Twigs & Leaves: High Gear Preparations

This week we kicked all of the baby preparations into high gear

(since we heard he is coming early) we are running but we are lovin every minute of it.

We have our crib ready, car seat/stroller and some basics ready to go anytime

Baby Boy is ready to come we are ready too.

I have always known that I am surrounded by loving people at my church but the overwhelming love, support and prayers are such a beautiful thing. Each week when I get to the church someone has left a little something for our baby boy on my desk!

I am so humbled and honored.

I can not even describe the joy Scott and I feel right now.

We are just so amazed at God’s gift to us!

2 Prayer requests:

* Please pray for all families involved

* Please pray for Baby Boy to be healthy & joyful.

* Please pray that things go smoothly through the remainder of this process

and with all the quick preparations please pray that Scott and I find sometime to rest before baby comes.

*Please pray for me, I feel tired, soar throat and feverish.

Can't get sick- baby is coming any minute now.

-missa

Friends- No, not the TV show.

Friends!

No not the TV show - my life, real life- real friends!

Last week I was faced with a very real problem in my life, a very real flaw in my life style and a very sad truth about Melissa.

I have not been a good friend.

I know that in the past 3-4 years in the busyness of life I neglected alot of relationship - they were put on the back burner. I have lots of people in my life but, a very small circle of friends. It was a sad moment when I realized that some friends that I very much treasure I also put on the back burner. Not just on the back burner I have quit honestly neglected my friendships.

So, as I came to this realization I made a decision that I need to and I am going to WORK on mending some relationship this year. This month. This week. Today!

I had an amazing group of friends and I am going to re-kindle all of my relationships but I am also going to maintain these relationships through the years and be the kind of friend that God would have me be to someone else.

Friendships are also a gift that the Lord trusts you with. Today I want to challenge you as I challenge myself..... call a friend up and invite them for cofffee -> Be a good steward of your friendships as I am also learning to do.

This weekend we had a wonderful dinner and coffee with some of our dearest friends who live here in austin (who I have also not seen in over a year) and I had such a great time talking and catching up..... iron sharpenin

What can I say, I am mending some fences.

Prov. 18:24 Friends come and friends go,
but a true friend sticks by you like family

Phone a friend today!

-Missa

I'll say it again!

I've said this so many times before and I will say it again, some of the biggest joys in my life are my nieces and nephews. I have several of them:

* Joseph

* Isaak

* Ryan

* Gabriel

* Cineca

* Emery

* Everett and

one on the way (for Jeff & Meredith)!

I love all of them equally and they are all geniuses and they are all going to be famous for something world changing (i am sure of that). They are all unique and have a special calling of God on their lives - I know that they will all Love God, serve God and make a BIG impact on this world.

On Saturday we celebrated Emery's 4th B-day and omg, she is such a sweet- sweet girl. I love having little conversations with her, she is so smart and so well mannered. She is growing so fast and as I was watching her blow out her birthday candles I realized what a beautiful little girl she is, how fast she is growing and I also realized how blessed I am to have her in my life!

What a blessed aunt I am!!!

I love you Emery Grace Taylor!

(Deep down don't we all feel this way about birthday cake...tooo cute!)

(Everett and Scott- he's not too sure about that camera)

("Lord, please dont let this cake run out, amen!"

-Everett)

(Finger licking Yummy)

(What a cuddle-bug)

(Birthday Girl! Emery Taylor age:4)

Have a wonderful day everyone,

-Missa

Go for it - Or Not!

I subscribe to this daily devotional and each morning at 6am I get an email with the word for

the day so, I roll over in bed- turn the alarm off and I read my devo before I get out of bed to start my day. This was the devo for today, it was soooo good, I wanted to share it with you.

After I read it I laid in bed and thought about when we were coming down to plant this church - Kingdom Point Ministries and how so many people thought we lost our mind- at the time it saddened me that so many people either did not see potential in me or did not know the potential of the God I serve. It amazed me how many people only saw the trials.

And then I started to think about how many times I CHOOSE to see the negative instead of truth and potential and life.

Today, I want you to think about what things you are facing in your life and speak faith, speak life, speak encouragement.

Just like Paul said " I encourage myself in the Lord". Encourage yourself and from that you will also encourage others.

Much love my friends,

Missa

Twigs & Leaves: The Crib

So now that the cat is out of the bag I can share some of the new things we are experiencing while we wait on the arrival of Baby Boy.

I have been preparing a place for Baby here at our place, nesting if you will. Scott says I am gathering twigs and leaves (He's so cute)....and I just realized that the Tale of 2 Taylors will soon be 3!!!

