Wordless Wednesday-Aslan

This is absolutely one of my favorite paintings. The artist is Sally Brestin. There is a lion and a lamb in this picture. You can hear more about it (which is fascinating) or purchase it here.

More WW go here.

Tiny Talk Tuesday

For more posts on Tiny Talk Tuesday visit Mary at Not Before Seven.
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When being disciplined for jumping off the bunk bed ladder our little one could not understand why this was a problem. After explaining things that could happen to her if she fell the wrong way she was okay with it all even to the point of death except for this:

"Daddy but I want you to get hit by a bus so I don't have to go to Heaven alone."

Where do they get these things?! She is the stunt girl in the house so you never know perhaps she will be jumping off buildings for a living! :)

Refresh My Soul Weekly Devotional

Hey all. I write a weekly devotional for our ministry. If you are interested, go check it out here.

We are out of control!

Okay y'all. I must post this along with my other challenge. I am at my boiling point, seriously. I have finally realized that we have too much stuff. To simplify is key. My children drag their toys out day by day and leave them all over in every room of the house every day. This creates so much work for me when I have to pick them up. They have so much stuff that it is impossible to keep up with it all. So as I work on getting my body in shape, I will also be getting these things in shape. I am just sick of it. I cannot stomach it anymore.

I am so thankful for God's blessings and every good gift He has allowed us to have. It is a HUGE blessing. I have been thinking so much lately about those people who are less fortunate. Those children who have only one toy. They cherish that thing. They take care of it. That is not the case here. So, it is time to take drastic measures and simplify. There are many nice things that can go to others in need. Things that have barely been played with. Clothes that have never been worn. I want no new gifts in this house until the old are out. Folks, I have spoiled my children. Oh, Father please forgive me and help me get things back on track.

All of that frustration has got me thinking too about how little food they have in other areas of the world compared to how much we have here and indulge in. This next period of 40 days I am wanting to do a fast to bring me back to reality. I am not sure how this will take place or what specifically I will fast but I will be praying and following God's lead on this.

Okay, thanks all for letting me get that off of my chest. It is just so sad to see how we have it so good. We have all we need and then some. But we still want more. I am thinking of turning off all commercials-that just feeds into the appetite of wants.

I am thankful for all we have but sometimes we need a reality check and that is what is coming to us. I am hoping it will forever change me and with the money saved perhaps we can help out those others in real need. Thanks for bearing with me on all of this. I will post at least once a week about this journey.

Chicken Soup for the Soul-Homeschool Edition

Lisa over at Apples of Gold put in a request for this book to be done. It would be a great encouragement for us home schoolers out there. Go over to her site to check out the details and give her some feedback on this if you are interested.

A New Challenge

Okay y'all. I have started a new challenge. See the Live well button on my sidebar for more details. If you are interested in doing it too please let me know we are in this together. But seriously it is time for me to do this.

This challenge is a great one. It deals with mind, body, and spirit. My mind and spirit parts are in pretty good shape as far as I can tell. But my body is not. You see, after God miraculously healed me two years and four months ago, I have put off getting back into shape. When your body is in stagnant position for seven years this is a hard thing to do. God has been speaking to me about this for awhile now. He wants this for me so badly that He even set up a free gym for me to go to. Now tell me, is that above anything I could imagine or ask (Ephesians 3:20)? With this gym comes a friend who will help me stay accountable. A prayer partner who will pray for me to have the strength.

I really think I need to shed 30 pounds. Although I am not weight focused, that is my personal goal. My outward goal. My inward goal is that I become healthy. That will also start with making some different eating choices. I will be cutting back a lot of sugar in our home which will also help with my daughters and husband in the long run.

Posts like Kate's (Small Scribbles)on how much sugar American's consume and Susan's (Adventurous Living) on her son crying about eating one carrot have really got me thinking a lot about wise choices. God gave us these bodies to use wisely. We need to take good care of them.

So the challenge begins. Also, I am sad to say this, but this challenge is also requiring me to give up a love affair that I have. It has become unhealthy at this point. It is not forever but only until it is under control. That love affair is with Starbucks Cafe Mocha's. My drink of choice. Due to the cost of them and my constant habit, I will have to give them up this month. Now, if someone buys me one as a gift or something (because that happens) then that will be the only exception to this but I will not be buying one for 40 days.

