Life has blessed me with a few days to catch my breath and just to be home. Friday evening my three boys headed to Richmond to cheer on one of our high school girls basketball teams in the state tournament. They blew away the competition and my boys were there to cheer them on! They had a great overnight trip watching basketball and shopping for some much needed baseball gear for Kyle.
Sadly Hope got sick at preschool Friday which meant that we stayed home while they took their road trip. While she rested and watched movies, I took time to participate in the 40bags in 40 days cleanout of my house. While the boys were gone, I got rid of 22 trash bags of stuff! I took many bags of clothes to Goodwill, took some baby stuff to church nursery, threw away many bags of trash, and set some stuff out for a friend's church rummage sale. I still have several corners of our house to clean, but it was awesome to de-clutter and organize.
I was stunned to find a bag of toys that were still packed from one of our hopital stays. The kids were thrilled to find some toys, but I gasped because we found this necklace that David was wearing when he was diagnosed. He refused to take it off and they had to wait until he was sedated for his big surgery to remove it. We thought it had gotten lost! I also had to throw away lots of medical supplies that were expired. Seeing those old reminders of our days at UVA hospital, gave me a lump in my throat. I still cannot believe all that our baby went through, but all those UVA hospital reminders remind me how faithful our God was/is.
Today we are once again home due to ice and sleet. I really think winter is never going to go away! Usually I am annoyed at snow days but today I am thankful for a relaxing day at home.
Monday, March 17, 2014
Thursday, March 13, 2014
My Heart...
This has been a wonderful but busy and emotional week. At church we have had four straight nights of "Lent Launch" Services which have been awesome. There is something awesome about four straight nights of Revival to get your heart centered on what truly matters.
Theses "lil cowpokes" were dressed up for Cowgirl day at preschool! We are making the most out of every "last" special moment at preschool knowing that a new chapter will be starting soon for our sweet and last girl:)
Not only will my baby in the class be heading to kindergarten but all these awesome kids as well. Here they are in their homemade cowboy/cowgirl hats at the library. I am blessed with one of the best jobs on the planet-teaching preschool rocks.
This week in our afterschool program our lesson was on Jesus feeding 5,000 with five loaves of bread and two fish. Thanks to Pinterest for this cute and hands on activity to remind children about one of Jesus' awesome miracles. Wednesday afternoons are one of my favorite times of the week. It is crazy and loud with all those children but being there each week has helped me build a relationship with these kids and I love it. We all sleep well Wednesday nights aftewards, but it is totally worth it.
My heart is overflowing in emotion and excitement that today on this snow day (yes, again it snowed here) I took my baby to register for Kindergarten. David was so excited for Hope that he was Mrs. Richardson's assistant with her little assessment. It is a huge milestone because you know once they enter school, time starts flying exponentially.
Here is our precious girl in her Hello Kitty glasses performing for their little placement assessment. She is SO excited and ready. My heart overflows for our little curly-haired princess.
After registering for Kindergarten we hit the road to help my parents move one of my grandmothers from her lake home to an apartment. My heart can barely handle thinking about another family making precious memories in the lake house that I have loved since I was a baby. We have made some precious memories there over the years but people and life change and so must the times. It is hard work moving an OCD pack rat! The house will go on the market soon much to mine and Kyle's dismay.
After moving we went to the local nursing home to visit my other grandma. She is holding her own despite her limited heart function. We have had so many coughs and the stomach bug that we have not visited with her for several weeks, so today we were healthy enough to go visit. David of course had to sing Jesus Loves Me to her.
These Lent Launch services at church has been so uplifting to me this week. This past week I stumbled upon an old verse to me but it spoke a fresh word to me.
Be very careful, then how you live-not as unwise but as wise, make the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish but understand what the Lord's will is.
Ephesians 5:15-17
This verse pierced my heart this week. I had highlighted it a while back but this week it jumped off of the page at me. To me it means that we as christians need to be so wise how we spend our time, energy and resources. I pray this Lenten season and always that I will make the most of every opportunity to love lavishly, glorify God boldly, and teach my children wisely.
