Mama Having a Proud Moment. . . .

Out of the blue I get a text from Sprat; "I had to argue against Jesus today in class."   I was like What???, He responded it was a debate on who was more influential to Christianity Jesus or Constantine.  So I had to ask, why he was arguing for Constantine.  He said, that was what he was given.  I asked how he did and he said he lost, and badly.  I asked if that was bad for his grade, he said no.  He also said; "I can't win when I'm fighting Jesus."  Well, my heart just filled with:  joy, pride, love, and tears.  All I could think was WOW!  Maybe I didn't mess my kids up as bad as  I thought, maybe just maybe I did do something right. 
You guys all know Sprat's school is closing and he is looking into another college in Massachusetts near Boston.  He went for his tour a week or so ago and he went by himself on a tour with these high school seniors and their moms.  I felt a little sad for him but at the same time was so very proud of him for taking that step in his college career.  He has really jumped in to find his school and connect with the people he needs to connect with to make this all happen.  He met with the head of the healthcare management program at this new school and he liked him and liked what he had to say about the program.  I think he is going to be Boston bound again this Fall with a new school and a new lacrosse team.  The lacrosse coach invited him to watch practice while he was there on tour also.  Sprat also pointed out one very important statistic, this college is 7 girls to 1 boy. 
Stay tuned we will be announcing officially soon, so very excited for him. 

A New School Year Fast Approaching. . .

A little over a month left of Summer vacation and so much to cram in there.  Sprat has camp, a college tour, and lots more football practice.   Our Church is going to do some mini mission camps on Saturdays around our Church neighborhood.  A lot of our kids work and our youth leaders work too so we are going to fit our mission work in on the weekends.  How is that for teaching our kids to serve others?  I like it.  Maybe they will remember this when they get older and are on their own and not forget to serve.  I know I forgot as I got older, it took having my own children to remember that we should serve others just like Jesus did.
We have the best youth leaders at our Church, they really get our kids involved in the community and I think that is very important.   Our kids are going to host some date nights for the parents so that they can leave their children with our youth and be able to go and enjoy themselves.    They are going to offer these as we get closer to Christmas so that the parents can do their Christmas shopping.  We have done this in the past and it has been a huge hit.
We set up in our fellowship building and show age appropriate movies and have snacks and goodies.   They also do a craft and play games, the youth enjoy it and I think the kids that came did too.
We also have movie nights on the lawn with popcorn and slushies.   Those are a lot of fun for the whole family.
The picture below is when the youth built our Labyrinth beside our Church.  Big T taking his stroll.

Rules to Live By. . .

I must share the sermon from Children's Church yesterday.  I use the website Sermons 4 Kids these are set up with a story and activities for the kids and coloring pages that follow the sermon.   This particular story was taken from John 13:34-35.  This story told of the rules for living, "the Golden Rules for Living."   If we all followed these little rules we would all be so much better off.

If you open it     close it
If you turn it on          turn it off
If you unlock it          lock it
If you move it            put it back
If it belongs to someone else      get permission to use it
If you don't know how to operate it       leave it alone  (men should really pay attention to this one)
If you use it        take care of it
If you break it      admit it
If you can't fix it      call someone who can   (another one for the men)
If you mess it up      clean it up
If it is not your business, don't ask questions

The last one should be, if it is not your business stay out of it.  I think these are awesome and even the lesson said if we all followed these simple rules of life our world would be a much better place.   I love getting to work with our little ones in Church, I always learn something from them.
For my ethics class I had to write my rules to live by or my personal ethics that I followed.  This would have really come in handy for that paper.

Beautiful Weekend. . .

Another adventure in the little moments.  Spent Saturday watching Big T's team win two more games for their tremendous 9-1 season.  We also did a drive through to another small campus for Sprat.  We have to tour when we can.
Our youth were in charge of our Sunday worship yesterday.   They did an awesome job and our youth leaders are the best.  Sprat read the Liturgy and I must brag just a bit, he did wonderfully.   I was a very proud mama.  The younger kids took over as ushers and everyone sang.  Big T was an usher and he reluctantly sang too.    Yes, their Sunday outfits are their own hand made tie dye shirts.  They made these after the grave stone cleaning on Good Friday.
I spent this morning with Big T at the dentist, he had to have a tooth pulled.  Not a happy time at our house.  He did well though, he took it like a trooper.   Milkshakes and no school, poor fella.  He is trying to milk (no pun intended) this tooth for one more day of no school.  

