Please pray for Ian

If you have a chance in the next couple of days, please say a prayer of healing for Ian, a 17-month-old little boy at our church whose parents found out a month ago that he had a brain tumor. It was removed about 4 weeks ago, but has since grown back and was found to be a rare and and agressive form of cancer. He and his parents Jason and Anna are at St. Jude now for treatment, and Ian is scheduled to have a second surgery tomorrow to have the tumor removed again, and then will begin chemo treatments. Here is what his parents have asked specifically for prayer:

"Continued peace as we all face another dangerous brain surgery; that Ian will remain stable until his surgery on Wednesday so Dr. Boop can do the surgery; a miracle that will take away this tumor and cancer cells once and for all; a strong, healthy body for Ian that will be able to handle the surgery, recovery, and chemo."

We had a special time of prayer for Ian a couple of weeks ago at churhc, and he was running around playing and blowing kisses at everyone in the room. He is an angel, and it breaks my heart to think of him going through this. Sadly reminds me of a year ago when I was praying for little Joseph, who has since gone to be with Jesus. If you would like to read more about him and follow his progress, here is a link to his Caring Bridge page.

Happy Easter!

One of my favorite praise songs, especially on Easter!

I'm diggin' the Duggars

Whew, it's been quite a while since I've had a chance to blog; with a new puppy (argh, I forgot how hard puppies are), our house on the market, and just everyday life, I just haven't had the time to sit down and write a post. Or read blogs, which I dearly miss. I'm so amazed by those moms that just have it all together and blog regularly. What it your secret???



But I've been inspired. I've been reading the Duggar family's book "The Duggars: 20 and Counting", and I've enjoyed it so much that I thought I'd share a few things they have to say about their life with 18 (and counting!!) kids.

Ok, I'll admit. When I first heard of their show on TLC "17 kids and counting", I thought they must be crazy. I mean really, who in their right mind has that many kids??? And Michelle (the mom) has weird hair, and the girls all wear long skirts, so they must be religious fanatics, and various other really judgmental things that I'm very ashamed ever went through my mind. Because now I want to be Michelle's best friend. And learn everything she has to teach me.

I'm only about halfway through the book, but I could not be more impressed this family. First and foremost, they are not religious fanatics. They are Christians with very sound beliefs and strong convictions. Their girls wear skirts simply because they believe in modesty. They have 18 kids because after suffering a miscarriage, Michelle and Jim Bob decided to leave it up to God to determine how many children He would bless them with. And boy, has He blessed them.

Last night I started reading their chapter on parenting tips. I've read a few books on Christian parenting, and I've gleaned knowledge and wisdom from all of them. However, sometimes I felt overwhelmed by all the "stuff" I needed to be teaching my children and doing with them every day in order to be a successful parent--like reading them stories directly from the Bible for 30 minutes every day---and Bible storybooks won't do. It has to be original text. I'm not saying that's not a good idea, but some parenting plans I've read were really complicated.

But the Duggars keep it simple. I really like this quote from Michelle:

"I tell our children over and over again, 'You can gain all kinds of training, but no matter what skills and talents you possess, if you do these two things, you'll be successful: first, love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and strength, and second, love your neighbor as yourself.' If our children learn those two things while they're under my tutelage, then I've been successful. And they will be too."

Here's another one I love:

"We dont just lay down a stern do-what-I-say-or-else rule. We teach them why obedience is so crucial. I tell them 'As I teach you to obey my voice, I'm also teaching you to learn to obey God's voice. Someday, you will learn to hear His still, small voice in your heart, and you will know to obey Him. You'll know what's the right thing to do.' "

I love how these statements are so simple, but can be interpreted and applied in a million different scenarios in my everyday life as a mom. I don't have to have 50 different behavior models or discipline plans depending on situations that arise.

Without quoting the entire chapter, I will just say that their tips on getting children to obey "instantly" (an issue in our house with a certain, un-named, strong-willed little girl :)) worked wonders today. Whenever I asked her to do something today, I heard "Yes, ma'am" and the task was done. As opposed to the repertoire of whining, arguing, and throwing oneself on the floor that would occasionally occur around here. Yes, it's only been one day, but it was a great day. A really great day. And for that, I am grateful to the Duggars. No, I am NOT planning on having 18 children (and counting!), but I do believe God is using this family to spread his Word through their TV show and books. So check them out sometime if you have a chance!

My new love---E-mealz!

Thank you to my friend Susan for introducing me to E-mealz.com! One household task I dread every week is planning meals. As I've said before, I'm not much of a chef, but I do enjoy sitting down to a good meal every night with my family. I just hate taking the time to search through recipe books or websites trying to find something that looks good, healthy, and easy. So I end up in the rut of making the same meals over and over again.

Then, E-mealz came into my life. And I'll never be the same.

