keep my mouth shut lord.

Psalm 141:3

Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips.

i have been learning a lot lately about keeping my mouth shut. when you start walking through doors the lord is opening, i promise the devil is like WHOA. hold up. let me throw a wrench in this & lets see what happens. i have been praying so much that when things like this happens that i give it to him & i just don't speak about it, but lets face it.. i am human & ultimately screw up. i would talk about it with people bc i needed to "get it off my chest" but its all the same. its all gossip. i don't want to be that person. i don't like drama, but lately it has been popping up everywhere. 

Proverbs 20:19

He who goes about as a slanderer reveals secrets, Therefore do not associate with a gossip.

so to all of those that are my friends out there. say a prayer for me that through all of this i will keep my mouth shut & trust the lord to work it out. that i won't gossip about it, that instead i will pray about it. that i won't give any room in my life for this stuff. 

& to my friends out there. i don't want to spend my time talking about other people. there is so many other things to talk about. life. adventure. pursuing our calling. helping our community. feeding people. raising kids. baking. drinking coffee. so. many. other. things. 

-e

"friday meetups" -- wilderson mauro.

i love people. i love meeting new people & hearing them share their hearts, so i am very excited to be  adding this little thing i am going to call "friday meetup's" - i know it is not friday but this one took a little more time because i had to use my brother in haiti (guytho) to translate questions and then translate the answers to me. i really need to learn creole. hope you love getting to know wilderson as much as i do. my plan is to interview individuals that have left a mark on my heart & in hope their story touches you & inspires you in some way. so enjoy. 


background: wilderson came to CAD july of 2013. his parents died when he was very young & he was then living with his brother. things from his house came up missing & his brother accused him of stealing them, so his brother beat him. the police took him from his brother, they took him to a children's center & the centre brought him to CAD. 

life has a funny way of leading you to people that leave an imprint on your heart & change you in ways you never imagined. this amazing young man i had the honor to interview is wilderson mauro. he is in my thoughts every single day & in my prayers every single morning. my house has photos of him everywhere & it is a constant reminder to pray for him. i pray that he grows up to be the young man that the lord wants & changes the world in ways he never thought possible. i pray that he always keeps his faith in God & always puts God first in everything he does.

James 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

wilderson mauro

1. before you go to bed at night what do you pray for?

* i pray about  being a pastor. i want to be a pastor because i want to help people & pray for people to have faith in God. 

2. what is your favorite color?

*black

3. what is your favorite food?

* rice & beans

4. what is your favorite memory?

* when i came to CAD

5. favorite sport?

*soccer

6. favorite chapter of the bible

*psalm 100

7. if you could change anything about the world what would it be & why?

*i would like to change all the bad things. a lot of people do the bad things & i want them to become new people & preach to them about jesus & let the world be new. 

8. when you die what do you want to be remembered for?

* everything in this interview because it is always in my head

9. if you could learn anything what would it be?

*english

10. if you could change anything about CAD what would it be?

* i would like more access to water.

i met wilderson december of 2013, a few months after he came to CAD & on my very first trip to haiti. he was very shy when we first met. when i left the first day at CAD i didn't even know his name. my last day at CAD he knew mine. i heard this little voice behind me one day saying my name & when i turned around & saw his face my heart was full of love. 

fast forward to may of 2014 & i would be headed to haiti once again. i knew we would be going to CAD & i couldn't contain my excitement. i would be seeing this little guy again. i would think about him everyday & i would ask cory questions like what do you think he is doing? do you think he is ok? do you think he has gotten a hug today? do you think someone has told him they loved him today?  i wonder if he will remember me. i wonder if he has gotten enough to eat or enough to drink. he was constantly on my mind as well as all the other kids at CAD. 

every single time i would go to haiti it got harder to leave but i also had a peace bc i knew i would be back. i knew the lord wouldn't put such passion in my heart for these kids & not allow me to go back.  december of 2014 i was supposed to go b but some things with the mission we stayed at were going a little grey so we decided not to go back there & looked for other options. you guys, not going in december was so hard for me bc all i could think about were these kids & not seeing them. 

when dd approached me about going this past april i jumped at the chance. planning & raising money started & before i knew it we were on the plane headed back to haiti. our first stop was CAD & i remember i couldn't find wilderson anywhere. so some of the kids went & got him & a few seconds later i heard his voice behind me saying my name. i was so excitedddddddd. he had gotten so much bigger, so much taller. it makes me sad that i miss so much not seeing him for that long. 

look how tall he is?

he is such a talented kid. 

in april i decided to hire guytho so he could go once a week to CAD & spend time with the kids & help them with their english. so sometimes i get to video chat with them &  those are my happiest days. guytho sends me pictures & he makes sure to give wilderson hugs & kisses for me. i don't think guytho knows how much of a blessing he is not only to me but to those kids. all of those kids look up to him like a big brother. 

june 2015 i went back for 10 days with luke 101 & we were at CAD for a few days. you can read about that trip here.

all the kids in haiti play soccer &  they are all amazing & make all the americans look like we have never played before. i got to watch him play soccer a lot this trip. 

this cutie. love this smile. 

these are pictures he took below. 

wilderson probably doesn't know this but i get pictures of him all the time hahahaha. next time i am there he is going to see all these pictures on my phone & wonder how they got there. 

he loves to help with worship. he loves to serve. always helping the little kids. always helping if he is asked & sometimes when he is not asked. marlene tells me he is a very nice young boy, very responsible & very respectful, he makes good grades because i check them when i am there. you already have the heart of a  pastor. wilderson mauro you are going to do great things. cory & i are so proud of you & the young man you are becoming. 

can't wait to see him in october.

i asked wilderson if there is anything we all could be praying for him about & he said his future.

mwen renmen widerson. 

