Come to Me, Forever.

Well friends, I'm back! With more pictures of my favorite little sister. This little ray of sunshine keeps our whole house alive and entertained.. Not just because she woke me up at 8 this morning wanting to play (and does every time I get to sleep in), but also because she is so sassy and LOVES to model and pose. She never fails to make us laugh.

  

 Mom has taught Mary Alan how to fix her hair before taking pictures.. She has MASTERED it. She paused me before I took more pictures and said, "Ivy, wait just one second. Mom told me to make sure you can see my hair so I can look pretty." Then she started making adjustments...

I think after being around all teenagers plus all 
of our friends, she has got the hands-on-hip pose completely down solid. She is constantly wanting to be around all of us and be just like us in everything we do or say.. We all have to watch what we say because this little sponge soaks it right up. The other day mom and I were in the kitchen and MA was playing with her toys and started singing Uptown Funk by Bruno Mars. I had to tell her that that song is our secret song and we can't sing it in front of anyone because we can't let them hear our secret song just so she would stop singing it. 

These pictures below of MA reminds me of Psalm 100. She laughs constantly and it is contagious as anything. She is always jumping, skipping, running, and hopping all over, well, everywhere. In psalm 100, it says to come in to The Lord's presence with singing, to serve The Lord with gladness and make a Joyful noise over all of the earth! Mary Alan reminds me that in everything, I need to have joy and be glad because no matter what, laughter can make any situation better.

      I will be going to college at Auburn University this upcoming fall, and ever since I told Mary Alan that, she asks me every time I leave the house if I am going to Auburn. I tell her that I won't be going until the end of the summer, but some things just don't stick because the next morning when I leave, she asks me again. I am so excited for college, but I am so sad whenever I think about leaving my favorite little nugget. I tell her everything (even though she is 4 and forgets within five minutes) and we hang out all the time. When people confuse her as my daughter, I just play along because why not! She's adorable and I hope to one day adopt from somewhere because it has been such an incredible experience.. and great conversation starter! 

      Lately, I have been taking time to sit back and think about what I believe and why I believe it, especially since college is coming up and I want to be sure in my convictions. My sunday school has started going through different religions and comparing them to Christianity. I think it is so interesting and very convicting to think about. Many religions are completely devoted to what they believe and will do anything to defend their god/gods. I think about our country and how we have become so desensitized to this. Our nation is predominately Christian, yet we allow for so much corruption and bashing of The One True King who died to give us these freedoms that we have, and so blatantly take advantage of. He was beaten and nailed to a cross with the weight of all of our sins, every sin of every person, and God turned away from him. Jesus did this for us to have the opportunity to live a life and share his word with everyone. He didn't die on the cross so we can stay glued to our phones all day, barely talking to anyone, taking selfies on snapchat and trying to get more likes on our instagram picture than we did on the last one. No. He did it so we would be able to have a relationship with Him and live freely in the spirit of the God who created us. He wants us to be bold and share the good news of what He has done! We can't do that if we are stuck to our cell phone constantly. The song 'Forever' by Bethel Music has been stuck in my mind lately. I encourage everyone to go look up the lyrics and listen to it because it will give you a new perspective on the crucifixion. He is calling us to step out of our comfort zones and let the spirit lead us! Also the song 'Come To Me' by Bethel Music has completely convicted me. This song is about The Lord proclaiming to us who He is and what He wants of us. He wants us to not look to the right or to the left but only to Him; to cling to Him and not let the desires of the flesh sway us off of the narrow course of life. I strongly encourage everyone to think about the thing or things that have been the greatest barrier blocking you from The Lord. What is keeping control of your time and building the brick wall that you feel is unbreakable between you and The Lord? Good news! He can break it. Pray that He will convict you of what is consuming your time and try to give it up for a while. See what He can do in that time!! Listen to Him and don't be swayed to the right or to the left. Keep your eyes on Jesus. 

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life and few find it. Matthew 7:13-14

"Abide in Me..."

As well known as she may be, my little nugget never fails to make my day a little bit brighter! I was home and babysitting her one Saturday morning when I was awaken by my adorable three year old. She  had on her new Matilda Jane Clothing dress and was giddy as could be. I knew it was time for a girls day. We suited up in our "cooold owsideee!!!!" clothes and boots, grabbed the camera, and were off into Narnia (which is what we call the backyard).

