Busy Blessed Life

Goodness!  Busy times! It has been so long since I have visited the ole blog!  It seems like every free second I have I am trying to shove myself with nutrients so I can take another step to finish my next task!  All amazing blessings that we are busy with, but nonetheless...BUSY!

I do not even know where to begin to catch up most of you!

Clint started his new job the last week in August.  He is the Director of Hearts for Hero's and Director of Clergy Care for the Samaritan Counseling Center here in Shreveport, LA.  He is also still working as an MST (Multi-Systemic Therapist) for Louisiana Methodist Children's Home.  He is obviously busy working 2 jobs, however so blessed to have both.  We both feel that God has been preparing him for quite some time for his new job. (Still trying to get him on here to tell y'all what the new job is...)

I am still working as a Dietitian at Pierremont Healthcare Center.  I am still actively seeking employment elsewhere, but I am embracing where God has me right now and trying every day to be thankful that I have a job.  I am also trying every day to understand why I am there and making sure I try and impact those around me as much as possible.

We are blessed beyond belief with the Hopkins B-Group (Sunday School class) and our Bible Study.  We have met so many amazing people and we have a community of friends that I never thought was possible!  We asked for it and God has poured out loving people all around us.  This makes us busy every night of the week, but who can turn down amazing community support???  Not this couple!

We are LOVING having our Brother and Sister in law here!  (Clint's Sister).  We love being able to see our nieces at the drop of a hat.  They have gotten plugged into our church very quickly, made friends, and are fitting in wonderfully!

Addie celebrated her 7th birthday this week!  I cannot believe she is 7!  Blows my mind.  I have a SMALL INSIGNIFICANT glimpse of how quickly "children" grow up before your eyes. I feel like it was yesterday that I brought her home with me.  So strange!

Currently we are praying and challenging ourselves with being obedient to God.  Our church is raising money for an expansion to one of our worship centers.  Our church has been DEBT FREE since 2002!!  And they are going to continue to be debt free.  So, we have been asked to pray for 40 days, a series of prayers, and challenge ourselves as a family to give until it hurts.  Clint and I aren't sure what that looks like right now for us, but we are really praying and seeking God to show us/stretch us to be obedient to Him and what he wants us to give.  The campaign is called, "To All Generations".  All I can think about is: if just one person can feel as loved as I do right now with what we have been blessed with through this church, then I want to give until it hurts.  I want all generations to be able to come to this place of worship to feel loved, accepted, and learn more about Christ then go on to be missionaries and tell others about His love as well.

With all that being said, it is difficult.  I truly believe I want to give till it hurts, but there is also a little girl voice inside of me that really wants some chairs to go around my DR table...and some lamps....and a Master Bed...but all of those things will come.  And do I want it to come at a price of someone's possible salvation? We are stewards/borrowers of the money God has given us.  It is not ours; it is His.  He is trusting that we are doing the right thing with our money.  Does that mean we cannot have nice things?  No.  Not at all.  But it does mean to seek His provision and get your priorities in check.

So, that is where we are right now.  Trying to pray and see where God is leading us financially.  Such a great challenge God is bringing us through.

We have gotten to do some pretty amazing update to the house though!  Mom came the second weekend in September and MADE my kitchen and Den curtains.  4 FULL days of sewing from 8am-9/10PM!  Mother of the year award.  She worked her booty off for us!  (I will put up pictures soon!!)  It looks incredible.

Also, we are re-doing the front walk-way.  Clint and CJ have really been busting their booties on that.

Mr. Tracy (Clint's step-dad) is in the process of building us a built-in bench for the b'fast room and 2 built in bookcases for the den!  So, we have A LOT of projects going on!

Again, I will post picture probably late October/November!  Y'all have to remember I don't have a smart phone!!

PRAISES:

1. Dustin Wiley, Brother-in-law is CANCER FREE!!! WOOHOOOOO
2. Praises for an amazing community that God has blessed us with.
3. Praises for Pumpkin Spice Latte time!



PRAYER REQUESTS:

1. Clint's Dad had another heart attack last week.  Please pray for his recovery.
2. Continued prayers for my job situation.


