Sky Watch Friday!

It has been a very long time since I've participated in a Sky Watch Friday; however, on Wednesday night I saw a beautiful sunset and it made me want to take a picture! :) These were taken as we were leaving the church Wednesday night. I happened to have my camera with me, so my husband pulled into the parking lot across from the church and I snapped a few pictures. Unfortunately, there were unavoidable power lines in my way, but I still thought they turned out pretty. Hope you enjoy them! To see more beautiful sky shots, hop on over to Sky Watch Friday!

Sunday Night

Remember Mike Huckabee? He ran for President last year...and, sadly, didn't win... Last night he was in town at a local church, and we had the opportunity to hear him preach! What a blessing. We also had the opportunity to hear him play bass guitar with some of the church's band members. Here's a picture I got off a friend's facebook:

That's Governor Huckabee playing the red guitar at the front.
He preached about the parable of the prodigal son, and did a great job.

We were surprised to have another well-known speaker last night. Actor Stephen Baldwin (Alec Baldwin's youngest brother) was there. He's been a Christian for 7 years now (he got saved one year after his wife, and about a month at 9/11/01). He has such an awesome testimony. I first heard his testimony about 2 or 3 years ago, and the Lord impressed it on my heart to pray for him and for his family. I really wanted to speak to him last night, but we had to rush out after the service was over. I was hoping I'd get to bump into him on the way out, but it didn't happen. At one point he was about 3 feet away and I was so tempted to run over there, but he was doing a book-signing and it would have appeared I was just cutting in line. I guess I would have been cutting in line. lol Anyway, I just wanted him to know I was praying for him.

This is Alec on the left and Stephen on the right (picture taken from a website)

I left my camera in the car last night! I had planned on taking some pictures of Mike Huckabee, but it didn't happen!

Anyway, last night was fun, and it was great to hear our future president speak. ;o)

Happy New Year!

I can't believe it's the last day of 2008! Where has the year gone? There are so many things I'm thankful for this year:

1. First of all, I'm thankful for salvation through Jesus Christ and my personal relationship with Him! My life would mean nothing if not for my hope I have in Jesus!

2. I'm thankful for good health...both for me and my family.

3. I'm thankful for modern medicine! Neal is a walking miracle right now!

4. I'm thankful for friends. I am blessed with many friends...some old, some new.

5. I'm thankful for my brothers! Even though we live far away, we're just a phone call away or a thought away. Even though they are much older than me (LOL) we always have lots to talk about! I always thought I wanted a sister, but I wouldn't trade my two brothers for anything in the world!

6. I'm thankful for my church! We are so blessed to be involved in a good church. Our church family was so instrumental in ministering to us during Neal's surgery and aftermath. What a blessing it is to be involved in a good church!

7. I'm thankful for my on-line friends. I've met many people "online" and a few of those are now "in real life" friends. Thank you for your friendship!

There are so many things I'm thankful for this year, and those are just a few.

This morning I went to breakfast with my best friend, Tammy. She and I have been best friends since 1982! We went to high school together in Ohio and then moved here together to go to college. We met local boys and got married, and now live about 3 miles apart. What a blessing!

Last night we got together with our good friends Bill and Colleen (and their girls). We've known Bill and Colleen for over 20 years. Our friendship has been very sweet through the years. We both have two children, and we were both pregnant at the same time -- twice! Thank God for old friends!

Tonight we are gathering with our friends the Gordons. We met the Gordons a little over four years ago. We quickly became friends and camping buddies! We have homeschooling in common and lots of other things. Even though we've only known each other for a relatively short time, we feel very close to them and are deeply thankful for their friendship! Thank God for new friends!

I pray that all who read this will be blessed with a happy and healthy 2009! Happiness does not always have the same face...sometimes it's obvious and sometimes we have to dig deeper to find it. True happiness can only be found through a personal relationship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I pray that if you do not know Him personally, that 2009 will be the year that you make that decision! If you want to know more about how to receive Christ as your Savior, click here.

Happy New Year!

Teresa

I Surrender All

After church this morning Ben came to me in tears. He said "Mommy, I'm not saved." I said something like "but Ben, you asked Jesus into your heart a couple of years ago." Then he said something that floored me "No, I did that to make you happy, but I didn't really mean it." All this said through tears. At this point we're standing outside the church, so I said "okay, let's go find someone to pray with you." The very person I had in mind was standing right inside the door. He's the father of one of Ben's friends and is very easy to talk to. He and his family are actually missionaries in Japan and are home on a furlough. He took Ben back to a room where they talked and Ben prayed and received Jesus as his Lord and Savior! When Ben came out I'd never before seen such a look of joy and peace on my precious son's face.

