AWANA!!

Last night was the last night of Awana for my boys. This was our first year ever being a part of the program. They both really enjoyed it and they did a GREAT job!!:-) Last night as we talked and prayed about the year as a family, they were both bummed that it was over. But fall will be here before they know it!

I was also amazed to look back over the year of Awana and to once again be reminded of God's faithfulness, His answers to prayers, and His loving kindness...

Just 1 week after moving across country, I was devoted to finding a place for my kids to get "plugged" in. Since I am home-schooling the boys, having something on Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings for them to do is important to me. We did not know where we would be attending church at this point, so I asked some people from the seminary about church's near where we lived that had Wednesday night programs. Of the recommendations given, I chose the closest one with an Awana program.

The church is located in the middle of downtown! At first, for this small town girl, this was intimidating (exciting too!)...the church is one (two maybe with the school?) entire city block and the children's education building is 7 floors. Drew was on one floor and Sam another. So parking, getting them there, being okay with leaving them there, etc. took awhile for me to get used too! Also just getting to the church and back I would get turned around, until I got used to the street names and the one ways!!

All of these challenges aside, after our very first night, I knew that this was an answer to prayer and that this was where we would continue to take the boys. You see Sam had just the sweetest teacher that first night. I knew that upon meeting Tiffanie that she was a great personality match for my Sam. Drew does well pretty much anywhere...but my Sam can be much more timid, so this was so reassuring to me that he had a good teacher match up!!

Then when I dropped the boys off the next week, Sam's teachers Tiffanie and Michelle (this was when I learned that he had 2 great teachers:)), asked if I home-schooled. They had thought that I had said this. I of course said that I did and then they asked me if I would be interested in being a part of a small co-op of home-schooling families.

Let me back up for just a second. So here was the situation last fall...I am home-schooling the boys, I just had a baby (Abby was 10 days when we moved), I just moved across country, Brent just started seminary. The weeks and months leading up to this, one of my main concerns for moving was for my boys. Would they meet friends? Would we be able to have some network of home-schooling people? Would I have the energy to find out about these things? How would I make time for this? What about, What about, What about?? Do you get the picture of what was happening in my heart and mind?

Well thankfully I didn't have to carry this on my own. But instead, I carried it to the Lord. And I had some faithful women praying every week for me and for my family! I was a part of a Moms In Touch Group and each week that we met, those women prayed for our family, my kids, the transitions. They prayed specifically for home-school connections, birthday party friends, girlfriends, etc. Thank you, thank you for praying!! And thank you Lord for being so faithful in answering!!

Okay, so back to their question about would I be interested in being a part of a small co-op of home-schooling families that they wer just starting. Would I be interested? Would I be interested? Would I be interested? Yes, Yes, YES!!! Honestly, even as I type this, I am awed. God did that for us. He had a group find us, when there was no way I could have found them. Oh how I encourage you to pray! He does hear and answer according to His perfect will.

I have told these women how amazed I am that this happened. But I really don't think they know what an incredible blessing it was to be welcomed into their group.

And, as I said, Drew and Sam really enjoyed Awana. Drew's favorite thing was dodge ball, but he definitely LOVED collecting the jewels and worked really hard on his verses. He had good teachers too! And Sam liked it all. I am grateful. God answered our prayers in ways I could have never guessed or orchestrated! I am thankful. Did I mention that already?

Thank you to all of you who prayed and continue to pray for our family! We are humbled and honored and thankful! Here are the BOYS...






"Humble your self under the mighty had of God, that he may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you." 1 Peter 5:6-7

My Puddle Jumping Partner

Lizzy was my puddle jumping partner today! We had some good T-showers and the storms left some fun parking lot puddles. This evening, when Brent got home from work, Lizzy and I went on a grocery shopping "date" together. Along the way we jumped into many puddles. This was something new to Lizzy, and something I may regret teaching her one day, but boy was it fun. We would count...one, two, three, four, five, JUMP! And she would giggle. She would giggle harder when I said "Ewww my feet are all Slimy!" When we were leaving the grocery store, we saw the best puddle of the day. Lizzy said "Can we jump mom?" I said, "Sure". And then to the shock of the employee that was helping us out with our groceries...we counted...jumped...and made a HUGE splash in the middle of a puddle in the middle of the grocery store parking lot. It was way too fun!:-) I do wish I had a picture of the 2 of us! Here rre some I took of my partner the other day...She will be 2 1/2 this week...growing up just way too fast! I LOVE you Lizzy JOY!:-) I can't waith until we can puddle jump together again!

Abby's 9 months Old

Yesterday Abby Grace turned 9 months. Hard for this mom to believe! The 9 months of her life have been full to say the least. Here she is...our little girl...




Oh how we love you Abby! You are just growing up SO fast. We have already been on quite the journey together and I look forward to what life will bring. Our family is so blessed to have you as a part of it! I Love you Abby Grace...you are a treasure!

Please Pray for Steven Curtis Chapman Family...

Last night they lost their 5 year old daughter, Maria, in a tragic accident. If you go to my friend Kristi's (Simply One Day at a Time) or Laura's (Stepping Out of the boat) Blog, they have posted the full details, as well as a link to the newspaper article. My heart aches for this family. Please join me in praying for them.

