Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Abstract Art???

   Did you ever take one of those accidental pictures of the inside of your purse, or perhaps an odd angle that captured part wall, part floor, part painted toe nail, and your cat's tail???  I did that the other day, and when I looked at my camera, I thought the result was rather interesting.  :) Now, I'm NOT at all a fan of abstract art, but considering what it really is, it did look pretty good!  Hey, it needs a good abstract name, ...like Galactic Star burst, or Farris Wheel in Paris.  Or if you want to copy Van Gogh perhaps something more like Walking Your Dog in the Park would be fitting.  :) 

Take a guess??? 


   Ok, I'm really enjoying myself.  I love a beautiful picture or painting, but I see no sense at all in abstract art.  That's why I like to poke fun at it.  It makes no sense at all, no matter how "emotional" you get!  I've always wondered WHY IN THE WORLD doctor's offices, and many other professional places of business have the stuff hanging on their walls.  Its not even pretty!  I've stared at it before TRYING to make sense of it, trying to see something whatever of what the artist was trying to tell us...but I fail miserably.  At the hospital I went to to have my children, they had what I considered to be a piece of the vehicle which used to belong to some unfortunate person who had had a terrible wreck sometime in the past.  My guess was the "artist" went to the junk yard on an especially "emotional" day and saw a huge, gorgeous piece of crumpled automobile hood, got excited, and after taking the piece of metal home, added a few more dents with a sledge hammer, spray painted orange, brown and gold lines across it horizontally, then sat back beaming at his beautiful masterpiece.   It really was hideous, folks!  It made my day, though, every time I walked passed it.  Hey, you need a good laugh when you're 8 months pregnant and feeling absolutely miserable.  I really did enjoy it.  Maybe that was the whole plan to begin with.  Really, though, my poor pregnant, confused brain didn't need any more confusion! 
   I just don't "get" abstract art.  I guess some people really love it and get a thrill out of it.  But not me!  :)  Give me a Thomas Kincaid any day! 



Monday, February 25, 2013

Be Still And Know That I Am God

This picture of Andy preaching at our new church was taken when a lot of folks were out due to sickness so the crowd is down.  Normally, most of the seats are filled.  What a blessing! 
 
   "Be Still And Know That I Am God".  I love that verse!  Have you ever just sat back in amazement at the hand of God working in your life?  That's what Andy and I have been doing the past two weeks.  We've been in Indiana now for two months and we've seen more happen in the last month than we have in all the years we've been in the ministry.  People are growing by leaps and bounds and it's not anything we've done.  The people at this church have fallen in love with their new pastor and are getting so excited about doing something for God.  One family came up to Andy yesterday at church and the husband told him that they got rid of the TV a month ago and that they couldn't believe the changes its made in their family.  They also ordered curriculum for homeschooling their children because they don't want them getting the world's philosophies that the public schools are teaching.  All this was their own  decision.  Another couple told Andy that after every service they go home and "chew" on the message.  They said that every day they walk their dog at the park and they can't finish their conversations about the sermons before the path ends.  Folks who were barely in church are now jumping in with both feet, and getting involved.  They are seeing their prayers getting answered, they are seeing God's hand in trials and are thanking God for those trials instead of becoming bitter.  They hang around church after the service is over just wanting the fellowship of other Christians. They LOVE coming to church now, and a family-like spirit is quickly developing here.  And Andy and I are sitting back saying, "WOW!  How did all this happen in just one month!"  These people are drinking up the word of God like I've never seen.  A lot of what Andy's taught, they either have never heard, or they never fully understood it until now.  Many times they'll raise their hand during a service to ask a question about what was being said.  Everyone takes notes while the preacher is preaching, and then they'll discuss them later.  God is really using Andy as their pastor.  He's also changed the way Andy and I look at the ministry.  We have really come to love these people and this place.  Seeing God move like this is so refreshing and such a beautiful blessing! 

