I'm Really Funny. Really, Really Funny

Yesterday we were driving through town, when we saw a girl walking a little dog. The dog looked remarkably like the dog in Beverly Hill Chihuahua. Cj was so excited, he called out to her, "I like your dog! I like your Beverly Hills dog!" Only problem was, seeing as how it's absolutely freezing out, the windows were all rolled up and she didn't hear a thing he said. Which might have been a good thing really since the next thing he told the girl was, "I am really funny. Really, really funny."

Today Cj was randomly counting and adding. He was counting crackers, "1-2-3-4-..." Then when he picked up 2 more he said, "Well, there's 5 & 6". Diana was pretty impressed, "Did you hear him? He's a pretty smart kid!" Cj looked at Diana like she was just so naive.."Oh, Come on, Diana, I've only already been counting for like, what, 100 years."

Crazy person that I am, I had all Cj's toys organized by type; trains with trains, cars with cars, dinosaurs with dinosaurs. Well, I guess Cj got tired of living in that crazy unorganized world. So he decided to reorganize the toys, as toys were meant to be organized. Not by type, but by color. All the red toys are in red buckets. All green toys are in green buckets. All blue toys in blue buckets. Finally a world where when you want to play with red toys, all you have to do go to the red bucket.

Oh, life with my unusual boys! It's actually a lot fun and quite entertaining. Don't tell Cj but he is really funny. Really, really funny.

Grandma Bobo's Biscuits

Tonight I made Grandma’s Biscuit recipe for dinner. Whenever, I make that recipe my mind just floods with wonderful memories of times with my Grandma. There is no one, absolutely no one in the world like Grandma, she is so much fun.

I was thinking about the time that Grandma came over and was going to teach me to make her biscuits. We had to go to the grocery and get buttermilk and lard. We kept looking all over the store and could not find that buttermilk at all. We even tried splitting up. My friend told me later that she saw Grandma in the store. She said Grandma came running down the aisle, waving a bowl of lard over her head in triumph, and she was proclaiming, “I found the lard! I found the la-rd!!” Apparently it was quite the sight.

Diana said that she remembers making biscuits with Grandma when she was little and that Grandma always let her make her own small biscuits. Now Diana already can make Grandma’s Biscuits herself.

I remember when I was little that Grandma used to always give us one small bite of the dough. I also remember she used to let us go out in the backyard and pick fresh strawberries while she baked the biscuits. When we got done we had fresh strawberries on top of warm biscuits. Oh that was SO good!

I am so thankful for Grandma, I love her so much, and not just because she is the most amazing cook in the world. Not even because she taught me so much about cooking. Just because she’s Grandma, and she’s so special, she is a blessing.

Four-year-olds Know Everything

Had some fun conversations with Cj lately.

Few weeks ago, he said to me, "Mommy, I had a memory of when I was a baby. I bemembered (because he says it Bemembered) that I was a baby and I was crying in my crib." Then he thought for a moment. "I was crying in my crib because I wanted my Mommy to come and get me and hold me."

"Really? You remember being a baby, so what did your room look like when you were a baby?" I challenged.

Then Cj went on to describe the furniture and where it was located in his room when he was a baby. Considering the fact that his room has changed greatly since he was in a crib, that was pretty impressive.

Then he told me, "Oh, bemember, back a long time ago when I was two, and you had to break my crib because I was a big boy and had to sleep in a big boy bed."

I asked him how he knew so much stuff, and he answered, "Mommy, I am a 4 year-old. I guess 4 year-olds just know everything!"

Later he told me all about how babies get here, you know, since he's a 4 year-old and knows everything. Apparently they come from Mommy's tummies but they "need a Doctor's help to get out." (and that is an exact quote.)

So I asked Cj how the doctors get the babies out. He told me, "Mommy, 4 year-olds know everything, but I am not a Doctor, I don't know Doctor stuff!"

Last night, Cj was telling me all about how someday he wanted to be on TV and movies (Can I just say, Oh No!) Now, he decided that he wants to grow big enough to be on TV, that's big as Andrew. But he doesn't want to grow up and big like Daddy, because Daddy has to go to work, and work is NOT fun.

He told me all about the shows he wanted to star in. He said he was going to be in Star Wars and play Obi-Wan Kenobi. Then he made an Obi-Wan face for me. I told him that he looked exactly like Obi-Wan. He looked at me seriously and said, "Mommy, how can that be when he has blue eyes and mine are brown?"

Finally, one last thing to note, a few days ago, he said to his Daddy, "Are you an alien, a pirate, or a redhead?"

The Knowledgable 4 year-old himself....

Who Am I Imitating, Part 2

Orginally posted 6/27/09
I am imitating Grandpa Bobo.

My Grandpa Bobo was one of the funniest people that ever lived. Even though I have not met every person who has ever lived, my Grandpa was so funny that I feel perfectly safe in saying; "My Grandpa Bobo was one of the funniest people that ever lived."

When it came to church building, Grandpa was never failing in his work. I remember him driving around and picking kids up to bring them to church. I remember plenty of times when Grandpa and Grandma drove two cars to church because they had them both filled up with kids. Whenever I start to feel tired of driving around picking up kids, I remember them. Obviously kids knowing about Jesus was important to Grandpa, and it's important to me, too. I don't think that Grandpa ever forgot what it meant to him be saved from eternity in hell, by calling upon the name of Jesus in repentance. That is why he cared enough to go and pick up all those kids.

Grandma and Grandpa were a major part of starting at least two churches that I know of. I know that they spent time going from door to door witnessing. When my brother, my sisters, and I were young, it was always special when it was our turn to go on visitation with Grandpa and Dad. I remember having Bible Study for years at a couple's house, who were unsaved before Grandpa and Dad knocked on their door one day. Grandpa was not the Pastor of the churches, he attended, but he went door to door witnessing. In today's church, I believe that the door to door visitation/witnessing is believed to be the job of the Pastor. Also in today's church, many churches are dying out. If only more people in today's churches were like Grandpa Bobo, who didn't believe that door to door visitation/witnessing was only the Preacher's job. It is not just the Preacher's job , it is the Christian's job. When Jesus said, "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature," He was talking to all of us, not just the Preacher.

