A Little bit of this & that!

Here is a hodge podge of really (not a whole lotta) nothing that's been going on.

I believe I've mentioned once or twice or a hundred times about Emily's love (or obsession, how ever you want to put it) for The Wizard of Oz. She has a Dorothy wig that she will carry around in her Dorothy basket but refuses to put on her head. She throws a fit if anyone else tries to put on the wig.

She threw a big fit with her daddy the other day.

Ethan & Emily have really been practicing their flips & handstands.

Emily came home the other day & told me her arm hurt & she wanted it in a sling. I said, "Wha? (Yes, I said "wha") How do you know about slings?"

Apparently some kid in her class fell down on the playground and came back to school with their arm in a sling. I made her a makeshift sling to make her happy.

What a sad face.

I went to a Beth Moore simulcast today with my church friend Mary! It was so good! I'll post more about that later!

The Texas wildfires are still going on in Bastrop county. According to the news, the fire is now 50 percent contained with crews still fighting blazes within the 34,000-acre fire zone. These fires has been massive.

Here was the view coming into Bastrop.

Here is a picture taken from Austin, 30 miles from Bastrop.

The outpouring of love & generosity has been so wonderful to the evacuees, to our law enforcement, fire fighters & others as well. I know of several people from my work who have lost their homes in this fire. I heart & prayers go out to them.

Happy Birthday Max!

Dear Sweet Max,

Four years ago today you came into the world. I didn't know how long you would be with us, but I'm thankful that God gave me 6 weeks to love on you before you went to Heaven.

I miss you terribly. I think I grieve for you the hardest. I felt like I really didn't get to know you. I cried every time I saw you because I knew you would be gone too soon. We were able to bring your big brother home & we were able to spend almost 7 months with him. We got to know his personality, see him smile & spend the holidays with him. So not having that with you has been very rough.

We spent as much time with you as we could.

We would come to visit every night. We would sing, read the Bible & pray over you; hoping for a miracle. The doctors finally told us it wouldn't be long. We were able to bring family in to meet you.  
Your brother and sister got to meet you before you left us.

You received lots of hugs & kisses as family came in to say goodbye.

You had reddish-brown hair.

You were so sweet.

You had sweet nurses & doctors. One of your nurses also took care of your big brother. She remembered him & asked to be able to take care of you too!

Sweet Max, although you were definitely a surprise, you were a blessing. I only had you with me for 6 short weeks, but I will be with you forever in Heaven. Even though my heart grieves for the loss of my baby boy who I should be celebrating his 4th birthday today, I will praise my Lord.

So, Happy Birthday sweet Max. Mommy & Daddy love you!!

Texas Wildfires

This picture was taken five miles from my home. You may or may not have heard of all the crazy wildfires here in central Texas. I know of at least 3 people who have lost their homes. As I write this the fire has destroyed 476 homes and prompted the evacuation of 5,000 people. The blaze now spans 25,000 acres and is zero percent contained.

I pray for all of those that have lost their homes. I pray our home will be safe as well.

Another One!

OK blog friends, have I told you how much I love small towns & small town parades? If you don't remember, you can read here and here.

Believe it or not, Stinkbug was in another parade! We traveled to the very small town of Rockne, TX so Ethan could ride in another parade. If you can stand to see some more pictures of small town country life here in central Texas, then today is your day!

Here is my dad's old pickup he restored & recently had painted!

I spot a Stinkbug!

It's not a Texas parade without John Deere tractors.

It was very small parade. No pictures of Ladybug. She's been sick this week & still wasn't feeling good this morning. She refused to smile for any pictures or grab any candy that was thrown! Gasp! No candy? What? She must not be feeling good!

Here's Ethan riding a horse! I have no clue who the cowboy in the background is!
I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Confirmations & Handstands

I really struggled with finding the right words in my last post. It took me all week to write it. I wanted to say what was on my heart, but I wanted to do it in a Godly way. I changed my mind several different times trying to decide if I should even post what I posted. In the end, I decided to put it out there and show what was on my heart.

Little did I know, my husband received an email from one of the ladies at our church. I read it this afternoon & I couldn't believe it! It blew me away. The end of her email really confirmed what I shared yesterday. I'm very grateful she took the time to write my husband. It meant a great deal to me.

I don't think she will mind that I share the last lines of her email. She was referring to her situation in caring for her ailing father.

She wrote:

Also pray the fruits of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22,23) develop in us as we serve our parents.

Thanks Mark,   you are awesome as a Pastor & Jenny is your perfect helpmate.  She is so kind to everyone in the church.

