Morgan's beach trip

Morgan comes home tomorrow and we are SO EXCITED!!! It's been a long week without her but she's been having such a great time.

I just received an email with a link to all the pictures (194 of them - thanks Lisa!) and I wanted to share a few of my favorites.

An alligator in the ocean

Morgan has been on vacation with her best friend, Bailey, for a week. They went to Florida to spend time at the beach. We are really good friends with this family and felt very comfortable entrusting our child with them for a little over a week. When it was in the planning stages, a week didn't sound bad at all but it seemed like forever when I dropped Morgan off at their house to leave on the trip! It's hard being away from my baby girl for 9 days!!! I miss her & so do the boys.

She'll be home in 2 days and we are SO EXCITED! I can't wait to see all the pics from the trip and just give her a great big hug and kiss.

What's with the title of this post? Well, the most interesting conversation with them has been when Lisa, Bailiey's mom, told me about one of their evening trips to the beach. The girls didn't have their bathing suits on so they were just walking in the water when someone started shouting to get out of the water. Lisa, baby in tow, ran up and got the girls out of the water. Why did they need to get out of the water? Just 10 feet away from them was an ALLIGATOR in the ocean!!!!! It was obviously a bit lost and I guess it kept surfacing and swimming on down the beach. Can you imagine?????? She said the girls weren't even scared. Me, on the other hand, well, I could have waited to hear that story until they were home, safely in Tennessee. :)

If you think about it, will you be praying for safe travels for them tomorrow? They are driving straight through from the Tampa area to TN. LONG TRIP!

Thanks!

Nevermind

Accidents!!!

Seriously - my son is FOUR 1/2 years old. WHY, oh why, does he still CHOOSE to pee in his pants? Why, oh why, does he still CHOOSE to poop in his pants (not as often as pee thankfully)? And when will he be able to go all night in underwear?????

This is frustrating. At this rate I'm going to keep Owen in diapers for the rest of his life, I can't do this again!

Camp Whatever 2008

I have come to do this post several times over the past week and a half but just can't seem to get it out. There is so much that I could share that I'm just not sure what to share.

Camp was an incredible experience. I haven't been back at a church camp since the one that I attended back in the summer of 1991 where I accepted Christ, I've never been the same since. I had just completed my junior year of high school and went to camp for all the wrong reasons. I simply wanted to get out of work for a week despite having spent much of the past 6 months questioning things about God. I will never forget the first night of camp. My friend who invited me to camp dragged me to the front row. I stood there during the opening worship and something just clicked. The way I've always described it was like the blinders fell off my eyes and I knew, I just knew, that God was more than words on a page in a book but a real, living God who loved me and died for me. I stood there and could do nothing but pray over & over in my head, "God I want you in my heart. God I want you in my heart." It seems surreal to even type it out as I am so far removed from that day and wonder if I'm remembering it right. I know I am and that moment is one of those times in life that I wish I could relive, it was amazing. So you see, it kind of felt like things had come full circle in my life coming to camp as a counselor. I know from experience that God can and will use the intense camp experience to bring about radical life change for Him. I wanted to be apart of that happening to someone else.

Typically the powers that be don't put you with your small group when you go to camp. One of the goals is to have each student have 2-3 key adult relationships during their middle & high school years. Giving them a different camp counselor can provide another adult for them to trust and to have pour into them. I'm thankful that I did end up getting all my girls though. As a first time camp counselor, it was much easier to be with girls I already knew than to have to figure new girls out. In addition, the week gave me so much more insight into our girls (I co lead with my friend, Megan) than I had before. I feel like Megan & I can be even more effective as small group leaders now.

The camp that we stayed at was pretty neat, minus the REALLY bad food. How often do you find a camp that has a wave pool, lazy river, wedgie water slide, paintball, lake w/blob on it, high ropes, low ropes, mud course, etc.? We weren't lacking for activities, that's for sure. I have never been so exhausted in all my life.

The camp speaker was Adam Robinson (click on his name for his website) and he was awesome. I loved how he shared things. God has gifted him with the ability to share key biblical concepts in a way that is easily understood and grasped. Dave Hunt (again, click on his name) and his band lead us in worship and it was awesome. The thing I appreciated the most about these guys was that they weren't interested in giving the students and intense emotional experience for the heck of it. As someone who has spent a good share of time in churches where emotional experiences are everything, I appreciated that. Emotions won't save you. I've seen too many people who go from church to church seeking that emotional experience and miss seeing Jesus all together. There has to be a balance there and these guys strove hard to find it.

