I've written a lot of blogs in my head. I wish someone made a software program that would translate those into blog posts. Maybe I'll work on that in my spare time ;)
A few things I've wanted to write about lately
Squinkies and the Bible: the high school girls LOVED the squinkies and the Bible verses..... at least they pretended to if they really didn't.
A year without clothes: my year of not buying clothes is over. I give myself an A- I bought a Cookie Monster shirt for my Halloween costume and some black flip flops for a family photo shoot. I did get some new clothes as gifts and Ian gave me socks for Valentines day. I love my new socks! I learned a lot about what type of clothes I like and I learned what in my closet I wouldn't wear even if I didn't get anything new for a year. That stuff is no longer in my closet!
Satan's schemes: they don't call him crafty and the king of liars for nothing. I've watched Satan attack high school students as they return from CIY. They had God moments all week and then came home to reality to face Satan and his desires to knock them off of their tracks. Prayer is the best way to fight this deceiver and I know Jesus wins, but man is it hard to see young people struggle against the temptations of this world because Satan knows exactly how to distract and discourage them.
Balance: I feel way out of balance right now and can't figure out how to get life back into balance. So for now I'm trying to roll with being out of whack but I really don't do that well. I think I need to embrace this moment of life we are in and ride the waves until we can find a new spot! I'm not built to be a surfer ;)
Soul Surfer: speaking of surfers.... I just finished Bethany Hamilton's book after watching the movie. Both were fantastic. My girls pull their left arms inside of their shirts sometimes and pretend to be Bethany because she's that inspirational! Read the book and watch the movie. You won't be disappointed.
Crocheting: I'm slightly obsessed with crocheting right now. Let's just say it's my new stress relief! I bought a few patterns off of Etsy and have made some Christmas gifts already and am enjoying making some hats and flower headbands. There are so many things on Etsy. I could browse that site for days ;)
I really do wish I could figure out how to fit blogging in more often but for now this will have to do :)
Monday, July 11, 2011
Sunday, June 5, 2011
The Bible According to Squinkies
I'm doing something a little odd for Christ In Youth conference this year... I bought a pack of squinkies and found verses to go with them. I also bought silly band squinky holders for the squinkies so my girls can wear their squinky on a bracelet.
Hope it doesn't back fire!! Here are a few examples...
A frog squinky =
Some were a little harder- like a mouse =
Hope it doesn't back fire!! Here are a few examples...
A frog squinky =
Green with Envy
A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.
Proverbs 14:30
A baby squinky =
In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
Hebrews 5:12-14
Some were a little harder- like a mouse =
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Matthew 5:5
I'll let you know how it goes!!
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Teenagers
What does that word make you think of? Do you think about your own teen years? Years filled with pain and drama. Years filled with fun. Or years filled with a mixture of all three. OR... Does it make you think of teenagers today? The ones you see at the mall that are rude and "weird." Maybe you think it's a generation lost to selfishness, cell phones, sexting and all that is wrong with society.
I'm hoping this post will change your heart and your mind if you fall into the second camp. I've heard a lot of negative things about today's youth. I've heard it from every generation from theirs to my grandparents. But I want to tell you about 2 teenagers who are making a difference. Teens that are taking a good look at their relationship with God and living outloud for Him.
One of these teens is a high school girl that I volunteer with at our church. I've been mentoring her since she was a freshman. A few weeks ago she did a week long project called REDEFINE. God had been asking her to let Him redefine a few things in her life. Things like beauty, hunger, cold, and generosity. So she challenged herself to a week of projects. She tackled these issues head on and let God work out some amazing things in her life.
For beauty she spent the day make-up free, hair left natural, and wearing a t-shirt and jeans. This beautiful young lady does not see the beauty God created in her when she looks in the mirror. She knows this. She fights this almost everyday. But on one day she chose to see herself as God made her without the things of our society to define her beauty. It was so hard for her. I saw her on this day. She was fighting her insecurities every step of the way. But she did it. And God worked in her. She's back to wearing make-up (which is not in itself bad), but she's one step closer to loving herself- flaws and all.