Grandpa was a very unique song leader, and I miss hearing him. He didn't just tell us a page number and sing along. Often he would tell us about who wrote the song and why. He sang with all his heart, he just put so much into the song. He loved to sing at home as well. I remember many evenings when Grandpa got out his guitar and Grandma went to the piano, my Aunt Sherry, Aunt Linda, Dad, and Mom, and Grandpa would sing in harmony. They sang old hymns, and not once did it sound like a funeral. That music was alive! Beautiful! I remember as a child watching Grandpa as he lead singing in church or sang with guitar at home. I knew that those songs meant so much to him. Now as an adult when I hear songs that Grandpa sang with so much passion. I listen extra careful to the words. I realize that he was teaching us all what was important in life by leading songs the way he did. These songs teach us about our lives as Christians, and Grandpa knew it. I don't know how many times I have been going through a hard time, and the words to a song that Grandpa led us in singing with his great passion, have gotten through that hard time.

Grandpa was a wonderful family man. He loved us all so much. Most of all I have learned from him, that your family is a gift from God, and you should love them with all your heart forever, no matter what. If they do something to make you mad, than you forgive them and keep loving them.

I want to share one of my favorite songs that Grandpa used to sing. I remember when I was a little girl, and I mean really, really little, like 5 years old, he led the singing for kids at church. He used to have us sing this one over and over, and he sang it with so much meaning, I know it meant a lot to him. Maybe this is the reason he loved all of his family so well, because he loved Jesus first.

There is a Name I love to hear,
I love to sing its worth;
It sounds like music in my ear,
The sweetest Name on earth.

Oh, how I love Jesus,
Oh, how I love Jesus,
Oh, how I love Jesus,
Because He first loved me!

It tells me of a Savior's love,
Who died to set me free;
It tells me of His precious blood,
The Sinner's perfect plea.

Oh, how I love Jesus
Oh, how I love Jesus,
Oh, how I love Jesus,
Because He first loved me!

Who Am I Imitating?

Orginally posted 6/26/09
Today, I got my Sunday School Class's "Greenhouse Project" books and study guides in the mail. I have been anxiously awaiting getting these so I could begin studying them and getting ready to teach the books for Sunday School. I can't really tell you a lot about the book yet because I haven't starting reading it. I did read the first page for the Student Guide though, on which the students are encouraged to be aware of what they are imitating. This made me think, as a leader to the students, who am I imitating?

I am imitating Grandpa Eastwood.

I will never forget at Grandpa's funeral when a Pastor gave my family a Christian Flag, in the manner that a veteran's family is awarded a United States flag. (Grandpa was a veteran as well, by the way.) This was to honor his work as a solider for Christ in his lifetime. The man told us that Grandma and Grandpa Eastwood had a left us a legacy. They may not have left our family many earthly treasures, they left us a much greater legacy. They left us the legacy of prayer. Grandpa and Grandma were true prayer warriors.

I remember visiting Grandpa and Grandma in Rensselaer where he was a pastor. After breakfast Grandpa would have his prayer time. We had to play quietly during that time, so we didn't interrupt his prayer time. I remember just waiting, quietly outside his door for him to come out so I could spend time with him. (I LOVED hanging out with my Grandpa Eastwood.) I realized at a young age that his prayer time was so important to him. He knew that when he had a need the first thing to do was pray. When he met anyone he put them on his prayer list, and didn't take them off until they died. At which time, he began praying for their family. I have been trying to make prayer more and more important part of my life.

I am learning that the more you prayer the more you grow. You know, kinda like that kid's song, "Read your Bible, pray everyday, and you'll grow-grow-grow." Well, really exactly like that song. The more I pray, my relationship with the Lord is growing. The more I pray, the happier and more content I am. I am definitely starting to understand more what Paul meant when he said "for I have learned whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content." Of course, I am also learning places where I am doing the wrong thing, which isn't the most fun, but I am learning to change as well, which is good. I appreciate each prayer request that someone shares with me. First of all, I appreciate the someone had entrusted their need with me, to share with the Lord. Second, I am thankful that each petition I make know unto God, is only going to make me stronger.

What is continuing to amaze me more and more is that I can actually talk to God. I mean, when I fist type that sentence, I am thinking, 'uh-duh-prayer is talking to God." What I mean though is, Isn't it incredible that the God of the Universe, not just the Universe, but the God of ALL! Allows us to go to Him with our repentance, thankfulness, praises, and petitions! I am nothing, my life is nothing more than the life of a blade of grass. I was born, I will live a short while, and I will be dead. I am nothing special, but God wants to hear from me! Wow! How wonderful and amazing God is, that He loves us so much that He allows something as small as a person to come before Him, to come before His throne, and talk to Him! Also, I can't believe that He gives us this precious gift of prayer and we choose so often not to use it!

Finally, just one more quick note. If we want our children to grow up to be people who pray, than we must start teaching them right away. No age is too young. My 3 year old son prays. He has learned to make a list of his own requests. He puts everything from family members to his pets to his toys on his prayer list. Just the other day, when I was not feeling well, he told me in a very reassuring voice, "I will pray for you, Mommy."

Grandpa Eastwood is definitely a hero! He is not my only hero though, and I will write more about other's whose life I would like to imitate soon.

Everything's Ready for Florida

Orginally Published June 2009
Today Calvin tramped up the stairs dragging his little Thomas the Tank Engine on wheels and his Spiderman backpack. He informed that he was packing for the Florida trip. I told him that Mommy would do the packing, and he said, "Mommy, I am a big boy, I can do this."
Later he came and showed me his bag, "It's all packed Mom, Everything's ready for Florida."

He opened up first the Thomas the Tank Engine suitcase which held a pair of tennis shoes and a pack of Kleenex. Next, he opened the Spiderman backpack which was filled with his clothes. (That's where they all went.) I asked him to show me what clothes he had in there and he rolled his eyes, gave me an exasperated sigh and said, "I can't get em all out of there, then I will just have to refold them and pack them all over again!"

