SHAZAM!

Apparently it has been a little over a year since we've blogged here. Wow! The past year has seen so many changes, I dare not try to squeeze them all into one post. I will, however, provide you with a
great contrast of last mother's day versus today.


If I am being perfectly honest, I must tell you that last year, all I wanted was a break from being "Mommy" for a day. I didn't want to do ANYTHING. I wanted the world to continue revolving without needing my assistance (how full of myself I was!). I didn't want my kids jumping all over me, I didn't want to be bothered, I just wanted to sleep in for a day and have coffee brought to me in bed. Well, that was selfish Molly. Selfish Molly was grumpy. She was full of herself. She was not a source of refreshment for her family.

Oh, how God has been working in me!

Fast forward a year...

I made a decision a year ago to get off my butt, get my physical body under control, and get my heart in order. I am still in progress with the physical part, but I can say that over the past year I have said farewell to 30 pounds, run 3 5K's, 2 10K's, and TWO half marathons (13.1 miles each)!!! God is amazing, y'all! I felt called to conquer something that has always been a nemesis of mine: RUNNING. Seriously, I started from complete SCRATCH!
 I will save that whole story for another blog post (when I have my "before" and "after" pics completed) but for now I will just say that getting physically healthier has in turn granted me the overwhelming desire to get my heart (spiritually-speaking) healthier as well.
With the grace of my amazing God, whom I need EVERY day, He has taken me on quite a journey in motherhood the last year. He has blessed me with pure JOY and the ability to truly DELIGHT in my children. Don't get me wrong, there are still times that I have to remind myself not to lose it, but those moments pale in comparison to the crazy happenings of my crazy boys. I DON'T want them to stop climbing all over me. I don't want a day to be "left alone". Just now, I got the privilege of being sandwiched in between them in their bed with both of them clinging to each of my arms as they drifted off to sleep. THESE MOMENTS TRUMP ALL OTHERS. These are the moments that I want to always MAKE time for! These are the moments that can get drowned out by the grumpy ones. So please, Mommy friends, please know that you are not alone in the overwhelming times. There is Someone GREATER that possesses way more control than we try to have. He is ready and willing to take you on the ride of your life!

I want to be the kind of Mom that delights in her children...one whom they can trust without even thinking about it...one that plays in the dirt and picks up worms...one that doesn't just look at their actions but also at the heart of the matter. This is my prayer for myself and for all my Mommy friends! We can do this!

Be refreshing,
Molly :)
p.s. please hear my heart in all this...it is NEVER my intention to toot my own horn. God laid these crazy ramblings on my heart earlier today and has not left me alone since. ;)

Proudest Parent Moment YET!

So...

For anyone who doesn't know, Malachi (our three-year-old) is [currently] speech-delayed. He has been working with speech therapists since before his second birthday and has come SO unbelievably far in the past few months!!

He can speak his mind...in his own way. Sometimes it seems like he's speaking another language, but other times, like with what happened tonight, I am amazed at the progress he has made and how he has learned to get his point across to those around him. ;)

Now on to my proudest parent moment to date...

The boys and I are in Houston for a few days and staying at my parents' house. My dad has been working hard rebuilding and expanding his work shed in the backyard. There are ladders, screws, and wood everywhere but somehow my crazy kiddos have managed to stay out of it all. :)

Tonight, we were all inside the house eating dinner and playing with my baby niece while Malachi was in the backyard with my dad. After a little while, Malachi came in looking for my mom. I asked what he needed and he said, "Papa fall." I said, "WHAT?!" Malachi repeated, "Papa fall head."

I ran out back to find my dad lying on the ground holding his arm. He had fallen off his ladder while trying to tarp the roof of his work shed. Keep in mind that my dad recently had shoulder surgery AND has a horrible back. GOD IS SO GOOD!!!!! My dad is FINE! Bumped and bruised, but we will take a few scrapes and bruises over what could have been much worse! Malachi saved the day!!! Later I asked my dad if he told Malachi what to say when he came inside but he didn't. He just told Malachi to go get someone. My baby (my sometimes-so-frustrated-with-not-being-able-to-say-what-he-is-thinking baby) was able to come inside and tell an adult what happened!!!!!!!! This may not seem like a big deal to some people, but for the Milillo clan, it brings huge tears to my eyes! My dad is ok and I couldn't be prouder of my son!

Thank you to all of his speech therapists who have put in hours of (sometimes very hard) work with my baby!

Incredibly proud,

Molly

Livin' La Vida Laredo!

On Saturday, February 11th, the Milillo fam loaded up and hit the road to LAREDO, TEXAS!!

Why the heck are we in Laredo??

Glad you asked!

God has a funny way of wrecking any and all plans we make for ourselves sometimes. We planned on moving to Dickinson, staying there for years and years, eventually buying a house, watch our boys start school there, etc...

Well, that was OUR plan.

We felt God whispering to us early on that Dickinson was temporary, but I for one didn't want to listen. "Surely I'm not hearing you correctly, God." Haha.

A whisper became a speaking voice...

A speaking voice became a shout...

A shout became an overwhelming peace that we were given the "green light" to pursue...

Chicken.

:)

Yep, that's right...CHICKEN! Not just any chicken, CHICK-FIL-A Chicken!! The BEST!!!

