4 weeks....

Ladies and gentlemen... school starts in four weeks... I repeat... school starts in four weeks! It cannot come soon enough for a number of reasons!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABE!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE MAN I LOVE MORE THAN ANYTHING IN THE WORLD!!!! SHOULD I PUT HIS AGE?? NAH! LOVE YOU HONEY!

Battle weary

When I began this blog nearly 3 years ago, my purpose for doing so was to share what everyday life as an apostolic mom is like. Now... if you've been a regular reader, there have definitely been many more ups than downs. Sometimes I don't write about the downs, but that is not an accurate portrayal of life as a mom... apostolic or not! You show me a person who is PMA (positive mental attitude) 24/7/365, and I'll show you a single person. There is no such thing as a parent (esp. a mom) who has a perfect positive mental attitude every minute of every day of her life! Such is the case this evening. I will not even get into the ugly details here, because you really don't want to hear them. But it was ugly. What started out as a fun family trip out for a creamy turned into a horrible battle of the wills...replete with disrespect of major proportion, and angry words flying every which way. Life as a Christian mom is no easier than for any other mom. In fact, because the enemy does not appreciate us trying to raise Godly children, he attacks all the more, trying to cause division between the children and the parents. Tonight, when the heat of the battle was over, I got on my knees and bawled my eyes out to God (He understands that), and told Him I had NO IDEA what to do next. I am so glad that God doesn't turn His back on us in our time of need. I ran to my Father and cried in His arms, and He understood. THAT is the hope that Christianity gives us. I am so exhausted from this battle... please pray for our family tonight. It is really not foundation rattling... we have the Lord as our strength and our guide. We will definitely come out on the right side of this trial. But right now, I need peace. "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee." Thank you Jesus.

There is a God

So... Adam is getting ready to start 5th grade. One of the things they study in 5th grade is the "big bang" theory of evolution (yes, THEORY, not science). So, we intend to make sure there is room for the creationist view as well. I love this video! I am going to show it to Adam tonight. In fact, I think I'll email it to him!

A new name written down in glory! **updated! New pictures!**

Ladies and gentlemen! Two of the newest children of God in the Kingdom! Adam and Stephen received the Holy Ghost on the same night (within 5 minutes of each other) and were baptized on the same day as well (within 5 minutes of each other). It was awesome! The Bible says, "I have no greater joy than to know that my children walk in the truth." Amen! It's a joy that the world cannot give, and that no one can take away! Thank you Jesus for saving my son! Here are pictures of my pastor baptizing our son and his own son!





Stephen....

Wet and VERY happy!!


In case you are a reader who does not understand why baptism is an essential element of our salvation, here is a link that you can read for more understanding. All I can tell you, is that Jason and I are thrilled and rejoicing today at the goodness and faithfulness of God! Thank you Jesus!!

PICTURE OF THE DAY!

OK... so, today I was wondering if I would actually survive motherhood. My boys fought most of the day, in fact, have been arguing incessantly for days now. I love them! I do! But I was definitely done today... I went in my room and shut the door and took a nap. That's how done I was. Anyway, this evening we went to the annual block party in our town, and they had the PERFECT thing for the boys! Check it out!

Is that beautiful???? I NEED ONE OF THESE FOR MY HOUSE!!!!!!! If only.....

The awesome power of the Holy Ghost!

Click here to read how a doctor in Florida full of the Holy Ghost prayed for a man and God raised him from the dead! To God be ALL the glory!!

God and pizza

Adam is working on the second level of the cub scout program called "God and Country". Last year, he did "God and Me", where he created different games to play with others that explored the relationship between God and us. This year's level is called "God and Family", which explores how God works in families by comparing family to pizza. Yep, that's right. It's prety neat. Adam is half way done with this pizza project, and is "builing" a pizza (stored in a Domino's pizza box, of course :) ! ) to represent what he is learning. Here's a look at what he has done so far.
1. The crust is the "foundation" of the family. If the crust is soggy or burnt, even if the rest of the pizza is perfect, the whole thing is ruined with a yucky crust. The foundation of our family needs to be solid... built on Jesus Christ and the church. His foundation, pictured below, has the cross in the center, the people of God's family from every nation covering it, with a scripture written around the edge of the crust which will still show even when everything else is put on top of it. The scripture he chose is 1 Thes. 5:16-18. A GREAT foundation for Godly families!

