Show Grace

I blew it! You know those moments that you just wish you could have a "re-do"....well this is one of them! Emily has been volunteering all week in VBS.....and at night she has been staying and playing freeze tag with the other volunteers....then she is home by 9:30. Well last night 9:30 came and went.....9:45 came and went...so my sister and I went looking for her and her cousin.....nothing....... 10:10...I'm about to be in full fledged panic! My sister asked if I thought they had walked to Wendy's...surely NOT! She is almost 14 she has never gone somewhere without asking me!!

We pulled up and there she was inside with a group of friends. I couldn't believe it....my worry quickly turned to dismay and anger. I walked in and asked her to come outside where I began to explain how worried I was and that I couldn't believe that she would just go without calling. OK I will tell you that up till this point I stand behind my decisions.....then I told her to get in the car...she had lost the privilege to hang with her friends.

So what do I regret.....she has NEVER given me any reason not to trust her.....she serves Jesus all the time by serving others.....she was with a great group of friends...I truly believe that she got caught up in the moment and that it wasn't a rebellious intentional action. Knowing all these things..I should have extended grace...but I didn't! I wish I had! She and I talked that night about all the why's and the importance of calling me and about how we would gladly give her freedoms but that she had to communicate and get permission. The next morning I talked to her and told her why I should have extended grace and that I was sorry. She was awesome and full of her own apologies for forgetting and that she sure hoped she had not lose my trust. All is good but I have to practice what I preach act but don't just "re-act."

Love those babies!!!!

My big Dream!!!!

What is your dream? I mean your BIG dream from the Lord??? Do you ever feel like it is so big that it is ridiculous? I do!!!!! We moved into our house 15 years ago. It was such a blessing....it was owned by a drug dealer who went to prison...it was trashed but we could see the potential! We worked hard to restore it and we love it! We knew from the time that we moved in that it was not ours....we have always viewed our "stuff" as the Lords. Really from the very beginning Eric and I have known that we are supposed to give this house to our church(right across the street). Our church has a couple of amazing ministries...one is to provide furlough homes for missionaries and another is to provide homes for pastors who are hurting and need a place to come for healing hearts. Here is a picture of our house.

Then comes the second part of our dream. There is a piece of land here in Woodstock.... 87 acres right in the heart of Woodstock....and it is in foreclosure:) Here some pictures of it. It is way too long of a story to write here...but the Lord started burning a Big dream into our hearts. We would love for Driven To Encourage to own this land.....with several uses....one is that it is already set up as pasture land....we would love to have horses and a place for equine therapy(which is actually Emily's BIG dream) for mentally and physically handicapped children. Secondly we would have facilities for the kids that Eric mentors. And last...and dearest to my heart personally....we would have a large unit......for around 30 couples to live. Marriages are falling apart!!!! My dream is to have a place for newly weds to live for a year under the agreement that they will attend marriage classes and put themselves in a place of being mentored. They would continue to work or go to school and they would pay some sort of rent. We would open the classes up to any married couple who wanted to attend but we would focus intently on those 30 couples.

So what do you think??? What is your BIG Dream?????

Speak Kind Words!!!

I wonder what it would be like if our words were recorded all day and then played back to us. It would not be pretty for me on some days. I have a feeling that I would listen...cringing...crying...at my tone, in many instances! I wonder how many times I have missed the opportunity to speak encouragement and kindness into my husband, my children and others because I was not thinking about the power of words! The Bible is FULL of verses about our words and their power! Here are a few.

Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.

Proverbs 12:18 There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

Ephesians 4:29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

Matthew 12:36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak

Proverbs 16:24 Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.

Lets start thinking about what we say...and how we say it!

The Ultimate Parenting Goal

I hate long Blog posts....I do not reading them and I sure do not like to write them!! So I am going to break these up into many small parts for my own sake:)

This first post is really central for all the other posts to follow on parenting. The Bible doesn't give a whole lot of instruction specifically on parenting. This is my favorite:

Deuteronomy 6: 5-9 5You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

This passage is the lens through which all of our parenting passes. My main job as a Christian parent is to teach my children to "Love the Lord with ALL their hearts...when..... all day in every situation. When I wake up in the morning and I lie in bed praying for the Lord to bless my day...I always ask Him to help me remember that my most important job is to point my kids back to Him.

Over the next few weeks I am going to try to give some practical helps.... but it all boils back down to those verses for me. What drives you as a parent? What are your goals? There will be many days of discouragement when you will need to remember what the goal is!!!

