Love is Grateful

“Love can only be patient when it is first grateful for what is right now.”

You Never Let Go

So Jase is gone for a couple days and Gabe is sick again....and all I want to do is cry.
Tonite, the first site I visited, this song came on....and all I could do is cry.
This song has always been a favorite and God knew I needed the reminder now.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
Your perfect love is casting out fear
And even when Im caught in the middle of the storms of this life
I wont turn back
I know You are near

And I will fear no evil
For my God is with me
And if my God is with me
Whom then shall I fear?
Whom then shall I fear?

Chorus:
Oh no, You never let go
Through the calm and through the storm
Oh no, You never let go
In every high and every low
Oh no, You never let go
Lord, You never let go of me

And I can see a light that is coming for the heart that holds on
A glorious light beyond all compare
And there will be an end to these troubles
But until that day comes
Well live to know You here on the earth

Chorus:

Yes, I can see a light that is coming for the heart that holds on
And there will be an end to these troubles
But until that day comes
Still I will praise You, still I will praise You


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y83-vMeWc9E

Pictures-Monkey See,Monkey Do

We still got alot of monkey business happenin' at our house these days...never a dull moment and I've decided I wouldn't want it any other way!

Cannot Stop Eating It Dessert

2 pkgs. crescent rolls
2 pkgs. cream cheese
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 stick butter
2 tsp. cinnamon
DIRECTIONS
Press 1 package of crescent rolls on bottom and sides of a 9" x 12" pan.
Mix together, cream cheese, 1 cup sugar and vanilla with mixer and pour over the top of crescent rolls in pan.
Flatten the 2nd package of crescent rolls and place over cream cheese mixture in pan.
Mix together cinnamon and 1/2 cup sugar and pour over the top of the crescent rolls in pan.
Melt butter and pour over the cinnamon and sugar mixture.
Bake at 350°F for 1/2 hour.

These are just amazing.....you seriously cannot stop eating it! Enjoy!

Pull the Weeds

Jesus warned of three kinds of pesky weeds that can squeeze the life out of fruit-producing seedlings. (Luke 8:4-15)

1- The Weed of Worry
*This kind of weed will pull you in more than one direction.
*Removes your focus off Christ.
*Causes anxiety.
"Resting in the Lord does not depend on external circumstances at all, but on your relationship to God Himself...Fretting springs from a determination to get our own way...Deliberately tell God that you will not fret about that thing. All our fret and worry is caused by calculating without God." ~Oswald Chambers

2-The Weed of Deceitful Riches
"But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." 1 Timothy 6:9,10

3- The Weed of Desire
*sexual lust
*addiction to pornography
*perversions
*success
*food
*clothing
*jewlery
*car
*job, etc, etc

We want our lives to be the kind of good, fertile soil in which the gospel can take root and produce fruitfulness. ~Taken from MarriageBible...Dennis & Barb Rainey

Community

COMMUNITY: per Merriam Websters: 1: a unified body of individuals

Tonite we had community church at our high school gym....it was amazing to see all these churches come together as one body. And it was even more amazing to get to listen to ASHER perform again.....and even more awesome to hear praise and worship fill the sounds of the gym.

Our prayer was not only that the Holy Spirit would fill the school and hallways and touch each student and faculty member....but that when we go out in the world that all could see that we are disciples of Jesus. Not even so much by what we say, but just how we live our lives.

Preach always...and if necessary, use words. ~St. Francis of Assisi

Pictures-Girls Day Out

The girls in our family had a fun day out today....

Bob Evans was so very good to us ;)

And Bride Wars was great! A must see!

Uncle Isaac had a home game tonite, so the kids had some fun of their own.

Although we didn't beat those Watseka Warriors our guys played hard despite their tiredness from last night's game.

One Life...One Faith

"I have one life and one chance to make it count for something...and the something I have chosen is my faith. Now, my faith goes beyond theology and religion and requires considerable work and effort. My faith demands--and this is NOT optional--my faith DEMANDS that I do whatever I can, wherever I can, whenever I can, for as long as I can with whatever I have to try to make a difference." ~Jimmy Carter

Update

Well, our day started out pretty well despite another rough night.
Ellie threw up from 1:30 am-5 am......*sigh* I'm sure God has purpose
in all this....there's gotta be. So we made it out the door, dropped her off
at Mom and thankfully she was happy and did great all day.