Well if that's not confirmation!!! She wrote this email to my husband before I publish my last post! Wow! It's like she knew what I needed to hear!

On another subject, my kids have been practicing flips & handstands.

Ethan can now walk on his hands!

Emily can do a cartwheel!

Emily took this picture herself!

That's all she wrote for tonight! TGIF on a 3 day weekend!!

Some People!

Something has been bothering me so I'm just gonna go ahead and talk about it. I'm just gonna say what's been on my mind. If you go to church, most likely you'll know where I'm coming from.

Appreciate your pastors. A lot of people don't know, or maybe some of you do know, but sermons don't preach themselves. It takes study, time & preparation.

My husband is my pastor. I see first hand his hard work & dedication. I know the time he spends studying and preparing for each sermon. Believe me. There have been plenty of times my husband has stayed home on a Saturday so he can finish up his sermon notes instead of coming with me & the kids out to the movies or miniature golf. The times he leaves family gatherings early so he can put the finishing touches on his sermon or make sure the song leader got his email for his pick for the closing song.

I see the excitement in his eyes when he tells me the ideas he has for his sermons. I know the genuine thought, care & love he has for each member of our congregation. I'm the one he follows around from room to room with excitement in his voice telling me about what scriptures God has led him to for this weeks sermon.

Not to mention my husband went to school so he can learn more about the Bible, God & Theology. I won't go into how much time that took away from his family to earn a degree in something my husband dearly loves and loves to share with others each Sunday while also working full time.

So, why is it that some people constantly feel they have to put their two cents in, criticize, be ugly & rude to my husband. Yet you come back week after week. Why? Some people!

Then there are others who give me a cross look when my children misbehave and then they feel they have to give me parenting advise all the while telling me my children would be much better off if I was a stay at home mom & home schooled. I don't like it when my children misbehave. I get rather embarrassed when they choose to show their carnal side in the Lord's house when I know they know better. And believe me, we address their behavior, at home! And I would love to be a stay at home wife & mom, but my  choosing to work outside the home is not their business!! Some people!

It seems there is a bad habit amongst Christians; tearing each other down. They have their own opinions. Everyone does, but their opinions & pride seem to rule over compassion, selflessness & love.

1 Corinthians 13:13

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

The Bible talks quite a bit on love, what it is and what it is not. You must have love.

1 Corinthians 13:3 says

If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

You need love in your heart. This is simple & basic but so important. I tell my children all the time, what comes out of your mouth comes from your heart. When my son gets upset at his sister, his first instinct is to start spewing ugly names and hurtful words at her. I tell him to stop, think about what he says before he says it, because once the ugly words come out, you cannot take them back. Once you hurt someone with your words, whether they are spoken words or written down in letter form, they cannot be taken back. But words that are said in love, sometimes they might hurt. But, they will be considered much more than words from a hard heart.

But Ethan is still only 8 & we are doing our best to train our kids & show them Godly love for others. I pray for others who come to church & the only thing that goes through their mind is trying to find mistakes in the sermon or thinking how much they don't like certain music, etc. 

I'm certainly not perfect myself. I have been just as guilty about having a bad attitude while in church instead of focusing on my Lord. But I know with all my heart that God is still working on me. He's teaching me a thing or two about being a pastor's wife, a mom & the true meaning of the fruit of the spirit. Especially love. Which happens to be the first mentioned.

Galatians 5:22-23

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 

A Hair Cut & A Little Love

Before my ladybug started school, she need her bangs trimmed. I don't cut my kids hair. There's a good reason for that. You should see our Christmas card from 2 years ago. Never mind. You would probably pee on yourself laughing. I tried to trim her bangs for the picture. I got them a little, ok, way too short. That's not to mention my husbands tie is really crooked, I'm making a funny face & Ethan smiling so big you can't see his eyes. 

Now, I'm way cheap frugal. I try to buy everything on sale, clearance, use coupons, etc. I also take my daughter somewhere I can get her bangs trimmed for nothing, nada, zero. That's no money people! The way I like it & music to my ears.

Where's that place you might ask? OK, I'll pretend you asked. None other than  my mom's house.

Here she is needing her bangs trimmed.

Yes, she is wearing her beloved Dorothy dress. Again. And yes, I have let her wear it to the store. I pick my battles. She loves that thing. I could write a whole post on Emily's love for the Wizard of OZ.

Here's my little shadow who tagged along.

What love!

The end result. Look at Ethan in the mirror. He's pretending to shoot a gun.

Sweet kisses.

OK, I think we're ready for school!!