Birthdays

Today's blog is more of a personal journal entry than a post, so be fore-warned. The Lord is doing great things and I thought that I'd share. Ok, so I don't really think about birthdays the way I used to. Birthdays were about parties, presents, and cake when I was little. This year my Daddy asked me what I wanted and I truthfully said.... "Peace." Where did that come from?? I said it and chuckled, but I wondered why that particular word came out. My usual answer is "Nothing, really." And, in truth, there is usually something I really do want. Shoes. Clothes. My favorite pottery. The usual. But peace is really what I wanted this year. Peace of mind, peace at my work, a whole night of uninterrupted peaceful sleep, peace for family members who are going through trials of all sorts, peace for my friends who have issues as well, and peace for my body(a break from being worker, wife, and mommy). So although strange, it was heart-felt. My dad must have known from my chuckle that there was more to the story but he just smiled and left it at that. (Smart man!!)

I really can't pinpoint the exact moment that it began...A trip won by my sister-in-law on the radio?...A prayer breathed in the midst of trials at work?... Obedience? Lord, please help me!....A Bible verse from K-Love?... Those who listen to instruction will prosper; those who trust the Lord will be joyful. Proverbs 16:20... A prayer offered up for me by my mother?...A facebook post from my sister about allowing the Lord to clean the dirtiest parts of our souls?...A challenge from the pulpit asking God to show you your sins?...A podcast I listened to from John 15?...Every branch of mine that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does not bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. John 15:2,6,8...A moment God knew would happen twenty-two years ago when I asked Jesus to be my Lord and Savior? Of course! God is faithful.

The enemy causes us to become so cynical. I had seen so much bad from the world I'd become desensitized. A hardened heart. Scaly, blind eyes. Yuck! I found myself getting rundown and weary. When our pastor dared us to pray for God to reveal our sin to us, I took his dare. "Why not?" I figured. I felt that God was stirring in me, and I thought I could take whatever it was He showed me. Wow. Boy was I NOT prepared for what I would see. I saw that I was covered with a filthy film of sin. God cleaned off my eyes just enough to start showing me the sin in my heart. I was not prepared to be shown things like UNBELIEF. PRIDE. IDOLATRY. Unbelief that He is God Almighty? No, I believe with all of my heart that He is Lord. No, what I saw was worse! He showed me there were simple things (idols) that I had been holding onto, hurts I was afraid to give Him, all because I didn't believe His word. I didn't believe that God, THE God over the universe, THE God who created me, could handle them. I guess I was trying to save Him pain, like my sins could cause him more pain than dying on the cross. Oh yeah, I forgot, He died for ALL of my sins on that cross BEFORE I was even born. Sins that haven't even happened yet He's already covered in His precious blood. Grief, Godly sorrow, and gratefulness swept over my soul. As a result, today I'm feeling full of peace! Thank you God, thank you Jesus, thank you Holy Spirit, three-in-one, that the gift I spoke of to my earthly father was made possible by my Heavenly Father centuries ago. If this is something you can relate to, I'd suggest asking the Father to show you your sins, too. It will change your life. Go ahead... I dare you!!!!

Thank you

Thank you Lord for peeling away
the scales from my eyes
You're showing me
the path to take
One day at a time
Thank you Lord for opening
the gates of my heart
Preparing me slowly
for the wonders of
what I will become
Thank you Lord for grace abounding
flowing from your Word
My desires in line with
no one else but
You and You alone.
Amen

Taleb

My sister, her husband, and my 3 year old nephew came for a few days this week. BWK still will not correctly pronounce his C's, so cousin Caleb is Taleb. It's really cute, but we are trying to work with him to say them correctly. B and Caleb had a great time visiting this week. It makes me so sad that they are not closer to us. They act so much like brothers. They would play together nicely, then all of the sudden they would be chasing each other around the house hitting and "rasling" with each other. BWK likes to wrestle much more than Caleb, so things were pretty interesting. Caleb is getting so big. He's so handsome and polite! (Of course, I'm a very proud aunt!) We all ate together for B's birthday Thursday night before they left and had so much fun.

We had BWK's second birthday party this weekend.... We are still doing just family~ We talked about having it at our church so that his friends could be there too, but I still think he's a little young for that, and the church was booked for the night we were having it. We thought we were having it when my sister could be here, but they had to leave early to make it to their Sat. night church service. BWK got so many presents that it looked like Christmas morning at my house. I really want to go through his old toys and donate some of them to charity. He's got so much more than he needs or can play with! We have been so blessed with friends and family that love him and pray for him each day. It has been a great weekend. I will post pictures later. My camera was not working properly that night, so I hope that my family got some good ones for me!

Weekend

We loved the beach! No schedules, no alarm clocks, no work... Ahhh, life was grand! We had a great weekend spending time together, relaxing, and playing in the ocean. BWK had a great time building sand castles on the beach. He met a "buddy" who shared his middle name and even wore the same swim trunks B did! How cute! Everytime B saw Walker, he said "my buddy?"... We laughed so hard!

