Happy Birthday Jesus!

Well, what better day than today to not be able to sleep. Maybe the quiet time of the early morning will allow me to reflect on this past year and the many blessing Jesus has given to us.

It seems as though all we did in January, February, and March were doctor's appointments, doctor's appointments, and more doctor's appointments! We were consumed by my ever growing belly and the beautiful baby growing inside. Not to mention that we were busy with our oldest children and their activities as well.

This year was also a year for firsts! =)
We celebrated Garrett's birthday on April 9th. The day after his sleepover we started having contractions. At least Bella was considerate enough to wait until his friends had gone home. Then we went to the hospital and on Easter Sunday we had our first BIG first of the year. Arabella Grace weighing a small 5lbs 11ozs and being 18 inches long. We have been SO blessed by her!

I suppose the next first was Garrett graduating from fifth grade. That was an emotional day for me. My baby boy was now going to be in middle school and as I watched him walk across the stage to get his diploma I was holding my one month old baby in my arms. Yes, I was a but emotional.

Another big event that was a first and only was my surgery. How I had been waiting for four years to have this surgery. A total hysterectomy! WOO HOO! No more endometriosis pain and no more going to the doctor every three months for painful tests checking to see if the cancerous cells (cervical) had returned. After a five hour long procedure with my doctor and the GYN Oncologist it was all over. My doctor did say that I did have some bad spots on my cervix, however they hadn't turned into cancerous cells yet that they were pre-cancerous cells. PRAISE JESUS!

The summer turned into me hanging out around the house and trying to take it easy so I could rest and heal. Aaron also had the opportunity to play with his band. We had a lot of fun going to Cincy! I got to watch him play and then we went out on the town. It was also our first time we left Bella over night. It was difficult, but much needed and well worth it. I was also blessed with the wonderful opportunity of lia sophia to help supplement the 60% decrease we received in Aaron's pay. That hurt, but we knew that Jesus would provide for us.

Up next, back to school. =( Back to school meant several things. Back to work for me (and was that ever difficult...still is honestly), Bella going to the sitter for the first time, Garrett starting middle school, Skyla getting her braces off and starting seventh grade. Skyla also started playing volleyball this year. GO SKYLA! She is definitely active and we wish we could be at all of her games. We are cheering for you in Skyla. Besides, you know you play better when we aren't there. =)

So, life was busy for the next months. Bella had her first Halloween. That was a lot of fun. =) We were busy with family pictures on both sides, going to Painstville to visit the family, my sister moving back here, and lots of other things. Then we had our first Thanksgiving at our house with the almost the WHOLE family. Steve, Carol, and the kids couldn't make it because Steve was sick and so was Mike and Veronica. They were missed! Other than that we had both sides of my family and Aaron's family here. It was amazingly wonderful. We also surprised my mom and day with their Christmas gift...our big family picture. I never expected the response that we got, but it was AWESOME!

In December we were given our first teenager! Skyla turned thirteen on December 7th. Where has the time gone? Also, we took the whole family shopping for kids on the Angel Tree. It has been a rough year for us and we might not have been able to give as many presents as we wish we could, but there are kids that wouldn't have a Christmas if we didn't help. There are kids that still won't get any presents on Christmas. So we had the two oldest each get the name of a child their age so they could see how truly blessed they are. Then we went and served dinner at the Community Action Center to the people that we bought gifts for and their families. How AWESOME and rewarding it was to go as a family and sere others.

Now we are at Bella's first Christmas. Not only is it her first Christmas, but she just started full-on crawling (not army crawling) and her bottom two teeth have broken through the skin. WOW! What an amazing year we have had! All because a baby changes everything. I'm not speaking of Bella, although she has changed the dynamics of our family and we absolutely LOVE it! I am talking about baby Jesus. So on this Christmas Day let's not forget the most important present, gift, and first that we have. Let us remember that the first Christmas was when Jesus was born. Let us not forget that if weren't for Jesus we wouldn't have any of the gifts or blessings that we have in our lives. Jesus came into this world for us and I consider that the greatest gift of all!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS!!!!!

"Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord." -- Luke 2:11

Santa Pics

The kids were SOOOO happy to have their pics taken with Santa. Can't you tell? =)

Christmas Pics

Pics

5th Grade Assignment

Wouldn't this be great if it was taught in every school.
A fifth grade teacher in a Christian school asked her class to look at TV commercials and see if they could use them in 20 ways to communicate ideas about God.

Here are some of the results: scroll down.

God is like.
BAYER ASPIRIN
He works miracles.

God is like.
A FORD
He's got a better idea..

God is like.
COKE
He's the real thing.


(This is great)

God is like.
HALLMARK CARDS
He cares enough to send His very best.

God is like.
TIDE
He gets the stains out others leave behind. ..

God is like.
GENERAL ELECTRIC
He brings good things to life.

God is like.

WAL-MART
He has everything.

God is like.
ALKA-SELTZER
Try Him, you'll like Him

God is like.
SCOTCH TAPE
You can't see Him, but you know He's there.

God is like..
DELTA
He's ready when you are.

God is like.
ALLSTATE
You're in good hands with Him.

God is like.
VO-5 Hair Spray ;
He holds through all kinds of weather

God is like.
DIAL SOAP
Aren't you glad you have Him? Don't you wish everybody did?

(that one is my favorite)

God is like .
The U.S. POST OFFICE
Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet nor ice will keep Him from

His appointed destination.

God is like.
Chevrolet. . . .the heart beat of America

God is like
Maxwell House. ... .
Good to the very last drop

God is like.
B o u n t y . . . ..
He is the quicker picker upper. . Can handle the tough jobs. ..

God is SO awesome!

"Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." Proverbs 22:6 (NIV)

I don't want to raise successful children. That's a shocking thing to read, and a shocking thing for a mother to type. So, let me clarify.

I used to define success according to my child's report card. Good grades and academic achievement would surely equal a good child with great potential in this world. But then several of my children wound up being average students with average grades. Though we carted them off to tutors and spent many a late night at the kitchen table helping them, they remained average. And I remained concerned and frustrated.

One report card day I found myself facedown in the fibers of my carpet crying and wonderi ng, "Where have I gone wrong as a mom?"

I dug into Scriptures. I begged God for wisdom and discernment. I prayed for God's perspective with each of my kids. Finally, one day it dawned on me - what if I simply chose to embrace the natural bent of each of my kids as God's way to protect them and keep them on the path toward His best plans for their lives?

What if my A student needs academic success to prepare her for God's plans while my average to below-average student needs to be steered away from a more academic future? What if my sports star kid needs that athletic excellence for his future assignments by God, but my benchwarmer kid is being protected from getting off course by her lack in this area?

And that's when it finally dawned on me. My job isn't to push success for my kids. My job as a parent is to recognize the unique way God created each child and point them to Jesus at every turn along their journey toward adulthood. Yes, I wan t my kids to learn and thrive and grow up educated, but it's not a flaw in me or them if they don't have straight A report cards and trophy cases full of sports medals.

Proverbs 22:6 says, "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it" (NIV).

I am challenged to ponder these words, "… in the way he should go." Are we training our kids that the "way he should go" is to chase worldly achievement or to chase God? Whatever they learn to chase as a child, they will chase as adults. Therefore, we must be challenged to honestly assess the way we are pointing them to go.

My daughter, Hope, is one of my average students. She has also warmed many a bench in the sports she's tried, and can always be found hiding on the back row of the stage during school concerts. Using the world's benchmarks for achievement, Hope wouldn't be seen as a child positioned for success. But God…

This past January, my 15 year old Hope, shocked me when she announced she wanted to go to Ethiopia with some missionary friends of ours and live in the remote African bush for the summer. Yes, she may not have trophies and straight A report cards but she does have a heart of gold. And because she's not entrenched in sports and academic pursuits that could have created obligations for her summer, she was free to go to Africa. Free to chase God in a really big way.

