A Child of the King

A Child of the King~ by H. Buell & J. Summers

1. My Father is rich in houses and lands, He holdeth the wealth of the world in His hands! Of rubies and diamonds, of silver and gold, His coffers are full, he has riches untold.

2. My Father's own Son, the saviour of men, once wandered on earth as the poorest of them; But now He is pleading our pardon on high, that we may be His when He comes by and by.

3. I once was an outcast stranger on earth, a sinner by choice, and an alien by birth; but I've been adopted, my name's written down, and heir to a mansion, a robe and a crown.

4. A tent or a cottage, why should I care? They're building a palace for me over there; though exiled from Home, yet, still I may sing: All glory to God, I'm a child of the King.

Amy is in the middle. My sweet friend, Zelle is from the Philippines. Both are such a blessing to me.

We had a wonderful ladies fellowship last week. I was blessed to hear my dear friend, Amy teach. She has been a missionary to the Philippines for the last 12 years. She is one of my Spiritual heroes.

She has 2 sweet precious boys that my children adore. I love spending time with them. Her love for the Lord just overflows. Just being with her gives me spiritual uplifting. Amy encourages me to be a better child of the King & and a better mom.

The lesson was about the Advantages of being a Child of the King.

1. Presence of the Holy Spirit in my life. John 1:12, John 14:16-17

2. Promises in the Word of God that I can claim. Hebrews 13:5, 1 Thessalonians 5:24, Proverbs 3:5,6 Faithful is He Acts 16:31

3. Power of Prayer in my life. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 - crying out loud - pleading the blood of Jesus.

I nI needed to hear this, to be reminded again. I've seen God's hand in prayer time after time, but sometimes I give things to God and then take it back. At times, I think, I know this is God's will, but why isn't anything happening. How long is it going to take? Then He reminds me- in My time. I have to trust in Him. Some of the things I've been praying about- I know without a doubt He wants it to be so- more than I do. Wait on the Lord and be of good courage. Wait, I say wait.

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4. Protection of the Lord over me. Safety is of the Lord. Proverbs 21:31

5. Privilege of serving Him. Joshua 24:15, Psalms 100:2, Colossians 3:23-24

6. "Princess" title I can claim John 1:12 Because I am a child of the King, that makes me His Princess!

Me - a Princess! Does my husband know this? Princess' don't clean their own throne. I do like to wear necklaces - even when I'm cleaning. I wonder if I start wearing a tiara, instead, while I clean if it'll get me out of the chore?

{Side note: If you have a little girl, check out Gigi, God's Little Princess by Sheila Walsh. It is so cute. Faith and I have really enjoyed reading it.)



I am truly honored that God has allowed me to be friends with my spiritual hero!

Joshua 1:8

My computer has been down due to a virus. I am so glad that my hubby was able to bring it back to life. We didn't loose anything, we just couldn't sign on. So I guess I need to thank the crazy person who created the virus for not making one that would destroy everything on our computer. Why do people create just to destroy? That is another blog for another day.



Do we know how to sit and think? Or do we just sit?

Joshua 1:8 "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success."

We must meditate on the word. We must heed and enforce the word of God.

Meditate day and night. This is more than acquiring knowledge from the scripture. Meditate means to ponder or give serious thought to. The goal for spiritual meditation is application.

We are living in an age that has forgotten to be silent with God. Walking in God's commandments ensures God's promises. "then thou shalt make thy way prosperous and then thou shalt have good success." (vs.8) If we desire to prosper as Joshua did, then we must do as he did.

Study the word of God
Submit to the word of God both day and night.

(the notes above from our Pastor's sermon.)

I want to have success. Maybe not what the world views as success, but what my Lord views as success. I want to have a marriage that pleases God. I want to raise my children to know and love Him- to serve Him. I want to be faithful. When I meet my Heavenly Father, I want to hear Him say "well done, thou good and faithful servant" (Matt. 25:21) That will be my success.

{Side note: When we were expecting our 1st child, I had already picked out the name Faith if our child were to be a girl. 2 babies later, we had our Faith. Not only did I love that name, but it was the essence of my desire ~Faith, to be faithful.}

I need to learn how to sit, be still and ponder on His word. Meditate- apply His word to my life both day and night.

Do we know how to sit and think? Or do we just sit?

Beach in January

I love going to the beach on the off season. No crowds. The people that are there are so friendly. I do enjoy being with friends, but family time is so special. From Thanksgiving to the end of the year, Tony is so busy playing Christmas services, shows, ballets, etc., that we hardly have time to spend with him. Our January trip to the beach helps us to reconnect, enjoy each others company, relax and just have fun.

