Lavaby and Goodnight

From a sweet little song in the Youth Got Talent show tonight :)

Looking forward to some AWESOMENESS today! I get to work with over 120 students this morning for our first new student registration day at Spring Arbor University for our students coming in for fall 2016!

Then I get to enjoy our youth group performing at Youth Got Talent...along with the 8th grade Western Middle School Jazz Band and Free Shrugs Improv.....fun times!!!!!

Ready Set Go

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgkzlu-FaMU

Even Without The Sparkle?

Kenna wants me to post this one.....

"I'm Laughin' At Clouds" ~from Singin' In The Rain

Do you know how to read music?  Try this....(the answer is below)

Dew-dloo-dew-dew-dew

Dew-dloo-dew-dew-dew-dew

Dew-dloo-dew-dew-dew-dew

Dew-dloo-dew-dew-dew-dew

:)

 Hope you DEW some singing today!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1ZYhVpdXbQ

Last Night Of AWANA For The School Year

It's Bike Rodeo Night!  Everyone's favorite!!!!

Well, almost everyone......

Part of the tradition of Bike Rodeo night is also getting to "buy pies" with their left over AWANA shares.....Pies to throw at these guys :P

How Pastor Jeremy wanted to wear his plastic.....

Snug as a bug....

Yep.....PK's really like this game....between our two families there are 11 PK's.....ha!

Almost knocking Brad off of his perch.....Pastor Jeremy was catching pies and tossing them toward Pastor Brad.....

This next one is my favorite....haha!

Compare that to....

 "Help is on the way, dear!"  

Over the years I am realizing you cannot protect yourself from everything....you cannot always protect your kids or those who you love from things that may break their hearts...or even from their own decisions which may leave some scars.  Sometimes, the more you try to protect in your own strength, the more you injure because gradually, or eventually, people have to learn to process life and make decisions for themselves.

I read a thought on this verse today.....it went something like, "guarding your heart is not about blocking everything out"....I would add.....that scares you, worries you....that you don't think you can handle.  No, the way to guard your heart is not as much about what you block out as what you let in.  If you fill your heart with Christ, you can discern how to handle all other things....you can see your priorities clearly....and monsters become harmless to you....you can LOVE your enemies and those who mean you harm...you can even let them into your heart because your heart is guarded completely by Christ Jesus.

Frequent Flyer Benefits

From The Rooftops

My devotional a couple days ago reminded me to be thankful for where God has placed me right now.  We can become bored and then pretty cynical of where we live......like college students critiquing the food in the cafeteria...I hear about that a lot where I work......Or, we can become frustrated with the state of our world and feel useless to impact it for good.....I find myself in this boat sometimes instead of really embracing my place and loving that God has given me wonderful work to do right where I am.

When I really think about that it makes me excited to know that I could see a revival in the place where I am living.....that I should be faithful, prayerful, and available for God to use for His purpose here. 

This says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, "Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens, and eat their produce....But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. ~Jeremiah 29:4-7~

It is good to remember we are exiles.....that we are foreigners here....that we are not to "live as the world lives"....However, the solution to this is not to avoid the world around us or condemn it, but to live in it, pray for it, want the best for it....to truly love it!

God Of This City

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEFGr1S8SkA

Try saying this in your best Sean Connery accent :P

Elisabeth Elliot made this anonymous poem famous. 

At an old English parsonage down by the sea,

there came in the twilight a message to me.

Its quaint Saxon legend deeply engraven that,

as it seems to me, teaching from heaven.

And all through the hours the quiet words ring,

like a low inspiration, ‘Do the next thing.’

Many a questioning, many a fear,

many a doubt hath its quieting here.

Moment by moment, let down from heaven,

time, opportunity, guidance are given.

Fear not tomorrow, child of the King,

trust that with Jesus, do the next thing.

Do it immediately, do it with prayer,

do it reliantly, casting all care.

Do it with reverence, tracing His hand,

who placed it before thee with earnest command.

Stayed on omnipotence, safe ‘neath His wing,

leave all resultings, do the next thing.

Looking to Jesus, ever serener,

working or suffering be thy demeanor,

in His dear presence, the rest of His calm,

the light of His countenance, be thy psalm.

Do the next thing.

-Source Unknown

Makes My Heart Come Alive

Thinking on the great privilege we have to praise God.....He is our MAKER and He loves us!

The Maker

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lH03GMmdMRI

I think it is funny that these are the things we held on to.....I mean, what about...

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?"  

"I love you with so much of my heart that none is left to protest"

"Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind"

"With mirth and laughter. let old wrinkles come"

What if we quoted these more often?

:)

It Is Almost Unbelievable, But........

I cleaned out my inbox at work today.....yep, answered every email!  That was such a wonderful and weird feeling.....after I did it, I just stared at it for a few seconds......it looked kind-of like this...

Isn't that weird!

I Think It's "Raid Your Mama's Closet" Day

Savannah has a mock job interview today and McKenna gets to go see the musical, Matilda.....so both were rummaging through my closet last night looking for outfits and shoes for today.  You'd think they didn't have their own clothes :P  I am choosing to take this as a compliment....haha!  Hopefully I will get these items of clothing back.  Hmmmm...now that they're gone, I can look through their closets, right?  :P

I was sitting at a stoplight the other day watching people drive by and turn in front of me and I just started talking to God, "With all the people in the whole world, how do you have enough love for all of us?".....then I just thought, "because you ARE LOVE!"  It's not like gold plating where it could scratch off or it only goes so deep....or like being in line for a ticket and the tickets run out right before it is your chance....God's love is 100% genuine....through and through....and 100% eternal.

In a world where every other pursuit and pleasure is temporary, I am thankful for this constant love!

