Just another thought for the day...

Did you ever wonder why exactly God created three year olds? Why can we not skip from two to four?

Just some random thoughts...

First, I am obsessing about this whole hair thing. I want something different, but don't know what.

Secondly, children are fun to watch when they don't realize you are watching them. For example, Kid-O and Little Man were outside playing. Kid-O sends Little Man to the barn to get some pieces of wood. He comes back with one, no that is not right she tells him, so he takes it back and brings another. She tells him that one is good, to get three or four more like it. So Little Man proceeds to getting the wood for Kid-O. When he gets the last piece, half way back to the play set, Kid-O tells him he forgot to close the barn. So he lugs the wood back to the barn closes it, then goes back to the play set with the last piece of wood. So is he kind and wants to be accepted or just plain gullible?

Third, the pastor yesterday was preaching on Ruth and Naomi. Ruth tells Naomi, when Naomi tells her to go home, that she will not leave her except by death and if she does, may God deal with her severely. The pastor said many people have used that as part of their wedding vows; which it is highly appropriate. I just hope and pray that people who have used that truly understand what they have said and understand they have made a covenant with God regarding the person they are marrying. God does not break his covenants with us, the rainbow is a prime example. Have you seen a rainbow lately?

Hairstyles

I am trying to decide what to do with my hair. It has been long and straight since high school, fourteen very short years ago. I am going back and forth between getting it cut short or leaving it long. Part of me wants to try a shorter cut, but I am scared to death. I know my hair looks nice now, if I cut it will it still look nice. I don't know. Many have said don't do it, some have said go for it. The hubby gave the okay to get it cut if I want, but I know he does not really want me too. So there in lays the dilemma. Decisions, decisions. Any suggestions?

Whose got pride?

You know when God wants you to listen and you listen, but not completely. Well, that has happened to me lately. God as been showing me in small steps, praise God, that I am a prideful person. I never knew that I was until he started showing me that. I used to be the Sparks director for Awana at our church and the fellowship director for four and a half years, and one day I up and quit those things. I thought it was because God wanted me somewhere else. Which I still believe to be partly true. But now I know it was more because I was prideful over those things. I don't really know why, but I was. So I then began to repent and ask God to show me other areas of pride in my life. By the way, don't ask if you don't want to know, because God will show you.

So, yesterday while reading and doing my Bible study, the author of the book says "Often our thoughts run to 'what do they think of me?' when what we should be concerned with is 'what do they think of Him?' Keeping one eye on an "Eli" when you worship will keep you from focusing on the Lord and giving Him the glory He deserves. But focusing single-mindedly on gaining God's approval will pave the way for you to hear His voice." Well, that might not mean much to some, but it means the world to me, but when I read that God immediately started showing me things I had done out of pride. OUCH!!!!

In Matthew 6 Jesus says, "Be careful not to do your acts of righteousness before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven." OUCH OUCH!!!! In this chapter he is referring to giving to the needy, prayer and fasting. When God wants you to get it you will, but you may not like it. Right now I don't and the flood gates are open. But the amazing thing is that all I have to do is ask for forgiveness and trust God to tell me and listen, before I make those mistakes again. What a loving Father, we may not like it sometimes, but it is always for our best.

Easter

We had a wonderful Easter in our house. We went to church, then came home had lunch and then against what I wanted to do, we went to Sears to get my tired fixed on my van. When coming home from church, in the church parking lot, I ran over a corner chip of ceramic tile (God is building an addition to the church building). Which of course punctured my tire. After fixing the tire, we came home and relaxed the rest of the day.

Kid-O got an i-Sing kareoke/mp3 player/recorder from the Easter bunny. As you can tell, she was excited.

Little Man got Iron Arry and Bert from the Easter bunny. More Thomas trains for anyone who does not know who they are. He loves his Thomas. He gets to ride Thomas in a few weeks.

This of course is the whole family. One of those silly things that Mommy makes them do every year. Go outside in the cold and take pictures by the bamboo. I love it they strongly dislike it. They will appreciate it one day, I think.

Child-like???

While I was doing my Bible study yesterday morning, I was reading a new book that our Sunday school class is starting. Well, while reading through it, the first chapter stirred up more questions in me than answers. Which for me, God uses to cause me to dig deeper. This book is about hearing God's voice, and the author begins with 1 Samuel 3, where Samuel as a boy hears God call his name. Well, the author gets hung up on "the boy" part of verse 1, using the reference of childlike to hear God. She goes into obedience and humility as child-like characteristics that make you more able to hear God. I don't know about the rest of you, but my children are not obedient or humble by nature. That is not the nature of a child.