That is my quick update for now!  Hopefully I will be able to add more sooner than later with some awesome pictures!!  Love to all!

We Can't Do It Alone.

Do you not know?  Have you not heard? 

Yahweh is the everlasting God, the Creator of the whole Earth. 

 He never grows faint or weary; there is no limit to His understanding.  

He gives strength to the weary and strengthens the powerless. 

 Youths may faint and grow weary, and young men stumble and fall, 

but those who trust in the Lord, will renew their strength;

 they will soar on wings like eagles; 

they will run and not grow weary; 

they will walk and not faint. 

Isiah 40:28-31

When you begin to rely on yourself or your spouse to make you feel better or to fix all of the problems that are going on, things can get hard.  Actually, they get even harder than they were before and you wonder why because all you are trying to do is make things better.  That is why God calls upon us to trust in Him.  He calls us to get our renewed strength, rest, hope, and faith in Him.  No one else.

How exhausting to try to refresh and renew your own spirit.  That is what I have been trying to do for the last 3 weeks.  Yes, we have had A LOT going on, as I explained in our last post, but we were trying to fix all of our own problems!  

And, of course, we were miserably failing!

I just flipped back to our last post and read where we were asking for prayers for us to receive a restful spirit and to have patience.  That is exactly what has happened over the last 5 days!  God brought Clint and I back to reality last Friday when we encouraged one another to really open up God's word and just divulge in it.  Submerse ourselves in God's word, because that is the only thing that was going to renew our spirit.  

God really moved through us this past weekend.  We had some great conversations with some friends in our community/B-Group.  God is really transforming us through our Bible Study(s) and creating/establishing relationship that are going to be everlasting. God restored our hope and faith this weekend and we are so grateful.  

It is kind of like working out.  Whenever you are in the gym, you feel so good and restored and whole.  When you quit for a week or so, you feel like mush and you feel terrible about yourself; beating yourself up about the food choices you are making, etc.  

When you are in the word of God, it is unlike anything else.  You have your shield on and covering your heart.  Scripture is pumping through your heart and veins and protecting you against the next strike against you.  You aren't so defensive and on edge.  You quit being so selfish and "wordly" thinking.  You aren't so burned out to where you are biting everyone's head off around you. 

We knew that we needed to be restored and rested to make it another hour through another day.  And we thank God for his restoration because we were prepared to face Monday...

.......

Monday morning I walk into my nursing home to find out that State was in the building and we were having our annual review.  For those of you who know LTC, this is the big one.  You have to have everything perfect.  You do not leave the building until everything is perfect and complete.  So..that is what I have been doing the past 48 hours.  Working.  A lot of hours...I cannot believe it is only Tuesday!

Clint and I walk in the door after work about the same time on Monday to immediately get in the car and head to Bible Study.  Bible Study was amazing and the Holy Spirit was moving in that place!  So excited about our group. As I was walking to meet Clint, after our study, I looked down at my phone and saw I had a missed call from Chantel and a text saying, "Call me now."

Clint and I immediately called her to find out that Clint's dad was being rushed to the hospital because he thought he was having a heart attack. After many hours/tests...he had a heart cath that determined his previously placed stents were blocked and he had to have two larger stents put in.

Clint and Chantel decided to leave this afternoon to be with their Dad.  Dustin and I are holding down the fort in Shreveport. Praise God Mr. Greg is alive and doing well. Thanks for the prayers.

Praises:

1. Praises for my husband stepping up to the plate and taking care of EVERYTHING, even more than normal, on Monday so that I didn't have to think about anything aside from work. Perfect timing from him all the way around.

2. Praises for my Mom who is in town and cleaned our house, cooked for us, grocery shopped for us, and has picked up all the pieces that neither one of us has had time for!  HUGE HELP and I don't know what I would have done without it.

3. Praises that Mr. Greg is alive and in recovery.

4. Praises for new friends who are so encouraging and uplifting!

Prayer Requests:

1. Continued prayers for our Brother-In-Law, Dustin, who is still in remission from cancer. PT went well this past Monday. Please pray for his continued success with PT.

