Life Lately

On a lighter note, I thought I would share a little bit of what we've been up to this week, and what we're about to be doing next week.

I've done a lot a lot a lot of laundry.  On Monday, I walked into the kitchen and saw Twinkles on all these beach towels and cracked up.  I shooed her off the table right after taking this picture.

On Tuesday, I posted this picture to Instagram about what I use on my fingernails.  People always think I pay to get them done, but I don't.  I don't have the money to spend on that all the time and I'm picky about what colors I use.  I even get tired of colors pretty often, so I do them myself and change them every few days.  I always do two coats of polish, a coat of Seche Vite and I spray them all with OPI RapiDry.

And 45 minutes to an hour later, they look like this.

Also on Tuesday night, Graham sent me this picture.

He and his friend Cameron are the youngest students in a class they're taking at the citizen's police academy.  They got to do a S.W.A.T team exercise on this night.  I'm so proud of them both!

On Wednesday, my mom and I met at Ihop.  I made these turkeys smile for my picture.

You see how well Alex followed my instructions.  He really does smile, I promise.

Also, on this day, I found a new recipe and made it for dinner.

It was really good.  The kids loved it, so most likely it will be a repeat.  The next time, I may just do meatballs and spaghetti.

On Thursday morning, my friend Abbey texted me that her mom was bringing up her little twin nieces to the church.  We got dressed quickly and ran up there to meet them.  They are even cuter than I had imagined.  I love that the one on the left kept her "gobbles" (goggles) on the whole time.

Later that afternoon, my friend Scottie and I went to see our eleventh grade girls adopted grandmother.  Mrs. Audrey is in the hospital and we paid her a visit.  We took balloons and candy.  When Scottie got in the car, the balloons took over and I made her freeze for a picture.

I love her so much!  I was glad to see Mrs. Audrey looking good at the hospital and it was good to catch up with this lady.  Our time together flies because we always have so much fun.

On Friday we went to lunch with my daddy and later in the afternoon I tried taking a nap, but these guys kept interrupting me!

Todd got dressed right after this picture and rode with the sheriff's department last night.  The boys and I met some friends for dinner at Taco Bell then came back home.  I watched Parenthood.

I love this show so much!  More so than I even loved Friends.  It's so real and it makes me both laugh and cry.  Last night I did both as I watched this particular episode.

Look what was on my Timehop this morning!

If ever there was a kid who could rock that faux 'hawk, it was Noah.  I cannot stand how adorable they were!

We went to Alex's basketball game today at noon, at ECS, which is my old stomping grounds.  It's hard to believe it's been twenty years since I graduated high school.  I feel like I'm in my twenties, instead of my late thirties.

It's weird how that happens.

We are not going anywhere for the rest of today.  Tonight, Graham, Drew and I will start packing, because on Sunday afternoon we leave for Street Reach!  My favorite thing that we do.  I am so excited about this week and I would love for your prayers for all of next week.  Please pray for the kids we'll be ministering to, for the teenagers going from our church, and for all the other people there with us all week.  Thanks, ahead of time.  :)

Well, enjoy the rest of your weekend!  Love to all.

in times of trouble

Today is a very sad day in history.  All you have to do is look up the news for today and you will see what I am talking about.  I won't get into any of that right now, but I can say that I am not surprised. 

 

Remember yesterday's post?

But in times like these, in times of trouble or turmoil, I have a mighty Savior in Whom I have hope.  He is not surprised by any of this; in fact, He knew that this change in history would occur before the foundations of the earth were established.  

God is mighty.  He is sovereign.  He is just.  And He is faithful and infinitely good and in control.  

I love this passage from Psalm thirty-three, verses twenty through twenty-two.

"We wait in hope for the LORD;

He is our help and our shield.

In Him our hearts rejoice,

for we trust in His holy name.

May Your unfailing love be with us, LORD,

even as we put our hope in You."

Come quickly, Lord Jesus.  

Love to all.  

an opposite world

I was on Facebook a few minutes ago, and I was on our town's "WATCH" page.  I saw a post that really bothered me, although the message of it was good.  A man had done an experiment today while he was waiting on someone he had dropped off at a store entrance.  Just for kicks and to see how long he could last, he turned off his car and cracked the windows.  He said that in four minutes he could not even take a good breath.  It was a public service announcement to NOT leave your kids in the car, even if you run in for only a minute.

