That Nicaragua May Know

So I leave on Saturday to head to Nicaragua for a week long evangelistic mission trip. Leave my girls behind in the capable hands of my in-laws and husband. I'm excited to get to step out of my roll of mommy for a week and yet be able to share how Jesus helps me in that very roll.

As a friend of mine said (thanks Christy)... each of has a story and we should share it. It is either universal enough that someone can relate, or different that it touches someone's life.

So no better way to prepare myself for sharing the testimony laid upon my heart, than to blog about it for all of you to see. So some version of this will be shared, I don't know what day, or how many will be there, but I do know I will get to share. And I pray lives will be touched and changed.

I want to share with you from my life experiences. When I was a little girl, I realized that I did some thigs I shouldn't do, and I realized that it notonly displeased my parents, but it displeased Jesus. And the only way to fix it was to ask Jesus to come make my heart clea and to forgive me. With Jesus help I can now work on living a life pleasing to God.

And now as a mom of 3 girls, I find myself relying on Jesus for strength to make it through each day. You see, one of my daughters, who is 3 years old, has had seizures since she was an infant, and because of that she is not able to sit up on her own, walk, talk or see very well.

And we do not know why she is this way.

But inspite of this tragic disease, I have joy. I have hope. I have peace.

How do I have these things? Because I have Jesus in my life.

Because I believe the Bible is true, I believe that God has made my little girl in a wonderful way. I also believe that He is good and He gives us good and perfect gifts, for it says so in the Bible. And I believe that my child is a gift from God.

I also believe that He loves me and He loves my daughter and He will take care of us, maybe not with money or things, but with spiritual things...love, peace, joy and hope.

You see, I have peace that God is in control and He knows my situation, He knows how my daughter is today and how she will be tomorrow.

I have hope for a better future for her someday because God promises us a future and a hope in Him.

And I have joy because I have a Savior in my heart who answers prayer. Who provides me daily with strength physically to make it through and emotionally to care for my family.

And because without Jesus, I do not think I could find joy or peace or hope in this situation. I hope you ill come to Jesus to find those things too. For He is waiting for you to come to Him.

I hope you will be praying for the 22 of us going. For boldness to share, for rest to carry on through the long days and the lots of walking. For our families we are leaving behind. For the families we will meet over there.
I can't wait to share with you when we return.

Christmas Memories at Home

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas......

So this month we have had round 2 of gingerbread houses...with Grandmommy's help.

Choir programs at church.

And tonight...our special family Christmas time....

Of course I have to include pictures of the girls in their pretty Christmas dresses!

Pretty in Christmas red!

All dolled up!

Jesus Birthday Party

So tonight we celebrated Jesus birthday at our house, just the 5 of us. And we had a great time. As you can see, Hope helped read the Christmas story from the Bible (and she did a great job!). We followed the story with a few of our favorite Christmas carols, led by Hope singing "Away in a Manger". Then we had Jesus birthday cake. Had to try out a new recipe this year since Icouldn't find any baby food plums to make our traditional cake. So maybe we are starting a new tradition this year. What a sweet time it was to have our little family gathered around to remember the real reason we celebrate.

But of course the night was not complete without opening some presents (it helps to keep our car from being loaded down as we head out of town.)

The girls really loved their new stuff, and so did Russell Ha!

So we wish all of you a very Merry Christmas!

"Blessed by the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope though the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." 1 Peter 1:3

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Joyeux Noel

Christmas---what a wonderful time. Time to be filled with joy for the gifts we have been given, both from Christ and from friends and family. Time of rememberance of those who have gone before and are no longer with us to celebrate this blessed time. Time of wonder for the kids as the tree is decorated, the house is lit up, presents are stacked around the tree.

I have always loved Christmas time. I have loved decorating for Christmas, baking Jesus' birthday cake each year (lovely red baby food plum cake--yum!), having our family devotional time on Christmas eve. Watching in wide-eyed wonder as my family opens presents.

Now that I have kids of my own, this time is even more special in so many ways. To see their joy, their wonder, their excitement. To get to share why we do the many traditions we have, to make new ones for our family, to share about the indescribable gift given to us in a manger so long ago.

What joy it is to watch Hope each morning run in and turn on the tree and then go find the new ornament to help us countdown to Christmas. To help the girls go "shopping" for presents for Daddy. To making our yearly gingerbread house (although this year it was more of a disaster for us to eat). To looking at Christmas light displays at the park and have Claire be able to see them! To Molly meeting Santa!

So enjoy some pics of our holiday season so far.

Happy Happenings in the Fall

Lots of happy things have been happening here at our house. And as is typical of my personality, I would rather focus on those than on some of the stinky things (like Claire having a few more seizures than I would like to see)

So here goes with happy happenings:

Upwards cheerleading...Yell it louder now, Let's go Upwards!



Visits from the Tooth Fairy

Costume Time! The girls got to dress up 2x---for homeschool coop and for trick or treating!Fun at the pumpkin patch----lovely orange things!

Claire is pushing up on her arms! And of course still Miss Rolly Pol-lee.