It has become our little inside joke-> Anytime I'm fidgeting with home/baby stuff we just say, "twigs & leaves" - enuff said- we both understand and respect the insanity!

Sunday night we had some downtime and we decided that we would put the crib together, enjoy!!!

So excited!!

-missa

Friday was so fun with XYC

First Friday is our youth led Life Group we hold it on the First Friday of the month and since this is just the second meeting since we starting holding them again we held it at our place, we had an awesome turn out. We had 14 youth show up on a Friday night!!!

We are in a great season with XYC right now- the best we have ever had. We have a great group of supportive parents, respectful youth and teenagers who have a desire to learn about God but also as important, they are friendly to each other. They all talk and respect each other and you can see God moving in their lives.

We are really enjoying XYC right now...Scott and I are having the best time.

At First friday one of the youth shared her testimony and how God changed her life and all that she had gone through while she was away from God and it was sooooo powerful. That then started a discussion and youth from the youngest to the oldest got involved in the conversation.

I love moments like this when we see fruit in the lives of these youth and we see them spur each other on live for God.... I am just so honored that the Lord would call Scott and I to these amazing youth! I am excited to see all that this generation is going to do for God....

(Yay, and an old girl like me gets to be a part of it too :)

(during the bible study time)

(Playing a very loud game of Pictionary)

(Playing SPOONS with forks, XYC loves this game)

(Pastor Scott goofing with Chelsea)

(Everyone loves Scott, can you see why- he is so fun to be with)

Have a wonderfully blessed day!

-missa

Family Fun and living an answered prayer

I am so excited to have my mom close by again :) Okay so lets be honest she is not “that”close because it is still a 6 hour drive for us to her house and home again but that beats 18 hours any day... not only did she live 9 hours away but it was 9 hours of driving through west texas where there is nothing to look at during the road trip. Unless of course you went on a windy day you’d be lucky to see a tumbleweed cross the road occasionally :0 haha. Actually my former youth Pastor used to say:

“It is so flat here you can sit on your back porch and watch your dog run away for 3 days“.

Anyways, back to my story,

I am so excited to have my mom so close and for the first time in many many many years we were able to spend a birthday with her!!! Yesterday we woke up and drove to Granbury and spent the day with my mom, my sister and my my sisters family.

We celebrated 2 birthdays: my moms and Jojo’s (can you believe he turned 14!, Where does the time go? :( )

This time together was a reminder of God answering prayers... I prayed for my mom to move for years and years and there we sat, eating birthday cake in the middle of answered prayer -> Her home.

After the festivities as I was driving home, Scott fell asleep so I turned on some worship music and I was thinking about how rough 2009 was for us... in all of our years of marriage 2009 was an extremely hard year...not in our marriage but just life in general, we encountered alot of trials in 09'!

But then I refocused and I begin to think about all the ways God has already moved on our behalf this year and I am humbled and in awe, so I drove and I sang my heart out to an amazing God whom I love so much!

(Scotts gonna have a bubba soon! - He crawled into Scott's shirt)

(We all let our hair down for some goofy fun)

(Cineca and Tia - do you like our hair? She loves silly pictures.)

(Me and my sweetheart! - I ADORE mu hubby! He not only embraces my sillyness, he joins in the fun, he's my AMAZING man)

(We had 2 B-day cakes! JoJo turned 14! and my mom, well she is 4-ever young!)

This is the song I was listening to when I began to think about last year and this year so far, hope you enjoy it- it brought me to tears.... there are not enough words to describe how much I love my God.

Have a wonderful Sunday!

-missa

Change ahead.

I was thinking today "man does life change so fast."

Here I was at the beginning of the year so focus and excited about our 10 day trip to Europe (so life changing) and now here I am in March - the trip cancelled,

but I am still making Life Changing plans!

There I was spending countless moments online searching for hotels and sites to enjoy - I was even trying to learn the language so that we could adapt easily while in Paris, Italy and everywhere in between.

What happened?

We received the answer to an even Bigger prayer being answered.

We exchanged one dream for an even bigger better dream.

God changed the course of our path.

Today as I was thinking about it all I was reminded of this scripture:

Prov 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

Here we thought we were on one path and just a few days later found ourselves on another completely- I am just so glad that I can lean on him and trust him with the desires of my heart, and surrender to his direction knowing that HE WILL work out everything according to his purpose as long as we follow the path he has set before us.

I am so excited about this new adventure I can hardly stand the wait. Our life has always been good but, day by day it is getting better and more exciting. God is indeed at work on our behalf.

Hope you have a great day today.

-Missa