“The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one that most of us make. . . . I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of [my three children] sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less.”-Anna Quindlen(Loud and Clear [2004], 10–11)

We hold the keys to the future generations, we can't lose them...

Titus 1 v6

An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose

children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.

7 Since an overseer is entrusted with God's work, he must be blameless not overbearing,

not quick tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.

8 Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self controlled, upright,

holy and disciplined.

I have a daughter who wants to marry early, Lord willing.

So when we look around at the eligible "husband pool"

I wonder if Scott and I are training our sons enough for the

job of future husband, future fathers, future elders.

I had the privilege of hearing Voddie Baucham at a semi-local

Church last night and he reminded us as parents that

all boys should be raised to be elders.

Is it not the calling of most young men to raise up Godly families?

How do we make sure we're doing our part to raise up the future generation of elders?

The word of God should be the most important thing you teach your kids today.

Not math, or spelling, or how to recite the ABC's, it should be the bible.

We should set up training camp and make sure our boys understand that they

have a role in the next generation of Christians and they cannot fail to take

on that role.

As a mom we have to get out of our minds that our boys will grow up "one day".

No, they won't according to Voddie. We have to train them now...We have to stop

making excuses for our lazy, dis-respectful sons and keep in mind

we are training future warriors.

So you don't wait until they're 12 to do this you start when they're little.

Giving them a job and making them do excellent work.

Training them to treat their sisters above all others to protect her

and watch out for her.

It all comes down to

Training... Training.... Training...

So as we're looking around at the "husband pool" we are looking for future elders for our daughters.

She will spend her time serving him and he will spend his time washing her in the word and leading her on

as only a husband can do.

He will have had to be trained

just like we are training her to be a keeper of his home.

She has alot to learn and she will learn most of what she needs

under his gently watchful post.

I have to believe there are elders being raised up by Godly christian

families who will be a Godly christian leader for our daughters.

If we have sons at home

we hold the key

to shaping the future.

Keeping cookies in my cookie jar..

My cookie Jar.

I saw each one of my children gently lift the lid and peer over into the empty cookie jar.

Each one asking where the cookies were and if

we were going to bake some more and could they help?

After the 3rd child I stopped what I was doing and
started measuring out sugar and flour
and started making those home-made cookies
the kids love.
I want to make sure my cookie jar
is always full.
I want my kids to reach in and to be able
to pull out a delicious cookie
that I made (or their sister made) just
for them.
No special reason.
Looking ahead I think a nice
thing they might say is
"in mamma's house there
was always fresh cookies in
the cookie jar."

I'll smile a little smile and know

these were the words I was waiting for..

I plan ahead:)

Won't you join us?

We have committed to reading the bible

in a year. Big undertaking, but

something we feel is so important to teaching our

children history from the Lord's view point.

We have started this with the help of

The Church of Brookhills.

You can go to their website for some awesome

sermons and the out-line for the bible reading.

Their goal is to also pray for everyone in the world.

So everyday they give you a new place in the world

to pray for. This all takes minutes a day but

as they say it's a radical experiment that I want

our family to be a part of.

Won't you join us?

The Joy of the Lord

So I wonder why I have laugh lines..

This is a sweet moment between

a brother and his sister

and of course Binky...

Our Thankfulness is overflowing

as these little ones start

to laugh and smile.

The Blindside

I started crying the moment I saw

the boy called Mike.

My heart so tender to the children who

don't have a home. My heart wondering

how many we can help. Wondering

how many my house can hold.

My heart aching as I watched him listen

to the voices through the night that told him over and over

he didn't belong. I so wanted to be at home

with my little boy so I could whisper how loved he is.

How many time as a child did I listen through

the night at the angry voices that penetrated

the darkness in my little bedroom? I was

just a little girl. I had no control over my situation.

I couldn't change it, I had to survive it.

Covers pulled up tight,

humming so I didn't have to hear.

The darkness seemed to never go away.

It's senseless yet it happens to

so many children.

Mike was cold. He was hungry.

He was in a crowd and no one wanted to notice him.

No one wanted to stop long enough to give of themselves.

When our busyness keeps us from noticing the needs

of others we better watch ourselves.

We need to be awake.

We need a revival of our hearts.

The busyness drowns us.

We are under water and not breathing

and yet we hardly notice that our hearts are

dead. Our love for others has died.

We fail to reach out ..

We miss it.

the way the Lord meant it to be.

It's not about money but in order to help

these days they don't ask for anything except money.

They need to be asking for loving, kind people to come

and minister but they want your money instead.

There is no more "hands on."

So our generation

has forgotten how to open hands

and pour oneself out.

This is a must see.

This movie will move you

to compassion and it will give

you hope. The reality of boys like Mike

is a truthful image and I wish

for them that they are wanted.

A frigid mama

It's cold here in the deep south. Not normal ..

The pond has been frozen over for days.

