Perfect Timing...

Lately, I've been holding on with my fingernails around here.  It is great to be reminded that God's timing is perfect...even in the form of packages from Great Grams and Grand Aunt Cindy!!

Stickers and Silly songs and books came one day....and more books and games came the next!  WOW!

We played quite the rousing game of Zingo tonight.  EVERYONE really got into it!!

It's sort of like BINGO but with tiles.  It's good practice for our word recognition, etc.

I was surprised...they were pretty kind to each other throughout!

Lucky Ducky girl won a lot.  She must get that from her DadE!  He usually skunks us all when he's playing.

It took Lubby a long time to finally win...and when he did FINALLY...it was a double ZINGO!

And God's blessings kept right on coming today.  The HighFive Magazine came today...so they snuggled up tonight and read together....

...all snugly...

...and sweet!

God is good to us!  Thanks to those of you who've sent us goodies to get us through...We feel your love...and God has used you to lift me up!

Funtimes...

Evangelistic Opportunities!

And yes, I'm going to answer the burning question I've been asked multiple times this weekend.
Your kids go trick or treating?

My kids do go trick or treating. After some prayer and consideration we decided that it would be effectively slamming the door on any evangelistic attempts with our neighbors to turn off our lights and pretend we aren't home. We pass out candy bags and tracks (cute ones)...and we get to know our neighbors.

We've even had some great conversations. Some were shocked we let the kids go, too...they said, "Aren't you religious?" That was a great opportunity to say that we aren't religious...we have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ...and "please, let me tell you what that means."

 We've built friendships...and they come to us with their prayer requests...cuz they know we pray...and that we believe in prayer. How neat is that? It makes me soooo happy that I open my mouth and ask how they are...and take the time to listen to their problems...and tell them about the power of prayer in my life because of my ALL POWERFUL GOD.

I do have opportunities to express my concerns with Halloween (evil, Satan, scary, etc.) but I have countless more opportunities to share about Jesus Christ. Remember, it's like I said last week...

When talking with sinners the issue is not their present sin but their need of a Savior!

~Reposted from 2009

Ahoy!

The Sweet Boobahs BEG for playtime after lunch...cuz they know naptime is upon them...Today, I realized they were being pirates...the Patch the Pirate/PeeWee kind, of course.

They pulled one swing up...it's the anchor!

This is the "evil pirate" they are escaping from...evidently, she wants their apples!  They tried to make her wear the patch but MomE said they had to be nice to the poor puppy pirate!

Captain Lubby drops the anchor...

...and ARGH!  They're off...sailing the briny deep!

He loves this sword but was annoyed that it wasn't sharp enough to cut apples in half...*gasp...could you imagine!? 

Quilts, Confusion & Colds!

This weekend my Mom passed on a few quilts she'd set aside for the kids. Emma was delighted with her Sunbonnet Sue quilt!!

Lubby was equally thrilled with his handkerchief quilt...although he did ask if he could blow his nose on it and I said no. He was puzzled... I think I've confused him.  HA!

He was terribly congested so I took him to a the Dr. like a good MomE...turns out he just has a cold.  Oh well...better safe than sorry.  He did miss his nap because of the appt...and fell asleep in a sunbeam this afternoon!  AW!

Better late than never...

Here are the pictures from our escapade with the water line...FUNTIMES!!!

Saved, not inoculated...

Sunday night was very special in our house. 

Emma, in her own words, "asked Jesus to be her Savior from her sins!" 

Now, I have spent a lot of time thinking about whether to post about this event or not.  All things blogged are for posterity, right?  My children have LONG and very detailed baby books.  HA!

No, the reason I wasn't sure about writing on this subject is because I have such strong feelings about it.  We have been very careful to not lead Emma in some pretty little prayer...so she'll feel inoculated with salvation from her sins.  As if this was how it happened at all.  We wanted this to be something that she was prompted to do by the Holy Spirit...not something to just please us or escape the fears of hell and death. 

That's easier said than done...when you have a beautiful, little firstborn so eager to please....and all of ETERNITY is on the line.  But that's the point...I could have gotten her to say the WORDS months ago...but what she did Sunday night was her own personal decision....because God was at work in her heart and mind.


As I tucked her in I sang one of the favorites in our house..."Change my heart oh God..."  As I sang she was feeling for her heartbeat.  She couldn't feel it so I helped her.  As she felt her heart beat she said, "What about Caleb's heart...is it beating?"  I told her that if your heart stops beating you die.  I told her that's why the words of the song talk about changing your heart to be like God...because all of our hearts are sinful. 

She pondered this a bit...and tearfully said, "I don't want to die with sins in my heart!"  NOW...here's the point where I could have just said, "Well, pray this prayer dearie and you've received your salvation shot...don't ever worry about it again."...but I didn't...As Jesus so often did, I asked another question..."What do you know about that sin in your heart?  Who could do something about it?" 

She said, "If I pray and tell Jesus I'm sorry for my sins...he'll wash my sins away."  I asked if she had ever done that before...and she said no.  I told her that she could pray at any time and he would save her.  She said she wanted to pray right then...

Yes, she is still a very small girl.  The days ahead will show the fruit of this decision.  This is just the starting point.  As she grows and matures...I'm praying her understanding of what it means to be saved will grow too...but for now we are rejoicing with the angels!

Luke 15:10, "there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”