Saturday, December 5, 2009

Priorities


So, it has become evident that blogging is not one of my priorities. I only wish that were actually true -- I should rephrase that to say that keeping up with my own blog is not a priority, but I LOVE checking up on other people's blogs! I guess I just don't think I'm insightful enough to post my thougths on the world wide web, or clever enough to heighten anyone's intellect, or funny enough to be, well, funny. So, I form perfect blog posts in my mind while going about my day only to realize that they are really only as perfect as my loud singing in the car by myself with the music blaring (i.e. NOT perfect at all -ha)! Well, here's the going on's at the Dockrey house regardless:






Lance and I are both training for the Austin Marathon on Valentine's Day! How romantic, huh?! You would think this would be a fun activity for us to partake in together, but really it's not. Not that it isn't fun - it's just not something we get to do together. We have an AWESOME jogging stroller that we used practically everyday with Boston, so we got a double jogging stroller when Dash was born and it's just not as AWESOME. (I hope none of my baby shower hostesses read this because it was their gift to me). It's not a bad stroller - just not real great for running long distances, plus you have the weight of 2 children in there now. All of that to say - we don't ever really get to run together. But even if we do - Lance's pace is 8 1/2 minute miles and mine is closer to 9 1/2. It will be a fun weekend in Austin though, so I'm looking forward to that!






Lance is still working 3 part time jobs while I have 2. It totally works for us, though. We make about what an average one income household would make and we both get to be at home quite a bit during the day with our boys and do the work that God called us here to Conroe to do. He knows what He is doing!






Boston is pushing the envelope as far as obedience and fit throwing are concerned and we have really had to be purposeful in dealing with it. It's not going to just go away if we ignore it, you know. He can be really really sweet. He is incredibly smart (I'm not just saying that because I'm his mother -- I take no credit whatsoever - he knows stuff that I certainly did not teach him). He's really just lacking in the getting along with other kids and sometimes adults area. He's got a terrible temper - if something doesn't go the way he thinks it should, he is just set off into full fit mode. He'll throw things, hit people, push people, and try with all his might to see through with whatever he thought should happen. Anyway, I probably made it sound more terrible than it actually is, but I just want to be careful to take care of this sort of behavior now before it is really out of hand.






Dash is HUGE! Literally. I think he is probably pretty close to walking. He's been crawling for a couple of months and pulling to stand about that same amount of time. He's "crusing" around the furniture and standing on his own for longer and longer periods of time. I wonder if he will walk by the first of the year?






As for the title of the post: Priorities - we don't have television at home, so that has definitely helped with me not wasting time in that area (although we still watch movies, but more in the evenings, togehter, rather than a constant distraction all throughout the day). I waste WAY too much time on the computer, so I would like to strive to get out of that habit and push more important priorities to the top of the list (like housework and things of the like). I've really been trying to be missionally minded and it's something that God has laid on my heart for a long time, but I want to see us doing more tangible things as a family and not shield Boston from the social injustices in this world and teach him about our job as followers of Christ to be His hands and feet. I've really been trying to push Santa OUT of boston's mind and teach him that Christmas is Jesus' birthday and that is why we celebrate. We've been talking about what we could get Jesus for his birthday, so we've been looking into some tangible things we can do on Christmas Day to further make this point in his little 3 year old brain! He just doesn't believe me when I tell him that Santa is not real - it's a funny thing to argue with him about because I can tell how influenced he already is by the world around him. Anyway, hopefully I will do a better job of updating, but don't hold your breath!







Friday, September 18, 2009

PICS

Here's a couple of cool pics of Lance leading worship











Dash and Boston with semi- matching hats before church one day: Dash playing in the exersaucer




again...





Boston receiving his award at Soccer Camp






Dash with his cool hat on (and yes, a bib cuz he SPITS UP like his crazy brother did)







Again with the hats - boston's trying to tell dash where to look (we never got a good one, but o well)








Boston at soccer camp (it was crazy day, hence the mickey mouse ears and different shoes)









Boston playing in the fountains










Boston at Soccer Camp Day 1 - he's so cool











Fathers Day (you can't see them here, but they are wearing matching shirts that say: My Dad Rocks! They were a gift at my baby shower and they fit at the perfect time)!







