Not Alone

I joke frequently that Jen and I need to be together to accomplish something. We just help each other when we have "blonde moments", "duh moments" - whatever you want to call it. I think I have them more than Jen, so she helps me more... well I think I needed you this morning, Jen. I was making the baby a bottle. I usually make individual bottles, put them in the fridge, and warm them up when I need them. Well, last night I decided to try making a day's worth in a large container and just pour it in the bottle when I need it. (I have done it both ways with previous foster babies in the past, but the majority of my foster babies have been G-Tube fed, not bottle fed). And it has been a LONG time since I have had to get up with a baby in the middle of the night... I also usually have a nurse to care for the babies while I am asleep; b/c most of the foster babies I get have major medical issues and require 24 hour monitoring. Anyway... back to this morning... I use the playtex disposable bottles, you know the kind you have to put the liner in. Well, while making the first bottle this morning,I decided to pour QUICKLY, b/c last night whenever I poured the formula into the bottle I made a mess - it just didn't pour right. So, my plan was to pour quickly to try and avoid the mess. So, I turned the container up, pouring quickly, only to discover that I forgot to put a liner in the bottle. So ALL that formula that I was pouring "quickly" to "avoid a mess" ended up all over the counter. ARGHHH!

Every now and then I like to have a few hours to myself, to be alone, to enjoy quiet. But for the most part, I do not like to be alone. I enjoy people's company - well most people - lol. I could write several pages on how Matt and I work together in almost every area of our lives to help each other. My children help me too, and of course I help them. Even Ty and La who are only 6 have chores and repsonsibilites, and we focus on helping each other because we are a family. Sometimes we give them some $$ for helping, sometimes we take them for a special treat, and sometimes we don't give them anything but just remind them that we help each other because we love each other.

Life is much easier when we are not alone. Immediate family is not the only way to have companionship, help, friendship, love, etc. Church should be, and sometimes is, a place where we can meet our human need for friendship, love, and help.

I don't know about your house, but at mine, we don't always succeed at loving each other unconditionally or uplifting one another. We try, but we sometimes fail.

Right now we have a few scripture verses placed around the house, but the one that is in plain view for the kids; and was written and decorated by Madi, is "Do everything without complaining or arguing" Phillipians 2:14

I think I am going to add another one today. I get a daily verse sent to me by Biblegateway.com, todays verse was this:

Philippians 1:9-10

“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ,”

I may have to look it up in the Message version, that was NIV, or simplify it for the kids... but when I pray for them each night, I always say "I pray that we would love You (GOD) with all of our hearts, and serve you with our lives" This verse says what my heart means to say, but much better - perfect actually :)

I pray that we would all grow in love - that our LOVE would abound more and more (never stop growing) in knowledge (learning about God, reading the Bible, studying His Word) and depth of insight (to me - that is what God gives to us as we grow closer to Him, He helps us to see more clearly "His" ways), the depth of our insight into God and all that He is and does should never stop growing either. Then we are able to discern what is best (we can't do that on our own - we need God to help us; and growing in our knowledge and relationship with Him helps us to do that.) Then we are always moving closer to the goal of being pure and blameless before Christ, ultimately accomplishing that on the "day of Christ" whether we die and go to Heaven, or He returns to get us (whichever happens first).

My goal for my family (and church family)) is that we would first of all LOVE more and more, never stop growing in love for each other, our community, and our world. AND that through our LOVE we would grow in knowledge and insight, so that we can know what is best and continue to grow in our love for Christ and for each other until we are pure and blameless before Him.

Having said all of that, even in the minutes of writing this I was confronted with a situation that to tell you the truth... I don't know "how" to love in this situation, because I don't know what the best thing is. So I know that I still need to grow in God's love so that I can grow in Knowledge and Insight to be able to know what is best.

Going back to the "not alone" part... God also uses other people to help us grow along our journey. I am thankful that I have people that I can talk to who are also on their own journey with God; we are not alone, and we can help each other.