That was the good part.  The part that bothered me were the comments underneath.  Very quickly it turned into a forum for not leaving animals in the car.  And all of a sudden, it was all about animals more than the lives of little humans.  

*If you know me, you know how much we love our pets.  None of us would EVER leave our animals in the car.

I guess it shouldn't surprise me, that people (in general) value the lives of animals more than humans.  But it does always catch me off guard.

Without being all doom and gloom, I do know that the world in which we live is a very interesting place today.  It's becoming more and more obvious that, like the world hated Jesus when He walked on it, the world hates us.  

Us being followers of Jesus.

The world today has become the opposite of what it should be.  And I know why this is the case~it's because of the fall that is in Genesis 3.  God's plan in His magnificent creation was perfection.  But when Eve took that first bite of the forbidden fruit, sin entered into the picture, and it's gotten continually worse since then.  It was so bad at one time, that in all of creation, only one good man and his family could be found (Noah).  God actually regretted making human beings on this earth (Genesis 6:6) and flooded the earth to get rid of them.  (How's that for a "sweet" little nursery story?!)  

And I have to wonder whether or not God is looking down on His creation once again and regretting it?

Our world is becoming increasingly more corrupt, and I honestly don't see things getting any better.  I think things will go continually down until the day of His return.  And we don't know that day!  

That is why it is important to examine your heart.  

Is God truly at the center of your life?  

Is He your "boss"?  

Are you daily reading His word and talking to Him so that you can know Him better and reflect Him more?

Not to earn your salvation or His favor, but because you long for more of Him?  To be more like Him?

That is His purpose for us.  He created man in His own image.  Is what He sees reflected, pleasing to Him?

I am preaching to the choir here.  This is a challenge for me too.  I have to daily ask Him to forgive me of sin I might have committed against Him.  Did I have a mean thought about someone?  Did I dishonor Him in any way?  Did I show good or bad fruit to someone?  I have to ask Him to show me my sin, I ask Him to instantly convict me of it so that I can repent and turn away.  

I know there are people who read this that may not live a life centered on God and who haven't asked Him into their hearts.  If that is you, consider your ways!  Examine your heart.  If you are even the tiniest bit doubtful, find someone to talk to, a trusted friend, a pastor, but make sure it's someone who has a relationship with God.  We do not know the day of His return.  Don't waste a second.

And if that is NOT you, if you do have a relationship with God, I encourage you to join me in daily asking Him to show you any unconfessed sin.  If it's your mouth, or words (like mine so often is), ask Him to let the words of your mouth and the meditations of your heart be pleasing to Him (Psalm 19:14).  If it's lying, then ask Him to guard your mouth and your mind.  If it's gossip, ask Him to show you and ask Him to turn you from that.  

Ask Him to use you each and everyday.  Ask Him to help you show the fruits of His Spirit; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self control.  Ask Him to help you abide in Him so He can abide in you.  Stay faithful in the reading of His word and ask Him for a teachable heart.

Those are just a few of the things I can think of that have made a difference in what my walk with Him looks like.  

I pray that you always look the opposite of this world that we live in.

I pray that you never conform to the pattern of this world, but that you live transformed.  (Romans 12:2)

Love to all.

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is~His good, pleasing and perfect will."  Romans 12:2

a little weekend?

Goodness gracious.  I do love a good weekend!  This was one of those.

Firstly, I have not spent time with my best friend in a few weeks, so we made plans for Friday night.  We ate dinner at a Mexican restaurant, which is where we usually eat, and I discovered that Graham had my credit card in his wallet.  Thankfully I had cash for once, and had enough to pay for my dinner.  The last several times Mandy and I have gone out, we've started with dinner and ended at Target.  Friday night was the same.  I had to get hair stuff and couple of different makeup products.  And a new coffee mug!

I love coffee mugs.  I really, really love this one, with the turquoise.  My favorite color!  It was $4.99.