God is Just So Faithful!

He proves Himself over and over, doesn't he? So, I don't know why we get so surpised when He does cool stuff, but we do! I've got 2 stories to tell today and they BOTH prove how awesome God as!
Story #1:
We were hooked up to the LiveLink for Passion 2010 at my church, because we are planning to take some college students and high school seniors. It was awesome, of course! But, what was really cool was this: Louie told a story about how he had blogged about the upcoming link and had, like 4 comments, which was a pretty normal number for him (makes me not feel so bad) and one of the comments was from this girl, named Haley, who said she would be watching from _________ (insert African country name that I forgot). Louie proceeded to research this African country and found out who this girl really was and realized that she was in this country by herself, bringing Jesus Christ to these people who were, like 99% muslim. So, his next blog explained some of this and said that 10,000 people would be praying for her and her work in this African country (story would be MUCH cooler if I could remember the name, huh?). Come to find out, the very day of the LiveLink, Haley's mother died! And God had already prepared tens of thousands of people to pray for her!! WOW -- he knows what we need and when we need him! When your mom dies and your're in a far away African country, you need a little prayer, don't ya?! Well, God had already taken care of that! AWESOME!!!

Story #2 -
I may should have started with this one, cuz the other one is just so stinkin' cool, that I hope you also think this one is cool!? Anyway, God had placed it on my heart, back in the summer, to have a Senior Bible Study (clarification: not senior adults, but Seniors in High School -ha). I thought about it and one morning a week is what sounded the best, because they are all just so busy everyday after school, with various things. Anyway, did I trust God and obey? No, I doubted that He had asked me to do this and decided that none of them would want to wake up early in the morning (and I mean EARLY - they have to be at school at 7:17) to have Bible Study. So, I never said anything about it, just secretly thought that it would be cool. How lame am I? Anyway, last week at XP (our wed night student Bible Study), we had 20 seniors there and some of them approached me and expressed interest in doing a Bible Study outside of that one time a week, maybe some morning. I said, OK! Sounds GREAT! I had been thinking about this! So, we set it up and yesterday morning was our first morning and 14 of them came!!! God is so faithful -- His purposes WILL be accomplished, even when we fail to trust Him like we should!!


So, for those of you who just want a kid update: they're great! Dash is growing like a weed - he is defintely working on a tooth (I can feel it under the gum) and he loves to sit in his highchair and eat frozen green beans, saltine crackers, or baby teething cookies. He is crawling -- it just happens to be backwards at the moment -- he's working on it, though! AND the separation anxiety just started - I thought he was way too young for this, but it has begun! And Boston is also growing -- all of his pants are too short! I feel, with Lance being his dad, that this will be a lifelong issue! GREAT! And he is slowly learning that it is NOT okay to throw fits when he doesnt' get his way! And he loves memorizing Scripture, so that's really cool. He's already hidden away 4 verses since the end of summer! Way Cool!

THE END!

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

It Makes Sense

Boston doesn't like to spend time in the bathroom by himself -- #1 is fine, he's in and out, but #2 is a different story. I'm pretty sure I've posted about his bathroom habits before, so I apologize. Anyway, he always wants someone to be there, ready to help him wipe, but it always takes FOREVER to get to the wiping stage. So, this is what happened Saturday:
Gramma got to be the one spending the precious bathroom time with him:
Gramma: man, boston, you stink!
Boston: ya, if I flushed right now, it would be called a courtesy flush.
Gramma: (hysterical laughing)
Boston: well, it makes sense.


Yes, boston is 3 years old and he was explaining the courtesy flush to his gramma! Hilarous!

Saturday, August 29, 2009

carol is...struggling...

