Live it out!

Give Em' Jesus

2010-08-05T19:53:00.000-07:00

Tonight I was reading in the Word. I came across a verse that I could not get out of my mind. It is
Acts 3:6 But Peter said, "I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene-walk!"
"I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you" is what I keep turning over and over in my head. Here Peter heals a man from being crippled, but more importantly he gives the man a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. We know the man becomes a believer because in verse 8 & 9 it says that he began to walk, leap, and praise God. This man gained exceedingly more than his ability to walk again. He gained eternal life which comes with hope, peace, joy, AND A RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS.
Lately a change has taken place in me. I have started to love people. Now I've never been a hater of people, but I certainly have not been attentive like I should to the hurting. God has opened my eyes wide to see that LIFE IS NOT ABOUT ME!! Its not about my wants and needs and plans. The truth about me is that I love comfort. Take me to Wynne camping and I melt down emotionally. It's sad I tell you. I gravitate toward safety! Plus I like all my clan to be right under my wing as I enjoy the air conditioning and a nice glass of iced tea. But somehow God has worked His way into my heart with His grace and truth. I am beginning to see that I was meant for so much more. I was meant to reach out like Peter and offer the hurting the saving power of Jesus Christ. Why would I not want to give that away?
We started our first week of school this week at home. My focus for the year is on training my kids [and myself] to be attentive to the needs of others. It has been neat to see God open doors so that Wil, Maggie, and Trey can practice loving others. The cool thing is that they love to reach out to people whether it be a visit to the sick, a bottle of water for the thirsty, or a card for the mail lady. They get excited about it. It is what Jesus calls "faith like a child". If we don't teach our children to be attentive to the needs of others, they will gravitate toward themselves. Until lately I have not been faithful like I should to help them love people...most importantly people that are different from them. As we get older, we grow cold toward the needs of others. I know I have, but praise God He doesn't leave us in our self-centered state. If we will reach out to Him, He will open our eyes to a world that desperately needs His touch.
II Corinthians 5:15 says He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.
Father LORD, may we be a light to this world, a city on a hill that cannot be hidden. Let our lives shine out so that people will want You and praise You.

God Is In Baseball Too

2010-06-26T06:33:00.000-07:00

Wow. It has been a busy month. I am not believing June is a step away from behind us. A big part of our month has been baseball. If we are not playing, we are practicing. And as soon as we finished our regular season, we began All Stars. Today is our last tournament for the NEA Central All Star team and as I was looking at some pictures of last weekend's tournament, something came to my mind. It has been a re-occurring lesson for me since Wil could walk. It is that sports is mainly the means to God's glory. "Huh?" you say. Before I explain I will give you a little background information.
My son is very much on the small end in weight and height. He has always been at or below the 40% mark on the growth chart. He isn't a talker and he doesn't stick out in a crowd. But he can hit a ball, throw a ball, catch a ball, dribble and shoot like no body's business. Give him a sport and he'll love it! And he has been doing that since before he could walk. He never has had any other interest but ball. Another thing about Wilson is that he won't branch out from the comfortable. He was born into the right family because his daddy loves sports and is very competitive. Wil's best friend is his daddy. One reason is that Tommy wears himself out playing ball with Wil. They are very close.
So now to why I say Wil's love for sports is for God's glory or should be for God's glory. I say this mainly out of conviction because with all the games and practices, and traveling, It is easy to get caught up in it and put it before what really matters. God says this in His Word: I Corinthians 10:31 "Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." God created us to live with a single passion to joyfully display His supreme excellence in all the spheres of life NOT just on Sunday mornings and not just when we are around our Christian friends. I could never do enough to thank the Lord Jesus Christ for saving me and putting my feet on the right path. I don't earn my salvation but I want to honor God because of all He has done for me. Last weekend I stunk it up not outwardly but inwardly. I started to care way more about Wil's performance and what others thought of me than of God's glory. I am confessing here as you see. When I got home, I knew that my attitude and heart was way off kilter with the LORD. I was making much of me and not making much of God. And another thing is that by the end of the tournament Trey and Maggie had had enough of baseball and their behavior screamed that for all the fans to see. What was I concerned about? I was concerned about what I looked like as a parent. And I was not looking to good let me tell ya. That should not have been my main concern.
God gives us numerous opportunities to be a light for His glory. We just have to pray and ask for His wisdom, guidance, and courage to love and to speak hope with our lives and our words. God delights in seeing us enjoy what He has created and given us. I believe sports is a blessing for Wil. It is such an outlet for a boy who otherwise is shy and quiet. But as a parent I must point Wil to the One who bestowed that blessing upon him and encourage Wilson to be a light as he plays...to be an encourager to his teammates, to respect his coach, to have self control, to be a good sportsman toward the other team, and at the end of the game to give God honor whether he wins or loses!!!

Its Never Too Early

2010-04-28T11:15:00.000-07:00

It is never too early to start studying God's Word with your children. I realized that this afternoon after I spent some time in the Bible with Maggie my 5 year old. It began as a deal between the two of us. Maggie's friend got her own Bible for her baptism. Of course when Maggie saw her friend's new Bible, she wanted one. She was insistent or should I say nagging about it until finally I made a deal with her. I told her that if everyday for the next 2 weeks she would come and read the Bible with me during the first 15 minutes of Caillou (one of her favorite shows) we would get her a Bible (and a new pink Bible cover....sigh). If today is any indication of her faithfulness and enthusiasm, she will get a Bible by the weekend. I could hardly hold back my excitement as she asked questions and reasoned through what we were reading. It was so much fun especially since my own passion is studying His Word. I decided to read through the first chapter of the book of John. That was already the book I was thinking but this morning at breakfast confirmed it. Maggie and Wil were discussing whether or not Jesus existed before Abraham. Wil and Maggie struggle with grasping the fact that Jesus existed before Mary actually gave birth to him. Anyway I thought the book of John would be a great place to start for us.
I started out by explaining to her about a quiet time. I said, "When momma says she is going to have a quiet time with the LORD it means that I am going to spend time reading the Bible". I told her that momma always starts out with prayer asking God to open my mind so that He can speak to me what He wants me to know. Maggie and I prayed and then read the first several verses of John. At the end, I shared with her the importance of spending time with God in His Bible. I told her that in life when we are scared or hurting or confused that knowing God's Word will help us to be strong and not be afraid.
Honestly I did not expect much of a response from Maggie during this time, but praise God I think she really liked it. Actually just as I am typing this, she come in my room and said, "Can we do that again tomorrow?" III John 4 says, "I could have no greater joy than to hear that my children are following the truth". Moms, there is no assurance that we can give them except God and His Truth.
Tomorrow her enthusiasm may not be what it was today, but I must press on knowing that the greatest way I can love my children is to give them my love and God's truth.

Discipleship

2010-02-20T19:34:00.000-08:00

I am so exhausted right now. I have been loaded up with information on discipleship this weekend. I attended a Downline Summit Discipleship conference Friday and today in Memphis. The LORD has burdened my heart over the past several months for discipleship. I am living proof that without discipleship, we can get lost trying to find our way to the will of God. The lady that God brought into my life to disciple me has shown me more in 3 years than I have learned in 10. I just needed someone to invest in me and bless her heart for doing so. She has so graciously answered every one of my goofy questions and encouraged me in so many ways. I owe so much to her and my husband (for Tommy has been my #1 mentor, but there is only so far he can go with the mind of a woman--amen?) Anyway this weekend left me with 2 things I know the LORD has laid on my mind and heart. I'm a step by step person so I'm like "LORD, give me a starting point." Step one: Pray for a few women to disciple because it is our calling to do so (Titus 2) even though I feel inadequate. I know my heavenly Father is sufficient to lead me. And before I get to step two I want to say that at the end of today's conference I was feeling a bit anxious and overwhelmed by the responsibility and calling to disciple. I long to please God and to obey Him faithfully so when I heard Kay Arthur speak on "taking the book to your tribe" and building on the foundation of Jesus Christ in other's lives (I Corinthians 3:10-15), I was thinking I must get started, I must form a group a.s.a.p, I must throw my whole self into discipling. This is the way I tend to react (one of my many flaws). Praise God I have learned so much from my wonderful husband who "waits on the LORD" for instruction before he acts. So I took a deep breath and told the LORD to slow me down. This is where step 2 came in.
I went to the last breakout session entitled "Discipleship as a Mom". I was excited but a wee bit nervous about the preconceived notion that I was about to be hit again with a wave of information that might cause me some chest pains and labored breathing. Praise God for a dear lady named Nancy Holcomb who listens to the Holy Spirit. She was the speaker and she came in and started with these words: "ladies, i feel like the LORD wants me tell you to not lose heart" She said "I know you feel like you not only must disciple your children, but after today you feel like you must disciple the nations" and with this, we all felt like she understood our hearts. She encouraged us to remember that our children must come first. For the next hour or so she had us rolling in the aisles. Nancy was hysterical, but she loved loved loved the Word of God and trusted It with every fiber of her being. She is a mom of four. Her son died at 14 with Spinal Bifida. And through her trials, the Word was her strength. She waved the banner of God's Love high as she testified and related to us. It was awesome. I want to share just a few things that ministered to me that she said.

"One of the greatest things you can give your child is a smile" (look at them straight in the eye and smile at them...sounds simple but be intentional about it)
"Don't react to them every time they shock you with their behavior unless you know your words are from the LORD"
"Talk to your kids about what God is doing in your life, tell them about your day, let them know you are interesting too"
"Jesus wants your children to be discipled far more than you do so why would He not equip us"
"One word of advice: knees" (we must cry out to God on behalf of our children)
Lamentations 2:19 "Arise, cry aloud in the night. At the beginning of the night watches; Pour out your heart like water before the presence of the Lord; Lift up your hands to Him for the lives of your little ones...." Moms, lets be faithful always to pray for our children. Give them to the One who breathed life into their bodies. Oh how He loves them!
"The days are so long, but the years are so short" (there are some days that I think if I have to fix one more sippy cup or wash more dish or judge one more quarrel...but these days are precious)
"Tribulation has to happen in your children's lives." (This was convicting to me. I always want to shelter my children from pain and suffering and to a degree we do, but pain and trials should draw us nearer to Christ. Momma can't always save them but Jesus can!!!)

These are a few things Nancy Holcomb encouraged us with. Her transparency laced with God's Word lifted me up the most! I want to be a mom that encourages other moms. Don't you? Titus 2 commands us to love our children (and husbands) and to train the younger women to do the same. So step 2 for me was: Disciple your children first!

God, I pray for the dear ladies you have brought into my life. I pray that you would begin to guide their hearts to Your heart so that they may rise up and disciple their children or the children in their lives. I ask that You give them wisdom and grace to light their path. May they get in Your Word and begin to seek Your face on this journey of parenting. Bless them. Help me to follow You in obedience in discipling my children and the women you lay on my heart! I pray this in Jesus name because You told me I could. Amen.

Gentleness

2010-02-16T13:34:00.000-08:00

Well I sure didn't think I would be posting so soon but the LORD was quick to reprove me as I seek His wisdom in parenting. This reproof is one that the LORD speaks to me quite regularly, but now it He seems to be saying to me, "Enough is enough. I want this taken seriously now." With this strong rebuke, came His faithful Word lovingly encouraging me to take action. This is my issue: I do not use gentleness in my words as I train my kids in character and as I confront their bad behavior. My voice is too stern and my volume is too loud when I get frustrated with their bickering or selfishness. I don't scream or even yell but there is little or no gentleness in my correction. I despise this about myself. The more stress I have, the longer my to-do list, my mood, my lack of exercise, and the more we have to stay cooped up with this winter weather....all of this [and more] affects my tone with my children. I expect immediate obedience from them and the daily allowance of grace I give them is far less than anyone including myself could operate out of. But I'm ready. I'm ready to have the LORD train me in gentleness. The first place He begins is His Word. Without His Word, my friends, we are lost in the wilderness without a compass to guide us.

I Thessalonians 5:24 Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.
This is the promise we have that we can overcome our struggles. He has called us to a life of obedience.

Let me start by giving you this scripture: I Cor 2:10-12 But it was to us that God revealed these things by His Spirit. For His Spirit searches out everything and shows us God's deep secrets. No one can know a person's thoughts except that person's own spirit, and no one can know God's thoughts except God's own Spirit. And we have received God's Spirit (not the world's spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us."

From this we understand that apart from the Holy Spirit's work in our lives, I will be forever bound by this struggle (lack of patience and gentleness). But as a child of God I can overcome this struggle with His power and His Word....its called freedom in Christ. Freedom in Christ means we are free from the choke hold of sin!! Praise God.

Even if now I do not see the affect my tone is having with my children, God is very clear we must keep our speech in check!!

Matthew 12:36 "But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgement."

Jesus is very clear! He says every careless word will be judged! I am reminded of a song we have all heard, "oh be careful little mouth what you say, oh be careful little mouth what you say, oh be careful little mouth what you say...because there is a Father up above who is loving down with love so be careful little mouth what you say". Another thing I am reminded of is that this does not only pertain to words we speak to our children. It applies to the words we speak to our husbands, friends, co-workers, and yes my dear sisters, our enemies....."every careless word".

So how do I begin fighting this battle? I fight on my knees in prayer and I fight it with the Word of God. I must commit my ways to the LORD (Proverbs 16:3). Proverbs is full of wisdom on the matter of the tongue. What I am seeing again and again is that my tone needs to be gentle or I need to remain silent.

Prov 15:1 "A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare." (You wanna see your temper escalate, then speak with harshness, but it you want to put out the fire of anger then speak gently)
Proverbs 15:4 "Gentle words are a tree of life."
Proverbs 16:24 "Kind words are like honey-sweet to the soul and healthy for the body."

So this is my first order of business and I am thrilled that I serve a LORD who refuses to leave me alone in my struggles. He has called me to be a light for my children and to teach them His ways. Just as He is gentle and patient with me daily, I must extend that same grace to my wonderful children who I adore.

"Heavenly Father, strengthen these feeble arms of mine to do your will. Let Your grace, love, and mercy flow through us moms today as we nurture our children. Set a passion deep within us to train our children in the paths of righteousness and to love them with Your love. Keep our tone in check. Give us the strength and self-control to walk in the Spirit in the midst of challenges with our children and with all people we encounter. And let it all be done in Your name and for Your glory. In Jesus name, Amen."

Ephesians 4:29 Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear."

A Call To Pray For Our Children

2010-02-15T08:20:00.000-08:00

I haven't blogged in a long while but last night as I listened to a message on parenting I was challenged and moved to take my thoughts to my blog where I can hopefully encourage moms to get on board with me to really start investing time into the relationship our children have with the LORD.
It first starts with us moms [and dads]. We have to be investing time and keeping our #1 priority our relationship with our heavenly Father.
I believe our second step is prayer. This morning I was discouraged as I sat in the floor with my 3 children having our prayer and devotion time. At the start of every week I have Wil and Maggie pick one person to pray for and they pray for that person the entire week. This is based on I Timothy 2:1 ("I urge you , first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them."). Well Maggie was quick to pick hers. Trey is too little so his participation is minimal. I get to Wil (this is where my discouragement begins) and he says "i don't know". Come on, Wil. He is just being difficult and then he just lays in the floor. So I just move on even though I want to force him to pick someone. I don't believe forcing him is going to benefit him but rather turn him off so I continue. We begin our devotion. It is short, but 30 seconds into it Wil begins to express his boredom. We finish 2 minutes later and Wil says, "Yes!!!" and hurries off to play ball. I sit there going, "God, how do I reach Wilson's heart for You." and God, in the quiet of my heart says, "Be patient, let him see you love Me, and pray, pray, pray". So here I sit encouraging you moms to hang in there. Don't weary in doing good for if we don't give up, we will reap a harvest of righteousness. We are not perfect parents so we should not expect to have perfect children but we do serve a Perfect Savior and we must trust Him and seek His wisdom as we raise children to be soldiers for Christ.
Back in September I began to go through a 31 day challenge of praying for my children. I got a print off from a ministry I love (www.Reviveourhearts.com). This print off gave a list of 31 things to pray for our children and I am going to be revisiting them this month and next. If you want join me in this journey. I will hopefully be posting something every few days on what I am praying for that day. You can also go to the revive our hears website and click on "downloads" and print off a list of theses things.
The first one I want to start with is praying for my children to have a "passion for God".
Psalm 63:1-8 "O God you are my God; I earnestly search for You. My soul thirsts for You; my whole body longs for You in this parched and weary land where there is no water. I have seen You in Your sanctuary and gazed upon Your power and glory. Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise You! I will praise You as long as I live, lifting up my hands to You in prayer. You satisfy me more than the richest feast. I will praise You with songs of joy. I lie awake thinking of You, meditating on You through the night. Because You are my helper, I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings. I cling to You; Your strong right hand holds me securely."
How I long for my children to love the LORD this passionately!! I wrote this in my journal in October as I was going through this challenge:

"The greatest passion to chase after is You LORD. It is the most rewarding bar-none. For You alone satisfy the hunger in our souls!
Let Wil, Maggie, and Trey have a love for You that David spoke about in Psalm 63:1-8. May they earnestly search for You. May their soul thirst for You. May they love Your unfailing love more than life. May they praise You. May they always lift up their hands to You in prayer. May they find satisfaction in You alone. May their thoughts always be on You God. Be their helper. May they sing for joy in the shadow of Your wings. May they cling to You Father. And, Father, may your strong hand hold them.
In Jesus Name,
Amen"
And as we ask the LORD for these things in the lives of our children, let us not be ignorant in the fact that we need to ask them in our own lives as well!
Have a good Monday everyone and hopefully enjoy the snowfall one last time! Spring come quickly!
In the abundance of His grace may we live today!!!

Wil Losing His First Tooth

2009-12-20T14:03:00.000-08:00

I couldn't get facebook to post this video. I had to find another avenue! So here is Wilson getting his first tooth pulled. It was just dangling. I didn't dare want to pull it so I got my mom to do it. She bribed him with money. It worked! His friends have been pulling their teeth left in right so we've been eagerly awaiting this day.

Christmas Fun

2009-12-19T07:30:00.001-08:00

Well here we are the Saturday before Christmas. I am feeling very calm considering. It's almost a little scary how calm I sit here while my 3 children are playing tag with a big cardboard weapon. Well maybe I'm not as sane as I thought. I just had to spell check the word cardboard. We've had some fun these past 3 days with no school and just having some Christmas fun. Anyone that knows me well has heard me grumble and complain about the lack of creativity given me. So when Christmas rolls around I feel this enormous pressure to be creative...to do interesting things with my kids to keep their mind focused on the real meaning of Christmas. And for the life of me I could not come up with a game plan this year. I just took it to the LORD and asked Him to guide me as each day came in December. He was faithful to show Tommy and me little ways here and there to teach them about the reason we celebrate Christmas. And honestly it doesn't have to be some wonderful craft or elaborate activity. It only takes us spending time with them and talking with them and most importantly living it out before them!!

Having said this, we did do some cute activities that was lots of fun for us. Each one ended in a huge mess, but they got to exercise their creativity and I got to exercise my patience. Tommy and I were reminded last night after watching old home videos together with the kiddos that their childhood is so very brief. Giving them our time and love are the best two gifts our kids can receive from us even if they think it is a DS Lite and a baby doll cradle.

This is Wil and his friend Abbie (a.k.a Mary and Joseph). They put on a Nativity play for us.

It was fun. Abbie said "I don't even like to pretend I'm married to Wil." Wil kept playing basketball while Mary was having birthing pains- ha.

Our annual Christmas cookie decorating night.

Like our fruitful candle?

Operation Christmas Child

2009-11-13T19:36:00.000-08:00

Here we are at Lifeway dropping off our shoe box. They are one of the drop-off locations.

This was our first year to do Operation Christmas Child. Every year my intentions have been to do it, but this, that, or a baby would come along. But this year we made it happen. My love language is giving gifts (and getting them honestly) so this was lots of fun for me!!! We bought for a 10-14 year old boy which to me was the toughest age range to know what to buy. We got a football, some hot wheels, a harmonica, hack-a-sack balls, lots of candy, and some other stuff. The hardest part of course was keeping our kids focused. I know as they get older it will get easier and more exciting for them as they grow to understand what we are actually doing. Maggie's response to me telling her we were going to buy some gifts for kids who don't have much at all was, "well whose gonna do that for us?" I don't sweat it though. We just have to keep on taking opportunities to teach them about giving which is hard to do living in America. Don't get me wrong. I love America. Its just that we are so very blessed to live as we do. Operation Christmas Child is neat because we get to track our box and hopefully see who gets our box. Wil calls him "Tyler". So "Tyler" where ever you are, "May the LORD bless you and Merry Christmas". Go to http://www.youtube.com/ and search for Operation Christmas Child and you will be able to see some videos. They are very touching. Or go to http://www.samaritanpurse.org/ to learn more about taking part in OCC.

