They're in Uganda!

Hey everyone, sorry i didn't get anything posted yesterday!  I was getting ready for lake and it was a little hard without dad around!  I received a text from Randy around 3 p.m. saying they were there (and that he loved me :))!  They made it!  Today we're praying for them to be listening to the Holy Spirit as they make some decisions about what to do with their time this week!  Also pray for them as they drive to Restoration Gateway (they may already be there).  Their verse for the day is "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every head and authority."  Colossians 2:9-10   Pray that they will have a revelation of Jesus today more than ever!

more later!

To Angela Holland

A poem to help you on this trip. Remember we love and miss you and can't wait to hear about your journey....come home safely to us, sis!

If in my own strength I wage war victory is not won,
I’ll come home for relief with many things undone.
Boasting of selfish gains, yet sapped of all my strength,
wearied in my days and life shortened in its length.

When tensions do build and peace from me does flee,
quickly must I acknowledge this is not of Christ, but me.

I must turn my feet and make haste to go,
to the One who has power to forgive and to show.
The path I must take is one of humility and grace,
for only when His power fills can I victoriously run the race.

God will not fill me until of self am I freed,
then and only then will the Lord take the lead.
My heart, mind and soul before God being stilled,
my emptiness the preparation for by God being filled.

My boasting must be of my weakness before God,
seeing eternal as the foundation for all praise, honor and laud.
I fight daily in the world against a tireless evil foe,
save for emptying of self there will be no victory I’ll know.

A sense of my own weakness must ever be,
present in my life for me to be able to see.
Its God’s power in battle, being strong in His might,
as His warrior I march onward in His ever-present light.

It’s only in my weakness can the power of God rest,
engaging in battles that will put me to the test.
My strength must I lay down while this world do I roam,
dwelling only in His power as I walk onward toward home.

they made it to Amsterdam!

Hey friends,

Just wanted to let you know (esp. you mommas) that the first part of the flight went great!  I received the following email from Dr. Brown:

"Well, we made it to Amsterdam.  It was a great flight.  I found myself just wanting to stand up in the aisles and dance for joy as I just reveled in the glory of God and what He has done. Everyone did well on the flight.   I enjoyed seeing one of the boys hands sticking up in the air on take-off like he was on a roller coaster.  There where lots of whoops and lots of laughter.  We have had some good processing time together already.  We’re challenging everyone to share their faith with at least one person at each airport.  It’s fun seeing the boldness of the Mighty Men as they set an example for us.  I was hesitating trying to get up courage to talk to someone, and Alphonzo said, “Let’s go talk to them,” then walked right up to them so we could tell them about Jesus. 

Lot’s of grace so far.  Feeling tired, of course, since we somehow just missed a whole night.  It’s 8:30 am here now."

SO encouraging!  Please continue to pray for the families here at home.  I'm up at this hour because I have a child throwing up (the devil didn't waste any time with me; just so you know, this area is an intense area of fear/phobia for me)!  I'm sensing amazing grace and can TOTALLY tell everyone is praying - pray for complete healing and protection from any more illness!  Thanks so much.  I'll let you know when I hear more!

And they're off!

The team left my house for the airport about 45 minutes ago! They looked good! Here's a pic of everyone except Kindra (she's meeting them at airport)!

Randy asked that we be praying for exceptional communication between everyone involved on this trip - really important!

Prayers

II Timothy 4:17-18
But the LORD stood at my side and gave me strength... I was delivered from the lion's mouth. The LORD will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely...

Praying the whole team will know that the LORD is among them, giving them strength, and will rescue them from every evil attack.

Faithful

This is Charlotte Connally. :) Thanks, Anda for sharing your blog with us for 2 weeks. Here is a verse the Lord has been using to encourage me the last few days. But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. II Thess. 3:3 Lord, please thwart any plans or schemes the enemy has for the team members and their families. Let each one have the strength to walk in Your Spirit today! Thank you that You are faithful; we rest in Your protection of us.

thanksgiving for in-laws

Can I just say how very thankful we are for Randy's parents right now?! They arrived yesterday and have not stopped working their tails off since they got here! We could not have done this without them! They have gone shopping, made luggage tags for all 48 bags, entertained our children (they actually sent us on a date tonight), organized 10 crates full of supplies, and helped with countless other little things that we would have overlooked I'm sure! My father-in-law has been working on seating arrangements on the plane for the last few hours trying to move everyone closer together, etc.,and he's going on the trip!! Shouldn't he be in bed by now? It's midnight and we're all still plugging away! thank you, thank you, thank you!

Time to start praying!

Hey beloved prayer warriors! Here is the main thing to pray today: PRAY THAT WE WILL BE FAITHFUL TO PRAY!! :)

-and a few other things ...
*safe and peaceful travel for the next couple of days
*healing for Randy's back - it will be killing him after several hours on a plane if God doesn't do a major work!
*peace for the Mighty Men moms who are sending their boys to the other side of the world
*peace and protection from the enemy for the families who are being left behind (I can tell you right now that we had some major spiritual warfare going on around here earlier this week, specifically with one of our children - the devil is real and he is mean and he doesn't like this trip! There is a serious battle going on - BUT God is stronger!! Maybe I'll share that story in another post.)

Here is a list of the team members as divided into three teams and their team leaders:
#1 - LEADER: Dale Brown
Randy Brown
Josh Burr
Larry Mouton
Josiah Brown
Jordan Guild
Deontay Hall (MM)
Alphonzo Williams (MM)
#2 - LEADER: Jeff Connally
Jeff Fisher
Mindy Duerkson
Larinda Smith
J. Tom Snelson
Chris Guild
D'Leeland Dickerson (MM)
Dinsdale Syfox (MM)
#3 - LEADER: Terrence Butler
Juli Butler
Angela Holland
Kindra Needham
Jonathan Leddy
Corey Boone (MM)
Jerome Kelly (MM)
Byron Smith (MM)

Thanks for praying! It's the most important work happening on this trip! I'll post pics tomorrow of the team before they leave! It's helpful to have a face to put with a name!

heads up!

