tears

One of the girls in the wreck with part of our Street Reach kids, Katie, did not go back after she left the hospital.  She was the one taken by ambulance~turned out she had whiplash.  Last night, their last night of worship, was "share" night.  And she wanted to go.  I encouraged her mom to let her if she wanted to, and I offered to go with them.  What started out as kind of a favor for them~to be another passenger in the car~turned out to be a night I will never forget.

We got there right as worship was starting.  I sat and listened to those teenagers sing and I watched them as they worshiped and my tears started flowing.  The worship eventually overtook my watching them and I participated with them.  It was such a sweet time, one that I am so glad I got to be a part of.

People stood up to share what God has done in their lives this week, and a theme that was talked about was "divine appointments".  God had a plan for all of them there this week, and not one thing that happened was accidental.  Not even the wreck that happened Wednesday.  We may never know this side of Heaven what God's reasoning was for that, but I do know that there was a reason.

Some of the sites that volunteers were working at had kids that gave their little hearts to God this week.  Our church's sites, as of yesterday, were the seed planting sites.  Their leader, Erin, was a little discouraged at first when she heard about the other sites, but then God reminded her of the verses that Paul wrote that talk about how one person plants the seed, another waters, and another harvests them.  They were seed planters this week, and not a thing is wrong with that.

After the worship service was over, they broke out in their church groups for another time of sharing.  I am so glad we stayed for that.  Erin started them out in praise, and teenager after teenager spoke up, thanking God for various things He did this week.  They thanked Him for the hot weather, Pastor Tim who heads Street Reach, their leaders, the kids, for Him allowing them to show His love...they went on and on.

Then they prayed and started sharing.  One of our teens shared about a little boy that he was brokenhearted for.  He was concerned about his home life and how he left them yesterday~hitting them with sticks and cursing at them.  As he sat and talked, tears just rolled down his face.  This is one of the ones who filled out paperwork to work there all next summer.  (There were a couple who filled out forms.)  To sit and watch and listen was the most humbling thing I have ever sat through.  And the entire time, I was a complete and total wreck.

I can't imagine how the leaders must have felt all week.  It's so touching seeing God grab hold of these teenagers, my own included.  (Though this post isn't about them, it's about all of them who went.)  I don't know if their hearts will ever be the same.  I know mine won't.  As I sat and listened and watched, I could feel myself falling more in love with this group of teenagers.  They are an amazing group of people that I pray I get the chance to better know and be involved with.

I hated to leave them last night.  I am so glad I got to be just a tiny part of what went on there this week.  These teenagers are a living example to me of Romans 12:2.  "Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."  (That's just part of the verse.)  I can honestly say that a lot of them have been transformed this week.  I think they will come home different, on fire for what God is doing inside of them.  They are leaving Street Reach as commissioned missionaries to come back home to their part of the our city.  I know that God has done major things inside them this week, and I know He will continue.  It's so funny, and I always say this, how God takes your service to others for Him and turns into a blessing for you.

I would say that happened to them this week.

I will leave you with some pictures I took on Tuesday when I was down there serving lunch.  I got to see some of the kids they ministered to and snapped some pictures.  Thanks for reading this, and for reading the entire length of this.  Will you keep praying for these teenagers?  That God continues to work in them and through them?  That it doesn't stop when they leave the Brinkley Heights area?  This week was just the first step.  Thank you.

Love to all.

Here's a video recap they showed last night of what went on there this week.

word of encouragement Wednesday

From Psalm 91:

 I love the entire ninety-first chapter of Psalm.  I memorized part of it two years ago...verses two and four.

"This I declare about the LORD: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; He is my God and I trust Him.  He will cover you with His feathers.  He will shelter you with His wings.  His faithful promises are your armor and protection."

It goes down further to say that He will order His angels to protect us.  (Verse 11)

I have used these verses over and over the past few years~one time, two years ago, was when Noah was hit by a car.  Another time was when Todd's brother Tim was struck by a car a couple months ago.  I pulled it out once again today as I learned that some of the kids from our church were involved in a wreck.  They're all okay,  they're just a little shaken up and sore.

