Sunday my sister and I traveled to the Chicago area for our Grandmothers funeral. We left after lunch on Sunday. The two of us just went, since we really didn't know our Grandmother that well. My boys had only seen her a few times. Lots of issues in Mom's family. Please pray for the family, there are lots of "feelings" there that get between them. Grandma and Grandpa had 10, children 6 of which died at a young age from Cystic Fibrosis. I always thought they died at birth, but many of them lived until about 10-11 years old. Okay, that would explain the bitterness in my Grandma. She was not a believer in the soviergnty of God, and I'm sure it made it that much harder to deal with. Not that it wouldn't be difficult for any one. You understand what I'm trying to say, I hope. Grandma was a faithful Catholic. She had a nice funeral service. Lots of people there. Mom made the comment that Grandma had lots of friends because she was always nice to people who were not her family. That was very sad to me. Obviously you can see there are LOTS of issues in the family, and I pray that with God's help I will not be as bitter as the rest. Actually, God has helped so much in this area. He has given me such a strong desire to break the cycle of abuse, and all that jazz, and live a life that would glorify him. If it was not for God, there is no telling where I'd be. He has brought me so far. I have had the desire since my first child was born to be the "best granmother" a child could possible want. Selfish? Oh well, with God's help I will be that some day. I long for the day my boys grow up and get married and love to come and visit. Okay, I'm not ready for them to really get married yet, but you understand. Okay, now that I've made people see that I'm crazy at times, enough. I will close this with the request for prayer for our family, this is a hard time for all of them, especially with the ill fellings that they hold. I pray that God will give them comfort during this time of loss, and show them that he cand help us overcome this cycle. I'm such a rambler. Sorry!!
My sister and I got in at 2 am this morning. Of course since I'd not seen my husband in 2 days (yesterday was extremely busy), I had to sit up and talk to him for a while, I went to bed at 3 am. I had to be at work at 7 am. I was a little late, and they were totally understanding of that. Zach was in my bed at 5 am, wow. I picked the boys up from school, they were happy to see me--of course that made me feel good. We did homework, fFixed supper (leftover Jordan meal), picked the mess, and now I'm TIRED!!! It has finally hit me. God helped me through this day, I prayed that he would. How wonderful, I made it with his help, absolutely not by my own self. He is so absolutely wonderful. Well, tata for now. I'm going to bed in a few minutes.
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Candlelight Dinner at RJ's Cafe!
This is Saturday evening. Jordan (the oldest) asked if he could cook dinner for us. I took him to the store Saturday afternoon, and let him decide what our meal would be. He made everything himself, set the table, cleaned up the mess from cooking, cleared the table, loaded the dishwasher, everything. He cleared the table so that he could serve his desert. What fun. He did a great job. We even ate by candlelight. The menu was: Ranch Burgers, Cheese filled smoked sausages (meat was cooked on the grill), hash brown casserole, corn casserole, cheesy broccoli, and cheesecake (w/blueberries if you wanted) for desert. It was a wonderful meal. He enjoyed himself so much. The boys loved eating by candlelight (even though they were in their jammies--or only half dressed). It was a great night. The boys ate like gentlemen, and used very good manners. I was proud of them. Some days, I wonder if they've learned any of the manners that they've been taught, evidently they have. (okay, RJ--that is Robert Jordan--he named his restaraunt.)
Thursday, January 26, 2006
This is Rob and Angel. She is the only girl in the house, besides me. She is extremely spoiled by all. The funny thing is, that Rob and I were not at all pet people before we got her. We got her the week after we moved into our house, and haven't regretted it at all. I now can totally understand how people get so attached to their animals. Have a great day.
Enjoying the sun
I was cleaning house, and Angel, our puppy was enjoying the sunlight. This was just to cute to pass up the picture. She is always cold, and it she is not being held, she is either on the heat vent or in the sunlight, if possible. 
Monday, January 23, 2006
Entrepreneur
First of all I typed this nice little speil on Friday, only to get booted off the internet, and then our provider was down the entire weekend. Oh well, just thought I'd share the little frustrations.
