Maggie

This crazy shot of our little Maggie

came from this picture as the boys came into the house.

Shirts for Sisters

Socks

These Smiles are Why I Work so Hard to Make the Holidays Special

I made a shirt from Bethany's artwork for each girl and had a laundry marker 

handy for Bethany to sign each one. She LOVED it!

Caleb

Amanda and a very tired Twinkie

Bethany

Joshua and Amanda

Bethany with handmade gift from Caleb

I had a mug made with Bethany's artwork. She loved it!

The brothers spent the night together and arrived with Brandon's cats in tow.

Brandon

Caleb

Emily

Excited Emily

Giggly Emily

Joshua holding a toy that made his mother laugh too hard!

Hannah giggling over the silly hamster.

Hannah

Hannah asked Brandon for help taking her presents upstairs. She came downstairs Christmas morning with her ottoman seat to hold her presents and a tote bag for her goodies.

Joshua loved his "Trust Me, I'm Almost A Lawyer" mug.

There's a good story behind this one.

Wonderful Christmas!

Notice how much Joshua is enjoying Caleb and Amanda playing with each other!

It's been a very full but very enjoyable day with our children. One of our best Christmases ever!! Everyone arrived early and stayed until just a little while ago. Clint and I were up very late and have been going since early this a.m. Both of us are tired but happy! There is much to do tomorrow! I'll catch up on text and inbox messages tomorrow or Thursday. 

Merry Christmas!

Amanda, Caleb, Joshua, Brandon
Hannah, Emily, Bethany
Maggie, Miracle aka Old Lady Cat, Grey

To our family and friends far and wide:

Merry Christ-a-must 2018!

May you be made deeply aware of the great love God has for you this Christmas!

I John 4:10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Christmas Eve 2018

Schedules did not work out for us to play the Candy Cane game this year.
We might work it in on Christmas Day.

The poor tree! About 15 minutes after we finished decorating it, 

Bethany's cat, Grey, ran straight up it and nearly toppled it. 

Fast thinking Asbell men saved it from crashing.

Grey attacked the tree so much, I thought about s̶h̶o̶v̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶t̶r̶e̶e̶ ̶u̶p̶  

uh, well, making him the tree topper.

I took the picture at a weird angle to get all of our Wise Men Bags on the staircase. Everyone received "chocolate oranges," an Asbell favorite, again this year.

I have always tried to make our Christmas Day a full sensory experience. Before anyone awakens on Christmas morning, I have the holiday lights on, the presents out, and the stockings filled. I have Christmas music playing low in the background. I boil a pot of water filled with orange peels, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg to make the house smell like Christmas. I keep warm throws for people to snuggle under while we chat. We keep our Christmas Day fare very simple with ham with cheddar and turkey on cocktail croissants. Emily told me this year how very much she loves it all! THAT made my Christmas!

It's a Date!

"Those are the biggest raisins I've ever seen!" said Hannah.

It is very likely Jesus ate dates. 

We had them with our Christmas celebration. 

Amazingly, everyone likes them!

Sweet and Silly Sisters Salon

How about that alliteration?

Amanda helped her sisters get ready for the Christmas picture.

Emily

Hannah

Bethany

Amanda's nails

Family Hijinks

Caleb and Amanda playing around.

Joshua put mouse traps in Amanda's driver's seat. 

She saw them and laughed.

There's a lot of laughter and mischief afoot today.

Clint

He was playing "How Great Thou Art."

You can see our candy canes waiting on the game.
I'll get pictures when we do it tomorrow.

A Belated Birthday Gift from Amanda

1 Corinthians 6:9–11

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Ephesians 5:3

Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God's people. 

I Thessalonians 4:2-7 
God's will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin. Then each of you will control his own body and live in holiness and honor -- not in lustful passion like the pagans who do not know God and his ways. Never harm or cheat a Christian brother in this matter by violating his wife, for the Lord avenges all such sins, as we have solemnly warned you before. God has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives. 

God Provides

When God was leading us to surrender our family size to Him and to homeschool our children, we wondered how we'd afford it with only one parent working. Everyone in the world was saying, "It takes two parents working to support a family nowadays." And, those people only had two children!

Faith doesn't figure things out beforehand. A leap into the unknown is required for it to be faith. Faith is that "believing without seeing."

We trusted the God that was leading us even though we could not see how it would work out. His Word backed up what we felt in our hearts. Then He sent us confirmation through people we met and books we read.

God has blessed us in so many ways for walking blindly trusting Him to work it out. We have never regretted it. Instead, we are deeply grateful this joy filled life is ours.

This came in the mail yesterday. Free. We can and will use every bit of it.

Stuff like that happens to us all of the time. God provides!

