Laundry

It's bad when you spend nearly 3 hours just putting away laundry. It was interrupted by the bedtime chaos but still - THREE HOURS.

Ughhhh.....

Bed time "challenges"

I think my boys have gone off the deep end! The past 3-4 nights have been HORRIBLE during bedtime. Tonight was an all out war. They are tired, Owen especially, but they just don't want to give in. It is making me crazy.

I love that my boys share a room but I have to tell you, I'm almost ready to dismantle my craft/guest room and separate them.

When, not if

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

James 1:2-4

Pure JOY WHEN you face trials of MANY kinds?? What???? Really??

This was the key passage used in the talk that was given tonight at Crave (high school youth group). One thing that was noted (that I don't think I've ever caught before) was that this verse doesn't say "if" you face trails but "when". See the difference? There isn't a question about whether we are going to face trials, it's a matter of when.

Can I just be honest and say that I don't want to face trials, I'm afraid of them actually. I spend a lot of time obsessing over what possible trials are out there. My biggest fears revolve around one of the following three things:

1. That I will get cancer and die (or just get cancer).
2. That one of my kids will get really sick and/or die (not necessarily of sickness, just die).
3. That my husband will get sick and/or die (same as above).

Seems kind of silly to worry about things I have no control over, but I do. I sit here on my computer and read blogs of women, young moms, battling cancer and wonder why not me. I hear stories about children who die well before their time and wonder why not my children. I don't deserve for things to be going so well, I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop.

My fears have kept me, at times, from running after Christ with complete abandon. Why? Because everyone I see that does faces some earth shattering trial. What might God require of me if I run after Him the same way?

Then there is the other side of things. I have a good friend who is really going through it right now. Her response through some of it is that she once prayed that God would do whatever He needed to do to bring her closer to Him. In the past several years she had gotten relaxed in her faith and now things have turned upside down in her life. It has served to draw her closer to God.

The flip side of my fear is that if I don't run after Christ with complete abandon then what might God do to get my attention.

It's no fun to live in fear, I have to tell you. I ask myself if there is a "safe" zone somewhere in the middle - why can't I just "live" there?

I'll tell you why, I don't want to live a mediocre Christian life. I don't want to live in fear every day of what "might" be.

The verse says that we should consider it pure joy WHEN we face trials because trials produce/encourage perseverance and perseverance is a REQUIREMENT of a mature faith. I don't want to lack anything in my faith. What a waste of life and faith to be lacking in something that God wants to give us.

Jesus, please forgive me for failing to run after you like I should out of fear of what might come my way. Please help me to trust that You have a plan for my life and that you are faithful to lead & guide me. Help me to trust that you won't give me anything beyond what I can bear. I don't want to lack anything that You have for me.

Last day of school

I cannot believe that the school year is already over. Where did this year go????? I took pics on the kids first day of school and, of course, I had to take pics on their last day.

Morgan is finished with Kindergarten and heading into 1st grade. She isn't all that excited though. She wasn't ready for school to end and she loves her teacher so much that she just wishes she could stay in Kindergarten permanently. I tried explaining that she'll have a great teacher next year as well but... I hope that she always loves school this much.





Drew had an end of year program where the kids sang several of their favorite songs. It was TOO cute. Drew wasn't shy at all when they handed him the microphone. :) This has been a good year for Drew at school. He has learned a lot. When he started he couldn't color in the lines, now he can write is name. Big improvement.

Splash Pad is OPEN

Summer is FAST on it's way. Today I took the boys to the splash pad to play for a while. Drew had a blast playing in the water, Owen had a blast running around the outside, looking at the water.

Some good improvements have been made since last year! There is now a metal fence w/latching gate (not at kid level) all the way around the splash pad (last year there was just ropes) AND there is also bathrooms right outside the splash pad (you used to have to walk all the way across the parking lot). GO SMYRNA PARKS (pass along the Kudos Ashley :) ).

This should be a fun summer.

Please pray - Chapman family

What a sad evening.

One of the girls in me & Megan's small group found out tonight that her 5-year old cousin was killed after being struck by a car driven by her brother. It was a tragic accident.

Please, please, please be in prayer for the Chapman family. I cannot even begin to imagine what they are going through. Say a special prayer for their son as he deals with this tragic event.

You can read the story here: ACCIDENT ARTICLE

Keep on pushing that envelope

Anyone else find it disturbing that there is going to be a new show on network TV called Swingtown???

