Hope Your Friday Doesn't Stink :)

I am having a little issue with Stink Bugs in my office at work.  They are such awkward bugs....they get into my lights, but they fly around like they are drunk or something...so I am always like..."Man, that thing is going to hit me in the head while I am trying to work"....I armed myself with an umbrella to try to stab at them in the light.....

I have probably tried to kill about 10 of them in the last two weeks....ewwww....and I am not calm while killing bugs :P  So, today, I was trying to kill one that kept hiding in the light above my head with my umbrella.  You know that feeling when you think you got it, but you cannot find it anywhere?!!!!!  I was looking all over for it in the light and on the floor....doesnt help that my carpet is the color, STINKBUG....haha!  THEN, I heard a noise and looked and it was ON THE HANDLE OF MY UMBRELLA.....RIGHT BY MY HAND.....AHHHHHHHHHH!

Hills and Valleys

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4rRCjrAyCs

Sometimes I get busy telling my girls how they should be able to face their fears and I forget I have my own :P  

Brand New Day

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHC3Gip8T7k

Kassi, Karly, and I got to try out for Shrek the Musical tonight.  I am a very proud mommy!  There are moments I wish I could just freeze time....and, standing at the piano...monitoring the CD player for them while they sang their favorite Disney Princess songs for a bunch of people tonight was one of those moments.  I try not to be the bragging parent often, but I love watching them grow up and really delight in the gifts God has given them....there is soooooo much sweetness in that! 

 I had a lot of fun singing a Disney Princess song too! :) 

You Know What Is Such A Tweet?!!!

Hearing the birds singing in the morning!

We had so much fun today celebrating our Gotcha Day.....10 days late, but we have been trying to get through other commitments :)  The girls always enjoy the Disney Movies, so we went to see Beauty and the Beast today.  We stopped at Toys R Us first for some coloring and a chance to receive a LEGO Lumiere....

Daddy was cracking us up because he couldn't remember Lumiere's name....he told some friends we were going to make "Legumes" haha....and then he asked a salesperson at Toy R Us where we were supposed to go in the store to make "Lemieux"....the girls were like..."LOU-ME-AIR" :)

And.....every Gotcha celebration includes some kind of sweetness.....

Finishing up the night with some dress up fun.....Karly found an old dance costume in the dress up box from when Kassi and Kenna danced to a Pinocchio song.....so she and Kassi made herself a long nose out of a toilet paper roll :)

I really enjoyed our Women of Hope gathering last night.  Our pastor's wife, Abigail, shared from her past and her heart and there was a lot of laughter.  I am not sure if she meant for us to laugh so much, but I think there is so much freedom we can feel when someone is vulnerable because others are allowed to identify with the all the chaos, hurts, desperation, emptiness....well, really the crazy women that we know have all been and are all still capable of being as our days and our seasons remind us that we cannot do this life on our own....and we are not meant to just live in "survival" mode.

I know we all can identify our struggles and I believe we can admit that God has been very faithful to us over the years to show us what these are in multiple trials and attempts to allow us to work through them with Him.  Many of mine involve patience, surrendering my expectations and finding contentment in what is, learning that God is with me through all of it and I can trust Him.

Abigail brought our attention to something a little different in the passages about Mary and Martha when Jesus says to Martha in Luke 10:41-42, " you are worried and upset about many things. But only one thing is necessary.  Mary has chosen the good portion, and it will not be taken away from her."

Many times we hear that verse and people summarize it that Jesus was saying, "you need to stop all the busyness and just sit at my feet"....whereas it is very important to intentionally be with Jesus and priorities may need consideration throughout our lives, Abigail suggested there is more about joy in these verses and understanding that Jesus is the source of our joy.  Mary CHOSE the GOOD PORTION....and the word good in this verse is also the word, joy.  The JOY PORTION :)  We can still be buying groceries, helping with science fair projects, taxiing to a million places, picking up sticks in our yard after the storms, looking around our untidy house wondering where to begin (like I am this morning....haha, so why not blog for a bit), reminding our kids to put away their shoes and CHOOSING THE JOY PORTION.  The truth of our existence is that we have JOY in the Lord because He first loved us and through His love, He has saved us.  When we are in Him, we experience His joy....and His joy is soooooo great that it completely fills us and THIS is our strength....and this strength cannot be taken away from us by our circumstances.