I feel like I'm struggling to:
- make God known in my life
- prioritize my life in a biblical manner
- put off the sinful nature
- grasp the breadth of His love
- live surrendered to the Holy Spirit's guidance
- not be conformed to the pattern of this world
- be transformed by the renewing of my mind
- keep my house clean (what? cleanliness is next to godliness, right?!)
- be the prayer warrior that my boys need me to be, that my church needs me to be, that my extended family needs me to be, that my friends who don't know Him need me to be!
- love people the way He has called us to love
- serve others
- be the example of a christian hedonist
- only allow edifying words to proceed out of my mouth!
- make biblical spiritual disciplines my goal, my priority
- be in this world, but not of it
- remember that my life is not my own
- remember that my children are not my own - they are His
- bathe all things in prayer
- not be hypocritical

i know that i have this massive blogger following of people who simply don't leave comments (ha - jk)! but, seriously, if you are reading this, I ask for your prayer. this is like an online journal for me and the plus side is that someone reading this can approach the Lord on my behalf -- AWESOME! allow me to do the same for you if you feel like you are struggling in any way!
p.s. i don't want this post to sound discouraging -- I rejoice in these struggles! i'm so thankful that the Holy Spirit is bringing them to my attention and that He desires to help me turn them into the person He wants for me to be! I serve a great big God and I'm so glad to be His child. I just don't want to waste my life on all of these meaningless things and miss bringing Him the glory He deserves!

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Colossians 2

Read it.
Study it.
Give me your thoughts/insights.
Ready, Set, Go.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

I'm a Terrible Blogger!

I LOVE reading other people's blogs and keeping up with their lives, yet I am the absolute worst at keeping up with my own blog. Ya, well - what can I say?!
So, for an update:
Dash is growing quite quickly, which makes his mother very happy -- I'm not a huge fan of the infant stage and I'm pretty sure I am much more pleasant to be around once that stage is over! He REALLY wants to get places, but he just can't do it on his own yet. He absolutely LOVES his big brother, which I think is REALLY cool. His face totally lights up when Boston enters the room and he gets really excited when Boston talks to him or plays with him. I think that's awesome!
Boston is also getting bigger and bigger. He is absolutely hilarious (of course I'm his mother and I would think that regardless, but he really is). He cracks me up all the time. He is wanting to learn how to read, so I guess I should teach him one of these days. He really loves puzzles AND playing all the many games on Lance's ITOUCH. He gets high scores all the time -- he loves it!
Lance and I are celebrating our 9th wedding anniversary tomorrow --awwwww, how sweet!! I know! We are still working 3 part-time jobs between us and rockin' along! He would love to become full-time at the church, which may happen in the not too distant future - we shall see. We are really excited to get this school year kicked off with the students at church - our prayer is to see some growth this semester, spiritually first of all, but also numerically.
I started teaching a BOOTCAMP this morning - we will meet twice a week for 8 weeks. I have 7 ladies signed up and I think it went really well for our first day. It's at 5:30 in the stinkin' morning, but it's just 2 days a week -- I think I can handle it. It was really fun!
Lance and I are also both training for the Austin Marathon in February -- we'll see how that goes. He's run 2 marathons and I've run about 5 miles at one time before! I'm actually only training for the half marathon, which is 13 miles, but still seems like a long way to me! It's Valentines Day weekend, so I think it will be fun.
Anyway, I can't think of much else to update right now and I don't have any pictures to upload - we need a decent camera one of these days! Maybe I should start a savings fund for that...

Sunday, June 28, 2009

What Am I Doing?

