Life with my sister

We never post anymore because we are full of excuses and no one reads this these days, thanks to the ever updating Facebook and and Instagram. but today while I eat lunch at my computer, why not update it a bit and shake things up on a Wednesday. I have been convicted this week. I never share Jesus. Really share Jesus. Like as in asking the hard questions to people in my life who I am not certain really know Him. I think one of the reasons I don't feel bold in my faith is because my story is so vanilla. I mean I barely have sprinkles on top and it may even be sugar free vanilla. I can't let that stop me though. Grace wins whether you are saved as a child or as an adult in prison or a young girl in a pregnancy crisis center or an adult going through the motions. Grace is the same and the blood was shed just the same. So, here is my faith story. I was raised in the buckle of the Bible belt in Fort Smith, Arkansas. God's country. One grandfather was a Souther...

It's an election year, do you know what that means? It's Leap Year! An extra day has been given to us so let's do something special with it.  It's a special gift, even though it's a Monday this year. Let's do something special with the day. Here are some ideas for how to spend our extra day, February 29!  1. Fold clothes for a foster family.  2. Donate $29 (for the 29th) to your local pregnancy resource center.  3. Volunteer at a local elementary school.  4. Pay for the car behind you in the drive-thru line.  5. Take a dessert to your local Fire Department.  6. Write letters to soldiers overseas.  7. Volunteer at an animal shelter 8. Pick up trash at a park.  9. Leave quarters on washing machines at a laundromat.  10. Donate $29 to your church's missionary orginazation (IMB, NAMB) 11. Provide dinner for a foster family.  12. Leave an extra tip for your waiter/waitress at lunch/dinner.  13. Have a special dinner just for your fa...

God works in our lives in ways we can't imagine or see at the time it's happening. I've wished so many times to be able to look ahead and see how everything works out in a particular situation. I know so many times the outcome is never what I would have imagined in the onset.  This story is no different. The fact that I'm able to look back on the last eleven years and see God work is a gift from Him. I challenge you to look back on your life, your circumstances and see how God worked in your life.  Many years ago Stephen and I made the decision that our children wouldn't play sports on Sunday. (Stephen made the decision and I agreed with it) It was an easy decision to make with him being a pastor and an obligation to be at our church on Sunday.  It was also an easy decision because the opportunity of playing on Sunday had never presented itself to us, however we saw the popularity of travel baseball teams on the rise and knew the subject would come up sooner, rather...

We love counting down the days to Christmas in this house. We have advent two ways. A Chocolate advent calendar is one of then. We always had one growing up. One year mama couldn't find chocolate so we had tiny little toys in each window. It was very odd and we were ready to rush through that one! Julie and I took turns opening the days each year. One had even days and one had odd days. I was so glad when she married and moved away because it was all mine then!  Julie and I carry on the tradition with our kiddos. It's loved by them as much as it was with us. It's so fun to keep that tradition going. How many calendars have we hoarded up in our deep freezers over the years thinking we would never find any again?! We are serious about the chocolate advent calendar.  I don't do the Elf on the Shelf. I love admiring those that do. It's really cute. I just can't get a peace about it for us. What we do works and Henry loves it like it is...and we do too.  At our house...

This time every year the church our kids attend for children and youth functions has a drama called Judgement House. It's a walking drama with several scenes that tell the story of several people and their decision to accept Christ or not.  Many people make a life changing decision during Judgement House and accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. The boys have been involved in some way every year since 2012. They love being a part of something that has a lasting impact on people, and they love being with their friends! This year, Daniel played a lead role (he did last year also), David played a Roman guard, and Samuel had a one line role. Daniel practiced his lines for weeks, he always wants to do the best job possible, and he delivers! David is the tallest of our three boys, and was an intimidating figure as a Roman guard. Samuel had a busy week with Homecoming festivities and was only able to be at JH for two nights, but his one line was a needed one.   We've been t...

Now that all of the boys are attending school in some way or another, parent/teacher conferences are a real thing for us this year.  For the last two years Samuel had one class each year so our parent/teacher conferences were quick and easy, not too painful.  This year Samuel is taking a full days worth of classes, so I had several teachers to meet and visit. I enjoyed meeting them, putting a face to the name and figuring out how best to help Samuel do well this year.  I visited with David and Daniel's teacher, and she made me smile. She has worked really hard at telling them apart and getting to know their personalities. I can't tell you how much that meant to me. Public school teachers get a bad rap, they have a tough job, but the ones I met last night have the best interest of our students at heart.  Our boys are doing good in school, they've made the transition well and have good grades. So far so good. 

Anna loves Awana. She has been in it since Cubbies, when she was three years old. She learned to memorize short parts of key verses in the Bible. As she got older and progressed in Awana the verses got harder and she heard the words "word perfect."   Word perfect is how she insists on saying her verses to her leaders. The rules for memorization allow he students to have two helps when reciting the verses, but that will not do for her. She must recite me with no helps and no mistakes.  She has memorized over 100 verses and has truly hidden them in her heart. When we have Bible study she can give book and chapter to a lot of the subjects we cover. It's amazing!    Today we were checking out at Dollar Tree and talking about memorizing verses and having to miss church and the Bible lesson that was going to be taught. The clerk stopped us and let her know how special she thought Anna was and how refreshing it was to hear a teenager speak of Christ and learning about Him. ...