It's Friday, Why Not Make a Splash :P

Soooooooo, I was super embarrassed this morning.  I was driving through campus around to where I park for work and a couple students were leaving their dorm and ready to cross the street.  I allowed them to cross in front of me and then I drove by behind them after they crossed.....but, I hit a pothole and totally underestimated the depth of it.  I wasn't even driving fast at all, but I may have splashed the two students a little..ooooops..it was like it was all happening in slow motion and I could see each droplet that was about to hit them :P

Brad's job requires him to make house calls to people who are interested in knowing more about funeral services and options.  He told me yesterday he was at a home for some clients and their dog kept attacking his briefcase....(this keeps making me laugh so hard)....I can just imagine the awkwardness.  He said they finally figured out that their dog was putting his ball into Brad's briefcase and then attacking it. 

I am trying to practice a song today and the background track has a very lively guitar part.  It is driving my dog, Kooper, insane and he keeps bringing me his ANGRY BIRD and jumping up on me so I will throw it to him.  It is funny when he gets like this because he slides across the kitchen floor when he gets running really fast to attack his ANGRY BIRD.  He is starting to learn to zigzag through the kitchen in order to get traction on the rugs instead of trying to run directly to ANGRY BIRD and hit the wall while sliding.  Not getting much good practice in, but a whole lot of fun puppy playtime :)

So thankful for God's love and the people in my life who care for me!

(That lightning last night struck my bracket)

We had a pretty crazy week with rehearsals leading up to "A Pirate's Life For Me" shows all this weekend for Karly and Danielle, but they had so much fun with it and did a terrific job as Pirate Ladies!  I helped as a makeup checker every dress rehearsal and performance, so I have been away from home quite a bit this week as well.  Vannah decided she would replicate all the flavors of cupcakes from our Gotcha Celebration 4 years ago....so she worked hard on that as a special treat for us to celebrate this year!

On our first Gotcha Day we had a big party and all the girls got to choose a flavor of cupcake to serve to all our friends and family.....so....

Kenna - Peanut Butter

Kassi - Zebra (Marble)

Danielle - Stawberry

Savannah - Chocolate Raspberry

Karly - Funfetti

There are ways in which food can really resemble personality....that is funny to me :P  Here's another funny thing....we went to Bob Evans after their Pirate Show today and, after we ordered our food, I noticed there was a belt laying on the table.  Karly had removed it to get ready to eat :P  She has never done that before so I am thinking that is a pirate thing.....is that what swashbucklin' means?

Have A SwooshBucklin' Saturday!

Hope your brackets are still strong :P  I am thrilled that both Michigan teams won!

That's the best "It's A Pirates Life For Me" and NCAA mashup I could think of....

Have a wonderful Saturday!

"We'll Walk Through My Dukedom"....maybe....

Trying to research and make my picks so that I can go up against my co-workers in an NCAA challenge and I got this song stuck in my head.... so Duke it is!

Duke Of Earl

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XymRpULK1qY

It's Gotcha Day!

Celebrating our Gotcha Day for Vannah and Danielle, March 15, 2013!!!  I am so grateful for God's plans and that He can show us so much of His own love, mercy, and patience as we choose to love without condition.  There are definitely challenging times, but it's worth it!

I am so excited!  Part of my job is working to register our dual enrolling students/families and make connections with guidance counselors/school administrators by trying to develop partnerships with local schools to expand the reach of our programs.  Today, I was able to work on details with a local school to embed two college courses into their high school schedule....

YAY!  Hopefully, those connections will result in more awareness about Spring Arbor University's mission and opportunities and will encourage more participation from other schools.  I love when you can actually see some evidence of your work....ya know!!

Refining Fire

I woke up to this song.....WOW!  This is one of my very favorite accounts of faith in the Bible...."But even if He does not"...."we want you to know"....He is still the only one I will worship!

Even If

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6fA35Ved-Y

I want this LIVING HOPE in me (like those yummy recipes you see on facebook, "get in my belly" :).....but,) GET IN MY HEART....drive my thoughts and actions....give me peace through the storms.