Around 40 students made decisions to ask Jesus into their hearts, one in my group. How awesome is that? The family of Christ just got a lot bigger and that is so exciting. Tonight about 20 of those students are going to be baptized as a public demonstration of the decision they made to follow Christ. It's going to be AWESOME!

You are welcome to come. If you spent any time praying for us, utilizing the services of the Parent's Night Out, purchased a car wash ticket, etc., YOU played a part in the life changes that these students experienced. Not everyone is called to serve by going to camp, many of you served through the above mentioned means, and ALL are important and necessary (one body, many parts). Come hear about the awesome things God did in the lives of these students. Wed. night, FBC Smyrna, 6:30.

Next Food Network Star

Okay, so that's definitely not me but I felt a bit inspired to try new things out this weekend while watching this show.

If you've never gone to the website www.allrecipes.com, then you need to visit it. You can search by ingredient or recipe and it brings up a ton of options. They are also reviewed by people with comments which I find very helpful.

I tried the following two recipes out this weekend and they were a hit:

Skewered Shrimp

3 T. soy sauce
2 T. lemon juice
1 T. chili sauce
3/4 tsp. ground ginger
1 lb. shrimp

1. In a bowl combine ingredients above. Pour 1/2 into a lg. resealable bag, add shrimp. Seal bag & turn to coat. Refrigerate 2 hours. Cover & refrigerate remaining marinade.

2. Drain & discard marinade from shrimp. Thread onto metal or soaked wooden skewers. Grill, uncovered over medium heat for 6-8 minutes or until shrimp turn pink, turning once. Serve w/reserved marinade.

We did this with precooked shrimp and the marinade part didn't really "take" but the sauce was GREAT (so I heard, I don't eat shrimp)for dipping the shrimp in. I guess you really need uncooked shrimp for the marinade to get into the shrimp. Eric & crew said this would also make a good sauce for sushi.


Sweet & Sour Kielbasa

1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 T. Worch. Sauce
4 T. butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
4 T. lemon juice
1/2 cup water
2 T. garlic powder
salt & pepper to taste
1-2 lbs. kielbasa cut up

In a slow cooker (or stove top) mix all ingredients together, add kielbasa, cook until hot & onions cooked. It took about 1.5-2 hours on low to get to the desired temperature. We left it on for about 4 hours and it was GREAT! Really tasty! Good appetizer.

Happy 4th!

We had a wonderful 4th of July yesterday! Friends of ours, the Williams & the Currys, came over and hung out with us. Thankfully it didn't rain and we were able to grill out. We live on a cul-de-sac and last year my neighbors all came out and set off fireworks. It was a lot of fun and I was hoping they'd do it again this year. They did not disappoint! There had to be around 50 people outside all taking turns setting off fireworks. SO FUN.

Drew LOVED the fireworks but Owen was scared of them. You can see in the pics below how he was clinging to Eric and then watching from inside the house. Dillon, Drew & Nathan had a great time together (as you can see).

We did, however, miss our girl, Morgan. She is on vacation at the beach with her best friend, Bailey and is having a blast. Yesterday they swam for 6 hours and today they are going to the beach. I wish I could be on that vacation LOL!

Here are some pics:

Kit Kittredge: An American Girl

Tonight the latest American Girl movie opened and I took Morgan to go see it. She's been excited about this for weeks so it was fun. The movie is REALLY good. If you have young daughters, this is a great movie to take them too. It's just good, clean fun and that is sometimes hard to come by in movies.

Of course Morgan had to bring her American Girl doll, Regan. The dress she has on is one that my Nan-Nan made for her, isn't it cute?





A small update on me: I'm finally doing better. The stone still hasn't passed but the dr. said it could take 4-6 weeks. I have the option to have it blasted out but I think we'll save that for another option if things get bad again. The kidney stone is a small blessing though because it alerted us to another problem that I had that really needed to be addressed. Turns out I'm severely anemic and need to work on fixing this. It explains a lot, I've had different symptoms the past year that I didn't understand or think too much about but are all explained by being anemic. I want to send HUGE thank-you's to Shea & Suzanne who have really gone above and beyond to help me on Monday & Tuesday when I truly just felt drained and just plain lousy. You guys are GREAT friends and I am blessed to have you in my life!

2 ER's in 2 days

I'm back from camp and it was amazing! When I'm not feeling all drugged up, I will give an update on everything that happened.