2. Prayers for Mr. Greg and his recovery from surgery. Quick healing, patience, change of lifestyle, and diligence through this process.

3. Prayers for Clint and Chantel as they travel back tomorrow from Alex.

4. Prayers for Clint as he travels to Denver, CO on Thursday-Monday for a conference.

5. Prayers for continued peace for Clint and me in the midst of craziness!!

6. Prayers for my job situation.  That God's will be done whether that means me staying to God softening my heart to a really tough environment or God finding me a new place of employment.  

Thanks again for all your prayers and thoughts.  We really appreciate it.  We can truly feel your prayers.  Love you all.  Have a wonderful week.  

Color Me Grey...Charcoal Grey!

Good Thursday Morning!  We are almost there..Countdown to Friday!!!

We, the Davis's, are doing...O.K. We have been blessed with tons of community, a new house, friends and family moving into our town, and jobs which are all realllly great things, BUT sometimes it can be a little much!  These past 2 months have been very overwhelming with all the action we have been a part of!  I am so thankful for all of these blessings God has put in our lives, we just haven't had time to sit back, reflect, and most of all breathe.

So, that has been our focus of this week.  Being at peace and having calmness in the midst of chaos.  

I haven't blogged a lot, or any, about the job that God placed in my life last October 2011.  Since day one it has pretty much been one of the hardest situations I have had to endure without being able to leave.  Not only do I have to endure the complications of having a very difficult work environment, it weighs heavily on my husband who has to listen to all of the junk that comes from me being miserable at work (for 8 long hours a day).  I have been searching for another job since I started the one I have.  I know that God has me there for a reason and I have done my absolute best to try and focus in on what that reason might be, but I feel like I have reached my breaking point.  And I am pretty sure Clint has as well. So, everything else outside of work is difficult for me because I am so worn out from the stress and anxiety I get from my workplace. 

It is always very difficult to be in a bad situation yourself, but it is almost more difficult for your spouse to watch you go through a difficult situation and not be able to do anything but listen and give occasional advice.    It is very frustrating and exhausting.   

So, please pray for us.  We need a sense of peace and calmness about my job situation.  Please pray for me to be able to get out of the job that I am currently in.  Please pray that I can differentiate and not bring my work home with me.  Please pray that my emotions will not drown me in exhaustion taking away my alertness to be there for my husband, friends, family, and most of all God.  

Ah.  That feels good to get off my chest so that I can rest assured that I have my prayer warriors alert and ready to help me fight off this situation! God gave me a wonderful sense of hope yesterday.  It was a very random situation; a marketer for a Home Health company came by to see the Social Worker at my facility.  The Social Worker quit last Friday, so she wasn't there to talk with the marketer, so I invited this girl into my office.  I was previously talking with our Speech Therapist and we were discussing how much we hate our jobs and all of the possibilities of where we could go!  I introduced myself to the marketer and she said their only Dietitian just quit a few days back to take another job and they were searching for a new Dietitian.  She immediately emailed her boss saying she had someone in mind for the job and left me with her number.

Just to get a sense of hope slapped in my face was such a breath of fresh air.  It was so nice for God to send someone to just say, "Here.  You see this?  I know you are drowning.  Just give me a little time! Be patient and remember my promises". It was so nice to get the giddy feeling of knowing I'm not stuck.  I should be able to open my Bible and be filled with the hope God promises us every day, but after all, I am broken and human.  So, thanks be to God for this girl delivering the piece of hope that I have been praying for.

House News:

Well. We haven't had much time to work on the house because of our crazy schedules. But, I did take some time this past weekend to paint our Master Bedroom.  Clint had a golf outing with some guys from church, so I locked myself in the bedroom and painted until I could no longer stand.  Thank God Clint came home when he did!  I free-handed the trim, so it was taking me FOREVER!  He helped me finish it up.
And it turned out BEAUTIFUL! A lovely shade of Charcoal Grey with white trim!  Ahhhmazing!
(Pictures to come)

Last Friday we went to a gender reveal party for our friends: The Merville's.  Here is a cute pic we got of some of the girls from the Hopkins B Group (Sunday School Class).  It was a  boy!!!  Yay for team blue!

