Best compliment ever

On our way to church yesterday I was listening to an old cd of the men's group from our church for about the 1000th time. Keslee said "Mom, do we HAVE to hear this song AGAIN??" Why yes we do!! It got quiet for a moment as we all enjoyed the music until Keslee interupted again with this....

Kes: Mom, I just told God that if I had one wish I would wish that my mom liked some other things like maybe Justin Beiber but then I waited for just a minute and then I told God, NO I DON'T! I DON'T want that! I take that wish back! I want to be raised just exactly the way you are raising me and the way God wants me to be raised!

Praise the Lord!
Just like we all have our struggles with the world, my 8 year old has them too. The thoughts of why do we have to do things differently from so many others? What is so bad with it? An internal struggle and a conversation that she was having with God, just the two of them. A conversation that I knew nothing about until it was over. A thought that I would have never known she had if she had not told me herself. And an outcome that I did not prompt but was prompted only by the Holy Spirit speaking directly to her 8 year old little heart and reminding her of the whys. And then thankfulness from her tiny heart back to the Lord that she loves.
WOW!
all I can say is
God is Good-All the time!!

A Tale of Two Shoes

It was a warm spring afternoon when the kids and I decided we would hit the shoe store. Kenyon was growing out of shoes about every 6 months and was in desperate need of a new pair. Keslee needed a bigger pair of shoes for church. Kalysa was now in a brace full time and had the one pair of shoes that fit over her splint.
She was happy to wear it but every once in a while she just wanted to wear some girly church shoes without the splint. As we were heading out the door I put Kalysa's splint in my purse to just see if we could find a pair of girly shoes that would fit over it. At the shoe store, each child ran to their sizes and started trying on shoes with a frenzy. We were able to find Kenyon 2 pair of tennis shoes and a new pair of dress shoes in a size that fit. Even better, they were all on sale! Next, Keslee had already found several pair that she just loved. I helped her try them on, checked prices and decided on a pair of strappy sandals and a nice pair of church shoes with a small high heel. She was feeling very grown up and happy. Now to tackle Kalysa. She had picked out several pairs that she knew she just had to have. As I pull the splint out of my purse Kalysa just knows that her dreams of pretty shoes had been dashed. I pick up the first pair of little brown baby doll shoes and slipped the splint in. IT FITS PERFECT. We both get a little excited. I have her try on both shoes and they fit perfectly! WE DID IT! WE FOUND CUTE SHOES THAT FIT OVER THE SPLINT. Even better, they were on sale for $10. We quickly gathered our finds and headed to the check out stand. As the girl checked each box of shoes, the kids giggled and try to decide which of their new shoes they would wear first. As the girl checked the box with Kalysa's shoes she found a problem. "Mam, one of these shoes is size 12 and one is 13." Oh no! That was the only pair I saw in that style. As she went to check in the back room to correct the pair, I told Kalysa she may just have to wear 2 socks on the non-splint foot to make up for the difference. The girl returned with the same shoes she left with. "There must have been a manufacturing error-these shoes do not even come in a size 13." I explained that I would be more than happy to buy the mixed matched pair because they were exactly what we needed. "Well, since I can't put them back on the shelf like that, I guess I can let you have them but I will have to ring them up at 1/2 price." On the outside I said "that would be just fine!" while on the inside I was yelling "WOOHOO! You are gonna let me have Just what we want that is EXACTLY what we need and you are gonna make me pay 1/2 of what I expected!!! WHO COULD TOP THAT!!" With that, we payed $5 for the perfect pair of shoes for my littlest splint wearing girl and she no longer had to wear her big bulking tennis shoes with a pretty dress.

Now THAT is just the way that my God works!

Christmas Blessings!

I trust you all had a wonderful Christmas!! I sure hope everyone spent some time to reflect on the reason we celebrate each year and did not get too wrapped up with food, presents and fun. Thank the Lord for sending his son as a precious newborn baby, born to the virgin Mary, to save us all. Of course the celebration of the birth of Jesus also involves the food, presents and fun with family which is just one more thing for us to thank the Lord for!

Thank you Lord for providing the desires of our hearts. This year has been a rough one financially for many Americans. Being a one income family(with supplements from the paper route) for just under 3 years, we are still in somewhat of an adjustment and learning period. We have tried a few different ways to budget the money to really find what works best for our family. Some ways have worked better than others and Monty and I have grown tremendously during the trying times. Unfortunately, the way we had been trying for the first half of the year was not one of the better working ways which really made me wonder if there would be any Christmas presents this year. The Lord used this year to really show Monty and I many things about ourselves and each other that no other situation would have been able to teach us. God has also brought us through it all with a stronger marriage, a better financial outlook for the new year and provided for all of our needs and many of the wants throughout. Thank you Lord for the trials meant for our good and your glory. He is Awesome!!