It seems I am developing a bad habit of getting sick while at church retreats (I got sick at Collision too). On Thursday morning I woke up with extreme pain on my left side and eventually agreed to go to the ER. It was assumed based on my symptoms that I had a kidney stone. The dr. didn't do a CT Scan at that time though. I was thankful that the extreme pain went away and I was able to finish out the last day and a half of camp with just a nagging pain and a general sense of being unwell. I began to wonder if a kidney stone was really the problem.

Fast forward to last night. Things were pretty painful but manageable with ibuprofen and a heating pad until about 5 am when I experienced the absolute WORST pain of my life. OH MY WORD. I quickly took the prescribed pain killers and then insisted that Eric take me to the ER. I'm glad I went.

If you know me at all, then you know that I am TERRIFIED of needles so I wasn't overly enthused to have an IV in the first place. Imagine my "joy" when it took the nurse blowing TWO iv's before the third one took. Ughhhh. Oh well, after it was put in I experienced the pleasures of effective pain relief and was taken for a scan.

Diagnosis - several kidney stones on my left side, one on it's way to my bladder, hence the pain, one kidney stone on my right side and a urinary tract infection despite the fact that I was already on antibiotics after my Thursday ER trip (they changed my medicine since it obviously wasn't working). Also found out I that am pretty severely anemic so I need to take care of that as well.

I'm so thankful for my parents being here. They flew in from PA to spend time with my kiddos while I went to camp and it was a lifesaver to have them here this morning when I had to go to the ER.

THANK YOU so much Mom & Dad - words can't begin to tell you how much I love and appreciate you!!!

Camp Whatever!

Okay, I'm almost ready to leave for our student ministry camp, Camp Whatever! I can't believe it's here!!!

Please be praying over the following week for God to move in the lives of the students attending (almost 400!) and for all the counselors. If you think about it, pray also for my family. My parents are flying in today to help watch the kiddos while Eric is at work. I am SO thankful for them!!!

I think the church is going to do some live streaming of stuff at camp - you can check it out at www.fbcsmyrna.or/campwhatever

See you on Friday!

Pink Daisy Earrings

The other day Morgan asked if she could get her ears pierced. She said that she knew it would hurt a little but she would be brave. Last night we talked about it with Dad but he wasn't overly enthused about the idea. I think it was more that it was another sign that his little girl was growing up.

Morgan & I ended up convincing him and away we went to Claire's.

When we got there another girl, 18 years old, was getting her second holes in her ears done and was making it seem like a big, stinkin' deal. Oh my. We walked to the back of the store because I didn't want Morgan to get freaked out by how this other girl was reacting.

Then it was Morgan's turn. She picked out some cute pink daisy earrings and hopped right up in the chair. You can see the nervousness in the first picture but the happiness of having it done in the second picture.

She was excited this morning to put her hair back in a ponytail so that she could show off her new earrings at the Kindergarten party with some church friends.

Check this out

The Voice of the Martyrs National Conference is going on right now and my friend is doing some live blogging from the conference.

So far he's posted about Colombia & Iran.

Go check it out HERE.

Power Lab (VBS 2008)

Well, VBS is almost over, only one more day. Can I just say that it has been SO MUCH FUN??

Yesterday we walked on "water" like Peter. That was a riot. We mixed 24 lbs of cornstarch w/water until it made an almost solid consistency. It looked like water on top but when you stepped on it, it was solid. TOO COOL. I loved seeing the reactions of both the kids & adults.

Today was the day that the Gospel was shared. There were 41 children who made decisions to accept Christ!!! Isn't that awesome???? I am so happy for them, they have no idea the kind of amazing adventure awaits them as a Christ-follower.

Another bright spot in this VBS is the middle-school worker that has been helping me out. I've really enjoyed getting to know him, he has been such a hard worker and so enthusiastic. We've just got so many good kids, students, etc. helping out, we are a very blessed church.

One day left and then it's time to gear up for Camp Whatever with the middle & high school students. I have to admit, I am TIRED. I am SO not a morning person so this getting up, having myself & the kids ready and OUT-THE-DOOR by 7:45 am is catching up with us. I'm looking forward to staying up late and sleeping past 5:45 am next week at camp (hey, don't burst my bubble, I know that I won't be getting much sleep next week either but a girl can dream.)

G'night!

Dehydrated

Owen woke up from his nap this afternoon screaming and saying that his back hurt. He had mentioned his back hurting several other times over the past 2-3 days but we didn't think all that much of it honestly. He wasn't upset or anything any of those times and well, you know kids.

