Prayer Request - UPDATED 7/2

I just spoke with Dina & their house has 6 inches of water in it and the water is still rising. Please continue to pray for them!




I know, I've been the queen of posting prayer requests but prayer works!

From my friend, Dina, in Bartlesville:

It has been a nerve-wracking day. We’d appreciate your prayers for our home. Our backyard is ¾ flooded and our front yard is now flooding. The water has reached our driveway and we are told to expect 4 more feet of water. We have friends who are out of town, so if need be, we are going to spend the night at their house. We are packing up things now. Thanks for your prayers.

Prayer Request - Unspoken

I can't go into details but I would REALLY appreciate you all praying today for a friend of mine.

Thank you!

Testimony - You've got one.

When I first became a Christian I heard many people, mainly those that had grown up in the church, say that I had a great testimony and that they wished that one like that. It really bugged me then and it bugs me now. Why? Because as Christians we ALL have a testimony and each testimony is equally as powerful, vital and necessary to share with others. We have all been saved from he same hell.

I just received the July newsletter from The Voice of the Martyrs and it was all about the importance of testimonies. As as former employee of VOM, I remember so many times being floored, humbled, challenged, and sometimes saddened by the testimonies that I heard. These Christians are truly on the front lines, choosing literally between life & death by the choice they make to follow after Christ.

Some thoughts I thought I'd highlight from the July 2007 feature article in the VOM newsletter written by Tom White, Executive Director:

"Testimony may be the most underused force in Western Christianity today. As I travel to hostile nations, I am struck each time by the power of a testimony."

"Do we dare claim, sitting in our office, or home or school, 'Jesus, I realize from observation that I may be Your only living presence in this room. I will open my mouth somewhere today and let you speak. Help me."

"In the Muslim, Hindu and communist worlds, many are powerfully touched reading about the merciful Jesus in the New Testament, but most of those in extremely hostile villages can barely read. When they witness the joy of the Christian and hear the testimony of changed lives, many come to Christ. My pastor, Joe Colaw (also my former pastor), has described how the highly-educ ted, post-modern, skeptical world may not accept a Bible verse as truth, but is willing to listen to a personal account of what God has done in a life. Testimony opens the door for the gospel.

Is there some connection here? If it is our Christian testimony which can hold the most highly-educated skeptic and also touch the illiterate, why is testimony, whether inside or outside of church, sometimes treated as an abandoned orphan or a less worthy instrument than a Sunday school lesson, a sermon or singing in the choir? Because the devil wins when we keep our mouth shut."

1 Peter 3:15-17:

but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil.

FRUSTRATION - Updated

FOUND IT!!! After going through my entire room and destroying it, I found it in the game room, in the toy box. :)


Owen got ahold of my driver's license yesterday and now I have NO IDEA where it is. It is in my house, I think, but I can't find it.

So, as stupid a prayer as this may be, please, please pray that I find it. If you live in TN you know how incredibly frustrating it is to get that stinkin' license in the first place, I have no idea how hard it will be to replace it.

Ughhh.....

I just want to scream!!!

VBS Day 4

Really quick post from me as I am starting to wind down and tire out - those K-1st graders are wearing me out!

Here is a great pic of Suzanne & Tammy.


This is me & my crew (minus 2 people).

Tastefully Simple

A friend of mine just started selling an awesome line of products called Tastefully Simple. Check out her website - it's good stuff.

Update on prayer request

Thank you for praying for my friends, the Wall family. Please see their blog for an update on little Isaac. They Dr's. have found the cause of his problems and did surgery. It will require at least another surgery in about a year but we are thankful that they found the problem and can fix it.

Grrrr.... continuing dental work saga

Okay, I have to take a moment and post a bit of a GRRRR regarding the dental issues that I have been having.