When I asked him about it later, he said it had been bothering him for a long time, but when we sang the song "I Surrender All" during the invitation that did it....he had to make things right with God. I'm so glad he did!

Here's the words to the song we sang:

I SURRENDER ALL

All to Jesus I surrender
All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him,
In his presence daily live.

I surrender all, I surrender all;
All to thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.

All to Jesus I surrender,
Humbly at His feet I bow,
Worldly pleasures all forsaken,
Take me Jesus, take me now.

I surrender all, I surrender all;
All to thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.

Have you surrendered all?

Easter

I can't remember the last time we didn't go to church on Easter morning, but we didn't get to go yesterday. Beth had pink eye and we didn't get it diagnosed until Saturday. She needed to be on antibiotic drops 24 hours before we took her to church, so that ruled out Sunday morning. Neal still felt really bad Saturday evening. He had a cough, congestion, and he kept running a fever off and on. I let both of them sleep in yesterday and they didn't get up until 11:00! Beth woke up with clear eyes, and when Neal woke up he felt fine, too!

Around 1:00 we went to Neal's grandfather's house for lunch. (Beth had strict orders not to shake hands with anyone :o) There were 25 people there, and we all had a nice time catching up and eating.

Last night, since everyone was feeling better and Beth has her drops in for 24 hours, we went to church. It ended up mostly being a song service, and was so worshipful. The last song we sang touched me deeply. It's an old song that I've known all my life, but I guess with what we're going through right now it was very comforting.

Because He Lives

God sent His Son - they called Him Jesus,
He came to love, heal and forgive;
He lived and died to buy my pardon,
An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives.

Chorus:

Because He lives I can face tomorrow,
Because He lives all fear is gone;
Because I know He holds the future
And life is worth the living just because He lives.

How sweet to hold a newborn baby
And feel the pride and joy he gives;
But greater still the calm assurance:
This child can face uncertain days because Christ lives.

(Chorus)

And then one day I'll cross the river,
I'll fight life's final war with pain;
And then, as death gives way to victory,
I'll see the lights of glory - and I'll know He lives.

(Chorus)

Written by Bill and Gloria Gaither

Tonight Neal and I have to have our "what if" talk. "What if something goes wrong and Neal doesn't make it through surgery," or "what if something happens before he makes it to surgery." I really don't think this shows a lack of faith. I believe God wants us to be prepared at all times to take care of our families. We've actually had this talk before, but Neal has more to add to it this time. He's put more thought into it, and wants to write it down for me. I can't say I'm looking forward to it, but I know it needs to be done.

We are hoping to go out on a date Friday night, so I told him to get this talk over with and not bring that up on the date. :o) He agreed.

Happy Easter Monday!

Blessed...Again

This time I was blessed by my husband. Last night after we climbed into bed, we prayed together. As I was listening to Neal pray I heard him say "and thank you Lord for blessing us so much...especially these last few days." And I thought wow, it would be so easy to wonder why something like this was happening, and yet he was praising God for it and thanking Him for his blessings!

But we do have so much to be thankful for. As we were sitting in church yesterday hearing other prayer requests...those with cancer, those who have lost loved ones, we know how blessed we are. Neal had a warning...so many do not!

So thank you Lord for blessing us so much...especially these last few days!

Blessed!

We started the day with a little bit of apprehension. Today was our first day at church since Neal had found out his news about heart surgery. Neal's a pretty private person, and he's not one to share prayer requests very often. We have a marker board in our Adult Bible Fellowship (ABF) room that we write prayer requests on. I can probably count on one hand how many times we've written prayer requests on there. Not because we don't have them, but because Neal always tells me to "save it for the big stuff." Well, I guess heart surgery = "big stuff." We didn't write it on the board, however. We actually stood up in front of the class and told them what's going on. It was an emotional time for Neal. I was surprised that I didn't cry. I cried a lot on Thursday. I didn't cry any on Friday, and I had a "weepy" day on Saturday. Today I was able to hold it together. I almost felt guilty for not crying if that makes any sense at all. Anyway, after Neal filled everyone in, Jim asked the class to pray for us. Neal and I sat up front and then the class gathered around us and layed hands on us. People prayed one by one as they felt led. I have to say it was one of the most humbling and precious times in mine and Neal's lives.