He kept at it and his regular pediatrician was out-of-town so I went ahead and took him to the ER. I am not normally one to rush to the ER but how often does a 2 year old really scream because their BACK hurts? It's an odd thing to complain about for a kid that age so it concerned me.

We got there and the dr. did a chest x-ray to rule out pneumonia and then wanted a urine sample to check for a UTI. Well, Owen did not want to pee in a cup so they taped this bag thing on him and we waited. Three cups of juice, 2 glasses of water and 1.5 hours later, he pee'd.

Thankfully he didn't have a UTI but the test did show that he was dehydrated.

Okay, that's a new one on me. I guess because he had a fever yesterday and really wasn't drinking much (yes, we offered drinks), that he got dehydrated. The dr. said that it can cause the back, near the kidneys to hurt.

So - he is home, cup in hand, feeling better.

Mud on your eyes (VBS 2008)

Yesterday started Vacation Bible School at our church. The theme this year comes from Group's POWER LAB curriculum. I am LOVING it!

Last year I had the privilege to be a crew leader and take around 8-10 Kindergarten students. I had fun doing it and it made me even more excited to help out again this year. This time I am doing a Bible Blast room. This is where they experience a hand's on Bible story.

Today the key thought was "Jesus give you the power to help others." The Bible story we experienced was when Jesus healed the blind man by putting mud on his eyes. We met the kids in the hall and blindfolded their eyes. They got to walk around the room not being able to see. Then, we put "mud" over their eyes. Oh yes, we went there!!! Relax, it was just oatmeal, but the kids didn't know that! After Jesus put the mud on the eyes of the blind man, he told him to go wash it off in the pool at Siloam. When I said that I think a few of the kids got a little worried about what might come next. No swimming pools, just wet wipes.

How did we get to the main point? Well, Jesus and his friends stopped when they saw the blind beggar and they helped him. How many times do we walk right past someone who needs help? Why don't we stop more often? How do you think the beggar felt when Jesus stopped & helped him?

The kids had a blast and I think the crew leaders enjoyed this one too! Tomorrow the kids get to walk on water - don't you wish you could be there too?

GOOD JOB to all those that have worked so hard to make this happen. I think there are about 500 children (at least), participating this week so you know it took some major hard work on the part of those at the church. Pastor Allen, Ruth, Becca & everyone else who has helped - GOOD JOB!

Uggghhh - stomach bug

Owen came in our room last night around 1 am with a fever. I was hoping that's where it would end but around 4 am he threw up and has done so several times since then.

There are a lot of things I can handle, but the stomach bug isn't one of those things.

Please pray for Owen's quick recovery and say a special prayer that no one else in our family gets sick!!

VBS starts today and I am thankful for my husband who is going to work from home today to take care of Owen while I go with Morgan & Drew!

Parent's Night Out for Camp - SESSION 4

Friday night was our last Parent's Night Out to raise money for Camp Whatever. It was a GREAT success.

For those of you who haven't seen a previous post about this, here's the "skinny." I help lead a small group of high school girls alongside a friend of mine, Megan. This summer (next week actually), they have the opportunity to attend a one-week camp where they get to have fun while having a life-changing encounter with God.

This is near & dear to my heart because it was at one such camp that I accepted Jesus as my personal Lord & Saviour during the summer before my senior year of high school (June 18, 2001 to be exact!). I am evidence of a life changed because of the opportunity that I had and I hope & pray the same for each student that attends.

The cost of camp is $200 per student and my girls have been working hard to earn their money. We've offered babysitting services to a group of parents in exchange for donations for camp. Three of the girls earned a little over 1/2 their total money doing this!

Thank you so much to all those that participated. Your contribution is going to be life-changing for these girls. What an awesome part in their Christian adventure you just played!

Here are a few pics:

Hide-n-Go-Seek

Sometime last week I put Drew & Owen down for a nap. When I went to wake them up, this is how I found their beds:

DREW:


OWEN - wait, where is Owen??


After a bit of looking, I found him under Drew's bed - ASLEEP.

Can YOU help???

Well, you've probably seen my posts about getting ready to go to the Student Ministry Camp Whatever this summer and you know how excited we all are about going. Our group of 9th grade girls has been working their tails off to earn the money to go to camp ($200 per person) and we are SO excited (yes, I'm going too & can't wait).

The student ministry has had such a tremendous response by the kids to go to camp (380 total!!) that they are in DESPERATE need of 10 more camp counselors.

Before you shake your head "no" or tune me out, take a few minutes to prayerfully consider it.