Warning, Proud Mama

So proud of my family.  Big T completed Confirmation and took his first Communion yesterday.   My mom, dad, sister, and niece came to share in this special time.  I am so thankful and blessed to have such a supportive family.  After Church we went to see Sprat in his double header.  Great way to spend a gorgeous Sunday afternoon.   Sprat's team won both games and he had some pretty  impressive plays. 
My hubby is improving every day and we are hopeful his surgeon will release him to go back to work in the coming weeks.  He still has to wear his brace when he is out of the house and on uneven ground.  He is able to drive now and that is a huge step in a positive direction. 
This Memorial weekend we are thankful for many things:  family,  blessings,  and all of those that gave their lives for our freedom.    My dad, Mark's dad and several uncles all proudly served  in the military.  Today we honor them and all of those that did not make it home.

Exciting Week Ahead. . .

This week is going to be a dilly.  The hubbs has therapy, the kids are winding down with school, Sprat has a double header and Big T is getting ready for Conformation.  If you are not familiar with Conformation, it is the class the kids take when they are at an age of recognition, when they know what it means to sin.  Big T's class has been very cool, they are not only teaching the Bible, they are teaching the Moravian Church history.  Big T had a power point presentation to go over this past week to prepare for his class on Sunday.  I reviewed it with him and I knew some of the points but there were  a few that I did not know.  I always say we can learn new things all the time and this is no different.  The history of the Moravian Church is fascinating.
The hubbs grew up in our Church and I began attending when were dating and I joined a few years after we were married.  I was raised in a Baptist Church and the Moravians are not much different than the Baptist.   The Baptist dedicate infants and Moravians practice infant Baptism, Baptist baptize at the age of recognition and Moravians practice Confirmation.   I really like that our Church is teaching the history of Moravians, when I first met my hubby he told me he was Moravian and I thought he said Mormon.  He had to explain exactly what the Moravians were and what they believed.  
This is going to be an exciting time for our family.  Big T will be confirmed and then take his first Holy Communion.  

Monday and Holy Week

Another good night, so thankful.  It must be the extra movement with those 30 degree leg curls.   Hubby is not requiring as much pain medication and that is great!  Less pain means healing is upon us.
It is Monday of Holy week and we have not been to Church in a month due to hubbs injury.  It feels weird not going, thankfully our pastor posts his sermons on Facebook.   I miss seeing our friends and the boys have missed the youth activities.  Right now we all cannot fit in one vehicle and I am the only one that can drive so we are homebound for right now.  Today is what I think of as the beginning of Holy week and my hubby pointed out we would not be going to any of the Holy week services.  The hubbs and I have, in the past, read scripture during our Holy week services.  I am going to miss that.  I do have our prayer books, so I guess I will be reading to my family this week. 
It is a glorious week and yet a sad one too. 
Did you know that at the very time Jesus was riding in to Jerusalem that Palm Sunday, Pilate was also arriving in Jerusalem at the other end of town?  Everyone was crowded about to see Jesus come in, they even lay down their coats and palm fronds for his donkey to walk over.   Pilate came in to much less pomp and circumstance because everyone wanted to see Jesus.  That is my Holy week trivia for ya. 

Mission Camp over Church Beautification Just begining. . .

Mission camp is winding down and I have to say I am very proud of our youth and our youth leaders.  They have re-done the labyrinth and it looks great.  They did some painting in some of the Sunday School rooms, picked up furniture for their new class room, and cleaned the basement of the fellowship building.  They even had time for fun: swimming,  hicking, bowling,  and a neighborhood movie night.   They watched "Heaven is for Real." 
Two weeks before Mission camp we found out Sprat would also have football camp at the same time.   When he found out he told his dad and I that he was going to do both.  We told him that was fine and we would do everything we could to help.  I am so proud of him and proud that he worked so hard to be able to do both.  He loves football and he loves youth fellowship.  It was a crazy week, but so worth it.   Feeling bleesed.  

