Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Itunes, anyone?

It is 8:00 on Christmas morning. I am all alone in the living room. All the gifts have already been opened and the trash has all been cleaned up. Amazing how quickly the kids can open the gifts that I spent 2 months shopping for. Kevin and Steve have gone in search of breakfast. I'm not expecting them back anytime soon.

Nathan and Katie were the only one to receive toys this year and most of their gifts did not fall into that category. Lots of Wii games, Cd's, DVD's, and jewelry were under the tree--just another sign I'm getting old in parenting years. But, by far the most popular gift this year--(drumroll)--Itunes gift cards. We somehow amassed a total of $205 of itunes downloads. That should be enough to last us until this time next year, but with 3 ipods and 1 mp3 player in the house, maybe not!

I'm not going to include pictures of the gift-opening since I don't think the kids would appreciate being seen by the world in their pajamas and they might decide to return the favor. Here's one of them in front of the Christmas tree last night.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

A Blog Christmas Card for you!

Hope your Christmas is like this...



And not like this...


Merry Christmas from all of us!

Monday, December 17, 2007

Labels

I tend to avoid labels. Labels for individuals, labels for people groups, and especially labels on clothing or accessories. I feel sorry for people who feel they have to purchase things with a flag symbol, a little horse, or alligator on them to feel they have value or in an effort to make other people think they're important. I'm not saying you're a bad person if you do buy those brands; I'm just saying we shouldn't get our value from the status they represent. Since those designer labels are usually 4 times the price of regular stuff, I in my thriftiness could never justify a purchase just to get a particular brand.

Being a pastor's wife, I also tend to be self-conscious about how others perceive how I spend God's money--money they've given to the church to pay our salary. I shouldn't be concerned about it, but I am. I know I'm only accountable to God, just like everyone else, but I feel the need to head off misconceptions before they start. I recently purchased a sterling silver, 3 stone (cubic zirconia) ring for $7 because I thought it was pretty, but I find myself not wearing it to church because I don't want anyone to think we're spending $5000 on a ring. Isn't that silly?

So knowing this detail about me, imagine my surprise when my boss (and friend) gave me a Coach purse for a Christmas gift. I have never even entertained the thought of owning a Coach purse. In fact, I think the most I have ever paid for a purse is somewhere around the $25 mark and that was a splurge. I usually purchase the $3 clearance purses at Walmart. Now I find myself with a purse I'm actually worried about someone stealing. Oddly enough, I've decided just to use it on Sundays so I don't trash it while lugging it everywhere during the week. I decided that if anyone was nosy enough to notice I was carrying a Coach purse would probably also notice my other two friends and fellow co-workers also received the same gift.

Channel 2 works for you

That really is their slogan. I'd hate to watch the news that was against me, as a comedian once said. Had I lived in our area a little longer, I might have even heard of the news anchors and weathermen who gave us our tour, but we had fun anyway. All of us except Alyssa. She decided to tag along because the previously blogged trip to the mall was before the field trip. After arriving, she was disappointed to learn that she was the oldest one there and surrounded by kids at an average age of 8. The green screen was a hit with Nate although I do hope he doesn't grow up to be a weatherman. His choice for a future career tends to vary with our latest outings. He wanted be a policeman after our academy tour and before that it was an architect. Okay, it was really the guy who drives the backhoe on construction jobs, but I convinced him that designing the buildings was way cooler.

Sorry if the picture of the sign in the bathroom offends anyone, but Alyssa and I found it hilarious thanks to the small print at the bottom of the sign. Hope it makes you smile too!

Thursday, December 13, 2007

And there was light...

We have electricity again!!!!!! Woo Hoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The front half of my neighborhood is still dark so I am very thankful to be in the light again. I hope we do not have to repeat this experience ever again. Life just seems to have stopped this week as we were handicapped with no power. All of the school districts in the area closed for the whole week and don't know if they'll open next week since some still don't have power. They also lost all their food supplies and don't know if they'll be able to get shipments in before Monday. Zac may have the longest Christmas break in the history of public school!

Two funnies from the week:
"I changed my mind, I want a generator for Christmas." --Nathan on day 2 of the blackout

"Ooooooooo, I get to be pretty tomorrow!" --Alyssa when she found out she could stay the night with a friend who had electricity

Now I just have to make a really long grocery list to replace everything we lost.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Oh, the weather outside is frightful.....

If you've watched any national news in the past few days, you know that OK is experiencing it's worst ice storm/electric outages ever. Yes, unfortunately, we are one of the 200,000+ homes with no power--not since Sunday! The church finally has power today, so we are camped out in Kevin's office for a few hours to avoid being in our 53 degree house. The kids lucked out and were able to spend the night at someone's house last night, whereas Kevin and I have toughed it out under piles of covers every night. I think if I could figure out how to get my nose warm and still be able to breathe, I might could get some sleep. As it is, I feel like I haven't slept in 4 days, I'm sick of being cold, and just in case you can't hear the tone in my typing, I'm starting to get a little crabby. Pray for us to have power soon! We are being told it could be up to another week. Personally, I'd prefer to stop our record setting for number of consecutive days without electricity at 4.

Friday, December 7, 2007

Shopping with Boys

An inadvertent dynamic of Zac being in school every day is that Nathan is left at home with 3 girls. I've always tried to take care of my shopping errands during the day which means Nathan has tagged along on quite a few shopping expeditions this semester. His original reaction to my revealing plans for shopping on a particular day usually involved whining and complaining. Then, being the smart kid that he is, he started trying to turn it to his advantage, i.e. asking what he was going to get on the trip. I found that he was a happier shopper if we at least walked through the boys section and if we could find something less than $5 on the clearance rack, preferably in green, he was actually excited about the trip. This has lead, unfortunately I think, to a 7 yr. old who always wants to buy new clothes. What kind of effect this will have in his teen years remains to be seen. Hopefully, he'll care enough about his clothes to at least wear clean ones everyday which cannot be said for the other teen boy who lives in this house.

All that background information to tell you a funny story that happened this week. We were driving to the mall to make a quick trip into JC Penney in our never ending quest to find jeans that fit Katie. (If you know where to buy pants that are a size 12 length with a size 7 waist, please let me know!) We were limited on time because we were on our way to a field trip at the television station (more on that later) so we were plotting out our attack on how to accomplish everything we needed in a short amount of time. We decided we would hit the girls dept. first, then head to jr. dresses for Alyssa when Nathan, who had been riding quietly up to this point, piped up from the backseat. "Hellloooo, does anyone remember I'm here?" We did venture through the boys dept. and found what Kevin would call a "cool dude jacket".
Here is in his new jacket and his gangsta hat.

Sunday, December 2, 2007

O Christmas Tree


I LOVE my Christmas tree--not because it's expertly decorated or lavish in any way, but because every ornament has a history. Each year, each kid gets to pick a new ornament, and each year as we get out all of the boxes of Christmas decorations, each child excitedly looks for their ornaments and gets to place them on the tree, anywhere they want. You would think as they got older, the excitement of this activity would wane, but it doesn't. Zac tried to act like he didn't want to participate this year, but it didn't take much encouragement for him to add his collection to the branches including the Darth Vader M&M ornament he picked out yesterday. Nathan added another train for the 7th year in a row and Alyssa chose a cute shoe for her fetish for fashion. Katie is still undecided, but hopefully she'll have one by the end of the week. Nathan is always sad that he doesn't have as many as everyone else, but letting him hang Kevin's ornaments on the tree seems to make him happier.

My ornaments always come from places we've visited, so there's a few from Disney plus a San Francisco cable car, a Boston ship, Statue of Liberty, the White House, etc. and now a few from India that Kevin bought for me--the perfect gift! These join a few cross stitched and smocked ornaments that I made "way back when" during my days with one child and visions of grandeur of having a tree with all homemade ornaments on it. I'm glad I didn't stick with that plan because we would have missed out on a lot of fun family memories.

A Cheater's Thanksgiving

I cheated and ordered our Thanksgiving dinner from a caterer. Kevin spent the first part of the week in Baton Rouge with Steve playing golf. I knew I was going to be by myself with the kids for the week and that we had several appointments on Wednesday and really didn't think I would have time to cook. I've never been a big fan of one person having to cook for 2 days so that everyone can devour all your hard work in 20 min. To me a holiday means getting to be lazy and read a book or watch cheesy hallmark movies. Not once did I second guess my decision to "cheat", especially since Kevin didn't make it back at his scheduled time Wed. night. His original flight was cancelled due to weather. Thankfully he was able to get on Steve's flight Thursday morning and they made it here Thurs. right at lunch time. And for the record, this will make the 4th trip in a row that Kevin has arrived at the airport without his luggage accompanying him on the flight. I did redeem myself a little by making the famous Grandma Maybelle Mac n cheese and two chocolate meringue pies that didn't last till Friday.