I am so thankful for His protection over our kids today.  (Only one of my boys was involved, Drew.)  I know that when we are doing something that the Lord is pleased with, the devil is NOT happy.  I, along with several of my friends and the parents of the teenagers who are there, have been praying for these kids ever since Sunday.  I will be honest and say that they are not in the greatest part of town.  I was concerned about them walking back and forth in these neighborhoods.

It never occurred to me that a car load of kids would be going back to their headquarters and be hit from behind.  And have it total the man's car.  (Not theirs, thankfully, though it wasn't able to be driven.)

We have been covering these kids in prayer every day this week...they're the first thing on my mind in the morning, and the last thing I think about at night.  It is very obvious how God has had His mighty hand on them this week.  And yes, even though some of them were involved in an accident, even in spite of this, God is so good.  He promises never to leave us or forsake us, and this week, He has proven Himself to our kids.

Maybe one of them needed to see that proof this week, somebody that might have just been going through the motions but not fully understanding of God.  Who knows?  Nothing He does is accidental.

Today we're under a heat advisory, so they still need the prayers if you would like to pray with me for all of them.  And it's not just kids we're praying for...our group is part of two hundred and fifty volunteers that are staying at Brinkley Heights during this week, volunteers from all over the country~adults, a few senior citizens, and our teenagers.

Thank you for helping me pray for them this week.  Don't stop now, we've still got today and part of tomorrow left.  (I started writing this last night, which was Wednesday, but this morning we're dealing with lots of sore bodies.  One girl who was in the car with them was taken to LeBonheur by ambulance, but thankfully it's only whiplash.  I would imagine all of them are pretty sore, and a couple of them have some bruises, but they're taking ibuprofen.  Nobody wants to leave there...they're just taking things a little easier today.)

Love to all.

Tuesday

I woke up extra early this morning, so that I would have plenty of time to shower and make lunches for Jonah and Noah.  We're going to pick up their friend Ben, and then we're heading to the Brinkley Heights area in Memphis to serve lunch to the ones there ministering this week.  I can't wait!  We'll be going by both the sites too, just to see what they're up to.  :)

I am taking Jonah and Noah (and their friend), because they know how to work.  They might (or might not) get to play with the kids attending the Bible clubs, but the reason I'm taking them is so they can know and understand that life is not about us.

I've started praying that He would allow us to be the hands and feet of Jesus.  That He would make beautiful the feet of those who go and take the good news to others.  (Romans 10:15 says, "And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!”)

I pray that today God uses us to do just that.  Even though all we'll be doing is serving lunch, I pray that we do it with a smile and a good attitude, and that others see Him in us.

This is what life is all about...not about us, but about us pouring ourselves as a love offering unto the Lord.  For others.  I pray that He allows us to love them with our actions.  And maybe with our words, too.  I don't know how much time we'll get with them, but we'll take whatever we can get.  

Would you mind praying for our team that's there from our church?  It is really hot this week, with temps in the mid to high nineties.  I think the hottest day will be on Thursday, though, so please pray that nobody gets dehydrated or sick.  Or sunburned.  I think they're trying to stay in the shade as much as possible, but they're outside.  But more importantly, please pray that they will make an impact in the lives of these kids this week.  I talked with my friend Lori yesterday, and she said the entire day had been the most emotional day.  The majority of the kids who came yesterday had no mom or dad and they had no food in their homes.  

It makes me cry just typing that.  We have such an abundance of food that I can hardly wrap my mind around that statement.  This meal that we'll be serving today is super important, because most likely, it will be the only meal they get today.  I am so happy that we had tons of money donated to us, and there is enough food for each little one to have two sandwiches if they want, along with a bag of chips and a Little Debbie snack cake.  And lemonade.  

Please pray for these precious little ones...that their stomachs will be full when they leave, but also that their sweet little hearts will be full.  May they see Him in them...and in us today.  

Thanks.  Love to all.  

why I miss my kids when they're gone

1.  I don't have laundry tons of laundry to do.  I know I put myself at risk by writing that statement, but I had a moment of sadness today when I opened my washing machine to put the clothes into the dryer, only to discover there were no clothes in my washing machine!  I know it would make most people happy, but God has blessed me with four kids, and I miss them when they're not all here with me, even when it produces copious amounts of dirty clothes.

