we love it! We knew from the time that we moved in that it was not ours....we have always viewed our "stuff" as the Lords. Really from the very beginning Eric and I have known that we are supposed to give this house to our church(right across the street). Our church has a couple of amazing ministries...one is to provide furlough homes for missionaries and another is to provide homes for pastors who are hurting and need a place to come for healing hearts. Here is a picture of our house.

Then comes the second part of our dream. There is a piece of land here in Woodstock.... 87 acres right in the heart of Woodstock....and it is in foreclosure:) Here some pictures of it. It is way too long of a story to write here...but the Lord started burning a Big dream into our hearts. We would love for Driven To Encourage to own this land.....with several uses....one is that it is already set up as pasture land....we would love to have horses and a place for equine therapy(which is actually Emily's BIG dream) for mentally and physically handicapped children. Secondly we would have facilities for the kids that Eric mentors. And last...and dearest to my heart personally....we would have a large unit......for around 30 couples to live. Marriages are falling apart!!!! My dream is to have a place for newly weds to live for a year under the agreement that they will attend marriage classes and put themselves in a place of being mentored. They would continue to work or go to school and they would pay some sort of rent. We would open the classes up to any married couple who wanted to attend but we would focus intently on those 30 couples.

So what do you think??? What is your BIG Dream?????

What is under my bed?

What is under my bed??? Well the reason that I am answering this question is that our house is really small for 4 people...much less 7:) So I have to constantly declutter and make sure that I am making the very best use of my space! Under the beds is a great place to start. First I start with these great risers...I love high beds and these are great to give that look and it gives more storage space under the bed. They are inexpensive...I bought mine at Wal-mart but you can get them at Home Depot.
I have several different clear plastic containers in varying sizes.

One is filled with gift bags(dollar store has great bags!) for all occasions. The box is complete with tissue paper, scissors, ribbon and tape. I save bags that I get gifts in as well. This keeps them all together and it saves me from running to the store when I need one.

Another is filled with extra free drugstore stuff that I might use as a hostess gift or a birthday gift. make-up, lotion, body spray, room spray, candles, tea towels.....

Another is filled with seasonal clothes....small house...small closets:) So now all my sweaters and sweatshirts are under my bed and at the end of summer I will switch them out.

All of my kids have these boxes under their beds for a variety of things...my little boys have most of their toys under their beds....leggo's, cars, GI Joe men, guns and swords...all in separate boxes.....easy to pull our and easy to clean-up!

New Coffee Table

This coffee table is made by Laura Ashley and it costs $600....I love it so I have been looking for one to recreate.

I found this very beat up coffee table at the Thrift Store for $20. It was solid and in great shape. One leg was wobbly...nothing a few nails didn't fix.

I washed it down and then rubbed the surface with steel wool.

I bought black stain for $4 at HomeDepot. I pained it on....it only took 1 coat.
After it dried I used this handheld sander and distressed the table...this is the funnest part to me. I ran the sander over edges...stepped back and looked at it and then sanded it again. Because the table was so worn from previous owners I decided to distress it further with a hammer and a few other random tools that I used to swing at the table. I love it!!!

Emily's Party

When our kids turn 13 we have a special party for them. We bring in friends and special mentors to speak into their lives and encourage them and then we take a trip. Emily LOVES horses so I found a farm in Florida that raises Freisian horses and off we went. The owner of the farm was so very gracious and we had a blast. I think that Emily could have stayed for days! Then off to the beach for a few days. We had an awesome 3 days away...lots of laughing and talking and playing! We drank enough tea to drown a person! We made lots of memories.

Michele Helms

I want to blog so bad I can't stand it...but I can't seem to get to it! One of my kids has some very severe learning issues....on top of regular school...I have a tremendous amount of new stuff that we are doing with this child. I am having a hard time getting my regular stuff...you know like laundry and dishes :) much less blogging!!!!! I do find it easier to update facebook....usually straight from twitter! I'd love for you to join me there..........look for Michele Helms!

February 16

Hello sweet friends!!! After a long break from my blog and many other things...I am back..I think???? I have so many things to tell you...I think about you guys and what I want to write all the time but finding or making the time to sit and write has been difficult!!

Lindsey is finishing up her senior year and doing very well but with that is the process of all those college applications and transcripts. Marshall is swimming 5 days a week for 3 hours a day....he loves it and he is really good at it!!! He is going to state in two weeks!!! Fun to see your kids find their nitch! Emily had to take a break from horse riding for a little bit. It's a situation that I am not at liberty to discuss here but we are praying that the Lord would give us a new place for her to ride! Benj and Luke are playing upward soccer and they are so excited to begin this spring!

Eric has been busy speaking in schools and as of January he is back in the gym with 30 young men 4 days a week to mentor them! Great opportunity for him!

I am over the top busy with homeschool and I am speaking about once a month to ladies groups...love it!!!! I sure hope that you have an awesome day!!!

Advent

Advent has been a tradition in our house since Lindsey was old enough to know about Christmas. We always wanted to make sure that the emphasis was always on Jesus and the reason that we celebrate Christmas in the first place. Then 10 years ago my good friend Lori Apon gave us the greatest Advent book...Every day beginning December 1 you open a door in this beautiful book. Every day tells a piece of the Christmas story. I get the cheap little dollar store candy advent books with a piece of candy for each day .

Every night we sit as a family...light a candle...read the advent book, sing a song and talk about what Christmas really means then we blow the candle out and the kids eat their candy. Although my oldest haven't eaten the candy for a few years...they still participate in the tradition. It is one of our favorite things about Christmas!

Think back about Christmas's as a child.....most of us can't name many of the gifts that we recieved as a kid but we can remember the traditions that we enjoyed. Make amazing memories with your kids! Get your focus off of the gifts and the money! Make this season special by doing things together. Eat dinner on a blanket in your living room and play a game! Make a car picnic and go looking for Christmas lights. Go together as a family and buy gifts for a needy family...let your kids pick out age appropriate gifts to give away!

Enjoy your family!