Internet Safety

Is your computer safe????? We use Safe Eyes and love it!!! No filter is 100% but if you do not have filters on ALL your computers and ITouch and IPad...It is like having dirty magazines lying around and telling your kids not to look! Get a free trial HERE.

Daddy Dates

Since my kids were about 18 mos old Eric has taken them on "Daddy Dates"...they love them! He has done so many different things over the years. Each child gets to spend $5.00 and they get a few hours of alone time with their hero. He and Emily went a few days ago to the tractor supply store...Emily likes to dream about owning her own horse farm so they walked around and Eric listened to her stories about horses and all the fun things at the store. Then they went to get a sweet tea and a chicken sandwich. I love that he has consistently done this with the kids for the past 15 years! The night is all about the child not about himself....some of the outings have been interesting some have been quite boring for him but he NEVER lets them know...he makes them feel important and special! I love him for it!

Movies

Lindsey was in 3 competitions today...great job! She doesn't seem nervous at all! We will know about call backs tomorrow night!

I want to tell you a little story....

I walk into a very crowded room alone....people are very quiet and the speaker stands to speak....He is funny at times....angry at times...sad at times...but every time he wants to show any emotion he uses Lindsey's name as his choice of words...now he doesn't know her personally but he continues to use her name in ugly profane ways. Out of the corner of my eye I can see her standing in the back of the room...listening...watching to see what I will do....will I leave...will I just listen to it even though I know she can hear it..I know it must hurt her feelings...what will I do......Now of course that is NOT a true story but if it was...you would all think I was a really bad mother for not leaving the room! And you would certainly think I was wrong if I KNEW that her name was going to be used that way and yet I still went!

This is why we do not go to see movies that use GD or JC in them....I find these words so profane...offensive. I love the Lord so very much...I believe that he hears and sees everything that we hear and see and I can't sit idle by while His name is being tossed around. I do not say this to be judgemental....everyone draws their line somewhere. I know some who will not even sit through shows that say..OH MY GOD...if that were our conviction...we couldn't even see children's movies. That isn't a slam on the families that have different convictions....just sharing where we are! Just food for thought!

Also I wanted to let you guys know that the Lord is continuing to supply. Eric is starting to book his speaking engagements in the schools and we couldn't do it without you all and your prayers!!

Fathers Day

Oh how I LOVE my man! I am so blessed to have a husband who loves Jesus, loves me and loves my babies! He is an amazing father...he is crazy and fun, loving and kind! He teaches them to love Jesus not only in what he says but in what he does! I pray he feels honored EVERY day!

Bible Study

I wanted to go through the Bible in chronological order so I went to the Christian bookstore and found the above book. There is another one coming out in a few months that looks even better...but I really like this one. I do not usually read NIV but I am enjoying it. I am taking notes...asking questions and asking the Lord to give me a fresh perspective on some of the passages that I have been reading since I was a child. Every morning before I get out of bed I tell the Lord that I want Him to pour Himself out in my life. I am loving it!

Freedom

I was talking to my beautiful 16 year old who I am wildly proud of the other night....we were talking about freedom. If the average person were to look from the outside at the way we are bringing up our children they might say...oh my goodness they are so strict....they have too many rules. Rules such as: my kids have never been allowed to do sleepovers with friends.....my kids can't date.....there are many movies and tv shows we do not watch....they are not allowed to leave and roam the neighborhood...we do not just drop them off at the movies or the mall with their friends(Lindsey just started this at 16)...there are many popular books they can't read, no bikini's, no low cut shirts....you get the idea!

I told Lindsey that it was my prayer that they would see that they have GREAT freedom within the bounds we give them. I hope that they will not refer to us as strict. I don't want them to feel stifled. I described it as a beautiful field that they could roam freely inside of...sometimes the other side of the fence looks amazing but it is covered in hidden land mines....so what looks like "freedom" really isn't. Our desire is not to oppress them but to protect them.

Look at God's example of sex....one man one woman for life inside the bounds of marriage. The world says that this is restrictive...there is no freedom to express love and this is too narrow and confining.It isn't realistic! God just doesn't want us to have fun...He is a party pooper!

On the contrary.....look at what He is trying to protect us from(land mines) Aids, teenage pregnancy, STD's, feelings of desperation especially for girls,a feeling that we could never measure up, addiction to pornography, adultery, guilt, shame! What does He want for us.....GREAT FREEDOM within our marriage! Unbelievable sex with our mate! The ability to be free without the fear and oppression of the "land mines." He wants the very best for us!!!!