2.  Jonah and Noah are lonely.  I am a little lonely.  We might still be hanging out in Graham's and Drew's room, even though they're not here.  Even Crash misses them.

3.  I seem to not be able to plan dinner well when I only have two kids.  Because of this fact, tonight we are either going to be eating grilled cheese sandwiches, or we'll be eating at Costco when we go to buy a ginormous bag of sugar and gallons of milk.

4.  I don't have anyone to talk to in the daytime.  Jonah and Noah either go outside or play upstairs, and I'm downstairs all by my lonesome.  :(

5.  I miss having all my kids under one roof.  Not only do I love my kids because I am their mom, I genuinely like them.  We enjoy being with them, and just hanging out together.  But I also love what they're doing this week.  I'm so excited for this opportunity, and I cannot wait to join them for a day tomorrow.  I'm taking a Suburban full of people with me to serve in the morning.  :)

Happy Monday to you and love to all.

why I haven't blogged all week

This has been a great week.  Tiring, but amazing.  This was my view every morning, starting at 8:30.  We had a little over 300 kids show up everyday.

I got to work with some really sweet people and hang out with some pretty cool kids.

These paintings are what we did in 5th grade craft this week.  I love these girls.  :)

I got to hang out with the teenage helpers and leaders and got to witness when they acted all crazy.

Like when the morph suit man showed up and played an impromptu game of Ninja.  ???  I don't know what that is.  They stood in this circle and karate chopped each other.  ;)

We woke up early everyday.

And we came home every afternoon (almost) and chilled out.

We got to see the best puppet show we've ever seen in the history of us being at CFBC.

Drew played a warrior, and Graham played David.  This scene was about David and Goliath.  And yes, it's blacklight, because they're cool like that.  It was amazing and I have heard kids talking about it ever since then.  This was during our family night on Thursday night.  We sang, we laughed, I cried, we watched this puppet show, and popcorn and snow cones were enjoyed by all.

It was an amazing week.  I love how God takes our serving Him and turns it into a blessing for us.  He always does that...my heart has been so blessed by these kids all week, and it was a privilege serving alongside my friends, my "family" of fellow believers.  The love of Jesus was shown to all this week, and His word was taught.

Our theme verse was from 2 Timothy 1:7:

"For God did not give us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, or love and of sound judgement."

A to the men.

Hope your week was great~mine was awesome and rewarding.  Love to all.

VBS

We love VBS.  It's kind of a big deal around our house.  We all either attend it (Jonah and Noah) or serve during it (Graham, Drew and me).  We love it.

It's a long week of going to bed and getting up early, but it is well worth the effort it takes to do so.  And after this year, VBS at our church will be changing.  I am so excited at the vision our amazing Austin has for this ministry.  Let me put it this way~next year it will be more of an outreach than a baby-sitting time that some parents have made it into.  I know that we will all be super-involved with it next year and can hardly wait at the changes to come.

But until that happens, we are going to enjoy the rest of our week!  I thought I might share some pictures of what we've been up to.

These are our shirts we're given to wear each day, as the workers.  I love our theme verse from 2 Timothy 1:7:

"For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love and sound judgement." (HCSB)

This verse is so appropriate as we look forward to next year's changes.  I love it.

This was this morning, right before we walked out the door.  Drew is such a dork.  He really was excited about going, he just wasn't smiling.  The goob.

I am in charge of 5th grade craft.  Instead of doing a bunch of little things, we're painting one canvas.  The images above are what it's supposed to look like when we're finished.  (Graham painted the pink and green one, and Drew painted the blue one yesterday as our example.  I can't wait to hang them!)

After VBS is over each day, we come home and eat and I do this.  Lay on the couch and snooze.  Today Crash joined me.  ;)

Graham and Drew are going to something next week called Street Reach, which is like an inner-city mission trip.  They had evangelism training for it today after VBS, and this is what Jonah did while we waited on them to finish.  He was peeking at me through the open sunroof.

This is just an image I came across on Facebook this morning...I thought it was appropriate for my morning quiet time before we left home to head to church.  I especially love the part that says "Love Well".  Sometimes that's hard...but it's important to remember that we might be the only ones to ever show the love of Jesus to those who might not know Him.