A HUGE thanks to my dad for going with Gabe and I...as I'm not familiar
with Peoria at all. The staff at Dr. Pratt's office was great and Dr. Pratt herself
was very personable and had so much knowledge to share with us.
Right now I'm too tired to say it all, but the basics is this:

Gabe had part of the skin tests today and reacted the worst to dairy which we
already knew. We did find out today, that for his age, his numbers are considered
deathly. Meaning: he couldn't have scored much higher.

She wants to switch him to rice milk instead of soy and see if this helps.
We are going to switch Ellie as well. Hopefully they like it!

When we got home, he went down for a late nap and when he woke up he
was completed congested. The longer he was awake, the worse it got.
He started sneezing, coughing, labored breathing, wheezing, gagging.....
the whole anaphylaxis reaction. (extreme allergic emergency).
Not sure until I talk to the allergist tomorrow if he was reacting to all the tests
he had done or if somehow his lunch at Culver's was cross contaminated.
So, lotsa Benadryl AND sadly......the Epipen.....AND a nebulizer treatment later.....
he is sleeping peacefully and we haven't heard coughing or sneezing for an hour.

We are headed to bed and hoping for a restful night for both kids.
Thank you for all your prayers. Some days are really hard and it's easy
to start doubting that the kids will ever be healed of whatever is going on.
So thank you for covering us in prayer. We prayed over both kids again tonite
and Jason has been really been an amazing support for me in that his belief
has stayed strong. And every time I hear him pray the words,
"God, we believe that You are healing them, because Your Word says,
by Your stripes, we are healed...." it gives my heart another boost and
the doubt is pushed away.

And Chelsey....we just want you to know that we are praying for you too.
That the doctors would have wisdom to know what has been making you
sick for 2 mths too. That you would literally just feel Jesus holding you close
thru this season of life. We love you so much!!!!

Tomorrow

Gabe will be going to the allergy specialist for the first time tomorrow.
I'm excited to know that maybe we will have more answers.
I'm nervous at the thought of the possibility of the skin test that involves
holding a child down while needles prick him.

We continue to pray...BELIEVING...that God is healing Gabe of whatever
is attacking his body. He broke out in hives again today around his mouth
and forehead, but so far, no more throwing up and hershey squirts. This
is a good day when the latter 2 are not involved.

We have discontinued his Flintstones multivitamin as his episode this past
Saturday happened after taking one. He hadn't had a vitamin since coming home
from the hospital that I can think of (because I forgot to give it to him.) We also
have stopped letting him have his soymilk as not sure if the buildup of even
1 sippycup a day (and testing mildly allergic to soy) could be what caused the
hives/throwing up/diarrhea blowout episode.

Please pray for peace surrounding us tomorrow and wisdom for the doc.
Thank you again to all of you who have stood by us, loved us, cared for us,
prayed for us thru this season of the unknown. We have been so blessed
by so many and words cannot express our appreciation.

We love you all!!!

The Doer

I thank God for this lil girl that LOVES to snuggle and cuddle...I prayed for a child like this!

And I thank God, that even though this lil monkey is headstrong and has a mind of his own...

he truly is a doer and is always willing to help me with whatever. It is so exciting that he

actually can help put groceries away and sweep the floors! And for those of you that think

"What a horrible mom putting her kid to work"....Well, I never have to make him, all I do is ask

and he jumps at the oppurtunity!!

“the doer, not the mere critic- the man who actually does the work, even if roughly and imperfectly, not the man who only talks or writes about how it ought to be done” (Roosevelt, 1891). For, “Criticism is necessary and useful; it is often indispensable; but it can never take the place of action, or be even a poor substitute for it. The function of the mere critic is of very subordinate usefulness. It is the doer of deeds who actually counts in the battle for life, and not the man who looks on and says how the fight ought to be fought, without himself sharing the stress and the danger.” (Roosevelt, 1894)

LOVE is Patient

"4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never fails." 1 Cor 13

Love is patient and suffers long is the first part.....and I think there's a reason to that.
Patience is probably one of that hardest things for me....but I find out, the more I exercise
it....the easier it is to love that someone...whomever it may be that is on my last nerve.

So this week....I will exercise patience...and in that maybe I'll love a little better.

Prayer Request

2 Corinthians 12:9
"And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."

Just quickly wanted to ask prayer for Gabe again.
Gabe has been slowly acting like something is not right again.
Very irritable....whiney....VERY hyper...very defiant.
Then last night he was up for about 4-5 hours, throwing up.
Today he acted fine, was really happy and a nice change from
the last couple weeks. He had nasty smelly gas again all day, then
tonite had a HUGE blowout of diarrhea that was that awful, haunting
smell again. I'm trying so hard to keep my eyes fixed on Jesus in all this.

