Thanksgiving 2009

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I was extra thankful for my family this year, and so grateful to be able to spend over a week with them. On Thanksgiving day, we went to Jesse's Uncle Scott's house in Pierce City. Scott and Lynette's house is gorgeous!! It used to be a Catholic church and they bought it and turned it into a house...need I say more? Okay, I will! The family room used to be the gym and has old wooden floors. It also has a fire pole that's about 12 foot tall. The kids always like to slide down the pole, and this was the first year Ayden was big enough to try. I thought he might be afraid, but he loved it!! We also got to see my brother and sister-in-law, Waylon and Amber. That's the first time we've seen them as a married couple, and it was really fun...they look very happy. My nephew Alex has learned to play the guitar for Guitar Hero behind his head, and demonstrated his talents for all of us. I spend a lot of the time making sure the boys were not breaking anything, because there are a lot of things for them to get in to, including a HUGE Christmas tree. We ended the day at mom and dad's house where I got to see most of the Griffith family, along with the Ellis'. It was so great to visit with all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins. I've taken for granted my entire life that everyone lived so close to me, and so now that I live so far away, I find myself cherishing our time together. I've been so exhausted since we got home because I stayed up late every night we were gone, but I didn't want to waste time sleeping when I could have been catching up!! We'll make another trip to MO for Christmas in just three short weeks!! In the meantime, here are some of the pictures from Thanksgiving.

Attack of the Killer Dogs

Ahh, farm life. I'm totally not a farm girl, even if I grew up on one. We are on day 2 of our Missouri visit and having a great time. Today my sister Katie and I went for a jog/walk. I have a couple of crazy friends who are trying to get me to participate in the River Run in March, which is over 9 miles. Leanne sent us all a website that advertises going from the couch to 5k in 8 weeks. And so, Katie went out to do the workout with me. We headed out down the lane and remembered when we got to the corner that the neighbors have 6 or 7 dogs that like to chase cars and probably people. Being the brave ladies, we decided to only walk up and down the lane instead of continuing on the road. But, about the same time, the dogs showed up. I like to call them killer dogs... One of them started chasing after us. Katie was trying to keep it together, but I told her she was on her own and started jogging back to the house. My bro, Michael, heard the commotion and came out with the .22 ready to take the dog out (the dogs cause a lot of trouble...this wasn't the first time). He missed and then Katie and I finished our run in the field behind the house....with the cows. We were both laughing and I told her I hoped I didn't slip in a cow patty on the way. Good times, good times!

And We're Off!

In approximately 15 hours we will be on the road towards Missouri for a nice, looong visit with our family and friends. I'm so excited! I just can't hide it! I'm about to - oops, I got carried away. Back to the subject at hand. I'll leave for the airport in an just a little bit to pick up my dad who will then help me drive the boys to MO tomorrow morning. First, we'll drop Jesse off at the airport to fly to Arizona. He'll be performing his best man duties at the wedding of his best bud (do guys refer to one another as besties? :) ). Then, he'll meet us in MO on Sunday as we spend the week, including Thanksgiving, with our family. I'm totally psyched that I get to be there for Black Friday. For many years now, my mom, sisters, and I spend that day together shopping and the thought of not being there for the annual mother-daughter day would be hard to bear.
Of course, children only seem to get sick on weekends or before going out of town, and true to form, Landon had to go to the doctor today. She said he was on the verge of a sinus infection and went ahead and prescribed an antibiotic since we're leaving in the morning. Hopefully he'll be feeling better before we get there. Although, I have to admit, its nice that he's not getting into everything while I'm trying desperately to get it all done before we go. I'm pretty sure that makes me a bad mom....but Dr. G told me I'm a good mom b/c I'm so patient (2 of my children were crying at this point and one was making all kinds of noise), so I think the two cancel each other out and I end up even. Right? Besides, I didn't mention that I was on my best behavior because I was out in public.
Okay, I've had a nice blogging break, but now I must return to housework and last minute packing. Please pray for a safe trip for all of us and Landon to get over this illness (and the other two not to get sick). I'll leave you with some words of wisdom I had to share with a certain sassy three year old today when he told me he was NOT my friend anymore..."Well, Ayden, its not my job to be your friend. My job is to teach you to obey." Oh Brother!!!!

Family Prayer Walk

We have had such a great morning together. The church had a family prayer walk today and we loaded up the kiddos and hit the streets. Each family had a different area of Arlington to canvas and ours was near Terry Parker high school. We were instructed to knock on doors, introduce ourselves and the church, and ask if there was anything we could pray for. Most people were very receptive and appreciative and we had a great time. Jesse and I were talking about the experience and how glad we are that our boys have the opportunity to grow up participating in ministry. It won't ever have to be something they learn; it will just be a way of life. My prayer for each of them is that they will be used by God to do great things for Him! Have a blessed Saturday!