It's a crazy but fun week.  I pray that you get the chance to serve in some way...one thing about our church that I love is their heart for others.  Whether that's in our own community (The Ville), inner-city Memphis (next week's Street Reach), in India or in Canada, it is a privilege to serve others.  To point them to Heaven. I pray you get that chance someday, if you don't already.

Thanks for reading!  Comments will not hurt my feelings...sometimes I wonder if anybody reads this.  Love to all.

the dad

I love him because...

he has impromptu guy nights.
he cooks when he has to.
he does laundry sometimes.
he plays in the yard with them.
he loves Alabama football and counts the days until it starts.
he is a simple man.
he loves to camp.
he makes things fun.
he takes care of me.
he does random nice things that surprise me.
he goes to the grocery store.
he watches The Voice and sings along.
he's a youth leader for camp and lock-ins.
he loves teenagers.
he encourages me.
he is a really great husband.
he is an amazing dad.
he teaches our boys how to treat a lady.

There are a million other reasons, but I would run out of room.  Happy Father's day, Toddley.  I heart you.

Love to all.

Father's Day

It's a mighty full and rewarding weekend.  I say this after I had some time with Jesus, because my attitude last night was not at all pleasing to Him.  (Keepin' it real on here, I promised I would.)  I might have gotten a teensy bit upset with my husband over his work schedule.  Not his paid job.  The volunteer one.  (I am seriously digging a hole for myself here, but if I'm going to be up front enough with one of my dearest friends to ask her to pray about my attitude, I might as well speak that same truth on here.)  Anyway.

The Lord showed me some things.  And He helped me make some things right.  Once that part was finished, the weekend has been great.

My sweet mom picked me up at 9:10 this morning, and we spent the day together, hanging out.  I love being with her.  We shop really, really well together, and I got the privilege of driving her around.  I kinda felt like drivin' Miss Daisy.  Not that she's old.  She's not.  It's just that I was her chauffeur.  ;)

What is my problem tonight?

Moving on.

My sister and I had a hot date tonight.  With the same man.  (Scandalous!)  He dined us (he did not wine us) at Carrabba's.  It was so yummy, and my best friend's hubby made our night so much more special.  He's the manager there...he totally took care of our bill!  The amount was $0.00.  Can you believe that?  I gave him the biggest hug before I left.  My sister wanted to treat my dad and me tonight, and I fully believe that because she wanted to bless us, God in turn, blessed her!

Happy sigh.  Y'all.  God is so good.  I pray you know Him.  If you don't, if you only knew what you were missing out on.

Here's some pics from our hot date:

 I love this picture!  The best one ever...and some stranger took it for us.  After we ate dinner, we decided we need to walk a little of it off.  ;)  We went to the courtyard area of the Carriage Crossing mall and people-watched.

Then we had a little photo shoot...because I'm that kind of gal.  And of course, you KNOW they're all going to end up on this ole blog.  And Instagram.  And Facebook.

Trish and Daddy.  (above)

Daddy and me.  :)

Daddy has some mad photo skills!  Especially for someone who still has a dumb phone.  (His words, not mind.)  I adore this picture of my sister and me.

We sat and talked and laughed and cried.  It's usually me who's the emotional wreck, but tonight it was Trish.  And of course, I sit and type this and now I'm crying.  I only tell you this because I am glad it was someone else for a change.  Except that now I am doing the same thing.

I wish I could explain why...but as I type this, I'm listening to Chris Tomlin's Majesty.

"Majesty, Lord of all, let every throne before Him fall!  The King of kings, O come adore, our God who reigns forevermore!"  And I am overwhelmed at the love of my Jesus.  Never take a day, not even one single day, for granted.  Only God Himself knows when we will draw our last breath, and trust me~you don't want to be caught not knowing Him.  Don't waste a moment~pour yourself out.

I love the quote that says, "When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everything You gave me'."  (Erma Bombeck)

Well, now that this has gone a whole different way, I will go.  I'm listening to my praise music while the boys finish their "guy night".  They ate pizza and hot wings and watched two movies~Snitch and they're now watching The Amazing Spiderman.

