Crazy Love Ch. 2

Here are just a few quotes I highlighted from reading Ch. 2 of Crazy Love by Francis Chan.

*On the average day, we forget that our life truly is a vapor.(James 4:13-14)

*When I am consumed with my problems...I actually convey the belief that I think the circumstances are more important than God's command to always rejoice. In other words, that I have a "right" to disobey God because of the magnitude of my responsibilities.

*The point of your life is to point to him.

*A.W. Tozer once said "A man by his sin may waste himself, which is to waste that which on earth is most like God. This is man's greatest tragedy and God's heaviest grief."

***So who are you pointing to? What direction is your life pointing at? Are you consumed with things that reveal the glory of God or only things that complete your own agenda? I know I need daily reminders to stop being selfish and living a life that is all about me. What a great chapter to remind me of how easy I can lose my focus. I pray Lord that my thoughts,actions,words and time would be guided by you, that your will is done and not just squeezed into my check off list. Help me to be, as Francis Chan's book says "Overwhelmed by a relentless God" every day.

**For more discussion on Crazy Love check out this website http://bloomcommunity.ning.com/

I love it when a plan comes together!

Any A-team fans out there? Well I am not talking about my plan but of God's. I had mentioned earlier this week about studying the book of John for BSF and how my pastor taught on the same book at church on Sunday. Little did I know after that post that God was not done re-affirming the importance of the book of John in my life.

Today I went to the bookstore to pick up two books. I have recently re-discovered the joy of reading books again, that is books that aren't geared towards a 5 and 7 year old. I had heard about a bible study going on at Angie's blog called "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan. I had wanted to participate in it but thought with BSF starting I would not have time. So I didn't get the book but I have watched bits of the video portion Angie and her friend have posted on the first two chapters. So today as I am looking for the book "What Difference do it Make?" by Ron Hall,I came across what else but Crazy Love. I thought to myself, God must want me to read this book so I might as well get it.

Fast forward to tonight, I decide to go ahead and read the first chapter of this book. First of all, if you think you are in awe of our God now, please go to the crazy love website and watch the video called "Awe Factor". If you thought God was big, you haven't even scratched the surface. As I read the first chapter I came across this verse, Colossians 1:16 "For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him." While the verse is amazing itself, even more amazing is that I just studied this verse this morning as part of my BSF homework. This was not a coincidence or chance, it was a total God thing. How great of him to confirm to me that I am inside of his will. Being in God's word is blessing enough but that he would take the time to guide me to the passages he wants me to be in is simply breath taking.

I can't wait to see what God is going to reveal to me over the next few months. I am only two weeks into BSF and 1 Chapter into Crazy Love and I feel like shouting from my rooftop all that God has taught me. God is good, all the time, all the time he is good. Thanks God for being ever present in my journey to know more of you.

Perfect Timing?

Well today Abby had school pictures. Normally this is a very exciting today, but since last night Abby had a crash on her scooter and caught herself with her face, not so much.


This is how Abby's face looked last night after we cleaned her up.



This is how she looked today for pictures. Luckily they have retakes and class pictures do not take place until the Spring. It really could have been alot worse so we are so grateful that a few scabs is all she ended up with.

Abby was a real sport about it. She was worried about her pictures and I told her that she would have a chance to have them redone. She scuffed up her knee pretty good as well and she had already had scabs on her knees from a fall last week. Needless to say she is not allowed to play chasing games with the neighbors any more to ensure we do not have any more incidents for a while. I will be grateful for pants weather, her poor little legs are all scabbed up.

In other news I have found a great new salad kit by Dole. It is called Southwest salad and comes with dressing, cheese and seasoned wonton strips. I add fritos to it and some additional cheese and it is perfect. Tonight I made taco meat with it and we had a great taco salad. So if you are looking for something easy with a little zing then I definitely recommend it.

I guess some things don't go together

My kids love brownies. My kids love peanut butter chips. I get great idea to bake brownies with peanut butter chips in them. My kids decide that baked peanut chips in their brownies is not a good thing. So much for trying to combine the best of both worlds. Luckily Mommy thinks they go together great and will be eating the rest of the brownies by herself this week.

This weekend we had alot of fun. On Friday night we went out to The Montgomery Inn and had a fabulous dinner. Mike ate way more barbecued meat then should be allowed. After dinner we walked over to the toy store. Mike decided that purchasing a whoopie cushion would be great fun. We brought it home, each kid tried it once. Then Will thought it would be fun to jump on it, whoopie cushion busts completely to threads. Abby starts crying because she no longer has hours of entertainment before her. Will starts crying because he feels bad that he busted it. Mike and I are laughing that a whoopie cushion could cause such extreme emotions in our children.

Saturday Abby and Will had their soccer games. Abby scored two goals, she was super excited. During the second half of the game, Abby was lolli-gagging around and I told her she needed to pick it up. She tells me "Mom, I already scored two goals". We had a little talk afterwards about what it means to be on a team. Later we all headed to see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. It was very cute and very short. It had a nice message about being who you are and about telling your kids you love them and are proud of the them. It was well done and we were so happy to have a family friendly movie to see.

We were all happy that the Buckeyes won, USC lost and the Bengals won. Will and Mike played football today and Mike taught Will how to fake. Abby and I went shoe shopping and got her some cute black dress shoes as well as some skecher twinkle toes that she just had to have. How could I resist purchasing tennis shoes with rhinestone studded toes and charms hanging from the laces.

