A Weekend Getaway

All I can say about our trip is "OH MY GOSH!!" The hotel was amazing!! The pictures don't even do it justice!! It really is like a little city inside itself. You know how in the movies where the car pulls up the hotel entrance and they get out and hand the keys to the valet person and they just park their car?!? That's exactly how it was!! We pulled up in this huge covered driveway and there were several men there all dressed in white shirts ready to do whatever it was that we needed. We didn't do valet parking ($18), but they offered to take our one suitcase in for us. We didn't do that either.

But, when we walked in the hotel, it was breathtaking!! Just like the movies. We went to check in and they gave us an Executive Suite upgrade because it was our anniversary. We went up to our room and I was shocked when I opened the door!!

We were on the 7th floor, so from our balcony, we could look down in the atrium and the river was right below us. So was the margarita bar -- didn't go there. ;) I, of course, started taking all kinds of pictures. The stay in this room HAD to be documented!!

We went downstairs and walked all around the Gaylord. We had a $8 ice cream cone (but it was delicious)! Went outside and saw the outdoor pool complete with waterfalls! Saw the indoor pool -- big, but just an indoor pool.

We decided to go to the Grapevine Mills Mall and walk around. After a few hours of walking around, we were tired and decided to just go back to the hotel. I mean, we were only staying there one night and we needed to check out the rest of the stuff we missed!!

We watched some tv and decided to order room service. $10 for 1/2 of a quesadilla! Good thing we weren't very hungry! We ordered a quesadilla and a bowl of chicken tortilla soup (it was DELICIOUS!!) for $20. I called the order in. They called me back and told me that our order would be delivered soon. Within a few minutes there was a knock at the door!!

We slept in the most comfortable bed!! It was warm and just plain comfortable!! Poor Aaron said the covers were too hot for him, but I had no problem with them!

Saturday morning, we got up and decided that we needed to find a car. Jennifer called us on our way to Dallas (actually we were in Dallas, but lost) and said that we could sign all the papers on our car on Monday!! WOW!! Didn't know it would go so fast! But, we decided to go to that car place that we found on Ebay. Got lost and drove in a huge circle. Went through a toll booth without paying because it wouldn't take our money. FINALLY found the car place. I got a new (well, new to me) car. I'll blog about that next.

Next, we were headed to IKEA. We pull up to the building. HUGE 2 story BLUE building. There were people EVERYWHERE!! I was a little giddy as we walked in. They even have childcare for your kids!! This place is just 2 stories of AMAZING things!! We were having so much fun looking around at stuff!! We finally figured out how the store works (with the shopping list) and we were off.

We saw the 2nd floor and it was awesome, so as we headed downstairs, I had to go to the bathroom. Not realizing that the easiest way would have been to go back up the stairs, I saw a sign that said bathroom LEFT. I followed the sign. I kept walking and following the signs and finally I HAD TO GET TO THE BATHROOM!! I stopped a worker and asked. They said past the checkouts on the left. OH MY GOSH!! So, I ran through the first floor just glancing at everything around me. Made it to the bathroom and while I'm in there, this lady said, "Man, who designed this thing? 10,000 parking spots and only 4 stalls in the bathroom." I had to agree.

Anyway, the thing is that the bathrooms are on the other side of "the wall", so once you go through the door, you can't go back through like you're going back to the checkouts. I had to walk ALL AROUND THE BOTTOM FLOOR AGAIN!! Aaron called and said he had found the shelf we wanted and I finally made it back to him. We get in line and he says, "I bet you have time to go back and get those canisters you wanted." I already had those picked out when we went in the door. I just couldn't find them. So, back around the first floor I went to find the canisters and make it back to the checkout before he got to the cashier.

I found the canisters and some cereal storage things. I also found some neat ice trays that I had to have. I grab a yellow bag (next time I know that is a must have) and throw my stuff in it and get back into the flow of people. I am dodging people left and right when Aaron calls. He's the next one to the cashier and he wants to know where I'm at. I round the final corner and say excuse me to all the people in line and make it just in time!! Here's our load:

Set of canisters (2)
Folding chairs for life group (3)
Ice Cube Trays (3)
Shelf for above our bed
Stool for Evan
Cereal storage (2)
Drawer Organizers (6)
Maybe something else: $100 for all of it!!

I'm sad that I saw the bottom floor 3 times in such a hurry. I'm going back to Dallas to see a friend over spring break, so I'm heading to IKEA again for sure!! I want to be able to look and touch everything!! So many things!! You just have to know how their system works -- always get the paper so you can make a list of what you want.

Anyway, we had a blast. If you put aside all the times we got lost or turned around, we had a great time. Definately an anniversary to remember.

A Night Away. . .

Aaron and I are off for a night away and I'm so excited!! Our anniversary isn't until March, but it's also the same day as Payton's birthday, so our anniversary always gets put off or just looked over. Last year we went to a Texas Tech basketball game and it was fun, but we had to come back early due to Aaron's "incompetent" employee at the time.

Anyway, we're going to the Gaylord Texan. Seems that it's a really neat place to stay -- and it should be for the money we had to spend to stay there!! I am excited just to get away and do fun stuff just with Aaron and somewhere besides Abilene. And, we've never stayed somewhere REALLY nice like that. It should be an experience!! :)

Aaron's been wanting to go to IKEA forever, so we're going to check it out. I'm sure I'll have fun there, too!! ;) Then, a trip to the Bass Pro Shop -- that one's only for Aaron, but I'll go and be happy to be there. There is a car place that we've been watching sell cars on Ebay and we might go check them out at some point. They had a vehicle on there yesterday that we wanted, but we have to get the details of my car worked out first. Not a big deal, but it would be nice to see the car in person before bidding on Ebay and being shocked when you get it!!

So, we'll see you guys on Sunday morning!! Eric Silva is staying with our kids for the night. I'm writing all your numbers down just in case there's an "emergency"!! ;) Pray for him and my kids! Payton will be just fine and I'm not worried about him. Evan seems to have a breakdown when it's time to go to bed and I'm not home. I think if Eric wears them out before bedtime, Evan should go right to sleep and not wake up in the night. I hope that is the scenario.

Everything Has It's Place

Yesterday was President's Day and Payton didn't have school. I remembered a while back when I was trying to "check-out", Aaron told me that I could do whatever I set my mind to. He was right then and yesterday I heard his voice in my head again. So, I got up and went and got the boys and we tackled their closet!!! I know that's something weird to do, but I was tired of toys everywhere and nothing had a place although we had cubbies and shelves, nothing was ever there. So, here's a little slideshow to show you the "Before" & "After":

An update on me: Yes, I'm doing much better. Things don't quite seem as overwhelming in the last few days. I met with my ESC team on Sunday and shared somethings that I feel like God is wanting us to do and they were on board, which helps!! Then, one of my team members came up to me afterwards and just confirmed what I had shared. I'm sorry that I can't let you in on the details yet because they're still in the works, but it is exciting!!

I'm hoping to take my team to Redding in April for a children's workers conference there. Be praying that all the financial stuff works out. That's what I'm doing today -- looking up flights, hotels, and cars. Thank God for the internet!!! How did we ever survive without it?!?! ;)

My Latest "Feelings"

Lately, I've been a little withdrawn. I want to stay home in the evenings, don't really want to have people over, just want to veg out at home, want to go shopping by myself (later wished I had someone along), spent way too much time online just wasting time -- all symptoms of "checking out". I've noticed that in the last few days, my mind is trying to check-out and it's a fight to keep it "here" -- hope that makes some sense. I haven't done that in quite a while, so today I started asking God why I was "checking out". I was pulling out of the Wal-Mart parking lot and I heard God say, "You're overwhelmed."

Now, I read on someone else's blog where "overwhelmed" seems to be the word lately, but I haven't heard it from anyone's mouth per se and I wasn't sure what God meant by that. And, just on Tuesday, Bryan asked me how I was doing and my reply was "Good" and I felt "good".

I'm not overwhelmed by children's church. I know what it takes to put everything together for a Sunday morning and it's going good. I know I have a meeting on Sunday that I still need to prepare for, but it isn't "overwhelming" to me. I'm not overwhelmed at home. I feel like I have my home under control -- I mean, with cleaning and stuff. It's not perfect by any means, but we're not living in a pig pen. I'm not overwhelmed at being a mom or a wife-- that's good.

So, I left WM and went to Aaron's office to finish up a job that I had been working on for him. I was there with the boys for about an hour. Jesse came back from lunch and we were talking children's ministry, etc. I told him that I was feeling overwhelmed, but I wasn't sure why. I feel like I'm overwhelmed at what is coming very soon, but I don't know what "that" is. It's really kind of hard to explain.

Anyway, Aaron got back from his lunch with Doug H. and he said that Doug had a dream about me. In the dream, he was missing a tool (long story, but I want to get to the point and Doug didn't feel like the tool was important) and Aaron and I were taking him to our house to get it. We started going up this hill that just kept on going forever. Doug kept asking where we lived and I said just up here a little farther. But, the hill kept going. It finally got so high that it kind of became like steps -- it would straighten out and then start to go up again. We started getting tired and it got to a point where Doug had to lift me up and put me on the "step" and then climb up. Then, he had to push me up on to the next step and then he climbed up. Then, Doug woke up.

Aaron said that Doug's interpretation is that I'm going somewhere that I've never been before and he really believes that my ESC team and those around me are really supposed to start interceeding for me and the direction we're going. When Aaron was telling me that, I started to tear up. It just confirmed what I had just figured out that I was feeling. I started to get those "anointing chills" and it was awesome. As I'm typing now, I have those same chills. I believe that "where I lived" in the dream is my promised land -- whatever that looks like, I'm not exactly sure yet, but I can't get there by myself. I had that realization about a month ago. But, it's also scary at the same time -- the unknown.