Balaam and His Donkey, Numbers 22

Orginally posted May 29, 2009
What does it take for God to get our attention? How great is the protection of the Lord on those whom He chooses to bless? How serious is it when we determine to follow our own will, instead of the Lord’s?

In the beginning of Numbers chapter 22 we see Israel camped in the plains of Moab and the king of Moab, Balak, terrified. He could see that Israel was large in number, he had heard of their victory over the Amorites, and he knew that his country didn’t have the power to defeat them. Balak decided to put his faith in Balaam, a seer. Balak believed that whom Balaam cursed was cursed and whom Balaam blessed was blessed. So, Balak teamed with the people of Midian and sent messengers, bearing gifts to Balaam, begging him to curse Israel. God gave Balaam a very clear answer, “And God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people; for they are blessed.”

When his messengers returned telling him that Balaam had said no, Balak sent messengers a second time with a greater offer than before; “For I will promote thee unto very great honour, and I will do whatsoever thou sayest unto me; come therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people.” Balaam, tempted by the promise of great earthly reward, decided to inquire of God again regarding cursing Israel. This time God told Balaam to go with the men, but God knew that he would use Balaam to accomplish His will and that Balaam would die for his greedy disobedience.
Later we read of Balaam traveling along the road, planning on cursing Israel, the people whom God had clearly stated were blessed, all the while God was very angry with him. Suddenly, his donkey sees something that Balaam doesn’t, the angel of Lord holding a sword, and barring their way. The donkey runs into the field, Balaam not seeing the angel of Lord strikes his donkey and tries to turn her back on course. The donkey still seeing the angel of the Lord in their path runs into a wall. Balaam, his foot crushed against the wall now, strikes his donkey again.
Finally, the donkey seeing that the angel of Lord has completely blocked the way, leaving them no way to turn from the right or the left, the donkey just brings him and Balaam to the ground. After Balaam strikes the donkey a third time, the Lord allows the donkey to speak to him. The donkey, who had more common sense than Balaam, the seer, asks his master what did I do to deserve to be hit three times. Now, I ask you, wouldn’t you think that by now Balaam would have stopped and thought about what going on? His donkey has prevented him from continuing on his path three times, not to mention the fact that God clearly told him right from the start not to curse Israel. Now his DONKEY IS SPEAKING TO HIM! Determined and stubborn, Balaam rather than admit that he should do God’s will instead of his own, still doesn’t wake up! Instead, he just carries on a conversation with his DONKEY! This is just so absurd! Balaam pretty much just answers his Donkey by saying, I hit you because you mocked me, you didn’t respect me. Funny how, Balaam is concerned with the fact that his donkey doesn’t respect him, but he’s not concerned with the fact that he didn’t respect God.

Finally, God opened Balaam’s eyes and allowed him to see the angel of the Lord and Balaam finally admited that he was wrong. But now it was too late for Balaam. God had decided to use him to bless Israel, when he meant to curse them. God also allowed him to die for his disobedience and greed (Genesis 31:8).

Is this really much different from what we do today? God has given us a very clear statement as to what is right and wrong in the Bible. Yet, so often, we are determined to do what we want, sometimes in hope of earthly gain, sometimes because it’s the simplest way, and sometimes just because we want our own way. In our faithlessness we don’t trust God to bring us happiness or contentment, so we seek it by our own means. God opened the mouth of what many consider to be one of the dumbest and most stubborn of all the animals, to get the attention of this stubborn and willful man. What will he use to get our attention?

Peace in Hard Times

Philippians 4:7 “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”


What does it mean to have the peace of God? How do we claim it? Actually, without Christ, without God’s peace, we cannot really, and truly know peace at all. The peace of God is the only real peace at all. John 14:27 tells us that God gives us a peace that is unlike that of the world. He gives us this gift of his Salvation and peace freely. It is such a great abundance of peace that it is more then we can even understand (Philippians 4:7). This peace guards our hearts and protects us.
In John 6:1-15 we read about how Jesus fed the 5000. In this record we can learn about accepting God’s peace. The people had a need, they needed food, they had been following Jesus for a long time and they were hungry. Jesus went to Phillip and asked him to give people food. Phillip answered that he didn’t have enough money to purchase food for that many people. When Jesus asked Phillip this, He actually already knew what he was going to do and was only testing Phillip’s faith. One of the disciples, Andrew, brought Jesus a little boy who had 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes. Andrew didn’t really think that this small amount of food would do much good among so many people, but he brought it Jesus. Jesus asked everyone to sit down. Then Jesus took that small amount of food, prayed, and then started dividing it up and giving it to the disciples to hand out. After everyone had eaten they gathered up 12 baskets of leftover. What can we learn about peace from this story?

Jesus knows our needs.

Jesus knew the people were hungry. He cared about their needs. He knows our needs and cares about them. In Matthew 6:25-26 He says, “Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns yet your Heavenly Father feedeth the. Are ye not much better than they?” One problem I find in my life regarding this scripture is that I want to try and take care of the need myself. I will have a need, pray, and then want to worry about it, or think about how I can solve it. This is not what the Bible tells us to do. Jesus said not to even think about it, I should tell God my need, and then just leave it with Him. In the story of Jesus feeding the 5000 you notice that Jesus told the people to sit down, He wanted sit and rest, be at peace, while they let him supply the need.

Jesus uses the small amount that we have.

Andrew brought Jesus the little boy’s lunch, 5 loaves and 2 fishes, in such a large group, it must have seemed nearly pointless to bring that to Jesus. I think we can take that to our represent our talents. We all have talents, and using them for God is the only reason they given to us! That is what I try to teach our teens when I ask them to be involved in the Teens Involved program. It’s about realizing what they're good at, we are all good at something, and we are all given talents. Then after the teens realize what they are good at they are shown in TI how they can put that talent to use in the ministry of the church. Each time our drama team performs their play, they are giving the Gospel. They have learned a way that they can fulfill the Great Commission, by utilizing their God-given talents.

