Amazing Grace

I hope you will take the time to watch this...it's beautiful!

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Elfing Myself

BBBHAHAHAHHAAAAAAA!!!!!

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Today is Thankful Thursday and I am thankful for the ability to laugh!! I am thankful that God gave us that emotion to express. What a joy it is to be able to laugh at ourselves sometimes!! :)

Refreshing Wind

Why does our life have to be such a struggle sometimes? Why can't it always be peachy where everyone gets along and loves one another and treats one another with kindness? Is it because of this time of the year where we celebrate our King's birth and the evil one doesn't like it, so he tries to make it miserable for people? Is it because our children are growing up and that's just what comes with growing up? I don't know what it is, but I feel like my children are fighting more and more everyday. I would be a rich woman if I had a dollar for every time I said, Let's love one another or Jesus says to be kind to one another or STOP FIGHTING!!! I feel so discouraged sometimes and wonder if they will ever truly love each other. Of course, I do see the true love when one of them gets hurt and the other one goes to comfort the one that is hurt, but it's during the fighting times that I wonder.....I definitely can tell that the evil one is at work because he doesn't want kindness and love. He wants confusion, hatred and anything else that goes against how Jesus wants us to act towards one another.

All that to say that He does offer us refreshing wind~literal and spiritual. The last few days have been too cold for the kids to play outside but today has been slightly better. It's warm but the wind makes it chilly..not too chilly though. Anyway, I had the window over my kitchen sink opened to let in some fresh air and I was standing in front of the sink and I was hit with this wind and I thought...how refreshing...how calming. I immediately said Thank you Lord because it was as if it were from Him reminding me that everything is ok and everything will be ok.

You know how when you go to the beach and your sitting in your beach chairs with your feet in the sand and the wind is constantly blowing? Have you ever thought how marvelous it is? How incredibly calming it is to be in the midst of the wind? How all your struggles or problems seem to be a distant memory at that minute? You instantly feel relaxed? That's how I felt earlier this morning when I was hit with my almighty God's wind. It was instant relaxation and a reminder that He is the one in control. I couldn't help but take a deep breath and breathe it all in. It was a reminder to run to Him with my struggles as a mom because just as He says in I Peter 5:7,"Cast all your cares/anxiety on Him, because He cares for you." ALL meaning everything. That means struggles as a mom too. How great it is to know that we can go to Him with every care!

Hope for the Holidays

I received this email the other day and thought I would share it because it speaks to me in a big way and I thought it might speak to someone else. I know I fall into the category of labeling myself by my past mistakes. I took comfort in the encouraging and reminding words below.


Hope for the Holidays

by Micca Campbell

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” Luke 6:37 (NIV)

Devotion:

God gave each of us what we needed most—a Savior to save us from ourselves. Therefore, the holiday season should be a time of cheer. For some, however, it can be lonely and depressing. While the days leading up to Christmas should be filled with peace, joy, and hope, sadness over past mistakes can hover like clouds on a rainy day. We all have a tendency to define ourselves by what we have or haven’t done.

We tend to label ourselves by our past mistakes, and then we wear these labels as if there were no alternative. Failure; Unfaithful; Unfit Parent; Liar; Gossip; Addicted; Bitter.

The Bible tells us that as a person thinks, so they become. Therefore, if you want to live an unhealthy life, you can. If you want to punish yourself, you will. However, being self-destructive is not God’s plan for your life. In fact, to think this way is to see yourself outside of God’s saving grace.

That’s why the Christmas season offers such hope … because God gave us what we needed most—a Savior to save us from ourselves. The key to putting your past behind you, and moving forward with a bright and hopeful future, is to accept Christ’s forgiveness for you.

You’ll find it comforting to know that you are not alone in your troubles. The Bible tells us, “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23, NIV). That means there is not one perfect person in the entire world. We have all made mistakes. I know I’ve made my share. Still, no matter how hard we try to do everything right on our own, we can’t. So God gave His only Son as payment for our sins. In other words, Christ paid our debt. This payment is a gift of God which He freely offers to you and me.

The awesome thing is, we don’t have to earn this gift. Through Christ’s death on the cross, God simply says, “Your sins are paid in full.”

All you and I have to do to receive His forgiveness is to agree with God about our sins. You might say something like this in prayer. Yes, God, I did that thing … I receive your free gift of forgiveness for the wrong I have done, and I accept heaven as my eternal home. Cleanse me and change my life. Fill me with your love, hope, joy and peace.

If you sincerely mean what you’ve confessed, then you have been forgiven. Your slate is clean. God remembers your sins no more. It is as if they never were. That’s the good news of Christmas and the open doorway to peace!

The next thing you must do is forgive yourself. You will stay in bondage if you continue to label yourself as a bad or unworthy person for what you have done instead of focusing on the changes God can bring about in you. You must stop defining yourself by your past and read the Bible to learn how God defines His people.

Just think; this could be a Christmas where you experience real peace, joy, and forgiveness. It’s why Christ was born … to set you free.

