With Gratitude

I am extremely blessed. Even in difficult times, I serve a RISEN Savior who comforts me, gives me peace, allots patience and restores my soul. In all things, my cup is HALF FULL....never half empty! Here are a few more things I am grateful for:

* my husband
* my three energetic, curious and lovable boys
* my two sisters - life has thrown us a few curve balls along the way, but our bond is stronger because of the faith we hold tightly too and we always have fun together!
* my church family at HOPE
* my extended family
* my in-laws who treat me like the daughter they never had
* my amazing friends
* the freedom to worship, to teach a bible study group, to participate in ministry
* my "jobs" at school and the chance to guide and counsel young lives
* my Kitchen Aid mixer, Pampered Chef can opener, vegetable steamer, apple corer/slicer and all of the other tools which make it IMMENSELY easier for me to cook and prepare meals than it was for my grandmothers
* my van that takes me wherever I need to go
* Facebook/Twitter and blog world which allow me to connect to friends near and far
* Free Speech
* being a citizen of the grand ol' USA
* MUSIC - what a way to express my feelings....a song can always say what I cannot express in words adequately
* creativity - scrapbooking, photography, sewing, crafts and more
* peppermint mocha coffee from Starbucks
* McDonald's coke
* MT DEW!!!!!
* warm comfy socks
* Sigma Kappa & Georgetown College - I cannot fathom what my life would look like now without all of those cherished experiences and the lifelong friendships I made through both of those institutions
* mentors - the Spiveys, Freida, Mrs. Arnold (now Cornett), Mrs. Ritchie (now Edwards), LO, the Elams, Mrs. Dietemeyer, Dr. Bisese, Dr. McKenzie, Sarah S., Kristen D., and so many others who took time to really impact my life and care
* Christmas lights
* Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade
* time spent with family and friends
* Greg's vacation days from work
* the joy of reading a really good book

My list can continue on all night long. I am reminded of a few songs:
"Count your many blessings name them one by one.
Count your many blessings, see what God has done"

"We gather together to ask the Lord's blessing
We chasten and hasten his will to make known..."

But one that is really a favorite for me - Blessed by Rachel Lampa -

I may never climb a mountain so I can see the world from there
I may never ride the waves and taste the salty ocean air
Or build a bridge, that would last a hundred years
But no matter where the road leads
One thing is always clear

I am blessed, I am blessed
From when I rise up in the morning
Til I lay my head to rest
I feel You near me
You sooth me when I'm weary
Oh Lord, for all the worst and all the best
I am blessed

All along the road less traveled, I have crawled and I have run
I have wandered through the wind and rain until I found the sun
The watching eyes asked me why, I walked this narrow way
I will gladly give the reason
For the hope I have today

You've given me joy
You've given me love
You give me strength when I want to give up
You came from Heaven to rescue my soul
This is the reason I know
I know

I am blessed

Be a blessing to someone else today :)

CB

Little Conversations

One of the absolute most wonderful things about having and working with little children is the conversations I have. Let me share some examples:

The other day I was with Cora, my niece. She had on an outfit that Jenny, her mom, had made for her. We were talking about things God has made and how he made us (this was in children' ministry at church and I was teaching). Cora looked up at me and had a glowing smile on her face.
She said, "BETHIE! My mommy makes me beautiful things."
I said, "Like what, Cora?"
"OH, this dress and my bow and my pants and all the other beautiful things."
Now Jen should know that all of her time spent sewing is worth it!

My two year old never stops talking if he is awake. One of my favorite things he says right now is, "where is 'em?". I cannot even do it justice here. You really need to hear him say it.
He also likes to give directions when we are driving:
A: "Mommy, why are we going this way?"
Me: "Because this is the way to where we are going, Andy"
A: "We need to go that way"
Me: "No, honey, the _____ is this way."
This sometimes continues for the entire ride to school, church, grocery, etc.

The last Sunday I was teaching at church with 3-5 year olds, one of the little girls was holding a baby doll. She looked up at me and said out of nowhere, "My mommy is going to have a baby brother for me". She looked so sweet and so SERIOUS. Later at dismissal, I told her mom this story. She laughed and said that was news to her. I told her to be careful. My nephew Carter knew I was pregnant with Andy before I did! He told his mom "Bethie is going to have a baby". We laughed then, too and then we found out :)

Children can be little stinkers when they want to be, but they are such precious people. They are still so innocent and believe us so eagerly. What a tremendous opportunity we have been given as parents, grandparents, teachers and mentors to mold and shape these little hearts and minds. It is a blessing and a tremendous burden to do it right! I pray that we (I) do our best to live a life of Godliness before them so they will see that and turn to our Father in heaven.

Someone shared a quote on Facebook last week by Robert Fulghum. I'd like to share it with you. "Don't worry that your children rarely listen to you. Worry that they are always watching you."

Ask yourself - what do they see? Is it what you want them to see? I pray it is. I know I have to do better and need to remind myself of this on a daily basis.

