pursuing God, being an example

Before you read this, be sure you are sitting down. Are you sitting? Ok. Here it is. God has been dealing with me for quite some time, and I am finally convinced that this is what needs to happen. It really began when I started praying this prayer... "Lord help me. I desperately want to draw closer to you. In order to do that, I have to spend more time with you. Currently, I have this little problem called the COMPUTER. It steals so much of my time that I could and SHOULD be spending with you. But I am hooked, and lack the self discipline to get myself away from this blasted thing! Please lead me, give me wisdom, and show me what to do. All things are possible with you." That was the beginning. Then, my friend Stu who blogs over at HOUSE CALLS posted a link to this article about a man who got himself OFF the internet/email for a month. It resonated in my soul when I read it, as if God were giving me the wisdom and direction I was seeking. Still, I did not have it in myself to act.... self discipline is tough. The desire to spend time with God began to intensify. Today, my son and his friend from church (Jared) spent the afternoon BEGGING me to play the Game Cube, to which I replied, "It's beautiful outside... go out and PLAY. You can have a few minutes on the Game Cube at 4:00 before we head back to church." From 1:30 on, all I heard every five minutes was, "What time is it? Is it 4:00 yet? How much longer? Waa waa waa!" It about drove me crazy. That is when it hit me like a brick wall.... I AM THE EXAMPLE! My children see me glued to this thing for hours (in the name of blogging, emailing, and watching preaching online) INSTEAD OF PRAYING! I was smitten in my heart. And to top it all off, my pastor preached a dynamic message this evening on TRUE FREEDOM. I want it! True freedom from the bondage this computer brings on me. Therefore, I am here posting to let you know that I will not be posting anything here for a month. I am going to starve the carnal man and feed the spiritual man for one month, and then let you know how it has changed my life. If anyone tries to email me, they are going to get an auto-response with my phone number. If it's important, CALL ME! Please pray for me during this month... it is bound to be extremely difficult, and I know the devil will run his mouth about how I need to communicate with people by email and I need to research this and watch preaching and all that. And my flesh will be craving it... but please pray that my spiritual man becomes much stronger through prayer, and helps me overcome temptation. I truly believe this will be life changing for me and for my children. It can only be good. See you in a month! God bless you all!

A proper celebration

Well, a boy only turns 8 once in a lifetime. Nick turned 8 the day before we left for Arizona, and he did not get to celebrate with his friends. SO... today was the day we chose to do it up... exactly one month after his actual birthday! It was a Madagascar party, so as you prepare to celebrate via blogville, let me just say.....

The living room was transformed into a jungle...

and anyone who has seen the movie knows that the penguins are hilarious! So, here's the cake...

And here are the wild animals....

First we did some party poppers outside in the yard...

Then we played some fun party games inside. Then.... PRESENT TIME! I love to watch the faces of children when they receive a gift! It's almost magical!

Here are a few of the gifts he received... a new Bionicle...

money is always good....

and, his very first Webkins! It's a chihuahua... he named it Jake.

Time for cake!

After cake and ice cream, they headed outside to play baseball (and climb trees). You know, the things that 8 year old boys LOVE to do! They had a really great time! Mom is exhausted! Sandy stayed at my house until almost 1 am to help me get everything ready for the party. She is awesome! Sandy, I saved you some cake!!!!!!

So... that is the story of Nick's belated birthday party celebration. Thanks for sharing the day with me via blog! Time for a nap!

Spiritual birthday

15 years ago today... I received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, speaking in other tongues! WOW! These have been 15 of the greatest years of my life... I can't imagine living any other way! I LOVE YOU JESUS! Thank you for the greatest birthday gift ever... my salvation!

To my very special mom...

I LOVE YOU MOM! HAVE THE BEST MOTHER'S DAY EVER! I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU!!!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!

ENJOY! This is one of my very favorite videos of all time! LOL! Anyone with BOYS will sooooo appreciate this video (sorry for the couple of sketchy words in it). This will be MY boys even as adults!!!

Catch up

Okay. The purpose of this post is to "catch up" on various and sundry things I have been meaning to blog about, but haven't gotten around to it until now. Most of it is old news by now... but having it in my blog is still a requirement! But before we get started with old news, let me just tell you that this evening, my boys and I watched a movie called "Everybody's Hero" about Babe Ruth and the *cough* *gasp*... YANKEES... ACK! Did I just say that? It was so hilarious! I laughed so hard! Even if it was about the evil empire, it was a top notch movie! The BALL alone had me in hysterics!

Okay. Now on with the old news. First, the big fire that occurred here in town while we were in Arizona. My step dad is a newly retired barber (click here for pictures of his last day). He sold the shop to Patty and Trish, his co-workers for many years. Well... while we were at the Canyon, we got a phone call that the shop was on fire. Here is what it looks like now...

No one was hurt, but as you can see, this building will have to be torn down. *sniff* My brother was on scene as a senior firefighter, and he had a hard time watching the place burn. Ray was a barber in that shop for 43 years! My brother picked up some bricks to keep as souvenirs.



Next, we have pictures of the "fort" that Sandy and Adam decided to build in the back yard. I helped. But it's all Sandy's fault! LOL!!! Here are a couple pictures of the great green fort!

It was totally hilarious to build, because that tarp is 20' x 40', and it was so windy (about 15-20 mph winds), I thought we were going to just be picked up and blown away! LOL! Believe me, that thing is tied down tight!! Now, if they would just play in it, we'd be all set! sigh

Um... I can't think of anything else right now. OH! Wait... we are hatching baby chicks in our classroom, and it's pretty fun and exciting. Our projected hatch date is May 22nd, so I'll be sure to take lots of pictures to post here.

That is definitely all for now. I'm totally beat. Thanks for reading my ramblings-on. Good night all!

Spring ...

Need I say more?