First Day

First Day of Seventh Grade that is...


Wish you could see her zebra backpack. She is a zebra loving fool!! She is sporting her new blue converse-that's my girl's style.

She will finally sit in the front seat because she is twelve. She is a rule follower despite trying to convince her that she was plenty big enough to safely sit in the front seat-she wouldn't do it until her twelfth b-day. She is too funny.

Jill had some academic time herself this morning with her favorite lift the flap books while sissy got ready for her first day. She has really had an amazing week..that's my next post.
Even though school is back in swing..this is where you will find me spending my mornings these days!!! I am still here at home taking care of my baby girl! OH THE JOY!!! We spent the morning at the park like always and then picked up sissy after her early dismissal. Being home is so good.

This is seriously the most miraculous journey. I love having my girls, being a mom, and adventuring with God in this life. You know I was thinking this morning that four years ago before our job switch into full time ministry we were living on so much more income and never thought I could be home. Now, we make one third of what we did then and we have a far greater understanding of what really matters-not to mention God continues to provide for our needs. We are so much richer..Incredible. Miraculous. Impossible. That's the God I love, serve, and depend on. Smiling from ear to ear.

Reflections from this Side of the Flat Iron

So I resisted as long as I could, but I finally gave in and bought one of these things.



Here's my story..

The tween years have brought about many changes in our house in recent months. It's like riding a roller coaster in the dark that never stops and never gives you a glimpse of where you are going. One of the recent twists of this coaster has been curly hair. Darling kiddo's hair was straight as a board, then bam it slowly started to get curly. The curls are beautiful! If she just wouldn't fight them, her hair would be so easy. Scrunch and go. Easy and oh so cute. One problem-She hates her hair curly. She tries to brush the curls out leaving it a poofy mess. Then she is unhappy and never leaves the house without a pony tail. Sigh..Daddy says with much wisdom, "Is there any teenage girl who likes her hair?" To which I reply, "Well, no."

Then it happened. We went to get a hair cut and the precious hair dresser who has been trimming darling kiddos lovely locks since she was a toddler says.."Do you want me to straighten it?" A look of exuberance comes over darling kiddo and her whole demeanor changes. She was ecstatic and loved it!!

And so into our lives enters the flat iron. I have resisted it as long as I could because I don't want to make her appearance a big deal. I don't want her to base her feelings of worth on whether or not her hair is straight, but it made her so happy that I broke down and bought the thing requiring her to pay only half. So not aloud, but definitely in my mind there is this part of me complaining about the amount of prep time this is going to add to our routine which is already too tight as it is. I begin to get a bad attitude about having to do this and I begin to have second thoughts about the purchase. Then it happened..Day two of flat ironing I realized it. A half an hour of one on one time in the bathroom flat ironing equals thirty more minutes a day I have to connect with and build into my girl. Day three and beyond of this flat iron saga have brought precious conversation about life, faith, marriage, purity, and so much more. I am only sorry that I wasted day one and two with such a lousy attitude. Sometimes you just need a flat iron to encourage a little bit of intentional bonding.

It gives me an idea. Maybe I should write a book of devos for moms and daughters to do while they are flat ironing. Hey take the opportunity whenever you have it. Embrace every moment that you get to spend together as divine time set aside by God to pass your faith along to your children. Will I ever learn this lesson this side of eternity? Doing my best to embrace it and be the best mom I can be..Take sometime to enjoy being a mom this weekend! Hope it's a good one for you.

The Power of a Praying Momma

So as a momma of an only child who has difficulty connecting with people and forming relationships, one thing that I pray for all the time is that God will bless my darling kiddo with role models who will reach out to her and pursue her even when it is difficult. I pray specifically for young ladies with strong faith who will walk alongside her, try to speak her language, and be an example of Christ. Oh how my prayers have been answered again and again! God is so faithful to provide so many wonderful young ladies to build into my darling kiddo's life. This beautiful face below is off at college now and her weekly meetings with my girl are deeply missed by darling kiddo and by this momma. They usually met for Starbucks once a week and because of these, darling kiddo was turned on to vanilla bean frappuccino.I'm not sure this is a good habit that was passed on to my girl, but you can't have it all!! LOL!



