Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Enjoying God's Creation

Today we took a picnic lunch down to the "beach" and were able to spend a couple of hours enjoying the beauty of the area and the beauty of family.
I always love being outside, whether it is at our little beach area, taking a walk, gardening or just sitting in a chair outside reading. There is something about breathing in the fresh air and feeling the warmth of the sun that just lifts your spirits. It's refreshing.

My parents along with my sister and her little girls were able to join us today. It was such a rich time. My parents purchased a two-person
kayak a couple of months ago and brought it along today. Let me tell you, it was so much fun! I loved watching the kiddos enjoy it as it was their first time out on the water. :)  





God is so good!

Monday, April 28, 2008

Only You...


Only you can change outfits three times in a day and still bring a smile to my face

Only you can sit and enjoy a rollie-pollie in your brothers hands and then get worried every time to see a bug on the window evoking a word of comfort from your brothers

Only you can sit "nursing" your baby while playing cars with the boys bringing a little laugh to our lips

Only you can remind us of God's faithfulness and goodness every time your name is uttered

Only you, Faith Elizabeth, as our precious, tenderhearted two year old can bring such joy into our lives



Saturday, April 26, 2008

A Woman's Heart



I stumbled across this quote from C.S. Lewis

"A woman's heart should be so close to God that a man should have to chase Him to find her."

Picture from AllPosters.com

Friday, April 25, 2008

Uttering a Prayer

Today has just been one of those days.  

Tired little ones. Bad Attitudes. Quarreling.  Lack of working hard.

Fun Stuff.

But it is in these times that I must remember God's promise in scripture.   
And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.  Galations 6:9
I don't want to give up.  I still want to embrace today and squeeze all I can out of it.  I desire to see the Lord's hand at work.  I desire for the atmosphere of our home to change.

I have a goal in my parenting.  I have vision for this season so that even when we are in the midst of a hard day I know what I am working for.
I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. 3 John 1:4

O Father, I pray that your grace would be upon us.  Give us strength to change our hearts.

And so I utter prayers, I whisper into ears encouraging them to be diligent, I remind them to walk in peace and to guard their mouth all the while reminding myself not to grow weary because I want to see my children walk in truth.


Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Praying for my sons

It is such a privilege to bring those we love before the Throne of Grace.  

Here are some of my prayers for my little men.

  • Cause them to come to a knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:3,4)
  • With your grace upon them, may they become strong and increase in wisdom (Luke 2:40)
  • Place within them heart of obedience and help them to realize the importance of obeying us as their parents (Ephesians 6:1-4) 
  • Even in their youth, may they be as a grown up plant (Psalm 144:12)
  • May they have a teachable heart, one that desires to learn and to grow (Proverbs 18:15)
  • Help them to have the strength and discipline to flee the evil desires of youth and to pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace (2 Timothy 2:22)
  • Teach them to work hard as working for the Lord and not for man (Colossians 3:23)
  • May they become strong and courageous men, knowing that You are with them (Deuteronomy 31:6)
  • May they act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with You (Micah 6:8)
Here is another great resource.

Everyday Life

Learning to read...

and finding  out that the story you are reading is funny.

A flower made for mama.  :)

Making a ride at Disneyland



Mama and Faith making lunch


Trying out homemade fishing poles

Thursday, April 17, 2008

I love this...

I love this quote and all that it evokes.
If our homes are filled with beauty and the shadow of God’s creativity, our children will not only hear the messages of our devotions and prayers, and school books, but they will breathe in the atmosphere of color, great tastes and smells, dancing music, great stories, loving hand rubs or back tickles and they will expand in their souls to understand that our God, the original artist and designer, is indeed worthy or our love and adoration–because they will know that He is the author of all things great and alive with His pleasure and blessing. - Sally Clarkson

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Ponderings

Last Saturday I was able to spend the morning at a local coffee shop with a sweet friend.  We indulged ourselves with our favorite drinks and were able to enjoy some beautiful, Christ centered conversation.  We quickly found ourselves on the topic of "historical Christianity" which led way to discussing women such as Susannah Wesley and Sarah Edwards.  We have both read the book Marriage To A Difficult Man, which is a wonderful book to read.  :)   

These were women that served their husbands and their families and they understood that calling.  We are now able to see the fruit of their walk, their devotion to Christ, and the understanding of their calling.  As we were talking about these women, the question came up, "do we have women that are living the same way today?"  

Why is it that so many women in the church struggle with their calling?  they want something more... or they sadly look forward to the day when their children will be in school or move out of the house so that they can move on to a new season.   So, again we arrived back at the question, "are we actually seeing women in our Church's that live those set apart lives? Women that know their calling, love what they do and find absolute joy in it?" 

Thankfully, we are part of a small Church that has several of those women and I was blessed to watch my mom walk out her role in love but we've also seen Church's that don't have any women that you can look to and it breaks my heart. 

I've been pondering this conversation for the last several days...  Do we have those Titus 2 older women that:

teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,

To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.
 
I think we do.  

We can look for those unique women in our Church and seek to learn from them.  There are also women such as: Carolyn Mahaney, Sally Clarkson and Above Rubies that we can learn from. We also have the great privilege of being able to read of those "historical" women, who lived lives completely surrendered to Him, in order that we can be challenged and encouraged.  