Friday morning, after hitting a few sales, Kevin and I left for Beaver Lake for the rest of the weekend. A family in our church offered us their lakehouse for the weekend. It was so nice just to relax and not worry about a schedule of any kind for a few days. We spent Sat. in Eureka Springs, enjoying the scenery and doing a little Christmas shopping. We're hoping we'll have the opportunity to go as a family this summer to the lakehouse again. It has plenty of room, complete with a pool table and Ms. Pac Man video game on which I have the current high score. Here's our view from the deck.

Saturday, December 1, 2007

Police Academy...

the field trip, not the movie. It was a little strange going on a field trip with just Nathan, Katie and I; and quite honestly, if Katie had been given the choice she probably would have stayed at home. Being a 7 yr. old boy, Nathan loved the police academy especially since the swat team was training with live ammunition and explosives. It's a strange feeling being that close to automatic weapons being shot and not being the least bit scared.

Here's a few pictures from our day. When we first pulled in the parking lot and Nathan saw the row of police cars, he said, "If we were robbers I don't think now would be a good time to do it."

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

My moral dilemma

I am, by default, a rule-follower except for one area of my life: movie theatre snacks. It is quite the splurge for us to go to the movies which we did today to see "Enchanted". (Very cute, by the way.) As we were getting ready to leave for the movie, we all were stashing our granola bars and soda cans in purses and I felt the small pang of conscience, wondering if I have been setting a bad example for my children. (Although since this has been our practice their entire lives, the damage, if any, is probably already done.) I could justify my rule-breaking with the fact that Zachary is allergic to popcorn and almost all candy bars or that I'm not supposed to have sugar, but my real reason is purely economic. Is it really fair to burden families with $3.75 sodas and $5 tubs of popcorn? Don't we answer to a higher authority about how we spend our money as opposed to obeying the profit-minded theatre's rules? I think this falls under being a good steward and thus makes my "sneaking" food in okay. What do you think?

Monday, November 19, 2007

Project Runway

The girls and I discovered Project Runway last year, about halfway through the season and quickly became fans. I must confess we spent several days this summer on the couch getting caught up on all the old seasons during Bravo marathons. A new season started this past Wednesday and we are all excited to get to watch the drama unfold week by week.

During this first show, they interviewed each of the designers, showing clips of each one sharing their design philosophy when I heard what is currently my new favorite quote: "What you wear is a reflection of who you are. Life is too short to wear a bad outfit."

Now, lest you think I am being prideful or materialistic, let me explain why I think your attire and your spiritual well-being are related. I realize I'm walking on thin ice here and not all of you are going to agree with me, but here goes. When you dress nicely (nicely, not expensively), you tend to have more confidence in yourself and what you believe in. When we have more confidence in who we are in Christ, that then is a draw to non-believers. Shallow but true, people are more likely to be drawn to you when you are dressed attractively than like a bum in sweats and a t-shirt with holes in it.

While I'm on my soapbox of fashion today, let me also point out that we as wives should do our best to look our best for our husbands. No, not so they can boast about how pretty their wife is, but so they know we love them enough to make the effort to look nice for them and to make the temptations out there in the world less enticing. There seems to be a common practice among wives that once we're married, the effort is no longer required. I'm thankful for a mentor during my newlywed years that encouraged me to always look my best for Kevin, even if that meant running in the bathroom at 4pm to put on a little makeup before he got home. Old fashioned, yes, but I believe our husbands are encouraged and built up by our efforts. I can just hear some of you saying, "that's easy for you because you're thin." I'm not talking about being thin or beautiful by the world's standards, I'm talking about the effort to look your best. I promise your hubby will appreciate it and your marriage will be stronger for it.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

New Blog Feature...

If you look to the right, you'll notice a new section giving you a link to friends' blogs. Sadly, I know several people with good intentions of having a blog, but one post every 3 months does not a blogger make. So, if you have a blog I don't know about, please send me the link and I'll be happy to add you--but only if you post at least once a month (preferably more often!). In case you're wondering, yes this is the Natalie who lives overseas. You'll find a hodgepodge of stuff on her site kind of like mine--random thoughts and kid antics to entertain the grandparents--and lots of fascinating cultural stuff from central Asia (not like mine, but maybe one day!).

Monday, November 12, 2007

Now you're caught up!

Okay, I spent an hour looking for the USB cord for the camera this morning and with no success, I headed to Target to get a new cord but left with a card reader instead. So below you'll see all the pictures I've wanted to show you over the last few weeks while the cord was MIA.

Aunt Liz flew up this past weekend to see the last soccer game of the season and see our new hometown. She introduced us to Coney Islander and we took her to our new favorite, Elephant Bar. (No it's not really a bar!) We also saw the Bee Movie on Saturday night while Kevin was gone to the OSU game.

There's also a few pictures from my mom's visit in Sept. when we went to the gardens.

National Nathan Day!

Occassionally, Kevin will declare "National Sharon Day" at our house. It is usually announced early in the week so I can be sure not to plan anything on that day other than what I want to do--facial at the beauty school, go shopping ALONE, or lay on the couch reading a book. A couple of Friday's ago, Zac was at school and Alyssa and I had some shopping to do. (Seriously, neither one of us had any long sleeve shirts.) This left Kevin, Nathan and Katie at home. While eating donuts for breakfast, Nathan announced it was "National Nathan Day" and he got to do whatever he wanted all day. He was so cute we gave in a little, and he picked for Kevin to take him to the park while Katie was at vision therapy. Since no national holiday would be complete without a photo shoot, here's some pictures from their park adventure.

AAAAGH!

My desk, or lack thereof, is driving me crazy! At our TX house, we had a built in desk center in the kitchen/breakfast area so we did not own an actual piece of furniture to put the computer on. I have been shopping for a desk since we moved and have not found one that has the features I need in the price range I can afford. So, for the last 3 months, my computer has been sitting on a fiberglass, folding table. This means there are no drawers or cabinets and everything is just laying everywhere. Those of you who know me well, know that this goes against every fiber of my personality. I like for everything to be neat and organized and to have it's assigned place and be in that place when I need it. This is not possible when all my papers and "desk stuff" is just laying around the desk area, not really in it's place. If I could locate the camera USB cord (lost because it doesn't have a place and why there aren't any current pictures on here), I could take a picture of this eyesore in my living room so you could share my angst over the whole ordeal, although I think only a true Type A personality can truly share my frustration. Even more frustrating is that I did find a desk that suited my purposes but was a little more than I wanted to pay for it, but in my desperation was going to buy it anyway. Then, we discovered that my van needed new tires, so that's what I got instead. It stinks to spend money on 4 circles of rubber that aren't even cute or fun in anyway. Yes, I know it's important to be safe but I would have gotten a lot more satisfaction and peace of mind from buying a desk.

36 or 56?

I went to the dr. last Friday. It was my first visit to this office so I was answering all of the customary medical history questions. Then the nurse started asking me a lot of questions that you would ask an older woman who had approached a certain life stage. I couldn't figure out why she was asking me these questions, when she looked at me and said, "Are you really 56?" I quickly corrected her to my correct age of 36 and couldn't even fathom as to why she would think I was 56. Whoever entered my information had my birth year off by 20 years which made the nurse feel so much better. She kept looking at me and then my supposed age and was wondering what she had done wrong in her life that she didn't age as well. We had a good laugh and I'm happy to say that this was my first experience in being thought older than I am, and since it was due to a computer error I'm okay with it.

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

No more blah bog

Alyssa has informed me that our blog has been blah lately due to the lack of pictures. So here are a few from various events that I failed to put on here. I do have a cd of India pictures now but it is in video form with music. If I can figure out in my limited technological knowledge how to get it loaded here, you'll see it soon. Otherwise, you may just have to come for a visit and your own personal viewing.

It's Here!

