Feeling Confident!

I heard a story today about some of the founders of Spring Arbor University....I am totally paraphrasing a paraphrase, so that is very dangerous of me, but I heard when E.P. Hart and his wife, Martha, arrived to the area by train no one was around to pick them up and the snow was very heavy.  As he began trudging through the snow, E.P. Hart became very discouraged about the situation.  His wife, Martha, picked up both suitcases, continued walking forward, and began singing a hymn.  I don't know exactly what happened next, but I know a Christian University grew out of those steps of faith and perseverance.  Wow, I am thankful for those people who pick up the suitcases and start singing....aren't you?!!!

"Mazel Tov, Mazel Tov"

Karly has been walking around tonight saying regular stuff....like, "Kooper, leave me alone....MAZEL TOV, MAZEL TOV!"  "What time is it....mazel tov, mazel tov?".....she is cracking me up!

Brad has been in the basement for a while practicing his music for Fiddler On the Roof.  By the way, you should come to one of his shows....they will run two weekends in November...November 4-6 and November 11-13 :)

I loved the prayer from my devotional this morning...thought I would share...

Pray
Lord, I know I don’t have the strength to love like this. I’m not under any illusion that my intentions alone amount to much. Father God, I know You are love, You are my capacity to love, and Your Son, Jesus, exemplifies selflessness. You demonstrate the power of giving Yourself. So I ask that Your power would be demonstrated in my life and through me. Cause Your power to be my experience and let it play a part in transforming those around me. Please teach me to love. Help me to love. Strengthen my love, I pray. In Jesus’ mighty name, amen.

Happy International Chocolate Day!!!

:)

When Life Hands You Lemons....

I think it is so funny when my kids give me pep talks!  It is really sweet!  This morning as we were all getting ready for school and work, Karly decided to tell me all about how she thinks I should start my own business....I remembered back to all my lemonade stands :P and working with my cousins to raise money for our Great Aunt Nollie's air conditioner.  I remember feeling so successful when we had raised $10 for her, stuffed all the coins in an envelope, drew an air conditioner on the outside and walked it down to her house.  After that, she bought a new fan for her house and called it her "air conditioner"...and we all felt like we had been a part of something amazing!

Once when I was visiting my grandma after Aunt Nollie's passing, grandma brought this little envelope to me that had a picture of an air conditioner on it with a bunch of coins inside.  Aunt Nollie had saved it because it meant so much to her.

"You Had Me At Muffins" - someone from Kassi's class :P

Kassi decided last week that she wanted to run for student council, so she asked me to help her design a poster, assist with writing her speech over the weekend, and take some treats to school for her class today.

We decided to choose a really positive, yet challenging, quote and design a coloring book kind of border for her poster.

A couple sisters helped with coloring the border of her poster.... I helped her organize her thoughts for her speech and we bought muffins for her class because her speech was going to be early in the morning.

She went up against five other students in her class and she had to speak first.  All the kids were neck and neck with the votes except for Kassi and one other boy named Ian.  They had a few more votes than the other students.  So, later in Social Studies, there was a second vote between just Kassi and Ian.  Kassi won by only two or three votes.  I am so excited for her!  She has some creative thoughts for a fundraiser and how to address bullying in school.

She was telling me what two of her friends said after the voting.....one boy said, "You had me at muffins!" and then one of her best girlfriends said, "Well, you had me at Hi, my name is Kassi!"