Gabe's hobbies

Gabe loves to go fishing but won't touch the fish & this is the guy
who takes him. Thanks Jesse!! Yesterday they went to a Zephers
baseball game. That is Gabe's favorite sport & he's really good at it
too!!

Balance

Today is the first day in almost a month that I have nothing to do. OK maybe that's not completely true, but it definitely feels like it. This summer has been crazy busy with tee-ball, golf camp, baby showers, wedding showers and preparations, birthday parties (including my boys'), MOPZ (Mothers of Preschoolers - my life group), keeping up with the youth girls and my role as YPW, our yearly NRP No Compromise Youth Conference, and the boys from the projects that come over almost every day! It's 10:30am and we are just now eating breakfast. The boys' PawPaw bought them a pool, so that's our only plan for the day so far.

One thing I've realized in the busyness of life is the importance of keeping a balanced life. That probably sounds like a no brainer, but it's easy to forget vision (exactly what you are doing in life) and purpose (why you are doing it). The reason we need to stay balanced is because it can happen in the slow times too. Maybe it's just me, but I've noticed when I have nothing going on for a long period of time I get very discouraged, feeling like I'm not doing anything in life (loosing my vision and forgetting my purpose).

Thank God for leaders in my life like my husband and our Pastor's wife who are visionaries and can remind me of all that stuff and reignite passion in me. If you don't have a person in your life like that you really need to get one. I think the roller coaster of life is coming down for me so it's time for me to get back on track with the mundane but important things for a healthy family life - regular naps, eating lunch at home, cooking dinner every night and sitting together to eat, playing together at the house, and keeping up with house work. Thank you God for the busy, fun times and the slow, simple times of life, and the people who help me get through it all. Help me to keep a balance of both for a healthy family life.

Letting People In

I don't know about you, but in my head I used to think that spending time with people (discipleship) would be a hassle. We are all so busy, how does anyone have time to disciple anymore? Take today for instance. I was all over LaPlace, Metairie, and Kenner getting things done for our boys upcoming birthday party, my brother-in-law's upcoming wedding, and his fiance's showers. Everything seems to be going on all at the same time! Literally after the wedding will be Gabe's first week of school and baby showers for two new arrivals (one from my sister and one from my sister-in-law)! Don't forget that I have to get all of it done with 3 boys getting in and out of the van at each store!!

When girls used to ask me to spend time with them, I used to think that I didn't have the time. And it's true. I may never have extra time. When they would join my crazy day, I was more stressed because I felt bad asking them to help me. Sometimes I felt like I had a fourth kid to entertain. This past year I got rid of my excuses and allowed them to join me and I've discovered two things:

1. They can be a really big help when you're not afraid to tell them what to do and how to do it. They love watching and learning how to be a mom. Isn't that what real discipleship is anyway?

2. I'm really good at being bossy!!

Today I purposely asked a girl from our youth group to come along for the chaos. I was able to go in and out of almost 10 stores without taking the boys out once accept for lunch. At one point we even had our dog in the van with us.

Usually by the end of a day like today I am exhausted, frazzled, frustrated, and totally regretting it altogether. Instead, it was totally enjoyable. By the end of the day I felt refreshed, happy, and content. And I'm sure she enjoyed it too! It's amazing how much better life can be when you let people in to live it with you, even if you have to boss them around a little. Just joking!!

The Ramp

This past week I went with Gabe to The Ramp with our children's church. You can check out The Ramp online at theramp.org to get a better idea of what it is. Basically it is an awakening of a generation to Jesus and what he is doing in the Earth today. This week their gathering was for kids ages 4-12. The worship, speakers, dramas, and dances were inspiring, but the thing that will stand out to me the most were words of wisdom from a fellow mom that I met at one of the services. I noticed their group at the very first service. There were two moms, four boys, and a girl with them. The boys especially caught my attention. They were around 10 years old and worshiped their little hearts out. They even took notes in their own personal boy looking journals with sports themes on the covers. Finally by the last night I got up the courage to ask one of the moms for their motherly wisdom and these are the nuggets she shared with me:

1. As a christian woman, always make sure my own personal relationship is alive and thriving.

2. Put my kids around the kind of atmospheres like The Ramp as much as I can because as they see other kids worship and love God freely, it gives them permission to do the same.

And then she encouraged me to give them space and to let God do what He wants, when He wants, and how He wants.

Then she got her 10 year old son to pray for Gabe. It was so precious. He prayed that Gabe would be a warrior for Jesus, hungry for the Word of God, and that when he was faced with temptation he would make the right choices.

It's hard to believe Gabe will be like those boys in only 4 short years. I can't wait to see what God does!!!