light at the end of the tunnel

I feel like I should apologize for my meltdown on the blog earlier!!  LOL!  Thank you for praying.  Isaac is acting better tonight and is now eating ice cream before bed - I guess there are some beneficial things about this whole illness.  :)  Still praying that he will sleep tonight.  Please pray for protection on the Connally children.  Their family is moving here two days after Jeff returns from Uganda and we REALLY don't want their kids to get this!!!  My friend actually took my older ones to her house to spend the p.m. and so it's just me and the little boys.  As soon as Isaac is in bed, my house will be quiet.  crxcsxdhjgffdrryyu6uykj8i7iiiu8888jy (that's Isaac's "blog" for the p.m.)!  Again, in spite of these little and mundane trials, I can feel the presence of the Lord and the prayers of the saints.  And I continue to be amazed at the reports from Uganda.  Obviously, the Lord has been COVERING this team.  Cannot wait to hear their reports and see all the pictures when they return!!  Don't let down now, sometimes the trip home can seem like an eternity!  Continue to pray for health and rest when they start home on Friday.  Also pray that they will have many opportunities to continue to share the gospel on the way home.  

Sleep and Love

I am praying for good sleep tonight for the team, Isaac, and Anda.

Hebrews 4:15-16 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses…..Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

GOD thank you for supplying our needs, and we give YOU the glory.

Angela's MoM

No update today; just me whining! :)

I could cry for a long time right now.  No sleep is a really bad thing.  Isaac cried off and on all night last night because his mouth hurts.  He has continued to cry all day today.  He hasn't had much sleep either and has had nothing but yogurt for the last four meals.  Feel so sorry for him and there's really nothing I can do except pray and hug him a lot.  I won't go into it on the blog :) :), but let's just say I'm having a couple of not serious, but miserable health issues as well.  My sweet friend, Tiffany, just came and got my kids to go get ice cream.  The little boys are asleep.  I'm going to go lay down.  I think I've talked to RB every day since he left and today is the day that he texted me and said that he was going to bed.  No talking today.  That's when the tears started flowing.  I think I will call today "Black Tuesday."  LOL!  The good news is that I know this will probably be the only "dark" day.  And the other good news is that this sweet woman who I hardly know is bringing us dinner and I hear she is a phenomenal cook.  God is taking care of us.  The best news is that He is still really good and He knows exactly what we need.  The verse for the day:  "And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus."  Philippians 4:19   "Consider it pure joy...trials of ALL kinds...."  

Monday update

Hey everyone!  Talked to Randy briefly today.  They enjoyed their time today serving around 300-400 kids, some school kids and some orphans.  Tomorrow they will work more at Restoration Gateway and plan on going fishing in the Nile River tomorrow afternoon!  He asked that we pray that God will show him whether or not to go back into the village tomorrow.  Wednesday Randy will do a medical clinic and everyone will work around RG again.  His prayer is that they will finish strong, that God will touch whatever needs to be touched in their hearts, and that He will break their hearts for the poor.  He wants us to pray that they will be broken and filled with compassion for the poor.  One quick story from Jeff Connally (via Charlotte).  He said that today all they could give the kids at the end of the day was a piece of paper and a pencil.  When Charlotte commented that that was kind of sad, he said that they were actually really excited.  Yeah.  Kind of humbling to think about here in America.  Again, he wants to thank everyone for praying for the team - there really has been no conflict and Jeff Connally compared the team to a beautifully put together orchestra in which everyone is playing their part perfectly.  THAT is prayer!  Love all of you!  Pray for healing for our family - we have hand, foot, and mouth disease going around with the little ones.  :(

love,

Anda 

Strength, Safety, and Unity

Monday, June 22, 2009
Ezekiel 2:18 “When I say to a wicked man, ‘You will surely die.’ And you do not warn him or speak out of dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil ways, he will die for his sin, but you will have saved yourself.”
My prayer is that all the team members will have the courage from GOD to witness to the persons that GOD lays on their hearts and let GOD do the rest. I’m also praying for physical strength, safety, and unity for all.
Love,
Angela's MoM

not an update - just me rambling

I feel almost like an intruder on my own blog writing about anything that doesn't have to do with Uganda!  :)  I should be asleep right now, but if I had been, I would have just been awakened by my crying baby - again.  We figured out today that he has hand, foot, mouth disease.  That sounds so terrible, but it's pretty common with babies/toddlers.  Got it from church last Sunday.  He's definitely better, but I think he must still have some mouth sores that are bothering him in his sleep.  Bummer is that Isaac started running fever this afternoon.  Sigh.  He said his mouth was hurting under his tongue.  Poor babies.  

