We hope! (not wish)

Of course, my family loves Christmas! But one thing that bothers the three little ones is that people say wish all the time!

Mom taught them weeks ago that we should not wish but we should pray and hope! So ever since then they call wish a "bad word!" But when Christmas comes along with all the "wish lists" and "wish songs" they think that everybody says bad words. But after we explain to them that not all people know what they know, they explain to everybody, including strangers, that we should pray and hope, instead!

One example that is pretty funny is the song they sing, We Wish You a Merry Christmas.

They sing...

"We HOPE you a merry Christmas

We HOPE you a merry Christmas

We HOPE you a merry Christmas

and a happy new year

Good tidings we bring to you and your kin

We HOPE you a merry Christmas and a happy new year!"

Quite cute!

Thank you Jesus for their sweet obedience that shines to the world! :)

(These pictures were taken over a year ago!

We have all grown not only physically since then but also spiritually!)

Footprints in the sand...

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.

Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky. In each scene I

noticed footprints in the sand. Sometimes there were two sets of

footprints, other times there was only one.

This bothered me because I notice that during the low periods of

my life, when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow of defeat, I

could see only one set of footprints...

So I said to the Lord, "You promised me, Lord, that if I followed

you, you would walk with me always. But I have noticed that during

the most trying periods of my life there has only been one set of

footprints in the sand. Why, when I needed you most, have you

not been there for me?"

The Lord replied,

"The years when you have seen

only one set of footprints,

my child, is when...

I CARRIED YOU."

"I am with you

ALWAYS

to the very end of the age!"

Matthew 28:20b

Beautiful!

"He will make everything beautiful in His timing..." Ecclesiastes 3:11

I love this verse so much! It explains that God is using us, preparing us, and will make us beautiful when His timing is right! So all we have to do is follow Him, surrender to Him everything and have true unmovable faith! And the rest will happen in His perfect time!

But when we are beautiful, we do not shine our own beauty, we shine our Heavenly Father's beauty! So it is still not about us! We are called to strive after God's own heart. To do that we must please Him and give all the glory to the glorious one! 1 Corinthians 10:31 So, let us work to have faith and to please our Father who deserves all the glory!

(These pictures are from our trip to California!

It was so amazing and such beautiful sights all over this state!

Faith without ceasing...

I just got finished reading the end of Hebrews this morning. It is so awesome how God uses His word to change our lives! For example, I don't know how exactly this helped me but, this is the new covenant God has set before us...

"I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts;

and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying,

'Know the Lord,' for all shall know Me,

from the least of them to the greatest of them.

For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness,

and their sins and their lawless deeds

I will remember no more."

Hebrews 8: 10-12

A lot of the end of Hebrews is about faith. I know God wants all of His children to have faith in Him and to fully surrender their life to Him! Right now I have been going through a trial of doubt! I know I am to have faith, even as little as a mustard seed, and to trust in the Lord with all my heart. The Lord has been working on my heart lately through the book of Hebrews and now the faith book of James!

Every morning I have been getting up to be with the Lord! I read His word, pray, and just praise and worship His wonderful name! It makes the whole day way better when the beginning and end of the day is started and finished with the Lord! All the day is revolved around the Lord!

"Now therefore, our God, we thank and praise

Your glorious name."

1 Chronicles 28:13

The Thankful day!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!
"Give thanks to the Lord for He is good,
His love endures forever!"
1 Chronicles 16:34

May this day help us give thanks for everything we have! Though everyday we should be thankful to God, let this be a day that we thank Him extra!
Let us thank Him for being His wonderful self!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!!!

My Family

Jason, Kelly, Kaylin, Brody, Nevaeh, and Delaney. A family striving after God's own heart! Ready to go where Jesus calls us to go!


Christ's children going into the world, continually being set apart by God, to go and preach and teach the world about His love that fully consumes us!



And a mother and father who are raising us in the way of truth! Following Jesus so that us kids can follow in their example, and ultimately in the Saviors example!


And a brother and sister relationship, encouraging each other in Christ! Loving one another as He loved us!


And a sister relationship, ready to help when needing a hug!


And a brother, sister relationship teaching each other how to one day love our spouses through one another. A brother so loving!!!

Dependent on Jesus!

This a tree we found on our trip. We were some where in Oregon when we found it. This tree was cut down a long time ago but still lives. Before it was cut down the roots had already connected to the tree next to it, so it lived on. It is still living through the tree that gives him life.



Just like how we are with Christ. As we come to know our Savior our roots connect to His and we are fully dependent on Him. Though we may get cut down from trials and tribulations, we are still connected to Jesus and He is hanging on to us! We survive off His loving sacrifice of life!



(Delaney thought it was a pretty nice chair, too, after a long walk.)

My Baby Bro!

