A List About Nothing

My week has already left me feeling like I'm in the Twilight Zone.  It has been crazy!

Crazy with really odd things.

1.  Emma had over 4 hours of homework Monday night.  OVER FOUR HOURS. 

I'm going to confess something.  She rarely has more than 30 minutes on any given night and most of the time, she does it in the car on the way home from school.  Part of her homework is reading.  Since she does that anyway, we never consider that 'homework'.  But, Monday ..... It was insane.

And because we're planning a trip very soon, I cringe to think of what her makeup work is going to be.  Bless her heart.  I always feel like they are bursting with energy from being in school all day and having to sit still and be quiet.  It broke my heart she had to do more of that when she got home. 

Oh, and last night was more of the same. :(

2.  Olivia decided to go ahead and get her makeup work out of the way.  She sat beside Emma and did every single page of the work she will miss while we're on vacation.

FOUR HOURS.

Whose children are these?

3.  I have managed to squeeze in a few games of Hangman with Snow White.

I've learned that Snow White knows some pretty difficult words ..... like ridiculous and talkative. 

Also, Snow White is clever.  She kept telling me the next word would be hard.  I kept guessing and got hung.  Guess what the word was? It was H A R D.

Genius.

4.  Emma has managed to forget her lunchbox every morning this week. 

It's only Wednesday.

I'm guessing she won't forget it tomorrow because I'm refusing to take it to her today.

Relax.  She ordered a sandwich.  She just won't have a snack, stuff to go with the sandwich and a drink.

I know.  I'm cruel.

And tired of running back and forth to school.

Especially since I pack her lunch and put it by the door for her to grab on her way out every morning.  She forgot it this morning because she ran back upstairs to put in her must-have jingle bell earrings.

Priorities.

5.  I quickly decorated our house for Christmas last night.  The quickest time ever.  Our tree was already up so that helped.  The truth is, I didn't put out most of what I normally do.  I didn't bring in any Christmas bins from the garage so no one could oooohhh and aaaahhh over past decorations.  I kept sneaking outside to look through them myself and only brought in a few things. 

Simplify!

It works for me.

And I don't think anyone will notice the difference. 

We're trying something new with the girls this year to keep our attention on the real reason for the season.  So, this works for all of us, actually.

I did want to talk about my testimony post.  I'm working on a post that will hopefully answer some of your questions.  If you left me with a way to get in touch with you, I've already done that but several of you had questions but didn't leave an email address.  I want to answer you and feel your questions are very important.  Stay tuned ....

Have a great Wednesday, Y'all.  We're almost to the end :)

1,000 Gifts ~ #119 - #136

"He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me,

and he prepares the way

so that I may show him the salvation of God"

Psalm 50:23

 

I am more and more aware of God's gifts of grace around me each day.  I hear it in my girls' laughs, an unexpected check in the mail, when I wake up each day given the privilege to live life on this earth again with my family. 
 
I possibly see them more prevalent in struggles and trials.  The way He sustains me.
 
My 'count' of these gifts seems a little shallow ~ only because He bestows so much more than I post here.  I think the point is to be more purposeful in recognizing His hand. 
 
And, I am ....
 
119.  My girls singing.

120.  A day at home to clean and listen to Travis Cottrell .... "Thanks be to Our God" on repeat.

121.  Watching my girls bake by themselves.

122.  Olivia getting so tickled over a Christmas song.  She was laughing long after I put her to bed.  Funny.

123.  A rainy day and breakfast for dinner.

124.  Decorating the Christmas tree, reminiscing over all the handmade ornaments. 

125.  Christmas traditions my girls already recognize.

126.  A peaceful Thanksgiving.

127.  Celebrating Eric's Mom is cancer-free this Thanksgiving.

128.  My Mom's potato salad.

129.  Playing with cousins.

130.  An anniversary getaway with Eric.

131.  Uninterrupted, nice dinner reminiscing about the past 15 years.

132.  My husband.

133.  My marriage.

134.  Inlaws that are happy to watch the girls.

135.  Children that genuinely love one another and have fun together.

136.  God reminding me when I am blindsided by bad news, He is not.  He goes before me and will sustain me.  I just need to trust Him.


Don't forget to visit Ann Voskamp's blog.  You will be blessed.

He Is On My Side

I woke this morning and remembered it was Thanksgiving.  Eric was already awake and in the kitchen.  Before getting out of bed, I grabbed my Bible and turned to (my) traditional Thanksgiving passage.

Psalm 124.