Just giving everyone a heads up that we're planning on using this blog as a place to post prayers, etc.  during the Mighty Men trip.  We want everyone to post what they're sensing in prayer, etc. for the next couple of weeks.  I THINK we're going to try to send an invitation to post here to all the people who have agreed to pray for the team.  We don't QUITE have that list together yet, but will, hopefully in the next 24 hours!  We really want this to be a sort of prayer journal that the boys (and the rest of the team) can read when they return!  It will be so encouraging!  Thanks to all of you who have been praying faithfully for our family, the MM, and the rest of the team!  

perseverance

Can I just say that I feel like I'm in the middle of a marathon, but the truth is that I'm not in the middle of it - I'm at the very beginning!?  Six children is a lot - and we're not even to seven yet.  And in spite of the fact that I know without a shadow of a doubt that we're supposed to leave the "final number" in God's hands, I still can't go there in my head on most days.  Yesterday I decided that it was time to stop making excuses and take all six kids to the mall to go shopping for some much needed clothing.  I was ready to kill myself by the end of that trip.  Okay, I'm exaggerating.  But good night!  I think it took us 15 minutes just to get loaded up in the car.  It took something like 5 hours just to eat lunch in the food court (okay, I confess I am again exaggerating, but it felt like 5 hours).  I then had to return a couple of things to Dillards, which took much too long (could people not HEAR us?).  By the time we made it to Old Navy, Malachi and Isaac were bickering in the double stroller and Malachi just kept screaming (it was WAY past naptime after the 5 hour lunch).  I just inched the stroller along, with McKenna trying to bribe people with candy, grabbing 2 for $10 shirts and hoping they would fit.  I don't know how many questions I answered and how many complaints I heard.  And did I mention that people stare at us a lot?  I'd like to think it's my stunning beauty and sexy legs (if you could see my legs right now, this would REALLY make you laugh - pasty white with large purple explosions everywhere like a 90 year old granny - not attractive), but I think it may have more to do with the fact that I'm walking around with 6 precious little blessings and I'm clearly having another one!  We're like a moving circus!  And really no one was misbehaving (at least not dramatically)!  All I can say is that I'm not taking everyone to the mall again for at least 8 years.  Okay, maybe never.

I was praying this morning about persevering with joy and I just had to tell God that He HAS to do this work in me.  I mean, some people have a tendency to stick it out to the bitter end even in their flesh.  I don't even have THIS going for me!  My default is to quit when it gets hard - Randy keeps telling me I can't.  Okay, but would an occasional trip to Jamaica be out of the question? I think Jesus is the ONLY hope!!  :)  :)

Passport Approved

We drove to Houston yesterday for a little 14 1/2 hour road trip. We don't have a passport in hand, but they approved it, and it should arrive in the mail tomorrow morning. Praise God.

Praise God - all the boys are going to Africa!

God has worked everything out - of course!  Randy spoke with administrators, etc. and all agreed to let him take a certified teacher with them to Uganda to do summer school while they're there for a few hours each morning.  We now have a friend of our sister-in-law's from Midland going and our dear friend and his son, Chris Guild.  Chris going will be such a HUGE blessing on many levels and we're so thankful.  Josiah is also very excited about Chris's son, Jordan, going.  Now he will have a buddy his own age to hang out with!  God is faithful!  I'm going cross-eyed I'm so tired.  Ben and Trisha (Randy's sister and her husband) are here tonight and we've been talking inner-city camps for the last few hours.  HAVE to go to bed!

another update

Sorry for all of these updates, but getting people to pray today was (and still is) a huge deal! I am so laughing at my sweet husband - I would've probably gone at this from the angle of letting the boys make up whatever they needed to in the month of July. But Randy has almost gotten approval from all the powers-that-be to take a certified teacher to Uganda with them to do summer school every morning while they're there! Whatever it takes! That's why I love him - he thinks big and definitely outside the box! We believe that this solution and the favor that he has received from all the administrators he has talked to are a direct result of the prayers of the saints! Thanks so much! I'm really beginning to wonder if maybe all of this happening doesn't really have anything to do with the Uganda trip and more to do with us re-examining the boys' education. I don't know. What I DO know is that God is good and there is more than enough grace to walk in whatever He has planned. This has been a very hard, but sweet, week with Jesus. Motherhood is HARD. But I don't think I've ever walked in a place of dependence like this week. It made today's thing with the MM seem like a bummer, but not an impossibility. We cranked up Hillsong's "Mighty to Save" this a.m. and worshipped and prayed to the God who does move mountains! Oh, and this was cool. When McKenna found out about D'Leeland this a.m., she went in and woke up Josiah and I guess they had a little meeting about today. They fasted on their own all day today for the MM (they'll break it with dinner tonight). Josiah fasted last week too with very little complaining. I'm so proud of them! I could tell more about my children and their prayers this week, but that will be another post!
We're going out for Randy's b'day with a few friends in a couple of hours. It will be good to laugh and eat lots of bread and pasta at Macaroni Grill! (maybe I'll get to talk to my husband - we haven't gotten to say much to each other today! there's grace for this too)

Jerome failed too.  Now Randy has to figure out if what, if any, courses they failed.  They have to make those up in summer school and pass the TAKS.  He finally spoke with a lady who is over FWISD summer school and she said there is no way.  He's now in the process of calling all the principles and finding out what they need to make up.  It looks bleak, BUT God is BIGGER than this mountain!!  I will not give in to the lies of the devil and say "oh well, they're just not meant to go."  I'll say that when they're not getting on the plane a week from Monday.  As Beth Moore would say, this is just a great opportunity for God to show off!!

keep praying

Just found out that Byron failed by 3 points.  

PRAY!!

We are trying to keep looking at Jesus this a.m. and remembering that God RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD!  D'Leeland's dad was served the papers concerning his custody in a South Carolina prison yesterday.  Praise the Lord!  This was huge and everyone was so relieved and thankful.  But late last p.m. we found out that he failed his TAKS test, which means that if he doesn't go to summer school in the month of June he will not get to go on to 9th grade (and he's already a grade behind).  Randy plans on going up to his school this a.m. to see if there is anything that can be done, but from what we've heard so far there are no exceptions.  Byron, Jerome, and Deontay also find out today whether or not they passed.  We will be - honestly - shocked if all of them do.  We didn't even know about Deontay until Wednesday.  As we were talking last p.m., Randy asked the question, "Which is more important?"  It seems ludicrous to say, but we really do believe that going to Uganda is much more important than fighting to stay  in a system that has continually failed them (and will continue to do so until they graduate - IF they graduate.  and even if they do, they still won't be able to read well; just don't get me going...I do realize that there are other factors besides the "system" but it's certainly not helpful).  This trip will change their lives forever.  That sounds rather dramatic, I know.  But it's true.  What I love about the Lord (one of the things :)) is that His thoughts really are higher than our thoughts.  Who knows what this is leading to?  We've already thought about homeschooling options, other schools, a certified teacher being hired to go to Uganda and doing school with them every morning - but our little solutions are just that - LITTLE.  God, who raised Christ from the dead, spoke a word and a universe was created, who has never failed and who never changes, can certainly get 4 middle school boys to Uganda!!  Give us faith, Holy Spirit!  And if you're reading this, PLEASE pray like you would want to be prayed for if you were one of these boys.

blog intimidation

I have been thinking in "blog" all day.  Does anyone know what I'm talking about?  I have this running blog entry going on in my mind half the day and I'm quite certain most of it will never make it out the tips of my fingers onto this screen.  Too tired (and sicky) tonight.  But here is one of my random thoughts.  A friend recommended a blog to me tonight and so I checked it out.  She also had her favorite blog links on her site and so I started checking out some of those.  SO many witty, beautifully designed, nifty little blogs.  I got sort of depressed (okay, not really).  But I must admit that I suddenly felt a little frumpy in the blog world.  Oh well.  

