Meet the Newest Member of "THE FAMILY"

You know, it never ceases to amaze me how God works, even when we least expect it. Today we were having our devotion time before homeschooling, and it was about Rehoboam. It's one of those "less familiar" lessons that we don't know as well.

Our family has been faithfully praying daily for C.'s salvation. He's even been praying for himself to be saved. One time before, he had shared with us that he thought he had been saved, but after talking to him and digging, we just didn't have the confirmation from the Lord that we needed. Well, prayers paid off today!! Praise God!! We didn't get finished with our devotion completely when he raised his hand and said, "Mom, I feel like God has spoken to my heart and wants me to be saved." Well, Carl and I wanted to make sure that this was God and NOT just C. The more questions we asked, and the more we listened, we realized that it was an act of God. You should have seen his facial expression. He even LOOKED like he was sorry for his sins. Of course, I boo hooed, and so did Carl. Then C. prayed a sweet little prayer, asking God to forgive him of his sins, come into his heart, and save him. He was pretty specific in confessing his sins, asking God to forgive him for the way he has treated his sister, and the way he has treated Mama and Daddy.

So, we celebrated tonight with a hallelujah party (complete with home made pizza), because our entire family has a RESERVATION IN HEAVEN!!! We are very proud parents!!!!!

Carl and I talked later on. Neither one of us saw this coming. I mean, we knew it would happen.....................ONE DAY, but we didn't know today would be ONE DAY. What an awesome and an amazing God we serve. His plan is not on our timetable but on His..............and it's always right on time. :o)

Miscellaneous

These photos were made last Thursday morning (Feb. 12) after hearing the Jazz Ensemble at our local college.

I feel like I really don't have anything to post about. We've had pretty normal days since the last post, but there are some things coming up.

Saturday will be a very busy day. First of all, we have the children's Valentine's party at church. With it being after Valentine's I was able to get in on some sweeeeeeeet deals. Anybody that knows me knows I love bargains. :o)

The second thing going on Saturday is a birthday party at the same pizza/game place we were at a couple of weeks ago. This time it's for a couple of my cousin's children. Their birthdays are pretty close together, so they're having a combined party.

We are looking forward to both of these things, even though we normally do not try to plan more than one event in a day. It was just hard to decide what to toss out, so we are going to try both. We'll see how it goes. We'll probably be zapped by the end of the day.

On another note, I want to post about something my son told me tonight. He looked at me and said, "Mama, you're sacksy." (Just like that.) Needless to say, I about fell out of my chair. Not only did I think it was hilarious because he had no idea what he was talking about, but I was wondering where in the world he had heard it to bring it on just like that. Carl was in the living room folding up a large blanket, so he was able to hide his laughter and smile with no problem. Of course if we had been able to look at each other we both would have lost it. I asked no questions, trying to keep my composure, containing my laughter, and then S. said, "He got that from Madagascar 2 when Moto Moto tells Gloria that." Then to make it all worse, C. starts strutting just like Moto Moto with his belly thrown out as far as it would go, saying, "She's big. She's sexy," over and over. (And again, that's exactly what Moto Moto tells Gloria.) Oh what comedians we have in this household!!

(I don't like him saying this, but it WAS very funny - the way he said it and all. I think this is one of those times where if I say anything about what he said it will make matters worse, so I'm hoping it will just die out.)

Pucker Up!!

Carl has to work all weekend, so we exchanged "Valentines" last night. I found suckers for the kids that have a pair of plastic lips on the other end. I made pictures with them eating them today. Enjoy the photo, and PUCKER UP!!





My honey came in last night with a bundle of yellow roses, a bundle of daisies (my favorite flower), and a basket with a stuffed bear and a watch in it. It was a very sweet gesture, and I loved it. What meant the most to me, though, more than the things he gave me, was his heart in which he did it and the heart he put into the note he wrote to me. He cried, and I cried. The kids were with my dad, so it was special just to be able to sit there and listen to him read it to me and talk about it. It's something I will not forget.