BWK is talking so much. He's counting to ten, using sentences to speak, coloring, and has moved up from the nursery at church. He's now in the 2 yr. old Sunday School class and brought home a coloring sheet and a lesson page today! I kept it to put it in his baby book. I have been trying to scrapbook this journey, but it's just so hard to keep up! I have three pages, and that was just for the first week of his life! One week down, one hundred and three to go...... Whew! So many precious memories we've made these past two years. Well, he's bringing me my shoes and asking me to "put dem onnnnnn, mommy!" so I better run and enjoy this sunshine while it lasts! I hope everyone has a great week...

Summer

Wow... the summer has flown by! We've been busy working and watching our little guy grow up way too fast. BWK has been such a joy. He's very strong-willed, but good natured. I can't believe that he will be two next month! I watch him playing so many times and still can't believe how blessed RHK and I are to have him. I'm hearing no a lot less these days, but more of "BWK do it, mama." He's growing up and I find myself trying to hold on to the baby that he was.... I think this is just a mother thing, but I don't know....I'm trying to work on it. I can't remember what my life was like before he came~ but it must have been really boring!
We have been hanging out at home this summer after going to Disney Spring Break. We are taking a long weekend with my parents this week and going to Destin. I love going there. I LOVE the beach! I'm especially excited about watching BWK playing in the ocean. He loves the water and I think he's going to have a great time. I'm excited about getting away for a couple of days, too. We stay at this neat place that is right on the beach which makes it so easy with a little one! You are only a couple of steps from the ocean to the condo, which is very nice when you are trying to potty train. I hope that everyone is having a great summer. I'll try to post more frequently.... Hope you all have a blessed week!

Disney 2009

It's good to be home....

Over 1600 miles, 7 days, 8 nights, 6 parks, 19 rides, 6 roller coasters, and 14 countries... Wow, what a trip! We saw Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom, Downtown Disney, and Sea World. We had a blast but boy are we TIRED!! We got up early and went to bed late to see as much as we could. We arrived Saturday night after a long and grueling 13 hour trip. We traveled in thunderstorms the majority of the trip and were so happy to arrive at Disney safe and sunny! We had reservations that night in "England" to eat and watch the fireworks at Epcot, so we quickly checked in and got on the bus to Epcot. We visited Magic Kingdom Sunday and were honored to see the space shuttle launch before the parade and fireworks started on Main Street. What a moving experience. It brought tears to my eyes and we were all in awe over seeing it ascend into the horizon. Monday was Animal Kingdom day where we went on a safari and had breakfast with Donald Duck... BWK wasn't sure what he thought about this! We ate supper with Mickey Mouse at Chef Mickey that night and he liked Mickey much better. We rode the monorail into the Contemporary to eat. That was cool. I love the monorail! You could get on it with your stroller!!! Tuesday we went to Downtown Disney and shopped. Shopping is always fun! Wednesday we hung out at Hollywood Studios and rode roller coasters most of the day! I haven't had the courage to get on many roller coasters in my life, but I had a ball trying new things on our vacation! I have to say, however, that I DO NOT LIKE the Tower of Terror. Enough said! Thursday we went to Epcot and I think I took hundreds of photos of all of the beautiful flowers! They had flower and shrub sculptures of all of the Disney characters and they were amazing! We went back to Magic Kingdom that night to get BWK's ears embroidered and shop for souvenirs. Friday we went to Sea World and saw Shamu, petted stingrays and dolphins as well as rode another great roller coaster. My favorite of the trip! We left Saturday morning around 5 central time and we had a much easier trip home without the rain! I'm taking today to rest and unpack...and do all of the laundry from our trip. I think that returning to work tomorrow might just be the rest I need! Ha! I'll post pictures soon.

A Great Day....

Today was a great day!

We were a little slow at work today so I unexpectedly got to go home a little early and do some much needed housework. Ok, so I know housework doesn't sound like your idea of a great day but I'm so relieved to have it done. I'm counting down til Disney and my to do list is quite long. Housework was on the top of the list so to check it off as done is so exciting! Now... to keep it clean til Friday...hmm, we'll see.

After cleaning, I picked up BWK and he was in such a great mood! Since my house was clean, we were able to play and have a great time! Yeah!!!! He is so precious to me. His personality is blossoming and it is so cool to see the little person he's becoming. He starting singing along with me this week to "Deep and Wide." He can do the hand motions as we sing. So cute. He can only say deep and wide so far, but he does so in his best "singing" voice.

AND, I have to say how very, very, very PROUD I am of my little sister. I know I've said this in the past, but today I'll explain just one of the reasons why. I just listened to the demo of the children's musical she's written and it is great. She has such a passion for teaching children about the Lord. It makes me so proud to see her grow and to see how the Lord has worked in her life. I can't wait to see the musical on stage. She'll present it with the children's choir in May, I believe...