And maybe most important and special of all.... Hope's baptism Sunday night.

The Lord is with us and is blessing us in many special ways. May we continue to have our eyes open and turned towards him as he pours out his blessings on us in sometimes the most unusual and unique ways!

Mission Heart

Since jr high days, and maybe even before...... I have longed to do some short term mission work. This was fulfilled in jr high and high school by some state side mission trips every summer.

Since joining the world of adulthood and married life... Russell and I have also enjoyed being a part of 2 overseas mission trips, Latvia and Austria. We enjoyed serving together and traveling to parts of the world neither of us have ever seen.

And now I am feeling the tug on my heart once again. I think anytime an opportunity is available, I want to sign up. We have had to pass on some trips before, just not feasible for us at the time. Or our place wasn't to go, but to pray.

Why do I feel this need to go? Is it because of sharing my story of Jesus' love with those who don't know or never have heard?

Is it because I love to travel and want to explore this amazing world?

Is it because it gets me out of my comfort zone and really allows me to come in contact with those who need Jesus love?

It is probably a combination of all of it. A desire to do something greater than myself, to see the world, to reach out past my own kids and family and church , to live extreme for a week....

But how do you know if you are really supposed to go? How do you know if God has called you to do THIS particular trip? How do you know IF he will provide a way to go? When do you just step out on FAITH?

"Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." Mark 16:15

"Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, and teaching them to obey everything I have commaned you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:19-20

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesss in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth." Acts 1:8

Have Faith

Exciting news here at the Ratliff household.....


And no, we are not expecting another bundle of joy.....

However, it is even more exciting than that.....

Can you stand the excitement a moment longer?????

Our very own Hope, invited Jesus into her heart! Yeah! Praise the Lord!!

We have been talking about this for a while, but she came in last night after cheerleading practice and told her Daddy that she was ready to pray and invite Jesus to come live in her heart. And what sweet words she said in her own prayer (not led by her Daddy or me).

So now we will get to visit with the pastor and set aside a time for baptism.
We are so proud of her and excited to see how God will shape her into a lovely young woman.

Molly time

Oh Molly pop, Molly pop, oh Molly, Molly Pop!

Where shall I begin with her...... she is the completion of our family. She never fails to bring laughter each day, and a good dose of joy as well. She has the funniest facial expressions, from her great big "oh" each time she sees someone or something new. To her little pouty frown and furrowed brow, to her squeals of frustrations, to her infectious giggle.

She has learned some sign language and uses it pretty consistently for "more", "please", "thank you", "help me" and "drink".

She is speaking quite a few words these days, her latest addition is "quack quack".

Molly is independent, loves to play by herself. She is loveable, always ready to give hugs and kisses. She loves to sit in chairs and be big.

Spotlight on Claire!

Claire---my middle child! Our Clairebear, our curly sue! She is our little snuggle bug---loves to be held and cuddled. She loves to "feel" you with her legs and have her legs on you when you are sitting close to her. She is our fighter, our joy that can only come from God. She has taught us so much about the "miracles" of life. About faith, perserverance, joy, and love. We pray that she will continue to get stronger and that we can continue to control her seizures as best we can.

She is loved by her sisters. Molly loves to give her kisses and Hope likes to mother her, help take care of her every need.

Claire has an innate ability to draw people to her. They want to touch her and talk to her and comment about how beautiful she is! God created a wonderful being when He made Claire.




Taking a snooze after swimming



Giggling with Grandma

Watching fireworks

Spotlight on Hope

I thought it would be fun to give a spotlight on each one of my amazing girls......

Hope 6 years old in first grade. She is a great reader. Has an imagination as big as the sky and the cutest giggle. We like to call her our goofball.

She loves to be outside, mainly jumping on her trampoline. She likes school, but thinks it is long sometimes (imagine what she would think if she went to public school ha)

Hope is caring, mothering and a huge help to me. Here is a story that exhibits all 3. One day Hope and Molly and I were all up, but Claire was still sleeping. I was trying to get some breakfast ready when Hope heard Claire awake and crying out. So she ran into the room, crawled up in bed with Claire and gave her a drink of water (this was when she could still drink from a cup). Claire settled down until I could come in and get her up.

Hope says she wants to be a veterinarian when she grows up, especially for wild animals. She plays vet and doctor often with her dolls and stuffed animals.

A glimpse at life with Hope..... driving in the car singing along to VeggieTales.... "Stop and go with Mercy". So we asked Hope if she knew what Mercy was. She said, "NO." So we explained mercy and how God shows us mercy and how Jesus took the penalty for us, etc. And then we went on to say that we should also show mercy to others, to be like Jesus. She sat there a minute and then asked...."So how come you never show me mercy.... I always get a spanking!" Oh what precious times!

She loves to challenge her daddy to any kind of board game. Particularly Children's Bible Trivia.

This year she is going to go to a Homeschool Coop 1 day a week, participate in Upwards Cheerleading, Awanas, and of course be Daddy's biggest cheerleader.

Dance recital time

Birthday Party Time

Summer fun

Summer Vacation

4th of July!