Changes?!?

I am not sure if it is the actual changes that throw me for a loop or the trying to make a change. Let me explain. We have been in the process of building a house in Lakeland. My kids had no idea what that meant until recently. They saw the building process in stages. Our house started out as just a flat piece of land, dirt was added, concrete and bricks. We added a memento to thefoundation. Soon they were shouting "we have studs" when they over heard a conversation, only to turn around ask "what is a stud?" Over Spring Break we traveled to visit my sis and her family and on the way stopped at our "house." My kids could not control themselves. They could not believe that a house now stood where barren land once was. They were amazed as I was.
The building of our own personal houses should travel the same path. We start out barren and little by little we add to our foundations, through trials, triumphs and sorrow. We know the Builder is with us at all stages, but why are we so resistant to change?
My sister and I have vowed to take better care of ourselves, and with a lot of leaning on each other and the Lord, we will become healthy women. But its those changes again that stand in our way. We as christians, must first change our hearts to FULLY rely on the Lord. We all know that, but do we trust it?
2Peter 1:5-8 says, "For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; adn to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perserverance; and to perserverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Change happens, whether we like it or not. We have two choices: embrace it with love or to allow us to be ineffective and unproductive in all aspects of our life.

I choose Love....

Lakeland 2Ber

Yeah!

Up at 6:30...exercised with Leslie Sansone 4 mile walk...Thank You Lord!

Happy Birthday Steven!

Today we celebrated Steven's birthday...it was such a fun day! Started out with a great morning of worship! Arby's was the birthday boy's choice of lunch!

In the afternoon, Steve did his FAVORITE thing - nap time! Then came the most fun! We and a few of our friends met at Chuck E. Cheese for a GREAT time of Family Fun!

Happy Birthday Steve, I Love You!

Its Coming At Me from Everywhere!

Self Discipline...

It's a Fruit:
Galatians 5: 22-23 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control."

It's a like city with no protection:
Proverbs 25:28 "Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control."

The call to be self-disciplined and have self-control is coming at me from everywhere...or my lack of self-discipline. The latest place is from a great book that I highly recommend..'When Women say Yes to God.' I am HORRIBLE at self control and discipline. Here's how the cycle goes...i stay up late, eat a unhealthy snack, am too tired to exercise in the morning, am mad at myself, so I stay up late, have an unhealthy snack, am too tired to exercise, etc.

So, I am going to say the following scriptures until I get it through my EXTRA thick skull that going to bed earlier helps my entire cycle of my day AND helps me love my family in a Godly way.

Titus 1:8:
'One who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.'

1 Thesalonians 5:8
'But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.'

So, again I will try again to make healthy decisions. Yes, I am talking about food, but I am also talking about going to bed on time, getting up to exercise, making time for daily Bible Study, etc. Will I ever get it right? Will I ever have to stop fighting my flesh?

Mark 14:38 'Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."

Monday is the day it all begins... April 28th will be a day that the Lord will give me the Holy Spirit... to give me self-control!

Chapman and Cheerleading

Friday and Saturday this weekend were FULL of memory making activities. And thank you Lord we were ALL together to make the memories!
Friday night we ALL went to see Steven Curtis Chapman in Lakeland. We had soo much fun as a family. Steve and I could focus ALL our attention on the kids...we weren't in charge, weren't organizing, weren't planning...just enjoying and they loved the attention. One of the best moments of the night was when SCC sang the song Cinderella. It's a 'Butterfly Kisses' type song with a little girl asking her daddy to dance. Here's the chorus...

"So I will dance with Cinderella While she is here in my arms' Cause I know something the prince never knew Oh I will dance with Cinderella I don't wanna miss even one song, Cuz all to soon the clock will strike midnight And she'll be gone"

Here's a picture of Steve, holding his Cinderellas while they sang thier hearts out! Daddy had quite a few tears fallen...so Kirsten got a little teary too.
Sammy loved the show and asked if he and Daddy could play their guitars on stage when he got bigger. Cant wait!

On Saturday morning the girls cheered on the First Baptist Church basketball teams. They started out a bit timid and quiet, but quickly got in the 'spirit' of the game. They were tooo cute! Naturals!

Rachel, friend from church, are on Team B and Katy is on a different squad with her friends Michaela and Sarah!

Like I said, it was a memory making weekend.

Update on Mathew:
Tuesday is Mathew's service. Steve is singing a Steven Curtis Chapman song (imagine that) called "With Hope". Please pray for Karen, Mat and Andrew.

This is not at all how
We thought it was supposed to be
We had so many plans for you
We had so many dreams
And now you've gone away
And left us with the memories of your smile
And nothing we can say
And nothing we can do
Can take away the pain
The pain of losing you, but ...

We can cry with hope
We can say goodbye with hope
'Cause we know our goodbye is not the end, oh no
And we can grieve with hope
'Cause we believe with hope
(There's a place by God's grace)
There's a place where we'll see your face again
We'll see your face again

And never have I known
Anything so hard to understand
And never have I questioned more
The wisdom of God's plan
But through the cloud of tears
I see the Father's smile and say well done
And I imagine you
Where you wanted most to be
Seeing all your dreams come true
'Cause now you're home
And now you're free, and ...

