Leeland Concert!

I don't even know what to write in this post! Last night's Leeland concert was so AWESOME that there just are no words! The first cool thing that I don't think I ever mentioned, was that the admission for the concert was to bring one $10 toy for a ticket. All those toys will be donated to the needy children of Baytown. What an awesome idea, right?!!

This concert was so amazing, not only because Leeland is my favorite band, but because I just realized how my life has come full circle. It was almost exactly 11 months ago that I asked my blog friends to pray for me to be able to go to church again. In that post, I talked about how much I wanted to be in church, how worried I was that Morgan wasn't saved, how much I wanted the girls to know Jesus, and how I wanted to be a strong Christian woman. As I stood at that concert, with my husband who is now saved, with my girls who were jumping up and down and excited about worshipping the Lord, and with my church family (I have a church family now!!), I just could not believe it! I was overwhelmed by the Lord's love and by how much He has done for me in 11 short months.

And to top it all off, I got home and had won Lynnette's giveaway of Abigail's art print that she drew in remembrance of Anna. Leeland's music and Lynnette's book are what helped me grow closer to the Lord in the beginning. In that post I mentioned before, I wrote that I had no doubt that Lynnette was "placed in my life as an answer to my prayers, not only to help me with my grief, but to also help me in my journey to know Him better." And would you believe that Lynnette prayed before she drew the winner that whoever God felt should win the art print would win?! Amazing!!! God's love truly is overwhelming!

Here are the girls before the concert. They had a great time! They got to stand up in the chairs and were dancing and clapping.
I loved this picture, the way the light is coming down. Awesome! We were almost in the back row, but still had a great view!

Even Lily was clapping and dancing. Morgan took her home after the first hour because her ears were hurting. The concert lasted for almost 2 hours! I also bought 5 t-shirts afterward too. One for each girl and two for me :D

My motto for how I want to live my life:
"All my needs You have supplied, When I was dead You gave me life, So how could we not give it away so freely?"

Love the guy's hand in this picture! I thought it looked so cool.

Leeland singing the girls' favorite song, "Count Me In".

It goes: "Count me In, I'm amazed this love is for me Lord." That's the way I felt last night!

And here's some short video clips. My camera I took will only take 3 minutes total of video, so I took a few clips. That way you can feel like you were there too!! :D

This was the last song they sang. It's off their new CD, which I haven't had much chance to listen to. I have a few new favorite songs off that CD now that I've heard them at the concert. They didn't sing very many of my faves, but that's okay. They sang some Christmas music, some that aren't on their CD's, and lots from their new CD and a few from their Opposite Way CD.

Love this song! It's my new theme song, because it says "I am a new creation. I have been born again!" I LOVE that!!! It's such an exciting song. I thought last night if everyone knew how exciting it was to follow the Lord, they would all be doing it!! That's his little nephew up on stage. So cute!



The girls' favorite song of the night!



One of my favorite songs, "Follow You".



I LOVED this song!!!! It is called "Pure Bride" off their new CD and it is awesome!! I love it when he says, "Baytown, TX......Make Way, Make Way!" SO exciting!!!

I just had an amazing experience! It wasn't just all singing. Leeland shared scripture, he talked alot about how we all have this gaping hole that is for the Lord that nothing else will fill. He shared a story about how he finally was able to afford and get the guitar of his dreams, but once he got it, he realized it was just a guitar. He asked what are we going to do when we finally get that mansion and we stand in it and realize it's just a house? His words were just so true. He is definitely the real deal.

The reason I love Leeland is because their lyrics are the only ones that even come close to mirroring the love I feel for the Lord. They are all about that love story that we all can have, that the Lord desires for us to have, with Him.

I am also very proud of Leeland, because they are from little ol' Baytown, and their third album has just been nominated for a Grammy! This is their 3rd album, and 3rd Grammy nomination! I think they definitely deserve it, and if you haven't really listened to their music, I highly recommend it!! Oh, last night I also saw my friend Stacey, the one that first convinced me to go to church with her that first time. It really was a full circle moment for me!

Parties, Santa, and a Concert

Today was Christmas party day at school.
Their parties were at the same time, so Morgan went to Madison's party and Lily and I went to Kaylee's.

It's so hard to get Lily to smile at the camera.

This is usually what I get!

This is a first. Look at Bella's tongue! LOL! Cracks me up. She kept getting in front of Lily like she wanted her picture taken. So funny!

Here's Kaylee with her best friends. They were all in the same class last year too!

Morgan took Madison back to his work after her party, so we had to swing by and get her. This picture is in his Mom's office. I figured I better get a picture of me and my girls while I had the chance!

I wasn't planning on visiting Santa today. I was going to wait until after church on Sunday. But, since they were all dressed up and they were hungry (since today was a half day and they got out right before lunchtime), I decided we'd just go to the mall, visit Santa, and eat lunch. I snapped my own photo since I had my small camera with me. Lily would not smile for anything, but I was just excited that she actually sat with Santa. She wouldn't even do that much last year!

I am so excited for the Leeland concert tonight!!! Admission was to bring a $10 toy for a ticket, and I bet so many children will be blessed by all the toys that are collected! I hope they don't run out of seats! I will be so sad if we get there and it's already full! We're taking the girls, so we'll see how that goes. I think we're taking 2 vehicles, just in case they end up wanting to go home. I will just be so excited to hear some of my favorite songs! I will make sure to take lots of pics!