We may think that we aren’t good at much, or aren’t very talented, or maybe we think there is nothing that we could add by working in the church. Yet, Jesus fed over 5000 people with the little, tiny amount of food that was a little boy’s lunch. He can take our talents, no matter how small, and use them to make a BIG difference in the church! All we have to do is bring them to him, just like Andrew brought him the little boy’s lunch!

He gives us more than we ask.
Orginally published April 28, 2009
After all the people have eaten, they gathered up 12 baskets of leftover food! When we give our need to God, He will fulfill our need and then give us even more than we ask for! Ephesians 3:20 “Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.”
Finally, I would like you to think about one more thing, what would be the reason for us, as Christians, not to experience this peace? Why would we not experience the peace of God supplying our needs, physical and spiritual? The reason we most often miss out on experiencing this peace is because instead of asking God to supply our need, we try and do it ourselves. Remember, Jesus asked the people in John 6 to sit down, and let him do the work of supplying the need. Instead of sitting peacefully in the grass, we try and do the work ourselves. We try and find ways to supply the need. Whenever we do this, we just make a total mess of things! So the next time you have a need, don’t be like Phillip when Jesus tested his faith. Instead just give your need to Christ and accept His peace as you peacefully wait for Him to show you His power.

Love

Orginally published February 25, 2009

Yesterday, I went to a really good Bible Study at Grace Baptist, with my friend Lois. The subject was love, and I just have to jot down some of the thoughts that are running around in my head after the study. The study discussed a few different kinds of Love. Here are my notes…….

Love and Prayer-

The more you pray, the more your relationship with God grows. So, pray, pray, pray!!!!

Love in Marriage-

Love is unselfish. I recently had the misfortune of reading one the stupidest, most pointless books ever written. It was the choice for a book club I am in. The book was supposed to be about this "epic love story". Only problem is that as I read it I just kept thinking the guy in this book is so SELFISH! Everything in the relationship, from day one was about him, and how she could accommodate him and make him happy. I just kept thinking, that's not love! Love is unselfish! He should think about how he can protect her, take care of her, make her happy, not how she can make him happy. And she should be thinking about how she could protect him, take care of him, make him happy, that's what love is about, and how marriage works. Each partner needs to give 100% of themselves. Not 50-50, not 60-40, you need to give 100% to your spouse because you love them. (I am so annoyed that I even read that book and finished it! I only did because I got started late, and it was a challenge to see if I could finish the book before the club meeting. Only problem was, I am like 99.98% sure that I killed about 100 brain cells by allowing it's stupid pointlessness to enter my mind at all!! I am never going to get those brain cells back! I want my brain cells back! I probably needed them, and at the very least I am sure they would have come in handy at some point in my life.) Love cares for the other person's needs not their own. Jesus is a perfect example, He came to earth to die and take the punishment for sins that he had never committed. All just to make a Way for us to have relationship with God. That is the ultimate of unselfish love! If there is selfishness in a marriage, then there will be problems in a marriage.

Love in Friendship-

Love in friendship, brotherly love, is tenderhearted, compassionate, forgiving. (Ephesians 4:32 "And be ye kind one to another, tenderheared, forgiving one another; even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.") Friendship should be compassionate, thinking about how you would feel in their situation. Caring for their trials and rejoicing in their happiness's. Forgiveness is important in friendship as well, God expects us to forgive the way He forgives, completely. The Bible says that he forgets our sins "as far as the East is from the West". A few of the ladies said that we should love like we love a "blood relation"; I thought that was a pretty cool way to put it.

Agape Love- Loving like God Loves

The last love we talked about was Agape love. This is the love that God has for us. This is the coolest! And the hardest! First of all, you can only have agape love if you relent to the Holy Spirit. You have to just give in, repent for the life of sin that we all live, and give it all to God. To have agape love you can have NO pride in your heart. Pride destroys and kills love! I just can't help but think of it like a little tiny disease, this little spark of pride that starts in your heart, that grows and grows like a cancer, until it has completely taken over all your love, forgiveness, happiness, tenderheartedness, compassion, unselfishness, everything. You are left with nothing but pride. Pride is never good; Proverbs 16:5 "Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord." I Corinthians 13:3 "And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing." This makes me think that without love we are nothing, and since pride kills love, then pride makes us nothing.

We can have this perfect love, when we submit to the Lord. I am excited to know that we can trust in the Lord's love forever, especially in these hard times, because He will never fail us.

"It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. Love never fails." I Corinthians 13:7-8

Kids and the Bible

Orginally published February 9, 2009
Recently, I have been getting reminded how young children can learn about the Bible, God, and how to learn to have Biblical Disciplines in their lives. It is so important to teach children about the Lord while they are young! I am so excited about my children being able to be involved in Word of Life Clubs. This is making a huge difference in our family's life. When Calvin goes to Gopher Buddies Club, he learns so much about the Word of God, memorizes verses, learns songs, and he remembers it! He comes home and tells me what he has learned. It is just so exciting. I am starting to think that it is not possible to have a child that is too young to do a Quiet Time. At this time Calvin has been doing the Word of Life Quiet Time since he was two. He knows how to think of his own prayer requests. Yes, he does sometimes pray for cats, toys, and his favorite foods, but he also knows how to pray for people in his family and for his friends. He likes to try to "read" his own Bible. When we do this, I let him hold his own Bible, and then tell him the words and he says them after me. HE now reminds US to do his Quiet Time with him before bed. There have been times when he has gotten sick, or we had an extremely busy day where he skipped a nap, and he would accidentally fall asleep before bedtime, missing his Quiet Time. When that has happened the first thing he says when he wakes up is, "You didn't do my Quiet Time with me last night! We have to do it RIGHT NOW!" Not only that, but he watches out for others, he tells me, "I saw Andrew, Mommy, he didn't do his Quiet Time before bed.... Did you do your Quiet Time today, Mommy?" (Of course, Andrew doesn't really see this as "watching out" for him, more like Andrew sees it as tattling.) I am just SO excited that I have a 3 year old that knows that it's important to read his Bible everyday. I wonder what kind of difference it will make in his future, that at the age of 3 he was already learning to make Bible reading a habit! Today, Calvin told me that he wanted to do his Quiet Time all by himself. So he got out his Bible, his Quiet Time, and his crayons. I saw him open up his Bible and "read" it. Next he turned to a page in his Quiet Time. It wasn't like the one we were on or anything, and he actually ended up coloring over a page he had already done. But he did his page. Next I saw him open to his prayer page. He closed his eyes and bowed his head. I heard him pray for Daddy, and the Cat, and for his cousin, Tabby, and I heard him ask Jesus to help him learn to tell other people about Jesus ...."like Uncle Johnny, Aunt Sarah, and Tabby". (John & Sarah, not really sure why he thought you were the ones who didn't know about Jesus, but at least he cares enough to tell you, right? ) Maybe Calvin will grow up and be a preacher just like his Grandpa that he was named after! That would so exciting!