We have this hope as an anchor
'Cause we believe that everything
God promised us is true, so ...

So we can cry with hope
And say goodbye with hope

We wait with hope
And we ache with hope
We hold on with hope
We let go with hope

Good Bye Mathew

You know when you watch a football game and both teams are good? Even when the winner is announced - you walk away saying...both teams played the game really hard. Well, the game was between Mathew and Luekemia. Both fought hard, but luekemia won. He went to be wtih the Lord today, his mom's birthday. Please continue to pray for his family, Mat, Karen and Andrew. Please pray for peace, for wisdom of what to do now, for friends to be there for them, for healing, for grieving, for everything. And please pray for my role in thier lives. I need to really seek and hear the Lord to know when, where, how, what...

Thanks for all your prayers.

its a sacrifice - is it worth it?

Another great visit with Mathew... it reminded me a lot of watching my kids 'firsts'. You know that feeling when you hear them say something amazing and kind of pause and replay it over and over in your head. But for Mathew, they aren't his firsts...they are the 'little miracles'. He'll be zoning out and all of the sudden 'awaken' and have a little conversation with inflection and excitement in his voice. Everyone around is aware how special his words and actions are...
With him more interactive, I found it harder when I left. For some reason, when he was a bit unresponsive it was easier to understand ... but with him talking and active and cute and funny it's soo much harder. It's unbearable to think of what the future holds. So, I don't think about it until I'm on the way home.

While there, I school Mathew, I encourage him to paint, talk, create. This visit I took a 'deco-plate' kit. He had a plain white plate and 6 markers to create his own plate. You know what he drew... a rainbow to remind me of God's Promise. Thank you God.

I will go back, even as it gets harder. I am welcomed and wanted there. I pray non-stop to say and do the right thing. But after this visit, more than ever, I see the 'cost' for my family and friends. Forgotten promises, shallow conversations because I am not able to talk more, solemn mood, lack of patience with my kids, housework piling up, strains and stresses in catching up. Being so close with such sorrow is numbing and honestly puts me in a funk.

Knowing that God has me in Mathew's life for such a time as this, I need to call on Him not only working with Mathew, but also to help me in the transition back into 'reality'. As always, just by asking, God will fill me with His Holy Spirit to glorify Him. I need to lean on Him all the time. Through Him, I will be the wife, mother and friend He wants me to be. Is the sacrifice worth it? It's not a sacrifice, its another lesson God wants me to learn about Him.

To my friends and family I have 'checked out' on... I am sorry. By His mighty power, I will do better.

Spring Break + Cousins = FUN!

Cousins in line for Rhino Rally!

Jen and kids have been here since Sunday afternoon. One of my favorite things about them coming to visit is the explosion of excitement when they first arrive. The cousins are sooo happy to see each other. Busch Gardens, Nims Island, Chuck E Cheese, and the new house in Lakeland were all stops we made while they visited. We had yummy home cooked dinners on Sunday and Monday and tonight after a 2nd full day of entertaining, we decided McDonald's could do the cooking for the kids!

With 6 kids, 6 years apart, our time together when they were younger was always challenging. My dad said, with 6 kids, 6 years apart you can always count on one thing - someone is always crying. Our visit this time was so great because the kids paired up and bounced from one activity to another. Computer, TV, dress up, and complete craziness - but NOT much crying. All 8 of us, even played Apples to Apples together AND everyone had fun!

I am so thankful that my parents and sister are moving closer to us so we can have more times like this. I have the greatest friends in Tampa - Jen and her kids are going to fit right in! Thank YOU Lord!

Mathew Update: Mathew has had a complete turn around. The drs/nurses have figured out the needed meds/blood/platlets and he has more energy and more excitement for life. He still has luekemia, but he now has energy and wishes to be fulfilled. Katy and I are going tomorrow to visit. I think/hope he might be in the mood to do more 'school' type activities. Can't wait! Thanks for the prayers.

Where did you come from?

"Where did you come from?" is a question my sweet husband often asks my percocious 3 year old. At times, we are just amazed God blessed us with a 3rd baby and a BOY at that.

So this morning, while Steve was climbing into bed after a very long night of work, Sammy jumped in our bed to snuggle (well, really, bounce around but we get a snuggle in there once in a while). Steve posed the typical question to Sammy, who had just climbed into bed.

Steve: "Sammy, where did you come from?"
Sammy: "The floor..."

Too funny, the obvious answer.

Update on Mathew: Katy and I had a great visit with Mathew on Monday. Though Mathew was kind of out of it, Katy greeted him and then spent the rest of her day playing with Andrew and their new puppy. The most precious time of the day occured sitting on the porch with Karen as she talked about the things mom's dread talking about...funeral plans, etc. Please continue to lift this sweet, sweet family in your prayers.