A memory day...

The girls wanted to know what "memorial" means. I got the privilege of explaining that memorial is to remember.

So today the girls and I remembered. We remembered Uncle Dustin, and how he served our country, and then we talked about all of the other men in our family tree that blessed our lives by serving the country for the future generations, and that is US!

We made a memory wall with one name on each star, and then talked about each war briefly and  explained why each war was fought. It blessed me to tell it.

The highlight of our remembering happened at the War Memorial. What an amazing place. So many names on the wall, so many bricks with lives attached, so many lives sacrificed and so many broken hearts left behind. One day the girls will understand the significance. Today, though, they just wanted to go to the water.

 

It was good for me though. I needed to do something for my brother today! I love you Dustin!

The Uplands of God-

This is a beautiful quote I heard during a bible study and wanted to share.

Not many of us are living at our best. We linger in the low lands, because we are afraid to climb the mountains. The steepness and the ruggedness dismay us and so we stay in the misty valleys, and do not learn the mystery of the hills.

We do not know what we lose in our self indulgence. What glory awaits us, if only we had the courage for the mountain climb, what blessing we should find if only we would move to the uplands of God. - J.R.M.

Justin Blu

Today I just want to cry out to God, and all who will listen. I want to tell you how thankful I am for the husband God gave me. He is everything I need and so much more.

This was driven home the last few days. We have been talking/struggling through an issue. It was a long three days of frustration and some arguing. The issue is not the point, there is no need to tell what it was about, or why we argued. The point is how peace came back to our marriage and how thankful I am for it.

We came to a peaceful place because we talked to it out until we were done. We didn't walk away still angry and hope it worked itself out. He didn't give up trying to understand my perspective, or give up the opportunity to share his.

Communication has always been the strongest thing about our relationship, from the first time we wrote an email to each other (oh, little butterflies in my tummy) to now when we have learned even more how to talk things out. Justin really is the one who taught me how to communicate and work things through all the way. I remember when we first started getting serious and he would get so agitated with me, and tell me to just "say what you are trying to say, stop worrying about my feelings". And I would get so upset with him about being so "Harsh" as I called it. It is SO amazing to me the place that we are now, the middle ground we have found. My heart just overflows with gratitude when I think of all of the marriages that fail because people cant express themselves, and share without everything exploding.

I am so grateful for my Justin Blu because even in the frustrating moments he can be logical and Godly. I am so thankful to my God for giving Justin the desire to love me. I am so thankful to Justin's parents for raising him in a way that he desired this healthy form of communication. I am so thankful that he is willing to make sacrifices for us.

I absolutely adore my husband, and I feel absolutely protected by him. He is the knight in shining armor that I always dreamed of. By that I mean that he is a warrior. He stands for what he believes in and protects his family at all costs. BUT... he is submissive enough to be under the leadership of his God, and in turn leads his little family! That is a true warrior! A man who can lead, but be lead.

It is so hard to put Justin in a nutshell. So I won't! I pray that if you are searching for this kind of Godly man that you find him. I know I prayed hard for my man, and God blessed me beyond what I could have ever imagined!

Comparing Part 1

 

Comparison, it can become a bondage to you, as it has to me!

It consumes me, it suffocates me every day as I measure myself against others. I measure myself against what type of home they have, what kind of Mom they are, how well they school their children, how well they decorate, whether they talk too much, or not enough, how they dress, how relaxed they are in a group of people,... I WEAR MYSELF out! It has become a bondage beyond any other area of struggle in my life. This act of comparing has sent me into depression over what others think of me many different times, and more often than not, made me feel like I am not enough! It has given me false expectations of what my life should look like, how my children should behave, how my husband should perform in public, what my home should look like and how I should express myself to others. Are you tired yet? I imagine you are. I am exhausted! I am tired of carrying this burden. God has identified this bondage to me over time through different avenues, but just recently through the harsh fire of bible study He has revealed the magnitude of this captivity.

Now what? Now I know these chains are there, and suddenly feel their weight, but how do I get them off of ME!!

Isa 61:1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners...

Christ was sent to set me free!!

James 1: 22-25 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror
24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.
25 But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it-- he will be blessed in what he does.

I must stop looking everywhere else to see what I should become and who I should look like, but search the "perfect law", the word. This is more than just reading the bible though, it says "look intently".

My Father- in- law once gave us (a college class he was teaching) a visual. He said this verse should inspire us to have a flip down mirror, like in our cars, to consistently check ourselves. I should consistently check myself against the word of God to see what I look like.

"... not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it". vs 25

"...keeping oneself from being polluted by the world". vs 27

I realize though that most of my captivity has to do with my insecurities with who I am. WHO AM I!?

Job 31:6 Says that God weighs me on honest scales. HIS conclusion of who I am is true and honest. He doesn't get confused on who He sees, and He is not fooled by the front I hold up for all to see.

So what He says about me IS! Do I trust that, do I believe that?

I say... "I am unattractive"

He says "... You are fearfully and wonderfully made"    Ps. 139:14

I say..."If  people knew who I really was, they wouldn't think  much of me."

"He says "... I knows you." Ps 139:1

I say... "I am going to ruin my children. I am going to scar them for life."

He says ".. My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness."2Co 12:9

Do I believe those things!? Do I believe God?

I have so many more thoughts on my mind concerning this, but I will post those later.

Give me your feed back. What scriptures come to mind when you think of comparing?

LOL

 

There are SOO SOO many things I love about my girls! One of them is their sense of humor. I guess they get that from their Daddy!

These pictures speak for themselves!