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer various trials, so that the authenticity of your faith - more precious than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire - may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.  Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with an inexpressible and glorious joy... 1 Peter 1:6-8

I love that the authenticity of our faith is described in detail here....it's like "hold up...I need you to know that your faith is MORE precious than the most precious thing ever!" it really means something to GOD that we are sold out to Him....that is why he tests us....He is looking for those souls....the "even if" souls.

I Surrender All

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuxO4hahIIw

God's sweet laws of multiplication apply to you.  When you give up something in order to gain more of Him....there will be an abundance of blessings for your mind, heart, soul and life.

Another thing I am asking God to work with me on especially during Lent (and beyond as I develop a better habit) is to help me more quickly surrender my worry, anxiety, or concerns about the future to Him.  To teach me to lean on Jesus each day and trust that He has the strength to bring me through that day....and then the next and then the next.

It's You Jesus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMlByX3Iu-U

We are so proud of the Western Middle School Band and the High School Symphonic Band for getting all I's this weekend at band festival!  Way to GOOOOOOO!  I am always so impressed with the sight reading part!  Yes, here's a new song you have never seen.....you have five minutes to look at it and then test on it in front of an audience :)  They amaze me!

It's Friday.....time to belt the Disney Princess songs :)

One of the things I am working on focusing on for Lent is to give up the "need" or desire I feel sometimes to be too critical or to complain and grumble when I am not happy with circumstances.  I guess I am thinking if God's plan for my life is unfolding and He is never surprised by what I encounter, then all of my circumstances are a part of His plan because they all are purposed for me.  Each moment I walk into has a need and I have, because of the victorious power of Jesus, the answer to the need of every moment.  I can choose to offer myself through Christ as a remedy or I can try to go it alone and often suffer for that decision because there is such weakness of heart and mind in my humanness. 

My daughter, Karly, has been struggling with attitudes of negativity.  There are a lot of "I don't want to", "why do I have to", "I don't like this", "I can't be good"....and we have talked on multiple occasions about the fact that we all have to determine to see the positive in each situation, choose to do the right thing even when we don't want to, and above all make every effort to honor Christ. I have been praying for her in these ways because it hasn't seemed like my words were making a difference.  Yesterday, when I picked her up after school, she said, "Mom, we watched a video today and I cried a lot.  There was a boy who was born without a leg and his father left him and his mom died when he was young.  He had to try to live on his own and he decided he would do it and he wouldn't complain about his life.".....then she started crying in the car and said, "I'm not going to complain anymore".....isn't it amazing when we see an answer to prayer happen right in front of our eyes :)  So happy to know that this video would impact her in the exact ways I was praying for her mind and heart.  And, moments like these work on my heart as well.

Do Everything Without Grumbling

12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

14 Do everything without grumbling or arguing, 15 so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.”[a] Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky 16 as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain.

When I walked out of my bedroom today, there was a frog on my chair....haha!  After I was kidding Karly about her frog jammies and me not really liking frogs.....

She got a Parma Praise which means she gets to pick something fun from a box of goodies at school and this frog was tooooo hard to resist after that conversation :)  I feel loved...even though I know she is trying to be a stinker!!! This is an act that starts a tickle war :P

Today was just one of those great days!  I am doing well at work....I have two high schools right now that I am working with for partnerships with our Dual Enrollment options.....that is exciting!

Brad hosted his first event for his new job and it went really well.  I was able to join for part of it after I had dropped off and picked up all the girls from their activities :)  When I walked in everyone was laughing and joking...which was humorous for me because they are all learning about funerals and how to plan for them....BUT, I am thrilled that when people can learn about these things and think about these things before there is a true need for them, it is a much more lighthearted atmosphere....and it takes a lot of the burden off of their loved ones.

I have been seeing so many people posting about being without power still that the girls and I decided later today we would clean house and offer to open our home for friends without power to clean up or do some laundry....I bought some snacks I remember loving in the 90's since I heard that was the last time there were sooooo many power outages in this area.  The girls worked to organize the snack table for our potential guests :)  Be Our Guest.....Be Our Guest....

This morning I was rummaging around in the fridge because it smells really funky, but I can't figure out what is causing the smell.  Karly came downstairs and was ready for me to give her a ride to school and she is wearing her fuzzy frog jammie pants today because they have special dress up days for reading month....

