Hearts Full

Life has been busy and here in the Robinson household but we certainly have been blessed with the addition of six sweet little chicks that we are now raising!  Mike and I are clueless chick parents but we have read a lot, fretted over them and they seem to be growing.  We hope they will be laying eggs by late winter.  We are raising them all natural with organic feed so we are super excited for farm fresh eggs down the road. 


Here is one sweet little chick sound asleep in my hands.  They are curious, a wee bit smelly, but they are so sweet!!

Here is one of our more curious chicks-we named her James Harden after the NBA player!  She is super nosy. 

We always love having kids over and here is Kyle with two friends during the Hokie football game. Raising teenagers is such an exhausting joy...

But I absolutely love it when our house is loud and full of kids.  I love it because it means kids are safe, kids feel welcome here and my job is to listen and to keep the food coming.  Kyle and Mike went on their first college visit this past weekend and it hit me hard.  These are the days.  It is loud and exhausting to have a houseful but I know I will miss this all one day.  (I may not miss the slime making these girls are doing though)

Another blessing that has happened in the last two weeks is our youth bible study at church.  We typically start a new curriculum each fall for our youth, and this semester I am leading Dare Greatly for our teen girls and Mike and our friend, Chris, are leading the guys in a Tim Tebow study.  Hope went into Mike's class and made sure all the guys knew who was leading the study for last week.  They take turns leading these guys and it has been great.  So thankful for these guys investment in our teen guys. 

Preschool is back in session and so far it has been a great start to the year.  We have some funny kiddos this year and despite the fact that I am still on my scooter it is going well.  Speaking of my scooter, I have a doctor's appointment this week with my orthopedic doctor.  I humbly ask for prayers that after being on this scooter for 23 out of the last 29 weeks of my life that this ankle will finally be healed. 

Between preschool, our new little chicks, our youth, and our own kids and their friends life has felt very full lately.  My focus this year is on kingdom building.  I do not want to get distracted on anything that does not bring glory to God's kingdom.  I feel like time is ticking so quickly with Kyle under our roof and our other kiddos growing so quickly that I need to focus on what is important-teaching God's word and pointing all kids to Christ as the ultimate example on how to love and serve others. 

I am so thankful for a full heart!

I Got Saved

One of my all-time favorite praise songs is I Got Saved by Selah.  I have been singing it all day remembering our beautiful service of Baptism last night at Hungry Mother State Park.  Eight of our youth that participated in our Philly mission trip took a big step in their faith and got baptized.  It was beautiful and wonderful and made this youth leader so very happy!! 


There was a river of gladness
That pours from Emmanuel's veins
This sinner was plunged beneath the flood
and got Saved.

Since then I walk in forgiveness
All of my guilt was erased
The chains of the past
Are broken at last
I got saved
Oh, I got saved

I'm undone by the mercy of Jesus
I'm undone by the goodness of the Lord
I'm restored and made right
He got a hold of my life
I've got Jesus
How could I want more

I've received nothing but goodness
I've tested and tasted your grace
I was so lost
Till I fell at the cross
and got saved
Oh, I got saved


Jesus-he is worth it all.  As a youth leader I desperately want these youth to taste and see how FUN and GLORIOUS a life with Jesus is.  I want them to see that life with Jesus is not guaranteed to be an easy life but it will be a full and beautiful life.  To see Him show up in our darkest times and then also to  bless us with mercy, grace, and provision is worth it all.

I want them to know He will never let us down.   My meager words could not portray what I wanted to say which was choosing Jesus is the best decision you will ever make.  You have now secured your heavenly home and signed up for a life of joy pursuing God. 

That trip to Philly was just that wonderful.  We worked hard, oh so hard, yet we grew as we were stretched in our faith.  We heard powerful sermons each night and heard testimonies from our youth hosts (Micah and Dalton) who encouraged us with their different testimonies.  It was a hard and exhausting week but God did a mighty work in these youths lives and last night they took the next step in their faith.  It was beautiful...simply beautiful. 

Beauty from Ashes

I have fallen in love with gardening.  I was so excited this spring to plant my new plants in my newly tilled garden.  Back in May I was so optimistic my injury was on the mend and I had a summer full of fun, veggies, and quality time with my kids.  I love summer and I was so excited!

So it grieves my heart to see my gorgeous garden look like this.  I have named it the hot mess express because it is so full of weeds, grass, bugs, and more bugs.  My tomatoes have blight, my green bean leaves are so bug-infested they look like swiss cheese.  I am so embarrassed how ugly my garden is.  My heart is broken that I did not get to spend many hours lovingly working and weeding my garden.  My ankle injury sidelined me and hence my garden is the ultimate hot mess express.  

But guess what..... it does not know it is a hot mess.  That little garden is the little engine that could and has no idea how ugly it looks.  It has produced sooo many vegetables this summer.  From the ugly and blighted leaves ....

All this beauty has emerged.  All this goodness not only has fed us healthy awesomeness, but it provided a great multi-generational day this past weekend with four generations under one roof cooking, eating, and sharing around the table together.  Saturday was a beautiful day of love and good food brought to us by the ugliest garden in southwest Virginia.  My grandma (who was recently diagnosed with cancer), came to my house from her nursing home and spent the day here prepping and eating this wonderful food.  Well, to be clear, I am on a scooter and she is in a wheelchair so my Mom did all the big cooking and Mike manned the grill. 

How like our God to use this ugly garden to teach/remind me that beauty does indeed come from ashes.  That is one of our God's specialties....beauty from ashes.  Over and over in the bible there are examples of evil that man tried to conjure up but God brought goodness and beauty from it.  We on this Earth deal with evil everyday-mean people, spiteful situations, jealousy, laziness, .... sometimes it seems like evil is everywhere and navigating it all is so hard and exhausting. 

Yet God is in the business of bringing beauty from the ashes of our hard times.  It is no secret that this has been a rough season for me and this stupid ankle.I will never understand why it has been so hard yet I trust and believe that our God will bring so much beauty from the past few months of despair.  I have spent so much time with Him that I know I will look back on this as precious spiritual growth time for me.  Life is hard folks, but our God has our back.  Everyday.

  ..and provide for those who grieve in Zion- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes.  the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.  Isaiah 61:3 

So I do not know about you but I am eagerly waiting for that display of His splendor that is talked about in Isaiah 61:3 I am ready to wear my garment of praise and witness 7 youth getting baptized this upcoming weekend!!!  I am excited to begin another year of morning youth group time at McDonalds that we call Breakfast Club this week with our youth.  I am ready to see how the Lord is going to use this stupid ankle for His glory. 

I am so thankful for the lessons learned from the ugliest garden in Smyth County.  Because of God... beauty can and will come from the ashes.