Even Me and Odd Me

Yes, Jesus Loves....

Even Me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3p3ZFbIZ9s

"I Wouldn't Touch That With A 10-Foot Pole"

Pole Vaulting, that is....hehe!  That is such a bad joke, right?  But I am afraid of heights, so that is true.  Anyway, Vannah is learning to Pole Vault this year :)  The first day she practiced I came home from work and she was sewing up her sweatpants because she didn't quite clear the fence she was trying to jump over....and those were her favorite sweats! We got to watch her compete today, however, and she cleared the first competitive level....that is definitely an improvement!

I can't imagine letting go of the thing that is sort-of holding me up and just being fine with flying through the air....Pretty cool, right?!!!  She keeps amazing me with all the new things she wants to try every year :)

There she is ready to cross the finish line for her 200 yard run.

Soar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AB_ydkWbdBk

A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Anxiety

I LOVE THAT ONE!

I had the opportunity to lay a burden down this Sunday....something that has been worrying me and causing me some frustration and disappointment.  I should have let it go before and as I was praying about it I realized I had really just been ignoring it or pushing it aside.  When the subject made me feel sad, I had been trying to count my blessings, but I never had actually thanked God for the difficulty....nor had I ever acknowledged that HE IS SUPREMELY GREATER.

We are looking forward to Youth Got Talent again this year!  Usually, our youth group entertains with music and sketches.  That will still be the same this year, however, we have also invited the 8th Grade Jazz Band from Western Middle School to share a jazz set with us....and, for the second half, we will enjoy Free Shrugs Improv!  The show will be at our Jackson location, but we have been announcing the event at our Parma location as well.

Last night we got together with our youth group, practiced a couple songs and went over some of the order of things.  I am getting excited!

They did a terrific job so we all went for ice cream and slushies afterwards!

When we arrived at the Fiddler On The Roof performance last night they only had 3 tickets left :P  Some people said to wait and see if other people turned tickets back in, so maybe we could wait and get some single spaces in the auditorium.  We went back and forth in deciding if we would wait or just go somewhere for ice cream, but we decided to wait and see what might come available.  We were in luck because a little section of seats were opened up with three in front of four....PERFECT!  I was wondering how it would work if we had to find 7 individual seats for when all the girls needed to go to the bathroom during the show....ha!

The show was incredible.....the young man who played Reb Tevye was just amazing.  I was in sheer delight all the way through "If I Were A Rich Man"  he had so much fun with the character!  AND, there was this group of girls who did the bottle dance....it is like a Russian dance, but with bottles on their heads.  I had heard it was a pretty terrific part of the show, but I almost jumped out of my seat at the end of their dance to give them a standing ovation on the spot....WOW....I could not believe they could dance like they did and all keep the bottles balanced!!!

I had seen it once a long time ago, but forgot the story line.....I think the quote below helps to summarize some of the concept of the musical.

So true....and looking forward to experiencing this musical this evening and watching one of our youth from church perform :)

Dr. Howe Can We Say No To A Chocolate Fountain?

Dr. Howe's annual ice skating party for all his orthodontic clients...

Today, several of my girls admitted, "We don't go for the skating, we go for the chocolate!"

Karly is never shy....she told Dr. Howe he will be working on her teeth soon.

Watching the others ice skate...

Well, it's not how many times you fall that counts...it's that you get back up.

Brad, trying to peel Karly off the side wall.

Hooray for face painting!

A unicorn?  This is my surprised face!

Gorgeous!

Savannah wins for most artistic shot....I love how this photo turned out when she tried a side selfie!

"It's so fluffy, I'm gonna die!"

Karly told me she was talking with her friend Anna today and they both agreed they wish they could marry a unicorn instead of a boy :P

But, if they HAVE to marry a boy, they at least want a pet unicorn.

My favorite book as a kid was this book about a unicorn named Morgan.....I loved it and read it all the time and tried to trace the front cover to draw Morgan and the princess....over and over again!

Last night I dreamed I found Forrest Fenn's treasure...ha!....it is funny how what you think about before bed makes it's way into your dream sometimes.

Psalm 4:7

We started studying Experiencing God by John Piper tonight.  This beginning study was about Christian Hedonism.....I know Hedonism has a very negative connotation, but this is basically a belief that we can find complete joy in Christ and we don't need to feel guilty for our enjoyment of our relationship with Him nor the benefits of obeying Him that He clearly confirms to us in Scripture.  I don't know if that is so much of an issue now in churches, but it used to be a pretty common belief that if you were having too much fun, you must not be seriously holy.  I acknowledge there is a line that can be crossed where one can become irreverent, but Holiness is not the opposite of being wholly joyful while enjoying the life God has given us and knowing and serving Christ.

I read one explanation of Christian Hedonism and came upon the concept taken from scripture that we should approach each day as if there is a treasure for us to find in a field.  We sell everything we own to obtain the field because we know the treasure is there and that is greater than anything we could ever own.  So, we put 100% into each day (that is our "selling everything") and we "own" every situation we encounter for Christ (we buy the field)....and there is a treasure in that day....in those moments.  A lot of our treasures await us in Heaven, but I think God gets so excited that we are seeking Him that sometimes He allows our Heavenly rewards to spill over onto the earth and splash us.

 

That About Covers It

I am in that stage of life (and probably will be for a while) where I am having frequent conversations with my daughters about modesty. I shopped with my two oldest daughters tonight so we had another heart-to-heart conversation.

Ultimately it is not about dressing for a man or even ourselves, though we can learn to be respectful in this pursuit as we value protecting thoughts and relationships....but it is understanding that many times honoring God means the opposite of drawing inappropriate attention toward ourselves with our actions, attitudes, or even our dress.  Choosing modesty and humility allows people to see our true beauty.