My passport is here!!!!!!!!!!!! (I'm just a little excited!)Not that I have an actual trip planned to use it yet, but just the thought that I could leave the country if I wanted to excites every nerve cell I have. For the record, it took 2 weeks and 5 days to receive it and no, you may not see the picture. I had it taken on a random day while I was at Sam's grocery shopping. I wasn't too stressed about not being photogenic since the few people who will view it won't ever see me again. Now if I could only make up my mind where I want to go.......

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Too Early for Doctors

Alyssa and I headed to the dr. bright and early this morning to get her test results. For two girls who don't "do" morning, leaving here at 7am for an appt. was quite an accomplishment. There's something wrong with the fact that it is only 8:20 and we've already been to the dr., gone through the McDonald's drive thru, and emailed all of the relatives.

Good news is she does not have a fracture! The down side is there's not a definitive answer as to what has been causing her pain. The dr. thinks she has inflammation in the soft tissue that holds the bone and muscle together. So, she's supposed to stay off of it the rest of this week, and take advil 3x day for the next two weeks. Next week she can start dancing on it a little at a time and ice it afterwards each time. So we'll see how that goes.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Passport countdown

I officially applied for my passport last Wednesday. I've been saying I was going to apply for about a year now so I'm quite pleased with myself for finally getting to the post office with all my required documents and $97 in hand. I've been hearing horror stories on the news about it taking 4 months to get it back, but the lady at the post office seems to think I'll have it in about 6 weeks. We'll see!

Kevin and I decided just to take a small trip for now. We have 2 church members with homes in Branson and NW Arkansas. So I think we're going to one of those two places and relax and do some Christmas shopping. We decided we would rather save the frequent flier miles for a big trip to some country in Europe next summer or fall. Kevin has enough miles to get himself about halfway across the ocean right now, but hopefully by next fall, one of us could fly for free with his miles. Another relative has enough miles to get me there and even though we'd probably have to go on separate airlines and flights; I don't think I would care as long as I got to fulfill my dream of actually going outside of the US for the first time.
I'm not sure where we'll go yet, but Italy is enticing me at the moment. I'll have to do some research and watch "The Lizzie Mcguire Movie" a few times to learn the words to "An evening in Roma" before I decide for sure.

No, I didn't forget.....

Yes, I know I've been promising soccer videos for several weeks now. I've had some technical difficulties--some with equipment, some with my brain, some with obnoxious soccer teams. It seems the weeks I remember to bring the camera, it either rains or I discover the batteries are dead or as with this past week, I realize we are playing what I have dubbed, "the loud obnoxious team." The coach of this team yells so much that I have a headache by the time the game is over. I knew you wouldn't appreciate a video with his loud voice over the whole thing. We purposely chose to play in the recreational league, mainly because Nathan had never played before but also so that he could play in a relaxed atmosphere. Apparantly, "obnoxious coach" didn't get the memo, because both times we have played that team, he's taken it as seriously as the world cup. So, hopefully this week we'll have no rain and full batteries and calm coaches so I can fulfill my promise.

I'm also still patiently waiting on the India picture CD. The latest update I heard was that loading the 900 pictures (no, I'm not exaggerating) onto a CD made his computer crash, but the CD should be in my hot little hands by next Sunday. Don't worry, I won't make you sit through a slide show of 900 pictures. I'll try to pick the best 20.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Parent Teacher Conferences

I had my first "real" parent-teacher conference today. In years past, this involved talking to myself, but today I met with 2 of Zac's new teachers. After hearing his praises for half an hour, I began to wonder what happens to my child from the time he walks out our front door and into the school. Such phrases as "He's my star student, He's the most organized student I have, He always know where everything is, and He's doing great" were not really what I was expecting when I walked into the school cafeteria. I also had a lengthy discussion with his language and lit teacher about how wonderful he's doing in her class and how he really should move up to the honor's class at semester break. This is the same child who last year could not come up with a coherent answer for a comprehension question and who we threw a party for if he missed just 3 spelling words on his weekly spelling test. I can remember having the same "are you sure we're talking about the same child" feeling in his younger years when his Sunday school teachers would praise him and call him their little angel. In reality, this was all good news and confirmation that a little accountability is a good thing and that he is in the right place.

I did find it rather funny that both teachers I talked with made comments about how they never would have known Zac had been homeschooled exclusively till now because he didn't act withdrawn, he isn't a social outcast and wasn't behind. Those are common stereotypes in the p.s. world and I'm glad we dispelled them all. I was also encouraged that our years at home developed an independent learner who has transitioned well to his new school without any challenges. Today was one of those rare moments where I felt compelled to give myself a pat on the back as I walked out of the school, but more so I was proud of Zac for acting out all of the things I tried to teach him at home--respect, responsibility, and doing his best.

Monday, October 15, 2007

Safely home and other stuff

Kevin made it safely home, on schedule, Saturday morning. Between our family and the other wives plus a few of their grandkids, we looked like we were welcoming the troops home from war. One of the other guys took all the cameras with him to compile everything on one CD so I still have not seen any pictures nor do I have any to post. I hope he's quick with this task or I may have to start sending him reminder emails. I'm not sure I can be very patient.

Our day started bright and early this morning with an 8:00 appt. with an orthopedist. Through the years, we have watched many of Alyssa's dance friends hobble around on crutches or wearing braces of some sort, but have been blessed that she has never been injured, until now. Her leg started hurting her several weeks ago. We assumed she had stretched or pulled something so she's been applying ice and wrapping it regularly but it is worse, not better. The orthopedist thinks it may be a stress fracture which doesn't show up on regular xrays--something new I learned today. She's scheduled for a bone scan on Wednesday morning which requires some type of dye to be injected, then we have to come back a few hours later for the actual scan. I've never even heard of such a thing before today so it will be interesting to see how all this is done. Unfortunately, it takes another week to get the results so we won't know anything until our next appt. on the 25th. Alyssa is under orders for no dancing until diagnosis and she'll have to sit out for 8 weeks if it is fractured. I think the last time she went 8 weeks without dancing, she was in Kindergarten.

Kevin and I decided we need to go on a weekend getaway. We never really got to celebrate our anniversary and we feel like we've been on "schedule overload" since we began preparing on our move in February. Problem is, we can't decide where we want to go. It has to be somewhere that doesn't require a passport since I don't have mine yet. (I'm going this week to apply though!) We've been to Washington D.C., NYC, San Francisco, and Boston. If you have any wonderful ideas about where we could escape to for a few days, please leave us a comment. (In case you don't know how, just click on the "comments" button at the bottom of the post. You don't need to log in, just choose "anonymous" and you can type your name in the actual comment.)

Friday, October 12, 2007

What I learned about life from my Grandfather

Today would have been my grandfather's birthday. It's amazing how much I still miss him even though he's been gone over 4 years. Several months ago,I saw someone from behind that resembled him so much--broad shoulders,white tank shirt, suspenders, bald head--that my breath caught in my throat and tears filled my eyes. During my adult married years, our visits together were sporadic but still special. He is a part of so many of my childhood memories and life lessons learned.

When I was in second grade, my grandparents moved to the same town I lived in. This began our weekly (if not more often) visits and the "grades contract". Papaw made a deal with me that he would pay me $5 for every A, $4 for a B, nothing for C's, and if I dared get a D or F, I owed him money. This agreement was in writing and kept under the stack of Reader's Digests on the lamp table beside his coveted chair. Every report card I received netted me a sizable amount of money which allowed me the opportunity to learn lessons on saving, spending wisely, and the joy of buying gifts for others. I also learned the discipline and joy of tithing. I can never remember struggling with whether or not to give to God, thanking him for what He has blessed me with because I began doing it at such a young age. This contract continued until I graduated from high school and helped me develop the habit of always doing my best and valuing the opportunity to learn.

I spent a lot of time fishing with Papaw, sometimes with Mammaw, sometimes just us. I do suspect that he brought me along on occasion just so he could legally bring in more fish, but I am quite proud that I have personally caught 25 fish in a day. When Kevin was allowed the privilege of joining our fishing trips, he decided Papaw's infamous trolling method was cheating, but he didn't seem to mind too much at dinner time. I loved our fishing trips together. I was proud to put my own worm or cricket on the hook, I learned to enjoy the outdoors, and I felt special to be included in Papaw's favorite past time.

Another of Papaw's hobbies was flying. For a small town girl who had never even been to a "real" airport, this was big stuff. He would pick me up on Saturday or Sunday afternoons and we would head to the small airport in the next town. Most of the time we would just take the tiny 4-seater airplane for a short 30 or 45 minute flight, but sometimes we would fly to see our relatives for the day, which by car took about 6 hours. It amazed me that we could get there so quickly. It never occurred to me to be scared and I think my desire to travel and experience new places may have been birthed in that little plane as my Papaw let me pretend I was flying.

