Joy

It's kind of funny... when I started this blog, I thought at the time that I would try to post something every day. Well, I was pretty delusional that cold winter morning to think that I could come up with a clear thought each day. I'm averaging once a week lately... kind of sad that I am not thinking more clearly than that. But, I have 2 adorable, hilarious, loving little guys that keep me from thinking clearly most of the time. So, today as I cleared out the last 2 1/2 months worth of pictures off of my camera to free up some space for some hopefully adorable Easter pics, I thought I'd share a few pics of those adorable, hilarious, loving little guys... the ones that are sucking my brain cells out daily, but I'm OK with it... they're completely worth losing my mind!

The boys' first snow of their lives... and the world's smallest snowman



















100th day of school... the kids dressed up like they were 100 years old



















Our little Pirate... or Pirick, as he says...















And some of my dearest friends... another source of my joy















Life is good!

Blogging Fun

One of my favorite blogs to read each day is Lysa TerKeurst's blog. She does lots of fun things with her blog, and offers much Biblical insight for the ladies who read there. Today she's doing a Swap & Hop. You can go to her blog, and jump around to lots of other ladies' blogs to get ideas about organization (last week was recipes). So, I'm joining in with a little idea that is not originally mine, but I've used it in the past to help me stay organized. I used to be a very organized person - these days, not so much. One day I will be again... I hope! :-)

Pantyhose/Tights/Knee-Hi's/Trouser Socks Drawer
Instead of having a big pile of all of the above, take ziploc bags and sort and store your pantyhose, tights, knee-hi's, etc. in separate bags with labels on them. For example, all black tights go in a ziploc labeled "black tights". All nude pantyhose go in a ziploc labeled "nude hose". All brown trouser socks go in a drawer labeled "brown trouser socks". You get the idea. So, when you're ready to get dressed in the morning, you're not searching through a big knotted up pile of various colors and textures of nylons. Just hit the right bag, pull out what you need, and you're done. Then line up all of your bags from light colors to dark colors in your drawer, and you can spot what you're looking for quickly.

Hope this idea is helpful for someone today. Since I don't work outside of my home like I used to, I don't wear many of those fabulous ladies undergarments anymore. But when I do, I can easily find them. Many other things I can't find, though. Can't wait to get some new ideas from Lysa's blog today!

Have a wonderful day!
Psalm 130:7
Put your hope in the Lord. For there is faithful love with the Lord and with Him is redemption in abundance.

Experience His faithful love and abundant redemption today!

The Harvest

I love it when God takes a passage of scripture that I've heard multiple times in my life, and He opens my eyes to see it and hear it as if I've never heard it before. That happened to me this past Saturday as I was working through the "Stepping Up" Bible study by Beth Moore. Scripture came alive, and I was so excited and renewed by it, that I could hardly stand it. I preached a mini-sermon of it to Randy when He got home (poor fella), and I have been chewing on it all week. Years ago, Randy actually preached on this same passage on several different occasions, with great visuals I might add, but that may have been the last time that it was before my eyes. And I needed to hear it again. I will try not to preach my mini-sermon here (so I don't have to say "poor you" to you), but I might not be the only person who needed to see this in a fresh way, so here goes...

In Luke 8, Jesus had just shared a parable with the crowds who were following Him, about a farmer who was sowing his seed. Some seed fell on the path, some on the rocks, other seed fell on the thorns, and then seed fell onto the good soil. Then he gave the following explanation:

Luke 8:11-15 11 "This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. 12 Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13 Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. 14 The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. 15 But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.

I have spent a lot of time in the last few years pondering why believers, namely myself, can hear the Word of God, feel inspired by it, excited about it, and then still struggle so dang much with life, freedom (or lack thereof), inconsistency in our walk with God, etc. Verse 14 just jumped right off the page at me this time. We become choked by life's worries, choked by life's riches, and choked by life's pleasures. I found it so interesting that riches and pleasures were referred to as thorns. The very things that we seek out...more money, more stuff, feeling good, pleasures of the world... they can be the very thorns that choke us and keep us from what God has for us. I will willingly claim to have let the worries of life choke me, keeping me from maturing in my faith and from producing a harvest from the seed thrown onto my life. But, wow... how many times have I let the pursuit of happiness, pleasure, and security, choke me and keep me from maturing in my faith and from producing a harvest. I want to mature. I want the thorns gone. I want God to produce a harvest in my life.

So, as verse 15 says, in order to mature and produce a crop, we must pursue the heart of God, which transforms our heart to reflect His. I must hear the Word... read it, study it, digest it, talk about it with fellow believers. I must retain it... memorize it, digest it, speak it. And I must persevere. I must persevere! When life is tough, I must persevere! When I don't understand God, I must persevere! When I don't like my circumstances, I must persevere! And then God will bring about a harvest in my life. Only then. There's no shortcut.

OK, well I guess I did preach the sermon... (poor you!) But, I think I mainly was preaching it to myself.

James 1:2-6
Consider it PURE JOY, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

I don't want to lack anything. I want my life to produce a harvest. I will persevere.

God Threw My Fear in the Trash

This past Monday night, we got to experience some rough storms for the 2nd time in a week. For some reason, I felt compelled to talk about it all day Monday, to prepare myself somehow from what might happen. Which meant that when Caleb was with me, he heard me mention the possibility of storms several times. If I could do it over, I would have kept my mouth shut, because he didn't need to be alarmed just because I was a little nervous. But, for whatever reason, I brought it up from time to time. My big mouth!!

Well, at bedtime Monday night, Caleb was a little hesitant about going to sleep. He had noticed my concern about the storms, and had seen some of the damage that the previous week's storms had done near his school. So, he said, "Mommy I'm scared. I don't want to go to sleep." So, I said, "Well, let's pray about that because God is in control and there's no need to be afraid." So, we proceeded to pray and ask God to take away Caleb's fears and give him peace so he would sleep all night. We held up our arms in the air and handed the fears to God.

Well, Caleb slept great, and in spite of lots of thunder, lightning, and loud rain, he never made a sound. So, the next morning, he climbed into bed right before we got ready for school, and we asked him if the rain had woken him up. He said, "Yes, but I wasn't afraid. I gave my fears to God, and He took them from me, and just threw them in the trash. So, I wasn't afraid." Very matter of fact. No doubts. God took them, He knew they weren't worth anything, and chunked them in the garbage. Done!!! We were elated. Another reminder of God's grace on our precious boys.

So... a few weeks ago, Brennan reminded us to throw our fears in the potty (Fluoride in the Potty), this week Caleb showed us that God will take that fear and just trash it. We just have to give it to him! I love that sweet little boy! Thank you, Father, for teaching me about you through the eyes and heart of an almost-six-year-old!