So anyway, here are some of my questions that I ask myself and God. By the way, I still have not found the answers. The author makes the assumption that Samuel as a "boy" feared or reverenced God. So the first question was: "Where does it say in the Bible that Samuel as a child "feared God" equalling reverenced God? That is an assumption that I am not following when God spoke to Samuel in this account." I can't think of any place in scripture that says as a "boy" Samuel feared God. Is she making the assumption, based on the fact that Samuel was basically raised by Eli. If so I will give her that, but the assumption that the obedience of children makes us able to hear God. Don't get it. By nature, children are not obedient, therefore; being childlike in obedience would be a contradiction. I see obedience and reverence as essential to knowing and developing a relationship with God, but not in a childlike manner. Do your children listen to you, do they reverence you, are they obedient?


I quote the author saying, "People who have a childlike relationship with God listen to Him and accept His revelation however it comes." I agree with the statement if and only if, she is referring to a childlike characteristic of dependence and trust, not in obedience which is her take. She references Matthew 19:14 where Jesus is telling the disciples who will be the greatest. "The kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these," referring to children. I truly believe that a childlike manner of trust and unpretentiousness, but not obedience. If you are following my point, and have some in site to either side I would appreciate the comments.


I know and trust my Heavenly Father to show me the right answer, for right now I just don't agree with the author and maybe God wants me to disagree. I will discover the answer he has for me.

Sick Baby

Mini-Me stayed with Mamaw and Papaw while we all went on vacation. I know, that's not fair, but vacation with a one year old is just no vacation. Anyway, when we got back, he had a cold. So the Hubby took a picture. There are actually more pictures, but I am in them sleeping with Mini-Me because I had the stomach bug Little Man had. I saved you all from having to look at those. I just thought that Mini-Me looked so pitiful sick and running a fever. Other than getting sick, he had a ball with Mamaw and Papaw.

Godly Men

While we were in the cabin, the dishwasher was not working. So after cooking dinner one night the men got up, cleared the table, washed, dried, and put the dishes away. I just thought it worth noting that Godly men will do just about anything with a smile on their faces for the women they love. Thanks Hubbies.

Vacation...

So as I told you last week, we headed off for vacation. We had a ball, with the kids and the married couple that went with us from church. The Hubby and I told them it was good to get to know another couple, because since we left college we really have not had people to just hang out with. I have included many pictures from some of the things we did in Gatlinburg. I hope you enjoy them.

Kid-O thought that she wanted to try her hand at climbing the rock wall. She did not get far off the ground, but I have to give her credit for trying something she would normally not do.

Little Man ready to ride race cars with me as his driver. Just a side note. Little Man threw up coming down the crazy mountain road. We made a pit stop at the famous Wally-World to get him new clothes; we thought it cheaper then going back up the mountain. We assumed it was motion sickness especially since he threw up again going back up the mountain, and no other time throughout the day. Well come to find out, he had a stomach bug, because after the vacation was over, three days later, me, Hubby, and the wife and son of the couple from our church all had the same stomach bug. So that being said, look closely at the face of Little Man on the race cars.

Kid-O ready to go.

Little Man probably trying to hold on to his stomach while riding with the husband of the couple from our church.

Kid-O enjoying herself and probably trying to get daddy to go faster. That is what she does to me.

This picture has the wife of the couple,with Kid-O in the lead, the husband with their son in second and me with Little Man in third. Just thought Hubby got a good picture with all of us together.

Spring Break 2008

The family, minus Mini-Me, is leaving for vacation today. We have rented a cabin in Gatlinburg. We are very excited. Some friends from church are going to go with us. So of course Little Man is excited, because they have a son that Little Man just loves to play with. I am not sure if we will have internet connection in the cabin. I hope so, because I am sure I will have plenty to talk about this week. God Bless, and keep us in your prayers as we travel.

The Art of Coloring Eggs

Kid-O and Little Man coloring their eggs So does anyone know why we color eggs for Easter. I have no clue, but I do know that watching children color eggs is fun, although nerve racking. I find it interesting how boys gravitate of boy colors and girls gravitate to girl colors without being told or asked.

Mini-Me trying to get the eggs

Ah. Bright Colors. Must get them now.

Kid-O intently decorating

I enjoy watching the intensity of kids trying to make the eggs turn out exactly like they want them too.

