One Vote

Ok, so this has nothing to do with the boys, but then again, it is their future.

This was shown at church this Sunday and I thought it was great, so wanted to share it here too.

Road to Recovery - Hurricane Ike

And the road to recovery begins....

Our church has been a shelter since Friday at 5:00.  We are an official Red Cross shelter and currently we have 151 people still at the church.

I have had the honor of serving at the church ALOT over the pass few days.  The boys have come off and on with me as well.  Dakota and Kye helped prepare for the evacuees by unloading cots and setting up bedding.  Weekend services were canceled so that we could get ready.  

I really have lost count of my days and can't remember what day exactly, but we went from 13 to 90 in 2 1/2 hours on Saturday and then from 90 -175 in another 2 hours.

I can not tell you how blessed I have been these past 5 days.  I have met precious people who I will hold in my heart forever, played with sweet children,  watched as a little girl's eyes came alive when she received a brand new jacket, and I could go on and on!!!

Our guests are far from home.  

Many have lost everything.

Many don't know when they will get to go home 

and what will be there when they arrive.

And yet...

they are so kind,

friendly,

appreciative,

amazing.

It has made me stop and look at me.....

would I be acting like this if I were in their shoes?

would I be friendly?

would I be able to smile?

would I be thankful or complaining?

I have been up at church ALOT like I said, and even now as I type this my eyes are swimming in tears, because I can't explain, but I feel compelled to be up at the church.  I love our guests.  I want to be there serving and helping ANY way I can!!  

To hold Braylen!

To get some clothes for Maurice and Wanda.

To receive a bear hug from Christopher!

To hold a sweet Spanish speaking little girl who doesn't know where mama is.

Drive to The Med so Red Cross Randy knows where he is going.

To get to love on and hug these precious children of God.

To rejoice when 2 come to know the Lord at 3:00 AM.

I have been blessed.

Overcome with emotion.

Thankful for all that I have.

We are still days away from being done.  Who knows right now when all of our guests can go home or to a shelter closer to home?  But I'm honored and thankful to be apart of Living Hope and that I have been able to volunteer.

Can I really Decorate for Fall when it's so HOT!!!

Seriously!

I LOVE Fall, Indian Summer, and I LOVE decorating for Fall...

but....

It's sooooo hot, how can I think of Fall!?!

Yet, I have to tell ya....  I grew up this way.

After Labor Day...

we decorate for Fall

we put away our summer shorts and such

we pull out our sweaters and long sleeve shirts and warmer clothes

AND

we definitely STOP WEARING WHITE!!!!

This being my 3rd Fall here in Texas, I know that none of these "rules" that I grew up with in Colorado and Nebraska, apply here in The Lonestar State.  I know that we wear white here year round and shorts.  I know that I DON'T wear sweaters here, unless I'm at the beach over Spring Break!!!!

I'm not surprised any longer to see white no matter the time of year, and I allow the boys to wear shorts year round.

Here is still my issue....

 

I can not let the temperature outside dictate me decorating my house inside.  I miss the 4 seasons and last year I didn't decorate until Christmas.  It didn't make me happy.  And having beautiful oranges, reds, yellows, and browns scattered throughout my house, make me happy. So I will be venturing up into my sweltering attic and finding my Fall boxes so that I can "Fall" my house.

For those of you in places that are nearing 70s during the day and falling lower in the evenings, please take a deep breath for me!  Appreciate the scenery changing around you daily!  And capture an image in your mind for me!  I LOVE Indian Summer, which is what September is called in states like Colorado and Nebraska!  And I'm looking forward to November when it will FINALLY get a little cooler here! :)

Kru woke up this morning, comes into me as I'm sorting laundry and says," Look, I have a unicorn on my head!"

And then on a side note of nothing related, we went to the library today to turn in our summer reading cards, and Darrin got HIS FIRST EVER library card!!!!

Yes, you heard me correctly! 4 days shy of his 37th birthday, my husband got his FIRST library card in his entire life!

That blows me away! Whatever!!! :)

God's Wonderful Creation

This is what I see when I look out my kitchen window!
I wish now that I had been taking pictures all along to chronicle
this amazing and God thing of a bird's life cycle, well sort of.

A month or so ago, I realized some birds were
building a nest in one of theoaks in our backyard.
Daily, I would watch mom and dad bird bringing supplies
to ready the "nursery." It slowly took form and shape
and if it weren't forthe few longer pieces of twigs and weed
hanging down, it was quite camouflauged.

