How Do I Love Thee...

...I could count alot of ways! On May 4th, Wade and I celebrated 12 years of marriage. I have been composing this post in my head for a while now, but due to a hectic end of school year, am just now getting it posted. Since we have been married for 12 years, I will list 12 reasons I love and appreciate my husband:

1. He takes care of me. When I am sick (or the boys are sick) he will go to the store at all hours of the night for medicine, 7-up, soup, crackers, you name it.

2. He always gets up for church on Sunday, even when he has worked all night and will only get 3 hours of sleep before he goes back to work.

3. He protects our family. One of Wade's friends in college once said that Wade is the type of guy who would never lose a fight. I feel safe when he is around.

4. He loved me when I was fat. He loves me now that I am "thin". The way he treats me has never changed.

5. He loves and gets along well with my family.

6. He loves and gets along well with his family.

7. He is a romantic. He wins in this area. He is much better at this than me.

8. He never complains if the house is dirty or if dinner is not ready. He has never placed demands on me.

9. He does the laundry.

10. He is an awesome daddy. He loves children, but none more than his own. He was made to be a daddy.

11. He loves the Lord and is teaching our children to love the Lord.

12. Nothing but God will ever come before his family. I am sure of this!

I thank God everyday for you, Wade. Happy Anniversary, honey. I love you!

Perfect and Not So Perfect

I was dreading today.
Today was our Grandparents/Special Friends Day at school. What that actually translates to is this: a day with a special musical program that involves costumes and lots of preschoolers; and 700 "special" guest at school and a huge feeding of the people; and a day where the kids are totally out of routine; and moms and dads and aunts and uncles and grandparents are all on the premises; and lots of staff and faculty in a bad mood because it is not only 2 weeks till school is out but it is a "special" day...You get my drift.
Well, I was really dreading today.
But then I woke up. I walked into Bryson's room. I turned on the light and said "good morning, sunshine." He sat up in bed, gave me a sleepy grin and said, "good morning, beautiful."
A perfect start to a not so perfect day.

Random Saturday Thoughts

I so dislike having our blog lay dormant for so long, but it has been so hard to find time to post. There is alot going with the end of school and the move upon us. Yes, I said move. Not out of MOJO land, mind you. Just down the street a few blocks. A few weeks ago, we decided to take the plunge and buy my Grandaddy's house. That is all I have the energy to say about that right now. I am very excited, however, very overwhelmed. I promise to post more of the details soon. (I'm sure you are all sitting on the edge of your seats...:)

When I got up at 6:00 this morning to let the dogs out, my mind started racing with all that is going on right now. Nothing too major, just alot of "stuff". So in my typical fashion, I started making a mental list. So here goes...my random list of thoughts for the day:

-I sure hope that this lady wants to buy our house so we don't have to put it on the market.

-I wonder how long our freshly cleaned carpet will stay clean.

-I sure hope the lady makes it over to see the house while the floors are still polished and cleaned.

-I wonder how much the renovations on Grandaddy's house are going to cost.

-I really wish that it was possible for me to fly to Houston next week to see my sister.

-July still seems like a long time to wait to see my sister.

-July will be here before I know it.

-I'm ready for school to be out.

-I hope we have made the right decision about waiting another year for Cason to go to kindergarten.

-I love this house.

-I think I love Grandaddy's house more.

-I want Robbi and Sherman (our neighbors) to move with us.

-I hope Bryson deals with this change well.

-Wade and I have been married for 12 years...I wonder if we are buying presents for each other this year or will just go out and celebrate.

-I will suggest we just go out to celebrate. I have been trying too hard to de-clutter. I don't want to add anything new at this point.

-I need to get with Trisha this week and figure out exactly what needs to be done for our summer kid's program at church.

-I am excited about our summer activities at church.

-I am ready for school to be out so that I can focus on children's ministry.

-I really, really can't wait to see my sister.

Well, there you have it. Random thoughts for the moment. I'm sure there will be more added to the list as the day progresses.

Happy Saturday, friends!

Cason's Birthday!

