I really think the worst situation to be put in, is seeing how they are completely different when they are in person, versus being in a virtual world. How people can act so nice to your face, then once they are in that virtual world you are ignored or rejected for no known cause.

I just keep praying that the Lord will keep my heart pure, when these situations come up. That He will keep my focus on that fact that regardless of what happens in life I am covered by His blood and worthy of His love...that is what matters to me. That I am always important in His sight, so important in fact that He gave up His life, so that I could live eternally with Him.

I am linking up with Jen at Finding Heaven. Please check it out if you want encouragement from beautiful women of God.

While I sat and waited (not so patiently), I realized something very painful. This is what I am putting my heavenly Father through, when I don't make time for Him. I am guilty of that happening, more recently. I get so caught up in life, my family, my new business and what happens? The most important person, the one who gave me this life, the one who has blessed me more abundantly than I can ever imagine, gets pushed aside.

He waits, patiently for me to realize how much He has missed me, how he misses speaking in that still small voice and that I can actually hear Him, because I set aside the busyness of my life to hear what He has to say. He wants me to crawl up in his lap and listen to the story He wrote just for me.

As I realized this, it put a lot of pain in my heart to know that He is there, counting the minutes until I am there with Him. Its time to set aside the things that can wait and make time to hear those stories He wants to tell me.

I am linking up with Jen at Finding Heaven. Come join us and link up with a group of awesome women who share their hearts in hope of a sisterhood that will understand what they are going through.

I have been a stay at home mom since February, and there is no greater gift than to be able to raise your own children, to be with them on a daily basis and to love on them at any moment. Quitting my job took a lot of faith that God would provide for our every need. We lost a lot of income when my husband joined the military and again when I quit my job.

If you were to look at it on paper you would think there is absolutely no way that we could stay afloat on our reduced income. We had our budget of bills based on an income of almost 3 times what we bring in monthly now. Sure, it's stressful at times, but throughout the entire process, God has honored our desire to raise our own children.

I have been wanting to do something that I enjoy, can do at home, but still make a little extra money for our family. Back in October, I decided to buy a sewing machine and play around with it. I never took any sewing lessons, but have made a few things in the past. I wanted to make myself a diaper bag, and was so pleased with it, that I decided to try a purse. I used a pattern for the first bag to kind of get a general idea of what I needed to do. After that, I began creating my own designs and making bags/purses. I just love looking at all the different fabrics, the feel of them, imagining how it will make others feel.

God blessed me with a talent that I never imagined having. I was terrified of the sewing machine...I thought they were all going to be as tough to learn as my dad's...lol Once I sat down at my new one, I just couldn't stop making things. God is now blessing my new business, Life Style Bags by Sarah. I was only open 2 1/2 weeks and sold 7 bags, bringing in more money in this short period of time than I could have imagined. I continue to pray God's blessing over this new adventure. I love bringing joy to women's lives through the creations God had placed within me. Take a look at my shop, I am adding new things all the time!

I hold on to Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

I was packing to go to my parents for two weeks while my husband would be gone on a mission. On this particular date span, my family would be making a sacrifice that breaks my heart, we would be giving up to special days on calendar as a family...my daughter's and husband's birthday. He will be gone for both days. Yes, we celebrated early so daddy could take part, but he had to miss the same two days last year. I am not sure if Giovanna realizes at this age or not, but it still broke my heart.

I don't want the time to fly by and regret not showing my babies the love that they deserve every second of every day. Jesus shows us His love regardless of our behavior. I am sure there are days when He looks down and sees what our behavior is and is in shock. During those times, His love is ever present, not yelling or screaming, but an everlasting love that wraps around us.

I want my babies to know and feel my love for them to that same degree, regardless of what has happened or what discipline may need to be administered. Above anything, they are children and they need to know how important they are and how much they are loved. When have grown, I want them to look back and never have an ounce of doubt that I love them more than anything they can ever imagine.

I am linking with with Jen from Finding Heaven Today, please check out her page, she is a dynamic woman of God.

I'm here today thinking about the twists and turns my family has taken over the last year. Its been just over a year since our family had a baby and joined the military life. For those first few weeks I just didn't think I would be able to make it.

My wonderful husband wanted to make a better life for us by joining the Army, but the leave date listed for him was so close to my due date for our son (5 days after), I was terrified that I would have the baby after he left. Thank God, who had His hand in the middle of the situation allowed me to give birth not only before he left, but a whole week before, which gave daddy a week with his precious son before he would be gone for 9 months of training. Those first few weeks of being alone with the kids was so hard. My son was colicy, which was the complete opposite of his older sister was the calmest baby ever (at one point I'll admit, that I told my mom, with tears streaming down my face, that I would rather be in BCT, because it was so hard having a colicy baby). With the help of my super hero mom, I was able to make it! She was with me helping me every day that Carlos was gone in those 9 months.

With my baby 3 months old and my daughter 21 months old, my parents and I ventured down to South Carolina from New York for Carlos' graduation. Let me tell you, that was a long trip! Carlitos wouldn't stop crying, he hated the car seat. I don't know what I would have done if my dad wasn't in the back to try and keep him from crying for the over 800 mile drive.