Our Hearts

2009-10-29T11:20:00.000-07:00

Tom and I just finished a Precept course on I Kings 15 - II Kings 1 along with II Chronicles 14-20. It was entitled "God Searches For A Heart That Is Fully His". Precept is an inductive study method that takes you book by book and verse by verse. It is the best Bible study method for studying your Bible in my opinion. You simply use the text (Bible) and let the Holy Spirit be your guide. Precept study has changed my life and my relationship with God. Oh and this method is not knowledge that "puffs" one up, but on the contrary it humbles one to understand the mighty God we serve. It stirs a passion for Him and a hunger to follow after Him. To check it out to go to www.precept.org .
Like I said we studied Kings and Chronicles. It begs the question throughout: "How strong is God's Kingdom in my heart?" Does my life reflect a heart that is fully His?"

II Chronicles 16:9 "For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His..."

Why would I want to give him my whole heart?
What does a heart that is completely God's look like?
How can I give my heart completely to God?
What will this produce in my life?

These were the challenging questions answered for me during the course of this study. I was reminded that my life is not my own. I have a Creator who put me here to honor Him and not to pursue my own personal agenda. We are His!
Ephesians 1:14 ...and that He has purchased us to be His own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify Him.
I have so many plans, so many thoughts on what I want in life. It is easy for me to go on in pursuit of those things. I don't get too far before I remember my life is not my own. Thank goodness because record shows I make a mess when I try to be in control.

Jehoshaphat was a man who sought God. Over and over in our study we saw him seeking God for direction, seeking God when he was afraid, and seeking God for deliverance. My favorite verse in this study was II Chronicles 20:12 when Jehoshaphat says, "O our God, will You not judge them? For we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on You."
His heart showed where his dependence lied. He acknowledged his weakness before the LORD. In his humility, he sought God for answers. I don't know what your "multitude" may be. Maybe it is sickness, loss of a loved one, marriage problems, parenting issues. Fear is my latest multitude and God has been doing a marvelous work in me, but there are still times when it comes a knockin'. I am powerless. But when my eyes get fixed on Him and His Word, I am loosed from it. I find peace.
The book of Proverbs says to "guard your heart because it is the wellspring of life...". Guarding my heart has been the greatest weapon against the enemy. For me guarding my heart is about knowing God and His ways and following after them. The pull of this world is strong...very strong. I have watched myself so easily get sucked into the pressures of it. Before I was saved and surrendered to the LORD, my life was messy. It was full of shame and disobedience. I did what Misty wanted to do, when Misty wanted to do it, and how Misty wanted it done. I am forgiven even though there is still whispers of consequence from living life my way. I still stand amazed at what He has done in my life and thank goodness He keeps on working. I have never known joy and peace as I do today. Do problems and struggles still come? You bet! But now I find hope in the midst of them.

Here is what I can know as I strive to have a heart that is fully God's:
"But you be strong and do not lose courage, for there is reward for your work."
Even without the reward, I owe Him my life!!

Because His Word is the greatest way the LORD carries me I am thinking about leading a Precept course. I want to be obedient and act in His timing. My heart desires to introduce others to His Word through a Precept study. It really is life changing. Please keep this in prayer.

Just Like Brother

2009-09-19T07:51:00.000-07:00

Tommy tells me that his love for basketball was kindled because of his older brother's love for the sport. 90% of their days (and nights) for that matter were spent with a basketball. Even to this day they both shared that common interest. I want Wil and Trey to be close brothers with a relationship that is strong. I want them to be confident that their brother always has their back, but a relationship healthy enough to hold each other accountable.
Wilson has always loved basketball and is very serious about it. Wilson is serious about everything though. Trey on the other hand is proving himself as one that doesn't take himself seriously at all!! His favorite thing to do is make you laugh so when he began to pick up a ball I didn't think he was going to have a lot of interest in it except to bounce it off his head so we'd laugh. WRONG! These days all he wants to do is play basketball.
I'm so excited just because I was thinking we were going to have two kids going in different directions with their interest which would have been perfectly fine. God created each of us different. I am just thrilled to see they have at least one common interest in which to relate with one another. Regardless of their differences I want them to know and Maggie to know that we love them and the LORD loves them for who they are not what their interests are. We watched Michael Jordan being inducted into the basketball hall of fame and I was saddened by his attitude. It was just one night so I will make no further judgement than to say he apparently had not eaten his humble pie that day. Honestly it can be a struggle when your kids show mega interest in a certain thing, but I want to make sure my kids are never led to believe by Tom and me that their significance and importance is found in their abilities or accomplishments.

A Great Song

2009-09-08T07:04:00.000-07:00

Typically I'm not wowed by a song the first time I hear it. It takes me a while to listen to the words and the music to say, "I like that song". However a few weeks ago I heard a song on Klove that caught my attention from the very first line and I wanted to share it with you. I love this song because it causes me to think on the LORD in a deeper way. To me that is what makes a great song!! It just came available to download off itunes. Last night Tom and I just sat and listened to it praising God for giving us a Savior. Oh how I need a Savior. We are wondering around useless (even if we don't realize it) without our Savior. Because of this I am literally desperately eager to serve Him and live for Him NOT because I have to but because I want to. Thank you heavenly Father for sending me a Savior and for not leaving me in my sin. You truly are a marvelous God! Just click on the link to listen to it from tangle.com. and tell me what you think.

http://www.tangle.com/view_video?viewkey=185f00edd818b654032b

2009-08-27T14:10:00.000-07:00

This week our home school group had their annual basketball camp. It was our first year to participate and we have been enjoying it. The first day I failed my son and had to ask for his forgiveness. Most of us that have children have at least one who is just like us. For me, that is my oldest Wilson. I understand him so well because I'm just like him. I know why he has to have a plan to survive, why he won't break tradition even if it kills him, why he will erase his work 300 times until it is just right, why he can't tell a funny story to save his life, and why he despises chaos. My Wil is just like his momma, but sometimes it frustrates me because I want him to be distinctly different from me in the ways I don't like about myself. I hope that makes sense. Anyway we arrive at camp on the first day to utter chaos...kids shooting the basketballs, running around, and because it hadn't actually started yet there was no one to give instructions or any kind of plan. That will send Wilson running in the other direction or at least hiding behind my leg. Now I know how much fun he is going to have once he gets out there. I mean c'mon the child breathes sports. However he isn't budging and refuses to get himself a ball and play. I get so mad that I tell him in a not so nice voice that he is being ridiculous all the while knowing exactly why he is behaving this way. My frustration only made it worse. My very wonderful friend who can be honest with me was sitting right there. Rachel said "don't push it. you'll only regret it". That was not actually her words but what she meant was it isn't a battle you should fight. The LORD showed me that I must learn to discern when I should step in ....and make sure my motive is not because I want him to look a certain way. I should step in when his behavior or character is unacceptable (this was not the case). I do not want to be a parent that cares only what others think of my children , but sometimes I do care and most of the time I am wrong in that. God says train Wil, Maggie, and Trey in the way they should go by God's standards not people's standards or even my standards! I want to shoot for a 10 with them even if I only hit an 8 (and sometimes I won't even hit the board) BUT I want to do it for God's glory not my own.

Here they are doing little dribblers drills. Wil is behind the little blond girl who says she is going to marry Wil.
This is the K and 1st, and second graders at the camp waiting patiently for their instructions.

Once the coach called them in the circle to give them the plan, Wil was in 100% and never let the ball go. I have to say Wil gives his all to most things and most especially sports.

Look at that fine form!

Thanks for the fun camp CHE.

2009-08-20T11:16:00.000-07:00

Wilson turned 6 yesterday. My first born and beloved son is growing too fast for me. He had a great birthday yet simple. His pick was grandma and papa's house! He'd live out there if he could... until papa put him to work on the tractor that is. He was very pleased with his gifts from Tommy and I. He got a new ball glove and a Razor scooter. Now he doesn't have to borrow the neighbor's. I am blessed beyond measure and so is Wil to have a mommy and daddy who love him more than he will ever know. The note you can barely see which I tried to delete off this post but couldn't is the note Tommy left for Wil on the fridge before he went to work. Wil thought it was pretty cool!! Tom signed it "buddies forever" which has always been their saying.

Trey Time

2009-08-12T20:13:00.000-07:00

We are well into our second week of school and I've learned two things. One is that I give hats-off to teachers who can run an entire classroom. And two Trey has hit the terrible and wonderful twos all at the same time. He is, as much as I love him, the hardest part of school for us. So because of this, I want to try to set aside some constructive Trey time (a.k.a Tot School). Here is a taste of it in photograph language.

First here is Mags sporting her massive boo boo. She collided with the concrete falling off her bike. She takes those turns like a wild woman.

This is what I like to call "Bead Transfer". He did this forever as I stuck close by waiting and watching for him to stick one in his ear, nose, or mouth. He did good though. He took the spoon and scooped up beads from one container and put them in the other. He used some great variations in transferring. It works his fine motor skills and I think it helps their concentration and ability to focus on something for longer than 2 minutes. Maggie and Wil enjoyed this as well but they used tweezers to make their transfers.

Here it is hard to tell what his activity is. Really he is just taking paint bottle out and putting paint bottles in a tin can. It is an easy way to familiarize him with his colors. Hammer time. Here we are pounding spiral pasta into a box with pre-made holes. Sound pointless? It isn't really! Its good practice for him the next time Maggie tries to pick him up.

We are loving being back in the swing of things.

Our First Day

2009-08-03T18:55:00.000-07:00

Today was our first official day of school. Momma rolled out of bed late of all mornings, but we had a blessed day. I tried to ease us into it. We did our devotions at breakfast and headed to Walmart for folders and doughnuts. The only two "real" subjects we hit were math and grammar. Tomorrow, however, I am frightened of....its a full day! We'll have math, spelling, reading, history, writing, art, and math plus some. God is sufficient and I'm trusting in that to get us through. Shouldn't we everyday!

Here they are not so bright eyed first thing in the morning. Isn't it nice to wake up to a camera pointing right at you!!

Leave it to my Maggie girl to pose to make it "look" like she is well you know. Finally they found the perfect art work folder. By the semester's end they will be filled with cut-outs of hearts, and drawings of hearts of every color of construction paper. They both are really into drawing hearts these days.

....a little math

....a little p.e.

Trey's favorite subject is music. He can actually blow us a little tune on the lovely recorder.

Here Wil and Maggie are making a lap book on common person nouns. How else do you make nouns fun?

Our letters turned out a little too big I know, but you get the point.
Inside are pictures and symbols glued to help them understand the concept of common person nouns. We'll see how effective it is. Maggie is now too cool for school with momma's shades on. There were no complaints as we talked about doing it all again tomorrow. That's a relief!

Good-bye Summer Leisure

2009-07-31T10:58:00.000-07:00

Right now I am cracked up. Wil is reading to his 8 year old neighbor friend. Maybe that is a good indication for me that my kids are ready to start school. I hope so because we will do so this Monday. I am very eager and enthusiastic about this school year (obviously...what else would make me want to post a blog). I have put in a lot, a lot of time preparing so that we [including Trey] might have a fun, profitable home school year. In order to make a path that will end in such a way, I have had to squeeze out all the creative mental energy that is within me. Intentions are good, but unless we make decisions that will keep us on the right path, intentions are useless. That is what I keep telling myself. When the LORD created me, He chose not to bless me with a creative mind. He did however set in me a determined spirit with a self-disciplined way AND the need to have organization and a plan. Prayerfully that makes up for the lack of creativeness in a big way. But let me just say it is a lot more work than if I were just able to see it in my mind easily and do it. My sister in law would make an awesome home school mom, but lucky for Brookland she is an awesome school teacher!!

Here are some things I'm excited about: Tommy is doing ancient history with Wil and Mags. We went with a neat history program that has a lot of hands on activities. He is going to take them on an arrow head hunt at the beginning of the year and lots of other neat things. My partner in home schooling, Rachel, got me hooked on Tot School. This is where I spend some concentrated time with Trey doing activities that will engage him and start a love for learning. The website is http://www.1plus1plus1equals1.blogspot.com/ . Thanks Rach. It took me a while but now I see why you like it so. Another cool thing is that I am going to co-teach Maggie's K4 class at our home school co-op's Monday school. Last year I taught p.e. and didn't enjoy it. CHE has been a huge asset for our family. There are 200+ families that are members in CHE and from them we have met some wonderful people. Anyway hopefully I will get to blog a lot of our home school days. I won't promise it. My blogging drive has virtually died, but we'll see.

I wanted to post some pictures from a fun play date with our friends the Moix's. Doesn't Trey look guilty in this picture. I can't say he wasn't responsible for the majority of it. This was our final play date time before they vacation and school starts and these times aren't quite as frequent. Thankfully we do this home

schooling thing together. My house is much smaller than hers so when our kids are here I laugh at the mess we make. At her house, the mess is confined upstairs. We have added Trey (my baby) and Noah (her baby) and they have added their contribution to the fun mess. Believe it or not this play date enabled me to get some little tasks done. How many pictures do I have of my living room looking this way. I promise it doesn't always look like this. At least you'll never see it this way!

Guess what got them all settled on the couch like this? Let me just say " a little show".

I'm Divin' In

2009-06-27T18:21:00.000-07:00

I am losing my will to survive in the blogging world. I simply would rather do other things and have other things to do. I have been spending any spare moment I have trying to organize our upcoming home school year. I enjoy it, but every time I think I have it figured out I don't. Plus we've had dance camp, basketball camp, baseball games and now basketball games. It has been a little hectic since late May, but we are starting to wind down thankfully.

So even though my blogging has seemingly ceased, my blogging moments have not. I should call my blog, " Dads Rock", because every other post is about daddy moments. This afternoon we got home from a birthday party and the kids wanted to swim (even though they had just finished playing on one of those huge blow up water slides at the party). Tommy had shocked our pool today because he obsessively wants it to stay clean and he had found what he thought to be a green ring starting to form at the bottom. Honestly, honey, I couldn't see it, but bless your heart for being an awesome pool guy! They got in the pool and called me over while they were swimming and said that the water smelled strong like bleach. Yes, yes it did! I checked the chlorine level and the water is suppose to turn a yellow color. It turned bright orange. "Everybody out!" I say lest your eyes burn blind and your skin fall off.
Of course the kids still wanted to swim so Tom being the fun dad he is got out the $10 pool that belongs to Trey, filled it up, and played in it with them. Tommy can never just half way play. It is all or nothing with him. When I looked out the window he was in the pool built for 2 small children and eventually had to start a diving contest. This video is footage of that diving contest. Take another look. Tommy won and Maggie lost. C'mon girl. What kind of "dive" was that? Listen closely and you will hear Trey crack up at Tommy.

Branson

2009-06-09T19:00:00.000-07:00

Vacations come and go so quickly. I remember 120 days ago starting our vacation countdown with the kids. And here we are 5 days out of it. Branson was our vacation destination and it was well worth the wait. We did a lot, ate a lot, and laughed a lot. One thing I can't say the trip was and that is relaxing. Momma still had to cook some, keep us on schedule, and worry about the details. But my pleasure comes from seeing my family enjoy themselves. Can I get an amen, moms? Enough of my words! Pictures are much more fun.

And we're off....it took 4 hrs to get there and 7 hours to get home. At every stop homeward you would hear me say "that is the last stop" until finally my threats became a big joke.

Trey was no so impressed with the cold water pool.

Grandma and Papa joined us for a few days. Wil and Mags love G & P! Here are Mags and Papa at Branson Landing...great shopping is to be had here.

Maggie got to experience stage performing of course in Branson and quickly decided she was made to perform. She seized the opportunity at Tom's cousin's diner (The Barbara Fairchild diner) and sung so sweetly and little shyly, but she didn't want to let go of that microphone!

Here we are at the Sights and Sounds Theatre. This where we saw Noah the musical. It was wonderful. It was the neatest thing we did for many reasons. The story of Noah and the flood will never be the same for Wil and Mags in a good way.

O.k I'm tired of captioning! Just consider the rest a "caption this"

This is my favorite picture of the trip!! I love it.

Maggie Shocks Us

2009-05-23T15:13:00.000-07:00

Maggie Archer is wonderful to us in lots of ways. One thing Mags is NOT is coordinated. So when she requested her training wheels be taken off, we obliged only to let her see the difficulty of riding without training wheels. To our surprise it took her one day to hold her own. Earlier today she even descended a hill and was fine until she wanted to stop. She slammed right into the curb and flipped over. She didn't cry. I guess she thought since I was laughing, she'd laugh along with me. Her and Trey have something in common. They both hit that same curb going 15 MPH. Only Wilson pushed Trey down the hill in his stroller. It was not funny at the time.

I am proud of Maggie. She is 4 years old, but doesn't let that stand in her way . This determination will serve her well in life if used properly.

But if you see lots of bruises on her legs, just know she hasn't completely mastered the breaking part.

Leading Our Children

2009-05-07T11:15:00.000-07:00

The school year is drawing to a close for Wil. It has been fun teaching Wil, and seeing him read on his own, letting Maggie join in, and joining the CHE home school group. From my own personal assessment, I would have to say we have have had a successful year. Looking back over this momentous year of Kindergarten 2 things easily stick out in my mind as the definite best moments. They were when both Wil and Maggie on separate occasions expressed a desire to know Jesus as their Savior. It would take way too long to go into detail what happened and what was said. But Momma was praising God at the end of both those days. It happened with Maggie first during our morning devotions at the kitchen table during the second week of school back in Aug 08'. She seemed adamant about it and remains adamant about it. Only time will tell. And then a couple of weeks ago during the same devotion time sitting at the same kitchen table once again, Maggie was asking me questions about Hell and what it is like and who goes there and will the people there see their mommy and daddy, and on and on. Wil was intently listening but as usual had very little to say. Now Mags knows that Wil has not accepted Christ. Not because I say anything. She is just keenly aware of it. So drawing her own conclusion of Wil being hell-bound (i hope that doesn't sound harsh. i intend it not that way of course), she said "Can I ask Jesus into Wil's heart". How precious and wonderful that she wanted to save her big brother. I said (with Wilson right there), "No, Wil has to do that on his own." I never ever want to pressure Wil. He is only 5 in a half. But I looked up and read Wil's lips as he whispered (wanting NOT to draw attention to himself) "Jesus, will you come live in my heart?" I pretended not to notice all the while praying for God to direct Wil's little mind and heart. I did not want him to be confused or to be misconstrued by my words to Maggie. I just went about the devotion. Wil began to ask questions, one after the other until I could not ignore the heart of the matter any longer. I asked if he wanted to pray with me to accept Jesus as His savior. So after asking him some questions, we did. His voice trembled as he spoke. It was bittersweet for me. On one hand he is 5 and Maggie at the time of her acceptance was 3. This is so very young. Tommy and I know they must understand to a degree what they were doing, but we could never discourage there desire lest their hearts began to harden. God has been very confirming over these weeks and months. The truth is because we home school, they hear about Jesus and God all through the day. Our curriculum is Christ centered and his lessons are taught from math to science from a Biblical perspective. I just want their faith to be caught from Tom and me, but independent from ours as they grow! It has got to be their own.

The LORD has set in my heart to step up praying this year from my pastors to my children. And last night I ran across a book on my shelf that I got as a little gift for Christmas. I had not looked at it until last night. It is called Leading Your Kids To Christ (30 devotions to prepare parents). One of the most if not the most important role as Wil, Maggie, and Trey's parents is leading them to Christ. This book is an excellent resource.

