Yeah baby its Friday!!

This is the bestest, most favorite-ist, wonderfulest day of the week!!!

Its God Stop Friday!!! YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH!!! Thank you Patty for hosting this. It is our weekly time to look back over the last week and share what God has said over us or done for us.

Considering that it has been a very sickly week for me and my most precious 3rd son, I probably missed a few things God had to say because of the high doses of medicine being given to him or to myself.

But, during 3 days of being in the bed with that darling little one, we were able to share Nick Jr., kisses just because, sweet little conversations about life, question and answer sessions, and even some snoozing time.

God sweetly reminded me the importance of one on one time with our children. He reminded me that they really are a gift from Him. He allowed me some time, even in the sickness, to fall in love with that little boy all over again.

It was sweet to be sick together. And, I'm grateful for the crud we shared together. It was wonderful! ; )

Have a wonderful Friday friend. I'm thankful for each and everyone of you. I've prayed for you today. You really have a piece of my heart.

Blessings~

For all my Northern girls out there

I really am in awe of you girls that are North of TN because I just don't know how you do it day in and day out with all that horrible/beautiful snow that just seems to keep coming.

I'm a big ole baby who cannot handle the temps to get too far below 32. My body becomes miserable.

Is all that snow and ice unusual for you or is this normal?? I hope its unusual.

I tip my hat to those of you who have dealt with too many school closings, shoveling snow every other day, and trying to manage FEET of snow. I'm ready for flowers and trees to bloom. Come on Spring.....I think we are all ready.

This is what we got last night and you should have heard the delight in the voices of children.





Did you see the snow in these pictures?? That is what that is. And...I took a picture of it. Sad.

Have a wonderful day!
Blessings~

Stressed out!

Happy Monday to everybody!!

I hope your weekend was fun, full, and loaded with some wonderful family time. I hope your worship experience at church yesterday was a perfect moment between you and God. I loved worship yesterday at my home church. It was a sweet time between me and Jesus. I'm grateful today.

Today, I have been picking, choosing, whirling ideas around, thinking, figuring....blah, blah, blah about what specific thing I want to share with you today. And....

I've decided. This is not what I thought I was going to share today, but staying true to the original concept of this blog.....this is for my families at church whom I have the privilege to serve and grow with each day....each week.

Ok...I'm reading my newest magazine, Children's Ministry, and I came across something of interest and concern to me for anyone who has children that are school age.

The top 5 sources of stress for elementary-age kids are......

1. A parent having problems

2. Fighting with a friend or sibling

3. Taking a test

4. Wondering whether others find them attractive

5. Not having enough privacy

Well, I could say many things about these 5 things, but for some reason #5...not having enough privacy....surprised me. Are kids in elementary school wanting more privacy?? Why do they need privacy?? What in the world are elementary age kids doing in this private time?? Maybe they just want some "alone time." Maybe they want some "down time." Maybe they truly just need a break from life after school.

However, this concerns me. And, it concerns me for a few reasons. I think, we, as parents, need to be very careful about how much privacy we give them. They ALWAYS need to know that we are the authority over every.single.thing. they have and do. I strongly believe that when you allow them to have too much alone time and privacy, you are setting a stage for Jr. High and High school years that will not be healthy.

Why are kids stressed out about not having enough privacy?? Why in the world do they need privacy?? We have to keep their alone time in check and not allow them to have too much time alone. I'm really at a loss as to why they are stressed about this.

So....if anybody has any thoughts or suggestions about this privacy thing at this age, please help me out. My oldest is 11 and he loves to be alone. However, I have to really keep this in check and not allow him to be off by himself watching tv alone or on the computer alone. I don't want to set up a pattern or normalcy for aloneness......for many reasons.

And...I want my kids to know that they can have their space and their stuff, but if at any point I feel the need to explore.....your stuff is mine to go through. You may totally disagree with me, but I am the parent and NOTHING is off limits in my book.

So, I guess I'm not any better off than I was at the beginning of this post. I just want to know why such young children are stressed about needing more privacy. I'd love some insight if you have any.

We all know that nothing good usually happens in the secret places. And...Lord knows that not everything done alone or in private is bad. But, I think with children we must stay on top of their alone time and this privacy that they are needing more of. There is a fine line between normal alone time and too much alone time. I'm still just as surprised at the thought that kids are stressed out over needing more privacy.

Hmmmmm.......what do you think about this?? I'm still scratching my head.
I'm so thankful for each of you that will help me understand this more. :)

2 of us are here....

Well, I am one weird human being! I am home. By myself right now. And, screaming and jumping up and down like a mad woman over THIS basketball game!! Ya see....I'm a U of M alum so when it comes to basketball....my blood runs blue! I'm sorry Patty! :)

And...two of my boys are at this game! And...I'm completely jealous! See....I love sports. And I really love Tiger basketball. The rest of my crew is at their grandparents watching it on their big screen probably jumping up and down and acting like I'm doing......they just have the company of others to have the fun!