Silent Canvas and Johnny Cupcakes

Our church is so small, that we have one guy, Mark, who plays guitar and leads the music. He was out of town a couple of weeks ago, so we had a guest. His name was Matt and he is the lead singer in a band called Silent Canvas. His band has an album and he had some that day, but of course I had no money with me :( Then, I tried looking up his name on itunes and couldn't find it. So, good ol' facebook to the rescue, because I sent him a message on FB and he told me the name of his band so that I could download it. His voice is so unique and I really enjoyed his music at church. Anyhow, I told y'all I would find out about his music so that I could share it with you. You can listen to some of his songs on myspace.

This is the only video I could find, but I love their music.

I love that they're wearing shirts from Johnny Cupcakes. Do y'all know about Johnny Cupcakes? It's a t-shirt line, started kind of as a joke, but the creator is a marketing genius! All of his t-shirts have cupcakes on them, but they are really a cult phenomenon. They are printed in limited quantities and when he releases new designs, the line wraps around the block of kids waiting to get into his store. He refuses to sell to chain stores, thus making his shirts even more in demand. His store looks like a cupcake bakery inside too. I love it! If you ever want to know about how to launch a product and have it be successful, this is the guy to model yourself after! If you click on his link above, you can read about his story. He started selling his shirts out of the trunk of his car. LOL!

Well, that's all for now.......the girls have a half day today, so I need to get busy before it's time to pick them up.

Christmas Memories

I had good intentions of linking up with Lynnette the other day to share our Christmas traditions, but never had a chance to. Today, my friend Christy Rose tagged me to share my Christmas memories and traditions, so I think this will be fun!

I am supposed to tag 5 people.......if you have time, please join in! I know lots of you are busy right now, so please write your own post if you would like to and then let me know so I can make sure to read it! Besides, you know I'd have to tag everyone, because I can't stand the thought of anyone feeling left out :(

Ask anyone who knows me and they will tell you that I have a horrible memory. I just don't remember things for some reason. I don't really remember any specific thing that I got for Christmas growing up, except for my first bicycle when I was about 6. It actually snowed on Christmas and I insisted that my Dad go out with me and teach me how to ride!

Both sets of my grandparents lived in the same town about an hours drive away when I was growing up, before we moved to Baytown. So, my parents and I would open our presents on Christmas Eve, Santa would come Christmas morning, and then we would drive to see my grandparents. We always had Christmas when we got there with my Mom's parents and then that evening, we would go over to my Dad's parents. Then we would spend the night at my Mom's parent's house and usually go back home the next day or so.

All those years of opening presents and I couldn't tell you one single thing that I remember getting. But, what I do remember is my MeMe always meeting us at the back door with her apron on. I remember how my Granny always had those silver icicles that she hung on her tree. I remember that it was never, ever a chore for us to get together. We loved each other's company and the love in each of those families.......well, I wish somehow I could've bottled it up back then and just let a little out each Christmas, just so I could have that feeling back again. Christmas was never about the gifts back then. It was always about family and love.

Once I got married, we would do Christmas Eve with my parents and Christmas Day with Morgan's parents, just to make it easier. I made a rule too once I had my girls. We would never spend Christmas away from home, so that Santa could come to our house. Now that my Dad lives 4 hours away, we have to either go there before or after Christmas or they have to come here. It's not always easy. The first year, we went there. The past two years, they've come here. This year, we have no plans to go there and they have no plans to come here. It's just really hard when you have a limited amount of days, I don't like to travel, and my Stepmom works full-time. It stresses me out more than I even want to think about.

I am excited this year to have Christmas Day with Zoey. This is her first Christmas and I just feel that Christmas really is for the kids. I couldn't care less if I get one gift. I just want to be with my family and have fun and make memories. I can't wait to see what she does with all of her presents and how the girls will react to her. She's such a precious baby girl! I bet we will get some really cute photos of them!

One thing we started the year that my Mom died, our first Christmas without her, is that we started watching "Christmas Vacation" every Christmas Eve. We would always watch that movie at some point, every year, during the holidays, but now we make a point to do it on Christmas Eve. That first year, it was just my Dad that came over and I think we were all so lost without my Mom that we just needed something to do, so that we didn't just end up staring at each other or crying, so we watched that movie. It was also our first Christmas in this house. Now, it's a tradition and it cracks me up every single time I watch it!! :D

Another thing we do now is make Christmas cookies and decorate them, on Christmas Eve, for Santa. Each girl gets to choose a cookie they made to put on the plate for Santa, along with a glass of milk. We usually sprinkle some reindeer food out on the front lawn for the reindeer too. I love seeing their faces when they see that Santa ate their cookies and the reindeer ate their food! I also love the excitement of when they come downstairs and see what Santa left for them. That is one thing that I do remember about Christmas from when I was little......I remember the excitement of hearing about Santa's sleigh, and where he was on the map, and going to sleep knowing that he would visit. It was just so magical, like a fairytale, and I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

This is the first year that we've been in church during Christmas. I am excited for the Leeland concert Friday, and the Christmas program at a local church that we are traveling to with our church on Christmas Eve. This Sunday, they are also having a kid's Christmas party. I am looking forward to the message Sunday too. I love our church. It's a new family for us.

I love seeing Christmas through the eyes of my girls. I love their excitement of decorating the tree, Christmas parades, baking cookies, gifts given with love, the miracle of snow in Texas! I love that this year, I am truly realizing the gift that was given to me through my savior, Jesus Christ. Still, this time of year is just such a reminder to me of all that I have lost. As hard as I try, I just can't get used to the idea of my Mom not being here anymore and I have to admit that it makes me sad during this time of year. I wish my girls had gotten to know their MeMe. I do know that the one thing I will always remember about Christmas was feeling loved and that is what I want my girls to remember too!

