Inside out

The kids were very excited to pick out pumpkins for carving. Logan grabbed the first pumpkin in reach and was ready to leave, Maddy pondered and dug around to find her "perfect" pumpkin. Olivia wanted the littlest pumpkin because she said that she was little. Breanna really didn't care she just wanted to the roast the seeds.


Logan was the first to open his pumpkin, it was nice and orange inside with an a lot of seeds. Next, Maddy opened her pumpkin and to her surprise it was brown, slimy and the seeds were no good. The outside of Maddy's pumpkin was fine, no bruises or bumps that would indicate the inside was bad. Olivia's little pumpkin was bright orange with just a few seeds inside. Breanna opened her pumpkin last, she had large seeds and actually pulled out 5 or so seeds that had sprouted roots and had begun to grow new plants.  Needless to say it didn't take long for the conversations to flow.


Maddy's pumpkin seemed to be "perfect" on the outside but the inside didn't reflect the outer appearance.  It allowed us the opportunity to talk about how the only way for our lives to be consistent inside and out is to acknowledge and love the one who created us. Maddy's pumpkin seeds were no good, only a vapor, they were unable to produce more fruit. Maddy was getting the picture that we were creating with the pumpkins.  She understood that like her pumpkin, people can look good on the outside and not have any hope on the inside, and then she said, "mom it's sad when good people that are doing good things may never hear or accept the hope that we have in Jesus." My heart ached at that thought as well.


When Breanna had opened her pumpkin she added to the conversation by pointing out that some of her pumpkin seeds had sprouted.  She said it's like when you accept Jesus as your savior and you start to read, pray and grow in your spiritual walk you begin to  produce spiritual "fruit"   ."... the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control." Galatians 5:21-23. The only way to produce fruit is to know Jesus as your Savior.  Then, just like Breanna's pumpkin you will begin to produce new fruit, not because the pumpkin was trying so hard, but because it was just being a pumpkin.  When we simply abide in Jesus, He will produce the fruit within us.


Needless to say our pumpkin carving had fruitful conversations as we talked about allowing God to clean out the "yuck" on our inside. We don't have to fix or clean it out in our own strength, we can come to Jesus with our "mess" and God will lovingly restore your heart so it will produce fruit from the inside out.

Logan's pumpkin

Maddy's pumpkin

inside Maddy's pumpkin (yuck)

Breanna's sprouts inside her pumpkin

High School Football

Thursday night we headed out to cheer on Charles and Defensive Coach Wallace.We had a great time watching Lana's "men" on the football field. Charles played great and we were so proud of him, he made great plays and ran the ball in for a touch down. He plays offense and defense so he was on the field at all times.  I can't believe that Charles is in HS, it seems like yesterday that he was climbing our tree in the font yard and building forts in the woods. Way to go #3!! (make sure you save us a seat in years to come to see you on the field.)

                                                                                

                                                                                               

                                          

Family Pictures

We had a ton of fun having our family pictures done.  Lisa Shay does a wonderful job with making this experience an enjoyable one!   http://www.wix.com/lisaqshay/photography

What a Privilege

Sunday, at our home church Billy, Breanna (our daughter) and I along with  Shawn & Lisa had the privilege of sharing our journey in this process of church planting. God's faithfulness to me even in the midst of public speaking is worthy of His praise!!  It was an honor to worship in 3 services with our church body and share our hearts with about 1,000 people by the end of the morning. It is difficult to put into words the depth of this experience and I could think of a million other things I could have shared but I rest in knowing God's plan is sovereign.  I am certain I can speak for our team: Billy, Shawn, Lisa and the kids that we are all being stretched, grown, and molded during this time for our ministry now and what is ahead on our journey.  I am so thankful for the church body that surrounded us to pray and will continue to do so, the power in prayer and the acknowledgment of God's continued faithfulness is completely overwhelming. My heart flip-flops when we attend church. I want to soak in the precious moments of worshiping, serving and learning together. As I sit now with tears flowing, I praise Him for the eternal impact that will be made through this process and in Harrisburg PA. 

http://www.faithnc.org/faith_planting

Toss out the To-Do List today!

As you can imagine the "to do list" can be overwhelming these days with all the preparations we are making for our move; such as getting the house ready to sell, cleaning, organizing, etc.  However, today I left the To-Do list on the kitchen table and Olivia and I headed out for some fun.

taking the time to enjoy shadows
priceless.........

Bubbles!

Perfect day for skipping rocks on the river

  
                   Story time



   "my tummy is talking and needs to
                  filled up"

     "take a picture of me!"