Let me start with my fun Zach story. I went to pick the boys up from school Thursday for a dentist appointment. As I was walking into Zach's classroom, his teacher is gently pushing my out the door with this big grin on her face, and I said "what did Zach do now?" She proceeds to tell me this story. Evidently one day in the week he was the star student, and that means you get the bean bag chair during reading time, and if you'd like you can share your seat, but you don't have to, and the others have to ask you first. Okay, simple enough. Well, Olivia asks Zach if she could sit with him, and he said "sure, if you give me a dollar" What does she do, gives the kid a dollar. WOW!!! Well, Olivia went home and told her grandparents, because they were babysitting for her while her mom was at work, they did not find much humor in the story. When they told her mom, she had the nice talk with Olivia about why they don't like her taking money to school, because she doesn't spend it wisely. Theresa (Olivia's mom) was in the class on Thursday. So, she shared the story with Mrs. Wine, who questioned Zach. He told her that he put the $$ back on Olivia's desk, because he knew it was wrong. Of course she never found the $. Now, I do not think that he brought it home, and he didn't have any new little things in his possession. Well, I said to Theresa, "so I hear that you daughter pays to sit with my son", and of course she found as much humor as I did. That I was thankful for. Evidently she told her parents that Zach was just adorable, and he was quick because he is the youngest of 3 boys. Okay, sorry I offend you by laughing about this story. I found it humorous.
Thursday evening we went to our usual Bible study. It was a great Bible study. It is so wonderful to get together as just talk about the Bible. We are very much enjoying the church we are attending, it is so Bible based. Lots of Bible learning. The boys go with us, and Brianna (the pastors daughter) watches them while we are in the study, they join us for the snack time. Well, Austin comes bounding in with a small deck of Mickey Mouse cards and says "who wants to play poker?" Wow, my kids are never ending excitement. Most people laughed, which made me feel better, but what do you do. Kids will keep you humble. They are great.
Last night at church we had 82 in our "His Kross" ministry. This church has taken over our bus ministry, which is much comfort to us. We picked up 62 in the bus. I got on the bus at 3:45 and we did not get back to the church until 6:30. Then it took from about 8 until 9:40 to drop them all off. Please pray that God will show the church what to do next with this ministry. They are very much feeling the need to minister to these kids, however, you can see the transportation is a bit of an issue. It amazes us that the kids keep coming back, which is very encouraging to us all, but we need to make some changes. I'll give you a little background about this ministry. At the church Rob (my husband) pastored, we ran a LARGE kids ministry, when we resigned one of our concerns was the children. This church was very willing, and READY, to pick up our children. They had a bus running already. The most incredible part of this story is that we resigned on Sunday and they started picking the children up the next Sunday. There was absolutely no laps in the ministry. Praise the Lord for that.
Enough of my ramblings. I thinks I'll start some laundry and take a walk before I endeavor the house cleaning of the day.
Let me start with my fun Zach story. I went to pick the boys up from school Thursday for a dentist appointment. As I was walking into Zach's classroom, his teacher is gently pushing my out the door with this big grin on her face, and I said "what did Zach do now?" She proceeds to tell me this story. Evidently one day in the week he was the star student, and that means you get the bean bag chair during reading time, and if you'd like you can share your seat, but you don't have to, and the others have to ask you first. Okay, simple enough. Well, Olivia asks Zach if she could sit with him, and he said "sure, if you give me a dollar" What does she do, gives the kid a dollar. WOW!!! Well, Olivia went home and told her grandparents, because they were babysitting for her while her mom was at work, they did not find much humor in the story. When they told her mom, she had the nice talk with Olivia about why they don't like her taking money to school, because she doesn't spend it wisely. Theresa (Olivia's mom) was in the class on Thursday. So, she shared the story with Mrs. Wine, who questioned Zach. He told her that he put the $$ back on Olivia's desk, because he knew it was wrong. Of course she never found the $. Now, I do not think that he brought it home, and he didn't have any new little things in his possession. Well, I said to Theresa, "so I hear that you daughter pays to sit with my son", and of course she found as much humor as I did. That I was thankful for. Evidently she told her parents that Zach was just adorable, and he was quick because he is the youngest of 3 boys. Okay, sorry I offend you by laughing about this story. I found it humorous.
