New Thing

I have HEARD this before... but yesterday it really HIT me.


God is soverign.  I know that.

SO when I'm thinking... "WHAT??  Why is this happening?  How can this be in your plan?  I'm ruining EVERYTHING!!  My children -- HELP!"

God is saying... BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP --  "This is a test. Your God is conducting a test of the Conforming them to the image of His Own Son system. This is only a test."

 So - now I have posted by my sink.  THIS IS ONLY A TEST... °Ü°


1Pe 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
1Pe 1:4  To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
1Pe 1:5  Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
1Pe 1:6  Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
1Pe 1:7  That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
1Pe 1:8  Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:
1Pe 1:9  Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

Paul David Tripp says, "God is at work in every situation to conform us to the image of his Son.... God is at work to complete the work of salvation He began before the earth was made... We ought to greet trials with joy because God is using them to complete us.  We can view trials as the means by which we receive the goal of our faith, the salvation of our souls."  I may just start calling some people by their real name -- "Hey Trial -- nice to see you.  See the joy on my face!?!  Really -- I'm being conformed just by you being in the same room as me."  (Ok -- could you hear the sarcasm?  I hope so.)

I have heard these things before -- but it got hammered into my heart yesterday.  I need to give up my "control" of my circumstances -- they often are a result or a consequence of some choice I have made, but sometimes they are not.  I can not make anyone not be rude... but when they are rude... THIS IS ONLY A TEST!!  It's not a personal failing of mine, and I need to keep my focus on Jesus Christ, and know that I am being conformed into His image.  Praise God!

I am enjoying going through Paul David Tripp's book War of Words with my Wednesday Night Group.  Thank you for leading that Dave Hendricks, and offering it Grace Baptist Church.  Appreciate it!  No really... I do... I like being broken down and reshaped... I do...really...

Declaration of Independence

My kiddos are supposed to be memorizing the Declraration of Independence with our home school group.  I'm not sure they are keeping up with the rest of the kiddos -- because I forget to work on it at home.  But my friend Becca decided to share this with us who are working on it together.  I'm glad she did. 

Enjoy!

 

Mansel on the Mat

Mansel likes wrestling. This photo is for his Grandpa and Grandma -- who don't get to see him wrestle often. He's wrestling at 80 pounds this year. Can you believe it?  That weight often puts him against 7th and 8th graders, so his record as a 4th grader isn't as good as you would like it to be.  But -- this year he is getting a lot of good wrestling time.  Districts will be March 13th. 

GO MANSEL GO!!

My Firefighter

Wayne likes to play dress up -- this day he donned a fire hat, his fireman boots, and his face mask (left over from Dan's c-pap machine)...

I'd say he's pretty close. LOL Better then his sister's princess dresses!

Wrestling Season in Iowa

If you aren't from Iowa -- you may not get this... but it's Wrestling State Tournament this week.  Amazing stories are surfacing -- and I'd like to share one of them with you.


 

My Facebook Face

Often I see pictures on facebook with pouting lips, or swooning eyes, or smoochy lips, or coy/sly looks... well -- here is my facebook look.

I can't even get close to those other teen age looks -- if I try it makes me look like a clown... so I'll just jump right to the look like a clown look in the first place.

Does it make you feel all swoony, pouty, poochy?

A Clean Room

You know... first impressions can sometimes be deceiving.  Look at this -- the boys cleaned their room.  

Those boys -- they know how to please their mommy. I love a clean room... this is Wayne's bed... doesn't he do a good job for a 4yo making his bed?  Ahhh...

How nice -- wait.... hmmm...what's that sticking out there... see it?  Under the bed at the end there?    That black thing?  What is that?

Here... bend down -- get a closer look.  Yeah, that's what I thought -- some one is a good shover... not a good cleaner.  :sigh:  Those boys...

A really good shover -- they packed that stuff in there tight.  Good grief -- they must have used their feet to get that in there so far.

Poor mister bear.

Check Out Sew Darlin' -- It's a Contest!!

I have a friend -- OK so she's an on-line friend, but I bet we'd be friends in real life.  She has met Ree.  Ü  I've never met Ree, but but I wish I had.  Anyway... Stacy is my friend.  Ü  She has redesigned her sewing blog.  It's CUTE!!  She's have a contest to get the word out about her blog.  (I should do that about my Scentsy stuff... shouldn't I).  Hmmm... anyway... 

Here goes. Go check out Sew Darlin'  -- you may find something you like, and you might as well enter her contest while you are there.

Did I forget to mention?  She's doing a give-away... and it's a doozy.  

"On the evening of February 22nd I will give away a $20 gift certificate."

That's huge isn't it?  Literally...

Oh -- I would love to win that -- wouldn't you?  You don't know?  Well -- you'd better get over there and check it out.  She has cute taste, and talent too.  (I've got cute taste and no talent... that doesn't work as well).  

Blog Trail Tuesday

My friend Melissa at Our Life as a Military Family is hosting a blog trail tuesday -- want to play along?