Sometime in late March (I think), I lost a filling in a tooth and went to the dentist. I was told that I needed a crown and waited 3 weeks to get back into the dentist to get this done. Go to the dentist the week prior to going to Bartlesville and get some of the work done for a crown and am told that I have to get a root canal done. It seemed that I may have to wait 10 days with a gaping hole in my tooth before I could get a root canal but thankfully I found a dentist (after calling several) who got me in right away. Got the root canal and went on my trip. Came back, called the first dentist to get the crown scheduled and found out that they were no longer taking my insurance. WHAT????!!! After some talking they decided that they would complete the crown work at the insured price. I went in last week, Monday for to get a temporary crown done and am scheduled to go back 3 weeks later for the permanent one.

Sounds good right????

The temporary crown BROKE on Sunday and then came completely out on Monday and that was without eating or doing anything I wasn't supposed to. Go in on Thursday to get it fixed and think things will be okay for the remaining 10 days.

NOT SO.

Guess what came out tonight while I was drinking a glass of ice tea?????

Yep, you guessed it - the second temporary crown!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is making me crazy!

VBS Day 3 - This is what it's all about

Today was an incredible day at VBS. Yes, we're all having fun and being goofy but ultimately the goal of VBS is to teach these children about Jesus and let them know how much He loves them and wants to be the center of their lives. Today was the day that we talked specifically about the sacrifice that Jesus made for each person there. It was during our Bible Adventure time that three of my kids said that they wanted to talk more about what Jesus did for them and how they can make Him real in their lives. At that point we got them together with Pastor Allen and others that were there specifically to talk to the kids one-on-one about what it means to follow Jesus.

Two of the children were not quite ready yet to make the decision to ask Jesus into their hearts but they are close. That is exciting - the seeds are being planted and they are paying attention. They are getting there.

The third child did make a decision to ask Jesus into her heart!!! WOW!!! How exciting. - a life forever changed. What was really special was that her mom is also a crew leader and they went and got her and shared with her what happened. She was so excited that she was crying and her daughter was beaming. It was a very special moment that brought tears to my eyes.

Today there were 30 children that made the decision to ask Jesus into their hearts!!!!!!!

This is what it's all about.

Thank you Jesus for changing lives and for loving us so completely that you died on the cross for us, making a way for us to be with you in heaven, forever. Thank you for the lives that were changed today. That you for the seeds that have been planted in the lives of the 500+ children (and families) that have been at VBS this week. You are an amazing God.

Prayer Request for a friend

I wanted to post a quick prayer request for a friend whose newborn son is in the hospital. Please pray for the Wall family as they try to figure out what is causing their newborn son, Isaac's, bowel problems. THANK YOU!

VBS Day 2 - Do My Best

"Whatever you do, whether in word or in deed,
do everything for the Lord Jesus."
Colossions 3:17

This was our theme verse for today. And the idea we were going for was to always do your best.

I have to tell you, I have been SO impressed with VBS at our church. It's not like I've really seen a lot of VBS programs or helped with them but the ones that I have seen haven't been nearly this well put together and organized. It's pretty amazing! GOOD JOB to all those that have helped put this together, I'm sure it took a TON of work but it has really paid off. It's been a blast!

Here are some more pics. I'm sure that y'all think I'm crazy for even bringing my camera but, hey, I'm a scrapbooker (when I find the time) and I love to take pictures (just ask anyone who has gone anywhere with me LOL).

Miss. Jennifer starts us off with fun songs. Here she is showing us how to sing a "Camp Fire Song". Miss. Jennifer is doing a GREAT job leading some of the music and fun stuff. I have to say, though, the songs have really changed since I worked at a camp. Whatever happened to "Father Abraham" and the Egyptian song? :)

Pastor Allen with his the kids helping with the worship. Looks like fun - huh?



Sorry Laura - I had to share this - it's not an embarrassing picture though :) In our closing assembly they choose a crew leader to come on stage and today it was Miss. Laura. She was a good sport and was really good at bouncing a basketball and twirling a hool-a-hoop at the same time. GO LAURA!
We made spirit hands (I guess that's what they're called). This is Miss. Suzanne whose group was at our table too!

I love this - he came up with everything on his hand all by himself!!! WOW.

Vacation Bible School starts

This morning started Vacation Bible School at church. The theme this year is Lifeway's "Game Day Central". My team is the Minnesota Twins (yes, Becca, I'm still bitter about not being the ST. LOUIS CARDINALS!!! ;) ) The kids I have completed Kindergarten - 1st grade this past May.

