Happy Birthday David!

David got a grill!!

YuMMy!!

I really do think that this was the best meal we have ever eaten at this table!! It was perfectly delicious!! Chicken, filet mignon, colored peppers and onions, corn on cob...It was wonderful! I'm starting to think that the grill was a gift to me too- Now that I know he's such a grill master....he can take over a meal or two! By the way- we finished everything!! Yum!

Thumbs up dad!!

Alabama Snow!

All schools were closed, roads were closed off, we had no choice...look at ALL that snow!

Ha! Just kidding. This was actually on a Sunday- and there were lots of churches closed...but we still "fought" the weather and hit the road in time for church:-) Only in AL would we get so super excited about a flurry:-) You should have seen David the night before! They were calling for more than what we got -of course:-)- And as soon as his feet hit the floor in the morning, he went running to the bedroom window...with me following close behind:-)

This is my favorite spot...I love sitting here and looking out the window in the mornings...this Sunday morning was particularly beautiful! Our God has such creativity and beauty!

Thanks David for the pretty roses:-)

Pre Graham Goals...

Just a little booty...You may be wondering why this picture is a pre Graham goal..Well, let me explain...
The goal was pottytraining. It is now, I'd like to say, checked off the list! He is doing wonderful!!! He keeps the same underwear on now all day long- well, most days. The booty picture was taken several weeks back...This is what I saw for many many days....He was to take off underwear that had gotten wet and put them in the sink and then go put on dry underwear if he had an accident. Well, there were times he forgot the dry underwear part...It was amazing how many times I have seen this little bottom in the last month!

If you look close, here's the booty again. J had gotten "T" time for a reward for something..I walked out of the room, came back...and this is what I saw. He was probably 10 inches from the screen, totally naked. Nice, J!

Second Goal: Hudson in big boy bed in J's room...Well, as you can tell, the start was a bit crazy...Their room was totally clean and picked up before bedtime. This was the very first night. We started bedtime routine at 7:15...we had a surprise for Hudson, so it took a little while longer for his to open it and for us to play with it a bit...about 7:45, we left room. They didn't fuss much, but instead were interestingly quiet with a few laughs inbetween... we went in later and saw the above picture...no wonder they were quiet....Almost every toy in their closet was out, every book, every flashcard...it was a complete mess.

I freaked out when I saw this...I truly thought for a moment there was a roach. I remember thinking there was no way that a mess of toys and books could bring roaches in!! Then I quickly realized it was just a flashcard. whew!

Solution #1: tie closet doors together...no more toys

Solution #2: untighten the light bulbs...they can't turn the lights on now

The next morning we found them in the same bed! Now, they are doing awesome. It's still not perfected:-) but it's doing great! We found Hudson on the floor one morning too. But now he seems to enjoy his own big boy bed.

I had prayed and planned for this transition for a while and I'm so thankful it is working out so well. I have to admit I was a bit nervous. Since the transition started, David and I both noticed that Hudson has just seemed to grow up! He's going to be a big brother soon!!

