Category Archives: family

VeggieTales-Noah’s Ark

 

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I just finished watching this sweet video. A flood of emotions comes at the opening song as I remember my son laying across his bed with his feet in the air, singing those same words. Ahhh, where does the time go? 

This video will be released tomorrow, and I have a copy to giveaway! You won’t want to miss this movie. Just leave a comment and subscribe to the blog and a random winner will be picked on Thursday!

Noah’s Ark-a Lesson in Trusting God

Shem (Wayne Brady) and his new wife Sadie are fresh off their honeymoon, making all kinds of plans when they return to find Noah building an Ark. Shem is upset because the Ark is sitting where he was going to build his house and start his life.

Reluctantly, Shem begins to work on the Ark, and when the rains come, he prepares himself for a short distraction of his plans. But those weren’t God’s plans. Shem sings-Your plans are in my way, I’ve got plans!

Noah encourages Shem to trust in God and He will see us through, but again, Shem takes over and devises a plan B so he can be in control of his own destiny. God showed Shem in the end that His plans are good. Shem’s plans left him alone, adrift and afraid.

Does any of that resonate with you? What area have you taken the reins from God and pushed His plans aside?

God’s plans are much better than our own.

The loss of a child

When I heard the sound of my dad’s voice, I knew something was wrong. I didn’t expect what was coming.

The unthinkable happened. Tragedy struck my cousin and his family.
Heaven gained another angel, in the form of an eight year old boy.

Dad was calling to ask me to pray, and I knew that’s what I needed to do. I opened my mouth and nothing came out. There was such a jumble of emotions overwhelming me, and all I could think was Jesus help. Jesus, help!

I believe the Holy Spirit can decipher the groans of my heart. There have been other times when I had no words. He’s always heard me.

Psalm 38:8 I am exhausted and completely crushed. My groans come from an anguished heart.

He gave me a little peace and I was able to put a call out to my prayer warrior friends. They astound me with their love and willingness to drop everything and take my request to the Lord. When I knew that my extended family was being covered in prayer, I was able to sit down and talk to Jesus.

While I can’t even begin to understand why this radiant little boy had to leave his family so soon, I have to trust that He has a plan, even in this. His plans are far greater than mine.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares The Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

My heart won’t let my mind go there because it’s just too painful to imagine. I can’t fathom the pain they are feeling, and all I can do is pray. Will you pray for them too?

Jesus, help.

Friday Fragments

I can only think in short bursts right now, so this is going to be in list form.

  1. This has been a really good week in that God is moving BIG time in the heart of someone I love dearly. I’m talking radical changes that make my head spin! It’s a total answer to prayers, but I also know it is a journey that begins with a single step. That step can go forward or backward. There will be good days and hard days. We’ve had a few of both. There’s been lots of tears and laughter, and they seem to go together right now. I am trying to let God run the show and not take over, which is hard for me. I want to step back and let Him lead us. I’d appreciate your prayers for this!
  2. This has been a trying week because I feel under pressure. I feel the pressure to remain positive and strong, when sometimes I’m just lost. I’m trying to remind myself that I’m human, and I need to fully rely on God
  3. Homework has been a chore for the youngest this week. He had a project for a famous American, so there was writing and memorization and nerves. We couldn’t find him a coonskin hat so dad saved the day and made him one out of a stuffed animal. He rocked the presentation this morning! I think part of the problem has to do with playing his iPod when he is supposed to be sleeping. I’ll be keeping the iPod for charging purposes at night from now on. Hopefully that will help with tiredness and attitude.
  4. As I type this, satan is hard at work. He sees the changes that have been happening and he’s trying to stop it from happening. Please join with me in prayer that my loved one can shut out his voices and rest in the promises of Jesus.

Post Blissdom Spin

I’m still fighting post Blissdom exhaustion and haven’t had the time to wrap my head around all the wonderful things I heard and learned.

I’m still praying about the changes I’m going to make to this blog. I have to make the change to self hosting and that requires a domain name change. Last time I opened up the bible and landed on Proverbs 24:5-6. Simple, right? I’m open to suggestions if you have any!

I’m also trying to write my story, my testimony, and it’s changing so radically right now that my head is spinning. I sit back in awe and amazement at how quickly God is moving and changing hearts right now! Seriously, if you don’t know Jesus, I want to help you get to know Him. He heals all wounds.

What’s going on with you right now? Can I pray for you at all?

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Dolphin Tale

This giveaway is now closed.

Today I’m giving you the chance to win the movie Dolphin Tale, from Warner Brothers Home Entertainment Group. It will be released to the public tomorrow, but you could win the Blu-ray combo pack, DVD and Digital Download valued at $35.99 right here.

“Swimming free, a young dolphin is caught in a crab trap, severely damaging her tail. She is rescued and transported to the Clearwater Marine Hospital, where she is named Winter. But her fight for survival has just begun.

