Recently celebrating our 5 year wedding anniversary, my husband and I see the amazing journey we’ve been on and praise God for all He does and is doing for us. We’ve certainly been on a roller coaster of a ride with ups and downs, straightaways and corner turns, slow paced and faster than life! Through it all, and with all that has come out of it, God receives all the glory, honor and praise that He is so deserving of.

With newness of mind, God has brought our attention to refocusing our lives and implementing a new (yet old) drive for our lives. God’s original design to the family has become an important desire for us to accomplish. We work hard as a family to build each other up and be who God has created us to be. My husband and I strive to raise our children as the children of God that they truly are. We are striving to nurture their gentleness and kind hearts to flourish into adulthood; to enjoy, cherish, and delight in these precious blessings from God; to minister to their hearts the truth of God, hiding His Word in their hearts; praying for them consistently throughout the day and encourage the growth of their personal relationship with Jesus; to lead them down the narrow path toward God’s perfect righteousness; to protect and guard them from the corruption of this world; to train them in obedience to God’s standards; and to exemplify to them the love of God through discipline and chastising.

I, as a striving Titus 2 woman, am encouraging my daughters to be lovers of their future husbands; to be godly parents to their future children; to be self-controlled and temperate; modest and clean; pure in spirit; keepers at home; good; and by my striving example hope to help them to be obedient to their own potential husbands. For this, as shown in Titus 2, will help stop others from maligning the Word of God.

Similarly, I plan to encourage my future sons to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, as well as sound in faith, in love, and endurance. We strive to teach them “with integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned” (Titus 2:7-8).

Back in July of 2007, I found a site that helped encourage us in this new direction. Since, “raising godly tomatoes” has become our goal. We took a surprising turn on everything we were previously doing and started learning new things about God’s Word and His Way in regards to the family. We desire first to implement God’s truth in our home, sharing His love with our closest neighbors, and then to other neighbors. Being with my children is no longer just for my enjoyment and their pleasure; nor is it just for training. It has become our life of example to who God is in our lives. Though some days are harder than others, and we’re still working on the self-less aspects, we are seeing fruit for what labor we’ve invested!

We don’t know what’s around the next corner, but we know that God does bless us with the desires of our heart. We concentrate our mindset to a more godly purpose – a loving and respectful family following the Lord, no matter what. Keeping our focus on God and where He wants to take us.

God is moving! Tomato staking has begun; the soil is being worked and we expect an abundant harvest! Titus 2:4-5 has become an encouraging scripture in my life as my calling is fulfilled as God’s child, while Psalm 128 has become the prayer over our family. I take on my role as wife, mother and keeper of my home to a new level of commitment and aspire to be the fruitful vine in our home as a blessing to God, the God-fearing man in my life, and the little pillars and olive shoots that have so blessed our lives.

Still having much clutter to clear out and many unused items to give away, it is a process that we ask you’d pray for us. I have a strong passion for family and I want to be a greater blessing to mine. I look forward to more loving time together, cherishing and enjoying each other with God in mind.

The first step to this is the continual changing of my mindset. We strive towards raising this family to be lovers of God and hope to bless Him all along the way. As we take this on, we sincerely need diligent prayers. Please feel free to post prayers of encouragement and accountability in comments! We welcome any and all inspired Words from the Lord!

Now with 3 children (4 and 2, and our newest wonder still growing and preparing in the womb) we see the importance of this calling on our lives now as ever before. Please pray especially for these next few months when the baby comes that we are able to be steadfast in our commitment to the Lord as He continues to lead us along.

We have one rule in our home; obey. As this becomes an easier task for them, I am encouraged that this will help them in their walk with the Lord as adults, rather than having to unlearn selfish habits that have built up over time and have a strong foundation to build off of.

One of our major hopes in tomato staking is to involve the kids more in life than we have been. Rather than doing necessary tasks without them, I will be including them. This will slow the process down but will increase our quality time together and train them with lifelong skills they will use for their lifetime. I expect that I will be spending much more time with them as I have been, which for a while will mean some much needed less time on the computer, phone and out in environments that will hinder God’s plan. We plan to start our day just relaxing together, but as our day starts, it will be our day, not just separating and going our separate ways. We are all learning how to create peace in our home, and we are ready to implement these things we’ve learned!

As always, we embrace prayers over our walk with God – something specific is the continual leaning on and trusting in Him. My prayer life has grown weaker, as well as my daily diligence in the Word and in His presence. I would be so encouraged for your prayers in this area as well. I hope to include this time I take on to spend with God and be in His Word with the girls as well, since everything else is meaningless if the relationship with Christ is lost. We hope to instill truth in their minds and hearts and nurture their love for the Lord and help it grow deeper and deeper. We pray for Him to continue giving us wisdom and to guide us through this crucial area of our lives so as to raise our children to know and love Him as their own personal Savior. As we’ve said before, we want to do right by God and raise them as He would have us raise them.

We ask for prayer over our marriage because when our unit is hindered, it hurts the entire family. In order to be a success, we pray for our commitment and devotion to God, each other, and our children to be first and we know all will be covered by His Almighty hand! Praise God that no matter what, one thing we can always count on is His faithfulness!

May we all walk in accordance to the will of God!

Thank you again and again for all of your prayers and encouragement! We certainly know our lives are prosperous and growing because of them! We pray for all of you this prayer: that your eyes would focus upward and stay focused there – that you’ll all experience victory over all that comes against you! Pray and ask God how you can bless HIM today!