The biggest part of my testimony began one night as I rocked Wil to sleep as a baby. I was praying, "LORD let Your Word be real to Him so that You can be real to him". I heard God so clearly and so gently say, "Misty, how can I be real to Him if I'm not real to you." I "loved" the LORD and was walking with him at the time so it really threw, but as I searched my heart, of course, He was right. Isn't He always? From that night I prayed like I never have before and God threw open the flood gates of heaven in answering my prayers. The big idea in today's devotion from this book I'm reading was this: Your child's faith will be a direct reflection of your faith. If you want your child's faith to be strong, your faith should be strong too. I had to Amen that. God spoke that to me 6 years ago and today he confirmed it yet again. Here are some other great insights that I found today in my new book.

"Never underestimate that power that comes when a parent pleads with God on behalf of a child." Max Lucado

If you do not stand firm in your faith, then you will not stand at all Isaiah 7:9

Just as our faith strengthens our prayer life, so do our prayers deepen our faith. Let us pray often, starting today, for a deeper, more powerful faith. Shirley Dobson

Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves the One who is leading. Oswald Chambers (I LOVE THIS ONE)

This book is a God send to me. You know how it goes with this blogging thing.
It can serve as an outlet to your thinking thus was the case on this particular post. May it encourage us to live it (our faith) out before our children inviting them to join us.

Precious Moments

2009-04-30T12:02:00.000-07:00

We had one of those moments last night. You parents know the ones. The moments that will bring a tear to a glass eye. Tom and I were getting in bed. He pulled his side of the covers back and there on his pillow was a note from his eldest son, "I love daddy". Evidently during his rest time (rest time not nap time because 5 1/2 yr olds do not take a nap says Wilson) that day, apparently had gotten up and written Tom this note and put it on his daddy's pillow.

Wil and Tommy have always had a very strong bond! I blame it on the fact that Tommy was the one who changed his first poopey (sp?) diaper after his birth. All I know is that Tommy is always on Wil's mind. This is probably because daddy is always willing to play anything with Wilson from basketball to Crazy 8's to monster/dungeon. Thank you Uncle Mike for introducing the dungeon game to our family. I am forever indebted to you-NOT!! This game always ends in broken objects or broken children.

After seeing this note, I got teary. Tommy was pretty touched, but not enough to cry. Here is a Fun Fact: I have never seen Tom cry. There were no tears, but he did go straight to Wil's room where he was sleeping and give him a squeeze and kiss. It was beautiful.

Daddies never ever underestimate your importance. Your role is invaluable.

Backyard Fun

2009-04-27T18:19:00.000-07:00

It's been a while my blogging family. Not that you have missed me and my tales of a stay at home mom, but I haven't had many spare moments to sit down at the computer for longer than 5 minutes. Even as we speak, my hubby is patiently waiting on the couch for me to join him in some NBA playoff watching. It's their year no doubt about it!! GO LAKERS!

I had to post this video of daddy once again making life fun with a little water balloon action. Boys are so funny. He was so impressed with himself (obviously) that he got his daddy. Momma never fell prey to their numerous attempts to get me in throwing range. This is definitely a game that will get many request this summer! It was funny to watch Trey play along.
One thing that sold us on this house was the backyard. It is big but up until 2 weeks ago, it was bare. My kids never wanted to play in the back. Wil of course can't go 5 minutes without playing basketball and the goal is in front. Mags just wants to be where Wil is so I fought a losing battle every time trying to get them in the back. We home school so we need to make home fun because, well, that is where we spend 90 percent of our day. So when I found an awesome fort displayed at Sam's I begged Tom to think about getting it for us. I won without nagging thankfully. He bought the thing which came in 4 boxes (about 150-200 lbs a piece)....nothing but cedar wood. I guess that is what you call it. He had to build it completely from the ground up. A friend came by to help some with the foundation (thank you Chris cuz you really did help a lot) but for the most part Tom did the work. The instructions said that it would take 2 skilled workers about 40 hrs to build. Tom finished it easily in 40 hours doing 85% of the work himself. I love that he finishes what he starts. It has been so worth it. The kids love it. I myself am looking forward to some quiet times with the LORD up in the upper room as I like to call it!

He Has Risen

2009-04-12T07:06:00.000-07:00

More than any verse in the Bible, I have hope from these three words: He has risen! May I also add these words of His Truth as well,

I Corinthians 15:55-58

"O, DEATH WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?"

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.

HAPPY EASTER! FROM THE ARCHER'S

Wil's Last Game

2009-03-16T05:54:00.000-07:00

This is for all my family that didn't get to see Wil play ball this year. This was Wil's last game. He hated to see it end. Sorry Mags...I meant to say he was disappointed that it had to end. Uncle Mike, you're way cool for making this video for Wil. Tommy and I and Wil love it. Wilson certainly ended the season well!! As you can see he plays with passion and yes he really did make those shots. I wish I could say he got it from me. Upwards is a wonderful program and they did a superb job putting it on this year.

A Date With Daddy

2009-03-10T17:38:00.000-07:00

My baby girl and my wonderful man went out on a date tonight. I love the way Tom treats Maggie like she is the only real princess even though we know all good daddies think the same thing about their little girls. I fixed her hair which was not fun. It was like mixing water and oil. It was not the hair that gave us trouble, it was the hairdresser (me) and the not-so-cooperative princess. I stink at fixing hair and Maggie stinks at patience. We're both working on it. But by the time we finished, both momma and Mags were happy with the results.

No formal date is complete without a corsage (pictured is daddy presenting it to Mags)

Tommy has a great desire to date his daughter. Why? It shows her how a real man...gentleman that is...is suppose to conduct himself when with a lady. Tonight was a really special date. He took her to a daddy/daughter princess banquet. She got to wear a new pretty dress and be made to feel very very special.

I can't wait to hear how it went. I know it was fun. When you get Tommy and Maggie together, it is always a hoot. I just pray that Maggie didn't say poot or booty at the table. Those are her 2 recurrent units of expression right now. I can't count on Tom's rebuke if this situation arises since he struggles to contain his amusement. They are so much alike. I for one cannot tell a joke to save my life. People laugh at me not with me.

Well from the end of the night picture it looks like Maggie and her prince charming had a fancy time!!

Lots of Trey

2009-03-06T12:57:00.001-08:00

This picture inspired me to share what I'm enjoying in Trey. We thought Mags was going to be our strong willed child, but this morning's little episode caused me to withdrawal for consideration that Maggie just might have met her match. What you see here is a stand-off between mom and toddler. My children are creatures of habit and they have many. It will drive you crazy except that I'm just like em'. Anywho Trey was ready for his post-morning-nap juicy. I have taught each one of my kids to sign before they could talk. It cuts down on the tantrums since they can't verbally communicate. They can use sign language. Trey knows well the sign for "please". We don't give him anything he wants without having him sign "please" for it. Lately I have noticed he is getting resistant to it at times. It is almost like he wants to see just how far he can get without doing it. This morning he was particularly cross having a cold and all. I said, "say please" (which means sign for it). He stomped his feet and squealed. Again I said, "Trey say please" and again he stomped and squealed. He was not going to give in. This went on for about 5 minutes. That doesn't sound long but it seemed like forever. Finally I poured it into his cup to tempt him and he decided juicy was much sweeter than his strong will for he gave in and "said" please.Now he happily is doing the sign for please as he savors his precious morning juice.

My baby boy getting his first hair cut.

With doing school with Wil and trying to work with Mags on some things, clean the kitchen (Trey likes to climb on the dishwasher when it is open). Trey is very much into everything...just a curious little thing and I don't want to discourage it, but there are times I need him confined so that I can do what I like to call a 10 minute drill which might include: a lesson with Wil, chore time, and a quick bathroom break. I decided to get out the old pack-n-play so that I could have peace that Trey was safe while I did my drill. At first it was this picture, but now he knows the "drill". I am so thankful that I stuck it out those first couple days.

This is NOT a pacifier. It is worse. It is a ring pop (just a little of the candy was left on it, but STILL. What was daddy thinking?) Now most of you know how particular I am about their teeth, but if you saw what I saw in my 6 years working for a dentist...well you might sing a different tune. I was not happy about this one, and yet I got my camera out. He is my baby and he just looked so content.

Here is his initiation into boyhood. It is his first black eye. The tray fell off of his highchair as he reached desperately forward for his daddy. Unfortunately their was a chair between him and Tommy and Tommy could not stop his fall.

Well these are the days with Trey. He is fun fun fun. He is sharp as a tack and not afraid of a little conflict. I can't get enough of him. Thank You, LORD for our little surprise.
I almost forgot this one. This is him imitating us. He is praying while he eats lunch. He does this and babbles like he is saying something. He'll quickly raise his head as to say Amen. It doesn't get any cuter than this!!

Take My Life

2009-02-20T07:07:00.001-08:00

Life comes at us fast. This week has been full of sad news for me involving some that I do know and some that I do not know. It was topped off yesterday when I was faced with a situation that brought me to my knees with fear. Maggie developed a fever in the wee hours of the morning on Wednesday. Yesterday morning she woke up vomiting. She was pale and very weak. This is not in of its self abnormal for children, but when I noticed blood in her vomit the alarm in me sounded loudly. I rushed her to sick call at her doctor's office. We waited forever because there were so many kids. I could not keep myself from crying. Seeing all the other moms and dads with there sick children reminded me that life is very much out of our control. And even though I was pretty upset, I knew deep within my soul that my heavenly Father was right there with me. I type this with tears in my eyes and an awestruck heart because I know there nothing too difficult for Thee. Without details, Mags is fine and there it was nothing serious.

There has been a song on my heart that started last Sunday. Tommy spoke Sunday morning at church on marriage and had asked me to join him to talk about friendship in marriage. Yes, the LORD has blessed Tom and I with an amazing friendship. God has built our marriage brick by brick and today I praise Him for it. I know this, but to get up in front of a large group of people and share about it made me anxious. What if I stumble and don't make sense at all? What if my words don't glorify You, Father? All of these doubts weighed on me until God brought one word to me and that was consecrate!! It means to set apart and in this context in which the LORD spoke to me, it meant "Misty, consecrate yourself for Me only and I will do the rest." From this my mind landed on a song that I love. It comes from the "Hymns Ancient & Modern" cd that is produced by the Passion team. I love it!!!!! Go and get it if you want to be blessed by some beautiful music. Anyway the song is entitled, "Take My Life (and let it be)" by Chris Tomlin and Christy Knockels. This hymn sums up what I want to say to God: Take everything about me...take all I am and all I own and most certainly all that life brings my way--it is Yours Lord!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0Byp7aK2DA

I tried to post the video itself, but got so frustrated in the process. In order to keep from pulling my hair out I had to post the link instead. Watch it. It is such a blessing.

The Reasons Why

2009-02-13T06:54:00.001-08:00

So obviously I over committed myself. I said the next 5 days my entries I would dedicate to the love Tom and I share. Here it is Friday and even now I am pressed for time. I broke a blogging promise and for that I'm sorry.

This has been a wonderful week with the Love Dare book Crossroads style. So although I slacked with my blogging, the love has been richly flowing here in our home. I think the idea was perfect.
I wanted to just list my favorites reasons that I love to love Tommy and why I am so crazy about him even after 9 years.

We started off very rocky. My past: childhood on....caused some great strain on our first year. To be quite frank about it, I didn't know if we would make it. But God was all over it. The LORD held us steady when the will to fight for our marriage had ceased! So after about 8 months of craziness, it was revealed that we must cling to each other and God that much tighter when all we wanted to do was run. From the outside looking in, things looked peachy. Even my closest girlfriend said she was shocked to learn 8 years later that my marriage was struggling. So if you read this and how now our marriage is thriving, know that it took God saving it. The key was that BOTH of us had a relationship with Jesus. And because of that we can look back and say "Thank you LORD for the rain" Just like that Mercy Me song goes, "if that's what it takes to praise you, Jesus bring the rain" That song is so dear to my heart!

The greatest thing I love about Tom is his His walk with God. Out of that flow all other reasons. I am amazed at his ability and courage to never ever hold back the Hope that lies within him. I am here to tell you folks, what you see of Tommy as a pastor is what I see at home (and more). He is the same no matter where you find him. Don't misunderstand me. He is nowhere near perfect, but he is not fake!!! He inspires me everyday. He has been my greatest mentor. I am constantly learning from him.

I love him because he never goes a day without affirming his devotion and love to me. Right about now you are probably saying "o.k. enough with this mush", but its true. Yes there are days when we disagree and disagree passionately....DUH, we fight is what I'm trying to say here. But a 24 hr period will not go by without us making it right. He is growing everyday in living with me in an understanding way. Now Tommy is not a romantic thinker, but I love him because he really gets me. In a lot of ways, he knows me better than I know myself. It has taken lots of yuck and lots of fun to get to this point.

I love his ability to make me laugh. We are good at laughing together. With the things I do, you have to laugh or be saddened-ha. Remind me to tell you a story about white tigers or bananas on the way to Eureka Springs. Life is fun with him. I am way too serious and intense, but he saves me from myself in this because he helps me to see the humor in things.

All the ways I love him cannot be expressed here in this blog, but I will spend the rest of my life making that man know that a love like mine can only come from our heavenly Father. I say this not for dramatic effect but because I can't contain it!

Here are some little things that get me in a big way:
1. I love to hear him talk sports.
2. the unashamed ways he will make our family laugh (wigs are sometimes involved)
3. the way he takes things apart when he doesn't know the problem (vcr)
4. the way he forces me to do things that I fear (six flags)
5. when calls just to say i love you
6. his spontaneity
7. he flies kites with me
8. when he brings me Starbucks and snickers home as a surprise
9. the kid in him
10. his generosity
11. the way he won't take part in my negativity
12. and on and on and on............

What God puts together, let no man seperate!

When Tommy Met Misty

2009-02-09T11:06:00.000-08:00

WARNING: If you don't do mushy, don't read this blog entry [or the next 5]!

In honor of Valentines Day, I will be celebrating the love between me and my mate with this blog for the rest of the week. It has been over 9 years since I first met Tom, but I knew the moment I laid eyes on him that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with someone like him. I know that sounds cliche, but is so true.

Tom and I met at church. He was serving in the children's department teaching. Without knowing Tommy served there (honestly I didn't) , I felt led to try out teaching in the children's department as well. This is where I got to know him. He was impressive in many ways. I couldn't help be drawn to him. Tommy is super friendly and rises to the occassion when meeting new people. He really took the time to talk with me and was very helpful to introduce me to the in's and out's of the children's ministry. I fell pretty quickly for him. The part that I regret is that I probably let him know it way too fast.

At this time, I had surrendered my life to the LORD and was so hungry to do His will. Tom told me later that he had just found contentment with being single. He had come to terms, if you will, with being single. He said very soon afterwards, he met me. Our friendship eventually turned into more and before I knew it we are sitting at Houston's in Memphis having our first date. Our relationship was so easy and God seemed to be in it and all around it. We dated 6 months. And then on November 23rd 1999, he proposed in front of our entire college and career group at church. He pretended that he was going to do a game. He brings 15 or so people up front and begins to eliminate different groups of people (i.e. if you have on shorts, sit down; if you have red hair sit down; and so on). Finally he said "If your name is not Misty Lynn Wilson, sit down". He then got down on one knee and made me the happiest girl ever!! It was a dream.

We were married on April 8, 2000. Tommy Archer is my hero. Not only do I love him because he is my husband. I love him because of the man he is. At least once a day, I tell him how wonderful he is. If you don't believe me, ask him. For the rest of the week, I will confess a few of the reasons why.
Song of Solomon 4:3 has always been our verse. It is even engraved on his wedding band.
"I have found the one who my heart loves. I held him and would not let him go"

Tommy, you are the sweetest thing next to God in my life and "I could not ask for more!"

I'm So Proud

2009-02-02T13:02:00.001-08:00

I have heard in the home school circle that when your child graduates, you graduate too. I can totally get that. Back in August I started teaching Wilson to read. Thankfully I had a book (How To Teach Your Child To Read In 100 Easy Lessons) and it is awesome because it gives you a script. In other words, it told me exactly what to say. A fact about me is that I don't mind being bossed around as long as it is for a good cause.

Last Monday just before the ice hit, Wil finished his 100th lesson. That night he spent the night with Uncle Mike and Sissy. This was his pick for a reward. By the time he got home on Tuesday it was starting to get bad. The rest of the week left little opportunity to venture out into the actual book reading world. So I was excited about getting started this week to see if Wil could actually read on a second grade level which is suppose to be true when you finish the 100 easy lessons book. Sure enough he did pretty well. Now he isn't speed reading or anything, but my little kindergarten boy can read a book to me. As he was reading this book to me, I had to fight back tears. I was so proud of him. And proud of me because I taught him.

I know as a home school mom you would think confidence in your ability to school your child should be a must. That is not entirely true. My confidence is in the One who called me to do this. I just trust and obey. So many times I get questioned as to why I am doing this (sometimes I ask the same thing)...homeschooling that is. God has given us many many reasons, but my answer is usually I do it because I know it is what God wants for our family at this time. I taught Wil to read by God's grace (and the book) and I will continue to teach them by God' s grace. When I am weak, He is strong.

Reading is the key to learning. If reading is mastered, then the sky is the limit. Now it is Maggie girl's turn. Oh my. I sweat thinking about it. No really, Maggie already reads to me. She'll pick a book at the library, memorize it word for word, and read it back to me. A child's ability to memorize amazes me. Thanks for letting me dote on my child.

No Complaints Here

2009-01-31T17:07:00.000-08:00

This was crazy wasn't it folks. You would think we were completely dependent on electricity. Actually what I found out about myself is that I am most certainly a whimp without my electricity. You won't hear me singing Beyonce's Survivor song. I joke, but it really concerns me that I could get to my wits end so quickly. We were quite untroubled compared to most people. We lost power early Wednesday morning...about 1 am to be exact. We were without all Wednesday, stayed at the church on Wednesday night, and by the time we got back home that morning we were back on. Unlike some who got theirs back only to lose it again, ours stayed on. And here I sit blogging away while many many people are still "in the dark". My prayers seriously go out to them. It wears on you especially if you have small children.
The kids did great including Trey. I'm trying to think, but I don't believe they complained once. Again, though, we had our lights back on in 36 hours. And as we speak Tommy is sitting in the Fed Ex Forum watching the Lakers play the Griz so no one can complain in the Archer home.
I love the way something like this will open the benevolent part of us. A big thank you to Holly who let my kids come bathe and to Michael for letting us stay at the church so that Trey could have an actual baby bed and Rachel who I know is always praying for me. The heroes in this are those that have worked tirelessly for 12 to 14 hours to unite thousands to their electricity. It is easy to get frustrated, but we have no idea the work that is STILL going on to get towns up and running again.
Where I took the biggest hit was naptime. This is how easy we had it. Anyway Tommy calls me the Sleep Nazi because my kids have always had their naps right on schedule from the time they were born. This is not an exaggeration ither!! Now we all know a nap is no nap at all without a fan and a white noise machine. Yes I have a white noise machine...Tom aggravates me and says "oh, yes, it creates an unpenetrative sound barrier" Well anyway this is what I missed the most! What about you? What one thing did you long for while you were without power?
On a serious note, keep your prayers flowing for those who have greatly been affected by this...some we know even lost their lives. This post was very light hearted and meant to show that no matter how hard we think we have it, someone has it worse. Let us keep a thankful heart in all things.

True Beauty

2009-01-23T11:35:00.000-08:00

The other day while watching television, a commercial starring Christie Brinkley came on. I have no recollection of what she was endorsing because I was too encumbered by this ageless beauty. It was astounding. I have always found Ms. Brinkley to be one my top picks when it comes to physical beauty. The amazing fact is that she is 54 years young. I have no right to make justifications about her secrets to turning back time with her appearance. It is so easy to become awestruck by different famous ones and their beauty.
I have never put myself in a class even close to Brinkley, but as I approach my 31st birthday I am reminded that beauty is fleeting. Again I am not one known for beauty, but all women feel the despondency of growing older.
The reality of raising a daughter that is not carried away by the pressures to be beautiful and thin, and perfect hit me in the face the other night. I was laying down with Maggie when she said I wish I was a real princess. As we talked I understood that her desire was to be beautiful. These are the teachable moments. I said,
"Maggie, do you know what a princess is?" She did not exactly
"A princess is the daughter of a King," said I
"Do you know who is the greatest King?" to which Maggie replied, "God"
I said a quick thank you to God (not outloud) that she answered correctly. It made my point much stronger.
My sister in law Marinda had made me a beautiful piece of artwork with Maggie's life verse on it which is hung in her room. I was able to reference back to it in our conversation. Her verse is Psalm 45:11 The King is enthralled by your beauty. Honor Him for He is your LORD.
In her precious eyes, being a real princess meant that she would have a beautiful appearance. I pray that I was able to set in her heart the Truth that God doesn't find us beautiful because of what we look like on the outside, but He looks on the inside. Are we kind? Are we giving? Are we gentle?....so on and so forth. I even used one of my mam ma's sayings: "pretty is is pretty does". If I heard that once I heard it a million times growing up. It has always stuck with me.
As women we are bombarded with ideas of how physical beauty matter more than inner beauty.