I will be giving weekly updates on how I am doing and I do hope you all will partner with me in prayer over this.

Are You a Frog?

Our school lesson this week has centered around frogs. The premise of it is, "Be wise like the frog who does not use his tongue unless it is necessary." We too should be like the frog and use our tongue sparingly. This was a good lesson for me. The tongue has the power of life and death. Just as the old saying goes, If you do not have anything nice to say, say nothing at all. There is wisdom in that. So this week we have been tracking our words. It is pretty scary to see all the words said versus all the words needed.

What about you? How many words do you use wisely?

A Story I Did Not Want to Tell

Well, I finally hit my 100th post! So I am sharing a story that God used to really humble me. A story to really learn to trust Him in obedience. To learn to trust Him in His answer. This situation helped me grow in many ways. More ways in fact that I could ever use one post to explain. But I am thankful for it. I hope it encourages you.

I was hurt. Really hurt. I did not realize something so small could have crushed me in such a big way. We were returning from our retreat last year with the college group. We were being transferred in a school bus. Apparently the driver was not a Christian so I desperately wanted us to be a good example. He was cranky. He was a driver who did not like to stop. We had a group of 30 with us including two small children so it was inevitable that we must stop about every two hours. Oh but that was not acceptable for the bus nazi. Oh no he was driving hard. So hard in fact on the way back through Georgia we lose the air conditioning. (Any of you southerners out there can appreciate the importance of air conditioning in the middle of August. I mean this is a HUGE deal. August in Georgia and Tennessee is the worst of all months. There are days that it is so hot and humid that I find it difficult to breathe. We were in a serious situation.)

I am holding a child who has contracted hand, foot, and mouth disease who I believe is feverish. The other is sweating profusely. Students in the back are very hot, especially the ones sitting over the engine. We are about to blow. We were in a very tense situation ourselves.

In the back grumbling starts to rise up. This is no fun ride. God did such great things in each persons life on the retreat. Now this. It was definitely a blow from the enemy. Something within me stirred so strong. I believe it was the spirit in me. I jumped up to my feet and said, “NO! We are not going out like this! We are going to pray over this air conditioner and we are not going to complain. The enemy will not steal the ground that we gained while we were away. He will not have it!” I proceeded to tell them to lay hands on this air conditioner. I prayed a come back Jesus sort of prayer over this thing and I knew it would start right back up. This is not what happened.

I told the students to start singing praise songs to God. They started playing and singing. I took back my seat and wept. I think I wept for several hours. The air did not start working again. So now, what will they think of me? Most importantly, what will they think of God? Did I hear Him right? Did I let Him down? Did I pray wrong? I just know I freaked out the bus nazi. Will that turn him farther away? I also freaked out some of the students. Apparently my praying in authority is something that they had not seen before. Which is sad with people who have grown up in the church.

This story made a lasting impression. The story still circulates. You see, I have seen many powerful answers to prayer. I believe God for big things.

I could not understand why God left me hanging out there like that. It took me months to recover from this moment. I am not sure why it took so long but it devastated me. It hurt my relationship with the one who I trusted so much. I spoke to the bus man. I told him I just had faith that God would fix the air. He said it would be good if he did but I know he did not believe it. What kind of a witness was this?

God keeps telling me not to worry about it. He keeps reminding me that I have no idea what He did in that instance. I often see that bus and the driver. I continue to pray for his salvation and his heart to be softened. That after all is the most important thing. Because I do not know the end of this story-I do not like it. But I must believe in faith that something happened from this act of obedience.

A friend of mine said it was a good story and it encouraged her. So I am posting this in the hopes it will encourage others too. God hears all our prayers if we are right with Him. I believe He answers each one too. Maybe the answer was no that time. Maybe it was wait. I have no clue what God is doing in the lives of the others who experienced it but I can tell you this, I still love Him and I still trust Him. I realize that our ways are not His. And that is okay with me. I would rather be a fool for Christ than nothing for Him at all.

Podcast Delay

Hey all. I am sorry to announce that the podcast to be out today has been put on hold. I will let you all know when it will be available. We need some real wisdom from God about how to proceed on this. He will show us and at that point we will move ahead. Until then thanks for your patience and please do lift a prayer.

