But you get the jest....lol!
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
Is she really old enough.....
FOR A TRUCK????!!!!!! Hannah's daddy bought her a truck this past week. He wants her to learn to drive on the vehicle she will be driving at 16 which has served us well with Hope. She learned all of her 15th year on the Nissan and then has driven it ever since. Hannah's is a little early....she won't be 15 until January! lol! It'll be here before we know it. She's wanted a truck for a while now. I think she likes them because she can see out good and it is easy to back up.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Changes.............
It seems that the saying "things are always changing" is certainly true. Funny, we as humans don't like change, or at least that is true for the most of us. We like our routines and the "comfort" they bring to our lives. The sooner we can adapt to the changes in life the more at peace we'll be. Many changes have taken place in our lives just this summer. Hope and Hannah both went on 2 trips this summer and flew on big planes for the first time. Hannah and Doug went on a mission trip together just the two of them. Hope was a cadre for the first time at leadership camp and experienced the "stress" of being in charge. Hannah realized that there are many children who go to bed hungry every night, she didn't just hear about it......she witnessed it. She also saw what a society is like without any glimmer of Christ. She and Doug witnessed the power of the love of Christ in action and how it can make the impossible become possible. Hope and Hannah both have said goodbye to their boyfriends that they have been with for the past year. I've had to deal with the feelings of missing the boys but knowing that it was for the best. I've realized as a parent you don't have the choice of who your children date and you don't have the choice of when they choose not to date those people anymore. I grew to love Ben and Brian like my own. I spoiled them, fed them, carried them with me, they worked alongside me here at the house, played games with us, laughed with us....they were a part of our family for a year and now, they are gone. I support my girls decisions and rejoice with them that they have a peace in those decisions but at the same time it is sad for me. Hope is about to be a senior with only one semester left of school and Hannah is starting High School!!!! Change is definitely upon us every second of every day. Their have been lots of tears, lots of anxiety and big decisions, lots of joy, lots of laughter and lots of love and we are pressing on. Ecclesiastes 3:1 says "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven." I will trust in the God of the universe to see me through every season that my life experiences. He's never let me down!
Monday, July 21, 2008
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Partaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!
Here's the gang that came to church with Hannah last night and then spent the night!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Thursday, July 3, 2008
We live in a world of adjectives.....
I can't help but chuckle when I think of how many adjectives Hannah uses when she tells a story. Her stories are always colorful and full of excitement and energy! She inherited this trait from me....the apple didn't fall far from the tree on that one! We use words like Awesome, super, ultra, ginormous(which really isn't a word...lol), extremely, and lots of others. We just want people to get the feel for what we are talking about!
Last year in 2007 when school ended I picked Hannah and Cara up from the last day of school and asked "Girls, how was your last day?" Cara replied "Good.", and Hannah said "Grrrrrrrrrreat!" I laughed and said "What made yours grrrrrrrrrreat?" She said, "I got a boyfriend!" That boyfriend was Brian and he is still her boyfriend a year later....wowswer....that's another story! lol! She attributed her day of greatness to the fact that she had Brian in her life. Well, let's look at some scripture.
I love Psalm 95:3 "For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods." Did you see how our Lord was described......GREAT!
God is not just average, not just wonderful or above average....He is GREAT! He is great in his power, great in his love, great in his sovereignty, great in his mercy, great in his grace, great in his protection, great in his creation, great in his healing and I could go on and on. He is GREAT! Do you know why you have salvation? Do you know why you have hope and joy? Do you know why you have a friend that sticks closer than a brother? You can attribute all those things to the fact that your God is GREAT!
When Doug's neice Leah felt led to put together a mission trip to Jamaica she thought it almost impossible to raise the $19,000.00 needed to go in the short 6 weeks they had. She didn't know how she would help the outreach center with plumbing issues seeing as how she didn't know a thing about plumbing. But she did know she served a GREAT God and if it is His will, He will provide. They didn't have to spend one dime out of their pockets to go to Jamaica...God provided it all through his people. One of the men who went signed up exicted to go and guess what his profession is? He is a plumber. He didn't know that was exactly what they needed. God is good......and God is GREAT!
I think we need to remember this on a daily basis. When things are difficult in our life whether it may be financial , physical , relationship, or spiritual struggles, God CAN handle them and in a BIG way because he is GREAT! I think far to often I limit God because I know my limitations and how sad that is. I sincerely want to start thinking outside of my box and allow Him to work in HIS capacity not mine. I truly think he wants to do big things in ALL of our lives....but we have to let him.
Praise the LORD......he is GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRREAT!!!!!!!
Last year in 2007 when school ended I picked Hannah and Cara up from the last day of school and asked "Girls, how was your last day?" Cara replied "Good.", and Hannah said "Grrrrrrrrrreat!" I laughed and said "What made yours grrrrrrrrrreat?" She said, "I got a boyfriend!" That boyfriend was Brian and he is still her boyfriend a year later....wowswer....that's another story! lol! She attributed her day of greatness to the fact that she had Brian in her life. Well, let's look at some scripture.
I love Psalm 95:3 "For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods." Did you see how our Lord was described......GREAT!