Inside, my heart is aching, screaming to know what is wrong with
Gabe's body. What is attacking him and preventing him from feeling good?
What is robbing the joy out of him?

So, we wait and pray...hoping and believing that God's hand is upon
him and there's nothing we can't handle....because God is faithful.
And God is in control. And He loves Gabe even more than this Mama Bear does.

IsaacBall

This is the face of the man that led the Hawks to victory today! Leading scorer with 17 pts....
We had an awesome meal at Hometown Buffett in Champaign to celebrate.
Gabe has been playing alot of "Isaacball" here at home with Daddy...and getting better every day.....can't wait til it's Gabe's games we're going to. And if he keeps training with Daddy and Uncle Isaac, it's sure to be some great ball to watch! Great game Isaac...we're proud of you!

The World's Bestest Daddy!

Thank you Daddy for all you do for us....

Thank you for taking care of us.....For playing with us....for feeding us....for working

hard for us....for praying with us and for us.....for being the bestest Daddy ever!!!

We love you.
Yers truly...The monkies

I Love You Mommy

Today was a bad, bad day......

The morning started out with:
1-Gabe running into Ellie's bedroom and waking her up
2- Gabe getting cleaning supplies out of bathroom and spraying Lysol into her vaporizer
3- Gabe dumping a gallon of water on his bedroom floor
4- Gabe getting into the Vicks and smearing it on himself and his tractors AND his carpet
5- Gabe dumping water bottles on dining room floor
6- Gabe getting milk outa fridge and hiding under kitchen table, attempting to drink it
7- Gabe getting ice cubes and COVERING the living room floor with them
8- Gabe taking toys away from his sister
9- Gabe eating food not on his diet
10- Gabe throwing fruity pebbles on the floor
11- Mommy dropping the cordless phone into washing machine full of water

The afternoon consisted of:
Mommy dumping her coffee..during her quiet time...all over her Bible, her chair, her pants, her shirt, her feet.

The day ended with:
Gabe dumping his supper on the floor. Getting many spankings and chats as he absolutley refused to pick it up. Finally I stuck him in bed until his Daddy got home.
When I rocked him to sleep tonite, I told him I loved him just like I always do.
But tonite was different....Tonite, Gabe replied for the first time ever:
"I Love You Mommy."
And the Good Lord knew this Mama Bear's heart needed to hear that for the first time tonite.

Busy Mom Meal

DOES THAT LOOK YUMMY OR WHAT?????
I worked at the clinic today then came home and did piano lessons until 5:30 and realized I had nothing ready to go for supper.....*sigh* So I became creative with what I had and went to work.
5 recipe books and 1 internet search later....I threw something together.
BEHOLD......I think I am becoming my mother's daughter...finally....after many, many years ;)

*Laura's Barbeque Beef n Biscuits*

2 lbs browned hamburger with dried onion flakes
1/2 c catsup
1/2 c honey barbeque sauce
1 ts mustard
1/4 c lemon juice
1/2 c brown sugar
~Mix top ingred. together and place in 8X8 casserole dish.
~Cover top with shredded mozarella and cheddar cheese.
~Cover cheese with spread out and flattened 1 container of Pillsbury biscuits.
~Throw in oven at temp that yer biscuit container says about 20-25 min.

While that's baking.......Saute this:
1 bag frozen whole green beans
water and salt
lemon or lime juice
dried onion flakes
dried bacon crumbs.....I guessed at it all and didn't measure...just dumped til it tasted right.
They were yummy, quick, and easy!!!

Enjoy and let me know if yer kids like it too!!!!

The Fruits

“There is a great difference between successfulness and fruitfulness. Success comes from strength, control, and respectability. A successful person has the energy to create something, to keep control over its development, and to make it available in large quantities. Success brings many rewards and often fame. Fruits, however, come from weakness and vulnerability. And fruits are unique. A child is the fruit conceived in vulnerability, community is the fruit born through shared brokenness, and intimacy is the fruit that grows through touching one another’s wounds. Let’s remind one another that what brings us true joy is not successfulness but fruitfulness.”
-Henri Nouwen.......Bread for the Journey

Fireproof

After not getting to go to church this morning because the kids were still considered contagious...

I was getting stir crazy!!!!!

With thanks to my Dad and Mom for keeping the kids, Jason whisked me away to marriage class at our church. Then it was out to pizza with my brother and his lady and my friend Sarah and her man. And THEN...it was off to see Fireproof at the Baptist Church in Fairbury.

