Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Teenager Makeover

Things have changed around our house now that Christian has gone off to college.  Cameron inherited his room, it's bigger...it's only fair.  Christian does come home once in a while which we appreciate.

The biggest changes have been in Cameron, he is no longer the little brother at school, he is doing his own things, for example:
  1. He is the yearbook editor - this is weird because he has never done anything like this before.  He takes pictures at ballgames, he said he just finished the cover of the yearbook, etc.
  2. He is taking voice lessons - I am really ecstatic about this one, yes I set them up but he went and actually likes it, he is in Show Choir even though a lot of other boys are not.  He sings around the house, he made All-District Choir.  Cool.
  3. He currently has all As in his classes - these are hard classes too, he has been a good student but all As?  Whoa, so proud.
  4. He signed up to take the ACT - granted I had to do some of the work but he pestered me about getting it done on time.
Among other things, he's been pretty responsible, he's done some "man" jobs around the house, and the most admirable...See You At the Pole was last Wednesday, he took it upon himself to go by the office before school and have them announce it for 7:45, he went to his All-State Choir practice and when it was announced went out to the flag pole and prayed with the students and faculty that joined him.  This is what makes a mama proud, what really matters.

Photobucket

Losing a toe is ruff

For the past several months our miniature schnauzer, Rylee's toe nail has been growing in weird ways.  I really wish I had taken a picture of it, it was quite remarkable.  It was about ten times bigger than the rest of her little toe nails...comparable to my pinky in width and length.  Our dog groomer had been trimming it but said we should think about having our vet remove the nail.  We took Rylee to the vet and his exact words were "Wow, it looks like elephantitis of the toe"...I know, a picture! (insert it here).  He told us he would have to remove the toe as well and that we could pick her up the next day. 

She seemed to adapt pretty well, at first...a week after the surgery she started gnawing on her foot a lot, licking it or whatever but it still seems to be doing okay.  I asked the vet if she would need a "cone of shame" but he said no, he didn't like those.  The most impressive thing about this whole ordeal is that my awesome vet only charged us $45.  That really is amazing.  I read about all kinds of weird dog toe removal procedures online, hundreds of dollars spent, antibiotics, pain medicines, a positive attitude because your pet will sense your distress, LOL, these are dogs....
 
And this whole thing was worth it because now we'll get to see a bizarre footprint in the snow this winter.


Photobucket

Monday, September 30, 2013

ValleyPalooza!

Missouri Valley College hosted "valleypalooza" a family weekend in which we were invited to partake.  It was MVC's first home football game and families were fed a nice dinner beforehand and entertained by the dueling pianos...I think that was really their name, they were..um...interesting...and loud.  Regardless, we had a good time and watched a good football game, I love football.




So stinkin' cute.


Photobucket

Firsts - 2013

Our first son's first year of college!  Christian is attending Missouri Valley College in Marshall, MO.  He is playing golf and he is a dual major in Music and Business...I know, we'll see what happens.

Christian with his golf coach, signing his letter of intent.
 
We moved him into his dorm....*sniff, you can take that sniff two ways...tears or a dorm full of stinky young men.
 
Cameron's first day of his Junior year of high school...isn't this a great pic?  This is what he thought was an appropriate first day of school picture.
 
 Christian's first golf tournament, it was a tournament at Evangel University in Springfield so I took a day off and we followed Christian around in a golf cart and watched him play.
 
 
*Note: I am playing catch-up.


Photobucket

Thursday, September 26, 2013

My Indescribable God

I am blessed beyond blessed, if there is such a thing.  I am in awe of God, He amazes me, humbles me, uses me for His glory and purpose even when I feel unusable, humiliated, fearful.  He really is indescribable. 

I can see His hand working in my life, molding me, changing me into what He wants me to be...more like Jesus.  He has given me a deeper love for people, opened my eyes to see their need, and enabled me to show them love in ways I have never known before. 

He has strengthened the gifts He has given me, stretched me, and given me opportunities to serve Him in more and more ways. 

He prepared me for these things and is preparing me for future things.  I know I will look back at this and be in awe again at how far He has taken me in my walk with Him and where I will be. 

He has used and is using my surrender to be freer in my worship to Him, to keep me eternal minded, to love people more, to hunger after His Word. 

I am grateful and thankful, and so unworthy. 

God is good.