If you could...

If you could be on any t.v. show, what would it be, and why?

I would want to be on TLC's "Adoption Stories" but I don't think they would ever do a story that included embryo adoption - even though they have had several gay and lesbian couples on their show before. I feel like we would have lots to say on that show... we have done foster care for 12 years, and adopted 4 kids - 2 through foster care and 2 through embryo adoption.

Other than that, most of my favorite shows are not on the air anymore - Friends, Everybody Loves Raynond. I do like CSI Miami, and Law and Order SVU.

I also would love to see a reality show about foster care. I don't know how they could do that with HIPPA/Privacy Laws, etc... but I would love for the world to see what it is really like. That all foster parents are not horrible, how rewarding it can be, how hard it can be, etc.

Ok... so what would you like to be on??

scripture for my thoughts

Hebrews 10:35-36

“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.”

Penny for my thoughts...

I'd be rich tonight.

Counting my blessings... I am rich, indeed.

My favorite Bible verse:
"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you" Jer. 29:11
I am glad that God knows the plans He has for me, because I can't keep up with myself.

I am just so overwhelmed with life... with all of the blessings God has given me; seeing Him work in the little things in my life; watching and waiting with anticipation for the plans He is working on in my life right now. Sensing the presence of God, wanting to bask in it - just like the satisfying,peaceful,wonderful feeling of warm sunshine on my skin. Anger and frustration at the world, at sin. Feeling frustration over wanting to change the world for Christ; knowing I am called to do my part in serving Him, but I am helpless to "change" people or "change" bad situations... knowing Christ gave His life for us, and loved us enough to give us the free will to choose for ourselves whether to follow Him or not. Wanting to heal peoples hurts, wanting to make bad situations better, wanting to take away the worries and sadness of people; wanting Christ to return, yet wanting others to change their ways first and wanting to see my children grow up, waiting to see what God does in and with their lives... praying they follow Him whole-heartedly. Wanting to guard my heart, but knowing I have to give it freely to God to do with as He sees fit. Knowing in the end I will be more satisfied than I could have ever imagined. Missing people I love. Wanting to heal hurt relationships. Wanting to hold onto ones in jeopardy. Knowing God holds each of these details of my life in His hands, and He is gently placing each situation right where it needs to be. Loving Him for who He is, wishing I could trust Him more, following Him even when I don't understand. Failing Him, serving Him, trusting Him, holding back from Him, longing for eternity with Him, yet longing to see His plans for me and my loved ones completed here and now in this time.

Lord, I am yours. What I have to offer is not much, but I WANT to follow You. I want to please You. I have a heavy heart for several situations, and I know you see and know my every desire. Help me to trust when I don't understand. Help me remember to thank you for all of the joy I have had in my life lately. Many thoughts, little understanding...all of me Yours - help me to let go when I try to hold on. Loving You, enjoying You, wanting more of You... You know the plans You have for me, hear my heart tonight Lord, hold me in Your arms and hold me tight. Help me to serve you and love you more and more each and every day of my life.

A Tale of Tails continued

Dinosaur clip Matt was talking about in his response to the previous post

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TD6dnHtU2n8




and just for laughs... our all time favorite clip from friends:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEfSf-JQ1IQ

A Tale of Tails

First of all, I have to warn you... this post may be offensive or shocking to some people. I am rating it PG13 for some crude language and mildly gross content. ;)

