How to Effectively Waste Time.....

Note: Owen came up with the title....that's what he thinks of this post anyway.

My sister wanted each of us to write something in our own handwriting and link up to her blog to show it to all of our blogging buddies. If you want more on that, visit her post.


If you want to play along, link up to her site through Mr. Linky....it was kinda fun!

Thirty years from now, our grandkids will look at these posts and wonder what this strange script is....they won't know how to write because they will only ever have to type things out.

Which voice will I listen to?

I was praying this morning that I would have the faith that I need to get done what needs to be done. I prayed like the man who needed Jesus to heal his son, "Lord, I do believe. Help my unbelief!" Then the words to the chorus of this song popped into my head. It's one of my favorite Casting Crowns songs and if you've never heard it, click here.

Oh what I would do to have the kind of faith it takes to climb out of this boat I'm in
Onto the crashing waves.
To step out of my comfort zone into the realm of the unknown where Jesus is
And He's holding out His hand.
But the waves are calling out my name and they laugh at me,
Reminding me of all the times I've tried before and failed.
The waves they keep on telling me time and time again, "Boy, you'll never win! You'll never win!"

Chorus:
But the voice of truth tells me a different story.
The voice of truth says, "Do not be afraid."
The voice of truth says, "This is for My glory."
Out of all the voices calling out to me,
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth.

Oh what I would do to have the kind of strength it takes to stand before a giant
With just a sling and a stone.
Surrounded by the sound of a thousand warriors shaking in their armor
Wishing they'd have had the strength to stand.
But the giant's calling out my name and he laughs at me,
Reminding me of all the times I've tried before and failed.
The giant keeps on telling me time and time again,
"Boy, you'll never win! You'll never win!"

But the stone was just the right size to put the giant on the ground,
And the waves they don't seem so high from on the top of them looking down.
I will soar with the wings of eagles when I stop and listen to the sound of Jesus
Singing over me!

I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth.

I don't know why it is so hard for me to believe the Lord sometimes. I've seen His hand working in my life; I know that I am His and that He has called me. Why do I ever doubt? I have every resource needed at my disposal through the power of Christ and His death and resurrection.

Fun at home

I was challenged at MOPS this week to have more fun at home. I am a fuddy-duddy/fun-sucker by nature, so having fun is something that I have to plan. I am not spontaneous or carefree or creative...those are just not the gifts God has given me. But children need fun and since they never leave me to go have fun at school, I need to start planning fun.

So, this afternoon I made cookies with Tyson. A very special family in our church gave us a jar of Holiday Mint Cookie mix for Christmas, and since all the holidays are over, today was a good day to use it. Tyson loves to cook, so I got him busy mixing the dough. The directions said to use your hands, and I don't really like getting my hands messy, so that was a really good job for Tyson. (Unfortunately, Tyson's not keen on getting his hands messy, either, so I'm not sure how much fun that part was for him.)




After we mixed the dough, the directions said to make the dough into balls...again, involving getting your hands dirty. Tyson was busy washing the dough off of his hands, so I had to get my hands messy after all. I got finished with the first pan of cookies and realized that the flour in the bottom of the bowl hadn't gotten mixed in very well (because the adult in the room didn't help mix!) so I had to get my hands really messy and mix it up myself. By that time, Tyson was back to finish rolling the dough into balls, and we found a good compromise. I washed my hands and then used spoons to make globs of dough, and Tyson used his ballmaking-skills to make the dough globs into nice neat little balls (commenting as he did so that this was not making his hands THAT dirty and that teacher in K3 had taught him how to make good balls out of playdough and that's why he was so good at it now. So cute. :o)).



He did a really good job and the cookies turned out wonderfully!

You may be wondering why I only did something fun with Tyson and not with Owen, and I'll have to tell you it's because Owen would rather be reading a book....just like his mother. :o) So while Tyson was taking his bath tonight, I played two games of checkers with Owen. I won the first game and he won the second. Yes, a 6 year old beat me at checkers, and no, I did not let him win.

Saving my brainpower for another post instead of a fancy title...

I've recently been thinking about all that I do... wife, homeschooling mom, piano teacher, ministry assistant, choir member, orchestra member, T&T records keeper, MOPS mentoring mom, cook, maid, taxi driver, child psychologist, referee...need I go on? Sometimes I get overwhelmed and I wonder what I can cut out....Owen and the boys?....how could you ask such a thing?!.....homeschooling? No, God has made it clear that for now that's what we need to do. Work? Well, we need to eat and so I guess I'll have to do that for a while longer, too....Church?....again, no.

I went through the whole list and asked God what I could just quit doing and you know what He told me? STOP WHINING!

"And He has said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.' Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. "

None of my responsibilities have changed, but from here on out, I want to have a different attitude about them. If I am faithful to do what He has called me to do and if I am doing it for His honor and glory (NOT MY OWN), then He will be faithful to empower me to do it. His grace is sufficient. He didn't say it would be easy, but He did say that He will use this to make me more like His Son for His glory. And isn't that the point? To glorify God.....

Pictures

Here are a few pictures that I've taken over the last few months.....

My precious boys getting ready to go on a 5 hour car ride to visit family in Georgia....

My beautiful mama and me getting ready for that same 5 hour drive.......



Dustin sleeping after driving for hours and hours....

Tyson getting ready to sleep in the tent he got for Christmas from his Grammy and Paw Paw

Owen doing the same.....

Angela, Michael and me on Christmas Eve at Granny and Poppa's house....

And here is a picture I found of the boys after Tyson got stitches and before he got rid of the bunny....I found it in the same folder as the picture of Owen that I posted last time.

Tagged

WELL it's been a while since I've posted, and since I have both time and a subject, now is as good as any. :o)

My cousin Nikki tagged me for this post and here are the rules:

1. Choose the 4th folder where you store your pictures on your computer
2. Select the 4th picture in the folder (no cheating -- cropping, editing, etc.)
3. Explain the picture
4. Tag 4 other people to do the same.



This is my wonderfully talented husband, Owen in a very natural pose. He was playing one day when I had the camera out (2-16-08). I'd forgotten about it until I was tagged for this post, and I'm glad that I have a good reason to share it with all of you. He is very photogenic don't you think?

I will tag Pam, Whitney, Tessa and Patti because I'm sure that all of them will have great pictures to post!