Since daddy has been busy with Fiddler On The Roof practices, we have been doing some fun GIRL stuff lately.  Last week, I took Vannah out to purchase a capsule wardrobe to celebrate her 16th birthday a little early.  Tonight, I took Kenna out to get her hair cut and have a consultation to purchase new hair products....her hair is so thick it is hard to get the formula right to balance the natural oils and avoid dryness.  Then, Kassi, Danielle, and Karly wanted to create some sweet smelling rocks from Kassi's SPA kit.  We made peppermint stones....you are supposed to be able to put them in your sock drawer to make your socks smell really good :)  We will see....errrr, we will smell :P

To Comprehend The BREADth

The fourth law of the harvest is AMAZING!  

The 4th law states.....

WE REAP MORE THAN WE SOW

When we sow wisely....righteously...when we remain faithful under the pressure of temptation, when we represent our joy in Christ through our suffering, when we speak of our life in Christ to others we encounter and show them genuine compassion and love....we are giving our "loaf of bread" to Christ.  This law does require our effort, however.....in the hands of the Lord, our efforts are miraculously increased so that we are able to reap more than we sow.

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith-that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever.  Amen.  

~Ephesians 3:14-21~

Peace Is

Thy Will Be Done

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAmh3yvmzXs

So, a lot happened this week.  Danielle has a job with CP Federal as a Membership Representative at her school, so she gets to write announcements and make announcements and punch cards for her peers.

And....I found a job!  My previous job...haha!  Only, my previous job at 30 hours and three main responsibilities instead of 4.....just what I had hoped and prayed for.  There were a couple structure changes in the office and I was asked to postpone my resignation that was supposed to be final on Sept 30.  This week I was offered a new position that is part time and I accepted.

Brad turned 44 and the girls have been having a little too much fun congratulating him in their best Irish accents....Happy Farty Fart Birtday, Datty! :)  Some jokes never get old...hehe!  They also wrote him a couple songs for his birthday.

Since I thought I would be unemployed this week, I had agreed to watch my godson while his daycare provider is out of the country on a mission trip.  I had fun hanging out with him and I think I got a little taste of what it will feel like to have grandkids....well I got a taste for one grandchild...wow!

We had tons of fun and he likes to take selfies too :P

Kenna had her first choir concert of the year...

We had to draw a picture everyday so I researched the easy, step by step directions for many Star Wars characters and Optimus Prime....wow, it is different having a boy in the house :)

Vannah worked with a kiddie cheer camp this week and all her little campers were able to Cheer For A Cure at the football game this weekend.

It was Senior Night, so the Marching Band learned a lot of Pixar music and all the high school seniors dressed up like Pixar characters and brought us a super fun show!

When you think you are going to take a nice "pretty" selfie with your kid and they do their crazy face :P

Happy Birthday To My Hubby!

Attempting to be FIERCE :)  

The girls plan to use puffy paint to add exceptions to this rule as needed. 

Parenting is tough....there are days when Brad and I definitely do not see eye to eye on how to handle situations with our girls....what is the right way to handle this? Should there be a punishment or just the natural consequence of this action? What if it is a pattern of behavior?  Should this standard be a hard and fast rule or just a guideline?.....He is a youngest child and I am an oldest child, so you can probably guess we fall at different places on a spectrum of those choices.  I think it is important to admit this stuff sometimes because people tend to think pastor's families have everything settled.

While our differing opinions can be frustrating for me as I struggle through adjustments to my perspective and learning submission, I am so thankful for him.  I know that GOD planned for us to work through this to come to a better thankfulness for God's perfect justice and, in so doing, to truly be AMAZED by His grace.  Do you ever wonder if you are still AMAZED by His grace?  I think we prefer to gloss over what justice would really mean for us, but if we do take a second to look at it, we would see grace to be AMAZING again.

Anyway, while I know that we may not ever learn to apply the perfect seasoning for both justice and grace, the fact that God has given me someone like Brad....who will challenge me to get it right....is like the sharpening of iron with iron....it is one of the most wonderful aspects of a friendship as recorded in scripture and for that I am blessed!

Happy Birthday, Brad!  LUB! 

Living In The Fall

I think that quote would accurately describe a person who lived at peace with the third law of the harvest...

We Reap In A Different Season Than We Sow

There is a Chinese proverb I saw that says...

"The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago....the second best time is now"....love that!

Seeking to understand and accept this law teaches us to wait on God, to trust, to be faithful when everything tells us our circumstances are hopeless or our efforts are in vain.  

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm.  Let nothing move you.  Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

~1 Corinthians 15:58~

It takes faith to believe our work matters when we may not even live through the season of it's harvest.  But we are to KNOW that none of the work we accomplish in Christ is in vain.  The only reason this is possible is because eternity is now....if we only lived in a temporal world that was entirely cut off and separated from eternity, things would not matter....our lives and efforts would equate to the hopelessness found in Ecclesiastes, but they matter for everlasting life...

I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.  Wait for the LORD; Be strong, and let your heart take courage;

Yes, wait for the LORD.

~Psalm 27:13-14~