A Life of Gratitude

You might not be able to tell what this a picture of so let me explain it. That is the inside of my Bible Bag. When I opened it today at church and I reached in I found a toy knife laying inside of my Bible and a whole box of crayons right beside it. Can you tell I have kids?  When I saw that this morning during our worship service, I had to chuckle quietly to myself. I mean, how cute is that? That photo says so much about my life. It shows the most important things in to me...my faith and my family. Today I am grateful for those two things! My faith in Jesus Christ is what gives me hope and what carries me from day to day.  My family are the ones that bring me such joy and happiness. These things are what make my life what it is and I love my life! (although some days are better than others...haha). I have so many wonderful things to be thankful for but today, I say "Thank you, Father, for my faith and my family!"

Now and then I have something that I just can't get off of my mind. I'll think and think until finally I'm about to burst. Lately, I've been thinking a lot about selfless love. What does that really mean?? I know God loves us like that but it's hard for me to really wrap my mind around because people rarely love that way...do they?  I've been noticing lately how selfish many of us are. I know that probably offends someone, but it's true. Just think about it for a moment. Do you know someone who cares more about having "me" time than helping out a friend? Do you know someone who will help you if you ask but they do it so reluctantly that you wish you hadn't even asked them? Do you know someone who you would skip right over in your contact list if you needed help because you know they would have a bad attitude about it? Do you know someone that is so concerned with what they have going on that they are clueless to what everyone else is deali

We did some fun activities today as part of our school work. The boys enjoyed science time! We learned all about fossils and how important they are to help us learn about the history of the world. We also learned how fossils form and we decided to make some fossils of our own. With plaster of paris, water, tin foil, and seashells, we made our very own fossils. The boys were so excited!  Watching "Brain Pop" to learn more about Fossils! Ready to make their fossils. They were working so carefully. At the beginning..... About an hour later....FOSSILS! After all of our school work was complete, we took a trip to the library, which is one of Dylan and Evan's favorite places! They always love picking out new books. Today, they couldn't wait to sit at one of the tables to read their books! I was picking out a few more books when I heard Evan say very loudly, "I'm sorry Dylan, but I have to read very loud. This is a really good book!"

"The King is enthralled by your beauty, honor Him, for He is your Lord."  Psalm 45:11 Have you ever read that verse before? I read it before but it wasn't until the past few days that I really started to ponder what that verse means. As I've studied it, I've realized what a precious it verse it truly is! Psalm 45 is basically a wedding song.  It is telling of a bride that is leaving her family and her home and becoming fully dedicated to her new husband. That's what it's saying on the surface, anyway. If you look a little closer and truly examine this passage, it's telling of Christ's Bride, the church, leaving the world behind and becoming fully devoted to her husband, Jesus.  If you're not familiar with the Bible and all it's symbolism, that might sound ridiculous to you but I promise, the Bible is the most amazing love story you'll ever read. What Jesus has done to rescue His bride  (us...the church) is better than any knig

We had a very busy weekend. On Saturday we went to a flea market and then to the mall. We came home and cleaned the entire house and then went grocery shopping. Today we went to church, went to Lowe's and the Dollar Store and then ate Dinner at Cracker Barrel. And somewhere during all that we had several dance parties in the living room, made cookies, played pirates (I'm the token girl pirate, Bonnie).We've been productive but I'm exhausted!!! It was busy, but this weekend was also wonderful. We spent so much time together and enjoyed each other's company!  Riding the Merry-go-round at the mall. Daddy ate the cookie from the Cookie Jar! Grocery shopping is full of excitement too! Party of 5 on the Hammock. Today I am thankful for a busy but fun and  productive weekend. Mostly, I am thankful that I get to spend so much time with my family. Even with one hundred things to do, we have so much fun together! I'm grateful for the last few minute

I've been a little nervous about starting school this fall because I now have a 3rd grader and a Pre-K student to teach at the same time. Believe it or not, our Homeschool year is off to a great start! We do a few activities together to start the morning and then Dylan does independent work while I work with Evan. We have to move along pretty quickly with the pre-k material because Evan has a teeny tiny attention span but, he's really enjoying himself! I was so proud of him today! He made the names of all of our family members with magnetic letters! He doesn't always want to sit still and do "school" but he sure is a smart little guy! Dylan is doing lots of big boy work now, it's amazing to see how much he has learned over the past few years and watch him using a lot of it to do his work independently! The schoolroom works well for all of us!  Making his name with magnetic letters. I can't believe my baby is pre-k now! My big boy doing his

