Prayer of St. Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;

where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury, pardon.

where there is doubt, faith.

where there is despair, hope.

where there is darkness, light.

where there is sadness, joy.

Grant that I might not seek to be consoled, as to console.

to be understood, as to understand.

to be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive,

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned.

And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Under Contract

After a crazy series of events, Kevin and I have put a contract on this wonderful 3 acre plot right outside city limits (only 5 minutes outside). It was too good of a deal to pass up. I know that we have only lived in the house we are currently in for a short 18 months, but God has laid on our hearts a desire for a different way of life. We long to have a small piece of earth to tend. WE know it will not be an "easier" way of life, but we don't desire "easier", just different. I am excited and prayerful about what is to come, and truly feel that the Lord has and is leading each step. Our wish is to live outside and enjoy God's beautiful creation, so we our taking steps to build (or move, details later) a house that will be sufficient to live in without wasted space. But first we have to close on it to make it official!

Celebrating Life

I just wanted to recognize to 2 special people, (actually 4)!

This is Ryder, my nephew. He is going to be a big brother to a little brother due to be here in November! He will be an awesome big brother! I know that he will make sure that his baby brother will always be "happy.";)! And we are also happy for mom and Dad, my brother Mike and his wife Melissa.

And I also wanted to recognize my Grandfather who turned 89 the other day! You would never know he was 89! He is still teaching at the nearby college and traveling around the country, as well. We are grateful for every year!

Trip to Texas

We had a great time last week with my parents. It was good to just relax and be together. The kids enjoyed their grandparents and SugarBear, and so did we! We allready miss them. I used the "melting" feature on this slideshow because, well, we were in Texas! We also got to see my grandparents, who celebrated their 66th wedding anniversary while we were there--SIXTY-SIX! We swam, gave Eli his first haircut, visited with family, had a 4th of July cook-out, saw fireworks, and even caught a movie. But, more than anything, we really just enjoyed being together! We made it back through McAlester, OK without a glich, and are back at home!

What is with McAlester?

We traveled down to Houston to see my family this past weekend. We decided to leave in the afternoon and drive all night while the kids slept. It seemed like a good idea. We travel through McAlester, OKlahoma when we go down, which is our half-way mark. Usually we stop and spend the night, but we were anxious to just get there this time. We did stop and eat at good ol' Dennys--it sounded better than fast food. Last Christmas we stopped to spend the night, and when we woke up the next morning Aaron had a temperature of 104.5 and his lungs didn't sound to good. Aaron goes so quickly into pneumonia when he gets a virus, so we panicked and took him to the McAlester ER. By the time Kevin and Aaron got to the ER, his fever had practically gone away and he seemed much better. But they took x-rays and did some tests just to be certain. He was fine by that afternoon. So, before I go into the next McAlester story, let me give you some background on Eli. Eli has had some severe eczema for the last 2 or 3 months (see pics below). We have tried everything, short of steroid creams, to treat it. Some have helped soothe it and keep it contained, but nothing has gotten rid of it. He itches terribly some days, and I just hate it for him. The doctor has said he would eventually grow out of it. Since he has started on table food we noticed 2 incidents in which he seemed to have immediately started itching and had small patches of hives--nothing too bad--and that is when he ate mac-n-cheese. We thought he might have an allergy to dairy or just cheap processed foods (ha)! Well, with that all said, when we stopped at Denny's to eat we just let Eli eat off our plates because he will eat anything. I gave him bites of bacon, lots of fresh fruit, and egg. It was his first bites of egg--not a smart move to introduce a new food en route to Texas! We left McAlester, and about 10 minutes later, a very drowsy Eli began to vomit. Kevin stopped on the side of the road so I could clean Eli and his seat. I took off his shirt and while putting him back in his seat, I noticed welts all over his stomach! Then he began to turn red all over his body--like he had a really bad sunburn! He was itching all over as hives started to spread over his entire body--ankles to ears. I began to panic--literally, I felt like I was going to lose it. My last incident with someone with a severe allergy to coconut ended up with a 2 night stay in ICU. I have never seen a tongue that big--Oh my goodness!!! So, here we were in between McAlester and Lord knows where, and my baby was a welted lobster! His breathing remained in check, but you just never know! We found the nearest drug store, Walmart in Atoka, and got some Benadryl. We debated on taking him to the nearest ER, but decided to huddle together over the sweet boy and pray--we are slow learners, but are learning that the Lord should always be our first line of action! Lexi climbed up from the backseat to pray, and anxiously proclaimed that she was going to "put both of her hands on Eli, not just one!" You go girl! Peace began to fill our car after that, and then Bill and Fran called with news from our wonderful allergist in Springfield. He said that if it was going to attack his airways, it would have done so by now, and that he is most definitely allergic to eggs! Explains why the mac-n-cheese did what it did--eggs in pasta! It also explains why the flu shot he got at six months old may have given him that awful cough he had for 4 months--eggs in flu shot! He coughed like that during this attack--probably because it stirs up extra mucous in the body. So, though it was a scary hour in Oklahoma, we made it to Texas without a visit to the ER and with an answer to Eli's skin issues! Praise God for them both! It is what we have been praying for. Eli is doing great, and his skin is beginning to look better. These pics are from a couple months ago when he first started reacting, they are pretty mild in comparison to the worst it has looked. I wish I had pics of the whole trip ordeal--but was not in the frame of mind to think about pictures.