Little Man proud of his work of art

Ah. The Pride of Success

Two of Little Man's Eggs I am not exactly sure what they are supposed to be, I just know that he was very proud of his work, and very upset that he broke one of his eggs.

Two of Kid-O's Eggs
Her man started to run before he dried. We are still learning the fine art of when enough is enough. He look pretty good when immediately finished.

Group Effort

As you can tell, the orange man belongs to Little Man and the pink egg, with the M and all the flowers belongs to Kid-O. The others are mine. By the way, trying to blow the yolk and whites out of the eggs, is not easy at all.

Sweetheart...I don't think so

I had a man, not my husband walk pass me and give me the once over. You know what I am talking about, the up and down look. Then he says "Hey, Sweetheart" in that tone men get when they think they are sounding good. And his son (early teenager), I assume, was with him. Now if the Hubby had been with me, I probably would not have thought to much about it, because he always has my back, but it was just me and the 18 month old. Something tells me Mini-Me is not going to jump up out of the shopping cart and stand up for Mommy. According to the hubby, I am a red hot mama, and that men just think that way about me. Which by the way, I just don't get at all but I love that my Hubby feels that way about me.

So, here is the thing, not only did this man degrade me in my opinion, and was successful at scaring me; he just taught that young child that it is okay to look at a woman the way he did and speak to me the way that he did. I was made perfectly for my hubby and don't appreciate being approached in such a manner. I don't think that I am asking for too much, to be treated with respect. And if someone thinks that I look that good, just thank God for his amazing creation. I was wonderfully, fearfully, and beautifully made by God, for God, and my Hubby.

That is my soap box for the day...

How dirty could it be?

I clean a neighbors house whenever he ask me too; which is about very three weeks or so. Well, this time he asked if I would do a spring cleaning again. You know the routine, windows, baseboards, cabinets, carpet, that kind of stuff. Well, he is a single guy. Clean for a guy, but still a guy. So last week I got the bulk of the cleaning finished, except the carpet.

Well, today I go to clean the carpet. It seems that every time I take my steam cleaner to his house to clean the carpet, it stops working. Usually the belts that spin the brushes strip out. Well, upon taking the steam cleaner apart, I find that it is not the belt that is stripped, but the motor that spins the brushes. So now hubby will have to replace the brush spin motor for my cleaner because my ability stops at taking it apart to replace the belts.

So my question is, Is it possible for carpet to be so dirty that it will tear up a steam cleaner? I am finding that the answer to that question is yes. See, I have to clean my carpet about every five weeks or so, because whoever built this house, bought the carpet that was on clearance that week, so it is off white, no joke. Plus we do not wear shoes in the house. Therefore, my carpet does not have a chance to get just horribly dirty, just three kid dirty.

What a View...

The hubby is in Salt Lake City this week, which I don't like because I miss him very much. I had the blessed opportunity to go to Salt Lake with him last summer. There of course was no snow on the mountain then. Salt Lake City is really not a big as you might think it is. However, there are some wonderful places to eat.

Speaking of which, those guys out there are going to Rodizo's Grill tonight. It is a Brazilian restaurant, where everything is served from the grill on large skewers (pineapple, chicken, steak, livers, tomatoes, mushrooms, and some others that I am forgetting). I got into an eating contest with one of those unruly engineers last summer. He just thought he could out eat me. I think my hubby forewarned him not to try, but he did and lost. If you ever have the opportunity to eat there do it, the cost is expensive ($25.00), but well worth it.


We also got to go to Park City the last day; site of the 2002 Winter Olympics. It was great. I am not a daredevil, just an eater, but I went down a zip line that if I remember correctly was 1500ft long with a 500ft drop. (Hubby will correct me if I am wrong).


We also got to go down the bobsled track. In the summer, the bobsleds have rubber wheels on them to go down the track. We went 70.5mph and pulled 4G (I think). What a ride. Yet again expensive, but if you have the opportunity go for it. You will never forget it and you will always have something to talk about. You don't get to drive the bobsled, so you have a driver and we had a passenger with us also.

I hope I get to go TDY with the Hubby again sometime.

Third Day

The hubby and I went to a Third Day concert Friday night. I purchased the tickets because my hubby loves music. That is one of the main ways he worships God. Me on the other hand enjoys music, but then I also don't like it loud. Well, I stepped out of my box Friday night because it was loud, but I loved it.