Wow...so worth seeing. There's so much I could say about it but I'm soooooooooooo tired.

(Although...praise God.....both kids finally slept all night last night!)

Sarah...We have missed you soooooooooooo much!!! Was so good to hug yer neck again ;) Love ya friend.....and Thomas.....we love you too ;)

BASICS to remember from class today and movie:

1-Never leave your mate behind...especially when the storm gets the worst

2- A marriage is ALWAYS worth the fight

3- You will never be able to love the right way until you love Jesus first and foremost

4- Protect your family and marriage by getting rid of sinful addictions

5- Remember that God created men and women differently and therefore, we will think differently...and THAT'S OKAY!!

6- Don't focus on the negatives about your spouse...focus on the positives and those only

TO BE CONTINUED........Night...sleep tight......God bless you BIG this week.

More Pictures

A woman on a mission.....

I've not been blogging for this reason above: Poor little sick eyes....both kids have had high fevers and HORRIBLE coughs....I seriously don't know what else to do but douse our house with bleach to get all the bugs out. The other night...after not much sleep....I just had to thank God that I wasn't watching my kids die or fight cancer....I keep telling myself, someone is always fighting a harder battle and I need to be thankful it's nothing worse.

Gabe got the sickies second....you can't tell as bad in his eyes as you can Ellie's....but the sparkle definatley hasn't been there. They both are hoarse now too, totally different voices.

Mommy, will you please make me all better?

Gabe got a drum set for Christmas (A big thank you to Amy...I love you so much)

and here he is in my scrubs. He wanted to "be doctor" one night as I was hanging up laundry.

The monkies gather under the table because they know they are in trouble ;)

Ellie learning what praising God means...with all your heart, soul, body, and mind.

Gabe's hair is getting curly again....the great debate begins again....let it go or cut?

Came out in the kitchen the other day and Gabe was feeding his kangaroos chips&salsa!!!!

We had our friends Doug and Paige over one night for an evening of pizza and fun.

They are a sweet young couple from our church soon to be married!!!

Our kids LOVED them.....because they played horses with them....and everything else.

Thank you Paige and Doug for a great night....hopefully you will want to come back again even after the monkies wouldn't leave you alone!

Thoughts for 2009

YESTERDAY
"The God of Israel will be your rereward." Isaiah 52:12

Security from Yesterday. "God requireth that which is past." At the end of the year we turn with eagerness to all that God has for the future, and yet anxiety is apt to arise from remembering the yesterdays. Our present enjoyment of God's grace is apt to be checked by the memory of yesterday's sins and blunders. But God is the God of our yesterdays, and He allows the memory of them in order to turn the past into a ministry of spiritual culture for the future. God reminds us of the past lest we get into a shallow security in the present.

Security for To-morrow. "For the Lord will go before you." This is a gracious revelation, that God will garrison where we have failed to. He will watch lest things trip us up again into like failure, as they assuredly would do if He were not our rereward. God's hand reaches back to the past and makes a clearing-house for conscience.

Security for To-day. "For ye shall not go out with haste." As we go forth into the coming year, let it not be in the haste of impetuous, unremembering delight, nor with the flight of impulsive thoughtlessness, but with the patient power of knowing that the God of Israel will go before us. Our yesterdays present irreparable things to us; it is true that we have lost opportunities which will never return, but God can transform this destructive anxiety into a constructive thoughtfulness for the future. Let the past sleep, but let it sleep on the bosom of Christ.

Leave the Irreparable Past in His hands, and step out into the Irresistible Future with Him.
~Oswald Chambers

Wisdom

My doctor wore wisdom around her neck yesterday.
The necklace said these simple lines:

"A wise chic owl sat on an oak
the more she saw the less she spoke
the less she spoke the more she heard."

And that is stinkin' good wisdom my friend ;)

MHWE Award

South of the Border....Anniversary #4 Getaway

I have just earned the MHWE Award (Most Horrible Wife Ever).

We celebrated our 4 year anniversary on December 26th and in the hub-bub

of the holiday festivities, I forgot to blog about it. Sorry babe....better late than

never, eh?

Thank you Jason for being the greatest husband a woman could ever want.

Thank you for being the bestest friend I could ever need.

Thank you for being the spiritual leader every family requires.

Thank you for an amazing 4 years of adventure and fireworks. I love how

there's never a dull moment with us....even if it means some choppy waters.

Because I've found out, that thru the storms, our love only gets deeper

and wider. And God has huge purpose in it all.

I still thank God to this day for the gift of you.

We may not have it all together, but together we have it all.

I love you....always and forever.