I know that the idea of working with middle & high school students can seem over-whelming and make you feel a bit uncomfortable. I know I was when I started. Sometimes it's in doing something that we aren't comfortable in that God blesses us the most. It's in those times that we have to rely on Him to help us. I've certainly found that to be true this past 9 months as I've worked alongside my friend, Megan, to lead a small group of 9th grade girls. It has been the most challenging, uncomfortable, and WONDERFUL time.

So, think about it - REALLY think about it. Pray about it. If you're a mom with kids, do you have any family close that can watch your kids during the day while your husband is at work? If you're a working person, can you sacrifice one week of your time to be used by God and changed by God?

If you are interested, please contact David McCaman at the church (david.mccaman@fbcsmyrna.org).

I hope to see you at camp!!!

Prayer Requests (2 of them)

Can you please say a prayer (or two or three) today for the following:

1. Friends of mine return home after a month away from home to a house that flooded and all the work that it entails to clean it up. This same home flooded 11 months ago as well. Not fun!

2. Pray for me. Not going into details but I would appreciate your prayers this morning.

Thanks!

Small Group Stuff

My 9th grade small group co-leader, Megan, just had baby #2 yesterday and I took our small group (minus one) to visit them tonight. It was so fun and baby Breanna is BEAUTIFUL. The girls enjoyed visiting them and oohing over Breanna although only three would hold her. I'd post pics of the visit but Megan hasn't posted them on her blog and I'm not stealing her thunder.

We are blessed to have a wonderful small group of girls - they rock!

We NOT Me

On Sunday Pastor Hood highlighted Ephesians 4:1-6 and talked about how the Christian faith should not be about "me" (ourselves) but about "we" (the body of Christ). A couple of things I wrote down from the message that stuck out to me (there were many more but I'm just highlighting a few):

We (Christians) are held to a higher standard because we are a part of something much bigger than us.

It's not just about how things affect us, but how they affect the glory & fame of God.

This passage goes on to give us a snapshot of what walking worth of our calling looks like. This includes humility (as opposed to pride), gentleness (defined as power under control), and patience.

What we sometimes forget, everything that happens is not about us. We are not the center of the world, Jesus is. It's not about ME, US.

During much of the message I was going over a quote that I had just read in my monthly Voice of the Martyrs newsletter which features the country of Colombia. This is a VERY dangerous country to be a Christian in and choosing to follow Christ can be a literal death sentence for you.

Here's what stuck out to me:

"'They (FARC guerilla's) said if they had read these books (Christian literature that was being passed out) before releasing me, they would have killed me.' Celso told us without hesitation. 'But Jesus told me to go. He never said I would come back. Isn't that the life of a Christian?"

Wow. The persecuted church worldwide is the perfect example of what it means to be focused on knowing Jesus and making Him famous. They are the perfect example of being WE focused.

For many in places like Colombia, Pakistan, North Korea, Chine, etc. choosing to follow Christ means that you choose a literal death or the very real possibility of it. It means a life of suffering and hardship and yet they choose to follow.

The could stop there, I guess. They could consider only themselves and the fact that they now have assurance of eternity with Jesus and choose to not share that with anyone else. They could choose to assure their "survival" by remaining quiet and going about their lives but they don't.

They have realized that it's not about them or about being comfortable. Many can do nothing but share the good news about Jesus with others despite the cost. They understand that it's not about THEM but about HIM.

The American church needs a little perspective. Much can be learned from those whose focus is on knowing Christ and making Him known regardless of the personal cost.

Why do you worry?

As a worrier (who is trying hard to not worry all the time), I really thought THIS was a great post over at Living Proof Ministries.

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:

Owen pics.

Here is a sampling of pics from today's photo shoot. I took Owen to Portrait Innovations for the first "professional" pics that I've had of him since he was less than a year old (yes, you read that right. The scrapbooker in me is cringing just admitting that!).

Can't say that I like the quality of the printed pics, but Owen did well.

How dus a plant groe

Morgan and her friend, Bailey, decided they wanted to make their own books today. Morgan started a book on how seeds grow. I think she's taking the wording (obviously not the spelling) from a book she's read at school. Isn't this the CUTEST thing???

Parent's Night Out for Camp - TAKE 2

Tonight was the second PARENT'S NIGHT OUT FOR CAMP that our 9th grade girls held. We had 15 kids total and I think most had fun.

This time was different because the kids were older and mainly boys. The weather was BEAUTIFUL outside so we spent a good amount of time in the backyard. The kids also did some crafts (older kids made a bouquet out of their hand prints & the younger made puppets) and played Wii. We tried to get them to sit down around 9 pm and watch a video w/popcorn but they didn't stay still for long.