I came in after putting my kids to bed way too late tonight and bawled with Jesus for a while.  I don't feel like I can write about this yet and it may be a long time, but I am being broken in half through one of my children.  I was locked in my bedroom doing that really ugly, hysterical, sobbing that you hope no one witnesses and I just asked Him to speak.  I heard Psalm 55 and looked it up.    The whole thing was good and clearly from the Holy Spirit, but here are a few highlights:  "listen to my prayer, O God, do not ignore my plea; hear me and answer me....My heart is in anguish within me....But I call to God, and the Lord saves me.  Evening, morning, and noon I cry out in distress, and He hears my voice....Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall....But as for me, I trust in You."  Then as I sat there still crying and praying, He just reminded me about this child's name and its significance.  I am learning things through this experience (which has been going on with varying intensity for years) that I probably could not learn through any other means.  But it is breaking.  Tonight God picked me up and brought me close to His heart, though, and I am filled with His peace and hope and joy and love for this child as I go to bed tonight.  The MM's verse for today was 2 Corinthians 9:8 - "And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work."  His grace does abound, and all the more so, the more hopeless a situation seems.  Nothing is impossible with God.  Really!  Malachi went back to sleep - time for bed since I'm falling asleep typing.  

Sunday update

I hope you guys aren't getting sick of all these posts!  Randy stressed again today how THANKFUL he is for all your prayers.  He said that the team has been wonderful - everyone is walking in their role, all are getting along, and they've been extremely easy to lead.  Prayer is powerful and effective!  The MM had a much better day today and were encouraged.  Some of them hiked through the pouring rain and mud through a river to go evangelize in the market today.  He said it didn't feel real effective, but it was a great experience and gave lots of insight to their culture and also to some things Jesus must have experienced when HE walked through the market place.  He said it was just beautiful to watch sweet Deontay walk up to a lady who was not at all interested, asking her if she knows that Jesus loves her.  Pray for the team tomorrow as they go to an orphanage to feed somewhere around 300 orphans.  Also pray that Randy will have wisdom in deciding what to do during their last two days at Restoration Gateway (Thursday they will go to a wildlife reserve).  Also pray that they will see miracles and healings!  Not sure if this was anything, but pray that a girl who needs her hand healed will experience the love of Jesus through healing!  God is so good!  

Love to all of you!

saturday update

Hey everyone!  I talked to Randy this afternoon while driving and so now I'm relying on my memory - bad idea, but I'll do my best!    This a.m. they did a basketball camp for some kids and it sounded like there were kids in and out of RGateway all day.  This afternoon they went into a nearby village and shared the gospel.  19 people gave their lives to the Lord!!  Praise God!  He still wants us to pray that every person on the team will have a chance to lead someone to Christ while there.  Tomorrow they will have church - some there and some in a different village.  He wants us to pray that he will have wisdom in making some decisions tomorrow about letting people stay behind when they make a hike across the river again if they are too tired.  I think that would be the primary request that I was hearing from him today.  They are all really exhausted and it's beginning to show.  :)  He had a three hour "show down" with one of our sweet MM today over refusal to obey, one of them was packing to go home, and the others are starting to bicker a bit.  They have also decided that they're hungry and maybe done with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  Perhaps a little culture shock?  It makes me laugh and smile just to write this.  He said they are still doing amazingly well!  He pointed out that he's got seven boys who have hardly travelled anywhere hiking through Uganda into villages with half-naked people living in huts!  Just pray for them!!  He said he can totally tell that people are praying and is hoping that tomorrow they'll "turn a corner!"  He said that the adults are doing a wonderful job and he thinks they haven't really had time to break down because they know that they have to keep loving, supporting, etc. the Mighty Men! He cannot say enough good things about Restoration Gateway!  The leaders are wonderful and have been speaking life into these guys everywhere they go.  In fact, when Randy was through speaking about the MM yesterday a.m., a man came up to him and asked if it was okay if he started a MM group there in Uganda!!  Amen!   Thanks also for praying for Malachi!  Aside from the fact that he's been crying for the last hour because he's really grumpy (lots of ulcers), I can tell that he's getting better.  Dr. Petta let me know that it was just a case of herpes and that we were probably on the downhill slide!  Pray for SLEEP tonight!  Okay, the cops just showed up at my door.  My five-year-old dialed 911!  Never a dull moment around here!!  Have mercy- this whole deal is making me thankful that I'm not a single mom!

Friday update

We're still at Lake Brownwood and will head home tomorrow - I have mixed feelings about this!  Ha!  Here's the update sent out today:

Hello prayer warriors!  Again, I want to thank all of you for praying!  We heard many exciting little stories today of knocking down termite mounds, chopping a black mamba in half, and holding a chameleon while it was changing colors (Josiah and Jordan are in boy heaven)!  Randy said that today he began to see more of the "old" Mighty Men emerge - they're are becoming less intimidated and a little more comfortable!  LOL!  Pray that they will continue to obey, work hard, etc.  Tomorrow they will be doing a basketball camp in the a.m. and going out to a village to do evangelism in the afternoon.  Please pray for a revelation of Jesus and that people will come to the Lord!  He also wanted us to pray that the team, esp the boys, will get to be in a Ugandan's home.  So far the team is healthy and relationships are going well among team members.  Thank God and continue to pray for these things! On a personal note, my husband insisted today that I ask for prayer again for me and the kids (and all the other moms!).  Baby has a funky virus which led to no sleep last night and it's looking like the same again tonight unless the Lord does a miracle (PLEASE PRAY!).  We have been and are continuing to experience some very difficult discipline issues with one of our children and it leaves me emotionally and mentally exhausted.  Bottom line is that we just need JESUS!  I have seen God answer prayer after prayer over the past week - faith is just low tonight.  It is so comforting to know that we are surrounded and upheld by the prayers of the saints.   Love to you all!  Can't wait to tell you more stories of what God is doing tomorrow! Anda

Mighty

Joel 2:11 Mighty are those who obey HIS command.

Angela, I'm praying for you, your buddy, Julie, and all those with you to have the wisdom to hear and obey HIS commands as you touch the lives of people today and in the future.

I love you dearly,
MoM

update from Thursday

Well, it's 4 a.m. in Uganda and so I wanted you all to have the praise and prayer requests before their day starts over there!  I will give you the general stories that Randy shared today, but I must confess that I think I missed several details in the midst of my "fuzzy" cell phone and crying children!  :)  This a.m. they enjoyed worship with the team at Restoration Gateway with African music and drums (he sounded like this was cool).  A lady who has been an evangelist for 30 years there shared and then called on "the leader of the Mighty Men" to share tomorrow, so pray that the very words of God would flow from his mouth as he tells about the MM and what God is doing.  They worked at RG this a.m. doing various things like chopping down 6-foot-high grass with machetes, making bricks, working on plumbing, etc.  Again, he said that the MM did great and enjoyed it all!  Following a downpour, which was helpful for cooling them off, they headed to a neighboring village (got to walk across a river and everything - :)).  As they were going, they met two men, shared the gospel with them and they received Christ!!  When they reached the village, they met a family with three children who all ended up getting saved.  I was so excited because this a.m. I thought I sensed God saying that there would be a village they were supposed to go to and a boy would be saved that would have a significant impact on the kingdom of God.  I wasn't real confident it was the Lord, but prayed about it anyway.  When I mentioned this to RB, he said right away "It's the three-year-old boy."  He said he sensed the whole time they were praying for them that this boy had something special in his future!!  Praise God!!  Please don't ignore ANY promptings you may get from Holy Spirit about prayer - God takes our stopped up ears and feeble attempts and answers prayer because He is a GREAT GOD!!  Share what you're hearing - I was too chicken this a.m.!! 

Anyway, he wants us to continue to pray for perseverance for the boys as they will be working again tomorrow at RG.  Saturday they will be doing a basketball camp for some school children and want this to go well.  Also pray that God will continue to move as they visit more villages and share the gospel.  He still says that everyone is just doing great and he sounds happy as a pig wallowing in the mud!  As he was talking to me this afternoon, it was night over there and he just keeps mentioning the view:  millions of stars with lightning flashing all around.  Glory of God is beautiful!

Thank you for all your prayers - they are making a HUGE difference!!

love,

anda

prayer from Andy Dummit

"In prayer this morning for the team, I got a picture of God's big beautiful hands with the team and all those around them in His palms. I felt like He wanted to tell them that He delights in them and they are right in the middle of His will there.

 

May the name of JESUS be lifted higher in Uganda!!!                    

                                Love,

                                     Andy"

This is Anda:  When I was praying for them yesterday a.m. I got a picture of the team being upheld and carried by a huge hand (God), sort of being swept along. God is SO good!  Thank you for speaking, Father, and showing us what to pray!

By the way, their verse for today is Hebrews 13:8 - "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."  AMEN! 

prayer for today

Talked to Randy around noon yesterday!  He said the boys' attitudes have been great and they did exceptionally well with the travel!  Today they will be working at Restoration Gateway building, etc, and so his current request is that they will work diligently and that the good attitudes will continue.  He also wanted us to pray that God will lead them in what to do for the remainder of the week as there are not currently orphans at Res Gateway and he really wants the boys to interact with other villages and encounter the poor.  Pray that God will make it clear where He wants them to be this week!  What an adventure!

One more story that Jeff Connally shared:  When they were on the flight over there, a Muslim lady from the Metroplex kept wanting to talk with their group.  She finally said that she knew that Mohammed was not all there was and she wanted to know about Jesus.  She said that when they returned to Fort Worth she wants to come to their church and learn more about Jesus!  God is moving!

Let you know more as we hear!

love,

anda

FYI

Hey everyone,
Thought you would like to know.....I just heard from Jeff that the team has reached RG, after travelling nearly ALL day. They have already had some interesting experiences and the Mighty Men seem to be doing well. They are looking forward to being put to work tomorrow, and have already seen lots of spiders, ants and snakes :)! He said everyone is in good spirits and travelled well.

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)!!