WOO HOO .. and Michelle continues to work! Look at that logo now! I love her desire to make perfect her work ... and therefore, our business marketing! THANK YOU again MICHELLE at Allegra Print and Imaging off of HWY 46!

O.K. so my logo designer and print/image company is the BEST! Michelle has been working so hard with me to help me figure out my glitches! Our business cards turned out beautifully and we love the owners! All that to say, if you need work done .. go check out Allegra Print and Imaging off of HWY 46!

Here is the fixed images for the web! THANKS MICHELLE!

This is just for my logo designer - to see my technology glitches

Hi Michelle


This is what happens when I insert the jpeg file from the disc to the web. ????

Do you like the logo?

It's fun to see the name in "lights". We are coming along. As I work each day, I find myself giggling a little. Do you watch "The Office"? I can't remember the character's names but do you recall how the assistant to the manager is always saying "I'm the assistant manager" and the manager will quickly say "Assistant TO THE manager". HA! I so think I'm the "Assistant" and not the "Assistant TO THE ___".

By the way ... this is totally weird and maybe someone can explain ... our logo is actually black and maroon. That file I uploaded doesn't even have BLUE in it and yet it shows up BLUE!!! UM .. this could be a problem. Oh the joys of technology and learning a new business! HELP! You get the point on the concept right? MAROON ... as in AGGIE MAROON ... AAAH!!!

The world says .. go back to Harran!

So, in the past few months ... or I should really say YEARS, the Lord has been calling my husband into a journey. Back in 2006, the Lord led Doug out of "Harran" and into a journey that well, frankly, the world just didn't and doesn't understand.
I will explain the metaphorical use of "Harran" in a moment but first your probably wondering what journey he began.

My husband, a Project Manager for a large General Contractor, had what the world saw as a successful career. He was by all intensive purposes, moving up that corporate ladder. He had been given shares of the company and was on track as one of the Senior Staff. During that time, he was running what was then their largest project to date ... one that I called the job from hell. It was a huge high school in the area that was simply two years of headaches and problems but perhaps the Lord's clear vision that he was moving Doug into a new direction by giving him an unsettled spirit.

During this time, Doug was becoming increasingly unhappy in where he was. His unsettled spirit wasn't in the company as he will to this day tell anyone that it is a phenomenal company but rather in his callings in life. Doug felt discontent and a sense that the Lord had something different in store. But what?

In May of that year, after a few months of meetings and intense prayer, Doug took an opportunity to work with a man who was a consultant to a large developer out of the Austin area. This company had 3 partners in Austin and one in San Antonio. Doug was being brought in to manage all the retail/commercial build out of the San Antonio Developements and the tenants spaces. Doug opted to take the position as a "Sole proprietor", therefore, giving up the benefits of working for a company but gaining the flexibility and ability of working for himself. I know now that that decision was completely the Lord!

Fast forward three years, and we can see how the Lord has used those three years to prepare Doug for a new endeavor and as a stepping stone to another path on his journey. Through a series of circumstances with the Developer he works with, there is new structure and new opportunities and in turn big changes. It's hard to go into great detail but let's just say that in all intensive purposes the face of the company he was doing work for has changed greatly and with those changes and add to it a struggling economy .. it has given Doug the push to spread his wings even further. As I type, I even struggle to explain this journey and wonder if you'll understand but then am reminded that even we haven't found the ability to quite understand and grasp it all.

In brevity, this journey has brought Doug and I to a place in total reliance on the Lord. It has been a roller coaster to say the least. As he goes off to work each day, it feels a little like Christmas as we see what gift the Lord will open next. We have prayed earnestly for opportunities, open and closed doors and even divine conversations. I cannot put into words the presence of our Savior with each step and with complete confidence can tell you that we have given way to asking him to be a part of our journey and with all of our hearts have simply ... joined HIS! It is exciting to see what he will do next and it is with complete faith that we trust that he is leading us down this road.

We have also found along the way that when people ask .. we quite don't know how to respond to the questions of what Doug is doing. Doug has incorporated himself and to the world he has started his own company: Martine Consulting, LLC. That's fun! But when people ask, how did that happen, and what are you doing now .. we find ourselves looking at each other and giggling a little. Most don't quite get the road we've taken .. especially those back in "Harran". We get a look of bewilderment from some and concern from others. You see, unless you are walking with HIM then you just can't understand all the details, all the confirmations and all the bread crumbs along the way. When we've prayed for open doors ... sometimes he's given us windows and sometimes 3 car garage doors ... but seldom closed ones. We trust, we walk by faith... and well .. it seems a little CRAZY -- actually a LOT crazy!!

I could tell you story after story of where the Lord showed us confirmations. I could tell you of the time that I was on the treadmill praying for just one divine conversation that would show us we were on track, when all the while ... little did I know .. the Lord had led Doug to a completely Lord inspired meeting, relationship and yes ... a conversation that would change the direction of everything!
I could tell you how in each week of my Esther study, I would leave with a word for my husband. I would call him and he would laugh as I would share what the Lord spoke that day. They were without a doubt .. divine confirmations just for him and I and we looked forward to them weekly! Those moments have been priceless. Those unspoken glances across a room or a glimpse at each other when we just KNOW!