We live in central Oklahoma. The part of Oklahoma that is normally skipped when it comes to serious snow fall. I grew up in the panhandle of Texas. A part of Texas that is NOT normally skipped when it comes to snow and I have great memories of days of play in a snow filled yard. We do get snow just about every year but it is not usually a large amount and doesn't last more than a day or two. Actually, many Oklahoma snow days consist of watching it snow in the morning and then watching it all melt in the afternoon. Well this Christmas eve the Lord sent us snow. REAL SNOW! LASTING SNOW! Thank you Lord for the SNOW! It came in the form of a blizzard and the visibility was really limited while it fell.

But that did not stop the last minute shoppers from hitting the Wal-mart before they closed. Mom and I got some Christmas tip money from paper route customers (Praise the Lord), so I had to stop in and pick up a few items for Christmas dinner.

The snow fell ALL day on Christmas eve and all the highways were closed. That meant the newspaper truck could not get our papers to us...NO PAPER ROUTE ON CHRISTMAS EVE. Once again-Thank You Lord!

This is the street in front of our house on Christmas morning. Since the highways were still closed, my sister and brother did not get to come down from Tulsa but we were still able to go across town to spend the day with dad and grandma. That evening my mom, stepdad, my little brother and sister, and a few friends came over for some more gift exchanges and good food. Thank you God for providing safety, friends and family to enjoy it with.

This angel looks out our front window each Christmas.

The dogs were finally staying in their dog house but I had mercy on them and let them stay in the garage at night. Thank you Lord for warmth.

We had snow drifts in the back yard as much as 27 inches tall! I LOVE IT!!! :)

We were even visited by a very mysterious Christmas angel. I found this in the back yard on Christmas morning and I had not let the kids play outside yet. You don't think someone had snuck out without my knowledge to enjoy the snow, do ya??

Being rather short on funds around Christmas time creates a need to get creative when it comes to meaningful gifts. Guess what....PAINT IS CHEAP! Especially if you only need 2 quarts for the small 1/2 bathroom that has been dubbed "daddy's bathroom" since we bought this house.

If you happened upon my blog right before Christmas, you would know that I really believed that I had found the perfect present for my wonderful husband.

The gift that has so much love and meaning that it brings ya to tears (if you are a woman of course, my husband is not a cryer!)

The kids were as excited as I was for daddy to see it. They had spent 3 days knowing this secret and had not given one single little hint to Monty!! I was so proud of my little secret keepers:)

Monty LOVED it!! I was right! He said if he would have been a women, he would have cried! He was in total shock at what I had done in our home with him not having a single clue that anything had taken place. I had locked the laundry room doors and he thought there were just unwrapped presents in there so he did not try to look.

He may never leave the bathroom again! No seriously---Monty LOVES LOVES LOVES the Dallas Cowboys!!! I got him good this year! Thank you Lord for the my husband!!

Kenyon had a few special gifts as well. My mom got him his first BB gun!

Of course daddy had to try it out!!

We found a few cans in the trash to set up as targets and the shoot out began! Kenyon is actually quite good. He hit the cans several times!! I even hit it once!

Daddy worked with Keslee on her aim. Although she did not hit a target, the shootin was fun!

He also got his first bow and arrow this year. I may just have a hunter on my hand at this rate. WHAAAA! My baby boy is growing up!! Thank you dear Lord for choosing me to raise these children!

Of course you never grow up too much to enjoy a good snowball fight....

with your uncle!!! Thank you Lord God for love and laughter!

He gives us Mercy, Grace and Salvation but still loves us more and chooses to provide daily blessings as well! That is my Amazing God! Thank you Lord!

GOD IS SOOOOO GOOD!!!!!