One of the first e-mails she sent me from Ethiopia read, "Mom, I've fallen in love with the AIDS orphanage children. They rushed at me when I held my arms out and I tried with all my might to hold all 30 of them at once. I love it here."

Now, don't get me wrong. I do expect Hope to return to her studies this fall, give 100% effort, and finish her high school career having done her very best. She will most likely then go to college. But she probably won't be delivering the valedictorian address or wearing the honors cords and medals. She'll be the on e with a vision of a dying AIDS orphan pressing against her heart ready to chase God's plans to the ends of the earth.

So back to my original statement, I don't want to raise successful children. It's true, I don't. Though Hope's sister coming behind her is an A student and can always be found on the front row of school performances - we don't chase after success for her either. I trust God that she needs those things in her life for the plans He's unfolding in her life. We train with that bent in mind. But, we don't chase it. Just like Hope, we point her in the direction of God at every turn and pray like crazy.

I stand by what I said and I'll say it again, I don't want to raise successful children. Because--- raising God-honoring adults who will set the world on fire for Christ is just so much more rewarding.

Dear Lord, being a mom is a really tough job. Please help me, teach me and show me how to define success for my kids. In J esus' Name, Amen.

God ALWAYS sends us what we need!

"What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you?" James 4:1 (NIV)

Our verse for today gets to the root of why my husband and I get in arguments: the desires that battle within me. Desires I wish weren't there. Desires that are ugly and selfish and petty. Desires that motivate me to seek my own way. Desires that battle within me, then spill over into my actions.

There is a battle raging within each of us. It is a battle between flesh and Spirit, between reaching out and focusing inward, between living for Christ and living for ourselves. How can we find victory in these battles without claiming more casualties? I have found there are several ways:

Praying: James 4:2 goe s on to say, "You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God." James is telling us how to avoid fights. Take our unmet needs, desires, expectations and complaints to God. We don't need to expect our husbands, children, neighbors, co-workers or friends to fulfill our every need.

Walking in truth: It's easy to believe the lies of the enemy or our flesh: If you were only married to someone else, you'd have a better life. If he would clean up after himself, you wouldn't have so much work to do. No one around here appreciates you. The lies escalate the battles. We spiral quickly into feelings of self-pity and anger. Instead we can learn to recognize those lies and refocus on Truth—God's Truth. We can go to His Word and read what He has to say about the people we love and the position we are in. Psalm 26:2-3 says, "Test me, O Lord, and try m e, examine my heart and my mind, for your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in your truth."

Taking each thought captive: 2 Corinthians 10:5b tells us that we are to "take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." There are two action verbs in this statement: take and make. These are strong words that indicate effort. It's not something we can sit back and hope will happen. It's something we have to be intentional and insistent about. When our thoughts start wandering down those dangerous "if only" paths, we can instead find a fork in the road and change direction, remembering who Christ is and how He lived His life on earth—as a loving, humble servant.

Being silent: I have often regretted my speech. In the heat of battles, I've found it is almost always better to walk away and pray. If I feel I have been wronged then I need to ask my Father to defend me. If I feel that battle still waging inside me th en I know it's time to ask Him to quiet my heart. Being silent is hard work! But I know that my silence is not as likely as my angry words to hurt the people I care about. Proverbs 17:28 says, "Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent, and discerning if he holds his tongue."

When the battles rage within us, we can change the results and stop the arguments that ensue. It's up to us to pause and choose a different reaction. I hope these things will help us today as we rise to the challenge!

Dear Lord, please help me to remember to pray, to walk in truth, to take each thought captive and to be silent. Help me honor You when the battles rage inside me. I don't want to fight with the people I love and I need You to help me with that. In Jesus' Name, Amen.