-- E

date night.

monday after work i went home to pack some boxes. i have also gotten 4 bags of stuff to throw away, how in the world have i gone through life holding onto this much stuff?

anyways, our dear friend derrick went fishing in alaska & was so sweet to bring us some fresh salmon back! cory cooked it along with some broccoli for dinner & we enjoyed it while watching sherlock holmes on tv.

this pumpkin beer. it is so good. 

can you believe this weather in georgia? it is gorgeous. 

after dinner we took a walk for coffee. we are trying to soak up as many walks in the city as we can before we move. 1 month to go. 

cory left last night to play with andy velo for a few days. i will pick him up at the airport sunday morning & then head straight to church. going to be a busy day for sure.

miss him already & atlanta i am going to miss you too. 

cheers,

mrs. estes

coffee, blue jean & a cuban.

last night after packing some boxes (we have 1 month until we move eeekkk), bethany came over & we walked to cafe intermezzo for coffee and cake. i love this girl. she is a true gem & one little lady i will miss when i move. she is one of those people that i feel like i can share with. share things i wouldn't normally with others. i just really want to take her with me & i am sure cory would love her boo h.b. to come too.

we talked about everything you can imagine. husbands going on tours. marriage. babies. vegetables. gardening. dreams. a little bit of everything. she is genuine and i appreciate that in her so much. sometimes i feel like i am not a good listener when i am with her because i just want to tell her everything hahaha. i got home last night & said to myself, geez evanda, you talk a lot. haha. oh goodness. 

you will be hearing a lot about her on an upcoming feature i will be doing on the blog. a little interview and some pictures of her amazing business she has started right in the heart of atlanta. i am seriously so excited about her interview!

o yea & i guess i should mention that is going to be a new thing i will be introducing on the blog. interviews. not lame interviews with just a bunch of questions, but interviews with heart & soul & a touch of photography in there as well. so exciting!!!

wore some blue jean & print today & for lunch had a cuban sammich.

what are your plans for the weekend?

tell me.

i really want to know.

cheers,

mrs. estes

change is good & scary.

a lot of change is happening in the estes household. change is good, but scary right? cory & i were talking last night when we got home from some friends about how it is scary all the new things that are coming our way. things that we are not used to & we both agree we have become comfortable with where we are. with that being said we sign our rental agreement to a house in carrollton the end of this week or beginning of next. we won't be living full time in carrollton until jan.

                                        i introduce you to the new estes rental. so charming.

i absolutely love it. 

things i love about it- big basement for all of cory's music gear & room for storage- fenced in back yard with a cute little patio for a grill- huge old tree perfect for my eno- a swing on the from porch- 2 bedrooms- all hardwood floors- open kitchen.

you can literally walk to the square & church from where we are. some of our best friends live a few houses down!

another new thing that wont happen until the summer is school. i am going back for cosmetology. i have been wanting to go & learn this trade for a while now, but have not had the opportunity. i feel like if i want to go & get this degree now i need to do it before i have kids, right? 

finding a new job should not be difficult, but it is still a little stressful.  

moving in itself is a little crazy, but i am excited to be back in the country. i am sad to leave all of our friends in the atlanta area that we are used to seeing on the regular, but we will just have to make time for all of them. 

cory has a lot of opportunity that has been thrown his way & we are just praying for guidance & clarity.

i cannot wait to post picture of the rooms as i get them decorated, all the diy projects that will be happening in this little home, all of the new memories, all of the dinners, & our upcoming halloween party.

YAY!

i am on the lookout for a new sectional couch & i like this one, but i am not sure how comfortable it would be. i need comfort. 

from ikea here

can you believe that i might have my first kid in this house? 

i get little butterflies thinking about it.

on a side note i have left over cake from my birthday & our friends made us a yummy dinner last night.

cheers,

mrs. estes

p.s. let's all take a moment a realize how blessed we are. my heart is a little heavy for Israel after reading an article this morning. we are really blessed to be able to live the kind of lives we all do.

weekend recap.

i celebrated my birthday with family & friends on saturday at my moms house. i haven't had a chance to get those photos off the camera yet so i will make that a later post.

my husband went all out & bought me the best gifts!

love this purse so much. 

i love this tele plus- it is going to be so fun for me to play with!

a new bag & a 70-300mm zoom lens. yesssss.

my mom made me the coolest gift & stocked my vitamin pantry. she also  made me the best coconut cake ever.

seriously, this is a pencil that she made that i can hang on the wall. def. going in the craft room.

after my party we took tony & rebekah to gumbeauxs.

sunday after church i had a meeting and then hung out with my sister all day & spent the night with her. i had a dentist appointment to get my crown on monday so it was fun to hang with her & talk wedding talk. we also snagged some pretty nice purses from salvation army.

we literally could not make up our minds on dinner so we went to kroger, publix & zaxbys and got an assortment. chicken wings, pita chips, brie cheese and salami and iced tea from zaxbys.

sweet buddy.

cory picked me up from carrollton & then we headed to corner cafe to have some lunch and then headed home.

atlanta sure is pretty at night.

cheers,

mrs. estes