I asked myself this question today after our church service. What is my life about? What, in my life, is glorifying to God? What, in my life, is pointing others to Christ? What is my purpose? Because I feel like my purpose most of the time is to make my time here on earth as comfortable as possible - do I still love God in the process? sure. Do I still do things in His Name, hoping to bring others to know Him? sure. But, what is my life really all about? I get so caught up in being in this world and doing all the things that this world does - except, of course, for the really bad things that Christians shouldn't do! But, should Christians FILL their minds with God-absent entertainment that does nothing more than deaden our capacity for joy in Jesus? Should Christians create an environment of jealousy among peers in their constant quest to have stuff and look "good?" Should Christians WASTE THEIR TIME?! All of these things have been rattling around in my head this morning/afternoon and I'm not saying that I have the answer to all of it, but I feel like I'm on the brink of something BIG! Not that I have the capacity to do big things, but God does and He is waiting patiently for me to say - "I'm DONE with the things of this world - I want NOTHING more than to glorify you in all that I say, all that I do, all that I think, all that I am!" I'm ready to say that -- HOLD ME ACCOUNTABLE! So, how do I move in that direction? What steps do I need to take to make myself so different from this world and the evil in it so much so that my life begins to reflect Christ in an amazing way to those around me? Pray. Read His Word. Meditate on the things He tells me. Aren't those things you should be doing anyway? ABSOLUTELY! So, just do them, right? Quit talking about it and become the person He so desires for me to be!!! One thing He convicted me of this morning was this: I feel like I've been waiting around for an example of exactly who I want to be, you know? It was as if I had said - I want to be the person you want me to be, God, but I need you to show me what it looks like exactly - I need to see someone my age, in a similar circumstance as me, cool like me (ha), living totally and completely for you and then, I can use them as an example and that would be much easier for me! Had I ever said all of that out loud? NO, but God showed me today that that was an idea floating around in my head and that I needed to get rid of it! I walked up to the altar and prayed for Him to take such thoughts out of my head. I left them there and committed to BE the example! Stand up and be that person and quit looking for it in someone else, you know? It felt good and I'm excited!
My source of spiritual power is not going to come from movies and internet and TV and the things of this world, so why waste my time on those things? (I'm obviously on the internet now, but I'm journaling, people)! I've heard people argue that they need to be relevant in order to minister to the people around them (meaning, they need to stay current in the movie scene, the entertainment industry and what not in order to be effective)! BLAH BLAH BLAH is what I have to say to that! Being entertained by sin does not increase compassion for sinners! What good can come from ALL of the sexually explicit material that surrounds media these days? NONE GOOD is the answer! Also, do you know how deadening to your brain the triviality of television is? We need to enlarge our capacity to be moved by the immeasurable glories of Christ, but television takes us in the opposite direction, shrinking our minds ability to glorify Him!!! I absolutely do not regret the absence of television in my house - now, to talk the family into going cold turkey on the movies!!!
Seriously, I'm DONE wasting my life! Trivial, meaningless things are OUT THE WINDOW!! I'm ready to be used by God all day, everyday!! Pray for me!

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Holy Emulation

I don't at all want to sound like I think I'm some big hot shot and everyone wants to be like me, but at the same time, I can't deny that I am watched. People I work with know that I love the Lord and I would be kidding myself to think they are not watching to see how I'm different than they are. We work with students at our church, which is like signing up to have all eyes on you - these kids are at crucial times in their lives and they are desparately searching for someone/something to pattern their lives after (even if they don't admit it). It's sobering to realize that your life is bigger than you - the things I do, the steps I take, the words I say - it's all got a purpose. I want to strive to be constantly aware of that and quit being so selfish. What is my goal in life -- to not waste it! How does that happen - when I'm honoring and glorifying Him. I want my life to point others to Christ.

From an author, Thomas Brooks:

Bad men are wonderfully in love with bad examples.... Oh, that we were as much in love with the examples of good men as others are in love with the examples of bad men.
Shall we love to look upon the pictures of our friends; and shall we not love to look upon the pious examples of those that are the lively and lovely picture of Christ? The pious examples of others should be the mirrors by which we should dress ourselves.
He is the best and wisest Christian...that imitates those Christians that are most imminent in grace.... It is noble to live by the examples of the most eminent saints.




I want to provide a holy example with my life. I don't want to be the bad example who spends her time worried about worldly things, filling herself with the things of this world, forgetting to look beyond herself and point others to Christ. How dreadful is the picture of a wasted life?!



“[Do] not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises” (Hebrews 6:12).

“Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity” (Titus 2:7).




AND for my kids -- who, on this earth, is going to love them more than I do? Who should be the one to teach them what it is to honor and glorify Christ? Who needs to help them realize that this is not our home nor are the meaningless luxuries and rampant idolatry? What a job, huh?

Okay, so that was supposed to be a segway into talking about my kids!



Boston starts soccer camp this next week - he is so excited. I think it will be really good for him to have a teacher to listen to and follow instruction from with other kids his own age. We will see how it goes. He asked me yesterday when he gets to go soccer camping! ha! He also tubed behind the boat this week - it was awesome! Lance was sitting at the edge of the boat with his life jacket on ready to jump in, but Boston did perfectly. We kept asking him if he was done and he would shake his head no. We finally just had to make him come in because the sun was going down!!