On Saturday, my mom and I went out.  She needed to make a couple of stops and I just tagged along.  We had lunch at Panera Bread Company and planned our dream trip we're going to take together.  We both really, really want to go to England, and she is who I want to go with.  We are so similar!  We just get along really well, but our personalities are the same.  She is always willing to make stops when I need to, and I am willing to do that for her.  We also have similar interests.  We decided that we would be the perfect travel buddies for this trip.

Now all we need is the money to do so.

When I got home, I put on my pajamas and stayed that way for the rest of the day.  Jonah and Noah had a birthday party to go to and Drew went out with his friend, and his friend girl and another girl.  Todd, Graham and I enjoyed Taco Bell for dinner and watched American Sniper.

On Sunday after church, we went to Abner's for lunch with my in-love's, my mom and my stepdad.  (I celebrated with my dad on Friday.)  It was a good lunch and I managed to get a really good picture.

I love these guys so much!  Todd ended up working with the sheriff's department last night, while Noah went to Mississippi with our neighbor Alex, Jonah went to his friend Cole's house and the rest of us went to community group.  I love Sunday nights so much!  I am always so thankful for my friends who help me out with Jonah and Noah on the nights when Todd works.

It was a great weekend!  I hope yours was too.  Love to all.

Friday Favorites

My favorite weekday!  I'm linking up with Andrea at Momfessionals for this post.

I love the Timehop app!  I mentioned that on the last post, but it's become one of my favorite things of all~looking back on pictures.

We always have so much fun when we're together.  :)  I'm pretty sure he was making me laugh in this picture.  That's usually the case.

We do have our moments, though, when it's not always fun and games.  We've learned to pretty much suck it up when we get irritated, though, because it takes too much energy to stay mad.  I made myself smile.

My favorite, favorite, favorite activity in all of the world is swimming.  We have been driving to Cordova to swim with my mom in love twice every week.  And when we go back to her house, this is how we dry our towels.

I'm not the mom who sits and observes while the kids swim~I go all in and I get my hair wet and everything.  I used to LOVE when my mom would swim with me.  And we seem to have the best talks when we're in the pool together, my boys and I.  It's my favorite.

Another of my favorites is community group, specifically summer community group.  Our girls wanted to do a Bible study, complete with a workbook, so this week we are starting this study with them.  It is so good.  It has lots of Bible reading and lots of room to write.  This was one of my favorite moments from this week~on Wednesday, I took that afternoon time to get caught up.

I was looking at my gallery pictures on my phone yesterday and came across this gem.

This kid loves kids.  And kids love him.  The little boy he was holding was pinching his cheeks and Drew was cracking up.

He got to see this little sweetheart last night and was so happy that she let him hold her.  Usually she acts all shy and won't allow it.  One time her mom texted me and said when Drew walked away, she whispered, "I love you, Drew."

My heart just melted.

Another favorite from this week was hanging out with these boys yesterday.

Drew took this with my mom in love's phone.  And then made it her wallpaper.

It's been a great week and I am so looking forward to this weekend!  I get to hang with my best friend tonight, and I cannot wait to see her and catch up!  Love to all.

a post of random things

I love the Timehop app on my phone.  That was one app I was slow in getting, but I don't know why.  As great as this app is, if you don't take pictures on your phone often, then you won't care about this.  And you have to post the pictures to social media, or at least, I think you do.  The next two pictures are from Timehop.

I cannot even handle this picture of the boys and how much they have changed in the last four years.

Apparently in the summer, I change my nail polish colors every two days.  This post is slow going because I just polished my nails a light, bright blue.  I don't want to mess them up!

You know how (when you're a girl) in the summer, you get in the shower and look down at the color on your legs as opposed to the rest of your body and you're all excited over how dark you appear?  I just experienced that.  :)  And yes, I used sunscreen liberally. 

I am obsessed with the Food Network.  Have I ever mentioned that?  I have rubbed off on my family.  We all love this channel!  

I bought another new Bible.  (I have a problem.)  It was on clearance at Lifeway, for fourteen dollars.  It's small and blue and green striped.  I am keeping it by my chair in the living room.  I've reached for it countless times already, because of its small size.  

I am loving my summer Bible study!  It's so good!!  It's called Life in the Spirit, and it's by Kay Arthur.  We are meeting on Tuesday nights's at my friend Denise's house.  

I have had to say I'm sorry twice today already.  And I'm about to have to do so again when I talk to my mom.  (In the spirit of keeping things real on the blog.)