Here's my best attempt at communicating a funny Isaac story from Sunday.  McKenna was with him and he asked her, "McKenna, are goats weal (that's 'REAL', but you have to get the Isaac dialect)?"  She told him that yes, they are, a little puzzled.  But he wasn't satisfied.  "Ah they weally, weally weal?" he said with great passion.  Again, she told him yes.  Then he said in a very gruff and scary voice, "I mean the kind that hold a big blanket ovuh their heads and say 'I AM A GOAT!'"  She then started cracking up and asked if he meant GHOSTS.  He excitedly said "yeah!" and she told him that they weren't really weal.  THAT boy is also cracking us up at the moment.  

Malachi

My sweet neglected Malachi.  Honestly, he has a bit too much freedom sometimes because there is only one of me and six of my delightful little blessings!  Today I found him standing on top of the kitchen table where he had just dumped the entire contents of the salt shaker all over the place.  He proceeded to play in it, spreading it everywhere.  Our table has lots of little cracks and grooves in it.  They're all full of salt and the dust buster is dead in one of our cars.  Oh well, a little salt never hurt anyone.  If we run out, we can dig in the cracks.  This whole event was disappointing, I must say, in light of how the rest of my morning was going.  McKenna took pictures of the whole thing, but I haven't downloaded those yet.  I'm too lazy to move my behind off this couch to go find the camera, etc. so you'll have to wait on those.  Why is it that 15-month-olds decide that everything is a toy except the toys?!!  It's a good thing God made him so incredibly cute!

This boy really enjoys being a boy and playing in the dirt (and mud).  Things got a little out of control with the siblings in the above photo.

What?  Was I not supposed to help myself to some ice cream?!

Moriah and the tooth fairy

BIG news in the world of Moriah - she lost her first tooth!  Yippee!  Grandma convinced her while she was here this past weekend that it would be no problem (I personally couldn't stand to look at it - I've gotten so squeamish as a mom of six.  Go figure).  It was quite the event and didn't even hurt, to her surprise.  I'm also proud to announce that the Tooth Fairy performed flawlessly for perhaps the first time in my 12 years of having children!  :)

lazy afternoon

Hanging out with my older kids today while all three of my little ones are asleep (well, at least Isaac is in his room - I'm not sure he's been asleep.  This could be a very bad thing).  This summer is going to be LONG if I don't start feeling better, but I'm hoping I figured out part of the problem today.  Heart racing and extreme fatigue, esp. in the a.m.  Literally, I get out of breath if I stand up and I've been having lots of headaches.  Randy mentioned today that I needed to drink more because it might be low blood pressure.  Just read online that I totally have symptoms of mild dehydration, which makes sense because I drink very little.  PRAYING that this is the solution!!  NEED ENERGY!!

If God puts it on your heart to pray, please pray for the Africa trip and for Como.  Sensing that maybe the enemy is stirred up right now in our neighborhood and this Uganda trip will be a major life changer for the boys going.  Some of you probably saw on the news this weekend that a man drowned in Lake Como (right across the street from our house) on Saturday a.m.  Just jumped in and started swimming and was gone minutes later.  Ms. Murray and her great great grandson watched them pull his body from the lake when they went down there to feed the ducks.  Two deaths in two weeks.  I'm kind of hoping you don't see Como on the news anymore this summer!

I actually have a summer "plan" for the kids this year because otherwise we don't do so well.  After two days of attempting to be organized (this is SO hard for me), things are going okay.  My main goal is to make sure that our home is characterized by more praise, prayer, the Word, and listening to God this summer.  We've prayed and listened the last few days as a family and it's already making a huge difference.  When one of my kids hears that they are supposed to stop whining or love their sibling from the Holy Spirit instead of just me, it has a much bigger impact!  Speaking of that, character training wears me out.  I have enough junk in my own heart that God is refining and getting rid of.  Trying to focus on character training with SIX other people is EXHAUSTING!  I guess this is good for Randy - I don't have much time to focus on his character issues (as if he even HAS any)!  LOL!  The other thing I want us to start doing as a family is talking about Jesus/sharing the gospel more (ANY would be more for me!  ha!).  I actually told my kids this the other night so when we were grocery shopping in Walmart yesterday, McKenna whispers in my ear that I should tell the checkout lady about Jesus.  Thanks for keeping me accountable, God!!  I didn't go ALL out, but I did ask her if there was anything we could be praying about for her.  Why are we all so afraid to talk about our greatest treasure?  That's another blog.  I would sort of prefer for God to leave that part of life alone!!  But I love that He doesn't want us to quit growing! 

great movie

We watched this new movie last p.m. called Faith Like Potatoes. GREAT movie! SO encouraging to your faith! I will say, though, that the friend who recommended it didn't tell me about one fairly graphic death scene (involving a little boy) that I would say your kids should NOT see (when the farmer gets on the tractor with his niece and nephew, fast forward if your kids are watching - I really regretted that my kids saw it. It was pretty hard on them because it reminded them or the recent death of Connor, their cousin). It allowed us to have some good conversations with them, but they had trouble sleeping that night.
Other than that, it was a great family movie and a true story - you've got to watch the documentary at the end.
Off to start another day with my kids home!

think I'm getting cynical

I just wanted to stomp up and down and throw a fit today as I attended my kids' last recitation - (it was the last day of school!! yea!) Anyway, every time I sit through anything at their school I am struck again at the injustices of education. It's just not fair that my kids get to go to this great school and learn all sorts of amazing things all year and three of our Mighty Men were retaking the TAKS test today because they failed the math part the first time. If they don't pass, they have to take summer school (during the time of the Uganda trip). If they don't go to summer school, they don't get to pass their current grade. It's just NOT FAIR!!
What is up with my three year old? Suddenly, he's becoming quite mischievious again and making mess after mess after mess! The other day I let him take a nap in my room and there is a window behind my bed. He walked up to the back door crying hysterically and I couldn't figure out how he got outside. He fell out of my window after opening it for fun. Can I just say that it's about 5 feet off the ground? The kid didn't have one scratch and I told him God had protected him (he fell on his head on top of the tomato plant). Isaac, Isaac, Isaac! I'll post pics later of field day and last day fun - we're taking Luke, Josiah, and McKenna on a "date" tonight to celebrate the end of school! They did a fantastic job during a tough year!