Madison's Christmas Revue

Today was Madison's Christmas Revue at school. Half of the 4th grade classes participated in it. The other half will do the Spring Play. We had quite a bit of tears here the other day, after Madison found out she had made the chorus, and not one of the specialty parts. She really wanted to make a part and get to dress up in a costume.

Well, since the chorus was just supposed to wear dark jeans and a red t-shirt, one day when I was at the mall, I got her some Christmas earrings, hair clips, bracelet and socks. She was excited that I got them for her and I just wanted her to know that her part in the play was special too. I also picked up the necklace yesterday for her. It stands for "believe", because I want her to know that the most important thing is for her always to believe in herself. She is so talented and smart in so many things. I know there will be times when she tries her best, and it just doesn't work out, so I think this was a good life lesson for her. And some of her best friends got parts, so it was also a chance for me to show her how important it is that we always support our friends.

In the end, she was perfectly happy with her part and she was excited when her music teacher chose her to be in charge of handing out the programs. :D

I know it's really hard to see in this picture......I really need a zoom lens for my camera! LOL! Madison is on the next to the top row, kind of over to the left middle, right behind one of the girls with the glasses/tutu on.

I love our school district, and I was very impressed that even in 2009, there are still public schools that believe it's okay to have a manger scene in the play with Joseph, Mary, the baby Jesus, and even a sheep and shepherd. And we still say prayers at school functions too!

Here was Madison after the show. It was such a cute show! She looks way too much like a teenager in this picture to me! :( Oh, she was excited that they were told they could wear a little makeup, so we put eye shadow, blush and a little lipstick on. She is ready to grow up way too fast for me!

Here's Grandma and Lily......Lily had candy cane all over her face.

Here's a clip of the last song. Madison is in the middle, swaying back and forth.

Hope everyone has a great day today!

All I Want for Christmas

Is my two front teeth!
Kaylee lost her other front tooth tonight, and she was very happy, because she can sing that song now! Oh yeah, and something about the tooth fairy stopping by and leaving her some money. :D

Be the Biggest Loser!

If you didn't see the girls' parade pictures, you'll have to scroll down and see them! They had so much fun!


I feel like I have a million things I want to talk about on my blog. Sometimes, I can't think of one single thing and other times, I have tons! Right now, I just wanted to share what we learned at church yesterday.
Our Pastor was out of town at Disney World......no fair! LOL! So, we had a guest Pastor from a local church here in town and it was a great message. I'm thinking I'm going to have to start carrying a notebook to church, because the little handout they give us is just not enough room for me. Ha! I don't know why I feel compelled to pretty much record word for word what the Pastor says. I feel like I'm in college again, and let me tell you, I can speed write like nobody's business! I just soak up these messages. I really could go to church every day and love it, just to see what kind of knowledge they would share with me.

So, the Pastor started out by telling us that he had applied to get on "The Biggest Loser." He used that show as an analogy to show how we should be as a church. I loved that! He said on that show, the contestants have recognized that they have issues they need to work on, they fight the fight, they build each other up, and they inspire others to be better people too. The scripture he used was Hebrews 12:1-2 about running the race.

The first thing we are to be is the family of Christ. We are supposed to build each other up, bear each other's burdens, rejoice with one another's victories even when we gain nothing from it. We don't just "come" to church, we "are" the church. Biblical fellowship equals living life together. We tend to segment our lives. We put on our church mask, our work mask, and we act different ways in different areas of our lives. When we are alone, our masks come off. Who you are then, without your masks, is who you should be all the time. When you shed things that are holding you down, you can be even better (kind of like a player who has lost weight).

There are different things that put us in different frames of mind. It may be music, TV......what stops you from living the life you're called to live? We should get rid of those things. There is nothing in this world that is worth hindering hearing the Lord say, "Well done my good and faithful servant!" All those other things are petty and ridiculous when compared to hearing Him say that! So, this is the second thing we have to do.....quit making excuses, find out what those things are, and fix them!

None of us are doing what we should be doing. If we were, we wouldn't have the problems in our cities that we do. When the Pastor said that, it reminded me SO much of one of my favorite quotes from "What Difference Do it Make?" from Denver Moore:

"If all the Christians - I mean all of 'em - got outta the pews on Sundays and into the streets, we'd shut the city down. We'd shut down hunger. We'd shut down loneliness. We'd shut down the notion that there is any such of a thing as a person that don't deserve a kind word and a second chance."

Jesus has marked out the road for us. We need to support one another, recognize our issues, and fix those issues. We are supposed to be the biggest loser! We should support each other to shed those issues that hold us back, push each other, work each other, love each other until we are the followers that we're supposed to be! In the finale, when we stand on that platform, and Jesus says, "Well done," that will inspire others too!

At the end, he used an example from the movie "Facing the Giants", which I haven't seen yet. But, he said there's a scene where one of the guys is doing a death crawl down the football field, blindfolded, and he doesn't think he can make it very far. His coach keeps cheering him on though, telling him he can do it, no matter how hard it gets on him. By the end, he's made it way farther than he even imagined. He said that is how Jesus is. Jesus is in the end zone and He is cheering for us. We're saying, "I can't do it. I can't make it. We're crying and pleading and we just can't go any further." But, Jesus is saying, "You can do it. You can make it. I'm right down here. Just keep going. I'm right here waiting for you. Don't give up!"