When I graduated high school, my grandfather gave me (drumroll)......Tires! I thought it was the dumbest gift ever, but I realized several years later that it was because he was concerned for my safety driving to and from college that he outfitted my baby blue 1978 Malibu with new treads at Otasco, of course.

I am not blinded by my admiration for Papaw to know that he didn't have faults, like giving you advice for whatever you were struggling with whether you asked for it or not. But, the majority of what he did, he did out of love for his family and thought he was doing the best thing for them at the time. I'm so thankful for the promise I have that I will be reunited with him again someday.

Warning: Mother rant below!

There is a common tendency among homeschoolers to bash public schools and all their shortcomings. I personally have never participated in this bashing since I believe that every family must pray about their school choice and follow God's leading for their family.

As our first year with Zac and public school progresses, we are continually encountering new experiences we haven't dealt with before. Earlier this week, I received a phone message that the "Growth and Development" videos would be shown for parent's approval tonight at 8pm. I attempted to keep an open mind all week, even though I questioned the timing of the showing. A Friday night at 8pm was suspect even before I found out that it was homecoming night for the school district! I was even more shocked when I arrived and discovered 4 other sets of parents there. In Zac's school alone there are 350 7th graders and there are 5 middle schools in our district. It is appalling to me that more parents were not either communicated effectively with or concerned with what their children were being taught.

I won't even get into my issues with the two videos which were on AIDS and "abstinence". Two of the middle schools had already shown the videos without the parents' knowledge. Fortunately, Zac's wasn't one of them. I went tonight with the intent of reporting the content as best as I could to Kevin, then making an informed decision. But, after finding out they would be watching these in mixed company and seeing the content, I will be calling the school first thing Monday morning to see what day Zac needs to have a family day at home.

Sorry for the rant, but I felt the need to vent and since Kevin's still not home, you were the victims!

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Final update from India

Here is Kevin's final email from India. They will begin traveling home Thursday evening (our time). If all goes as scheduled, we'll pick him up on Sat. morning at 9.

It is Thursday morning about 7:00. Yesterday, we ministered to the Tanti people group. As you know, our church has officially adopted the Tanti as our unreached people group. We worshiped with the believers there and shared from God's word. We met on the roof of a house there in the village. I must admit, it really felt like we were in New Testament times as we were on the roof tops sharing God's word. The Tanti people were so thrilled we were there. They are weavers by trade and presented us with gifts they had made by hand. At the beginning of the worship service, they put flowers around our necks and then washed our feet. It was a very emotional time. We spent the entire day with them. Today will be our last day of ministry here. We will be going to Biju Thomas' church planting school. We have an opportunity today to teach the new church planters. I will be sharing with them how to tell a story from God's word. I will be using Luke 15 and the stories that Jesus told about the lost sheep, lost coin, and the prodigal son. We will have them build a drama acting out the story to cement it in their minds. Randy will be teaching them some discipleship principles from Masterlife. Joe will be telling them the story of Abraham and Issac. In the afternoon, we will be going to an orphanage where Steve will be doing balloon animals for the kids and sharing the gospel. It has been a long, but life changing week. Tomorrow, at 8:50am, we will start our long journey home. Thanks to everyone for all the love, prayers, and support.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

India 10/9

The following report is from one of the other team members, Joe Pat. The last few sentences are a good reminder to continue praying without ceasing.

Hello, it is me again. It is Tues eve @ 9pm. We just got through eating supper. Randy & Steve got in a little while ago and we came down for supper. They had another long day of driving. Kevin and I got back here to the hotel about 3pm. We had an interesting day. Had a great meeting in a small vilage church this morning. Had a gathering of about 30-40 people. We had our meeting, worship and stories and then we had lunch. We had chicken and rice, the chicken in my bowl was a piece of the back, a heart and a liver in some gravy. The rice was good though. They also gave us some rice noodle with water buffalo milk. You should have seen Kevin trying to get that down and make it stay down. The meeting in the village after lunch was not so good. The leader of the group was not there and the church planter and our translator were very nervious about being there. Kevin was very concerned about the situation there, then, while I was doing my stories the church planter told Kevin that when I get through he should do only 1 story and then let's get out of there quick. Tomorrow we go to a Tanti village for the whole day, we leave at 8am.

Monday, October 8, 2007

News from India 10/8

It is Tuesday morning here about 7:15. We are seeing the Lord do a great work among the people of India. Sunday morning we worshiped at a hotel with Biju Thomas' church. Biju as you know is our contact/pastor here. We met with a group of about 75 people. As we expected, the worship was very lively and exciting. I preached a message of encouragement to the believers from Matthew 14. I took the story of Peter walking on the water and talked to them about keeping their eyes on Jesus in the good times and tough times. Even when Peter found trouble, Jesus was right there. We, as believers, are never alone. The Lord promised he would never leave us nor forsake us. It was a really fun and exciting time. On Sunday afternoon, we went out to a village and met with a group of 200 new believers. We spent four hours with them doing some discipleship and encouragement. Monday morning, we took a very long and "exciting" drive out to a village. The traffic here is unexplainable. This is the first time in my entire life that I would refuse to drive if they asked. I think we need prayer for safety in travel more than anything else. However, with the help of the Lord, we made it safely. We met under a grass roof pavilion and told our stories. Once again, God was working in a great way. Many people were saved. Even though a man came to the meeting and tried to create problems, nothing stopped the work of the Lord. That afternoon, we went to another village and met with a large group of new believers and storied and spent some more quality time in discipleship. With every encounter here I see the Lord at work. People are being saved and lives are being changed. Their is no doubt this is where I am supposed to be right now. Today, we are dividing again in groups of two to go to different villages to story. Please thank everyone for their prayers and support.

Congratulations Catherine and Jeremy!



I just had to post this picture of my friend Catherine's babies. Many of you have prayed for them over the years to blessed with children and God definitely answered in abundance. Anna was adopted in May and David was born on Sept. 24. Needless to say, they will be busy in the years to come. We rejoice with them in celebrating God's goodness!

Saturday, October 6, 2007

India Update 10/6

I received another email from Kevin tonight, which is Sunday morning for him. Here is a portion of it....

We had a LONG HOT day yesterday. I went to a village in the morning that was very destitute. We met in a cinder block room that was jam packed with people. Steve and I storied and many people came to Christ. When we were done, they walked us across the street to the home of a former idol maker that has come to know Christ. When this man got saved, he gave up his idol making business and his family disowned him. He is trying to find a new trade. Anyway, they were so excited we were there and wanted to feed us lunch. I am not sure what I ate, nor do I EVER want to know, but the love of Jesus was in his eyes. Of course, we gave him a very generous financial gift for lunch.

In the afternoon it got a little more interesting. Steve and I went as far as we could go by car and then had to walk 25 minutes into the village. We had to walk right through a village that had a large Hindu temple. Right in the middle of an open field and all the yuck was this beautiful temple. We prayed as we walked by and finally made it to the village. It was so hot that I looked like I had just gotten out of the pool. When we arrived at the village, the people came out of the wood work. It was fun. People crowded around us and gave us those "what kind of man are you" looks. They put necklaces of flowers around our necks and then we began to story. When I finished my stories and tied the gospel all together, once again, many people were saved. It is hard to know if they are really giving up all of the other false gods, but that is what we were telling them they needed to do. The church planters seemed really pleased. The translator told me this is exactly what these people need to know and hear.

Friday, October 5, 2007

Update from the other side of the world

I received a short email from Kevin this afternoon. I've copied it below. After two days of traveling they've made it safely to Patna. Keep praying!!

We successfully made it to Patna today. We went directly from the plane to the hotel, dropped off our bags, and went to the first village to tell a couple of our stories. All went well. We are splitting up tomorrow and going out in teams of two with a translator in each group of course. At the village tonight, there were kids everywhere. It was a lot of fun.

Sunday, September 30, 2007

India Itinerary

Below you will find Kevin's travel itinerary. A lot of you prayer warriors like to pray specifically for each day's challenges. Please know that every prayer lifted up on Kevin and his team's behalf is appreciated and I believe honored by God because it is His will for these unreached people groups to hear His word.

If you would like to leave Kevin an encouraging word or prayer in the comments, I will be printing these off and giving them to him on Wed. morning before he departs. I know that seeing evidence of your commitment to pray will be encouraging to him so "comment" away!