LOST: 4 Front Teeth

Wednesday, February 11, was a big day for our daughter. She had to have 4 of her upper front teeth cut out by our dentist to make room for her permanent teeth. She was an absolute trooper!! She never whined, cried, or even grimaced. She is so brave when it comes to things like that. Bless her heart, she now looks like a saber tooth tiger! And of course I took before, during, and after shots. :o)

BEFORE:




DURING (the puffy upper lip):




AFTER:



She was real excited about the tooth fairy coming, especially after she left her $5!!

Catching Up

It's been over a week now since I last posted, and we have been very busy. I'll try to catch up. :o)

Friday, February 6 we met our Seniors from church and our former pastor and all his crew at a seafood restaurant.(photo above) We enjoyed chatting and doing a little catching up. From there we paid a visit to a friend of ours who lives close by to where we were. She's an older lady, but she is such a dear, sweet friend. We hadn't seen her in a while until she showed up at the funeral the previous weekend. Friday night was spent at the funeral home with some friends who had lost their mother. Afterwards, we tried out a Mexican restaurant, and it was not that great.

Saturday, February 7 found us celebrating nearly all day. We started out celebrating Chinese New Year with our local adoptive group. A lot of work went into it, and it turned out very nicely!!! We had a good time. There was a "bouncy house" for the kids, crafts, and food catered by one of our local Chinese Restaurants. Since we didn't have enough Chinese food (LOL), we went to my niece's birthday party at another semi-local Chinese Buffet. She is 2, and she loves crablegs. Thus the reason for partying at the Chinese Buffet. Man, she put away some crablegs!! It had to be AT LEAST 15-20.







Tinkerbell cupcakes for a certain 2 year old:


Sunday, February 8 was our Lord's Day. Our interim brought 2 wonderful messages.

Monday, February 9 was my neice's actual birthday, and so once again, we celebrated. This time we went to a pizza buffet with all kinds of rides and games. The kids loved being able to play for about 3 hours!! We were zapped by the time we got home.








That brings me kind of up to date. I do have something else to post, but it will be all its own.

A Forgotten Detail

I knew this, but I just forgot to post about it, and it was so awesome, I just couldn't let it go.

Sunday at the funeral when it came time for Carl to sing, S. tapped me and said, "Mama, will you pray with me?" She prayed right there for Carl, saying, "Please help Daddy not to cry. Amen."

I told her tonight that I was thankful that she took the time to pray for him and how much it helped him. I pray she continues to be obedient to the Holy Spirit. :o)

Weekend Whirlwind

I don't have much to post about it, but I wanted to record the weekend's happenings since I'm using this blog sort of like a diary.

Mongum passed away on Friday morning at about 8:30. We spent Saturday at Carl's parent's house until time to receive friends from 5:00-8:00pm. (Our feet were so tired.) We went to church on Sunday, but we left after Sunday School, and went back to Carl's parent's until the funeral. The funeral was at 2:00pm, and the church was packed. Rev. Glenn Kelley spoke first, and then Carl sang Beulah Land. Rev. Carl Pointer spoke next, and Mark Tannery sang The Ages Shall Roll. Fud then got up and led in a congregational hymn - To God Be the Glory. Lastly, Ronnie O'Kelley prayed. After Ronnie prayed, the paul bearers (Carl, Ken, Ronnie, Austin, Jared, Leslie) went with the funeral home to take Mongum's body to be buried, while we stayed at the church for a "visitation" with friends. We then went to the fellowship hall, where the church fed us. The paul bearers came back, ate, and then we went back to Carl's parent's home to change clothes. After changing clothes we went to the graveside to see Mongum's grave. Mema told S. she could get any of the flowers she wanted, so she pulled various ones out of the spray.

We again went back to Carl's parent's house to gather up all of our stuff, and we went to hear Fud preach at his church. He wanted Carl to sing, so Carl sang the only song he had with him - Beaulah Land. He did a great job both times, but I thought he did exceptionally well at the funeral.

It was a busy and a tiring weekend, but we know Mongum is so much better off. She's strolling along those streets of gold now. :o)