For generosity she babysit for Ian and I so we could have a free date night. What a blessing!! Then we came home to a $50 bill on my dresser. This girl struggles to put gas in her car, does not spend a lot of money on clothes or the latest things. $50 is A LOT of money. And she chose to give it to us. I immediately felt a huge burden for how we were going to spend this money. We thought about it for almost a week before we hit on the perfect idea that would honor her and honor God.
She's been reading the Bible a lot. On her own, not prompted or encouraged by anyone. All by herself she's been digging into God's Word. I believe that's why she heard Him tell her that He needed to redefine some things in her life. So we bought Life Application Study Bibles. These Bibles are normally very expensive. If she had purchased them with the $50 she would have been able to buy 2. We were able to buy 4. God doubled her gift because she was willing to give it away. What an amazing lesson for me to learn... from a teenager!
The other teen is an 18 year old boy (he's really a young man) that has been active in our youth group for awhile. He has a HUGE heart for the people of northern Mexico. So do we. I think that's why we get along so well. This Christmas this boy and his friends gathered 5000 items for the poor people living in Rocky Point, MX. They took everything down the week before Christmas. I fully expected them to handout the gifts. But they didn't. They chose to give the gifts to the local churches. The local churches handed out the gifts. This young man recognized the need for the churches to help the local people. The churches and the community need to be building relationships- and he helped facilitate that. WOW!
He also volunteered- we did not ask him- to come along for the 207 ride and video tape the experience. He's extremely talented and he wanted to put his talents to good use. He spent 3 days with us. I'm pretty sure he had fun, but he also worked very hard. He was completely respectful, helpful and never once complained about anything. He has already created a REALLY cool 4 minute video of the 207 experience.
2 teenagers. They aren't making news headlines, they aren't taking over the whole world. BUT they are listening to God speak to them. I am honored to be able to watch God unfold their lives, to watch them walk the path he has laid out for them, to watch them be Jesus to a lost and hurting world.
I'm hoping this post will change your heart and your mind if you fall into the second camp. I've heard a lot of negative things about today's youth. I've heard it from every generation from theirs to my grandparents. But I want to tell you about 2 teenagers who are making a difference. Teens that are taking a good look at their relationship with God and living outloud for Him.
One of these teens is a high school girl that I volunteer with at our church. I've been mentoring her since she was a freshman. A few weeks ago she did a week long project called REDEFINE. God had been asking her to let Him redefine a few things in her life. Things like beauty, hunger, cold, and generosity. So she challenged herself to a week of projects. She tackled these issues head on and let God work out some amazing things in her life.
For beauty she spent the day make-up free, hair left natural, and wearing a t-shirt and jeans. This beautiful young lady does not see the beauty God created in her when she looks in the mirror. She knows this. She fights this almost everyday. But on one day she chose to see herself as God made her without the things of our society to define her beauty. It was so hard for her. I saw her on this day. She was fighting her insecurities every step of the way. But she did it. And God worked in her. She's back to wearing make-up (which is not in itself bad), but she's one step closer to loving herself- flaws and all.
For generosity she babysit for Ian and I so we could have a free date night. What a blessing!! Then we came home to a $50 bill on my dresser. This girl struggles to put gas in her car, does not spend a lot of money on clothes or the latest things. $50 is A LOT of money. And she chose to give it to us. I immediately felt a huge burden for how we were going to spend this money. We thought about it for almost a week before we hit on the perfect idea that would honor her and honor God.
She's been reading the Bible a lot. On her own, not prompted or encouraged by anyone. All by herself she's been digging into God's Word. I believe that's why she heard Him tell her that He needed to redefine some things in her life. So we bought Life Application Study Bibles. These Bibles are normally very expensive. If she had purchased them with the $50 she would have been able to buy 2. We were able to buy 4. God doubled her gift because she was willing to give it away. What an amazing lesson for me to learn... from a teenager!