FYI: Times given are the correct time for that city. "Storytelling" refers to our team teaching the Bible to villagers and/or the church planters in that village. Most do not read and most of the tribes do not have a written language so it is important to teach the Bible in a way that they can memorize/remember. Each of the 4 team members has 4 portions of scripture to memorize. Pray for them to finalize their internalizing of these Bible stories so that it comes across naturally and with passion. The team consists of Kevin, Randy, Steve, and Joe.

Wed., Oct. 3
12:35 am Depart Tulsa for Chicago
7:05 pm Depart Chicago for Delhi

Thurs., Oct. 4
8:30 pm Arrive in Delhi
Stay overnight in IMB housing

Fri., Oct. 5
11 am Depart Delhi
2 pm Arrive in Patna, Bihar
4 pm Village visit for storytelling

Sat., Oct. 6
Storytelling in villages

Sun., Oct. 7
Visiting and encouraging believers in house churches

Mon., Oct. 8
Storytelling in villages

Tues., Oct. 9
Storytelling in villages
Visiting a sewing school (program for empowering women)
Dinner with a missionary family

Wed., Oct. 10
Prayer walk in Bodh Gaya (where Buddhism originated)
Storytelling in villages

Thurs., Oct. 11
Teaching trainees and church planters at a training school
Visit an orphanage

Fri., Oct. 12
Depart Patna for Delhi
12am Depart Delhi for Chicago

Sat., Oct. 13
5am Arrive Chicago
7am Depart Chicago
9am Arrive Tulsa

Friday, September 28, 2007

Say Cheese!

Remember when your church wanted a new directory and they hired Olan Mills to come take all the pictures? Remember the older ladies in polyester suits and the solid blue backgrounds and the outrageously priced pictures? We got to relive this, dare I say, awful experience a few weeks ago. I didn't even know Olan Mills was still in business. Unfortunately, I fell into the trap of "high expectations" when it came to having our first family portrait in what seems like forever. The kids didn't help the situation any by griping and complaining about it for three days leading up to our appointment time.

By the time we arrived at the church, we were all in a sour mood and ripe for disappointment. Sure enough, the first 6 takes were terrible with someone's eyes closed or someone's mouth caught in a strange expression in every shot. We were allowed a retake which met with more complaining because the boys actually had to stand close to the girls. Below is how the kids' picture turned out. I didn't get a copy of the picture that will be in the directory. I've already erased from my memory what it looked like but I'm sure when the directory comes out I will experience a new wave of embarrassment or mortification or some emotion in that category. I'm sure there's a spiritual lesson in here somewhere about relationships being more important than pictures but it must keep getting lost in my disappointment that all 6 of us were in the same place at the same time with our hair brushed and decent clothes on and I still didn't get a nice family photo!

Hut! Hut!

I just got home from my first high school football game in our new town. Actually, I haven't been to a high school game in at least a couple of decades. The last live football game I was at was either my college alma mater or the Cowboys--I can't seem to remember which was the latest but either way, it's been a while.

This game had the same familiar atmosphere and smells as I remember way back in my high school days--the popcorn that band parents are working hard to sell, the bands from the opposing teams attempting to outplay each other in the stands, the incredible number of turnovers that seem to occur in every high school game. I also found it funny that the songs the bands played were the same as 20 years ago. Hasn't anyone written anything new in the last decade to outshine "Eye of the Tiger" and "Louie, Louie"? It was fun to see some familiar faces from church in the crowds and cheer for their kids.

Our town's band is the current national champion for marching bands--I'm sure there is an official title for that honor, but I don't know what it is. Being a former band nerd, I was anxious to see their halftime show. It was quite impressive and I was glad for their sakes that the styles of band uniforms have changed quite a bit, but they still had to wear those lovely hats with the feather plumes sticking out of the top. Just the boys went with us and we had a good time. Although the next time we're planning to go to a game, I will not go to the gym and work out beforehand. Climbing bleacher steps after doing lots of leg presses and squats is not a pleasant experience!

Monday, September 17, 2007

September Ministry Update/Prayer Needs

*Kevin is returning from Colorado as I type this. Please pray for him to have safe travel and wisdom as to what God would desire for our church to do about supporting the church plant there.

* We have a church-wide evangelism project planned for this Sat. We have 8,000 water bottles and tracts to pass out at various walking trails, sports complexes and community events throughout the city. Satan has already caused confusion through miscommunications among the different teams. Pray that everyone will be clear on their assignments and willing to give up 2 hours of their Saturday. Pray for our city to be open to hearing the gospel or at least accepting an invitation to visit our church.

*Kevin's India trip is coming up quickly. He will be gone Oct. 3-13. Pray for the team of 5 to be protected while they travel around the world and as they travel among the villages. Diseases, especially malaria, are a huge concern. Pray for resistance to the diseases and for no adverse reactions to the malaria medicine. Pray for the villagers to have hearts open to the gospel and for communication through the translators to be clear.

*Alyssa and either Kevin or I have an opportunity next summer to go to Guatemala. We are currently praying about if Alyssa will go and which one of us would go with her. Our church will be sending a team of 25 with Spirit and Truth ministries. The trip would encompass meeting physical needs through home building and food distribution along with meeting spiritual needs through distributing Bibles and showing the Jesus film in multiple villages. Please join us in praying for us to have wisdom as to whether or not we are to participate in this trip.

Blessings Amid Frustrations

My mom got to spend the weekend with us. After the kids not seeing for her for almost a year, we were all excited about her visit. We picked her up from the airport Friday morning and headed to the zoo. It was the perfect day for it since the high was only 75. We saw the cutest baby chimps which I couldn't take pictures of because I discovered after arriving at the zoo that my camera batteries were dead.

After church on Sunday I wanted us to go to a nice dinner out. Kevin was going to be leaving that afternoon for Colorado and with my mom here, I had visions of a wonderful family meal before everyone went their separate ways. I really wanted to go to my new favorite restaurant, The Elephant Bar, although our eating out budget was more along the lines of McDonalds. We all agreed to have water to drink and no appetizers to keep the costs down. Our service was extremely slow and the kitchen staff messed up our orders which they caught before they delivered the plates to our table. It took almost an hour for us to get our food. I tend to have the attitude of "If I'm not getting what I'm paying for, I need to speak up against the injustice." Kevin could see my feathers were getting ruffled and reminded me to give them grace--so difficult for me. Shortly after we were finally served our lunch, the manager came over to apologize for the delay and gave us our lunch for free! Just another example of how God can use difficult and disappointing situations for our good and bless us in the process. I know in the big scheme of things, a delayed lunch is small scale. But, if we're in the habit of looking for God working in the little things, I think it's easier to see Him working in the tougher, more difficult things.

Friday, September 7, 2007

Nathan's Ten Commandments (and other tidbits of news)



Nathan copied the ten commandments in Sunday School last week. I don't know how well you can see in the picture, but his teacher wrote 2, 4, 6, and 8. It's 7 and 9 that caused this particular project to end up on the blog. 7 reads "You shall not commit adultry" and my favorite, #9, "You shall give false testmony". No, I didn't forget the "not", but Nathan did and gave me a good laugh. Hopefully, he'll abide by the original version!

We've had a lot of firsts around here lately that most parents experience with their kindergartners, except we're experiencing them with our 7th grader. Zac has had his first bus ride, first tests, first locker combination, and today...(drum roll) his first school picture. I know they will probably be terrible, as most school pictures are, but I couldn't resist purchasing some just to see how they turned out. (See a future blog for the results!)

Alyssa has started dance again for the school year. We think we've found a good studio with experienced instructors. She's taking her usual ballet, pointe, jazz, lyrical and modern. She is missing tap this year since that class was only offered on Wed. nights, but I'm excited we got her schedule down to 3 nights a week and no Saturday practices!! Woo Hoo! My fellow dance company moms can truly appreciate how rare that is.

Nathan's first soccer game is tomorrow morning, so check back soon for a video!

Monday, September 3, 2007

You've got questions, I've got answers, maybe :)

Several of you have called or emailed over the last several weeks. You all seem to have the same common inquiries so I thought I would post the questions and answers here for everyone to see--just in case you were wondering the same thing.

When will Kevin be traveling again?