Our weekend wouldn't be complete without attending church today. Our pastor is teaching from John, the same book we are studying in BSF. I love it when God does things like this. I know I am supposed to be paying attention to what God is revealing to me about Jesus Christ through the book of John. Now I will be sure to get it. Thankyou Lord for allowing me to worship you today, thanks for always being present in our lives. Thanks for the blessing of being able to call your son my savior!!!

BSF the Gospel of John

So BSF(Bible Study Fellowship) started this week and we will be studying John. I am so excited to be learning more about this particular Gospel and to have the structure I need to really be in God's word daily. I have heard that John is an excellent place to start for those who are not familiar with God and his son Jesus Christ. It is my prayer that this year many women who have never known the love of Christ will acknowledge it and recieve it. I pray for myself that I will see what God wants to reveal to me about himself. So if you haven't yet found a bible study please check out the BSF website for a class near you. I can't wait to see what God reveals to me about his son Jesus Christ thru John.

Stationary Giveaway

I am already thinking about what my Christmas Cards will look like this year. Over at Polka Dot Mom there is a giveaway for some great stationary by Pea Pod. Even if you don't win the giveaway they have some really cute stuff. Also you might want to follow Polka Dot Mom as well, she always finds the neatest things.

Hoping to blog about Mike's recent trip to India soon. He should have some great pictures from the trip but we are waiting for his co-worker to email them. He was there for two weeks and got home this past Friday night. We then went to the OSU vs USC game. What an exciting place to be until the last minute of the game. I took some pictures with my phone but I am not sure how they turned out.

Will is a monkey!!

Today was Will's first day of Pre-K. He is in the Monkey class at school. His sister was in the frog class when she attended pre-k so it will be fun to see what the monkey's do. Will was a little nervous for school so we prayed about it last night and this morning. He was perfect!!! He let me take pictures, which he did not want to do last year and he walked right into class without any hesitation. I even had to pull him back to give him a good luck hug.



Unlike his sister, Will could care less about a back to school outfit, so I let him pick out what he wanted to wear.



Here is a close up of my little man outside his classroom. His teacher was so cute, before they could enter class they could give her a handshake, high five or hug. Of course my boy chose the leaping high five.

Abby has had alot of fun with dress up lately. She was a flower girl last May and so she decided to try it on again for size. She decided to add a little Indian flare by wearing the jacket her daddy brought home from India. Does she have the modeling pose down or what.



I am so blessed to have these lovely little children to keep my life full of so much joy. What a gift God has given me in motherhood.

Labor Day 2009

We spent Labor Day weekend at the lake again this year. The weather couldn't have been better. We were able to play in the lake on both a calm and wavy day as well as get in a great boat ride. Abby and Will played with their cousins of all ages and had a blast.


Abby and Will played really well with each other. It was nice to be able to actually sit a little on the beach and watch them entertain each other.




There was tons of bird poop on the pier so some of the adults started the process of washing it all off. Will decided he wanted to help so he went and got a bucket of water from the lake and walked it over. I am not sure how much water was actually still in the bucket by the time he got it there but it was really sweet to see him wanting to help with out my prompting. Abby decided she wanted to help too and brought over a bucket as well.

We feel so grateful to get to spend several weekends up at the Lake. It is a beautiful and relaxing place with lots of family and good friends. I know we are making such precious memories for our children.

We drove home early from the Lake on Monday to meet my side of the family for a special lunch. My grandparents have been married for 60 years, what an amazing milestone. It was nice to see everyone get together to honor them and their commitment.

We are back to school today for Abby and tommorrow Will starts preschool. Looking forward to all that the approaching fall season has to offer.

Kids being Kids

Here is a funny video of my kids just because. Will decided to make an invention and of course I had to capture his creativity. Then things went down hill from there. I love that my kids can be so carefree and silly. I love that Will loves to dance. So here are my kids in all their silliness and I loved every minute of it. Remember to pause the music on the bottom left of the blog;)

Wind in their Sails

I read bits here and there out of this book "The Power of a Positive Mom" by Karol Ladd. I tend to read it more while my husband is traveling as I find it harder to be as positive as I would like to be when the day to day activities seem to wear me down.

In reading from her book this week I came across the chapter providing advice on discovering your child'd potential. I am drawn to this topic as Abby has started school now and Will will start next week. As I begin to schedule activities and homework projects are introduced it does make me think about recognizing those areas where my kids really shine. I love in the book where it states "Our challenge is to learn how to be the wind in their sails without blowing them off the course God has set for their lives." I want to be an involved and supportive mom but I don't want to be a controlling mom. Giving thoughtful direction and choosing or controlling the direction are two different things. Of course the Bible provides insight into our parenting duties and specifically how to train them. I really like the author's translation of Proverbs 22:6 "train a child according to his bent."

So it looks like I have some homework as well this school season, according to this book there are four steps to studying your children in order to find their unique skill sets and direction. Step 1: See the potential, this sounds easy enough but I know if feels like some days I have only focased on what they didn't do or say. Step 2: Offer opportunities for Growth, here she empasizes trying a variety of activities for you kids but not rushing. In fact she lists several Olympic athletes who didn't focas on their specific sport until their teenage years!!! Step 3: Set realistic goals, she emphasizes that these be the children's goals and not your goals for them. Lastly Step 4: Support their Endeavors, whether they win or lose, just them knowing you support them no matter what is such an encouragement to them.
So I am excited to really study my kids a little more deeply and find out what makes them truly unique and how I can help them find their bent. Hope you enjoyed this new info as much as I did. Happy Discovering!!!