Catching up....again!

It seems that I am always catching up, but hey, thats my life right now!  I realized that I never posted pictures of Nathan's last playoff football game and Daniel getting his blue belt! 
Nathan's game was great, but they lost in the last seconds of the game:( They played their little hearts out.  We were all so sad that they didn't get to win.  Now, Nathan is looking forward to tackle football next year.  Needless to say, I am NOT, but he loves it and to quote him, "It is in my blood, Mom."  How can I refuse that?

He was a flag pulling machine this year!

Yes, he caught that one!

Daniel is still enjoying TaeKwando!  It is amazing how he is improving with each belt.  He just recently earned his blue belt and is really excited about it!  During the test, he actually broke 3 boards at once! We have it on video but I can't figure out how to load it on here! His Master comes up to me often to tell me how proud they are of him.  He is a hard worker.

Broke 3 boards on the first try!

Also, Nathan's friend got tickets to WWE and he and Michael went last night.  I am not sure that I have seen Nathan that excited in a long time!

Well, I think I got it all!  

Expectations

Last Thursday night, Ashley and I had a long talk about some things she was really struggling with.  The more we talked the more I could see that I struggle with those very same things, just on a bigger scale.  I have thought about our conversation all week.  I won't share the details but it comes down to the expectations of others and even more, the expectations we place on ourselves.  There are certain things I am wrestling with right now that are true to me but are not necessarily "true".  What I mean by that is we can believe something about ourselves and it becomes the truth to us.  What we don't say in words, we ultimately say in our actions. 
I was studying John the Baptist this morning.  I was reading in John 1:19-31.  John confesses freely that he is not the Messiah, so they kept asking him who he was.  In verse 22 they asked him, "What do you say about yourself?"  His answer was that he was not Elijah the prophet and he was not the Christ.  He said he was a voice of one crying out in the wilderness, proclaiming Christ as his leader.  He understood that his life had value not through what he could do but because of his life's connection to Christ.  He understood that it wasn't about what he could do but how he could serve Christ.  For John the Baptist is was public and everyone could see what he was doing, but for many of us we are behind the scenes and not many ever see our service and that is okay because it's not about us, it's about HIM.
If we are all honest with ourselves, we all struggle with our value being connected to what we can do.  Our culture puts so much emphasis on us to do, do, do.  Not only do we get caught up in it, we stick our kids right in the middle of it. We sign them up for this class and that class in hopes that they will find what they are good at.  I have been asking myself these questions this week:  Do I want my kids to find their identity in some great talent they might have or do I want them to find their identity in the One who gave up His life for them- Christ.  Am I filling their time with activities for themselves or providing them with opportunities to serve others and ultimately Christ? 
I am not saying our kids shouldn't be in activities and I know some will be offended by this post and that's okay, but these are questions I am searching out for myself.  I hope that someone can take away some bit of encouragement!

This morning as I was reading, I came across this verse.
 
Isaiah 58:11
 The Lord will guide you continually,
      giving you water when you are dry
      and restoring your strength.
   You will be like a well-watered garden,
      like an ever-flowing spring.

There are many times when I am dry in my faith.  I am so thankful that during those times, HE is faithful and never gives up on me.  Sometimes it is so hard to face our neediness.  We want to feel like we are in control and by sheer willpower, do everything without acknowledging our need for Christ.  Something I needed reminded of is how He places me in situations where my strengths are of no good and my weaknesses are extremely evident. If I let Him, he draws me closer and closer to Himself.  I am learning to thank Him for the hard times I go through, knowing that it will be used to accomplish the Lord's work.  I am thankful that He restores my strength daily.

Daniel's Birthday

Today is Daniel's 9th Birthday! He came down the stairs this morning smiling so big!  He asked me all week if he could have the day off from school because it was his birthday but I was the mean old mom and made him do school anyway.  He was wonderful about it and did it without any complaints.  I did bribe him a little bit with telling him we would go pick out his cake when he got finished!

Daniel started a tradition when he was 5 or 6 that he would hide the birthday present and then make a map so that the person could go find it.  Now, they all do it for each other.  So here is a picture of Ashley's map for Daniel's present.

Here is Nathan's:

And here is Daniel, excited to go find his presents!