I have this great anticipation of what is coming, although I don't know exactly what it is. It's scary because I know that it means 'stretching' is coming, too. Stretching isn't comfortable. You know, like when you pull your jeans straight from the dryer and you have to stretch them to get them to fit (although mine are starting to fit just fine straight from the dryer ;) ). They're not comfortable at first. I think that's what I'm overwhelmed by.

I really feel like I'm just rambling now, so I'm going to stop. Feel free to leave comments on this one.

God is good -- even in the middle of strep throat!!

Payton has been running a fever for the past few days. He feels good as long as the fever is gone, but when the fever hits, it knocks him out!! So, he woke up this morning with a sore throat, a fever, and some nasty cough. I decided that we should just go ahead and take him to the dr. because if it was strep throat, hopefully we could catch it soon enough and it wouldn't get that bad.

We went to the doctor and $97 later, he has strep throat. The doctor tells me that he needs to be checked in 10 days to make sure it goes away because if it doesn't, it could lead to heart damage and liver failure and kidney failure. OK . . .

We go to Wal-Mart to get his prescription filled. I gave the girl the slip of paper and she asked if we had any kind of insurance or prescription card -- we don't. So she says, "Would you like me to tell you how much it's going to be?" I said sure -- great idea. She says, "It will be $148. What?" (Yes, she said WHAT?) I said, "For one prescription, it's going to be $148?!?!" She said yes, but they would call the doctor and see if he would give him a generic, which would make it cheaper. Come back in 10 minutes for the verdict.

I took the boys to the McDonald's in Wal-Mart and just sat there praying because I didn't want to throw away $250 in one day on some stupid sore throat! We ate lunch and headed back to the pharmacy. I just kept asking God to give us favor. We got to the counter and I told them who I was. The pharmacist said, "Oh yeah. We got them to change it, so it's going to be $8." EIGHT DOLLARS!!! EIGHT DOLLARS!!! Wal-Mart now has the $4 generic prescriptions, so the new medicine didn't come in a container big enough, so they just gave us 2 bottles -- $4 each.

As the pharmacist was mixing the medicine, he just said that they used to give the medicine Payton is getting all the time for strep, but they've got this other one that is just a little bit stronger, but it's way more expensive, so they prescribe it. He said the one Payton got was just as good, though. YAY!

I thanked him for helping me to save so much money and went about my day. Payton and Evan are both sleeping now, which is nice. I am a little upset, though, because now we can't go to the Valentine's Day banquet at church. We have never been to one since we've been here. The first one, we did child care. The second one, Evan had RSV. Last year we didn't have one and this year Payton has strep. I even went out last night and bought a neat outfit for it. Oh well. I think it will be fun to stay home and just hang out -- not as much fun as being with everyone, but it will be just fine. Maybe Aaron will bring dinner home (or something) and we'll start a fire and just hang out at home.

Random Acts of Kindness Week

This week is officially (not sure who "officially" made it "official") Random Acts of Kindness Week. A "Pay it forward" kind of thing. The challenge this week is to find someone (could be someone you know or don't know) and do an act of kindness for them.

I'm on a scrapbooking bulletin board and we do card swaps, secret scrapbook sisters, recipe swaps, ribbon swaps, etc. So, we save each other's addresses and we send out RAOKs (pronounced "RACKS") and post on the bulletin board when we get them. On that board, we send out scrapbooking stuff and it's really neat to see how big (and small) the packages are! Last week I opened my mailbox and there was a RAOK from the BBC RAOKer. It had some scrapbooking embellishments that were awesome!! It really made my day!!

Anyway, I challenged the kids this morning to find someone -- anyone -- this week that they could do a random act of kindness for. So, I'm challenging you, too!! Get creative!! It could be done in secret or it could be done in person. I've always wanted to pay for someone's groceries at the store or just leave a MASSIVE tip at a restuarant -- those are RAOKs. It's kind of a secret sister thing, but not really. You might never find out who gave you your RAOK, but I'm sure it will be a blessing!! And, that's the fun part!! It doesn't even have to be for someone outside of your own home!!!

So, get RAOKing!!! You can post if you get something on here or if you do something for someone, feel free to post it here, too!!

A Bigger Car . . .

I've been praying and thinking about this for a few weeks now. I am in need of a bigger car -- just plain and simple. For one, on Sunday mornings, my car is LOADED down with things for children's church. Most of the time there isn't even room for my kids in my car on Sundays!! And, it's not stuff that I can just leave at the school. It has to be transported week after week.

Secondly, I want to be a part of the school carpool. Krissy has a carpool going with this lady in Baird. Then, Kilee started going to Cornerstone and I thought it was the perfect time to jump on the "carpool" wagon. But, my car isn't big enough to hold all of the kids, plus Evan. So, right now, the plan is that I will pay Jennifer $15 a week for gas to use her van to go get all of the kids. It is kind of both of our ways in getting in on our share of the carpool. There isn't a day that she could take or pick up the kids, so letting me use her van is her way in. But, she can't afford the extra gas for 2 more times a week, so I said I would pay her for gas.

It has worked out that I haven't had to use her van (or pay her) and it has been really nice, but that's only because one of the kids was sick on my days or this past Friday, I took Evan to Aaron's office while I went to get the kids.

So, I've been praying for a newer/bigger car and I'm just stepping out there and posting this so all of you can believe with me. Just today, I went in to town and had to pick up stuff for children's church tomorrow. Aaron called and asked if I could come and get the boys (they were at Bryan's playing Xbox), but when I got there, there wasn't ANYWHERE for the boys to sit because of the stuff!! Ethan & Payton sat in the front seat and I cleared out a small place for Evan to sit.

I love my car and I would love to give it away, but we owe money on it and we have to figure out what the deal is with the gas tank (see Aaron's blog), so that isn't an option. I don't have specifics on what kind of car I want -- preferrably an SUV and not white. Other than that, I don't know. This whole thing is just going to have to be one of those "God Things".

You Think You Know Me . . .

Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. Snow Cone Stand
2. Wal-Mart
3. Finance Manager @ an RV lot
4. Legal Secretary

Movies I would watch over and over:
5. Charlie & The Chocolate Factory
6. Pursuit of Happyness
7. Cars (and have watched it over and over)
8. Facing The Giants

Four places you have lived:
9. Wheeler, TX
10. Abilene, TX (moved away 3 times)
11. Tulsa, OK
12. Enid, OK

Four places you have been on vacation:
13. Disney World
14. Eureka Springs, Arkansas
15. Alaska (on a motorcycle)
16. Ft. Worth, TX (woo whoo)


Four of my favorite foods are:
17. Fuji's
18. Rosa's
19. Baked Potato Soup
20. Chili's Chicken Enchilada Soup

Four places I would rather be right now:
21. on a scrapbooking retreat
22. on the beach
23. on vacation
24. with my sister

Four friends I think will respond:
25. Brandi
26. Natalee
27. Not sure since everyone else has done this
28.

TBL -- Part 2

We've been doing this since last Thursday as a competition and I have to say that I haven't been very competitive. I HAVE been doing much better with what I'm eating and how much. I didn't realize how much I snacked throughout the day and usually not on good things. I didn't realize how much I ate off of my kids' plates after they were finished. Or if I am hungry and eat something, but it didn't quite "hit the spot", I would eat again. BUT, not this week!! I've been doing so good!! Even went to McDonald's today for lunch and DIDN'T have ANY fries!! WOW!! I was sitting there watching everyone else eat their fries, but not me!! I didn't even order any for Evan just so I wouldn't be tempted. YAY for me!

So, tonight I was home alone. My house is a mess and we have life group tomorrow night. I did clean up a little bit, but decided to relax. I was sitting in the living room watching tv when I felt like I was supposed to air up my Core Secrets ball. That was weird!! I took a shower to hopefully "wash away" the thought, but I couldn't. I got out of the shower and pulled my ball out of my closet and aired it up!! What a thigh workout!! My goodness!!!

So, I'm not sure WHY I was supposed to air it up -- maybe to use it?!?! I hope this is funner than the last time I aired it up!! I'm a infomercial junkie and I saw the commercial for Slim in 6 yesterday -- very tempting. . . not as tempting as those french fries, though!!!

ESC Sunday

I thought that yesterday went really well, but today I'm needing some encouragment. Last year, no one put ANY comments on the welcome card and NO ONE said it was good, etc. I was heartbroken!! I wanted someone to tell me that at least I did a good job -- not one.

So, this year was the total opposite. I had people telling me all day how awesome it was and I truly believe that, but it wasn't about me. I believe that God showed up yesterday. The kids that prayed for people were telling me that afternoon, "I prayed for a lot of people today." They were so proud and I was proud of them. I'm telling you that I believe with all of my heart that God showed up and showed off yesterday by using our kids. Yesterday I felt like we went from "oh that's cute" to really seeing how powerful our kids are and it was encouraging for those kids to have adults come to them for prayer. A lot of them thought it was really neat.

But, all evening and this morning, I've been fighting those thoughts of you-should-have-said-that or you shouldn't-have-said-that or I'm just afraid I'm going to get called into Pastor Bryan's office and "get in trouble". I'm not sure why. I don't have a basis to think that Bryan would call me in to talk to me -- he's never done anything but encourage me and I know that he believes in what I do. I'm just telling you I've been fighting the thoughts this morning and it's starting to make me mad -- just that the thoughts won't stop.

I do have 1 thing that I'm a little embarassed about -- OK, REALLY embarassed about -- that 500 miles song. OH MY GOODNESS!! I guess the sound team didn't see the little note that said "start at 35 seconds"!! I wanted to faint as I was walking down the stairs and I hear, "When I get drunk, well I know I'm going to be, I'm gonna be the one who gets drunk next to you". All I can do now is just make sure next time to STRESS starting the song at the right spot or don't chance it by using that kind of song. I have heard the song, but don't guess I ever really paid attention to the words. But since yesterday, that song has been stuck in my head!! To add injury to insult, I looked that song up again on iTunes and Steven Curtis Chapman sings a version of it!!! Hindsight truly is 20/20!!

