Community Fall Festival (43 photos), by Julie Smith

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Happy Anniversary Chad!

I am so proud to say that Chad and I celebrate seven years of marriage today. It seems like such a short time, but so much has been packed into it! In the first five years, we had three children, built a house, Chad changed jobs, and God relocated every part of our lives to Gunter (including Chad's office just in the last month!). In the last two years, God has been growing us and equipping us for ministries and opportunities that continue to grow and appear on the horizons.

I am so proud of my handsome husband. He works hard, loves our children, is an amazing protector, and has devoted his life to serving God. It is my pride and joy to stand by his side as his partner and wife. I am so thankful for God's direction in both of our lives that allowed us to have second chances.

Happy Anniversary my sweet sweet Chad! I pray that together we will continue to seek the Lord with all our hearts and I look forward to the surpises and blessings that He has in store for us!

Obedience

This is an excerpt from Experiencing God: Day-by-Day Devotional, November 2, which I read today. It spoke so loudly to me that I felt the need to share it.

Have you done what you know to do? "Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin." James 4:17

It is never a minor thing to know God's will and not do it. God calls this sin. . . . in God's eyes, rationalization and procrastination are nothing more than disobedience . . . When we encounter God . . .it is not enough to write down the date . . . or even to tell our friends and church . . . God's call is not to "make a decision" but to obey! Deciding to obey is not equal to obeying (Matt 21:28-31)! Loudly affirming the necessity of obedience is not the same as obeying (Luke 6:46). Making commitments, even publicly, is not the same as obeying our Lord. Substituting our own good works is not the same as obeying.

God expects you to obey everything exactly as He tells you. Only obedience satisfies God's desire for obedience.

I'm praying that each of you experiences the freedom and joy of obedience today.

Messianic Genealogy Wall Chart - PDF Download - Answers Bookstore

Messianic Genealogy Wall Chart - PDF Download - Answers Bookstore

Check out this link. Free download this week only.

Who needs expensive containers?

I just love my son. He gets so excited about simple things and he always reminds me to find the joy in every little thing. Today, I offered him an empty animal crackers container for his cars and trains. It's a big one from Sam's. I like to store various toys or supplies in them.

It was like Christmas for him. He beamed and said, "Thanks, Mommy!" Then he ran upstairs and started gathering all the trains and cars in sight. What a sweet boy he is!

Changes, Allergies and Awanas

It has been oh-so-busy around here the last week. After receiving the excited "okay" from Zachary, we are finally swapping Rebecca and Zachary's bedrooms. I knew it was going to be a challenge with all the toys and furniture, but you never know exactly how much you have until you begin to move it.

Chad went to enjoy a few days at Papaw's this weekend. While he was gone, I decided to really dig in and cleared half of Zach's room. We also went to Lowe's and picked up the paint for Zach's new room. It is simply titled "Sand 3." Zach thinks it's way cool. Daddy tried to complicate it by asking if that was sandbox sand or ocean sand. Thanks Daddy. lol But it didn't deter Zach. He is still very excited. We will complete the furniture move over the next few days and then paint will be at the end of the week.

The other not-so-fun stuff lately has been allergies. From the day I got back from Disney, a variety of allergens have been lurking in the air. Apparently, I am allergic to them all. My sneezing, wheezing, coughing, and subsequent headache and body aches have escalated and it now appears that I have an upper respiratory infection. Since Chad has IBM training all this week, I'll be making the journey to the doctor tomorrow with three little urchins in tow. Maybe that will make the nurses push me through a little faster.

I know this post is an assortment of items, but I also wanted to share how much I am enjoying Awana this year. I am the Sparks Director this year. I was a bit hesitant on taking the role because it is much more responsibility than just a leader, but I wouldn't change it for anything now. It is so FUN!!! We had 28 Sparkies last Wednesday. When you have 28 kindergarten through 2nd graders in one room, there is always a lot going on! Between me and the four leaders (including Chad), we keep them in line. I think my favorite part of being with the Sparkies is their honesty. They will ask you any question that pops in their minds without any reservations. And they are so thirsty to hear about Jesus and the Bible. It's such an enormous blessing to be a part of this ministry and I pray that God keeps me in this role for awhile.

So now I am off to take some more medicine and hopefully get some good rest for the night!

The Unwelcome Terrible Two's

It is when I reach this stage in a child's life that I remember why I really prefer them when they are about four years old. Even though her birthday is a few weeks away, Rebecca has officially entered the Terrible Two's phase.