TV Part 2

Is it scary that I have so many posts that take more than one day? Is it also scary that I'm wanting to send all my children to watch TV right now so that I can write about why we should all stop watching it? LOL!!! PBS and dvds really are one of my favorite "babysitters". Sigh. Power of God. Need the power of God!! Here is some more of that John Piper section from his book, Don't Waste Your Life:
"Since we all live in a world created by television, it is almost impossible to see what has happened to us. The only hope is to read what people were like in previous centureies. Biographies are a great antidote to cultural myopia and chronological snobbery. We have become almost incapable of handling any great truth reverently and deeply. Magnificent things, especially the glory of God, as David Wells says, rest with a kind of "weightlessness" even on the church.
It is one of the defining marks of Our Time that God is now weightless. I do not mean by
this that he is ethereal but rather that he has become unimportant. He rests upon the
world so inconsequentiallly as not to be noticeable. He has lost his saliency for human
life. Those who assure the pollsters of their belief in God's existence may nonetheless
consider him less interesting than television, his commands less authoritative than their
appestites for afflunece and influence, his judgment no more awe-inspiring than the
evening news, and his truth less compelling than the advertisers' sweet fog of flattery and
lies. That is weightlessness. It is a condtion we have assigned him after having ndged
him out to the periphery of our secularized life....Weightlessness tells us nothing about
God but everything about ourselves, about our condition, about our psychological
disposition to exclude God from our reality.
We have lost our ability to see and savor the complexities of truth and the depths of simplicity. Douglas Groothuis explains the connection between this weakness and television:

The triumph of the televised image over the word contributes to the depthlessness of

postmodern sensibilities....One cannot muse over a television program the way wone

ponders a charactoer in William Shakespeare or C.S. Lewis, or a Blaise Pascal parable, or

a line from a T.S. Eliot poem, such as 'But our lot crawls between dry ribs/to keep its

metaphysics warm.' No one on television could utter such a line seriously. It would be

"bad television" -- too abstract, too poetic, too deep, just not entertaining....[Not only

that] but the images appear and disappear and reappear without a proper rational

context. An attempt at a sobering news story about slavery in the Sudan is followed by a

lively advertisement for Disneyland, followed by an appeal to purchase panty hose that

will make any woman irrestistible, etc., ad nauseum.

Therefore the man who stands before God with his well-kept avoidance ethic and his protest that he did not spend too much time at the office but came home and watched TV with his family will probably not escape the indictiment that he wasted his life. Jesus rebuked his disciples with words that easily apply to this man: "Even sinners work hard, avoid gross sin, watch TV at night, and do fun stuff on the weekend. What more are you doing than the others?" (see Luke 6:32-34; Matthew 5:47)."

Youch!! Yeah, I know John Piper can be rather direct. But the guy loves Jesus! And I might add that he raised 5 children without a TV in the house. Is he worse off for such a decision? Doubtful. Here's the other thing that got me thinking about all this TV stuff again recently. We rarely watch primetime TV. Mostly because we literally do not have time (who can feed, bathe, and do homework with 6 children and have ANY time for TV?). But a couple of weeks ago, Randy was gone for a board meeting and I decided that the kids and I would watch "The Biggest Loser." It's an inspiring show, right? I mean, really, it is in many ways. That p.m. I watched it for 2 hours with my kids. The following week was the season finale and so of course I HAD to see that and planned my entire evening around it. I got irritated with my kids when they interrupted and sat there for THREE hours watching all this DRAMA - and I'm sorry, but I find the name "reality" show really funny! - and for what?! We finally had to turn the TV off every time a commercial came on. I realize that some of you are probably saying "Have you heard of Tivo?? But does that really solve the problem? I guess I was just struck after that whole experience of how quickly we get pulled into a world that is not reality and how MUCH it impacts - and I think I would go as far as to say controls - us and how we think and believe.

Okay, I think I'm done with that for now. I have one more woman who has written this great book about books for kids - she has some great comments about TV and its impact on us and our kids, but that's for later! Kids are going bananas!!

from sad to offensive? :)

Okay, I should really just find some cute pics of my kids, post those, and be done (because, really, I should be in bed).  But I just got off of Facebook and I am once again pondering TV, its control over our culture, and cultural relevance.  I'm always a little bit (okay, a lot) bothered by how many people's status updates have to do with the latest tv show, etc.  Is this really what brings unity to us as a culture?  Just know that I'm sure this will offend someone, but that's really not my purpose.  Just wondering if maybe we, as believers, need to be shaken up a bit.  

If you've been in my house, you know that I LOVE books (we actually have a "library" and going to a bookstore is like going to a liquor store for an alcoholic - I can easily get carried away)!  I'm excited that so far my children share that love - just wish I had more time to read!  :)  Anyway, I think this whole post is an attempt to remind myself of why I don't want to succumb to the video/tv trap this summer when my kids are home.  It's so much easier (and I've been giving in to it way too often recently because I haven't felt so great), but is it worth the sacrifice?  I pray that instead, we'll be in the Word of God and in some good books.  I have a couple of quotes that I go back to when I think we're nuts and I'll get to those in a minute.  First, here's my brief testimony of how the absence of tv has changed our lives.  It used to be as normal as breathing.  I and my college friends could always talk about the latest happenings on "Days of Our Lives".  I remember in medical school we would have "ER" nights at our apartments and we all kept up with the latest drama.  "Oprah" gave us lots to talk about.  It actually did unite us.  For some reason that I cannot remember (the mercy of God), we decided (I'm sure my husband was the initiator on this one) to not watch tv for 6 months when I was pregnant with McKenna.  We've never been the same.  In all our years of marriage we've never paid for cable.  People think we're crazy, but I can honestly say that we've never regretted it.  Once we got away from it for an extended period of time, we were both shocked to see what we had been tolerating for years and years.  That's not to say that there haven't been seasons in which we watched it more than others, but we haven't watched it in the same way since.  And I can confidently say that in those seasons when I was watching it more (usually while nursing), it did nothing to truly nurture my spirit.  I will also say that it takes VERY little time to get sucked back in and to start rationalizing what I'm taking in.  We are all hopelessly sinful and easily deceived - need LOTS of grace!!  