The temps are hovering low and we're barricaded in our

home with a fireplace and plenty of food.

We have spent our time wisely.

Taylor and I have been knitting hats for the girls.

Sitting looking out at the coldness laughing like

silly school girls. Telling stories and our secrets that

only she and I can share. Our stories stop as a little

guy comes in and our eyes mark our place.

We have been making homemade breads and butter

and scones, muffins, cookies...We have sat together

all of us and enjoyed each others company.

We laugh alot around here, in fact I have noticed in the past

few weeks that laugh lines are forming around my eyes. Hmmm...

I want them to be deep. I want to notice them and

think upon the blessings that have put those lines there.

In a world of beauty and perfection

I think laugh lines sum up

your life...

I go to great extremes to make my children laugh.

I sing loud and I sing silly.

I tickle alot and sing and whisper in their ears how much

their mama loves them. We have 'inside'

ride on cars that have generated hours of laughter

for all us as we watch the kids ride up and down

the hallways. I know this will be a favorite memory

for them and us.

Everyday we do special things because everyday is a gift.

This cold spell has granted me hours in the house sipping hot

chocolate and snuggling..

Oh to teach my children to enjoy the everydays and not just

the special occasion days.

To carry into their homes that you have a reason to celebrate cold days,

hot days, rainy days.........hard days.

So many of us moms stay so busy we are like the cold

temperatures out side.

Frigid.

We forget to play.

We forget to be silly.

We forget to teach our kids to love the simple things.

We're uptight and task-orientated. We're always gripping and

complaining and our kids notice.

Our husbands notice..

It's always about us

and everyone knows it...

Then we grow old

with frown and worry lines and

we wonder why our adult children don't want to be around us.

I'll stick to my laugh lines that are slowly forming around my eyes

and I'll risk it all to make them deeper and laugh longer.

Lord willing, my children will learn to laugh and when they're

older they will notice they look like me, laugh lines and all.

The light they will remember around our table

The darkness settles and we look forward to it.

The lights are turned out one by one

as we put our feast on our family table.

It's not much, a pot of soup that has

warmed our home by it's smell for hours.

*

We come looking forward to the warmth

of the food and the candles and a father

who covers us with the word of God.

All things that keep us warm.

*

There is something about looking across

a candle-lit table into the eyes of your

children. Catching a glimpse of your husbands

smile as he listens to a story told by his 3 year old

stirs my love for him and helps me remember why

I fell in love in the first place.

*

Reminding my daughter that these tradtions

in her own home

will be what's remembered.

The night time feast.

*

The homemade bread and homemade butter

that sit and wait to be enjoyed.

*

We linger.

*

We get out another candle and it's an invitation

to stay at our table for alittle longer.

We're poisoning our own waterhole

Words spoken that can't be taken back.

Words that had no business being said in the first place hanging

in the door frames of our homes..........

"They say alot of things can destroy Churches in America but one of the

most deadliest is Gossip.

Teaching our children to love one another is hard enough without them

seeing us pretend to love and then talking about the very people we are supposed

to love.

There is a church in North Carolina that has a rule. If you are caught gossiping

you are given one chance and then you're out of the Church. You and your whole family. How many churches would you and I have gone through by now?

Talking about the Elders or the pastor, the families in our church that are supposed

to be our brothers and sisters in Christ. Saying things that should not have been thought, much less said out loud.

Speech is the one area that shows more disrespect then any other area.

If we can teach our children to keep their mouths closed and not to talk so much we would teach them a lifelong lesson in humility.

Gossip kills love. Gossip kills community. Gossip will kill our homes.

You and I can't live a double standard in front of our children. We will be liars

in front of them. They will grow up to be hypocrites like us. Only pretending to love.

Only pretending to care so that the juicy tidbits can be morsels to our innermost beings.

So what is gossip? Gossip is what you say behind someones back

that you would not say to their face.

This can include gossiping about our children, about our husbands, friends.. Some people

believe that a husband and wife can gossip behind closed doors, this is not true because

the husband can defile his wife and the wife her husband.

How do we stop gossiping?

Self control! We have to keep our thoughts on the Lord and over look peoples

faults as it concerns us.

When we get in the habit of loving others their faults become

less and less."

Scott Brown Gossip Cd by vision forum

As I listened to this CD my heart was breaking.

My home has been defiled by gossip.

My heart has been defiled by gossip.

I have defiled other people by my words.

I have set a bad example for my children.

I'm usually a very positive person and look for the best in others

but on the occasion that I did not build others up I tore down.

As parents we often worry about the influences of others children on our children but if we're honest we should worry more about our own influence on our kids.

We're poisoning our own waterhole.....

Lessons I'm trying to learn on the farm....

Grow in love.

I ask that my love be more intense, more practical,

influencing every thought,word, and deed.

I want to Grow also in humility.

Seeking to lie very low and know more of my own

nothingness.....

Charles Spurgeon