Blessed

 I am so grateful to all you for the sweet birthday comments and for all your prayers. I was extremely blessed by my lovely sisters and their thoughtfulness in the last blog post. Thank you all! I had a lovely 20th birthday and my family thought of so many things to make my day memorable. Each of my siblings had a special gift I got to open and then as Dad, Amanda and Emily did something special with the little ones, Greg took me out for a "grocery run", but it turned out to be a special outing to talk and have a little treat. I was extremely blessed by his thoughtfulness and the blessing of spending so much time one-on-one. After a little lunch, my sisters planned another little outing for a special treat :) as a surprise. What fun we all had. That evening, we had a program to play at the park we were staying at, so we prepared for that (we played 7:00-8:30), then after take-down and all, Amanda had a delightful birthday meal for us after we finished! I don't know how many times we've eaten at 10:00, but it was an adventure and very special. What an incredible day - God truly blessed me with a wonderful family and faithful, loving friends! Thank you all for the wonderful day. Praise God!

That program at Leaf Verde went very well - the people were so friendly and supportive! I also was blessed to meet an older gentleman after my shower that morning and we talked a little and he said he wanted to come to our music program that evening, then I said, "The LORD bless you!" before we left. That evening, he was there, and during the break, he and his wife came up to me and he said, "After you blessed me this morning, I told my wife about it, and I just had an incredible day!" He went on to tell me about a revival meeting he went to years ago, but he never made a commitment for Christ... but he seemed close. I shared a little of my testimony with him, gave him a couple reading materials we have on our table and decided to pray for him. Would you please join me in praying for the salvation of this man? I don't know his name, but God does!

Daddy brought in a large package from the mail on my birthday with MY name on it! These beautiful roses were a gift from my long-time sister in Christ (we've been writing for over 8 years!), Kelley! What a special birthday gift! These lovely flowers truly brighten our home.

The little girls so enjoyed playing outside in the lose dirt and they had a little garden here and found little green "seeds" to plant as well! It's been so nice to have warm weather. Praise God!

A lady asked us to sign her CDs and picture. :) We made the rounds as everyone was working on clean up.

What a welcoming, loving church family here! We had the privilege of worshiping the LORD together and meeting some very special friends during fellowship.

I was so thankful the LORD helped me to concentrate on HIM during the music. This is where I desire my focus to always be, because HE is the reason we play and sing! To His glory and honor. But is this not how we are to live our lives? Do ALL to His glory alone. Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.  ~1 Corinthians 10:31

Dad is so faithful and does such an incredible job on the sound and keeping everything in order! Thank you, Dad, for all your encouragement and keeping us together!

 In my morning times with the LORD, I have been doing a little reading about honoring my dad and growing that relationship. How important this is, ladies, to embrace this special relationship right now. We are to be beautiful pillars in our daddy's homes. So how can we do this? I think we as daughters are called to further our dad's vision for his home. What better way than to ask him what his goals and desires are for your family? Ask him what YOU can do to help and commit to pray for him every day! Our dad's have a huge load to carry on their shoulders and they fight many battles for us - remember to encourage him with hugs, verbal thanks, and even little notes or cards are always a blessing to them.

I was also reading in "The King's Blooming Rose" (an incredible young ladies magazine to encourage them on to more godliness) and in one of the articles I was reminded of ways I can bless my father!

• Listen to his suggestions - many times men only vocalize their desires once or twice, so be sure to listen close and see how you can implement their ideas. This will be a great blessing to them.
• Take time to ASK your dad what his desires for you would be and let him (who is your God-given authority) LEAD you! In submitting to your father at home, this will prepare you for a future role of wife, who is to submit to her head (her husband). If you practice now and willingly let your ideas go if he directs you, it will be so much easier to do this in the future. Practice now! :)
• SEEK out your dad's wisdom! By asking him questions about the Word of God and about life, this shows your dad that you respect his opinion and desire his wisdom. He has learned so much - ask him to share his life lessons with you.

It is such a blessing to see the little ones working so well together and sharing books. It can be a long time for little ones to wait, so to play together in love is wonderful to see.

Rebekah made special "door prizes" for us! She spent so much time cutting out names and numbers and picking out pretty rocks for us to choose. It was so cute. She's been observing from the events we've attended in the past! :)

There is so much you can do in the dirt and rocks.

Leah was so excited to go on a little outing with Daddy one-on-one. That doesn't happen too often as you have to go around and take turns. :) She was thrilled.

"I will praise the LORD according to his righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the LORD most high." ~Psalm 7:17

"But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy: and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple. Lead me, O LORD, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make thy way straight before my face." ~ Psalm 5:3

"My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD: in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee and will look up." ~Psalm 5:3

"For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word." ~Isaiah 66:2

"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." ~2 Chronicles 7:14

 At Harvest Baptist Church, the people were so welcoming of us and really enjoyed the music. The pastor said we could come and stay in the church parking lot ANY time we wanted for as LONG as we wanted and we were welcome to ALL the oranges we could pick of the 4 trees there! What an incredible blessing! We met some very sweet believers there.

The twins we all enjoyed talking to. CUTE! :)

When we arrived at "Harvest Baptist", the choir was just gathering to practice, so we were blessed by their beautiful hymn arrangements and voices blended in praise to God! What a treat!

Peanut has enjoyed meeting all sorts of dogs at each of these parks. She loves to take her time on her walks every day, thus we have the opportunity to meet many dog owners.

This was the day Greg took me out on my birthday! VERY special. I will always remember that.

During some of her free time, Hannah diligently works on her bracelets to sell. She's our little entrepreneur for sure! :)  She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.She is like the merchants' ships; she bringeth her food from afar. ~Proverbs 31:13-14

At the Centennial Community Center, we were received well. I was also blessed to meet a young lady who needed some encouragement and wanted to know more about the LORD. I was able to share the gospel with her, and some other Scriptures. Please pray for this young lady as she just shared with me a day later that her family's house burnt down. Thank God I was able to share His Word with her before all that happened. God's timing is always best!

A couple got up to dance during one waltz. :) It's always fun to see the crowd enjoying the music.

The children like to put on Dad's headphones and listen to the music.

Greg has done an incredible job sharing the LORD and challenging the crowd from God's Word and principles.

Practice

All Peanut wants to do is play outside. :) She looks out the windows and doors a lot.

The lighting was really hard to get any good pictures, but we really enjoyed Leaf Verde.

Sam, our incredible announcer! He is getting more bold as the programs continue! I am excited to see how the LORD will use this practice in his young years for the future and sharing the gospel without fear!

A fun set of pictures here (Mr. Krell is a most willing photo subject!). The story is, somehow he got locked out of his motor home and there is only one entrance! Thankfully he knew where the extra was and that it was still there! :)

Found the key...

It was the right one...

Yay! He made it in! :)

We were so blessed last night at one of our favorite parks, Saddle Mountain! We have so many special friends there who have blessed us by their friendship, prayers and other ways. The response was encouraging and we give God the glory for a wonderful refreshing evening! What a blessing it has been to minister in music together as a family and have a common goal we are working towards. It has drawn our family closer together and we have learned SO much together! I am so thankful for this season in my life to enjoy this time with my family. How I want to embrace these days, live every day as if it were my last, but to give God my BEST in every thing I say or do.

The LORD bless you all as you continue to seek the LORD diligently and His ways for your life. Listen to His voice and keep in His Word every day. He will speak to you if you go to Him in faith and ask.

Because of Christ,
~Dani