Is it time?

Jace asked me the dreaded question tonight. Well, one of them in life. "Where did I come from?" Not quite like that but he said, "Mom, how did I get here? I just feel like I came from air." Ummm.....

"Peephole, Peephole"

Levi's favorite song. It's kind of an old like bible camp song-that's how I remember it. You may know it too! "Behold, Behold, I stand at the door and knock, knock, knock...." His version: "Peephole, peephole, I stand at the door and knock, knock, knock. Peephole, peephole, I stand at the door and knock, knock, knock. If any horse hear my voice, if any horse hear my voice, I will come in.

Shocked by the thought!

I have often been shocked with the thought! I have often been shocked with the thought, that while a man's eulogy is being pronounced upon earth--his poor soul may be writhing and blaspheming in the torments of hell!
"The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him-- Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire!" Luke 16:22-24

This was a gem I received this weekend. No not a fun thought, but fearfully true!

Swimming away

I love this time of year. The pool is open and the kids aren't bored with it yet. They love each other and they play so well together. This week is proabably the 1st out of the month it's been open that they can feel their legs. Soon they will be drowning each other and bored with it and the lifeguarding will begin. I actually had to go for a swim today for fear of melting in this mugginess. Man, I just can't swim like I used to. Cannonballs don't feel right(it's like a man stunt) and my 8 year old can outswim me! I'm a failure. Last year I was training for that stupid hudson triathalon and swam 1.000 laps to make it seem like anything equivalent to swimming in the st. croix 12 laps across the beach. Now I know what a goldfish feels like in a fishbowl. I'm almost as long as the pool-gosh! We almost died huh Cbass? I think the most I got out of that was green hair from the pool and more fear of giant carp that are in that st. croix mudhole. Yikes! I love summer anyway but I think I would much rather lay by the pool on my raft and fall in every now and then. No more silly training for me, unless of course cbass talks me into it! :o)

Get me a drink!

Levi, he is so funny. Tonight we were reading the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000. He was so amazed by it. He said, "that was really nice of Jesus, but couldn't he get them a drink?" After that I told him Jesus could do anything and did perform many miracles. He said, "wow, that's nice but I AM an angel." :o) Lies!

A great calling

A great quote from "When You Rise Up" by R.C. Sproul Jr. "Thinking that education is something different from discipling our children is a sure sign that we have been "educated" by the state. Education is discipleship." He finishes this chapter with this:
May we remember as parents that we are His children, and that He is about the business of changing our hearts, of repairing our ruins, of remaking us. And though He has not finished with us, he has placed in our care His children. May He in His grace keep our hearts aflame for these children. May He give us minds like steel traps that we would never be distracted, that we would not forsake our calling. May He, the great Steward, make us faithful stewards of children, the most precious gifts, of which is the kingdom of God.

Excellent article on Davinci deception

Excellent article at www.gracetoyou.org abot the davinci deception. It's called "how should Christians respond". I also recommend clicking on the link to Al Mohler's and James White. (Hey, Joey is that your uncle?) :o) Read it up bloggers!

Secret

As if it isn't enough that Levi lets my moms gross dog lick his face and hands and arms-YUCK! Tonight he was rubbing dog rudeness all over him and then I saw Levi do something really strange. It looked like he was folding his ear back and sniffin' it up. I said "what are you doing?!" He looked at me and said, "I was just telling him a secret!" I should have known.

A spider in here!

Driving down the road to Value junk the other day I forgot to tell you this funny story. Levi is in the back seat and he yells up, "MOM, THERE'S A SPIDER IN HERE!" "Alright, thanks Levi!" I yell back. "MOM,HOW DID THIS SPIDER GET IN HERE?" "Don't know Levi," I say. "MOM,WE"VE GOTTA GET THIS SPIDER OUTTA HERE!" "I'm driving Levi, He'll get out, don't worry." "MOM, PULL OVER THE CAR THERE"S A LIVE ANIMAL IN HERE!"

Families!

Everyones got one! They make me crazy sometimes! I can't figure out how to make every one of them happy all the time! Does anyone else have this problem or is it just me and my sinful being? I don't do this right, I don't say that right, I looked at that person the wrong way, I should've done this that way, I didn't do that at the right time, I can't have another chance cuz now I would be doing it because someone told me to! I QUIT!