2. Next, he made the sauce, representing his family heritage and spiritual heritage. He took strips of paper (red and orange to look like tomato sauce), and on each strip wrote the name of a person in his life who has helped him grow in his Christian faith. Then he wove them together and cut them into a circle shape to fit on the crust. Very cool looking!

3. Next, the toppings! The toppings represent the individual talents and gifts that family members have been given that strengthen our family and make it unique. He had to assign each family member a topping to be (Adam's a mushroom, Nick's a pineapple, Dad's an anchovie, and I'm a jalepeno pepper!) and make five of each. Then he wrote the name on each one, and a different talent or gift that person possesses on each topping. Then we strategically placed them and glued them together. Neat!

He isn't done yet. We still have cheese to add (God's love and God's Word that makes everything stick together), then the baking and eating process. Here is what his pizza looks like so far with each layer on top of the other.......

What a fun way to learn about God!! Being a Christian is so awesome! Talk to you later!

I'm a Pentecostal!

This video is totally amazing! Anointed and powerful! And Bro. Laird Sillimon is in it too! CLC East misses Bro. Sillimon. I'm a pentecostal and I am not ashamed!!! Filled with the power of the Holy Ghost and on my way to heaven! Praise God!!!!

Healed :)

Well, the splint came off today, and the ankle is perfectly fine! Adam knew it was healed, and was so happy to WALK out of the office CARRYING the crutches shouting, "I'm free!! I'm free!" The infection seems to be gone as well. Thank you Jesus for taking care of my son. :) Now he can get baptized in Jesus' name on Sunday! He's excited... so are mom and dad!

Not much to report right at the moment.... when I have more time later I'll probably right more. Bye for now.

Not much time...

Ok... here is what has been on my mind all day. Not much time left. Yep. That has been on my mind all day. There is not much time left before the return of Jesus. Everything is in place. Endtime prophecy is being fulfilled every single day on the front page of our newspapers and in our everyday lives. There are so many people who do not have a knowledge of the truth... they have no clue what is coming. It's like standing on the train tracks, and the freight train is bearing down on them at top speed, and they have no idea! It has been churning deep in my spirit all day. I personally cannot reach the entire world by myself. But I do my part... reaching the people in my corner of the world. Reaching out with my writing on 90&9, my blog, and teaching Bible studies whenever I can. I wish I could be a traffic cop on that broad way that leads to destruction... the one that MANY MANY millions of people are on. I want to redirect them and say, "Detour! Go this way to find eternal life! Turn around now before it's too late!"

There. For what it's worth, that is what I have to offer today, because it has been the forefront of my thinking today. Are you on the right road? Don't wait until it's too late to find out. Matt preached it on Sunday night... once you find yourself in hell... you can't get out. It's sealed, permanent, forever. It doesn't matter that you "didn't realize" those crazy religious freaks were right. It doesn't matter that you did all kinds of good stuff in your life and were a nice person. If you blow off Jesus and what He did for you on the cross, you'll find yourself permanently placed in a never ending nightmare. Think about it. Dust off your Bible and READ about it! Read about God's passionate, unconditional (no strings attached) love for YOU! Then DO something about it. Get on your knees and tell him you love him, thank him for calvary, and repent of your sin. Take the detour! You'll be so glad you did at the end of your journey in this life!

A day in the life....

The life of a 10 year old boy laid up with his foot in a splint. Here is what he has accomplished today....

A few rounds of Mario Super Smash Brothers on GameCube

Time with his mini robot Chibi Robo, also on GameCube

Two games of Sorry with Mom (and Mom won both games)

One game of Battle Ball with mom, which HE won


One very awesome train track layout designed by Adam and tons of fun!

Later on, we will read more BREAD and probably begin lesson 2 on his God and Family cub scout program. He made the crust (foundation) yesterday, which looks very cool! We are hoping to have more thunderstorm fun this afternoon too. I doubt we can top the wild storm from yesterday (it was almost too scary, even for me!), but it will be fun nonetheless.

Nick and Taylor have been playing together, and now Nick is next door with Kevin. It has been a good day. This is the day that the Lord has made. I WILL rejoice and be glad in it! I love you Jesus!