This morning as a part of our sermon, Pastor Brandon said something that has stuck with me all day. He said, "You know, God has buried your sin at the bottom of the sea of forgetfulness AND, HE has posted a 'no fishing' sign beside of it!" That thought blows my mind and fills my heart with gratitude all at the same time! We've all blown it over and over again. We've all lost our tempers, made poor choices, and hurt others. We've all said things we shouldn't, acted selfishly, and followed our flesh. Let's face it, we're all sinners and we always will be! BUT, because of what Jesus did on the cross, our sins are paid for in full. Praise Jesus! And not only has our debt been paid, but God doesn't even hold it over our heads for years to come. That is hard for most of us to believe because as humans, we remember every rude thing someone has said to us or every mistake another person has made. Some folks even tell everyone, everything

You know how folks talk about wishing on a shooting star? Those aren't stars! Stars don't shoot! I've learned this week that those beautiful things racing across the sky are meteors (which is just a big ol' chunk of rock). Only God could make rock look that good, huh??!!! The Perseid Meteor Shower happens every year around this time. I've never heard of it before but I will not be forgetting it anytime soon! This year's meteor shower was supposed to be extra stunning because of the location of the moon and how dark the sky would be. The shower occurs annually beginning in July and the peak is always the middle of August. During the peak, the rate of meteors can be up to 60 per hour. Bryan and I have never watched a meteor shower before but after reading about this one in the news, we decided to stay up late a few nights and watch the shower.  The first night we couldn't stay out long but right before we came inside, we saw a gorgeous white strea

I had planned on starting our school work this week but after looking at my boys and realizing how much they have changed over the past few months and thinking about how fast the summer has flown by, I decided to spend the rest of the week just being with them. Other than a few errands and such, I will be enjoying just being Mommy for the rest of the week. Next week, I'll be teacher too. At Dylan and Evan's request, we spent the entire morning in the playroom. I was dressed as "Mommy Pirate" and instructed on how to guard the booty. I never knew it would be so much fun to sit behind the cushions of the couch with "Henry Morgan" (which is Tyson's pirate name) and "Scurvy Dog" (Max). We were bombarded by cannons from the enemy but we made it out alive.  This little sweetie likes to take the books out of the basket and sit inside of it!   When I was pregnant with Tyson I couldn't reach my toes so I let Dylan and

Since the first time we walked in our house while house hunting, Bryan thought it would be so much fun to be able to fish in the pond that is right beside the house. As soon as we moved in, we found out the pond was empty. He wanted to stock the pond but we decided to wait. Earlier this spring, Bryan researched and found out what we needed to start populating the pond. It started with just a couple of bags of tiny fish. Some of the neighborhood kids were super excited  to help release the fish! We all knew it would be a while until the fish were big enough for us to go fishing but everyone was thrilled to start populating the pond! Today, we went fishing in our little pond for the first time! The boys (and Bryan) were so excited!  The fish still aren't full grown but they have had babies and they've made the pond look SO much better so we know they've been eating! It didn't take long at all for them to catch their first fish!!      Th

I read the story above with Evan this morning during his quiet time. We talked about it for a while and it was a very sweet discussion. It's the story of when Jesus fell asleep in the boat, a huge storm came, and the disciples started to panic. When they woke Jesus up He simply said, "Hush." The wind and the waves stopped immediately. Everything was calm again and Jesus asked, "Why were you scared? Did you forget who I am? Did you believe your fears, instead of me?"   Sometimes its easy to look at the disciples with disgust and think, "DUH!" It seems like they should have known Who Jesus was. It also seems as though they should have know that He could and would take care of them. I mean, they got to walk and talk with Jesus. They could touch him and hear his voice. It just seems silly that they were still fearful with Him right there in the boat, doesn't it? Who does that remind you of? (insert cricket sounds...)We have something the dis

Almost a week ago Bryan and I went to an amazing Christian concert. It was a wonderful time of praise and worship! As part of the event, Compassion International shared the opportunity to sponsor a child in need. This always touches my heart because we sponsored a child named Ever Rolando several years ago and still enjoy being a part of his life. He has the same birthday as Dylan, which is always neat for our family!  Throughout the night I felt God nudging me to do something valuable with the money I've been earning with KEEP. So, I decided to sponsor a child with Compassion International. Guess what, God allowed me to sponsor a little girl! Her name is Rose and she lives in Uganda. She is 6 years old. I was already touched by the thought having a little girl in my life, even if it I may never actually meet her but then, Bryan told me something that made my heart overflow. As he was reading the information on the back of Rose's card he said, "She lives in Uganda wit