Then, I feel like I fumbled around during my time of sharing. There was so much I was trying to share, but be aware of the time. That song really threw me off as I was walking down to share. I couldn't get out of my head how embarassed I was that that song played. I had to gather myself to share from my heart, but I felt like I just fumbled through it. I think we all saw that I don't think quick on my feet when Doug dumped out my offering lesson!! ;) That was funny!!!

What's funny is that as I'm typing this, I'm feeling those silly thoughts slowly get quieter and quieter. SO, I guess what I'm shamelessly asking is for comments about yesterday. I want to be able to come back here and read what everyone took away from the service yesterday -- just a reminder of all of the support that I have around me. I guess I just need to "have a little help from my friends". (There's my breakout into song and dance).

TBL -- Day 1 & 2

Yesterday, I thought I was doing so good. I had my oatmeal for breakfast. I had a Lean Cuisine for lunch. Aaron's mom is in town and wanted to meet us at Cracker Barrel, so we went. I had a salad -- not much of one because it wasn't very good. I had a pounding headache while we were eating dinner. I couldn't figure out why. As I was sitting at dinner, I just kind of asked God what in the world was going on. He said it was a lack of sugar. :)

Before yesterday, I didn't drink water -- only sweet tea (and caffenated, by the way). Yesterday, I didn't have ANY tea or sugar all day. Instead, I had 6 glasses of water (oh the trips to the bathroom!!)! I was having MAJOR withdrawals!!!

I went home and took some headache stuff and went to bed. This morning when I got up, I felt like I was going to pass out. I was standing in the shower this morning thinking at any moment that I could just fall over. But, I didn't.

I jumped out of the shower, got dressed, and went and ate my oatmeal and had 2 glasses of water. I guess I over did it yesterday -- or maybe "under did it". Isn't it crazy how easily your flesh can become addicted to just plain sugar?!?!

So, today I had my oatmeal, Chick-Fil-A for lunch (I know, I know. I even had a Dr. Pepper!!), and for dinner I just ate a few grapes and a few appetizers at the baby shower, but not near what I normally would have eaten and I'm not hungry.

But, other than the Dr. Pepper, I didn't have any sugar today. . . well, besides a few Chick-Fil-A mints (love those things!!) But, tonight I'm feeling much better than I did last night!! And, I had 5 glasses of water today -- no tea!!

I did get my Core Secrets down out of the attic, but the ball isn't aired up yet. . . maybe I'll get that done on Monday.

Here's to all of us trying to disipline our flesh -- one step at a time.

P.S. Please pray for me!! I/We've lost my holder with all the ESC worship DVDs/CDs. It's not where it should be and it's not where it shouldn't be. Children's church Sunday is THIS SUNDAY and I need God to show me where they are!! I'm kind of freaking out -- only in a calmer way than I normally would!! ;) Oh the joys of a portable church!

UPDATE: Found the DVDs!!! Right where they shouldn't have been!! But, they were out in the open, so once I had a key to the right room, there they were!! YAY!!

Let the games begin. . .

Today I went to pick up the scale for the Biggest Loser competition. I got home just in time to get ready for life group and I didn't want to "cheat" before it all starts.

We had an awesome life group tonight, but afterwards Francesca and I were talking about TBL and Billy & Aaron started "laughing" at how the scale was going to measure our body fat. So, they decided to jump on and see what the scale had to say. They entered all of their information and once we figured it out. . blah, blah, blah.

So, after Billy & Francesca left, I decided to go ahead and take a peek at what was before me -- or maybe I should say, on me. OH MY GOODNESS!!!! I weigh more now than I have ever weighed in my life (besides being pregnant)!!! What the heck?!?! It was after I had eaten and blah, blah, blah, but I didn't eat 15 pounds of food for supper!!!

So, for those of you who thought I didn't have much to lose, I have to say you are definately WRONG!! So, first thing tomorrow morning, I'm going to climb up in my attic and pull down my Core Secrets ball and DVD. Then, I'm going to find that Denise Austin book that Erica was so kind to lend me a while back. But first, I'm going to drink a glass of water and weigh again. All I can say is -- let the game begin!!!

All of this in good competition, of course. And, don't ask me to post my weight or pictures on here -- not going to happen.

UPDATE morning of 2/1: So, I got up this morning, took a shower, took my pictures, drank a glass of water, and weighed again. It wasn't as bad as last night, but I'm definately going to work harder now that I've seen that number -- and the pictures!!!

For all you TV Buffs

I have to have some game show music for ESC Sunday. I searched ALL DAY LONG (not kidding) to find some game show music. A guy sent me a link this evening that has theme songs for every TV show imaginable. Now, I can't decide which one to choose. I can't tell you what we're doing. . . just tell me your all time favorite game show music and I'll go from there. It can be recent or it can be old (well, older than some).

What's Your Ring Tone?!?! =)

Today I got my new phone -- a PINK one!!! I want the coolest ringtone!! My phone has it where you can designate a different ringtone for each person. So, what is your ringtone? What do you think my ringtone should be? This should get some comments!!!

No Distractions. . .

Yesterday in children's church, we had over 60 kids -- actually closer to 70 kids. WOW!! It was wild and crazy!!! Today I felt like I was supposed to blog about what happened:

All last week, when I would try to prepare for Sunday morning, I just felt like I couldn't. I felt like God was going to do something and there was no need for me to prepare because it wasn't going to go as I planned anyway.

So, we got there yesterday morning and as I was meeting with my team and we were praying before we opened our doors, I heard it again, "Don't let things be a distraction today from what I'm (God) going to do." I told my team that no matter if we had kids running all over the place during our worship/prayer time, we were not going to let them distract us. We needed to keep those kids who were running around safe, but don't let them distract us.

So, we started out and we were talking about prayer yesterday -- the "do's and don'ts" of prayer. Although I believe there is no such thing as a perfect prayer, I had 3 examples of things we're not supposed to do while praying. One was praying just so everyone can hear us and using big words to impress those around us. One was doing it out of obligation -- like praying at dinner and rolling our eyes because someone is praying too long. The last one was just babbling -- saying things over and over and over and over and over again.

Anyway, I told the kids that we were going to go into a time of worship and prayer and I didn't want them to let anyone distract them from praying and worshipping. I had some of my team members come to the front and I told the kids that if they wanted prayer for anything, that we would pray with them. The first song started out and kids immediately started running in the back. I just had to close my eyes and CHOOSE to not be distracted by the kids jumping from couch to couch in the back (Yes, we had a worker there trying to contain them. The kids weren't just back there as a major accident waiting to happen.)

We had kids come down for prayer and a few of the kids were really worshipping God. We had 3 girls that had hurt their wrists last week. They all came down for prayer. I noticed during our fast song that they were all being very easy to clap. We prayed for them and ALL 3 of them said their wrists were healed after we prayed. One even started waving her hand saying, "Look!! I can move it!!!"

Another little girl came down for an earache and after we prayed, she said she felt better.

Another little girl came down. It was her first time to the ESC and she was in the 3rd grade, I think. Her dad works on power lines and travels to go help in disasters to restore power. I guess that recently her dad's partner had been seriously injured while working on a power line. He was ok, but it put a great fear in this girl. Krissy began to pray for her and I didn't hear was Krissy was saying, but I knew God was touching that little girl. Tears began to go down her cheeks. Krissy just kept praying and when Krissy was done, that little girl gave her the biggest hug -- not because Krissy did anything other than pray, but because that little girl felt God that morning.

That same little girl was in my small group afterwards and someone else wanted us to pray for her that she wouldn't be afraid. I said that we would, but that girl looked at me and just smiled. The fear that was on her before wasn't there anymore. We just prayed that God would protect her dad while he was at work. Let me tell you, that little girl didn't leave there the same way she came in.

So, I was thinking yesterday about all that stuff and why it all happened and how easy it was. I felt like the whole reason all of that happened is because we weren't distracted. By the end of our worship time (only 2 songs), more than 1/2 of the kids were in the back running around, but those who chose to worship were all about it!! As for my leaders, Krissy usually would have been one of the ones in the back running around chasing those "distractions", but instead she prayed for a little girl and she was set free.

From now on, I'm NOT going to be distracted from what God wants to do. I have no doubt that as our "core" group starts to really worship and move with God, those "distractions" one by one will want what those other ones want and before long, every child will be entering in and when it's time to stop be disappointed.

My Sister Hears From God

Today I got a phone call from my sister. My sister and I are pretty close and we talk fairly often -- but not as often as I would like. But, she called today and this phone conversation was really encouraging to me.

She called to talk because we haven't talked in a few weeks. I asked her what was going on and she said that she gave her 3 week notice yesterday at her job and was starting a new job in 3 weeks. This was quite a shock for me. She has worked at the same place for the last 6 years and has loved her job. Her "title" is pretty long, but she's the Administrative Assistant to the guy who's title is about 10 words long. . so his 10-word-title follows "Administrative Assistant". Anyway, she works in this fancy building with these "big-wig" people who know some even bigger "big-wig (and famous)" people. She talks on the phone to people all over the world. She is involved in helping set up famous people for big events for the company she works for. She's responsible for making and sending out thousands of fliers for events. She started out in Customer Service and had to memorize this manual that was THICK!! It is huge, but she did it. Everyone there loves her and she's free to just be Sally -- which is sometimes a little "dingy", but she's free to be who she is.

The problem with this job is that it's very stressful. There are 3 administrative assistants for the department she works in. 2 of them have quit over the last few months and they haven't replaced them yet. So, Sally's been doing their work, plus her own. She's had all of these projects going on where she works her butt off on one and when she's finished, she starts another one -- all without someone even telling her that they appreciate how she's stepped up and doing 3 people's job while getting paid for 1.