"If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, now may Israel say;

If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us:

Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us:

Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul:

Then the proud waters had gone over our soul.

Blessed be the LORD, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth.

Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped.

Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth."

"If it had not been the Lord ...."  I lie there and think about those words ... something I've grown accustomed to doing every Thanksgiving.  I'm sure I'm the only one that 'gets' what those words mean to me. 

Without the Lord, I would surely be in a ditch somewhere or quite possibly not even be alive today.  God saw fit to deliver me from a deep, sinful past and give me life abundant. 

I love that He was (is) on my side.

Eric calls me to the kitchen.

The girls and I gather around the bar where he has his Bible open.  I knew he was getting ready to share with us about Thanksgiving and prepare our hearts for the day.

Hmmm ... wonder what He's going to read? I glance at his Bible.

Psalm 124.

I smile.  He understands.  The passage means the same to him as well, though we've been delivered from very different things.  

He reads the verses out loud and tries to lovingly explain it verse by verse to us.

Emma yawns.

Olivia seems to be looking past us ~ possibly looking for breakfast that will follow our devotion.

Both reactions cause a lump to form in my throat. 

Not because they aren't being respectful.  Because they are.  They are listening.   But maybe the words don't mean as much to little girls who are just 6 and 10 in age.  Maybe they don't understand yet what it means for the Lord to be on your side and protect and deliver you from a world that tries to devour you daily.

Right now they are safe ... dependent on their parents.

I want to cry right then because I wonder what experiences they will have to face in their lives to make passages like this become real to them ...... a part of their story.

As Eric prays for 'Thanksgiving' and the day ahead, I pray for God to protect my girls.  For Him to become real to them, but to do so with a gentle hand.  I pray they see His goodness in ordinary things in their days.  I remember, once again, that begins with me.  I pray again that God would forgive me for my shortcomings, when I neglect His blessings and fail to acknowledge Him so they can see.  I pray, again, that He will fill in the gaps when I fail to be the mother He wishes for me to be.

He reminds me He is on my side.

And theirs as well.

My Testimony (A Video)

After contemplating it for months, I finally broke down and made a video of my testimony. 

For the record, even the thought of me talking on a video makes me want to vomit.  It just ranks way down on the list for me .... maybe even below 'eating worms'.  :)

But, I was encouraged to do it and felt like God could somehow use it to reach someone for Him.

Atleast that's my prayer.

And, I never mind talking about the Lord and all He's done for me!

A few things ...

** It was the end of the day and I had shot the video (sounds official, doesn't it?) 4 times already.  Each video was approximately 15 minutes long.  I felt like I should trim it down, so this is the result of that.  Speed talking :)

** 'End of day' means serious hair issues.  Try to overlook.

** Before you comment, I am fully aware of my deep Southern accent.  It's who I am.

** Any loud thumping you hear in the background is Olivia wanting to come into the kitchen but I wouldn't allow it.  She was sick of hearing my testimony - ha!

** None of the above matters because the true message is I am forever changed by Jesus Christ.  He has redeemed so much in my life.  I want others to know the Joy that I have, so that's the reason for this ....



So, what's your testimony?

Have you accepted Christ as your Savior?

I would love to hear from you in the comments.  (I'm allowing anonymous comments for this one)

Do you not have a testimony? Now is a great time to accept Jesus as your Savior! Leave me a comment or message me at deidrelail(AT)embarqmail(DOT)com.  I would love to share with you this gift God has available to all who will accept!

Birthday Detox ~ Part Two

The night before a birthday, we always decorate the birthday girl's place for breakfast.  Olivia helped me this time :)

I dig out old baby pictures and we enjoy reminiscing the early years - ha!

Olivia got Emma the new J Bieber Christmas CD.  We played it while eating breakfast, and I'll just say Lil' Drummer Boy will never be the same.  He murdered it.  (I'm being nice.)

On Emma's actual birthday, we met the grandparents out for dinner.

Then, the real party was on Saturday ..... at Skateland!

I have to document here what Emma pulled on this particular birthday.  She wanted a class party more than anything, so Eric and I finally agreed.  I ordered invitations and sent them out.  I later started getting replies from people I hadn't invited.  Replies saying they were coming.

After some prodding, I figured out that Emma had HANDWRITTEN some invitations to hand out as well. 

I seriously thought I may need CPR.

We had 27 kids!

TWENTY-SEVEN!!

Emma's excuse was the ones she invited later were kids she wanted to witness to and she wanted them to be around her Christian friends.