Well, we made the trip to Shreveport on Sunday. It started off a little rough. We had the same driver that we had last time. His driving kinda scared me last time and he got a little gripey so I was really hoping for a different driver. After we left the city, we had to stop and pick up another patient in Norman. When we got there, they had 3 passengers instead of 2 and the driver was upset about that and decided we needed a bigger van so we went back to Oklahoma city. He then decided he no longer wanted to make the trip so the shriners got us a new driver, Max. He turned out to be the nicest most caring guy and his driving did not scare me a bit. I apologized to the other riders that they had to wait on us to go back and get the big van since they kinda got mixed into the middle of a prayer answered for me. They were fine with that and were actually happy to have the other driver instead. Monday morning we checked into the hospital and basically got to play ALL day. We had to talk to doctors, nurses, anesthesiologists, therapists. child life experts, human resource people, and probably some others I am forgetting. Kalysa had free reign over 2 different play rooms and an outside play ground. There were movies, video games, dolls, lego tables, color books, video games, kitchen sets, rocking horses, bikes, swings and tons more. She had a total blast! So much so that she said "I LOVE coming to have surgery! This place is fun!" Of course that was before any surgery actually took place! :) Finally around 4 pm, we saw the surgeon. By that time Kalysa was so tired that she fell asleep on the table as he was stretching her and taking measurements. Because she was asleep, he got to feel her muscles COMPLETELY relaxed for the first time ever and decided things were not as bad as he originally thought. Instead of doing surgery on 3 muscles, he only needed to do it on 1! Of course, he can not guarantee that the others will not need any thing done later but he really believes that one muscle is the cause of the problems. What that means is instead of a week in the hospital and 3 weeks of therapy in the hospital in OKC and walking with a walker we have a short leg walking cast for a month, one more night in the hospital here and NO in patient therapy in the city!! I KNOW!!! GOD IS SOOOO GOOD!!! The surgery was this morning and lasted less than an hour. She did great and is resting in her room now. She has a red cast on and has said her leg hurts once but has not said anything else and is now asleep so she hasn't even taken pain medicine yet. We have called the shriners in OKC and they have a van coming down today with one patient so we should be able to hop on with them to go home tomorrow. All I can say is GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME! Thank you all for your prayers for us, they have worked and the Lord has surprised us once again with blessings we surely don't deserve. I am so grateful for His love and mercy!

20 years later I started learning

This past weekend we went to my husband's 20 year class reunion. TWENTY YEARS, YALL!!! When I was in high school, 20 years was like the most farthest away not even comprehendable time period there could ever be. Now I can't believe I can talk to someone and say "You remember back 20 years ago when we....". At graduation I felt like I had MADE IT! It was the greatest accomplishment ever. I knew that later in life more would come- like a family and jobs and such-but I could not imagine anything feeling as big as graduating did. Now I see what a baby I was at that time. How could I have felt sooo grown up yet knew NOTHING? I am not even close to being the same person I was that day I walked across a stage to get my diploma. I am nothing like I thought I wanted to be. My hopes and dreams at that time have not had much to do with who I have become. I know Monty would say the same thing. Our life is not what either of us would have expected it to be 20 years ago.
Monty graduated with about 22 people in his class from a small Oklahoma town so of course he knew everyone in his class-even in the entire school. These were the people he grew up with. The people that shared in most of his childhood experiences. He was very excited to see what everyone was up to. He had a great time listening to everyone's stories and the kids had a blast running around the elementary school that daddy went to. Little did I know that God was planning on using a 20 year class reunion to teach me a few things. When we went to the reunion I was expecting to see a different person in my husband. I thought that getting him around the people he has known most all his life would suddenly bring out the extrovert that I have always dreamed was living inside this quiet unassuming man. Well guess what folks-he is who he is and I love him for that. We are two totally different people and so often I get frustrated because my husband does not see things the way I do. I try so often to make him more like me instead of appreciate the differences we have. That is something I, with the Lord's help, have REALLY been trying to work on for the past few years and I thought I had come pretty far. Going to this reunion showed me that I have not done so great. I still have some crazy expectation that deep down he really is like me and can't get it through my thick skull that different doesn't always mean better. I am still secretly waiting for something to trigger a realization in Monty and witness the emergence of a louder more dominant personality. The Lord has shown me the truth again and I pray that this time I will listen better. I must cherish these qualities in my husband-the fact that he never wants to be in the spotlight which in turn means we will never have to fight for it; that he is content with his life the way it is so I never have to worry about him making unexpected changes that disrupt the family; even though we don't have a whirlwind lifestyle he loves me enough to walk to the store is a snow storm to buy a bag of ice because I hate to drink Dr. Pepper with no ice; his humble spirit ensures our home is not ruled by arrogance and tyranny; knowing that when I have a bad day and the dishes aren't done and you can't walk though he living room and there is no supper cooking doesn't make him upset but instead sympathetic to my trials. If I were ever able to change this man, I would loose the best things about him. God knows what we need even when we don't and he certainly knew when he brought Monty and I together. Thank you Lord for showing me once again what it is you have given me. Thank you for My Husband!

Proof kids do live here!

Yes, kids really do live here. There is proof everywhere you look. As I was out in the yard the other day, I decided to gather some photographic evidence of that fact.

LIKE...

soccer ball kicked beneath a bush...