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Trip to Tennessee

   We had a good and safe trip to Tennessee.  We originally went down to attended Andy's sister Hannah's wedding, but we also were able to get some paperwork done on our house.  We're in the process of selling it, so the timing for us going back was perfect.  Andy was able to meet with the realtor and get some things done on the business side of things as well.  An offer was made on the house and they've even put $1,000 down so it looks like the house is as good as sold, but they still have 13 days to decide for sure and complete the deal.  Please pray the buyer doesn't back out.  We really need our TN house and property to sell so that we can start saving that house payment for another house up here in Indiana.  We're in town right now, but we'd love to get out into the country again perhaps within a year.  My heart broke for Christian as I watched him enjoying playing outside again.  He's all boy when it comes to the great outdoors, and he's really missed having the run of our 15 acres in TN.  I can hardly wait to get back into the country again and have room to raise our children outdoors! 
   We got to see some of the folks who go to our old church.  We went out to eat with Bro. Bownes, one of Andy's good friends, then went over to the Mall so that Christian could play in the play place while we adults sat and talked.  We had a great time. 
   Friday evening, we headed to Carthage for Hannah's wedding.  It was a beautiful, and Godly wedding.  Its such a blessing to see two young people trying to do things God's way.  Jacob is good fellow and I believe a perfect match for Hannah.  I cried like a baby at the wedding!  You see, Hannah lived with Andy and I for an entire summer one year and she became almost like a daughter to us.  We made a lot of great memories that year.  Now little Hannah is all grown up and a married woman.  Time sure does fly by.  I'm going to miss her!  She and Jacob will be living in Kentucky...about two hours from us.  Hopefully, we'll get to visit them often. 

Andy preaching at church. 



I snapped this right before bed.  I didn't notice their legs til later.  :)


Christian playing with a "punch ball".  You know, those balloons with a rubber band attached to the bottome side.  Surprisingly, Christian is really good at it!  He's got almost perfect timing, so anything with rhythm of any sort, he has almost no trouble with. 


Playing outside at our house in TN



A look of pure innocence!


Christian LOVES lemons!  I LOVE his faces! 

Andy and Bro. Dave Bownes at Demos.  (They have great steaks!)

Christian never meets a stranger.  He tried to play with these two boys at the play place at the mall but when they kept shoving him, he got annoyed with them and left them alone.  He tried to make friends though.  :)  

Playing on the slide.


Jacob and Hannah Dunn



Cousins Christian, Clayton and Leanna


Audra


Cousin Annlye
 

Family at the wedding
 
Andy and Cody (brother-in-law)
 
Cody and Rachel White with Annlye
 
 

Saturday, February 16, 2013

I Love Him? I Love Him NOT!