The other teen is an 18 year old boy (he's really a young man) that has been active in our youth group for awhile. He has a HUGE heart for the people of northern Mexico. So do we. I think that's why we get along so well. This Christmas this boy and his friends gathered 5000 items for the poor people living in Rocky Point, MX. They took everything down the week before Christmas. I fully expected them to handout the gifts. But they didn't. They chose to give the gifts to the local churches. The local churches handed out the gifts. This young man recognized the need for the churches to help the local people. The churches and the community need to be building relationships- and he helped facilitate that. WOW!
He also volunteered- we did not ask him- to come along for the 207 ride and video tape the experience. He's extremely talented and he wanted to put his talents to good use. He spent 3 days with us. I'm pretty sure he had fun, but he also worked very hard. He was completely respectful, helpful and never once complained about anything. He has already created a REALLY cool 4 minute video of the 207 experience.
2 teenagers. They aren't making news headlines, they aren't taking over the whole world. BUT they are listening to God speak to them. I am honored to be able to watch God unfold their lives, to watch them walk the path he has laid out for them, to watch them be Jesus to a lost and hurting world.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
3 Specialists in 3 years
Emery Ruth has been to her fair share of specialists. When she was 4 months old we took her to a pediatric neurologist because she had what we believed was a seizure. She was fine, healthy as can be. Thankfully.
When she was 2 and a half we took her to a pediatric orthopedic surgeon because of some trauma to her spine in her neck. He said it was a 90% chance it was scar tissue causing her pain and it would go away in 4 months or there was a 10% chance it was a tumor. It was scar tissue and she is pain free!! Awesome.
Last Friday we took her to a Pediatric Gynecologist. Yes, there are Pediatric GYN's out there. Only one in the state of AZ, but at least there's one. She's had trouble with her skin fusing down there (sorry more details than you may want) a few times since birth. But this time was pretty serious. I called the Dr. at 11:30 and we were in her office by 1:30. I was not expecting an emergency trip to the Dr. I was expecting to make an appointment. So when they said "get here ASAP" my heart sank. Then they told me she might need surgery- YIKES!
As I started the car with my half asleep baby KLOVE was just starting a new song. Bet you can guess what it was.... Let the Waters Rise by Mike's Chair (for background on our family and this song read this post and this post). Seriously- God is so good. I just kept hearing
God I trust you.
There's a raging sea right in front of me
wants to pull me in,
bring me to my knees.
Let the waters rise,
if you want them to.
I will follow you.
I will follow you.
Emery did not need surgery. The Dr. knew EXACTLY what was wrong with her. We switched medicine and she should be back to normal in a few weeks.
I'm so glad my baby did not need surgery.
I'm so thankful that my parents could pick Amelia up from school for me.
I'm grateful that Ian was able to go with us even though he'd only been at his new job for 4 days.
And I'm awed by God's ability to comfort me in the middle of that mess.
I told Emery she has met her life time quota of specialists, so no more trips to the Dr. for her ;)
When she was 2 and a half we took her to a pediatric orthopedic surgeon because of some trauma to her spine in her neck. He said it was a 90% chance it was scar tissue causing her pain and it would go away in 4 months or there was a 10% chance it was a tumor. It was scar tissue and she is pain free!! Awesome.
Last Friday we took her to a Pediatric Gynecologist. Yes, there are Pediatric GYN's out there. Only one in the state of AZ, but at least there's one. She's had trouble with her skin fusing down there (sorry more details than you may want) a few times since birth. But this time was pretty serious. I called the Dr. at 11:30 and we were in her office by 1:30. I was not expecting an emergency trip to the Dr. I was expecting to make an appointment. So when they said "get here ASAP" my heart sank. Then they told me she might need surgery- YIKES!
As I started the car with my half asleep baby KLOVE was just starting a new song. Bet you can guess what it was.... Let the Waters Rise by Mike's Chair (for background on our family and this song read this post and this post). Seriously- God is so good. I just kept hearing
God I trust you.
There's a raging sea right in front of me
wants to pull me in,
bring me to my knees.
Let the waters rise,
if you want them to.
