Do Not Dwell

"This is what the Lord says-He who made a way through the sea,
a path through the mighty waters...
"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland."

Isaiah 43:16,18-19

So many times satan tries to come at us as Christians in bringing up things
from our past and tormenting us. Praise God that we have freedom from that
and by Jesus' stripes we are healed and by His blood we are cleansed!

My prayer is today for those of you out there that are struggling with this now,
that you would just trust that God loves you so deeply and perfectly that nothing....
NOTHING can come between you and Him. Do not dwell on the past....
His love for you is unending and never
changing....He throws everything in our past into the sea of forgetfulness and only sees
the road ahead of us....and leads us on.....never looking back.

Love n hugs....Laura

The Best

God always gives the best to those who leave the choice to Him.

Cowboys & Cowgals

You know the cowboys and cowgals have taken over yer house when you see this at your back door.......Jacob's buddies moved him back home today and since Mom and Dad were gone, they came to our place to hang out. Luckily he gave me JUST enough warning to throw together some goulash and a cheesy ham noodle casserole for lunch. And luckily I had just made a pan of gooey choc chip cake last night. So thankfully I won't be eating it all by myself this week ;)

They hung out for the rest of the day making good use of our pool table/ping pong in the big garage. But with so many coming in and out all day the flies took over again...Gabe was great bug patrol....I think I'm gonna need to buy him a clean one though..that one is nasty!!!

Starting on the left is Cody: Bullrider Hannah: Barrel Racer

and then of course our very own Ray-Ray:Barrel Racer and Jacob: Bullrider

And yes, Gabe escaped the house with Ray-Ray's boots at one point....a real man wears pink!

I had to leave to pick up our shipment of Michigan peaches that came in and get groceries....when I got back, they were still here. So they stayed for pizza for supper then headed out to our local fair and stock car races.

It was a great fun day!

FYI: I caught my second ground hornet today!

Thought that's all we had....um, yeah, now we saw another one....they are outa control!!!

Well, I'm off to a hot date with my hubby in the living room.....we just got the new 3rd Season of Prison Break!!!! Yipee!!!! Good night,sleep tight!

Love n Hugs....Laura

Pictures-Summer Fun

The Mister decides to get into Mommy's spaghetti when she is busy in the other room.

Ellie is pulling herself up on EVERYTHING the past week....and doing well with "walking" when she's being helped with it

Ellie's "scrunchy face"


One last visit from Uncle Matt before he headed back to Southern for college....Gabe actually said his name this time!

(we have a hard time getting him to say words at times because he is STINKIN' STUBBORN!)

Left picture: Gabe dipping his chips in Ellie's

cereal/bananas.....he is my son.....dips everything in anything ;) (well, okay, mostly just ranch dressing, but Gabe is starting a new trend)

A Soft Heart

So Lil Miss Ellie just completely scared the poo outa Gabe.
They were in his room playing and she accidently turned his radio
on that was on the floor and BLARRED some loudness....sending Gabe
running and sobbing and saying, "Baby! Baby! Baby!" Amidst his cries.

Ellie sat there and laughed. Jason just looked at me and said, "Um what's wrong
with this picture?" Yeah.....Gabe...the soft hearted boy and Ellie... the big bully.
I do believe we have many days of great adventure ahead of us.

I go between loving my little softy and then other days, I confess...I get frustrated
and just want to tell him to toughen up and quit being a baby. He is the type that ALWAYS needs to get his boo-boos kissed....which is fine, but i also want him to be tough...

As for Ellie, she has become a monkey like her brother...it's official.
She's been standing up in her crib (i'm so not ready for this) and for some reason
at 3:30 this morning, she decides to stand up and play then cry because she hasn't
figured out how to get down yet.

So both of our kids went from being laid back, content babies to moving monkeys....
that never stop climbing. Just wait....I'll be posting pictures soonly!
As for now, I'm headed out for girl's night out with a friend to our favorite place:
Logan's Steakhouse. Yum....and then maybe some shopping!

Hava great night! Love n Hugs...Laura

The Ships We Build

"A ship in the harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for."
(quote attributed to John Shedd)

I once heard a woman say, the children we raise are like building ships.
We'd love to keep them in our safe harbor of our homes/mother cacoon
where no harm can come to them. But essentially, God has given us these
precious gifts to love, nurture, "build up", and let go. Sending them out into
the world of "unknown waters."

But we as parents, can do this from the time they are born til the time of letting go:
1- Instill in them a love for Jesus
2- Fill them with the Word
3- Pray with them and over them
4- Give them the spiritual tools they too will need for life
5- Love with discipline
6- Teach them praise and worship

Tonite when putting the kids to bed I just felt my "mama heart" swelling again.
Seems like every day I fall deeper in love with these onery little ones God has blessed
us with. And every day I get a little bit more protective.
Our prayer is that our children would grow up to be mighty warriors in the Kingdom
and their ships will sail in "Living Waters."

Dominion

"God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." Genesis 1:28

So today I took dominion over the ground hornet that was taking up residency in our landscaping. From what we have researched they don't usually sting humans, they reserve it for locusts that they kill and eat. BUT....we have 2 small children and we were so not liking these HUGE insects buzzing around in the yard making us uncomfortable and on edge. We tried to no avail last night in capturing them and spraying them.

Well, today I got brave. With little mister Gabe at my side I watched one try to dig another hole and put the glass jar over the top. There were 2 huge gaps in the position it was in and I was thinking there was no way I was really going to get it. So I prayed. This prayer:

VERY loudly: "In Jesus' Name, Father I ask You would help me capture this bug...In Jesus' Name...and that critter very calmly crawled into the jar. I was shaking so bad for fear it would escape and attack me or Gabe. But no......I took dominion in Jesus' Mighty Name and now a dear little boy in the community has another critter for his bug collection he is starting.

(They had to explain to me that you put finger nail polish remover on a cottonball and slip it in the jar....yeah we watched the critter die and it wasnt' a pretty sight...he pooped and all.)

Jason came home for lunch shortly after my victory, still shaking but estatic, I said Honey Look!

He was mighty impressed with his wifey....just ask him ;)

Then I said, is it okay that I prayed like that? He said yes and reminded me of the verse in Genesis. And then afterwards God reminded me this is once again another testimony I must share of the Mighty Name of Jesus and the power it holds. Hallelujah!

We have one more critter out there digging holes....so tomorrow I will be taking gasoline and filling up the holes to gas them out. Wish me luck! and don't forget: There's no such thing as a stupid prayer. God cares about all the details in our lives!!!

Love n Hugs....Laura