And what about being culturally relevant.  This is a question I also think about a lot because if you aren't into the latest reality show, you're pretty much out of the loop in many conversations ( I will say that our closest friends don't watch tv much either, so we forget we're weird sometimes).  This has also come up recently because of some conversations with my daughter in which she's telling me that she's kind of weird in her class at school (she goes to a Christian school) because she doesn't watch all the shows that her friends watch and so she feels left out.  Hmmm.  I guess my question is this:  Did Jesus watch "Dancing with the Stars" so that He could participate in the conversations around Him?  Again, I want to reiterate that we're covered by grace and having been there ourselves (and knowing that we're totally missing some big revelations in our own lives), I'm not trying to say that I don't understand how it happens.  But I think it's okay to graciously and lovingly say to believers that maybe we're being controlled more than we think by a box that has become a huge consumer of our time and of our hearts.  Here's part of one of the quotes I was talking about earlier (more later; I have GOT to go to bed!!):

TELEVISION, THE GREAT LIFE-WASTER (from Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper):

Television is one of the greatest life-wasters of the modern age.  And, of course, the Internet is running to catch up, and may have caught up [this book was published in 2003 - I'm afraid I'm proof that he may be right about the Internet].  You can be more selective on the Internet, but you can also select worse things with only the Judge of the universe watching.  TV still reigns as the great life-waster.  The main problem with TV is not how much smut is available, though that is a problem.  Just the ads are enough to sow fertile seeds of greed and lust, no matter what program you're watching.  The greater problem is banality.  A mind fed daily on TV diminishes.  Your mind was made to know and love God.  Its facility for this great calling is ruined by excessive TV.  The content is so trivial and so shallow that the capacity of the mind to think worthy thoughts withers, and the capacity of the heart to feel deep emotions shrivels.  Neil Postman shows why:  "What is happening in America is that television is transforming all serious public business into junk....Television disdains exposition, which is serious, sequential, rational, and complex.  It offers instead a mode of discourse in which everything is accessible, simplistic, concrete, and above all, entertaining.  As a result, America is the world's first culture in jeopardy of amusing itself to death."

I'll write more tomorrow after I get more sleep!!  :)

     

I wish I had more or better words...

Imagine (you won't have to try too hard on this one) that you're watching the news and you see a brief report about a murder that occurred at a corner convenience store in a rough part of town. It was a 29-year-old woman who was chased from her home by her ex-boyfriend and shot down as her 10-year-old son looked on. If you're like me, you might think about changing the channel because you're tired of hearing about all the sad stuff in the world or you might even, for a millisecond, enter into some sort of sympathy and think "how sad."
The face of the news story about which you find yourself somewhat indifferent changes, however, when the people have names and you know them and they live in your neighborhood. Friday p.m. one of our 10-year-old Opportunity Camp kids, Craig, witnessed the murder of his mom, Candelyn, as she ran from her ex-boyfriend. She was shot 4-5 times and he followed her into the store (while also trying to protect his baby brother). The guy hit Craig on the head with the butt of the gun, but praise the Lord, didn't shoot him. Josiah's old basketball coach, Jerome, who works at the community center across the street from the store heard gunshots and herded all the kids that he had just released from the center back inside. He then went into the store and held Craig's mom as she died. I just have no words. Tonight there was a candlelight vigil in the store parking lot and we went. It's a surreal feeling to be in this place, this community, that is so broken, and yet the name of Jesus was proclaimed over and over again tonight. Randy and I both commented that it's hard to know what to think or how to feel. I could have wept and wept. But I'll tell you one thing. There is something incredibly beautiful about how people experience community here. It just doesn't happen in "white" suburbia. There were probably around 300 people or more in that parking lot. The whole community knows about what happened. One person will start singing a spiritual or whatever and almost everyone joins in(except us white folks who've never heard the songs in our lives :)). It's just not like the culture I grew up in and it's beautiful. I don't know. I'm rambling. This is the second death of an Op Camp kid's mom that we've seen in the last month. The other mom was my age and died in her sleep from some unknown cause. The mom this weekend was 7 years younger than I am. Sobering. Entering into people's suffering. Jesus did it all the time. I want Him to live His life through me powerfully. Not so much there yet. Our pastor was talking today about how, at the end of the day, the question about "what would Jesus do (WWJD)" isn't enough. It's not about imitation (because we just can't do it); it's about the manifestation of His life in and through us. (Col 1 - Christ IN you, the hope of glory). Life by the Spirit - it's the only way that "works", but it's so much harder because there just aren't a clear-cut set of "rules" and I'm such a rule follower! ha! It's just a different way of looking at life and people. So the question tonight (had I been so focused) would not have been "what would Jesus say to Craig right now?" The question would have been "What is the Spirit of Christ doing right now and what is He speaking right now that needs to come out of my mouth?" One is relying on my own power to figure things out and one is relying on His power, wisdom, etc. Just so you know, I didn't ask either question. I just hugged that sweet little boy. I know this is the heart of God; I'm just saying that I'm longing to live life by a life other than my own! Every once in a while, I get it. More often than not, I miss it because I'm just not connected to/focused on Him.
God bless Craig and his family. Bless them to experience Your tangible presence. Bless them to know that you're there weeping and mourning with them. Bless them to know that You never change and that in the midst of suffering You are beautiful.
I'm going to go watch the news now. 2 or 3 channels were there again tonight. Curious to see if they completely left all the Jesus talk out. I'm sure they found a way.

Please Pray

OK, if you're reading this  blog I need you to pray.  D is 15 years old, and he as a ticket to go with us to Uganda in one month.  The problem is that he doesn't have a passport.  We need his dad, who is in prison, to send paperwork to give custody to D's grandmother so she can apply for a passport.  They went to court last week, and he still hadn't sent back the paperwork.  All I know to do is pray.  Please pray that we will get the paperwork quickly.

Thanks,

Randy

My Wife--A Haiku

Mom of seven kids;

Wife of a difficult man;

She deserves a prize.

Again, the haiku fails me as a method of communication.  So little can really be expressed in 17 syllables.  I think I'll try a poem that's a little more free-form.

Mom. . .

. . .I don't wanna get up.

. . .can I have a snack?

. . .can you wipe me?

. . .where's my blanket?

. . .I'm hungry!

. . .waaaah!

. . .I love you.

. . .can I have a snack?

. . .I didn't hear you.

. . .Mommmmmm!

. . .do I have to?

. . .I'm hungry.

. . .waaaaah!

. . .DDjjjj! (Malachi)

. . .Owww!

. . .He hit me!

. . .can I have a snack?

. . .can you wipe me?

. . .wayo's my unduwaya? 

. . .I need to go potty.

. . .I don't want to take a bath.

. . .Where's my toothbrush?

. . .I'm hungry!

. . .I don't wanna go to bed.

. . .Can you tuck me in?

. . .But I don't want Daddy to tuck me in.

. . .Can I have a drink?

. . .Goodnight Mommy.  I love you.

. . .Mommmmmmm!

Easter pics from Midland (yes, I'm going back a few weeks)

decorating eggs at Nana and Papa'a house

Easter baskets on Sunday a.m.

fun cousins ready for the big Easter egg hunt at Grandma's house!

Sweet cousins, Emily and Allison

Moriah found lots of eggs!