Well, that was my great day. A little work, a little play, and a whole lot of blessings! May God keep you and bless you.

Snow 2009

Snow Today, Gone Tomorrow!

I couldn't resist! Our beautiful snow is already gone... Traces of it are hidden in the treetops and in the woods next to our house, but the blanket that covered my yard and home Sunday morning has melted away to once again expose the dullness of my winter lawn.
RHK and I went to bed Saturday night after our Sunday School fellowship expecting to get up and have a great Sunday morning at church~ imagine my surprise when I woke up and saw that my whole driveway was a sheet of ice! It was snowing quite a bit Saturday night but the roads were clear even at 10:00pm on our way home. We never expected accumulation! We only got about three inches here, but it was enough to snuggle our house and trees in a brilliant white blanket. It felt like I should have had my Christmas tree out! I was able to get a couple of pictures of the house and of BWK with the snow, so I was happy.
I don't think BWK likes the snow. He fell at one point and that was it! He was done with that cold white stuff! I brought him inside to feed him breakfast and his nose was so red he looked like Rudolph! I'm posting a few pictures.
Looking forward to warmer temperatures and GREEN grass....!!!

16 days to go!!!!!

Ohhhh!!!!! I'm getting so excited! 16 days until we leave for DisneyWorld! We're going with RHK's sisters and family and we can't wait. Tonight BWK and I met RHK's middle sister for birthday supper (it was soooo good!) and then we met the rest of his family at her house to visit and celebrate her birthday. The discussion led to Disney very quickly and we all got carried away in our planning. We're going to be gone for 8 days. That's a lot of packing for a family with an eighteen month old! I need to start my packing since our trunk space is limited... So much to do. RHK and I have never been so we aren't quite sure what to expect. I've always wanted to go and I'm so excited to get to go with his family. We always have such a great time when we're together.

BWK had strep and croop last week, so we had a rough week with him not feeling well. He's on the mend after his very first antibiotic and steroid. He takes medicine very well~ he calls it meh-meh. His newest thing this week is saying "up a-bove" when he sits in his highchair to eat. We are teaching him to sing "God our Father" as his blessing before he eats, so now when I strap him into his highchair, he knows to put his hands together and sing. It's so cute. RHK and I love to hear his little voice singing along. Well, it's bedtime at our house, so I have prayers to say... till next time...God bless!

Brannon pictures

Confessions of a Bad Blogger!

Ok, step one... admit that you have a problem...hehehe!

I'm sorry for not being better at blogging. I've been a lazy blogger, but an incredibly busy mommy. My precious baby boy has become a busy body! He will be eighteen months old this week, and he is ALL BOY!

My last post was in October and so much has happened! God has been so good to our family, and I can say that 2008 was busy but extremely blessed. BWK turned one in August, I turned thirty in September, and RHK and I had celebrated our tenth anniversary in December. Wow what a momentous year for our family!

Thanks to all of you who prayed for my situation at work. We have hired several new people and they are in place FINALLY!!! We are so excited about this because it kept us out of church for a while and I know I missed it so much! We have a wonderful new pastor at HBC. We love him and his sweet family. They have two little girls, the youngest is a few days younger than BWK.

RHK's dad sold his house and has been living with us since the beginning of December. He purchased a house this week and will be moving out sometime in March. We'll miss him, but he'll be beginning a new chapter in his life~ he's recently engaged.

BWK is now about 26 lbs and 33" tall...and growing everyday! He got his first "real" haircut a couple of weeks ago. Before that I'd been just trimming it when it was too long in the back. It had gotten where it was pretty unruly, especially after naps. He was such a big boy. He sat in my lap and was so good. I was so proud of him. I'm posting pictures of it.

I can't believe that this time last year he couldn't even talk and now he's got words for everything. Tulers(colors), milk, boon(spoon), peas(please), no ma'am, no sir, tan-tu(thank you), all done, down, off, on, paste(toothpaste), tee(teeth), brush... I could go on forever. Last week my mom was playing his nap time CD and he sang some of the words along with the song. My favorite is probably when he says amen after praying with us...and if hearing your little one say Jesus doesn't melt your heart, I don't know what does. It is such an awesomely big responsibility. I feel so unworthy so many times but am so glad we have God's mercy and grace!

My younger sister lives in Charleston, SC has been attending a parenting class at church led by their pastor called Growing Kids God's Way Reaching the Heart of Your Child With a God-Centered Purpose by Gary and Anne Marie Ezzo. It has been such a blessing to watch Allyson and her husband parent their son, Caleb. Allyson is an inspiration to me and I look up to her in so many ways...even if I'm the oldest. We have started the workbook and Cd's and hopefully we'll be better equipped for parenting. There are so many worldly pressures on our kids these days. We have to give them a firm Christian moral base or they'll never be able to stand firm in such a corrupt world.

O LORD, I earnestly pray that I may live a life worthy of You and may please You in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to Your glorious might so that I may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified me to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. Colossians 1:10-12