Wow.....I just LOVED picturing that!! It is just like on the biggest loser show, when they're on the treadmill or whatever, and they just know they can't go one second longer, but sure enough they do, because everyone is cheering them on. Just picture every time you're in a really hard situation that Jesus is standing there cheering for you! Can you just picture that?!!! Because He is! I had just never thought about it that way, but He is!!

Tons of Christmas Fun!

This year was the first annual Christmas Parade for our school district and the girls were so excited, because their Grandma is on the board of the local Chamber of Commerce and she invited them to ride on the float with her!

Santa made an appearance.

And I just thought y'all would like to see the horses, since some people have this idea that us Texans ride around on horses all day. Yee-haw! :D
There were quite a few people on the Chamber of Commerce float. It was all the children/grandchildren of the board members.
Here's Lily, sitting on Grandma's lap, then Kaylee in the middle and Madison on the right. They looked so cute.....they gave them blue Santa hats and white feather boas to wear. You know my girly girls were loving that!
It was pretty chilly and so foggy today, so I was hoping they were having a good time. I had dropped them off about an hour and a half before it started, so I wasn't sure, but when they made it to where Morgan and I were, you could tell they were having the best time! Madison saw us first, then Kaylee, and Lily was throwing candy and just smiling so big.

Here's a cute photo I caught of Kaylee's "parade wave." :)
Last night, Morgan heard lots of sirens and he asked me if it was supposed to be the night that Santa comes down the street. I hadn't seen any signs, so I wasn't sure. Every year, the local volunteer fire department rides up and down every neighborhood street in our area and they have Santa on top of the fire truck and throw candy and play music. It's SO neat!!!!

Well, sure enough, the sirens got really loud and it was because they were on our street. The girls had their PJ's on, so they threw on some shoes and we ran outside to see Santa. It was so foggy that you could barely see! Here's a picture of the fire truck lit up:

Here's the ambulance coming back up the street. They have about 3 emergency vehicles they drive, along with Santa on the fire truck. It was so foggy that all the moisture was getting on my camera lens :(
Here's a video of it......it's got lots of sirens, but I thought y'all would think it was neat. It really is so neat to see it go by and hear Santa and the music! I just love the area we live in now! It's like a small town feel. These little things they do just make Christmas so special for the kids. And now that they are doing the parade too, it will be something else to look forward to every year!

Oh, don't pay attention to me talking on this video either! I guess my voice gets really high when I get excited. LOL!

So, we had a fun weekend! We had a great message at church today too......I'll do a seperate post on it later. Hope you all had a great weekend too!

Happy Birthday Veronica!!!

Happy Birthday Veronica!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hope you have a great 30th Birthday today, Veronica! I wish I could be there to celebrate with you. Enjoy the day with your family and just know that you are very loved by so many of us out here who have never even met you, but feel like we've known you forever. :-) You are such a great friend and we are all so blessed to have you in our lives! Love ya lots!!

What is Christmas really about?

Veronica posted this video awhile back, Kate said her church is doing it this year, and this is my goal for next Christmas! I just posted it on facebook and said if you're in my family, you're probably not going to like it! LOL!

Seriously though, this video hits the nail right on the head! It's so true. Every year, I get so aggravated as I wait for lists of what everyone in my family wants me to buy them. I keep thinking, can't we just keep our own lists and go buy ourselves what we want and save everyone the trouble, hassle, money, and aggravation?!! It's just so absolutely ridiculous and insane the way we run around, last minute, trying to find things that no one really needs, probably won't be happy with, just so we can open a few presents on Christmas day and smile for pictures. And with the money we all spend on these useless gifts, we could be saving the world's major problems!

This video addresses the clean water issue, but it doesn't have to be clean water that you spend your money on instead of buying useless gifts. It could be adopting a family in need, who has nothing. It could be giving that money to a family like Amy's or Lauren's, who are both adopting an orphan from Ethiopia......imagine what that would do for a child's life?!!! There are so many needs in the world, and the bible says that once you know about them, you cannot pretend that you don't.

Proverbs 24:12 -- "If you say, 'but we knew nothing about this,' does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?"

I was at the bookstore yesterday, and found the "Advent Conspiracy" book. I didn't even know they had a book, but I'm reading it now! I just think that we cannot proclaim to be Christians and worship consumerism every Christmas......the two just don't go together, especially if we acknowledge that the money we have is not ours, it is His. What do you think He would want us to do with it?

Now, having said all that, I will be rushing around this weekend trying to find items on my family's "wish list." But, I am really hoping that next year will be different. That is my goal. Who else has seen this and wants to make a change next year? Keep in mind that there are lots of places you can buy gifts from that actually use that money for good causes, so sometimes it's not always about spending less, it's about where you spend your money. And of course I'm not going to quit buying my girls Christmas presents........Christmas is for the kids, in my opinion, and my goal is just to show them that it's fun, but it's not what Christmas is ALL about.

A Trip Down Christmas Lane

I was looking around for old Christmas photos the other day and thought it would be fun to see how much the girls have grown over the years.