Faith was going to join me in the hot tub. After she stepped on the 3rd step, she said "it's a little spicy for me."

It was so nice to sleep in and not feel guilty. Nothing to clean, nothing to cook, plan or prepare and no traditional school to do. (We did some school, they just didn't know it. I wish we could do school like this all the time.) Truly relaxing.


I woke up to find that I was the only one up. Wonderful alone time with my Lord! I brought along this wonderful book to use along with my quiet time. I just love Elizabeth George. She must me my long lost twin. God uses her to tell me just what I need. She uses lots of scripture in her books ~ which I love. There is nothing like spending time with the Lord on a quiet beautiful beach. You can feel His presence all around.

God's stunning creation.

After a quick breakfast, Collin joined me. I love spending one-on-one time with my children. Snuggling, laughing, loving. We decided to take a stroll on the beach. Listening to the gentle lull of the ocean, dodging sea gulls as they swooped down, looking for shells, talking of our dreams, talking about everything and about nothing. Meeting people.

My plan was to run on the beach alone with the Lord- listening the my mp3 player praising my Creator. Instead, I was blessed with running with Collin. Sometimes when plans change it can be better than what we 1st wanted. Maybe tomorrow I can be alone on the beach, but if I have company that'll be a treat too. I never did get to run on the beach in the morning. I was able to have a different blessing with me every morning. The Lord still granted me some wonderful time alone with Him throughout each day.

I loved the slow pace. We enjoyed playing games, reading, swimming & watching cable (what a treat since we don't have it at home).

They boys loved when Tony flipped them in the air.
Will ~ in 1st pic. Collin ~ in 2nd pic.

Tony & Faith playing air hockey.
Will & I are playing pool.

We found a little arcade down the road. We had a lot of fun playing games.

We had a lot of fun at the aquarium.

I want to introduce you to one of my favorite animals. The stingray. Why a stingray you may ask. On the service, he may look a little scary, maybe even a little lonely. You may even start to feel sorry for the little guy.

If you start to investigate him, you will see how he really feels.

There's nothing like sharing Daddy's drink.

Despite the cold, we had a great family vacation. Simply wonderful.

Here's to being Healthy

One of my prayers for 2010 was to find God's will for my life for this year. One thing that He has showed me is to eat and live healthy. There is a difference between dieting and living healthy. We need a life change, not just a short fix.

My darling husband is a meat and potato man. So this may be challenging at times. Thank the Lord 2 out of 3 of the children love to eat healthy. Collin is like me. I love all meats & breads, most fruit and very few veggies. I've been praying that God will change my taste palate.

I am so thankful to my friend, Holly for telling me about 2 wonderful tools that will help us all. The 1st is Sparkpeople.com . It is a free online site that has wonderful recipes, exercise tips, etc. The 2nd one is The Sneaky Chef. You add puree veggies to your meals. I've made a few of these recipes and truly, you can't taste the added veggies. I added it to our turkey chili and my hubby said that it was the best batch yet. (He has no idea, unless he reads this.)

One thing that the kids love is "this and that in a tin". Finger food in a fun muffin tin. I got these and never had success at making anything in them, so we used them for serving food.


This is going to be a gradual change. Add a few things here, take away a few things there.

There are a few friends of mine that are planning to take this journey along with me. Andrea shared this with me.

2 Chronicles 32:7-8
⁷Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more with us than with him:

⁸With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

I've been searching for verses on God's power and how it's so much greater than anything we can ever imagine. I have no will POWER when it comes to food so it has to be His! He's here with us to fight our battles and sometimes a cookie feels like the king of Assyria's army!

Kindred Spirits think alike. That is just what I needed when she sent it. Through prayer and daily quiet time, I know God will help me do His will.

If you are taking this journey as well, let me know. I would love to pray for you. I know that is the key to success.

Au revoir 2009

God is always faithful! We experienced so many wonderful things in 2009. There were also some unpleasant things to happen as well. God was faithful - as he promised.

My prayers for 2010 is:

1. Draw closer to Jesus.
2. To find what God's will is for my life for this year.
   
3. To find balance.
4. Simplicity
5. To focus on:

   "... whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." Phil. 4:8
   

I have so many other things that I would love to achieve in 2010. Like lose weight, excercise, get more organized, less tv & computer, sew more, etc. I am trying to not be overwhelmed by needing to adjust so many things. I am trusting that if I can achieve my 5 goals (listed above), that God will guide me in the other areas.