Over time, I believed that there were eggs in it due to the
fact of how the parents were behaving.
It's too high to look into and of course I didn't want to bother it.
You know what they say!!

Then in horror 2 weeks ago, I was at the sink and I looked out and saw
a HUGE hawk sitting on the branch!
Truly, at first I thought it was a Golden Eagle it was so big!
It's head was high above the leaves and it was sitting on top of the nest!!!
Taken aback, I wasn't sure what to do.
I saw the mom and dad bird sitting
as close to the nest as they dared!
What could they honestly do?
They were so much smaller than this hawk
and they could easily be killed too.

I'm not sure if babies were there yet or if it was the eggs he was after,
but I quickly ran out the back door to frighten him away,
sick to my stomach!
How dare he!!!!
(It is amazing that birds procreate with all the things stacked
against them,I mean really, well and sea turtles too, but I digress!!!) :)

Last week I saw the mama come to the nest and deliver some food,
so I knew there were babies then, but I still couldn't really see them.
Pretty sure that I saw some agape beaks, but no bodies!!

Then today this is what I saw!!!!

3 babies!!!! But if you can see 1 baby is much further along!
The 2 in the back ground have no feathers yet and this little dude
in the front looks like he wants to fly,
but his feathers aren't long enough yet!

So I'm thinking.... was he one of an earlier "batch"
I know that's the wrong term.
Or did they lay more eggs after the hawk incident?
Don't know, just curious,
but happy that there are some baby birds left!

Now I worry about our cat! I know that quite often when the babies learn
to fly, they often fall out of their nest. I really, really don't want to find a
dead, half eaten baby bird in my grass!!! So I'm thinking that
for the next several weeks it will be one of the boys' job to search
for baby birds in the grass! So we can rescue them from Shadow!

Not sure why I just posted about all of that, other than seeing
God's wonderful creation up close and personal!
The usual analogies came to mind and I thought about thinking deep
and posting those, but I decided to just wonder at God's amazing creation
and to just appreciate it all! We serve an amazing Father who loves us
each so very much and just like His eye is always on the birds,
I know He is watching me!!!
Thank you Jesus!!!

Things Are Winding Down

Do you ever get sad at the end of a school year? (even though I am so ready for summer!!!)

Does it ever bother you when something that you have been
doing for an entire year has it's closing ceremony?

Do you tear up at the end of a challenging and fabulous Bible study?

When special people in your life move away, do you get sad?

Well, don't know about you, but I answer "YES" to all of the above!

I'm very melancholy today.... I have thought about it, prayed about it, pondered on it...

and have decided that it's because "things" are winding down.

* This is Kye's last week of Kindergarten at Covenant Day School.

He has been there for 2 years now and I love the teacher's there, their compassion for the kids and the small class sizes. I'm sad because he is growing up. I'm sad because next year in full day Kindergarten, it won't be as sweet as this year has been. I'm sad because we won't be so familiar with his friends and their parents and siblings. Kye's class is so special. And they are really close. I'm already crying about it!

* Dakota has 9 days of school left. Today is his last Monday in 5th grade.
This makes me sad because he is getting older and older!

* Dakota played his last soccer game on Saturday and scored on a *FREE* kick again!
(I got it right this time Whitney!)
This is sad because many of the 6th graders on the team
won't be back next season and they are working so well together!

Dakota scores!

Team Blue Thunder

* Too many of "my people" have left! :(
I miss them!!!
A few are coming back, but many were Seniors
who won't be back! :(

Miss Whitney!

Tom & Angie (sorry girl, no photo)
But they are both coming back, yeah!!!

Kyle

* Last night was the Awana Awards Ceremony. Kye got his certificate for participation and Dakota his award for finishing his 1st book. That means that Dakota learned at least 75 passages in Scripture this year and Kye learned close to 20. I love Awana and I love all the people who pour into my children's lives during Awana. One reason this makes me sad is that next year, my baby, Kru, will be a Cubbie. I'm already sad about that for next fall!

Miss Alicia, Miss Valerie and Miss Chelsea

Yes, I'm ready to spend every afternoon by the pool, and sleeping in, not having a schedule, and yes I'm ready for KidShine and VBS, and I'm ready to make new friends this summer.

But...

I'm sad when things wind down. I'll get over it, but today, I'm a little sad about it!

Seeing Jesus in the Strangest Places!

I am sure that the Lord uses many ways to communicate with us and to remind us of His awesomeness. I am also sure that I usually skip over them or get to busy to see them.

But ever since I have moved to Texas, I see spiritual connections in the strangest of places! I'm not sure if I've ever blogged about them, but have felt the burden to do so lately. So here go a few of my ramblings.