Please pray too for another friend of mine who is in Japan for an extended period.

Also some friends of ours in Ukraine who are about to deliver a baby.

Continue to pray for my other friend overseas on bed rest about to deliver soon.

My weekly devotional is out too at Refresh My Soul Ministries if you want to check it out.

Blessings and love,
Angela
-Stay tuned for my 100th post! :)

Urgent Prayer Request

Hey all my blog praying friends. Please lift prayers for my sister in Christ, Katie. She is about to deliver her first baby and is in another country with different customs than what she is used to in doing this. She is really hurting and needs our prayers. It is emotional enough to deliver a baby with a big support system. However, she is in a place where she has no one but her husband and God. She is there because of her following God's call. So please lift her up in prayer.

She had a plan and everything to be moved to a big city hospital but then went into pre-term labor. She now is in a strange place and it is very complicated. Please just pray. She really needs it now.

Live a Life of Love

Live a Life of Love

“Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God”
(Ephesians 5:1-2).

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I was at Hallmark today and I found a bracelet that I really wanted to buy. It had a simple message. There was a silver piece that had love 24/7 engraved on it. God has been teaching me so much about love this past year. I know I do not love the way I need to. I need a reminder. I to well aware of my internal faults to judge, criticize, and even turn my noise away from others.

But the spirit of the living God is inside of me. He will not let me live a life that is characterized by unloving character. I have the best model to follow to get this right and that is in Christ Jesus Himself. He lived a perfect life of love. I too can live the same life as I follow Him.

God’s word says in the end people will become cold and unloving. I see this all over the place. But God has called us as Christians to live a life that is different. We are not called to be like the world. We are to live in it but not be of it.

Christ gave everything up for us because of His great love for us even to the point of His very life. We will never know fully how much that cost Him until we get to Heaven. His life, death, and resurrection are the perfect example of a life of love.

I am so selfish so much of the time, wanting my own way. I think about me way too much. Right here and now I am tired of that. I want to only live a life that glorifies God. A life that is a powerful example of Christ. When I come to my end of days I want others to remember me as someone who followed Christ without compromise. Someone who learned how to love not conveniently but sacrificially. Someone who loved well.

Father, forgive me for not loving the way I should. I give you my heart, my very life. Lord, move in me to bring glory to You in all things. Please make me less and make You more. I want people to see You as I disappear. Give me a passion for selfless living. Thank You for Your sacrifice which is everything to me. In Jesus Name. Amen.

The Real Deal!

What I ended up doing today was spending three hours in the beauty salon! I am not joking. I wrote a post about being the big hair freak earlier that explains it. So, today in an effort to shed some of that big hair, I cut a bunch of it off. This is me under the dryer! I was trying to pass time and took my picture. I hope to post a good pic of me on here one day but that is hard to come by! Plus, looking at this I am noticing a few chins! So, just for fun and humility's sake here I am all colored up, make up free (mostly), and before the brow waxing.

Seriously though, a beauty salon can be such a tempting place to gossip. Especially since half of my church goes to my hairdresser. But this experience could not be further from that. We have church up in there! Mary is a woman who loves the Lord and follows after Him. We talk about what God is doing in our lives and share how we have seen God since the last visit. I just love it. It fills me up and makes me want to serve Him more. So not only is she helpful for beautifying my outside person but I get a two for one deal of my inside person too! Please pray for her, she has some health issues but you can never see it.

"Do not let any 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).

We Saved the Squirrels!

After much time had passed, a nice collection started. When I asked the girls what they were doing they responded that they were helping the squirrels collect food for the winter. So this is our contribution to wildlife preservation for the week. :)

This is our end product. As far as I know squirrels cannot survive on sticks and rocks but the acorns will probably work! :)

Wordless Wednesday-Refresh

I am NOT Religious!

I am not religious! I am in a love relationship with Jesus Christ. Religion and relationship are two different things entirely!

Here is some food for thought from my pastor's sermon today:

• Religion attempts to make bad people good while Christianity makes dead people alive

• Religion is man's attempt to get to God. Christianity is the historical reality that God came down to man.