"The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads beside cool waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the prescence of my enemies. You annoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." Psalm 23

"May the God of all hope fill you with joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13

The Race Is On...

And Drew and Sam are the runners! I have been getting VERY frustrated with my oldest boys lately at the way they have been discouraging each other. If there is anything that this mama desires, its that our home would be a place where people are loved, encouraged and built up according to their needs!! Words of encouragement are so important to me. So it really frustrates and hurts my heart to see my children do this to one another. I tell them all the time that they have the best friends they will ever have right here in our home!! And they REALLY do love each other!

It just seems like lately Drew and Sam have gotten into the habit of pointing out each others weaknesses...Or have been less that nice with words spoken...or have had a hard time sharing...or have been critical of something the other has done...etc. etc. etc. Now I know that part of this is being brothers and sisters, BUT I want to help my kids learn the importance and impact of thier words and actions. I tell them that they can always go back and make it right and be forgiven, but once the words are out they can't ever be taken back...the ugliness of them is there. Restoration is totally possible...but that doesn't change that the words still hurt. In the words of Steve Green "Words are very powerful, they can either encourage others with things like "good job, your gonna make it, keep tryin'" or they can tear others down". (A little side note: Lizzy is LOVING "Hide em' in Your Heart" by Steve Green right now...so we watch it about 3 times a day...if you have little ones I highly recommend these CD's and DVD's...great way to help them hide these truths in their hearts).

So anyway, my boys know this, we talk about it, I encourage them, I discipline them, I have them write notes to each other, I take toys away, I feel like I do all I can think of. Well today, Brent and I decided to make encouraging, genuinely encouraging one another a RACE. We have a little sticker chart up and the first person "caught" 25 times genuinely (Brent and I determine this) encouraging someone gets to go to Toys R Us and pick out something they would like (within reason obviously...but cost of things doesn't really enter into what they choose...so far the amount of something hasn't been what my kids think about). So we'll let you know the results...and if the LONG TERM results that I so desire show up. I am hoping that the time it takes to do this will help them form a new habit of encouraging their brothers and sisters and others...we'll see. We are going to bathe it in prayer and hope it is something that helps my boys to encourage one another and form a life long habit of encouraging others too!!!

Oh! And as long as both of them REALLY work at it...we plan to reward them both...they just don't know this yet!!

****This is making me think about how I can be more intentional about encouraging my husband! Its not just what I say to my kids, but what I do...I need to be an example of an "encourager". Maybe I should put up a chart for myself too!!****

"Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing." 1 Thes. 5:11

"Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." Ephesians 4:29

From the Chronicles of Mothering...

First some dialog with Drew...
Me: "Do you guys want to swim for awhile this afternoon?"
Drew: "Mom it is WAY to cold outside today!"
Me: "It's 89 Drew."
Drew: "Yeah, well it felt cold to me."
I thought you friends in ND and SD might get a "kick" out of this comment!

And a journaling of something that has never happened to me before...
About 10 days ago Lizzy was declared officially "potty-trained"! Yeah! She has done SO well. In fact, she only had 6 accidents total I think. But today she was SO interested in the music that was coming from the computer, that she didn't want to take time for a potty break. She LOVES the song "O Praise Him" (the one you are hearing if your sound is on your computer). You can guess what's coming next, BUT I bet if given an opportunity you wouldn't guess just WHAT happened. Lizzy had an accident...a wonderfully BIG pee pee accident right on top of my wallet (which happened to be on the floor by the computer). Everything totally drenched!!! At first Brent and I looked on in disbelief at what was happening...then All we could do was laugh...it was really unbelieveable how perfectly targeted it was. And yes credits cards, Drivers License, my $3.00 cash, my checkbook, my cards, photos, passes...everything "got wet"...Ahhh...what do you do? As I said we chose to laugh. I knew WHY it happened...and I felt bad for her. Her brothers thought it was hysterical and asked if she was "the first" one of my kids to pee on my wallet. I said "Yes, boys, she was." And I hope the last.:-) Well, my wallet IS 10 years old...maybe now I will actually replace it.

You just never know what a day or a moment might bring when you are a mom...I am SO glad that I am home with my kids...I don't miss very many of them!!

Bring the Rain...

A friend of mine here on campus told me about this amazing blog. It is called Bring the Rain, the story of Audrey Caroline. Angie Smith is the author...her husband is the part of the group Selah...it is the story of their daughters brief life on this earth, and the amazing impact it has had for eternity. I added the link under "other blogs I like to visit". It is an amazing story...I recommend taking the time to read about their journey.

Some Animated Pool Pictures...

The looks of the girls in these photos was just too funny in person. We have been enjoying the hot weather playing in the pool...that is Mom, Drew, Sam, Lizzy and Abby have. Brent is very busy with his summer class in the mornings, work in the evenings and schoolwork in-between and in the middle of the night!! Would you please pray for our family to stay strong in these years and in the years of ministry to come...we know this is where our strength comes from!! I will try to make the boys stand still long enough tomorrow for me to snap some pictures of them!!:-)

Mother's Day Moments...

Thanks for making Mother's Day so very special for me! A picture with each of you...what could be better than that? You make me laugh, cry, sing, smile, frown, crazy and everything else in-between...and I LOVE you! Thank you God for giving me a wonderful family to love and care for!