More Easter pics

Aunt Jill and Uncle Cary (they loaded the eggs with some special surprises - Josiah made some $)!
Uncle Ben and Aunt Trisha!
Malachi figured out the Easter egg hunt thing quickly and thoroughly enjoyed the chocolate!
The three 11-year-olds (soon-to-be-12!):  Ashley, Annie, and McKenna
A bunch of really cute cousins!

Luke and his buddies dressed up for their Egyptian "feast"! Yes, those are all boys!

the kids at the CCS Fun Run!

My gift for Mother's Day was flowers and the creation of a flowerbed! (Photos by Luke)

More random pictures and Happy Mother's Day

First attempt...sort of indicative of the morning...:)
Second attempt...in which we fool all of you into thinking we're the second Brady Bunch!

I'm actually blogging right now because I'm confined to my bed while my children make me breakfast in bed.  :)  I am a blessed woman.  My children are amazing.  I wouldn't trade my life for anyone else's (okay, most days I wouldn't)!  I could write some long post about the blessings and challenges of motherhood, but I don't feel like it right now!  LOL!  I will share this link, though, for those of you who feel like having a good cry today [WARNING:  You seriously might not want to watch this if you're pregnant.]  I heard this couple last p.m. on a Focus on the Family radio broadcast and it ripped my heart out.  The husband is the lead singer of Selah and their family's story is beautiful and painful.  

...Okay, it's after church now - they brought me breakfast and then it was get-ready-for-church time!  As I was saying, this is a beautiful sad story.  I prayed for this momma and my sister-in-law, LeeAnn, and all the other moms who are hurting today.  The link is http://www.heartlink.org/.  (Sorry, don't know why this didn't automatically create the link - but there's the address)!  She also has a blog that follows them in their journey, but I couldn't read it last p.m. - if I cry too much I get these horrible headaches!  :)

Now I'm sitting here blogging while my sweet family makes me a STEAK lunch!!  Bluebell AND steak were on sale at the grocery store last p.m. so Randy didn't even have to get cheap steaks for the kids (which was his original plan, handed down from his own parents who used to give "tube steaks" [aka HOT DOGS] to their six children while they ate the real thing!  LOL!!).  I'll post more pics after lunch when they're cleaning up the kitchen (I wish it was Mother's Day every day)!!

Loving the Poor - Part 2

So as not to leave anyone hanging on the whole "loving the poor" thing, I'll list the verses that RB talked about concerning people who do love the poor. 

**Luke 12:33 - Sell your possessions and give to the poor.  Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in Heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. [Jesus]

**James 2:5 - Listen, my dear brothers:  Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?

**Isaiah 58 - [This is much too long to type here, but it is one of the most amazing blessing chapters on loving the poor.  And it has proven true in our own lives - we have seen healing that we never thought possible!]

**Deuteronomy 15:7, 10-11 - If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns that the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother.  Rather be openhanded and freely lend him whatever he needs....Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.  There will always be poor people in the land.  Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.  [Interesting to note here that in the American church, a common reason proposed for going ahead and not dealing with the poor is this verse (which Jesus also quoted):  "the poor will always be with you".  We've actually heard that before as a reason to not engage the situation because we can't fix it anyway.]

**After he talked about this, he also went through examples of people who loved the poor throughout the New Testament.  Included Jesus, Paul, Peter and the apostles, Zaccheus, the church in Acts (I didn't take notes on all the scripture references for these, but there's no doubt it was pretty essential.  Giving half of his possessions to the poor was Zaccheus' first proof that he had been saved when people questioned Jesus eating with a "sinner").

There are many more verses concerning the poor, which would make one think that maybe it REALLY  matters to God.  He hates injustice.  My approach most of my life has been to think about it for a minute and then to decide to ignore it because it's overwhelming and what could I do anyway?  John Piper points out that you can ALWAYS pray (like when you're watching the news, etc.).  And Randy said the other night that the world is different than it used to be.  It literally takes 5 minutes to send money anywhere in the world.  And our seemingly little contribution can change lives.  To give a little perspective, the average person in Uganda makes around $350 a YEAR!!  Our wealth goes a long way in most places in the world.  

The thing that overwhelms me now is my lack of compassion, even after having my eyes opened quite a bit.  I weep now over things I didn't used to cry about and I have faith that God is slowly giving us His heart for people, but the truth is that when a kid shows up at my door and just wants to hang out or whatever, most of the time I wish he would go away and let me get back to my own "plan".  It's still really hard to engage.  When Jesus said that the entire law could be summed up in this "Love God and love other people", it sounded really simple, but it's EXTREMELY hard (and not just with the poor - with everyone!  :))  People just need to be loved.  No one wants to be a "project" or given handouts, really.  They just want someone to notice them and look in their eyes and love them.  I would honestly rather not have to do that on most days.  Without Christ, I'm hopelessly selfish.  I have been confronted with this over and over and over again in the past several years (esp. having so many children)!  But the beauty in this is that it MAKES you have to depend on Him or give up!  Life by the Spirit/abiding in Jesus  is the only hope.  My flesh produces absolutely pitiful results.  Thank you, Jesus, for Your life and Your grace!

Some Random pics and my husband, the preacher

D'Leeland and his buddy, Webster came by to show off the horses. There are so many entertaining things about our neighborhood - bet you didn't know there are some stables! My kids were terrified of the horses! :)

my little Moriah - she loves posing!

Don't let him fool you. He looks like he's cleaning up, but his main goal in life is to destroy!

If you had asked me 10 years ago if I thought RB would be teaching/preaching, I probably would have said no. I love God. He works through the things in which we find ourselves weak and then HE gets lots of glory. (He will also be preaching again in church on May 31st!). My husband really has turned into this amazing teacher (it is definitely one of his spiritual gifts) and I was amazed again last p.m. at his wisdom and insight. He was asked to teach at our CORE training school last p.m. about the poor, injustice, and racism. I was humbled by the message and my eyes were opened in a fresh way to the Word of God again. I'm sure this is going to be one of those multiple day posts, but I just have to share some of the things that he did because it was so powerful. I was totally convicted - again. He began by talking about how in our culture we have compartamentalized (SPELLING??) loving the poor and made it something optional (much like sharing the gospel, but that's a post for another day - how have we convinced ourselves that that is not for everyone? that it's okay if we rarely, if ever, tell people about Jesus?). He made the analogy that if you came in to see him as a doctor, he wouldn't tell you to digest your food or to grow hair. That's a natural part of what your body does and if it's not doing that, then you are sick and need healing - there is definitely something wrong. So it is with loving the poor. Loving the poor characterizes your life if you're a follower of Jesus. It doesn't save you, but it's one of the fundamental proofs that transformation has taken place. It was NEVER addressed in the Word as something optional or as an "add-on". It is pretty central from Genesis to Revelation. Something about seeing all the following scriptures together last night (and there are MANY more that he did not mention) did something to my heart and opened my eyes to things I'd never noticed before. First, he went through several scriptures that talk about people who do NOT love the poor. His stated goal last p.m. was that he would make everyone "greedy" to love the poor because of the great blessing that comes from it. Keep that in mind as you read the first set of scriptures (the next ones I'll put on here are the ones about people who DO love the poor and what God promises). I'm going to type them out and then I'll write more later. I've got my sweet little people running around and need to get off this computer!