This past week I came downstairs to Doug having a quiet time. He looked up over the pages of his bible and grinned. I smiled and said "what now? -- with a sense of humor of course" Doug went on to tell me how the Lord spoke that day. Over the days prior he had been reading the book of Phillipians. A great book, no doubt, but Doug said he felt each day a disconnect from what he was reading. On that morning and the morning prior he felt the Lord saying "Isaiah 51". After a few relentless days of ignoring the whispers, he finally turned to Isaiah 51 to see just what it was that the holy spirit was stirring in him. He began to read:

"Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, Who seek the Lord:
Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug.
"Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain;
When he was one I called him, Then I blessed him and multiplied him."
"Indeed, the Lord will comfort Zion; ....

As Doug read those passages and the ones to follow, he began to hear the Lord tell him to look back to Abraham and look at the promises and the covenant he made with him. Abraham, who at the time was called Abram, was called out of his comfortable place, Harran, - that place that made sense to the world. He was told by the Lord to leave his country, his people and his father's household and go to the land the Lord would show him. So Abram obeyed and he left "Harran".
By FAITH, Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going! HMMM ... it feels a little like the journey he has us on! Isaiah 51!!

So, Doug and I could easily go back to "Harran" but what would we miss? I know it doesn't make sense to the rest of the world and well, honestly, it doesn't make sense to us on most days either. We believe in the promises of our Lord and we believe that in FAITH we have stepped into the journey he has called us on. We are obeying and going. We've left the comfortable place in search of what it is he is calling us to. We are taking rest that along the way he will show us his promises and maybe .. we'll actually get to see the promise land. In any regards, we are sure that it will be an amazing adventure and one HE has called us on!

This is the picture we have of the two year project that Doug was doing during the time he felt the Lord increasingly calling him away ... Don't you love the dark clouds that flank the school? A little what Doug's spirit felt during his two years completing this ... unsettled, unrested, discontent!

Stairway to Heaven

Heaven ... it seems to be a topic lately ...
I thought I'd jot down my 6 year old, Dakota's, comments. Do you ever have your kids say something and you wonder if they have a spiritual connection that we just don't. Does that sound silly? No really ... Faith like a child right? Was he on to something greater there?

Dakota's in the car, looking out the window

"Do you see those stairs"? As she looks up, gazing into the sky

"What stairs?"

"Those ones, that go all the way up to heaven"

The next day ... Once again driving in the car I see her looking out the window and up to the clouds

"There sure are a lot of stairs that go to heaven" (Dakota)

"Do you think there are stairs leading to heaven, Dakota?"

"Yeah .. those ones ... they are small but LOTS of them ... LOTS of stairs going all the way to heaven" (pointing out the window ... right at those darn stairs)

HMMM??? Maybe that is where the song "Stairway to Heaven" came from. HAHA

In all seriousness ... I can't see the stairs ... can you? Faith like a Child!

Simply Heavenly

So in the recent weeks, we have been reading an awesome book called "Heaven for Kids" by Randy Alcorn. There is also an adults version of the book that I hope to gather for myself, however, the kids version is teaching me just as much I know. Alcorn's book on Heaven uses biblical scripture to illustrate what we can expect when we die and what heaven will be like when we get there. It answers all those great questions kids have like, will there be animals there? Will we have a body and more.

Recently, we were reading about storing up our treasures in heaven. It was a great chapter that had brought about some meaty discussion, however, I am always reminded with each chapter that while I have a very grounded 8 year old who could be the next Billy Graham ... I also have a beautiful 6 year old who is whimsical and sometimes gives us the idea that she's not listening (it's simply an idea ..she seems to prove time and again SHE IS!). So, I work each night to ask the question as I always do ... "first, how do we know we're going to heaven"? On this night these were the responses from my two beautiful kids ... I just had to be sure I got them down as they are notable.

Dakota "I know you have to believe Jesus died on a cross for your sins and ask Jesus into your heart and I've done that .. BUT .. how do I know he's really there??
Good question ... it's going to be fun to watch as the holy spirit starts to work in her life ... you know the Lord was thinking on that one .. HMMMM ... this girl is ready for more!

Canyon "I've asked Jesus into my heart 4 times"
Mommy "Canyon, it's a gift and you only have to do it once"
Canyon "Well, my heart is so rotten that I wanted to be sure that he hasn't wanted to leave".

With Canyon's reply, I wasn't sure if I should be saddened in thinking he has this lowly self esteem or to rejoice in the fact that he knows with great certainty that he is a human with a sinful heart ... only to be made whole and righteous by the blood of the lamb.

So, grab yourself a copy of "Heaven" and read with your kids ... you're going to love what they have to offer the conversation!