This is Madison when she was 2 in 2002.
Then came Kaylee in 2003. Madison was trying so hard to smile, while still holding onto Kaylee to keep her from toppling over. Ha!
2003 with Santa. That pretty dress Madison has on was given to her by my father-in-law's Mom, Murtie. She passed away 2 weeks before my Mom did. You'll see it on all 3 of my girls as we go through these pictures. Kaylee looks scared to death!
2004: Kaylee was not having any part of having her picture made. The only way she would even consider sitting there was if we gave her the "ba-ba". That bottle was in every one of her pictures. LOL! You can even see a tear on her cheek if you look really close.
2005 with Santa: The chair and box in the picture adds a great touch, don't you think? Ha!
2006: Lily came along. She is wearing the same blue dress Kaylee was wearing in 2003 and Kaylee is wearing the dress Murtie gave Madison. Even Madison is wearing the same dress from 2004!
2006 again: Our annual "girls in front of the Christmas tree" photo.
2006 with Santa. This Santa was very creepy looking! Look at how Kaylee's standing. LOL! Lily was like, get me off of this guy's lap! Madison, as usual, is always the cooperative one.
This was taken at Kaylee's preschool in 2007. Lily is wearing this outfit in our picture from this year! I guess it just shows that we get some really good use out of our clothes around here, or that I'm cheap, or maybe just sentimental. Who knows?! Ha!
2007: Morgan is wearing the same shirt from the 2006 picture. Ha!!
2008: Madison is wearing the same outfit from 2006 and Lily is now wearing the one from Murtie! The only way Lily would consider getting in this picture is if I got in there with her, so then Morgan got in too, only you can't see me. LOL! This was at "Supper with Santa" at Kaylee's Kindergarten last year.
And this year, 2009: See, Lily's wearing the same outfit that Kaylee was wearing in 2007.
My, how these girls have grown! I can't even believe Madison is 9 already!! It seems like a lifetime ago that she was little, and just yesterday, all at the same time. It seems like Lily has always been 2 or 3 for some reason. The time goes by so fast! And after going through all these pictures, I'm thinking these girls each deserve a brand new Christmas dress that is all their own! Hee hee!

What a difference 2 years makes!

December 2007:
Lily's expression cracks me up! Notice how she's trying so hard to get something out of that box she's holding. She was always into something!
December 2009:
Again, I died laughing when I saw her expression in this picture. I think she's going to be the class clown!

It's amazing how much they grow up and change in just two years!! How did I get so lucky as to have three girls? Especially these three girls............they are so precious!

The Sounds of Christmas

Joye is doing the five senses of Christmas over at her blog, and today is the sounds of Christmas. I'll admit, I'm not a huge fan of Christmas music. I am even kind of aggravated that my favorite radio station is only playing Christmas music now. Actually, I'm super aggravated at that one. LOL!

But, one of my favorite songs is "O Holy Night". I love this version by Kelly Clarkson. After my Mom died, I found a CD with her version on it, and for some reason every time I hear this song, it reminds me that my Mom is in Heaven, celebrating with Jesus every day. When Kelly sings, "Oh hear the angel voices" it gives me chills every time. I'm sure my family will be glad when Christmas is over too, because I have been singing this song way loud on our karaoke machine. Ha!

We are going to a Christmas program on Christmas Eve with our church that our sponsor church puts on every year, and they told me that the main reason to go is to hear their version of "O Holy Night". I can't wait!!

Blessed: Sharing Christ

I know, two posts in one day, but I didn't want to make my Christmas decorating one any longer than it already was! Scroll down to read all about our fun we had yesterday :)

I have to tell you the neatest story. Back in February when we were doing the memory lane walks with Lynnette, I was looking through old letters and found one from my Mom about a silver cross necklace she had given me. I had forgotten that she even gave me a letter with it. In the letter, she said she knew I probably would think she was crazy, but that she felt so strongly that I had to pass that necklace down to my own girls one day, that she wanted it to be very special.

Well, I immediately felt horrible because I remembered the necklace and remembered that a rhinestone had fallen out of it. It was probably sterling silver, but the rhinestones were not real gems or anything. I remembered going through one of my neurotic cleaning phases and I just knew I had thrown away that necklace. I remember debating on whether to keep it at the time and I really remember throwing it away because I knew it wouldn't be worth it to have the rhinestone replaced since it was not real. Keep in mind that at the time, I had no recollection of the letter my Mom had written about it.

Well, after finding that letter in February, I searched all through both of my jewelry boxes and any other place I could think of where it might be and it was nowhere to be found. I felt so horrible and guilty over it. I told the Lord even to please tell my Mom I was so sorry that I got rid of it! I have just been so heartbroken over that necklace ever since February and have thought often about it.

Well, yesterday I was reaching in the very back of my closet for a jacket that ironically enough, my Mom had made for me. So, I am reaching and I see this old, old small jewelry box that I honestly forgot was back there. I keep a bunch of old broaches from my Meme that I would never wear in it. My heart skipped a little as I pulled it out, wondering if there was any way possible that silver cross pendant might be in there. I highly doubted it, but had to check and see. I pulled out the first little drawer and didn't see it. Then, I pulled out the second drawer, and sure enough, there it was, just sitting there, with it's missing rhinestone and all! I just smiled the biggest smile and then almost started to cry. I knew right then that was the Lord's gift to me this Christmas. I really would almost swear that I threw it away. Whether I did or not, I'll never know, but I do know that the Lord loves me enough to have made sure I found it yesterday, tucked safely away! Amazing!!

So, on to our lesson. Would you believe at small group Friday we were all talking about how to minister and share Christ with others. It's really been on my mind lately. And this morning, after praying that the Lord would show me what He wants me to learn at church today, would you believe that the message was on sharing Christ with others!! My small group friend, Liz, came up to me after the service and was like, can you believe that?! We were both amazed!