   This was how I felt when I first met my husband.  In the Fall of 2003, I got an email from my dad saying that a certain Andy Price had emailed him asking permission to court me.  I'd only seen this 24 year old guy one time at a mission's conference 10 months earlier, and from my observation, which wasn't much because I was NOT interested in him, I would have said the feeling was mutual.  He didn't so much as glance my way once...(well, lets say twice.  I did catch the once.  :)  Much less speak to me.  So when I got this email from dad, I was blown away!  The first thing I did was call my sister who was at Bible College and say, "You'll never believe who just asked to court me!"  She asked, "Who?"  and I replied with a frantic "Andy Price!"  She said, "Oh you poor thing" to which I replied, "Yeah!  How do I get out of this one???"  Dad wanted me to go up to Carthage, which was a two hour drive from where I lived in Chattanooga, TN. for a visit to see what I thought of the situation.  Dad really liked Andy and was hoping I'd snatch the opportunity.  I told dad to let me pray about it for a week.  To be honest, I was buying time.  A week flew past, and I begged for another one.  After that second week, dad told me he needed to give Andy and answer and couldn't just leave him hanging.  He practically begged that I make a three day trip to Carthage to see him.  I gave in more or less to get my dad off my back and make him happy.  I drove up on a Monday morning.  As I pulled into the church parking lot (my husband was assistant pastor at Cornerstone), I sat there for a moment, telling myself what a complete idiot I was for driving 2 hours to a strange town to see a strange guy at a strange church!  I ALMOST turned around and went back home.  I didn't see the peering eyes of Andy's brother Brad and best friend, Jacob peeking out the nursery window watching my every move an reporting to Andy who was waiting anxiously in his office.  :)  I mustered up every last ounce of my wavering courage and marched to the side door and knocked.  Andy must have been waiting on the other side, because it opened immediately.  At first sight, we BOTH thought, "uh oh...have I made a mistake?"  Well, that's what Andy thought.  I on the other hand was sure of it!  I already explained my misgivings, but Andy hadn't seen me in 10 months, during which time, I'd moved out of the house, was on my own and working a job.  My outward appearance had changed a little from the last time he saw me at that missions conference.  He wasn't expecting a lot more makeup, and slightly bleached hair!  But he was positive that God had me handpicked to be his wife, so he stepped out in faith. 
   We sat in his office for the first hour, exchanging testimonies.  He was leaned back in his chair with his feet propped up on the desk and was sitting bolt upright in mine, nervous as a cat!  His relaxed attitude made me mad.  :)  I began to think that he'd done this sort of thing before.  I later found out that he was just as nervous as I was. 
   We spent all day Monday together talking and trying to get to know each other.  I was holding up my side of the bargain with my dad.  Tuesday went much the same way.  I met his pastor's family at breakfast, and his family that night at supper...more extreme awkward nervousness.  Wednesday afternoon, Andy took me up to the Overlook above Carthage.  Its a high spot on a cliff that overlooks the river and dam far below.  You can see for miles!  He asked me if we could make this friendship an official courtship.   Over the past three days, there was nothing that I could find that I didn't like or agree with him on.  We saw eye to eye on practically everything and had developed a good friendship.  But courtship?????  That was serious!  I was raised that you don't play the field.  When you court someone, you do so with a possible marriage in mind.  Not just to have a boyfriend/girlfriend.  But I didn't have a good excuse, so I said that we could make it official.  But I drilled him first for one last attempt at a red flag!  I asked him how many kids he wanted.  I wanted a lot and if he didn't, well, it was over.  I asked him how much money he had in the bank, could he support a wife and family.  He replied that he had a couple hundred dollars, but that he'd been trying to save and that he didn't mind working hard.  That impressed me.  At least he was honest and didn't make any excuses for himself.  I told Andy that I didn't love him or trust him and that he had to win both.  I told him I only wanted to tell one man that I loved him, and that would be my husband.  I made him 'win' me. 
   That night at church, while Andy was busy with the kids in his Master's Club, a lady came up to me and asked if I was a visitor.  I still remember the look of complete shock on her face when I told her I was "with Andy".   Andy was an eligible bachelor, never had a girlfriend, and now all of a sudden a strange girl shows up and says she's with Andy?  I'm sure every woman at church knew I was there within just a short time.  :) 