Mission Camp continues. . .

The kiddos are working on the Labyrinth during Mission camp this year.  Sprat is working in the morning and then going to football camp in the evening, then back to Church for the evening.  He is going to be so tired when all this settles down and so am I.  
They have created a time capsule for future  congregations.   The kids wrote a letter to the future congregation and the adults also wrote one.  They included several pictures of our youth  on a cell phone along with selfies of each  kid that was a part of this Mission camp.  It was then sealed under a concrete pad where our Labyrinth will be completed.  I get chills every time I think about this.  I am so excited that my kids could be a part of this. 

Mission Camp. . .

Mission camp began yesterday with ground breaking and pot luck and we left Sprat at Church.  They are sleeping at Church and will be working on their project all day for the next week.  Sprat will be running back and forth though because he has football camp in the evenings this week too.  He is really going to be working hard.  Our youth have planned a project for a Labyrinth or a prayer garden type thing in our side yard at the Church.  It is supposed to be a surprise for our Church so shhhhhhh mums the word.   We got to see kind of what it is going to look like last night at the pot luck.   Please keep these kids and the adults in your prayers this week.  A lot of work has already gone into this project and a lot more will go into it this week with the grunt work.

Crazy wonderful day, yesterday. . .

So, my parents came to see the kids yesterday.  They came to Church with us and I was late.  I had to leave early to follow the choir to the baseball field.  Dear hubby made sure my Mom and Dad got to the fellowship building to have lunch and then drove them over to the ball field.  Big T got to participate in the pre-game parade around the field for his minors baseball team.  They are celebrating  a win for the regular season with a 14-1 record.  So proud of those boys, they have worked so hard this season.  After the parade around the field Big T had to race around to the other side of the field and change shirts so he could join Sprat to sing the National Anthem with the Grateful Choir.  I was one proud Mom yesterday.  Our choir rocked the National Anthem.  This group of young people have beautiful voices, I got to listen to them warm up before they went out for the sound check.  This is an amazing group of kids.
I did finally get to sit down and talk with my folks during the ball game.  We had a little rain and a little delay but we had great seats and did not get wet at all.  A wonderful day for our house.  So thankful for the day.

Youth Sunday. . .

Yesterday was youth Sunday.  Our youth took over the service and did a wonderful job.  We have some very talented young people in our Church.  We are also blessed with some very talented adults to lead them. They sang, read scripture and had some of the parents come up and participate in a melodrama   The parents did not know they were going to be called on so that was very entertaining.  They did a great job though.  Big T does not like to sing in front of people, he is more of a behind the scenes kinda guy.  So he and a couple others were in charge of taking up the offering.  Big T also took pictures.  Sprat, on the other hand, is not so shy.  He read scripture and sang with the Grateful Choir.  They always make me a little teary to hear them sing.  I think the congregation enjoyed the service, I know I did.  I am so proud of those kids, they did such a good job leading the service.

Spring Fling. . .

We had Spring Fling  today at Church for the youth.  We had games outside, bingo, bake sale, breakfast, and lunch.  We had a lot of goodies for the bake sale.  I picked up my sister-in-laws blackberry wine cake.    She makes the best cakes, and this one is by far the very best.  We had cupcakes, brownies, pound cakes, cookies, and pies.  We had all the carnival games for the kids to play and win little prizes.
After the fling we went to the ball field.  Big T had a game and so did Sprat.  Hubby took Sprat and I took Big T.  I had missed Big T's game last Saturday because I had to take Sprat to his out of town.  Big T's team is undefeated.  We won today too.  They had a rough game today.  I am so proud of our team, they have improved so much.

Feeling Blessed. . .

