Fireproof and football

Hello everyone! I ask your forgiveness, as I have not been in much of a writing mood lately. My energies have been spent in other areas of life, and trying to focus on writing has just been too much.

Hmmm... one thing I would love to share with you all is the AMAZING movie our family went to see called "Fireproof". Anyone who frequents my blog has heard about it or clicked on the banner to see all kinds of information and trailers. I have to tell you... the movie FAR EXCEEDED our expectations! It was a tremendous testimony to God's amazing ability to use ordinary people to get out HIS MESSAGE to the people who need to hear it! There is no question that the reason our nation is in the mess it's in is because of the breakdown in the basic family unit. Marriages are crumbling all around us every day, and it weakens society to the point where immorality and sin prevail, destroying God's model of how we are to exist in this life. Marriage between one man and one woman until death do us part is a model of the relationship between God and his people! Jesus Christ and the church! OF COURSE the devil wants to attack and destroy this Godly institution!

Anyway, suffice it to say, it is an adult topic (divorce) and there are no children in this movie, and yet my 9 and 11 year old sons walked out of the theater saying it was the best movie they have ever seen! TRUE!!! Jesus Christ as Lord of your life and Lord of your marriage was the central theme of the movie. And it was #4 in the box office opening weekend, and #8 the following weekend! It opened on 839 screens, compared to Hollywood's offerings, opening on 2500-3000 screens each! God is amazing! If you have the chance, I URGE you to drive to the nearest theater to see it (which for us was a 3 hour drive, as it did not open anywhere in Vermont). It will be soooooo worth the drive!!!! AND... we will be owning this on DVD the second it is available!

What else can I share with you? My job is proving to be very challenging this year. I come home physically, mentally, and emotionally drained most days. I have discovered that this particular child I am working with will require much prayer. Only God can give me the strength required to do my job. That way, HE gets all the glory, as it should be!

Football is just about over! This Thursday's game was a really exciting one, and Nick's team did win! They have had a great season, and learned SO MUCH! The mighty green team has outstanding coaches... the BEST! They teach the love of the game, not the competitive "out for blood, win at all costs" mentality. The boys just LOVE playing! And at age 8 and 9, they can run complicated plays like reverse sweeps and such... successfully!!!! And they have some amazing passing/receiving players as well, and some kids who are just natural born football players... all-around amazing!

Hmmm... what else? I don't know. There is a ton of other things I could tell you about, but my writing mood just isn't there, and it would probably bore you to tears anyway. Here are the only 2 facts that matter right at this moment...

1. Jesus Christ is Lord and coming back soon (THAT is exciting news!!).

2. Red Sox just won Game 1 of the ALCS against Tampa Bay, and it was exciting!

I am rambling because I am so tired... 12:37 am! AH! Time to hit the sack. Take time to thank God for His faithfulness to you today! Bye!

Abundant life

In John 10:10, Jesus said, "I am come that they may have life, and that more abundantly." Here is my take on that...

Life is full of ups and downs; it's just the way life is, whether you are a Christian or not. Now.... a non-believer has a life that looks like this...
But because the Christian believer has been promised life MORE ABUNDANTLY, they have a life that looks more like this....

That is very much how my day was today. Extreme highs and lows. It is exhausting, actually. But God is the same, yesterday, today, and forever. He never has "bumps" in the road like we do! Nothing takes him by surprise. God sees everything like this

___________________________



So, I will not bore you with the details (many of which are confidential anyway). I'll just let you know that I went grocery shopping at 1am to relieve the stress in my mind. And it's pouring rain....

Too lazy to think of a good title for this post...

Greetings from sick bay. Yes, it is that time of year again... I'm back in the classroom, and sick already. Just a rotten cold, mind you... but enough to make me feel like death warmed over, so I stayed home today. I got up just long enough to get the kiddos on the bus, then went back to bed and slept until 1:00 pm! I still feel like crud, but not as bad as last night. I will probably go to work in the morning, although it won't be a "high energy" kind of day for me.

