Oh where oh where has my sanity gone...

oh where oh where could it be? Since the beginning of this school year I have lost my mind. Having 3 kids to teach is a whole new ball game. Gabe says that he has decided he isn't going to do kindergarten. He's just going to go back to being 4. 4 is the most fun he says. If only we could stay 4 years old. Anyway, he has started kindergarten and challenges me every day as a mom and a teacher. I use the title "teacher" loosely. 8-) Isaiah, the baby, can't stand that the other kids are getting my attention during school hours so he has to be right in the middle of us all. My only hope is that some of the knowledge is seeping in and by the time he starts kindergarten he will already know everything and my job will be easier. 8-) That's assuming we all make it that far. Right now in this moment as Gabe is watching an "educational" dvd, Madelyne is dancing with the mop in the kitchen while reciting her spelling words, Isaiah is pulling every piece of tupperware we own out of the cabinet, and Nathaniel (bless his sweet heart) is sitting at the table diligently working on his language seatwork, I am just praying we make it through the day. 8-) No matter my sanity God is awesome, and I am so thankful to Him for my many, many, many, many blessings. Even if they are the wildest craziest blessings a mommy could have. 8-)

hanging with the homies...

We had a funtastical night hanging out at the Hager's house with the Heaps and the Carringers. It never fails that when we all get together there are many moments of hysteria. 8-) We decided we need a quote board to document the random phrases that are born out of an evening together. I would share them with you now, but i can't remember them correctly as it is midnight and I am exhausted. I am just feeling really blessed right now and I wanted to share that with you. It's been a warm and fuzzy day. The kind of day where I look around and see my beautiful babies and my sweet husband and feel so much peace and gratitude for the way God has blessed me. He has given me the best husband in the world, beautiful healthy babies, amazing friends that i adore, and so much more. I need to get my booty in the bed. I have to be up early to get all my blessings ready for church. Why can't church begin about 1 or 2 hours later than it does now. I think church should start at about 11:00. We could start at 11:00, break for church wide lunch and fellowship, and then reconvene for more worship. I like that plan. 8-)Someone form a committee and get right on that.

9/11

I headed to the store this morning with all my babies and as we were driving down the road we passed a flag that was flying at half mass. Nathaniel asked why that flag wasn't flying high in the sky, and that is when it all came rushing back. The most vivid memories of where we were and what we were doing when the phone rang and my mom said I needed to turn on the television. Nathaniel was only 20 months old then. He was sitting in the floor watching Blues Clues. Andrew was getting ready to go, but he wasn't going to work that day because he had been summoned for jury duty. He never left the house. All trials were canceled and all federal buildings were locked down because no one knew what was going on or who might be in danger. Instead we sat in front of the TV for hours in horror. It just kept getting worse and more surreal as the minutes past. I was 8 months pregnant and fear gripped me for the pure evil people in the world are capable of. For every sight of heroism was the gut wrenching reality that heroes are needed because of the evil that exists. On 9/11 as I sat awake at 2:00 in the morning praying that God would give me some peace, even just enough that I could sleep, He gave me one of the most amazing promises of my life. He took me to the book of Isaiah, and through scripture He began to reassure me of how He had already redeemed all that is broken. He showed me how He had claimed my children. He even spoke to me about the purposes He had for my first born son. Here is where I start to cry and it takes my breath away to type these words. God gave me these promises on September 11, 2001 as I cried out to Him in fear. One year ago today, on September 11, 2007 my first born son gave His life to Jesus on the anniversary of that terrible day, and He made that decision in the very house that God had given me these promises 6 years before. That was an AMAZING day! I realized how God is the Master Conductor, orchestrating the events of the lives given to Him in submission with our free will. Isn't it amazing that when God spoke to me that horrible night He was already seeing the glorious day that would take place 6 years later. He has redeemed the lost! He has seen and healed the broken. He will not leave us or forsake us.

So this morning when the babies pointed out to me the flags flying low in the sky and all the memories came flooding back we pulled over on the side of the road, and I told them all about 9/11. I told them about the families who are still grieving the loss of people they loved . I can't fathom the pain. So...we do the only thing we can do and that is to lift them up to our Heavenly Father and pray for peace.

convictions galore

For the last couple of weeks God has been sifting and churning within me so many things that He desires to change, fine tune, be rid of altogether, and for me to surrender to Him. He has shown me things He wants me to do, things He wants me to hand over to Him, and things He adores in me. God is moving. I love it when God moves because I feel honored that He loves me enough to not allow me to become complacent. I never want to just be. The stinky part is that when God starts moving Satan fights harder to have the control. To put it mildly there has been a battle. I have been so aware of every way and situation that I am not being the woman that God wants me to be. I believe God is showing me these things. God wants me to surrender in these ways, but Satan seeks to shame me into believing that I can't be the wife, mommy, and child of God that Jesus says that I am. Well, here is a news flash for Satan...GET LOST! I am writing this in case there is just one person who reads this blog and might possibly struggle in the area of what kind of person you are. Cause you see...we all make mistakes, but we have a couple of ways to deal with that. We can sit in the lie that we can't get past this and we aren't "good christians" or "good mommies" or "good wives", or we can claim that Jesus has redeemed it all and every moment we have the opportunity to choose to walk in His ways. We are forgiven. We are loved. We are God's beautiful children whom He adores. Don't dwell on where you've messed up. Dwell in the redemptive power of our Savior and know that right now we CAN choose to live the ways God chooses for us to live. Live in the love that is our God. Maybe for some of you this makes no sense, but if any of this feels familiar to you then it is my prayer that you would rebuke the enemy and fall safely into the comforting arms of our loving Father with whom "there is therefore now NO CONDEMNATION for those who are in Christ Jesus". Romans 8:1 8-)

making the point...

It drives my hubby CRAZY when I argue politics. Not with him, because he doesn't argue politics with anybody. Plus, we agree on pretty much everything praise the Lord. 8-) He says that arguing politics is pointless because it is not productive. He says it's not as if you are actually going to change someones mind. He says that you should just be proactive in helping what you believe and let that be the change you make. I have a hard time with that. I tend to be an argumentative person. When I speak to someone that believes in something that I think is INSANE I want to tell them why they are wrong. That doesn't usually go over so well thus making my husbands point that arguing politics is useless. Unfortunately the majority of the people in my life that I don't see eye to eye with are close family members. So here's the deal...I absolutely cannot support anything that Barack Obama does because he sees nothing wrong with killing babies. Now, lots of people believe that this is not a major issue and that it doesn't effect our country thus not making it important to them. Well, get over yourself. The fact of the matter is that when even one child loses their life then it's an issue that should be taken VERY SERIOUSLY, but it's not just one child that loses their life.

In the United states approximately 1.37 million abortions are performed every year. There are roughly 3,700 babies that lose their lives EVERY DAY!
Throughout the world there are about 42 million abortions performed in a year, and an estimated 115,000 babies that lose their lives every single day.

This is NOT alright. This is a disgusting tragedy that should effect every person of every political party, of every race, of every religion, of every nationality. You see, it's not just about an issue. It's about humanity. It's about respecting life. So as far as political candidates this is the issue that I look at more than any other because this speaks volumes about character. If you don't mind the brutal murder of helpless, innocent babies then what else do you just not really care about. How is it that you would be in the best interest of the children in our country when you won't even give them the opportunity to LIVE.