In our society there are so many ways to veer off track and lose sight of what is truly important. Mike and I are in a life stage where our calendars are FULL each day with kidsand sports activities, school functions, and work obligations. All that stuff is very important, but nothing is as important as our walks with God and teaching our children to do the same.
Sunday, March 9, 2014
God's Presence, Basketball, and Baseball
We have been home very little this weekend. Yesterday Kyle played in a one day basketball tournament with his 6th grade AAU team. We ended the season well by getting runners up in the last tournament of the season. I will miss basketball season and all our Hornet families, but there is a season for everything!
Today between church services, we put away the hoops gear and drug out our baseball chairs, and headed to the field to watch Kyle's first baseball scrimmage of the year. After the intense action of basketball, baseball is a little painful for me to watch. After a baseball scrimmage and then another baseball practice, David had an Upward basketball game. His season is coming to a close too and he will miss it very much. He has had such fun.
Tonight we headed back to church for the first of four "Lent Launch" services. The baptist in my wants to call them revival services:) Tonight's service was awesome and at first Kyle was annoyed that there was a guest preacher because he loves Jonathan so much. After he got over the initial shock of someone else in Jonathan's place, he did admit that he enjoyed it.
This is the first Lent season that Kyle has thought about Lent and what it means. I credit his youth director Jackie for teaching the concept so well and we went to the Ash Wednesday service last week. Kyle and I have decided instead of giving something up for Lent, we are going to do daily scripture readings. As a family we are also praying with our prayer cup each night. Kyle says one of his friends in youth group has given up his playstation during Lent:) That is so cute!
Our lives are crazy and busy but Mike and I are trying so hard to walk the walk and talk the talk with our kids that God comes first. We are trying to teach our children the importance of consistent church attendance despite our crazy schedules. I know that as parents we mess up a lot-I am grumpy, have a tendency to have a wee bit of road rage, and have a hard time walking away from small-town gossip, but I pray that when our kids are older they will appreciate growing up in church and feeling the love that comes from "the family of God."
Today in church this short video was shown and it touched my heart. God amazes me each and every day and this video is not only great, but I love the song. I hope that it blesses you as much as it blessed me today in church.
Today between church services, we put away the hoops gear and drug out our baseball chairs, and headed to the field to watch Kyle's first baseball scrimmage of the year. After the intense action of basketball, baseball is a little painful for me to watch. After a baseball scrimmage and then another baseball practice, David had an Upward basketball game. His season is coming to a close too and he will miss it very much. He has had such fun.
Tonight we headed back to church for the first of four "Lent Launch" services. The baptist in my wants to call them revival services:) Tonight's service was awesome and at first Kyle was annoyed that there was a guest preacher because he loves Jonathan so much. After he got over the initial shock of someone else in Jonathan's place, he did admit that he enjoyed it.
This is the first Lent season that Kyle has thought about Lent and what it means. I credit his youth director Jackie for teaching the concept so well and we went to the Ash Wednesday service last week. Kyle and I have decided instead of giving something up for Lent, we are going to do daily scripture readings. As a family we are also praying with our prayer cup each night. Kyle says one of his friends in youth group has given up his playstation during Lent:) That is so cute!
Our lives are crazy and busy but Mike and I are trying so hard to walk the walk and talk the talk with our kids that God comes first. We are trying to teach our children the importance of consistent church attendance despite our crazy schedules. I know that as parents we mess up a lot-I am grumpy, have a tendency to have a wee bit of road rage, and have a hard time walking away from small-town gossip, but I pray that when our kids are older they will appreciate growing up in church and feeling the love that comes from "the family of God."
Today in church this short video was shown and it touched my heart. God amazes me each and every day and this video is not only great, but I love the song. I hope that it blesses you as much as it blessed me today in church.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