A couple of years ago, something fell into my lap that has blessed our family over and over. Then it went away. I had walked with God long enough to know something better was coming. It did. Something fell right into our laps. Now, we are in the middle of a new, bigger venture that has already been more lucrative that what preceded it...and it's only just begun! Walking with the Lord by surrendering our will for His has been exciting and rewarding!

Our family testifies that you can blindly follow the Lord. You can take that leap with Him. Use God's Word as your guide. He will keep His promises to you!

Let them yap and yap...

I had a woman on my Facebook friend's list who is the daughter of a mentor of mine. Every time I would post something uplifting and encouraging, she'd post about how much she hated happy people who were always posting happy things. She used foul language and had a nasty attitude about everything. She posted how she hated people who lived a fairy tale life that was happily ever after. "I hate ***** people who breathe out unicorns and crap out rainbows." Her bitterness coincided after my posts so frequently that I knew it was not a coincidence. Soon, a friend contacted me and said, "I think she's targeting you."

I knew she was bitter over how her life had turned out. She was middle aged, never been married, had no children but stated she wanted some, could not hold onto a relationship, had major issues at work with her fellow employees, did not get along with her neighbors, had several health issues, and was very unhappy all the way around. 

I could have taken issue with her nastiness, but I ignored her. I saw her posts as her crying out in her misery. I ignored her misdirected anger for three years. I prayed for her and kept being the woman that is happy and thankful with what the Lord has done in her life, tries to get along with everyone, and wants to uplift and encourage everyone to a closer relationship with Him. I fail at the miserably sometimes, but I do try. 

Do you know what happened?

She finally realized she was the problem. She started working on her relationship with God. I think she blamed Him for her circumstances. She gradually grew happier. Later, she saw a doctor and received some help in the way of counseling and medication. Her physical health issues resolved themselves as her spirit and mind improved. She is now posting very cheerful posts and mentions her relationship with God has grown closer since she let go of the anger. She is newly married. She is getting along with others at work and in her neighborhood. She mentions that she has "adopted" others to be her "children" and is determined to make an impact in their lives. She is encouraging others to not to be bitter but to seek the Lord and be better. To God be the glory!!

If I had responded at her level, do you think it would have helped or hindered her to grow?

If I had become angry and unfriended her instead of praying for her, I never would have seen the incredible change in her life. I would have missed out on the opportunity to minister to her through prayer.

Do you have people who are jealous of your success and happiness? Do they try to bring you down? Do they speak untruths about you?

Do you have people you misunderstand your intentions and believe poorly of you because of issues in their own hearts? 

Bitter people hate the happy and successful! They can't encourage and wish people well in life or business. They can't because they are too low to lift anyone else up. 

Let them yap and yap like a small dog. Without paying them any heed, keep going the way you are called to go. 

The Lion does not turn around 

when the small dog barks. African Proverb

Don't be distracted from your calling in Jesus by things that do not matter in the light of eternity. You have a choice in how you respond to the bitter people in your life. Instead of sinking down to their level, rise above it and put them on your prayer list.  -Mama Asbell

Twice As Many Laughs

Hannah hadn't seen Joshua all day because he had been working. She saw him sitting there and immediately engaged in play with him. He was up at 3 a.m. to unload a truck and prepare breakfast for hungry commuters. He was very tired, but he smiled and played with her. I didn't fuss at them for sparring with one another with the crackers for our chili. I just enjoyed how much she loved seeing him home...and, to even things out, I gave her some pointers. Now, I could have been more worried about the crackers, but I would have ruined the moment and all of us would have missed out on several minutes of laughter. 

Life is short. 

Childhood is shorter.
LET GO

Enjoy people and the moments with them!

In case you are wondering, the crackers were fine!

Hannah's 10th Birthday

Well, it's going to happen, the baby of the family is about to double digits!
We had her birthday party a little early.

This is how Brandon "wrapped" her gift. He does not wrap anything! #bachelorlife

When I gave this to Hannah, I said "While I know you do not pretend to be Tinker Bell any more, I wanted to give you this to remind you that YOU will always be MY favorite Tinker Bell." She smiled big and gave me a long, hard hug! (click the word "this" above to go to the link)

She asked for more board games and a new checker board.
When she traveled to Atlanta with Clint, he taught her and Emily how to play checkers. She and Emily have worn their old board out.

Hanky hem is her current phase.
She's been into the hanky hem skirts since spring. 

We bought her a new hanky hem skirt and this dress.
Since one of her nicknames is Hank, it's a very fitting phase. (Click the underlined words for the story.)

We gave her these leggings to go under her dress. 

They are very thick and warm! 
Click the underlined words to go to the link.