Last year, she was having some major stomach problems. She was losing weight -- with NONE to lose, literally. She was starting to look anorexic, although there was no way that she was. She had dr. appointment after dr. appointment and the final word was that it was stress. When your stress levels rise, it causes your stomach to produce more stomach acid, which processes your food faster. So, no matter how much she ate, she would be hungry in about 2 hours again. Her stomach was just processing her food too fast due to the stress. They put her on some medicine and it helped, but she only gained 2 pounds back. (I know. . opportunity to get jealous over that one!)

Anyway, a job opening came up at the prison there. What's weird is that my brother is a prison guard there (crazy, but true) and her job will be the administrative assistant to the warden. She is getting better pay, more vacation days, more sick days, better benefits, and the warden told her that to him (and I quote what she said he said), "Every day is a Friday to me. I don't have Mondays. If you come in my office and try to have a Monday, I'll tell you to leave and not come back until it's a Friday for you." What he means is -- there is no stress here.

Sally has been trying to get pregnant since last June. Lately she's become really frustrated in the whole process. I remember going through the almost exact same thing when we were trying to get pregnant with Payton. I had a miscarriage and it took us another year before we conceived Payton and I know my situation had to do with my job stress, too.

So, yesterday, she gave her 3 week notice and told them that it was just a better job for her. Her boss (who she LOVES) just kind of looked down his nose at her because she was going to go work at the prison. It really broke her heart. The "boss lady" over him called Sally into her office and asked her what was going on. Sally just told her that she's been working 3 jobs in that office and it was stressing her out. Her stomach's been acting up again and the other job has the better benefits (see above). They tried to make her another offer, but she wouldn't budge. She was crying because she felt like she had "screwed them over" by quitting.

Here's where it gets encouraging:
The "big boss lady" told Sally, "I want you to go home and pray about it over the weekend. Don't make any decision until you do."

Here was Sally's response:
She said, "I've already prayed about it. It was kind of an accident that I found out about it and it looked like I wasn't going to get it. But, I just prayed and told God that if the job was to be mine, then I would get it. I know that God has a plan for me and I know this is it. It's all the things I need in a job -- low stress level, benefits, better pay. It's God's way of saying, 'I have better things for you to do.' "

Now, my sister and I don't talk a lot about God. I know she believes in God and I know that she's saved, but I don't know much more than that. I'm so excited that she HAD prayed about it and she DID hear God on it and she wasn't AFRAID to just say that!!

So, I'm asking you to pray for her these things:

1. Pray that she will have strength over the next 3 weeks at her current job to finish strong. Pray that they will still show her the same love and respect they've showed her over the last 6 years of her being there and that it wouldn't be an awkward 3 weeks between them.

2. Pray that she will conceive a child soon. They don't have any children and she would be the "perfect little mommy".

Last Week . . .

I just wanted to blog about how awesome last week was. I don't know if my perspective has changed towards a bunch of things or what, but it has been good.

Monday: I had to get up and take Payton to school. Evan and I went to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things to start off the week. WOW was awesome. I even had 2 prophetic words for people.

Tuesday: I took Payton to school again. Came home and then went to the church for my day at the office. It was pretty unproductive, but prayer was good. We prayed for Payton's ears and he came home from school to tell me that his ears weren't hurting anymore. Praise God!! That night, I decided that my office needed a MASSIVE overhaul. It had been cluttered and a mess since we moved in here in April and I wanted it to be spotless when Aaron got home. So, I cleared out my office COMPLETELY of everything and if it came back in, it had to have a place. It took me until midnight, but I got it done. It feels so good to have everything put away and my office is so much bigger than I thought it was!!

Wednesday: I took Payton to school again. Then, it was coffee with Brandi & Krissy. I always love coffee days. I had a million and one things to get done that day. I went and bought some make-up today. Big step for me. I picked up Payton & Ethan from school and Ethan came over to play. I cleaned the house like mad because Aaron was coming home and the house was a mess because of my office plans. We weren't going to go meet Aaron at the airport because I had been to Abilene every day last week and if I went back, that would be 2 trips in one day. But, I talked to Aaron before he left Dallas and he sounded like he really wanted us to meet him there. So, we did. We hopped back in the car and headed to the airport to meet him. When he came off of the plane, it was like in a movie. The boys ran over to him and gave him really big hugs. We went to eat at McDonald's (guess who got to pick) and headed home.

Thursday: I ended up going in to town for some reason. Oh yeah. I volunteered to help take Payton's class to the library. It was fun. Picked up Ethan and Payton had a massive meltdown on the way home. By the time we got home, he had racked up 13 pops. We got home and he did apologize, though. Our evening went well.

Friday: I put together all of my children's church stuff for Sunday. This is a change because I usually pull it all together (get things sorted) on Saturdays, but I decided in my heart that was going to change. Plus, I had to get my stuff ready to go scrapbooking!! Brandi, Cherith, Casey, Becky, and I all had a date at the new scrapbook store in town that night. The weather was supposed to be a little yucky, but I didn't care. It has been months since I've been to a crop and I was going!! We had the best time!!! At midnight, Brandi, Casey, and I went to Taco Bueno to grab something to eat. We sat in there until about 1:15 am or so!! We had a blast!!! You'll have to ask Casey how God answered her prayer for a camera!! ;) Then, Casey & I went to Wal-Mart for my last minute things for children's church. I took Casey home and crawled in bed at 2:20 am.

Saturday: We lounged around. It was cold outside and although we were quite bored, we survived. We did work on my set a little bit to get it ready for the "big reveal". Pastor Bryan called and told me that I could cancel children's church if I wanted to because of the weather. I decided that's what we would do.

Sunday: Awesome church service. WOW! is all I can say. I know there were times when I was acting like a crazy person!! I know I was doing things I've never done before, but it was good. It felt awesome to really know what it is like to be out of my own control, but with God in control.

I'm going to go back to one thing. The cool thing about while Aaron was gone is that the boys and I got along just great. Usually, Payton and I are ready to kill each other after being together without Aaron, but not this time. We really had a great time.

I'm expecting this week to be just as awesome. I've decided to start getting up at 6:30 am and get ready for the day. It just adds so much time to my day for me to get things done!! I'm sad to say that this morning I slept in and I'm running way behind. . . doesn't help that I've been reading everyone's blogs this morning!! OK . . off to do some housework!!

My Promised Land -- What is it?

Since everyone else it talking about it on their blogs, I can't be any different!! I've been thinking about it all week and I just don't know what it looks like. Or maybe I do, but I'm trying to make it too hard. So, I started thinking about all the things I want to do (and have wanted to do) and make a list. Maybe I'll see a "common thread". These are in no particular order:

* Have an amazing children's ministry where God moves in and through the kids
* Be the best mom to my 2 boys, loving them the way they need to be loved
* Be the best wife to Aaron -- meeting all his needs -- having dinner cooked, a clean house, etc.
* Go to Africa.
* Go back to school
* Be a lawyer
* Be a surrogate mother for someone
* Be foster parents
* Have more children of my own
* Be able to live on 10% and give 90%
* Work in a district attorney's office (been there, done that, would love to do it again)
* Be creative and have time to be creative
* Be able to give away big things -- cars, houses, etc.
* Be able to go on vacations and send people on vacations
* Be organized
* I want my house to be a place where people love to come and visit -- where the guys can play Xbox (like they already do) or the girls come to just hang out. I want my home to be full of hospitality.
* Write children's ministry curriculum
* Have CM conferences here instead of me having to travel to them. I know people will come to see what is going on in our children's ministry because it will be something that has never been done before.

I'm sure my "list" contains more. I just had a few minutes to write and thought I would give it a shot. My heart is children's ministry. I'm not sure exactly where all the other things fall into place. Maybe they're dreams that God is going to replace. Maybe they are things I'll do in my "spare time". Maybe I'll get to do these things alongside children's ministry. Maybe God will reveal His plan for me very clearly. Then, I just have to be obedient.

Man, I feel like a woman!

I just want to testify to what God has done in me without me knowing what He was doing!!

Since we didn't have children's church in December, I really wanted to take some time to say, "Whatever you want to do, God, I'm on board." Well, December was so busy -- just busy. But, what I didn't realize is that God was taking my hurt -- something that had hurt so bad -- and He was healing it.

If you've read my blog, you read my "November 15th" post about the baby that I had in high school. During the month of November, I felt like I was 17 again. I remember being at home and not feeling like an adult. It is something really hard to explain. I just felt like I was 17 in my normal life. But, if you've read that post, I told God that I was taking my hand off of a wound that I had kept covered up for 12 years and I was going to allow Him to clean it out and heal it the right way.

In November, I did grieve for J. And, it was only a few days and I felt like my grieving time was over. In December, I felt this weird "I want to buy clothes and I want to wear makeup" thing. For all of my life, I've NEVER liked shopping for clothes and I've wore makeup on a few occassions, but never had much interest. And, I have never felt beautiful. No matter what people have said or done, I never felt like I was beautiful and I felt like no matter what I did, I would never be that. But, on the other hand, I didn't WANT to be beautiful because beautiful people were noticed -- they got attention -- something I didn't want.

On New Year's Eve at church, after baptisms, I had 2 people come up to me and tell me how beautiful I was and for the first time, I believed it. I felt it. After the second person came up to me, I just said, "Thank you. It's just something God is doing in me." She said, "Well, it looks good on you."

On Friday, I had a hair appointment -- not with the hair fairy (long story) -- but at the same place. I went in there and told the lady that I wanted whatever she wanted to do with my hair. We found this cut that I really liked and she thought it would look nice, so we went for it.

I didn't realize how long my hair had gotten!! It was a good few inches below my shoulders!! She started cutting and I really liked it. Then, she colored it. That took forever, but I have really thick hair. The lady was great to talk to and I talked to her about children's ministry. (I think it was hard for her to believe that woman was a children's "pastor" and not my husband -- but that's for another post).

