Gone Fishin'

I saw this over at The Preacher's Wife.
IT"S OK TO LAUGH OUT LOUD!!!!



I hope you enjoyed it!

Spring Reading Thing 2008

Katrina at Callapidder Days is hosting her bi-annual reading challenge.
And since I love to read, I thought I would join in!
Here are the books that I hope to read this Spring:

**UPDATED**
True For You But Not For Me by Paul Copan ~Completed April 5
The Shack by William Young ~Completed March 29th
Dangerous Surrender by Kay Warren
The Excellent Wife by Martha Peace (I'm reading this along with other bloggers. Go here if you want to join us.)
What Happens When Women Say Yes to God by Lysa Terkeurst
Preparing Your Daughter for Every Woman's Battle by Shannon Etheridge ~Completed April 8th Highly recommended for mothers of daughters!!!

Other Possible Reads:
Just Beyond The Clouds by Karen Kingsbury ~Completed April 3rd
Mistaken Identity by Don & Susie Van Ryn, Newell, Colleen and Whitney Cerak ~completed April 16th
Jacob's List by Stephanie Grace Whitson~completed May 3
Between Sundays by Karen Kingsbury ~completed May 7
Becoming a Woman of Beauty and Strength by Elizabeth George ~completed June 10th
(Stepping Up Bible Study By Beth Moore ~completed May 7


Happy Reading!

Happy (late) Easter!

I hope you had a wonderful Easter. We sure did!
I tell you what, my preacher was fired up yesterday!!
Here's a picture of Caleb in-between the sunrise service and Sunday school.

After church we had wonderful dinner with our friends, Sean, DeeDee, Kiara and Jacob.
Then when Emma and Dougie came home from their dad's, we all headed over to the Williams' family get-together. Now we are not part of the Williams family by blood but we sure do love them like crazy!
Their home is out in the country so the kids hunted eggs, rode golf carts, jumped on the trampoline and basically had a blast!
While the big kids were running around, Caleb had his way with the candy in their baskets. I think I have pictures to prove it!







Emma and Brookes. Brookes will be heading to UGA this summer, we're going to miss her!!

This is my sweet friend Debbie. She is my prayer warrior!

Love Jesus, Love Starbucks

Anybody who knows me IRL (in real life), knows that I am addicted to love frappuccinos. Now let me give you a little disclaimer. Because of the rural part of Ga. that we live in, I can't just "swing" by and pick up a coffee. There is a S*bucks, 35 miles south of us and one north of us oh, about 50 miles away. The only way I can get my fix enjoy my frappuccinos is thanks to Fred's, cause they're they only place in town that sells those sweet little four-packs.
So I said all that to say, Caleb, my 18 month old, has never been to or even seen a S*bucks. The only thing he's ever known of S*bucks are the bottled ones I drink every morning while I'm meetin' with Jesus. And here lately, he walks up and points to it and I'll say, "That's mommy's coffee." To which he replies, "cawkee."

So yesterday, Steven Caleb and I drove north to the "big city" to do a little shopping and to mainly use a Longhorn gift card. (yummy!) As we were driving to Target, we passed a S*Bucks store and from the of the back of the van I think I hear a little voice say,

"cawkee."

Surely not! I looked at Steven and asked him if he heard it. He said he wasn't sure what Caleb said. So I let it go.

We walk into Target, which has a S*Bucks in it and as we're putting Caleb in the buggy, he begins pointing and saying, "cawkee....cawkee.....cawkee!"

Y'all! My 18 month old saw this

and knew that it meant coffee!!!

I can't decide if he's a genius or if I've totally warped his mind by my addiction love for S*Bucks!
I know I'm suppose to train him up but I think this is going too far!

Love y'all,

Happy Birthday!!!

Ok, so today isn't an official birthday but today, Caleb is 18 months old. And as any mother of toddlers knows, 18 months is a big deal! Your baby is now officially entering toddlerhood and is rapidly approaching the terrible twos! The desire for independence is growing stronger by the minute yet the clinginess is enough to almost drive a mother mad! The vocabulary is astonishing but yet there are many words that only a mother can understand.

In honor of your 18 months on this earth, here are 18 things about you!

*You now weigh 24 lbs.
*You love to wrestle with Daddy and "brodher." (brother)
*You have the cutest smile that lights up a room.
* You LOVE to eat! Your first words each morning are either, "hungee" or "eat"
*You have a barney book that you call your "bibul." (Bible)
*You love to walk down stairs (holding mommy or daddy's hand) and with each step say, "big boy!"
*You don't really have a favorite food, one day you'll love something, the next you won't touch it! *No one can make you laugh like Emma!
*You say amen and the end of every prayer no matter who's praying!
*You love to put on your "chews" (shoes) but love even more taking them off in the van!
*You love and I mean love, to sing!!! Your favorite songs are "Na-Na" and "de-de" (Every Move I Make and Uncle Charlie's Deep Deep Down Down)
*You love to go to church and see "e'rbody."
*You really enjoy being outside with Jack (our dog) even though you don't like it when comes up to you.
*Your favorite shows are (and this is how you say them) "Elmo Word", "Wiiiiguls" and
"Pe-tales" (Veggie Tales)
Here are some funny things you say:
*"hamicher" (sandwich)
*"hairbrusher (hairbrush, thanks to veggietales)
*"ha-u-jah" (hallelujah) and you throw your hand in the air when you say it!!!
*You never meet a stranger. You smile at people in the grocery store. You wave at cars passing by. You say hello to anybody that walks by.
I have seen you melt the heart of the most angry looking people. I have seen brighten the day of a stranger with your sweet "hey." God reminds each and every day that you are not only a gift to your daddy and me but that your are a gift from God to each and every person you meet.
Welcome to toddlerhood, my sweet baby Caleb!
I love you,
Mommy

My little missionaries!!!