My afternoon:
We had our house alarm installed today, and right after the installer left, we left the house to go meet Matt and go to Sam's - shopping for tomorrow night's church dinner. When we left Sam's the plan was for me to go grab pizza for dinner, because I am still not feeling great (have had flu/cold symptoms off and on for over 2 weeks now), and Matt had to go to the south end of town to pick up some photo's that were ready. Then I had to go put the groceries away in the church, and we were going to meet back at the house. As I was getting in my car after unloading the groceries, it hit me - "what if Matt opens the door, forgetting we got the alarm installed today, and I haven't told him the code yet"
SO... I quickly drove to the house and found him standing at the front door. He waved for me to drive up to the front door because it was raining so much. He helped get the twins out, and Madi and I got the baby out as fast as we could because he has an apnea monitor (which IS electrical) and it was raining.
We make it inside and find out Duke has pee'd inside. This upsets me greatly...not because of the mess, that can be cleaned up easy enough; but Duke will be 12 years old in November, and he is 1/2 Rottweiler & 1/2 Lab, he has pretty much outlived his life expectancy already, and his age is really showing lately. He hasn't had an accident in the house since he was 6 months old. He has gone 24 hours without going to the bathroom because he wouldn't let the guy in that we had arranged to walk him while we were gone one time for a full day. This was just another sign that he is getting old. If you don't know me very well, you don't know how much I love my dog, and if you don't know Duke, you haven't met the sweetest dog EVER. I didn't mean to say so much about that...oh well. anyway - we had a big wet spot in the floor that needed to be cleaned up.
Tyler and Lauren were wound up tight, they were running all over the place. I am trying to get the pee cleaned up and deal with Tyler and Lauren, Matt is looking at the new alarm system and wanting me to tell him the code and show him how it works, etc. etc. I say to Matt "I will be right there, just let me wash my hands first"
So... I go to the kitchen sink to wash my hands and I see a white/pink lizard in the sink. I don't mind baby lizards, I will pick them up. But when they get to a certain size, I would REALLY rather NOT touch them. They move too fast, they look too much like snakes, etc. Madison had already refused to get it, and Matt does not do lizards at all. We have a system... I get out frogs and little lizards, he kills bugs, spiders, and snakes. So I am working up the nerve to catch him. I am standing there, staring at him, waiting for just the right moment, get the courage, ok I can do it - and right as i reach for it Matt screams "GET IT"!! I jumped a mile high, the lizard ran, and I gave Matt an evil look. I find the lizard again and pick it up this time. I can feel it wriggling around in my right hand and i have my left hand underneath to try and hold it. When all of a sudden I see AND FEEL it drop it's tail, it falls to the kitchen floor and runs under the dishwasher, and the tail is still moving in my hand. In the moment, I am completely startled, scared, and feeling ickky - without thinking I say "Oh s**t" with Tyler and Lauren and Madison standing right there. I have to say, I do not normally curse, I promise. And to those church members who read my blog - I am sorry. I am NOT perfect, and this incident proves it. SO... if any of my children should repeat the new word they heard today... I am VERY sorry!!! I look back at Matt and he is trying very hard not to laugh. We never found the lizard. I threw it's tail in the trash. And I pray the lizard doesn't crawl on me while I sleep tonight; and I pray that my children don't pick up on my bad language today :0
Later, I am taking a shower, and come out to see Matt taking a picture of a wasp he killed. He made fun of me for looking scared when he screamed at me while trying to catch the lizard, but I reminded him that he wouldn't even touch the lizard's tail, much less catch the whole thing. So he killed a wasp while I was in the shower, and took pictures of it to show that he was "the man". On his facebook he posted "killed a wasp and saved my family" - lol.
And that was just about 30 minutes of my afternoon today. :)

BTW - the picture at the top is the wasp Matt killed, and the tail of the lizard that I temporarily caught :)

new foster baby

Well, we "were" on a break - lol. But when they called me with a newborn, I did something I have never done before. I said "yes", without even talking to Matt. He was sitting next to me on the couch and when I hung up the phone, I looked at him and said "can we get a baby?" He said "Well it doesn't really matter now, does it" :) He is just as excited as I am though. I can't post face pictures on here, but I thought I would put one up of his feet. I just have to post something :) He is a REAL sweetie!!!! We have all fallen in love already.