This is my little brother, Gavin. He is almost 14 months old. He was my 13th birthday present last year! He loves to give you hugs and kisses! His first word was "hot." He says it all the time! He is so cute!



Whenever I come over and he sees me for the first time in 2 weeks, he comes running with a huge smile on his face ready to give me hugs and slobbery kisses! They are very slobbery but loving! He definitely has the joy and happiness from the Lord!



It is almost impossible to get a decent picture with him but we still love each other!



This is one of his dear friends, Weredesh! She was adopted from Ethiopia and they are best friends. He learns so much from her. He is probably a step ahead a lot because of her!



They are best buds!


(P.S. I still haven't figured out the rotating thing. I'll get it! Sorry!)

An Indescibable Voice

God's voice is incredible! He is all-powerful to do anything! And we come to know His voice in so many ways...



One way I is through this song that Todd Agnew wrote, its called
This Fragile Breath...

"You speak with thunder and lighting
Your voice shakes the mountains
The foundations of the earth
All I can offer is this fragile breath
With each one I'll praise you
With each one I'll praise you more!"

He can speak and shake the whole world and yet all we can give is a fragile breath of praise!



Another way God's incredible voice is shown, is through 1 Kings 19:11-12,

"...there was a great and strong wind...
but the Lord was not in the wind;
and after he wind and earthquake,
but the Lord was not in the earthquake;
and after the earthquake a fire,
but the Lord was not in the fire:
and after the fire a...

STILL SMALL VOICE!


Lately I have been trying to "be still and know that He is God" and to listen for this small voice! God is trying to speak to my heart a certain way and He will only tell me if I am willing to surrender everything to Him. Then He can use me for His glory!

BE STILL AND LISTEN!!!

My heart for Africa

Yesterday, we went to a concert that had Building 429,Kimber Rising, and Todd Agnew! It was awesome!It was sponsored by World Vision which is a organization that helps the people of the world who are poor and needy.
I had been thinking about sponsoring a child for some time now but I didn't know if that was what God wanted me to do! I really love Africa and I have a lot of buddies that live in Africa that are missionaries for Christ and when I grow up I want to go and be a missionary also to Africa!
Anyways, Building 429 had a big talk on sponsoring a child and I felt that this confirmed that this was my calling as a young girl still learning all about God, was to help Africa by sponsoring a little child in need! So...I got this beautiful child of God...


Her name is Miretu. She is a month and one day older than the girls and will be 5 in about a month. Without supporting her she would never go to school, hardly eat everyday, never have clean water, either help out on the farm with her father or grow up to be a housewife and never do anything else. :( Since I started to support her she can go to school, get clean clothes, have enough food, have clean water, support the rest of the family and much much more! (For not that much money a month!) I am so excited to help this precious little girl!



Oh, and this is my Africa wall. There all probably thousands of pictures of needy Africans! I am actually suprised that it has gotten this big! May God's name be blessed through me, a small vessel for Jesus!

mp3 player

Brody calls this his m plee plee player,(interpreted to mp3 player. He loves music and listens to it whenever he can!


In fact we all do! Delaney loves to sing quiet little peaceful songs even though she is not in this picture! Nevaeh loves to sing, dance, a and play instruments!Brody loves to play his ukulele and sing! And I love to play guitar and sing! The best part about all of us singing together is that we all sing to glorify our Savior and one day we could become a little worship band for Jesus! That would be cool!


(sorry for side ways motion, fix that next time!) :)

A time to stand!!

As halloween was this week there were plenty of times where we had to stand up individually and as a family against this evil world and to stand up for what we believe in! We were chosen for such a time as this! Esther 4:14

God Chose YOU to stand up for Him!

"You did not choose Me, But I chose you!" John 15:16 "Without God, you can't! Without you, He won't" ? John Courson ?

Use your hands and feet!

"GO therefore and make disciples of all nations..." Matthew 29:19 He calls us to use our hands and feet to GO into the world and to stand up for what we believe in no matter how hard it will be, Jesus will be with you until the very end of the age! Matthew 29:20b

Face the front of the battle!


WITH GOD, we can stand at the front of the battle with the waist belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of peace, the shield of faith, and the sword of the spirit! Ephesians 6:10-20

My gifts from above!

First loose tooth!!!



Her love for animals!



Can you tell she likes pink yet?

Only through God!

In Matthew 19:26 it says, "with God all things are possible." And it also says in Phillipians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Through Jesus, and only Jesus, can we do the things that are impossible! In John 15:5 it says, "withought Him we can do nothing." So if we try to do it all on our own, it will NEVER work! We have to call upon the name of Lord and allow Him to do the incredible work through us!

Let us surrender and let Him be glorified!