Loathing!

I feel a vile, unworthy, unholy being. I loathe myself beyond expression. But the blood and righteousness of Jehovah-Jesus is my confidence, and here I have a place of refuge. "What a wretched man I am!" Romans 7:24"Christ died for the ungodly." Romans 5:6"My salvation and glory depend on God; mystrong rock, my refuge, is in God." Psalm 62:7

This is how I want to feel every moment of my life. May God help me to never glory in me!

Birthday ideas?

Anyone got any birthday ideas out there that you would have your kids give to their dad? I already got Pete his gift from me but I was wondering, what do dads like to get from their kids? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Help! New insights my new bloggin' family.

My brother

Talked to my brother today via e-mail. He got the dvd and said he watched it and enjoyed it. It was so weird to imagine him sitting there looking at my dad and knowing nery little about him. He was just looking to see any resemblances and thinking he was some rockstar. He doesn't know anything but what I tell him and it's so far from who he really was. Ever try to explain someone to someone else that they never knew and are never going to have the chance to meet? He's a guy on a piece of paper to him and someone totally different to me. It's just really weird if you really think about it. I wonder if I will meet him someday (and not on Oprah) and if there will be any similarities between us? To start, he quotes Jimmy Hendrix at the bottom of his e-mails "When the power of love becomes stronger than the love of power, we will have peace." Great. We already got problems. Oh brother!

Dinner with Gloria

Tonight Janie, Cbass, and our kiddos went over to Glorias for a feast. She wanted to have us for dinner and did she make a lot of food or what? She had about 16 things on the table to eat not to mention 4 different desserts. She had us all dish up and then she just sat and watched us. Levi said, "Gloria, aren't you going to eat?" She said, "no it's just nice to see you guys eating." It was like she was so glad to have someone to cook for. Gosh-do we take things for granted or what ladies? She got so much joy of being able to have us over to cook for and us to eat her meal. Strange too because you know how kids eat, a bite here, a bite there. It was a good time and then we played ouside in her yard and visited. She also had a few vases of lilacs that she had picked for us to take home=I mean HUGE vases! Then, Jace had a baseball game at 7:15 and Gloria, Cbass, and I went to that. She was so glad to be out and about. Thank you Lord for putting her in our lives. When the Lord brings joy to us in the many ways He does- it is just so awesome to be a part of it!

Just wanted a walk-Gosh!

Gosh! Just trying to take the kids on a little bike ride to wear them out and of course get a power walk in with jane mary m and do some catch-up chattin'. If my kid didn't wipe out 14 times it could've been accomplished! See, my husband-bless him-decided to take home Jace's old bike from the cabin (for Levi) and go off to work today without putting his training wheels on. You see I got a free bike (Carla can appreciate this) from a friend that was hot pink( second child-color doesn't matter) and he loved it but Pete thought this would be a good change for him physically and mentally. This bike was also a bit bigger than the hot pink one. Well, that left me to do the job. Easy enough? Wrong! I am absolutely no good with a wrench or any kind of tools for that matter. I did put them on but incorrectly and definitely not tight enough. It didn't matter though because I would tighten them until my hands were bloody if I could just get a walk in! After they fell off the first 5 times we stopped back home to retighten them and tell Levi again, "this time they will really work." Just down around the bend from that moment his wheel went flying off and thankfully a good samaritan seen the whole thing and asked if we needed help. Well, of course we did and we got a tune-up on both bikes right then and there. We made it about another mile when Levi's "un-tuned" up side of his training wheels fell apart. That was it for him. He wasn't believing it any more-his bike was junk. He hated it and he said so. Jane then offered to push Levi's bike and Liberty sat on his lap in a small umbrella stroller we were hoping survived the big load. Then, as Jane was boasting (ha ha) about how Isaac's dad had tightened all his bike parts up his pedal went flying off and now he was without transportation also. Now Isaac hated his bike too. Jane then tried to push both of these goofy looking bikes down the road until she couldn't steer them anymore and we dumped them in a ditch temporarily until we could make it home to get her van to pick them up. As we were walking away from them Isaac got worried about somebody taking these prize bikes so we had to say a prayer that the Lord would protect them from being stolen. As we walked home, Levi in the stroller, Jane carrying Isaac on her back, and Liberty running down the middle of the road we laughed at all that had happened to us and what a sight we must have been. Next time we go out on our bike/walk/stroll/carry we will be more prepared. We will go thru a checklist and carry a cellphone. We will have extra tools and better skills. Yeah, I'm sure that we will.