   It was November 11th, when I agreed to court Andy.  We spent practically very day together when he wasn't working.  We talked, and talked, and talked some more until we knew each other inside out.  But, I still didn't love him.  I had none of those fluttery, heart-pounding feelings every girl dreams of having when she finds her Mr. Right.  This scared me.  I wondered what was wrong.  I thought a lot of Andy, and could honestly say he was my best friend, but I didn't have any gushy feeling when I thought about him.  A couple weeks later, Andy asked me to marry him.  I told him I needed a little time.  He said, "Lets not drag this thing out.  I'd like an answer soon."  I thought, "Drag this out?!?!?"  We'd only known each other for about 4 weeks!  This is hardly what you'd call 'dragging out a relationship"!  But I knew what he meant.  The longer you go, getting more and more emotionally involved, the harder it is to break it off if you come to a snag.  We'd talked about everything, hashed out all the important issues first, before emotions got involved.  Now we were simply enjoying becoming close friends.  This is the way it should be.  Andy knew we were to be married, but I needed some assurance as well.  And I was scared.  I thought I could spend my life with this man, but the lack of gushy love scared me greatly.  How can you marry a man you didn't love was the question that plagued my mind and heart.  I told Andy to give me three days to fast and pray.  My plan was to give him his answer on his birthday, good or bad.  And this time, I DID pray...hard!  I laid out my fears to God.  I looked over the past few weeks in my mind and saw God's hand in everything, drawing us together.  I searched the scriptures and God gave me verses, answered specific prayers.  And by the end of the three days, I was absolutely sure of my answer.  I told the Lord I would go ahead with this thing, but He would have to bring the love later.  Its a hard thing knowing that you are going to marry a man, but that you do not love that man.  I went to my pastor and asked him, "How do you know if you love a man?'' His reply was, "What has that got to do with it?"  He was half joking, but half serious as well.  The relationships of old lasted til death, the ones that were not built on the world's idea of ooey gooey love.  They were stronger and lasted through the hard times because of the commitment behind them.  I was about to make such a commitment.  Oh I was going to marry a good Godly man, who loved me very much.  I had no doubt he would take care of me and treat me right.  I also had no doubt that this was the right thing for my life.  I just hoped God would give me some of that gushy love and attraction as time went on. 
   I told Andy I would marry him on his birthday.  I saw tears in his eyes and asked him if everything was okay.  He told me that when he was 18 he'd told God that he would serve Him single til his 25 birthday if that was what He willed.  He wanted to give God those years for preparation for whatever God had for him.  God honored that and blessed him with a wife on his 25 birthday.  I did not know about this when I gave him his answer.  This was a week before Christmas...
   So we began planning for a wedding.  During this time, I became very sick and had to quit my job.  Andy sat by my bedside for hours at a time, talking and praying with me.  We grew closer through this.  I could see the love and concern in his eyes for me.  I knew this man loved me greatly.  I begged God to help me return those feelings. 
   Just a couple weeks before our May 15th wedding, God answered that prayer and I finally realized that I indeed did love this man I was about to marry.  But God let it happen this way for me because I was always the emotional "tall, dark, and handsome" type of girl.  I needed to fall in love with his HEART first.  I saw that Andy had a heart of gold, and that made me love him in the end.  Outward appearance can fool an emotionally unstable girl, and by that I mean, a heart that is easily taken and wooed.  When I saw the real kind of man he was on the inside, when I saw his heart of gold, then God gave me the outward love I desired.  Andy won me fair and square!  :)  Slowly, a little at a time, and through a lot of patience on his part. 
   We were married on May 15th, of '04.  I married my best friend, and the kindest, gentlest, sweetest man on earth.  We didn't argue or disagree for the first three years of marriage!  They were absolute bliss!  We did everything together.  People said of us, "Wherever one is, the other is somewhere nearby!"  :)  We had some very tight spots financially, we went through the death of our firstborn, the birth of two more, several moves, and many other trials and tests of our love and faith.  The devil tried to come between us many, many times, but by the grace of God, that God-based, God-built love has stood strong.  This kind of love will stand the blows of time and trial.  Its not the shallow love the world gives.  Its well worth waiting for!  Andy is truly my best friend, and I love him dearly!  He's much more than I deserve and far more than I ever dreamed I ever get in a husband and friend.  I watched him hold our baby girl as she took her last breaths and say, "We will not quit!  No matter how hard it gets, we WILL NOT quit on God."  I can rest in his love, his faith, his trust in his God.  I can rest in the God who so greatly blessed me with a treasure like this. 