Dear Lord, I am a sinner. I believe You died for me and rose from the grave to forgive my sins and secure me a place in heaven. Come into my life and take control. Forgive all my sin and help me to forgive others. I’m now turning from my sin and I trust You alone for my salvation. Fill me with your love and peace, in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Thankful Thursday

Well, it's Thankful Thursday time and I am thankful for so many things. We had a great Thanksgiving. It was a lazy day at our house. I started out making pancakes and trying to make some initials with the pancake batter as my parents did when we were growing up. My mom somehow managed to write our names out with the batter, but me..haha not so much luck. I was only able to manage an initial. They were still delicious along with some sausage balls I had made the night before.



I decided at the last minute to actually do a Thanksgiving meal and I'm so glad I did. I knew we were going to be having turkey that night at my dad's so I decided to get a ham and made green bean casserole, rolls, cranberry sauce and even attempted to make stuffing for the first time. It turned out ok for my first time. I know in years to come there will be much tweaking to the recipe. Dee-deed came over and we stuffed ourselves!

Later that night we went to my dad and Judi's for dinner. They had a house full with our five, then Dee-deed, my brother and his family(4) and then Judi's daughter and family(another 5) and then Judi's son. It was fun though. My dad recently bought a Wii and so we had a little bit of fun trying to figure out how to play the tennis game.




I figured out then when my player served the ball, then I won the game, but if the other player started out serving the ball, then I lost...oh well!

Cousins from the T/B side.

Boogs, Meggy, Bud, M & G.

This past Saturday was the Iron Bowl. Dee-deed came over and my best friend since high school came with her three boys. We had fingery foods and it was so much fun. Dee-deed didn't really care who won the game. David, an Alabama fan, was ecstatic that Alabama won, and Stephanie and I were shocked that Auburn didn't even score. Not even a field goal. It was disappointing, but I must say that Alabama has done well this year for the most part...good enough for them to be #1 right now. The AL/FL SEC Championship game should be an interesting one to watch!!

We went to Gatlinburg this past Sunday through Wednesday. It was fun and I have lots of pictures to post but will do that maybe tomorrow. I hope each of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving as we did!

Pilgrims & a Man Mall

Yesterday was Bud's Thanksgiving Feast at his school. This year he and his classmates were Pilgrims.




He did very well this year compared to last year's feast. Last year he wouldn't wear his Indian costume or sing. He basically just stood there. THIS year, he got his costume on with no problems and sung...well, not all of the songs, but some of them..I'll take that. He really did a great job! After their little program we sat down to a wonderful lunch that consisted of turkey, dressing & gravy (yummy!!), green beans, corn, a roll, mixed fruit and chocolate pudding. It was delicious!

After lunch I wanted to get a family picture in front of the Christmas tree that was in the annex.

I love those babies!!

After we left the luncheon, David wanted to go see the new Bass Pro Shop that has opened up in Leeds. Here are pics from our "man's dream land/toy land shopping mall" trip.

This beautiful Christmas tree greets you when you first walk in.

There were all sorts of things to see....and no shortage of stuffed animals. The kids wouldn't go near the little black bear. They thought it was real.




He wouldn't go near the little black bear but didn't have a problem posing in front of this bear. Go figure!

They have this area upstairs where you can pay 50cents and pretend to go hunting. You get to shoot a *fake* gun and you get only twenty shots.


David helped the boys and then it was my turn.


I'm not bragging or anything, but I think a score of 225 is pretty dang good for a girl whose never been really hunting. (Whisper)I beat David's score..LOL!!

Only Because My Scanner Wouldn't Work

I'm just now posting this because I couldn't get my scanner to work until today~it's weird. Anyway, we went last Tuesday with M&M's in tow to the doctor's office to hear the baby's heartbeat. We all crammed into the tiny little exam room and then the nurse came in to check my blood pressure and to put the goo on my stomach so that she could detect the heartbeat. We were making sure the kids were extra quiet so that they could hear the heartbeat. They were so excited to be able to go to the doctor with us. The nurse smeared and smeared that jelly all over my stomach with no heartbeat found. I was getting a little nervous. So she sent in my doctor's nurse practitioner to see if she could find the hearbeat. So we waited and waited and waited. Still nothing. I was freaking out because I was thinking something was wrong with the baby because if the nurse practitioner (who is basically like the dr.) couldn't find it then something must be wrong. She told me that my placenta was probably in the front and probably muffling the sound of the heartbeat. She suggested that we come back in two weeks, UM excuse me??, two weeks?? I was thinking, I can't wait two more weeks if something is really wrong. How am I supposed to do that without the 'worsts' constantly going through my mind? Then I remembered that we were planning to go out of town and wouldn't be there that second week so in turn, I would really be waiting three weeks and how could I go out of town on a vacation to enjoy myself with this nagging thought that something could be wrong with our little baby?

I started to cry. I think I just felt so overwhelmed with the not knowing and the fact that we were all disappointed that the babies didn't get to actually hear the heartbeat. SOOO, sweet as she is, she said she would send me for an ultrasound to make sure that everything was ok.

We went for the ultrasound and just as she said, the placenta was in the front and muffling the baby's heartbeat and all looked well with the baby on the ultrasound. I was so relieved and excited that the babies got to actually see the baby's heartbeat on the ultrasound. They got to see the baby moving around too. I don't know if Bud or Boogs really realizes what was going on, but I know Meggy knew. She was really excited to 'see' the baby and often pats my tummy and asks, "Momma, do you think the baby is ok in there?" She really is so sweet!! Here is our little baby...