Losing her tail may cost Winter her life. It will take the expertise of a dedicated marine biologist, the ingenuity of a brilliant prosthetics doctor, and the unwavering devotion of a young boy to bring about a groundbreaking miracle- a miracle that might not only save Winter but could also help thousands of people around the world.

The real Winter, who plays herself in “Dolphin Tale,” today serves as a symbol of courage and hope to millions of people-especially those facing their own physical challenges-who have been touched by her remarkable story of recovery and rehabilitation.”

This is an amazing true story of a dolphin and brave boy who makes it his mission to save her. It includes a fabulous cast of Harry Connick Jr., Ashley Judd, Morgan Freeman, Nathan Gamble, Kris Kristofferson, and many more! Every New Year’s Eve we snuggle in and watch movies as a family, and this movie is on our list. I can’t wait to watch it, and share it with you. Just leave me a comment to be entered to win. Tell me what you think of the movie, if you haven’t seen it yet, or what you’re having for Christmas dinner. It doesn’t really matter what you say, just say something. I will draw a winner this Friday at noon and let you know.

A little confession

On Friday evening we watched Brooke cheer the Cougars on at their first loss. It was a tough game! I love watching Brooke though, so I still enjoyed it. She is simply beautiful, loves deeply, and is so kind hearted. I am blessed to call her my daughter.

She will be starting Drivers Ed on Wednesday, so I could use lots of prayers. I’m going to be a blubbering mess!

Saturday brought with it Matthew’s second basketball game of the season. He has picked up a lot since last year, and it’s fun to watch him understand what’s going on. It also helps that Brooke’s boyfriend is an awesome player on the Varsity team, and he is eager to help Matthew out.

Here’s where the confession comes. Are you still there? I’m just a little competitive. Ok, maybe a lot! I could tell you that I just want him to have fun, but I really want him to win. I want him to have fun while winning. I don’t know where this comes from, because I didn’t play any sports when I was little. But something comes out in me, and it’s not pretty.

This year we have a referee, and he makes some calls, but he clearly stated that they didn’t want him to make too many. Well, when a kid takes my baby down to the floor, I expect a call. I almost came off the bleachers to save Matthew, but thought better of it when Brian looked me in the eye and told me “it’s ok.” Obviously it was NOT ok, as some kid just took. my. baby. down!! Then his mom cheers him on! This is when something snapped in me, and I yelled out, “don’t let him push you around, Matthew!” And the next time Matthew scored, I cheered extra loud. Looking back, I’m not proud of my behavior. I am proud of Matthew though.

That evening we had the pleasure of traveling to another Cougars game, and watching them pull off an awesome win. The calls were terrible, and it was a close game up to the last second, but it was probably the most exciting basketball game I’ve been to. Everyone left smiling.

Yesterday we cleaned the house a little and Brooke’s boyfriend spent the day with us. He was outside playing basketball with the boys while Brooke finished a project, and I think she might have been jealous. It was sweet. Matthew has been having a hard time leaving me for school lately, some days he has cried and not wanted to get out of the car in the drop off line. This has gone on for a couple of weeks now, and it always rears up at the last minute in drop off, until last night. Last night, he became very teary when I said there were only eight more days of school until Christmas break. He told me he didn’t want to go to school because he misses me too much when he’s there. We spent some time laying on my bed talking, crying, and praying. I told him that we thought our family was complete, and then I decided we needed one more child, and that Jesus gave us him. I shared with him that Jesus knew what He was doing, and that He has great plans for Matthew. Also that He’s always with us, so when we get scared, all we have to do is call out to Him. We prayed a lot, and we went to bed in a better place.

I didn’t wake up today with that same light heart though. I hit the snooze button, so there wasn’t time for me to do my bible reading. I was grouchy when I walked into the kitchen that I had cleaned yesterday, and discovered a large mess on the table and in the sink where someone made muddy buddies and didn’t clean up after themselves. The dog was into EVERYTHING! I was also dreading waking Matthew up. I didn’t want to deal with any more tears, and I was just a grump. Little things kept hitting me, and I know it was satan. Brooke waited until this morning to print off her project and the printer needed to run a test print first. Her ride showed up and she told them to go on, so I had to take her to school. I was in a full blown tizzy by that time. When I came back home, Matthew and I sat at the kitchen table together. I could tell that he was trying to hold back the tears, and he could probably tell I was being overly talkative. We were doing well until he reminded me that we needed to fill out his reading log, and I couldn’t find it. I made one out, and we were racing out the door to make it to school on time. I drove to the end of the road, came to a rolling stop and turned right. As soon as I did, I saw the cop sitting there. When I passed him, he pulled out behind me, and next I saw his lights. I knew what I had done. I was guilty and wrong. And running late.

The officer was very nice and just gave me a warning. I know I should stop. Completely.

We went off and made it to school in time. Both of us were trying to hold it together by this time, and we managed to do so. I promised him last night that we would do something special if he didn’t cry, so tonight we made homemade sugar cookies together. As we were sitting at the table, he said, “thanks for bringing me into this world.” I chuckled as I asked him where that came from, and he said, “you know, last night when you were talking to me about wanting another baby, thanks for having me.” My heart melts!