Dash is just getting bigger and bigger and losing his hair. It is still looking really blonde and his eyes are still blue and his skin is still really pale. Other than those major things, he does look a little like his brother. He LOVES to play under his little baby gym that has linky toys hanging down -- he has been to my work kids club 3 times now (2 hours at a time) and they said he did perfectly. They never even had to pick him up - he was just so content all 3 times! AWESOME! He has been to the church nursery twice and fallen asleep both times, so that is good as well. He is REALLY big - 95%percentile, but so is boston, so nothing new here (they both had doctors appts a few weeks ago - the 2 month check-up and the 3 year check-up).

I am LOVING life with no TV (even though we watch a movie every night, but that's different). That's right, we did not make the DTV transition so now all of our free channels are gone and it's great. I feel like it wastes too much of my life and you know I'm not all about that! We are well into the heat of the summer here in Houston and I am also loving that. (Lance isn't really loving either of those things, but he'll survive)



And now for some cool pics:






I did a mini-photo shoot with my cheap Lumix Camera (okay, so it wasn't that cheap, but it wasn't like a fancy digital SLR or anything like that) - this was the pic I used for Lance's Father's Day Present.




Dash getting so big (he's completely naked in this picture because he just got out of the pool after his first swim)!




Boston jumping into the pool - he LOVES this little life vest swimsuit thing - he's just like a little fish!

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

daddy day care

cdock: i'm leaving for work, be back in 2 hours. ddock is getting a little fussy, so he will probably want to take a nap soon. you will need to hold him like this (demonstrated the cradle with one baby arm tucked under one adult arm) and rock him in his room and hold his pacifier in his mouth. he will probably be a little fussy at first, but then you should be able to rock him to sleep.
2 hours later
cdock: how did it go?
ldock: fine
cdock: so, you got him to go to sleep okay?
ldock: ya, but i can't do all that stuff you do
cdock: so, what did you do?
ldock: i layed him in his bed and put his pacifier in his mouth and he went to sleep

NICE!

Friday, June 5, 2009

for the talent scouts...

Just wanted to showcase the versatility:
























































Thursday, June 4, 2009

West Texas Visit


Gramma and Dash


Balancing requires you hold your mouth just so.


Disclaimer for the following 3 pics: Dash wanted me to let you know that he does not necessarily have a favorite great aunt, but we just thought these pics were too cute to leave out.

Genius: I can already mimic facial expressions!




so silly!





good smile






Great Great Grandmother - Mamaw







Boston, Dash, and Mamaw








Grammy with all her grandchildren!









Aunt Shane










Cousin Sadie and Dash chattin' it up








Wednesday, May 27, 2009

The Happiest Baby Wise Whisperer on the Block at 12 weeks old

That would be the title of my book.
It would be for new moms who don't have the time/energy/determination/discipline to follow the "simple" plans outlined in the books hinted at above.
It would be a 2 step book and here is what it would look like:
1. Feed your baby when he/she is hungry and let them eat until they are full. (i.e. don't starve your child just because they are only "supposed" to have a certain amount of ounces or it's not the exact right "time" for them to eat.)
2. Put your baby to sleep when he/she is tired. (they are probably tired A LOT when they are babies, so let them sleep - don't wake them up to eat to stay on schedule and don't try crazy weird things to keep them awake because the book says they are supposed to be awake)

This has worked for me with 2 babies and they have both slept through the night by 8 weeks old. (not the dumb definition of sleeping through the night being 5 hours in the aforementioned books, but a solid 8, 9, or 10 hours each night).
I think I could be a millionaire. It's an easy read. It's a proven method. One problem: they can download the book for free right here! Darn!

Was this mean? Don't be offended if you are a scheduler (mustangsah) because I still love you and that works for you and I was NOT making fun of you. I am, however, making fun of the endless list of books available to "train" your child so you can have them sleeping through the night (5 hours at a time) when you can do the 2 most basic things for them (feed them and let them sleep) and it will likely happen anyway. Just a thought!

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Pictures and News

A couple of newsworthy updates:


Yesterday at gymnastics (I am the teacher so I get to see up close things) - boston told the boy sitting next to him: Jesus is everywhere. The little boy said: yep! I thought it was cute!