Thursday evening we went to our usual Bible study. It was a great Bible study. It is so wonderful to get together as just talk about the Bible. We are very much enjoying the church we are attending, it is so Bible based. Lots of Bible learning. The boys go with us, and Brianna (the pastors daughter) watches them while we are in the study, they join us for the snack time. Well, Austin comes bounding in with a small deck of Mickey Mouse cards and says "who wants to play poker?" Wow, my kids are never ending excitement. Most people laughed, which made me feel better, but what do you do. Kids will keep you humble. They are great.
Last night at church we had 82 in our "His Kross" ministry. This church has taken over our bus ministry, which is much comfort to us. We picked up 62 in the bus. I got on the bus at 3:45 and we did not get back to the church until 6:30. Then it took from about 8 until 9:40 to drop them all off. Please pray that God will show the church what to do next with this ministry. They are very much feeling the need to minister to these kids, however, you can see the transportation is a bit of an issue. It amazes us that the kids keep coming back, which is very encouraging to us all, but we need to make some changes. I'll give you a little background about this ministry. At the church Rob (my husband) pastored, we ran a LARGE kids ministry, when we resigned one of our concerns was the children. This church was very willing, and READY, to pick up our children. They had a bus running already. The most incredible part of this story is that we resigned on Sunday and they started picking the children up the next Sunday. There was absolutely no laps in the ministry. Praise the Lord for that.
Enough of my ramblings. I thinks I'll start some laundry and take a walk before I endeavor the house cleaning of the day.
Monday, January 16, 2006
Waiting for laundry
Today I woke up early with a horrible headache. YUCK!!! I took some advil, and went back to bed. I didn't wake up until 9 am. The boys were out of school and they were good, they know if I'm not up yet, usually I don't feel well. I was glad that after I got up and got moving the headache subsided. I'm just about tired of not feeling well. Hopefully, this will be the end of it, I got an antibiotic from the doctor today. I'm wondering if that is why I was so exhausted on Friday, illness coming on? Who knows.
Today was a beautiful day. Jordan went to a friends house, he really enjoyed that. I bought some ice cream for Austin & Zach, since they were quite distraught about the absence of their big brother. They enjoyed making sundaes. Then, since it was so nice, they played outside all afternoon, right up until supper. They were nice and dirty when they came in. It was a wonderful day to be out of school, and be able to play outside. They were worn out at bed time.
I am currently waiting for a load of laundry to dry, so I can go to bed. See I have one in the washer, a clean load in a basket waiting to be dried, and one in the dryer. I want to eliminate the clean load in the basket. So hopefully the dryer will be done soon, and I can then just have one in the washer and one in the dryer. I know laundry isn't that exciting, but it is my life. Loads and loads of laundry many times a week. Thankfully, I got a new, larger washer about 1 1/2 ago. My original washer was so tiny, like 3/4 pairs of jeans was all that would fit. When my old washer needed fixing, my dear husband said, "forget fixing it, let's just get a new one, a big one."
In our Sunday school class we are learning "how to study" the Bible. This is very exciting to me. We are dissecting the book of Titus. Our assignment for yesterday was read the book every day and then get a title for the book. I was a little unsure of my title, because I'm not very creative. Then when I heard my husbands, I was real nervous, but I could not come up with a new one, so I kept it. I am glad I did, I think it was good, it definitely reflects my personality. It was fun to hear everyone else's. My husband was "Purity, from the pulpit to the pew." (I think there was another P word in there, I just can't remember), oh well, you get the picture. Some other were, "Christianity in a nutshell", "Live right, be polite", "Basic Christianity 1.0", "Common Sense", and then mine was; are you ready for this?! "The way things ought to be", pretty boring I know, however, it is what I think of when I read Titus. Then we had to pick a favorite verse, mine was Titus 2:11-12. This truth is so amazing to me. Once you realize you are saved by grace, through faith alone, you have a stronger desire to live a godly life. When we first started this journey out of legalism, we weren't sure what life would entail. I'll tell you what there is a such a strong desire to be godly, sometimes it makes me crazy. Okay, not literally, but I hope you understand. I was so used to have a false sense of "holiness" by what I did and didn't do, that I didn't know what life would be without the "list of rules." God has been so good to us through this journey, and shows me something constantly. Well, I could go on and on forever, but this it for today. I think me dryer is calling.