Funny things just keep happening to us.  Not funny ha ha, but funny unusual.  Dear hubby and I have been sticking to our budget and we are paying off our car in record speed.  That is the only thing we owe on besides the house and I am so happy about that.  Anytime we get extra money we pay extra on the car.   We are also saving our 3-6 month emergency fund.  That has been a huge deal.  We have never had extra money to truly save before.  We have always saved through the 401K offered through dear hubby's job and that is growing like crazy.
If you have never listened to Dave Ramsey, I highly recommend it.   He has a plan that works.  It is working for us in ways we could never imagine.  I like Dave because he uses scripture to illustrate his plan and shows how the Bible has a plan for money management too.  I like Dave's concept of giving, hubby and I have always given off  the top to our Church and other local charities.  In Dave's budget giving is the first category, because you should give first.   The Bible also says what ever you give, you will receive in return ten fold.  I have seen this just this week.  It is so funny how things happen sometimes.  Think about sharing your wealth with your Church or a local food bank.  They are all in need and you will get back way more than you ever give.  If you are giving try giving a little more and see how your life can change.  Ours has changed in ways that would take me years to post.  We are truly blessed.

Lent. . .

As we enter the season of Lent, everyone is talking about what they are giving up for Lent.   I grew up Baptist and we never really talked about giving things up for Lent.  The first time I remember hearing someone talk about giving up something for Lent was right out of college.  I worked with a girl that was Catholic and she was talking about what she was giving up and what she had given up in the past.  I never gave things up for Lent until three years ago when my oldest son came home from Church and said I am giving up the X Box for Lent.  I was surprised to say the least, since the world often revolves around the X Box at his age.  He did well and he did not give in to temptation.  I decided since my son at 10 could give up something that I should also reflect and give up something that meant a lot to me.  That season I gave up soda.  That was not easy.  This year I decided I would give up Facebook during Lent.  My oldest is giving up caffeine and my youngest is giving up sugary drinks.  I am really proud of them and so glad that we are able talk about our spiritual lives together.  I did not tell them they had to give up anything, this is their idea of what they want to do for themselves.  I haven chosen to give up Facebook all together for Lent.  No checking, no updates, nothing, I am not even going to log on.   I did post an update on the Famine the kids were doing on Saturday but that will be the last time until the end of Lent.
Our minister talked about Lent yesterday and he said it was not a season of anticipation and joy like Advent but, of reflection and soul searching.  It is a time for us to reflect on our lives and our relationship with God.

The Famine is over. . .

The boys survived the 30 hour famine.  It ended with our Day of Prayer Lovefeast at our Church.  They enjoyed their Lovefeast and then had pizza, baked spaghetti and doughnuts to round out the evening.  So proud of the boys.  They learned what hunger is and they learned about different countries too.  They were aligned with a particular tribe and ate a traditional meal from that area.  Jack said he did get a little bit of a headache from not eating but he was ok.  They are tired and grouchy, which I was anticipating.  Thomas said Jack was talking in his sleep last night.  I think they had a good time.  I hope they make it through school tomorrow.  Mark and I enjoyed a quiet evening at home last night.  Just us and the B.  She seemed to miss the boys too, she didn't have anyone to chase and play with.  The boys raised $185 to go to World Vision.

30 hour Famine . . . .starts Saturday

Our Fundraiser 30 hour famine begins tomorrow at 10 am.  Poor Jack has baseball tryouts at 10 and then on to Church.  Now they will not be completely with out food for the full 30 hours.  They will have fruit, juice and water available all day for the kids.  They will be affiliated with a particular tribe in one of the 100 countries that World Vision covers and they will be fed a small meal similar to what a child eats in that particular country.  They will be joining another Church for an evening of fun and games and a lock in.  They will be attending morning worship on Sunday at that Church.  Their famine will end with our Day of Prayer Lovefeast at our Church and a potluck after the service.  We are still trying to raise money for the World Vision 30 hour Famine.  Please check it out www.30hourfamine.org.  If you would like to make a donation for Jack, just click the "Donate" icon and then click "Donate" again to find a student, then enter Jack Crater and follow the prompts from there.  All donations are welcome and appreciated and are Tax deductible.
There are 46 million Americans living below the poverty level, 16 million children are in food insecure homes, part of our donations will go to the US.  Thank you and please remember our youth doing with out to raise money, raise awareness, and learn more about famine.