Grace Giver

The Lord has been teaching me so much during this season of my life. A bit of a winter season…but the smell of fresh flowers are promised. Priscilla Shirer says it like this, “Often we see God’s glory best against the contrast of life’s dry seasons.” This makes me laugh a bit since we have been living with humidifiers and saline drops since Thanksgiving to try to add a bit of moisture! Moses, after 40 years as prince, encountered the “glory of God not in a lavish palace, but in a barren desert.” I love this. We know that the Lord blesses big events, church gatherings, awesome things done for His glory…the Lord has used these things in my life, of course. But, when His glory is revealed the most to me seems to be when I’m sitting in my quiet place, alone with Him. Just us. Looking into His face and fellowshipping with Him in the normal places of everyday life – it staggers me and leaves me speechless. The entrance of Thy Words giveth light- Ps. 119. One thing the Lord has been revealing to me lately is a little bit more about is His grace- I know some of what the Bible says about His grace- but lately He has been teaching me more about truly knowing his grace. I have so much to learn, to know…we always will- it’s unfathomable. But the taste of His Grace in my life is overwhelming. Astronomical. In high school, I had written a little note on my car’s dashboard that said “It’s not about me.” More than ever am I seeing that life is not about me. Mothering is not about me or about my kids. My marriage is not about David and I. My ministry is not about me. My house is not about me. What I do is not about me. My life is not about me. Nothing is. Isaiah 48:11 “ I will act for My own sake, indeed, My own, for how can I be defiled? I will not give my glory to another.” We watched Loiu Giglio’s Indescribable video in church on Sunday night- it, again, reinforced how HUGE God is and how small I am…all to lead us to His astronomical grace. Out of the same mouth that came the universe…comes a small still voice to my heart. When His glory is revealed, when His Words shines light…how can I, as small as I am, not respond? How can I not change my human plans for His divine plans…His plans for us, I think, are much grander than his plans for the universe…the magnitude of the miraculous creation of the world…to show a touch of His glory…can’t be more than what He wants for us. He sent His son for us. He died for us. He lives for us. Small us. Never will understand that. I was just thinking about the beauty of the Lord’s creation that was shown in that video….it’s crazy…the beauty of even just the pictures…and then to just think the thought that the same God that created and rules over that- all that beauty- when he looks at me...he sees more beauty…more beauty in me…with all the weaknesses, imperfections, ugliness of sin…when he looks at me, he sees more beauty than when His eyes scan all the wonders of the universe. All because of Jesus Christ. That takes me to my knees. I don’t understand it, but oh how I ‘m thankful! I’m involved in a precept class at our church and we have been talking about the attributes of God. This past week we hit specifically on His Sovereignty- our teacher told a story that reminded me of a conversation I had with John David the other day. He has a bit of an imagination…I guess like his mom…and night times lately have been “scary”…well, that’s what he says. I was explaining there wasn’t anything to be afraid of…Then I went on to say that Jesus watches over us and that there are angels everywhere. Then I made it more specific and said that Jesus and angels were right there in the room with us- and they would watch over us. Well, that didn’t go over too well…he was then terrified. He made a horrible face and shivered all over and said “Mom, I scared.” (of course then I went on to explain...) One of our dearest family friends with two little boys told me a story of her oldest boy- John David’s age. Blake also had said one night that he was scared…Shannon, the mom, also said the same thing that I had told J. Blake’s response was quite different. He said, “Mom, I see them. Look there they are!” Wow! What a difference! As my teacher was telling a similar story we all thought of the different ways people respond to Christ and His Sovereignty. The difference is that some know Who He is…What He is all about…truly know with their hearts and with their experiences and with all their trust- Standing Stones. Over Christmas I gave out a journal to my family and a couple of friends back in North Carolina. I had heard about this journal from a lady from my church back home and wanted to start one myself. It’s a “My God is….” Journal. I’m not sure all the in and outs of how it is suppose to work, but I started one…using my own little system…It’s been such an encouragement. My trust and love for Him has grown so much. I encourage you guys to start one. Pops (David’s dad who is also our pastor) has been doing a series about prayer. He encouraged us on Sunday to be able to- each week – to put a name of the Lord with what He has been revealing and teaching to us. And then praise and worship Him with that name. Once again, a reminder of how BIG He is and just how small I am…and how astronomical His love and grace. Just that he would choose to reveal anything to me leaves me in tears.

Isaiah 64:6 All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.

Hebrews 10:14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

John David??!!

This made me laugh. I was looking back at some pictures and came across this one of John David at Hudson's age! I love that hair! They are two totally different little guys, that's for sure! Thinking back on how John David was at this age...and then how Hudson is...very different!
I wonder what #3 will be like!? What a blessing!

Love and Respect

Our church has recently offered a class based on this book. David and I were very excited to get into the study- David's Dad has used this DVD set for many premarriage counseling and he thought it was so good he wanted to open the study to more couples. I am very thankful the Lord laid this on his heart and he responded. I've been so excited to share this with you guys. David and I finished the class before the Holidays- and soon after I started reading the book. The class was such an encouragement to us that I wanted to spend more time studying. We took premarriage counseling, I took marriage courses in college, read many books, etc...and many of these books were helpful...Men are Like Waffles Women Like Spaghetti is a good one...but nothing compared with how the Lord has used this Love and Respect study in my life. Our small group was great and very fun, but when I got alone with the Lord- talking to Him, memorizing and meditating on verses...well, God's Word never returns void and if you seek with all your heart you will find. I feel so blessed and thankful that the Lord has used this book to open my eyes to new things. The wisdom I've gained from this study I know God will use- He already has in many ways.

I was showing a house to a client several months back and on the refrigerator was a magnet. It read, "Men are dumb, throw coconuts at them." Continuing to look around- there were many pictures of a young married couple. I am sure- or would at least hope- that this young wife doesn't take this magnet literally- but the mindset is everywhere. The world around us tries to convince us of many things. We know that in many ways the secular world view can creep inside the body of believers. God's word is such joy and freedom to me. Truth really does have the power to set us free- to be exactly who our Creator created us to be. I'm so thankful the Lord has sent His swiftly running Word into my heart. I am humbled and so grateful.

Isaiah 58:11 "The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy you needs in a sun scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail."

1 Peter 3:6 Wives "do what is right and do not give way to fear."

Drumroll....

I wore a pink scarf and purple shoes to welcome the first little Gossett girl!
But once we saw the ultrasound...I should've worn blue...

