Last Youth Life Group

Last night was our last life group with our team (pictured above). Aaron taught a great message and a few people gave parting words. It is amazing to me how much my life simply lived out has made such an impact. To me, all I do is cook, clean, try to keep the boys alive (ha ha), etc. Most days I feel insignificant. Last night some of the guys shared how my life has given them a picture of what to look for in a wife/mother. For most of us, it's hard to believe that our "seemingly insignificant" lives and choices make such a difference, but it does. Living our lives God's way reflects God himself and gives people hope. I'm honored to be a part of that because He has made me who I am. As I reflect on the last six years, my parting advice is to give what you can to people who come into your life while they are there. When someone comes along your path, it can be easy to make excuses of why you can't help them, especially if you feel overwhelmed by your own life. But those people never stay long. Lives move and change so much. In some cases I wish I gave more because my season of influence with them didn't last as long and wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. In other cases I'm glad I gave all I could when they needed me. In my next season of ministry, whatever it turns out to be, I will give my all (whatever I can), knowing they will only be in my life for a short time.

We had a great run, youth ministry. I wouldn't have traded it for anything. Thank you God for giving me what I thought I couldn't handle. Your choices for my life are always better than mine.

My Profile

Today I changed my profile. In one week my husband and I will no longer be the Youth Pastors for our church. When I first heard the news about a year ago, I kind of freaked out. OK I did. I realized my identity was found in my position instead of God's daughter. Changing my profile also made me think about the future. What will my profile say in 5 years? Where will I be? What will my family look like? What will my kids be interested in? Today I'm glad to know that no matter how those things change, I am still and will always be a daughter of God.

Money Wise

Since the boys are getting older, they have started getting money for birthday gifts and graduations. We wanted to teach them at an early age to control their money instead of their money controlling them, so I came up with a little system that they love. Each jar tells them where their money goes: Give, Save, Spend. When the Give jar is filled up, they can decide what they want to give their money to. After explaining this to the boys, Gabe said he wanted to give his money to the Ronald McDonald House for kids with Cancer. He said he saw the box at McDonald 's and has always wanted to put money in it for the kids. I thought that was cool that he is already aware of and willing to help other kids like him. Maybe one day we will be able to visit the kids he has given to. I think those kind of things have big impacts on shaping a child's heart to be more like Jesus. When the Save jar is filled up, we will put it in a savings account for them, and at any time they want to they can use their money from the Spend jar. Usually it's on Icees and snowballs. Gotta love being a kid!

Happy Fourth of July!!

Great Job, Mom!

This plate of food is a typical plate of food in our house. It has baked chicken, pasta with a little sauce on top, and a side serving of vegetables. I don't slave over a stove all day, but I do like to make sure I provide a healthy, tasty, attractive dinner for my family. After taking an hour to cook and prepare it, all the while thinking that my kids were going to love it, Isaiah, my outspoken 3 year old walks rights up and voices his opinion. Waiting in anticipation for his "Yummy!" remark, he sticks his chubby little fore finger at each item and says, "I don't like that, or that, or that." My first feeling inside is to take him seriously and be hard on myself for not doing a better job. I know I can't be the only one out there thinking this way. We all want to please our families. I personally love it when I hear positive words from my kids about how good of a job I'm doing, but I can't let that be my only gauge. After one quick second of feeling bad, I began looking around in my kitchen and found the real truth. There was a large watermelon that I bought & cut up (which I hate doing) for Gabe who insisted that he HAD to have it. There was a fourth of July cake that I made for Judah's birthday (which I don't enjoy doing either). There was a waffle maker on my counter top which I used to make homemade waffles with little cut up strawberries in them. The house was clean and dinner was even on a Cars plate. I'm not saying you have to do any of those things to be a good mom, but sometimes we, as moms, have to look around and remind ourselves that we are doing a great job, regardless of whether our kids or anyone else notices. So to all you moms out there, if you care about your child(ren) and try your best to do so, you are doing a great job!

Father's Day/Gabe's Birthday

This year Father's Day and Gabe's birthday were on the same day which was very cool because the focus was family instead of just one person. We let Gabe pick where he wanted to eat and he chose "Old McDonald's" as he likes to call it. The boys played while Aaron and I hung out with Mazie. After we ate, we went to Academy to buy Gabe a basketball goal for his birthday.

I wanted to show a close up of Mazie since it's hard to see her in the first picture. She's just starting to smile and talk.

Singing "Happy Birthday" to our big 7 year old!