God is not just average, not just wonderful or above average....He is GREAT! He is great in his power, great in his love, great in his sovereignty, great in his mercy, great in his grace, great in his protection, great in his creation, great in his healing and I could go on and on. He is GREAT! Do you know why you have salvation? Do you know why you have hope and joy? Do you know why you have a friend that sticks closer than a brother? You can attribute all those things to the fact that your God is GREAT!
When Doug's neice Leah felt led to put together a mission trip to Jamaica she thought it almost impossible to raise the $19,000.00 needed to go in the short 6 weeks they had. She didn't know how she would help the outreach center with plumbing issues seeing as how she didn't know a thing about plumbing. But she did know she served a GREAT God and if it is His will, He will provide. They didn't have to spend one dime out of their pockets to go to Jamaica...God provided it all through his people. One of the men who went signed up exicted to go and guess what his profession is? He is a plumber. He didn't know that was exactly what they needed. God is good......and God is GREAT!
I think we need to remember this on a daily basis. When things are difficult in our life whether it may be financial , physical , relationship, or spiritual struggles, God CAN handle them and in a BIG way because he is GREAT! I think far to often I limit God because I know my limitations and how sad that is. I sincerely want to start thinking outside of my box and allow Him to work in HIS capacity not mine. I truly think he wants to do big things in ALL of our lives....but we have to let him.
Praise the LORD......he is GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRREAT!!!!!!!
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Do you want to be happy?
Can you believe it is July 1st??!! It seems time passes so quickly that we can't manage to keep up with it. I try to read the chapter in Proverbs and Psalms that corresponds with the day of the month and today is the 1st so I read chapter 1 in both books. It always amazes me how sovereign God is! Every word in the Bible is in the perfect order and perfect for us! Psalm 1 tells us how to be happy. God loves us so much that he doesn't want any Psalm of praise, or Psalm for deliverance, or Psalm of prophecy to be listed before he makes sure we know how to be happy on this earth! How awesome is that??
Verse 1 says "Blessed (happy) is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly (wicked), nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful (those who mock or are arrogant, or make fun of others)
Verse 2 "But his delight ( pleasure or longing) is in the law (the Word) of the Lord and in his law doth he meditate (personally ponder and talk over with oneself, think upon) day and night.
That's how to be happy! So simple and yet so many of us miss the mark. When you look at verse 1 closely you notice a progression. First of all you are told not to listen to the counsel of the ungodly as you walk with them. The fact of the matter is we all have to "walk" with the ungodly, whether at work or school or just in public places. But the key is not to listen to their counsel. Don't allow yourself to be swayed by their speech, attitudes, or thought patterns. Don't laugh at the dirty jokes, don't join in on the gossip or negative criticism of a co-worker or fellow student. Then it says not to stand in the way of sinners. There is danger here because instead of walking....you have now stopped and you are standing. This gives the lost world more time to have an affect on you. Be careful! Satan is looking for such an opportunity. Then the last warning is not to sit down!!!! Keep walking, if you have stopped and are standing for your own good don't sit down!
The other key to this is verse 2 where we are instructed to delight or take pleasure in his law or word. It should be the thing that makes you smile, the thing you enjoy, and you should meditate on the things you've read so that it will help you keep walking for Him!
The result of all of this is HAPPINESS!!!! AND....You will prosper in the things that you do. I don't necessarily mean financially, but prosper in raising your children, living the christian life, being a witness, on your job, etc. Verse 3 states that!
May we all start this new month and every day this month with a desire to delight in his Word! I want to be HAPPY!
Verse 1 says "Blessed (happy) is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly (wicked), nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful (those who mock or are arrogant, or make fun of others)
Verse 2 "But his delight ( pleasure or longing) is in the law (the Word) of the Lord and in his law doth he meditate (personally ponder and talk over with oneself, think upon) day and night.
That's how to be happy! So simple and yet so many of us miss the mark. When you look at verse 1 closely you notice a progression. First of all you are told not to listen to the counsel of the ungodly as you walk with them. The fact of the matter is we all have to "walk" with the ungodly, whether at work or school or just in public places. But the key is not to listen to their counsel. Don't allow yourself to be swayed by their speech, attitudes, or thought patterns. Don't laugh at the dirty jokes, don't join in on the gossip or negative criticism of a co-worker or fellow student. Then it says not to stand in the way of sinners. There is danger here because instead of walking....you have now stopped and you are standing. This gives the lost world more time to have an affect on you. Be careful! Satan is looking for such an opportunity. Then the last warning is not to sit down!!!! Keep walking, if you have stopped and are standing for your own good don't sit down!
The other key to this is verse 2 where we are instructed to delight or take pleasure in his law or word. It should be the thing that makes you smile, the thing you enjoy, and you should meditate on the things you've read so that it will help you keep walking for Him!
The result of all of this is HAPPINESS!!!! AND....You will prosper in the things that you do. I don't necessarily mean financially, but prosper in raising your children, living the christian life, being a witness, on your job, etc. Verse 3 states that!
May we all start this new month and every day this month with a desire to delight in his Word! I want to be HAPPY!
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