Nancy Leigh DeMoss says it best: "This deception leaves us (and our daughters) feeling unattractive, ashamed, embarrased, and hopelessly flawed."

The most physically beautiful of women will tell you at least 3 things they would like to change about themselves. Pursuing beauty and buying into the lie that beauty will bring us happiness and significance is a road that is travelled on by most women I know. Don't get me wrong I think that looking your best and taking care of your body is pleasing to God, but what is our motive. Our motive as married women should be to please God and our husband.

These Truths give me peace and fight off the temptation to believe the lies about beauty.

Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting but a woman who fears the LORD will be praised.
Proverbs 31:30
Your beauty should not come from outward adornment such as braided hair and the wearing of fine jewelry and fine clothes. Instead it should be that of your inner self. The unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit. Which is of great worth in God's sight.
I Peter 3: 3-4
These truths I want to pass on to my princess, my Maggie girl. My toughest challenge will be teaching her the quiet spirit part-ha.
No really I have been blessed by many true beauties in my life. 3 Come to mind: Tommy's mom Betty, my mentor Kathy, and although I don't know her really really well I would have to say Rachel Moix's mother, Mrs Ella. All for different reasons, but they encourage me a lot. Titus says that the older women should be examples. I want to be an example of a true beauty to the younger women in my life. Only by God's grace can I honor Him with such a task.

Dancing and Habit Breaking

2009-01-20T19:18:00.000-08:00

Maggie girl had her first dance class today. Here she is sporting her new dance wear. She is very much a beginner. I was trying to get her to stand in a ballerina-like pose, but instead she looks like she needs to go to the bathroom. What is a girl to do when her best friend of a brother is in her face with a basketball all day. Even though Wil does like to wear pink, the closest he gets to dancing is saying he likes the girls on dancing with the stars. Maggie has been begging to step out on her own and pursue her own interests. She seems to have grown resistant to anything relating to sports. Mostly you'll hear Mags say she wants to be a cheerleader, but I wanted to steer her more toward ballet. I won't get into why. I just did. O.k. so maybe I am not actually letting her pick the exact interest she has in mind, but momma knows best for now. 6 months from now we may be enrolled in extreme cheerleading with Mags joyfully shouting, "Ready? O.K!" Who knows.

I called her teacher after practice because I wanted to get the 4-1-1 on how she did. Her teacher was super nice as she graciously told me that her first order of business was to help Maggie keep her fingers out of her mouth. This should have been taken care of a year ago by me. My Maggie sucks her 2 middle fingers constantly [and plays with her belly button I might add]. Don't you know all the really really intelligent ones do. Ask L.L. I'll never tell who L.L. is unless you guess. One of my resolutions for the year was to help my children break the sucking habit (Wil sucks his thumb) so Maggie's dance instructor just gave me some motivation. I put "Thum" on her fingers today. "Thum" is a liquid you paint on their fingers and thumbs to help them break the sucking habit. It burns right smart. I tried it today. We will see how it goes. If you see her in the act of sucking her fingers, gently (I emphasize gently) remind her that ballerinas don't suck their fingers.... and then tell her how pretty she looks.

A Nice Get-A-Way

2009-01-18T19:06:00.000-08:00

Relaxing.

Much needed.

Peaceful.

Blessing.

Wonderful.

These are words to describe my weekend. With 3 children- small children, marriage enrichment can take a backseat in life. Tom and I love to end our night in the master suite just hanging out (sometimes with Chocolate chip cookies, sometimes without). We steal moments when we can. We try to keep a somewhat regular date night (thanks Moix's) a priority, but an entire day and a half with just me and my man....well that is a rare gem of a treat. Being alone with Tom is my favorite place to be. I know you have heard me say this before so stop the gagging. After all, how can 2 people still be crazy about each other after 9 years and 3 kids. Its easy. Keep marriage priority. It works. We are living proof. Do I get irritated with him. Of course. Does he get irritated with me? Probably not. Yes of course he does! It goes without saying that a marriage can never be perfect. But marriage can certainly be a sweet blessing, a gift from God... one that brings joy, contentment, and lots of good times, good times.

This weekend we had a very very good time. We took our certificate that our awesome church family gave us for pastor appreciation month. We went to a Bed and Breakfast in Hardy. It was short, but very replenishing. Tom and I are big talkers and by that I mean, our marriage gets its life from our conversations. Tommy is a great conversationalist. He keeps things interesting and is very engaging with me. Even with kids in our ears, we have been known to pretend they weren't there just to finish a conversation. So obviously it was relaxing to just hang out and talk.

Our room overlooked spring river. There were a pair of french doors that displayed the wonderful view from our king size bed. The fire place, jacuzzi, and the most comfortable robes ever were all a part of pleasant stay.

If on your way to the lake, you find yourself hungry right around the Hardy area, you should stop in at the gas station turned home cooked food restaurant.This was our choice for supper Saturday night. Tom had a steak, salad, and potatoes. I had broccoli cheddar soup, salad, and roll. It was delicious. We give it an 8! Of course with a bed and breakfast, you get breakfast. A 3-cheese blitz, eggs, toast, and bacon was our gourmet breakfast. I give it a 10!!! Tom gave it a 8. He wasn't gung ho for the 3-cheese blitz.

It was a very fast trip, but we are both so thankful for the time away. And we are grateful to Tom's parents and my mom for keeping the kiddieos. Wil and Mags enjoyed our get-a-way just as much. Trey didn't understand the get-a-way since I called him twice on Saturday and twice on Sunday just so he wouldn't forget my voice. Well he is my baby you know!!

No More Crawling

2009-01-12T18:39:00.000-08:00

Yep, my baby boy is walking and with such grace I might add. Just disregard the fall at the end of the video. He has put the crawling on the shelf. Even though crawling is faster, he loves the walking. Most babies prefer crawling when they first start learning because it is a quicker way to travel. Not our Trey. He is having a grand time perfecting his newfound acheivement. I love the starting postion. Both hands on the ground, booty in the air, and push up and on his way.

For all of you who are tired of me video blogging my kids doing their tricks, I apologize. I have family who do not get to see the kiddiewoes very often. Yes I meant to put kiddiewoes. It is a little husband and wife humor.

I'm not at all partial, but don't you think he looks so cute flippin that red phone out like he has done it all his life. I'm just savoring every little thing he does just like I did with the others. My only regret is that with him being the 3rd I have hardly written anything down... like the date of his first tooth, when he rolled over, when he ate his first cereal, etc. All you moms know what I'm talking about. That's o.k. I'm sure his wife will understand. After all she will be the only one who cares about that sort of thing. You know what I mean?

Let me just talk a little to the moms that have boys. Tell me. Do you worry about just what kind of mother-in-law you'll be to his future wife? Right now I am so very protective of my boys and wonder just how easy it'll be to let go of that control. The kind that says "are you eating well?" and "are you getting enough sleep?" Thankfully I have a rational husband who knows me all too well. We have the kind of relationship where we feel free to call each other on stuff. I know he'll reel me in if I get too....well you know....in the way. Two words come to mind. Leave and Cleave. But that is way way down the road so I don't even know why I went there.

The Little Dragons

2009-01-09T12:13:00.000-08:00

Look at my little Kevin Garnett, the #5, the green and white. I didn't do this on purpose cuz you know the Laker fan in me would have preferred purple and yellow and the #24 of course. Wil had his first Upwards basketball practice last night. He has been counting down to this night with greater anticipation than he did with Christmas. I kid you not. He asked me every five minutes how much longer we had. On the way there, he said, "my stomach hurts." There was a pause and then he said, "but I bet it doesn't hurt when I start practicing" Oh, son, I love ya. He has Tom's love for sports (especially basketball) and my intense personality. This is a recipe for obsession.

As fun as it is for Tommy to share this love, we are both keenly aware of our responsibility to keep it in its place. I can see how a parent could get caught up in organized sports or any other of their kid's activities, but because Wil's love and passion started so early we have had many discussions about how we want to teach Wil (and Mags and Trey) that these activities are fun and we should feel blessed to be able to enjoy them but they and everything else will and must take a backseat to God and family. I say this not because I'm spiritual, but because I know first hand how empty and discontent one can grow with any thing else!!

One blessing that I foresee in basketball for Wil is the outlet it offers him. Like I said Wilson is very much like me. I internalize frustration, worries, and other negative junk. I can already see this in my son. He is not a social butterfly. He is more of an introvert. But I see him come alive when he plays sports. He is happy and confident. I am objective enough to know Wil is not headed for a career in basketball (at least not in the NBA), but God has definitely given him this gift and passion for a reason.

I never intended this post to have such a solemn tone to it, but my point is proven which is I naturally go in the serious direction.

The object of the post is Come one, come all: Saturday January 17th, 8:30am, Central Baptist and see the Little Dragons dominate like Michael Jordan at Madison Square Garden!

FINALLY!!

2009-01-08T06:30:00.001-08:00

It happened. It finally happened. Oh how I have longed for this day. I was beginning to think it would never come to pass, but here I am. Somebody pinch me. I must be dreaming. I have played it out a hundred times in my mind....where would I be, what would I be wearing, who would be present. My heart is full. It is all I dreamed and more. I want to shout it from the roof top, "Trey said momma"!!

Buds

2009-01-06T15:06:00.000-08:00

I love the way God orchestrates like only He can. Here you see a fine example of His work. These two rowdy ones were born on the same day. My friend Holly and I found out we were pregnant at the same time and amazingly enough gave birth on the same day. The only bad thing about being pregnant together was that she looked way better than me with child. Don't deny it Holly. She glowed. I waddled. I remember how the doctor said I was going to have a 8 pounder. No that was just water retension. Wilson weighed just under 6 lbs. Ross was the 8 pounder I believe.

The other day Ross came over and played. Of course Wil wanted to go one and one. Wil certainly has skills but Ross has height. I laughed so hard. Watch Ross's legs. I love it. Wil is all serious and Ross is like whatever. Let's play Star Wars.

Here they are as cute as can be. Again notice the size difference. Those first few weeks of 2 a.m feedings were much better knowing that Holly was just in the next town doing the same thing! Wil and Ross are different in many ways, but they were friends from the start!

NOT Just Another Year

2009-01-01T10:07:00.000-08:00

Here I sit in 2009. Oh the plans/resolutions I have this year. I have a list a page in a half long. I usually don't do resolutions in January simply because it seems I am always resolving to do this, that, or the other.
I will admit I have a fixation, a passion, or whatever you want to call it for planning and organizing. Disorganization is a bee in my bonnet. I cannot effectively function without a plan. Come to my house and you will find a schedule for my day, Monday through Friday from 7am to 3pm. I keep a notebook for everything and to this collection I have added a notebook of 09 resolutions and plans to keep these resolutions. If I sound proud of this quirk, I am not. Oh I use to be. Now it just gets on my nerves and wears me out. Most may laugh, but some know exactly where I'm coming from. These are the ways of a type A, melancholy personality thus very methodically resolving in 2009.
At the start of 08', we had a very new baby in our midst. I was sleep deprived for the better part of the year. With the help of my mom, I was caring for my 2 preschoolers, 1 infant, and one debilitated husband who for 6 weeks could do nothing without crutches. Now with a regular sleeping pattern on my side and a full functioning husband to start my year, I am ready to reach some goals and be more in 2009. First let me leave 2008 with a grateful heart.

Fave 5 Blessings of 2008
1. A new house in Jonesboro
2. Trey's first birthday
3. Starting Dave Ramsey's financial plan
4. Teaching Wil to read
5. Joining CHE (Christian Home Educators)

.....on to 09'

Fave 5 Resolutions of 2009
1. More consistent prayer (this seems to be a running theme for me in 09')
2. Exercise (me and the whole human race)
3. Schedule time away with Tommy
4. Reach out to others
5. Read The Faith by Chuck Colson (read it with me)

The other 25 I shall not disclose. I wouldn't want to overwhelm you with my to-do list and my needs for improvement.
No matter where we are in our relationship with God, it is wise to "consider our ways" (Haggai 1:5).
What direction are we going in life? Let us evaluate our lives, make plans and goals, and start committing ourselves with diligence to God and His will.
"The plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage" Proverbs 21:5

Here are 10 questions to jump start your thinking for 2009. These are not my own. I got them in a devotion that is emailed to me everyday.
1. What is one thing you could do this year to increase your enjoyment of God?
2. What is the most humanly impossible thing you will ask God to do this year?
3. What is the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your family life this year?
4. In which spiritual discipline do you most want to make progress this year, and what will you do about it?
5. What is the single biggest time-waster in your life, and what will you do about it this year?
6. What is the most helpful new way you could strengthen your church?
7. For whose salvation will you pray most fervently this year?
8. What is the most important way you will, by God's grace, try to make this year different from last year?
9. What one thing could you do to improve your prayer life this year?
10. What single thing that you plan to do this year will matter most in 10 years? In eternity?

MAKE 2009 COUNT!!

Christmas 2008

2008-12-27T18:42:00.001-08:00

Well we're two days out of Christmas. I'm feeling that familiar feeling of blahs which come from the excitement leading up to the one or two days of family gatherings, good food, opening presents, and watching your kids go crazy with their new stuff!! It is so very anti climatic....a sudden drop from the important to the trivial. I love Christmas. Don't get wrong. However it is a reminder to me every year that happiness is not found in the abundance of possessions. I loved my new North face jacket. Wil loved his Leapster 2, and Mags has taken 2,000 pictures of her feet with her new camera. But I speak for all of us when I say what I enjoyed most was having Tommy home from work for 3 days in a row and being with my part of the family that I don't see often enough. O.k I'm done with the post-scrooge-like attitude for real. I'm gonna get on with the fun we had this year.

CHRISTMAS EVE

For 30 years Christmas Eve has been spent with my dad's side of the family which include my 3 brothers whom I think are the coolest, my aunt Linda and cousins, and my mam ma. My sister Angie doesn't get to come in half of the time but when she does Christmas is complete. This year was very bittersweet. My mam ma landed herself in the hospital just before Christmas with a nasty head wound. The hospital graciously let my brother bring her home to celebrate with us for a few hours before taking her back. I don't know how much longer she will be with us and so this photograph is very special to me. My mam ma was a hero to me growing up and the LORD used her to save me from a childhood that could have robbed me of any future at all. It was in her care that I came to know the Lord Jesus Christ. And it was on her bed that every night we read her Big King James Bible. She'd read a verse, I'd read a verse. Looking back I believe my love for God's Word came from her diligence to place Truth before my eyes in the middle of a chaotic childhood. I know she will never read this, but I have to say thank you mam ma. You'll never know what your life has done and is still doing for me. For the past 2 years, we have celebrated at my brother's house. The food was fabulous. And we had so much fun. They really outdid themselves in countless ways.

CHRISTMAS MORNING

I couldn't wait for Christmas morning. We had some wonderful surprises for Wil and Mags. I had one for Tommy that I was about to bust over. I have no actual pictures of the morning because I am stupid with electronics and erased some of my pictures. Ughhhhhhhhh! It turned out that everyone was surprised including me as I opened my North Face jacket. My mom too was exceptionally happy with her watch. Here are a couple of pictures I took after the fact.

Wil and Mags with a few of their favorites: Leapster 2, basketball, Corduroy bear, and camera.

Surprise!!! Here is Tom eating up his new Ipod Touch.

CHRISTMAS WITH TOM'S PARENTS

We had loads of fun here as always. This year we had an old fashion Christmas. We originally were gonna cut a tree down from Betty and Collis's land for our Christmas tree but who can turn down a $1 real tree from Lowe's. Nobody. That is right. However we did make our gifts for each other. We draw names every year and decided to put more thought and love into by giving a homemade gift. It was really neat. I got the best one. Thanks Marinda. Of course everyone would say their's was the best because seriously they were all great. Some even moved us to tears. I would let you in on what they were but you wouldn't get it....."ain't that right Betty"!!

I love my in laws. Being with them is soul food for me.

FAVE FIVE OF CHRISTMAS 08'

1. Mam ma being with us

2. Collis's sweatshirt from Michael

3. My North Face

4. Surprising Tom with the Ipod Touch

5. The gift revolution

Now on to the New Year and the new resolutions.....

A Neighborhood Revolution

2008-12-22T05:33:00.000-08:00

The Gift Revolution. This is a campaign that our church has had the opportunity to be involved in this Christmas season. Simply put, The Gift Revolution is about giving to those around you and challenging them to pass it on. Case and point: Tom and I took the kids with us to get gas so they could catch the excitement of this gift revolution thing. We paid for a woman to fill up her tank and gave her a Gift Revolution card with a website on it (http://www.thegiftrevolution.com/ ). The hope is that they will go to this website, see all the stories of people giving, post their own, and then be inspired to come up with their own unique way to pass it on. All involved with this brilliant attempt to start a revolution have found themselves just as blessed (probably more so) than those on the receiving end thus proving "tis better to give than to receive" Amen? Amen!!

Now to the video. We decided to combine the Revolution with one of our Christmas traditions. We don't play up Santa at Christmas time. Not because we think it is unChristian. We are not stringent about it. We just chose at the beginning not to say that Santa was who brought them presents. We do however stress the real story of St. Nicholas and how he gave anonymous gifts to boys and girls and how he did so because of his love for Jesus. In the spirit of this, we have the kiddos pick someone whom they want to give a secret Santa gift to. We let them play Santa and give an anonymous gift to someone. This year it was our neighbor. He loves to come to our house and play ball with Wil. And Mags has a capital time with him too. Our Secret Santa adventure took place last night as we delivered the gift with a Gift Revolution card attached. It was all caught on tape. I realize once they [Tom, Wil, and Maggie] start running to the house, you only see blackness but my hope was that I would have enough battery on my camera for them to take it and come back. My hope was lost. The battery took out because Tom and the kids couldn't find a good spot to leave the gift. I was just praying that they weren't shot at being mistaken as a burglar. So if you attempt something like this, use extreme caution no doubt.
Tom just came home and said when he pulled in from work, the neighborhood boy waved real big. I wonder if he knows? If you wonder what happened after the tape quit rolling, let's just say Tommy tripped on a stick and a full moon lit up the sky. On that note have a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Icy Fun

2008-12-17T11:07:00.000-08:00

How about this weather? This is what it looks like on my street. One uniformed piece of ice this morning. I am such a home-body and secretly get excited over wintry weather. I love coziness and a soft blanket of white on the ground even if it is sleet, not snow. You can't really tell the difference unless you go out and try to make a snowman.

After a couple of days being in, I am ready to feel free to venture out if I need to. Wil desperately needs a haircut and I want to go see my mammaw in the hospital, but this weather is a great obstacle in doing both of these. We have had our fill of inside fun:) karaoke, painting pictures, Sequence for kids, tag, shoot out, reading books, and yes even the dreaded t.v. watching. We have seen great success in our no t.v. watching over the past couple of months. Unfortunately our 30 minutes a day has turned into 120 minutes a day this week. I know some may ask "why such a strict view of t.v?" Well when I'm home all day, it can turn into an addiction very easily if I don't keep it in check. They become lazy and uncooperative when I throw caution to the wind and let them watch all the Caillou and Clifford and Handy Manny they want. That is just me. I would rather them run around like crazy kids than be glued to the television.

KARAOKE

We got out in it today. It was fun for a while, but Mags got her hands wet (she had on gloves but they were cheap gloves) and Wil threw a ice ball at her which hurts like heck. I tried to tell him that it is not a snow ball when you throw it at Maggie and it doesn't bust. It is like throwing a golf ball at her....really son!

Well daddy is home now to save the day. Poor guy. Although he doesn't complain, I know it is not fun delivering the mail in this weather. Someone called the other day and ask if Tom had to work. Please....the mail goes on rain, snow, sleet or hail (the mail will prevail). But now he has come to rescue us and whisk us off to the lovely mall for haircuts and grocery shopping.