Darling Kiddo is missing her so much that she and my DH decided to head over to IWU for a visit and lunch. They visited Daddy's ole stomping grounds at Wesleyan too. Then headed to Carl's for their famous ice cream!!


The only thing I hated about this trip was that I had to miss it! Praying for this wonderful young lady regardless and love seein God at work in her life. What a precious role model and answer to this momma's prayer she has turned out to be!

College Tour Continues

Last weekend we had the joy of visiting two more of the gorgeous girls who are part of our college ministry in their new surroundings (aka Olivet Nazarene University). What a huge blessing it is to see our lovely college kiddos growing in their faith and embracing the new lives God is placing before them. Exciting, scary, and sad all rolled into one..

We were greeted by this sign as we approached the girls' new home. This momma can't help but loving that this new home holds to high Biblical standards for these girls-no boys allowed in their building..period!! DH couldn't even go in for long and I love it!!



We had a wonderful day. We attended a football game, visited their campus bookstore (DH needed to get a hat of course), and took them to a yummy local pizza joint. The pizza was delish and the campus was beautiful. The game however was really cold and the team was really bad, but hey you can't have it all.

So Darling Kiddo and I decided to escape the cold, long, boring game and find a quaint coffee shop for warmth, hot tea, and conversation. Just when you least expect it..I got me some precious time to connect with my girl! What a pleasant surprise this was for me. I actually had my new book, Keeping the Little in Your Girl by Dannah Gresh and we discussed some of the checklists I'd done. She was a goofball as only she can be, but oh what a terrific afternoon. She just doesn't do serious very well!


Visiting two of our sweet college students + one very cold day for a football game = two hot cups of tea and one great opportunity for some intentional mother/daughter bonding. Not exactly the formula my new book laid out for mother daughter bonding, but spontaneity can provide too! Hope you have time to connect with the precious kiddos God has given you this weekend!

A Confession to Make

Last week was homecoming week at my darling kiddo's school. Homecoming week means lots of activities. Dressing up for theme days, volleyball games, the school carnival, and the bike parade are just a few of the most fun things they participate in. For darling kiddo this week is fun-filled excitement. For this momma it is a week full of a lot of extra work..buying/making costumes for each day, attending the carnival, and making the decorations for the bike parade.

Fitting all this extra into an already full week is not easy. This is my darling kiddo's last year to participate in the bike parade because she will be in jr. high next year. She really wanted to win. She came up with a theme for her scooter..FBCS (her school name) LAND ON THE EAGLES. She wanted to make an airplane to wear around the scooter so she could be the FBCS pilot landing on the Eagles (our opponent for the big homecoming game). This was all cute and good until I realized how much work, time, and effort this idea would add to my week. I entered into this project with a less than ideal attitude.

About half way through this bike decorating adventure, God spoke to my heart. As my darling kiddo gets older, she needs me less and less. She spends less and less time just hanging out beside me crafting and playing. She has her own agenda, her own independence, and is gaining her own life. My point is..I should have embraced this bike project because she needed me to be in it. It gave me a chance to spend two days alongside her creating her scooter masterpiece. She desperately wanted my advice, needed my help with the spray paint can, and wanted me to be next her the entire time. This is exactly what I say I want the opportunity to do as she grows older. Why was my heart so harden and why was I spending so much time complaining and wishing this event away? WOW..did I get hit right between the eyes. As we were just finishing up and running to Hobby Lobby for some last minute supplies, I said to her as we were walking in..Thank you for letting me help you with this project. I love being your momma and spending this time with you has been precious! She smirked and rolled her eyes a bit, but I couldn't leave it unsaid. Taking time to be a momma should never be a nuisance or a chore. I should embrace every chance that I get to build into her life. I had so many opportunities to talk with her and share my faith with her as we built this plane, but my attitude was so lousy..I almost missed it!!

Lesson Learned (AGAIN) Embrace being a mom and don't let the business of the world steal every moment you have to spend with the precious children God has given you.
P.S. Did you notice the blue ribbon in the picture? We won the bike parade!!