It's funny when I give someone advice (a teenager), I go and follow that same advice and I'm instantly convicted.  God is so good, though, and He disciplines those He loves.  

I love to swim and could do so every day of my life and never tire of it.  We swam again today.  

I had to wake them up at nine to get ready and this one was still sleepy. 

We are never without friends in the summer time.  Everyday we have at least one extra, though usually, it's more like two or three.  Today it's two.  And I think Drew might be having friends over tonight, though, we are not positive yet.  

I love a good afternoon nap after a morning of swimming.  Although today I did not get one.  I thought I had finished my Bible study homework on Saturday, but I left one lesson out.  I did that after we came home and after I showered.  It was a good opportunity to sit and let my hair air dry.  

I'm feeling it now~I might have to shut this laptop down and take a ten minute siesta before I start getting dinner ready.  ;)  Love to all!

the weekend

Last week was great, but we did not see Todd at all!  He spent every night at the church, helping with technical things, so when Friday night rolled around, we were ready for just a night at home with our family.  Well, until the boys got a better offer and they took off to swim and left us home alone.  We had a yummy dinner that I made, we made coffee and Todd caught up on all his favorite tv shows.  I finished the third book in the Yada Yada series that I've been reading and I made a library list of books that I would like to read.  :)

When the coffee from our coffee pot ran out, I made myself an iced coffee from our Kuerig.  It was so good and would give Starbucks a run for their money, when fixed the right way.

On Saturday we stayed home until about four, then we went to my mom's and step-dad's for dinner.

I love this picture of my mom with Drew.  I can't believe how tall he is, and every time I see him in comparison with someone else, it always surprises me.  His hair...wow.

God love him.

Sunday morning all of us went to church except for Graham.  He felt rotten and stayed home to let the medicine kick in, then he met us there in time for the main service.  After church we went to Costco for a few grocery items, ate lunch, then came home to unload what we'd bought.  Todd, Jonah, Noah and Alex stayed home for a bit, then Todd left, and Graham, Drew and I left for a two o'clock meeting at church.  I came back home for an hour, then we all left again at four thirty to canvass the neighborhoods for next week's backyard kids clubs that we're having Tuesday through Thursday nights.

It was hot!  I cheated and stayed in my car and let the teenagers walk.  I don't do outside things when it's this muggy outside.  I never seem to be able to breathe really well on these kinds of days.  We did this until five thirty when I had to leave to go get the pizza for community groups at six.

Then we just sat and went over our new study and visited until almost eight thirty.

I love these kids so much~they always make us laugh.

After this we took a friend home, brought one home and picked up the three that my friend had at her house.  (Are you crazy yet, reading about all that went on yesterday?!  I am.)  And the older boys had some friends come over to watch Netflix.

It was a great weekend.  All of which was very restful, until yesterday.  (I promise, we are usually never this busy!)  Today I got up and took Graham to the doctor and we're the only two here.  Everyone else is either at a friend's house or at the church.  I hope your weekend was wonderful!

Love to all.

Friday Favorites

It seems like it's been forever since I've done one of these!  I'm linking up with Momfessionals for this week's installment.

This week has been full of laundry, cleaning, friends and swimming.  The laundry I don't mind, but the cleaning is not my favorite, even though I do love having a clean house.  We took a whole day (Wednesday) and stayed home to clean every room from top to bottom.  I did all of the downstairs and my boys did all of the upstairs.  This included dusting the ceilings and the blinds.  I made a no-friends rule for that day and threatened to extend it all week if they didn't get done with my list.

But they got done.  And on Wednesday night, it was friends again, as usual.

I love seeing my kids have fun with their friends, and this moment was one of my favorites.

They had fun laying in their ENO's in our backyard.  Crash enjoyed being outside with them.

And speaking of Crash, since Andy the Wonder Dog died, I would say that though Crash has had some moments of confusion, he has enjoyed being the only dog.  He has soaked up all the attention and he's been almost everywhere with us.  Even the boys' friends dote on this spoiled dog.

