My how quickly they grow!

As I was sitting and watching Micah tonight I was amazed at how much he has grown and changed lately. He is definitely a sleep fighter - a night owl, like his mama. He constantly wants to be on the ground crawling, or as I have come to call it "scrawling", because he pulls himself with his left hand and pushes with his right foot. More or less scooting/crawling. Now this effectively and automatically ruins his clothes, as he is sliding around on his belly. I hear that is just a glimpse of the laundry mishaps boys get into. He can wave, patty cake, and peekaboo. Only wants real table food now and becomes increasingly angry if I still try to feed him baby food. He has 1 tooth and can say a few words (bye bye, mama, dada, and bite bite) sometimes - I think! He is just growing up. It always seems to hit me at once instead of over time when my babies are moving more toward toddlerhood and out of the baby stages. It is a little bittersweet at times.

I think back to Keri-lyn as a baby and sometimes it seem like such a long time ago. Other times it seems like a few days. Each of my children are constantly suprising me with little glimpses of the maturity they are gaining. Like when I woke up today to 3 year old Layna saying "Apparently it's morning. Get up!" Or when 5 year old Jaycee shows such concern and loyalty to a friend from pre-k that we have been worried about that she prays for her and her family every night. Keri-lyn is very much the little book worm. She can read for hours upon hours. She is the little mother hen for sure, but can still be goofy at times.

I have been worried a little about keeping my children to sheltered lately. As a parent, I want them to be well adjusted at school and not be culture shocked every time they leave the house. Well, as of yesterday, God has relieved me of that burden. Our current situation has put us around some different types of people and families, and I think that is helping the kids to realize that we should love the people around us but we don't have to act like them. I hope our time here helps my family to be more thankful of what we have and more aware of how we can help others. I want us to really start making more of an effort to reach out to those who don't have what we have. Not just physically, but spiritually. I hope that we will be good examples of God's love.

It's funny in a sad way, that the people I really struggle with are people like I used to be. Addicts, who really aren't bad people, but are so caught up in their addiction that everyone else sort of fades into the background. People like this used to be some of my best friends. I wonder when I started thinking of myself as so much better than them that I rarely try to find a way to reach out to them instead of putting them down in my mind. How easily I have forgotten that God's grace and mercy are the only things that pulled me out of some very dark places.

"Lord, please soften my heart to the needs of others you put in my life. Help me to be a comfort and a friend to those who need one. And give me a forgiving spirit, because I was forgiven."

Sleepover!!!

So... As I type this post my girls are having their very 1st real sleepover (with someone other than family). When I came home from taking Micah to the Dr. for a check up, a little girl named Sandy was there to greet me. Now, I have seen this little girl several times at the pool with her grandmother, but I haven't seen her enough to know her name until tonight. Apparently, Todd had the girls out swimming this morning and Sandy came back with them to spend the day. The grandmother has met us and we've talked several times so we weren't complete strangers to her. And pretty much everyone in the senior citizen category who spends more than a minute with Todd just absolutely adores him. Something about him exudes trustworthiness I guess. So anyway, Sandy had lunch with us and hung out with the kiddos all afternoon. Then, after yet another thunderstorm passed they all went swimming again. Sandy's mom came home and was fine with her just going with us to the pool. At 9:00 the pool closed and we decided to invite Sandy and her family over for supper - I thought it would be a good time to meet her mother, since she had been with us all day. We all trekked up to their apt. and Sandy went in and told her mom we had invited them to supper. She quickly returned and said her mom couldn't come b/c she was doing the laundry. Did I mention that we have never met this woman and that she knew we were right outside her door and didn't want to meet her?

Sandy came on over by herself for supper. By this time it is nearing 10 pm and my dear children begin asking me if Sandy can spend the night. I said it was fine with me and we called her mom to see how she felt about it. I offered to walk Sandy over so she could get her things for the night (and for another chance for her mother to meet me, you know, since her daughter was spending the night at my house). The mom said no, she would just send Sandy's older brother with her stuff. So, needless to say, I have a little girl whose mother I have never met and never even seen staying the night with us.

This is just a new concept to me. My parents would not let me stay with anyone whose parents they did not know fairly well, so I am just a little shocked about this. Who knows? We could be some sicko family with no morals whatsoever. I just don't understand!

Well anyway, Sandy is a very sweet little girl. She has been great at paying attention to all the kids, even Layna! I am really glad that she came over today. I am hoping that maybe we will be able to reach out to her and her family. Maybe this is one of the reasons my family is where we are. I'm hoping to take her to church - and eventually meet her mother! I have been praying that God would use us here to show His love to others. Maybe this is the start!

Who knew that maybe God uses sleepovers to enable us to meet others who might need Him? So, here I am, at 2:30 am, very thankful that the little gigglers and chatter boxes are fast asleep. And also very prayerful that God is working here. In my life and others.

Sweet Salvation

Praise the Lord and hallelujia! On April 20, 2010 my little Keri-lyn asked Jesus to be her Lord and Savior!!! She had been asking questions for quite a while, but never really seemed certain that she was under conviction. She would ask me what it felt like when God was dealing with you. I can remember asking my mom the same thing before I was saved! I must admit, though, that I have never felt more inept as a parent. How does one put into words a 7 year old can understand how it feels to be under conviction? Phrases like "your heart might feel heavy", "like God is knocking on your heart's door", and "your heart might be hurting" didn't really seem to help her understand either. So what did I do? I told her the same thing my mom told me. "You'll know when it is time to be saved. You'll just know." And you know what? She did.
We went to see the Easter play at my sister's church (Free Chapel) and part of the play showed when Jesus was being beaten. Pastor Franklin stood up then and talked to the congregation and asked us to say a prayer with him. Afterward, KL looked up at me and said, " I feel like I just maybe got saved." I asked if she was sure, and she said no. Once the play ended we went in a quiet hallway and talked some more and called one of her AWANA teachers from our church. I offered to pray with her, but she just wasn't sure she was under conviction yet.
A few days later the topic came up at supper - I think Jaycee started talking about the play and heaven and hell - and KL got really quiet. She came and told me she needed to talk to me alone. We went in my room and she snuggled in underthe covers. Bless her heart, she was so upset. It was just written all over her face that God was dealing with her. My heart was breaking because she was struggling so. We talked and she finally said she she needed to be saved. S he also said once that" I think I hear something. Like a knockin' on my heart". It was so sweet.
One thing you need to know about KL is that she is a perfectionist. Once she knew that she needed to be saved she started struggling with what to do next. I went over some scripture with her, we called my parents, Todd talked to her, and finally I talked her into letting me call our Preacher Steve. She said she was really shy talking to a man! I told her Preacher Steve had lots of practice helping little kids accept Jesus. Once we called him, something he said just made the light bulb go on! We told her that there was not a certain prayer she had to pray, that it just had to come from her. Steve offered to pray with her and so did we, but she wanted to say it alone.
She closed her little eyes - for what seemed like forever - and prayed.
And once she opened her eyes - it was like a new little girl! She was just shining and her eyes were sparkling. I asked her how she felt and she put her little hand out and lifted it up higher and higher and said "It feels like my heart is doing this!"
What a miracle to witness. Such a sweetness that I can't put into words and never want to forget. I heard Steve on the phone saying " hallelujia! Praise the Lord!" Todd and I didn't stop grinning for a long time. KL called everyone and told them. She told her friends and teachers at school the next day. Her teacher jumped up and down with her and shouted Hallelujia! It was truly amazing!
Thank you Lord for your goodness and mercy. Your love is amazing and awesome.