(Jennifer Wasson, Katie Schiro, Megan Gallien, Ellen Spencer, Kelli Millet, and Me!)

PRAISES:

1. Bless my Mom's heart that she came two weeks ago to help us wash all of our blinds and clean up around our house.  She is a blessing from God.  She is coming this next week too to help out.  BIG PRAISE.

2. Clint's Great Aunt, "Aunt Tiny" was diagnosed with a brain tumor almost two weeks ago.  She had surgery yesterday and it was a success!  They removed all of the tumor and she will be doing chemo and radiation for the next month or so.  

3. Dustin, Chantel, and the girls got moved in and everything is going really well for them!  They have their house looking so cute!  It is so nice being able to drive down the street to see our nieces...and our brother and sister in law!! :) 

4. CJ finally got word that he is 100% moving to Shreveport!  He signed paper on an apartment this past Monday and he moved in half of his stuff yesterday and the rest will come this weekend!

PRAYER REQUESTS:

1. Continued prayers for our Brother-In-Law, Dustin, who is still in remission from cancer.  He will be starting back to PT on Monday for a growth he has on his neck putting pressure on his nerves. Please pray for his success with PT.

2. Aunt Tiny's recovery. Prayers for her strength and endurance through chemo and radiation.

3. Prayers for Clint as he travels to Denver, CO next week for a conference.

4. Prayers for our friends, The Galliens.  Megan is going away for a rotation for PT school.  Her and her husband will be separated for quite some time.  Please pray for their marriage, communication, and endurance through this difficult time. 

5. Prayers for Clint and Me during this time of chaos.  Prayers that we can enjoy all of the awesome things God has placed in our life without stress.  Prayers that I can find a new job. Prayers that I can stop bringing work home and letting it interfere with our marriage and extra curricular activities.

Excited for next week:  My Mom is coming to spend Thursday-Monday with me to help me get the house in order and for things to feel like home!  Lots of fabric shopping and one 101 trips to Lowes.  I'm very thankful and excited!

37 days, 10 hours, 16 minutes till LSU's first kick-off!  We need to get some dining room chairs ASAP! :)

Love you all.  Have a great rest of the week and weekend.

Finally, We Are Home.

After a LONG, drawn out, emotionally, physically, and mentally draining buying/moving in process:

 We Are Home.

To recap the process:

We put an offer in on our home on April 13th, 2012.  We closed on June 1st, 2012.  The sellers remained in our home from June 1st-June 30th under a post-occupancy agreement (essentially they rented our house from us).  And we moved in June 30th, 2012.  

We had A LOT of issues that happened over the past 3 months.  Most of them were completely uncalled for and stressful.  God was really working on someone's heart during this process.  Thank you for all of your prayers for us.  We did the best we could to remain Christ-like and calm during this process; however, it was very hard.  There were quite a lot of tears shed Sunday, July 1st when we closed our garage for the last time in Bossier City.  It was probably a mix of stress, exhaustion, anger, and sadness, but a solid 1hr cry happened.  It was very strange going "home" to a house that you have owned for a month, but weren't allowed in.  It took a few days of unpacking, HEAVY cleaning, and completely renovating the yard to really place our mark at our new home. It is finally beginning to feel like ours and we are in love.

In the midst of all this craziness, Clint received a really big job opportunity on Tuesday!  We are very excited about all of the possibilities and doors God is opening up regarding this position!  I will have him blog about it since there are so many details! Please pray for us during this process.

Thanks again to all the people who helped us move out and move in!  We REALLY appreciate your patience and time.  Some pictures of moving out:

Layla catching her last squirrel at the old house.

Thank God for the 24' truck!

 Goodbye old house!

Strategically placing items!

Clint being hot!

The Moving Crew!

The Moving Crew (Silly Shot)!

We had 8 hours between loading the truck and unloading the truck, so we took a nap in Mr. Tracy and Mrs Julie's hotel room!  The girls didn't have any trouble sleeping since they were fresh leaving the groomer!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At the New House:

Check out these before and after shots of the front:

Before

After!!!