I just love those statements. I love that we have a God who pursues us. A God who desires to be with us. A God who does not force Himself on us. A God who sees us for what we are but refuses to let us stay the same. I am praising Him for making me alive!

Podcast

Kara at Mommy dot com and I are starting a new podcast where we will be studying books of the Bible together. Our first book will be James. We are preparing devotional guides that will be available to accompany our podcast series. If you are interested in receiving this please let me know.

Our hearts are to help prepare the bride of Christ to be ready and help others to be refreshed by understanding the Word of God. We started doing this about a year ago now and only did one test podcast with eight children in the house. That is what you find on our ministry page, Refresh My Soul. Please stay tuned for our scheduled launch date of Monday, October 22nd.

Please pray for us as we take on this new venture. We are very excited to do this and will be humbled by anyone who will come alongside us on this new journey.

The Rocks, the Drain, and the Restaurant

We were just sitting there minding our own business. Then we saw them. A family came out of the restaurant. They looked like a normal family. Nice enough I would say.

I then saw their little girl run impulsively to the huge water drain in the ground. She proceeded to get the big rocks from the landscape and drop them into the drain. Her mother watched for a minute then said something to her. Whatever her mother said seemed to agitate this girl a bit.

Her father and sister had already made it to their vehicle while the mom patiently tried to get her child to come. When she persisted to disobey her mothers command, her mother called to the girls father. He came forth and said something as well but it seemed to agitate the little girl even more. For some reason she was fascinated, no fixated, with throwing rocks into this drain.

As her father approached her to take her to her vehicle, she picked up one of those rocks and launched it at him. She had no regard for other cars driving by, other people around, or anything else but the rock and her persistence to have her way. Her father then agitated scooped her up and carried her to the car while she hit and kicked at him all the way. It was quite an interesting scene. I made me wonder about this family.

The above narrative is written from the perspective of someone watching our family. It is only a small bit of what I could imagine they see when they watch us. This is one of the things I am speaking about with my youngest daughter. She seems to have a hard time shifting from one thing to another.

This week for school we have been studying rocks. When we arrived at the restaurant she was intrigued by the beautiful white rocks that were outside this restaurant. Then she saw the drain which had many in it as well. She thought in her mind that the drain was suppose to be filled to the top. In her mind she is thinking she is helping out.

After we finished eating and returned back outside the restaurant her mind was set to do again what she was doing before with those rocks. The patterns she repeats are hard to break. When she has to switch to something else she doesn't know how to properly do it. As a family we need to teach and train her how to do this.

Onlookers do question us. They question our methods. They criticize what they do not know. It is okay though because she has and is teaching me love, patience, and perseverance. She will eventually learn to process things correctly and she will learn better by being loved through it. By being patiently instructed and taught. She will get it and she is all that matters. We are accountable before God with how we handle her so what others think does not really matter.

Discipleship Award

The Mathetes Award originated at management by God. Mathetes is a Greek word meaning “disciple” and is given to those seen as “acting in the role of a disciple of God.”

I have been awarded this from Kathy at Sumballo which is a high honor because she disciples me in a huge way through her posts. This means so much to me because all I want my life to be is an example of Christ to others. Discipleship is so very important to me. Not only is it what Christ calls us to do in making disciples, but I do really see it as my life's mission. Most of you wonderful siesta's out there see your lives as this too. Your relationships have blessed me so much. I see all of you as disciples to me in one way or another. However, this award is only to go to five people.

So these are the five I am awarding this to:
Amy at Adore, Amplify, Admire
Although Amy has not had much time for blogging lately, keep watching them because she has much insight and wisdom to bring to the table. I am honored in serving with her in women's ministry at our church. I am blessed by her. I hope to see her blogging more soon as God allows.

Susan at Adventurous Living
Although I just found her blog a few weeks ago, she rights with great insight. I just enjoy her writing. She has come along side me to be a wonderful encourager by going out of the way to reach out. She is a blessing.

Stephanie at Notes from the Soul.
Stephanie will always be an encouragement to me. She is probably the most humble woman I know. She is an excellent song writer and worshiper of God. She is full of wisdom and insight. She always knows how to encourage and uplift in the Lord. I have been honored to serve alongside her building our women's ministry at our church. I loved laboring alongside her. She is a joy.