This picture brings me such joy. Mary Alan is always being silly and making us laugh. I guess it's her age but I am so enjoying it and really don't want her to grow up anymore! 

Oh so flexible! She's always throwing her legs up into a heel stretch or sprawling them onto the ground in a split. She loves showing off her tricks!

MA and Remington have a love/hate relationship.. especially when she is in a sassy mood. Remmy has become a part of the family now that Annabeth is home. All I'm going to say about that is on a Saturday morning, sometimes waking up to Rem and Sam jumping on the bed like some sort of a tag team isn't always the best way to wake up....

My sassy little nugget. 

So, while in Auburn for the Auburn v. Florida Atlantic game, we accidentally left one of Mary Alan's boots when she was getting into the car! We then purchased these boots only  to have one fall under the bleachers at the HA powderpuff game. So now, she has one boot from each set. They coincidentally make a pair so she'll goofingly wear them together sometimes!

In Galatians 5:22, the fruit of the spirit are listed: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Each of these has a very significant meaning that The Lord has implied for a specific purpose for us to abide by. 

LOVE- he says to love as he has loved us. A love that is literally willing to die for one another. The best example is one I heard several years ago.. loving someone so much that when they are standing in line for the electric chair, the friend takes their place and dies for them because this is how The Lord has loved us. 

JOY- It's better than happiness. It isn't even ours! It is freely given to us and then it becomes ours! 

PEACE- A peace that passes all understanding.. a knowing that our eternity is heaven.. and not being shaken. 

PATIENCE- This is probably my biggest struggle. My friend explained it to me as we were standing in the line to call our families at camp. I was standing there tapping my foot and getting antsy about waiting, and she wasn't like that at all. She was laughing and not worried at all about having to wait the two seconds to get the phone. I asked her how she did it and she looked at me with the most gracious eyes and said, "Well, I know that I will eventually get to talk on the phone, and even if it doesn't happen right away, I know that sooner or later I will get to! So until then, I'm just going to do me and not worry about it!" That conversation is what gives me patience because she helped me understand it. (Happy Birthday Madeline!) 

KINDNESS- Being kind is being able to feel for someone and sympathize with them. This is a quality that is hard to adapt, but so rewarding because, even though feeling the pain of someone and sharing that with them may be hard, good times come and feeling those make it all worth it in the end!

GOODNESS- This doesn't mean that the things we don't do are who we are because that makes us "good". Let's be defined by what we actually do! What is right and pure for Christ's sake.

FAITHFULNESS- Faith is being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you do not see. Having faith that Jesus is coming back and that he is always here for us no matter how alone we feel. Knowing that in the hardest times, there is someone to lean on even if there is nothing to physically lean on. 

GENTLENESS- A gentle answer turns away wrath and why would we want to be angry with someone? Imagine talking to someone at night, and being so angry with that person and your last words to them being, "I hate you. You're so mean and don't talk to me." and then just say that person doesn't wake up the next day? So speak gently to one another and don't say anything you wouldn't want to be said to you. 

SELF-CONTROL- Self-control isn't just not giving in to desires, it's willingly abstaining from those desires. Controlling the body by force of will. This is where willpower comes into play. For example, not eating the huge slice of cake because you know its bad for you and you would rather put good foods into your body; not restraining yourself from it because you can't have it even though it is all you can think about. Shift your focus from the circumstance and up to Heaven. Look to God for a Heavenly perspective. 

Abide in The Lord and remain in Him and He will remain in you! He rewards those who do what he says. He says to produce much fruit and these are those fruits. It is hard, but in every situation, stop and think which fruits you are producing! The road is narrow and the gate is small- but it leads to LIFE!

A Colbert Family Farm Update

About three weeks ago, one of my friends found a mother cat with five baby kittens in her yard. She asked around if anyone wanted them. coming from a family that is very big on pets, I was eager to get one. I didn't decide on her name until last week and closed on Phoebe (After Phoebe from the television show, Friends) Before that, we were calling her Cat- and let me tell ya, we all lover her, especially Mary Alan!

The bunnies...

 Our bunnies have gotten SO much bigger since they were blogged last, and they are still extremely soft and adorable. 

 I love how you can see her fluffy white cotton tail.

 Mom doesn't have that many pictures with Mary Alan because she is usually the one taking pictures- well until now of course! There is such a cute mother-daughter connection between these two.