We have regular spankings around here due to her point-blank train hurling and her random smacking. Her favorite person to torture is her brother. You know, the one who is two years older and about a foot taller. His tender-hearted nature is to recoil in horror, sometimes scream at her, and maybe even run out of the room. I definitely didn't birth a linebacker.

I am reminded yet again of a phrase I heard often growing up. "And this too shall pass."

Reading!

I am so proud of Hannah and Zach. All of a sudden, they are both reading! I spent the summer participating in reading programs and getting various DVD's from Netflix. I think The Letter Factory and the Talking Words Factory were most helpful to Zach. He is truly sounding out the words. Hannah is little more impatient and prefers to learn the words by sight. Either way, we are on our way to reading!!

Cinderella

I got the opportunity to take Hannah to her very first ballet on Saturday down in Dallas. Keeping with her love of princesses, I chose Cinderella. We went with some other moms and girls from our homeschool co-op and, as a bonus, Amy and Keely came as well!

Here are a couple of pics Daddy took in front of our pond while the curls were still clinging to Hannah's hair.






And here are the giddy cousins getting ready to head to lunch at Corner Bakery.



After lunch, we headed down to the Winspear Opera House. The ballet was 2 hours 20 minutes, but the girls really did quite well. We tried to meet some of the company players afterwards, but the line seemed to go for about a quarter of a mile, so we passed and settled for just gawking at them a bit from the sidelines.

Here are Amy and Keely looking so beautiful in our fourth floor seats.

Still Mending

It has been nearly a month since I last posted. I considered it often but just couldn't bring myself to blog. It's been a tough month for me, but I am finally really feeling like I am mending.

The accident was a tough experience for several reasons. The first, obviously, was the fact that I nearly lost my child. I had nightmares every night for the first two weeks, reliving the first moments when I saw him in the pool and pulled him up. My first thought before I had even moved was that he might be dead. It was such a repelling thought to me that I literally shut down all my emotion so it wouldn't overwhelm me. There is a detrimental side effect to trying to smother your emotions. It tends to ooze out at unexpected times and in potent doses. My sweet Sunday school class got a dose two weeks ago when I suddenly began to sob uncontrollably and had to leave the room. This happened the first Sunday back during worship as well. What surprised me the most, though, was my enormous outburst this past Wednesday after I took Sylvester in to put him to sleep. After he passed oh-so-quietly, I erupted in massive sobs and gave myself the worst migraine I've ever had. But it seems that the emotional wall I had erected has been removed. I finally feel like I can smile again and really mean it.

The second side effect of the accident is I realized that I wasn't the perfect mom I thought I was. Now that sounds pretty ridiculous, but I had actually started patting myself on the back for getting to know my kids so well and fulfilling a need with my family before they even knew the need existed. To fail in such a miserable way was a wake-up call for me that I am not perfect. I had to take a good hard look in the mirror, see all my defects, and reconcile with that.

As I consider the last few weeks, I have come to realize that a lack of control troubled me greatly. I have had to give that over to God and I am working on completely accepting His forgiveness. Quite honestly, I didn't want to be forgiven at first. I didn't believe that I deserved it. In my mind, I had failed to meet the basic need of protecting my child. I thought, what kind of a crappy parent sits blithely watching one child while not noticing that another child struggles for his life only yards away?

Only Christ is perfect.

I know this. I have known this for years. But I have not fully understood it until now. It is actually very freeing to accept that I am not perfect and will never be perfect. I will continue to strive to be more Christ-like, but I will never be fully in control, meeting every need of my family or my friends or my church.

I think of what Paul said in I Corinthians 12:9, "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'"

Through my deficiencies, Jesus Christ revealed His almighty power. He has reminded me that my children are a gift and that I have a responsibility to raise them to know, love, and serve Jesus. He has also reminded me that time is a very precious commodity. We must spend it wisely. I spend a lot more time loving on my children than before. I also have a renewed passion for sharing the Gospel. Everyone's clock is ticking and we never know when someone's timer is going to go off. Don't put off living for Christ and sharing the Gospel because tomorrow may not be there - for you or for the other person.

Thank you Lord Jesus for loving me in spite of my imperfections and for lifting me up in my despair. When I walk through my valleys, I pray that I will always remember to lift my eyes up to see the next mountain top I am approaching.