Our church calls our adult Sunday school classes - Adult Bible Fellowship (ABF Class). Our church is pretty large, and we consider our class our community. Today Neal and I really felt what a blessing it is to be in our class. Even though we have family here, it's such an honor to belong to a group of people who care about you and cry and pray with you.

We are truly humbled and blessed! Thank you Chara!!!

Ladies Night

Friday night I hosted a ladies night out for our Adult Bible Fellowship class. We had a "Spa Night" and I think around 20 or so ladies came out. We broke up into three groups and started our room rotation. The group I was in started in the kitchen. We did manicures there. One of the ladies makes a really good sugar scrub that we used on our hands. Ooooohhh, my hands felt so smooth after that! I painted my nails a pretty copper color. They looked really nice for about 24 hours and then started chipping off. That's why I don't paint my nails very often. What's the use when you all you have to do is wash dishes and it starts coming off?

In the second rotation, we moved to the study (our homeschool room). In that room I had a table set up and that's where we relaxed, talked, and ate a snack. We had grapes, pineapple, mango, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, bananas, etc. We also had several different flavors of tea and bottled water.

The third, and final rotation, for our group was the facial room. We used my bathroom to do the facials and then relaxed in the living room with our warm washcloths and cool cumcumbers (for the eyes). Soft music was playing and we had good conversation going all the time.

After all the rotations were completed, most of us gathered in the living room and some in the kitchen and talked and ate cheesecake bites, cream puffs, and chocolate. You didn't think we'd get together without chocolate did you??? LOL

The ladies arrived around 6:30 and started leaving around 9:30. Neal and the kids came home around 9:30ish. The kids had a fun night with Daddy, and Mommy had a fun night with her girlfriends!

Flannel and Frappuccino

Friday night was our youth group's 2nd annual Flannel and Frappuccino night! This is a night where you go to church in your flannel pj's, bring your homemade cardboard car (or pay $2 admission) and watch a movie "drive-in" style. What a blast! My dear friend, Jackie, makes the frappuccino's and I had the distinct honor of being her helper this year! Just call me Whip Cream Girl! ;o)

Along with your admission you get two free items at the snack bar, and anything over that you can buy with real money. I'm sure all the kids had a hard time going to sleep that night with their caffeine buzzes!

The movie this year was "Night at the Museum." I'd never seen it before (and I still haven't seen all of it) but it's a pretty good movie. Very funny! It's really hard to find a movie these days that you can show to a group of teenagers at church! Even this one had a couple of questionable parts, but it would be hard to find a cleaner movie out there. Last year they watched "Facing the Giants" which if you haven't seen it, is an excellent, totally decent movie!

Here's our youth pastor introducing the movie:

Here's Beth and her best friend Erin sitting in Beth's car. Beth spent most of her free time for the past week and a half working on her car. She had so much fun! Notice the headlights on the car!

Here are Beth and Ben taking a "ride" in the basement. See the fish symbols? My idea! ;o)

Here are some of the other kids cars. They had a contest, and all of the teens were able to vote on their favorite cars in differing categories. There were some pretty creative cars there! One was shaped like a banana and another like a crib. Too cute!

Awana Grand Prix

Last Saturday at church we had our annual Awana Grand Prix! Each car kit is five bucks, and you start out with the same size block of wood and set of wheels. Then you can let your imagination fly! There are three categories: Racing Style, Creative Style, and speed. Each grade (3rd - 6th) gets 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in each category. Here's a shot of most of the 3rd and 4th grade cars (they weren't all put out yet):

Here's Ben's "Batmobile." He and his Daddy worked very hard on this car and had hours of fun together! (That's the best part)

This is the track they raced on. One of the men in our church made it several years ago, and it is awesome!

Ben was so happy and surprised to get 1st place in Racing Style in the 4th grade division!

Mr. G and his friend Danny Doolittle entertained us before the race. Mr. G (a former Word of Life missionary) gave a short devotional, as well.

Here are some of the creative 5th and 6th grade cars:
Tow Mater (From the movie Cars)

Frog

Hay Wagon

Leopard

Yuck!

Last night in the gym at church:

Ben: "I have some bad news."

Me: "What is it?"