I recommend to all my friends with young children to check out the Word of Life Quiet Times. Or really to all my friends, they have one for every age group! Every member of our family has one, and it makes a very big difference in our lives!
www.wol.org

Attack! Of the Killer Feathers!

Orginally published February 13, 2009

Upstairs, in the boys room, there is a bunk bed. On the top bunk, there is a pillow. Inside this pillow, there lives a colony of mysterious beings. These beings are known as "The Feathers". Sometimes, the Feathers escape from the pillow, float off of Andrew's top bunk, and softly, quietly, trickily land on the floor right next to Calvin's bed!

A few months ago, Calvin ran to me calling urgently, "Mommy, Mommy, you have to come! There is something in my room!" Taking me upstairs he showed me the culprit 10-12 feathers laying on the ground, ranging in color from dark brown, light brown, to white. "What are they he asked?"

I told him they were feathers, which caused him to gasp and say in a breathy, awe-inspired voice, "Feathers….What do they want with me, Mommy?"

I tried to explain that they didn't want anything, they just fell out of Andrew's pillow, and floated down to the ground.

Calvin looked up at Andrew's bed, and then down at the feathers, and then said in a voice no less breathy or awe-inspired, "They FLOATED to me!"

Later after I had gone back downstairs, he comes to me again, "Mommy, the feathers are STILL there! They won't leave Mommy! I don' t mind the light ones but the dark ones look kinda scary! They just stay there waiting, and they won't leave. I don't know what they want but I think want to beat me up. We have to kill the feathers, Mommy." So I just told him to go and tell Diana to kill the feathers. About 15 minutes later, I received a text from Diana saying, "The feathers are dead".

Unfortunately for Calvin, the harassment didn't end there. Apparently Andrew really needs a new pillow because feathers just keep randomly floating down out of his pillow and onto the ground in front of CJ's bed. Leaving him to worry constantly about when the feathers will get him, and wonder, what on earth do the feathers want!

A few weeks back Sherman came by to help us fix our kitchen light. So, Jerrid had ran outside for something, and Sherman was waiting at the dining room table. I went in there and found Calvin standing there going on and on and on telling Sherman all his troubles, "But the feathers weren't dead, because they floated to me again. I don't know what they want? They just keep coming to me. There are light ones and dark ones. I think they might be bugs. But I think they want to hurt me. I think maybe some are nice and some are mean…….." and Calvin just went on and one, telling Sherman all about the feathers. Meanwhile, Sherman just sat there shaking his head and finally answered, "Yeah, feathers'll do that."

We recently read the book "The Berenstain Bears and the Spooky Old Tree", and Calvin threw me for a loop again. The story went something along these

lines;

Three little bears.

One with a light.

One with stick.

One with a rope.

A spooky old tree.

Do they dare go into the old spooky tree?

(Now at this point Calvin said, "NO!")

Yes, they dare.

….Skipping ahead a little…

A twisty old stair.

Do they dare go up the that twisty old stair?

(Once again Calvin says, "NO!")

Yes, they dare.

Three little bears.

One with light.

One with stick.

And one with the shivers.

("Oh, guess he mustta lost his rope." Calvin says)

….Skipping ahead a little…..

Will the three little bears go through that wall?

Do they dare go into that spooky old hall?

("No! No! Don't do it! There might be ghosts!")

Yes, they dare.

Three little bears.

One with a light.

And two with the shivers.

("She mustta lost her stick, too.")

Giant sleeping bear.

Do they dare go over that bear?

("NO!!!!NONONONONONO! He will EAT you!!!")

…Skipping ahead a little…..

Three little bears.

Without a rope.

Without a stick.

And without a light.

(Now they don't even have a light!!)

I like to talk to Calvin about the books we read and see what he is thinking. It is so cool to find out what is going on in his head. So I asked him, "What do you think they had light for?" He answered reasonably, "So they could see in the dark, spooky tree." When I asked why they had a stick, he said it was because it fell out of a tree. And when I asked why they had a rope, he is said it was for "tying up ghosts."

Ezra 7:10 Leadership

Orginally posted February 3, 2009

I have this feeling that this will not be a fun blog to read. It might annoy you a little. So I just want to say, that I am not trying to pass judgment on other people. I see my blog as kinda like a journal. When I get things in my head, I jot it down here, and that is how I remember it better. And I as I have said in the past, someday, probably not too far from now, I am going to start getting old, losing my mind, and probably like going senile or something. I am not looking to forward to that, can you tell? But here is the record of the things I will forget. So please remember, if you get annoyed with me, that I am saying this to myself first and foremost!

Ezra 7:10 "And Ezra prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach in Israel his statues and judgements."

So, Ezra wanted to be a leader, as many of us to do. I notice how Ezra didn't just say; 'Wow, it'd be kinda cool to help out the country of Israel, help fix of some their problems they are facing, get things straightened up.' He wasn't like; 'Israel has some problems, and I know just the right way to fix them!'. Which I feel like is what happens sometimes in our churches to today. We all have ideas about how to fix the problems in our church, what needs to be done to make it grow, how things should be ran. I think one of the reasons that we aren't successful as leaders is because we try to just do it all ourselves. Unfortunately there are ways two ways to do things; God's way & our way and only one of these ways is the correct way, can you guess which?