                                  What a great day with my "sweet pea"

I pray, that God will give me wisdom to know when to throw out the To-do list and to always hold it loosely.

But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. James 1:5

IN the game

Last Friday I ventured out with three of my kids and a few others from the neighborhood to the Carolina Hurricanes game (woot-woot).  It was a general admission game so we hiked in from the parking lot passing all the tailgaters with fancy setups that lacked for nothing. (large TVs, grills you name it) The arena was packed so we climbed up all the stairs to the "nose bleed" section.  The kids didn't mind and it was the wow factor of being so high at first.  The game was slow initially and  the Canes scored in the last few seconds of the 2 period.  The kids started to slouch in the seats with their knees in their shirts watching the game with a little less enthusiasm than when we arrived. We decided to take a bathroom break before the 3rd period and went back into the arena on the bottom level where we found seats closer to the ice.   The atmosphere was different it didn't seem as cold, it was louder and more exciting.  There were strangers slapping your hand during a goal and the kids danced around and cheered.  Just out of curiosity I glanced back at our original seats wondering if it was colder and less exciting up there.  My observation proved correct, it seemed the people in the "nose bleed" section didn't appear to be IN the game at all, just watching.
I just couldn't help but think that I had once been in the "nose bleed" section in my spiritual journey. It's not about being on the outside of the arena tailgating, or just watching from far off, its about being IN the game. When I accepted Christ as my Savior, I was no longer camped out on the outside or stuck way up in the stands. Asking forgiveness for our sin and having a personal relationship with Christ is our ticket to get IN the game.  No longer did I have to be like the people that were tailgating on the outside having all the comforts but never experiencing the action up close.  It took the work of Jesus on the cross to get me into the game.  All I had to do was join the team.

Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, Romans 5:8, Ephesians 2:8-9, John 5:24

Carolina Huricanes "nose bleed section"

 

nose bleed section



bathroom break

New seats close to the action

Final Score Hurricanes 2 Thrashers1

Morrisons Family Chore System

A few ladies have asked me to post one of our family systems with pictures.  We have adjusted our "chore" "responsibility" "family"system and change it up often. Having a system for kids fosters independence, responsibility, initiation and it helps me not fall into the nagging, irritated, frustrated drill Sargent in our home. A drill Sargent is one job that is not on my bucket list and when I notice that the hat gets put on it is time to re-fresh the system (& my heart).  The chart has two sides, one side is Morning Time (sunshine)  and the other is Evening Time (star).  The cards have a sunshine or a star at the top right corner so they will not get mixed up. Our kids ages range from 14y to 3y so we adjust the responsibilities depending on their ages.

Morning Time



Each child has a "To do" pocket and an "all done" pocket.  I cut an envelope in half to make the pockets and put a matching index card over it.

On the left hand side the top pocket says initiation.  This is a BIG deal in our home.  When the kids see something that needs to be done for example the ceiling fan needs to be cleaned. They write it down and place it into the initiation pocket. It doesn't mean they have to do the extra chore but it will be done on Saturday or during the week by one of the other kids taking the initiation to do the chore without being asked.

The pocket for Odd Jobs such as dishes, taking sheets off the bed, putting sheets on bed, taking the trash cans to the road.

 The last pocket on the left hand side is Saturday jobs.  The jobs are divided up between the kids on Saturday morning.  ( I do have check sheets in the bathroom and rooms)

Evening Time

For the youngest she has pictures on her cards so she will be able to do her cards independently (and she does this well). Her tasks for the morning time are to get dressed, eat breakfast, brush teeth. Evening Time put clothes away, bath, bible, clean room.  

Maddy and Logan for the morning time cards are get dressed, eat breakfast, feed pets, pack a snack for school, brush teeth.  The kids are not allowed to put the card into the "all done" until the task is completed. (this eliminates "I forgot") Evening Time is homework, piano, bible, bath, brush teeth, clean room, lay out clothes for next day and put away laundry.

Breanna is 14 so her cards are different.  She does the above things on her own. She makes her own cards such as take the dog out to the kennel. Evening Time would be homework, room pickup, bathroom pickup and make your to-do list for the next day.  This helps her to initiate her own tasks.

Here is the BIG question we get. Do you pay your kids for Chores. NO we don't, the chores on the chart are all part of living in a home and being part of the family.  The cards are expected to get done, its not an option.   Our kids are rewarded on Sunday with a family activity such as having Sunday ice cream, movie night or other activities when they have worked throughout the week without complaining (Philippians 2:14)or being reminded to do the chores. 

Great Resource book: Boundaries with Kids by Dr. Henry Cloud & Dr. John Townsend