God used a hole in a baby quilt to remind me of his blessings. As usual, I waited until the last minute to finish a baby quilt for my friend's daughter. The day of the shower, I started working on the last half. That is when I noticed that I had 2 holes in the quilt. (Long story) I knew that I didn't have any money to go buy something else as a gift. I prayed asking God to give me an idea to fix it - for cheap.
I started Googling & found bits of ideas here & there. Put it together & there you have it. The kids & I went to our local fabric store. In no time, we found the material to create the solution.
We drove as fast as the law would allow heading home. As I was patching up the holes, God reminded me that even though the quilt wasn't perfect (the way I wanted it), I had to trust in Him to help me. By asking God for help & allowing Him to work, He made the quilt that much better. Just as He always does in my life. Yes, there was more work involved, but the out come was better than my vision.
When I am going through a storm in life, I may have to keep going through dark waters, but the victory will be that much sweeter & I will be the better for it.
There was a long hole where the brown ribbon is now. Then another hole where the small birdie is up in the right hand corner.
Will has started a new blog. I am excited for him. I have enjoyed this past year of blogging & recording our families adventures. I hope that he will have as much fun with his blog too.
The hidden advantage is that he will get lots of practice grammer & writing.
Please check it out & encourage him. (See side panel under "My Son's Blog" and click on Adventures of 1 lil buck.) Thank you so much.
We were off of school this week. (It was rough starting our new year round school, but we are now enjoying the benefits.)
Our home school support group had a park day to welcome new members. Faith met a new little fella & hit it off. She was so sad to see him leave. We had to chase down his family so that she could give him a hug bye.
The boys had a great time playing with new & old friends. Yes, we had 3 kids fall into the water. You guessed it, 2 were Collin & Will.
Faith had so much fun. We were there for 3 1/2 hours & she still hated to leave.
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Our county's sheriff talking to the kids. Will (right) asked him how he likes being a sheriff.
Our home school group posing with the Chief & Sheriff.
These ladies were so good with our group. Faith asked one of them how they liked being a deputy. She then asked if Faith would like to be one. Fear crept through my veins. Faith never really answered. This is a job that I could not do, but I am so thankful for the men & women who do this job & protect us.
Our group watching the narcotics dog. This was a treat.
An capture demonstration.
This is an old portable jail. The kids wanted to get in it. When it was time to leave, they didn't want to leave. I told them that they could stay. That I was sure they had a few cells that they may could stay in. They all came running. :)
This year we are participating in a home school co-op, where were are being educated in Science, art & Spanish.
We have learned a lot in our Spanish class. My kids break out speaking Spanish throughout the day.
Will & Collin working on their Botticelli Art in the Round painting.
We are studying the Great Artists
We are doing Christian Kids Explore Science- Physics. This has been so much fun. Mrs. Melinda is (a friend of mine from way back in my youth group days.) our Physics teacher. She is so talented in teaching the children. She came up with a wonderful way to illustrate a nucleus.
She had girls & moms stand together ~ representing the protons & neutrons in the middle. The boys were the electrons that were running around the nucleus. I wish I had this illustration when I was in school. Maybe then, I would have remembered which was which.
Will with other 3rd & 4th graders working on their worksheets.
Collin with other 1st & 2nd graders building atoms.
The whole co-op building a marshmallow & toothpick city.
Faith is in the preschool class ~ she had to stop by to show me a baby lizard that she caught.
All of these guys are so kind. When you talk to them before & after class, you could never imagine that they could tear up the mat.
In the picture above, Will is sparing with Grant (who is just a year older then he is.) There is a big height difference, but that doesn't stop Will.
They are working on their green belt now. Their instructor said that they will be crying by the time they finish the test. Will, being his Daddy's son, is determined to not let that happen. He has been exercising really hard so that he will have the endurance. I told him to not let the instructor know or he may push harder.
Tony found a Jon boat for an amazing deal.The boys want to paint it camouflage.(Will show "after" pictures later.)We have really enjoyed floating around in small ponds.
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We were in Wal-Mart and saw a green bike on clearance. There wasn't a upc symbol or price on it. We asked a sales associate about it. She called the manager to find out how much. He asked her how much she thought it was worth. She said maybe $25. He said okay. YAY! We got a great bike for a great price.
When Faith woke up this morning, she said I want to pet Collin' s bike. :)
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The kids participated in our local library’s summer reading program.They really enjoy reading & this is an easy way to earn free coupons at local restaurants & then to get a great medal
as a keep sake.