Ezra wanted to be a leader, but he didn't just run to Israel with his ideas of change and try to force his ways upon the people. Instead the first thing he did was to prepare his heart. So, if you want to be a leader and effect change in your church, your family, your work, your school, your community, your country. The first step is to prepare your heart. We need to be in prayer. And I am mean good effectual prayer; serious prayer, asking God for help, asking God for guidance, asking God for strength. In other words, God should be the one leading this, not you. Also, Ezra prayed that God would prepare his heart. I think this might be because of the fact that, he was in for a long, hard road, learning about God, and growing closer to God. That would require for him to take a close examination of himself. Before you can fix others, you have to fix yourself, and we all have things that need fixed ourselves!

The next thing Ezra did was to seek the law of the Lord. This makes me think of Proverbs 2:1-5 "My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God."
These verses tell us how to seek to know and understand the law of God. It is a lot of work. It has be the most important thing in your life. It means that you read do your Quiet Time, Bible study, and prayer, even when you have been busy ALL DAY, your kids have been fighting, the housework is behind, your favorite show is waiting on the tivo, and you just don't have the time, you still do your Quiet Time, Bible study, and prayer. If you don't have time for Quiet Time, Bible study, and prayer then you need to fix that, because if you are going to be a leader, you MUST have time for it! I know in my own personal life, if I don't get up early in the morning, before the kids are about, then by the end of the day, it feels impossible to do my have my Quiet Time. How easy it is to find time to watch TV, read a book, play a game, see a movie, etc, but when it comes to seeking the law of the Lord, we just don't have the time. For myself, I have to say that I have to give up some TV time, and maybe put up my favorite books for a little bit, maybe spend a little less time on facebook. I am not saying we should have no fun time in life. I don't think there is anything wrong with enjoying a little entertainment, but it shouldn't come before seeking the law of the Lord. I guess this part all goes back to preparing your heart, probably part of the prayer should be that God help you have the strength to keep up with your Quiet Time, Bible study, and prayer and that it would be more than just a habit. That it would be become something that you enjoy and desire.

After preparing his heart and seeking the law of the Lord, the next thing Ezra did with himself, was to do it. In other words, he did it. I am not going to go into this for long, it's pretty simple. When faced with temptations, Ezra obeyed God instead of doing what was easier. When it came to controversial subject, rather than taking the way of least resistance, he would choose God's way. He did the law of the Lord, he was keeping the commandments.

Finally, after preparing his heart, seeking the law of the Lord, and doing it, then after all that, he went on to teach it to others. He helped to make an historical impact on the country of Israel. He helped rebuild the country, he was able to obtain the physical needs that they were lacking, he rubbed elbows with leaders of many other nations, and he even effected the repenting (the turning away from sins) of an entire nation! That is just an AMAZING legacy! What I wouldn't give leave some kind of imprint on others, from what I did for God in my life, like Ezra did?

I keep thinking about something that Mary said, and I am not quite quoting here, but you know someday, I am going to stand before God. The things that I have done in my life will be burnt, when it's over, the things I have done for Him are going to be the gold, the silver, the things that last. The rest will just burn away. Every moment that I waste, is a moment that will burn away.

I also think about the fact that I will answer to God for what kind of leader I have been. Like I mentioned before, we often like to think that we want to be a leader, effect change, etc. We should remember that taking on this task means taking on the responsibility and answering to God for what we have done. So, it is probably not a good idea to do it half-heartedly!

The Singing Cat and Other Mysterious Happenings

Orginally published January 19, 2009
My cat loves music. It is so funny, no matter where the cat is in the house, if you start singing loud enough for her to hear you, she will come to you. She then rubs up against you, or jumps in your lap, and will purr, like she is saying, "Thank you for the concert". Like any other music lover, she likes some music better than others. For instance, Diana was practicing to sing in church Sunday, she was singing, "Come to Jesus". The cat was going crazy, just purring madly, rubbing up against her; I mean she was in love with Diana! She acted like she had gotten ahold of some cat nip. This morning I was listening to my iPod and started singing along to "Mountain Music" by Alabama. The cat stopped whatever it was that she was doing, and ran to me, jumped up on my lap, realized I sounded AWFUL, jumped down and ran away.

The other night I was working on the Annual Report, and I thought that Jerrid had put Calvin to bed. Instead, Jerrid just watched a game and let him play around upstairs....with a cell phone. So, Calvin comes wondering downstairs after 10, with that, "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good" look on his face. I just thought, "Oh no, what's he done now." So, I asked him, "What have you been doing?”. He answered, "taking pictures". Now, I was REALLY thinking, "OH, NO!!", because he doesn't own a camera! I asked him, "What were taking pictures with?" And he answered, "The cell phone." Naturally, I assumed that he had called or texted Japan. (He does know how to text, just ask Diana’s poor friend Lauren. ) He said, "I took some pictures of myself...Then I didn't text...Then I did something else". Bet, you can't guess what I thought when I heard that....."OH NO!!!!". It took me awhile to try and figure out what he did, he kept saying, "I took pictures of myself...Then I didn't text...Then I did something else..." I kept saying "WHAT DID YOU DO?" Finally, he said, "Oh, you mean what I did after I took pictures of myself and then I didn't text?" ....."YES, WHAT DID YOU DO?" He answered, "I did something else, but it wasn't texting." Realizing I wasn't going to find out what the something else was from him, I went and found the cell phone and started looking over the history. Turns out the something else was that he called my Aunt at 10:02 pm. He tried to lie and say he didn't call her, when I asked him about it. But I told him that the phone knows what he did with it, it remembers it all, and that it made a list, and the list told me what it was he did. Tattle-telling, he understands. So then he says, "Well, I didn't TALK to her." Apparently, the phone just rang "about a million times"! Ugh! I just wish I had a little more understanding into the minds of little boys, because they just surprise me every single day. And I grew up with Charles and Matthew, so you would think that would be impossible by now!