And speaking of him being spoiled, the last time he stayed with my in-love's, did you know that he got into a fight with a raccoon?!  He got all scratched up and muddy, and they took him to the vet to make sure he was alright, and has since been on antibiotics.  Also, they confessed to me last night that while he's there by himself, his "bed" is the futon in the boys' room at their house.  They told him to go to bed the last time he spent the night, and he jumped right up and promptly laid his head down on a pillow.  My dad-in-love even admitted to turning on the nightlight for him!

I died laughing.

Speaking of my dad-in-love, here he is with Crash last night.

They're so adorable.  This man is exactly the seventy-two year old version of my husband.  Perhaps that is why I so love him.  He is DEFINITELY one of my favorites.  Actually, all the dad's in my life are my favorites, and I am fortunate enough to have THREE!

I thank God for each and every one of them.

Tuesday and Thursday was spent poolside.

My favorite summer activity is swimming.  I could do it every day of my life and it would never get old.  I have been like this since I was a very young girl with a pool at home, and I really think I will always be this way.  Not only do I love to swim, I am a very strong swimmer and taught all my boys how to do this when they were three years old.  They have always been water babies.

One of my favorite memories of them being little was when Jonah and Noah were three.  They could swim, but I only let them in the deep end if they had floaties on.  Jonah jumped in and his floaties fell off, and before any of us had time to even react, Noah yelled, "I'M COMING, JONAH!" and jumped in and pulled him safety.  Bless.

A few more favorites from this week included some time one afternoon with one of my favorite teenagers.  I also got to see some of my most favorite ladies on all of the earth Tuesday night at Bible study.  And my new Bible study is one of my favorites!  As small group leaders for Renewed Moms, we are doing Life in the Spirit, by Kay Arthur.  It's so good!  I would say that this week has been amazing.

I have to get dressed now.  Love to all!

what's up Wednesday

I think I've finally settled back in to the routine of things, after last week at camp.  One thing I've learned: I am older than I think I am.

I spent Saturday resting and doing laundry, then Sunday was a normal Sunday.  I love our community groups on Sunday nights and I especially love them in the summertime.  We swim each week during the summer, and the kids have so much fun together.

Afterward, they invited some friends over to watch a movie.

They watched The Giver, and this was a part that made me laugh and Abigail gasp with shock.  I love the looks on their faces, and how they're holding hands.

I drove people home and came home and crashed.  I tried to read, but I don't think I got any further than a couple pages.

On Monday, Graham and Drew cut yards for the people who've hired them, they all did yardwork at our house, then Graham and Drew went out with friends.  Jonah and Noah each went somewhere too, but a little later in the afternoon.  One of the teenagers from our youth came over and we talked about things that happened at camp, and we set times to meet each week and a Bible reading plan to go through together.

For some crazy reason, Skippy (the kitty we have that lives upstairs) has been coming downstairs a lot.  She's not as nice as Twinkles, and she always spits and hisses at Crash.  I snapped this picture right after such an incident occurred.

It cracks me up.  He is such a spaz, and has been his whole life, that it's funny to see him spooked by a little cat.  Payback stinks sometimes.  ;)

On Tuesday we went swimming with my mom-in-love.  It was so nice in the pool because it was so hot outside.  I do not love the kind of weather that is so hot that I can hardly breathe.  That's the only thing that I don't love about this time of year, though...the rest of it is awesome.  And last summer spoiled me, because we had a cool season.

We came home and got dressed, then later on in the day made a Sonic run.

I am slightly addicted to Oceanwater.  It's Sprite and coconut mixed together and is delicious.

I've been using my journal Bible again, and this week I've read in Psalm.

I love verse eleven in the above picture.  I have been talking to teenage girls about scripture a lot, and to be able to talk to them about the word of God, I have to BE in the word of God.  So, I've been reading more and studying more, instead of doing other things.  (Netflix.)  These girls keep me on my toes!  They ask really difficult questions, the only way I can answer even half of them is because I pray and ask God for His wisdom.  He is faithful to give me that when I ask.

Today we are cleaning.  I have finished all of the downstairs and the boys are doing their portion upstairs.  I can't wait for church tonight.

I hope you're having a great week!  Love to all.

the one about camp, and the longest post ever

This past week has been all about camp.  Todd, Jonah and Noah left for camp at one a.m. on Friday, May 29th.  They were in Panama City Beach until Monday morning, and they started the drive back home.  I love this picture Todd texted me.