Value Thrift and Petland!

I love it! Value thrift is a great place to shop. You guys shop there? I just got Jace a bunch of clothes for dirt cheap. It is 25% off Monday. What a zoo! They are so serious in there too. ONLY 3 items in the dressing room at a time and back in line soldier! Yikes! We were shopping there for a couple of hours. The kids love it too because they have tons of junk that they can play with while I am shopping away. I seen a handful of people from church there as usual. Then we went on down to the pet store to look at the animals( my kids love dogs but I will NEVER own one) and invest in some new fish. I killed all the others. Oops! As Jace and I were picking out new ones Liberty was dipping her hand in the goldfish tank and sucking away-sick! We came home with 2 neons, a white molly, and a new beta that we hope doesn't kill them all- unless of course I kill them first. :o)

Happy Moms day moms!

Hey, I just got back from a great relaxing weekend at the cabin and I wanted to wish everyone a happy moms day. Well, although you won't see this til tomorrow know that you moms are appreciated EVERYDAY! I laugh when I think about having one child. What was that like? I don't remember but I am sure my life revolved around that him. I'm sure I cut grapes into quarters and hotdogs into millions, and never let him play with a balloon by himself for fear of certain death. I was reading in the bgc mag this article written by a mother of three and had to laugh when she said, "the first child got everything boiled, the second got it rinsed off, and the third got it wiped off on my pants." That is SERIOUSLY true! I always make those, "oh, she's the third child we don't worry about that anymore." I was at a friends house recently where they have one child and I was going to wash Liberty's chocolate hands off on the washrag that was in their sink. I went to grab the washcloth and the parent said, "oh, we use the yellow washrag for that." Oops! I was reminded what it was like to be a first time parent. If I was at home I probably would've just brought her out on the deck and squirted the hose at her. :o)

Piper article

A sweet article in BGC mag this month. "Taking the Swagger out of Christian cultural influence." I thought this part was most excellent!
But Christian exiles are not pasive. We do not smirk at the misery or the merrymaking of immoral culture. We weep. Or we should. This is my main point: being exiles does not mean being cynical. It does not mean being indifferent or uninvolved. The salt of the earth does not mock rotting meat. Where it can, it saves and seasons. And where it can't, it weeps. And the light of the world does not withdraw saying, "good riddance" to godless darkness. It labors to illuminate. But not dominate. Being Christian exiles in American culture does not end our influence; it takes the swagger out of it. We don't get cranky that our country has been taken away. We don't whine about the triumphs of evil. We are not hardened with anger. We understand. This is not new. This was the way it was in the beginning---Antioch, Corinth. Athens, Rome. The Empire was not just degenerate: it was deadly. For three explosive centuries Christians paid for their Christ-exalting joy with blood. Many still do. More will.

Is that awesome or what?!

Only God knows

I was reading this article in the Minnesota Christian Chronicle where it talks about Johnny Lang being healed by Christ of his addictions. Great, I thought and then read the article. It says, something "supernatural" occurred and he began shaking in his chair. He says, "It's like somebody grabbed my shoulders and shook me forcefully back and forth. Yet at the same time, I felt total peace. I heard Jesus say to me , 'you don't have to have this if you don't want it.' This kind of stuff scares me. I grew up in a church where much shaking, barking, croppy-floppin' and other stuff went on and I really believe as the bible states that God is a God of order and not confusion ( 1 Cor. 14:33). I tend to hear this kind of thing and take caution. I try not to put God in my own little box but I get a little freaked out when I hear stories like these. If God saved Johnny Lang that is awesome and I hope to hear some new rockin' christian tunes from him soon. :o)

Check it out guys

Yesterday I watched this dvd that was made for my dad's funeral. It has lots of pictures to go with a few of his favorite songs he used to sing (he was a drummer in a band). It's pretty cool and I watched it with the kids. I just sent it Monday in the mail to my newly revealed brother. Weird huh? This guy (my brother) contacted my younger sister(I have 1 older sister too but no brothers!) and claimed that my dad was his father. Alright. I've known this for all of about 3 weeks. I just sent him the dvd so he could see what his biological father looks like. He seems like a nice guy that loves his adoptive family and really isn't "searching for a new family" but said it would be cool to meet us if it felt right. He sent us a bunch of pictures and I do think he has resmeblances to us. I also talked to him on the phone a couple weeks ago. He's 36 years old, lives in Santa Cruz,CA, and his name is John Fisher. Now THAT is something to blog about! STRANGE!