Dora doll house kitchen chair...

Dora tent...

Skateboard embedded in mud...

basketball left among the twigs...

missing church shoes...

little kitchen dinner plate...

one lonely croc...

sagging backyard pool complete with dirt from a full days swimming and missing 3/4 water used to make mud for skateboard...

HEY! Why isn't that in the dishwasher?!?...

sponge bob soccer ball...

one rain boot of someone with soggy feet

ice chest perfect for that little extra boost to climb a tree...

Dora's horse drawn carriage minus one horse...

and of course one portable washer/dryer/ironing board on the sidewalk...

I have to work at thanking God like I should for the trails my children leave behind them. I have to remember to be thankful because those trails leave with them a message. They say we have been blessed with children. They say that this is the home of a FAMILY. They say we are fortunate and have toys to play with and shoes to wear and cups to drink from. They say the children here are healthy and happy and always on the go. They say imaginations are in use. I must remind myself that my house is not messy it is lived in....my yard is not messy it is played in!

Answer to Prayer!

We got the call today (ok-just looked at the clock-it was actually yesterday). Kalysa has an appointment to see the Shriner Dr. in Oklahoma City on April 22nd. When reading up about the Shriner hospital, I learned that the one in Shreveport(where we will go if and when it is time for surgerty) is THE BEST orthopedic hospital. When kids are accepted as patients, they are shriner kids from that time until they turn 18 so anything that may arise later will be taken care of by them as well. It really is an anwer to prayer!

To God be the Glory!

God has really been blessing us in so many ways. I tell ya, I knew he would provide needs and wants but I wasn't expecting it to happen so fast. In this new year, Monty and I have both been really been trying to learn to pay our tithes faithfully to the church. When you have not been trained that way from the start, it is extremely difficult to muster up the faith all of a sudden and trust God to do what he said he would. Then in the month of February, we had a series of sermons on stewardship. They were really great and we both really learned alot. We have tried to give "what we could" but now are giving what we should. It really helped to realize that we are not giving God 10% but instead he is letting us have 90%. WOW! When he lets us have 90%, how could we ever think that we could do better by keeping any of God's part than He will do for us. I know God will and does provide-I never doubted that he CAN-but my issue has been the fact that I have done sooo wrong for sooo long, why would God even WANT to bless me. Well I am here to tell ya he does, and here is some proof. On Friday the 6th, my washer quit. I had done a load of laundry and when it was finished and I was putting them into the dryer, they were soaking wet. I had to squeeze them out before drying them. I ran another load(real small one) to see what was happening and found out that it was not spinning AT ALL. It did not even TRY to spin. Did not even making the whirrringg noise like it wanted to spin....just stopped, drained and that was it. I called my grandma, since she is the garage sale queen, and it was a Friday afternoon, and she does have a cell phone now. She had already hit every garage sale in town and had seen no washers. She was pulling up to her last sale of the day but said there was no mention of a washer in the ad. Well wouldn't ya know she called me back and said she asked that lady if she had one and she sure did! It was not advertised and was at a different house but she had one. I got a washer for $40 and never even had to be without one for a full day! I tell ya, God is Good-All the Time-All the Time-God is God! It would really be great if that were the end of the story. A few weeks back I had been looking at some furniture and wishing we could get some space saving captains beds and get rid of some dressers. I never mentioned it (out loud)because it just was not something that was possible for us to do at this time but I guess someone heard anyway. The day after we got the washer, a friend texted to ask if anyone wanted a full size bed with 8 drawers and a pillow top mattress. Someone she worked with just wanted to get it out of their garage. WELL I WANTED IT! The couple wanted it out of their garage so bad that they not only GAVE us a bed that was probably close to $1000 new but they even delivered it to our house. It is gorgeous and Kenyon now has a bigger bed with all his clothes tucked into the space saving drawers underneath and his books and cds and radio and model car all nice and neatly displayed on the shelves of the head board.

Monty had a great time putting it together and see where he is sitting....

That is the space under the bed, between the drawers for extra storage accessible by a neat little trap door in the foot board.

OK, so I thought it was for extra storage but apparently it is now the club house of one very excited almost 11 year old boy.

AND-daddy gets to be a member of the club!

TO GOD BE THE GLORY!!

Blessings

Blessings for the week...

