A quiz of sorts

I found this in a devotional book I was reading yesterday. It brought on some interesting thoughts and discussion between Brad and I- see what you think.
Fill in the blanks:

I would be more successful if...
I would be more significant if....
I would be more fulfilled if...
I would be more satisfied if...
I would be happier if...
I would have more fun if...
I would be more secure if...
I would have more peace if...

"How you just finished the above statements reflects your present belief system."
ouch.
So- if my beliefs motivate my actions and behavior- what is my core made up of really?
Thought provoking to me at least- thought I'd share!

And round and round and round and round and round...

Feel like a chicken tonight

Jaedon got to choose our Family Nite activity this week. We, being the not-so-creative persons we aren't bought a little $2 book called "1001 Family Fun Ideas". I gave Jaedon the book on Monday to skim through and see if anything sounded like fun. He landed on a "Chicken Night" idea. We modified it a bit and had a blast.

We dyed some eggs using some leftover Easter goodies, did the chicken dance while we waited for the eggs to color, went on an egg hunt and did about 3 different versions of eggs with spoons games which eventually turned into tag- as do most games around here. =)
Brad read the Suess book "Scrambled Eggs Super" - which, if you haven't had the privilege of reading it yet- I would recommend banging your head against some concrete first- it's more fun. (Altho, I did just hear via storybag tape the book Fox and Socks by Suess and that one is decisively worse!)
ANYWAY- we ended up having a picnic in the basement with some chicken nuggets, chicken pizza and watching Chicken Little.
Oh- and we can't forget a very popular saying today compliments of my sister in law:
"Guess what?
Chicken butt!"
This was utterly amusing (to two little boys) EVERY time it was said (and it was said A LOT!)

The Edge

http://www.fox17online.com/news/fox17-church-mixes-gospel-and-hip-hop,0,4231448.story


Our church recently celebrated it's 30th anniversary. Amid MANY pastoral changes that are happening right now it was great to see the consistency of the churches mission not wavering. Their motto "To Reach out and Raise Up." - evangelize and disciple. One of their priorities is to plant churches. Now I don't quite understand how you need to plant churches in a city with "a church on every corner" but it has been effective as each church seems to be reaching the neighborhood they are designed to reach. The link above is the newest church plant called "The Edge" - located well, not all that far from us, and designed to reach out to the "Hip Hop culture" right where they're located. Before the first "session" (what they call their meeting times) took place- over 100 people had already come to faith in Christ. They began only 4 weeks ago!! Isn't that so stinking cool??? Check out the link....

Owen's walking- sortof.

Getting used to being used

We are quickly approaching the start of the "Marriage 101" class (as it has been deemed). Brad and I have been previewing the curriculum in the evenings (which has actually been kinda fun). We've decided to use Les and Leslie Parrots "Saving Your Marriage Before (and after) It Starts" DVD series. I was so overwhelmed trying to think about what marriage issues we should zone in on for a 5 week class!! There are so many things to cover- and seriously you could spend the entire 5 weeks on one or two topics. This book is great though- The first week, for example, is about exposing the myths of marriage and realizing your expectations of your roles in your marriage. (i.e. who was responsible for paying the bills, taking garbage out, making dinner, gassing up the car in your home growing up? well, surprise...that's probably who you'll expect to be doing it in your marriage too) It's some "well, duh" stuff but unless it's not pointed out -
well, DUH!
Anyway- I'm excited about it.
And getting very nervous.
I'm not a teacher. Brad is- I mean actually- by profession- but we're not teaching how to play a flute here. I'm thankful that we are not TEACHING it -( what do we know anyway?! =) but still the LEADING of it-truthfully- has me a bit scared. I so appreciated the message Pastor Wayne shared yesterday. Reminding me, yet again, that this big, HUGE Creator God wants to -and is fully able to- infuse me with his energy to accomplish any task he has for me. Today that means allowing God to use me to be the best mommy I can be- the best wife- the best friend. But these are roles that I've had for a while now- this class thing is new territory. So I'm choosing to believe that God will use me and Brad next Saturday evening- that couples marriages will be strengthened and that God will get ALL the credit.
Even still- if you think of it- pray for us k?

ArtPrize

For the past 2 weeks there has been an art competition in downtown GR called ArtPrize. (I'm writing that for out-of-town-ers sake b/c all of us West Michiganders are just about SICK of hearing about it!)