POOR TREY WANTS TO PLAY OUTSIDE TOO

MY LITTLE VANGOGH(S)

The Tradition Train (All Aboard)

2008-12-11T18:50:00.000-08:00

1. Christmas Tree Dedication- check
2. Take kids to buy 08's ornaments- check
3. Build Gingerbread house- check
4. Christmas Card Photo Shoot (me)- check
5. Make Christmas Cookies
6. Read Christmas Story (in progress)
7. Sibling Gift Exchange
8. Secret Santa Adventure
9. Do 101 Christmas Crafts-ha

Here is a look at my Tradition To-Do List. There is probably more, but these were the ones I had off the top of my head. It is rather funny [or not so] to think about my reasons for filling up our December calendar with tradition activities. I plug these traditions to keep Christmas special and to stay away from the stress and hassle of commercialized Christmas. Uh, hello, these wonderful traditions are killing me. The pressure of checking these off my list make me irritable.

What are traditions?
Traditions are what you want to do year after year after year.... I need to put a whoa on the tradition train. The thought of having 2 more hands (Trey) next year decorating the very practical Gingerbread shack is enough to mark it off momma's tradition list. Here are some pictures of the first annual Gingerbread decorating Christmas tradition. I yap, but we had a good time. Ask Maggie. She will say her favorite part was eating the icing and candy when we weren't looking. The side of the house caved in only once and the gingerbread man wouldn't stay up, but all in all it went pretty smooth.

Meaningful and special that is the way I want my kids to remember Christmas. What we do as parents is what our kids will do as parents to a great degree. I will never be a perfect parent....consistently adequate is my goal for now. But I do want them more than anything to understand that this life is meant to be lived on purpose and to be lived for Christ alone!! Presents are great. Cards and cookies I enjoy. But it is Jesus whom I adore and we owe it [Christmas] all to Him!

CHE Christmas Party

2008-12-08T13:48:00.000-08:00

Today was our home school group Christmas party. It is funny when someone raises the concern to me about "lack of socialization" for a home school kid. Since we joined CHE of NEA home school group, we have had many field trips and parties [not to mention Monday school] that I haven't even been able to fit them all in. So socialization is not an issue. At least not for my kids. And today's Christmas party/festival was very much fun for my kiddos. They had games, crafts, face painting, and food. Unfortunately we left with yet another unwanted abundance of candy.

Maggie is now standing by me at the computer crying huge tears because her Ziploc bag of candy is gone. Oh, she is on to me. She has now accused me of throwing it away. Here comes Wil. Apparently Mags took it upon herself to borrow some of Wil's. Now a fight is on. Excuse me while I get Maggie's claws out of Wil's eye.

Pin Baby Jesus on the manger picture to the right

I did a candy cane craft where I had them make candy canes out of pipe cleaners with a story of the candy cane attached. You know...upside down the cane looks like a "J" for Jesus and the white is the purity of Jesus and the red is the blood of Jesus that saved us from sin. Rachel and I were cracking up because you could tell these very young home school kids had heard the candy cane story a million and one times. "Yeah, yeah, yeah we know the story" is what their faces seemed to say.

All the moms worked wholeheartedly to put together a great party for the kids. A big thanks to Vicky Franks who I know put a lot of time into it!! I am loving our home school group. My kids have just taken to all the kids there. Wil and Maggie have made some great new friends. And I'm enjoying the communal advantage it offers!!

Tribute #3 - Trey Dawg

2008-12-04T07:15:00.000-08:00

Trey. He is perfect. Enough said!!
Really I did think this to be true, but a little trip to Ruby Tuesday's Tuesday caused me to remove my rose colored glasses. Let me explain here if you will. It has been about 6 years since we had been to this restuarant. They changed the atmosphere, it seemed, since our last visit. From our perspective it went from fun to romantic. I looked to my left and see a couple (without children) gazing into each other eyes and holding hands (not exaggerating). Behind me is an older couple who looked a little let down when we passed their table with 3 children. Then there is our table: table # loud. Wil is saying "watch this" as he tries to do a head stand in the booth.... I kid you not!! Maggie is being Maggie by talking to us like we were across the restaurant from her. It is here that Trey's image of perfection starts to fade. In the middle of the meal, he had enough sitting in the high chair. A maddening scream led us to this conclusion. Lately these maddening screams have gotten frequent in number and louder in sound. In Trey's defense, these screams have become a defense mechanism to defend against Maggie's urges to get in his face and talk baby talk and then pick him up and plop him down. So back to Ruby Tuesday's. Trey and I spent some quality time in the van for he was disturbing the peace in Ruby's.

I do love spending time with my baby. Just watching him play can brighten the most dismal of days. We were not planning to have another baby so soon after Mags. Believe me. It took me a couple of days (lets be real. it took me 9 months) to come to terms that I was going to have 3 children under the age of 5. I have had 5 years with Wil and almost 4 years with Mags to build a relationship. I have had 12 months with Trey and yet my love for him is just as great as with my other two. Isn't it the same with our Lord. Whether we come to know Him just yesterday or 20 years ago, His love is the same for all His children.

We have all embraced our little Trey and could not imagine a life without his wonderful smile, blond hair, blue eyes, and infectious laugh. His babbling is hysterical these days. He is telling us all about what he thinks and I am not understanding a word of it yet loving every minute of it. Although we are not 100% sure our quiver is full, I believe Trey Thomas Archer is a "perfect" completion to our family.

Thanks for letting me dote on my kiddos. It has been good for my heart to reflect on the many ways they individually bring joy to my life. But it is much much more important that I tell my kids all these reasons why they are a joy to me.

Tribute #2- Life With Maggie

2008-11-29T08:02:00.000-08:00

To know Maggie well is to love her. There are so many thoughts (usually accompanied by a smile or a laugh) when I think about my only daughter. Tom and I use to daydream about a little girl named Maggie so long ago. How would she look? How would she act? Well nothing in our imagination could have prepared us for the real things. Miss Maggie Lynn Archer (a.k.a Mags, Magsy girl, Magster, Baby Girl, Sister Bear, Mag Pie) born March 21st, 2005 came and suddenly our hearts would beat a little faster. After all, that is what excitement does to a person. And trust me you never know what excitement is just around the corner with Magsy.

Maggie started speaking before she turned one. At one 1/2 she could put thoughts into sentences fragmented as they were. She has always been a year ahead in many ways. She is funny, smart, and gives the best hugs and kisses. She has a way of making Tom and me putty in her hands when she turns on the sweet side of herself. Yes, she is dainty in appearance but very robust in personality. When you hang with Maggie, fun (and sometimes danger) is never far behind. She looks like me but acts like Tommy. The only thing that concerns me about this is that Tom has done many daring things (bungy jumped, cliff diving, ejection seat, anything high and dangerous he loves, and he still wants to sky dive....not in my life time I say). That will not "fly" with me for my baby girl if she decides to inherit this part of her father as well.

Like I said earlier, my head can dance with thoughts of Maggie....

She makes up songs.

She makes up words.

She makes up songs with her made up words.

She talks loud.

She whispers loud.

She is loud.

She loves hard.

She plays hard.

She laughs hard.

She sleeps well.

Maggie possesses so many qualities that I admire. She is so many things that I'm not, but wish I were: fun, spontaneous, fearless, brave, charming, carefree....

When she was a baby I would lay her down every night and whisper in her ear "The King is enthralled by you beauty; honor Him for He is your Lord." Psalm 45:11. I want my Maggie girl to know that beauty is in the eye of the Beholder....her Creator, her Lord. Beauty that last comes from a heart that honors God. That is what I will tell her for as long and as often as she will listen.

To know Maggie is to love Maggie and I do in a million and one ways!!!

XOXOXOXOXO, Baby Girl!

The next to last picture is Tom and Mags going on their first daddy-daughter date.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-26T16:06:00.000-08:00

This year began my diligent effort to create a love for Thanksgiving and what meaning it carries. My efforts are paying off for when we go someplace that has a Christmas tree up, they'll say "don't they know its not Christmas yet". Thats right my chicks. We still have Thanksgiving to celebrate! I'm just keepin it real...keepin it real! And here are my children being "real" goofy with their Turkey craft and their Thankful tree!!

Happy Thanksgiving all! See ya at 5a.m at Wal-Mart. Don't snag all the deals, Dana.

Tribute #1: Wilson Collis

2008-11-25T12:06:00.000-08:00

....And so the tributes begin...with Wilson Collis Archer (a.k.a Wil, W.C. ,
Willie Boy, Wil Bub). He is our first born, a typical first born too. He is cautious, reserved, eager to please. He likes rules to be followed that is unless he wants to win. He was what is classified as an easy baby. This makes for a happy momma. Ask Wil what he wants for Christmas and he'll say "all things sports". This makes for a happy dad. Speaking of which. I have never known a boy to bond with his daddy so fast!! There is suppose to be that first 18 months of a boy's life where his world revolves around mommy and then mommy has to let go so that the bonding process between boy and dad can transpire. There was never that transition for Wil. Daddy had his heart from birth. My hypothetical opinion is that daddy got to change the first diaper....I dunno.

One word comes to mind for those who know Wilson best-BASKETBALL. This makes for a VERY happy daddy. The boy loves it. I'm not exaggerating when I say from birth until about 4 years old, the only toy that occupied Wil's time was a ball (many kinds). Whether he was shooting it, hitting it,

throwing it, walking with it, or sitting on it. Now at 5 years old, he has only one other pastime. It is puzzles. He can work circles around me with a puzzle.

The cutest thing with Wil right now is that he is taken by the girls. He is drawn to em' like a moth to a flame!! He chases them around the gym on Mondays. The funny thing is that they chase him back. Let me just say he is seriously committed too. I have even seen him step in with a protective reflex and defend them. I was quite impressed. What a blessed girl who finds the hand of my son. At least momma sees it that way.

Wil, my son. He was the beginning for me. The beginning of a whole new chapter in my life. This chapter lies at the root of a deeper walk with God. The chapter of Wil purposed me to live better and love deeper!!

My prayer for Wilson is that he will be a man after God's own heart, that he will find the road in which God has his race marked out specifically for him. I want him to love people and glorify God by living and doing all that God has set for him to do.

Back In The Game

2008-11-20T20:11:00.000-08:00

Here is my introduction, if you will, to the up and coming tributes I will be giving to our beautiful, wonderful, precious, reflections of the Kingdom: Wilson Collis, Maggie Lynn, and Trey Thomas.
Let me share how I come to the idea of blogging tributes to my kids. Over the past month I have been in what I like to call the "parenting pit". This is a place where I turn into a momma that even I can't tolerate- impatient, demanding, distracted, and selfish. Usually I fall into this pit when I become preoccupied with me, myself, and I. It becomes about my agenda, my to-do list, my expectations, my need, and my wants. I have come to recognize this pit. As I am falling I hear a familiar voice spouting out orders, correcting behavior like a resounding gong, and losing my cool over a misplaced library book. Just before I hit the bottom I realize what has happened and I weep over it! I weep because there has never ever ever been a greater passion and love in my heart than being a mom and a keeper of our home. And when we stumble in our calling [and we will, it can be discouraging.
As I blog these words, I am once again in reaching distance of the solid ground and I can taste the freedom of God's grace.
God handed me 2 things:
#1- An attitude adjustment
#2- And a new perspective
What I learned:
1. Only by the grace of God can I be a momma that shines a light for Jesus for my kids to see.
2. The expectations I placed on Wil and Maggie are not reasonable.
3. Distraction had led me to lose my focus.
4. The line became blurred between what my responsibility as a mom is and what is out of my control. How do you spell this? P-R-I-D-E.

What Am I To Do About It (in random order)
1. Love on my kids.
2. Bible time is the only school that is absolutely mandatory.
3. Play pretend with Mags
4. Shoot hoops with Wil
5. Lots of peek-a-boo, Itsy, Bitsy Spider, and funny faces with Trey
6. Pray
7. Spend time with the LORD.
8. Watch my tone
9. Seek ye first the kingdom of heaven (it starts here)

Alright then. I am Momma. Hear me roar!!!
This roaring is fueled by God's grace of course.

So in honor of God's merciful fresh start I will give tribute to the three greatest attempts I have to leave a lasting legacy for the glory of God.
I'm back in the game.

Jelly Toast Anyone?

2008-11-10T16:50:00.000-08:00

Here I have one more example of daddy being the one who comes in with his bag of tricks and sprinkles salt (or cinnamon) on the mundane with some whipped cream on top. How many husbands out there feed their kids the forbidden foods for dinner when momma is not home or in my case, when momma is not looking. Forbidden foods include: a chocolate candybar , Trix cereal (I swore as a mom that my kids would never eat those boxes of sugar they so ingeniously package in the kid-friendly boxes and have the audacity to call cereal. This turned into a rejected expectation. Why? Ask my husband what his favorite cereal is and how he delights in giving it to our kids.), and my favorite Jelly Toast. This food name was coined by Rachel Moix to describe what her fun daddy of a husband feeds her kids while she is away. I love how us moms can relate so well to one another.

Mondays are rush, rush, rush and oh so tiring. I know these pictures look like breakfast, but this is din-din time at the Archers. Yes I gave my kids cereal for their evening meal BUT, BUT it was Special K. I gave them a piece of toast (NOT jelly toast) and put just enough cinnamon on it so that I wouldn't have to lie when they asked if I had or not. Without warning, I heard Tom say "now that is cinnamon toast". Their little bit of hardly there cinnamon was now I can't see the toast for the cinnamon. Before I can utter my objections, he is squirting whipped cream on it while he is rewarded with giggles of approval.

I tried to act mortified, but deep down I was thanking God for Tommy and his ability to make not only our kids lives but my life a whole lot "sweeter"!

Wil's Pick

2008-11-07T20:10:00.001-08:00

It was Wilson's pick tonight for Family Night. "You never know what I'm gonna pick?" says Wil. And Yet Tom and I know exactly what he is dying to do. He has been dreaming all week of Wii, roasted marshmallows, Micah, Maddie, Uncle Mike, and Sissy. As soon as we walked in the door he was talking trash to Uncle Mike, "I'm gonna beat ya!". Wil just about hyperventilated when he found out they had Dodge ball on the Wii.
Wil was introduced to Dodge ball at church. I believe Christopher Moix ushered the game in in the preschool room. We were at Co-op (Monday school) and Wil pegged a sweet boy in the head with the ball during a friendly game. When I asked where he learned that he said "Abbie's daddy". It totally cracked me up [not that he threw the ball at the boy but the "Abbie's daddy part]. Boys will be boys.
So tonight Wil played endlessly with the Wii. The boy can play some Wii now. Micah was awesome with Maggie. She wrote up a cool little invitation to a tea party in her room. They dressed up and had tea and grapes with Maddie. Tom and I just sat back and enjoyed watching our kids be kids. We also got to watch a little NBA on Uncle Mike and Sissy's 52 inch flat screen. That was a bonus for us.
Wil had a great family night. "You never know what I'm gonna pick for my next family night?" was Wilson's last words as we got in the van to leave.

Got Scissors?

2008-11-06T13:19:00.000-08:00

I think its time for Trey's first haircut. What do ya think? No really I delight in putting hairbows in his hair just to see Tommy give me the look.

In Beth Moore's Words...

2008-11-05T07:05:00.000-08:00

This is Beth Moore's post from her blog. Not mine. I just copied and pasted it [ I hope this is legal within the blogosphere]. Beth's words just resonated with my spirit.

To my beloved Sisters who I esteem so highly and consistently find to be part of the solution to our problems in the Church rather than the cause,Please join me in praying for our President-elect Barack Obama, his wife Michelle, and his precious daughters, Sasha and Malia. Go with me before the Throne of our sovereign God and ask Him to grant wisdom from above to President-elect Obama and the indwelling presence and power of Jesus Christ. In the words of the Apostle Paul, "I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone - for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior..." Please also join me in the active and deliberate pursuit of unity and purity in the Body of Christ at this historical time in our country. I implore you in Jesus Name to have zero tolerance for prejudice whether it is regarding party-affiliation, color (whether you are Black, White, or Brown), economics or the like. Disagreement is not sin. Prejudice is. Satan has plotted events and planted attitudes that, should he be successful, will result in havoc. We must not stand for his schemes or cooperate in a single way. We would severely displease God and invite untold chastisement upon Christ's Church in our nation. Speak clearly to your children and graciously but emphatically draw a line in your work places and social circles regarding your stand against prejudice of any kind. "Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, 'Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.'" (Matthew 12:25) A united house stands. A divided house falls. The devil has much to gain. But he also has much to lose.We are the Body of Jesus Christ and we have an opportunity to show His character. This is our watch. We stand for what is right not from our feet but from our knees. I humble myself before you and make these pleas under such bold direction of God that I could not resist it nor disobey it. He made it a fire in my bones.I love and esteem you so much. Shoulder to shoulder, Dear Siestas. Let's leave not one inch for the enemy to come between us.
Posted by Beth at 6:42 AM

God's Word = Peace

2008-11-04T10:08:00.000-08:00

This morning as I spent time in prayer over this historical day, God was as always faithful to encouraged me.
LORD,
You are the King that is above every nation. As concerns fill our mind during this time, let it not take the place of You. Thank you for Your Word that gives me peace.

Psalm 24:7-10
Open up, ancient gates!
open up ancient doors,
and let the King of glory enter.
Who is the King of glory?
The LORD, strong and mighty;
the LORD, invincible in battle.
Open up, ancient gates!
open up, ancient doors,
and let the king of glory enter.
Who is the King of glory?
The LORD of Heaven's Armies-
He is the King of Glory.
*Don't we sing a worship song based on this verse? Ahhhhh to worship Him in Spirit and Truth.

This passage is lengthy, but the way it uplifted my heart....I had to share it!!

I Timothy 6:12-16
Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life which God has called you, which you have confessed so well before many witnesses. And I charge you before God, who gives life to all, and before Christ Jesus, who gave a good testimony before Pontius Pilate, that you obey this command without wavering. Then no one can find fault with you from now until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. For at just the right time Christ will be revealed from heaven by the blessed and only almighty God. the King of all kings and Lord of all lords. He alone can never die, and He lives in light so brilliant that no human can approach Him. No human eye has ever seen Him, nor ever will. All honor and power to Him forever! Amen.

Hearing this promise, tells me that I can be fearless whatever this life brings. Every knee will bow before Him from Obama to McCain to Hannah Montana.

All Hallow's Eve

2008-11-01T16:58:00.000-07:00

Handy Manny & Wonder Woman (Does Wonder Woman look familiar to anyone)

This is only the second year in which I didn't side favorably on denouncing Halloween. As a Christian I felt as though somehow I was dishonoring God. This was just ignorance on my part. Ignorance because I wasn't viewing it from a historical perspective. But last year Tom had me listen to a program explaining the actual meaning behind Halloween (Google The Bible Answer Man if you are interested in knowing the meaning of Halloween. Halloween Day's program was fittingly on this subject). The bottom line for me was that it was used by Christians as a strategic opportunity to get the gospel out to pagans. So this year momma was much more hands on. We had a good time even though Maggie started us off on a sour note. She got sick and it looked as though all hope was gone of having a merry ole time trick or treating. But amazingly enough she didn't toss her cookies again. And by the end of the night we could hear our kids teeth rotting and we knew this was a successful Halloween.

All dressed up and no candy to show for it!
It took the whole household to get even this picture.
Batman suits him much better don't you think.

Sheila Raye

2008-10-28T17:12:00.000-07:00

This day of my life leaves me exhausted and full of sorrow. It is one of those evenings where I would like nothing better than to curl up in the arms of Jesus literally. My sister Sheila passed away Saturday and today we laid her to rest. Funerals are tough but at the same time it is a celebration of a life. It was comforting to be with family that I wished I saw more often. I love them and hope they all know how much easier they have made this time. Although Sheila and I were 16 years apart in age, I marveled at many things she possessed that I don't. These things I will miss: her ability to comfort the hurting, her contagious laughter, her neat personality, her sense of humor, and her phone messages that always cracked me up. If you think Maggie Lynn has a southern drawl, Sheila wrote the book on it!
Watching my mom grieve was the hardest part. Her and I were the last two to walk away from the casket before they lowered it. Mom touched it and told her daughter she would be there soon. Where? Heaven and when we all get there what a day of rejoicing that will be. Keep us in your prayers as the LORD guides us through this time of grief.