Lindsey said that she feels like she has freedom. YEAH....She has shown great responsibility therefore she has more freedom...as much as is possible we try to say yes to the things that are within the bounds we have given her(and the rest of the kids) and we also are open to talking through those areas that we disagree about. Sometimes after a conversation we even revise our decision..we certainly are not perfect and we do not want them to feel that it is our way or the highway...how prideful for us to not even listen to our children....as long as they approach us properly...begging, pleading and guilt NEVER work here!

I have probably opened a big can of worms with this post...feel free to comment!

Potatoes

I love potatoes in just about any shape form or fashion. This may be a bad thing! The scales seem to agree that I love potatoes a little too much! Anyway these are wonderful...easy and delicious.
Cut your potatoes into thin bite size slices into a bowl.
Pour a small amount of olive oil onto potatoes...this is not an exact science....I cut up about 8 cups of potatoes and put about 3 Tablespoons of oil...but I am feeding 7....so cut up the amount you need and put just enough oil so that they will be very lightly coated...not greasy.
I melted 1 Tablespoon of butter and poured it on the potatoes. Then toss them.

Place them in a pan single layered I do not literally put them single layer but you do not want to pile them on top of each other or they will not cook evenly. Then add seasoning...I put pepper, lightly sprinkle with garlic salt. I have used red pepper as well.
Cook in a preheated 450 oven for 20 minutes or until potatoes turn nice and golden brown. Oh my goodness...you are not going to believe how good these are and so easy to prepare!

Christmas Blessings

Oh how I love Christmas!!! We are so very excited around here. I wanted to share with you a real blessing for our family. We received an anonymous package in the mail the other day and it contained $50 gift cards for our entire family to our favorite places and even some fun entertainment cards. What a fun blessing! We of course started brainstorming about who it could be??? We have so many generous friends in our lives but only a few of those who would know where to buy the gift cards specifically. The last 2 years have been amazing ministry wise but they have been full of major sacrifices especially for the kids..it was fun to see their excitement!

Here is where my hearts delight came.....we have taken 3 of the children out to use their cards and all three used their cards to buy for others??? They were so excited to have their "own money" to spend on buying presents. I was very overwhelmed! So to whoever sent the cards...Thanks from the kids and thanks for allowing them to bless others!!!

Dave Ramsey

Do you listen to Dave Ramsey? Love him!!!! Eric and I have been married for 20 years and boy would we do things differently, financially, if we could turn back the hands of time!!! We hope our children will have a better financial future!! While we have never had car payments and credit cards were used for emergencies.....we could have handled money better and we would be in a better place as far as our mortgage is concerned. We owe 87,000 or there abouts...sounds like a lot in one way but we are excited to see how fast we can get it paid off and be debt free!!!!! My hope is that my children will not even have to have debt!!! Possible??? I think so!! What about you?

Traditions

I don't remember if I have already written about this or not??? I have so many things swirling around in my head......I am always thinking..I'll write about that.....then I can't remember if I actually wrote or just thought about it???? Nuts..... I know :)

Think back to your childhood.....think quick about 10 of the best gifts that you received as a kid. Most of us could probably do that if given some time....but not quickly.......usually only a few actually stand out. But if asked to quickly name the things that you associate with Christmas....that is easy....for me it would be something like this......Grandma's house, cousins, driving looking at Christmas lights, hilarious party we always attended with cheap gag gifts, baking and decorating cookies, Christmas Pageant we put on at the Smith's house, lots of food, Candle light service at church, Reading the Christmas story on Christmas Eve from a very large family Bible, caroling, helping a needy family. (now that I am older I know that WE were needy but my parents were so generous they took on more)

My point....your kids will not remember most of the gifts that you buy for them but they will remember and cherish the traditions! Make memories with your kids, show them a generous spirit, establish traditions and don't let them forget the awesomeness of the fact that Jesus came to save the world!!!!

Bill Stafford

We love Bill Stafford! He has been a family friend for more than 20 years. He is a faithful man of God and he means more to me and to Eric than I can express. He was in town last week and he met with Eric and I for an hour...what a sweet encouraging time. We prayed, laughed and were richly blessed. After the last month of waiting on the Lord that meeting was like a breath of fresh air!

Aldi

I wanted to pass along a little tip to you guys. Do you have an Aldi nearby? If you have one anywhere near your travels or your husbands, it is well worth stopping in for certain items....like fresh veggies, milk, and frozen items. Actually I buy lots of things there like the blue corn chips above....yummy...my family loves these! And the price is wonderful!