Kids Kountry Fun Land

Ok, I was going to post these the other night with the last post, but I got carried away and ran out of time. I really just meant to post that picture of the cloud and description, but as I write sometimes I get reflective and windy. I was just reeling from what the Lord was showing me, and I guess I just wanted to share. I will try to keep these posts shorter with more pics of the kids. I certainly don't want it to be a soap box. (whatever that means-soap box? where did that come from any way?) These pics are from our Saturday trip to Branson. There is a fun place for kids that isn't as badly priced as "steal-your dollar city". WE had such a good time. We don't do stuff like this real often, and I was delighted at how the kids just had a good time. I don't think I heard one fight, complaint, or competitive argument the whole time we were there!! Not even when Alexis beat Aaron on the go-carts. Oh, the go-carts were so entertaining! Alexis would not let this little boy (not Aaron) get ahead of her. She kept cutting him off, without hitting him, of course. And then towards the end she was distracted from the road while waving and smiling at Eli and ran right into a parked go-cart! It was quite funny--nobody was hurt. After the little fun park we met Kevin's old boss, Ken, at the Landing near the Lake Taneycomo. Ken and his family were up from Dallas. His wife is from Branson. It was good to see them. We ate while it poured down rain outside. Afterwards we walked around and took some pics of the steam rising from the lake after the storm. Pretty cool!

swings

tea cups

bumper boats

first time on go-carts

Eli--not having so much fun--can you tell?

best I could do of all three--Eli needs his space

the sun was a little bright that day

the boys

the lake

P.S. By the way, I am a very music minded person--there is always a song playing in my head. That is the reason I have various songs playing. If you don't like the music you can click on the pause button to turn it off. Oh, and John Denver was, is, and will always be one of my most favorite singers. Probably won't be the last time you hear him on my blog. I hope that doesn't scare anyone off.

Discovering what is hidden

Isn't this picture amazing? I took this from my car last night. The closer we came to it, the smaller I felt. What was even more amazing was the crazy lightning within these 2 colliding clouds. I wish I could have caught some of that. This picture doesn't even capture what we were watching. This was one of those things that you just couldn't stop looking at! When we got to where we were going I wanted to go inside and bring my kids and my in-laws out to see it, but it was tucked behind trees and not visible. Isn't that just how the Lord is? He makes himself known to us in huge and powerful ways when we are seeking Him, but when we try to tell others our words don't do Him justice, they have to see and discover for themselves. They have to be looking for Him. Then when they "taste and see that the Lord is good" for themselves they will understand our joy. I am learning that we can't expect results until we are committed. I think I tend to go for things that are second hand, instead of from the giver Himself. I will read a great parenting book with the best of intentions, and neglect the one thing that will change me and transform me into the person, wife, mother, etc. that God desires me to be. I neglect Him. I neglect the word of God. I want results without commitment. It is through the word and through prayer that we are changed. It is spending time with Him first, chosing Him first. My preacher preached yesterday on this very thing. We want knowledge from a great sermon, speaker, or book (second-hand) and we believe it will carry us through. But it doesn't. Those things are good, don't get me wrong, but they are nothing in comparison to what the Lord wants to show us in His living and active word. It is relevant today just as it was in the beginning. I under estimate what He can reveal through it. I underestimate how He can even speak to my children through it. It is how He reveals himself to us, so that we can be changed and filled to the point of overflowing into the lives around us. It is how our lives can point to Him. I am guilty of wanting kids who love the Lord, but in my search to make this happen, to "get it right", I have made my children my idol (that's a whole other post!). I implement parenting styles that assure me if I do "this", I will produce "righteous"children. So, I go full steam ahead, and then when I don't get results, I crumble and I fall hard. But God has shown me that I can not have the cart before the horse. Things change only when I change, and I will change when my time is spent knowing and loving Jesus. That is real change, that is genuine--not manufactured. Believe me, your kids know when it is manufactured. They are smart. John 6:63 says "The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life." But this means discipline and sacrifice. It means giving up an extra hour of sleep, it means turning off HGTV, it means saying to my children--it's time to "Be still", it means shutting off the noise in my life, it means saying to myself "I am not entitled to an hour of self-indulgence"--whatever that indulgence might be. It means commitment and self-lessness. And boy, that is hard. Isn't it? But He just wants me to come to Him. He just wants me to abide in Him. I can't get this life "right," but if I allow Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit to live through me by actively living in the Word, He can move mountains. And that is Good News.