1.Getting to take the "Journey to Bethlehem" with the kids. It was such a neat experience that we ALL loved. Kenyon asked 1/2 way through if we can do it again next year. Kalysa and Keslee both recognized people they had heard stories about in church. Keslee kept asking if each of the characters "really are the ...." When I explained each time that they were acting to show us what happened in the Bible times, she asked "Well do we REALLY get to have cookies and hot chocolate at the end or just pretend?!"
2.Monty being home early 3 nights this week-(I have to enjoy the blessing of that and the fun the kids have gotten to have with daddy and trust God is gonna work out the money part.)
3.Having Bryn in children's church-she is soo sweet and always ready to answer questions.
4.Getting ready for the Christmas program. The girls are so excited and have invited the whole neighborhood!
5.Camden deciding he doesn't want to be a sheep in the program-he wants to be a cow! That kid is just the cutest thing ever!!
6.Two of my brothers could have been badly injured this week but through God's grace neither one got hurt at all. THANK YOU LORD!!!
7.My kids being so helpful. They have been doing a great job of cleaning up the living room and their rooms each night before bed!
8.Brother David coming to the discipleship classes. I love that he is full of questions and doesn't hold back as he seeks to know and understand the truth.
9.My dog Kenzie-she loves me and is always ready to cuddle and keep my feet warm. We often end up taking our pets for granted but they really do enrich our lives sooo much. Any time I call-she comes right then to do whatever-no questions asked- regardless of if I am interrupting her nap or dinner or anything else. If only we could trust in our Master and love Him the way our dogs do us, things would be alot easier for us.
10.That God loves me anyway!

Hope yall have a great weekend!! Love char

Blessings

So much to be thankful for.....

1.Keslee and Bryn singing a special at church.
2.Dad staying with us. Since his split from his wife in April, he stays with us when he is not on the road(he is too nice to kick the renters out of his house since truckdriving keeps him out so much anyway.) The kids really enjoy having papa around so often.
3.A good time spent with Monty's family on Thanksgiving.
4.God's protection-No one was hurt when we hit a deer yesterday on the way to church(except maybe the deer but he wasn't laying anywhere to be seen when we passed back by so maybe he is ok) My van did not even get more than a tiny dent.
5.Keslee and Kalysa packing a box with some shoes that don't fit and a few toys and marking it "Cuba Kids" then bringing it to me to mail to Cuba. Ever since we studied Cuba and how poor most of the families are there, the kids have prayed for the Cuba Kids everyday. I am so glad they are so caring!! I gotta find a way to mail this box somewhere!
6.That God is there and he will take over for us if we will just let him.
7.Being able to get a few good deals for the kids Christmas on Black Friday.
8.Snow flurries! I saw a few on the paper route this morning! They never really made it to the ground but I LOVE SNOW so it was exciting anyway.
9.Getting to see the space station fly by with the kids last week. They were so excited! Also seeing the 2 planets next to the moon. God's creation is soooo amazing and I love sharing it and experiencing it with the kids.
10.Big warm feather comforters!!! I Love snow but I also love to snuggle up in a warm blanket. I got a feather comforter at a garage sale for $3 this summer and it is about the best $3 I have spent ever! I lOVE IT!

Yall have a great week and don't let the stress of the world overcome the reason for this season. LOVE YA!! char

BLESSINGS!!

OK so I have been bad the last few weeks about keeping up with my blessings list. I will try to get on and stay on track STARTING.....NOW

1.Seeing how God provided for the church to get over 3000 sq feet of tile work done in the new building for next to nuthin-I still don't know how it happened but it looks beautiful!!
2.Brother Deandre-of course for his tile work but more so for the messages he preached. He had such a way with bringing the Bible to life and making me see how REAL it is. It is not just a bunch of stories. This is history. These things really happened just as sure as Pilgrims sailed over on the Mayflower. I could SEE it and FEEL it on the ark and going up the mountain with Abraham and Isaac. WOW! What an impact God made on my heart through him.
3.Heather and the baby making it to church-I missed her so much(and boy isn't he a cutie!!)
4.Nathaniel getting to go home for good! I am so happy for Mamie and can't wait until Jeremiah is returned as well.
5.Casey and Gabby getting saved on Sunday and Kalysa asking more questions about it daily.
6.My son the witness for God-He came to me and told me"Jonathon and Cyrus know!" I said Know what? He said"know about God. I asked them who made the World and they said God! They know it was God and not evolution!" He has also been drilling Kalysa on getting saved and making sure she understands-he even got out our "Story of Jesus" video to watch with her and explain to her as the story progressed.
7.Kenyon (again) I often wondered if the day would ever come with him but the last few weeks he has really been listening during church. That is why he is feeling such a sense of urgency about Kalysa getting saved. It is just so wonderful to see him on fire for the Lord.
8.Keslee wanting to serve(or at least play with babies) at church. She asked why I have to sometimes work in the nursery. I explained that being a member of the church, I shared the responsibility of taking care of the babies so their mamas could hear the message too. She said"I'm Saved! I got baptized! I am a member of this church! Why can't I work in the nursery? You know I could do it! You know I can take care of those babies!!" (truth be told-she probably could)
9.getting to talk to my sister or my sister in law or my brother or my grandma or my dad or all of the above just about everyday. So many people don't have good relationships with their family and I just really cherish the relationships we have even when we don't all agree all the time. (and of course I talk to mom-we do a paper route together everyday)
10.Homeschooling!!! We are almost done with a semester and it is still going really well! Both of my girls are reading and Kenyon and Jacinta(and I) are really learning a lot about geography and other parts of the world. It is so hard to imagine that just about 2 years ago I was one of those mom's that really couldn't stand to be with my kids 24/7 ans now I can't imagine not being with them. We have a relationship that is completely different than it was a few years back. I truly believe I was "created 4 homeschooling" and I thank God all the time for opening my eyes to that. I could not imagine going through life and missing out on what we have gained as a family through homeschooling. I LOVE IT!!!