Anyway, when she got all done, I wasn't sure if I was all about the color. It cost $85 for her to do all of that to my hair and for $85, I wished the color was a little more drastic.

But, as I was driving home, I heard about a new book "Famine to Fairytale". It's the story of Naomi and Ruth. When I heard that, I knew I had to get it. And, as I was driving, I realized what God had been doing.

He has been restoring my womanhood. I've never felt like a woman. I've always felt like a little girl. Now, I feel like a woman. I was reminded while I was driving about a word that I received a few years ago. I had gone back to Enid and there was a prophet there who always read my mail, but it was always awesome. I was really missing Oklahoma and our church body there. At the end, she had a prayer time and she gave me a word that went something like this:

God has placed you there. He has placed you there for a purpose higher than yourself. One day there is going to be this sudden shift -- an all of a sudden shift -- and you are going to come out glorious. You are going to be like Ruth. God will bring you to that place just like he did Ruth. Until then, glean in the fields. Glean in the fields.

Gosh!! I wish I could find that word. I have it written down somewhere on a yellow notepad, but I'm going to have to find it. So, I went home and studied about Ruth & Naomi. Ruth went to be with her mother-in-law and she worked in the fields. She worked in the fields picking up the leftover pieces of wheat. While she was working in the fields, Boaz noticed how beautiful she was. She eventually became his wife and Naomi and Ruth were no longer poor, but they were royalty.

I looked up the word GLEAN and here is what it means:

glean /glin/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[gleen] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–verb (used with object) 1. to gather slowly and laboriously, bit by bit.
2. to gather (grain or the like) after the reapers or regular gatherers.
3. to learn, discover, or find out, usually little by little or slowly.
–verb (used without object) 4. to collect or gather anything little by little or slowly.
5. to gather what is left by reapers.

I wasn't sure how that fit into "my story", but I thought it had to be about children's ministry, but it wasn't.

God had gone back and helped me pick up the pieces -- bit by bit -- and He's healed it. I feel like God has restored my womanhood. I feel restored. I care about hair and makeup -- like girls are supposed to do. (Girls, let me say that if you don't care about hair and makeup, that doesn't mean you aren't a woman.) I'm just saying, for me, I've always WANTED to care about those things, but couldn't figure out how.

So many people who saw my new haircut this morning told me how beautiful I looked. I felt it. I feel beautiful. I feel confident. There has been that "all of a sudden shift" and it feels good. I feel like a new person. I feel like I am beautiful -- on the outside and inside.

I am so glad that I serve a God that can do things without me even noticing.

Off to a meeting -- maybe I can finish this later or maybe later I'll find the rest of that prophecy and put it on here.

Update on Blogging Out Loud

So today was our first Sunday with all of our kids under the same gym roof. We had 56 kids today!! 50 and above seems to be the "norm" over the last few months, which is awesome!! It happened so fast that I almost didn't realize it!! Awesome!!

We started off good. It was weird and is weird to say this, but I was not in control of Sunday morning's service. I had given that to God. Yes, it was a little nerve wrecking and a little awkward, but I had a peace that God was going to do whatever He needed to do.

I told my Bible story -- I think I messed it up. I'm going to have to go back and see. I think I got my number of days mixed up and I didn't finish the story of how Daniel was 10 times stronger than the other men at the end of his "fast from the King's food". Oh well. . I'm not satisfied with that, but I am not going to dwell on it.

So, we broke into small groups. 2nd through 5th grades small groups were about the same. We weren't sure how the younger kids' groups were going to work out. We put the Kindergarten and 1st grades together (quite a big group) and we put the 4 & 5 year olds (those that aren't in kindergarten yet) together (quite a large group) and we put all the 3 year olds together (only 10 kids -- 9 girls and Evan).

I was going to help Nicole with the 3 year olds because I thought they would be the hardest. Boy, was I wrong!!! Those ten little 3 year olds did whatever I asked them to do (although sometimes they looked at me funny when I told them we were going to run in place)! They sat in a circle and ate their snacks and they colored and shared!! I was amazed!! Then, I look up. . .

Krissy had the 4 & 5 year olds. I felt TERRIBLE for what I saw!! She was trying to teach the kids about how Daniel was 10 times stronger and there was a cute part on getting the kids to experience that. When I looked up, she had 2 kids trying to escape from 2 different doors!! She had about 5 kids that were in their own little worlds -- tackling, hitting, building blocks -- anything but paying attention.

So, I decided to go help her out. Oh my goodness!!! There was one little boy that I had to put in my lap, put my legs over his legs, and my arms around him to get him to sit and listen. Yes, I know I was holding hiim against his will -- get ready for some confessions of a children's pastor!! But, I was convinced that if he would just see what she was trying to teach, he would be interested. WRONG!!

Finally, I gave up trying to restrain him because there were about 8 others that were completely out of control. Krissy did have about 4 that were doing whatever she wanted them to do. It was hard to focus on those 4, when the rest were out of control. At 12 pm, Krissy just said, "How much longer?" I went to see and Pastor Bryan was still preaching. On my way back, I realized we hadn't done any worship, so decided to come back to large group and worship until the parents came.

That worked ok . . when you're worshipping, you don't realize those kids that are just running around everywhere. ;)

So, that ends our day. Dustin, Krissy, and I talked after everyone was gone and we're all still going to do children's ministry. We strategized a little bit more on our check-out system and figured out a way to make that smoother. This week on my agenda is to figure out how to fix this 4 & 5 year old group.

But, we aren't giving up. It felt so nice for all of us to be together today. There was energy (maybe too much for some kids) and we had new toys that everyone loved. Next week, we'll have our new set (it will be awesome)! I know that God is going to do something with us all in the same room. I think I did what He wanted me to do, though -- let go of control. Let me say this, too. I am not frustrated. I am not giving up. I am not giving in. I'm going to push through and we will be successful!! It will take time for all of us to adjust, but God is going to give us a strategy to reach EVERY boy and girl that comes through our doors.

Blogging Out Loud -- Part 2

So, plan B was to have all of the kids in the gym when we resume children's church on January 7th. Here's how we got our answer:

On Dec. 17th, I went to church a little early and was standing in the hallway when I felt like I was supposed to go into intercessory prayer. I went in and asked Kathy to pray for God to give us our solution. I expected someone to tell me this grandioso plan -- didn't happen. But, I did find out that the school is going to have to use those rooms for more ISS -- made my heart break.

I went to the pre-service meeting and as I'm standing there, I heard so clearly that God's plan is for us all to be together in the gym. I have been ok with this plan from the beginning, but Krissy has not. She was willing to do ANYTHING (even meet under the tree in front of the school) to keep this from happening. We've both been in situations where you have 3 year olds all the way through 5th grades and it's nothing but CHAOS!! So, I told God that if that was His plan, He was going to have to tell Krissy that. This is one thing we HAVE to be in agreement about!!

So, we go to worship (AWESOME by the way) and after church I asked my team to meet me in the gym. My team gathered and I broke the news to them. I asked them not to get upset with the school (it would be very easy to do) and that we were just going to flow with this and learn from it.

After our "meeting", Krissy came over and said, "Rachel, during worship, I just felt like I heard God say that this IS His plan -- for us to all be together. If we want our kids to be moving in spiritual gifts, what better way than for us all to learn together."

YAY, GOD!!!

I believe with all of my heart that God wants to do something in our children's ministry that has never been done before. And, let me tell you, there aren't ANY children's pastors that would jump at an opportunity to teach 3 year olds through 5th graders together in the same room!! There's too many attention spans, comprehension levels, wiggle worms, such a huge space (with stairs, I might add)!! But, I believe this is God's plan. But, I feel like I'm stepping out of the boat onto the stormy waters!!

I like plans. I like detailed plans. I like to be in charge and on top of things. I've had this whole month of December off and I'm running here and running there and doing this and doing that. Ordering new toys, ordering new set parts, Re-Ordering new set parts, talking on the phone, having Christmas here, having Christmas there, tracking new set parts, shipping off the projector, on hold for 40 minutes with Overstock.com, calling Overstock back, blah, blah, blah.

I was talking to Krissy yesterday and she said, "How's the curriculum thing coming?" (I'm having to write the 3 year old lessons on their level) I wanted to scream -- I HAVEN'T HAD TIME!!! The truth is that I have had the time -- I've been wasting time. The sad thing is that I'm not a procrastinator or a poor time manager, but I sure have been lately!!

All day today, I've had the Casting Crowns song "The Voice of Truth" going through my head.

Voice Of Truth

Lyrics by Mark Hall and Steven Curtis Chapman
Music by Mark Hall and Steven Curtis Chapman
Song based on 2 Cor. 12:7-10 and 1 Cor. 1:20-2:4

© 2003 Club Zoo Music / SWEC Music (Admin. by Club Zoo Music) / BMI / Sparrow Song / Peach Hill Songs (admin by EMI Christian Music Publishing) / BMI. All rights reserved. Used by permission


Oh what I would do to have
The kind of faith it takes
To climb out of this boat I'm in
Onto the crashing waves

To step out of my comfort zone
Into the realm of the unknown where Jesus is
And He's holding out His hand

But the waves are calling out my name
And they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times
I've tried before and failed
The waves they keep on telling me
Time and time again. "Boy, you'll never win!"
"You'll never win!"

Chorus:
But the voice of truth tells me a different story
The voice of truth says, "Do not be afraid!"
The voice of truth says, "This is for My glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

Oh what I would do to have
The kind of strength it takes to stand before a giant
With just a sling and a stone
Surrounded by the sound of a thousand warriors
Shaking in their armor
Wishing they'd have had the strength to stand

But the giant's calling out my name
And he laughs at me
Reminding me of all the times
I've tried before and failed
The giant keeps on telling me
Time and time again. "Boy you'll never win!"
"You'll never win!"