Eagle Football

2008-10-18T18:10:00.000-07:00

Who loves high school football? I love it probably because many of my most fun times involved football Friday night. From the 7th grade until I graduated, my Fall Friday nights were spent cheering for football. I loved cheerleading and really loved cheering for football. Unfortunately I have only gotten to return to a GCT Eagle football game a few times in the 12 years that I have been out of school. We took the kids and went this Friday night.

My main reason for going Friday was their new coach, Jeff Conaway. This is his first year and rumor has it that his new offensive philosophy is working very well for the Eagles. From the stands I could feel the excitement. It was a huge crowd and from what I hear Jeff has already taken the program to a greater level. Even at the away games, dedicated fans fill the bleachers. That says something about the morale of this years football Eagles!! I have known Jeff for many years. His sister and I were close friends in school. I spent a lot of time with her family. He became like a brother to me. Jeff has always had a good head on this shoulders. He is a very smart young man and a good athlete himself. I really think Jeff has the potential to take the Tech football program to new heights.

All of this is well and good but the most impressive thing is that Jeff loves the LORD Jesus and he has kept it no secret that he wants to be more than a coach to these young boys. He wants to be a light for Jesus. Under his leadership these young boys have the privilege of learning much more than how to throw a football or run a play. I believe they will graduate with a greater sense of purpose knowing that life is to be lived in light of their Creator. This will make them better men, better employees, better husbands, and better dads. Jeff's transparent walk with the LORD has already caused one of his players to come to know Jesus as LORD and Savior. That is awesome.

One cool memory that came back to me as I watched the game. I did say I cheered for football but I didn't say I understood it so excuse me if I get the terms wrong. Anyway. Crossroad's own Charlton Cupp was Eagle's starting quarterback my first year as a Sr high cheerleader. I don't remember details but I'm pretty sure it was Charlton. We were down with little time left. We were at the goal line. The play started and all I saw was Charlton diving over the player what seemed like 10 ft toward the end zone for a touchdown that won us a game. Cool huh.

Crossroads is just full of betcha- didn't- know facts.

What's My Cross Today?

2008-10-16T05:50:00.000-07:00

My morning began with a question.
"What is my cross today, LORD?"
During my quiet time I read Luke 9:23-27 in which Jesus says to His disciples:
If any of you wants to be My follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me.
Two things jumped out at me. One is Him saying to turn from your selfish ways. Ouch!! Doesn't the LORD know us so well. The second thing is when He said we must take up our cross daily. Tommy spoke very well the other Sunday when he said that we must be obedient in the simple things first. I may not suffer at the hands of monstrous persecution daily, but you can be that daily there will be times when my flesh wants to go another way or do another thing than that of God's will.
Who knows what the day holds for me? It most likely will be a normal day, but even the most menial of task can be God glorifying. In what ways? Let me share some common occurrences with you.

Momma, Maggie hit me.

Crash. "What was that?" Wil, why were you climbing on the arm of the chair? My one and only vase is broken now (the other day he knocked its twin off the fireplace mantle and it shattered).

I run in the other room because I hear Trey choking. "Maggie stop picking Trey up by his neck. For the last time he will not fit in your baby doll stroller."

And my newest dealing is with Maggie. Maggie really is a good girl. She is just curious and strong willed just like her daddy. Screaming is Mags' new coping mechanism. Be it at Wil or just because she can't get her baby doll's shoe on right. She gets this from me. I don't scream but when I can't get something to work I get so frustrated. I keep saying to her: Maggie, you gotta have self-control. Calm down and let your reaction be gentle. I then have to tell her that I too have to ask Jesus for help when I get frustrated with things. I love the quizzical look that is returned to me.

I love being home with my children. And I am in 100% agreement with God that my purpose lies at home nurturing my children and loving my husband. With this comes trying days and even tears of inadequacy. I don't want to carry the cross of disciplining them (for the 20th time in a day) or serving Tommy when I myself just want to be served! But its my joy to honor God in all I do.

If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. Luke 9:24

The cool thing is giving my life to Jesus is not a loss. It is not a burden even. Is it hard sometimes? Sure it is. Do I question His direction at times? I do. But I never stay there long because I am met with peace knowing His will and ways are perfect.

So what is your cross today? May the LORD lead you to it and may you joyfully take it up.

Lessons from To Kill A Mockingbird

2008-10-12T12:00:00.000-07:00

Lately I have had a craving for some literary classics. I love reading and if you are a lover of books, there are just some books that one must read. I started with To Kill A Mockingbird and just finished Part I of it. I don't know if it is just because I get so caught up in books, but it is drawing so many emotions out of me. When I read a book, I start to see my world through the eyes of the characters. This morning at breakfast I referred to Wil as Jem [a character in TKAMB) because something Wil said reminded me of him...which Tommy goes, "huh?". Obviously I get very caught up in the story. This particular book I read in Mrs Cupp's 11th grade English class. But there are just some things that most young people can't appreciate until they are older like classic literature and history and really just learning in general. That was me and this being true causes me to look back on high school with and label it as precious time wasted.

Books just aren't written with the same morals in mind(and I'm not speaking of religion) as the Classics. Don't get me wrong. Scout Finch's mouth sends forth some unpleasant language but Atticus, her daddy stands up against her on it with such grace. Speaking of Atticus. His character in the book one might label as a prude. I for one think prudence is to be admired. C.S Lewis goes as far as to refer to prudence as a cardinal virtue. But when you hear someone call another a "prude", it is most always in a negative sense. Prudence is exercising sound judgement in practical matters. It means you are cautious in conduct and not rash. In To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus is just this. If you remember the story, the one thing you remember is that Atticus [a lawyer in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama] is greatly condemned for defending a black man named Tom Robinson [in 1933]. The town calls him and his children awful names and are atrocious in their behavior toward Atticus and his children.

Last night after I had already made several comments about Atticus. I told my friend Rachel how I wish I could be more like him. To that she replied, "Misty, remember he is fictional." She is right, but I would go as far to say this:) God is using this book to teach me about a few of my many character flaws. Michael our pastor spoke about character verses reputation just the other Sunday. And Atticus (of TKAMB) is a fine illustration of Michael's point. He said "reputation is what others think about you and character is what God thinks about you." In the story Atticus ruins his reputation with the people and I believe honors God with his character. Atticus tells his daughter who is distraught over what is going on with her father that "he would not be able to go to church and worship God if he did not defend this man" He knows what counts the most with people is NOT what counts the most with God. I get way too caught up in the opinions of man. "What will they say if I stand for this Truth or I will lose relationships if I chose to walk this path (for the LORD)." Let us not confuse "right" with "politically correct"!! Let me just end by saying To Kill A Mockingbird is chocked-full of great lessons.

Petting Zoo II

2008-10-09T18:08:00.000-07:00

First a heads up. I'm allowing myself 15 minutes to do this blog so if it ends with a incomplete thought its most likely because my time ran out. So as Ross Taylor would say, "I'm just tellin' ya."

Several posts ago I spoke about a home school field trip to the petting zoo in Paragould. There was not a ton of kicks and giggles involved with the first petting zoo trip. We decided to try it again and this time bring daddy along. We went to the ASU petting zoo as a part of our home school group. It is perplexing how daddy can do the same things as me but when he does it, it suddenly becomes the coolest thing ever. I guess daddies are just geared that way just as daddy can't kiss a boo boo away quite like momma (although Wil wants daddy to do EVERYTHING). We first arrived alone and of course it was all black and white but the minute I said "daddy is here" even the pigs started to dance. I became chopped liver and only there to take pictures. That is one thing God set in mommas' hearts is to hold onto memories any way we can (scrap booking, pictures, and such), Seriously it is as old as the Bible. Remember when the shepherds come to see Jesus and retold their account of how they heard the news of the birth of Jesus. What did Mary do ladies? She pondered them in her heart. And if it weren't for me, their would be no visual memories of our children. So I am good for some things. OK I have 10 minutes left.

I have actually read that even from infancy when daddy walks into the room, the baby's heart rate will increase significantly. I think I read that in Bringing Up Boys by James Dobson. If I knew how to handle hyperlinks, I would make one for this book. Unfortunately I do not. I have a autographed copy if you would like to borrow it though.
At least once a day my kids will request for me to do some fun thing daddy does with them. And after I put all I have into it I will be shot down with a comment like, "you're not doing it right" Maggie actually cries real tears when I get it wrong. For instance there is a wall we pass on the way to church when we take the short cut alongside the old mall. The wall separates the car dealership and the mall. Anyway Tom chants something as we pass this particular wall and my kids laugh and eat it up. On several occasions I have tried to play this part when Tom is not in the car with us. What does Mags do? You got it. She burst into tears because I don't use the same voice fluctuation. Now you wonder why I go to such exorbitant means to prove a point. I just want to say how important the small things are to our kids. I can guarantee you that the "wall story" and many others will be talked about at Thanksgiving dinners for years to come.
The wrestling times are a hoot at our house. The other day at dinner Tommy played a game with us and we had a blast. You might want to try it. He got a wooden spoon and spun it in the middle of the table. Whoever it landed on had to answer a question like, "what is your favorite thing to eat" or "if you could go anywhere right now, where would it be". We may not have money to buy our kids all they desire or even half of their desires, but who cares right? Our children need more of us. We live in a time when parenting magazines recommend trying to commit 10 minutes a day with each child and scheduling one Saturday a month as family day. That's not okay to me. Our children don't need nintendos, computers, after school activities, ballet lessons, play groups and soccor practice nearly as much as they need US. They need fathers who sit and listen to their days, mothers who join in and make crafts with them, parents who take the time to read them stories and act like idiots with them. They deserve to help us make supper even though it takes twice as long and makes twice as much work (I have learned to make myself do this one cuz I wanna do it without hassle). They deserve to know that they're a priority for us and that we truly love to be with them. I am so thankful to the ladies in my life who have taught me this by example because it is so easy to be focused on my to-do list. We as parents just need to be with them and love them and be goofy with them. Daddies are the best at the goofy part but that's they way it is suppose to be in my opinion. I am thankful because I'm only funny on accident! Well time is up. I added a video and if you call our house at about 4pm, this is what you'll hear. Its a tribute to dads doing their thing... only this one ends on a sour note.
Notice Trey in the backgound. He is so oblivious to the chaos. It cracks me up. Note: I have noticed that many pictures I have posted which show my living room looks as if I never clean it. I don't know what to say except I promise it doesn't always look that way or maybe it does.

A Self-Portrait

2008-10-07T14:23:00.000-07:00

This week with Wil and Mags we are discussing how God looks NOT at the outward appearance of man but rather He looks and is very concerned about the heart. The is an abstract idea for my preschooler and even my kindergartner but still I try to give it to them in small doses and use "Misty-creative" ways (this means creative by the skin of my teeth). Activity One: I had them draw a self-portrait while looking in the mirror.

They usually have fun with art. This time was no different. Then I was ready to bring home the spiritual truth of "pretty is means pretty does". This was a saying given to me by my mammaw when I was little and got a little out of line. I had them dictate to me what God loves to see in our hearts. In other words I said, "How is it that God wants us to act?" I then stapled there answers behind their self-portrait to illustrate looking on the inside of a person to see what is there.

Here were their answers (word for word including pronunciation) to what God saw in their hearts starting with Wil:

1. Skin

2. Nothing. I don't have anything else

Yes my sentiments exactly...my son is a little confused. With Wil, you can't go on and on trying to explain something to him because he gets farther and farther away from the point. Had I tried to work with him I'm sure his response would have eventually been something like, I think God sees pickles in my heart.

Here were Maggie's answers to What does God want to see in your heart?

1. act very good

2. share toys with each other

3. if your mom says pick up toys, you pick up em' (word for word may I remind you)

4. if your mom says load up in the car, we have to go (can you tell what issues we have to address often)

5. do somethangs (yes thangs) that my mom says to do

6. if your goin' to cheerleader practice, I have to go (this response comes from a deep desire to be a cheerleader)

Now I was puzzled that Mags got the concept and Wil didn't. Remember I mentioned in a recent blog that Maggie said a couple months ago, "Jesus, will you come live in my heart?" during our devotion time one morning. The morning she prayed this we discussed some things and I can't say to you that she didn't know what she was saying because she seemed confident but I kept coming back to the fact that she is 3 years old.

Wil on the other hand says firmly that he has NOT asked Jesus into his heart because he doesn't want to go to heaven. Why? He wants to stay with momma and daddy he says. In a small way our lesson with the self-portrait reminded me that the message of the cross is foolishness to those who don't know Him but then again no one will ever accuse me of being a great teacher. What is my peace in home schooling? Not me but He who lives in me. When I am weak He is strong and God's Truth will be revealed to my kids if I'm obedient to live it out and seek the LORD when my son says that "skin" is what Jesus wants to see in our hearts.

Tagged

2008-10-07T06:58:00.001-07:00

I am clueless about how to do this tagged thing. I hope I'm doing it right....
I was tagged by my great friend Holly Taylor who is just as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside, who is wonderfully funny, and makes me wish for more fashion sense!!!!!!!!

About me:
1 I don't understand hyperlinks
2. I can never get enough sleep
3. I love Elvis music
4. I really want a vacation with my family
5. I am so boring
6. When people fall down, it cracks me up (as long as they are not hurt)
7. I am not sure I'm suppose to make this a post but I'm gonna cuz Maggie is standing here staring at me as she waits patiently for me to wipe her

I don't have anyone to tag that hasn't been tagged...I don't think

Yard Sales and Marriage

2008-10-04T18:34:00.000-07:00

Today was a great day of liquidating. I decided on a whim I would have a yard sale. Because this is my 3rd yard sale this season I didn't have a ton of stuff to liquidate, but my in-luvs [aka in- laws] always do. They enjoy going to auctions and yard sales. They have a gift when it comes to getting some deals which they turn around and gain profit. They bring a trailer full of furniture and other great attractions that draw a crowd. As for me, I had 3 goals in mind:

1. declutter (I promise you if I declutter much more I will be sitting in an empty house. I am the opposite of a pack rat which means I am uuuuuuhhh...I can't think of a word)

2. make money (I just want a nice Fall door wreath. Is that too much to ask?)

3. eat ribs (Tom's dad brought his smoker and slow smoked some ribs. Collis is "the man" when it comes to smokin' some grub)

I am proud to say all 3 goals were attained with a bonus I might add. The hubby and I got a chance to sharpen our vows as Wil and Mags got a chance to keep grandma and papa young by staying overnight! Trey stayed with mom at home. With 3 kids, we both are very aware of our need to date [each other of course]. Proverbs 29:18 says "Where there is no vision the people perish; but he that keepeth the law, happy is he." And I think it is fair to say "where there is no date night, the marital passion perishes; but he that dateth their spouse, happy is she (or he)" Well thats my take on it anyway. Thankfully I have been awakened by the fact that keeping my marriage fresh should be a priority for me. And plus I love having QT with Tommy. There is no other who can compete for my attention!! When the kids are away, there is no question where I wanna be. Tonight we had a Starbucks date. Uninterrupted conversation makes for a great date. And even though I didn't come home with a Fall wreath, I come home with a renewed spirit and an even better marriage. I love you, Tom. Thanks for making our marriage top priority. Funny I didn't mean to tie my marriage into yard sales. I never know what direction my blogs will go.

My Wake Up Call

2008-10-01T08:01:00.001-07:00

Tommy just called me with some startling news about a lady we both know. She was in an accident and now very close to death. Even though I know that God can take us in an instant, I am still taken aback when I hear of tragedy striking someone I know. This particular lady was in better condition than any woman or man for that matter that I know. She was fit as a fiddle. Don't get me wrong I am all about keeping yourself healthy. After all our bodies are the temple of God and we need to treat them as such.
I didn't have a friendship with her and certainly didn't come in contact with her a lot and so I wonder if she knows Jesus as her Savior and not did she say a prayer ,but did she have a real relationship with HIM....a saving relationship with HIM? Hopefully so.
This brings me to a challenge and conviction that has been on my heart. For the past 3 weeks and for the next 4 weeks I am taking an inductive Bible study (Precept Upon Precept) on I Corinthians. As I was finishing up my homework last night I was faced with this question:) Is there anything that has kept you from preaching, proclaiming, sharing gospel of Jesus Christ. If so, what is it? If there is anyone out there who can answer no to this question please contact me. I am serious!!
These were my answers that I wrote down:
I don't get out much.
It's hard to know how to start the conversation.
Will my lack of gentleness come across as judgemental?
Is my love for them and my concern for their eternity in the forefront of my mind the way it should be?
Will I stumble and fail?

The last answer [will i stumble and fail] is where the LORD rebuked me. I'm just going to cut to the chase.
Romans 1:16 says For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes- the Jew first and also the
Gentile.

Salvation does not rest on me being eloquent or having all the answers. I Corinthians 1 and 2 state clearly that the Word of the Cross is the power of God and it is wonder-working power (of the blood....are you singing that hymn now). My very existence is in the hands of God and the reason I breathe is to glorify Him. But oh how I get wrapped up in my own agenda, my own plans, my own woes, my own interests. I should not be ashamed and I should not let anything distract me from sharing the gospel. The result is not within my power. That is a relief. People we know and love need Him, they need Him now and they need Him forever. Break my heart for those people but let me also remember it is by the power of God that salvation is granted.
The LORD is using my children for practice. Yesterday we were talking about how we need Jesus and therefore the Holy Spirit living in us to show us the way to act and live. And Wilson said "yep and I haven't asked Him yet." and I was thinking please let me live in a way that prompts the desire for Wil and Mags and Trey to receive Jesus. Maggie does still say that Jesus lives in her heart. She prayed the prayer about a month ago (with no pressure from me) but you never know with a 3 year old. Most importantly I must LIVE IT OUT....my faith and belief in the Lord Jesus that is.

I LOVE BOOKS!!!

2008-09-27T07:09:00.000-07:00

I was just so excited about a treasure of a blessing I received this morning. Books are in the top 3 of my passions in life! I absolutely love books. Tommy, being the book lover he is as well, has joined forces with me to instill a love and hopefully a passion in our kids for books. Just recently we have decided on a distinctive approach for teaching our children at home. It is called the Classical Education. In the early years, the main focus is literature (great children's literature....the classics) along with learning facts. Anyway we are excited about this approach. So my main focus during our school time has been to teach Wil to read because in the classical approach they need to be fluently reading by the first grade. I truly believe if you are a good reader then you will automatically be a good learner. Remember when Michael talked about the giant in our lives and what is it. My competition many times is them wanting to watch t.v. rather than read. I have tried my best to be diligent in weaning them from it..not completely. I like Handy Manny as much as my kids. Anyway it has been a rewarding experience to watch him on this learning to read journey. He is doing fabulous and feeling very grown up. The best thing I can do for Wil (and Mags and Trey) is to read to them of course. My quest lately has been to find books that are on the Children's literature list. Although I am grateful for our library, I want to build a library of my own which brings me to my treasure . Marinda, my sister in law, brought over about 4 boxes of books several weeks ago. I had forgotten about them because I had put them away. You know how that goes....out of sight, out of mind. This morning I was looking for something for us to do and those books popped to my mind. We got them down and my kids were giddy as they opened the books feeling as though it were Christmas [see above picture]. This led me to believe that maybe I should have waited till Christmas and just let them open these boxes of Sissy's [Sissy is what they call Marinda]. I opened the books and found several of the books I had in mind to buy the kids....ones that were actually on the Children's Literature list. God has done this countless times lately. He has dropped these sort of blessings in my lap unexpectedly. I just found it odd that I had not opened these boxes sooner but rather just when we needed them. I suppose that is why we call Him omniscient [all-knowing]. Oh and we also found the cutest artwork from when Micah and Maddie were little. It would have brought a tear to Marinda I'm sure. Time flies. Our kids grow up so fast and I pray that I will make the most of my time with them. Hopefully reading with them will be something they cherish as they grow up. I know it will be for me.

I Hate Germs. They Make Me Sick!