Ok- so I went a little long on explanations of each blessing-does that make up for my lack of listing the last few weeks? I hope you are all feeling and seeing blessings of your own. Have a great rest of the week!

BLESSINGS!!

COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS-NAME THEM ONE BY ONE. COUNT YOU BLESSINGS-SEE WHAT GOD HAS DONE.....MY BLESSINGS FOR THE WEEK.....

1.Kalysa asking questions about getting saved.
2.Kenyon and Keslee force feeding Kalysa every bit of Bible knowledge they have.(they really know quite a bit!!)
3.Keslee reading me about 6 pages from her 1st grade Bible reader.
4.Kalysa reading me about 15 pages from the same book(DON'T TELL KESLEE!)
5.Seeing Preacher and Bro. Jordan hug Monty and tell him "I love you". (I know what it means to Monty-maybe that is the part that is the biggest blessing for me)
6.Kenyon really loving the SRA reading lab and getting through about 2 grade levels already(I started him out at the beginning to work on comprehension so they were pretty easy but still benificial)
7.Monty going on the paper route with me Sunday morning-after the kids fell asleep in the backseat we had about 2 hours to talk and sing and just be silly together-it was fun!!
8.Seeing Carson and Caiden and Lucas collect the offering-sooo sweet!
9.Gabby and Keslee praying together at Wednesday night prayer meeting.
10.The Petricks-when the kids got up to sing Keslee perked up and said "I just love to listen to them!" so that is what we have been doing all day (by CD)
11.Knowing that God is in control of Everything-that knowledge is what is getting me through this election season for sure!

Hope you all have a great week!! Love Ya !!! Char

BLESSINGS!!

I KNOW I AM RUNNING BEHIND BUT HERE ARE MY BELATED BLESSINGS....

1. FINALLY GETTING THE LIVING ROOM REARRANGED!! :)
2.MOM HELPING ME MOVE THE FURNITURE.
3.DAVID GETTING SAVED AND ASKING QUESTIONS AND JUMPING IN WITH BOTH FEET WITH WANTING TO LEARN AND GROW IN CHRIST.
4.HAVING 2 DAYS WITH NO NEIGHBORHOOD KIDS AT MY HOUSE-I REALLY NEEDED A LITTLE BIT OF PEACE.
5.REALLY STARTING TO SEE HOW MUCH MY RELATIONSHIP HAS GROWN WITH KENYON SINCE I TOOK HIM OUT OF PUBLIC SCHOOL(LEAPS AND BOUNDS!).
6.LEARNING ABOUT THE BIBLE IN HOMESCHOOL-IT IS ONE THING TO READ A VERSE AND ANOTHER THING TO HEAR A SERMON ON THAT VERSE BUT SOMETHING COMPLETELY NEW TO READ IT TO THE KIDS AND EXPLAIN IT AND EXPLORE HOW IT RELATES TO OUR LIVES.
7.FINDING SOME GREAT BOOKS THAT I WANT TO READ BUT FORGOT I HAD UNTIL I MOVED THE BOOKCASE.
8.LOOKING THROUGH PHOTOS AND BABY BOOKS AND TELLING "WHAT DID I DO WHEN I WAS A BABY" STORIES WITH THE KIDS WHEN WE FOUND ALL THEIR BABY BOOKS ON THE BOOKCASE
9.DISCIPLESHIP CLASSES-EVEN THOUGH WE ARE ONLY ON LETTER B, I ALREADY FEEL MORE CONFIDENT WITH THE KNOWLEDGE I AM GETTING OF THE BIBLE!
10.MONTY LOVING ME!