I was kidding around with her because frogs are....well.... not my favorite animal.  I do appreciate them for their role in the ecosystem and I am sure they are very important to the food chain, but I just wouldn't really want one as a pet.  Karly, very matter of factly, said to me..."Mom, frogs may be slimy, but they are misunderstood!!!"....what can you say after that?  I just drank some coffee :P

Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHjKzr6tLz0

"Grace is but glory begun, and glory is but grace perfected.  Grace is the free, undeserved goodness and favor of God to mankind." 

~ Jonathan Edwards~

Grace That Won't Let Go

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3anotgP5MJI

The Our Daily Bread devotional for today had this insight....

INSIGHT:

Do you ever find yourself hurting those you love, and maybe even forgetting in the emotion of the moment how much you really do care about them? If so, keep in mind that long before Paul wrote 1 Corinthians 13 he was an angry man who was mindlessly hurting the God he thought he knew and loved (Acts 9:1–6). So what brought about Paul’s change? First he needed to see how wrong he’d been about Jesus. He also needed to see that knowing the law is not the same as keeping it—and that he himself needed not only mercy but also the help of the Spirit of God to love others as God loved him. The Spirit who brought him from law to grace now invites and leads us into the loving patience and kindness that our Lord wants to express in and through us.

Perfect Love

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMwd1wUY2go

God is good and it was wonderful to celebrate the life of our friend, Chris Cardwell, today with many friends and family members!  I had the privilege to talk with his mom several times throughout the last few days and I have been blessed at the way God has been showing her comfort in very specific and personal ways throughout these hard days of grief!  Chris worked as a steerman on a ship and would be gone for a month and then back for two weeks for his job and he had very close friends on the ship because he basically lived with them during those months on the job.  One of his buddies had this picture painted for him when he was diagnosed with leukemia.  His friend was able to connect with his mom this last week and found out one of the things she always treasured from Chris was that while he was away for his job he would send her beautiful pictures of sunsets from the ship.  His friend has determine to keep doing this for her :)  I just thought that was incredible sweet!.....Really, isn't God's LOVE amazing!!!

The River

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rUzmjTmSBU

I understand why she loved these so much!

So, I am not sure how Biblically sound that statement is :)  HOWEVER, I am blessed/do suffer from deja vu and maybe something like empathetic intuition frequently.  I sometimes sense things I think may happen or I feel like what I am experiencing I have seen before....do you ever do that?  If so, do you ever want to test your hunches....like put the idea out there so you can have some proof that you maybe had the hunch before it happened?

I had one of those "intuitive aha moments" today and I'd love to say what it was about because the outcome is exciting, but I guess I am trying to discern whether those ideas originate from God or my own mind and I'm learning that sometimes those things are best left unsaid and just enjoyed as I watch God's plan unfold.  (Don't mind me.....I'm just going to leave myself a hint here so that I can look back a year from now and remember my aha moment "MARCH FORTH, Friends")

It would be funny though, if the statement above was somewhat correct and God couldn't help but show some of His friends a little peek into His plans because of how delightful they are :)

Brad and I had a fun night out with some friends last night to Ichiban and then bowling.....

Who can resist trying to catch food in your mouth at dinner?....haha....well some can, but I cannot.  My little piece of zucchini somehow bankshot off the side of my nose and still made it into my mouth...I wish I could have seen that in slow motion because it felt crazy :P

Love these people!

I had to take this picture just to document because I am usually not a great bowler.....this was probably my best game ever.  It is a little intimidating playing against "Christ" :P  

I had to laugh this morning as I was kind-of chiding my children on what they were wearing out the door...I was saying "you need your winter coat"....."where are your gloves?".....and they were just looking at me.  I started laughing as I was thinking how true it has been that we really have no clue what we are supposed to wear right now!!!!!  Later, I was taking some of the girls to practices and picking up others and there was this blizzard for a while.....then, the snow stopped and the sun was gorgeous and I said to Vannah, "Quick, let's get gas before the blizzard starts again!"....then we got stopped at a stoplight and were worried the blizzard would start back up during the one minute we were detained from turning right into the gas station :)