Catching Up

I have finally started reading the book Leslie has been recommending: Disciplines of a Godly Woman by Barbara Hughes. I have just started the book and already see areas in my life where God is (and will be ) working. I like to be disciplined but often fail in taking steps to discipline every area of my life. Hughes says “discipline is important for my spiritual life … it is the path by which the good news of Christ gives meaningful shape to all the days of my life.” First I must get rid of everything that impedes godliness and then I must direct my energy toward godliness. Godliness doesn’t just happen. I have to be intentional in this quest of being a godly wife and mother. I hope to blog about lessons learned in the coming days.

School has been going great around here. What is hard is learning to balance everything. We are keeping busy with school, home and church commitments. But most of the things we are involved with allow us to participate together as a family so that is special. And I just LOVE this time of year. I grew up in South Georgia where there were just 2 seasons: HOT and not-so-hot. So one of the things I truly love about Virginia is the weather and the fact that we actually experience all 4 seasons. I love the crispness that is in the air!



Last week, Coleman and Emmie started playing soccer with a homeschool group in town. So cute and fun!

Another Quiz

Here's a quiz I found through Leslie. It would thrill my children to know "Bob" lives in the house. Who are you?

What Veggie Tales character are you?

Bob
Take this quiz!








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Blog Design Contest

Susie, over at Bluebird Blogs, is having a contest for a totally free, completely customized blog design from Bluebird Blogs. Check out her site - she does some incredible work! And she's from Georgia (my home state)!

Information on how to enter:
- Send an email with your name and blog address to bluebirdblogs@gmail.com.
- Entries will be accepted from 7:00pm EST on Thursday 9/14/06 until 11:59pm EST on Friday 9/22/06.

*Bonus* - Mention this contest in a post on your blog and receive 5 extra entries into the drawing!

The winner will be announced at her blog on Saturday, September 23rd, 2006. Good luck to everyone!

Olive Green

I found this from Leslie. It's short and easy. I think it is pretty accurate in how it desribes me. What color green are you?

You Are Olive Green

You are the most real of all the green shades. You're always true to yourself. For you, authenticity and honesty are very important... both in others and yourself. You are grounded and secure. It takes a lot to shake you. People see you as dependable, probably the most dependable person they know.

What Color Green Are You?

And The Winner Is ...

One of the activities we had this past weekend was a Walk-a-thon. My husband was working as a volunteer for the local Crisis Pregnancy Center walk-a-thon so I decided to participate in the walk Saturday morning. I loaded up our youngest in the jogging stroller and we took off with all of the other walkers. Now, I hadn’t gotten up to exercise in the early morning because Brian had to get to the park early so I wanted to make these few miles count as exercise.

Calvin and I had a pretty good speed going as the race, I mean, walk-a-thon, started. The more we walked, the more people we passed – and then this competitive spirit started rising up within me. So I turned it up a little more. Before I knew it, I had taken over the lead (although it was just a walk-a-thon and not a race, right?)! As I headed back, I saw that two women had obviously already turned around to head back without going the entire distance. (Can you cheat in a walk-a-thon?) Well, you know what I did next? I ran the rest of the way so that those older women wouldn’t beat me. I know – pitiful. But I’m just being honest.

As I headed back to the park, images of everyone standing there cheering for me ran through my head. But when I arrived, the only people who noticed were my sweet husband and my 2 oldest children. But they were so excited that it didn’t matter that no one else noticed. I’m not an experienced runner so I know I’ll never win a real race – but I tell you, I am going to hold on to this walk-a-thon victory. I may even make myself a ribbon or something. But in the words of my dear husband, “too bad that nobody else knew they were racing you!” Yeah, too bad.

First Week of School

I haven’t posted much this week because we have been busy with our first week of school. It’s been fun and laidback so far. Now we’re just in Kindergarten and Preschool so we're easing into everything. Coleman and Emmie are so excited, although most of the excitement surrounds their new pencils!

We’re gearing up for a busy weekend. Our church is supporting the Crisis Pregnancy Center Walk (I’m participating in the walk) and we are starting AWANA on Sunday night. I hope all of you have a great weekend.

Check out Leslie’s site for some great stuff about contentment.

Good Morning Ernesto!

Ernesto has come this way. Thankfully so far it’s just been a great deal of rain. (Hurricane Isabelle came through in September 2003 and a tree fell through our house, but that’s another post.) This much rain and darkness makes for a fun, lazy day. Everyone slept in today – you have to when it’s so dark and there’s the unending pitter-patter of the rain. I even skipped my morning exercise. We all watched a video together on the couch cuddled under a blanket! I am thankful for these special times.

Tomorrow I am going on a trip to visit with some girlfriends from college. During college, God provided some loving Christian girls who became special friends. We said that we would get together every Labor Day after we graduated but the last time I was able to see everyone was a little over 4 years ago. You know how it goes being pregnant, nursing, being pregnant, nursing, etc!

I am excited about catching up with everyone, although I am also a little nervous. This is the first time for me to be away from all of my kids for more than a day. My husband is gracious to help provide times where I get out and about by myself, but I enjoy us spending time together as a family when we can. I especially love our weekends together. I feel like I might “miss out” on something while I am gone. So, while I will try to take advantage of this time, my heart will be missing by husband and precious babies! I hope to listen to some sermons on the trip (7 hours by myself one-way) and work on my scripture memory.

Brian does a wonderful job with the kids so I'm not worried about that. I’ve readied everything for him so it shouldn’t be too crazy, but I am wondering what kind of disaster zone I will walk into on Monday afternoon! :) I told him not to worry about “housekeeping” so…

Catching Up

It has been a busy week around here. We begin our first week of homeschooling next week. I have worked on a “schedule” but it is a rather ‘loose’ one. I have found that life with 2 preschoolers and 1 toddler doesn’t always allow for a strict schedule – basically we’re more of a ‘routine’ family. That way I don’t feel as guilty when the schedule doesn’t work. I have our curriculum ready, our routine sketched out and we are looking forward to this adventure.

Also, check out this post by Leslie. I too want to be saturated with God’s Word. I want my children to see that love for the Scriptures and desire that for their own lives. I had been working on memorizing Romans 8 (mainly because I am competing with my husband – hey, God can use anything right?) but I had fallen behind on it. I am encouraged to continue it now, and for the right reasons.

In my continuing study of Romans, I read Mark Dever’s chapter on Romans in his book The Message of the New Testament. I was reminded this morning that having a justified faith results in a life that is changed! “It yields a life that hates sin and fights against it.” After a saving encounter with the Holy God, we should be different – different than the world. So many ‘Christian’s’ today are not different than the world – begging the question ‘is the converse of this statement also true?’ If there is no change, if there is no fruit, has one been truly justified?

I find that it is easy to hate sin – well, it’s easier to hate the sin of others while trying to excuse my own. Many times I try to justify my own sin. Well, I said that because you … Well, I’m sorry if you misunderstood me … But there is no excuse for my sin and I am thankful that my sin is covered by the blood of Christ. Living a life of justified faith means that I am to be different – that I am to reflect Christ and not the world. I am thankful that salvation is through faith alone by Christ alone, therefore it is all for His glory. But I pray that my spirit will detest the sin my own life and that I will be quick to fight against it!