But the stone was just the right size
To put the giant on the ground
And the waves they don't seem so high
From on top of them lookin' down
I will soar with the wings of eagles
When I stop and listen to the sound of Jesus
Singing over me

I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

This whole thing is out of my comfort zone. I feel like I am facing a giant. And it's scary. My flesh wants to run. But I won't. I'm sure Peter wanted to run, but instead he chose to step out on those waves. I'm sure David wanted to run, but instead he chose to pick up that stone. I'm just having to stop and listen to the sound of Jesus singing over me -- even when I have to listen very carefully.

Again, I believe this is God's plan. I'm used to running to a book or other children's pastors to see how to do things instead of running to God for my answers. There is no book for this situation (maybe I can write one when we figure this out) and the children's pastors who are having to teach 3 years through 5th graders pretty much say find a way around having them all together (not possible at the moment). God's in control -- not me, which is uncomfortable sometimes.

So God, here I am stepping out on what seems like stormy waters of uncertainty, but I'm going to lean on you for this direction and every step I take. I know you'll calm me when I'm freaking out. I know you're going to speak to these kids on their levels. I pray that they will have their ears open to hear. Father, teach me how to teach them. Be so real to them!! Show up in a big way -- a way where people can say -- Now THAT was GOd.

Blogging Out Loud

Our preschool classes (3 years through Kindergarten) have been meeting in some "permanent" classrooms on the school grounds. The school had 2 classrooms they weren't using and allowed us to put our stuff in there and leave it from week to week. It has been AWESOME for them to have a place all of their own. It's been great for Krissy & Nicole not having to set up after all the sound equipment is out, etc. Plus, we were running about 18 to 20 kids in that age group when they were meeting in the nursery area. The area we had was just too small to hold all of them. Now, they have some room to run around and play.

However, I got a call on Wednesday that the school is going to start using those rooms again in January and we have to get all of our stuff out by next Friday. My first reaction was "What the heck?!?! We just got those rooms in September!! Where are we going to meet now?"

As I just sat at Chick-Fil-A (our usual Wednesday lunch spot) with Krissy & Brandi, I just purposed in my heart that I wasn't going to get stressed out about it. God has a plan and He has somewhere for us to meet.

Yesterday I was listening to one of my favorite pastors, Willie George, from Tulsa and he was talking about how sometimes we just need to ask God for a STRATEGY. That's exactly where I'm at. I am just needing a STRATEGY. Those 18 to 20 kids is now close to 30 on a weekly average -- and that's just the 3, 4, and 5 year olds!!

There wasn't room for 20 kids in the old nursery part, there's definately not room for 30!! Plus, Kelly's nursery was exploding, too. She was relieved when we moved out giving her babies some more room and a place for nursing mothers to go. Doesn't seem like we can move back in there.

Yes, we could bring them back into the gym and all of us have children's church in there. That's my Plan B. The only problem with that is it will become "glorified babysitting". Our lessons will be so far over the 3 year old's head, I'm afraid they will walk away with nothing. Then, you've got those 4th & 5th graders who will be so bored because I'm having to teach on a 3 or 4 year old level -- remember PrayGround?

So, this entry is just to "blog out loud". In my head, it doesn't make sense. We have children's church back on 3 weeks from this Sunday. I feel like I don't have time to deal with this "issue". Guess I'll just have to let God deal with it.

I have so many things going on that my "break" hasn't been much of a break. It's ok, though. I'm not complaining. I'm just glad I could get some things caught up and some new things started. I'm sure this is right where God wants me -- having to find out what HIS plan is in all of this -- or Plan A.

So, God, I'm needing a place for these kids to meet and have classes. Or I need a strategy on how to teach fifty to sixty 3 year olds through 5th grade kids in a way that EVERYONE walks away with something new in their heart -- where everyone walks away with the light turned on.

The Gift of Giving . . . .

This weekend has been one crazy weekend!! And, it's not even over yet!! Friday night was the ESC Team Christmas Party and boy, was it fun!! Not to mention, all my leaders pitched in and got me a gift certificate to "The Hair Fairy -- Gaylene"!!! It really was the PERFECT present!! (Thanks Brandi for the hint!) I got all of them neat little presents that I was so excited to give them!! Little did I know how perfect each one of them was!!!

Today (Saturday), our ESC Team hit the town to buy Christmas presents for a few families in our church and of course, kids in our children's ministry!! Cyndi & Krissy were my shopping buddies for the day. We had lunch at TaMolly's and ALL 3 of us ate for $11 thanks to some awesome coupons I found!! We (all of us shoppers) all saw each other at Wal-Mart and we were all having such a great time shopping for these kids!! We were the ones clogging up the aisles going over all the cool things we had bought for the person we were shopping for!!

The plan was to meet back at my house at 4 pm to start wrapping gifts. About 3:50, I started getting calls saying, "I'm going to be late!" That was great, though, because so were we!! We were still at the mall headed back to Layne Bryant for the final sales!!

When we were finished, we just went on and on about how excited we were to be blessing these families. The back of my car was loaded with sacks!!

We got to my house and Dusty & Kari were already there and were in the process of wrapping their gifts. We brought in sacks and sacks of presents and started sorting!! Soon, Eric, Nicole, & Tanna showed up with their loot and we all were wrapping together talking about how much fun we had!!

In the end, it was Krissy and I wrapping the final gifts. I swear, God multiplied our wrapping paper!!! I still have a TON of it left over!! We had made quite the mess of my living room, so we decided that we definately needed a picture of all the presents together. I grabbed my camera while Krissy started arranging presents. OH MY GOODNESS!!! I've never seen so many presents in one place at the same time!!! I did get pictures, but I haven't put them on my computer yet, so I'm sorry you don't get to see them yet. The funny thing is that my pictures don't even have all of the presents in them!! A few more will be showing up at church tomorrow and we were able to buy 2 new mattresses, which aren't in the pictures, but they will be presents.

I started to go to bed, but I couldn't lay down just thinking about all those presents in my living room!!!

I want to tell you what God showed me today. He loves me so much more than I love these kids we shopped for today. He wants to bless me above and beyond all I could ever hope, ask, or think. But, the main thing I walked away with today was this. I heard God say, "Rachel, I want you to ask me for those things that you want. . . spiritual things and natural things. Just ask. I will give you the desires of your heart. Just ask."

You know, the lists we got from these families, we had a budget that didn't seem like a lot of money. I knew it was a good start, but I never imagined that we would be able to give these families EVERYTHING they asked for -- EVERYTHING. There are a few things we're still looking for, but I know we'll find them. And, we did it all inside our budget. A few things were given to us from people who found out what we were doing and said, "Hey, I have this. It's BRAND NEW. Do you think you could use it?" New things still in the box and things a kid had put on their list!! Now, isn't that God!!

Today, God stretched our money farther than we expected!! We were at a clothing store and we had our clothes, but when we got to the counter, we found out we could get one more shirt. So, we went and got it and found out we could still get a piece of jewelry!! When the sales clerk printed our receipt, we spent $107 and saved $116!!! WOW!!

One of the moms wanted a gift that looked like it was impossible for us to do. After talking with a few people, we were able to do something with it. (I don't want to share what it was just in case she reads my blog!) :) It was totally the favor of the Lord!! When I went to pay for it, I thanked the lady for working with us and told her what we were doing. She was speechless that we were doing that for a family in our church!! I loved it!!!

Oh how I wish I could be there Christmas morning when those kids wake up and see those presents!! Oh how I wish I could be there to watch moms enjoy watching their kids open all of those presents knowing God took care of their Christmas!! Oh how I wish I could see the faces of the moms when they open their presents.

God, I ask you to show them your love for them this holiday season. I ask you to LAVISH your love on them. Show them how a true Father loves his children. God, I pray that you get ALL of the glory for those presents. I thank you for allowing me to be a part of such an awesome Christmas for a few blessed children. God, we know Christmas time is not all about the presents, but I pray that these families would just know how blessed they are and that you have great and amazing things in store for them. I pray that they would broaden the things they ask you for. And as they receive this season, I pray they would pass it forward.

UPDATE: Here are the pictures of ALL of the presents (minus the mattresses)!! The truth is that these pictures don't even do it justice!! There are presents piled underneath all of that!! It's really amazing!!

Who Takes Out The Trash?!?!

I once heard about a couple who this happened to:

Her dad always took out the trash. His mom always took out the trash. So, when they got married, it was frustrating because nobody would take the trash out. He thought she should do it and she thought he should do it.

I used to laugh at this story until recently, Aaron & I ARE THAT COUPLE!!! I'm not sure if his mom always took out the trash, but one of Aaron's pet peeves is that I let the trash get full (and sometimes overflowing -- depending on which trash can) and I don't take it out. This morning, I was cooking breakfast and he came in and said, "IF THE TRASH IS FULL, EMPTY IT." I stood there over the pancakes thinking, "But, you are supposed to take the trash out. At least my dad always did." My dad always took the trash out and so I assumed that would be Aaron's role. Aaron thinks that anyone can take the trash out and they should.

So, I'm curious. . .who takes the trash out at your house?!?!


P.S. I need some more comments on here, people!!!! :)

Had to get in on this one . . . .

Your results:
You are Superman

Superman 85% Iron Man 50% Wonder Woman 49% Green Lantern 45% Spider-Man 40% Supergirl 39% Hulk 35% Robin 32% Batman 20% Catwoman 15% The Flash 10%

You are mild-mannered, good, strong and you love to help others.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test

Just Some New Pics

Here are a few pictures that I posted on MySpace, too. Just figured I would post them here for those of you not on MySpace:

You ARE going to eat that!

This week, I decided that I'm tired of being a short order cook. I'm tired of hearing, "I don't like that" or an hour after dinner, "I'm hungry" because they didn't eat. So, I decided that this week, we are going to eat what is put on our plates -- at least try it. I'm not loading their plates up with things I know they won't like. I'm just giving them enough for 3 or 4 bites. They at least have to try that many bites before they can say they don't like it.