Who encourages you in your role as a wife and mother?  What books have you read that have challenged you?  I'd love to hear what you think!


Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Some Cuteness...

Is that even a word?  I don't think it qualifies for a "real" word except for when you have little ones running around in your home. :) I just looked for the word in the dictionary and it was not there but for some reason it does not come up as a misspelled word when I check for spelling???

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Last night as we were getting ready for bed John-John started brainstorming.  This is nothing new if you know this little boy... he is always coming up with creative ideas to participate in or something new to build.  So, he starts talking, "We need to set up row after row of chairs in our driveway and then we'll build a big stage at the bottom of our driveway/start of the court.  That way we can start having discipleship outside and all our friends can hear about Jesus.  We'll get all of our instruments out, I'll play the keyboard, Benjamin will do the bongos and Faith will play the drums.  Dad will stand up there with Pastor Ben and hold his Bible while he preaches the Word."  He then went on and on about how they'll build the stage and how we'll have notes to pass out...  
I love it!  A little street evangelism! :)

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Today as we were doing school we started talking about Benjamin being able to do real school with us next year.  Benjamin is just so excited that he will have his own "official" school books and then John-John chimes in that because "it will be so much work for me to be teaching both of the boys" that he'll step in to help, "You know Mom, I'll be able to teach Benjamin all the math I have already learned!"   I thought that was so precious, especially after the fun we had while on a walk with them racing. :)

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Brent and I can not help but laugh at this one... every time one of her brothers aggravates her, Faith likes to say, "You soaking wet" to them. She musters up as much shear resolve as she can and utters those three words. She heard this saying in a movie (although, they were just saying, "you're soaking wet" when one of the characters fell in a pool) and has grabbed hold of it as her way to punish the boys when they do something that she does not like. It just cracks us up to hear her say it, but we muffle those laughs as we get up to train her that saying that is not a proper way to respond to her brothers.  :)

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Thursday, April 10, 2008

The Blessing of Friendship

Last night we had the privilege of having a couple girls from our Church over for dessert. I made a yummy apple crisp and was able to enjoy it today too. :)



Apple Crisp Recipe

Chop six to eight apples and place in baking dish. Sprinkle with 3/4-cup sugar and a little cinnamon.

For the topping, mix 1-cup flour, 3/4-cup sugar, 1-tsp. baking powder and 1/2-tsp. salt. Add one egg and mix until crumbly. Sprinkle over apples. Pour 1/3-cup salad oil over all and sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake in 350 degree over for 45 minutes to an hour.

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

My Precious Little One

It's been a year since we found out that a fourth little baby would be joining our lives and boy have we been blessed.  Two boys, two girls... simply amazing. Our precious Olivia Grace, it has been such a joy to have you in our lives. Your brothers and sister love holding you and showering you with kisses... they absolutely adore you. God is so good and we thank Him for the gift of your life every time we look at you!



You are now three months old and you are starting to leave the "newborn" look behind. You are full of smiles and laughs and you are just beginning to talk to us. It's simply music to our ears to hear you laugh and talk.

My precious one, I look forward to all that the tomorrows will hold but I don't want to loose sight of today! I will treasure today and all that it brings... The peace of holding you close in my arms while you sleep, your sweet eyes looking at me, your smile and even your cries bring joy to my heart.

Thank you Father, for the blessing of this precious little one. You are so, so good to us.

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Children's Book Monday

The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name
Written by Sally Lloyd-Jones and Illustrated by Jago

"the Bible isn't a book of rules, or a book of heroes. The bible is most of all a Story. It's an adventure story about a young Hero who comes from a far country to win back his lost treasure. It's a love story about a brave Prince who leaves his palace, his throne - everything - to rescue the one he loves. "

This is an amazing kids Bible and I have not seen another one like it. It takes you through the Old and New Testament and points you to Jesus Christ in every story. For instance, in the story of Joseph and his brothers from Genesis 37-46 they finish the story with this:
"One day, God would send another Prince, a young Prince whose heart would break. Like Joseph, he would leave his home and his Father. His brothers would hate him and want him dead. He would be sold for pieces of silver. He would be punished even though he had done nothing wrong. But God would use everything that happened to this young Prince - even the bad things - to do something good: to forgive the sins of the whole world. "

The pictures are fabulous and the stories are told in a way that the little ones can understand. I have a seven year old, almost five year old and a two in a half year old that all love to sit and listen to the stories. Even my husband and I love to see how they point every story to Christ.

Go see A Path Made Straight for more book recommendations!

Enjoy!

Thursday, April 3, 2008

It's Amazing...


Dog houses... space ships... It's simply amazing all that you can make from an old moving box. I'm telling you, hours upon hours of fun!


A quick nap after a fun day. :)

O Father, let their creativity continue to be cultivated! I pray that it would never die.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Thoughts To Ponder...

"How is the Word of God being received in our life? Is it bringing the pattern of Holiness to our lives in ever-increasing measure? Is it bringing the love, the joy, the peace of God Almighty into operation? Is it pinpointing all that needs to be removed from our temple, from our land? Do we tremble at it, are we tender and contrite before it?" -Eric Ludy

Loving Father, I pray that we would be transformed by You and by your living Word.


"Thy word is very pure: therefore thy servant loves it" Psalm 119:140

"Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts." Jeremiah 15:16