Photobucket

Saturday, September 7, 2013

Since Anything

Since my 'Anything' study, it seems I have been consumed with too many things to do, it's at these times that I need to be purposeful about sneaking/taking special moments to be with Jesus.  I have a tendency to get too caught up in what I'm doing and lose sight of just how much intimate time with the Lord I really do need.  I long for it but then try and squeeze it in which then makes me feel shallow and hypocritical.  God is giving me some really incredible opportunities and I feel like I'm blowing it. 
"Have mercy on my, O God, according to your abundance mercy blot out my transgressions."
Psalm 51:1
Lord, help me be completely surrendered to You, keep me on my face, use me to make You famous.
"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise." Psalm 51:17

Photobucket

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

All Things


One of my favorite verses is Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."  It's a well known verse and I love to say it to myself when I am have something difficult to do (difficult in my opinion).  I focus on the word all....all things, not some, a few, all things and all because of Jesus!  It is only through Him I can do anything at all that is good or worthwhile.
Tonight I am going to share some of my anything journey at a ladies event at my church, I volunteered to do it but the closer the day came the more anxious I have became.  I have written and rewritten what I want to say half a dozen times.  I know what I want to say, it's what God has been laying on my heart, I've been talking about it with several people but now I'm feeling chicken, like I'm going to get up there and babble like an idiot and make no sense whatsoever.  I do not want to dishonor Christ, I just have to give it all to Him and let Him speak through me.  I am so weak....but He is strong.  Thank goodness!

Photobucket

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Prayer for Spiritual Strength

I needed this today...

"For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith--that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."  Ephesians 4:14-19

James and I are praying through a difficult decision, we are trusting the Lord with the outcome and know that He will reveal His will to us.  Remember when you were a child and you cried so hard that when you took a breath in it turned into two?  When I try to think too hard I have a couple of those ;)  Sometimes I need a reminder like this prayer for spiritual strength in Ephesians.  God's Word is the best place to be when you seek His will, and on your face in prayer.

Photobucket

Monday, July 22, 2013

Hummingbird Feeder Raid

For the last two nights, raccoons have been raiding my hummingbird feeders.  More than just drinking all the sugar water, they completely destroyed them.

 
The next night we...James, put out a live trap...
 
 
We caught one of the little boogars but we thought there might be more so James set the trap again but they were too smart to go in it again...after all they did see their buddy here get caught...don't worry, James just let it go far away from here.  We have resorted to bringing our feeders in at night, I read that if you sprinkle coyote urine around that raccoons won't come near...James said that it stinks too bad and he would know.  Coyote urine is kinda expensive too...do you know how hard it is to get a coyote to pee in a bottle?



Photobucket

Friday, July 19, 2013

Purge Much???

You know it's been too long since you've went through your kids dresser drawers when you find something like this...
It's not that these are spiderman or some other weird character underwear found in your 16 year old son's underwear drawer.  In fact, he would probably wear a similar pair if they were in his size. 

But these are just a tad too small...
 
He actually posed for this....


Photobucket

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Cheesy Chicken Soup

     Last Fall, a friend of mine and I went to my town's annual Fall Festival - Heritage Days.  Thousands of people descend on our little town...really....thousands.  But it really is an incredible festival, lots of old timey things, crafts, etc. 

     As we were perusing the booths we came upon a packaged soup booth...they had samples. 


One of their best sellers is a Cheesy Chicken Soup mix, all the seasonings are in the package along with some rice.  Just add chicken (which the lady told me she uses canned chicken) and Velveeta and follow the directions and you are golden.  I bought a package...it was amazing!  James raved about it and I have made it several times since.  On the package is their website so I ordered more online, they also have dips and other things.  I've made the Chicken Enchilada Soup as well, it was spicy but good.  Christian and I liked it with tortilla chips.  I brought the Cheesy Chicken Soup to a church dinner, we had none to bring home.  It really is that good.  Here's a link to Peculiar Spice Co, check them out.

Photobucket

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

I Like...

I like...
  • When one of my boys randomly tells me they love me
  • Teenagers who aren't afraid to act silly
  • Playing board games
  • Reading good books
  • Hugs from sweet little children
  • A clean house
  • Painted toe nails
  • Chocolate
  • A good workout
  • 8 hours of sleep, what's that like?
  • Jeans and T-shirts
  • Singing to my Jesus
  • Hearing God's Word preached
  • A house full of teenagers
  • Reading my cousin Jennifer's blog
  • Slow dancing in the kitchen with my husband
  • Cottage prayer meetings
  • Old people
  • Sunshine
And most of all...Seeing people come to know Jesus Christ as their Savior