Moving to "the South" has shown me many differences from the region that I grew up in! And more often than nought, I stick out like a sore thumb when I open my mouth. I don't believe that I have an accent, but have been reassured that I do!

Last year when we moved, we got to go see a few of the Aggie's Women's Soccer games. It was fun, a bit of a cultural experience, but we were amazed with the way the Aggies did their thing! When Nebraska came to play, I was so excited! I put on my Husker red and wore it proud! I was super homesick and even though I didn't know a one of those girls from UNL, I felt a connection and made sure I said hello to them. One of the girls said, "Well, at least we will have 1 fan in the crowd." And I was definitely the only fan there!

During the game, I stood out in my red among all the maroon. I was cheering when literally no one else was. I found myself standing or jumping up when everyone else was sitting. It affected the way I "got into the game" especially the more stares I received.

The obvious spiritual application there is we ARE to stand out! We are to look differently! We are to be "cheering and jumping up" to different things than the world around us. We are to be all about Jesus all the time no matter if we are surrounded by fellow believers or not!! And in some circumstances, we may be the 1 and only one standing for the Lord, but we are called to do so no matter what! WOW! I have a long way to go!!

Since moving here, I have yet to say a few things "correctly." And I get reminded regularly!


I say pop!

Really, I do! Where I come from when we want a carbonated beverage, we ask for pop. "What kind of pop do you have?" Here this is always answered by: "What?" or "Did you just say pop?" Coke is Coke and Pepsi, Pepsi and Dr. Pepper, Dr. Pepper. They aren't all cokes! And I can't get used to saying soda....so

I say pop!

Dakota came home from school just the other day and told me that he needed to practice saying "soda" so he wouldn't get teased at school for saying "pop". I told him that he shouldn't feel as though he has to change, it tells people that we aren't from around here and there is nothing wrong with that!

So... application:

When we look, sound, talk, different than those around us, are we going to change to fit in and be the same?
Or are we going to be alright with being different?
Or will we give in to the pressure around us and change?

Are we okay being different?
Are we willing to stand out and look, sound, and talk different than the world around us?

Jesus is forever changing me and wanting me to look more like Him everyday. I do have a long way to go, but I am so thankful that I'm not alone. Jesus is right beside me 100%, all the time, everywhere and no matter what! I love Him so much and I'm so thankful that He never gives up on me and that He never lets me stay the same! Forever growing in the Lord!

Thank you, Jesus!

I pray that you see how the Lord is growing you each and everyday and that none of us get too busy or too distracted to see Him at work!

Have a blessed weekend!

PS
I'M GETTING BAPTIZED NEXT SUNDAY!!!! May 25! I'm so excited!!!!

Oprah's Church

I'm sure many of you have seen or heard about this already, but as of late last night, I hadn't.

I have to tell you that after watching it, I wanted to throw up and cry all at the same time!!!

This disturbed me so much! And even after sleeping I am still bothered.

This morning in my quiet time I asked the Lord to show me why it bothered me so much! I mean the obvious is that she has denounced Christ! And is "teaching" untruths. Another is because of the enormous influence and impact that she has on SO many people.

I never knew that she had denied Christ! Really blew my mind and upset me. She does so many wonderful things for so many, but she obviously is lost and needs the Lord. She is believing lies.

To be honest, 5 years or so ago I probably would have believed everything that she said. I was lost. I didn't know for sure what I believed or why I believed what I thought I did. (Wow! Did that make sense?) When Dakota was a baby, I watched Oprah religiously! I read every book that she had for her book club, no matter how disturbing the material. I thought, "well, if she recommended it, it must be good and I'm reading things that I would never be exposed to otherwise."

I know stupid and naive!

But I did! I would set the vcr (before dvrs) and watch her when I got home from work. I would say 8-10 years ago she had a book called The Seat of the Soul. I bought it and began reading it. Very different from anything that I had heard or read before. I think I actually discussed some of it with my dad. I didn't finish that one, but probably a little part of me believed it.

This morning though, I think that what the Lord really showed me and told me, but look where you are now and how different you are. Thank you, Jesus!!! I am beyond words thankful that I know the Truth and that I no longer have confusion about what I believe. God saved me and showed me His way and His truth. And because of Jesus I KNOW I am saved and it is only through Him that I am saved!!! ONLY JESUS!!!

I don't read all of her books anymore and I rarely watch her, I may set the dvr if a star that I like or am interested is on. The last show I watched of hers was the Cosby show kids reunion, brought back some nice memories. The last book I read was "The Road."