It's about the swinging lifestyle. If you don't know what that is, well, I'm not going to spell it out here. Just had to say that I was really taken back to see an ad for a show like this.

Wow - as a society we just keep pushing the edge of that envelope, don't we???

Before the Throne of God

I had never heard this song before but I saw it while checking out another blog (Beth Moore). Verse 2 really resonates with me right now.

I went to www.youtube.com and searched for Selah's version of Before the Throne of God. It is a powerful song.

Here are the words:

Before the throne of God above
I have a strong and perfect plea
A great High Priest whose name is love
Who ever lives and pleads for me
My name is graven on His hands
My name is written on His heart
I know that while in heaven He stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart
No tongue can bid me thence depart

When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end of all my sin
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free
For God, the Just, is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me
To look on Him and pardon me

Behold Him there! The risen Lamb
My perfect, spotless, Righteousness
The Great unchangeable I AM
The King of Glory and of Grace
One with Himself I cannot die
My soul is purchased by His blood
My life is hid with Christ on high
With Christ my Savior and my God
With Christ my Savior and my God

Confession of a former NKOTB fan

Okay, I have a confession to make.

In a former life (aka - my 8th & 9th grade year of school) I was a HUGE New Kids on the Block fan. HUGE. Just ask my mom. You couldn't see my wall for all the NKOTB posters on it. I had an affinity for Jordan Knight so the posters were just the group & Jordan Knight. I taped EVERY tv performance and, dare I admit, I even went to a NKOTB concert - twice - two nights in a row.

Head hung in shame.

Do you think less of me now?

Hey - it's not any different than N'Sync & Backstreet Boys of the late 90's and the Jonas Brothers now. Ye without "sin"...

So, the New Kids have reunited for a reunion tour and performed on the Today show on Friday. No, I didn't dvr it (I thought about it but forgot) but I did just look it up on youtube. It was definitely a blast from the past.

I had to laugh when I saw the audience full of women, around my age, with their NKOTB stuff on, screaming like they were back in Jr. High.

That's where I draw the line.

Not going to see the reunion tour! Thought about it though.

Parent's Night Out for Camp - Take 3

Last night was our THIRD Parent's Night Out for Camp and it was a great success! It has been interesting because we've had three different kinds of groups each time. The last time it was mainly boys and last night it was mainly girls - Morgan was LOVING it!

To recap: This summer the students at our church have the opportunity to go to camp for a week in June. This is an AWESOME opportunity for them to get to know Jesus better and have a lot of fun doing it. The cost is $200 per student. The church does a wonderful fund-raiser by way of a car wash. The students sell tickets for $10 a piece (2 car washes per ticket - good deal!) and they get to put 100% of the money they earn through ticket sales toward camp. Megan and I have a small group of 9th grade girls and an additional way we are trying to earn money is by providing a childcare service for parents. This is our third one and it was FABULOUS! So far each student has averaged $25 per night. If they've worked all three PNO, they've earned $75 so far!!!!! That's almost half of the money they needed for camp. WOOHOO.

We are hoping to get at least 1 more PNO (hopefully 2) before the money for camp is due. If you want to be included on the evite, please reply and let me know. It fills up fast!

Next PNO is Friday, May 30th. Mark your calendars!!!!

Some pics:

This has to be the most popular game we bring out - Don't Break the Ice (Ashley - John LOVES this game! It's always his second request, after doing crafts, of course).



We were thankful for a beautiful evening. The kids spent a good amount of time playing outside.



Each night we have a craft project (or two) that we do. This night we were making books (2 pics above). The kids LOVE craft time. A while later all the girls disappeared and I found them upstairs in Morgan's room making bracelets.

Thank you all so much for another successful PNO!

Berry Nice Outing

One of my favorite memories growing up was visiting my Grandparents (known as Nan-Nan & Pop-Pop) and picking strawberries from Pop-Pop's strawberry patch. They'd send me out with a bucket and I'd come back with very few strawberries in it because I would eat them as I picked them. It was my most favorite thing to do.

Imagine my joy when I found out that there was a place to go pick strawberries not far from where we live. We went out over Mother's Day weekend and picked a bunch of strawberries. We were lucky enough to have my mom (Mom-Mom) here visiting so she was able to pick strawberries too. Morgan also invited one of her friends along.

I have to admit, the strawberries weren't very sweet, they were actually quite sour, BUT with a bit of sugar on them, they were great.

Here are some pics: