Happy Birthday Princess!!

My baby girl is two years old! I'm still having a hard time with this fact! Oh, she's amazing. She talks 90-nothing and has a vocabulary out of this world. I love to hear her and listen to the things that come out of that sweet mouth. One thing is for sure...she loves her Bruh-boo (her word for brother) and Sissy. She looks up to them so much and now that she's older she's really able to play with them and understand what they're doing and join in. I love watching her with her sister and brother. She does whatever they do yet she's not afraid to step out on her own and do her own thing. She's also not afraid to tell them what to do. She's already a born leader. With her birthday upon me, I'm now realizing that it's time to begin potty training. She's shown a lot of interest over the past few weeks and to be honest, I just haven't been ready. But Dr. Joe (her pediatrician) says she'll be potty trained by Christmas since her vocabulary is so high. I guess because she's able to tell us what she wants and understand our directions on what she needs to do. It's funny, because Prince was nearly three before he was ready. She's such a big girl and I've got to get used to this! I'm so excited to see what this next year holds for this precious angel of mine.

Saturday Morning Cartoons

We woke up this morning and the kids know that Sat. mornings have cartoons. Now, when I was little the cartoons started at like 5:00am and lasted until lunch. Well, not anymore. I guess since most people have satellite or cable t.v. the networks don't feel they need to put cartoons on very often. But since all we have are "bunny ears" we don't get many chances for the kids to watch t.v. especially since we don't allow it during the week. Well, the kids woke up and got to watch about 30 minutes of cartoons this morning...and then it happened...Kennedy's funeral! Oh, it was horrible! How dare they take cartoons off of t.v. right as Disney was coming on just to show a funeral (well, that's what my three kids were saying at least)! But I did manage to snap a really cute picture! Have a great weekend!

Jill

Seven Words of Worship

I was going to bed early tonight, but I decided to read a little before I went to sleep. I picked up a new book that Jeremy had lying on the shelf. It's called, "Seven Words of Worship: the Key to a lifetime of Experiencing God". The book is written by Mike Harland and Stan Moser. I'm not familiar with either man nor am I familiar with the book. I'm not sure why I even picked it up except that God wanted to give me a blessing tonight. He is so wonderful like that! So I'm going to share some things with you that I learned about worshiping our Lord. It's pretty safe to assume that everything else you read is straight from the book. :)

Psalm 139:7-8 says, “Where can I go to escape Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? If I go up to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, You are there.”

The men then go on to define worship as this: “Worship is our response to God’s revelation of who He is and what He has done.”

“God has gone to great lengths to reveal himself throughout history-including sending His Son, Jesus, into the world- and He continues to reveal Himself today in at least three ways:
1) God reveals Himself in creation.
2) God reveals Himself through His Word.
3) God reveals Himself through the Holy Spirit.

“As we focus our time and attention on the Lord in worship, proclaim His place of honor in our lives, and thank and praise Him for His eternal promises, we can expect God to intervene in our circumstances. God has promised to inhabit our worship, and He will. And when the King is present, all things are possible! “Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the Lord is good, and His love is eternal; His faithfulness endures through all generations.” (Ps. 100:4-5)

“That’s why we must worship through the good times and the bad-when we’re waiting for God’s merciful touch in our circumstances and when we’re standing in awe of His power at work around us. Worship invites God’s presence, enabling us to experience God.”

“God has plenty of everything-except you! And your worship is the time when you open up yourself and pour out on the One who loves you more than anyone else. So, don’t always be consumed with what you GET in worship. Think about what you GIVE! God wants worship from YOU. No one else can give that to Him.”

O.k. now that's amazing to me. God needs and wants me?? Little old me?? Wow! And to think that I can give God something that noone else in the world can give Him. That's awesome! I am so excited about my growing worship to our Lord. I know that I'll never be able to worship Him the way He deserves, He's too magnificent for that. But I will be praying about and learning all that I can on ways that I can truly worship my Father and thank Him for those many many blessings!

Jill

Never make a bet with a 5 year old!

O.K. I'm learning a lesson the hard way! Never make a bet with a five year old! She will remember it even two years later! See, when Tink was 5 she began asking for an American Girl doll. Well, these dolls are $100+! At this time in her life she was very adamantly against reading. Now, I'm a reader! I usually have at least five books going at once...on different subjects. I've always loved reading. I even remember sitting in Mrs. Miller's class in the first grade when it finally "clicked". I realized I could read! I could read anything! That was an amazing experience for me. My daughter, however, just wasn't interested in learning.