After opening his presents, he picked Sir Pizza to eat for dinner. Then we came home and ate Ice Cream Cake! Yum!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DANIEL! You are such a blessing to our family and we all love you so much!

Peace

Last night before bed, Nathan and I were praying for a very dear family that we know that is going through a very scary time.  After we finished, he looked at me and said, "Mom, is there really a purpose for everything we go through?"  I could tell that it just really bothered him that this family has to go through this trial.  I am so thankful for his tender heart toward people. I shared with him that just because we know Christ, doesn't mean we will be free of pain.  That is until we get to see HIM face to face! After our talk, I went to bed really thinking about the questions that he had and asked God to help me explain it a little better. 
While reading today, I came across this verse.....Colossians 3:14-15. 

¹⁴ Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. ¹⁵ And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.

Peace is the main mark of the authority of Christ.  A sense of peace will always accompany His will even when it is not our personal preference.  Christ is the Prince of Peace!  We can have peace because HE is peace. 

 

We carve pumpkins every year, and last year we forgot to buy them:( The kids were no very happy with us.  So this year I made sure not to forget!

And the best part.......they did them all by themselves!  As true to tradition, we separated all the seeds and baked them. YUM!

Our youth group served hot chocolate, coffee and cookies to trick-or-treaters inviting them to our church.
They had a great turn out and everyone was so shocked that we would do all this for them.  The youth kids all dressed up as different color M & M's!

Nathan at Tyler's house! I am so thankful for their friendship:)

They each carved a pumpkin.....one had a "T" and the other an "N"!

Zoo

Friday we went to the zoo with some friends.  I was shocked to hear from my kids that they were excited to go.  I have been wanting to get to the zoo since we moved here but every time I would mention it, they would all sigh.........I don't think they realized how much walking we were going to have to do at this zoo but I didn't hear one bit of complaining that they were tired.  We probably walked about 4 miles or so.  It was a beautiful day to be outside and you walk through alot of nature trails. We went with some people from our small group at church and Ashley and Nathan couldn't have been happier helping take care of the little ones!  I thought back to how fun it was to go when my kids were the little ones. But to watch them taking the other kids hands and being so excited to show them the animals and share in their joy.......it was priceless! 
It got me thinking about the different stages of their lives and how much they are changing.  I loved when they were little and I love that they are getting older!  Soon after Ashley was born, I had so many "seasoned" mothers that took the time to mentor and encourage me.  I know that the Lord used them to help me on my parenting journey.  Now, the most exciting thing to me is that I can have a turn to mentor and encourage these young women in our small group.  And even better.....my older kids are being a part of that too!   I LOVE that! 

As we spent the day together it made me really think back to when I was in this stage of parenting.  I remember how hard I was on myself when my kids would misbehave.  I will confess.......I still can be at times!  But now their misbehavior is so different.  It's not as "innocent" and foolish....now they pretty much know better!  Just like their misbehavior is different, so are the consequences!  Now we have to work on being creative and continuing to train their hearts.  The older I get the more I realize how important it is to not just train their outward behavior, but really get to their heart.  Daniel is learning Jeremiah 17:9 for Awana this week.....The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.  Who can understand it?  Boy, is that the TRUTH!  If I am honest enough to look into my own heart.....I see how sinful it really is and how there are times I don't even understand my own heart.  There are so many times that I parent my kids out of my own sinful heart.  It is times like these that I see that I can't do it on my own.  I need Jesus to help me daily.....sometimes moment by moment!  I don't mean just going to church on Sunday or just opening my Bible to read it because that's what we are suppose to do as Christians.  I mean allowing Christ access to my heart and submitting to the times when HE asks me to change.  When I was growing up, I remember thinking about wanting to be "good".  I wanted to do all the right things and be good.  It didn't take very long to blow that expectation! Now, it is such a relief for me to know that I can't be good on my own, I need Jesus!  I want my kids to see that.  For me, one of the greatest things in parenting is seeing my kids respond to the things God is teaching them.  They usually share those things with me when I talk with them before bed.  Ashley wrote is her blog about one of those moments about a week ago.  Her blog is not public so if you want to read it, send me an email and she can add your name to her allow list!
Wow! all this just from the zoo!