I remember when this book selection came out, The New Earth, and then the web classes, I thought it was a little weird, but now after watching the video.... WOW!

My point in posting this is to make more people aware. Just because someone or something looks great and does wonderful things, doesn't mean that they are pointing people the right way or to the right One! I'm certainly not trying to get anyone to hate Oprah, we need to pray for her to get saved. Can you imagine how the Lord could use her for His purposes!!!

Tell me what you think! Comment!!! I would love to hear your thoughts on this! Did this bother you? Were you or are you confused by the comments made in the video? We are told in John, that Jesus is the ONLY way, the one and only way!!!!

Nothing to do with boys! But good anyway! :)

This post has nothing to do with the boys, but I don't have my own blog, maybe I should, so this is going here!

I was sitting in the Houston airport a couple of Saturdays ago, the Saturday before "Super Tuesday". Arriving early, I sat at the gate watching MSNBC or CNN or one of the news channels. The hot topic of the day was Super Tuesday and of course, who would win in those important states. Because of the important day coming up, they were also airing special political stories as well.

One in particular stood out and I haven't been able to get it out of my mind or how I related it back to my Christianity. The story was about how important the collegiate vote will be in this election. So the reporter had visited university campuses across America to interview students from both political parties. From the get go, you knew what party those being questioned represented. Be it the shirt or the buttons on their shirts, it was clear who they were supporting.

These kids were not phlegmatic about their support either. The ones interviewed were usually the head of their parties on their school campuses. One young man would go to school all day and then take a 2 hour train ride to his party's headquarters, where he would man phones, do mailings, etc... because he was so passionate about his "side" and their success.

After seeing this brief report, the thought crossed my mind.... Wow! Just think what we could do if we would be that passionate for our Lord and be that concerned about winning sous for Him!

Last Sunday at church, Butch asked a question, "What would happen if we mentioned Jesus to others as much as we mention the weather?" I wonder? I know amazing things could happen.

Obviously, the election is on everyone's mind and thoughts, but what about Jesus? Do I think of Him or mention Him as often as the current political situation or primary election? Do I discuss Him or ask others about Him like I do about the weather?

My prayer is that I would be more passionate about Jesus and sharing Him more than ANYTHING else! That I would be more burdened about people choosing Jesus than a political party! That I would be more apt to ask about how people's relationships are with Jesus than how the weather is where they live!

Praisin' in the New Year!

Happy New Year!!!

I just have to tell you at 1:00 in the am on January 1, 2008,
I LOVE MY CHURCH!!!!!
Tonight was so great!

This year things were so different in so many ways, that I had to share.

No T.V., no watching the "ball" drop in New York City, no listening to bands that I don't even know of, no watching people who I don't even know kiss in Times Square, no fire crackers, no counting....

Instead. . . . .

Worshipping in the New Year!

I can't think of a better way to begin a year!

We played games, laughed, had fun, but around 11:50, we gathered in a big circle and praised and prayed in 2008.

I love the Body of Christ and the Church Body that He has graciously led me to here in College Station. I am thankful and blessed to have them this year and the year to come.

I thank Jesus the He has allowed me to become a part of Living Hope and meet so many wonderful believers.

May your 2008 be full of praising and thanking God and receiving His many blessings this new year!

Grackles are Evil Birds!!!

Do you know what a Grackle is?

I didn't until I moved to College Station, Texas.

We have these psycho birds here from,
oh I don't really know...
September through February. I guess.
I think they are here year round!!!

Here is a close up of one, but I HAVE to share these pictures with
you that I took tonight. They freak me out!!!

Seriously, I feel like I am in the movie Birds.

The wires are that black because they are FULL of nasty birds!

They are EVERYWHERE!!!!

They seriously give me the heebie jeebies!!!!!

These are a part of the Rock Prairie Clan, there are others in town!

They aren't afraid of much and don't hardly move!!

AAhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

There are THOUSANDS of them!!!!
Somebody help me, I can hardly go to
Kroger cuz I'm afraid of them!!!!!

I should be adding pictures of Kye from his program, but we rented a movie tonight from Blockbuster and I just happened to have my camera in my purse. I have wanted to post about these evil, psycho birds for over a year now, just never got around to it, but here you have it!!!

The pictures really do NOT give it justice and then you add all the noise they make and it makes my skin crawl! Really, it does!

They will be all over the van when I come out of Kroger and they just look at you and they won't move! It is so eery!!!!! Sorry for so many pictures, but I was trying to make a point!

Did I???? :)