I am REALLY picky about where I buy my meat......some things I can let slide but not meat. Last Thanksgiving my friend Jennifer at "Smelling Coffee" wrote about buying a spiral sliced ham and how wonderful it was....so I tried it...wonderful. So a few weeks ago I really stepped out and bought 90/10 hamburger meat??? I prepared it with a back-up plan in mind....seriously that is how goofy I am about meat. Oh my goodness it was wonderful and cheaper than anything I have seen around here! I was sure it was a fluke and I did not want to pass along anything to you until I tried it again....last night was our 3rd round of using it...bought at 3 different times. It is so good! I haven't tried any steaks or chicken but I will be! I have tried their frozen fish...great!

I am so sorry to those of you who do not have an Aldi near you??? Back to sick babies!!

multi tasking

Today was productive! The day started early and went very well. Yesterday I make a huge batch of homemede spaghetti sauce which we had for dinner last night. Today I made 2 large batches of lasagna. I didn't cook them...I just put them together and froze them. It always makes me feel good to know there is a meal ready for another day.... a crazy day! And it really didn't take much time.

Last week I bought a huge bag of apples. We prefer a really crisp sweet apple...Gala or Fuji.....these were very tart and softer than we like to eat but......perfect for baking! Emily and I worked together to peel and slice the 20 pound bag. It didn't take very long and of course we had a great time together. I bought one of these handy dandy apple peelers...which is a great alternative to the expensive kind. We found it on clearance for $3.oo a few years ago and it works great. It doesn't slice them for you but it peels very well....and the kids love to crank it!

We put them in large bowls....sprinkled with a little sugar, cinnamon and a few pats of butter. We threw them in the microwave for 5 min......took them out stirred them and then another 5 min. We had 2 large batches of these....we let them cool and put them in freezer bags to use later for apple crisp.

Yes ,I know that my pictures are all out of whack!!! Our PC is going crazy and I am having to use Eric's lap top.....I can't make it work???? I do not have time to continue to fiddle with it:)

Blessings

When our children turn 13 we give them a "Blessing" party. We teach our children from the time that they are old enough to learn about the importance of purity not just sexual but also purity in thought and action. We teach them about the importance of personal integrity and most of all we teach them about how important it is to have an intimate relationship with Jesus! A Blessing party is a symbolic time of putting away childish things and moving into young adulthood. We try to pour wisdom and encouragement into them in a special night.

When Lindsey turned 13 we had her friends and their mothers, along with grand mothers over for a special dinner. Each girl wrote Lindsey a beautiful letter and each mother spoke encouragement and wisdom into her life. Then Lindsey and I took a trip...just the two of us and enjoyed great mother daughter time!

Marshall turned 13 in June and I came across the pictures from it today and I thought I would share it with you. He had a great time and the men who attended were such a blessing to him. He and Eric are going to go this Fall on a hunting trip....pray for Eric...remember the camping trip in the back yard?????

My New Brother!!

My youngest...Luke has been asking for some time about "asking Jesus into his heart," and he was wonderfully saved over a week ago!! He loves to say...your my mom and my sister!

At our house.....we teach our kids about how much Jesus loves them from the first time we lay eyes on them....we pray for their salvation from the time we know we are pregnant. I can remember holding my babies in my arms when they were hours old and telling them...."I love you so much but Jesus loves you more and He laid His life down for you" Of course I do not think they know what in the world I was talking about, but I wanted to start their time with me out by sharing about Jesus. So we are always talking about Jesus and how much He loves us and how He wants a personal relationship with each of us but we do not ask our children if they want to ask Jesus into their heart...why??? I'm glad you asked! :)

I you ask most 2 year-olds who have heard a Bible story....if they want Jesus to live in their hearts they will tell you yes... so we wait for them to start asking questions. It has been the same with all five of our kids.....at different ages (4,5,6,6,&7) they have started asking more personal questions. We love that process!! For our children...that process has lasted from 3 to 8 months, and it is so amazing to watch as the Holy Spirit begins to draw them. They ask more personal questions...more thoughtful questions. Sometime I will have to write about each of them and what a blessing that process was with them. It was interesting how they came with such different questions and a different thought process. YOu know the Lord tells us to bring up our children in the way they should go...or in their bend.....and I believe that He deals with us in the same manner. My kids had such different questions it was evident that He was working on their hearts in "their bend"......the Lord is so amazing!

So he is my "son and my brother"!!!!

Casting the net!

My man has had so many opportunities to share the Gospel in the past few weeks. Last week he share twice with football teams and 6 players came to know Christ. Friday he spoke at a public middle school and 24 kids prayed to receive the Lord. Tonight he presented the gospel on the 50 yard line and 5 football players and a coach gave their hearts to Jesus!! Casting the net...that is what He calls us to do!!!! He does the calling we do the sharing!