By the way, Lauren lost ANOTHER tooth tonight. I will have to post another pic soon :)

blog proved useful

This morning, Tyler and Lauren were arguing; Lauren was saying that the reason she keeps coming to sleep with mommy and daddy in the middle of the night is because tyler puts his hand across her face. I said "I know, but you cuddle with him too... AND if you wake up, just roll over and go back to sleep" Tyler said "I don't put my hand on her when I sleep" And Lauren said "I try to roll over but he keeps moving towards me" SO... I got the pictures out and SHOWED them the proof (see blog from last week for pictures). And I told them how I kept moving Lauren away, so her face wouldn't be covered and SHE kept moving back towards Tyler. 3 times I moved her before I gave up and left them that way (but her face wasn't covered up when I left).
So, there you go... my blog solved an argument this morning, because I had proof :)

Just in case you are wondering why they are sleeping together. I will explain - but not defend. I say that because when we were doing foster care they tried to tell us that because they were over the age of 3 that they had to have sepeate bedrooms (a rule for foster kids, but not supposed to apply to our own kids). Matt and I just feel that this is our personal business. If they were older, it would be different. But,when they told us that, to comply - we moved Lauren into the room with Madison, and gave Tyler his own room. Tyler has a queen size bed, and the girls have bunk beds. That was 2 years ago. We send them to bed in their own rooms/beds and they either cry until we give in; or they wait till we go to bed, then get in the bed with each other. Most of the time, we just tell them that if they will quietly go to sleep they can get in the same bed. Madison even goes in there. They just like to be close to each other. They all sleep with shirts and shorts - Tyler's rule - lol... I would make them anyway, but he tells the girls that they have to have shorts on to sleep in his bed - hee hee. When I was growing up my sister and I slept together until we grew up and moved out of the house. They all just like to be close to each other, and feel safer sleeping in the same room. Some nights one of the girls will end up sleeping in a sleeping bag on the floor. The thing is... I like that they are close to each other. Obviously at some point they will all have to stay in their own beds; but for now it just isn't a big issue to us.

Well, gotta go get ready. Matt is off today, and we are having some family time :) I am so excited! We are always so busy, we don't get to have family days very often.

would you rather

You guys have gotten quiet ;) so it's time for a "would you rather"

Would you rather:
Have someone else to clean your house for the rest of your life OR
Never have to cook again?

I would want someone to clean my house. I don't mind cooking. Sometimes I don't feel like it, but overall, I don't mind.

SOme parts of cleaning house are not bad either, but if I had someone that would do it for me - oh yeah, I would let them :)

Here are 2 of the pictures of Matt's recent adventure into photography. Of course, the 3 are our little munchkins; and the cute little baby is my best friend Jen's baby - Isaac. Isaac has a cute big brother too, that I have some pics I want to post on here soon. Between my 3 and Malachi (Jen's 3 year old)) we STAY entertained :)

lost tooth

Lauren lost her first tooth, and she is so proud of it. :) I'm glad she's happy now, because that first night she cried and cried about it, wouldn't smile, etc.

Along with losing her first tooth, she also has her first crush. She is ONLY 6!! What are we gonna do?? The "lucky" (lol) boy is TWELVE years old!! Lauren doesn't just like him, she has talked ALL weekend about how she is going to m arry Noah. Tyler keeps screaming at her that she can't marry him because she is only 6. She just calmly keeps saying "I'm gonna marry Noah" Very similar to the "ballerina and baseball" scenario. Matt told Lauren "Well sweetie, Noah may not want to marry you (when you are older). She said "I am going to marry Noah". SO... there you have it - lost tooth, found husband - ROFL

some things don't change

I know they won't always be this close, but it so sweet to see Tyler and Lauren and the special bond they still have...

my babies are growing up

Lauren has her first loose tooth. In fact, it is pretty loose and should come out in a few days. This is kinda sad to me. I look forward to all the stages of them growing up, but it is sad that my babies are growing up SO quickly!! Will post pics when the tooth comes out.

