4th of July

We had a great time on the 4th of July at our church's annual Young Married Couples Picnic. It was a little too warm, but the food was good and the fellowship was better. The kids had a great time playing on the playground, playing volleyball, shooting water guns, walking the nature trail and walking out the boardwalk of the park in Tavares where we met. Mark grilled chicken for everyone and then played lots of volleyball, some with the girls and I and some without us. A storm came very close to us, but we prayed it away and only ended up with the cooling breeze that it brought and not the storm!

Thank you Jesus! On the way home, we drove through Mt. Dora and watched their fireworks display, then headed home. As we drove, we could look in any direction and see beautiful fireworks everywhere! It was a nice ending to a wonderful day -

Happy Birthday America!

A New Idea

Wow, I have started this post about 4 times now and keep deleting everything that I have typed! Let me start by saying that we had an incredible prayer meeting last night. God is so at work in our church and I am overwhelmed as I see all the prayers that He is answering and all of the things that are falling into place in people's lives. At one point while I was praying, (for all of YOU!) I had this idea for my blog (is that silly???). But truly, I want this to be more than the ramblings of my often uneventful life. I want ALL that I do to bring Him glory and for His light to shine through anything that my hands find to do. So, what I am going to try to do is each Friday, I want to post some sort of a devotional - something I felt in prayer, a bible verse, a thought or whatever. And I picked Friday for a few reasons. First, it is the end of the week, second it is the day after prayer meeting and third, today is my first one and it just feels right to go once a week! It will probably be more for me than anything else, but I pray that in some way, you will be blessed and maybe even changed from what you read! So, here is my first thought:

I already told you what a great prayer meeting we had last night - God's presence was so awesome and it was hard to leave. I came home, watched some fireworks with Mark and the kids, read my Bible and went to bed. Well, I didn't wake up til morning, but when I did, I felt like I had been beat up - I was sore (had not worked out!), felt soooo tired, and just had a hard time getting moving (which is not like me) - I even told Mark how I was feeling. As I started my chores, I was listening to a message from Brother Lee Stoneking and here is what he said (my paraphrase): Have you ever had a great church service where God's presence has moved so strongly and you come home, go to sleep and wake up the next day feeling terrible? He said that is because while I slept, there was a spiritual battle going on around me. When we get close to God, things try to attack us, but the angels of the Lord encamp round about them that fear Him and they were doing battle while I slept, so I woke up feeling the effects of the battle that was going on around me. I just thought that it was so awesome and it went along with what Pastor preached Wednesday about all of us being like Elijah (and other great men in the Bible) - one day we are on the mountain seeing the miracles of God and the next we are under a Juniper tree wishing we could die. The goal is to keep our eyes focused on God and not the things around us that can make us lose our focus.

In the good old summertime!

It feels like summer just started but yet it is flying by so fast. The kids and I have been busy with projects around the house - organizing school things for next year, organizing in general, cleaning from top to bottom and just trying to catch up on things that never get done during the school year. In the midst of that, we have not finished completely with school! The girls are doing a notetaking course to improve that skill before next year starts (with the goal of them being able to use it for the school year!). Holly has chosen to continue with her French studies and both the girls are still doing music lessons (at home) daily. It gives them things to do and keeps their minds alert. As for Caleb, he has continued with his reading lessons and math and today we started a study of dinosaurs! He is so excited and we had a great time today learning about "terrible lizards"! Other than that, we are just enjoying some down time, working on our sewing skills, painting MaKenna's bedroom, and just being together doing things that we all enjoy. It probably sounds busy to some people, but it is the way we like it and we are having a great time, so that is all that matters! I hope that your summer is as blessed as ours has been!

A Tribute To...

Our dear friends - the Aslesens. Tuesday we were able to spend the day with them helping clean their house and prepare for moving. Wednesday was the big day, so we popped over long enough to get to say goodbye before they left for Chicago (who wants to move to Chicago, anyway???!!! =P ). I am thankful, because the Lord had his hand on the goodbye and made it so peaceful and gentle - it really just feels like they left for vacation with A LOT of luggage and they will be back soon! Since that is not necessarily true (who knows the Lords plans??), it seems appropriate to take some space and say how thankful I am that the Lord brought our lives together with theirs and how blessed we have been for knowing them. They are an inspiration in their prayer life and worship, they are awesome encouragers - always with a positive word ready for any situation - they know how to have good Godly fun and fellowship, they are soulwinners with a burden for what the Lord wants them to do and they are terrific leaders who will be missed dearly in many ways. My life is better from knowing them! I know that God has great plans for their life and can't wait to see how he uses them next! We had a small get-together for them before they left - here is a group shot of those able to be there:

I know that they are "truly kindred spirits" and that we will remain in touch - through blogging if nothing else!! Our love, thoughts and prayers go with them!

