Baby Steps

Baby Steps to an updated blog...

Here is a family Fall Festival Picture (yes, I realize it is closer to Spring than Fall)

Aladdin and Aboo
Boston in the Homecoming Parade with his friend, Helen (and the rest of the Girls Varsity Basketball Team -ha)

Here we are at Christmas:

These Christmas pictures are kind of backwards - sorry, but here is Dash's Christmas morning loot:

Boston's Christmas morning loot:

Boston super excited about presents with his name on them!

Boston and Dash in Christmas PJ's

Zack helping Boston put the ornaments on the tree

This is how excited Zack is about putting up the tree!

This is how excited Lance and Carol are to be putting up the tree.

This is how excited Lauren is to be helping put up the tree.

And this is how super excited Boston is to be putting up the Christmas tree - it's all worth it!

Now, this is the total opposite of a baby step - this is like a huge monster step up in the world: Watching the Houston Rockets Game from a suite with free food and drinks! WOW! It really was awesome. Thanks Ryan and Deminy for the invite!

And a drumroll please for the greatest Baby Steps of all -- a baby actually taking some of his very first steps!!!

This first video is a little dark and Dan Zane's House Party is playing in the background. I wasn't necessarily prepared and ready for a recording, but he was just taking off, so I quickly grabbed the camera.

And this 2nd video is Boston and I attempting to have him walk, which never works out quite like you anticipated, but you get the idea anyway:

I deleted my facebook

well actually I deactivated it - it was the only option i saw. i couldn't really find how to delete it altogether.
i didn't make some new years resolution or anything like that - God just opened my eyes to what it was doing in my life. i'm not saying that facebook is bad. i thought it was rather cool to keep up with old friends and maybe i will be able to use it as a means to do that again one day. but it just hasn't been a healthy thing for me to pursue lately. here's what i mean: i've always considered myself to be fairly self-confident. in fact, lack of self confidence in people kind of gets under my skin a little bit. i don't necessarily feel like i don't have self-confidence anymore, but I just realized that I had started to become increasingly more and more envious of other people, their lives, their things, etc... I found myself wanting to be other people and that mostly stemmed from seeing their lives played out on facebook or their blog. I am obviously continuing to blog, but I am limiting my blog stalking to friends and family. that's right - i was hopping over to other people's blogs that I didn't even know and becoming jealous of who they were and what they had and the life that they led. God awakened me to the fact that I am living the life that He has laid out for me - not because He loves me less and wants me to have less cool things or be less "put together" than these other people, but because it's the life He's called me to. He gave me these children, He gave me the means with wich to have an income, He placed the calling on our lives to minister to students and young people and families, He has given me a heart for missions and evangelism - He's Given Me THIS life!!! He's created me to be the person He wants me to be. As I slowly began to desire what other people had, it caused me to slowly doubt who I was and that is NOT a good place to be! This is really going to seem silly, but it makes perfect sense in my head: I was driving (cuz I've been doing a LOT of that in the past week) and I looked down at my sport watch that I always wear and the conference band turned inside out from the conference I had just attended. It was turned inside out because on the inside of the band was written this scripture: Isaiah 26:8 - Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your truth, we wait eagerly for you, for your name and renown are the desire of our souls. As I glanced over at it, I thought - I guess I better take that off soon because it's not going to look 'cute' when I try to dress 'cute' with jewelry and such. WHAT? I don't even really ever wear jewelry. I rarely take off the Timex Ironman sport watch -BUT the fact that my timex ironman wasn't so 'cute' was an idea that had been forming in my head over the last few months. The fact that I needed to wear jewelry and take off my sport watch because the ladie's on my facebook or the blogs I had been stalking dressed all cute most of the time and had cute jewelry and what not. Those things are fine, I suppose, if that's who you are but it isn't who I am and I have never been that person except for when I start to feel insecure and think that I need the life that someone else leads! Does that make any sense at all? God hit me right then and there and said - BE who you are! Quit pretending and trying so hard to be someone else. I love you. I made you. I want to you quit spending time on meaningless envy so that I can be glorified through you! He can't even use me when my heart is so filthy!
So, all of that to say - bye bye facebook and blog stalking! I'm ready to use my time more wisely and allow my focus to be on becoming who He wants me to be instead of seeking after what everyone else is and has.

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!

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!

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!

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!