We began our revival services yesterday morning and it has already been amazing to see how God is working. When we got home yesterday afternoon, Emma took it upon herself to create a flyer to invite people to our revival. She printed them out and then her and Dougie spent their Sunday afternoon walking around our neighborhood inviting people to church!!!!
Needless to say, we were so proud of them!
And when we went to church last night, a lady who had received one of the fliers came to our service!
FYI- Did you know that the majority of SBC missionaries gave their lives to Christ between the ages of 4 and 8?
If you have children or plan to have them someday, read Deut. 6:6-9.
Our children have to see that being a Christian isn't "playing a role" but it's "living a a life."
Love y'all,

After we got home yesterday, I was thinking about all that had happened and I began thinking about how we, as parents, should be able to understand God's relationship with us, His children. I know that some of you are probably thinking, duh...and I'm sure I've heard this illustration before but it was so real in my life and it was like a light bulb turned on.

As Caleb was lying on the table for his chest x-ray, he was looking to me for relief, a way to get out of this horrible situation. I not only had to watch him endure this but had to hold him down until the test was done. I knew that it was all being done for his best interest but it still broke my heart. In his little 17 month old mind, he couldn't understand or comprehend that what I was doing what was best for him and that it wouldn't last but a few moments.
As soon as the test was over, I scooped him up and wrapped my arms around him. I held him close and just kept telling him, "Mommy's here, it's ok." With all his unconditional love, he too put his little arm around me, patted my back and between sobs would say, "I ok, I ok."

PRECIOUS!

So often we view our trials the way Caleb did. We just want God to get us out, rescue us. And sometimes we even look at God and wonder, "why are you doing this?" In our finite minds, we can't understand that God has our best interest at heart. We can't see that what we're going through will only last for a while. But we can know that when we're hurting, God will be right there with us and in His timing He will scoop us up into His arms and comfort us as only He can.
And in the end we will be saying through our tears, "I ok, I ok."

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed;

perplexed but not in despair;

persecuted but not abandoned;

struck down but not destroyed.

2 Corinthians 4:8-9

Love y'all,

Poor Baby!

We've been battling this cough, fever, sickness stuff for about the past 2 weeks. I, of course, came down with it last and had a "lighter" strand than everyone else (thank goodness.) Just when I thought we'd licked this thing, Caleb started running a slight fever last night. When we woke up this morning, Caleb was running a temp of 101 and I woke up with none other than PINK EYE! This came totally out of the blue and let's just pray that this doesn't do a tour through the family!!!
After I dropped the kids off at school, Caleb and I went directly to the pediatrician's office. I was going to go to my doctor (which is just across the street) after his visit.
When the doctor examined Caleb, he said he had fluid behind his ears and his tonsils looked gross, not sure if that's a medical term but it was good enough for me!
The dr. wanted to check Caleb's blood levels, so you know what that meant. The nurse had to prick his finger and draw blood. He was absolutely screaming but if he only knew what lay ahead!
Caleb's white cell count was extremely high so the doctor ordered a chest x-ray and urine sample. I never had given any thought to how one would take a urine sample from a 17 month old boy but now I know. I won't explain but it makes it doubly worse when the nurse doesn't attach the equipment correctly and it has to be done again!!!!
And we still had to do the chest x-ray!
It was miserable for Caleb and I both. Not only did he scream and cry, but I had to hold his head (in a very awkward position) and have him look at me with complete and utter horror in his eyes!! (There's a serious spiritual application that God taught me through all this but this post is long enough already!)
After all that, the chest x-ray and urine sample, came back normal so I guess he just has fluid-filled ears and yucky tonsils! One good thing that came from all this, our wonderful peditrician took one look at my eye and wrote me a prescription! God bless him, I sure wasn't up for sitting in another doctor's office today!
To add insult to injury, we took Caleb for a much needed haircut. Needless to say, I will never take him back to this barbershop! The barber went a little crazy with the razor. At one point, I almost screamed, "enough already, he's not shipping out tomorrow!" But at least it's just hair, it'll grow back!!!

It's time to par-TAY

You are invited to the Ultimate Blog Party over at 5 Minutes for Mom!!!
Stop by, register for some prizes (you don't have to have a blog to win) and visit some interesting blogs!
If this is your first visit to my blog, thanks for stopping by!
Since I'm the mother of the cutest 17 month old ever, I want to share a video of him. (Cause if we were at a party, you know I'd be telling this story!)
Caleb loves to walk down the stairs into our carport and I didn't realize how much I was praising him for his efforts until he started doing this:



He such a "big boy!"