Years ago, we had the opportunity to enter the workforce of Chick-Fil-A and spend a few years training with hopes of being mentored into owning our own store (and thereby ministry) one day. We prayed about it (a lot) then and didn't feel that the time was right. It was kind of one of those "Not Yet" answers from God. To be honest, it has kind of remained in the backs of our minds for the last few years.

Fast forward almost four years and here we are again.

We spent months praying, seeking, and trying to discern where God wanted our family, where we could be extremely effective for Him while maintaining the integrity (physical, emotional, spiritual, etc) of our family...and Laredo it was!

Steve is working 50+ hours a week as he is learning, training, and managing in the Laredo store. Our wonderful friends, Michael and Andrea Hancock, are mentoring us as we go through this process...and I am on a quest to convince Michael to let me fill in for the Cow occasionally. :D

So, we moved here and then things got intersting... 

Zeek got really sick...
(I had to take him to the ER because of how our insurance works...dang it.)

...and then the next night was Malachi's turn...

My amazing friend, Jess, not only helped me pack in Dickinson, she rode with me and the boys to Laredo (and my awesome mom followed us too!) and helped me unpack (thanks too, Mom!)...and then when I was feeling really lonely the other day, I found this little surprise at the bottom of a box. :)

So, through the loneliness, the stress, the confusion, the worry, the happiness, the joy, the crazy times, the good times, the sickness, the doubt, the confidence, the struggle........

The glory of Christ is worth it.

Unworthy,

the Milillo fam

ordination or bust!

Well, folks, tonight was a huge night in the life of the Milillo Fam!

As of tonight, Steve is ORDAINED!!!!!!

I must admit that I teared up during Steve's ordination service when I looked around and saw rows of our family and friends that came from all over to support us, pray for us, encourage us, and celebrate with us tonight! We had people from all different areas of our ministry over the years come and love on us tonight. Steve is infectious. His love and devotion to God and his family is absolutely amazing and I was such a proud wife to get to sit there and hear other people describe just how amazing Steve and his calling is. Wow!!!!

The Steve Milillo "Dream Team"



All of our friends and family that were able to make it tonight! Wow!!!!
(pretend you see John and Jamie Anderson...they celebrated with us yesterday! Haha they were there in spirit with us!)

Alright, my friends, it's time for this wife-of-an-ordained-pastor to get some sleep! :)

We love you all and are so very excited at what God continues to do in our family's life!

Micah 6:8,

Molly

moving on...

The Milillo Fam is officially making the move to Dickinson over the next week or so. We found a house a couple of weeks ago and it will be ready for us on the 12th!! While we are sad to leave the friends we've made here in Galveston, we are so excited for the opportunity God opened up in D-town!

God is continuing to do some amazing things in our hearts. We are totally in love with our new church and the students that God has blessed us with! We have so many ideas swarming around our minds as to what He wants to do through us in Dickinson...we are praying for the discernment to know which are HIS plans and which are just ours. ;)

The boys are adjusting pretty well to being in the nursery/preschool three times a week (sunday morning, sunday night, wednesday night). There's no baby class on Sunday or Wednesday nights so Zeek gets to have some "KK" time with Steve's mom! They are both loving that!

Malachi has had to make the biggest adjustment. He was away from us at our Galveston church for maybe an hour each week (and sometimes Mommy or Daddy was his teacher), so being away for hours at a time a few times a week has been a little rough on him. Although,. I will say that today was the first time that he didn't cry when we dropped him off in nursery! Praise the Lord!!!

Please pray for us as Steve gets ready to leave for Super Summer (and won't get to see the boys for 8 whole days!!). Molly is trying to finish packing this week and we hope to have enough help over the weekend to get most everything moved. While painting the boys' rooms is low on the priority list, it's still important to Molly so hopefully we can figure out a way to get it all done before the boys' first night in the new house! AHH!!

So that's what we've been up to! We hope to update more frequently...but lately we've been battling packing a house, a teething baby, a cranky toddler, and a nasty tummy bug....haha.

God is God. We are not.

the milillo fam

written by malachi and zeek...

Well hello there! We just wanted to let you know that since Mommy and Daddy have been so busy lately, Zeek and I decided to take it upon ourselves to update the blog.

Daddy started a new job this month as the Associate Pastor (and Pastor to Students) at First Baptist Church in Dickinson. We joined the church on Sunday and I made my grand appearance while the pastor was welcoming us in front of everyone...I ran across the church, up to front where Daddy was, and jumped in his arms while mine were full of Cheetos. :)

Zeek had a good time in his baby class on Sunday. I had an ok time, but towards the end I really missed Mommy and Daddy. I know it will take time for my new teacher to understand my signs but I was still kinda frustrated. Oh well. We go back tonight for church so we'll see if I can handle it better this time.

Tonight Mommy and Daddy are going to share their faith stories to the students. Mommy feels kinda "rusty" since it's been awhile since she's spoken in front of students...but she said she's WAY overdue to!

Daddy has been super busy this week but when he gets home, it's GO TIME!! He immediately chases and wrestles me and makes Zeek giggle. We love when Daddy comes home!

Oh, and I REALLY love where his new office is...it opens up to a basketball court!!!!!! WAHOOOOO!!!!

Ok, folks, that's all we can update as of now because Mommy says it's past our nap time...

Adios!

(you didn't know I knew some Spanish, did you?!)

-Malachi (and Zeek)

split second timing...

split second timing...
that's what it took to snap this shot! LOVE IT!!!
Zeek, 5 months
Malachi, 2 years