BLESSINGS!!

BLESSINGS FOR THE WEEK.....

1.LADY'S RETREAT-I LOVE SPENDING TIME WITH OUR LADIES AND GOD USED IT TO SHOW ME TIMES WHEN I AM GIVING OTHERS FRUIT FLAVOR INSTEAD OF TRUE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT.
2.HEARING THAT DAVID(9 YEAR OLD AUTISTIC BOY) IS READING!!! WOW! GOD IS GOOD!
3.THE JORDAN'S HAVING A BABY BOY!
4.THE PRINCIPLE(MONTY) CALLING FOR "TEACHER IN SERVICE-NO SCHOOL" DAY. HE KNEW MORE THAN I THAT I REALLY NEEDED THAT TODAY.
5.PREACHER AND MS CONNIE-I LOVE THEM BOTH! I KNOW THEY ARE A GREAT ADDITION TO OUR CHURCH BUT SOMETIMES I THINK GOD BROUGHT THEM HERE JUST FOR ME.
6.GETTING A PHONE CALL FROM MY BABY BROTHER (JOHN) JUST BECAUSE HE WAS BORED-I LOVE TALKING TO HIM AND REALLY NEED TO SPEND MORE TIME JUST TALKING TO THAT BOY.(PRAY FOR HIM-HE NEEDS ENCOURAGEMENT!)
7.MY 3 MONKEYS!-THEY REALLY LOVE ME AND THEY REALLY LOVE JESUS!
8.TEACHING CHILDRENS CHURCH-I THINK I AM FINALLYGETTING THE HANG OF IT AND I AM FALLING IN LOVE WITH THOSE KIDS.
9.FALL-I LOVE THE COOL WEATHER AND THE SMELL OF FIREPLACES BURNING AND RAINY DAYS AND EARLY NIGHTS AND COLORFUL LEAVES AND CURLING UP IN A BLANKET WITH A BOOK AND- AND- AND- I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT FALL!
10.SWEET WORDS ABOUT MY FAMILY FROM A NEIGHBOR-IT FEELS GOOD TO BE REASSURED THAT WE ARE ON THE RIGHT TRACK!

BLESSINGS!!

HERE ARE MY BLESSINGS FOR THE WEEK.....

1.THE KIDS REALLY EMBRACING THE CHORE CHART.
2.BEING A STAY AT HOME MOM SO I AM AVAILABLE TO HELP OUT A NEIGHBOR .
3.KENYON AND HIS FRIEND JONATHON CLIMBING EVERY TREE IN THE YARD. IT IS GOOD TO SEE HIM JUST HAVE TIME TO BE A BOY (SCRATCHES, BLOOD AND ALL).
4.GETTING THE KITCHEN CLEANED-COUNTER TOPS, STOVE TOP, DISHES, TRASH, SWEPT AND MOPPED ALL IN THE SAME DAY! =)
5.KESLEE READING MORE AND MORE EACH DAY!
6.KALYSA ANSWERING THE QUESTIONS (UNDER HER BREATH) THAT I AM ASKING KESLEE DURING SCHOOL EVEN THOUGH SHE IS DOING HER OWN WORK.
7.JACINTA LOVING SCHOOL-WE NORMALLY FIGHT LIKE SISTERS (REGARDLESS OF THE AGE GAP) AND SHE HAS HER PRE-TEEN ATTITUDE BUT DURING SCHOOL SHE IS LIKE A JACINTA I HAVE NEVER KNOWN BEFORE-SWEET AND HELPFUL AND EAGER ETC. IT IS REALLY NICE.
8.MONTY BEING SUCH A HARD WORKER (20+ HOURS OVERTIME LAST WEEK) SO THAT I AM ABLE TO BE HOME.
9.MONTY LOVING ME SO MUCH THAT HE WILL WORK THAT HARD FOR ME AND THE KIDS AND STILL PICK UP THE PAPERS EVERY NIGHT FOR ME AND MOM AND NEVER COMPLAIN!! WOW! WHAT A GREAT GUY!
10.MY GRANDMA! I TALK TO HER ABOUT EVERYDAY(SOME DAYS 2 OR 3 TIMES) AND WHEN MY PHONE WAS OUT I MISSED TALKING TO HER SO MUCH

BLESSINGS!!

I HAVE HAD LOTS OF TIME(WITH NO PHONE) TO THINK ABOUT WAYS I AM BLESSED SO I DECIDED TO BE THE 1ST ONE TO SEND THEM OUT THIS WEEK......