2008-09-20T19:14:00.001-07:00

Well it has been quite a fierce week for us. Since Tuesday night, we here at the T. Archer household have been taking turns with the stomach bug. I'll spare you the details. First Maggie, then Wil and I had it together, and now as I type this Tommy is laying in bed not quite as dependent on the bathroom. He is on the downhill side of it. Oh and Trey even had a touch of it which threw me in a momentary panick, but his was light. My mom (who lives with us) is probably in the batter's box for it. I don't know what would become of us if my mom would not have taken care of Trey and Mags while Wil and I were pretty much oblivious to our surroundings. Thanks mom! It is odd how 12 hours of this type of sickness can mess with your body. The first time I attempted to get out of bed I had no balance, I could barely hold my eyes open, my back ached, my head throbbed. And yet...and yet I remind Tom that childbirth still reigns when it comes to the subject of pain (don't you love it when women play that card). Let this serve as a warning:) Its goin' around. Moms, keep your germX stocked (in purses, in car, in every room) and dads...please wash your hands and don't laugh at us moms when we germX the Wal-mart cart down before we use it. Sometimes I have been known to bring clorox wipes in a ziplock bag if I'm really on my game. Here is a handy tip:) replace all toothbrushes after contagious yuckiness and don't shortcut it by boiling them cuz the bristles will fall out. Now why would one need to bring that to someone's attention. I guess the same reason they put a warning on a rectal themomenter that says not to use orally. I am totally exposing myself as witless. Let me just say for the record that I do not need a warning when using a themometer but I am totally guilty of boiling my toothbrush. Offer up any tips you more refined ones might have on germ fighting to help us survive these upcoming flu months. Rachel, I expect a comment (or 2) from you sister. And don't forget to get your FLU SHOT!!!!

Co-op Day

2008-09-15T18:30:00.000-07:00

OMG. Those are the first three words/letters that come to mind as I reflect on our first day of Co-op (aka Monday school). Every Monday my kids along with countless other homeschoolers get together at Walnut Street Baptist Church and have Monday school. This does not take the place of curriculum that we do at home. It only enhances it. Wil goes to three classes and Mags has one class. It last from 12:30-3:30 and everyone kept remarking that it would be a crazy first day for me. My thoughts were....well I can't tell you my thoughts because I have none. My thoughts have taken off for the night. Hopefully they will return after a good nights sleep.
I taught p.e. for 4 and 5 year olds. That is where the OMG comes in. There were 2 other classes of third and fourth graders in the same gym. I had socks for bean bags and absolutely no idea how to capture the attention of all these precious pre-k(ers). Tommy was suppose to come help me when he finished his mail route. Supposedly he had more mail to put away when he returned to the office. That was his story anyway. All I know is that he walked in just as I was sending my second and last group back to their original classrooms.
It was very exhausting and as I left I wondered how important Monday school was that I would need to come every week. Thankfully I had the ride home to clear my mind. I thought about the new people that I met and how neat it was to have such a support group in CHE. Already being a part of this group has given me much encouragement.
This call the LORD has given both Tom and myself to home school has been very clear. God called us to home school before Wilson was even a twinkle in our eyes. It was Tommy that shared it with me 8 years ago and up until about 2 years ago I was resistant, but now I too know it is the direction to go for now. I love it, but there have been countless times I have asked God "are you sure because I feel so very inadequate?" but every time I get the same answer- "My grace is sufficient and My power is made perfect in your (and Tom's) weakness"
This summer the LORD gave me a verse which was Psalm 90:12 Number your days aright so that you may gain a heart of wisdom. This verse allowed me to be very productive. Otherwise left to my own agenda I would have been here, there, and everywhere. A few weeks ago I started to pray that He would give me a verse that I could carry with me this fall. And how awesome He was to provide one that already has lifted my head on several occasions. It is Galatians 6:4-5 Each one should test his own actions then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load. My God knows how hard I am on myself (why can't I be smarter, funnier, more creative, more eloquent, have more common sense, wink with both eyes, sew a button on a shirt...obviously I could go on and on) and how easily I can second guess my direction whether it is parenting or homeschooling techniques or even sometimes my worldview. People are opinionated and sometimes are so eager to tell you all the reasons why their way is the right way. Don't get me wrong when I am passionate about something I have to be careful that I too don't come across in an evasive way. So many verses come to mind that remind us how God and His Word has got to be our sole guide in this life. Remember it is living and active, sharper than a double edge sword and useful for teaching and leading us in all areas of life. We cannot get caught up in what society tells us about how to live life. NO MA'AM. NO SIR!! Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all (not some but all) your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths Proverbs 3:5-6
My husband has been a great mentor to me. He is a passionate guy and has strong views but you would be hard pressed to find one of his views that he could not back up with the Word of God. He has taught me to seek the LORD and His Word so that no man would be able sway me from the Word of God! My daily prayer is that God's glory be my main focus. Oh how I miss the mark but glory to God His mercies are new every morning.

Hurricane Tykes

2008-09-15T05:25:00.000-07:00

Doesn't this look like fun!!! Fun may be a stretch but certainly was funny and interesting to stay in a hotel with 1 3 yr old, 1 4 yr old, 1 5 yr old, and 1 6 yr old. If you are wondering what led us to this venture, let me just say parents go to great lengths to reward their children.
I believe reading is key to a great education so I challenged Wil and Maggie to read 100 books during the summer months. Of course I read the books to them. I chose 75% of the books we read because I don't believe Handy Manny & Sleeping Beauty books will cut it, but 25% of the books we read were just that. Our reward was staying in a hotel with a pool. My kids love to stay in a hotel!! My friend Rachel agreed that would be a good reward for her kids too and since my kids will follow Abbie and Mia off a cliff....this only added to their excitement.
Frankly our precious blessings were wild!!! I kept expecting a hotel employee to knock on our door and give us a good scolding. I know my kids felt rewarded!

Precious Laughter

2008-09-11T14:12:00.000-07:00

This post is most importantly for our family and friends that don't see Trey much or have never seen him (and not because he sleeps 20 hrs a day for all of you who call me the sleep nazi). This is just one of those moments where we were just chillin in the living room. Trey thinks Wil is a hoot. He laughs at most anything his big brother does. Maggie, well, she smothers him and that makes Trey m-a-d. I know he wants to say to her "personal space please". In this video, Wilson is throwing puzzle pieces in the air and letting them fall on his own head. It totally cracked Trey up obviously. By the time I got my camera, he wasn't laughing as hard but we still thought it was cute. Of course, to us, anything our baby boy does is cute!!

The Petting Zoo

2008-09-05T13:09:00.000-07:00

This morning we visited the petting zoo. I laugh as I say petting zoo because it was nothing more than what we see on a weekly basis at Tommy's parents but nonetheless it was a break in our day and a zoology lesson. The thing I am picking up on is that homeschooling doesn't just mean school at home. It means school home and abroad...the zoo, the fair, the grocery store, the gas station, the doctor, outdoors, etc. Everyday is a field trip-ha. The LORD is gently showing me how He is a part of every school subject we take on from math to handwriting. One of the Archer's home school philosophies is "get a life and let your kids in on it". Actually the two brothers of Joshua Harris (I Kissed Dating Goodbye) introduced this concept to us as they were on Family Life recently. They and their brother Joshua were home schooled. Neat boys. They have written a book called Do Hard Things. And after Jake Moix finishes reading it (Rachel has made it required reading for him--Go Rach) I can't wait to read it. I love learning right along with Wil. I know you say "he is in kindergarten so what possibly could you be learning that you don't already know". It is sad isn't it but you'd be surprised how little I do know. Raise your hand if you know about my geographical learning disability. Yes I can't get out on the bypass in my own hometown without a map. But the first week Wil had to memorize the continents and I'm proud to say I know all 7....impressive huh? Up until 2 weeks ago I would have said China was a continent.

The petting zoo wasn't much to write home about. My kids were actually scared to hold the baby duckling and Mags got spooked the first 5 minutes after I come unglued when she stuck her fingers in her mouth (you know her lovely habit) after holding the baby duck. They did get to feed the baby calf and hear the pigs oink. Their favorite part was that grandma Betty joined us and they got to spend time with her.

A Good Morning

2008-08-27T09:56:00.000-07:00

Do you ever have one of those mornings where all seems right with the world. It's like getting all green lights when you are in a hurry. That is the type of morning the LORD has given me. I started my day with 6am coffee with a dear friend before we went for a nice power walk. Power may be overstating it a bit. At best, I may have worked off the overdose of french vanilla creamer I conditioned my coffee with. What I needed most out of our coffee time is exactly what I got...a big laugh. She told me a story that caused me to have one of those laughs that goes on and on until you cry. Oh my I haven't laugh that hard in a long while

If that wasn't enough, when I came in after our walk, everybody was still asleep (Tom had left for work)! Oh yeah. It was off to the bedroom to spend some quiet time with the LORD! I only got 5 minutes of His Word but it was exactly what I needed...I have come to expect that from Him- who am I that He would be mindful of me but He is.

In the picture, you can see my day got even sweeter from there. I was in Trey's room when they woke up all sleepy eyed and hair a mess. Wil is NOT affectionate but I do get 5 minutes where he just wants to get awake in mommy's arms and then he is good for the day, Maggie, on the other hand, will suck her fingers and lay on me all day, and Trey...well he hasn't a choice! I know I can talk a mile about my kiddos but it is the glory work the LORD has chosen for me and I praise Him for it. The great thing about blogs is you get to be....well....kind of self-centered if you will. By that I mean what you write is what you want to write.

Then God just about overdid it when Marinda sent me an email to say she knew of a woman who had a little tykes playground thingy (excuse my wording from here on out...I am working on borrowed time....it is just about naptime and that is usually when my day can turn ugly. Anywho it was awesome and would be perfect for my kids and it was c-h-e-a-p in price that is. At this point I was singing and dancing until I checked my email. "It sold" was all it said and that was all I needed to read before I forgot all about my wonderful morning. Isn't that just like us to forget so easily the blessings of the LORD. Remember how the Israelites were after God had delivered them from slavery, parted the Red Sea for them, provided for them food, and not to mention just knowing they were His chosen people. I can read that sometimes and think how could they be so ungrateful, until God says "hold up and check yourself. You too forget where I brought you from and what I have so graciously given you." I may not have a Little Tykes playground but I have a sweet Savior who showers me with an undeserved blessed life!

One On One Playtime

2008-08-24T19:14:00.000-07:00

Susanna Wesley. Have you ever heard of her? She was the mother of Charles (famous Christian Theologian) and John Wesley (wrote Hark the Herald Angels Sing and leader in the Methodist Movement among other things). Anyway I am sure you are familiar at least with their names. Back to Susanna. When I became pregnant with Trey (our third), we were taken aback. Wil and Mags being 2 and 3 yrs old at the time, I freaked a bit. My great friend Kathy brought me a book (knowing how a book always makes me feel better) and that book was about Susanna Wesley. She had 19 children in her lifetime. She was a devoted mother and her mission became to see her children know the LORD and serve the LORD. It was a very inspiring book and literally made my spirit rejoice over my pregnancy. Susanna being the diligent woman she was set time aside each week to spend one on one with each of her children. Now she didn't have 19 children living in her home at the time of this vow. It was more like 7 I believe. Nonetheless reading this sacrifice inspired me to make the same kind of commitment with my own children.

At the time of my commitment, it was rather easy. I did what I wanted with them. A little ball with Wil here and a little snuggle time with my Mags-E girl there. However over the past few months I have seen a shift in Mags and Wil and a little glitch in my system. When Trey come along I slacked a little on the one on one time and tried to just play with Wil and Maggie simultaneously. Uh new plan momma. Maggie no longer wants to chase Wil's stray baseballs or run for his rebounds. She wants to play pretend and Wil wants to eat, sleep, drink any sport and as you can tell in the picture, tennis is his new favorite.

Ok who gets totally exhausted playing pretend? I for one am horrible at pretend but I do the best I can and my baby girl can pretend to be Dora or Ariel or momma all night long without effort. She is so funny. When I mess up and call her Maggie during our pretend time, she'll say "who's Maggie?" Whoa I am getting way off subject here. Sorry.

My point is playing with them one on one has become something that I have to work hard at. But more and more I see the importance in it. Granted I do put too much pressure on myself to play with them because I realize it is a very healthy thing to have them play with each other and on their own but when I spend alone time with them #1- they shine #2 - I get to know their personality and their talents; their strengths; their hearts and the list goes on. Sometimes when I am with them I think of Steven Curtis Chapman's song Cinderella: "so i'll dance [play] with Cinderella [or the prince] while they are still in my arms.....cuz the clock will strike midnight and they'll be gone."

And you say "what about Trey?" and I say breakfast, lunch, and dinner Trey is as close to momma as one can get [get what I'm sayin]? And if you see him out one day without a face, its because I kissed it off!!

My Wilson's 5th Birthday

2008-08-20T08:45:00.000-07:00

5 years ago on August 19, 2003 at 1:01pm. I was introduced to the true meaning of unconditional love. My son Wilson Collis Archer came into this world. There are so many things that I adore about this boy: his sensitive heart, his tight relationship with his daddy, his smile, his loyalty, his athletic ability, his sweetness, the way he loves his sister and wants to protect her, how good he is with Trey, his big blue eyes, his serious personality and on and on. I told him the other day how his growing up makes momma kind of sad. To me he said, "it's o.k. momma i'll still be your baby" Thank you Wil for knowing exactly what your momma needed to hear.

We had a family party for Wilson. Here is a video of the candle ceremony and some more pictures!! We had a great time eating cake, opening presents, and playing drive-way tennis.

Little Hearts For His Glory

2008-08-18T18:55:00.000-07:00

Today was our first day of school at home. We began our kindergarten curriculum with Wil [and Maggie kind of plays along] though she is not at all far behind big brother. We are hoping to use the same curriculum with them as long as we home school.

Tom took me to breakfast early this morning which started me off on a happy note. I got home and fed them breakfast, watched Handy Manny, did chores, and then began. We started off with Bible/Devotions. From the get-go Wil asked "how many pages do we have to read?". Yikes thought Misty. Somewhere in the devotion we got on the subject of Heaven and how we get to Heaven. This is a conversation we've had hundreds of times but this time Wil starts to cry. My theory is that he is starting to process all the little things we've taught him and its a bit confusing to him.

First he asked me "Do I have to die on the cross?"

Squaring this one away he says "I don't want to believe in Jesus because I don't want to go to Heaven because I want to stay here with you"

The conversation continues and I know that I could have done a much better job than I did. Hopefully God spoke through my clumsy words. In the moment, I felt like I needed to get him to a point of complete understanding. Afterwards I realized he is 5 yrs and the big picture will come but it will take many more of these moments. For now my kids need only to know how very much Jesus loves them!! I myself am one to want immediate answers from the LORD but HE knows just how much or how little my finite mind needs to know. He knows the big plan. My part is to seek Him for the details.

Our school day got progressively better. I enjoy watching them learn. It can be a real hoot too! Here are some pics of our day.

Praise and Worship Time: They love to groove to Steve Green's Hide em' In Your Heart cd (introduced to me by Mrs Dana Hewitt). Green's cds are scripture set to catchy music.

Storytime: Adventures of Reddy Fox

Check out Wil's footwear. One of my reasons for homeschooling: anything goes in fashion

Phonics: This was my favorite part and Wil's too. He concentrates better when he sucks his thumb...I'm tryin' I really am (to rid this habit)

This was our day! All I can ask is that my efforts were pleasing to the LORD!

What A Day!

2008-08-16T19:24:00.001-07:00

Tommy and Misty Archer hardly ever have what one might call a "crazy" day. We just aren't busy people. We love the simple life or we are boring...take your pick. This day was very much an exception. Not being accustomed to business, I made a serious to do list Friday night.
Even with the precious to-do list, my day didn't start off well.
Trey woke up at 6:15am after I had had a late, but fun Friday night (Thanks Escues for a fun time although I did have nightmares about falling down a flight of medal spiral stairs). then I threw a breaker trying to plug up my treadmill. I couldn't fix it so I had to call my heroic husband to walk me through the whole breaker thing, then Trey wouldn't nap (that alone brings me to tears). Our favorite Veggies, Bob and Larry were suppose to meet us @ Lifeway at 11am (can you believe we have a Lifeway--YES!!) Momma worked her punctual magic and we were there at 10 till 11 camera in hand.
When Bob and Larry walked in, you would have thought Elvis had just entered the building. Kids young and old were screaming and fainting....hysteria I'm tellin ya. Mags was getting frustrated cuz Larry wouldn't talk back and once Wil hugged Larry so hard that Larry almost fell and cleared 20 or 30 people with his bigness. Finally and I do mean finally after all the tearful goodbyes we left the Veggies but then Wil wanted to wait on Saraya. To that I said, "Unless Saraya is going to be dressed as a big cucumber or a red tomato were out of here!" In 2007 we took the kids to Branson to Celebration City where Bob and Larry were suppose to put on a show. For 2 months prior to our trip, the talk was always on Bob and Larry. Tom and me were so excited to take our Veggie Tale- loving kids to see the show. We hyped it up in a big way!! 2 months later we walk into the theatre anxiously waiting the "show" to start. I'm not lying when I say 2 young girls walk out and did a sad sad skit and sang some veggie tale songs. The last 5 minutes of the show Bob and Larry come out and stood letting the parents and kids come up for a quick photo shoot-sad sad sad for Wil and Mags--mad mad mad for momma and daddy. The Lifeway appearance was much better. It also helped that we had no expectations.
Our next stop was Craighead Forrest Park to our first CHE (homeschooling group) outing...a picnic. We ate BBQ, got a little acquainted with some of the people (we are newcomers), and then the kids played their little hearts out! I had a lot of fun. Thanks again, Rachel, for taking care of me.
We headed home very tired. Everyone got a nap except me (yes i want sympathy) and then we were off to our friend Ross's birthday party. Did you know that Ross Taylor and Wil was born on the same day? Wil is actually a few hours older but Ross wears a size 12 or13shoe and Wil wears a 9 on a good day. There was swimming and talking and a wonderful blue cake. You should be able to see it in the picture. I'm just thankful that Wil finally got to go to a male birthday party because Wil is surrounded by girls and he will stand toe to toe with anyone who tries to mess with any one of his precious female friends, but it was nice to see him hang with the boys.
Ross opened his presents. He got some cool presents...ones that I have never heard of. Tell me. Am I the only one who has never heard of I-Dogs or Webkins. Apparently they are the newest craze. I have got to get with it. But now the only thing I'm gonna get is in bed!!

Dollar$ & Sen$e

2008-08-13T19:18:00.000-07:00

The Archer home is presently undergoing some fun (no really it has been fun) changes in our financial dealings. It all started a couple months ago when I asked Tom if we should have some sort of college fund for the kids. It is so easy to not think that far ahead but the reality is we will have 3 kids graduate in a 4 year period. Wil and Maggie (unless she quits school and elopes...oh my I shouldn't joke about such a thing) will graduate one year apart and Trey will be a couple years behind Mags. WOW...my sentiments exactly!!

God is so cool! After our conversation about college funds, Dave Ramsey come on the radio one night while Tom was driving home. We had both heard a lot about Dave Ramsey. My sister is die hard Ramsey, some of our good friends, the Kingstons, teach his program at their church, and a lady from Tom's work uses his plan. Much of his principles are common sense...in Mr Ramsey's own words...he teaches what God and grandma would tell ya. Tommy got the book and read it in a matter of 2 or 3 weeks. As he would read, he would share the principles or the "baby steps" we would need to take. I gotta say my husband makes me feel so secure financially and in many other ways. I'm sorry but sometimes you just gotta praise your man!

Tommy is a blessed man because I'm not a spender or a shopper. I am very frugal so when he pitched the idea of going full throttle with Dave's plan, I excitedly agreed. Since we have more or less lived conservatively in our spending we haven't had to make drastic changes but one cool thing we have implemented is a budget. This budget includes everything from haircuts to lawn care to groceries to clothes. And you may think that sounds like a drag but contrary to that it is freeing, liberating even. We are now debt free except our house (which Ramsey calls debt free)!!

We are now working on saving up 3 to 6 months worth of income. This step could take a while or maybe when the promise land arrives (that is what we call tax refund time) we could finish it out. Who knows? The budget allows us to track our money very efficiently. Organization and planning really gets my blood flowin...I know I'm such a nerd. But it is fun to work as a team on this. Ramsey's plan has given us the means to be better stewards of God's money. Ramsey's book is called The Total Money Makeover and Ramsey's material is called Financial Peace University. And here is a betcha- didn't- know- this fact. Jeremy and Amanda Escue (the new and beloved Crossroadians) have actually taught Ramsey's material. Its good stuff.