I don't know.  Is she playing me?

She was having so much fun skating with all her friends.  My heart was happy, but I'll confess I was thinking "Soak it all in baby girl because you won't get this again FOR A LONG TIME!"

As in, possibly never.

Seriously, we had a really great time.  I just kept reminding myself that TEN is a big deal :)

I won't post a lot of pictures here because most include her friends and I don't have permission, but I was once again so thankful for the friends she has.  She truly has the sweetest class.

I will post this one so you can see Eric in the background ....

Because if his job doesn't work out, he can always go to work at Sonic :)

So, it was a birthday to remember.  We're recovering this week :)

1,000 Gifts ~ #101 - #118

101.  Morning quiet time and a reminder from the Lord that He loves me.

102.  Dropping Eric off at work and laughing so hard at something that happened over the weekend.  I love to laugh.

103.  A quiet day at home to clean and do laundry.

104.  Changing my girls' sheets on their beds.  They have the sweetest, most peaceful rooms.  Blessings.

105.  Reminding myself Eric is home all week and feeling such peace with knowing that.

106.  Weekly cards from a friend .... always encouraging me.

107.  Having a few peaceful hours to do nothing but read.

108.  Baking with my girls.

109.  Watching Emma get so excited over her birthday.  Birthdays are a BIG DEAL around here.

110.  Sweet anniversary roses from Eric.

111.  Spending an hour at the doctor talking about the Lord.  Blew my mind.

112.  Dinner with family and friends.

113.  Being around all of Emma's sweet friends/classmates at her birthday party.  We are so blessed!

114.  Two friends stopping to pray with me and over me this week.  I have been under an odd, but very real, spiritual attack.  Those prayers were (are!) so important to me.

115.  Hearing Emma's conviction over a sermon.  She has the sweetest heart and has a deep desire to see her lost friends come to know the Lord.

116.  Listening to my girls talk about the Lord in the back of the van.  Blessed my heart.

117.  Olivia hugging me and telling me "I love you" just because.

118.  Finding this note from Emma on my bathroom mirror ...

.... and knowing she wants to get up 15 minutes earlier so she can have her own devotion time with the Lord.  Seriously, the Lord blessed me abundantly with this child!

I am keenly aware of God's grace each and every day!

Birthday Detox (Part One)

I am positive we have never spent this many days celebrating a birthday.  It wasn't at all planned but worked out that way.

Back in January, I bought tickets to take Emma and a friend to a T*ylor Swift concert .... in July.  But, T*ylor got bronchitis and had to cancel her show.  Which was then postponed for November 16 (our anniversary and 2 days before Emma's birthday).  Ha!

I would have gladly used that as an excuse to let the concert be her birthday gift, but she had a very convincing argument that it was never meant to be for her birthday.  SO .... we've been in overdrive since Wednesday.

So, first up .... the concert.

I picked up Emma and her friend, Regan from school and we rushed home to get ready.

They had my friend, Rita, to do their hair :)

After stopping to eat at Olive Garden, we made it to the concert.

The girls were so excited.  Rita and I were too.

The concert was sponsored by C*ver Girl, so there were people handing out free samples of lipstick.  The girls put that on immediately :)

Going to find our seats ...

We found them! And, Emma couldn't stop squealing with excitement!

I was a little nervous about taking Emma to this concert.  She's only been to a one other (Christian) concert before, so I wasn't sure what to expect for her.

But, I will say, it was GREAT!

(Lights out ... Taylor has just come on stage!)

I think T*ylor changed outfits every other song as well as the entire stage.  It was like watching a broadway play.

She sang for over 2 hours!

The girls in front of us kept getting confused and telling us they loved us :) Awkward.  haha

Then, ofcourse, Taylor had to fly out over the crowd.  Emma swore she waved right at her ;)

There was a girl behind us that would NOT stop screaming.  I really have no words to describe it.  Screaming.  Non stop. 

I seriously thought me and my migraine would have to head to the hospital.  Afterwards, she said "my voice is almost gone".

Seriously? No.  Imagine that.

Drove me nuts.

Other than that, it was a perfect night.  I was so glad to do that with Emma.  She will never forget it. 

!My Mom took me and 2 of my friends to a concert on my 11th birthday ... Olivia Newton John.   Classic ;) I still remember so much about it.  It was the "Let's Get Physical" craze.  Ha! (And, no my daughter is not named after her though I am a fan.  A big fan. :)

It was a long night for a school night, but really worth it. 