Visit with my Niece and Nephew

And my brother in law! (Though I didn't get much visiting in with him.) Justin and Joel picked up where they left off and hung out like the bestest buddies that they are. Justin and Joel grew up together and have been long time best friends. I realize every time that we hang out with my sister and her husband that it is a unique thing for brother in laws to love hanging out with each other so much. They are a blast to watch! There is usually fire involved, and some type of invention. I didn't catch many pictures of them this time.

Like I said I hung out more with my sweet niece and my all boy nephew. It was loads of fun to spend time with just them, and see how they have grown. I got to see the hilarious side of Austyn, and see how grown up Ethan has become. There is nothing like the bond between cousins! I truly was blessed by the sweet attitudes and good manners that they had. Obviously a sign of good parenting! Great job SiS!

You might not be able to tell, but if you know Austyn and Jenna it is quite obvious that there is a performance going on here. Austyn is singing a solo, while Jenna looks on and applauds! This is a "long" standing tradition!

Here they are when they were 2 years old! They haven't changed much!

Tears of Joy

As I looked at the pictures I just cried. I cried with gratitude to my God, for giving me such a beautiful (not only to look at :) family, I cried to see how big they are, and I cried with joy that my Mom was able to capture OUR family just like we really are. I stared at each of my sweet girls faces and was amazed that it was them! Exactly their personalities and sweet temperaments. I hope you enjoy them as I much as I did, and will continue to!
Thank you mom so much! Love you

The pictures are on my mom's blog. Have a look!
http://pjkphotography.xanga.com/

My brother in law and neice and nephew will be here later today for a visit. I am very excited. My brother in law is coming in to take a test with the fire department here, and is bringing the kiddos along. I am sad my sister is not coming, but i think it will be some really good one on one time with my nephew and neice.

SO, I am going to go grocerie shopping, and pick up this crazy house.
Blessing on you today!

Visit from Mom and Dad

My parents came for a visit during spring break and had such a blessed time. It was short, but we managed to cram lots of time into those 3 days. We ran the roads one day, but the rest of the time was just good living room play time, and watching the girls perform their plays, and sitting in lap times!

Mom also had a chance to take some photos of our little family. I am so excited. I had a vision of what I wanted for my living room wall, and she just captured exactly that. Cant wait to show you all how they turned out. I am so glad my family came! It was a blessing to have them. Here is a peak into our week.

Mom made Lexi a quilt for her birthday, and she LOVED it. She has been bringing it through the house wherever she goes (this made Grammy a little nervous I think, but we have been working on keeping it off the floor :)  It is a perfect expression of LEXI!

The three little pigs and the little bad wolf :)

 

     

We made "pel-mainee"  a russian dumpling in broth. OOOH, it was so good. Then one morning, mom made "blinee",like a crepe, for breakfast. YUMMO!

As you can see we had a fantastic visit!

Lessons

One of those things I always wanted to do when I was little was ballet, or gymnastics. We found out that the community center was giving classes for children's ages for real inexpensive, and signed the three girls up. My little day care girls are going with us, so that has been fun too. That is a whole lot of little girls in tutus!

 

Lexi is the one doing gymnastics. She is so flexible anyway, so it is a lot of fun to watch her learn hand stands, and cart wheels!

Cluster blogging :)

So my mother in law pointed out something today that I had not noticed about myself. I cluster blog! LOL I get caught up, and then take a nice long break. SO... here I am again to catch up and hopefully get ahead.

The truth is I love to "blog". It's like scrapbooking without all of the expensive embellishments. I love writing down my thoughts about my precious family. I love taking pictures most, and telling you all why they are special to ME!! I take a picture, and I am thinking of a caption to go with it. Either for my scrapbook or for my blog. Problem is, I am so behind I cant fit all of those thoughts into the few blogs that I put up here. So I suppose a summary is necessary for the last month.

Things have been peaceful and every day life just goes on. Everyday life is good! Here is a peak (a piece) into our little life!

 

Sour cream handed

Andi's painting and our first tulip!

  

Great friends come for a visit, and play days! 

Skating together!! What a sweet Daddy

My little MONET'S

 

The girls and I have been learning about Claude Monet in school. I say "the girls and I" because I have truly enjoyed learning with them. It has been very intriguing to me to learn about different artist lives, and work. This week I had the girls study "Monet's Water Lilies" and paint it themselves.

One thing I had to do that was so hard was show them how, and give them an idea of how to search for the colors, but then leave the room. They amazed me at their ability to see the right colors, and mix them, and still keep the painting "impressionist" style.

This is what they came up with

Jenna's

 

Alexis'

My Big Girl

We had a great weekend. It was Lexi's birthday on Saturday, so we started the fun family celebration on Friday night. Lexi has been asking for a while if she could get her ears pierced and was very excited when her Daddy gave her permission to have them done for her birthday, so that is the first thing we did on Friday night.

(on the phone with Pa Paw)

We started Saturday morning off with phone calls from family, and a big pile of Waffles! YUM!

Then the girls and I had a tea party!

After Daddy got up from his morning of sleeping (he worked all night) we went as a family to roller skate. We had SO much fun. It was neat for Justin and I to skate with our little bunch in between us. It brought back so many memories of the days while we were dating. We used to roller blade all the time together. It was neat to watch our girls, and hold hands and laugh about those fun times. It was a GREAT day.

   

Then today at our little bible study we had a birthday cake for her. (Luke what do you think of our cake making skills? Nothing compared to your football cake of course :)) She wanted a fairy cake, and we put our heads together and came up with this. It was a blast. One day I will venture outside of a pan cake, but I need some more practice!