Thank you so much to those that participated!!!

The next PNO is Friday, May 16th. Please let me know if you'd like to get an evite. I'm sending it out this weekend.

Thanks again!

"B" Day (Photo Added)

Well, today is the day that Owen will be giving up his precious BINKIES (pacifiers). I know, I know, we should have gotten rid of them a long time ago but we didn't, rather, I didn't.

So - today he is giving them to someone who needs them more than he does - baby ELLA.

It may be a long day/night.

UPDATE: Owen did so well giving up his binkies and was very proud of himself. Overall we've had a good day (this despite NO naps for either of my boys). He didn't even ask for it once. Here's a pic of him giving his pacifiers to Ella.

He knows.

Honestly, I have to tell you that I feel like I've been in a wrestling match with God lately. It's been a very hard couple of weeks spiritually and it's driving me crazy. I am not one that can sit in a stagnant/mediocre place for long. I have to be active in my faith - I just can't help it. That's why the past couple of weeks have been hard. I just want to find a moment where I don't feel like I'm having to fight so hard for things. I just want a time of rest and peace without feeling lazy or mediocre. I often look at other Christians and wonder why things are so easy for them. Perhaps they don't really have it easy, they just don't show struggles well.

I meet with several other ladies each Wed. morning for a bible study. We are currently going through the Beth Moore study, Beleiving God. Can I just say that today's message was meant for me. I saw down today not wanting to be there and frustrated and I walked out feeling like I had heard a word from God for me specifically.

I love it when things like that happen.

God is good.

One of the things that stuck out to me - God doesn't call us to something and not empower us to obey Him completely.

I can do it, one day at a time.

Thank you Lord.

Back it up!

I learned a valuable lesson in digital media management yesterday. It can be summed up in three words:

BACK IT UP!

Several months ago I started having problems with my computer and had to re-image the thing. It freaked me out a bit because all of my pictures were on my computer and I had no way of backing them up. My DVD/CD burner wasn't working and I didn't have an external hard-drive. Before reinstalling my entire operating system, Eric went out and bought an external hard-drive so I could keep my pictures and other files safe.

I'd like to say that I had been doing good about backing up my files, but I didn't and as a result I had about 5 months of pictures on my computer. I'm a scrapbooker and LOVE taking pictures and would have been DEVASTATED to lose all those memories.

I got home yesterday and went to boot up my computer and it wouldn't. It gave me a message that basically said my hard-drive was non-existent.

WHAT?????? YIKES!!!!!!!

Of course, I freaked. I called my brother who told me that there was a good chance I lost everything but to take it to Best Buy (Geek Squad) and see what they could do. I got all the way to Best Buy when I remembered that my friend, Jennifer's, husband did IT stuff. I called him and he said that he did have some experience with hard-drive problems and to come on over.

So, I did and I was expecting the worst. It was making me physically ill just thinking about it.

Well, about 30 seconds after getting there he asked me why my hard drive was unplugged. WHAT???? I didn't eve know where my hard-drive was yet alone how to unplug the thing.

Turns out that the 2 screws that were holding it in had someone come out & disappeared. I have NO idea how that happened as no one else has worked on my computer. He just pushed the hard-drive back in and the computer worked great.

Guess what I did when I got home?

Yep, I backed everything up!!!

Moral of the story: MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A WAY TO BACKUP YOUR FILES!

Visiting friends

This weekend was my trip to Oklahoma to visit some of my friends. Eric got me this trip as a Valentine's gift because he knew how much I was missing my girls. Here is one snapshot of the weekend - looks like fun, right?

I also have to brag on my honey. Originally this trip was planned in early March when there wasn't baseball or soccer. He has taken care of a sick child (Owen), taken Drew to baseball and Morgan to soccer practice and coached her game. He has taken the kids swimming (Owen is better, of course) and out to dinner. He is a WONDERFUL father and a fabulous husband. THANK YOU honey for making this trip possible.

The Malatya Martyrs (Turkey)

A friend, and former co-worker shared something on his blog today that I wanted to pass along. It's when I read things like this that I remember how amazing God is and how He moves in mighty ways.

After working at The Voice of the Martyrs for seven years and daily hearing the stories of those who suffer for the name of Christ around the world, I have to say, I whole-heartedly agree with a statement Beth Moore made on a video I watched last week. She said (I think she was quoting another article, don't remember), "Because we haven't been a suffering church, we've lacked so much life."

