Happy 3rd Birthday GPS!!!!!

Dear Gabriel Paul Strough (GPS).......
This morning, I found you and yer sister in the kitchen.....washing dishes...and you had gotten wet so you stripped yer clothes. NICE..... The birthday boy is truly just that....in his suit!

This morning, you started counting out loud without Mommy prompting you at all.....we have been working on this task for 2 YEARS!!!! Hallelujah! You are growing up so big!!!

By 10 AM this morning you had eaten 5 Dum-Dum Pops.......I have no idea how many Ellie had!

Today is yer 3rd birthday.

That is why you have gotten to do all these fun things.

Because for today, I am going to linger in you still being a little boy...although it will not last for much longer...Where has the time gone??? Our little monkey boy is becoming a big FUNNY monkey!!! We love you so much!

We love how creative you are....even though it gets you into "bunches of trouble" as you would say. Take for example the picture above: You thought it would be funny to create a skirt like Mommy's out of yer shorts the other night. *sigh* this will not be so funny some day.

But for now I will laugh how silly you are ;)

We love how much energy you have and pray that someday you will put that towards advancing the Kingdom of God and that you will be a Mighty Warrior for Him like you are for us!

This morning as I was making cookies, you grabbed the mixer and ran off to the living room to sing me a song. You don't sing very much, so this made my heart smile!!!! It was the greatest jabberful song ever!!! I felt like today was my birthday with lotsa gifts of you singing and counting and peeing in the potty like a big boy!!! You still are not pooping in the potty....but I'm thinking you'll have that accomplished soon too!

You also jumped on the couch....which is forbidden in this house on most days. But because today is yer birthday, I let you and yer little sister have some fun.

I'm convinced you will forever be a cowboy....a man after Mommy's heart. Because you love your boots, your hat, your sister's red hat.....

When you were in the womb, we called you Pedro.....you kicked and danced around in Mommy's tummy like a true cowboy.....and you've never stopped acting crazy!

Today, Gabe, we celebrate the gift of you!!! We love you and can't wait to see what all God has in store for your strong willed, happy go lucky, onery, long legged life!!!!

Now Mommy is going to drop you off at Mee-Mee's to play while I go shopping for your birthday. Seriously......Happy Friday to me and you Gabey Bear!!

Fearless Living

"If God can trust you and me, then we can certainly trust Him. To think that God entrusted His Son to a broken, fallen, mixed-up world shouts one thing: Your parents may not be faithful; your spouse may not be faithful; your children, your friend, your boss, or even you may not be entirely faithful--but your God is always faithful! If placing His Son in the hands of a scared teenage girl isn't trust, I don't know what is. But choosing to stand on this truth is a step toward fearless living."

`Micca Campbell---Proverbs 31 Ministries

Stop Pretending

"I think we can stop pretending that we’re perfect, or even that we’re trying to be perfect in front of our children. That leaves so little room for God. What I want most for my children is that they would be dependent upon God. I can’t make them God-dependent, but I can live out my own dependence on God. I can do this by letting my kids see my fatigue at times, my mistakes, my limitations, even my tears---and my fears! Let them see some of that, as is age appropriate.


I remember one time when my husband had been gone for 2 weeks. I was exhausted. My five sons were fighting and tearing the house apart. They wouldn’t listen to me, and I just lost it. I just broke down and cried in front of them. They stopped, stunned. Suddenly they had a very visual display of the impact of their behavior! They quit. They apologized and things settled down. Now, I didn’t plan that. In fact, I plan for the opposite—that I’ll always be in control, I’ll always have the right answer and response . . . but if you’re superwoman all the time, they’ll not see your need of God. Don’t be afraid to just be human!


Let them see you pray when you’re afraid, when you fail. Let them see your sadness at your own sin. Let them hear of your own struggles to live righteously. We can’t bring our children to faith ourselves---this is God’s work. But we can show them what it looks like to live as a servant of God. " ~Leslie Leyland Fields

Pictures-Weekend Recap

Ellie is learning to feed herself....sometimes you just gotta live with the mess to get the achievement!!!!

Now that musical is over......Daddy and Gabe have LOTSA time to get yardwork done!!! Yipee!

The Ropp girls show our kids how to wrestle properly ;)

An old fashioned pogo stick and Savannah Ropp holds the world record!!!!!!!!

We have the bestest babysitters in the world!! The kids I used to babysitt....wow!

Last picture of the long hair before he got sheared for his summer haircut!! Pictures to come!!

It makes my heart happy when these two monkies actually sit and play together ;)

Abba Father

"Is your own personal prayer life characterized by the simplicity, childlike candor, boundless trust, and easy familiarity of a little one crawling up in Daddy's lap? An assured knowing that the daddy doesn't care if the child falls asleep, starts playing with toys, or even starts chatting with little friends, because daddy knows the child has essentially chosen to be with him for that moment? Is that the spirit of your interior prayer life?" (44)

[a simple prayer] "Abba, I belong to You." [a powerful transformation] "The greatest gift I've ever received in my life in Jesus is the Abba experience. I can only stutter and stammer about the life-changing power of the Abba encounter." (46-47)

~Brennan Manning-The Furious Longing of God

*Sigh*

We had an amazing weekend.....but I'm oh so tired.........
Jason's kids did 3 performances of Once Upon a Mattress and they were awesome!!!
Pictures to follow soon.

Hava great week.......

Proverbs 11:25 "A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed." (NIV)

Don't Faint...

"Don't forget the promise and forfeit the payout because you fainted in the process."

~Pastor Steven Furtick