I love him....I love him not....Oh Yes, I DO LOVE HIM!  

Happy Valentines Day! 

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Pictures and Nails...

   I like to think about things.  I mean REALLY think about things.  Maybe that comes from teaching children for so long.  I see object lessons everywhere!  Anything from a simple stick to dry ice! 
   Well, the other day I said something to my husband that made me think about a nail.  Silly huh?  :)  Then I thought about people.   Have you ever felt like you're being used like a doormat?  I mean, you throw yourself into something, wear yourself out, do as much as you can and then some, ...but it seems that no one ever notices or cares?  Come on, be honest!  If you've never, ever felt that way, I'd like to meet you!  You rank up there with Paul!  I think we've all felt that way at one point or another.  You can probably call it pride, a "woe is me" sort of attitude.  But lets be realistic too.  We're all human, and we all get discouraged at times.  I mean, even John the Baptist got discouraged!  Especially when we try to do so much and we see no results from it. 
    Now what do you use a nail for?  Well, you can hang something on it.  Or you can use it to build something.  Sometimes you might use it in the making of a craft, to create something beautiful.  But you never see a nail in a picture frame displayed on the wall.  You don't polish a nail and put it on a shelf and show it off when you have company.  Its always used for something else.  Some mundane job.  Its always in an obscure place, but doing a very important job.  The very building you sit in as you read this is standing there because of a little nail....a LOT of little obscure nails.  Even the nails that held the Lord to the cross had a very important job, even thou you never hear about them. 
   There are some folks around you, especially in church, who are the nails who hold the place together.  They are not the beautiful pictures placed around in promenant spots for all to see and admire.  The are not the ones who sing specials every week, or get the leadership positions, or get to be seen and heard all the time.  (And there is a place for that, and there are people who are very good at that.)  But there are also the people who never say anything, are never in the spotlight.  They are the janitors at church, the folks who scrub the toilets and floors.  They are the lady who brings flowers for the Remembrance table at church every week.  They are the cooks in the kitchen during a get together at church.  They are the faithful ones.  The ones who you KNOW will be there every time the doors are open.  The ones who always have a smile and good attitude no matter what they are going through.  They are the mothers who are behind the scenes in the child rearing process.  The old prayer warriors who keep the devil tripping everywhere he turns.  The faithful fathers who go out and work day in and day out just to bring in a few dollars to keep food on the table.  Yes, these are the nails in God's family.  The ones who hold up the church, the family.  Oh you may not see everything they do, or say, or go through, but they are there, and they are VERY necessary to the family of God!  They don't get the attention and glory that the pictures on the wall get, but they still have a job to do.  Their OWN job.  The job that GOD gave them.  A church or family would be pretty bland if there were no "decorations", but you can't get by without the janitor either.  Or someone at home to change countless diapers. (I wish I would have kept a record of how many we've gone through so far :)  What would your house smell like if no one washed those piles of dirty dishes? 





   We all have a job to do, from the greatest to the least.  So lets be happy and content doing that job.  Don't worry about never being seen or heard.  Its all being recorded in a place that REALLY matters.  Through your faithfulness, you are storing up treasures in Heaven.  We don't need attention down here, the praises of men.  If God is pleased with our work, then that's all that should matter.  Because He DOES see.  So, "whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might!"  If God made you to be a nail in the wall, be the best and strongest nail you can possibly be for Him.  And if God made you to be a beautiful picture, then do your job humbly and to the glory of God.  Serve Him joyfully wherever He has placed you in His family! 
 
Super big smiles...its bath time!  What do you expect! 
 
This look will melt your heart, especially when she brings on the tears!
 

Christian loves to play on the kitchen floor while I'm cooking.  I normally have a preaching CD playing, and he'll sit there quietly listening.  I know he's absorbing it, because he'll repeat things the preacher says ever so often. 
 
 
 
 
Mom, this one is for you.  He LOVES this hat!  Its actaully too small for him, but he pulls it down the best he can.  Notice his ear is kinda' bent down.  :) 
 
Christian made himself a cozy spot and settled in to play a game.

 

 

Saturday, February 9, 2013

As Seen Through My Eyes...