Kevin will be gone Sept. 16 and 17 to Colorado Springs to meet with a church planter to explore the possibility of our church helping with that project. Oct 3-13 he will be in India. Currently there are floods there along with an already unstable situation. Please be in constant prayer during those 11 days for his protection and for the gospel to be effectively communicated. The week after Christmas we will be sending a team to Sonora, Mexico again for vision and physical therapy clinics. At this point, I'm not sure if Kevin will be going on that trip or not, but I'll keep you posted!

How do you like your new town or Do you like it better than Dallas?

I actually love our new town. It has a small town feel--very little traffic, friendly people, slower paced--with all the big city conveniences. We already have the problem of not being able to go anywhere without running in to someone we know or knows us. I was at Alyssa's dance studio on Friday, which is quite a distance from the church, when someone walked up to me and said, "Aren't you Kevin Cottrell's wife?" As mentioned in the "Cheesecake" post, there are a few stores and restaurants (although I somehow left La Madeline off of the original list) we miss but we're surviving so far without them.

How is Zac liking public school?

Zac has adjusted very well so far to public school. He's not crazy about getting up at 6:45 but he's done a great job of setting his alarm clock and getting ready without my help. He has been a little surprised by all of the rules and the "one rule fits all" philosophy, especially when he is punished for the actions of a group not including himself. (He has run a lot of laps in PE for other's talking habits.) The homework load has been light so far and he's been able to get most of his assignments done in class.

How do you like your new church?
I love our new church and church family. Our Sr. Pastor is a wonderful teacher, and I'm enjoying learning from him. If you'd like to hear a sample of our services, leave me a comment or send me an email and I'll give you the website where you can download podcasts of the services. We also have a wonderful worship team and I love the music that they put together every week for our praise time. I've had the opportunity to get to know most of the staff and enjoy spending time with them on the social side of life also. I also love our church's passion for missions and their willingness to go literally to "the ends of earth" for God's glory. We're currently in the midst of an evangelism focus which will culminate in us hitting the entire city in teams on Sept. 22. We'll be handing out water bottles and tracts at sports complexes, parks, walking trails--any place we can find thirsty people who might be open to hearing the gospel.

How is your new job going and how does that work with homeschooling?

I love my new job. I'm doing mostly clerical/bookkeeping type work along with some customer service, which I actually enjoy. I get to listen to Christian music all day. The company is small and has family atmosphere and most of the employees are Christians making for a relaxing work environment. Not many people can say that about their jobs! I work Tues., Thurs., and Sat. Obviously, Sat. doesn't effect our school day, but the other 2 days have required some minor adjustments. I don't have to be at work till 11 so we try to get 3 hours of school done before I leave. I make sure we get anything that would require my assistance or teaching done in that time and leave the easy workbook stuff for Alyssa to help them with. If we're really disciplined and work hard, I can almost finish school with the little ones in that period of time. Alyssa then babysits for the afternoon. She's excited about having a steady babysitting income which I'm guessing is going to end up hanging in her closet.

Other questions? Leave me a comment and I'll post an answer.

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Cheesecake Factory

A Cheesecake Factory opened in my town yesterday. Since we were accustomed to having one in our former town and they are the only restaurant (that I know of) that offers a low carb cheesecake I can eat guilt-free, we were all anxious for it to open. We would drive by weekly, anxiously checking their progress. I did refrain from cheering the workers on, but it was especially hard on the day the letters went up on the building confirming there really was truth to the rumors of it opening soon. I tried to stay away until the crowds died down, but I failed in the self-control department severely. I broke several of my own personal rules of life, like never go anywhere near the mall on a weekend, to purchase an entire cheesecake tonight. Just to order something to go took 27 minutes--at least that's what my cohorts in crime who were not-so-patiently waiting in the van tell me.

Imagine my disappointment upon arriving home and discovering that it was FROZEN! I have been waiting 3 months to taste this little slice of heaven and it was FROZEN! I decided to chance thawing it a little in the microwave so I could at least slice it. I was somewhat successful. I am now eating a part soggy, part frozen piece of cheesecake and looking forward to the pieces I'll eat tomorrow that got to thaw in the refrigerator at the normal rate. (Yes, that was pieces--plural.)

At least I get to mark "Cheesecake Factory" off my list of things I wish we had in our new town. What else is on my list? Half price books, Forever 21, Papaya, an outlet mall and shopping on Harry Hines (which only Dallas residents can understand).

Friday, August 24, 2007

New address and Phone

I sent an email out with our new address and phone number. If you didn't receive it, leave me a comment with your email address. (The comments come to my email address first for my approval. Your email address will not be posted on the blog.)

Back on the Web

Sorry for the delay in posts. I have been without internet access all week so it's nice to be back on the world wide web.

We did close on our Texas house last Friday. Our realtor told us that ours was the only closing that has happened as scheduled in the last 2 months. I knew it was because ours was well prayed over! The packers came on Friday morning to finish what was left in the house and everything was loaded by Sat. at 12. We returned to our new town on Sat. and started working on the task of getting everything from the mission house to the new house; we're still not done unfortunately. Thanks to a lot of help from some new friends, we were able to get all of the new house painted last week. It's amazing how much paint can do for a home. It looks brand new! When we can see the house around the boxes I'll post a slide show, giving you the grand tour.

As you know from my previous post, I was very stressed about the whole negotiation process with the house. One night in particular, I was having a hard time just breathing because the stress in my chest was so tight. I was out running errands, trying to "forget" about all the uncertainties surrounding our lives at that moment when a new Steven Curtis Chapman song came on the radio. I can't even remember the words, but in essence it said "breathe out, breath in", let God have control. I so needed that reminder to look for how God was working through this ordeal and to trust Him completely. He showed me in so many ways that He was in control and had a plan. Through small things like the college student who was taking care of our lawn for the summer had to be back at school on 8/19. We closed on 8/17 and never had to be concerned about finding someone else. Through the big things like a missionary family from China who needs to return home for a medical emergency for their child. Now the mission house will be available for them next week when they arrive in the states. They have stayed there before and it will be a great comfort to them to have a familiar home to live in while they are here.

I must return to the stack of boxes. Hopefully, I'll have something fun to write about besides moving. Nathan had his first soccer practice last night and I have a feeling that activity will provide some hilarious video for you soon!

Saturday, August 11, 2007

Hallelujah!

We just got a phone call letting us know that the buyers have signed the addendum! We'll be returning to Texas either next Wed. or Thurs. and plan to close on Friday. Please continue to pray that everything goes according to plan and that the kids do okay adjusting to another house. Katie's birthday is next Thursday, and she's being a good sport about postponing her celebration till we get moved. Letting her spend her birthday money at the mall yesterday probably helped!

Special thanks to our Texas friends: Steve, Garrett, and Wendy, who have kept the pool blue, the grass cut, and the furniture dusted--all without expecting anything in return. You guys have truly been a blessing!

In other news--Zac had a good first two days at school. No real homework yet but we've filled out lots of forms and spent lots of money at Target on school supplies. Keep praying for him to make Godly friends and to adjust easily.

I'll be starting a new job on Aug. 21. Friends of ours own a Direct Buy showroom and offered me a part-time position. I had been praying that God would bring something across my path without me searching for it, something with a Christian work environment where I did not have to fill out a time-off request in triplicate if I wanted to take off for an hour to see Nate play soccer. This job is exactly what I was praying for! This will be helpful for us as we start another child (Zac) in braces soon along with all the other expenses that come with older kids: adult clothing and shoes, car insurance, adult entrees when we eat out, etc.... Back when I was buying diapers, formula, and baby food, I thought the kids would get cheaper as they got older but that is so far from the truth.

Tee Time

You are probably aware that there is a major sporting event in my town this week. I must admit that I didn't particularly care about it other than to be bothered by the increased traffic and possibly losing my husband to it for the weekend. That was before Thursday morning when Kevin received a call from one of our church members offering us 4 VIP tickets for the day. I decided to seize the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and went with Kevin and one of the other pastors and his wife. I hesitated for a moment in accepting because attending would mean I would miss Zachary getting off the bus and coming home from his first day of school. The temptation to see Tiger quickly overrode that thought.

If you haven't been to a PGA tournament before, VIP is the only way to go. We were picked up in the company's parking lot, given a personal shuttle ride to our corporate entrance, and had to walk just a few feet to the air conditioned "chalet" where all-you-could-stuff food and drink awaited us. We were distracted from our cool-air-seeking journey almost immediately after walking in the gate by someone saying, "Here comes Tiger!". We thought we had missed our opportunity to see him since we got to the course later than we had planned, and anxiously rushed to the fairway of hole 7 as he was walking to the green. Unfortunately for Tiger, there was a sand bunker about 3 feet from the cup and his ball was in it. He finished with par, but I think he more than made up for it during yesterday's round. Kevin will be there on Sunday to watch the final round so watch for him on TV.