Now, the fact that I'm a teacher...her teacher...didn't help matters any. I worried and fretted! Was I doing something wrong? Can I really homeschool if I can't even teach my daughter to read? You know what I mean! Anyway, I told her that if she learned how to read and read her very first American Girl book then I would gladly buy her an American Girl doll.

For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about I'll give you a little history. The American Girl books take a girl during a particular period of American history and write a ficticious set of books based on that time period. Uncle David and John gave Tink her first series of AG books for her birthday this year. They're about Kit, who lived during the Great Depression. Tink now knows all about the Great Depression thanks to these great books, and thanks to her great uncles!

So, obviously, my fears were for nothing and my precious daughter did indeed learn how to read. When she got her AG series for her birthday, she was off! I made her narrate the first book to make sure she was understanding and comprehending. Every two pages that she read she had to come tell me about. She did this for the entire book. I was very impressed.

The day she got done reading the book we waited for Daddy to get home from work and set out towards the computer. She picked an AG doll that looked just like her. She even has earrings! I must say, that was the best $100 I've spent in a long time. Watching her work so hard for that doll, dream over it, search the catalogs and internet for it, and wait for it. That's what is so wonderful about children and bringing them up. They love and treasure things so much more when they work for it themselves. So often they're lavished with gifts before they even know they want them. This doll, Hannah, is special to Tink and always will be. She's special to me too! We've already made a place for her in Tink's room and made her a bed, jewelry, food, etc. Oh, to be a child again!

Holly and Brad

I just wanted to ask my friends and family to please pray for my best friend Holly. She and her husband, Brad, have been in the process of adopting a baby from Russia for some time now. Things are looking awesome and a child has been matched to them. They are praying about this baby and whether she is the one God has chosen for them. We are all so very excited to get this information. I can't believe how happy this makes me! I'm crying as I write this! The little girl they have been praying about is 17 months old and is only 6 months younger than my Princess! Please pray that the agency, the Dr's., the baby's home, and all those working with Holly and Brad give them the information they need in a timely manner and we can hopefully bring this precious baby girl home by Christmas!

Mrs. Valera Gibson

At 5:34pm this afternoon Jeremy's grandmother, Mrs. Valera Gibson, went to be with our precious Lord. This was an expected passing, yet a hard one none the less. Grandma was 84 years old and had been in a nursing home, due to Alzheimers, for some time now. She was a very special lady and she will truly be missed. Please pray for Jeremy and his family as they endure yet another funeral. This is the third funeral for them since December. His grandfather (paternal) died in December-suddenly. His uncle (paternal) died in May-suddenly. And now his last remaining grandparent (maternal) has gone to be with our Lord. We know where she is and are thankful that she's able to rejoice with Him right now. Her faith in Jesus as the ONLY way to get to heaven was true. Her mind is now clear and she has cast off this earthly body for a more glorious and eternal one. We love you, Grandma!

Jill

I love how God talks to us in such suttle yet obvious ways sometimes. I was writing an email the other day about how I have been convicted about the amount of internet usage I do on a daily basis. Now, let's get the record straight, I'm not saying I'm on the internet a lot. I would say, though, that 5 minutes here and five minutes there do add up to too much time for me! God spoke with me about that a month ago (Impression without expression = depression ) and I vowed to change.

Then Jeremy went to work some extreme and very difficult hours at work. For a month straight he worked an average of 15 hour days without a single day off. This trial brought me right back into the lion's den and put me back to my old ways of computer usage. I used it as an outlet, an escape. God is again convicting me. And this morning in my quiet time I found this verse:

But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again? Galations 4:9
Isn't He suttle?? lol! I love that He speaks to me in so many different ways, just as I've been taught all my life. He speaks through the Spirit, that small quiet voice within that tells you you're doing something wrong. He speaks through other people, my children making jokes that I am on the computer too much. He speaks most assuredly through His Word!

I have assigned times, that I even discussed with my children so as to be held accountable, in which I will check email or write on my blogs. So far this week has been so wonderful! It's amazing how much joy a person can get over following Him even in the simple things like this! Thank you, Lord for not giving up on me!

And now I'm telling my friends and family. It's a personal struggle which I'm sharing yet I felt the need to share how God is working with me and through me on this. He wants to help you too. I'd love to speak with any of you about Him at any time! I can't wait to see what He teaches me later today! :)

Jill