Now don't feel too bad for Calvin about staying up so late, and missing out on sleep. He took a pretty much whole day long nap yesterday to make up for it. I don't know what Aunt Bobbie did to make up for him waking her up at 10:02 pm though.

It was funny when he texted Lauren though, because he texted something like “idc jfi”. And she texted back, “Huh?” She probably thought Diana was using some text talk or something. So Calvin kept texting, most his texts to her were like “idhfieh9e3hf9” because he would just hit random numbers and letters and then hit send. She texted back, “I don’t understand you”. It was so funny, I admit, I didn’t stop him, because I was laughing too hard. Finally the phone rang, I was like, “I'm caught now!". So I just handed Calvin the phone, and said, “It’s for you.” So he answered the phone, he was like "Hello, this is Calvin". I could hear Lauren saying, "Calvin, can I talk to Diana? Where is Diana?" Calvin just kept answering her by saying...“Is this my Grandma Valerie?..Is this my Aunt Mary?” I could hear poor Lauren, saying, “No, this is your sister’s friend, Lauren." Finally, he said, “I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHO YOU ARE! DON’T CALL MY PHONE AGAIN!” Whoops, poor Lauren.

I tried to confuse Jerrid’s Mom one time when she was iming me on Yahoo. She would ask me something and I would answer, idk, and she would be like “WHAT!?” And I explained that meant, I don’t know. I continued shortening things, I gave her, idc, ttyl, jk, lol, rofl….Finally she sends me a message and it says, “iwbrbihtgttbr”. When I asked what she was saying, she said, “I will be right back, I have to go to the bathroom.” I admit she bested me there.

Right now, Calvin is watching "Handy Mandy". He is being taught about how to be politically correct when you have a rodent problem in your home. Handy Mandy is all, "We will find a kind way to catch the mouse, something that won't harm him." Then he is looking at all these evil mouse traps, ones that snap closed, breaking the dirty-little-virus-carrying-rodent's neck. Oh my no, that would never work, how cruel! Next there was a sticky one, poor Handy Mandy's Hammer almost couldn't get unstuck. I quit watching when he started heading all around town trying to find ways to to catch a mouse which is humane, so that he can let it go free..."free to run, free to dance,"..free to find a sneaky way back into the house so that it can chew holes in cereal boxes, leave germy, sticky, disgusting mouse tracks in drawers of silverware that Handy Mandy's neighbor eats off of, and then go and have hundreds and hundreds of mice babies. On the next episode of Handy Mandy, lets watch Handy Mandy run around town finding supplies to build his neighbor's a coffin. Seeing as how, the neighbor's house became invested with mice, and he caught a disgusting disease from them that killed him horribly, after a long and painful illness. Aren't you glad that we have Wilder Valderama (the voice of Handy Mandy) to teach our kids how to be politically correct? He is such a wonderful role model! He got high on "That 70s Show", got his pics in loads of magazines while he was doing the Hollywood club scene, and he dated Lindsay Lohan when she was so young that it was literally illegal. I can see why Disney thinks that he can teach our children how to grow up and become productive members of society better then their own parents.

Be Warned...This is Political

Orginally Posted January 13, 2009
Last night, my kitchen TV, which is not hooked up to Directv, stopped broadcasting, and started playing a message over and over. The message stated something along the lines of; “If you are receiving this message then you are not ready for the digital switch. When all the broadcasters switch to digital in just a few weeks you will no longer be able to receive broadcasting. In order to recieve television programming after the switch to digital you will need to purchase a digital-ready TV, sign up for a digital cable, or satiellite service, or purchase a digital reciever. To find out more about the switch to digital, where you can purchase a new television, or how to recieve a coupon for a digital reciever call ----"...then it gave me a number and a website I could check out, in order to get in line with the rest of the country.

A while back, Jerrid and I were watching the news and heard a report about the switch to digital. Apparently, according to this particular news report- which I might add was given with the same sense of urgency given to a report about an inpending diseaster (like a hurricane or tornado.)- our country is just not ready for the switch to digital!! OH NO!! It seems that those who have not gotten prepared for this “historic event”, which will of course bring a better quality of life to us all, seem to be areas where people struggle financial, or those areas hit hard by job losses due to the current economic situation in our country. Seems these misinformed individuals have been choosing to buy groceries, heat the house, or pay the electric bill instead of buying assorceries for their television! Can you believe these uneducated gits! Seems that the network exec dudes and some government officials are bringing this problem up to the new president, suggesting that he delay the switch to digital. Giving people more time to be “properly educated” by those wonderful commercials, you know the ones that say “36 days until the switch to digital, Are YOU ready?" And also to put out more coupons for those receivers (seems that people have either not taken advantage of their opportunity for coupons or haven’t used the government issued coupon that they had received.) So, apparently, the way to save the country from the great, great tragedy of not being able to watch TV is to spend more of the taxpayers’ dollars. Which, frankly, makes a lot of since, when we are in such a seriously bad situation economically right now. The government issued "coupons" are actually only like $40 off, meaning that consumer has to shell out at least $10 or $20. There are actually people in this country, probably in your own town or neighborhood, going to bed tonight hungry, but let’s go buy a new TV! The reporters acted as if people were so uneducated and misinformed not because they were getting prepared for digital. They sounded more concerned about people not being able to watch TV then they do when they talk about people who can't pay their gas bill to keep their homes heated! When the subject of the advantages of digital was brought up, we were informed that the picture is SO much clearer. I am so excited, because you know, nowadays when we Americans watch our big, color televisions, the picture is so blurry.

Meanwhile, I had the misfortune last night to have my T.V. on when Access Hollywood came on talking about the Golden Globes. Lisa Rinna was asked if Hollywood felt bad about the money they spent on clothes, jewelry, and award shows when the rest of the country was being hit so hard by the bad economy. I loved her response. You see, she is HELPING those people. As we all know, when times are tough people turn to Hollywood for glitz and glamour to make us feel better. And I know that somewhere in this country, there was someone who was going to bed hungry last night, but after that person saw Lisa Rinna in her pretty, pretty dress, they were hungry no more! Thank You, Thank You, Hollywood, once again, you have fixed all our problems!