**Jeremiah 5:27-29 - "Like cages full of birds, their houses are full of deceit; they have become rich and powerful and have grown fat and sleek. Their evil deeds have no limit; they do not plead the case of the faterhless to win it, they do not defend the rights of the poor. Should I not punish them for this?" declares the Lord. "Should I not avenge myself on such a nation as this?" [interesting to note here that they weren't oppressing the poor; they were apparently just ignoring them - the description of this nation sounds uncomfortably familiar - youch!]

**Jeremiah 22:15-17 - [This was said to Jehoahaz, son of Josiah] "Does it make you a king to have more and more cedar? Did not your father have food and drink? He did what was right and just, so all went well with him. He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?" [I didn't even know Josiah took care of the poor]

**Ezekial 16:49 - [Why did God destroy Sodom?] "Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy."

**James 5:1-5 - Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. [RB pointed out here that the day of slaughter sounds like it's for them - they have made themselves fat and they themselves are the cattle that get slaughtered]

**Luke 18:24 - Jesus looked at him and said, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!"

**I John 3:17 - If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?

**Luke 11:39-41 - Then the Lord said to him, "Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? But give what is inside the dish to the poor, and everything will be clean for you." [WHAT? I had NEVER noticed THIS before!! Jesus' solution to getting rid of their wickedness was to give their greed (become generous) to the poor! Giving to the poor was the starting place!]

I'll continue later! I need to say that there's lots of grace, but I also believe that this is something that God is really wanting us to get. RB said last p.m. that this is not something he wants to add to anyone's "to do" list; he needs to become part of our "to BE" list! And all of it is ABSOLUTELY impossible without the life of the Spirit living through us. This is really comforting because I can speak from LOTS of experience in trying to do it in my flesh - it DOESN'T work!!

we all need a lot of grace...

One sad and one funny story:
Let's start with sad. Last p.m. I'm sleeping while RB is reading in bed and the phone rings around 10:45. He doesn't get it in time, but caller id says is it Tarrant County Jail. This could be a couple of people we know, but no one leaves a message. About an hour later the doorbell rings. I go and peek out the peephole and realize that it is one of our Mighty Men (yeah, 14-years-old, out by himself at midnight in the cold rain). We brought him in and he had some weird story about not catching a bus because the bus had a wreck. He had stolen a bike to ride over to our house so he could use the phone and get home (he lives about 20-25 minutes away). Poor kid - his language is deceit and so we have no idea what really happened. Randy took him home and dropped off the bike back where he supposedly "found it abandoned". We're assuming that he had been picked up by the police for whatever reason and that he was the one calling from the jail. Sigh. I was praying last p.m. that the truth would just start coming out of his mouth without him even thinking about it! I really can't believe how the Mighty Men really are turning into MEN! A couple of them are beginning to tower over me! Love those guys - need to pray more.

Okay, here's the funny story, perhaps the most pitiful hormonal moment I've ever had in my life. I would say that last week was pretty awful. I had NO energy, still nauseous, and my family is lucky that they ever got anything to eat! One of my extreme aversions right now is ground beef - not sure why, but texture and smell get me. Because I hadn't made dinner once again, my sweet husband made this interesting ground beef/noodle/velveeta concoction on Thursday p.m., which I ate. I also ate it for lunch on Friday because we had nothing else in the house due to the fact that I hadn't gone grocery shopping. So on Friday evening when he was on his way home, he called to ask what I wanted him to pick up for dinner (I would like to say that I finally went to the store yesterday - we'll be eating this week) and I told him Rosa's sounded good. He comes home with 2 pints of beans, 2 packages of tortillas, and 1 pint of...GROUND BEEF!! I was SO hoping for some CHICKEN!! When I realized he got ground beef, I said out loud to everyone, "I'm not going to cry about ground beef" as I start spilling tears right there in the middle of my kitchen. Moriah was really concerned and kept asking why I was crying. The boys were just watching me, not sure how to react. And then my husband, who was trying to be sympathetic and very apologetic, just lost it and burst out laughing. My boys followed his lead and soon I was laughing AND crying hysterically over a pint of ground beef. Randy explained to our kids that only a pregnant woman could pull off such a feat. God bless my poor husband and kids! :)

blogging apathy

I've heard that people stop reading your blog if you go too long without posting, so I'll probably have no one reading this! I don't know why I haven't felt like writing lately - maybe it's that thing that if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all? I confess that I've had more encouraging seasons of life - sort of in survival mode right now. This pregnancy has been a whip so far - really tired and really gaggy and nauseous most of the day. But if I complain (which, don't get me wrong, I do often), I can just hear people thinking "Well, didn't they decide to throw birth control away? They got themselves into this!" People probably aren't thinking that, but when you're hormonal you think all sorts of ridiculous things. I remember Beth Moore teaching about God's will one time and that we tend to think that if it's in the will of God then it will be easy. That's a lie. God never said that. So while I'm 100% confident that God has called us to have a large family, etc., I must also acknowledge that it's HARD! One of my good friends was recently telling me that she realized one day that she didn't have to make a choice about whether she viewed her kids as a "blessing" or a "burden." The truth is that they are both! This is SO true! They are a tremendous blessing and they are a burden (in a good, weighty sort of way) that we will carry until the day we die. That's why I feel out of breath so often. The nice thing about this trying season is that I find myself desperate for God once again. I simply cannot do this. I cannot be everything my children need. I am a mess. Prayer and Jesus are their only hope!! Maybe when I'm 80 I'll feel like I've "got it all together"...no, probably not. I'll just have 50 grandkids running around my house then!!

Isaac just yelled that Malachi is once again playing in the toilet. Sigh. I'll write more about that guy later - he might just do me in!!

Question

Does anyone have any suggestions on what the appropriate discipline should be for feeding your 3 year old brother your boogers?
Thanks,
Randy

what was I THINKING?!

