Praise report

I just want to take the time to give God glory on some things that have happened in our lives recently. So many things have happened and God has been at work in all of them, but there are a few really big ones that I especially want to mention.

First of all, the smallest of our three little Gibbs - Anastacia - was recently diagnosed with a heart murmur. Now this may not seem like a big deal to many, but you have to hear this. At one of the first visits to the pediatrician, the doctor told me that Anastacia had a murmur. She called it an "innocent murmur" and said that it shouldn't be a problem. Well, I was relieved that it "shouldn't be a problem," but I also know that God intends for our health to be perfect - that's the reason Jesus got beat to a bloody pulp. God doesn't intend for us to live on this earth with sickness and disease - sickness and disease was the devil's plan. So anyway, I went home and put it out of my mind until a few weeks later. At one of our God Encounter services, Damon Thompson said that there was someone in the building being healed of a heart murmur. So I knew at that moment that God had healed Anastacia. I never thought any more of it until we went back to the doctor a couple of weeks ago and she mentioned this murmur again. Only this time, she suggested that it was a serious problem. She said that the murmur sounded like a machine and that this type of murmur was something that would require surgery. I don't know about you, but I don't think that my little 8 month old having surgery is something to take lightly. I immediately reminded God of His Word that Jesus had taken stripes for Anastacia's healing and I also reminded Him that He had already said she was healed at the God Encounter service. So, the doctor sent us to the hospital that day to have a chest x-ray and an EKG. It took almost a week to get the results, but we stood on the Word of God and I never doubted that God would follow through. This past Monday we got the results - Anastacia is perfect!!!! There was not a single sign of a heart murmur - Anastacia is HEALED!!!!!! God is so Good!!!!!!!

Second, my husband Shawn has been out of work for over a month now, since before Christmas. The amazing part???? God has provided every step of the way!! When we didn't have the money for Christmas gifts, God provided. When we didn't have the money for the rent to be paid, God provided. God has provided for every bill to be paid, for groceries on our table, gas in our car, even an abundance of many things!!!! It has been absolutely amazing!!! God used a family to help us pay rent and bills, another family blessed us with money for groceries, another person was led by the Spirit to go grocery shopping for us and bring them to us (it was really neat, too b/c it was like I had went shopping for myself - almost everything was something I would have bought). One family even provided Shawn with some odd jobs so that we could buy some stuff for ourselves. Another family blessed us with some clothes for the kids - all kinds of amazing miracles have happened. And during this time, we were able to bond as a family, dive deep into God's Word and just enjoy the time without having to be fearful of what was going to happen. I have never experienced such a time of complete reliance on God in my lifetime. We have drawn closer to God and closer to each other. It was an amazing, wonderful experience!!! And we have grown so much because of it. God has really dealt with a lot of pride that we didn't even realize was there and has taught us that if we will just rely on Him and don't be fearful or prideful, that He can and will bless us. We are so grateful for this time of introspection and revelation and we give God all of the praise and glory.

Shawn did get a call today saying that he would be working tomorrow, so we are excited about that. We enjoyed all of the family time and we will miss him so much, but I do believe that God has something special in mind for us this year. I feel big changes coming and I cannot even describe the excitement and expectation I am feeling. I cannot wait to see what else God does in the next few months!!!!

Thank you to all of you who read and get excited with us about the BIG things that God is doing in our family. We love you and can't wait to give you more updates about the miracles we believe God will be performing very soon. We have an unborn nephew that we are believing for life saving miracles for - he has to have God's touch or else the doctor's report is that he won't make it (but we don't believe the dr's report - we believe God's report!!!!). Please stand in prayer with us that God will perform a creative miracle in his little body. We absolutely believe that God will hold true to His Word and heal this precious little boy!!!!! The devil is attacking this family, but we will NOT stand for it.

Again, thank you for sharing in our joy. And thank you for praying with us for the healing of our nephew. We cannot wait to share the good news of his healing with you over the next few months (he is due in June).

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

Poppy gave Colten a house building kit for Christmas. So Daddy and Colten worked hard one afternoon and put the little house together. I even got a little involved and laid a few bricks myself. The house was certainly not the greatest looking piece of architecture around, but it was a lot of fun to build. What was even more fun was when we decided that it wasn't worth living in and we needed to do an "extreme makeover" Colten style!!!! Here is a video of our Extreme Makeover. This little army tank is one that Granny and Papa gave Colten for Christmas. Although you can't see it very well on video, the tank shoots plastic bb's. So we blasted the house first with those, then Colten ran smack over it and finished it off. Needless to say, we had a "blast" making this video, LOL!!!!!!

Daddy's hat

This picture is really special b/c it is taken in a hat that Shawn has had since before Colten was born. I have a picture of each of our children in this hat. The other two pics are not digital, so I can't put them on here without a lot of work (besides that, they are in storage). But I know that the grandparents in Georgia will remember this hat and the pictures of Colten and Mahala in this same hat. It's kind of a silly tradition, but it is special to me. I know that our kids will always remember their Daddy wearing the hat, so I definitely want to keep up with these pictures.