I'm Back!!!!!!!!

Hello sweet friends and long lost strangers.  I am currently aware that in a few short weeks my blog will officially be redeemed back to our precious family. The neglect here may never be forgiven by you but I am pretty certain there are about 50 Minivan Mayhem women whose lives have been forever changed and they would promise you my drop off of the face of the blog planet has been worth it.  We have partied like Jesus rock stars this past year but we are all fully aware that an official Minivan Mayhem Blog Spot is a must and thus the Bullock Family is BACK!!!!!!  I can also promise you that details of the new blog address and MM happenings will be to come as well!

So where on earth do you start after a YEAR almost???  To attempt to give you a little life update, I HAVE been updating my facebook because I can do that in a matter of 2 minutes as opposed to an hour’s worth of typing for a blog post. But with that I rarely get to actually read blogs these days or facebook posts for that matter so the social side of me is in vast withdrawls but the enjoying being right with God and my family side of me is at great peace.  I am learning there are seasons for EVERYTHING and this has just not been the season for the world wide web. 

Ok, so our life, as most of you probably know by now we ARE expecting another sweet precious baby.  We will find out in about 6 weeks just who God is knitting in this womb but that baby sums up this entire season of our crazy life, redemption!!!!  If you go back and read blog posts you will see a unanimous theme in our life and that has been some suffering.  Sure in comparison to the thousands I will see in a few short weeks in Ethiopia our suffering has been “mild” but that makes it no less painful.  God has done a mighty work over this past year and the Wilderness is in our rearview and the Promise Land is right up ahead but for the desert, we are still forever grateful.  No matter how “cleaned up” you look on the outside or in the halls of your local church, our gracious Father knows the depths of your heart’s need and despite your pleading or the pleading of your closest and dearest friends, He is still so faithful to do the refining despite us. 

Our Mercy girl is the sweet and precious princess of our lives at this moment.  She is the kindest, most loving child I have ever met in all my days.  She is also the most social or extrovert personality I have met outside of one and let’s just say she get it’s from her mama!  She says all the time, we love everybody and she is so right, she does.  I do always hesitate when people or myself even respond to our current pregnancy as a “gift” for our obedience in adopting Mercy. I know what they and my own heart means by that but let me take this public moment to assure you, MERCY IS THE GIFT!!!  She is the surprise gift you had no earthy idea you wanted or even needed but it was the gift you would forever treasure most.  She will most likely raise this next baby and forever keep my house clean and my meals cooked.  She is a servant of all servants and she would rather be helping me in the kitchen than playing with the fun-est of toys or watching the best that cartoons have to offer. She truly is a daily visual for me and for others of God!

And then our handsome man, no matter what happens in this life, that boy has this mama’s heart.  You hear women say there is just something different about a mom and a son and this I totally understand.  It gives you great amounts of grace for your sweet mother-in-law who thinks her son is perfect because now you actually understand and know that he is, in her eyes at least.  I will also encourage any of you gals out there raising a strong willed child that although I never even had the chance to read the book, the Holy Spirit has been so gracious to show me how to begin to raise that sweet boy in a way that is daily causing him to live up to the Proverbs declaration of children being a blessing from the Lord.  He is turning into the finest young man you have ever seen both inside and out.  I just pray that God will give me a lot of grace when I am one day a mother-in-law and that I will simply refrain from squeezing his little butt cheeks and asking him to “give me those lips”. Hahahahaha I hope you know I will but you get the picture of just how wrapped I am at this very moment.

And then the sweet one inside. I  think it is my Chapel girl, I pray it is! I have this VERY odd and new way of thinking which is we just need a pasty white gal in our lives and then one day a dark handsome young boy is going to hopefully complete our family and then this crew is DONE.  I never dreamed I would feel ready to be “done”.  With my past, saying “no” to more children seemed impossible but unless God vastly changes my heart and I honestly believe He is the one who has brought me here, this mama is done birthing and moving on to raising.  I feel a huge peace that I am only supposed to carry this last one and then God will orchestrate the last child right into our home in His precious timing.  I DO pray Chapel girl has red hair but for one moment in my life, I don’t even mind if she is strong willed or a people pleaser because regardless she is certain to pop out a sinner and I am certain to be called to show her the vast need she has for a Savior and either way my calling is lofty and will require a grace from Jesus like nothing I ever dreamed I would need.

And finally, my VERY good looking man.  Where on earth do I begin with that guy??  He is perfect, more and more and more I agree with his mother.  He is not perfect we all know that but I do know he is perfect for ME!!!!!!! I am learning when he drives me crazy to pray and zip my lip and what do you know, God moves.  And I am also learning that for every one time he drives me crazy that probably represents a hundred moments I have driven him.  He is just gracious enough not to count! I am also beyond proud of a man who lived through a HUGE trail and crisis of faith, yet came out on the other side a humble man of God, still faithfully surrendered to Him regardless if He gives or takes away.  He is also THE BEST real estate agent in town and you sure won’t be able to convince me otherwise.  I have watched him serve sweet military families and first time home buyers.  I have watched him pray and pray and pray over houses to sell and neighbors to get plugged into local churches.  He really does love what his job and he is good at it and he is right where God wants him to be and a price tag will just not stick to that!

So where do we go from here, well today I am going to a coffee shop as my normal Thursday, kids are in preschool, routine.  I am going to prep for my LAST (of this school year at least) Minivan Mayhem session and I am going to hold my tears back the entire time.  This journey and this group of ladies has humbled me like nothing else can.  We will be baptizing a slew of them on May 20^th and you wanna talk about NOT feeling “worthy”. This gal has no idea why or how God has chosen her to get to witness these miracles but He has and I am certainly not going to try to talk Him out of it.  Something weird in my personality likes a good front row seat for a Jesus thing.  I know it is how God designed me (and probably how He designed all of us).  If you have a God story, I wanna see it, hear about it, and even watch it all unfold and that’s what MM provides, hundreds of them and that may just even be in one day.  He is not a religious being to be put on a shelf, He is the almighty King of kings and He is in the miracle working, life changing, world rocking business and I for one love to receive those graces but I love also to watch. 

So on this random Thursday when the long lost blogger emerges from her silence, please know one thing, this entire life, our entire being, is NOTHING without Him!!!!  If He has you smack dab in the middle of some sufferings, just walk through it by His grace because He is SO worth it!  If He is blessing your socks off, ENJOY it because it is all His grace and none of which we deserve and these blessings are only the tiniest taste of what is to come. And then finally, if you don’t know this God, this Friend, this Father, this Savior, make it your weekend’s mission to find Him, to surrender to Him, to accept the lavish love and grace He has for you.  Where on earth would this messed up gal be if it weren’t for Him??  I love you all dearly, I PROMISE tons of pictures to come in the days or maybe weeks ahead to catch you up and I HOPE to at least get to say hello every now and again in the months to come.  This ride is worthy of some documentation because if I had the time or the energy, the web could not hold all the works of the One who has redeemed!!!!

Kelly