So....here are my 3 precious kids lined up in the back of dad's car as they head to Memphis! They were so excited! And....the one in the middle is the one at the game!! He's with dad. I've wanted to call their cell phone 100 times and its still the 1st half.




Well, its finally half time. We are up by one I think. I'm so exhausted. I don't know how I'll get through the 2nd half. I hope your Saturday night is as thrilling as mine! And....I'm serious when I say that!

GO TIGERS GO!!

Um...its over now and my Tigers lost! I'm completely exhausted! :(

Well, its Friday!!! YAY! YES! The best day for me bc I can be home most of the day ALL BY MYSELF!! I don't work on Friday's so I absolutely love me some Friday!

And...it's God Stop Friday hosted by our beloved, Patty! This is our time to reflect on specifics that God has done for us, showed us, helped us through, or whatever the case may be for you during the past week.

I'm sitting here with my coffee right now and have my praise music in the background and it just makes me so happy.

My "God Stop Friday" moment of choice today would be something that was said during our DVD viewing of "Wising Up" on Wednesday morning.......It was very profound for me at the moment and something that I have thought of many times since Bible study.

The magnificent teacher, Beth Moore, was teaching us about how to be wise with our finances.
At the end of the DVD, she was talking about situations in marriages when the husband and wife are in two different places of giving. She said something in the middle of her "how to handle that" that freed me so much.....

Relax before your God!!!

Relax before your God!!!

We bring our pure, clean hearts before Him, we pray for whatever it is, and we RELAX before Him. Don't get worried about any part of what you are asking, feeling, wishing, wanting, needing. He knows our hearts girls.

Let's relax before God and not get hung up in anything we are afraid of or thinking is weird. He is a loving God. He can handle anything we need to give Him. Even our finances. Even our broken relationships. Even our frustrations. Even our marriages. Even our troubled children.
Even our jobs. Even our feelings of despair and hoplessness.

Cry out to God. Relax before Him. He loves you so much. You are EVERYTHING to Him.
Relax. Enjoy. Be with Him in complete honesty.

Blessings~

Don't be snappy...

I needed this last night.

Our children can teach us the most important lessons in life.

Last night at church, I was talking with some grown ups in the gym. At the same time, I was trying to gather up my 3 boys and for some reason, my nerves were a little unnerved. My sweet #3 son was shooting hoops not far from where I was standing and for NO REASON WHATSEVER, I yelled over at him....."STOP SHOOTING THAT BASKETBALL!!!!"

Why in the world did I do that?? Why did I have to scare the fire out of him?? Why did I have to come out of nowhere and scream at him?? Why did I not just ask politely.....

"Would you please shoot the ball on another goal away from the grownups?"

No....I did not. I yelled at him in a very ugly way.

We got home and he wouldn't even speak to me. After his bath, dad found him in the laundry room crying and talking to himself. I'm sure he wasn't saying anything nice about dear ole mom.

Dad got him on the couch in the den and they talked about what mean ole mom had done.

I am summoned to the den and his sweet, broken heart was plain as day. I scared him. I was out of line in my tone. I embarrassed him. I was wrong in every way.

My heart broke in two. I sincerely said I was sorry. I asked for forgiveness. He cried small tears for another minute or two and then was ok.

I was deeply convicted over the power my words had over him.

Our words and our tone are everything to people. May we speak love, life, and encouragement over everyone today. I pray that you will choose your words and tone most carefully with everyone you come in contact with. Especially in circumstances where you find yourself wanting
to snap, remember to take a chill pill!

James 3:5 from the Message says this...."It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that."

I don't want any forest fires breaking out in your world today.
Blessings~

Introducing our new daughter.....

Is she not the most beautiful little girl you have ever seen??? She is a slice of heaven to this momma's heart......she has my heart.

Please meet the newest member of our family.....this is Sofia, and she is a wonderful 5 years old and lives in Uganda in Africa. I'm in love with this child thanks to Compassion and the work they do to help children all over the world.

We signed up to sponsor Sofia at the end of many months of work between God and myself. It all came to pass when the blogging community went on a Compassion sponsored event to Uganda and began to share their stories. I knew at that moment that God spoke so sweetly into my heart and said...."These are my children, Fran. I need YOU to give them hope."

Ok. I get it now. I pray that you will check out Compassion or these 3 bloggers, Boomama, Shannon, or Shaun and read about their AMAZING journey last week. I'm blown away.

I have 3 boys AND a daughter now. She IS a part of this family. And, she is a part of a global family that needs our help. If you are able, I pray that you will consider sponsoring....I call it adopting :).....a child through Compassion.

Blessings and love my friends! I love you Sofia....we are praying for you and can't wait to get our 1st letter in the mail to you!