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:Faith sparing with her instructor, Mr. Gerald.:
:Collin sparing with Mr. Gerald.:
Faith & Collin sparing each other. They were laughing the whole time. Mr. Gerald told them that they loved each other to much, because they were holding back & not hitting each other. This is hard to tell the kids not to hit each other, but then it's okay to hit on the mat. (I hope that all the training that I've done isn't going out the window.)
And the winner is...........
~ Total wipe out. ~
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We had the privilege of meeting with one of our state congressmen. Mrs. Donna (right) had a meeting with him to discuss issues & bills concerning arthritis. She asked us if we would like to go & ask Senator Wilson some questions. Collin asked him what his views were on home schooling. (For the record ~ he supports it. :) Faith's question was if he knew Jesus & Will's question was if you died today where would you go? Unfortunately, we ran out of time to ask him the last 2 questions. They were both very disappointed. I told them that we would pray that we will get another chance later. I was so proud of them for their patience, great behavior & for them wanting to ask him about his salvation. Praise the Lord!
Lord, help me to truely realize, in my heart, that griping and murmuring is a sin. I want to honor you.
Below is part of a sermon from Dr. David Gibbs. This opened my eyes to how bad God sees griping & murmuring.
Did you gripe about anything last week?
It’s forbidden.
God killed more of the children of Israel for griping then all other sins combined. If God killed Christians today for griping, our churches would be few. We would spend all of our time at funerals – if there were preachers still left to do them.
We don’t think that griping is a sin. We have moved the fence b/c we do it so much. People grip & don’t know they are griping. Have you seen people who have cursed so much in their everyday language that they don’t even know they are doing it. That is what we’ve done with griping.
God forbids griping more than He forbids cursing in the bible. Some men have counted that every time we gripe, we commit 130 sins. Some are real obvious. In everything give thanks. Well, there went that one. Walk in the spirit- love, joy. Gone. Rejoice again I say rejoice. Blew that one. Every time you gripe, it’s like a machine gun of sin. We have moved the fence to where we are comfortable.
What will it take to say you’re done. Have you ever tried to live one day and not do that sin.
We murmur & grip all day, then we walk in the church & say bless me, Lord.
It doesn’t matter what someone has done to you. Murmuring is a sin.
Exodus 16:7
And in the morning, then ye shall see the glory of the LORD; for that he heareth your murmurings against the LORD: and what are we, that ye murmur against us?
Exodus 16:8
And Moses said, This shall be, when the LORD shall give you in the evening flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to the full; for that the LORD heareth your murmurings which ye murmur against him: and what are we? your murmurings are not against us, but against the LORD.
Philippians 2:14
Do all things without murmurings and disputings:
One of the many reason that we home school it to be able to help others. Since our schedule is so flexible, we can go when others can not.
We had the great opportunity to help our Women's Prison ministry from our church. 27 ladies from our church (as well as from other churches) were having a women's day retreat at one of the local prisons. They needed help putting together gift bags, music folders, preparing the food, packing the food & preparing the supplies.
My children were so excited to help. We went to help others, but we were the ones that received the blessing. It is my prayer that our children will have a servant's heart for the Lord. They learned that God's little people can do amazing things for Him.
We are so blessed to have Collin in our life. He came into this world 7 years ago with a few minor problems. God healed him & now everything is fine.
He loves Jesus
Will & Faith are his best friends
He loves to build
He can't stand for someone to be hurt
He loves to share
Collin has such a sweet spirit
He loves to play jokes on you
Working with dad is a great thing
He loves to be read too
Sweets are a must
AKA "Cookie"
I am so thankful & honored that God chose Tony & me to raise Collin for Him. It is so hard to believe that my baby boy is 7 years old. Where has the time gone?
IHOP has become Collin's favorite place to go for his birthday!
Star Wars birthday party with our family.
1-2-3 Go! Swimming with our cousins.
Collin's birthday quilt. Since Will got one for his birthday, Collin knew that he was going to get one. So he got to pick out his fabrics & design.
I am a born again Christian. I am a child of the King. I love spending time with my family. We enjoy going to the mountains in the summer and the beach in the fall & winter. I have been married to my "beloved" for 14 years. I am a homeschool mom of 3. Researching is entertaining.
I love dancing with my children in the rain, singing in the car with the music turned up loud(when I'm alone), sewing, going barefoot, drinking hot tea in the fall & winter & homemade lemonade in the spring & summer.