Today was a beautiful day. Jordan went to a friends house, he really enjoyed that. I bought some ice cream for Austin & Zach, since they were quite distraught about the absence of their big brother. They enjoyed making sundaes. Then, since it was so nice, they played outside all afternoon, right up until supper. They were nice and dirty when they came in. It was a wonderful day to be out of school, and be able to play outside. They were worn out at bed time.
I am currently waiting for a load of laundry to dry, so I can go to bed. See I have one in the washer, a clean load in a basket waiting to be dried, and one in the dryer. I want to eliminate the clean load in the basket. So hopefully the dryer will be done soon, and I can then just have one in the washer and one in the dryer. I know laundry isn't that exciting, but it is my life. Loads and loads of laundry many times a week. Thankfully, I got a new, larger washer about 1 1/2 ago. My original washer was so tiny, like 3/4 pairs of jeans was all that would fit. When my old washer needed fixing, my dear husband said, "forget fixing it, let's just get a new one, a big one."
In our Sunday school class we are learning "how to study" the Bible. This is very exciting to me. We are dissecting the book of Titus. Our assignment for yesterday was read the book every day and then get a title for the book. I was a little unsure of my title, because I'm not very creative. Then when I heard my husbands, I was real nervous, but I could not come up with a new one, so I kept it. I am glad I did, I think it was good, it definitely reflects my personality. It was fun to hear everyone else's. My husband was "Purity, from the pulpit to the pew." (I think there was another P word in there, I just can't remember), oh well, you get the picture. Some other were, "Christianity in a nutshell", "Live right, be polite", "Basic Christianity 1.0", "Common Sense", and then mine was; are you ready for this?! "The way things ought to be", pretty boring I know, however, it is what I think of when I read Titus. Then we had to pick a favorite verse, mine was Titus 2:11-12. This truth is so amazing to me. Once you realize you are saved by grace, through faith alone, you have a stronger desire to live a godly life. When we first started this journey out of legalism, we weren't sure what life would entail. I'll tell you what there is a such a strong desire to be godly, sometimes it makes me crazy. Okay, not literally, but I hope you understand. I was so used to have a false sense of "holiness" by what I did and didn't do, that I didn't know what life would be without the "list of rules." God has been so good to us through this journey, and shows me something constantly. Well, I could go on and on forever, but this it for today. I think me dryer is calling.
Saturday, January 14, 2006
Here is the grandkids from Robs family. Zach, Jordan & Austin (those are ours) then, Acacia and Montgomery (in matching outfits), they are Rob's sister Jenny and her husband Dean's. Then there is Myles, he is Rob's other sister, Faith and her husband Brent's. Aren't they just adorable. Like I said, Acacia, the only girl. I don't think she'll have much problem keeping up with them.
I figured this out. Awesome.
This is my oldest son, Jordan, and my nephew Montgomery at my in-laws at Christmas. Yeah! I am so excited about this. See Rob bought me a digital camera for Christmas (I was totally surprised) and I can finally post pictures. Yeah Hah! Have a great day.
Friday, January 13, 2006
Crazy Thursday! Relaxing Friday.
First let me start with a serious praise report. Lyndsee Mills the baby that had a brain tumor. Well, she is doing well. She is done with her radiation treatments, and I talked to her mom on Wednesday, and she had just passed a swallow test the day before. Praise the Lord for that. Aimee (the mom), well, they were unbelievers before all this. WOW!!! She has such a wonderful understanding of the sovereignty of God. That was so encouraging to hear from her.
