Birthday FUN!

The parties went smoothly, and now, they are over. But the remnants of popped balloons are EVERYWHERE! lol, yes yes, had to rent me a bottle of helium. Great fun. The kids all enjoyed it too. I think the build your own Sunday was a great success! The young cousins were very excited to be able to freely dip all they pleased. God was honored and love was given. Great day for sure.

Now the kids start a new semester in school, and we will be hitting the road again shortly. God is good to us and we will give Him the glory and credit for everything we do... whether its school, work, or play!

The top two pics are our science play with the helium! we had so much fun guessing what would float with how many balloons! well worth the time and effort! LOVED IT! of course!

Feb 4th !!! It's MANDY'S BIRTHDAY!!!!

Oh my precious little girl, what a great gift you are to me. What an adventure we have had thus far, and by the way, I HAVE LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT TOO!

I can't believe you are 7 years old today!

I am going to be very truthful tonight, I planned to have you. I wanted you for almost 2 years before I was able to carry you. During those 9 months, I was more fiery than I ever have been in my entire life. I was determined. I was honest. I didn't have time for silly games from anyone. Most important, I knew that I could achieve anything I wanted. I know now that those qualities were from you. I see your loving face and I know that you will be, i pray, exactly what God wants you to be.

Psalm 139:14
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

I praise Him for letting me have the great honor of being your mom.

Now a little bit for the readers...

My Ms. Mandy is very, very artistic. She loves to sculpt with modeling clay and spends hours drawing. I love to listen to her play with her toys. With boys, you hear the crashes and motors and bang em ups, but with my wonderful little lady, I hear her impressions of life and how it is suppose to be. Mandy is also very passionate. If she loves, then you are loved. She has always been very mothering... which is something she has taught me a lot about. She is a hugger, but not to hard! Her love of any animals and insects are amazing. Oh boy, and SHE CAN RIDE THAT DIRT BIKE WITH THE BEST OF THEM BOYS!!!!!She is my heart.

I never did teach Mandy to count. One day, Dylan and I was riding around, and Mandy counted to 20... He looks at me and asks, "did you teach her that?" Of course I had to respond, "NO!!!" Mandy is a self taught person. If she wants it, its hers! lol!

I love you baby girl, you seek God, and everything else will follow. Dream big! Expect the best! Do NOT BE SO DANG HARD OF YOURSELF! Mistakes are a great thing, they help us know what not to do next time. and PS, everyone makes mistakes.

Love much, Laugh, and DANCE LIKE NO ONES LOOKING!

You and God CAN DO ANYTHING!

James

James has been a book in the Bible that I have been fascinated with for the last few months. I have read it over and over and over. For the the most part, I feel there are many life lessons that are stated in these passages. Hard times, how to treat people, and how to gain knowledge are the three that have been important to me.

HARD TIMES:

V2-3, My brothers and sisters, when you have many kinds of troubles you should be full of joy, because you know that these troubles test your faith, and this will give you patience.

We should be full of joy when bad times come, WHATEVER... LOL, I know some of you reading this are really going to call me crazy now. When I first read this verse, I can't imagine this being possible. Smile when your heart is breaking... Be happy, even if you have no idea what tomorrow is going to hold... Laugh when you feel like slowly disappearing without a trace... Yeah right, WHY@! I want to scream, I want to tell everyone how bad it is, I want to hang a sign and pic of myself and say poor me... but what good does it really do..

When my heart is lonely and my bank is empty, and when my family seems to be falling to pieces, What should i do...

the next verse explains it all

James v4-5 Let your patience show itself perfectly in what you do. Then you will be perfect and complete and will have everything you need. But if you need wisdom (on how to make it through this trial) you should ask God for it. He is generous and ENJOYS giving to all people, so he will give you wisdom.

WOW! SO God is letting you and I go through these things for A REASON... He is giving us a chance to grow, to teach others, and hey we cant forget, to seek HIM! Finally, I get it. If I am lonely in a crowd, I better get on my face and talk to My God. Grab us a cup of java and get busy with our chat. When my bank is empty, I need to be patient and show my actions not by whining and crying and pouting, but show my face before God and behave. When my family seems to be falling apart, I need to be patient so He that is just and faithful and will give me everything I need. If its hard, I really need to get over myself and find the patience for my babies sake. for my moms sake, for my sisters sake, and for my husband sake... Never know what God is up to... He has great plans that would blow my mind!

Next James speaks about how we need to treat the poor. This is a peeve of mine, and something I am trying to learn to control. But I notice this a lot when i am with my co-workers. For example, we all just get off work. We are starving, dirty, and a bit loud. (ear plugs will cause you speak louder once you take em out and most of these guys cant hear because they HAVEN'T worn the proper ppe ;) The other customers watch us like they are disgusting. They eye us like we have been at the homeless shelter and they just gave us the boot. The waitress, God bless her, avoids us cause she isn't sure she will get a tip... hmm, someone has figured out that we are all broke! and we cant afford soap!!! LOL!!!

Never ever ever judge a person by their looks, clothes, or what they drive.

But James even way back then knew that people would lay the red carpet down for the rich, give them the best seats, and treat them like a ... GOD!??? yes, that's exactly what was going on. But the poor were shoved to the back, made to stand instead of sit. For God's sake, they smell funny! They look dirty! They have no PLACE in this Church...

James 2 v 1 As believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, never think some people are more important than others...

2 v 5 Listen! God choose the poor in the world to be RICH WITH FAITH AND TO RECEIVE THE KINGDOM OF GOD PROMISED TO THOSE WHO LOVE HIM!!!!

I have had to reevaluated my mind set too. I have been on the look out for those that God leads me too. What an honor it is TO HELP THOSE THAT ARE RICH IN FAITH!!!!

This whole book has increased my knowledge. Not only for the simple fact of information, but now before i begin reading, I ask God for the supernatural wisdom and knowledge that comes From God. And he is ready to give it too

I encourage you to read the bible for this simple reason

James 1 v 25

But the truly happy people are those who carefully study God's perfect law that makes people FREE, and they continue to study it. They do not forget what they heard but they obey what Gods teaching says. Those who do this will be made HAPPY!

There you go, that's my secret... and ya'll said i was crazy! :)