Pictures-Birthdays-Part 1

Your Life...

You can't start the next chapter of your life if you keep re-reading the last one.

I Love You...Moster Faster

Tonite....I'm laying with Gabe as he's falling asleep and he says, "Mom?"

"yes Gabe?"

"I just love you."

my heart melts...."I love you so much too Gabe."

"Well I love you most Mom!"

"No Gabe, I love you more..."

He pauses....."well I love you moster faster!"

my heart is now in a puddle..... :)

Make it Beautiful...

You Say...God Says...

You will actually need to click on the picture to read it....sorry :(

Life...

You Are Worth Far More

Thinking you are worthless today? God says "reconsider".
Read on... "Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid. You are worth far more." 

- Luke 12:6-7

Never...

Pictures-Tabletop Monkey Dancers & Cukes

Please excuse the quality of the picts......our camera.....sniff....broke....sob.....yes.....waiiiiiilllll...

I have resorted to snapping picts of our daily life with my very old fashioned cell phone camera :(

oh sad day. will someone please call my hubby and tell him a new camera is a need??? not just

a want????? (as i typed that out....visions of my sweet lil friends in haiti filled my mind...sigh)

ok....so it's not a necessity in the big picture of life....but still.....i am one who captures every

moment possible in these adorable monkey lives .... so i'm praying for a miracle in our budget.....

Pict#1---BabyMonkey thinks school is a necessity on the table top....she got sent directly to the principals office :)ha!

#2 & 3---oh look! BaMo is on that tabletop again!!! it's a babymonkey magnet!!! and you wonder how i get homeschooling, teaching 30 piano students, meals, laundry, cleaning, blogging, picking up, organizing, ANYTHING done???? (i'm just waiting for the moment i come around the corner

and she's dancing on that tabletop :)

#4--our new bunk beds....oh wait....that's our "DREAM BEDS" for the monkies...aren't they grand???

#5 & 6----MeeMee Monkey dropped off cukes to eat....guess who FOUGHT OVER THEM....

and ate them whole?!?!? and called them their cucumber yummy sticks?? yes...our kids....what nuts :)

#7-----My amazing hubby....so very very thankful for the Daddy he is...he's a keeper.

The Man in the Arena

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly . . . who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions;... who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have never known neither victory nor defeat.

 —TEDDY ROOSEVELT

Legalism/Holiness

Legalism says, "I won't do this because I can't." A desire for holiness says, "I know I can do this but I don't want to."

Pursue the latter.

Great Giveaway!!!

Head over to my beautiful friend Christi's blog  
http://godetchedyourname.blogspot.com/2012/01/great-giveaway-send-me.html
for some awesome giveaway particles!!!

Sermon Snippets

1-"God wants us to "love the hell" out of others so we can shine and see the Heaven in all of us."
~Todd White

2-"Be big minded....not small."

3-"Go for the gold in people and forget the peripheral sights."

4-"There's a cost to being a disciple of Jesus...you have to die...and keep dying to self."

5-"What kind of righteousness are we hungry and thirsty for?"

6-"If you step out in the "uncomfortable"--that's when the "Comforter" can come in and work."
~Happy and Dianne Leman

"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."
Matthew 6:33

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
For they shall be filled."
Matthew 5:6 
Make sure to check out Todd White in the clips below...this man has an amazing testimony!
http://youtu.be/JhrGgwtgA5E

http://youtu.be/EvL-PDWrfBY

Be You...

Monkey Barracade

can you guess which monkies are trying to keep a certain other little monkey away from them???

We All Live,Lose,Love...

“No matter how different our circumstances may be, we each live and lose and love and cry and work and let go and endure and break down and get back up. It is the universal tie that binds all of us together, and it matters deeply. I know that the fullness of how we love each other as human beings is in our understanding of how similar we really are, and how much we need each other to care. We truly were not meant to take this journey alone.”

~{w}hole

He's a Preacher...