We tore down the pergola and added brick columns with a wrought iron fence.  The gate in the middle will be going up on Monday.  We also have added a cedar fence along the back yard, but it won't be done till next week.  Will post pics next week!  Many more yard projects to come!! Excited.

I hung my first set of pictures today!  I was very excited.   

The girls having NO trouble making themselves at home.  Loving their new floor to ceiling windows.  Looks like we are going to have to invest in Windex! 

Prayer Requests:

1. Please pray for The Wiley's as they move to Shreveport this coming weekend.  Please pray that they will have great weather, easy transition, and plenty of help.  Please pray that they feel well rested and prepared.

2. Please pray for CJ as he waits for the decision on whether or not he will be assigned/transferring to Shreveport.

3. Please pray for me and my patience/acceptance with my job.

4. Please pray for Clint and his new opportunity/job he received earlier this week (I will get him to post a blog about it).

5. Please pray for my Mom as she travels south to visit.

6. Please pray for Tracy as he travels to Columbia for work.

7. Please pray for Clint and me as we transition into our new house.

Thanks to all who pray with us and for us.  We appreciate you so much.  Please let us know when y'all want to come take a gander at the new place! Love y'all.  

Good Saturday Morning!  I have been very behind on my blogging due to the move/packing/craziness!  We have been busy, as always, and loving every second of it!  Every time we begin to complain about being too busy/being tired of going-going-going, we remember how lonely we were when we first moved to Shreveport.  Those first six months of not having a community was really hard!  Seeing where God has brought us over the past year has been amazing and I cannot thank Him enough for the wonderful friends we have met over the last year, the jobs we have been blessed with (even though horrible at times), and our new home that God is preparing for us to live, and serve in, over the next however many years!  

Well...updates are in order!

1.  Dustin and Chantel (Clint's Sister and Brother-In-Law) along with their two little girls, Casey and Sarah Kate, live in Deville, LA, which is where Clint and his family are from.  They have been feeling a longing for something "more" over the past year.  They have tried to fill those voids with many things, but ultimately found out that they want to move to a city that is bigger that has more to offer for themselves and their girls.  So...they put their house on the market on Sunday, June 3rd.  They got an offer on their house in less than 24 hours!  Then...they came to Shreveport for the weekend of June 8th and found a house and got their offer accepted!  AH! God is doing all kinds of crazy things really quickly!  So, the Wiley's will be moving to Shreveport around the middle of July! So many exciting opportunities for them.  God is opening all kinds of doors for them and they are not even here yet.  Please pray for The Wiley's to have an easy transition, a sense of peace, and for the Wiley's to have lots of courage to meet new people and start being a part of a community.  Change is always difficult for everyone and I pray their transition will be painless and quick.  

2.  Clint's best friend, CJ Rachal, who through many years has also become one of my best friends, is ALSO moving to Shreveport from Pineville, LA, which is right outside of Deville, LA.  Clint is so excited!  CJ works for the ARMY and he got transfer orders to move here.  We are not sure of the exact moving date yet, but you would think someone told Clint he won a million dollars!  Hahah.  We are so happy for CJ and his new opportunity.  CJ's girl friend, Ashley Price, live in Texarkana, TX, so this will be MUCH easier on them as well going from 3.5 hours away to 1.5 hours away!  Again, please pray for an easy transition.  Please pray for CJ to be able to find a home that is affordable.

3. This weekend we are headed to Deville, LA to celebrate Father's Day with Clint's Dad, Mr. Greg.  Unfortunately Clint's Step-Dad, Mr. Tracy will not be there :(  He is out of town for work.  We are super bummed about that.  

4.  My Mom and Dad are coming next weekend!!!!  WOOHOOO.  They are still in California for a job my Dad is on.  I am so pumped for my Dad to get to see our new house!  I'm sure Mom needs a refresher from the first time she saw it, so I am very excited for that.  

That is about it for updates!  14 days till we move into the new house!  We will be loading up the moving truck on Saturday,June 30th and officially moving in on Sunday, July 1st!!!!  Cannot wait!