I enjoyed watching people worship God, uninhibited, the way God calls us too, as King David did. My hubby is not an outward worshipper at all, he keeps most things to himself. So it was an amazing blessing for me to see him uninhibited.

One song, which I can't remember the title, was about God being the creator of heaven and earth. For some reason, that sent me down the path of God being the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. At that moment, circles of lights began to appear on the back wall. Most would think I am crazy, but to those who do not believe in coincidences, only God can orchestrate that. There is not a beginning and ending on a circle. The Song had nothing to do with God being the beginning and the end, but that is the path He led me down, and then showed me it was Him speaking to me.



SanctusReal opened for Third Day Friday night and I fell in love with this song also. I love watching God change me. I never used to have favorite songs, but I do now, like I have favorite bible passages. God is amzaing. So here are the lyrics to SanctusReals song "I'm Not Alright'"

If weakness is a wound that no one wants to speak of
Then "cool" is just how far we have to fall
I am not immune, I only want to be loved
But I feel safe behind the firewall

Can I lose my need to impress?
If you want the truth I need to confess

[Chorus:]
I'm not alright, I'm broken inside
And all I go through, it leads me to you

Burn away the pride
Bring me to my weakness
Until everything I hide behind is gone
And when I'm open wide with nothing left to cling to
Only you are there to lead me on.

Honestly, I'm not that strong.

[Chorus:]

I'm not alright... that's why I need you.

So this was my first and hopefully not last concert experience.

Duh...

So I went to the doctor Friday morning, for a yearly physical, thinking that my thyroid medicine may need to be adjusted because I am tired all the time again. Well, everything looks good with my thyroid. So of course, Doc asks the most obvious questions.
Doc: What time do you go to bed?
Me: Around 11 to 11:30pm.
Doc: What time do you get up?
Me: 5:45am
Doc: So you are getting 6 1/4 to 6 3/4 hours of sleep.
Me: Yep.
Doc: You have three children. You need 8 hours of sleep per night. I expect you to go to bed and get sleep. That is why you are tired.
My point. My insurance company paid my Doc $119.00 for her to tell me the obvious, when I was thinking it was my thyroid. I think I might have temporary forgot to use my brain.

Too Cool

Rockin' Motorcycle
Rockin' Train

I thought some might like to see the really cool toys that Grandpa has built for the grandboys. The grand-daughter has a rocking horse, that she of course is way to big for now. It has been put up for safe keeping. The rocking motorcycle will probably stay in the living room for years to come. It makes a great conversation piece when people come to visit.

My many blessing...

Let me count them: One, two, three, four



Do you take the time to count your blessings and thank God for them each day? No matter how frustrated I may get with my children, they are a blessing and I thank God for them. He uses them daily to teach me something new. My husband is just an amazing blessing; that God saw fit to let me have.

How old did you say????

Yesterday, as I was doing my Bible reading in the Book of 2nd Kings, I read of King Josiah. King Josiah was 8 years old when him took the throne of Judah. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. According to 2 Kings 23:25, "Before him there was no king like him who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to the law of Moses; nor did any like him arise after him."

I can't even begin to imagine a child at the age of eight making decisions on running a nation, let alone running it in a way that is pleasing to the Lord. It goes to show that what Paul says to the church "all things are possbile through Christ who strenghtens me," is in fact true. Not that I doubt that or God's Word, I just love finding even more examples in the Bible and in current life where God over and over proves His words given to Paul.

Monkey Business

How many children do you see?

If you counted three, you would be right. So why is it all the kids try to be in the same place at the exact same time? Has anyone ever wondered about that?

Maybe we are supposed to be learning something from children that we miss, like loving each other even though most of the time we can't stand each other. Is that not what God calls us to do. Is that not the greatest commandment, "to love one another."

Because when children are all piled up in the same place at the same time, they have to love each other or one of them will fall off of that five foot bed. If we all piled up together and loved one another despite our differences who can fall?

Just a crazy thought...

Last Babies First Haircut

Before...
I am sure many of you have been there before. That moment when you know that you can no longer keep the baby a baby. Well, that day has come for my youngest. He is eighteen months, thinks he is three and an half like his brother, and in need of that first haircut. I was not ready to cut his hair, but I knew that the time had come. I am not happy with the cut, but I was not with Jonah's first cut either. After that first cut, they just no longer look like a baby. Ian, of course, did not mind the first cut and Jonah thought it was cool that his brother looks more like him now. Daddy, of course, likes it because his boy looks like a boy and Mommy with get over it soon.

After...