We've been talking about being blessed and today was about how we are blessed to share Christ. Another word for a person who shares Christ is evangelist. Our Pastor told us that studies have been done that rank different professions in order of how highly others think of them. A televangelist was on the list and only 2 professions ranked lower in terms of how they are viewed for trustworthiness, morals, etc! Those that ranked lower were organized crime and drug dealers! Even a prostitute and politicians were ranked higher! This is what we are dealing with! A few people have given us all a bad name. Unbelievers automatically get defensive when you try to share your faith and just want to push you away most of the time.

Our Pastor told us that believers usually are scared to share with others and then they feel guilty for not. He said if we are afraid, we are not alone. We are afraid of being rejected, of how others will view us, or that we are not qualified. But, in 1 Corinthians, Paul talks about how he would do anything to win others. It was about him being obedient and able to be used. The Holy Spirit would then bring that conviction for the unbeliever.

There are lots of examples of unlikely evangelists in the Bible. We talked about 4 today.

1. The Samaritan woman in John 4:28 - All she had to do was invite someone to come and see. Studies show that 80% of people would come to church if invited by someone they trust. This Samaritan woman already had several things going against her at that time. For one, she was a woman. The Jews also did not talk to Samaritans back then. Also, she had already been married 5 times and was living with another man. So, when Jesus spoke to her, she was already surprised because he was a Jew. She was taken aback by the things He knew about her, so she went to town and told others to come and see Him. She didn't go home and study and plan out her best plan to win others over! LOL! She just simply said, come and see, and many were saved as a result of that.

2. The Blind Guy in John 9:25 - All he did was share his story. All followers of Christ have a story. We were once dead and hopeless, but then we were saved, and that equals an incredible story! When Jesus made mud pies and smeared them on his eyes, He did it on the Sabbath, which you were not supposed to do. So, when the guy was healed, everyone criticized Jesus for working on the Sabbath and they wanted to know who this person was that healed this man. The blind guy was like, hey, I don't know if he's a sinner or not, but what I do know is that I was blind, but now I can see! That was his story. His blindness was healed in order for God to show His glory.

3. Dorcas in Acts 9:36 - Dorcas gave her life away. She was always doing good and helping the poor. Her burden was for widows. She did everything she could to help them, since back then, widows often were left with nothing from their husband's estates. When she died, she was raised from the dead, and this was told all over Joppa. Because she gave her life away, the Lord raised her for His glory. This is why Jesus said to go out and make disciples (not just go out and get people to say a magic prayer). How do you do that? By doing life with others! Then, you win the right to be heard.

4. Peter in Acts 2:38 - Sometimes you do just have to get in someone's face, like Peter does, and tell them flat out what they have to do. Sometimes you have to lovingly confront someone. The goal is not to be angry, and it's also not to tell people that being a Christian is all about love and feeling good. Sometimes you just have to tell them to repent, and warn them to save themselves.

So, I felt much better today after hearing all the different ways that we can be evangelists. It isn't about being equipped with all the right words to say, or being a perfect person. It's really just about being open to tell people when they ask, inviting them to share that with you, showing them His love through the way you live your life, and even lovingly confronting them when you feel the Holy Spirit moving you to do so.

Christmas Spirit

We finally got into the Christmas spirit after our big snow (LOL!) and put up our tree yesterday. As usual, Morgan put the tree and lights up and then I let the girls put the ornaments on. I helped by filling in up top.

I ordered this ornament last year and I love it. I always try to put it up top in the front.
This was the best one I could get of them all looking and smiling at the same time. You should've seen some of the outtakes!

Too bad this one was before the ornaments were put on!

Kaylee always has the cutest smiles.

This was Lily jumping for joy.

And Madison's angelic look :) I gave her another haircut and she was really happy about it because it is much shorter than she's ever had. I must say it turned out cute! :D We had beauty shop day over here before we decorated the tree. Even Kaylee got a trim.

Here's the finished product. I thought the girls did SO good on it! All of our ornaments are from our childhood, are special personalized ones (like Baby's first Christmas, etc), are special ones that our loved ones have bought us each year, or are ones the girls have made. I usually try to buy a few each year that have special meaning for that particular year too. This year, I bought a pretty silver cross one, because this is the year that the Lord has made so amazing for us! We've finally gotten to where we have enough special ones that we don't have to use the filler ones anymore. Every single ornament holds special meaning on our tree and the memories are wonderful every time we decorate it! I even have a few that I made when I was a little girl that have survived! And Morgan has one from when he was in Cub Scouts.

We are finally getting a little collection of Christmas decorations. Most of these were given to us by my Stepmom. The girls love them because they all sing and play music and dance around. The little ornaments hanging down with the girls pictures in them were ones they made a few weeks ago when Morgan's Aunt Karen (Aunt KK to the girls) came over to keep them for us when we went to a company dinner. She brought that fun craft project to work on and they loved it!

I turned on those XM music channels you can get on satellite to see if we could listen to Christmas music, but the girls didn't really like what they were playing, so we turned it on the Disney Kids XM music channel. Sure enough, when "Party in the USA" came on, they broke out into a dance and I grabbed my little camera that takes video.

Yep, that's how we celebrate Christmas here in Texas! :D

I'll do a separate post in a few minutes with my church lesson and another cool thing that happened yesterday.

More Snow Fun

Off and on today, it would rain, then turn to flurries, then nothing, then rain, flurries, etc. It's been a neat day. None of it really stuck, except a little this morning. Earlier, when the flurries picked up again, I told the girls to grab their coats before we missed it! Madison and Kaylee had their PJ's on! LOL!!
This picture totally cracks me up!
The flurries only lasted about 5 minutes and then turned back to rain, but at least we got a few pictures!