2010 Christmas Card from Shutterfly

So I have been thinking about what to do for our Christmas card for a while now. The boys NEVER enjoy taking pictures. They rarely sit still together and all smile AT THE CAMERA. It seems like the past couple of years we have simply gone with the more "realistic" picture of what it is actually like to be a family of five with three little boys. I purchased Christmas pajamas about a month ago for all three boys and decided we would use those for our annual Christmas card photo. Then I started thinking about our cards from years past and realized that unconsciously, we have alternated Christmas pajamas and dressier outfits every other year in our pictures. Until now, I had never thought about that or purposely continued the trend.

I saw this offer from Shutterfly (which I use often and REALLY like their product)where I could earn 50 free Holiday cards if I wrote a blog post about their product. I began to browse through their cards online and I kept coming back to one card. It is called the Top Ten Moments Card. The bright colors caught my eye first. I love that it has three pictures on it so I can include a picture of each of the boys without the stress of getting "THE" perfect picture of them together. Another plus is the list of top ten moments which can give a snapshot of our past year to friends and family we may not see or talk to as often I am very excited to see how these cards will look once we add our photos and our memories.

I also want to involve the boys in making the top ten list. I think it will be very interesting and entertaining to hear what they remember as their top ten moments in the past year!

Thanks to Shutterfly for this offer and for making my Christmas list a little more affordable :)

Giveaway to check out

This great blog post about Family Meal Time by a friend of mine, Cyndi Spivey, also includes a fabulous giveaway for meal ideas/recipes/grocery list and more from Faithful Dinners. Check out her post and giveaway here

Sharing meals together as a family is such an important practice. I encourage you to try doing this at least four times per week if you can. We make a real effort in our home to eat together as a family. That is when we all talk about our day, review spelling words, practice memory verses for school, tell stories and laugh.

Enjoy!

What is Grace Based Parenting?

I get to lead a bible study for other moms at our church called Mommy Time. I think this is the fourth year we have been meeting. Some moms have drifted in and out of the study as their work and family situations have changed. We try to meet 6 times a semester on Friday mornings. Our church graciously coordinates child care for our little ones that are still at home. We take turns bringing breakfast items and there is always coffee!

Some of the studies we have done have been Esther by Beth Moore, Praying the Scriptures for Your Children, a couple of Jen Hatmaker books and various topical studies. This semester, we are reading through the book, Grace Based Parenting by Dr. Tim Kimmell. We have currently read through the first two chapters. We are going to be discussing the third chapter this Friday. In the first two chapters we basically explored what he classifies as the different styles of parenting and how grace-based parenting is different from those. He gives the biblical basis for grace-based parenting and examples of what it looks like to not extend any or very little grace as well as extending too much "grace" or corrupting grace.

Overall I would say the basic idea I have understood so far is that we are all extended grace from our Heavenly Father. He forgives us of our sins and asks us to live a life of willing obedience. He nurtures us, teaches us and guides us. If God has granted us grace and forgives us, how can we not in turn extend grace and forgiveness to our children?

This does not equal a license for children to do whatever they want because we live under grace. In fact, he refers to Paul's writings to show how this is not scriptural. In Romans 6:1-2 he writes, "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?".

My first hesitation upon picking up this book was in thinking that it was going to be a book about overly permissive parenting. My fears about this were quickly addressed and dismissed. I am obviously still in the beginning chapters of the book, but I am pleased with what I have read so far. It makes a great deal of sense.

As with any book, I think we have to temper its ideals with our own conviction from the Holy Spirit. I would counsel against completely changing your style of parenting without some thought and plenty of prayer. Our children need consistency, not us riding the current fad in regards to parenting. What works for one family, may not necessarily work in its entirety for the next family.

It is my prayer, though, that my children will realize our attempt to show God's love, grace and forgiveness - EVEN WHEN THEY ARE NOT "DESERVING" OF IT! By definition, is that not what God so richly bestows upon each of us?

Halloween 2010

Here are some pictures from our Halloween this year.
We took the boys to the zoo for their annual Halloween Walk with the Animals. They love it and everything is decorated with different scenes. They had Wizard of Oz, Pirates of the Caribbean, Candyland and more.

The boys had their picture made with the Toy Story characters.



My two little guys as the Green Army Men from Toy Story.



My little giraffe, Andy, with Greg' dad.



Noah aka Batman



Blake aka Astronaut (he said he wanted to be an astronaut last year right after Halloween 2009)



My Three Little Guys ready to go to church for Trunk or Treat



Blake with Clara, aka Barbie Mermaid Princess



Noah with his buddy Colby, aka Sheriff Woody from Toy Story



Blake decorated our pumpkins on our front porch with this set of "Mr. Potato Head" pieces for pumpkins.




Hope you enjoyed these pictures. We had a grand time this year capped off by friends and family trick or treating in our neighborhood and coming back to our house for dinner. The kids loved it! You know Andy is our third child for sure - we let him sleep through trick or treat on Sunday because it was from 4-6 and he didn't lay down until 3. He didn't mind one bit and I got my pictures the night before :)