For $5 a month, you get a weekly meal plan, complete with 7 meals, recipes, a shopping list, and the prices for everything so you can budget. You can even tailor the meal plan to your grocery store of choice (they have plans for Wal-Mart, Aldi, Publix, or Kroger); or for a low-fat, Weight-Watchers, vegetarian, or couples instead of families. Here is a sample of what you get every week:

I've been doing this for about 4 weeks now, and everything I've made has been delicious. I just put each week's plan in a plastic page protector and stick it to my fridge. That way I can see what we are having for dinner each night and the recipes are right there so I don['t have to go digging for them. At the end of each week, I put that week's sheets into a binder to keep for later use. I LOVE IT.

If you LOVE to cook and plan meals and it's the greatest joy of your life, then this is probably not for you. But if cooking is a just a means to a meal and time with your family, then you might just want to check it out. Click on this link below, and if you sign up, I'll get referral credit. THANKS!

E-MEALZ Easy Meals for Busy and Frugal Families

John Piper on the economy

I saw this on our pastor's blog, and thought he gives such good insight into the current economic crisis.

Eliza's rainbow

For the past few months, Eliza has been a little obsessed with rainbows, and especially the fact that she had never seen one. Just a couple of weeks ago, she had me write out the words "I have never seen a rainbow" on a piece of paper so she could copy them on "signs" to put all over the house. A little strange, I thought at the time. Then last week at the beach, sweet Aunt Amy (Stephen's sister) was taking some family pictures for us one late afternoon as a storm was getting ready to roll through. We were just leaving as we could see the rain coming in the distance (a BEAUTIFUL sight in itself) when we looked up and saw this. What a BLESSING that God sent it when Amy was there to snap this shot! Eliza was so excited, and it was such a sweet moment to look at it and talk about how the rainbow was a sign of God's promises and how much He loves us. I never cease to be amazed at that thought.

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Rollercoaster day

I've been in a little bit of a dry spell lately about blogging, as ideas to write about just weren't coming to my mind. Then yesterday I had a day of highs and lows; I was overcome with sorrow to see that little Joseph a 4-year old little boy that lives our area, passed away yesterday afternoon. I knew his parents a little bit, Allen and Gillian, in college, and heard about his illness a few months ago and have since been praying for him and following his progress on their blog, Pray for Joseph. It was only this past November that they learned he had an aggressive brain tumor. Since then, he's had an endless run of surgeries, chemo, steroids, and other treatments. In their post Wednesday night, they had gotten the news that day while at St. Jude that he only had a few days to live, so they were coming home Thursday morning to try to enjoy spending those days in their home where Joseph could be comfortable. But he died in their bed shortly after they returned home. I cried so much for them yesterday, and am still teary now as I write. Although I know Joseph is completely whole and in the arms of Jesus now, my heart is broken for his parents, whose faith has been so strong. I cannot imagine their pain as he passed into heaven, knowing that they would no longer be able to hold their baby boy in their arms anymore. I read an article recently by a woman who had lost her daughter at a young age, and she said for months after she died, her arms would physically ache from longing to hold her daughter again. Yesterday I just held Eliza in my arms for a long time (while watching Curious George), kissed her head about a million times, smelled her hair, while the tears fell for Allen and Gillian. Please keep them and their little girl Holly in your prayers.




That was the low of my day, and then the high was girl's night out with my playgroup buddies at PF Changs, yum yum and so much fun. It's so nice after spending days in my "faux workout wear" (it looks like I'm on my way to or from the gym, but I actually haven't worked out in months and just wear them for comfort) to get all gussied up and go out with to a great dinner with some fantastic girlies with no diaper bags, goldfish, or sippy cups in sight. What a joy to eat, drink, and be merry and only have to worry about myself. Of course, we love our kids, but it's nice to have a break from the constant care-taking of our kiddos. This playgroup started as a group of neighborhood moms with new babies--Eliza was just 8 weeks old at our first meeting and slept in the Baby Bjorn the whole time; and the other three little girls just laid on a blanket on the floor. For the past 4 years we've gotten together every other week for some much needed playtime for the kids and "adult" time for the moms. We've added new friends and siblings, and had one friend move away. Next year the oldest girls, including Eliza, will be heading off to kindergarten so we'll have to adapt our plans a little, but I truly hope we can stay together for many years to come. So here's a "shout out" to my playgroup girls (I think we need a name for our group?)--thank you for your friendship. Here are some pictures of the girls over the years:


This was one of our first meetings. That's Eliza--the 2nd pumpkin from the left. They're all so tiny!





This one cracks me up. Sorry Josie and Olivia by making you sit on the couch--it looks like torture!




I don't have any pictures for a while after this one above because we couldn't get them all to sit still in one place long enough.

This is from Eliza's party a couple of weeks ago. So big!! (thanks Hanna for the pic!)


So I ended my emotional rollercoaster day by feeling so grateful for the many blessings God has given us.

Sing it Mandisa

Wow, MANY thanks to my singin' sista Tiffany for making me a CD today (I was in desperate need of some new tunes). I haven't even gotten past #5 yet because I keep hitting the back button every time this song by Mandisa is over. If you've ever felt like God couldn't love you or wasn't present in your life (haven't we all felt that way at some point???) please listen to this. The video is awesome---be sure to watch it all the way through. And grab the tissues. Wow, God REALLY loves us.