I had to dry Lily's hair when we got in and it pulled her curls out. I couldn't believe how long her pigtails are now!! I thought she looked so cute :)

So, that was our snow day here in Texas. We'll take what we can get! If you didn't see my earlier post, scroll down and you can see Lily hopping around enjoying the flurries.

Since the weather's not so bad, we're heading over to our small group meeting in a few minutes. Hope everyone has a great weekend!!

A Christmas Miracle!!

Okay, so you know how they say everyone should have childlike faith? Well, all last night, the girls were saying it was going to snow today, and we were thinking that probably wouldn't happen. Sure, there was a slight chance, but it snowed last year and there was just no way it would happen in SE Texas, two years in a row, right?

So, we sent the girls to school in the rain this morning and a few hours later, the rain started to get whiter and whiter. Unbelievable!!! I had to take Lily out to play because I wasn't sure how long it would last! I so wish Madison and Kaylee had been home. I hope they got to play at school in it! Even after I took this video, the flurries got bigger and bigger until it was all out snowing! In Texas!! Amazing! The ground was even beginning to get white!! Now, we're back to the rain/maybe a few flurries. I hope it snows again when the girls are home so I can get pictures and video of them too!

Truly a Christmas miracle!

Oh, I thought y'all might get a kick out of my Texas accent too :D

P.S. Don't you love Lily's coat? My Mom made it!

Tidbits

Today, I got a peppermint mocha from Starbucks for the first time..........Heaven!

Also, my favorite band, Leeland, was nominated for a Grammy for their latest album, "Love is on the Move." They are from Baytown and I am so excited because my friend who goes to their church sent me an email about a benefit concert they are having in a couple of weeks at a local church here in town, and we were able to get tickets for our church to go! Y'all know this is like a dream come true for me! I may just bawl like a big baby the whole concert. When I got that email, I forwarded it to my Pastor pretty much begging him to get us tickets. LOL! I cannot wait!!!! There is no other Christian band that even comes close to really accurately describing the love I have for the Lord better than the lyrics that Leeland writes. So beautiful and so meaningful! This is their 3rd album and all 3 have been Grammy nominated!

"And when my weakness is all I can give, Your gentle spirit gives me strength again. Oh, the beauty of your majesty. On the cross You showed Your love for me. Beautiful Lord. Awesome and mighty. I'm captured by this love I see. Beautiful Lord. Tender and holy. Your mercy brings me to my knees. It's Your mercy that has made me free." --Beautiful Lord, Leeland

In other news, there is a chance it may snow a little here tomorrow. It was a miracle to get several inches of snow last year. It will be a miracle if we get some this year! The girls are hoping!!! It snowed in '89 and '04 and '08 here. So, snow is not something we see here often!

And for the most important news of all.............
Did y'all hear that Veronica is having a sweet, precious, little baby girl?!!!!!!!!!!
I am SO excited and happy for her!

Fellowship

I was reading my Max Lucado book, "When God Whispers Your Name" yesterday as I sat in line waiting for Madison to get out of school. In there, he used an analogy that I thought was awesome and I wanted to share it with you!

He is telling the story of how one time he was in Boston for a conference and he decided to go to a Celtics game. They were playing the San Antonio Spurs, his favorite team. He figured he might just be the only Spurs fan in the crowd and should probably be quiet. But, he couldn't contain himself and by the end of the first quarter he began to cheer for the Spurs every time they would score. Well, of course, people started to turn and stare.

Then, he noticed across the aisle, there was one other person cheering for the Spurs too. He had a partner. He was only a teenager, but that didn't matter. They would give each other a thumbs-up and he says, "We were united by a higher bond of fellowship."

And because he tells it way better than I do, here is the analogy quoted straight from his book:

"That's one reason for the church. All week you cheer for the visiting team. You applaud the success of the One the world opposes. You stand when everyone sits and sit when everyone stands. At some point you need support. You need to be with folks who cheer when you do. You need what the Bible calls fellowship. And you need it every week. After all, you can only go so long before you think about joining the crowd."

Wow!!! Was that brilliant, or what?!! Being a Christian does at times feel a little like you're in a huge crowd of people cheering for the opposite team. Everyone staring at you and wondering why you don't just keep quiet or why you don't take the easy route and just go along with the crowd. It's so true that we need that fellowship so we aren't tempted to join the crowd.

These are the kind of things I read and I get SO excited about! I LOVE to read these kind of analogies that make such perfect sense to me. My favorite line:

"You applaud the success of the One the world opposes."

Before I truly dedicated my life to the Lord, I was so naive. I had no idea there were that many people out there who truly don't believe in God. I had no idea that there are people who not only are atheists, but they actually spend their time trying to convince others to believe what they do to, and they are angry. I don't even think they realize they are working for the enemy.

Just the other day, I had a high school friend post on facebook a quote from Epicurus about how there is no God. Let me tell you, I agonized over how to respond to that quote for two days. I really did. And how did I respond? I didn't. I prayed about it and I just could not find the words. What do you say to someone who has their mind made up that the Bible is not real and that there is no God? I thought that if I quote the Bible, she will write it off. If I tell her about my very real experiences with God, she will just think I'm crazy. If I tell her about faith, she will just think I was "brainwashed" to believe it. I really think that to debate her or try to convince her would have done more harm than good. I think that people who really don't want to believe really have a problem with "religion" and haven't even given God a chance as a result. True Christians aren't concerned with converting people or getting more people into their churches or about showing others they are right so that they can add another tick mark to the list of those they've brought over.........true Christians are concerned about that person because they truly don't want to see them perish. They are concerned about telling people about Jesus because they know what that kind of love can do in a person's life, and more importantly what it can mean for their eternity!