Introducing you to ...

...our third little boy!!

I have to admit that I was a bit shocked! Out of my concern for David, I was prepping him for a little girl...we went in and immeditely HE said hello! I had asked David if, later that night, he could watch Hudson while J and I went shopping for an outfit if it was a little girl....well, I did go shopping- and I bought an extra humidifier...that's almost as exciting, right?!

We are ALL very excited...yes, that's right..ALL of us!:-) But, seriously, how many boys do you think we could actually have?! hah! I love it!

The Lord's blessing on our family has been too many to count...Our hearts leap for Joy!

17 week update!

17 weeks pregnant! I woke up one morning this week and suddenly you could see a little belly! We find out the gender on January 2nd! We're both very excited and counting down the days....we're both thinking boy, but I think David is a bit nervous- there's got to be a stop in the run of Gossett boys...this will be the eighth in a row if it's a boy. We'll see......

Tagged

Okay, so I normally try to politely ignore these tags, but this is for little Anna. Congrats Aubrey and Josh. Maybe you'll have a little break and this will humor you a bit. Love you guys. By the way- I love your hobby of pro-creating. Nice! Just what the Lord orders:-) haha!



This is suppose to be word one answers, she says. So I will try my best...no promises:-)





1. Where is your cell phone? other room


2. Where is your significant other? work


3. Your hair color? black


4. Your mother? Exquisite:-)


5. Your father? Gentle


6. Your favorite thing? fall


7. Your dream last night? good


8. Your dream/goal? Love more


9. The room you're in? living room


10. Your hobby? learning


11. Your fear? jellyfish


12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? holding hands


13. Where were you last night? Flip house


14. What you're not? standing


15. One of your wish-list items? got it


16. Where you grew up? NC


17. The last thing you did? sat down


18. What are you wearing? wet hair


19. Your TV? DAvid's


20. Your pets? Not born yet


21. Your computer? a little sick


22. Your mood? peaceful


23.Missing someone? David


24. Your car? clean..finally


25. Something you're not wearing? Shoes


26. Favorite store? Anthropologie


27. Your summer? Hot


28. Love someone? more and more


29. Your favorite color? nature


30. When is the last time you laughed? at John David


31. Last time you cried? worshipping

Bye Bye Fall...

We had such a fun fall this season! I noticed I hadn't put up many pics, so here's a couple of what we were up to....

Pumpkin Patch with the Whisnants!
I thought this was too funny not to put up...at least it cracks me up. We decided it would be fun for us to jump off and Fred to get a pic. J and I both...for some reason unknown to any of us....decide to jump the same way- body down. We have problems:-)

...we both had hay all over us and in our mouths....

This was John David's favorite thing!

Ty and Hudson

We had to pry John David away from the truck to go do other things!

Blake and J

This was our first take at a family pic...you should see how many we took....and this is the best we got !

i like this one.

yah! a good one!

All eight of us...actually nine....we were so excited to get a good one. we thought it would be impossible, but we got several!

We love you guys! Ya'll are such a blessing and gift to us! The Lord has blessed us so much lately with several new friends! We are so thankful for each of you!

Okay- so off the pumpkin patch and to the fall festival. John David was Spider man and Hudson was the spider web.

Showing off his cool spider tattoos.

Trick or treat! This was the first time we've been trick or treating. Our neighborhood is great for that sort of thing. We went to two people's houses and J wanted to go back home to eat the candy. I told him we could go get more at other houses, but he insisted on going home:-) We had a good time handing out candy...he wanted to play with everyone that came by!

The carousel....

Books

Those of you who know me well, know that I love to read. I thought I would share a couple of books that are my favorites, that I have read recently, or in the middle of reading. I'll have to start putting up a few every once in a while.

This is one of my all time favorites. I read and read and read this book.

Focus on Giants- you stumble.

Focus on God- your giants tumble.

I'm in the midst of reading this book right now. I really like Max Lucado...I was reading a Max Lucado book when I met David:-)

He was an arrow in our quiver,

Then we held him in our hand.

Soon the bowstring held the arrow,

And the aiming part began.

"High and Far"

This book I am so excited about. I have not finished it but am looking for every minute to continue reading it. I think this is going to top my list of parenting books. Here's a quote:

"Perhaps protection, preparation, and even Christian training and biblical knowledge are not the real keys. Maybe these valid and [very] essential things can monopolize too much of our time, distracting us from the real issue- the winning our child's heart...The Key to winning the hearts of our children is the often overlooked biblical concept of romance- not the world's concept, but God's. He sent Jesus Christ to earth not to storm our hearts but woo us and draw us to Himself, winning our uncompelled love. If we truly make Him our model, and pattern our approach to our children after His approach to us, we automatically begin to parent from the inside out instead of the outside in. We look past behavior to the heart; we look past symptoms to the cause; we turn isolated events into shared, romance-enhancing experiences that connect to something larger than ourselves...we parents are used as instruments of God in this process [of winning our child's heart for Christ]....."