I will follow you.
I will follow you.
Emery did not need surgery. The Dr. knew EXACTLY what was wrong with her. We switched medicine and she should be back to normal in a few weeks.
I'm so glad my baby did not need surgery.
I'm so thankful that my parents could pick Amelia up from school for me.
I'm grateful that Ian was able to go with us even though he'd only been at his new job for 4 days.
And I'm awed by God's ability to comfort me in the middle of that mess.
I told Emery she has met her life time quota of specialists, so no more trips to the Dr. for her ;)
Friday, December 24, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
WWJTBD
No I'm not typing jibberish. I meant to type WWJTBD. $20 to the first person who guesses what it means! JK- it's Christmas. I don't have $20 for a silly question.
WWJTBD- It's my new mantra. Instead of WWJD... what would Jesus do? I've started asking myself WWJTBD... what would John the Baptist do? Maybe I'm selling myself short, or worse yet selling God short, but I cannot attain a character equal to that of Jesus on earth. It's impossible. Trust me.
So I've decided to set my sights on something I can attain... being like John the Baptist. I wish I could be like Jesus, respond the way Jesus does to people, love people the way Jesus does, but WOW. Not happening. However, I can always point people to Jesus. That's what John the Baptist did.
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.” John 1:29-31
Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to start wearing camel hair clothes and eating honey and locusts. And I'm not crazy enough to think that God ordained me to be the next John the Baptist. However, I do believe He called each and every one of His followers to point people to Him. To show people who Jesus is.
So I'm going to stop trying to be like Jesus and start pointing people to Him. I will fall short of people's expectations. I will fall short of my own expectations. I will even fall short of God's expectations for me.
But God will never fall short. Ever.
WWJTBD- It's my new mantra. Instead of WWJD... what would Jesus do? I've started asking myself WWJTBD... what would John the Baptist do? Maybe I'm selling myself short, or worse yet selling God short, but I cannot attain a character equal to that of Jesus on earth. It's impossible. Trust me.
So I've decided to set my sights on something I can attain... being like John the Baptist. I wish I could be like Jesus, respond the way Jesus does to people, love people the way Jesus does, but WOW. Not happening. However, I can always point people to Jesus. That's what John the Baptist did.
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.” John 1:29-31
Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to start wearing camel hair clothes and eating honey and locusts. And I'm not crazy enough to think that God ordained me to be the next John the Baptist. However, I do believe He called each and every one of His followers to point people to Him. To show people who Jesus is.
So I'm going to stop trying to be like Jesus and start pointing people to Him. I will fall short of people's expectations. I will fall short of my own expectations. I will even fall short of God's expectations for me.
But God will never fall short. Ever.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Amelia turns 7
It's crazy and exciting to think that Amelia is 7. It seems like yesterday that we found out she was a little girl and the day she joined us is still cemented in my memory. I read a quote once that describes life with little ones pretty accurately.... "Each day passes slowly, but the years fly by." It's so true. Some days I wonder if Ian will ever get home from work so we can eat dinner and enjoy some family time. And then I'm left to wonder where August went and it's mid-November already.
We had a great time celebrating our oldest. Ian, Emery, and I picked her up after school and we went straight to the mall to get her ears pierced. Lots of drama and tears, but in the end she toughed it out and now proudly sports Hello Kitty in her cute little ears.
After a muffin from Paradise, you know to ease the pain, we headed home for a family birthday dinner. Amelia requested sushi and cake to celebrate. We added homemade Chinese to make sure that everyone had something to eat. Amelia helped Ian make LOTS of sushi.
Grandma Mary, Grandpa Lee, Aunt, Uncle, Jess and Macie joined in the fun. My parents were not able to make it, unfortunately. My grandpa was very sick and they were in California saying good-bye.
After dinner we enjoyed the cake Ian and I made. Amelia designed it herself and had lots of fun doing that.
She had a blast opening presents. The girls finally fell into bed around 8:30. Good thing it was a Friday!
Happy birthday Amelia Marie. You are cherished.
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