 My sweet little sister walked over to the gate and said, "Ivy! look! loooooook! watch meeee!" She is already loving the camera time and her model status is at an all time high. 

Mary Alan loves my kitten sooo much. When I told her that Cat had to take a nap, she got really sad and tried so hard not to cry. Such a sweet girl.

The farm animals...

 Mom loves having farm animals around. We all firmly believe it is because she wants to live on land and have a real farm with several different animals. We all really want to also, but this is her way of having a little piece of farm life around. 

The dogs...

At the Colbert house, there is never a dull moment. The excitement is something that I don't know if I could live without. On the rare occasion that I am home alone, it is one of the strangest feelings. It feels super empty and I almost can not wait until someone gets home. We have several dogs that help keep the action vibrant. 

 Gage (above) is our black lab who pleas for attention. If that is brushing by our legs and nearly nocking us down for some lovin or basically setting himself up for getting run over when Dad pulls in the driveway and he sits right in front of the truck. He is such a fun dog! and really fun to bathe...

Sam, our golden-doodle, is our biggest and furriest dog; but ironically, he thinks he is a teacup Chihuahua and will literally try to sit in our laps! He is so funny.  

Annabeth's golden retriever, Remington, has truly grown on me. Not going to lie, at first he was a bit too hyper for me; but he has really mellowed out and now I love this precious/ginormous pup! We call him Sam with a straightener. 

Clementine, our Cavalier, is ALWAYS licking the air! Mom and I call it L.O.D.- Licking Obsessive Disorder. 

Sophie, our Shih Tzu, is so sweet. We used to take her into nursing homes so that she could love on some elders. They absolutely adored her, too!

 Murphy is our grandpa dog. He is almost 12 years old and we rescued him from Petsmart one Easter a while back. He has such a sweet heart and even though he takes a while to get up, he always lets Mary Alan pet his tummy! 

 The cats...

We actually have 5 cats, but the only one that isn't always out exploring is the new kitten, Phoebe. The "big" cats live outside and a little interesting fact is cat urine keeps away snakes! This really helps since we live on a pond.

 Something you may not know about me is I knit, and always have yarn around. Phoebe and her brother Richard Parker, my friend Ashton Mueller's kitten, found my stash. Good thing they didn't get into the good stuff. I guess cats really do love yarn! 

 We are babysitting little Richard Parker for a week while Ashton is in Arizona for the summer. He and Phoebe have the best time together... partners in crime.  

     I can honestly say that at our Zoo, it gets crazy sometimes. We love this lifestyle so much and wouldn't trade it! If anything, we would probably expand. Whenever people ask me how many pets my family has, it takes me a little bit to calculate how many we actually have-6 dogs, 5 cats, 4 ducks, 2 bunnies, 2 chickens, and a fish. Having seven people living together with all these pets, it gets pretty interesting. I can't help but think of how Noah and his family must have felt on a boat for 40 days and nights with an overwhelming amount of animals; two by two they came. I also think about how Noah's family must have trusted him so much to believe him when he said God was going to destroy the earth and for him to make a boat for his family along with God's creatures. His family was right there with him because Noah was such a trustworthy man that they didn't have any doubts that this was what God had called him to do. This kind of trust is something that I for one definitely need to work on. Trust is being able to rely on someone. If we can't trust anyone, how will we grow as one? It says in the bible that we are suppose to be in unity with fellow believers, but if there is no trust, then how will we be able to become one? I know being a teenager, trust is a hard thing to come by. It is difficult to know that the people I talk to about my problems won't go around telling others what I said. Finding friends who won't tell your secrets is something that is so hard in this day and age. I try to be trustworthy to my friends and by being that way to them, I can better my chances of having the same trust in them to where they won't tell mine in return. Everyone has things that they need to confide in someone about, and everyone needs someone who won't go around telling other people what they were trusted not to. Being christians, if non-believers and even believers see us as not trustworthy, do you think they will want to become a part of our, so called, "unity"? Take a stand in being trustworthy. Don't let anyone rattle out secrets that you were trusted with to keep. That is absolutely not living life like Jesus would want us to. After all, we are His. Every breath should be for Him. Don't use that breath to break trust. It simply isn't worth it. Be like Noah. Trust Jesus and be trustworthy to your family, friends, and even total strangers. Breathe for Him.