Halloween 2011

So Halloween brings up all sorts of differing opinions, most of which I just toss up to opinion. We’ve always gone trick or treating and it’s just something fun to do. Get dressed up and visit family for candy. Some years we would visit the trunk or treat at church, and neighborhoods of friends. My two oldest are really too old to participate at 15 and 13, but the 13 year old held out this year and went with a couple of his buddies.

It seems to get tricky with Matthew because he is easily frightened by scary masks and crazy people that jump out at you from under a pile of leaves. Wonder where he gets that from? Ummm ME! Come on people, there are little children walking around trying to get loads of candy and you make it your goal in life to scare the bejeezus out of them! Not to mention moms who could possibly have a heart attack because of the sudden fright.

This year he really surprised me though. I think it’s a sign of him growing up, which makes daddy smile and mommy cry a little. He walked right up to those doors and rang the doorbell, said Trick or Treat, and even said Thank you! I am so proud of him! He even braved walking by the Scream statue, very slowly albeit, but all by himself. No siblings there to ease the fears, and daddy and I stood on the sidewalk. 

We went to a start up neighborhood just across the street from us and learned that they weren’t expecting many trick or treaters and they gave HANDFULS of candy. So we spent half the time and got twice the candy. Bonus!

Grandma and Grandpa were our last stop and he was not disappointed there. He quickly dumped the cauldron of goods into his bag and proceeded to raid all the candy jars too. Shortly after that he was bounding from couch to couch and I was saying, ” No more CANDY!”

Matthew knows the history behind Halloween, but he told me to him it’s all about fun and candy. I don’t think there’s a better way to look at it. I’m sure to some there is a dark connotation associated with the holiday, but to us its for fun. And we’re stickin’ to it. Literally!

Dogs and Kids

I have three kids, ages 15, 13, and a fresh 8 year old. We have 4 chihuahuas, 3 female and 1 male, and a chocolate lab female that will be a year old in December. She will be the death of me. Her or the teenagers. Mark my words.

Recently a friend was talking about a store that I have never been in. They said I should go, it’s a home interiors/decorative kind of place, and they have gotten some nice things in there.

I don’t decorate my house. I have dogs and kids.

Dogs and kids tear nice things up.

Why waste the money on new furniture when the kids will spill something on it, or stand on the cushions and rip the pillows off the back of the seat, or the dog will eat it?

Dare I ask?

I have kids that leave their empty water bottle, or nearly empty, and the dogs think it is the greatest chew toy. Even though there may be 50 assorted rawhides and chew toys laying around.

I’ll have nice things when the kids move out, and the dogs move on. Until then, I’ll come to your house. Or we’ll meet at Starbucks if you have dogs and kids.

Raging Germs

It’s official. My house is infested with raging germs. Last week it was the flu, and today Brooke and Zach were diagnosed with strep throat. In the past 8 days we’ve spent $360.00 at the pharmacy and we’re still sick. I’m over it, really! Can it just go away please?

Weekend Re-cap

It’s tough to be a mom and have two kids doing different activities in different locations at the same time. Can someone just split me in half and put my heart back together?

Friday night Brooke danced at the JV football game and the boys raced. I’ve attended all the other football games to watch her dance, and missed the boys racing on those nights. This night was different in that Zach moved up out of the Restrictor class to the Open Wing class. Instead of racing with boys aged 10-16, he was now racing with 16++. My baby racing with grown men! I wanted to be there for that first time.

Brooke tells me they had their best performance ever, so YAY! I’m sad I missed it baby girl, but thank you for understanding. Matthew had an astounding night. He passed a few cars, and ended up finishing 5th in the feature. He is making great strides, and he’s only just turned 7, so I am so proud of him.

Zach moved up and qualified 3rd fast, won the heat race and won the feature. It was so awesome to see that smile back on his face, and to see these grown men coming up and praising him for doing so well. My heart swells! It was amazing.

Saturday brought another football game, this time Varsity played at Lucas Oil Stadium, and Brooke danced at pre-game. She was right, best performance ever. My baby girl is so beautiful all the time, but when she dances, she is absolutely radiant! I can’t take my eyes off of her to see what the whole group is doing. God has gifted her with dance. It DID NOT come from me.

I left the game early and rushed to Martinsville to see the boys race again. We had never been to this track, and don’t think we will ever go back. It was too small and sandy dirt, so they were sliding all over the place. Good experience for them, but not enjoyable.

Church yesterday was awesome! The sermon was about Abraham, and what to do when you don’t know what to do. One thing that still sticks in my mind is this…God doesn’t want you to follow a plan, He wants you to follow HIM!

The boys went to the woods after lunch, and Brooke and I spent some quiet time together, then we went to the grocery store. Busy weekend, and I don’t really feel like I accomplished much. I’m ready for the busy season to come to a close, and spend some time with my family at home.