I was watching a program the other day about teenagers and parents. There was a counselor there that said that he thought, through all his years of counseling and such, that the greatest cause of teenagers turning their hearts away from Christ was because their hearts were never won. I thought it was interesting and remembered my sister reading this book a while back. Although, I don't think such a hard question can be answered in just one sentence, the implications of that statement made me really think. I know that God has won my heart- He has used many instruments for this- one major component being my parents. Another my husband. A third my children. The list goes on. How wonderful it is to know just the tip of how much God truly loves me and over the pages of my life has romanced my heart.

This book has been clearanced in bookstores, but is available on Amazon.

This is a popular book that I have gone back to many times.

It took me a while to get into the "feel" of this book, but once I started understanding the writing it became one of my favorites.

This is an awesome book for raising children, but I learned so much from it to apply to my own life. I pray we would raise our kids for true greatness. The wisdom of this world is foolishness in the sight of God.

** God has used these books in my life. I feel I need to explain though, that I do not agree with everything written in all of these books and I never just read a book taking in things as TRUTH. God's word is TRUTH. I read through the lens of God's Truth- what the Holy Spirit reveals to us through His Word.

It's all about Him

Alright, here’s a little story for you guys…I went to get some groceries one day w/ the boys…decided I might get a pregnancy test “just to make sure everything was okay”….well, we got home….I put the boys down for their nap….I looked in the mirror-cried… I was extremely nervous….took the test….God dried up the tears and replaced them with excitment (maybe I should call this nervous excitement).....called David and told him I was sick and he needed to come home…he told me to put the boys down for nap and lay down….I said no and for him to come home that I was really sick….he asked what the problem was….I said come home…..he insisted that he couldn’t…..I told him we were pregnant…..no noise……silence…..what? how do you know that?......what?.......

Well, that’s the story….isn’t it funny how God works sometimes? He can take the words right out of your mouth! This is a surprise for us….but I’m glad it wasn’t a surprise to our Lord. When I looked in the mirror that afternoon before I knew my future:-)…..I was filled with such…..well, I can’t even describe it…the best I can do is tell you a story to describe my emotions…..I was in the car one day w/ Seth and John David. We left Hudson w/ Mamaw and Papaw Ward. David was out of town. Seth and I were on the way to the emergency room with John David. He had stuck a wooden train wheel up his nose. I guess the little tire fell off and he wondered what would happen if he stuck it up his nose. Well, after some probing from mom’s tweezers I called the doctor who told me to take him to the ER. On the way there w/ Seth, all I could think about was how God was going to throw in a third one on top of this….so that’s how I felt at that moment….”what? God, are you for real?” Although we do have human feelings and emotions…I have to keep on trusting ….I’m just resting in the knowledge that even though I may plan my steps, the One who knows me better than I know myself has determined our course. I’ve said it over and over the last several years….In His will is the most amazing place to be, no matter where that takes you. No matter where that takes you. Whatever He wants…

Life’s not about me. It’s all about Him. Whatever He wants. He’s the Potter. I’m just the clay.

The Lord totally continues to amaze me…

The wisdom of this world is foolishness in the sight of God….

It’s like I can hear Him whisper: I know you, Emily, and you need to stay very very close to me. All things are for your good. You love me and you’re my called. Trust me. My plans are much more than yours. Keep running after me. I love you.

I trust him. But learning to trust him more and more.

As I looked in the mirror that day I read some verses that I had taped up…..

"Trust in Him at all times: people pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us." ps.62:8

"The Words of the Lord are flawless." Ps. 12:6

It’s still there….I don’t think I’ll be able to take it off :-)

How thankful we are for His peace that is so much more than our understanding!

Our hearts leap with joy….

Life with David....

...is always an adventure...

...all I saw was a flash of pink and polka dots...

...somehow John David seemed to relate to this scene....

...Hudson was a bit bewildered....

Love you, Dad.

Hudson

J, Hud, and Mom went to the park several weeks ago to play in the cool weather only to see that it was closed! There are soccer fields close by so we decided to see what we could do....you might wonder why there are no pics of J...well, that is simply b/c I couldn't hardly catch him...while I was taking these pics of Hud I saw that J was climbing up the net of the goal....yes, he really does think he is spiderman...he was climbing up and w/ mom's help he climbed all the way over the goal post and hung like his buddy, spiderman...he thought he was the coolest...so my hands were a bit busy... no pics of J.