1.HEARING KENYON YELL "PRAISE GOD!!" WHEN HE GOT HIS GAME CUBE TO WORK(HE HASN'T PLAYED IT IN AT LEAST 6 MONTHS-I CLEANED THE LASER LENS AND WAAALAA...IT WORKS AGAIN!)

2.KALYSA RUNNING IN AND TELLING ME "JESUS HAS THE POWER TO MAKE KENYON'S GAME WORK!"

3.KESLEE YELLING "OH GOD I WANT TO KISS YOU RIGHT NOW! "(AFTER GAMECUBE STARTED WORKING-THEY WERE REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THAT GAME CUBE!)

4.MY HUSBAND BEING SO SWEET (REFER TO "MY HUSBAND IS SO SWEET" POST ON BLOG)

5.GETTING 1/2 OF THE CHORE CHART DONE AND LAMINATED-IT IS REALLY A CHORE TO MAKE THE CHART!

6.EMAILS FROM ANGELA AND DEDRA-YOU GUYS CRACK ME UP!! I LOVE YOU GUYS!!

7.BRYN WANTING TO NAME HER PET RAT CHARLYNNE-I AM GONNA TAKE IT AS A COMPLIMENT ANYWAY!

8. EDIT: FORGIVNESS-FROM THE HEAVENLY FATHER AND EARTHLY FRIENDS!

9.MAMIE-I AM SO GLAD TO HAVE HER AND HER KIDS AT CHURCH EVERY WEEK. HER FAITHFULNESS IN UNIMAGINABLE TIMES IS A REAL INSPERATION.

10.HOMESCHOOLING!!! I LOVE IT! I CAN'T BELIEVE I RIPPED MYSELF OFF FOR SO LONG(OH YEA! AND MY KIDS)

HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!

BLESSINGS!!

Our piano player at church, Brother Jayson, has recently graduated Bible college with a Biblical counselor degree. Several months ago he gave a lesson on the importance of recognizing and counting our blessings, especially the small, not so obvious ones. He showed us how doing this daily will change you outlook on your life and your love for the people in your life. It brings to light how much The Lord is truly with us in everything. GOD IS GOOD-ALL THE TIME-ALL THE TIME-GOD IS GOOD!! Since then, several people in our church family(and even some from other Churches)list10 blessing a week and email them to each other. It is so wonderful to see how The Lord is blessing others-it ends up being a blessing to each person that reads them. It is an email we all look forward to each week. I will post my list here each time and would love for you all to share your own list.
HERE ARE MY BLESSINGS FOR THE WEEK.....

1.OUR MENS GROUP AND MENS TRIO AT CHURCH-I COULD LISTEN TO THEM SING ALL DAY(I AM STILL WAITING FOR THE CD!!!).

2.GETTING A CHIROPRACTIC ADJUSTMENT FROM BROTHER (DR.) JORDAN-I DIDNT KNOW MY NECK COULD FEEL SO LOOSE-IT FEELS GREAT!!

3.SEEING MONTY IN A SHIRT AND TIE-IF I CAN GET HIM SOME MORE DALLAS COWBOY TIES MAYBE HE'LL WEAR ONE EVERY WEEK!

4.KENYON AND JACINTA ACTUALLY WORKING TOGETHER AND HELPING EACH OTHER DURING SCHOOL-NOW THAT IS SOMETHING I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD SEE.

5.GETTING TO HOLD BABY CONNER TODAY-I CANT BELIEVE I HAD NOT GOTTEN TO HOLD HIM BUT KESLEE HAS SEVERAL TIMES. HE IS SUCH A CUTIE!!!

6.QUIET TIME ON THE PAPER ROUTE. IT IS A GREAT TIME TO HAVE 2 HOURS ALONE TO TALK WITH GOD!!

7.KESLEE TELLING ME ALL ABOUT HER SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON-I AM SO GLAD SHE IS LISTENING!!

8.KALYSA SAYING SHE DID NOT EVEN CRY WHEN KESLEE PROMOTED TO A DIFFERENT SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS-AND I HEARD SHE EVEN TALKED TO BROTHER JAYSON(she is shy and usually lets Keslee talk for her).

9.KENYON HAVING SOOO MUCH FUN WITH ALL THE PREACHER'S SONS AT THE PREACHER'S MEETING. I AM SO GLAD HE IS MAKING FRIENDS WITH GOOD KIDS AND WILL BE LOOKING FORWARD TO THE NEXT TIME THEIR FAMILIES GET TO VISIT OUR CHURCH.

10.LAUGHTER!!!- I HAD SO MUCH FUN WITH MY CHURCH FAMILY PREPARING LUNCH-IT IS SO GOOD TO LAUGH WITH/AT EACH OTHER!