Have you ever clicked on a blog, only to be led to another blog, and then another, and another? Here’s your time to share some of those blogs with us! Share one or share many. Share one you’ve loved for a time or share one that’s new to you. Tell us why you like it. Help us spread the blog love!!

So this week I want to share a blog called Picket Fence Farm and Produce. This is a blog by our local CSA farmer.  (CSA being Community Supported Agriculture).  We are going to work on her farm this summer to pay for our CSA membership. I hope to learn a lot!  Before then, I've enjoyed reading about her farm on her blog.  I see she is getting into HONEY!  Yeah... I love honey.  Ü




Now it’s your turn! Use the banner above, if you’d like. Do a post on your blog about another blog. Be sure to link back to Blog Trail Tuesday blog! Then come back to Melissa's blog, and add your link to the McLinky. Be sure to add the link to the specific post – not your home page. Then be sure to check out everyone else’s links.  (If you can do all those things, you are a better person than I -- I messed it up last time... so here goes nothing).  LOL

We are a Bunch of Goats

We took a trip to the dentist yesterday.  Milo needed to get 4 teeth removed, maually, and Wayne needed to get 1 cavity filled. 

In the past when the kids have gotten teeth pulled -- some of them have fainted in the doctor's office, others have made it to the car before feeling light headed... so I warned the nurse... watch him, he may faint.

Milo did just fine. See his holes? 

Wayne on the the other hand... didn't fare so well.  Wayne had 1 tooth filled... he made it to the waiting area -- happy go lucky -- looky at my motorcycle toy I got.... made it to the car... told us all about it... made it into COSTCO after jumping through puddles and being scolded by his mommy... made it to the picnic table, waited for his lunch.  I ordered several things, so was making several trips.  I'd given him his yogurt and was picking up the hotdogs... on the way back to the table... I saw him with his head down on the table... I said, "Oh buddy -- do you have an ice cream headache?"  No response... huh?  I felt his head... clammy... looked at his hands -- white as a sheet.  What?  A fainter with delayed reaction?  Apparently so. 

I say our family is a bunch of goats.  When Danielle got 5 teeth filled in one visit -- nary a thought of passing out -- ever, there or at home.  Milo -- four teeth pulled a bloody mess... nothing.  Me?  When I see myself bleeding -- watch out... I may hit the floor.  I've got bragging rights... I've never officially fainted, but I get pretty woozy.  LOL  I know enough to sit down -- even if the onlookers are mocking me.  Dan... he's a fainter, Tori... she's a fainter... Mansel... he's been close -- pretty white and clammy.  Wayne -- one tooth filled, laughing and chatting and eating... then BAM... well -- not really BAM literally... I gently laid him down and put his feet up. So he never went completely down - like others have, but he definitely inherited the fainting gene from his parents.  Weird, huh? 

Dan thought he might faint just after seeing Wayne feeling like fainting.  Funny huh... guess he chose the right line of work -- no blood or guts or fainting when working on machines.  LOL

Tori is in a Skit

Funny.  Ü 

Free Printable Valentines

We are printing our own valentines this year.  Found some for Danielle to share.

do you do this?  Where do you find good ones?

Books, Books, Books

Do you have any used books lying around? Ones you've already enjoyed, but you're never going to read again? I did, and I finally found a great way to share them with other people!

It seems that a few guys were sitting around one night talking about all the paperback books that they purchased over the years while traveling on business. Each of them had a large stack of books that they had read, so they decided to set up a website at http://www.PaperBackSwap.com/ that allows all of us to swap books with each other.

Let me tell you how it works -- because it is so easy! I listed a bunch of books on the site (listing 10 books gets the first member in your household free credits!) and I got 2 free book credits to get started. So you can order 2 books right away - free of charge -- and have them mailed directly to you! No strings attached. No gimmicks. No spam mail. Nothing. You just have to love reading books.

When another member selects one of my books that I have listed, I mail it to them. Yes, I pay for the postage. But then I get another book credit and I can select a book that I want. So another Club Member returns the favor and mails me one of his or her books free of charge. For every book I mail out, I get another book in return - a true shared system!

When someone requests one of your books, all you have to do is print two pieces of regular paper from your printer which includes the mailing address and the recommended postage. Apply the postage, and drop it in the mail. Hey, for a typical paperback, you don't even need to go to the post office.

Right now the annual club membership is free. Eventually the founders will ask everyone to help contribute to pay for the upkeep of the web site, but for now the annual club membership is free. The annual dues will probably be between $10 and $20 based on the number of people in the club. But again, right now you don't even have to pay any dues for at least one year if you become a Member.

You really need to check this out. And if you do sign up, please use the following link:

http://www.paperbackswap.com/index.php?r_by=gabbygwenhwyfar@gmail.com
If you use the link above to join, I'll get a free book when you post your first ten books (and you'll still get free books for posting them!)

I hope you find something you like there.. it really is a great deal! 

My Favorite Commercial

Thanks Tim Tebow and his Mom.  Ü (Oh.. and Focus on the Family)