Kate at Small Scribbles.
I have also had the pleasure to labor alongside Kate. She is such a blessing to me. I am so encouraged by her writings as well. She always makes me want to be a better mom.

Lynn at Spiritually Unequal Marriage.
Lynn is living a life that I once lived. I was once also married to an unbeliever. She lives the life with such grace. She is such an encouragement to others in this hard life situation. She can still praise God for where she is and that is a huge encouragement. She encourages me to love.

Another Meme

Okay Angie at LSOF and Stephanie at Notes from the Soul tagged me with this meme. So here are the answers.

4 jobs I have had:
1. Credit Card CSR
2. Credit Card Fraud Representative
3. Call Center Supervisor
4. Social Worker

4 movies I can watch over and over:
1. Princess Diaries
2. Princess Diaries 2
3. Barbie and the 12 Dancing Princesses (because I have no choice living with two girls)
4. High School Musical

4 TV shows I love to watch:
1. So You Think You Can Dance
2. Reba
3. American Idol
4. Fresh Prince of Bel Air

4 places I have vacationed:
1. France
2. Florida
3. Barbados
4. St. Thomas

4 favorite dishes:
1. Turkey and Mashed Potatoes
2. Tacos
3. Cracker Barrel Roast Beef and Mashed Potatoes
4. I know this is not a "dish" but anything chocolate

4 websites I visit daily:
1. Blogs
2. www.refreshmysoul.com
3. www.biblegateway.com
4. Depends on if I need to bank, order a movie, or shop

4 places I would rather be:
1. Beach
2. Starbucks
3. Israel
4. Africa

4 siestas I am tagging:
1. Cheri (Just Another Day in Paradise)
2. Kate (Small Scribbles)
3. Kathy (Sumballo)
4. Kathy (Legacy)

Writing opportunity

Hey all. I found this on the blog below. It is a neat writing opportunity for you SAHM writers.

It is for a new book coming out from Chicken Soup for the Soul.

http://mamarant.blogs.com/a_mamas_rant/2007/09/chicken-soup-fo.html

The Best Gift Ever

I have great news! My youngest made a decision to follow Jesus today! She has been tormented with a bout of fear lately. Bad dreams and such. Afraid to be alone. It has been pretty intense for her. She has been seeing those unavoidable billboards and costumes that Halloween bring to the stores. She is very unsettled by the sight of it all. Which is a good thing. Because at times I have feared her draw toward the dark side. Because of the great fear of evil, she has been asking me to pray for her and her mind.

Today, I took out the evangecube. We discussed Christ's death and resurrection. We discussed the full armor of God. We discussed how Jesus gives us a helmet of salvation and that helmet covers our mind. We discussed how we are in darkness without Jesus and when we follow Him we are in the light. We talked about how God is love and perfect love casts off fear. We talked about that kind of fear not coming from God but the enemy.

What the enemy wanted to use for evil, God used for good. After it was all said and done she was gripping on my every word. She hit a moment of desperation. She did not want to live with this tormenting fear any longer. She decided to follow Jesus. After she asked Jesus her whole countenance changed. She has been more peaceful and self-controlled. I am praising God for this. It is the best gift ever.

Tiny Talk Tuesday

OK y'all my days are mixed up!!! I seriously thought today was Wednesday and that is why I did my wordless Wednesday. However, I see it is the norm for others to do it today as well but that confused me even more!

Anyway, For Tiny Talk I finally have something I think is cute so humor me here:

Mom: H, I am so proud of how you behaved. You surprised me with how patient and self-controlled you were. Way to go.

H: Well Mom, Jesus was with me every step of the way. He walked with me so I could do it.

I thought that was precious seeing how today was the day she decided to follow Jesus. I will post that story next I think.

And my oldest who is learning to spell and read quite well said:
Mom, I know how to spell Katie......K-T.

For more Tiny Talk visit here.

