Christmas 2012

The true light which enlightens everyone was coming into the world. 

He was in the world and the world was made through Him yet the world did not know him...

and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us 

and we have seen His glory, 

glory as of the only Son of the Father 

full of grace and truth.

Merry Christmas family and friends!

Our family has certainly had a wonderful day so far....

started out with a home burglary a 4:30 this morning.....

interrupted no doubt by our dear Kirby and Zoe

{but not before they made off with items from our vehicles 

and entered our garage for a few things, too!}

. . .then a thunderstorm.

Here are David and Charlotte before our gorgeous candlelight service last night.

It was so special to be with our church family

to worship our Savior as the Shepherds did so long ago.....

to celebrate the peace, joy and love that comes only from CHRIST!

Christmas morning...

at supplies for the Claire Bear

Buddy Biscuits for our brave dogs!

Charlotte talking to family in Minnesota and Chicago and Connecticut!

Thankful for the blessing of family!!!

Batman strikes again....

a wonderful montage of photos from the Nutcracker for Mimi!

Our country boy wanted a guitar.  

Say cheese!

Pete's favorite Viking besides Adrianne Peterson

Charlotte received a james Avery charm bracelet with three starter charms...so special!

And a little Baylor for our Baylor girl!

Enjoying a relaxing day together and preparing a lovely Christmas dinner with my girls.

May God bless you all in your celebrations and in the New Year!

Thoughts That Make your Heart Sing

Sally Lloyd-Jones has done it again.

A beautiful chidlren'sdevotional book with thoughts

that truly make your heart sing!!!

I am so enjoying reading through this (several times already) with my kids.

Tonight Claire and I snuggled by the sparkling lit Christmas tree

and read about God's blessing for us.

"I will surely bless you." 

Genesis 22:17

'When God promises to bless you, he is saying,

 "I am going to make you into everything I ever mean for you to be"

It means God is taking every day and every single thing that happens in it-

good or bad - to make you stronger, to mend whatever is broken inside,

to change you into the person you were always meant to be.

God is transforming everything - his broken world - and you." '

Happy Birthday, Peter!

My boy turned fifteen today.

That's hard to believe!

Charlotte made him this Wordle which I thought was precious. . .

He had a pretty good day.

We had a yummy breakfast with some presents,

he hung out with Meredith most of the morning

and went shooting with Ian and Meredith in the afternoon.

We had BBQ for dinner and he got lots of brother love, too!

It is such a joy to celebrate Peter -

He is truly growing into a godly young man.

Happy Birthday, son!

They will be called oaks of righteousness,
    a planting of the Lord
    for the display of his splendor.

Isaiah 61:3

Got Wisdom?

Charlotte is studying Proverbs Wednesday evenings with her EMERGE group at church.

Their study is contrasting the way of the wise

with the way of the foolish,

learning about the fear of the Lord,

the treasure of wisdom,

and the only way to enter the way of the wise -

through Jesus Christ.

I am enjoying my time with Charlotte at home

memorizing proverbs

discussing their meaning 

and putting them into practice!

I love what Jay Adams says about Proverbs - 

they are portable, packaged, pictured principles
{say that fast 5 times!}

small enough to grasp easily,

memorize quickly

and be carried in the heart for use whenever necessary

I am so blessed to see Charlotte seeking wisdom in God's Word.
I am enjoying this study alongside her just as much as she is.

May it bear good fruit in both of us!

Lean not on your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge Him
and He will make your path straight.
Prov. 3:5

A Technicolor Promise

Charlotte's 6th grade musical theatre class presented

A Technicolor Promise

It was precious!

In a short nine weeks, this class learned all the music, the choreography and the staging.

It was a fun filled, humorous rendition 

with a special message of God's covenant love and promises

two by two they entered the ark 

and waited out the storm

Grace and judgement, promise and blessing...

a fun production with a special message of hope

What a blessing to see God use these children to sing and tell of

His great goodness.

See You At The Pole

Meredith led the charge Wednesday morning

and had the rest of the kids up

bright and early.

It was See You At The Pole Day.....

and she wanted to be there

to join her classmates and schoolmates in praying

for their school

for their city

for their country

All four of them drove off a bit before the sun was fully up

and joined in on this annual National event

with worship and prayer

circled around our flags at Cypress Christian School

The 2012 See You at the Pole theme was

Awaken

and the Scripture is Ephesians 3:14–21—

“For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father… I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being so that Christ may dwell in your hearts…And I pray that you… grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and…that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine…’”

Student organized.

Student led.

All to glorify God and seek his mercy and blessing.

We are Warriors.  Warriors in prayer!

Awaken, us, dear Lord!

Team Covenant

This post really might be titled

Why I Love Warrior Football - Part II

{Part I is HERE}

Practice came to an end early this evening and parents were invited to participate

in the signing of the Team Core Covenant

Yes....another reason to LOVE Warrior Football!