As much of an artist as I am NOT- this was really cool. All over downtown there were displays of "art" - some certainly needed the quotation marks to qualify as art and some were actually very cool. I think there were over 250 different pieces.
We finally went last night-sporting our rain gear and tempering the huge LACK of parking.
Jaedon particularly got a kick out of it. He wanted me to take his picture by everything. The collage is different things we saw- a huge garbage bag baby, trees sculpted as people playing instruments, a giant moose made of nails, a "what is your dream" wall, a HUGE table and chairs placed on TOP of a bridge, and Jaedon's favorite were the two uh...creature thingys. He said: "those were totally awesome but they almost had me freaked out."
Then there was "Nessie" the ...well, the Grand River monster I guess since he wasn't at sea...
Yea- I'm still working on perfecting stick figures. =)

Theory and Reality

I had the privilege of attending a Hearts at Home conference for the first time this past weekend. I had heard about this conference from some friends but this is the first year I took the plunge and signed up for it - by myself! It was a bit intimidating going but I was able to meet up with about 8 other ladies from my church so I didn't feel like such a fish out of water. (Not to mention they ALL escorted me to the car garage at 11:30 pm and fit ALL of them into my carseat loaded van so I could drop them off at their hotel!! Oh yes- one sat in Owen's car seat!!)

We had a main session Saturday morning with Jill Savage- who I was not familiar with but greatly impressed by. Then we chose our own workshops to attend for the remaining part of the day (until 4) Dr. Kevin Leman was the guest speaker at the end of the day on Saturday. I loved my workshops (which I might elaborate more on later), I was challenged, prodded, encouraged and refreshed. I came home energized and excited - my mind brimming with ideas and thoughts.

Then it was Sunday. No more speakers to talk about life in theory or give me good ideas. It was rubber meets the road time- what did I learn and how was I going to apply it? You know what?
I got frustrated about something - impatient over it happening and yelled.
Great. $80 registration fee down the tubes.
I mean- I attended a session about respecting my husband and what do I do the VERY next day? Argue with him IN FRONT OF THE KIDS! Yeah- I'm pretty sure THAT did NOT make my "to do" list notes in that workshop!
Another session was about learning to discipline with love so that you can reach the heart of your child even when they are difficult to love. What do I do? Yell to get him moving... showing my impatience. Uh-huh. Yep- got those lessons learned real well don't I??

Then as Brad took the 2 older boys away I had a few moments to reflect (and write this) and I'm starting to smile. Isn't this just exactly what the enemy of our souls- the enemy of our marriages- the enemy of our families wants to do in us? To discourage, to blame, pass guilt... He wants me to say "oh well- I guess if I can't learn something from an all weekend seminar then I guess I'll just give up." Ooo... He's so sneaky and boy do I have news for him and his cronies. T'aint workin'. Granted I am befuddled that I can be so gung ho one moment and so swung low the next but greater is HE that is in ME than he that is in the world!

Now, I'm going to go apologize for my stupidity - not dwell in it- and team up with his Spirit for a new-every-morning type of evening.
Thank you, Jesus.

30 years young

We've been celebrating Brad's birthday all month long- 32 days long to be exact. Brad's mom and I decided to carry on the tradition of doing 30 gifts leading up to the 30th birthday. Only we got a bit carried away and had a few extra gifts so we started August 29th - a month beforehand.

Brad is not an attention seeking type of guy but he has had way too much fun this month.

There were 5 of us that pitched in - he got candy (much to the boys excitement), books, coffee, vitamins, shirts, a tie, Wii game, IPOD armband, nails for his casket, among other things. Not bad eh? And I will shamlessly admit that many of his gifts were either free, garage sale finds, or thrift store treasures. (Not all- but lots! ;)
One of his biggest gifts was a kayaking day. We borrowed (see... free!) some kayaks from a friend and sent Shawn and Brad out for the day- as in the ENTIRE day ;-) They had a wet, smelly, manly time and can't wait to do it again!
Happy 30th, Brad!

The Way

Anybody else have an "ought to" list?

I ought to be getting to bed earlier.

I ought to floss.
I ought to introduce myself to my neighbors.
I ought to not eat that third piece of cake.

One of my "ought to"s is family devotions. Not as in being ridged about it but at least attempting to be more intentional about making them more consistent.
In my mind as I prepare for the devo time I picture my children swarming around my lap with wide-eyed wonder as if to say " Oh, Mama...PLEASE read us that 24 verse section again so we can soak it into our little beings and seek to live it out in our playtime for now and evermore. Amen."
Yeah well, it doesn't ...uh EVER look like that (and frankly I think I'd be a bit freaked out if it did). It usually takes more thought and preparation to put it together than the actual playing out of it.
Lasts night was fun.
The object: Jaedon and Seth had to get to the top of the Dawn Treader- up to where Daddy was- but they were not allowed to touch the wood.
Jaedon, stinker, found a separate piece of wood and used it as a ladder so we had to modify the rules again slightly ;0 . But then a light dawned (with a subtle bit of hinting). Was there anything Daddy could do to help them?
Jaedon:"Ahhh...I know! Daddy, how 'bout you lay down on the wood so we can walk on top of you."
well, strike one- Brad isn't tall enough to cover the entire thing but their minds were churning.
Then Seth pipes up.
"Daddy can give me a giggy-gack ride!"
Sure enough.
And after the Giggy-gack ride Jaedon read:
"I am THE way, THE truth and THE life- No man can come to the Father except thru me."