also will post pics of her and tyler all cuddled up last night; they may fuss in the daytime, but look for each in other in their sleep to touch each other. I know that one day tbey will outgrow that too, but for now; I am happy that they are still still so close, :)


Madi continues to amaze me every day with how grown up she is becoming, and what a heart for God she has. She is only 9, but I look up to her in some ways. I remember what struggles I had with her when she was little... there is hope for Lauren yet :)

I thank God SOOO much for my family! For my husband who is my best friend, my hero, the love of my life; for my children who mean the world to me. I am blessed!!

no storms, no parties??

OK, I know you are going to think I am crazy. In fact, you are probably right :) But I want to know what's up with all the hurricanes and tropical storms heading away from us this year?? They all keep turning north into the Atlantic Ocean! Now, I don't want a category 4 hurricane to come right over us and cause major damage; I just like little hurricanes :) It is exciting and a bit scary at the same time, kinda like a roller coaster. We ALWAYS have hurricane parties - even if it is just a little tropical storm :) We buy LOTS of junkfood, and it doesn't matter how much you eat because it is a party, it doesn't count. Everyone is home together without anywhere to go. Sometimes (I like this) we lose electricity. Now... I don't like the being hot part - that's NO fun; but I LOVE that no one in my house can watch t.v. or play on the computer, or the Wii, etc. Now, I prob. would miss my computer, but I could deal with it. We have a closet full of board games we have bought during hurricanes from the past years; in fact when we moved recently I actually had to get rid of some of them we had so many. So basically, we eat junk food, play games together as a family, watch the weather outside - occasionally step outside to feel the wind blowing forcefully; watch the rain as it skims over the tops of the neighbors houses, etc. OK, once again - you may think I'm crazy; but to me this is FUN!! Now, hear me clearly; I don't want like 4 hurricanes in a row like we had 4 years ago... just 1 big tropical storm or small hurricane would be fine :) Maybe I could rent a bid industrial size fan, and put it outside by our palm trees, turn all the power off at the electric box (except the A/C), have Matt take a day off and have a hurricane drill. You know, you have to have fire drills, and tornado drills in school - I think we should have a hurricane drill; just to make sure we could effectively buy junk food, turn off all electrical toys, have uninterrupted family time, etc. Whatcha think?? I know it wouldn't work, but it would be fun :)

OK, I know I am always making analogies, but this kinda sticks out in my mind as I type this. I like hurricanes because the storm draws my family closer by taking all the distractions of life away. Perhaps that is why God sends us storms in life... to take our focus off of all the distractions around us, and have us turn our attention to him - to spend quality time with him, talk to him, listen to Him, and in the end - maybe even play a little with him, laugh a little... and almost always we come out of the storm closer to him, maybe tired from the stress of the storm - but glad we had the time with God, and feeling that it was worth it to have spent the time with Him. My family has been through several life storms lately, and I am thankful for the time we have spent with God and how much closer we ALL are to God after going through them.

Now, if we could just have 1 little storm with no damage, no injuries - just to have a hurricane party :) :)

homeschool question

Anyone got any suggestions about teaching estimation?? Madison has the HARDEST time understanding it. We did it last year in 3rd grade, and most days she ended up in tears and I ended up with a headache. Well, we are in our 4th week of homeschool this year with her in 4th grade, and wouldn't you know it - an entire unit on estimating - ARGH!!! She can add, subract, working well on multiplication - but she just can NOT do estimating.

Matt taught 1 semester of 5th grade before he started teaching Bible at the Christian school he teaches at, and he said that estimating was one of the hardest things for his class to understand.

To me, I don't get why it is so hard for them. Not that I am super smart, I am NOT... but I just don't see what is so hard about it. So I end up getting frustrated with her because I don't see why she can't understand what I am telling her/ showing her.