Prayer Requests:
1. Please pray for our friends, The Spencer's.  They will be having their baby girl, Lydia, any day now.  Please pray for safety and quick recovery.
2. Please pray for a dear friend whose husband is looking for a job. Pray that God will bless them with an opportunity to help provide for their growing family.
3. Please pray for our friends, The Gibbon's.  They are about ~19 weeks along with their little boy Landry. Prayers for continued safety for their pregnancy.
4. Prayers for a safe flight and travels for my follks.
5. Prayers for an easy move for us!
6. Prayers for possible job opportunities.

Thanks for your prayers and thoughts over the years.  We love you all!     

Officially Home Owners in Shreveport, LA 71106

CLOSING DAY 6/1/12!!!!

Clint and Me Signing the Papers to own our 1st Home!!!

Taking the For Sale sign down!

SOLD TO US!  On our new front porch!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


This is our new home! 

 South Highlands in Shreveport, LA 71106

3 Bedroom, 2.5 Bath

This is the front.  Inside the brick is a front courtyard!

Inside the courtyard.

View from Delaware

View of Delaware

View of Line Avenue

Front door!

Front Porch

Guest Bedroom 1

Den

Master Bath

Kitchen

Kitchen

Dining Room

Formal Living Room

Guest Bathroom

Back Porch

Back Deck 

Back Deck

Back Yard From Deck

Back Yard from Front Porch

Quite a few rooms missing in these pictures- but we will have more pictures to come with our stuff actually in the house at a later date!!!
SO EXCITED!!!

MOVE IN: 7/3/12

Oh So Close!

YAY!  Today we found out that the VA Appraisal came through!  There are no improvements the sellers have to make to the home, so we are on the home stretch (No Pun Intended)!  

Closing date is still set for June 1st!  

For all of you who know me tooooo well:  

Yes, I did come home and start packing!  I just can't help it!  Type A is just spilling out everywhere and I cannot control myself!!!  LOVE IT!

For all of you who know Addie tooooo well: 

Yes, she is glued to my leg.  She is wondering where in the world I am taking her AGAIN!  Poor thing.  World traveler since day 1!

Layla and Clint are good to go! :)

To catch everyone up on where we have been:

Friday May 4- Sunday May 6th: 

 Clint, Layla, Addie, and I went to Bella Vista to see my Mom for the weekend.  She loaded us up with lots of goodies for the new house!  She gave us her lawn mower, outdoor umbrella, bicycle, our 1st Christmas Tree, and a coffee table!  We are pumped!  We did a little hiking with the girls and took them to see a waterfall.  Mom got a new baby grand piano, so we gave Clint a performance and he had to join in at the end!  He found the music to a song from Smash, so we were set!

Friday May 11th- Sunday May 13th:  

Clint, Layla, Addie, and I went to Deville to see Clint's family.  We had a great time!  Our nieces are getting so big!  We went to our niece, Casey's, tee-wee ball game (She is 3) on Friday night! Saturday afternoon we had a family dinner with Mrs. Julie (Clint's Mom), Neicy (Clint's Grandmother), and Dustin & Chantel with their girls.  I went out to eat with Mrs. Cindy (Clint's Step-Mom), Dana (Clint's Sister), and Chantel (Clint's Sister) for Mrs. Cindy's 50th birthday and Mothers Day celebration! Very fun!

Everything is going great!  We are just excited beyond measures to get into the new house and to have everyone over to hang out!

Move in date is still set for Tuesday, July 3rd!  So, anyone who is able to help during the day on Tuesday, PLEASE let us know.  

We can use all the help we can get!

Prayers:

1. Dustin, Bro-In-Law, Dr.'s appointment for his numbness in his arm/bone spur over his nerves in neck is on May 22nd here in Shreveport.  Please pray for answers and prayers for healing.

2. Prayers for everything to go smoothly until we move into the house.

3. Prayers for my job and the stress it entails on a daily basis.

4. Prayers for Clint's neck; he has a chronic muscle strain.  Will start PT on Thursday.  Prayers for quick recovery and that he can learn ways to stretch and keep it AWAY!

Praises:

1. VA Appraisal came through smoothly!  Praise God!  So excited!!!!

As always, thanks for your prayers!  God is faithful!  Please let us know if we can pray for you and your family.  Love you all!