Wordless Wednesday-One of My Favorite Things

True Worship in Spirit and Truth

My soul has been deeply craving some real worship. Not the typical kind you get from Sunday to Sunday, but that deep anointed type of corporate worship. If you have ever experienced it you know what I am talking about. The kind where the worship leaders just usher you into the presence of the Lord. The kind where you can just minister to God through your worship. The kind where the atmosphere is thick with Him. Others can try to quench it but it is unquenchable because it is so thick. The kind where you just praise Him unrestrained (don't lose me here-there was no running the isles-this is a Baptist church). Where you just know He is there. Where you just tremble before Him. Oh that kind of worship is what I deeply have desired for too long now. Today I got it.

A group came to our church called Wings of Morning. They are young adults who give up a year of their lives to go from place to place to minister to people in the name of our Lord. They are missions focused, taking the gospel to wherever God leads. These students not only give up a year (or more) of their lives for this but also raise their own support to do it.

No wonder they had that wonderful anointing on them. They are living in complete obedience fully abandoned to Him. It is an admirable thing and as my friend Stephanie always says, radical obedience follows radical blessings. They are being a pleasing aroma and sacrifice unto the Lord just like Christ (Ephesians 5).

He Belongs to the Nations

“With your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9b).

I walked along the hot sea shore browsing through the islander’s tiny booths. They sold the most interesting jewelry and clothing. The country was very poor. So poor in fact I felt somewhat guilty being on that huge boat docked on the shore. As I browsed around my ears heard something familiar. Was that really…..no it couldn’t be.

I followed the sound and as it got louder I realized it was what I thought it was. It was praise and worship music by Michael W. Smith. Each little booth was assembled side by side touching one another in that place. Each one had its own variety of music playing. This booth decided to play praise music. It was a simple booth. It was there that I met Heather. She was a beautiful woman of God. I watched as she sang and worshiped our God right along with Michael W. Smith. She had not fear of what others thought. She was so refreshing.

As I approached her I told her I appreciated that music and told her I loved it. She told me she was a Christian and was not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We had some further uplifting conversation. I bought a piece of jewelry and told her I would be praying for her. I will never forget that wonderful moment. For a brief second I got to praise Jesus with a sister that I would have never met this side of Heaven if I had not been drawn by her music.

It was on this trip that I realized that God did indeed come for the entire world. Every tribe and language. Every people and nation will have some who are saved through His sacrifice. I will greatly rejoice when I get to see Heather again in Heaven. We do worship the Lord who belongs to the nations. I just love that. God is not an exclusive God set aside for certain people. He is God for anyone who would accept, believe, and follow Him.

Father, thank You for being God of all people. Lord, help us to be Your hands and feet to wherever you tell us to go and to whomever you tell us to talk to. We love You and praise You. In Jesus Name. Amen.

Everybody Wants to be a Princess

Last night we (My friend Diana and her girls and sister) went to the Disney on ice show in our area. It was so much fun. Those stories that unfold just stir something with in us. We all watch and desire to be a princess. Each story pulls a different string of your heart.

The greatest thing is that we are indeed princesses in our own right if we know Christ. When we accept Him we are adopted into His family. We become royal. We are what we long to be except better. Our King has unlimited treasures. Our King desires us. Our King is the only one with the power to redeem us from our hopeless condition. With these truths we have what we need to keep on course. To live fully for our King.

"See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him. Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure." 1 John 3:1-3 NLT

We had a great girls night out. All girls birthdays are in these two months so we had a big birthday blast celebration. We ate Mexican first then went on to the show.

Things I learned.
1-Go to the bathroom during the show not during intermission.
2-Go prepared not to buy anything-It was also a full blown Disney store with higher prices! Go figure.
3-These type of shows are too much for my little one that I have been talking about. Too much sensory information. So I am learning how to make it enjoyable for her as well. With her we ended up pacing the outside of the arena. We peeked at the show periodically, browsed the vendors, met people, and danced. She had just as good of a time that way. My oldest got to enjoy the show with her buddies inside. I did grieve some over this. I am realizing some things will be different and to mold my expectations around that.

Interesting Meme

Cheri at Just Another Day in Paradise tagged me with this meme.

What was I doing 10 years ago:
I was absorbing the culture shock from relocating myself from the north to the south. Coke just doesn't mean the specific item anymore-it means any beverage. The word pop now means father. The word you guys is Y'all or Y'uns.


What was I doing 5 years ago:
I had one baby with another shortly on the way. I was very ill with Lyme disease. Didn't know if I would make it through.