Any ideas??? I have her circle the number she is estimating to, and underline the # to the right, (the # she is looking at to see if she rounds up or stays the same), even with that, she doesn't get which # she is rounding to, or that 0's go after it.

She is doing REALLY well with everything else. Her reading and understanding what she read has gotten MUCH better this year!! She is LOVING history - I am SO glad we found the book we got, it is wonderful - we both enjoy it. And science is going great too. We are working on spelling, but no major challenges there. Math is definately not her strongest point to begin with; but she usually can somewhat understand it... but this estimating stuff is getting the best of both of us. I even thought about just skipping that section; but I do think it is important for her to learn. Part of me thinks, if she can add and subtract (which she can), then maybe estimating isn't that important; but then I think about how when I buy groceries I use estimation EVERY time, as I am going through the store, and when I am checking out to see how close I will be to my budget amount.

If anyone has any ideas, please share them!!

Yucky

I feel yucky! I think I have the flu. I will prob. go to the doctor Tuesday ONLY because I have already made plans to go visit my granddad who just had heart surgery; and I don't want to expose him to anything.

I often wish I had time to do "nothing"; but then when I'm sick, and I get to do nothing - it's no fun. Right after my hysterectomy a few years ago, I was HORRIBLE about not doing what I was told regarding resting, not lifting, not doing, etc. I took the kids to a Christmas parade 5 days after my complete abdominal hysterectomy. I did o.k. till it was time to leave and I realized I had to walk up the ramp in the parking garage. Fun times... huh Jen?? Poor Jen was with me. Anyway, I don't really have anything to say tonight, but I'm bored, so I thought I would write something.

I didn't go to church today, didn't want to expose anyone... but I did get to start listening to the series "Losing Your Religion" by Andy Stanley, I have been wanting to listen to it for about a week now, since Tammy sent me the link. Tammy - so far, I am really into it, and taking lots of notes. I have listened to the 1st 2; but I will prob. go back and listen to the last part of the 2nd one again, b/c the kids were distracting me. I can't wait to talk to you about it. Speaking of talking to you; sorry I haven't called you... I haven't felt like talking since being sick this weekend. Plus I am waiting to see what happens/ if I am still able to come up there.

I can't remember if I talked about Tyler having his holter monitor a week or so ago; but they called me to say that it only worked/picked up for 15 minutes; so we have to re-do it. I hate it for Ty. Not that it is an intrusive test; but the tape really irritates him with his OCD tendencies; and he still has some sore spots from where the tape was before. I haven't told him yet that we have to re-do it.

Also realizing that with Tyler progressing quickly with his reading abilities, it is nice that I don't get asked 1000 times what the score is on a football game, or who's leading in a Nascar race... he can read it for himself now. NICE :)

And... going along with the title of "yucky" - this week Phillip (Jen's husband) killed a snake in our backyard. That is the 3rd snake we have killed since we moved in here in June! Trying to be a good homeschool mom, I made him put it in a plastic bag for me (I was NOT touching that thing, even if it was dead) and we looked it up online. Turned out to be a brown water snake. I HAAAAAATE snakes!! But then tonight I realized that I haven't done anything with it yet... it is still in the bag outside. I bet it STINKS - gotta take care of that tomorrow. Then Madi was trying to catch a baby lizard (I don't love lizards, but they are much higher on my favorites list than snakes)and Lauren tried to "help" her by stepping on its tail to hold it still for Madi. Yeah, we ended up with a lizard in a box collecting bugs for it to eat while it recovered. Matt did convince Madi that God could take better care of broken lizards than we could.

I was much happier with the butterfly that we thought was dead last week, that "woke up" in our house. Did I tell you about that?? I will have to look back and see.

Well, I just took some cold medicine (btw, HJ - I have figured out that antihistamines tend to make my depression worse; but I am doing MUCH better with depression lately, so I am hoping it won't mess me up too much; but I have to take something to be able to sleep) SO... I am off to try and go to sleep.