Team Hoyt

Stephen and I saw this a couple of years ago while watching coverage of the Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, THEN a marathon) and I was blown away (and brought to tears) by this amazing father-son team. Thanks Jackie, for bringing it my attention again today with your email! As incredible as Dick Hoyt's love for his son Rick is, it's only a smidgeon of the love our Heavenly Father has for us. I still have trouble wrapping my mind around that idea---that the God that made the universe loves little ole' me THAT much, unconditionally, and there's nothing I can do to ever get outside that love. Wow. You may have heard this story, but it never loses it's inspirational message to me. Watch and enjoy, and grab your tissues.

This first video is a clip from the Ironman coverage interviewing Dick and Rick and giving background to their story. The second one is video of them in the actual competition, with "Redeemer" (one of my faves) playing in the background.

Stationery for Missions!

This past Sunday we attended our cutie-pie nephew Cooper's dedication at Chris and Ann's church, and their fantastic pastor Jeff is doing an interesting series to the Christian response to world problems. Sunday's sermon was on poverty. Jeff put a website up on the big screen (very big---they meet in a movie theater!) that I believe was called "How rich are you?"; you can type in your yearly income and it tells you how you compare to the world population in terms of wealth. He typed in various amounts to see how they compared to the world; when he typed in $50,000/year, it came up as the top 1% in the world. Whoa. That means that most of us around here have more wealth than 99% of the rest of the world. It made my whining about not having a bonus room seem pretty trivial. The one thing Jeff said that really stuck out to me was this: "Wouldn't it be great if when God increases your income, instead of increasing your lifestyle, you increase your giving."

Then later this week, my friend Suzanne and I had a great convo at the park while the kiddos played about our perspectives on money, and how they are changing. I told her about Jeff's sermon, and she said she and her husband had recently been talking along those same lines. We both felt that God seemed to be putting it on our hearts to approach our incomes in a different way---to not always focus on making more money so we can get more "stuff". Don't get me wrong, I enjoy my "stuff" and I don't think this means selling all your belongings; it's really more of a change of attitude and perspective I'd like to take on. Looking for ways to do more meaningful things with our money, which really belongs to God anyway, right?

So here's my little step in that direction. A few years ago Stephen met a man named Adam from Poland who works for Campus Crusade there and was here raising support. Stephen had lunch with him, and was very impressed with Adam's sincere heart for the Polish people and his ministry there. So we decided to send him a little bit of support each month. He and his wife have three precious children and can always use more help. Last month, Adam sent a letter to all his U.S. supporters saying that since the American dollar has become so weak in Europe, his support from here is not stretching quite as far. So I've decided to start sending Adam 50% of all profits from my stationery site, Hard Candy Papers. I just started doing stationery for fun, just to have a little hobby because I really enjoy designing that kind of stuff. And now I'm really excited that God can allow me to use this little hobby to hopefully further Adam's ministry. Crafts and missions----who knew it could be such a great combo! It makes my little heart happy.

I've re-vamped the site a bit to make it a little more user-friendly, and hope to be adding more items as I get them time to design them. With Back-to-School and Christmas coming up in the not-too-far future (my two favorite times of the year!!), I'm getting excited about making some new stuff. Yes, Hobby Lobby already has some Christmas decorations out. It's crazy. But I love it!

Amazing blog

If you have any spare time this weekend, please go this blog http://www.audreycaroline.blogspot.com/ and read. It is the blog of Angie Smith, the wife of Todd Smith who is in the group Selah (that's him singing in the Selah video I posted a while back). My friend Rebecca just told me about this blog---Angie started it in January when she found out at her 20 week ultrasound that their baby would not live. Her blog is her journey through a heart-wrenching time in their lives; she is very real, her faith is amazing, and she is an incredibly gifted writer. I actually met her at a Bible study over a year ago, and thought at the time how articulate she was; she is a beautiful person inside and out, and you will be blessed and touched (and be brought to tears)by reading her thoughts.

Sovereignty of God

This week I've been so saddened by the devastating news of the loss of Steven Curtis Chapman's daughter Maria Sue. I've been a huge fan of his music for years and years; he was one of the first concerts I ever attended, and it absolutely breaks my heart to think of about their family right now. Yesterday our pastor's sermon was on the sovereignty of God and how there are things that happen that we can't possibly make sense of, but we have to remember that God has it all in His hands, that he is sovereign over matters of life and death, and His timing is perfect. I know this in my head, but I must confess that it is very hard to make sense of the death of a 5-year old little girl. I just have to keep reminding myself that my little brain cannot even get close to comprehending the greatness of our God; and that somehow this all fits into His perfect plan.

Below is a video of Steven's song "Cinderella", and him talking about the story behind it. What a wonderful reminder to take the time to savor every moment with our little girls (and boys). I love the ages of my kids right now, but sometimes I find myself wishing they were bigger as being a mom right now is so mentally and physically exhausted (hauling around a 24 lb. little person can really wear you out!). This song really makes me want to savor every moment with them, though, even the tough ones. I can hardly watch it without tearing up; it's so hard to think that he had no idea at the time what the future held for his family.