It's not about me being "right" and I'll admit my first instinct was to get on there and "preach it!" and show her how wrong she is. But, that is exactly what the enemy would've loved, right? He knows how much we love to be right. That would've been arrogant of me to approach it in that way though. Because the heart of the matter is that this isn't about me. It's not about being right, it's about caring about her eternity. It really does crush my heart to think about people so confidently proclaiming there is no God, and what that means for them when they die.

I will just keep praying about it and when the time is right, I will talk to her about it. You know how I was talking about burdens the other day and that they are things you may care about that no one else does? Well, these kind of things really do burden me. Before, I wouldn't have cared a thing in the world about that quote. I feel like I have a responsibility though to at least try to show people the choice they are making. I am thinking of that quote about how God equips those he calls and I am waiting for Him to give me the right way to approach these kind of things. I have hope though that at least my friend is thinking about this issue. If she just didn't care at all, I don't think she would've taken the time to try and back up her beliefs with that quote. And just as a side note, would you believe only one Christian spoke up and proclaimed their belief to her? Out of all of our facebook friends that are always posting about how good God is, not one of them except this one guy decided to say a thing. The only other quote she got was from someone who is convinced that religion was "created" to keep people in line. And sadly, the one Christian who responded actually linked up to a guy's blog who said we can't use the Bible as a reason for why we believe what we do. To get into how wrong I think that statement is would take a whole other blog post! I do not believe in any way that you can dismiss God's word and say it is not absolutely proof of why we believe! But, I at least admire this guy's effort to at least say something. That is more than I did.

Anyways, I'm just rambling now! Let me know.....how do you show unbelievers in a loving way the choice they are making? How would you have handled this situation?

Blessed: Burdens

Today was such an awesome message at church. It's something that's really been on my mind lately too. We are continuing in our "Blessed" series and today we talked about how God has blessed us with a burden. A burden is where you feel called to make a difference because you can't stand not doing anything about it anymore.

There are three things we have to ask ourselves in order to identify our divine burden:

1. What breaks your heart?
2. What makes you angry?
3. What do you care about that others don't?

God will use you to change these things that you are burdened about. It's those things that no one else may even care about, but that you are passionate about. Things that break your heart and make you angry to see happening. It could be the homeless, starving children, orphans, etc.

Our Pastor said our challenge this week was to fill in this blank:
I'm burdened by ____________________.

That is a huge and exciting challenge for me. I have been thinking about and trying to answer this question all year long, ever since I rededicated my life to the Lord. I know that the Lord must have something planned for me, but I haven't quite figured it out yet. What I really liked is he said that it is our job as a church to help each person with their burden. It is our job to help each person and give them what they need to move to action and help them make a difference regarding their divine burden. I loved that! So, once I figure out what area I am to make a difference in, I should be able to go to my church and get all the support I need to carry it out. That is so awesome!!!!

We talked about the wrong ways to approach your burden. One thing you shouldn't do is complain about it. You don't see something that bothers you and just talk about how it's someone else's fault or the government's fault or whatever. You should shut up, stop complaining about it, and do something about it!! Another wrong way to deal with a burden is to just ignore it. You shouldn't bury your head in the sand and act like it doesn't exist or pretend it's not there. You also don't want to simply appease it. Alot of times, we feel burdened about a certain cause and we will just do one little thing so we can feel better, like maybe give a little donation, and then we move on. Or like a mission trip, where for a week you do what you can, but then once you're home, you check that burden off the list because of that one week of work.

I take what our Pastor is saying as meaning that God gives us these burdens because He knows we can make a difference. He can use us to do great things, if we will actually do something about it! Our Pastor said you should let your burden ruin you. Let your burden overcome and overwhelm you to the point that you are broken and you surround yourself with it and let it affect you. We often think that blessings are supposed to allow us to live a burden-free life, but that's not what it's about. We are supposed to let our burden move us to action. In Isaiah 6:8, Isaiah says, "Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"" Isaiah could not sit by anymore, and he was telling the Lord, "pick me, pick me!"

We have to allow God to make us uncomfortable and move us to action. And I love this last thing our Pastor said. I think it is genius, really!

Be foolish enough to think that you can do what others claim can't be done!

I told you it was good! So, have you identified your divine burden yet? Please let me know what it is if you have! I have so many things I care about and am interested in, but I would love to figure out which one of those is my divine burden. I'm really excited about it!

Also, you remember our church participated in One Prayer a while back? Well, the 2000 churches that participated in One Prayer raised about 1/2 a million dollars on that one Sunday that they took donations. They have started churches in Sudan, China, and other countries and have had tens of thousands of baptisms as a result! Amazing!!

I published this post and then I realized I totally forgot to mention something. The first thing was that we had a different music guy today, because ours was camping. You know how much I love my music. LOL! This guy has been there before and he has an amazing voice. He even has his own CD, but I had no money today with me to buy one :( Once I find out what his CD is called, I will share it with you!

The other thing was that we were all invited over to our Pastor's home to have lunch with them. He made a huge pot of gumbo and it was delicious! The girls had so much fun playing outside with his girls and the guys watched the Texans game and I got to visit with some of the ladies I don't normally see much, except for a few minutes at church, so it was really neat.

Hope everyone had a fabulous Sunday too!