After an early wake up from my phone's alarm, we loaded the high school students on our chartered bus and began driving to North Carolina.

Man, it was early!  I only slept for about thirty minutes the whole trip, but my friend Lori, who sat behind me, got in some good naps.

This is one of two pictures I have of her on social media, of her taking a nap.  :)  I know she loves me too much to be mad about them.

At about three thirty in the afternoon, we finally made it to Ridgecrest, North Carolina.

We unloaded the bus and went to our dorms to unpack and settle in.  We didn't have long, though, and had to hurry off to dinner.

We had to go back to our dorms after dinner for our small group time, then we headed to the first service of the week.  The band who led worship was amazing~Unhindered.  And the speaker was one I've heard before and loved, Ed Newton.

After the service was our large church group time, which was one of my favorite parts each night.  It was a time when the students would share what God had shown them over the course of the night in the service, or in their personal quiet times each morning.

On Tuesday, after breakfast and the morning worship service, one of my girls didn't feel well, so my friend Lori and I drove her into Asheville, to a walk-in clinic.  She was seen, we got her prescriptions filled, we stopped for lunch at the Dairy Queen, then headed back to camp.

I came back right in time for small group time.  Each day after that time we had free time.  After that was dinner, prayer group time in our small groups, then the worship service.  On this night, during our prayer group time, this girl had me laughing out loud at her face.  She was eating lemon powder they had for tea.

I love these students so much, y'all.  I know you know that already, but this week just made our relationships stronger.  I feel super connected to them all, and I got to know them much more over the week.  My group was the largest in number~the eleventh grade girls had nine of them representing.

We woke up on Wednesday to fog, and cool temperatures.  Our poor students had to endure water games at that day's recreation time.

They froze!  Poor Andrew, Drew's best friend, was shaking violently and had to stop playing.  It was sixty four degrees on this day.

That night, the worship service was amazing, as usual, but as I stood back and watched our kids worship with all they had in them, I couldn't help but thank God for what I was seeing.

I took this as we were singing a song called The Stand, by Hillsong.

"I'll stand with arms high and heart abandoned
In awe of the One Who gave it all
I'll stand
My soul Lord to You surrendered
All I am is Yours."

The next day, Thursday, the weather was a little warmer.  That day at recreation, the students played The Amazing Race.

And we stood under my umbrella.

I love these ladies!  Lori is on the left, Missy on the right.  And it rained some, every single day.  Thank goodness I had the thought to ask Abbey to buy me a cheap umbrella.  I just carried it everywhere with me.  

I found out on Monday that my niece Amanda lived a mere five minutes away from our campground.  So on this day, she and my great niece Claire, came and ate lunch with me.

It was so good seeing them!  After lunch they left and I headed to our dorm for small group Bible study.  I have to insert here, that each and every day, the Bible study material was amazing.  Student Life goes all out in making sure these students get saturated with the word of God.  On this particular day, our small group time was amazing and went an hour over the allotted time.  I also shared my whole testimony with them, and there were tears, there was laughter, there was the reading of God's word and there was prayer.  We all left my room that day bonded more closely than ever before.  God is so good like that.  He is faithful.

I absolutely adore these girls.  Left to right from the top are Beth, Lydia, Nancy, Bethany, Kailyn, Hanna, Jenna, Eden and Alexa.  From my group, three girls became first time believers and followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Praise His holy name!  And Beth?  With the pink hair?  She recapped what all we had learned from Ed Newton over the course of the week, from Leviticus 23, otherwise known as the seven feasts of Israel.  My mind was officially blown by her eagerness to learn more and more about God.  

On Friday we packed up all our belongings and had one last service.

We took some pictures and a group picture.

And we blew up Jenna's phone with pictures, the last of  which was a selfie with a selfie stick that us old ladies don't know how to use.

I still laugh when I look at this picture~if you could have heard us laughing, you would be too.  It was hilarious.

We loaded up the bus and began the long trek home.

And this time on the bus?  

I slept.  

It was an amazing week!  I am so thankful God allows me to be even a tiny part in the lives of these awesome students.  Their love for Him blows my mind.  And I already can't wait for next year!  

Thanks for hanging in there, on this post.  Love to all.