Wonder

I hope you never lose your sense of wonder!

PHOTO OF THE DAY: WONDER

Nobody can do wonder like the monsters! 

The excitement in their eyes; the wonder is always present and perfect and innocent.

Somewhere, somehow as we age and live and make mistakes and grow, we lose it. 

I find wonder again in them.

Psalm 45

New International Version (NIV)

For the director of music. To the tune of “Lilies.” Of the Sons of Korah. A maskil.^[b] A wedding song.

¹ My heart is stirred by a noble theme
as I recite my verses for the king;
my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.

² You are the most excellent of men
and your lips have been anointed with grace,
since God has blessed you forever.

³ Gird your sword on your side, you mighty one;
clothe yourself with splendor and majesty.
⁴ In your majesty ride forth victoriously
in the cause of truth, humility and justice;
let your right hand achieve awesome deeds.
⁵ Let your sharp arrows pierce the hearts of the king’s enemies;
let the nations fall beneath your feet.
⁶ Your throne, O God,^[c] will last for ever and ever;
a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom.
⁷ You love righteousness and hate wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions
by anointing you with the oil of joy.
⁸ All your robes are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia;
from palaces adorned with ivory
the music of the strings makes you glad.
⁹ Daughters of kings are among your honored women;
at your right hand is the royal bride in gold of Ophir.

¹⁰ Listen, daughter, and pay careful attention:
Forget your people and your father’s house.
¹¹ Let the king be enthralled by your beauty;
honor him, for he is your lord.
¹² The city of Tyre will come with a gift,^[d]
people of wealth will seek your favor.
¹³ All glorious is the princess within her chamber;
her gown is interwoven with gold.
¹⁴ In embroidered garments she is led to the king;
her virgin companions follow her—
those brought to be with her.
¹⁵ Led in with joy and gladness,
they enter the palace of the king.

¹⁶ Your sons will take the place of your fathers;
you will make them princes throughout the land.

¹⁷ I will perpetuate your memory through all generations;
therefore the nations will praise you for ever and ever.

 

World

PHOTO A DAY: World

My world describing the world:)

Deuteronomy 8:11-18

New International Version (NIV)

¹¹ Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. ¹² Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, ¹³ and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, ¹⁴ then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. ¹⁵ He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. ¹⁶ He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you. ¹⁷ You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” ¹⁸ But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.

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Settle

Photo of the day: settle

The younger two monsters would LOVE to have mommy all to them self!

"It's not fair! He got to sit on your lap last time!"

Today, they settled. For half. Half of my lap, half of my hugs, half of my tickles!

Settle

Thanks for the photo, Kelly!

 

Romans 8:10-14

New International Version (NIV)

¹⁰ But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life^[a] because of righteousness. ¹¹ And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of^[b] his Spirit who lives in you.
¹² Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. ¹³ For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.
¹⁴ For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.

Injustice

Photo a day: injustice

Can anyone just eat one? It's an injustice to leave just one cookie in a row, it's an injustice to only leave a couple In the box. It's an injustice to yourself if you have only one!!

The freaking Girl Scouts sell them so you HAVE to buy them!

John 1:43-51
New International Version (NIV)
Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael

43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”

44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.

“Come and see,” said Philip.

47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”

48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.

Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”

49 Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”

50 Jesus said, “You believe[a] because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” 51 He then added, “Very truly I tell you,[b] you[c] will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’[d] the Son of Man.”

See

PHOTO A DAY

SEE

Titus 2:1-15

New International Version (NIV)

Doing Good for the Sake of the Gospel

2 You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine. ² Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.

³ Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. ⁴ Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, ⁵ to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.
⁶ Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled. ⁷ In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness ⁸ and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.
⁹ Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, ¹⁰ and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.
¹¹ For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. ¹² It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, ¹³ while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, ¹⁴ who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
¹⁵ These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.

Return

PHOTO A DAY

Return: home

"ET phone home"

"There's no place like home"

Home is where I return when I need to rest and renew my spirit!!

Deuteronomy 7:6-11

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

⁶ For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His ^[a]own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the ^[b]earth.

⁷ “The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, ⁸ but because the Lord loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the Lord brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of ^[c]slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. ⁹ Know therefore that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps ^[d]His covenant and ^[e]His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments; ¹⁰ but repays those who hate Him to ^[f]their faces, to destroy ^[g]them; He will not delay ^[h]with him who hates Him, He will repay him to his face. ¹¹ Therefore, you shall keep the commandment and the statutes and the judgments which I am commanding you today, to do them.

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Amen

They really do listen!! SOMETIMES. Sometimes they don't listen when we want them to. Sometimes they listen when we don't want them to. Sometimes they are listening when we don't think they are!

Last night we attended the Ash Wednesday service. Before the church service, the monsters were full of questions:

Do we have to get ashes? (I told them it was up to them.)

Do we have to leave it on if we get them? (Only until we get home, but if you want to leave it on, you can. It will show your classmates that you believe if any of the ashes are left on your forehead tomorrow.)

Can I bring my DS? (No, but I SHOULD have said yes...AAHHHH!! Keegs is usually the only monster that sits with me for the entire church service. Having Camille and Keegan vying for my attention for the whole hour was trying (exhausting)!)

One of my awesome, beautiful, wonderful friends met us at church with her monsters and we attempted to keep them (SEMI)quiet during the service.

When we started the responsive part of Communion, Keegan whispered in my ear: Can you say "amen" for me two times?

I looked at him puzzled and agreed (mostly to shut him up). Does he mean that he wants me to say "amen" for him when he takes Holy Communion; the gift of His body and blood?

We continued with the responsive reading and he whispered again: Mom, it's not REAL blood, right?

He is talking about the expected reponse when you receive Communion!  No, bud, it's not real blood.  It's just supposed to remind us that Jesus died for us.  It's actually juice.   

When he's not whispering in my ear, he's kicking Cami and drawing elephants. The people around us would have NO CLUE that he's actually listening.  But, he's not only is he listening, he's trying to comprehend! My handsome, crooked-smiled, accident prone, monster is trying to grasp a concept that many adults don't understand.

Finally, it was our turn to take Communion. On the way up to the stage area, he squeezed my hand: I will say it, Mom.

AND...he walked up, waited for Denny to say "the body of Christ, given for you" and he answered "AMEN".  He walked over and waited for Linda to say "the blood of Christ, given for you" and answered "AMEN".

I MUST remember what a handsome, wonderful, Christian boy he is the next time he wets his pants. When we all sat down, they tried to decipher if their ashes were in the shape of a cross...or an elephant...or a jet plane.

The only thing I could think in that moment:

AMEN!

PS: My kids wore their pj's to church again.  I'm not sure how some people feel about pj's at church, but my kids think it's awesome:)  I think it's awesome to have baths and pj's on before 7pm, too!