Night 1 was AWFUL!!!! It was terrible!! I made this soup that I had been craving. The only thing is that it has beans in it -- which Aaron will not eat. And, not just 1 can of beans, about 6 cans of three different kinds of beans. I called to see what Aaron wanted for dinner and he didn't know. I was craving it and decided that's the way it was going to be.

Everyone gets to the table and the whining begins. "I don't like this." "I'm not going to eat it." "You know I don't like that." "Fine. I just won't eat." Aaron didn't say a word. He put VERY LITTLE in his bowl and he ate it. He also made himself a PB&J sandwich. I didn't say anything. The kids didn't eat. My poor brother-in-law had to be here on night one of the "new rules". Sorry Eric!!

Night 2 was the biggest power struggle I've had in a long time! Pork chops, rice, & mashed potatoes. I know it's 2 starches, but that's what Aaron wanted. My brother-in-law, again, had to endure the whining. But, after about an hour of not budging, plates were clean and Payton and Evan both decided they like rice. Payton still hates mashed potatoes.

Night 3 was MUCH better!! Country style pork ribs, green beans, & sweet potatoes. I know what you're thinking -- I'm just trying to punish them!! Not so!! Sweet potatoes are good and they're good for you!! They walked in the kitchen with very little whining. I did hear "I don't like that" a few times, but I just kept going. They ate all of their pork chops and their green beans and Payton was ready to play XBox. I told him there would be no video games until those sweet potatoes were gone (I gave him probably 3 bites). He took his fork and took the tiniest bite I've ever seen. I turned my back and they were all gone. He brought me his plate and said, "Can I have more of those?" pointing to where his sweet potatoes WERE. He ate 2 helpings of them!!! Even Evan decided to give them a try and proudly exclaimed, "Mommy! I wike them! Those are doooooood!!!"

Things I Learned On Snow Day . . .

Everyone else wrote about the snow, so I won't go on about that. I will list the things I learned today with both boys home from school:

• Payton is definately a DC personality. He is in charge of picking the game and you have to play it just the way he says or it's wrong.
• Spiderman can't thow webs using only 1 finger. It's impossible.
• Using PAM spray to replace the butter to make a grilled cheese sandwich just doesn't work. Not even if it's BUTTER flavored.
• If your heater starts blowing cold air on a cold & snowy day, it could be several things. One of which is a red button that doesn't exist on your unit, but you don't figure that out until you've made several trips outside in the FREEZING COLD. I do know how to make your heater quit blowing cold air now!!!
• It doesn't take a whole Sunday newspaper to keep a fire going in the fire place!! Just put some logs on there and eventually they will catch on fire. Who would have thunk it?
• Now I know why they make sure you are 18 when you buy Sharpies!! The high from those things is NO FUN!! I'm not sure why people would want to do that to themselves!!

I'm sure there are more things I've learned today. When I went to make lunch today, I wanted grilled cheese and soup. I didn't have any soup, I was low on bread, and I didn't have any butter (see bullet above). The main thing I did learn today was that I wished I had been better about making lists yesterday!!

The MASTERPIECE is finished!!!

Oh my goodness!! Today Aaron sent me an IM that said, "You can do anything you put your mind to today." I IMd him back and said, "That's just it. I have to put my mind to something."

So, I got off of my computer and decided to clean my house. I quickly got distracted and decided that I would finish the boys' room. It's been weeks in the making and after who knows how many bottles of paint, 46 sponge brushes, and 2 Sharpies, IT IS FINISHED!!!

Fun In The Bathroom . . .

I almost don't even want to share this, but the more I think about it, the more crazy it seems. . .

Today, Evan and I went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch. It's our usual lunch spot after our morning coffee with Brandi & Krissy. Today was no different. So, we're sitting there eating lunch and I had to go to the bathroom. I told the lady that we would be right back and please don't throw our things away and headed towards the bathroom.

Evan was NOT excited about leaving the playground so I could go to the bathroom. I couldn't let him stand outside the stall. As soon as I got in there, he would have hit the door running. So, I convinced him to go in the stall with me, but I had to give him a little incentive. I told him that he could take pictures of different things (NOT ME) with my phone while I went to the bathroom. I know you're probably thinking "What?!?!" I know, I know . . .

So, in the VERY short amount of time we were in there, he took pictures of the door, the lock, the lights, the toilet paper holder, his feet, and my feet. We even took a few pictures of him being REALLY silly!!!

Anyway, we're about to walk out of the stall when I hear the main bathroom door open. Right when Evan said, "Mommy, but I'm not done taking pictures! I want to take pictures of you now! CLICK!"

I wonder what that lady thought about the two of us in a stall and him saying he wasn't done taking pictures?!?! We just washed our hands and walked out. I was almost embarssed that I let my 3 year old take pictures while I used the bathroom (remember -- no pictures of me!).

Oh the crazy things you can take pictures of in the bathroom!!!

November 15th

Today's date . . . For some, it's one week until company arrives for Thanksgiving!! For some, today is payday!! For some, today is just Wednesday! For some, today is the day we get to play Deal or No Deal!! For some, it's an anniversary! For me, it's a birthday.

Not my birthday, not my husband's birthday, not Payton's and not Evan's birthday. It's the son that I gave up for adoption 12 years ago -- his birthday. 12 years. My goodness!! 12 years!! It seems like it was just yesterday (or maybe last week), but 12 years ago!!

I've been in some kind of "funk" lately and I couldn't really figure out why. I am living in my dream house, have an awesome husband, awesome kiddos, awesome church, etc. As I looked around me, I couldn't figure it out. Today I think I put my finger on it.

I think about him every year on his birthday (and many, many other days of the year), but why is this year different? Why does it seem to hurt more this year? Why do I feel all of those emotions that I felt 12 years ago? Why do I grieve so?

He's living in the perfect home with an awesome life. He has awesome parents and I know he is an awesome athelete. I do get to see him occassionally and he's mighty handsome!!

Today at intercessory prayer, I asked them to pray for me because I have been having chest pains (like a stick through my chest and out my back) and have been really light-headed. It hasn't scared me -- like I'm not afraid that I'm going to have a heart attack or anything. It isn't scary. . . just annoying. As they prayed for me, one of the intercessors said that she thought this was a physical manifestation of a spiritual matter. Another lady said she felt like I had a wound that I had covered up and I wouldn't let anyone near it. Kind of like when your child hurts themselves and all you want to do is clean it and make it better -- get out the infection, but they won't move their hand. It will heal, but there could still be junk in there. She said that she felt like there was a wound that I wouldn't let anyone get close to because it hurt too bad. I was holding my hand over the wound telling God to get away because it was too painful to heal.

She is right on and it didn't hit me until then. As I'm sitting here writing this, my chest is hurting. Is it because I miss him so? Is it because I'm finally grieving the "loss"? Is it because I'm finally taking my hand off of the wound to let God heal it?

I'm mad because somewhere in our million and one moves, I've lost a box that had stuff in it about him. It had a picture of him when he was just a few days old. It had letters from friends of the time. I had pictures of me in it when I was 17. I had pictures of his dad and us together. I had hoped that one day I would be able to show them to him -- prove that I did love him. Now, the box is missing. I haven't seen it for a few years now. I'm not sure where it went, but I hate that I don't have it now.

So, God, I'm taking my hand off now -- very slowly, but I trust you. I have to. Let the real healing and cleansing begin. Most of the time, I want things to be painless and that would be great, but I have a feeling this is going to take some pain to get the junk out. But, God, I'm trusting you with this. I just have to know you haven't left me and that you're going to finish this work you've started in me. Make me stronger in this! Let me be able to use this to Your glory!! Let me go through so I can be the whole me on the other side of this. I want to be the woman that you've created me to be. I want to be the children's pastor you've created me to be. I want to be whole -- like you've created me to be.

Happy birthday, J.

So, Here It Is . . . Or at least part of it

So, some of you have been wondering what my current housing situation is!! (WOW! I make it sound like I have a ton of faithful readers!!)

Well, I will say that I am now living in my dream house. God did what He does best and we got the house!! It is a really forever long story and I'm going to try to write it all out this weekend, but something I've learned through the whole ordeal is that sometimes it's not about what we think it's about. God has bigger plans than our minds can wrap around. This whole thing has made me want to dream bigger.

For instance, we found the house and made an offer at what we could afford. They said no. We were $15,000 different in our offer and their counter-offer. We were patient. We sold our house and signed the papers on Oct. 9th with no definate place to go just the day before!! We moved in with Tim & Erica for 2 weeks while we waited for all the "official stuff" to be done on the house.

You know what? I'm really botching the story and it's late. Maybe I'll continue this tomorrow. . . but for now, know that we are in THE HOUSE and we are loving it!!!

A house . . .

and not just any house -- THE HOUSE!! I have found THE HOUSE that is mine. I am so giddy about it, it's not even funny!! Sometime I'll have to share the whole house story, but I'm not going to try to do that now. I might just end up typing it all out, though.

Anyway, Sunday night at our Encounter service, I was praying and I just told God that I HAD to know he was still with me in all of this . . . ok, I just realized I have already blogged that.

Anyway, we went to look at houses on Tuesday -- 6 of them. The first one was ok. . the second one was a definate cowboy house, but not my house. Poor Payton was devastated that we weren't moving in there. Just no way! The third house was a brand new house that was really nice. The fourth house was THE HOUSE!!! I mean, THE HOUSE. I'll get back to it in a minute. We went to the fifth house and it was not really all that impressive. The 6th house we didn't get to see until Wednesday, but it was really nice, just not THE HOUSE!!!