Our baby just turned 5! We had Cason's party at Astro Golf & Games.(neon glowing golf, where everything is lit by black lights.) We used lots of glow sticks and glow-in-the-dark paint. It turned out really cool! In fact, the owner was impressed with our efforts. She asked if she could borrow some of our ideas. The kids just loved that everthing glowed! One little boy told his parents Cason had the coolest house, because everthing in it glows. Of coarse, we had a Power Rangers theme as well...by request from the birthday boy!

Make a scrapbook - it's easy!

NASCAR

I have been sitting here for a while trying to think of something to say about our week-end. The fact of the matter is, there are just no words. It was unbelievable. I hope that you enjoy the pictures. The video clip at the bottom is of the first full throttle to start the race. The sound and force of that moment is indescribable. It literally took my breath away. One funny story. On the video you see the back of this guy who was sitting next to us. I'm not sure how many beers he consumed before sitting down, but you will see a picture of how many he consumed during the race. He liked us. He wanted to be our friend. At one point he handed Wade is IPhone and asked him to type in our name and number so he could keep in touch. Then he took a picture of us to put with our number. The kicker was when he handed Wade his IPhone again and left. He was gone for 45 minutes. I'm not sure what all Wade typed into the guys phone, but he was having fun. That poor guy is going to sober up and wonder who in the world those people are and why he has our number:-)

Make a photobook - it's easy!

It was my first NASCAR race. It was certainly not my last.

IF YOU WERE A LITTLE GIRL IN THE 1970'S......

IF YOU WERE A LITTLE GIRL IN THE 1970'S......

You had that Fisher Price Doctor's Kit with a stethoscope that actually worked.



You owned a bicycle with a banana seat and a plastic basket with flowers on it.



You learned to skate with actual skates (not roller blades) that had metal wheels.



You thought Gopher from Love Boat was cute (admit it!)



You had nightmares after watching Fantasy Island .




You had either a 'bowl cut' or 'pixie', not to mention the 'Dorothy Hamill'.
People sometimes thought you were a boy.



You had rubber boots for rainy days and Moon boots for snowy days.

YEAH! You owned a 'Slip-n-Slide', on which you injured yourself on a sprinkler head more than once.



You owned 'Klick-Klacks' and smacked yourself in the face more than once !



Your Holly Hobbie sleeping bag was your most prized possession.


You wore a poncho, gauchos, and knickers.


You begged Santa for the electronic game, Simon.


You had the Donnie and Marie dolls with those pink and purple satiny shredded outfits, or the sunshine family

You spent hours in your backyard on your metal swing set with the trapeze.
The swing set tipped over at least once.


You had homemade ribbon barrettes in every imaginable color. (Oh yeah!)

You had a pair of Doctor Scholl's sandals (the ones with hard sole & the buckle). You also had a pair of salt-water sandals..





You wanted to be Laura Ingalls Wilder really bad; you wore that Little House on the
Prairie-inspired plaid, ruffle shirt with the high neck in at least one school picture;
and you despised Nellie Oleson!




You wanted your first kiss to be at a roller rink!


PONG! ('video tennis' ) was the most remarkable futuristic game you've ever heard of !

Your hairstyle was described as having 'wings' or 'feathers' and you kept it 'pretty'
with the comb you kept in your back pocket.
When you walked, the 'wings' flapped up and down, looked like you were gonna 'take off'

You know who Strawberry Shortcake is, as well as her friends, Blueberry Muffin and Huckleberry Pie.

You carried a Muppets lunch box (or Annie!) to school and it was metal, not plastic.
With the thermos inside; some were glass inside and broke the first time you dropped them.




You and your girlfriends would fight over which of the Dukes of Hazzard was your boyfriend.



YOU had Star Wars action figures, too!



It was a big event in your household each year when the 'Wizard of Oz' would come on TV.
Your mom would break out the popcorn and sleeping bags!



You often asked your Magic-8 ball the question: 'Who will I marry.
Shaun Cassidy, Leif Garrett, or David Cassidy?'




You completely wore out your Grease, Saturday Night Fever, and Fame soundtrack record album.



You tried to do lots of arts and crafts, like yarn and Popsicle-stick God's eyes, decoupage,
or those weird potholders made on a plastic loom.