Okay, here is little tid bit of my Thursday. I worked all day (well 8 hours), and it was sooooo busy, no time for a break, or even to just sit a minute. One thing, it definitely makes the day go by fast. I got off work at 3, picked up the boys, and needed to run to the grocery. We have a small group Bible study meeting on Thursday evenings, and I needed to get a snack or something to take with. Of course I did not know what to take. Then I thought of rice krispies, you know the yummy ones that are peanut butter with chocolate & butterscotch on top. I decided this because I have a cabinet with about 10 bags of various chocolate chips, so I was sure I had everything I needed except the cereal. So I buy the cereal. I get home, trying to get 3 boys to do homework, and make this snack at the same time. Well, not enough Karo syrup, and of course none of the neighbors are home to borrow from, so my son rode his bike to buy me some. Then I thought well, while I wait for the karo, I'll at least measure the chips, guess what, I did not have either kind. UGH!!!!!! Jordan got back with the syrup just in time for me to go and pick up my husband from work. Then I needed to go to the other grocery store to buy the chips I needed. Okay, I finally got them made. They were delicious, and only 2 pieces left after the Bible study. I cooked a fancy meal of corn dogs (chosen by the boys) and then we had no ketchup or mustard. My husband was not happy about that. Oh well, we survived. Then off to shower and change before the Bible study. The Bible study was wonderful. The boys were well behaved all day. It over all was a good day. God helped me to remain calm with my "wild" children. That of course helped their attitudes. God is so good to us. I just sometimes forget to depend on him to help me with the boys.
Well, today the boys got out of school early. I was exhausted, so when I dropped them off, I came home balanced the check book and took a nap (2 1/2 hours). It sure helped with the day. Nothing in the house was done, but that can wait. I have to keep things in perspective. It is much better to be rested and able to be a "nice" mom, than have a spotless house and not be so nice. After school Zach got his new glasses. Perfect timing, since yesterday he bent his badly playing ball while we were in our Bible study. Rob and I took the boys to a movie tonight. Another good boy day. It is sure amazing what happens when you let God work through you, and don't have to be in control of everything. 2 days down, many more to go.
That is it for today.
Okay, here is little tid bit of my Thursday. I worked all day (well 8 hours), and it was sooooo busy, no time for a break, or even to just sit a minute. One thing, it definitely makes the day go by fast. I got off work at 3, picked up the boys, and needed to run to the grocery. We have a small group Bible study meeting on Thursday evenings, and I needed to get a snack or something to take with. Of course I did not know what to take. Then I thought of rice krispies, you know the yummy ones that are peanut butter with chocolate & butterscotch on top. I decided this because I have a cabinet with about 10 bags of various chocolate chips, so I was sure I had everything I needed except the cereal. So I buy the cereal. I get home, trying to get 3 boys to do homework, and make this snack at the same time. Well, not enough Karo syrup, and of course none of the neighbors are home to borrow from, so my son rode his bike to buy me some. Then I thought well, while I wait for the karo, I'll at least measure the chips, guess what, I did not have either kind. UGH!!!!!! Jordan got back with the syrup just in time for me to go and pick up my husband from work. Then I needed to go to the other grocery store to buy the chips I needed. Okay, I finally got them made. They were delicious, and only 2 pieces left after the Bible study. I cooked a fancy meal of corn dogs (chosen by the boys) and then we had no ketchup or mustard. My husband was not happy about that. Oh well, we survived. Then off to shower and change before the Bible study. The Bible study was wonderful. The boys were well behaved all day. It over all was a good day. God helped me to remain calm with my "wild" children. That of course helped their attitudes. God is so good to us. I just sometimes forget to depend on him to help me with the boys.