Also, I'm not TOO worried about it, b/c he is pretty healthy right now... but please pray that Tyler doesn't get whatever I have, or if he does that it won't be bad. I only say that b/c our county's dept. of health website says that 98% of flu tests are + for swine flu... in fact they are encouraging people NOT to go to the doctor, unless you are at high risk, because chances are; if you have flu symptoms, that's what you have. Tyler hasn't had any SVT since his last surgery, that I know of... but he still has an unresolved PFO and just had surgery in April for the AV Node Re-Entry; and we haven't had a good holter test and follow up yet to release him from that diagnosis.

There are some cool things that have happened this week that I want to share on here soon. Conversations with people, God revealing Himself in awesome ways... I just haven't had the time or energy to put into the post what I want to.

Hard TImes

After proclaiming the Message in Derbe and establishing a strong core of disciples, they retraced their steps to Lystra, then Iconium, and then Antioch, putting muscle and sinew in the lives of the disciples, urging them to stick with what they had begun to believe and not quit, making it clear to them that it wouldn't be easy: "signing up for the Kingdom of God has to go through plenty of hard times."
Paul and Barnaba handpicked leaders in each church. After praying - their prayers intensified by fasting - they presented these newleaders to the Master to whom they had entrusted their lives.
Acts 14:21 - 23


Matt has an AMAZING opportunity to work with a staff that not only works well together, but also are friends, and share a common purpose with common goals to serve God. When I read this passage this morning, it made me thankful for God putting together the people in our church who are willing to serve God with the gifts and service He has called them to. It also made me realize that I need to pray for them more; and I will encourage my children to pray for them more.

I also want to listen to a series by Andy Stanly that Tammy sent me the link to, but I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet. It is called "Losing your religion" Like I said, I haven't listened to it yet, so I can't comment on it... but this is something that really interests me. I have seen several people truly seek God, admit their sins, see a change in their life, it appears to be a REAL experience with God... then 1 month, 1 year, or even years down the road, for some unknown reason... when they face trouble - they seem to walk away from it all. They leave their faith behind, and follow the world. Now I "personally" believe that once Jesus saves you, you can never be taken out of his hands; although I also believe that these people will lose some of their blessings in Heaven. (It will be interesting to see what Andy Stanly has to say about it.) I have also seen some people who appear to only be caught up in the emotion of the moment, and never really have a life changing experience... I tend to think that these people never really gave their lives to God, or completely understood salvation, etc.

AGAIN - "who am I"?? I don't know the answers. I have opinions, and so do lots of other people. Even what is written in the Bible can be understood in different ways by different people. But one thing I do know: God loves us all, and wants us all to come to Him, serve Him, worship Him, and LOVE Him; and when we really do that... He promises to never leave us or forsake us. And I think that we need to spend more time truly praying for and encouraging our fellow Christians who are going through difficult times.

I have probably been needy lately; with all that has been goin on with my family; but if any of you need prayer, please let me know. We have a prayer board in our kitchen, we do prayer doodles every morning, we pray at every meal, and before bed each night. If I happen to forget to mention someone on our prayer list, Madison is SURE to remind me about it :) I thank God for all of my friends - new and old; and I want to pray for you, and encourage you; especially if you are going through a tough time. BTW... I know of some of your needs, and I am praying for you :)

"punched"??

Madison and Lauren have been going around this morning singing "Victory in Jesus"

"oh victory in Jesus, my Savior forever"...
"He punched me to victory"

I know I need to correct them, and I will, but at 6 and 9 "plunged" doesn't make a lot more sense. I love that song and the fact that we have "VICTORY" in JEsus... just that line didn't make sense to me as a kid, and evidentally it makes less sense to my kids today. :)

In our church we sing a blend of hymns and current praise & worship songs.

Since God gave us a free will, I don't really see him "punching" someone to victory; but I have met a few people, who in my opinion, could have used it - lol :)