An unexpected adventure

Okay. So up at camp, Adam started telling me "my ankle hurts". There was no sign of injury and he had no memory of injury. So I told him it's just because of all the walking around campus. We come home, and it hurts more, and there is a red patch over his ankle that is hard and hot. Off to the doctor's we go. They send us to the "urgent care" where we spend 6 1/2 hours. Guess what? It's fractured. He's been walking around on a fractured ankle for about 4 days. Here is a picture of him with his splint...

He's not too impressed. This means no Moo Gong Do for quite a bit. I guess he won't be testing for his yellow belt before school starts. Maybe October. We'll see. For now, we're just hanging out at home, resting the ankle. Hey, it will give him a chance to get caught up on his BREAD reading! Pray for a fast recovery for him. Talk to y'all later!

Campmeeting 2007

Ok... there is only one way I can start this blog post.....

ADAM RECEIVED THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST SPEAKING IN TONGUES AS THE SPIRIT OF GOD GAVE HIM THE ABILITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Adam had his own personal pentecost! He is now born of the Spirit, as Jesus tells Nicodemus in John 3:3-5, which is not a suggestion or a good idea, but a commandment from the Lord Jesus himself! You MUST be born again of the water (baptism) and the Spirit if you want to enter the kingdom of heaven. So, he will be talking with our pastor about being baptized very soon! Maybe even this weekend!!! If that is the case, any local readers who wish to see that happen should come to our church and check it out! My pastor's son Stephen received the Holy Ghost at almost the same time as Adam... it was powerful! This all took place during the concert... there wasn't even a preacher! The anointing of God was so strong in the concert that people just broke out in powerful worship, and God moved mightily! Thank you Jesus for saving my son!!! After that, he just became a praying machine for the rest of camp! Here are a few pictures....

Adam in light colored shirt, Stephen to his right.

Pastor's older son David on the left, and Adam praying for another boy

David, Adam, and Stephen praying for another boy

Adam, David, and Stephen (jr. campers) praying for a senior camper!

In fact, I did not hear one single report about any adults receiving the Holy Ghost this year. God moved specifically and purposefully in the YOUTH and CHILDREN! Adam, Stephen, and Jordan received it during the concert. The teens bound together in prayer as ONE and drew intimately closer to God and one another.


Jericho youth group gathered in prayer... one mind!

Every night, the altar area was PACKED with teens and young children praying, crying out to God, dancing before Him with all their might, full of the Joy and Victory of the Lord! They did some very serious spiritual warfare, and did some mighty devil stompin'!

We even had a sweet seven year old girl receive the Holy Ghost speaking in tongues in our precamper services in the gym! This is her as God is filling her and transforming her life!!! Praise God!!! Isn't it beautiful???

Now, in the midst of all that God was doing, we also had a TON of fun!!! Here are a few pictures as proof! These are the precampers that Jason and I work with each year (ages 4-8). This year we sang a fabulous song on the last night of camp called "Who is the king of the jungle? This is a picture of them up on the platform (being elephants).

If you want to hear a recording of the song they sang (which is hilarious), please click here. It's not the actual recording of them, but it is exactly how we sang it! We also added animal actions!

This is Adam and friend dressed up crazy for a skit during the Jr. Crusade.
The crusades were AWESOME FUN!!!! We sang so many fun songs from the "Super Strong God" CD by Hillsong kid's ministry. Click here to hear samples of the fun songs we sang! (Rainbow, One Way, Let your Light Shine, Jesus in my Life, I Believe in Jesus).

Here is Adam modeling his newest fashion hat made entirely of balloons.

You know who else had fun???? Sandi! Here is a picture of her (in the middle dressed in black) praise singing on Wed. evening.

Besides Adam and Stephen receiving the Holy Ghost, our local church also had some further excitement Wed. evening when our pastor's daughter Helene was chosen Senior Girls Camper of the year (for the second year in a row), and Matt and Emily's son Jared was chosen as the boys Precamper of the year!

Well, the fact that I just fell asleep on the kitchen table while typing this is very telling! I am totally exhausted! But it was worth it. Now, lest you think that Nick did not come, that is untrue. I just didn't get any pictures of him is all. If I get ahold of some from someone else, I will add them here to this post.

Good night for now, all! GOD IS GOOD!!!!!!!!