Photobucket

Monday, July 15, 2013

Surrender

     This past Sunday our Pastor was out of town so a man in our church filled the pulpit.  He preached about Jesus and the rich young man, Mark 10:17-22.  I started thinking to myself....wowee, here we go again, more confirmation of what God has been doing in my life.  He spoke about how Jesus told the rich young man that all he needed to do was sell all that he owned and give it away.  Jesus' response to the rich young man was specific to this man's heart.  This young man held his stuff, his wealth in a higher regard than Jesus.  Our speaker titled this sermon "Facing a Defining Moment", he defined a "defining moment" as a moment in your life when you are faced with a truth and have to make a decision.  A response is required.  For the young man, his response was going away sorrowful because he had great possessions and wasn't willing to give them up to follow Jesus.
    God's word is truth, the truth of God's word convicts us, it reveals what we need to change in our lives, yet we often want to stay comfortable so we push it aside.  It's all about surrender....the willingness to give all that we have, all that we are to follow and honor Christ.  He may never ask us to "sell everything" but we ought to be willing. 
     Our speaker also talked about commitment.  We are committed to things, to Jesus, the church, ministry, our families, etc and that's not necessarily a bad thing but commitment suggests effort on our part.  We need to think less about commitment and more about surrender.  Abide in God's word, let His truth change our hearts and respond.  No response is a response like the rich young man...

"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise." Psalm 51:17

Photobucket

Friday, July 12, 2013

What Obedience Looks Like

This is a video of Jennie Allen, the author of Anything, that I'm currently reading.  Through she and her husband's obedience to the Lord, God called them to adopt.

 
 "I still can hear God whisper occasionally, “…look at what you could have missed Jennie.”

Jennie writes that after she and her husband surrendered and were praying anything...God was more clear to them than ever before.  They knew that God was calling them not only to obey Him but to trust Him with whatever the consequences of their obedience would be.

"Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen." Hebrews 13:20-21

I don't know what my story will look like, what God has planned just yet for my life and the life of my family but I'm looking forward to the journey and the amazing things He is going to do.

Photobucket

Monday, July 1, 2013

Anything

Anything...
     I've been thinking about this word a lot and if I want to be ready for "anything", meaning whatever God calls me to or asks of me, I gotta get my house in order.  He may not call me to something extreme right now but I need to be ready for anything!
     I need to be healthy, so taking care of myself physically is important.  I need to have healthy finances, getting rid of debt is a must.
     I know that God can move mountains and bring about the things He wants to accomplish through us when we say yes to Him but it's important to be expectant.  We don't live as though He's ever going to ask us to do anything at all.  If we are awaiting His call and are freeing ourselves to be available for His work then we are more apt to go and do it!  We often make excuses as to why we can't or we tie ourselves down and talk ourselves into believing we can't be used by God the way He wants to use us.

Be ready for ANYTHING!!

Photobucket

Sunday, June 30, 2013

Striving After Wind

I've been feeling discontent lately, for a while, off and on.  I'm sure most of you have felt that same way, feeling like you're not really doing what God has called you to do or asking Him "what is Your will for me, Lord?"  In March I was struggling with busyness and removing some of those obstacles and purposefully trying to listen to God and just simply being still has enabled me to hear from Him...even just a tiny glimpse.  I've been struggling with my toil, doing the day to day things when I know there are lost people out there that need Jesus, that there is more to life than just simply existing.  I know I am a child of the King, that I serve a risen Savior, that I was made to worship and adore Him but then life creeps in...and we forget about carrying our cross daily, dying to self, and telling everyone we meet about our Redeemer.  I've felt ashamed for wasting my time watching tv, shopping, especially buying something that I don't even need.  I began this book and Bible study entitled "Anything" and God is revealing some awesome things to me and not just in His word and through this book, my Pastor preached on what I've been studying, using the same scriptures; it took my breath away today.  I am in awe of my God and His willingness to draw me closer to Him, to reveal Himself to me and to use my weaknesses for His glory.

I have been passive.  Just doing my duty, serving in my church, singing because God gave me a good voice, working, taking care of my family.  But I want to do anything.  Whatever God wants of me.  And I want to do anything all the time.  Because you know how we are...we get on fire one day and the next it's simply ashes...we forget how we felt in that moment when God was trying to draw us in, to make us more like Himself. 

Let me share a couple excerpts from "Anything" by Jennie Allen.

Why have I loved people more than Him?  Why have I sat on every gift He had given me to make Him known?  Because I cared more about being judged by everyone else but Him?

I want to get to heaven out of breath, having willingly done anything that you-God of the universe-ask...anything.

Both of these are true for me, I have loved people more, I have sat on the gifts He has given me, using them only half-hazardly, I have cared more about what other people think of me than Him.  And I want to get to heaven out of breath having done everything He has ever asked me to do. 

Okay, Lord, we can sell everything and go across the world...if that's what You ask.  Okay, Lord, we can become foster parents...if that's what You ask.  Okay, Lord, I can treat my boss with more respect, I can honor my husband, I can have a better attitude about where you've placed me in this moment.  He may not call me to Africa, He may not call me to be a foster parent.  Whatever you want, God.