I'm jamming to some Jesus music and trying not to bawl my eyes out.  I keep on sneaking a peak to see if they're looking at me because I keep crying and blowing my nose, but so far they haven't noticed.  I'm going to stop writing before they do...otherwise I will have them making crazy-signs at me.

Thanks for reading...I hope you all enjoy your day tomorrow.  Love to all.

(Oh, and our celebrating continues!  We still have my step-dad to celebrate, and Todd's dad.  We're celebrating Big Daddy tomorrow night and my father-in-love when they get home.)

just some things

I forgot to post a picture from our night on the square Thursday night.  This is Noah, and he is holding this position on this bar...this kid has crazy strength.  You should see his arms and his abs.

My friend's daughter took this of him.

My dad is back!  He went out of town almost a month ago, and for three Friday's straight, I didn't see him.  Needless to say, the boys and I missed him.  I know my sister did, too.  It was so good to see him and to spend some time with him yesterday.  We ate lunch and then went to the square.  The younger boys wanted to go on the trains and Graham and Drew wanted to go to this new store, Dixie Pickers.  I sat in the car while they had grandson/grandfather bonding time.  I took this picture while I was sitting there.

I love the flower baskets that are hanging all around the square.  I want one.  :)  My mom was leaving work right around the time I took this, so I got out and talked to her for a few minutes while I waited.  When the boys got back to the car, they all decided they wanted to walk to the Army surplus store.  My dad and I ran to drop off some of his mail at the post office, then we drove to where they were to meet them.

It was a fun afternoon.

We came home, and Pappaw handed out some goodies that he and Grandma Sandy picked up for the boys.

It's weird that Graham and Drew are as tall and bigger than he is now.  They do love this man.

For the rest of the afternoon, we sat around and talked while the boys played games with one of Drew's friends who came over for a bit.  It was so good to see my dad again...three Friday's is too long.  Tonight we're celebrating Father's day with him, so I have a date with him and my sister Trish.

:)

I also took this picture of the dogs yesterday and called it "the dog days of Summer".  Aren't they cute?

Well, I need to run.  My coffee just ran out, and that can be tragic.  Happy Saturday, y'all.  Love to all.

Thursday

I pray that I never stop experiencing the magic of Summer.  I was thinking about that today~and praying for the people I know and love who don't get to look forward to these warm months as much as some people.  You know the ones~working moms, single moms, moms whose kids are grown.  I was getting ready for the pool this morning and felt so sad for them.

I love it when the Lord places reminders like these in my everyday life.  We all need to reminded of this every so often, and I think that this is what the phrase, "Break my heart for what breaks Yours" means.  I do pray that~and today I got it.  It's a fun time of year for me, but I know and love so many people who are really going through the fire right now.  My word for them~"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power."  (Ephesians 6:10)

And trust Him and His plan.  Because He doesn't do anything for no reason.  There's always a plan, always a purpose.  Just commit it to Him and pray and trust in Him and His mighty power.  

On another note, we spent today with sweet friends.  My friend Lori invited us to swim with her, and we had a great time.  I love talking to her and could, in fact, do just that for hours.  I am ashamed to admit that I am sunburned.  :(  I didn't realize how much one side of me was in the sun, and that side is more than just a little red.  I'm so embarrassed.  I did have sunscreen on, I just didn't reapply.

Wanna see some pics?

I promised to get a picture of Graham diving yesterday.  Here it is.  :)  I love his swimming trunks.  

We swam until four, had a yummy dinner (Graham has perfected the art of grilling chicken!) and headed to our town square for the Summer concert series.  :)  I love The Ville, have I mentioned that lately?

We went with my friend Lori, her hubby Webber and their kids, Nancy and Doug.  I'm so glad we went...the weather was amazing.  Even as I write this at almost eleven o'clock at night, it's 75 degrees out.  The wind was blowing, sweet music was playing and we were surrounded by friends.  Does it get any better?

And this is where we went afterward.  Their milkshakes are half price after eight p.m.  I had the peanut butter fudge milkshake.  OH. MY. WORD.  You should definitely try it.  

And some more from my morning, in honor of Instagram's #tbt, or "throwback Thursday":

My sister Trish and me (above) when we were in Reno, Nevada with my Dad on business.  I hashtagged this one, #bighair, #biggerbangs.