So Randy is at a CCS board meeting tonight and usually doesn't make it home until 11:30 p.m. or so. Moriah is still on medication for strep, Luke is right in the middle of it and feeling crummy, and Malachi is on day 10 or something of a horrific cold which has made his poor nose raw and all of our clothes rather "slimy" (sorry, that was gross - but it's true). I'm sleep-deprived (Malachi), nauseous, and I have now caught my sweet baby's cold. Last night I was with my friend, Candice, who recommended this movie "the boy in the striped pajamas." I will agree that it is a great movie. And since McKenna is currently studying WWII, the Holocaust, etc. in school, I thought I would preview this movie tonight to see if she could handle it. NO!! Oh my word!! It is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sad (Candice did warn me of this)! It's based on the perspective of a Nazi boy and it is very well-done. But I was BAWLING at the end. I cannot handle anything now that I'm a momma. Ugh! This was NOT the best way to end my sicky day! LOL! Anyway, if you're into historical sadness, I do recommend this movie. I've got to go pray or something before hubby gets home. At least maybe I can be smiling with my puffy eyes.
By the way, isn't my hubby a terrific writer? I love the way he expresses himself. What's up with that? I'm the English major and I can hardly compose a complete sentence!

Somebody Has to Start Dancing

I have this picture of revival in my head.
I saw it at Opportunity Camp this summer. Someone started playing a song called "Cupid Shuffle." I had never heard it before. Apparently I was the only one. Almost as soon as the song started, someone started dancing. It wasn't long before others began to join in. Soon there was a whole room full of people-- black, white, young, old, coordinated and not-so-coordinated-- all moving in unison to the same song. It seemed that everyone knew exactly what to do. Everyone was smiling and laughing as the whole room stepped in the same directions together. No tripping, no falling, no fighting.
That's what I expect revival to look like when it comes to Como.
I saw a video of a similar situation in a train station in Germany. First a father and daughter started dancing, and before long a whole station full of strangers was dancing together. I tend to be the last one to join a dance. In fact, when I join, the other people normally begin laughing so hard that the dance quickly degrades into a guffawing mob of hecklers. But let's stop talking about my dancing skills (which I will forever attribute to my strict upbringing and not a lack of physical aptitude on my part), and let's get back to the original analogy.
Somebody has to start dancing. It's a risk to stand in the middle of a room of strangers and dance. (I've only done it one or 2 occasions, and the above description of the heckling mob stems from those experiences.) But for revival to happen, whether among a small group or a nation, there must be a core of dancers who lead the way. They inspire others to join, and as they move in unison together in response to the song of God they actually teach others the dance. Revival won't happen primarily through teaching. It will happen as disciples disciple others in the ways of God, by responding to his voice in obedience. That is the beauty of the line dance of God. The world will be able to look at us and see what to do, then just jump in and dance with us. Sure they will make mistakes as they learn, but instead of whacking their hand with a ruler we can just laugh together in the grace of God and take the next step together.
I bless you to start dancing to the music of your King. May your brothers and sisters join with you, and may you together penetrate the barren stillness around you.

our baby

By the way, for any of you who were getting excited with our children for twins, I have to inform you that I saw our little one and it IS just ONE! I must confess that this is a relief, although I would have been excited about twins too. Everything looks great! There's just nothing like seeing and hearing that little heartbeat for the first time!

news from the SLUG

I am a slug. ugh. Even moving my fingers to type requires almost more energy than I am capable of producing at the moment. Am I just old or what? I definitely don't remember feeling this sick and tired with my other pregnancies, but maybe that's a memory problem and not reality. I think I'm going to start praying for the perfect "nanny" to show up. I mean, shouldn't people like Alice on the Brady Bunch be the norm and not the exception? I would LOVE an Alice right now. One of Randy's nurses made us dinner last p.m. and I thought I was going to explode I was so thankful. I'm going to the doctor for my first visit in about an hour. I get to see this little bean today - this will make the fatigue a little more tolerable! :)
So I realize that I never gave my version of the camping saga. Here it is. Luke woke up at 5:30 that morning with fever and a sore throat. Immediately I thought what a terrible mother I would be if I took my sick son to sleep in the cold on the ground for the next three nights, but after praying, I really had peace that we were supposed to go anyway. Randy thought it was strep and we figured that with antibiotics he would be better quickly anyway. We actually left town in good spirits and we weren't even mad at each other. We were very proud of ourselves for this - perhaps we should've boasted more in the Lord. Our pride went before a great fall. Sure we stopped about 5-6 times on our way to Arkansas, but we still managed to maintain our joy until we reached the campground. I suppose I could blame what happened next on hormones. I'm not sure what happened, but I just lost it. The campsite was NOT kid-friendly. There were several little retaining walls built because it was steep and led down to the lake's edge. All I'm seeing is my 14-month-old rolling down the rocky slope into the water. As soon as we got out of the car, we were all covered in these tiny black gnats. And it was definitely feeling like we were in Egypt - I started crying out to the Lord!! :) It just suddenly hit me what we had done. We had about one hour to completely set up our "houses" and make/clean up dinner before it started getting dark. The amount of effort overwhelmed me and I wanted to go home. Did I mention that our campsite was at the end, meaning that we were as far away from the bathrooms as we could possibly be? Anyway, after dinner Malachi fell through one of the little "retaining fences", falling about 2-3 feet on the rocky ground. I couldn't talk to anyone. In fact, I hardly spoke a word the rest of the night. When the kids were in bed and Randy and I were sitting by the campfire, there were no romantic gestures or conversations. I coudn't talk to him. I was too mad. So I proceeded to cry uncontrollably for several minutes while he sat there helpless. What was this man supposed to do with a tired, hormonal, pregnant momma of six? We just went to bed. I didn't sleep most of the night, hearing lots of sounds, worrying about Luke (who was in a different tent), and wondering if I was brave enough to walk down to the bathroom alone in the middle of the night (I wasn't - I used a red solo cup hiding behind our Suburban. You get pretty good at this sort of thing after six pregnancies...). Anyway, as I lay awake that night I really pondered whether or not it was possible in Jesus to have a different attitude. I decided that it was and awoke determined the next day. I was really very nice. In fact I even smiled a lot and talked in a pleasant tone all day. I was pretty proud of myself (Randy just thought I was faking it and so I guess he wasn't that impressed). We went on a little hike and had a pretty peaceful day - until the rain. I think Randy described the rest pretty well. The funny thing is that I didn't even really think about leaving until my spouse started scaring me. I didn't want to spend the night in a wet tent in 40 degree weather. We left. And I was mad all over again. I mean, if we had never attempted this, then my children wouldn't have been wailing. Sigh. It was undoubtedly a catch-22. We grieved for the whole day on Friday. It was one of the saddest vacations (okay -the saddest) we've ever taken. BUT, we're all okay now. I think. I guess we won't know about some of them until it comes out in counseling someday....
Is he not just a beautiful little boy?

Isaac spent much of his time looking like this - it's tough being three.

Luke took about 5000 pictures of the ducks.

Here we are! Our happy family - did I mention that Randy made us all wear matching flourescent yellow t-shirts on our travel day?! THAT brought us some attention, as if we needed any help with that.