I give You my all

My youngest son, Joseph, was up most of the night last night...which means that I was too.  He has a fever and a stuffy nose.  All he has wanted to do today is rest and snuggle.  I can't get too far from him without him crying out for me.  Today we were resting on the couch and he was holding me so tight.  He knew that I was going to hold him and he was so comfortable and felt safe.  He was in my arms and I was thinking how much we are like that sometimes in our relationships with God.  When we are tired, sad or sick, we cling to Him and seek that comfort and love.  His arms are always wide open and He wants to hold onto His children day or night. I had a lot of stuff I really needed to do today but I didn't even think about doing them. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else but holding my sweet boy.  The problem with us is when we feel better we get up and start back into what we want to do.  In a day or two my little one will be back jumping off the couch with his big brother and wanting to play outside.  He won't cling to me the way he did when he didn't feel well.  I know there are times in my life when I get so busy and I don't cling to Christ the way I should.  I start doing things on my own.  I don't want to only seek the Lord in times of needs or in times of trouble, I want to cling to Him in everything, in every aspect and moment of my life.

Psalm 33:22  "May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD, even as we put our hope in you."

Matthew 11:28 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."

Smells Like Rotten Eggs

Ok. So I love my children SOOO much...but I need some advice.  Samuel who was 4 in May is one of those kids that loves and I mean LOVES to talk.  You really are never sure what is going to come out of his mouth.  His soaks up everything he sees and hears, and then he verbally thinks through it all... Lets just say, we laugh a lot and also look each other and wonder how fast we can change the subject sometimes.  Lately, he has been pushing our buttons hard... Example 1: he is sitting at the dinner table alone right now as I am typing this, because he is the last one eating. I have cleaned up the kitchen and now he just told me his hand is too tired to feed him.  He then proceeded to hold his arm up in the air and then let it drop... All this because he doesn't want to eat anymore... Example 2: In one of my wonderful parenting moments I had my finger pointed at him and not happily telling him to do something and he told me me that I needed to put my finger down that it wasn't nice. Example 3: One day he told us that time out isn't too bad because you just sit by yourself for a couple minutes and then you can get up and play.  How do I respond to this?  Example 4: We tried taking away reading before bed as a punishment one night and then he told us as we were putting him to bed that is was ok that we didn't read because he had a really long day day and he was really tired.  It gets under my skin but my mom says it is payback because I was exactly the same way. The examples could go on forever. Does anyone have any advice for us and how we can discipline a child who really seems to think through things but who really keeps my blood boiling...I love him sooo much.  I don't want to crush that spirit but he continues to be very defiant.

No matter where I am, HE is there...

I was trying to think about things that were on my heart and I had a couple different thoughts, but this song just kept coming to me. No matter where I am or what is going on in my life, highs or lows, He is there...

The Desert Song Lyrics

Verse 1:
This is my prayer in the desert
And all that's within me feels dry
This is my prayer in the hunger in me
My God is a God who provides

Verse 2:
And this is my prayer in the fire
In weakness or trial or pain
There is a faith proved
Of more worth than gold
So refine me Lord through the flames

Chorus:
And I will bring praise
I will bring praise
No weapon forged against me shall remain

I will rejoice
I will declare
God is my victory and He is here

Verse 3:
And this is my prayer in the battle
And triumph is still on it's way
I am a conqueror and co-heir with Christ
So firm on His promise I'll stand

Bridge:
All of my life
In every season
You are still God
I have a reason to sing
I have a reason to worship

Verse 4:
This is my prayer in the harvest
When favor and providence flow
I know I'm filled to be empited again
The seed I've recieved I will sow

Are we Open?

Do you ever waste a lot of time thinking about and being upset about the smallest things? Sometimes, I feel like I cannot express my true feelings and emotions, so I just keep them locked up inside. If you do that long enough, it will overwhelm every part of you and how can you be available to what God has for you each day if you are consumed with other junk? We have to dump all the junk out and be open and ready for what God has planned for us...Oh, and He has a plan...

Psalm 16 is a prayer of safekeeping, joy, faith and trust...

NIV Translation:

" ¹ Keep me safe, O God,

for in you I take refuge.

² I said to the LORD, "You are my Lord;

apart from you I have no good thing."

³ As for the saints who are in the land,

they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight.

⁴ The sorrows of those will increase

who run after other gods.

I will not pour out their libations of blood

or take up their names on my lips.

⁵ LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup;

you have made my lot secure.

⁶ The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;

surely I have a delightful inheritance.

⁷ I will praise the LORD, who counsels me;

even at night my heart instructs me.

⁸ I have set the LORD always before me.

Because he is at my right hand,

I will not be shaken.

⁹ Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;

my body also will rest secure,

¹⁰ because you will not abandon me to the grave,

nor will you let your Holy One see decay.

¹¹ You have made known to me the path of life;

you will fill me with joy in your presence,

with eternal pleasures at your right hand."

Same passage from The Message Bible:

^-2 Keep me safe, O God, I've run for dear life to you.

I say to God, "Be my Lord!"

Without you, nothing makes sense.

³ And these God-chosen lives all around—

what splendid friends they make!

⁴ Don't just go shopping for a god.

Gods are not for sale.

I swear I'll never treat god-names

like brand-names.

^5-6 My choice is you, God, first and only.

And now I find I'm your choice!

You set me up with a house and yard.

And then you made me your heir!

^7-8 The wise counsel God gives when I'm awake

is confirmed by my sleeping heart.

Day and night I'll stick with God;

I've got a good thing going and I'm not letting go.

^9-10 I'm happy from the inside out,

and from the outside in, I'm firmly formed.

You canceled my ticket to hell—

that's not my destination!

¹¹ Now you've got my feet on the life path,

all radiant from the shining of your face.

Ever since you took my hand,

I'm on the right way.

My Boys!

A Thought

In the past I have used this blog to post pictures (and not very often). Well, today I was talking to our executive minister at church and he said, "you should blog.  It doesn't matter if it about your kids or a thought, just try it...) Well, here I am.  I had a thought.  I was at Cracker Barrel the other day with my parents and my kids, and in the midst of the chaos, a thought came across my mind as I was picking up all the items Joseph was dropping on the floor.  What happens to the crayons at restaurants after our kids use them and break them?  I think they are thrown away... I think that we should save them.  I am not sure on how to make it happen but I am open for suggestions.  My thought right now is to create a letter and deliver it to local restaurants and ask them to collect all the crayons after kids use them... Maybe we should give them a basket to collect them in.  After we could collect them once a week and then send them domestically or internationally to kids who need them.  This is all just off the top of my head...  Does anyone want to build on that thought or join me in it?  I am not even sure where to start...