State Finals Update

Well, while I didn't get to go to State Finals with the girls, they had a good time and did very well, thank you Jesus! They came in 1st place - undefeated! YEAH! Holly was the highest scoring quizzer and was voted quizzer of the year! I am so proud of both of them for staying with it and doing their best no matter what. There were hard times, but they are all worth it when you consider that the Word of God is the only thing that will last forever and the only truth in this world! I can think of no better way for them to spend their time. Quizzing is over for this year and, though they said that they may take next year off, they are already reconsidering! It is such a part of their lives and they love learning the Word, going on trips and making new friends who are as commited to the Lord as they are. So, while I am proud of them, I thank the Lord for what He is doing in and through them and know that He has mighty plans for their lives!

This is Holly and MaKenna with Brother Billingsly (the Intermediate Coordinator) and Manisha, their coach (who was voted Intermediate Coach of the Year!).

What a week!

Wow - this week has had some crazy things and each one could be a different post on its own! Monday, Mark and I finally got in a date night and we went to Red Lobster - yummy! For a special treat, we even went to the library to return books!! The kids took care of themselves and had a good time together. Tuesday, I decided that we needed to make something special for our neighbor who had been in the hospital. Well, I had lots of bananas and we decided to make banana bread. Well, I have been making banana bread for more years than I care to confess and have never had this happen:

It just bubbled over like a volcano! Needless to say, my neighbor did not get that banana bread. Back to the drawing board!

Wednesday was new tires on the van after Meals on Wheels. Well, that was a whole nother adventure that we don't have time to do right at this time! Suffice it to say that we got rained on, told wrong time frames, charged wrong for purchases and stranded for about 4 hours! We made the best of it (though I was feeling a little crabby by the end of it all!) and decided that we were just making memories.

Thursday, Caleb had an appointment at the orthodontist. Many of you ask me how his teeth are doing and we finally have one of the top middle ones move over the bottom teeth! One down and one to go. He got red, white and blue bands in honor of the 4th! We came home and finally got some good banana bread made for our neighbor! That evening was ladies prayer which is just an awesome prayer group! I am so thankful for those who come every week and last night was an especially awesome time in God's presence. It was hard to leave.

Friday (today) the kids and I were planning to leave in the morning for their State Finals in Jacksonville and stop at the fort in St. Augustine. Well, Caleb came to me at 7 asking if he could take a shower. Now any of you who have had or have now and 8 year old boy knows that this is not normal behavior! He said he felt hot from the inside. Uh-Oh! He took a shower to try to cool off, but when he came out, he had a 100.1 fever. After a call to the Dr. and an appt. decided that he has strep - rapid onset of fever followed by headache, tummy ache and sore throat, the tell tale signs. So, needless to say, our trip was cancelled and Holly and MaKenna will go to State Finals with Darrick and Manisha and I will stay home with Caleb. I am so sad to not be able to be there! He is sleeping right now which is good for him, especially since he had a hard time keeping his medicine down. The girls are preparing for their tournament and our family covets your prayers!

So, that is the end (so far!) of my weird week! I feel blessed through it all through so many little things that have happened along the way to remind me to keep my eyes on the Lord and not on my circumstances. I am not saying that I am always successful at this, but I am trying!

I decided to leave you with some pictures of my adorable puppy - lots of you don't get to see her and ask how she is. Well, she is a stinker, but she is so sweet, too! We have been putting barettes and pony tales in her hair and she looks so cute! Although she is not extremely photogenic, here are some of my favorites:

I love this profile shot! She has a little clip in.


These are her piggy tales - I need to get smaller bands, but these work for now!

She has been very concerned and protective of Caleb today and has kept a close eye on him - even sharing his pillow during a nap!

So, now you are caught up on the happenings in our life this week! Hopefully, you have had a blessed week, too!

Just for you!

I am updating my blog for all of you who have asked when we are going to get past convention and my birthday! Actually, I have just been living in that moment for the past 3 weeks! HEHE!! OK, so let me take the time right now to say how thankful I am for my wonderful friends and what a blessing they are in my life. There is Beth who is creative, spontaneous and funny. Helen inspires me with her organizational skills and her sweet and gentle spirit. Cara has the cutest baby in the world and inspires me to do more and be more. Dawn is a worker who is always available and willing to help with any of my hairbrained ideas! (Next is a health food co-op store with T's Restaurant, right???!!!) Tammy (what a great name!) inspires me to pray more and be a better wife. (How will I manage without you??!!) Kimi is my kindred spirit who lives too far away, though we know that in Heaven, our mansions will be right next door to each other! So, I have updated my blog in the best way I know how - to tell you all how special you are to me and how much I love you!!! You are the best friends I could ever imagine and I am blessed to know each of you!