I don't think it's so much about what the thing is that you have to give up....it's the willingness to give it...surrender, nothing will change until you do.  Once you've surrendered it, it no longer has a hold on you, He will set you free from feeling like you have to live, act, have certain things and ways. 

One more from Jennie Allen - So we live more afraid of losing what we love here than of facing God in eternity, even when it all is striving after the wind, to paraphrase Solomon (Eccl. 1:14)

"I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind."  Ecclesiastes 1:14 ESV


Photobucket

P.S. My dear friend, Catherine, I get it now, this whole study has brought back all the things you were teaching in your Ecclesiastes Bible Study and how passionate you were about it.  Simply amazing.

Monday, June 17, 2013

A Need for Fluffy Pillows

I was looking at my blog stats and chuckled when I saw that the post that has gotten the most attention is "How to Keep Your Pillows Fluffy".  Evidently there's a dire need for fluffy pillows.  I agree that fluffy pillows are nice but it seems to be an epidemic or something.  What's even more humorous is that I just inserted that article to my post and hadn't really read it thoroughly.  It is quite humorous in that they are not trying to be funny but some of the things they say are craziness.  I know this is going to make you want to go back and read that post again now...go for it.  "10 Ways to Cure Stinky Rotten Smelly Feet" came in a distant 2nd, lol!  The moral of this story: "Don't put your stinky rotten smelly feet on your pillow if you want it to be fluffy."

Posts
EntryPageviews
Oct 13, 2010, 2 comments
106
8
7
Apr 1, 2011
7
Mar 29, 2010, 1 comment
5
Aug 18, 2010, 1 comment
4
4
May 8, 2012, 1 comment
4
3
Apr 7, 2013
3

 

Photobucket

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Twenty Years Ago ~ I Said "I Do"

Twenty years ago I said "I do" to this hunk...there's really no more to say.

LOL, yeah right! Anyway, let's start with this picture (shown above).  I think it's a sweet picture but after 20 years others look at it and begin pointing things out, such as...wow, look at that blonde hair, Christy or wow, James has hair.  And one person starts in on my, eh heh, eyebrows...they are a little thinner now but I really didn't mind them then.  It wasn't until a few years later that I did a "no no" and plucked a few...that turned me into some kind of werewolf, sasquatch, whatever you'd like to envision.

Let's back track a month or so ago.  I was cleaning out my closet, well, not really cleaning, mostly hauling things out so I could find something but I actually put it all back in there (I didn't sleep on the couch *cough...Jenn).  The neat thing I found in the closet that I wasn't looking for was a box of old love letters and I use the word "love" loosely.  A box of letters, notes, and ridiculous other things from back in our dating years...year and three months.  James and I laid in bed that night and read several of them, we laughed and laughed and laughed, they were/are really quite entertaining.  One of my favorites was from me to James and I was describing a conversation I was having with my younger brother, Curtis.  It went something like this... My brother just asked me what we fought about yesterday and I told him it was a long story.  Then he asked if we were gonna break up and I said "No way! We are never gonna break up!" 
This was after about 4 months of "going out".  We were so young and dumb but I was right after all....we didn't break up and we've been married for 20 years!  These letters, cards, and keepsakes sparked something inside of me, I found this great picture of James and I when we had only been married about 5 months, it was taken at James' parents house on his 21st birthday.  I have it on my nightstand beside my bed.  Those letters and things show me how far God has grown us, as a couple and individually, I am really in awe at how marvelous He is and how much He has pursued us and drawn us closer to Him.  I am so thankful and grateful to my Lord for making our marriage what it is today.  We still get into tiffs now and then but "No Way, we are never gonna break up!" 

Photobucket

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Graduation 2013 *no I didn't cry

My firstborn, Christian Michael, graduated from high school!
And I know how to throw a party!  I had help, of course, some friends of mine helped with the food and aunt and uncle helped with clean up along with friends and my awesome hubby.  I rented the fellowship hall at a local church that was right across from the high school which was so convenvient.
I compiled a 3 ring binder of all the certificates and awards that Christian received during his school years, it was work but it is really neat to look at and since he changed schools he didn't get a letterman's jacket so I made this "thing" to put his medals and letters on.  It was a lot of fun to see the things he has created and written...especially in early grade school.
 Plans have changed and Christian is now going to attend Missouri Valley College in Marshall, MO.  He received 3 scholarships (Music, Golf, and Academic) and he is going to major in music.  We are very proud of him and can see the hand of God in his life.  So very blessed!
 I know...we are so weird...
 

Photobucket

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...