This one above is my sister Trish, my sister Terri and me.  This was at my Dad's 80th birthday celebration two years ago.  We were very happy that night, apparently, but I love this pic.

And this is a little something I was working on this morning.  Romans 12 just might be my favorite chapter in all of the Bible.  

How was your day?  Just one more weekday, then it's the weekend!!  I pray I never stop experiencing the joy of weekends, too.  Who doesn't love a Friday night?!  

Thanks for reading, my friends.  Love to all.  

lazy days of Summer

It is officially too hot to do anything but swim this week.  It's been in the nineties every day so far this week, and today it's going to be even hotter.

Gulp.

I have a new official "low" temperature that I can swim in.  The neighbor's pool was a chilly seventy-eight degrees yesterday, and I took the plunge.  I'm telling you...it was HOT.

The pool felt amazing.

I thought I would share some pictures from yesterday.

Isn't he adorable?  The heads you see at the bottom are Noah (left) and Myles.  I love Jonah's swimming trunks...thanks to one of my sweet friends for handing them down to us.  Ahem, Maria.  ;)

Noah loves to dive.  He does it all the time.  He's also fabulous at doing flips off the diving board.  I love his swimming trunks, too.  Ahem again, Maria.

And this would be Drew.  This is what he spends his time doing.  Goof ball.

(Graham was at home when I took these, which is why there's not one of him.  I'll try to get one today.)

That's what we did yesterday.  All day.  We started at ten-thirty and swam till noon.  We came home and ate lunch and did a little house and yard work, then went back over at about one.  And swam until three-thirty.  I have the tan lines to prove it.  ;)

I'll leave you with one last picture that I love:

I took this on Monday when we were cleaning upstairs.  Jonah made this sign several weeks ago to remind himself and Noah to take care of their beloved leopard gecko, Buddy.  (Original name, right?)  Taking care of Buddy consists of cleaning out his cage, spraying his moss with water to keep him moist, refilling his water, and feeding him crickets.  And then, there are the crickets.  Taking care of them consists of cleaning out their cage and feeding them orange cubes.  Yes, they have pets for their pet.  I love that Jonah made this sign.

I will never win awards for decorating (although I love to do that), but I am SO the Mom who has their artwork all over my house.  It's on my fridge, my front door, my bedroom door, and on the doors of their rooms.  It's also on the side of the homeschool shelf in the living room and in my tornado closet.  It's everywhere.  And I wouldn't have it any other way.

I also have it in a giant three ring binder that I refer to as The Mom Book.  They know when they draw something to either hang it somewhere or put it within the page protectors of The Mom Book.

Today will consist of more of the same.  Our neighbor's nephews are coming over to hang out all day.  We'll swim again.  And tonight there's church.  :)  I love Wednesday nights...I love that everyone is dying to get out the door to church.  We also take a couple of neighborhood friends with us during the Summer months, for Mid-Week Mania.  And tonight after church, Jonah and Noah have a friend coming home with them to spend the night.

I love Summer.  Have I mentioned that?  I do.  I pray your day is blessed, my friends.  Thanks for reading!

Love to all.

A Wreath of Snow, by Liz Curtis Higgs (a book review for Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group)

I got this book last December and never got around to writing a review for it, so please accept my apologies as I do that now, during the hottest time of year.  :)

A Wreath of Snow, by Liz Curtis Higgs

I was so excited to get this book in the mail.  I love all things Christmas, and everything about this book delivered the love and warmth of my favorite time of year.  A Wreath of Snow has a beautiful cover, but the real beauty takes place on the pages inside.

It's magnificently written, so much so that you can almost feel the cold on the night of Christmas Eve, the time of year that the book starts.  You can feel the emotions of Meg and Gordon as well, as they experience the joys and forgiveness that a life of redemption brings to them and their family.

I encourage you to read this gem of a novella~whether at Christmas time, or any other time of year.  Poignantly written and highly symbolic of the grace we receive from the Lord Jesus Christ, this book will challenge you to examine the relationships in your life, first and foremost, your relationship with the Lord, and also with the relationships you have with family.

Happy reading, and love to all!

I'm attaching a link to the website my review is posted.  http://www.waterbrookmultnomah.com/bloggingforbooks/