Please read this and remember the families that lost their loved ones a year ago in Turkey for the name of Christ.

It's a war

I've always been very aware of the fact that there is a battle going on that we cannot see. It's a battle between good & evil, God & Satan, a battle for our very souls. For the person that hasn't chosen to be a Christ-follower, the goal is to keep them from becoming on. For the person that has chosen to follow Christ, the goal is to take our focus off of God and thereby give other things (aka Satan), the glory. Less we forget, we are always glorifiying something/someone, it's just a question of who.

The past 2 weeks have been the absolute hardest I've had a Christian in a very long time. Nothing crazy or earth-shattering has happened other than I just couldn't get my act together. I made some bad choices, sometimes being deliberate about sin, and I just didn't feel strong enough to do anything else

I knew that there was a war going on in the heavenlies, I knew that we, as Christ-followers, would be the subject of much of this war and yet I was tired. I felt very battle-weary. Perhaps you can relate to that, I don't know.

God is always faithful in the midst of that.

My friend, Dina, emailed me this today. A little background, Dina works for a company called Newell & Associates (if you are at a church or ministry that uses volunteers, you need to check them out) and she has a prayer team (more on that subject on a later blog). Her prayer team receives weekly updates & prayer requests so we can assist Dina in her ministry. She is my very best friend and an incredible woman of God.

Read this:

God has reminded me this past week: We are at WAR! Whether we like it or not, whether we want to be or not, whether we feel like fighting or not—we are at war with the enemy of our souls, who prowls around, seeking to taunt and intimidate, steal, kill and destroy. When you have a moment, read I Samuel 17. It’s the famous David & Goliath encounter. Al (her boss) shared a devotional at the American Heritage Girl's conference on this passage: the Israelites and Philistines were at war, both sides had drawn their battle lines, but no one had engaged in battle because the giant Goliath yelled taunts and hurled a seemingly impossible challenge to the Israelites, which caused them to tremble in fear. So for 40 days, the enemy giant taunted and intimidated the Lord’s people. And although they were dressed in battle array, no one engaged in battle. It took David, a young boy with great courage and amazing faith, to step up and face the giant head on and engage in battle. For him, it didn’t matter what his size, qualifications or abilities were, it mattered that he came in the name of the LORD Almighty. v.45-47: “….I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel whom you have defied. This day the LORD will hand you over to me….and the whole world will know there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves, for the battle is the LORD’s and He will give all of you into our hands.” So often, I feel that I am at war, yet have not engaged in battle (prayer)—and I often catch myself much like the Israelite army, gripped by fear and intimidation. Your ministry as a prayer partner on this team has an amazing impact on the LORD’s kingdom. You are Davids—full of courage and faith, stepping in to engage in battle. The prayers you offer on behalf of our ministry and family are like the smooth stones David chose to sling at the enemy giant—fueled by God’s Almighty power, the enemy is defeated. I thank my God for each of you!

Batter Up

Today was Drew's 1st baseball practice. Wow - was that kid excited. His practice wasn't until 9 am but he woke up at 7 am and immediately put on his uniform. It was so stinkin' cute!

We got to practice and it went great. He had a huge smile on his face the whole time. I love that at this age they get this look of pure joy on their face. It's my favorite thing to see when they experience something new.

Here are some pics.

Getting after a ball (Drew's the one in front)

Going over the finer points of hitting with the coach.

I think this is hilarious. He has such a look of concentration on this face. He obviously hit the "T" and not the ball (note where the ball is). He was sure trying hard though. So cute!

Oh - just in case you all didn't already know how big of a Cardinal fan my husband is, I've been informed that I needed to develop some "connections" within the baseball crew because no kid of his will be playing for any team other than the CARDINALS. So - if you know who I need to befriend, let me know. :)

WOOHOO Craigslist!

We listed our old van last night on Craigslist and it has already sold!!!!!!! It only took 12 hours to sell.

WAHOOO!!!

Think we go out to eat a lot?

I do now - the kids are sitting around playing restaurant. Morgan makes a good waitress, writing everything down. The boys ordered chicken fingers, fries and a popsicle drink. It's been fun sitting hear listening to them.

The person before me

Whoever had our phone number prior to us moving here was one interesting person. Let's see what I know about her:

1. She supports the arts, police, firemen, sheriff's office, etc.
2. She has an acct. at Hollywood Video.
3. She has a lot of friends that don't know her new number.
4. A lot of those "friends" would like to get some money from her.
5. Her child/children went to a local elementary school. This confused me for a while because I recently started getting automated phone calls from this particular school (not the same one that my child attends). The messages were always weird but once I actually answered a phone call I understood.