Later we decided we were going to follow Phil Mickelson from hole 1 back to 7 where our chalet was located. We made it to hole 2. The sun was so intense, I had flip-flop tan lines after just 10 minutes. After that, sitting on the shaded deck of our chalet with a constant supply of water bottles and gatorade was the best way to watch the rest of the round. I saw the majority of the notable golfers I'm familiar with and quite a few I had never heard of as they rotated through our vantage spot.

I love trying things for the first time and try to take in as much as I can about the experience, especially when the probability of me ever doing it again is unlikely, as was the case on Thursday. I decided I would probably never learn to play golf since playing in the early morning would be the only way to escape the heat and I don't do early morning unless absolutely necessary. I also didn't realize that companies would spend close to a million dollars entertaining their clients for a week at the PGA. One company VP told us he had taken clients out to dinner the night before and the bill was $4000! You could send a kid to college for a semester for that kind of money. (Okay, not to Harvard but a state school perhaps.)

Now for my observations that may embarrass some of you and possibly my children: this is the only time in my life that I have seen a line for the men's bathroom but not the women's! Odd that I would notice such a thing, but it just struck me as humorous that I have never seen that dynamic before in all my experiences. Not even at other sporting events. Another advantage of our VIP status was the access to the VIP bathrooms which were in essence very fancy porta-potties featuring wood floors, granite-looking walls, panelled wood doors and potpourri. They even smelled good! Obviously, I need to get out more if I'm impressed by the bathrooms at the PGA.

Sorry there aren't any pictures to share since cameras weren't allowed, and Uncle Weave: please forgive us!

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Still Waiting....

UPDATE 8/11/07
Please continue to pray for our house sale to be resolved soon. Despite the fact that it is 6 days until closing, we still do not know if we will be actually closing. We made an offer of a designated amount for repair costs on Wed., but the buyers have been quite difficult about reaching an agreement and seem to be trying to take advantage of our situation. We have made our final offer and are still waiting for them to sign it and notify us if they accept it or not. Needless to say, this has made for a stressful situation. One of the two houses we looked at has rented, and we went ahead and put a deposit on the other one when things were looking a little more optimistic. We will not lose the entire deposit but we'll be charged a per diem for every day the house is held for us if we don't take it.


Yes, we are still waiting for our house deal to be a "done deal". Thanks to all the Texas storms, our roof is not in great shape and the pool liner has begun to wrinkle. State Farm should be sending an adjuster out by Thurs. and we're getting estimates on the pool liner to decide if we'll offer to replace it or not. Until those things are resolved, I'm going to hold off on my celebration ...and putting a deposit on a rental house. This is one of those times that I get to actively trust in God to take care of every detail!

Remember to pray for Zac on Thursday as he goes to his first day of public school!

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

House News!

8/3/07 UPDATE
We have an official, signed contract on the house. The inspection is tomorrow morning. Kevin looked at two rental houses with me today. We like both; they're actually the same floor plan and in the same neighborhood. One is a newer and has a finished office in the attic space that could be a 5th bedroom, but the older one is on a quieter street with less traffic. We won't put a deposit on either until after we get past the inspection. I know that God is in control and if that's where we're supposed to be then He will keep one of them available for us.

Please continue to pray for things to go smoothly. My blood sugar tends to feed off of stress and once it gets high, I am more sensitive to stress, creating a viscous cycle. When we were discussing whether to accept the contract or not, it climbed to 260. (Normal is below 100.) Pray for my system to stay calm through this stressful time and for my blood sugar to stay low.

UPDATE: We have agreed on a price with a buyer, and although it is lower than we had hoped for, we are trusting that God is in control and He will close the door if this is not right. I've looked at a couple of rent houses today. The one I like the most would be a different school district for Zachary so pray for us to have wisdom as to the right thing to do for him. I'll continue to update as things develop.

We received an offer on our house yesterday. We have counter-offered today and hope to hear something soon. If we can agree on a price, the buyers want to close on Aug. 17 which means we're about to be really busy! We have decided to rent here for now and since we don't want to have to store our furniture, we will need to find something quickly. Please pray for all the numbers and logistics to work out, and for us to find the house God already has picked out for us. Check back often as I'll post final details as soon as I have them!

Arkansas Adventures and Mexico Missions

Kevin returned from Mexico on Saturday evening. He made a 4 hour drive to Tuscon, then flew to Dallas where his flight was canceled due to engine trouble. He was able to get on another flight, but his luggage didn't. Fortunately, he got a call from the airport on Sunday morning letting him know his luggage had made it on the morning flight.

The team had a good week. There were 20-9th and 10th graders along with 7 (I think) adult sponsors. The daytime was spent painting our church's training center/dormitory and preparing for the evening activities. They ministered in the town square with drama, puppet shows, and face painting; and Roberto, the pastor of our church plant, presented the gospel every evening. They faced a lot of opposition from the catholic church so you can continue to pray that these people who are steeped in tradition will be able to accept the truth of the gospel.

Kevin also had the opportunity to preach at a prison on Sunday evening where 10 of the 20 prisoners who attended the service accepted Christ!

While Kevin was gone, I decided to take the kids to Arkansas to see our family there. We had a good trip, although it was tiring. I haven't driven to that area in a while, and I was reminded how thankful I am for major highways. 2 hours of our trip was on a 2 lane highway that was under construction and the whole experience did not bring out the best in my character. I don't seem to have a lot of patience when it comes to being stuck behind a concrete mixer going 40 mph.

Many of you have been praying for my dad's physical and spiritual health in the last few months. He is currently in a nursing home and doing some better. He is constantly battling infections, mostly due to the fact that he has no liver function now. I am so thankful that God has sustained him long enough for me to see him again. I was able to check him out and take him to lunch which he was very excited about. I couldn't seem to make the words come out of my mouth to witness to him as this has been an area of tension with us for over 20 years. But, I did write him a letter, basically outlining a simple plan of salvation and expressing my desire to see him again in heaven because I couldn't bear the thought of the alternative. I talked to him on the phone yesterday and he says he agrees with everything I wrote and I don't have to worry about it. I can't say that I'm overly convinced that he is a Christian, but I have to trust that I've done my part to lead him to my Heavenly Father and leave the rest up to the Holy Spirit. Please continue to pray for God to work in his heart and for us to have wisdom as to how to handle his care.

Here are some pictures from our trip with some of our family plus a few extras.

Monday, July 23, 2007

Future Swim Champion


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Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Share Photos - Free Video Hosting




Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Share Photos - Free Video Hosting


These videos are more for the grandparents than anyone else, although the rest of you are welcome to watch. These are all from Nathan's swimming lessons. The first is his front stroke; he managed to learn to use his arms and come up for a breath. The second is his back stroke which he couldn't do at all at the beginning of the lessons and the last video is his dive. Enjoy!

Friday, July 20, 2007

Hola, Amigos!

Kevin left today for 9 days in Sonora, Mexico. Our church owns a building in Arizpe which used to be an abandoned garlic factory. During previous mission trips, the building has been converted to a dormitory and training center. Our 9th and 10th grade team along with their adult sponsors will be arriving on Monday. They will be doing a combination of dramatized Bible stories, street evangelism, and construction on the building through next Friday. Kevin and another man left today in order to purchase all of the supplies and set up transportation across the border for everyone.

Please pray for safe travel for everyone along with easy border crossings. Also pray for our church plant there, and for the town of Arizpe to have hearts open to the gospel.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

I know I'm old because....

Today is my birthday. There's no exclamation point at the end of that statement because at my old age of 36, birthdays seem to lose their magical anticipation. I tend to do special things on my birthday because my kids think it's important. So, today began with me opening gifts from the kids (bought last night at Walmart, of course): a table to put my sewing machines on, a cd, some earrings, and peanut m&m's which the children ate before I could get to them. Then it was off to Nathan's swimming lessons and my appointment with my personal trainer. Exercising wasn't at the top of my list of things to do on my birthday, but this was the day she had open on her calendar.