On a somewhat different note, I have been trying to find ways to save. In this quest I ran across some interesting information today. Raise your hand if you are a Target (the store) fan. Here is some cool info about their markdowns:

1. Mon- kids clothes and electronics are marked down

2. Tues- women's clothes, domestics

3. Wed- men's clothes, toys, health and beauty

4. Thur- Lingerie, shoes, housewares

5. Fri- cosmetics, automotive

6. if its marked down to 30-50%, come back in two weeks to see if its marked down further

7. if the last digit of the clearance price is a 4, it is the final mark down (so if you need it and think it'll go down more, it won't if its last digit is 4)

8. Full price ends in 9

9. Target is known to send the items that don't sale on clearance to the Goodwill store. I think Jonesboro's Goodwill is on Highland.

I thought this was pretty cool to know. This is not 100% applicable to every store but after thinking on some of my purchases, I think it is for Jonesboro's. Its worth looking into.

Now why did I blog about this. If I were you, and I needed a new financial plan....Ramsey's philosophies are very doable and Ramsey is a Christian and his method reflects that. Everyone I know has had some sort of financial dilemma which is the very reason money is something Jesus spoke on many times in the New Testament. This may not be of any interest to anybody but it interested me and its my blog so sorry. I wanna say one more thing. Nevermind I've said enough

Family Fun

2008-08-11T10:51:00.000-07:00

I am a fool for Archer family night. Every member of the family gets a turn picking what they want to do on Friday nights. We can't take credit for this of course. We just followed suit behind the Moix's. It's o.k. to steal a great idea as long as you make it your own right? It was Wil's turn this night and putt putt was his pick. O.k I've tried to hold back for the past 5 years but now I can contain it no longer. My son dominates. What does he dominate? All things sports. Before I continue, the LORD gets all the credit....well HIM and a proud daddy. He got none of his talent from momma. Its all Archer [tell me if i'm wrong but the Archer brothers glory days are starting to fade...what is up with all the injuries boys?] !! Well I have to say my own 3 brothers were pretty dominate themselves but that trait missed me [and Maggie...you'll see why] by a mile. Picture it! It was hole 2, Lil Archer steps up with putter in hand, he looks, he gets his stance, clears the mechanism, and you got HOLE IN ONE. And you maybe thinking whoopee...read on my friend. Please know my bragging is all in fun of course!!

The proud golfer. And from here on out he was Mr Golf Pro or so he thought. He was handing out pointers left and right.

a few holes later....The Archenater strikes again! Hole N One baby. At this point he has a little strut in his step if you know what I mean uncle Mike. Now on to Maggie.

This is what she thought of putt putt. I'm not kidding when I say out of 18 holes, she participated in 2 of them. She totally entertained herself by talking to the fake animals and pulling her dress over her head while she played with her belly button. See she is talented too.

Seconds later and I do mean seconds. She fell off this horse and landed right on her face. Poor girl.

and then there's my perfect one. He says, " you fools can go sweat in the hot sun if you want but I like it here where my mammaw spoils me rotten and jumps when I say jump" I love you baby boy and before long you'll join us.

I have no idea what I've done to this layout. I can hear Dana laughing right now!!

Thank You Chapman Family

2008-08-07T18:08:00.000-07:00

This was not the blog entry that I intended on making. As I sat down at my computer, Larry King Live came on with the Chapman family. As you probably know, Steven Curtis Chapman's 5 yr old daughter was run over in the family driveway by her 17 year old brother.
They seemed very nervous (probably cuz of the fear of their faith being raked over the coals by Mr King). He asked some hard questions...ones that I could never ask and wonder if they should be asked like "how did the accident happen?" and then asking Will (the older brother) "could this have been prevented?" Talking to Larry King from where I sat on the other side of the television set I said "What are you thinking asking those insensitive questions?" But the Chapman's answered them politely and with such courage. And I am telling you as they sat in that interview [and it is still going on as I sit here...I'm typing this between commercials] I could sense the LORD's arms around them as they spoke each word. God did not send them through this fire alone. He is soooo obviously right along side them. The Chapman family is enduring the greatest fear of many families. I keep thinking "they are taking one for the team" and what I mean by that is that watching them deal with this strengthens my faith, it causes praise in my heart, it causes me to be overcome with compassion, it reminds of the uncertainity of life, it reminds me to number my days, andI know that multitudes of people feel the same way. I have never met the Chapman's and Ive never even been to one of his concerts but they feel like family to me as I watch them enduring this tragedy for God's glory. I wish my memory could retain all the AMAZING GOD GLORIFYING comments the Chapman's spoke. One thing Mary Beth (the mom) said at the very end: "in the darkest moments when they had went as far down as they could go, maybe not even had landed on their feet" she said "the foundation in those moments was still solid". That foundation is Jesus Christ crucified who left us with hope. He will never leave us or forsake us.

I had just shared with my dear friend Rachel about how lately I have been really battling Satan as I lay in my bed at night. My mind takes me to horrible places....like what if this happens to my kids or my husband. It has kept me up several nights in the past few weeks. The only thing that gives my peace [great peace] is the LORD God almighty, the Sovereign One. He gives and takes away but His love is unfailing!!! And like Mr Chapman's new song says "we are Yours God" And as for Misty Archer, I wouldn't have it any other way.

Daddy's Barbershop

2008-08-05T07:14:00.000-07:00

Being a stay at home mom I'm always looking for ways to save and I'm frugal...thats a nice way of saying I'm cheap. Wil's hair was starting to get out of control. In order to save money I talked Wil into letting Tommy cut it. Let me just say that Wil is fearful of anything sharp, loud, or odd looking around his head. Tom's clippers are all 3 of those things. Here Wil looks happy even excited right. Well it only gets worse.

My sweet clueless boy.

Here we go....

It was over before it began.

He is so done being brave. I would be too if I had a tablespoon of hair in my mouth

Here is the finished product. If you know a good barber in town let me know. I'm scared if we try to attempt this again Wil might run away from home!

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

2008-08-03T18:36:00.000-07:00

Do you wanna hear my odd analogy of many marriages today? O.k. you asked for it. Marriage is like a wonderful buffet filled with fresh fruit, mouth watering steaks, and scrumptious desserts. Marriage is full of beautiful blessings. The problem is that men and women spend years with each other only feeding off the salad part of the buffet. We miss out on the blessings that God offers within the marriage relationship. Marriage is the greatest blessing in my life. And the more Tom and I seek the LORD on our roles and the more we learn about each other's needs, the sweeter it gets! It isn't something that happens without sincere effort. If you think it'll just happen, don't hold your breath.

Tommy listens to a Christian radio program everyday called http://www.familylife.com/ and I too enjoy it when I can. This week Dr.Emerson Eggerichs was on the program. He wrote the book Love And Respect. The subject was respecting you husband. Before you tune me out ladies, let me say it was very insightful. Honestly I thought I was doing pretty good in respecting my man. After listening to this, I found that respecting Tommy meant more than what I thought. Respect is a need a man has....let me say it again...a need...a need a man has apart from his performance. Ashamedly I admit sometimes I would think men just need to stop being so insecure and whiny. The thing is women have the need to feel loved apart from our performance right? Its a crazy cycle. Without love, women react w/o respect and without respect, men react without love. So who is going to make the first move. It was an awesome program. I really urge you women and men (it talked about men playing their part too) to listen to it. The link is http://www.familylife.com/site/c.dnJHKLNnFoG/b.3876235/k.8398/Advanced_Search.htm
Here are a few helpful things I learned:
1. men aren't a group of insecure whiners...respect is a God given need for our hubbies
2. we can't disrespect our men in order to motivate them to be loving
3. a man needs to be respected apart from his performance
4. no husband has loving affection toward a woman who he thinks despises him as a human being
5. my man [Tommy]doesn't like the motherly finger that treats him like a 5 yr old
I know that the few women that read my blog knows what respect means to your man but pass it on to a uninformed wife you know. I hope this blog doesn't sound preachy because this message of respecting my man I needed to hear. I burned the program on cds so if you wanna borrow them, they are yours. I'm out.

Make The Day Count

2008-08-01T06:25:00.000-07:00

A year ago this piece of artwork would have sent my blood to a boil. Today it just slightly elevates me blood pressure. This is permanent marker on a brand new kitchen table chair. My Maggie is notorious for this sort of behavior. I'm not sure if she just wants to see how far she can go with me or if she really saw no harm in it. The last guess is highly doubtful don't you think. Maggie may be a lot of things but clueless is not one of them. Can I get an amen?? I won't get into the specifics on how I handled this little situation but I will say it involved a little wooden spoon we at the Archer household call "Mr Woody".

My verse this summer is Psalm 90:12 which is Number your days aright so that you may gain a heart of wisdom. Mags making her mark like this is unacceptable obviously but me going off on her without reserve is unacceptable as well. I want to make my days count with them. If I would have reacted without self-control, our whole morning would have been shot.

Our days are numbered. I want to make mine count. We are never guaranteed another day with those we love. My dear friend Melissa Meeker taught me so much. There were so many times throughout my day when I would think of her and be reminded first of the awesome strength that God gives and second how often my eternal perspective becomes blurred.

I started to leave that marker on that chair as a reminder. Who am I fooling. No I didn't. A picture of it worked just fine. And to all you anal moms like me who are asking themselves the important question. I got the marker off with Mr Clean's Magic Eraser but don't use it to wipe off your child's face--duh!!!!

A Lesson From The Wise: Kick the Bucket

2008-07-30T10:01:00.000-07:00

Here you see a picture of a sad attempt to grow tomatoes in a bucket. I was so excited when my father in law brought this to me. He sent it home with me and gave me a quick lesson on how to care for it. I realize that it is no Archerhill but I digress. Tomatoes are my favorite of the garden fresh veggies.

Knowing how quick I get frustrated when trying something new, Tommy highly discouraged me from planting a garden of my own. Although I jokingly complain, he is wise in that decision. I am soooo not a gardener. I can kill any plant or flower no matter how low maintence it is.

I would visit Collis and Betty [my in-laws] and their bucket tomatoes seemed to be thriving, even producing some good-sized tomatoes. NOT MINE! At first I thought it was just my gardening skills or lack thereof.

Get to the point, Misty. My father-in-law is not only a great gardner but he is a wise man. He loves the LORD and is always finding ways to make a spiritual point using God's creation. He'll say "I got a sermon" from this or that. This past Sunday we were over at their house. It gave me great comfort when he told me that he had found the problem in the tomato plant bucket[his stopped thriving too]. He said the roots weren't able to go deep enough for the plant to thrive.

He said just like our walk with the LORD stops thriving when our roots aren't allowed to go deep enough. Isn't that good truth....Collis is awesome!! If we don't allow are roots to grow deep into God's Word, we fail to live according to His ways, and we fail to bear much fruit. We talk, act, think like the world. We are called to be a light, to be different from the world. Lets kick the bucket and let our roots settle into the Truth of God's Word so that we can do what we were created to do....glorify our Father in heaven!!

A Jolting Reminder

2008-07-24T18:16:00.000-07:00

Sometimes God gently reminds us of His promises and sometimes we are jolted into remembrance. Today was one of jolting.

I had just been to the library with all 3 kids. That, my friends, is a challenge. Ask my friend Rachel Moix. She was there. I had to drag Wil out, Maggie had just purposely knocked the library pet (Hermit crabs) right off the counter (which our luck will not survive and all the kids will want to beat Maggie up), and Trey was wanting out of his stroller where he had been strapped in for the past hour. So we finally get home and everyone is very hungry. I start getting Trey's ready first while Wil and Maggie fight over the 2 cheese crackers they found in the floor. I sit down, start to feed Trey his carrots, and he is salivating profusely. He is teething so I didn't think much about it and started to feed him his carrots. Here comes the jolt. Trey starts frailing his arms in panic and can't get his breath. He has such a look of struggle in his eyes. I do a classic finger sweep just as he vomits up a whole cough drop wrapper. All moms know what could have happened! Even after the fact he is wheezing and crying. My heart is pounding as I'm praising Jesus for His rescue and dialing the number to register in the next Red Cross CPR class (i'm serious)!!

How often the mind of a mom strays to turmultuous places because of personal doubts and fears concerning their children. This has certainly been a real spiritual battle in my life as a mom of 3 young ones. All of the what if(s) can be overwhelming at the end of the day. We want to shelter and protect our precious ones from harm and long for them to remain safe and healthy in the walls of our protective care. I forget that this matter is not one in which I can ultimately control as much as I would like to think so. Rather we have to entrust the One whose love is greater and much more sufficient than we could ever imagine. The Word says that Jesus left us His peace. This peace that God left us through Jesus Christ never expires. It can be used in every situation of our lives.

His Word is the source of this peace and His Word should lead us as parents in raising and nurturing our little "rewards". So when those days of worry as a mom weigh heavy upon you, call out to Him. Our Jehovah-shalom (The Lord is peace) will be right there waiting!!

Let Your Voice Be Heard!

2008-07-23T16:58:00.000-07:00

As the time draws near for us to elect our 44th President, my concerns grow. Honestly I'm not sure I could hold my own in a political discussion. But my husband enjoys politics and has been a big asset in keeping me in the know (somewhat at least). I do believe as Christians we should keep up as best as we can with the beliefs and credibility of our country's leaders. It is important to get the "best" (i use the word best lightly cuz i realize sometimes it is like choosing 6 of one and half a dozen of the other) leader in office who will stand up for the moral issues and such. There is my challenge (as weak as it was) to educate yourself on not just Obama or McCain but all government offices that we have the privilege of voting on.

Now to the fun part of it. As I pondered on what direction our country could possibly take (so thankful I know Who is on the throne), I thought about the leaders in the OT and what I have learned about many of them. There were some amazing leaders in the OT and Pastor Mike has done a great job introducing some of them to us on Sunday morning so let your voice be heard. Take my poll (you'll see it at the side of the page). You will notice I didn't put David as a choice. I think he would have won hands down. And hey if you don't know their background here is a good chance to dig into the treasury of God's Word. GO VOTE!

Look at him go...

2008-07-22T10:06:00.000-07:00

Look at my baby. He started crawling today. It is actually more like creeping. His pattern is knee, knee, face plant; knee, knee, face plant and he continues that way until he reaches his desired destination. Check out the tongue. That is his way of clearing the mechanism. I could get lost in the stolen moments with him and I do mean stolen. About the time we sit down together Wil and Mags decide to join the fun. At the end of the day, I'm so glad to have had them so close together. Wellllll maybe not at the end of the day cuz at the end of the day I'm glad to have them all in bed.

Back to Trey...it is bittersweet to see him reach each milestone. As cool as it is to see him crawling, there is a lump in my throat knowing that before I turn around they will be grown.

Thank you LORD for allowing me the privilege of be a mommy.

Maybe we should add one more to the family. I'm out!

The 23rd Psalm

2008-07-21T08:51:00.000-07:00

I decided to take the Michael Archer approach and experiment with a video blog. If you are close family or friends of Tommy and me, you have heard Maggie recite the 23rd Psalm. Wil on the other will not do it because he isn't the people person that Magster is. But you give him a challenge and he is on it like a bad tatoo on James Hewitt (i am sooooo kidding). So if you can't understand him it is because I told him I wanted to see how fast he could say it.....so competitive my son is....the apple doesn't fall far from the tree!!

Tom and I are big on teaching our kids to memorize God's Word. Of course we are proud of them when they accomplish a verse or a catechism but it is absolutely meaningless if it doesn't eventually make its way to the heart! God calls us in Deuteronomy to teach our children about His Word and His ways when we lie down and when we awake and when we walk along the road. Basically we are to always be on the lookout for ways to teach them God's Word. Still this can be harmful. Yes you heard me right. Now this is the way I see it. If you teach them to memorize scripture and send them to Awanas and church camp and don't live it out in front of them, it can be very damaging to their faith. Our kids are watching us and I'm sure you can tell me story after story of the way you have seen your child mock you unknowingly. Sometimes it is funny and sometimes I just want to duck my head in shame. I want Wil and Mags and Trey to say that Jesus was so much apart of their family growing up that they felt like He was another member of the family sitting at the dinner table with them. That is a tall order and man how many times I have grieved God by acting in a way I should not have in front of my kiddos. I just pray that His grace will carry Tom and me as we teach them His Word and teach them what it means to live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. This is one of the biggest passions God has set in my heart.

One day when Wil or Maggie comes upon a trial in their life I pray that they will have this Psalm in their heart to sustain them. For that to happen, it starts with me and Tom!

Surprise Date

2008-07-18T20:46:00.000-07:00

My sweet and thoughtful husband surprised me early in the week. He arranged for Wil and Mags to stay with Uncle Mike and Sissy overnight (Trey will stay with mom) so that we could go eat at my favorite restaurant, Olive Garden. Its not my birthday or our anniversary so yes he earned major points with thist one. My love tank is sittin on full!! He's thinking "yeah i'm good for at least a few weeks" and he's probably right! We had a great time. The food was good of course! The conversation was so peaceful. We kept stopping after every other word expecting little voices from the backseat to but in with a "momma guess what" or "daddy I want VBS songs". I love just hangin with my man. It keeps it fresh.

As for Uncle Mike and Sissy, bless them. For those Crossroadians if Michael seems a little disoriented during his sermon Sunday, you can blame my kids. I'm sure they bossed him to and fro all night Friday. You see my kids think of Uncle Mike, Sissy, Micah and Maddie as the Incredible Family....you know the Disney movie. In their eyes, they are the superheroes of fun! Compared to them, Tom and I are just chopped liver when it comes to excitement.

Any who it was a good night. Now we're ready to see our kiddos. We miss them when they aren't with us. Yes even after one night!

memories

2008-07-17T15:05:00.000-07:00

My best friend from high school come for a visit today with her new baby girl. We swam and just reminised. We don't get to hang out much but when we do, we like to go back to the 90's at Greene County Tech. We share a lot of memories she and I. Some of which we cringe over (more on that later) and some we laugh about like the time we were convinced in our 11 yr old minds that we were going to dig a pool with 2 shovels. We shared some outrageous plans like moving to New York City....me as a hygenist and her pursuing a modeling career. Sabrina could make me laugh until I cried. We could make fun out of nothing. Now here we are married with kids.
Some of the memories we share I wouldn't care to forget. I guess you could say on a few occassions we got carried away with our youthful selves. Looking back on the mistakes I made in my past I thank God for His grace and His forgiveness and His protection.
I guess we all have a past (some are more unpleasant than others of course) but in one way or the other that past can sometimes haunt us. I have a propensity to grieve when I see a certain person or even hear a certain song but when those moments come I have learned to praise God for bringing me to a place of restoration.
The neatest thing is that life has brought Sabrina and I to the same road in life...a road that leads to Jesus. She inspires me with the way she loves God and wants to serve Him. Her greatest passion is Jesus and seeing Him glorified. If you read this Brina, thank you for the memories!!

unsupervised

2008-07-16T09:31:00.000-07:00

A picture is worth a thousand words isn't it.
I left the room for no more than 10 minutes and walk in to this dandy of a mess.
Maggie did it Wil says. Wil did it Maggie says. Momma says I don't care who did. Clean it!
Its amazing how fast your kids get sick when its time to clean up. Does any momma hear what I'm saying? I'm out.
Misty

Who I am

2008-07-15T09:45:00.000-07:00

Wow. Who would have thunk it? Misty Archer has a blog. I'm always on the tail end of anything new from fashion to gadgets. I'm usually the last one to know what is cool or trendy. I haven't always been this way but something happens to you when you have 3 children or it did to me anyway. I said I would never drive a mini van but I was the last to know how super cool they are...o.k not super cool, but super convenient. I said I would never go out into public with spit- up stains on my clothes but I was the last to know that when you've had less than 3 hours of sleep, spit up stains are the least of your worries.

Obviously my life is pretty simple and some would view it as mundane. Had you asked me 10 years ago if I thought being married 8 years with 3 kids was a fulfilled life, I would have said "hardly." Today I love my life. I adore my husband and being a stay at home mom has been the most rewarding undertaking of my life! I have found my place. It is where I belong. I believe you must put yourself in a place that will bring God the most glory. For me, I have arrived!

This could very well be my last entry. Why you ask. It has taken me 2 hours to finish this post and Wil just came in with lipstick on and Maggie's dress. I better handle this situation b4 Tommy gets home and hope he doesn't read this blog. I'm out!!