Well, today the boys got out of school early. I was exhausted, so when I dropped them off, I came home balanced the check book and took a nap (2 1/2 hours). It sure helped with the day. Nothing in the house was done, but that can wait. I have to keep things in perspective. It is much better to be rested and able to be a "nice" mom, than have a spotless house and not be so nice. After school Zach got his new glasses. Perfect timing, since yesterday he bent his badly playing ball while we were in our Bible study. Rob and I took the boys to a movie tonight. Another good boy day. It is sure amazing what happens when you let God work through you, and don't have to be in control of everything. 2 days down, many more to go.
That is it for today.
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Stuff!
Friday I received a phone call from a man in town that Rob knows through the Lions Club. Well, he wondered if I was interested in a job at the bank he works at. Well, the answer is I don't really know. I have 9 years bank experience, and I've done most everything that a retail bank office does. I loved banking, it is very interesting to me (how boring that must sound) at any rate, we've been discussing my switching jobs, but never really made a decision. Okay, so I went into the office that day. Now, what is the answer, I don't know any more today than I did when he called. I do know that the manager wanted to hire me immediately, however, she had not been given the go ahead, since it was just that morning that someone turned in their notice. You know how that goes. At any rate, she said to me "do me a favor, don't apply anywhere else", well, of course that made me feel good. I told her I didn't plan on it, and I hadn't really planned on coming in there that day, until Bob called me. So here is the plan, I am just praying and asking friends to help me pray for direction from God. I want the job, if it is the will of God for our family, I don't want the job if it is not. See, I'm fine with my store job, 2 days a week, since they are so flexible with my schedule, see, they let me work the days that it is best for me and the family. I am just praying that I do exactly what God desires me to do, when he wants me to do it. Thanks for the prayers. I'll keep you posted.
Okay, on a lighter note. I made a deal with the boys about starting an allowance. WOW!! They thought that was cool. I told them I'd give them 1/2 of their age in dollars. They of course thought that was great. I also told them they'd be required to do some "helping" around the house. You know, I'm not a slave driver or anything. Just enough so they don't think they get $$ for nothing. You know responsibility. Well, they have to clean their rooms, pick up their dirty clothes, and do homework without a fight, and some other things depending on the day. I think it will be nice for them, when they want something, they can save their own $$ and purchase it, or just save their money. Of course, if they help some more, I'll have more time to spend with them in the evenings, that is the hope at least. You see, I didn't make them do much once they went back to public school, because I felt like they were gone all day, and I didn't want to put too much on them, well, then of course they are getting older, and I really don't want to raise some "lazy" boys. Of course, when I say chores, I mean little things like the trash, emptying the dishwasher, putting laundry away (their own of course), just little things. Well, see how it works out.
This week Rob was asked by a church here in town to come and preach, and possibly be an "interim pastor" until they find a new pastor. The Pastor of the church will be leaving here in a few weeks. Rob was pretty excited about the offer, he sometimes wonders if he'll ever pastor again. (Of course, I think he will--sometime) Well, we prayed about it and discussed it, and he talk to a pastor friend for advice, and we've decided it is too soon to jump into that. It was very flattering though. The elder of the church was a little disappointed. We just felt it was too soon, and we are really still in a new learning process. You know we have to re-learn everything. You know it is amazing how quickly we are learning, I give all the glory to God for that. He has been so faithful to us through our transition. It is definitely an exciting ride we are on. It is funny, someone I talked to the other day said she'd heard we were "charismatic", I told her just tell them that is not the truth, we've become "Baptist". That will really stump them. That will be really bad in their eyes.
Okay, on a lighter note. I made a deal with the boys about starting an allowance. WOW!! They thought that was cool. I told them I'd give them 1/2 of their age in dollars. They of course thought that was great. I also told them they'd be required to do some "helping" around the house. You know, I'm not a slave driver or anything. Just enough so they don't think they get $$ for nothing. You know responsibility. Well, they have to clean their rooms, pick up their dirty clothes, and do homework without a fight, and some other things depending on the day. I think it will be nice for them, when they want something, they can save their own $$ and purchase it, or just save their money. Of course, if they help some more, I'll have more time to spend with them in the evenings, that is the hope at least. You see, I didn't make them do much once they went back to public school, because I felt like they were gone all day, and I didn't want to put too much on them, well, then of course they are getting older, and I really don't want to raise some "lazy" boys. Of course, when I say chores, I mean little things like the trash, emptying the dishwasher, putting laundry away (their own of course), just little things. Well, see how it works out.
