"You would be very ashamed if you knew what the experiences you call setbacks, upheavals, pointless disturbances, and tedious annoyances really are. You would realize that your complaints about them are nothing more nor less than blasphemies-though that never occurs to you. Nothing happens to you except by the will of God, and yet God's beloved children curse it because they do not know if for what it is." Caussade

I am learning this day by day right now. Our family has been in a season of setbacks and upheavals. This is what we have learned...we need to give thanks. After each upheaval, we have started giving thanks. We have started giving thanks together, as a family.
The boys planted grass on Saturday. Matt watered the ground at 2pm today and we gave thanks in prayer at 3pm. We went out at 4pm to find grass growing. Grass that Matt swears came up in 2 hours! The boys and I were jumping up and down we were so excited...excited about grass growing! Again, we gave thanks. The Lord is meeting us where we are. He is opening up doors. He is opening one door at a time and asking us to walk through it in faith and we are walking through each one trusting that He is going to open the next one.
I am learning so much more about this Lord that I love. When this year started, I began praying for God to awake my soul and sing. He is doing just that. I am falling in love with Him all over again...and so is my family.

Back to School reality hits

-A double batch of muffins made and frozen for easy breakfasts
-A 6 month old who only had to cry it out a day to learn the new sleep schedule (huge blessing!)
-Flashcards with Boston
-Calendar written out for rest of month
-Bible verse and activities planned for next two weeks (the beginning phases)
-Zumba with Boston (ok I do Zumba, Boss and Mo laugh)
-Weeding the gardens with Boston and Mo
-Back to school
-Lunches with everyone
-An awesome new faith activity (see below)
-Strawberry yogurt popsicles made
-Applesauce made for baby
-Lots of laughter and fun with bubbles
-Baths taken and dinner eaten
-Ice cream sundaes, stories, and flashcards with Daddy
-In bed by 8:00
No more lazy summer days...sigh.

FAITH ACTIVITY
I had this page with homemade ice cream pulled out of Family Fun magazine and the D6 Splink email this week had an activity to use with it! Yay...don't you love when God meets you where you are?

You Scream, I Scream, We all Scream for Ice Cream!

Make ice cream to illustrate that works show we have faith.

Items needed for each person:

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 cup milk or half & half

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

6 tablespoons rock salt (table salt works too)

1 pint-size plastic food storage bag (e.g., Ziploc)

1 gallon-size plastic food storage bag

Ice cubes

Show ingredients and ask: Do you believe these ingredients can become ice cream?

If so, then shake the mixture in the bags.

How to make it:

Put milk, vanilla, and sugar into the small bag, and seal it.

Fill the large bag half full of ice, and add the rock salt. Seal the bag.

Place the small bag inside the large one, and seal it again carefully.

Shake until the mixture is ice cream (which takes about 5 minutes).

Wipe off the top of the small bag, and then open it carefully. Enjoy!

You showed your belief that what I said was true by shaking the bags. We show our faith in God by believing what He has said in the Bible is true and then living it out—doing what He has told us to do. Works show that we have true faith!

Happy 6th Birthday Jack

Jackson turned 6 today! I just love that little boy to pieces...why don't you sit right there while I tell ya why. We did a treasure hunt as soon as he woke up that led to his breakfast. Jack picked strawberries and yogurt for his birthday breakfast. I made him strawberries and whip cream because that sounded more fun. He obviously didn't complain...
He wanted grilled cheese and chips for lunch. We took him to his favorite picnic table in the park right after school for a big ole picnic.I don't have a picture but he chose bacon, eggs, and toast for his dinner. All three meals completely represent Jack. The simplest and easiest of things make him happy. He just loves life and it's more important to him that we are all together than that we are going out to dinner or making fancy meals.
He is my favorite cowboy. We had a moment last week at the store where a little boy made fun of Jack's outfit as he passed by. I leaned down to him and told him how very happy I am that he is a cowboy and that more importantly God is happy that he is a cowboy. He could have been born in the 1960's and lived perfectly happy with a wooden rifle and a cowboy hat. His heart is so pure and so innocent, unwavered by what others say or think about him. And he is so happy, truly happy with life. He reminds me that life is something to soak up, minute by minute and be oh so grateful for each one.
Jack isn't really a big fan of cake. So after baking the cake he asked for his party and him not eating it, I asked what he really wanted for his birthday. Sundaes!!! Blue Bell, of course. Jack and I speak the same language.
Speaking of languages, Jack's love language is quality time, as is his Mama's. We love to laugh and talk together and the more time we spend together, the more loved we feel. Today was all about quality time and I hope that he feels as blessed on his birthday as I feel to be his mama.

The First Day

My parents have always told me about my first day of Kindergarten and how they cried as I got on the bus. I have always thought they must have just been a little over emotional but today....I realized they were definitely not over emotional! My little Jack is a kindergartener...my little Jack. The whole family took him to school to celebrate his big day with him. Matt and I stood back watching him leave with 24 other kids to walk into an elementary school...an elementary school! Our baby!
As we drove home, holding back the tears, I said to Matt..."he's out of the safe zone." He's not at the safe little Christian preschool down the street anymore. There are a lot of kids from different places and different backgrounds and it's a little scary to let your little baby go not knowing what he is going to learn about or hear on the playground. It has brought our job as parents to a whole new level. We have spent a lot of our summer really trying to learn Jackson and Boston as individuals so that we can better parent them. One thing we learned about Jackson is that homeschooling was not the way to go for him, at least not right now. With a 4 year age difference between him and his younger brother, he needs something all his own with friends his age. We recognize as his parents that makes our time with him all the more important. It takes spiritual leading to a whole new level. It's gonna take a lot of prayer and a lot of listening to the Holy Spirit. It was pretty heart breaking when he asked why they didn't pray before snack or go to chapel at his new school. This is where we believe God wants Jack right now and so as Matt explained to him..it's a place to teach friends who Jesus is and be a leader for His Kingdom. At the end of class the teacher told me that he was an awesome listener and would be a great helper this year. Oh dear Lord, may he remain that way. May he hear your voice above all others and be a great leader in your Kingdom. What an awesome young man you are becoming my dear Jackson.

Last Days of Summer (in pictures)

The berries arrive for winter! Yum!

Yes, that's my husband...and I am not going to tell the doctor he is doing this!

We are going to miss you, summer picnics!Sharing our picnics with Daddy while recovering.

I was reading this book the other night and was only into the first chapter when she recounts the dream that changed her. I was thinking what that would be like to have such a dream as I drifted off to sleep. And that night the Lord spoke to me. I had the most vivid dream of my life or I should say, my life as it could have been. It was a dream without my husband and without my two youngest boys. The feelings and the emotion were so sad and empty. I awoke from it praising God as I slowly realized it was not reality. I told my husband how happy I was to be married to him at 2am in the morning. Do you ever have those dreams that you know the Lord meant specifically for you?
Is it really worth it to get frustrated over the sheets that are being washed for a 2nd time this week, the paw prints on the newly mopped floor, the chicken you forgot to thaw for dinner, the nap that was cut short by the barking dog...you can't change it and He's put it all there admist your day for a reason. Awake little one and be thankful for what you have been given.

Oh and the book is amazing too, you should read it!