Get your bread!

My son has a business. It's selling bread. Actually it's "the bread bandit, serving manna from heaven." One day a week, I make him anout 12 loaves of bread and he goes around the neighborhood door to door and sells bread-raising his own money to go to camp. He also carries a two-way radio with him in case he needs to tell me anything. In the beginning it was like, "mom-I'm on her doorstep, she's going to get the money right now." I was like, " Jace, no need to call the get-away driver. Let me know when your down a few loaves". So now he'll call with, " 8 left, 5 left", etc... He has really built some great relationships with the neighbors around here and we have found (we started this last summer) that there are a lot of lonely people here in Lakeland. He has come home with some great stories (like the time he told me he had to give this person dressed in rags a free loaf) and has even made some regular customers. When we go out on bike rides it's not unheard of for someone to yell to him, "I love your bread," or if he sees them in the yard, "how was your bread?" It's pretty cool and he has made some friends and has almost reaches his $180.00 goal. I can't say though that this traveling salesman is always about his task. One day he made a friend and decided that he would really like to play rather than "git 'er done." He sold the bread unusually quickly that day and called me on my cell phone (mom was babysitting that day) and told me he was done and could he play with his newly found friend? I said not until I meet him and etc.. you know. Well, I got home and looked into his money bag and he had made 3 dollars. Mmmnn.....Jace? Well, Finally we got to the bottom of it and he had said that he decided that some neighbors told him that they would be fine if he would just place the bread in their mailboxes and they would pay him next time. Alright Wimpy but I don't think so. Well, he did go find a few of those loaves but since it is a federal offense to dig in someone else's mailbox we just had a consequence or two and called it a lesson learned. Kids-corrupt little sinners-do they really think...."I got this story air-tight."

Happy Birthday!

Today would have been my dad's 60th birthday! He passed away the day my "Liberty" (freedom from sin!) was born Sept 3, 2004. I miss him. I do feel a little envious, I mean him being in glory and all! Praise God! I remember when he was getting closer to dying how I would stand outside his hospital room door and listen to the "chaplain" as she would read him scripture. He would ask her questions and I would be ready to pounce on her if she twisted it at all! She was great-I'm so thankful the Lord brought her to my dad to teach him, gently. I remember when my dad asked us to baptize him in his hospital bed and I asked him why he wanted to do that? I thought he may be still believing that he needed to be baptized to enter heaven (skeptical me). I remember him saying so confidently, " the bible says, believe and be baptized." It was an awesome time . Jace says a lot at night that he thinks about my dad and what he might be doing in heaven and how he wishes he was still here of course. Providence. God's perfect plan. God's grace is truly amazing! Happy birthday Dad -we miss you!

Walking along

The kids and I took a walk this morning and as we were walking we passed a house the said "for sale by owner." Jace asked me if we were to buy that house if it came with it's own servant. I told him it just meant the house was for sale by the owner and not someone who sells houses . He said that would be awesome to have a servant in your house. I was like, you mean another one?

Say a prayer!

Hey all you fellow bloggers out there! God is doing a mighty work in my family right now as I speak! The details are long and you only have a quick second so pray for my family won't 'cha?! God knows what He's up to! I'm excited at the results! Thank you fellow sojourners and glory to God in the highest!

