Give Em' Jesus

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.