Unity...Love...Compete...Commitment...Integrity

The senior players chose these core values to be the focus for the 2012/2013 season

and they presented the expectations for each core value in the following categories:

Game Time

*

Practice

*

In the classroom

*

In the community

Examples of specific core covenants:

We will respect those in authority
We will always encourage our teammates to do their best and hold them accountable to study
We will be the first to step up and help others
We will keep our loved ones safe from bad influences
We will practice like it is game day
We will guard our eyes and hearts 
We will own up to our mistakes and not take anger out on our teammates
We will be willing to do what is best for the team and not our own personal interest
We will do our best on every school assignment.
We will fight for the right thing and DO the right thing.

We will strive to have one heartbeat on the field as brothers bonded by Christ.

This is just a sampling...Peter has a copy of his own to refer to and remember!

The seniors signed first as a symbol of leadership

Coaches signed next.

And then each player was called by name.

To come forward and sign the covenant

pledging to uphold these core values as defined 

 The poster size Covenant will hang in the locker room.

Then we gathered at center field -

parents circling the players

and laying hands on them.

How powerful to hear fathers & coaches praying over our boys.

Why do I love Warrior football....

because when you take something like football and 

you put it under the Lordship of Jesus Christ

Well. . .

It's more than a game young men play!   So much more!

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed,

do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus,

giving thanks to God the Father through him

- Colossians 3:17

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart,

as working for the Lord, not for men,

since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.

It is the Lord Christ you are serving

- Colossians 3:23-24

Tomorrow is our first home game and tailgate party.

I'm so proud to be a Warrior Mom!

Claire's Blessing Jar

Claire bejeweled a mason jar a little while back. . .

she was excited to use the leftover jewels from Charlotte's bday party craft.

She is always making something.

And well, jewels are her favorite medium as of late.

She has actually made a couple of these jars.

She keeps her coins in one.

She gave one to a friend at church.

And this one...well, it is special.

She made it a blessing jar.

We printed a bunch of encouraging promises from scripture in a rainbow of colors

and she cut them a part and scrolled them up into tight little rolls.

Each night at the dinner table, she choses somebody to reach in

and pull out a blessing to be read aloud before our prayer.

She loves God's Word.

She reads it every day.  And she reads it to David.

She loves Jesus with all her heart.

And she is a blessing to share His love with us through the blessing jar every day!


Do you need a blessing or bit of encouragement this day?
Open God's Word!

College Application Crunch

It is crunch time.

Meredith is working hard on getting her college applications completed in the next month.

She has started by getting her essays written

and narrowing her list of options.

She is still bombarded daily with mailings and emails from institutions everywhere

...but she is focused.

Her top choices remain Baylor Univeristy in Texas

{this is the cute screen that popped up when she set up her online account for admissions}

and Covenant College in Georgia

{just yesterday a young representative from Covenant called while she was writing her testimony}

The Psalms have been a good place to seek wisdom and comfort through this process!

Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him,

and He shall bring it to pass....Rest in the Lord, 

and wait patiently for Him

--Psalm 37:4,7

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;

I will counsel you and watch over you.

--Psalm 32:8

Who is the man who fears the Lord?

He will instruct him in the way he should choose.

--Psalm 25:12

The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.

-Psalm 37:23


Something amazing is happening, too!  This journey has slowly begun to change my heart from one filled with fear and worry....."How am I EVER going to send my child off to college".

to......."Look at what the Lord is doing in her life.  Look at the call He has placed in her heart to work with neonates.  Look at how He has prepared her not only for more education, but for independence and a new chapter, too!?  Look at the exciting times that lie ahead for her!"

Truly.  This mama is beginning to see a glimpse of what all the years of
training and helping and equipping and preparing have been for.

COMMIT YOUR WAY TO THE LORD
TRUST ALSO IN HIM
AND HE SHALL BRING IT TO PASS.

Summer Study

The beautiful women of our home group are gathering during the summer months

to study and pray together.

We are doing this book on Ecclesiastes. . .

I so look forward to our time together.

Sister's in Christ knitting our hearts together in fervent prayer and petition.

Women and mothers and grandmothers together

seeking God's wisdom from His Holy Word.

It is truly sweet, sweet time!

Fear God, and keep his commandments, 

for this is the whole of what it means to be a man.

--Eccl. 12:14

What are you studying this summer?

Happy Fourth of July

Happy Fourth of July!

We are taking our first Texas field trip and driving to San Antonio for the fourth

but tonight we celebrated at the Woodlands Pavillion.

It was a great way to kick off our long holiday weekend together!

The Houston Symphony Orchestra performed a Star Spangled Salute

and we took a picnic dinner and spread out our blankets on the green grass.

The kids got tons of free patriotic souvenirs..

flags, glow sticks, hats, stickers, pinwheels.  Everyone was feeling festive!

We even got to chat with Betsy Ross and Uncle Sam!

We ran into friends from church and it was fun to sit with them.
The kids had a great time!

Even the big kids joined in on the patriotic celebration!

Lady Liberty was a real model....we approached and were terribly surprised to see her move!

The music was amazing....a real tribute to America as well as our servicemen and women.





Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,

the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!

Psalm 33:12