   Life as "Mama" can be very tiring, both physically and emotionally.  Physically, of course, because you simply never sit down, except when you crash into your pillows after the last nightlight is turned on, the last "goodnight" is whispered, and the very last "Shhhhhhh!" is said.  And emotionally, because the greatest dream in my life is that "my children walk in truth".   Do you ever worry if you're doing the right thing where your children are concerned?  Have you asked the questions a million times to yourself, "Was I too hard on him"?, or "Maybe I shouldn't have let that one slide"...?  There are millions of copies of "How to train your children right" but when it comes right down to it, its simply a matter of doing what you know is right and then letting God fill in the blanks, the places where you unknowingly failed.  Its not easy!  My greatest fear is that my children will stray from the Lord.  Oh that that will NEVER happen!  I pray that God will keep the devil and his influence out of our home, and far from my family!  But at times, I feel like pulling my hair out and I cry out to God, "What do I do now???  How can I get through to my children???"  Children don't seem to follow a blueprint, or a certain pattern during the growth process.  Each one is so different from the next.  Oh you can get a rough draft at your local bookstore on "How to train a child", but when it comes down to real thing, that book never answers all the questions that bombard your brain a you enter each stage of your child's life.  I constantly repeat to myself, "Train up a child in the way he should go...." and many other verses on the subject, then beg God for wisdom in an area I know nothing about.  Yes, raising children can be very emotional!  How many times have I cried for my children?  How many nights have I prayed for Christian and Audra as I rocked them before bedtime?  Christian has learned about 15 verses already and he's only 2 1/2!  It amazes me how much they absorb!  But how to get it from his head to his heart?  That's a different story entirely!  A lot of church kids have it in their head.  They know all the answers, look good, carry a Bible, and have a very polished outside.  But God sees the heart, and that's what I'm aiming for.  Because, as little as I know, I have figured out one thing.  If you can get God in their hearts, most everything else, including a 'polished outside' will be taken care of automatically, because they will WANT to please God...not HAVE to because their parents said so.  If we can get our children to love God with their whole hearts, trust Him, and have a burning desire to please Him, I believe we will be well on our way to having a generation of children who can make a difference for God in this world instead of being the next church fall-outs.  But at times it seems that it all hangs on a thread.  The decisions I make will no doubt tip the scales one way or the other.  THIS IS SCARY!  And many a night I've cried out to God to guide my every move, every day of my life.  Children learn by example best of all.  And WHO are their leading examples when they are young?  Mama and Daddy.  Yes, we set the spiritual pace of our house holds.  We teach them what to love, and what to hate.  What a huge responsibility!  One that you can only handle properly with the Lord's help.  "As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man, so are children of the youth...".  If an arrow is bent in the very least, or has a flaw on it, its flight will be affected.  It will constantly fight against itself and wobble until it feebly hits a target, and most of the time, it won't be a bulls eye!  But, a perfect arrow will fly straight and strong to hit dead center...whichever direction the 'mighty man' aims.  This hit me the other day.  We can polish our children and teach them how to walk and talk, but they still sometimes hit a worldly target.  Why is this?  Perhaps the parents were aiming a little off center?  Perhaps they let a little bit too much of the world into their homes in one way or another?  Perhaps through movies, or books, friendships, sports, or even attitudes.  I don't know.  Some of those things aren't neccessarily wrong, but I do know that the parent's loves are many times passed on to the children in double doses.  Their strong points AND their weakness are also passed down.  You have to be so careful!  This makes me take a good look at my own life, my own household, my own attitudes.  I don't want ANYTHING affecting my arrows, or the direction they are shot! 
   The other night, I was about to pull my hair out.  I'd been having some bad days with Christian and it seemed like no amount of training was getting me anywhere with him.  I'd just put him and Audra down for the night, and as I came down there stairs I stopped and looked around.  Here's what I saw...

Scattered Toys....
 
 
More Scattered Toys....


A giant ball I had to dodge coming down the stairs...

A tiny baby shoe...
 

 A bite taken out of an cone cup cake...
 

A little blue booster seat...
 
 

Dirty dishes left in the sink...
 
 
And yes, three baskets of unfolded laundry.
 