You made Shrinky-Dinks and put iron-on kittens on your t-shirts!

You used to tape record songs off the radio by holding your portable tape player up to the speaker.



You had subscriptions to Dynamite and Tiger Beat.


You learned everything you needed to know about girl issues from Judy Blume books.
(Are you there God, It's Me, Margaret.)


You thought Olivia Newton John's song 'Physical' was about aerobics. (?? its not??)


You wore friendship pins on your tennis shoes, or shoelaces with heart or rain bow designs.

You wanted to be a Solid Gold dancer.


You drowned yourself in Love's Baby Soft - which was the first 'real' perfume you ever owned.


You glopped your lips in Strawberry Roll-on lip-gloss till it almost dripped off.


PASS THIS ON TO ALL OF YOUR 30 OR 40-SOMETHING GIRLFRIENDS.
IT WILL MAKE THEM SMILE TOO!!!









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Make a photobook - it's easy!

Worship

I have found it difficult to write about personal spiritual experiences. It always seems too hard to express in words. I have had some thoughts rolling around in my head and heart for a while now. So, I am going to attempt to put these thoughts into words.

When I look back at my growing up years, I think my greatest moments of worship were the "mountain top" moments. These moments actually happened in the mountains, around a campfire. Whether it be mission trip in Taos or Permian Basin Christian Camp in Guadalupe or Sacramento, these times singing around the campfire stick out in my mind. I can remember being so filled with the spirit and so revived. I loved the way the youth would express ourselves in worship. Whether it be clapping (gasp) or closing our eyes and lifting our voices to God, we were somewhat uninhibited in these times of worship.

I love my heritage of faith and worship. However, I would also say that in corporate worship, growing up, worship for me was inhibited. There were rules. No clapping. No hands raised. No kneeling. I can remember returning from camp or mission trip and feeling so confined in worship. Back to the old routine.

For the past two years, Wade and I have been working and worshiping with a church that is completely uninhibited in worship. Although our worship is acapella, we do have instrumental music played at times. Also, our worship leader does on occasion play the guitar. Clapping, raising our hands, kneeling, laying on of hands, etc. are common in our church home. I have loved and appreciated this freedom I have in worship.

One of the things that I was looking the most forward to at the conference in San Diego, was the praise and worship time. It was awesome. That first night we were there, I was overcome with the power of it all. It was the first time that I had ever worshipped with a full praise band. It was so neat to sing along with the songs that I sing everyday in the car as I listen to Christian radio. I remember feeling so free to sing as loud as I could because the music would cover up my voice.

I could not help but be in awe of the people surrounding me. There were over 3000 people. Many of these people were very active in their worship. From the first note, they had their hands held high, singing to our savior. It occured to me that this was normal for all of these people. As new as this experience was for me, this was not new for the majority of the people in the room. There were people from all denominations, from all over the country. It made me smile. I thanked God for bringing me to this place for this new experience.

God provided a moment for me. On the second night we were there, it came time for praise and worship. We all stood and the band began to play How Great is Our God by Chris Tomlin. This has become one of my favorite worship songs to sing in church. Now, although raising hands in worship is commonplace at church, I have never quite felt comfortable. There have been a few moments that I have found myself lifting my hands in praise, but it is not "natural" for me. Standing there singing this beautiful song about my Father, to my Father, I found myself in one of those moments. There was no other place to go but "up". And then it happened. This one moment. At the end of the song, the worship leader began to sing How Great Thou Art, and the instruments stopped. All you could hear were 3000 voices singing to God. It was my heritage. Everyone was speaking my language. I felt God wrap his hands around me. I heard my voice. I heard His voice. It wasn't until the song was over that I realized that I was standing with both hands held high above me, my head lifted back, my eyes closed. Just me and God. He took me "back" to bring me closer to Him. He took me back to my roots of acapella worship, to lead me to being free enough to express myself as I speak to him.

As I have said before, I believe in the power of all worship to God. I believe that God is honored by instrumental praise. I also believe that my love language with God is acapella music. He will lead me to Him, no matter what. He will listen, no matter my voice.

God speaks. All I need to do is listen.