And to top it all off, Nick had a football game this afternoon/evening in a town almost 1/2 an hour away! And it was NOT warm. I had on layers... and fleece pants under my skirt... and a winter coat... and a blanket. However, my son and his team did an awesome job! They got 4 touchdowns and won the game. Nick got his first ever "flag" (tackle), and was so proud of himself! He came away from the game feeling quite confident. I must say, I exerted NO energy during that game except when he got that flag! Proud mom moment.

Ok... time to hit the sack. I've only been up for 10 hours, but if I don't turn in, I'll have a heck of a time waking up in the morning.

HERE COMES THE BRIDE!! *updated with new pictures!*

Today was such a wonderful day! My friends Christine and Andrew tied the knot, and it was a beautiful service! This is Dad walking her down the aisle...



Do you, Andrew, take Christine to be your lawfully wedded wife?

I DO! You may kiss the bride!


They look sooooooooooooooooooooo happy!!!!!

Bustling up the train...









The rain held off until MOST of the outdoor pictures were done. Now we are off to the reception... I may edit this post and add a couple of reception pictures later.

Challenge

I love when God uses multiple people to bring me a message personally designed to target my heart. My pastor preached this morning about our personal responsibility to grow in the knowledge of God, by taking action and working out our own salvation with fear and trembling. He preached from 2 Peter 1:5-8... it is OUR job to ADD to our faith, ADD to our virtue, etc. etc. THEN , I listen to Pastor Terry Black ADD to that message by challenging us to serve others as a means of growing in our relationship with the Lord. He challenged us to let God be the potter, forming us to fulfill our original purpose of being a servant. He told of a man who had only been in the church a short time. The church was teeming with people, and they were short on Sunday School teachers. The pastor handed the man a Bible and said, "See that room of young 11 year old boys? They need a teacher today. Would you do it?" The man was stunned. TODAY? NOW? But but but but.... there were many excuses, but the pastor simply said, "You'll learn." The man was challenged at that moment to GROW into ministry. If we could all desire to serve in whatever capacity God chooses... He formed us... He's the Potter... He knows what purpose we were formed for. Although I do not feel I am "called" to be lead musician at our church, I have been gifted with the talent to play and sing. I could make a dozen excuses to avoid being behind that piano service after service... but really, when I serve in that capacity to fill a need, I grow spiritually, because God touches me and ministers to me every time I play. When people come to me to tell me a certain song I played targeted their particular situation and blessed them, then I grow spiritually and I am drawn to the Lord in a spirit of thanksgiving. Our church is currently experiencing a shortage in Sunday School teachers, and I am thinking about the challenge. Praying about the challenge. If I wait for the Spirit to "move me", I may miss out on an opportunity to grow. Pray for me as I pray about this new challenge in my spirit. God will put me where He wants me. I trust Him completely. I desire to grow closer to the Lord, however He sees fit, and however hard I am willing to "work" at it. Thank you Jesus.

Posts added

Hello! Take a moment to scroll down through the page and see some of the posts I have added or updated. I don't want you to miss the video of the world's youngest preacher (hilarious) or pictures of Adam's most recent belt ceremony. Thanks for stopping by!

Michelle

VICTORY... by hook or by crook....

Ladies and gentlemen.... you really have to know all the tricks to get around Blogger's major quirks. THANK GOD for the Picasa program! There's more than one way to skin a cat, and thankfully more than one way to post pictures to your blog.

HERE are the pictures of the Chargers in action! They played the Patriots first, then the Buccaneers. What a fun day!!! (You can click on the pictures to see them BIGGER).

We also took some amazing video footage... I SO wish we could post it on here. We didn't use a digital recorder... just a regular one. So I'm not sure I will be able to put anything on here. Oh well. Trust me when I say that this is going to be a fun football season! GO CHARGERS!! GO NICK!!