More birthday news to come .....

Double Digits

I'm not going to say all the normal cliches like "I can't believe you're TEN already" or "It was just yesterday, I was rocking you and laying you down in your crib".

The truth is, I can believe you're ten.  Mainly because you've reminded us of it daily for months now.  You couldn't wait to be double digits.

I'll just say instead that you are my most favorite ten year old!

You are funny ...

Quirky ....

A deep thinker ...

Adventurous ...

A fabulous big sister ...

A treasure for a daughter ...

As well as a compassionate, sensitive, intelligent, hard-working, God-chasing, baby-loving, strong young lady.

Beautiful ~ inside and out!

Yes, you are growing up.  But, in my eyes, you are still my sweet, little girl ...

Happy TENTH Birthday to my precious daughter! Your Daddy and I are so thankful God chose us to be your parents.  You bring us unspeakable JOY every day of your life! We love you!

Our scripture verse and prayer for you this year (and always!) ...

"See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy

and empty deception, according to the tradition of men,

according to the elementary principles of the world,

rather than according to Christ."

Colossians 2:8 NASB

Fifteen

Today, Eric and I have been married fifteen years.

I can honestly look him in the eyes and tell him they have been the best fifteen years of my entire life.  I truly mean that. 

I knew on this night (our first date after I met him a year before) that I could marry him ....

I used to say I can't believe God thought enough of me to give me Eric.

I don't say that anymore.  I believe it now. 

Because God is good and gracious.

Happy Anniversary, Honey! I love you! I hope for many, many more.

Rejoice Anyway

"This is the Day the Lord has made, let us Rejoice and be Glad in it!!"

This is what my Olivia was singing as we pulled into school this morning. 

I so wish I had her JOY all the time.

I didn't really feel like rejoicing (migraine!) but when she blurted out "What should we praise God for, Mama?", I had to give her a few reasons.

What I'm learning is that it's easy to praise God when we're happy and feeling good.  It's when we're feeling rotten or defeated that is gets tough.

But, maybe that's when it's most necessary ???

Tonight is our final night of Bible Study.  I'm going to miss this group.  Never before have I seen so many women that started the study actually finish.  The committments have been solid and surely God is so pleased.

When any Bible Study finishes, I give myself permission to read.  Read all the books I have stacking up on my nightstand.  There are a few I can't wait to dive into. 

I plan to finish up Kisses From Katie tomorrow.  Have you read this book? If not, you should.  It's a wonderful (true) story. 

Take a look at the video to see what it's all about.


Goodness, I need to do a better job! Makes me feel horrible for complaining about anything!

Happy Tuesday!

From Gloomy to Happy

The wind was strong here today.

Some days you don't need a reason to feel gloomy.  Yet, a gloomy day it was.  I couldn't really put my finger on one reason other than I haven't felt that great.

So, I blamed it on the wind. 

I know with these high winds, all the beautiful leaves are going to fly off the trees and we'll be left with barren limbs.  That makes me sad.

Dramatic, huh?

I know.

When my girls got home, my mood shifted. 

They are cooped up in their classrooms all day and have to be quiet.  As soon as they get in the van, they are a burst of energy and talk my head off.

I turned my gloomy attitude about the weather into "It's a beautiful day to play outside girls!"

They agreed.

After homework, I thought they were rushing to go out.  I heard them laughing hysterically.

I didn't find them jumping in leaves.

Leaves are overrated.

They were having the best time jumping in the middle of my dirty laundry.

Weird girls.

I guess the days I change sheets around here will be a new favorite ??

They did turn my mood around, though.

Olivia finally got dressed to go outside.

It's tough to be in a gloomy mood around Olivia.  She doesn't tolerate it!

Emma doesn't either.  They're happy 99% of the time.

And they are forever doing things to make me smile.

I found a note from Emma on our dot-to-dot game (Yo Mama!)

(We keep a dot-to-dot or tic tac toe game going in their lunchboxes.  I make my move while I'm packing lunches and they make their move while at lunch.)

I also found this sweet, sweet note from Olivia to her Daddy ...

Dear Daddy. Remember these rules.  Say I love you, be kind, share, be respectful, serve others, keep your promises, love Jesus, say please and thank you, always tell the truth, forgive others, pray always, be grateful.  Love. Be safe.

ha! She copied this from a sign I have hanging in my kitchen, but I love that she gave it to her Daddy and added 'be safe' at the end.

It's a fact - my mood is much better when I'm around my girls.