Sweet Life in the City

"The Peace that I give you transcends your intellect. When most of your mental energy goes into efforts to figure things out, you are unable to receive this glorious gift. I look into your mind and I see thoughts spinning round and round: going nowhere, accomplishing nothing." Jesus Calling- May 31 A few months ago I picked up the Jesus Calling devotional at Wal-Mart for about $9.00. I absolutely love this devotion and it has been exactly what I need! Before all the plans started changing I became very convicted about the obsessive need to plan everything out. It was no wonder that my mind was always spinning and my anxiety/worry level was through the roof! My life is not mine own. I chose to do whatever the Lord wanted me to do, but I was the one trying to lead this journey and I was going nowhere. This devotion challenges its readers to give up the plan you are trying to make work and trust God that He has the perfect plan already prepared before us. As hard as it is, we do...

We are having so much fun! We all got a little toasty on Monday and Tuesday, but not enough to keep us indoors. It has been HOT here, but we have been enjoying the pool and the beach. The past two days the kids and I have been taking long afternoon naps and it has been wonderful. Yesterday all three kids were in the bed with me to take a nap and I cannot remember the last time I had all three of my "babies" snuggled in close to me. I love many things about vacations, but I love seeing my kids smile and have fun. I am so thankful that we have these opportunities to be together as a family. The kids have been so worn out that they have slept in most mornings, well except for Chloe. This morning at 5:45 my phone rang. I thought at first that maybe I had accidentally set my alarm, but then I realized that it was the ring tone that is played when Jeremy calls. I look at the phone and it says that 'Jeremy' is calling me. I turn over and Jeremy is still asleep right next to ...

We are having a great time at the beach! Our morning started pretty early. After breakfast we went down to the beach for an hour or so and then came back to the house for a church service. We sang some songs and Randy gave a devotion. After our service we all went to the pool. The guys played tennis, but it is soo hot outside they only played one game. It amazes me how much Sam and Emma have grown since last year. They both are like little fish in the water. We have to watch Emma extra close because she is fearless when it comes to the water. She wanted to get farther and farther out in the ocean and if we took an eye off her for a second she would be heading out. Chloe is not so fond of the ocean. There is a kiddie pool that she liked to hang out in and got in the big pool with her vest on for a few minutes, but she wants nothing to do with the ocean. We have been here one full day and Sam already as dark as can be! He usually does not get this dark until the end of the summer! I know...

Well after a super long day in our vehicle we have arrived at Gulf Shores, AL. This is our third trip with the all of the Riggs' clan (all 15 of us!). The last two years we have stayed in two separate condos at a resort type of place, but this year we have rented a beautiful house that we can ALL stay in together. The picture above is 5 of the 6 grandkids taken from the lower balcony of our house:) The kids did pretty good on the trip. Chloe did pee her pants when we stopped for lunch (NOT FUN) but the rest of the trip was pretty uneventful. We got to the house around 5:30 and then had supper and the kids just played and played. Well, Chloe got a little too involved in playing and decided to use the bathroom in her pants again, but this time it was the gross type of mess. So, my child who has not had an accident in months has two on the same day! She got a bath and she and I are enjoying some strawberry shortcake while the others walked down to the beach. She was not happy with me,...

So if you have not noticed, I gave up on blogging the past few months. The truth is that my life was swamped with so much other stuff and I felt too much pressure to have something to blog about. A LOT has been going on in our life lately and some major changes are about to take place. From the last time I posted you can read that we felt God was asking us to stay in TN for one more year. We were broken, but we were trusting God's timing and we made plans to stay another year. Well, a few weeks ago Jeremy got a call from a principal in Chicago offering him an amazing position at his school. The real kicker is that this is a job that Jeremy had not even applied for! In fact, Jeremy has not applied for one single job in Chicago! He was not even in the public schools system! We believe a divine appointment was set up between this principal and our mentor in Chicago at a prayer breakfast several months ago. When the principal had this opening Jeremy was the one he thought of to take th...