And, my favorite

She attended a church around here that has "tribe" meetings every Wednesday night (Example - tribe of Gad, tribe of ...). This one is particularly funny to me because on the two Wed. where it was snowing I emailed Melanie at the church to have her confirm that church was closed. Neither time church was closed and I'm sure she thought I was a bit crazy for even asking. Why did I ask? Because I got 2 messages on my voice mail telling me it was. It wasn't until last night, when I actually was here for a phone call and got invited to attend the Tribe of Gad meeting that I realized what that was all about.

Hmmm.. You'd think after being here for 1.75 years that we'd stop getting calls for this person (who, by the way, has SEVERAL names). She's an interesting person all right!

Please PRAY (espec. around 10 am)

I know that several of you have been following the adoption of Savannah-Hope by the Johnson family. Crystal is in Malawi right now but is having some issues with paperwork and can't return yet. She's been in Malawi, away from her husband and 4 kids, for 22 days!!! They need a meeting to be scheduled today or it will be a lot longer until she can return.

Here's a link to their blog: Johnson family.

Soccer for dummies?

Is there such a book? If so, does anyone have it???

Morgan is playing soccer this spring and Eric & I agreed to coach the team. I should say, ERIC is the head coach, I just am available to help out as needed. Today, I'm needed.

What do I know about soccer????

Nothing.

What do I know about teaching soccer to a bunch of 6 year old girls???

Nothing.

This should be interesting.

Parent's Night Out 4 Camp

Tonight was our first Parent's Night Out event to help raise money for our 9th grade small group of girls to go to summer camp. The cost per student is $200 and we have 2 months to raise the money. The student ministry is doing a car wash where the students have the opportunity to get 100% of the money they raise toward their camp cost. Just 20 tickets sold and they are home free (let me know if you need tickets).

In addition, we wanted to do something else as a group to earn the money, hence the PARENT'S NIGHT OUT idea.

Our girls came over to my house along with my co-leader, Megan, and we watched 14 children (that includes my 3) from 6:30-10 pm tonight. The minimum cost was $3 per child, per hour, with add'l donations accepted & very much appreciated (but not necessary).

Wow - was it crazy! Honestly, after getting only 2.5 hours of sleep last night, I was exhausted and feeling a bit overwhelmed by the thought of 23 people in my house. With the majority of the kids being age 4 and under, well, those of you that have kids that age, had kids that age or worked with kids that age can imagine the chaos that could have ensued.

Things went FAR better than I expected. We divided the kids up by age and then rotated them through different stations which included, games, free play, crafts & snack. At 9 pm we changed those that brought PJ's into them and "sat" down to watch a movie.

Our girls were GREAT and cleaned up everything afterward (don't worry honey, the carpet looks PERFECT LOL).

We are planning on doing this again on Friday, April 25th. If you are interested in being included on the evite, please drop me a note. I am sending out the evite this weekend.

Thanks to those that brought your children over and let us have fun with them for a couple of hours. Here are a few pics:

What the heck??

It's 1 am and OWEN IS STILL AWAKE! Not just a little awake but "I'm-not-tired-Mommy-and-plan-to-stay-up-all-night" awake! Ughhh!!!!!! It figures one of my kiddos would do this the night before a VERY busy Friday.

Edited to add: He just went to his room and came back with some tools from his workbench to fix my broken laundry basket. Seriously!

Edited to add another note: Had to laugh when Drew woke up too around 2 pm.

DRUMROLL PLEASE.... Owen finally went to sleep around 3 am and Drew went to sleep around 3:45 am.

They better sleep their butts in because I have a ton of stuff to do today and it needs to start with cleaning my pit...I mean, my house.

Pray for us today (I'm not kidding).

Recommendations needed

Can anyone recommend a local jeweler that they trust? I need to get my wedding ring fixed.

Also, can anyone recommend a body shop? We need to get a dent removed from our old van before we sell it.

Thanks, in advance.

Farley Family

Several months ago I came across a blog of a young family here in middle TN who was about to give birth to a daughter that had Trisomy 18. Eight days after she was born she passed away. Through her blog, her mom has been so open and real about the journey that God has brought her through, heartbreakingly real.

Today she posted a video made about Copeland, her daughter with Trisomy 18, and their journey. It's an amazing video, you should watch it but make sure you bring the tissues.

HERE is the link.