Ben: "I was in the bathroom stall changing into my costume before church when I heard a few splashes."

Me: (dreading to hear the answer) "What was it?"

Ben: "The first two splashes were my gloves, but the last one was my Awana book!"

Me: (groan)

Ben: "But I hadn't used the bathroom in there yet!"

Thank goodness for the little blessings! :o)

(we now have a new Awana book, even though the water was "clean." LOL)

Our Weekend

I need to be in bed, so I'll make this quick.

Friday night: After dinner I built up my courage and went to the grocery store. Why did I need to build up my courage, you ask? Because I did my "once-a-month" shopping. I was doing this regularly this time last year, but then slacked off of it. This is my first month back doing this in quite some time. I had lots of coupons that could be doubled, and I had some coupons that were specifically for Kroger, so that's where I went. Before coupons my bill came to over $230, but after coupons it was less than $203! That was the bulk of my shopping.

Saturday morning: Beth and I left for MTW (Ministry Training Workshop)at our church at 7:30 am. They served us breakfast from 7:45 to 8:15, and then we had four different workshop sessions to sit in on. Each session started with a skit by our pastoral staff. Every year they spoof a movie or tv show. Last year was our first year going and they spoofed "Home Improvement." This year they spoofed the movie "Back to the Future." It was hilarious!

The theme of our workshop was Unity, and making decision that will effect the future of our church. It was a very timely theme as we are in the process of building a new sanctuary. Beth and I thoroughly enjoyed the meeting. During the last session, instead of a speaker they gave us a tour of our new building. It will not be ready to move into until Easter, but we were able to stand in the sanctuary and see what it looks like. Our pastor told a funny story while we were waiting on everyone to file in, and his wife told him that would be remembered as his first "sermon" in the new building. We also had a question and answer session, and then we prayed and sang the Doxology. It was beautiful. After the 4th session we had a pizza lunch and a time of fellowship. It was great fun!

After MTW, Beth and I went to SAMS Club to finish my monthl shopping. I spent $118 (that included some flourescent lightbulbs and a huge bag of catfood). So my total spending for the month was $320. I know I'll have to purchase perishable items and milk and eggs, but I should stay under $400 for the entire month. My goal is $100 a week (including pet stuff, toiletries, cleaning supplies, etc.) so it looks like I may make it.

In case your wondering what the benefit of monthly shopping is, this is what I've found. When I walk into Walmart once or twice a week for food, I end up making impulse purchases. I spend much more money on groceries that way, than if I do a once a month trip. It's a little time consuming to make a monthly menu and food list, but it's worth it! Plus, for an entire month I don't have to ask myself "what am I going to cook tonight?" I just have to look at my calendar on the refrigerator and say "Oh, tonight is chili night." Pretty nice!

Today was a pretty normal Sunday. We went to church this morning and then rushed on home for lunch. Neal took a hunter safety class Saturday and Sunday and I had to get him fed before he went to his 1:00 class. I took a nice, long nap this afternoon, and then went back to church tonight. After church I met a friend at Barnes and Noble for coffee and then took Ben to McDonald's after that. Beth was at an "After Glow" with her youth group, so I had to kill time until I could pick her up.

I spent about an hour down at Mom's tonight talking and now I'm ready for bed. After all....

...Tomorrow is another day

Awards Nights

We've had two awards programs this week. Tuesday we had our homeschool end of the year awards banquet. After an international potluck dinner, we listened to a formerly homeschooled young man tell of his homeschooling experiences in China. He was funny and interesting. Then we had the presentation of awards. This year Beth and I made the certificates. Beth actually designed them. She came up with about 5 designs and we let our group leaders pick which one they liked best. Beth was very excited that they used her design. Each parent sent me information on what they wanted their child's certificate to say and I typed it in with a calligraphy font. We handed out 51 certificates! Here are Beth and Ben's certificates (minus their full names :o):




Last night we had our AWANA awards ceremony. AWANA is a program our church has for elementary age children. It stands for Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed which is taken from II Timothy 2:15. It was a fun night for all the kids. This was Beth's last year and she received the Timothy Award for completing the fourth book in the T & T group (Truth and Training). She also received the Merit Award for completing book 3. We've only been at our church for three years so she had to complete four books in three years. We were very proud of her accomplishment! That's a lot of verses to memorize! Ben received a participation award. This is his first year not completing his book. He's now determined to work harder! :o)