Last night, after listening to the voice informing us about how we weren't ready for the switch to digital, Jerrid had a brillant idea. "Why don't we just turn it off?" he suggested. We did just that, the house was quiet, we talked to each other about our days, it was so relaxing and freeing.

Boa Constricter Bedtime Stories

Orginally Posted January 13, 2009
Every night I let Calvin pick a book or two, or when he does his little pout, 4 or 5 books to read as bedtime stories before he does his Quiet Time. He knows the drill, he picks his books and brings them to me right when it's time for him to go to bed. Tonight he chose a non-fiction book about Boa Constricters, at least it was children's non-fiction. First off, there was this map of the world that had the lands where boa constricters live highlighted. The moment I turned it to that page Calvin asked, "Where does Aunt Mary live?" So, we pointed out France. Then he wanted to know where we lived. I thought it was pretty impressive that a 3 year-old got maps well enough to know that you could point out where people live on them. Of course, he is Jerrid's son, and is Jerrid is pretty map crazy. We read a list of the different kinds of animals that boa constricters eat; bats, rats, and birds. Calvin was like, "They eat birds!!! But birds aren't bad!!!" I tried to explain that they were animals and some animals eat other animals. Then next page was a picture of a boa constricter squeezing a rat before eating it. This was about where I started to wonder if this was the best choice for bedtime book. But still Calvin wasn't afraid, he was just curious about how all this happened; How big were the birds? But snakes are on grounds? But birds can fly? What kind of birds? The nice ones? Are some of the birds mean? These are just some of the various questions that he didn't actually ask, he was just kinda saying these things to himself. I could see his eyes concentrating very hard, trying to sort it all out. The next page had a picture of a boa constricter swallowing it's prey whole. As I REALLY began to think this wasn't the best bedtime story, Calvin asked, "Will it really swallow it whole? His ears, too?!" I don't know if he thought the boa was just going to swallow up the rat and leave the ears there or what. Finally on the last page there was a picture of a boa constricter "resting" on a tree branch. Then Calvin said, "Oh, I get it! They climb! That's how they get the birds!" We did the Quiet Time next, read his Bible Verse, and then there was a picture of rainbow for him to color. Each stripe in the rainbow had the color word for it to be colored. He knew without even being told what he was supposed to do. He didn't actually color in the stripes but carefully drew neat lines along the arch, in the middle of each stripe. He is really growing up, it is so cool to watch him change and learn. When he was done with the Quiet Time, he tried to talk me into letting him watch Harry Potter while he fell asleep. Now, I drew the line there. I think he could handle the boa constricter book, but I do think he would have nightmares if he watched Harry Potter til he fell asleep.

What Happens At My House When I Buy a Cd

Orginally Posted January 2009
Jerrid- WHAT DID YOU BUY THAT CD FOR? IT'S A WASTE OF MONEY!!
Rachel- Why?
Jerrid- Because, you only know a couple of the songs, so the rest of them are crap.
Rachel- Well, the rest of them could be awesome, and the only way I will know is if I buy the cd and listen to them.
Jerrid- No, if they were awesome we would be hearing them on the radio. The only cds worth spending money on, are the ones that are like "best of" cds, because the rest of the songs on most cds are crap. So you wasted money. You could have just bought the songs you liked on I-Tunes, or better yet, just listened to them play it on the radio and then we wouldn't be out any money!
Jerrid then takes the time estimating how many cds Rachel buys and how much money she has spent buying them. Then he complains about what all could have been done with that money had Rachel not wasted it on cds.
Some months later……
Jerrid and Rachel are driving in the car, and Rachel is playing music from the cd they argued about earlier, one of the songs that were accused of being "crap" by Jerrid is playing.
Jerrid- What song is this? This is pretty good.
Rachel- It's (Insert one of the many songs that was on one of the many cds that Jerrid has complained about Rachel buying here)
Jerrid- Why haven't I heard it before?
Rachel- I don't know, maybe it's not played on the radio, it was on (Insert the name of the cd that Jerrid had complained and complained about Rachel buying here. In other words, every cd Rachel has ever bought.)
Some other random day….
Jerrid is running around the house with clothes and towel in his arm.
Jerrid- Where is my (Insert the name of cd that Jerrid complained about Rachel buying here) cd? I have to take a shower, and I want to listen to it.
Diana- Here it is Dad, I took it out of the alphabetized cd drawer that Mom keeps it in so I could listen to this amazing music in my room. Then I left it lying on the floor, making a mess & collecting dust, rather than put it way properly after all the work Mom does to keep the house clean.
Jerrid- Well, give it here, I can't live without listening to my most favorite music while I am the shower.
Some other random day…..
Rachel gets in Jerrid's car, finds his Ipod and cord thrown on the seat next to her, along with the cd case, which was cracked from having been left on the floor in Diana's room. Rachel turns the key, starts up the car, and hears some of her favorite tunes playing from the cd Jerrid had complained about her buying, which is in Jerrid's car cd player.
Some other random night….

Rachel goes up to bed and finds Jerrid in the bed, snoring away, and cuddling the cd that he had complained about her buying. Fearing that Jerrid might poke his eye out on the sharp corners of the cd, and being the caring, giving, selfless wife/mother that she is, Rachel carefully tries to pull the cd case out of his hand, without out waking up her husband , who continuely forgets to thank her for introducing him to great music all the time.Jerrid, waking up suddenly, and jumping- No, don't take away my precious music, which I can never live without!
What have you learned from reading this blog? That when Rachel buys a cd, she should keep it her herself, never let Jerrid & Diana hear her listening to it, and he can just go on believing that it was a waste of money.
PS- I should also probably mention that the events in this blog have been rather exaggerated for entertainment purposes….Jerrid doesn't actually snore.