A long week!

Sammie looking at grandpa.


Guns!! Guns!!

Stephanie giving DJ a hug for helping her shoot the gun. Bryon and BJ Goodman in the background,



I love these pictures.






By the way, Stephanie took all of these pictures. I think she did great!



Well, we have had a very long week. On Monday we went to mom and dad's house for a cook out. It was A LOT of fun! The guys all enjoyed target practice with the many guns Frank and dad have accumulated. Tuesday and Wednesday were not good days. Many of you already know that I miscarried yesterday. We were very sad, but feel peace at the same time. Doug said it well. He said "we cannot question God when we can look at all of the wonderful things we see Him doing in our family and the work He is doing in our boys. He knows best, even when we do not understand." If a quiver is 6 (that's what I've heard, but I'm not sure), then we have half a quiver with Jesus. We are anxious to see what the future holds for us. We appreciate your prayers! I hope you enjoy the pics!

Blessed Again!!

Many of you have already heard the news! We are expecting baby #10 in April! Doug and I are both very excited. The whole family is excited! We feel very honored that the Lord is blessing our home once again! Doug and I made the decision for me to quit school and work about a month ago. In the process of making that decision, Doug also felt the Lord changed his heart regarding how many children we should have. So... we may get that warrior's quiver yet!
It has been a very busy, crazy couple years. We both have re-evaluated things and feel the best thing we can do for our family is for me to stay home-full time! It has been a wonderful decision. I have felt like it has been a long vacation this month! We both regret it took so long. I have always felt Proverbs 31 and Titus 2 were clear to me where I needed to be and what was important, but finances are a real thing in this life. Doug has spent a lot of time in prayer and feels this is what we need to do. It is what our children need and what we feel is pleasing to the Lord for our family. It is a HUGE step in faith. We both are at peace that God will provide. God pays for what he orders. :) About a year ago, I asked Sis. Smith for some advice. She said "Teresa, live the life before your kids." I have thought about that sentence many times over the past year. I have thought "well, I don't have any sin in my life, I attend church faithfully,I am a faithful member of The Church of God, I live the life as I should," but...all year in the back of my mind, I wondered, is this busy life, with very little quantity, much less quality time with the kids what I want to show them and teach them. BUT, once again, finances were a concern. I admire Doug for making the decision he has. I feel like I am getting the good end of the deal! It has been neat to see how God is working in our family already this month! Wonderful changes! Doug and I are more in love than we have ever been, peace is coming over our children, one by one. DJ and Tim went to Tennessee's family camp this weekend. Bro Smith took DJ into the church tonight!!! How exciting is that! We are thrilled! Tim quit football 2 weeks ago because he felt like God was speaking to him about the influences he was around when at football practice! If you know Tim, you know he LOVES football! It was a big deal that he quit. He was telling me a couple nights ago that since he quit, he has had the opportunity to talk and witness to several kids at school. Please keep our family in your prayers. Our big gang is a work in progress for the Lord and we want to please Him more than anything! We appreciate your prayers!

We went to Missouri last month for DJ's graduation from basic training and AIT. It was very neat. Several of my siblings came to it. Of course, my parents did to! We are all very proud of him. It has been wonderful to have Josh home also. Angie and Josh flew in a couple days before we went to Missouri. He grew up and matured so much while he was there.

The Goodmans have moved here!!! We are VERY excited about that. It has been great to have them here! They are going to be an asset to the local church. We love them very much.

Updates

Before (Becky Goodman and kids visiting!)

Living Room and Kitchen gutted!
After

It's been awhile, I know. Let's see. In January we went to WI for my grandma's funeral and while we were gone, a valve busted in our upstairs bathroom and flooded our house. A friend was taking care of our animals and thankfully came to the house and found the disaster. He was able to turn the water off and called some other friends (local men) and they all spent several hours vacuming water out of the house. Thank the Lord for friends! We drove home the next morning to evaluate the damages. It was not good. The insurance sent a drying company out immediately. As soon as they got here, they started tearing out ceilings, floors, walls. It was sad. The insurance had a 40' RV delivered so we had a place for the boys to sleep and a place to cook. It is also where we hung out during non-sleeping hours. I think the insurance has paid out approximately $95,000.00. It has been a very stressful 4 months, but we basically have a brand new house with brand new furniture now.We were able to re-arrange the floor plan a bit throughout the house also.We built a wall that seperates the kitchen and living room, but the dining room and living room are open. I love it! When they re built the basement, we also changed some things and now have a HUGE family room! So in all, we now have 8 bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths, living room on main level, family and game room in basement, a den for my sewing machine, computer, and books, and a kitchen I never dreamed of being blessed with. We had a second kitchen in the basement before the flood, so the insurance company paid us to replace all the cabinets on both levels. We didn't want the second kitchen, so we were able to buy all new appliances with the extra cabinet money. It came out almost dollar for dollar. I am very thankful!!
Well, on a different subject, Josh has been with Angie and Scott since March. He has been wanting to spend time with them for a few years and this was a perfect time for him to go. He is doing very good. We miss him alot! DJ also left in March for basic training. We went to Missouri last weekend to visit him. He is also doing very well. I am proud of the stand he has taken there spiritually. He has chosen to grow spiritually and draw closer to the Lord through this. I am very excited about who he has become. Everyone else is doing great. Busy!! Here are a couple pictures. I will put a few more on later.