Yesterday, also, we were swimming at the Davis' (well, boston and miss lauren were swimming - brooke, dash, and I were poolside). I was feeding Dash, looking at Brooke (I'm sure we were talking, cuz I know I wasn't just checking her out) and I saw her gasp and jump up. I, naturally, looked up and saw Boston with his head under water, trying to get back up to the surface and Lauren trying to get over to him. She, of course, saved him and he was, of course, pretty frightened. It wasn't incredibly scary, because I knew Lauren was right there about to get him, but it was still hard to see! Anyway, we got to have a long talk about why pools are dangerous and that you have to be very careful around them. His next sentence after this talk: Now that you aren't holding Dash, mom, can you come over here and let me jump off of the diving board to you? He was, obviously, traumatized!


Yesterday at dinner, Boston says: Mom, you can be angry, but you can't stay angry. How profound is that coming from the mouth of a 3 year old? CRAZY!


He also got a bit of a mohawk yesterday! He's such a rebel.


He's also doing puzzles for 6 year olds -- he loves them!


Needless to say, he is smart. But, why should we be surprised by that?


Here's som pics for ya:


Lance and I at the Crocs Tour (mentioned in previous post)


Our first venture with the double jogging stroller (boston, dash, and I)
He LOVES to hold his brother -- awww, so sweet, I know!


See?



This is what Lance does when he has both the boys -- take pictures, which is good because I really stink at taking them. By the way, he has both of them by himself fairly often, because Dash isn't big enough to come to work with me yet, so Lance has to stay home when I work all my 8 hours per week! He is a GREAT dad! (and it's not even Father's Day yet)





Monday, May 18, 2009

Dashel Update

Boston had a xanga site when he was a baby (I don't guess he technically had it, I did, but it was all about him). Anyway, I was looking at it the other day (www.xanga.com/boston_max) and was reminded of some major milestones in his infancy. Needless to say, I have not done that for this neglected 2nd child! So, we will use this blog to document such milestons: HE SLEPT 9 1/2 hours lastnight -- NO JOKE!! He ate at 8:45, went right to sleep and did not wake up until 6:15 -- that's HUGE! Anyway, one day I will look back at this and realize how weird it is that I thought this was so blog worthy! I would post some pictures too, but that would require me getting up and getting the camera out and going through the whole download/upload process and I don't really want to do that right now. So, maybe later!
UPDATE on my last post -- my heart is still full as He gives me more glimpses of my purpose here and now. I was directed to this verse due to the situation of a friend right now, but I feel like it applies to us all on so many levels:
"for i am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." -romans 8:38-39
His love is HUGE and I am so thankful for that. I'm so glad I'm on his team and no one can ever change that! Praise God today for who He is and for His purpose in my life!