So, we decided to make an offer at $110K (gosh, seems like so much money). They're asking $135K, but $115K is the max we can afford. They came down to $130K. So, we're still $15K short, but I know that my God who owns the WHOLE UNIVERSE is bigger than $15,000!!!

I know it's my house. I'm so excited about it!! It's not that I had to have a $135K house. I looked at a few houses over $130K and they were all very very nice houses, but they just don't compare to this house!!

It's 3 bedrooms, 2 bath, 1 living area. It has 1749 sq. ft, which is comparable to what we're in now. It has a real dining room (something I don't really have now) with a window that looks out into the back yard. Beautiful St. Augustine grass. It has a beautiful entry way. It has curved corners, which I don't really like, but when I walked in the house, I said, "Oh, it has curved corners. I love that!" I had to do a double-take on myself!! I like them in that house!!! So, you might be wondering where my scrapbook room is going to be . . . well, I'm glad you asked!! There is a coat closet in the living room that has double opening doors on it. I like to scrapbook in the living room because that's normally where everyone is and the noise of the tv. So, just put me a table in there and I'm set! Plus, you close the doors and nobody sees the mess!! :)

The deeper issue on the house is that I've never believed I would really ever live in a nice house like this. I've always felt like I would live in $75K houses for the rest of my life. With that said, I have nothing againse $75K houses -- nothing at all. I just didn't have any hope of moving past that. . . even in to my "elder years". I've always thought I would live in a house that needed something fixed on it (major - like the foundation) or needed updating that we said we would do when we bought it, but never would do. Anyway, those that know me know what I mean. . .

I had been looking at this house online for a few weeks, but I didn't even want to bring it up because I knew Aaron wouldn't go look at it because it was too much money. That is another thing God is doing. I never believed that Aaron would buy me a house that nice -- because we didn't NEED it. I do know that Aaron loves me with everything in him, but I just never believed he would do something like that for me and I'm not really sure where that comes from. . .

Anyways, we both know it's THE HOUSE. When I walked in, I knew it was home. I even told Aaron that I would give up scrapbooking for 5 years if it meant I got the house. I would sell every scrapbooking thing I have if I could just get the house. For those of you who know me -- that's some serious talk!! But, I would do it in a heartbeat.

I want a house where I LOVE to drive in the driveway and say, "Yes, this is my house." I want a house where I don't have to tell people we're in the middle of a pasture and it looks like a barn. I want to be in a house where I can stay for more than 2 years. I want a house where my kids can play with the neighbors kids. I want a house where my kids can ride their bikes on a real road and have to watch out for cars! I want to live in a house where I am just at home. I want to be giddy about being at home. I think that's it -- I've been a stay at home mom for 5 years and never really enjoyed being at home. This home, I could be happy to be home in. And, I don't have to do a thing to it. Every house I've ever lived in, I've immediately thought of what colors I could paint and where. Not in this house. I don't think there'll be much painting in it for me. There is one pink room that Evan has claimed that might need some paint, but not more than that. I want a house where we can enjoy being at home without the floor squeaking or mice!!! ;) I want a house where I can have a real wood fence -- did you hear that? Not a chain-link fence -- a real wooden fence and one that doesn't need fixed.

Now, don't hear me complaining about the house I'm in or the houses I've lived in. I'm not complaining at all. I'm just saying that I know God wants to bless me with this house. I'm believing we're going to be moving in just a few short weeks into that house. I am believing that my mail isn't going to have to be forwarded to one place and then another. I'm believing it can go straight there -- even before we close.

Here's the thing: I'm really in the best position. There are 2 other houses that are very nice -- very nice. One is brand new and the other is a little older, but 4 bedrooms. Those houses are in our price range and they are really nice and I could live there. But, I don't believe I'm going to live there. I'm going to live in THE HOUSE -- Somehow God is going to do this -- just for me.

Ok . . well, I could go on and on about how much I love this house, but I won't. Did I say that I love the house?

Please don't ask . . .

So, we've sold our house and are closing on October 9th at 3 pm. No, I don't know where we're moving to and I really had a peace until everyone started asking questions -- Where are you moving? Have you found a house? Have you looked at houses? Why haven't you looked at houses? Do you realize that's only 2 weeks away?

Then, there's "the look" -- the look of "your-crazy-for-doing-what-you're-doing". I always tell people that I am believing that God is going to give me a house -- just give it to me. Then, I get the look that "oh-ok - now-I-really-think-you're-crazy".

I've been so afraid that I've totally missed God on this whole thing and my family is going to have to pay for me missing it. I can't even explain the thoughts and feelings I'm fighting every day (and night) about this. I've been so calm through the whole thing until just this weekend. I was around a bunch of people all of who love me very much, but I always got the same "look".

Someone asked me where we were moving and they were trying to be supportive, but I got "the look" and the head nod. I said, "I'm just believing God's going to give me a house." This person shook their head and said, "I believe that, too." It wasn't very convincing.

I know it sounds crazy and it sounds crazy to me, too. I just don't think God would have sold my house to leave me homeless. I mean, it wasn't supposed to appraise -- nobody thought it would besides Aaron and I. All we knew was that God said $98K and that's what we listed it for. The broker didn't think it would appraise and really, neither did our realtor. But, it did. God came through on what He said. So, why am I doubting now?

This morning Aaron called and told me to call someone (a specific someone) and tell them that we were going to pay their rent this month. We were going to sow some seed where we have a need. I was so excited to call this person and give them the good news -- I had to leave a message. She called back and said it had taken her so long to call back because she had been crying and laughing about it. I cannot tell you how excited I was to give that to her.

We are going to look at houses tomorrow and I'm believing God is going to do something miraculous. Last night at Encounter, I was praying and I just told God that I HAD to know He was still with me in all of this. I needed SOMETHING to let me know He was the one protecting me and my family and that he wouldn't let us be homeless. =)

Then, after the service, someone came up to me and gave me some money. They said, "This is for you." I was so excited!! I got to the car and counted it and it was $110. I'm not sure why $110, but I like to think that that is how much the house that God is going to give me will cost. Aaron seems to think that it doesn't mean anything and God just blessed me to let me know He's still here and He's still on the throne.

The thing about this move is that I want to stay there for a really long time. I'm so tired of moving from one place to the next. I just want to get somewhere and stay for a while. I'm really excited about moving to C-America. I know that God is moving us there to use us more than we could hope or imagine. And, I am excited about that!!

So, I know the title of this post is a little rude. Please don't take it that way. Just believe with me that God is going to do something to where only He can get the glory for it. Pray that we can hear the voice of God so clearly on what to do next. And, don't give me "the look" or "the nod"!! =)

Evan Knows His ABC's

Last night, Evan was getting a movie out of the cabinet and I overheard him saying, "Q R S T U V". . . I said, "Evan, do you know your ABC's?" He said, "Yes". I asked him if he would sing them for me, so off he went -- "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ. NOW I KNOW MY ABC'S NEXT TIME WON'T YOU SING WITH ME."

I know my mouth was on the floor, but I had no clue that he knew that!! It really is cute to hear him sing it, too.

Our new schedule is working out

So, it's been over a week since I've updated, so I thought I would do it this morning while Evan is still asleep and Payton is at school. We have adjusted to the whole school schedule thing fairly well so far. We've been going to bed earlier -- at least the boys have. Seems like I like to sit on the couch and watch tv after they have gone to bed. I'm getting used to the quiet around here. Evan and I still have our days where we don't really know what to do without Payton here, but we're getting along just fine. But, I'm telling you, at 5 pm when we know that Aaron and Payton are going to be home any minute, we can't help but sit by the window and watch for them.

In Payton's class, if they have been good, they get a bee stamp at the end of the day and a "happy vitamin" (a Skittle) before they go home. Evan has been checking Payton's folder on a daily basis with me to see if he got his bee stamp. Last night, Evan said, "Bubba, let me see your folder. Bubba get bee stamp?" I said, "Yeah, he got a bee stamp." Evan said, "Yay for Bubba! Good job, Bubba! You got a bee stamp!" Evan threw his hands up in the air and dropped the folder. Payton said, "I know, Evan. Don't drop my folder!"

Payton is really enjoying school. Last night I was tucking them in bed and I asked him if he knew his memory verse for "i" and he said, "I. . If you ask anything in my name, I will do it. John 14:14". In just a few weeks, he's going to be graded on these memory verses for the letters "i" and "e". He's also going to be tested on the Lord's Prayer. I saw that on the sheet and I thought, "How am I going to get him to learn that?" So, last night I asked him if he knew the Lord's Prayer. He said, "Which one is that?" I told him that it started with "Our Father. . . " He finished it right up!! He knew the whole thing!!! I even said, "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." He said, "No, you say 'debtors' two times. Like this: Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Yeah, that's how it goes."

Yesterday, I took Evan to the church office and thought I would just get a few things done and get out of there because I was sure that he wasn't up for staying there all day. Boy, was I wrong!! I went in and set my office up. He sat at Jim's desk and drew some tunnels for me on some paper. Then, he wanted to "help" me make copies. He helped me clean up the sanctuary and get it ready for Sunday night. He helped me carry the guitars to Ira's office and he picked up trash. He did watch a little Barney & Bob the Builder every once in a while. At one point, I almost forgot he was there!! He made it until about 3:30 and he was ready to go. It worked out great, because I was ready to go, too!! :)

Evan and I are heading out this morning to go shopping for children's church on Sunday. He loves to help me find stuff for children's church!!

I'm going to close for now. I know this isn't really all that exciting, but my arm is hurting. Please pray for healing for it. I was trying to move these big black "curtain" things and one fell over on my arm. Everyone else was at lunch, so I had a hard time getting it off of my arm by myself. My arm has a knot there and is a little swollen. It doesn't hurt most of the time, but sometimes it makes my whole arm tingle and throb at the same time. It's just one of those "annoying hurts" and it's on my right arm, so when it's hurting, it really hurts to write or do anything. I am healed.