More than 24 years ago, Pam & her husband Bob were serving as missionaries to the Philippines and praying for a fifth child. Pam contracted amoebic dysentery, an infection of the intestine caused by a parasite found in contaminated food or drink. She went into a coma and was treated with strong antibiotics before they discovered she was pregnant. Doctors urged her to abort the baby for her own saf...ety and told her that the medicines had caused irreversible damage to her baby. She refused the abortion and cited her Christian faith as the reason for her hope that her son would be born without the devastating disabilities physicians predicted. Pam said the doctors didn't think of it as a life, they thought of it as a mass of fetal tissue. While pregnant, Pam nearly lost their baby four times but refused to consider abortion. She recalled making a pledge to God with her husband: If you will give us a son, we’ll name him Timothy and we’ll make him a preacher. Pam ultimately spent the last two months of her pregnancy in bed and eventually gave birth to a healthy baby boy August 14, 1987. Pam’s youngest son is indeed a preacher. He preaches in prisons, makes hospital visits, and serves with his father’s ministry in the Philippines. He also plays football. Pam’s son is Tim Tebow!!

Pictures-Winter Came

Winter finally arrived.....Monkies G and E loved it....BabyMonkey...not so much....:)

Isaiah 58

"Lighten the burden of those who work for you, Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people. Share you food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help. Then your salvation will come like the dawn, and your wounds will quickly heal. Your godliness will lead you forward, and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind. Then when you call, the Lord will answer. 'Yes I am here,' he will quickly reply."

Isaiah 58: 6-9

BaMo isn't even 2 yrs old yet...

MamaMonkey Journal Entry#1052: BabyMonkey grabs the Wii remote today, gets into Netflix ,starts the LeapFrog movie, turns to me and laughs....she will be 2 yrs old in 1 month. BaMo pushes a stool over to the stove today, climbs on top and starts pushing buttons on the microwave. BaMo is not 2 yrs old YET. BaMo goes into laundry room today, pushes stool over to washmachine,opens lid and drops a pair of shorts in the top. BM is 1.9 yrs old. BaMo yells NO NO and tries to bite her 5 yr old big bro today when he takes a toy away from her. BaMo opens fridge door,gets a cup & attempts to pour herself a cup of juice today.*sigh* Sadly, PapaMonkey is correct when he makes jokes that our NOT EVEN 2 YR OLD YET is running the Strough house currently.....MamaM is now taking a very long vacation somewhere warm and exotic that includes blue waters,sandy beaches, and happy punch. Call me on my cell when Jason Strough has the baby under control :)

I Will Trust

Isaiah 12:2 

(NKJV)

" Behold, God is my salvation,

I will trust and not be afraid;

 For YAH, the LORD, is my strength and song;

He also has become my salvation."

1000 Times I've Failed...

Just Aired....

on national TV!!!! woohoo!!!

http://youtu.be/5beoRa_HR8o


and that my friends.....is very cool :)

Hillbilly Commandments

He Saves...

Pictures-Global Warming??

So while people chat about this odd warm weather in the middle of January in Illinois....I just thank God. Global Warming??? Eh......I say it's God Gifts....the monkies and I are soaking up every single drop of it before that predicted snow hits us.

And I may or may not be filling up bottles of it.....stashing it  away in all the nooks and crannies I can possibly find.  Just a lil moonshine....er... I mean sunshine :)...for those dreary winter February days up ahead :)

I Run...

ROMANS 8:28

Goals for 2012

Goals for 2012 from stuff around the house:

More playing with our monkies than this past year...

 complete this amazing book....

 Read these to the kiddos....

 fill up these prayer boxes and stop whining..... :)

                                                             Rest in this thought up above...

 homeschooling a very onery, energetic, stubborn kindergartener and not giving up on it :)
and teaching them the concept of tithing, saving, money, etc....

 every day.....focusing on the positive stuff

and last but not least: BECOMING A TROPHY WIFE :)