This week Rob was asked by a church here in town to come and preach, and possibly be an "interim pastor" until they find a new pastor. The Pastor of the church will be leaving here in a few weeks. Rob was pretty excited about the offer, he sometimes wonders if he'll ever pastor again. (Of course, I think he will--sometime) Well, we prayed about it and discussed it, and he talk to a pastor friend for advice, and we've decided it is too soon to jump into that. It was very flattering though. The elder of the church was a little disappointed. We just felt it was too soon, and we are really still in a new learning process. You know we have to re-learn everything. You know it is amazing how quickly we are learning, I give all the glory to God for that. He has been so faithful to us through our transition. It is definitely an exciting ride we are on. It is funny, someone I talked to the other day said she'd heard we were "charismatic", I told her just tell them that is not the truth, we've become "Baptist". That will really stump them. That will be really bad in their eyes.
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Christmas
Christmas was uneventful. I was extremely worried about facing our family. I was nervous, because our last visit was not a very good one. However, it went fine. I did not feel any tension. That was good for me. I think my oldest son, Jordan, was very worried. He is comfortable with our new "faith", however, family can be a little intimidating. He was much better after we got there and there was not problems.
We had an enjoyable visit with everyone. We arrived on Friday evening. We stayed with Rob's sister and her family. It was a nice stay. On Friday they cooked us a nice "traditional" meal. Ham, mashed potatoes, corn, salad, rolls, and of course lots of Christmas goodies. It was a wonderful meal. See, every where else, our holiday meals are things like pizza and chicken (take out), which is fine, however, it was nice to have a good rounded meal. Saturday was extremely busy, we started at Rob's parents, then to Grandpa & Grandma Myers, then to Grandma Balimans. We were gone from like 11:30am-until 10:30pm, and got in all those stops. It was nice to see people we don't see often though. Sunday was easy, we just had to stop at my brothers, then travel home. Overall, it was a great visit. The kids were well behaved, and there where no problems.
Now, our drive home was quit interesting. It took FOREVER!!! We had to stop quit a few times, which really extends the travel time. The first stop was for some caffeine, the second was for some food (the kids where hungry--we found an open McDonald's), and the third was for fuel. Okay let me tell you about the second stop. Jordan decided to run through a huge mound of snow, and lost his shoe. Okay, first we were extremely aggravated. We tell them constantly not to run through snow piles. Then as I am getting really upset, then it was like God just said, "okay, just last night you told Rob that you felt like I could sustain you through any circumstance, so what is the big deal", then of course I felt silly for getting so upset. Seriously just the night before, I commented to my husband that realizing the overwhelming sovereignty of God that I felt he would carry me through absolutely any thing. That might seem small to some, but coming from such works based religion, it is quit a big thing, because everything good and bad, was based on your goodness. God has shown us so much this year. Okay, back to the shoe story. This was a nice pair of shoes, pretty much new, so my husband shovel in the snow for about 20-30 minutes, to no avail. He gets in the car, and Jordan was so worried about the wrath of his dad, which did not come. It was like God let this crazy thing happen to show us how far from perfect we ourselves are. It turned into a lesson about the gospel. About how unworthy we are, and still he loved us so much that he gave his son to die for us, and no matter what we do, he is always there for us, his righteousness in imputed to us when we just believe. WOW! I could go on and on, but I won't. At any rate, we are now trying to buy the kid a new pair of shoes, just alike or similar, and continue this lesson about the gospel. See Jordan immediately assumed he'd need to spend his Christmas money on a new pair of shoes. We feel like the thing to do is buy them and continue about how our salvation is free, well to us it is anyway. However, he is in an awkward size, just between boys and men, and they are extremely hard to find. We looked the other day, and they was no men's shoes in size 7, and the women's were all too feminine. We will find them eventually.
I am just so excited about all God has shown us this year.
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