Anyway, I have to tell you the moment that I saw my hubby come through the woods for the graduation ceremony the tears fell and didn't stop the whole weekend! I was just so proud of him and so happy to finally be with him after a 3 month separation. The best part was that once we dropped him off at AIT the next day, the CO that was in charge gave him leave for the rest of the weekend, which meant that I would have my hubby with me for my birthday, that was the best gift I could have received! The time with him was short, just a few days and we were on this adventure for another 6 months living in two separate parts of the country.

In the middle of all this we had to sell our house. Which was terrifying, because before we bought it, it was on the market for 2 years before selling, because it had no back yard. When we bought it in 2006, we were not planning for kids for a few years so the lack of yard didn't bother us. Well, in March 2007 we found out we were expecting our first baby! LOL Anyway, once again, God had his hand in it, the house went up for sale in September and by the beginning of December we were moving out and the new owners were moving in! That's it, it only took 3 months!! I count that nothing short of a miracle!

It was hard not knowing if he would be able to make it home for Christmas, but he did =) with the help of http://www.lbeh.org/ thank you Ernie, I will never forget what you did for us!! I have such a greater understanding of what deployment spouses go through and I would like to honor them for the sacrifice that they give. We made it through that part of our journey and moved to Virginia to start his Army career. After all this time (which went by super fast) I have discovered that I just love this life. I love all the friends I have made along the way and I am very grateful for them. I couldn't have asked for anything more. We will have many more adventures with moving frequently, seeing different parts of the country and meeting new friends. I just love being an Army wife!!!

Our first and only family photo, we need to do something about that!

Visiting dog beach at our new home Ft. Monroe.

The summer we worked really hard and had many mistakes, which frustrated her, but by summers end we were to the point where she was wearing panties full time, except at night. With great pride for this little girl, I can now say that she is able to go all night with no pull ups. Sure we still have accidents every now and then, but they are few and far in between. She has worked really hard to get here and I am extremely proud of her!! I love you Gio!!

This weekend was also Military appreciation at the Norfolk Zoo, so we spent the day roaming around and spying on some really beautiful animals. The babies we so thrilled to see all the animals! Every time Giovanna saw an animal that was sleeping she would say "Wake up ____!!!" My favorite to hear her say was zebra, it kept coming out as zera, it was so cute!! By the time we were getting ready to ride the train and leave, the baby was so tired that nothing was making him happy =( Thank God, half way through the train ride he finally stopped crying and was able to enjoy it.

We had a wonderful time!!

For such a long time I have wanted to get back into my creative flow, I haven't had any reason to pursue it until recently. Thanks to a post that a friend of mine put on her blog, I found a reason to sit at the sewing machine again. She is having a craft sale and was asking for donations. I just love helping where I can, so I talked to my hubby and expressed my desire to help. He was completely on board....the only problem was I needed a sewing machine!! Well, that was that, I needed to invest in one so I could help a friend.Once sitting at the machine, I realized just how much I enjoyed being there, allowing God to use me to make a difference in someone else's life. It gave me such joy to be able to go and hand pick fabric and create something from nothing. I started small by making my babies blankets, personalized by their interest. I moved on to making Christmas Stockings for the craft sale and now I am venturing on to more difficult pieces.

Stockings are $10 and fully customizable.

Blankets are great for in the car, stroller or for children to sleep with, they are $20, also fully customizable.

With the weather finally cooling off, I thought it would be a good time to warm up the oven and make some cookies with Giovanna. She was so excited, she couldn't contain herself! All morning she would ask, "Can we make cookies now?!" We made sugar cookies and she got to decide all the shapes. We made some trucks and dinosaurs for baby and the rest she wanted to make girly...lol

Each of my precious children have stolen a large part of my heart, each and every time that I look at them, that part enlarges. Children have a way of bringing an unimaginable joy to your life...each and everything that they do just intensifies it.

Yes, there are times they will do things they shouldn't and we become upset, but that doesn't last long. They know how to tug one little string to get themselves out of trouble. My little Gio will say to me "Mommy, I love you too" and Carlos will try to do something funny, like putting on his sister's headband, come to me and give me an enchanting smile...tell me, how can you stay upset?!

My babies have stolen my heart and everyday when I hold them or even just steal a private moment with each of them my heart just bursts with the pride and joy they have given me. There are not words to express the love a mother has for her children.

Carlos and I have decided that him joining the Military would be a wonderful next step in our future. He left for BASIC on July 1, 2009, just 5 days after my due date for little Carlos and was gone for 9 months. We are currently stationed in Virginia at FT. Monroe. Within the next year we will be moving to FT Eustis. We are very excited about this new adventure we are on and I can't wait to see what the future holds for us!

I absolutely love my life and my family! We just added some more craziness to our family by adding a super energetic puppy. His name is Dexter...a beautiful buff colored Cocker Spaniel.

I thank God everyday for his blessings in my life and strive to live my life pleasing to Him.