A friend had told me about this cool donut shop that makes specialty donuts in the shape of characters and letters. I knew Nathan would enjoy picking out a donut for everyone and since they were conveniently located close to the health club, I used my birthday as an excuse to check it out. And, since I'd just finished a gruelling workout with my trainer, I decided I could have a special treat too! Here's what we came home with. Aren't they adorable? But not too cute to eat!
I did enjoy a lunch out today with Kevin and another couple at one of our new favorite restaurants, Fish Daddy's. Then, it was back to mommy duty. I took Alyssa to her dance class only to discover that there was no class this week. Nathan has a birthday party tomorrow so we went to Target to pick out a gift, dropped off books at the library, and picked up movies at Blockbuster. I was so ready to be home by the time we got home; I no longer had the desire to go out to eat. The Papa John's man just delivered my birthday pizza and I'm ready to relax on the couch--the best way to spend a birthday ever and that's how I know I'm old!

Monday, July 16, 2007

Credit Card Forgiveness

I was in a Bible study class recently and we were discussing confession of sin. The following analogy popped into my head. I never know when something will be an encouragement to someone else so I decided to share it with you.

It's easy to pay off credit cards if you keep the balances small and pay them off at the end of every month. You avoid interest and it doesn't affect your life very much. If you allow those balances to accrue, it gets harder and harder to pay it off. You have to pay extra interest and it begins to overwhelm you and all the decisions you make.

Sin is just like the credit card balance. If you confess it daily, it doesn't overwhelm you and your relationship with God will be a lot closer. You'll be ready to be used by Him because you don't have this "thing" between you. But, if we allow the sin to build up, it's harder and harder to face our heavenly Father to ask forgiveness. My challenge to you is to confess it daily, even all the "little things"--the unkind word, the impatience with your spouse or child, etc--and enjoy life free from the burden sin puts on us.

1 John 1:8-10 (The Message)
If we claim that we're free of sin, we're only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins—make a clean breast of them—he won't let us down; he'll be true to himself. He'll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. If we claim that we've never sinned, we out-and-out contradict God—make a liar out of him. A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God.

Nathan's Theology 101

At our new church, all kids through grade 6 attend Sunday School and Children's Church on Sunday mornings. In the evenings, we have a Sunday night service that everyone attends. Nathan enjoys the music with a praise band, but once Pastor Nick starts "telling his story", Nathan gets bored. (Those of you from Mid Cities will remember Nathan always taking a nap during Kevin's sermons, sometimes snoring.) For some reason, he decided he was going to start reading the Bible, one chapter each week, during the Sunday night sermon. He's made it to Genesis 5 so far.

In the last couple of weeks, Nate has asked some thought provoking questions. I'm not sure if he thought of them based on his reading or not, but here they are--
1) Who made God?
2) The Bible says everyone sins, but when a baby first comes out of it's mommy's tummy, what sin does it do?
(Leave me some comments with your answers. Remember your answer has to be in a 7 yr. old's language.)

Here's our little theologian proving he's still a little boy, posing in his Spiderman costume and the cape he won at Six Flags!

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Mission Trip News

I've been waiting to post about the mission trip until I had some "official" numbers for you. Kevin has not been in the office much this week due to a root canal on Tuesday, so I'm just going to go ahead and tell you what I know for now. I didn't ever get a count of how many kids attended the Rainbow Express Bible Clubs, but we had 4 teams who went to two apartment complexes each day. 44 kids prayed to receive Christ as their Saviour!!!!!!!!!!! That's more than one salvation per youth that went on the trip! In the slide show below, watch for Estaban. Alyssa had the honor of praying with him for his salvation! (That makes me a very proud mama!) Pray for the workers in the apartment churches as they continue to teach all of these new believers and that the good news will spread through each of these children's families.

Somehow neither one of our kids managed to take a camera. The pictures below are courtesy of one of Alyssa's friends which explains why you won't see any pictures of Zachary. He was there also and in charge of games for his group. Alyssa was the song leader for her team.

Our church also has groups in Cambodia, Venezuela, and Dominican Republic this week. Kevin will be gone July 20--28 to Sonora Mexico with our 9th and 10th grade team.

Happy Birthday Zachary!

Zachary celebrated year 12 on Tuesday. Since he had tennis camp for most of the day, he opened his gifts quickly Tuesday morning before heading out the door. He acquired 3 new Wii games, computer speakers, Cd's, and a new hat plus $60 that he hasn't decided how to spend yet.

Zac has lots of big changes coming soon. He's already promoted to the youth group this month. (Do you realize in one more year, I'll have three-fourths of my children in youth? I don't think I'm ready for that!) He has also requested to go to public school. Most of you know that none of our kids have ever been in public school so this is HUGE for us. After much prayer and discussion, we will be enrolling him in middle school next week. Am I 100% sure this is the right thing to do? No, but in attempting to respect his desires and knowing there are some benefits to his particular situation in going to public school, we are willing to give it a try. If it doesn't work, then I can always withdraw him and teach him at home again. School begins here the 2nd week of August. Be praying for Zac as he makes this transition and for him to find strong Christian friends at his new school.

The "Nate Special"



Nathan often requests the "Nate Special" for breakfast: 1 or 2 chocolate chip Eggos (depending on how hungry he is) with 3 slices of bacon and a cup of milk.

Saturday, July 7, 2007

Texas Praises

We returned late last night from Texas and checking on our houses there. Huge Praise and answer to prayer--our renters got a new job with better health insurance and asked if they could continue renting until January when they would like to purchase the house. Hip Hip Hooray!! Why is it so hard for us to learn that God will take care of us with plans to prosper us, not to harm us? In praying about what seemed to be a devastating financial situation, I had some premeditated ideas about how God was going to work all of this out; but somehow the thought that He would bless this family in order to bless ours never even entered my finite mind. I've been through this "lesson" so many times, yet I can't seem to grasp that He doesn't need my help or suggestions to solve my dilemmas. One of my favorite movie quotes would apply here: "The concept is grasped, it's the execution that is elusive." Hopefully, I'll do better next time. Thankfully, I'm a work in progress and He won't give up on me.



Back to our trip, we stayed in our other house since it's still fully furnished. Everything was in good shape except for an overgrown yard. Daily rainstorms have made it almost impossible to mow. Kevin and I worked for a couple of hours pulling weeds from all the flower beds. They look tons better, but unfortunately the backs of my legs are still complaining about the workout. We're still having lots of showings--one while we were there and two more today. I just keep trusting that God has the timing and details of the house sale already worked out for my benefit.



Wednesday night, we went to the Ranger game. Oddly enough, in the 11 years we lived in Texas, we have never been to a game on the fourth of July. It was a picture perfect night-- a cool breeze, the sun set shortly after we got there, the Rangers won, the game was short (only 2 1/2 hours!), and a spectacular fireworks show after the game. The only down side was the traffic afterwards. You would think Arlington would have a few more policemen on hand to direct traffic when the Rangers finish playing at the same time Six Flags closes. It took us an hour and a half to drive back to our house--a distance that would have taken 15 min. under normal circumstances. Thankfully, Katie and Nathan were snoozing in the back seat.



Friday we went to Six Flags. The forecast of 80% chance of rain must have intimidated most people into not going which meant short lines for us. It turned out to be a gorgeous day, cloudy with a cool breeze and in the upper 70's until late afternoon--How often does that happen in north Texas in July? We saw lots of kids from our youth group there; a fun day for them after working so hard at Mission Arlington all week. I'll post a report from their trip soon after I get some actual numbers. I know of least 7 salvations from just Alyssa's team and there were 4 teams total! The kids are still trying to regain their lost sleep so I'm sure I'll get more information as they recover.

A note about "Comments": Several of you mentioned you wanted to leave a comment, but didn't want to register. I've changed the settings to allow you to comment without having to sign on to make it easier for you, so comment all you want! I'd love to know who can guess what movie the quote is from!

More Pictures!

In case you're wondering why these are being posted after I've already blogged about the event, I discovered the usb cord to my camera was left in Texas. Thankfully, on our return trip this week, I was able to gather up quite a few things we accidentally left behind. From now on, I should be able to integrate the pix with the news!

Nathan on the carousel at the zoo. Yes, that's duct tape holding it together which I didn't notice until after I had already taken the picture.
Nathan on the zoo train--before the storm!
In the butterfly garden
Nathan was holding out his fingers to attempt to get a butterfly to land on them, but everytime one would come near him, he would jump back and be scared of it. He almost wouldn't let me take this picture because there were butterflies all over the flowers behind him.