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Bonne Annee 2010 (Happy New Year in French)

We had a fabulous time with our friends Logan (far left - in the back) and Carson (in purple) today.

Christmas Eve & Day

Tony had to play at a candlelight service on Christmas Eve. So the kids and I drove around looking at Christmas lights.

One of our friend's house has lots of decorations in their yard. We get to walk around looking at them.

Afterwards, we came home for the kids to open the presents from each other. I hid them in the Christmas tree. They had fun being on a present hunt. Build-a-Bear gift cards. Yea!After they opened presents, we put out sheep food for the Shepherds following the star to Bethlehem. (Oatmeal & gold glitter).


The boys woke up at 5:45am ready to open presents. Tony asked them to go back to bed until daylight.

I got up at 7:15. At 7:30, I heard Will's alarm go off. I could hear him open the blinds and then call out to Collin that it was day light outside ~ time to open presents. After they woke up Faith, they came into the den. Collin confessed that they had come into the den earlier that night and checked out the loot. (I did this as a child many times, too.)


Faith saw the huge present that was for her. What a face! (We didn't get a pic.) A dollhouse. I don't know who was more excited about it- Faith or me.

Will's favorite gift was his digital camera.

Collin loved his guitar, remote control R2D2, his Nerf gun, bow & arrow- basically everything.

We are going to the beach next week. The place where we are staying, has indoor pools. The kids wanted me to make them a bathrobe so they could take it with them. (To keep them warm when we walk from the pool to our room.) They were very surprised that they got them.

Why do we buy presents, when all the kids really want to do is play in the box?

After our Christmas brunch (waffles and beacon), we played with the toys. Then we snuggled on our bed to watch one of their new DVDs. Tony & I fell asleep- for a short nap. Then we played with some of the their new board games.

Then off to the grandparents. The kids loved playing with their cousins- Ashton & Nathan, as well as their friends Carson & Logan. (Faith & Logan above)

Present time- mass confusion, but a whole lot of fun.

Will & Ashton gave us a Christmas concert. I'm so proud of those two. Faith sang a little song. Faith kept giving me hugs and telling me she loved me until she could get her nerve up to sing. What a Joy!

With our tummies and hearts full, we headed home. We decided to let the kids stay up late. Collin started cleaning the den for me - finding homes for all the loot. Before Will went to bed, he came to me with tears in his eyes thanking me for his presents, for making his robe and for being his mom.

My cup runneth over as well as my tears.

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

We celebrated Jesus' Birthday today. I don't have it together enough to celebrate His birthday on the same day as the events on Christmas Day. 2 years ago, we started celebrating His birth on Dec. 23.

This morning, I woke up to Will playing Christmas Carols. What a marvelous thing to wake up to.

The early bird catches the worm. Will got to make the cake by himself since he was the only one awake. After everyone woke up, the cake was ready to decorate.

It's round to show that there is no end to God's love. (John 3:16)
The cake is dark to represent our hearts filled with sin. (Rom. 3:26)
White icing- Jesus washes our sins white a snow. (Rom. 6:23)
Angel- to remind us of the good tidings that were brought to the shepherds that
night (Luke 2:10)
Star - to represent the star they followed to worship Jesus.
12 red - Candles. Red to represent the blood that Jesus shed for us (Rom. 5:8)
The light - He is the light of the world. 12 candles to remind us to celebrate His light all 12 months of the year.
Evergreen- something living and growing. If we accept Jesus, we'll grow closer to Him and live for evermore. (John 15:5)

We played a game about Jesus' birth story.

We enjoyed reading books about His birth.
The 12 Days of Christmas by Robert Sabuda
The Candymaker's Gift by David & Helen Haidle
The Christmas Lizard by Cory Edwards
The Story of Christmas: The birth of Jesus
Georgie The Frog in A Christmas Surprise by Glorianne Gibbs

We acted out the Christmas story. We had lots of visiting animals. Not sure if an iguana was really there.


We enjoyed doing the Adorenament Tree. It explains 12 of Jesus' names. Emmanuel, The Door, The True Vine, Living Water, The Light of the World, Bright Morning Star, The Lion from the tribe of Judah, The Lamb of God, The Good Shepherd, The King of kings and Lord of Lords, and The Bread of Life, Savior. Our Pastor's wife, Mrs. Ann does this with the Sparks at our church. She let me borrow it. Hopefully, next year, we'll be able to find real ornaments that goes with each name.

We sang and listened to Christmas Carols all through out the day. We had such a good time praising our Savior.

Happy Birthday, Jesus!