 
    But then, I thought about a very happy, little boy upstairs.  You see, the reason my house looked like this is because we had just had a Family Fun Night.  On these special family nights, we have pizza on our big king sized bed while watching an OLD cartoon like Donald Duck, or Chip and Dale (or the Monkeychips, as Christian puts it :)  Christian also gets to pick out the dessert for the evening, which on this night, was cake.  So of course you have to be a little creative and go the extra mile to make it a little odd and different...thus the cake in a cone idea  :)  I love to see the delighted surprise on my little boy's face!  After the cartoon, we just play together and have a good time centered around our children.  Everything gets put on hold, like the dishes and the laundry. 
   As I walked around I felt tears in my eyes as I again heard the squeals of glee while we played hide and seek in the dark.  I remembered Christian running up to me, throwing his tiny arms around my legs and saying with all the emotion he could muster, "Mama, I LOVE you!!!"   Its watching Audra smile and duck her head shyly, then peek out to see if he's still watching her, when Daddy greets her in the mornings.  Its seeing a two year old's eyes shine when I climb into his big cardboard train and we pretend its rumbling down the tracks through our little town, blowing its whistle to wake the late risers every morning.  (there's actually one such real live engineer who must hang on his horn the entire length of our town every morning!  He never lets up on it till he's way out of sight.  And he does this many times before dawn!  I've often laid in bed wondering who else in this town was also laying in bed at that very moment thinking unkind thoughts toward a certain horn happy man who figured it was his duty to wake every town on his route, since HE had to be awake as such an ungodly hour!  :) 
   Anyway, as I thought about our family evening, it was as if the Lord was telling me to just slow down and SEE my children.  Instead of going through every day making sure everything on my chore list had been checked by bedtime, making sure that everything ran on schedule, I needed to just slow down.  If the dishes didn't get done one night, that's okay!  There are more important things than a sink full of dirty dishes.  THEY will get done eventually, but the frustration I showed trying to get it all done on MY timetable may never be undone in a little boy's innocent mind.  And that is far more important.  The laundry?  So it didn't get folded today!  But instead I spent a few mins on the floor giving my son a horsey back ride, or rocking in a chair reading a book together, or letting him play a little longer in the bathtub than normal.  He won't remember those dishes...he WILL remember Mama the Conductor hollering "ALL ABOARD!" as we make another 'lap' around the room in the big cardboard train, while the thick black smoke billows from the green and red "stack moke" (smoke stack, of course...).  And he will remember, as I will, the nights he's tucked into bed, an him saying, "Mama, pray for me...", or us singing Jesus Loves Me, or the Old Rugged Cross together before bed.  Sometimes I wonder if God doesn't silence Heaven so that He can listen to a little voice sing "...so I'll cherish the old rugged cross...".  Yes, these things are far more important than dirty dishes, scattered toys, or unfolded laundry!  These are my arrows!  How will THEY fly???  Lord, HELP ME, GUIDE ME, GIVE ME WISDOM!!!  I want them to hit God's bulls eye, not mine! 

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Christian's Quilt

   Here's the quilt I made for Christian out of that truck fabric I posted about a few posts back.  I just have to put the back on and then quilt it.  He LOVES it!  Andy says its "jazzy".  I sort of agree.  :)   But then, its for a little two year old boy who loves big vehicles and bright colors, so yes, its loud, but that's okay.  As long as I don't have to sleep with it.  :) 


 
 
   I also made some "sensory" toys for Audra.  Simple as they are, she loves them.  Christian plays with them almost more though.  He makes them "drive" his trucks and plays like they are little people.  I filled them with different things such as popcorn, cream of wheat, rice, sugar, etc. so that they each have a different feel to them when squeezed.  Audra loves to chew on them.  The rubber of the balloons feels great on her sore gums. 




 

 

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Family Picture

   I managed to corner Andy and the kids this morning after church for a family picture. :)  Do all men hate getting their picture taken or is it just mine???  :)  Anyway, here it is.  You'd better enjoy it because you won't be getting another one any time soon.  Too much work getting everyone to agree to it.  :)  Oh, and by the way, Andy has glasses now.  He took them off for the the picture.  :)  I'll try to catch him sometime with them on.