30 hours of Famine

Our Church youth group is participating in a fundraiser with World Vision.  They are going to try and go 30 hours without food.  This is to help our youth and others realize what true hunger really is.  My oldest cannot go 2 hours without eating, so I am not sure how he will do.  They are going to allow them water, juice and fruit.  They will also be given small meals, that will mirror the countries where World Vision serves.  I have already learned a few things just looking over the brochure.  "More than 46 million Americans are living below the poverty line-the most since the late 1950's.  More than 16 million children live in food insecure households." (World Vision brochure 2012)  These are sad statistics for our country.   A portion of the money we raise will go to the US.
The kids will start their fast at home and will be on the honor system and will try to go without food until they meet with their youth group and two other Churches for a small meal.  This meal will represent what one child receives in a day in one of the countries World Vision serves.  Through out their 30 hours they will have plenty of water and fruit available and may eat if they need to.  Since Jack has migraines I am not sure how he is going to fare through all of this.  What an adventure though?  As we get closer I will post more on the details.

More Thomas isms. . . .

I was talking with a friend at Church the other day, that is also in charge of our Grateful Choir, she was telling me about their latest adventure.  Our Grateful Choir is made up of our youth and they go around to local nursing homes and sing.  They also sing for our congregation too.  Jack loves to sing, Thomas on the other hand, not so much.  Thomas does not like to sing in front of people.  He says he is shy, I am not real sure about that one.  They have made Thomas a roadie for the choir.  He totes the instruments and he also takes pictures while the group is singing.  He has become quite the little photographer, so I have been told by my friend.  She said the other day he took over 100 pictures at their last event.  She did have to delete several.  They had his thumb in them.  Luckily our Church has a digital camera and it is easy to delete his mistakes. 
I asked him the other day about going to the Nursing home and singing.  He said, I don't stand up there and sing.  I do sing while I am taking pictures though.  That could be why my friend is having to delete some of those pictures.  He said he likes going and visiting with the "old" people.   He said he goes around and talks to them.   He seems to be gaining some confidence about himself by doing this.  I know he takes pride in his picture taking, it is very serious business to him.  Even though he does not get up there and sing with the group he still feels like he is a part of it.  That is important to me too.  He looks forward to their events.
The Grateful Choir will be singing at our Thanksgiving Eve Lovefeast  this year too.  Maybe Thomas will get his nerve up and stand up there and sing as well.

Nightly devotions. . .

Mark and I have always gone up together to say prayers with the boys and say good night before they go to bed.  We have also been doing nightly devotions with them for many years.   The first devotion book I bought was "365 days of Devotions for Boys."  It was great and the devotions were geared toward things boys face growing up.  I have repeated many of those devotions as things came up with the boys.  My friend Cheryll gave me a little monthly magazine that her Church gives their kids that has devotions.   These are great too and are so relevant to what is going on with my kids lately.  They have talked about bullying and being mean to others and we are dealing with that right now in our neighborhood.  My kids don't get bullied at school they get bullied in our own yard.  It just amazes me that parents do not pay attention to what their kids are doing at home.   Well, that is a whole other list of blogs for later.
The devotion I read last night to the boys was about Church.  The little boy was telling his Mom riddles and so she gave him one.  "What is CH_ _ ch?"  The little boy studied it and finally came up with Church.  But what the Mom was trying to get across to him was that Church is only Church if U R in it.  I know it's corny.  I loved it though.  These devotions have allowed me to touch on some very serious subjects with my kids that I may not have otherwise been able to discuss with them.
Mark and I cherish these little nightly talks that we get to have with the kids.  We have discussed things like salvation, Heaven, Hell, bullies, missionaries, ect. . .  I know that soon they will be too old or at least think they are too old for us to tuck them in and say prayers with them but as long as they will let me I will.    They are growing up so fast and I am so proud of the young men they are becoming.