My God Story

So today I went shopping (I know...I could stop here and you'd know I had a good day!). And, we really didn't have the money for me to go and spend much, but I really needed another pair of jeans before we go to Missouri next week because I only have one pair. I also wanted to try and find coordinating shirts for all of us because my sister is going to take some pictures of us while we're there. So, one of my friends emailed me a coupon for 30% off your purchase at Old Navy. I don't have a printer so I forwarded it to Jesse yesterday and asked him to print it off while he was at work. Only...he didn't get it in time. Stick with me - I really am going somewhere. Anyway, when I left the house today and then again when we prayed over our lunch, I asked God to help me be a wise steward of the money He'd given us...to stretch it and let me find some good bargains. While I was shopping around Old Navy, this lady came up and asked me if I had a coupon. I told her no, and she said she had an extra and would I like to have it. Thank You, Lord. I got EV-ER-Y-THING that I needed today and even came home with a little extra moolah! Now...I'm out...off to hang with our Sunday School class and wrap our Operation Christmas Child boxes.

Psalm 127
Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.
In vain you rise early and stay up late,
toiling for food to eat - for he grants sleep to those he loves.
Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children are a reward from him.
Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth.
Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.
They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate.

Wow!! You probably already guessed, but I studied this Psalm today. I needed it so much. I've been very much in "survival mode" with my boys lately. I've even been aware of the fact, but just haven't been able to get over the hump. Today, the Lord broke down the barriers and refocused my attention on the blessing of my children. I don't want to be in "survival mode." I want to cherish each second....even when I feel like I spend all day disciplining. I want to correct them with the mindset of training their little hearts and strong wills to yield themselves to authority. Right now, the authority of their parents, but eventually the authority of their Heavenly Father. I love how faithful the Lord is in teaching me, correcting me, and encouraging me. I find myself singing His praises with tears of gratitude in my eyes. That's not to say I'm having a perfect day. As I type Camden is starting to fuss and I've had to stop more than once to keep Landon and Ayden from doing something they shouldn't. But, my eyes today are fixed on Jesus, the author and PERFECTER of my faith. My prayer is that I would choose to live each day in such a way...that's my challenge to myself. Have a great day in the Lord!!!

p.s. Are you supposed to say p.s. in a blog? Anyway, for those of you following Landon's language progress. We've added a few more words/phrases: "right over there," "amen," "have good day," and "sure." His daddy and I are probably the only ones to understand them at this point, but its progress and I'll take it!

More Than Life

I still have this song in my head. I've loved it for a long time, but have found it speaking to me in a whole new way. This is my prayer....


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs5cShQlDTM

So Tired...Must Sleep

We had a lock-in with the students last night. Jesse and I had cautiously planned on 20-25 teenagers, so we were shocked to see them keep coming, and coming, and coming. We ended up with over 60! 60!! Did you hear me? And students are good at staying up all night...until about 5am when exhausted adults get a twisted sense of pleasure from throwing things at them, taking pictures of their drooling, etc. You get the idea. I would say I'm getting old, but I've never been one to pull all-nighters. And I had all three of my children at the lock-in all night...and 2 out of 3 slept only about 4 hours. We all fell asleep when we got home and nobody moved for about 3 hours. And, even though I'm now awake, I'm counting down until bedtime. But, I did want to share that we have some really great students in our church, and I so appreciated and enjoyed the small group time I shared with a fun group of girls. I feel humbled by the fact that they feel like they can open up and ask honest questions about the Lord.

Okay...I don't think I can continue forming coherent thoughts...so I'll leave with this....Jesse and I played Knights, Mounts, Cavaliers with the students, and we were doing pretty good. But, Jesse's knee has really been bothering him lately and so the longer we played and he had to lift me, the more it hurt him. The last time he lifted me up he was literally grunting and gritting his teeth. Talk about motivation for weight loss!! Thanks, dear. :)

Thoughts on Worship

I experienced such a sweet time of worship with our students last night. They are beginning to take small little baby steps towards understanding what worship really is and how it goes so far beyond singing. I am doing the Beth Moore bible study "Stepping Up" with two other ladies, and am enjoying learning about the worship from the Psalms. In our video session last week, Beth talked about the way we respond during times of worship through music. She quoted some well known hymns and praise and worship songs and challenged us to think about the words. Of course this is something I already knew, but I so needed a refresher. I've found myself in the last week, stopping myself from just singing along without paying attention and focused on the words. Needless to say, I've had some amazing times with the Lord the last few days! Last night, as we sang praises to God, I found myself constantly praying for the words to be true of me. I can't get this one out of my head:

I love You,
And all of my hope is in You
Jesus Christ
Take my life, take all of me

Halloween Weekend Recap

First of all, thanks to my old friend, Abby, for giving me pointers on how to personalize my blog. I'm really liking my new background, even though it looks girly. I know I should have picked something that reflects the fact that I have three boys, but I thought this one was more "me." Anyway, we had a great Halloween weekend. This was the first year that Ayden really understood that when he says "trick-or-treat" his reward is candy. Landon didn't care as much and Camden slept through most of the fun, but they all still looked incredibly cute! And the best part? In the pictures, you can't see how sweaty they really were because it was like 90 degrees Saturday. I know its not always cold in Missouri on Halloween, but its never scorching! I had a lot of people say "Welcome to Florida." Enjoy the pics!