Friday, May 15, 2009

a glimpse

I don't even really know where to begin today's post -- let's just say that I have a really thankful, content heart today! It's great! Here's what happened: I had a date today with my husband. We left our house at 9am and returned home at 6pm (weird time for a date, huh?) Well, remember from the previous post if you will, that I was in Houston earlier this week with my mom when I noticed a billboard advertising the Crocs AVP Tour in Houston today, tomorrow, and Sunday! Lance LOVES the AVP! He wears yellow AVP crocs pretty much everyday - no joke! So, I immediately thought that we should go. At first, I wanted to make it a surprise to him, but I was having a little trouble arranging a babysitter AND remembered that we were having a college fellowship (SMACKDOWN, to be exact) here at our house Friday night, so I decided to go ahead and let him in on my plans so I could see if he thought we should try and go or not. He, of course, wanted to go. So, we figured out babysitting, got everything ready for the party and left our house at 9am so we could watch some of the tournament and get back in time for the party. So, what makes me be so thankful/content today?
A few things: 1)my relaxing, fun date with my husband - it is so good to get away, even when you're just watching sand volleyball, 2) the ability to stay home with my kids, and 3) the fact that God knows best and only gives us glimpses of our future, revealing only what we need to know right then
I met Lance in High School and got one of the 1st glimpses of my adult life: that I would be his wife! That was awesome and God worked it out in His own time (that story is a totally separate blog post -- maybe even it's own blog page)! I graduated High School and got another glimpse: just go to school and finish (so I did, with no real career goal in mind, but was totally okay with that). While in college, I got a really important glimpse that I have never questioned and am so glad that it's not something I struggle with: that the purpose of my life with Lance is to serve Him vocationally. I've never been on the payroll where Lance has been the minister, but I never questioned that it was my full-time job as well, to be a minister there. If it's being a student minister, then those students are our lives -- we invest in them and do our best to point them to Jesus each and every day. If it's being the minister of recreation, then we played T-Ball or Basketball every Saturday and had practices every night of the week, in hopes that someone would come to know Christ. If it's being a worship pastor at a brand new church where students still need ministered to and college kids need discipling and TONS of little things just have to get done, then that's what we do with our time and energy. That was a long description of the glimpse God gave me, but I embraced it and have lived it and LOVED it. There is a point here, I promise. And maybe all of this reflecting is happening because I have a milestone birthday coming up (no, I'm not turning 30 yet, but 29 is really the milestone, because it's your last year of being in your 20's)! Anyway, I just realized today, when I got home and started getting ready for our party and loving on our boys that I am so incredibly thankful in so many ways. I'm so glad that I am able to stay home and be a mother all day, everyday. Was that EVER something I aspired to do with my life? No, not necessarily, but I believe God gave me another really important glimpse today. I left my house at 9am and returned at 6pm and felt like I missed my kid's whole day; I felt like they probably missed me, because we are usually together all day. Then it hit me: this is what working moms do EVERYDAY!!! Thank you, God, for giving me a glimpse of the purpose you have given me with my kids. Thank you for directing me to get a college degree, then moving me somewhere where that degree provided no real job opportunities. Why should I be thankful for that? Because had I tried to be in control of all of that, I would have been career focused when Boston came around, but instead I had a job where I got to continue to be with Boston everyday and be the minister alongside Lance that He had called me to be.
I feel like I am totally rambling here, which I am, but my heart is just so full - I can't get it all out in type fast enough. I'm just so glad that God tells me, little by little, what I am to be doing with my life. Marry Lance. Go to college. Get a Degree. Be a Minister with Lance. Be a Mother to your children. So, I'm going to keep doing those last 2 things until He gives me my next glimpse. I'm not going to worry about a career or the future or other menial things --- I'm exactly where God wants me to be, doing exactly what He wants me to do and I'm so glad! I'm glad my life is all about Him. It's my pleasure to serve Him with my everything, to open my home up to students 24/7, to let my husband spend his time doing the things that need to be done in a new church, to raise my kids among all of this!
Thank you God for the glimpses!!!

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Mothers Day/Mini Vacay

Mother's Day was GREAT - my mom has a conference in Houston all this week, so she came in on Saturday, we had mother's day and baby dedication at church on Sunday, then Boston, Dash, and I accompanied her to her hotel in Houston on Monday -- we went ice skating at the galleria, then visited the aquarium and had dinner there. It was pretty awesome - here are some cool pics:

Riding the carousel at the aquarium


All of us at the "picture spot" -- boston said this was the shark from Shark Tales



Boston as a scuba diver

Ice Skating -- woo hoo - what was I thinking? Really, it wasn't that bad - he just needs to learn to keep his feet straight!




What is that look?



Kisses on Mother's Day





They make me a mother!







Me and my mom (and a little bit of Dash's head and hand - couldn't crop anymore)! Am I the only one who feels sorry for their mom the older they get? Because I realize all of the sacrifices she makes/has made just for me to be comfortable or happy or taken care of -- she ALWAYS puts me ahead of herself and I grow more and more thankful of the mom that I have the older I get. They tell you this will happen when you have kids, but you never believe them (whoever "they" is). It's true, though, and I'm just glad that God is in control of who we are - who our parents are, who are children are -- He makes that happen, you know? AND, He knows exactly what He is doing. I'm so glad that's true -- I'm really glad that He gave me a picture of the type of mom that I want to strive to be for my boys, through my mom!






Mother's Day Lunch at Buca di Beppo - (Lance was there, he's just taking the picture)