The day started out pretty early, at least for me. We had to be at church at 8 am and well, that was quite the endeavor with three kiddos but we made it. My team is sitting on the FRONT row of the church - I have to laugh about that. I'm not really one to jump and dance around - my feet tend to stay planted firmly on the ground. I can keep a beat in the privacy of my own home but ask me to dance or jump around outside of that and well, it doesn't happen often. I'm sure you can imagine the crazy songs & dances that come with kids ages K-5th grade and so, well, you can all laugh at my lack of rhythm now. :)

I think I have a great group of kids. There are 3 girls and 5 boys. One of the girls had a bit of a hard time being there today and spent much of the first two rotations crying to go back to school (she came there with a local school) but she pushed through and ended up having a GREAT time.

For craft time we stuffed teddy bears that are going to be sent to children in Germany. It was so nice to have the kids do something that will make a real difference to children in another country.

We went to several other rotations and ended the day back in the worship center singing more crazy songs.

Can't wait for tomorrow.

Here are a few pics from today (yes, I couldn't resist taking my camera even to vbs!):

Happy Father's Day!

I have to tell you, I think my kids have the very best Daddy ever and I am so thankful for that. Eric is a WONDERFUL father. I love to watch him interact with the kids. He is very thoughtful and involved with them. He's not afraid to take all three kids out and about by himself. For Mother's Day he took all three kids by himself to the Discovery Center to make me a Mother's Day gift and then took them out to lunch and out a few other places. That's pretty good, don't you think? A week or so ago he came home with a bag full of stuff from the store. I was confused as to what he got until he told me that he wanted to make ice cream cone cupcakes with the kids (pics below). The next day he got Morgan & Drew to help make the yummy treats. The other day I went out and when I came home he had made cupcakes with the kiddos. The games they play around the house are hilarious. They love to play "Gotcha" with soft toy balls. The kids run and Eric pelts them with the balls - they love it.

I really wanted Eric to have a special Father's Day because he is very special to us. I wanted him to pick a place that he wanted to have lunch and was really suprised at what he chose. He could have gone anywhere but he chose to go to Chuck E. Cheese! WHAT??? He said that he wouldn't have a Father's Day without being a father and so he wanted to do something that the kids would enjoy. We had been promising Drew that we'd take him to CEC for doing so well on his potty training so we decided to go there. Good choice honestly - with everyone going out for Father's Day, CEC's was pretty empty! :)

The only other thing he wanted to do for Father's day was take a nap so he's downstairs right now "watching" the Cardinal's game and taking a nap.

Thank you for being a FANTASTIC father Eric!!

Pics from making cupcakes:

"Round 5" or "I should buy stock"

Take your pick - either title will work.

Round 5 of tubes for our family.

OR

I should buy stock in whomever produces the little tubes that go in ears.

I took O to the ENT this morning and while his ear isn't still infected, the fluid is still there.

A little recap: O had tubes put in when he was 2 months old (yeah - young, we had good reason to do it). One tube fell out shortly after arriving in TN. Since that time he's been on antibiotics at least 5-6 times. He had a ear infection the end of April that required 3 rounds of antibiotics and his ears STILL aren't completely clear.

SOOO - just guess what the dr. recommended?????

TUBES and ADENOIDS!!!!!!

M has had 2 rounds of tubes and her adenoids out.

D has had 1 round of tubes.

Moral of the story: If you are a child in our family just get tubes in place before leaving the hospital, you'll end up needing them anyways.

Flaws

Do you ever stop and think about all the areas in your life or character traits that you have that you view as flaws and wish were different? I do from time to time and honestly, just had a few of mine (or rather one big one) in my face today.


My flaw of choice today: I am very unorganized and unstructured to the point that at times I feel like I appear lazy.

Maybe that doesn't seem like a big deal to you, but it is to me and to those that have to live with me (feel sorry for my kids & husband!).