Confessing

Today I was cutting the grass and I noticed Levi standing in the garage with that "I am into something" look on his face. I walked up to him and asked him what he was doing. He said, "confessing." I said, "confessing about what?" He said, "am I going to get a spankin'?" I said, "it depends on what you are doing?" He brought me around he truck where he had Jace's tool box
out with all of his tools laid out. I was thankful he hadn't created anything yet or uncreated anything for that matter and let him off the hook. Phew!

neighbor

We have a neighbor down the way that the Lord put in our lives. Her name is Gloria and she lives alone and does not drive. Her husband passed away 15 years ago and her daughter and son and the grandchildren rarely visit. She is very lonely and the sweetest lady. We bring her to church and bible study and sometimes the kids pack up their stuff and hang out with her. She loves them and their company brings light to her life. Today was her birthday. No one came to visit and she made a dinner thinking someone might stop by. When 7:30 rolled around she had it cleaned up as we were coming in the door. She was so happy to see us. We spent almost an hour there and broought her some dinner and a nice fat delicious scooby sandwich for tomorrow when she will be traveling to a friends for a couple days. We gave her a simple gift that held pictures of the kids that she thought was the most beautiful thing she ever saw. At the end we sang her happy birthday and she fought tears back the entire time. It was so happy and sad at the same time. When we left the kids hugged her and told her they loved her and we would see her later this week. When walking out to the car Jace said, "I know the Lord put me in Gloria's life to show her the love of Jesus and I just love her so much." He's only known her about 3 months. He's her little buddy, although he's almost taller than her. She always says to us, " I don't know how you guys or why you guys came into my life." Levi told her, "Well Gloria, we're just here to love you."

He wouldn't do it

I bought Jace a shirt today that says "Will trade sister for video game." I thought he would think it was a funny shirt. Which he did but said he wouldn't do it. When I showed him the shirt he looked at it and then to me and said, "I'm not doing that." I said," it's just a joke." He said, "she doesn't cry like that." I was like, "hey, it's a joke. Wear it for fun." He was like, "oh, oh now I see". He got it. I guess my plan of trading Liberty for a video game won't work after all. Dangit!

Shopping

The kids and I were just doing some shopping at Kohls and I had one of those shopping carts that is a double stroller. Well, while turning a quick corner i sort of ran into a side of a clothes display (these things don't turn on a dime). Levi shouts out in the store, "geez mom, you almost killed me!" Needless to say, we made it through our shopping and I got some great deals. That place might as well be free ya know. By the way, anybody going to the Woodbury garage sales this weekend? This usually means guaranteed downpours and mudslides. Happy shopping!

No more wandering!

The last little part of a gem I read this morning was "Precious Lord, you are my rest (what is that, right?), my hapiness, and you are ALL-sufficient. Hold me to You, and let me wander no more." Could I please live like God was really my rest? All-sufficient? My contentment? Even precious? I think if I could do this that would then in turn cause me not to wander. Let's try that. :o)

Alone with God

Went on a walk tonight with my Ipod. Listened to some wonderful praise music and looked up into the shekinah glorious sun through the clouds and thought- I'm a child of the Heavenly Kingdom! I have a golden ticket! Praise God! A car came by and beeped at me. I think I might have been wandering into the middle of the road. I almost went there tonight. Dangit!

Thanks mom

My mom does A LOT for me. I don't just say that cause I know she will read this blog. She really does. This weekend she watched the kids (again) so I could go and learn about what a wretch I am - taking for granted the grace of my wonderful savior. Wow! Thanks mom. AND to top it all off- she somehow, secretly, cleaned my kitchen for me today for a SUPER bonus on top of 14 other things she did). As usual she spoiled the kids with delicious foods that they wouldn't TOUCH if I presented them. My kids will miss her til she comes back again. Hopefully they ate enough to put on reserve til the next big feast. Thanks mom! I'm grateful for all you do.

How exciting to have a new blog spot. I just want to write something every minute to keep you all interested now. I had to tell you how much I loved the play today. Since you all know God made me without tear ducts by now- I wanted to tell you my eyes were really tearing up today(shocker I know). I love to watch children sing about the Lord with reckless abandon! They don't care who is watching. They can raise their hands and shout out praises and not think twice about it. Oh to have faith like a child! They did an excellent job -way to go Robys! I'm inspired to shout praises to the Lord! AMEN!

Quote of the weekend

I went to this conference this weekend and heard a great quote. "Christianity is neither compelling or comforting. And its no wonder why people don't find grace amazing." Sad but true. Why are people as believers not compeled to live for Christ and don't find comfort in Christ? Because.......we love ourselves. :o(