What was I doing 1 year ago:
Healthy again. Loving being a mom and wife. Writer and teacher.

What I did yesterday:
Well....Check out yesterday's post about playground Mayhem. Also, we had school and I got to serve those middle schoolers again with Awana. They just bless my heart.

5 snacks that I love:
Starbucks Cafe Mocha, Chocolate, and I am drawing a blank here about the rest.

If I won 100 million what are 5 things I'd do:
Wow-I would give some away to many worthy ministries, invest some, Pay off our house and car, Buy my family some things they have always wanted (That corvette for my dad), and take a teaching cruise with Precept Ministries.

5 locations I'd love to visit:
Israel, Africa, Ukraine, Hawaii, and Alaska

5 bad habits that I have:
I am intense sometimes, get into your business and try to be your holy spirit, unhealthy eating, running on my sentences, and taking too long making decisions

5 things I like to do
Read, Write, Hang out with close friends, Study my Bible, and Observe nature

5 TV shows I like to watch:
So you think you can dance (I was a former competitive dancer),American Idol, Wife Swap and Super Nanny (I know but I love to watch shows like this because of the psychological and sociological issues), and Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

5 things I hate to do:
Clean, hear whining, smell smoke, discipline my children, and be in unhealthy situations.

5 biggest joys at the moment:
Jesus, Tony, Kaitlyn, Hannah, and life.

Okay this was pretty long. I would love to see others do this to get to know them better. So if you chose to do it you are tagged.

Keepin' it Real-Wordless Wednesday

Playground Mayhem

Today we needed to get out. The girls, well really, girl number two, woke the entire household up at 5:00am. Then no one was able to go back to sleep after that time. Due to the early hours I knew a nap would be needed. After that nap they were promised an outing to the "beach" near our home. Really it is a lake with imported sand and a playground.

We arrive at the park and there are two strange men there. No children to be seen. One of the men is with his car and the other is sitting on the playground equipment. I scanned the place and spotted some other people up on the beach so after I called a couple of people to let them know where I was (just in case). We proceeded on to the beach area. As we walked closer it looked as if this strange man on the playground equipment was trying to take our picture with his cell phone. Maybe he is blogging about us. It was really strange and I know God was with us. I would have left and went to another location except that one of the girls was about wet her pants.

Finally after the men left the playground we go up to play. A few other children arrive too. Then I realized that this was a social club of parents with their children. Now you know when the social club starts to form the children are not watched the way they should be watched. One mother was so mean and harsh with her children. I was so sad for them. One boy kept pushing my little one. Praise God she did not knock him over. She has that kind of personality at times. But this time she did the right thing.

So it was an interesting park day and I have no idea why it played out that way except that we all were praying for those people. It pains me to hear parents call their children names or inconveniences. I know I stand guilty of it myself at times. I am not perfect but I always try to make it right. If this behavior was displayed in public I wonder what happens in their home.

It is time our society realizes and accepts that our children are blessings. Yes it is tough work, especially if you have a potentially explosive child like my youngest. Children are a reward from God. It is time we treat them this way and care for the most precious thing God can give us. We will have to give an account for our actions.

For those of you with the more inflexible children, I have a book I am reading that I recommend so far. It is called The Explosive Child by Ross Greene. It takes a different approach to training these children so they can learn to process things properly. I tried the techniques today and it worked so well. Especially since I knew we were in a potentially explosive situation at the park. I learned to watch and help my younger one through it. It really worked well. I do have a disclaimer on this book though. There are a few curse words in example situations of outbursts. There is one particular situation that I did not agree with either dealing with maturity and relationships. The principle is biblical in method though. I will keep updates from time to time how it is working in our home.

New Marriage Monday Home

Marriage Monday has a new home! Be sure to go and check out Chrysalis to find out more.

This week's topic is open but there is a poll for next weeks. Go over and vote.

As for us, times are very busy so we used our children's Awana time last night for our date night. It was much needed and much fun! Don't let life get too busy to just be with the ones you love. I said just BE not running around all over the place! :)

Also, Refresh My Soul Ministries has a weekly devotional. You can check this weeks out here.
I am also looking for suggestions about the ministry website. If you think of anything you would find useful on there please let me know! Thanks so much!