In an ideal world I would be this super organized wife & mother with a plan in place for my week before it even began. I'd have a list of daily tasks that included what to clean, what to wash, what to eat and what days those things needed to happen. I would remember the budget and not forget what I spent the day before and how it adds up. I would have a plan for what I did with my kids which included a wide array of activities both at home and outside the home and when I went out I'd always have everything I needed, I'd be prepared. Life would be nice, neat & organized.

I know people like this.

I wish I was like this.

I tend to fly by the seat of my pants. When I plan ahead, I rarely prepare ahead. Does that make sense? Here's an example. I knew that I was going to go swimming today with the kids and packing a lunch. The best thing for me to have done was gotten the stuff together the night before - clothes, food, etc. With three kids it would have made more sense to do this ahead of time so I wouldn't have to waste time with it in the morning. Did I????? NOPE. Instead I was rushing around the house, getting frustrated with the kids for things that weren't really their fault and leaving my house a complete & utter disaster. When we got home do you think I used their nap time to clean up said disaster? NOPE again. Perhaps if I had then I would have been able to use the time that they were awake doing something fun & productive with them instead of turning on the TV so I could clean up (which didn't really work anyways).

I frustrate myself.

I want to be more organized & structured but I just can't. I try and I fail - over and over again. I look at my friends who are with envy because I see the value in being that way. It's just not me.

Don't think I go around bashing myself all the time, I don't. I think we all have days where what we see (or choose to see) isn't the most flattering of things.

Update to prayer request

From my friend Dina:

How we praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every blessing in heaven because we belong to Christ. Ephesians 1:3

Dear familia and friends—praise Jesus: there is absolutely no flood water anywhere near or around our house!!! We really can’t believe it and yet totally attribute it to your faithful prayers for us. There are so many places in B’ville flooded right now and usually by now our house would be surrounded by water. The city forecasted for us that between midnight and 7 am we’d likely have water 3 feet above street level in our cul-de-sac. I had no doubt the water would fill our back yard and perhaps the front and was just praying that it would not come into our house. We took turns during the night getting up to check the water levels. Unbelievably, and thankfully—there is no water!!! YAY!! Whoppee—praise Almighty God!!

Prayer request

A good friend of mine, Dina, has asked for prayer because of flood waters that are threatening her neighborhood. Her house, in particular, is not far off of a river that is expected to crest at 4' ABOVE flood stage. If this happens, her house will most certainly be flooded.

Here is a link to a story about the flooding in Dewey which is just north of Bartlesville.

Please, please pray that the river crests far below what is expected and that homes are spared of being flooded.

Thanks!

Quack Quack

Okay, I'm STILL working on photos from our trip to PA but in the mean time I FINALLY finished painting the "Ducky Bathroom" as D calls it. It's the bathroom for the kids and I wanted it to be bright & fun. I think it turned out great - it only took me 9 months to use the paint that I bought b/c I HATE to paint.

One room down, oh so many more to go! I'm half-way inspired to get something done after seeing my brother's house - he has done some FANTASTIC painting at his house!

Here it is:

Memories

We just got back today from a visit to see my family in PA. We had a GREAT time & I can't wait to share the pictures. I'm pretty tired so that will have to wait for another day but I did want to write down a few memories that have been floating around in this head of mine. They are two of my favorite memories of my childhood.

MEMORY #1: My brother w/red toe nails.

I love a good prank and my favorite one included my brother as my "victim." He had done something to frustrate me as only a brother could and I decided to exact my revenge by painting his toenails a bright red. While he was sleeping I went into his room and painted his toenails. It was during the middle of summer swim season so he was none to pleased. We lived on an air force base and I remember my mom making me go buy some nail polish remover and take it off. I took it off but he still had remnants around the edges. He went swimming anyways. Sorry Scott!

MEMORY #2: My Pop-Pop's strawberry patch.

My grandfather, also known as Pop-Pop, used to keep a garden each summer and one of my most favorite "crop" was strawberries. If you know me very well, then you know that I LOVE strawberries - they are my absolute favorite fruit. I remember going out to the strawberry patch with a basket and picking one and then eating one and so on. I LOVED going out to visit during strawberry season.

So, until I can get my pics uploaded, there are two of my favorite childhood memories.