Thanks for stopping by and if you have time, read this before you leave.



**Update**
There are such great gifts being given away and these are a few of my top choices:
#24- Blog Design by Sweet and Simple Design
#45- Blog Design by Summer
#58- Fitness Plan by Go Workout Mom
I'd like anything thing to do with blog designing, gift cards or anything!!!

I'm writing this knowing full well that I am functioning on less than four hours of sleep. I was so congested and coughing so much that I couldn't sleep.
While I couldn't sleep, of course my mind was thinking about all kinds of things. Before I went to bed, I noticed on my blog that someone from the Czech Republic had visited my blog. Do you realize that's in Russia? Like thousands of miles away!! So while I couldn't sleep, I kept thinking about this person in the Czech Republic who took the time to read my lil ol' blog. I sure wish they would have left a comment, now that would be cool.....except that i probably wouldn't be able to read it. Wait...how were they able to read my blog..............................

Y'all!

I'm so kidding!

Today is the beginning of the Blog Party by 5 Minutes for Mom and I'd invite you to attend but because of the number of people who want to attend, their website is down!
They're giving away all kinds of prizes and you can visit all kinds of other blogs. So when their site is working, I'll be sure to give you your invite!
Love y'all

And the dish ran away with the spoon!

This may sound completely strange but Shannon at Rocks In My Dryer is hosting a Spur-Of-The-Minute Dish Carnival. You need to read this to understand how this came about.

So......I'm going to post some pictures of my dishes.

I don't have any formal china but these are the dishes that Steven and I got when we got married. I just love them!

I found this plate and cup at a local grocery store. They were $1 a piece. I will set these in someone's place at the table to recognize them. It could be for something they've done or just because they might need some extra TLC. But it's always random and it's at mommy's discretion!

Now, let's be real. These are what we almost always use for breakfast, lunch and sometimes (but rarely) for dinner.

Here's one more dish that never gets used but is very special!

I made this in Kindergarten.
I can remember wanting it to look like the stained glass
windows at my church but I didn't have time to finish it.

Retreat recap

I know it's Wednesday and I'm just getting around to recapping our weekend retreat but (here comes the excuses), when I arrived home Saturday, I came home to 2 sick children. Emma and Dougie were running fevers, coughing and all around miserable. The kids and I stayed home from church Sunday, which was really strange. But we did attend church at Bellevue Baptist in Tennessee thanks to the internet!

But back to the retreat, all I can say is AMAZING!!! We used the "Loving Well" retreat in a box by Beth Moore. The video series was taped at a conference she did a couple of years ago and to be honest, I was afraid that it would feel impersonal. But I can't tell you how great it was. During each break between the sessions, I heard many of the women saying how they felt like we were in the arena with her. It was like you could feel the energy! But what I know is that we were feeling the Holy Spirit!

I tried to keep the retreat simple! Simple decorations, simple games, simple activities. I didn't want these ladies to feel rushed or overwhelmed but relaxed and free to share with each other. One of the highlights to me was on Friday night. Each lady was asked to bring something that they love and be prepared to share why. I could have never known how God was going to use this simple activity to allow us share each others joys and pains. These women shared some serious stuff! Things like: their deceased mom's bible that has her handwritten notes, pictures of husband and children, a family photo before parents were divorced, pictures of grandfathers, grandmothers and others who influenced their lives and one even shared the little pink socks that belonged to her 2 month old who went to be with Jesus just last year......................

I believe that God did a transforming work in the hearts and lives of the women. I know He did in mine! There's so much more I could share, I didn't even touch on how great the lessons were!

If you have the opportunity to use this retreat, I would encourage you to do so. You can buy it at Lifeway.

---

I have a prayer request. You may remember last week I told you that Steven's uncle (Emmit)passed away. We received a call that Emmit's daughter had a heart attack Mon. evening and she passed away early Tues. morning. She was in her early 50's. Please pray for Steven's aunt Edna.

Love you all!

A Book Meme

For those of you who are new to blogging, you may be asking what is a "meme"? First of all, to pronounce it correctly, it rhymes with "theme."
So what is it, you ask? Well, the best way to describe it is like a game of informational tag. Smeone will ask a question or start a survey or whatever and then tag others to continue. I'm not sure if this making any sense, but just play along.
Here's the rules:

1. Pick up the nearest book of at least 123 pages.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the 5th sentence.
4. Post the next 3 sentences.
5. Tag 5 people

"Are those who have never heard of Jesus Christ really inevitably lost? Are they utterly without hope? Is God's general revelation in nature and conscience of any saving use to the unevangelized?"

If that won't pique your interest, I don't know what will!

This book is deep but it gives you real life ways to answer the questions of skeptics, secularists and those who believe that truth is relative.

I'm going to tag Shelley, Angie and Tammy. I know the rule stated 5 but I'm doing 3. If you want to play along and don't blog, feel free to leave your answer as a comment!

Check me out!!!!

Go here! One of my favorite authors mentions lil ol' me on her blog!!!