Opposite Way by Leeland

Here's a song by a Christian band called Leeland. Lately God has been putting on my heart that it is okay to be different form the world and that it doesn't matter what the rest of the world thinks, only Jesus! God calls us Christians to be sanctified in Him and run the opposite way of the world. I get discouraged when it is difficult to find a strong Christian friend who is striving God's own heart. But then I remember that God is my eternal friend "that sticks closer that a brother." Proverbs 18:24 Everyday, if I pray to Him and have a close relationship with Him and have faith in Him, He will lead me and guide me! He "will be with me, until the very end of the age." Matthew 20:19b Christ ran the opposite way of the world and died on the cross so that I could run the opposite way, too!

Here it is...

Livinging the same town
For all these years
Doing the same old things
Hanging with the same crowd
And it's starting to get crippling

You've never felt in place
And you tell yourself it's all okay
But something's different today
You want to run the opposite way

Chorus:
And it seems like you're locked in a cage
And you couldn't find a way of escape
When everyone is setting the pace
It's okay to run the opposit way

The Father sant His Son down The light of men
The cross He bore was crippling
Rejected in His oun town
They couldn't see the sun shining

He knelt in the garden and prayed
Father, let this cup pass from me
It's not You will for me to stay
You will for me is the opposite way

And it seemed like He was locked in a cage
And He couldn't find a way of escape
But through the grave He conquered the grave
My Jesus ran the opposite way

Oh, and through the cross He counquered the grave
Oh, He ran the opposite way
Yeah, through the cross He conquered the grave
So you could run the opposite way!!

My little Singer

Nevaeh Reign McAfee...This little yellow princess has ALL the joy of the Lord! Usually whenever she is down it only takes a few minutes before she is smiling with joy and jumping up and down. Her "jumps for joy" are so contagious! Once you see them, you want to run over and give her a big hug and get all the joy she shares!

She loves dancing and singing for Jesus! Her voice shouts as loud as she can when she hears a song she knows. And if she doesn't know it she dances without ease! Her heart cries out to Jesus when she hears His name! I know this girl has a purpose for God's glorious plan.

She has a really cool style and is always making sure she is beautiful, but then she will jump out running for miles and never stop! She's got speed! She loves Africans, just like me! She has a doll that is from Ethiopia she says.She goes to bed with her every night and sings to her a beautiful song that not only puts the doll to sleep but her and her sisters,too!

She always asks me to play her music so she can dance with me. We love to sing together!

Here's my little singer...

My Pretty Pink Princess

Delaney Marie McAfee...This little princess LOVES pink! Her blanket is pink, her clothes are mostly all pink, her bed is pink, her pillows and stuffed animals are pink, and pretty much everything else is...PINK!

This little girl has a beautiful heart from God. He blessed her with the ability to care for little ones and to cuddle with you only because she loves it! Though she has her little mad moments, loves to come and give you a hug when it is most needed! She has a lot of amazing outfits that don't exactly match but hey...look great on her. She loves to be the girly girl of the family! She loves dolls, doing hair, panting finger nails, and putting makeup on, doing all the princess stuff she loves!

Every morning I wake up and hear a little voice say,"Kay-Kay? Can I come sleep with you?" And of course I say yes to this little voice, and then she climbs up and cuddles right next to me! We sleep together the whole rest of the night!

All she wants to do when she grows up is take care of every baby she finds. Her love for children was for sure put in by God and I know someday God will use her beauiful gifts for His glory.


My little pink princess...

My little bro

Brody Kai McAfee...This is my dear little brother who is 6 years old. We are very close to each other. I am so glad that God has blessed me with a kind and caring brother who will always be there to draw me an amazing picture to cheer me up!

He loves it when I play my guitar and he plays his little ukelele. We are a pretty good band! :) He has a lot of character and is very patient with his three sisters! It gets hard sometimes being the only boy in the family, but I know that God is preparing him for his wife someday! He will be blessed greatly!

He has a smile that always makes you smile. When those little cheeks scruncth up and his eyes smamshed tight, you know a beautiful boy is smiling at you!

Someday he wants to be a firefighter and a constructor, but together his dream is to come to Africa with me to build a church for the people and to build houses for them and put out fires, if necessary. (Someday I want to be a missionary to Africa.) My little sweet boy is such a blessing from my Creator!

When we say good night, I always saw,
"Good night hansom boy,"
He says, "Good night pretty girl."
"I love you forever."
"I love you, too, forever."
"My 6 year old boy."
"My 14 year old girl."


My little boy...

MY NEW BLOG!

MY NEW BLOG!!!

Kaylin

Delaney

Brody

Nevaeh

Gavin

Hi, everybody! I finally got a new camera for my birthday and so now I can start a really cool blog. I am so excited to share my life, following my King, becoming sancified, and running the opposite way of the world! I hope you enjoy all the fun we will have coming the know my Jesus! I hope you also have fun getting to know my family. God Bless you!