My baby boy

For some reason that we may never know, God chose to bless us with the sweetest, most precious, most lovable baby boy I could ever imagine. He's stolen my heart. 

...not much of a blog post, but it's what I'm feeling right now, and usually think about several times each day. 

Isaac, October 2010, 19 months old

I absolutely could not be more proud of him. I am constantly amazed at how much joy he brings to our lives. I can't imagine life without him.

Sharing from my Quiet Time this morning

Recently I joined a Good Morning Girls group. I encourage you to check this out if you haven't before. Below is my GMG share from this morning.


~~~~~~~

I just finished my quiet time. I am thoroughly enjoying my Beth Moore book. After a long introduction, I am into the first chapter. This is titled Overcoming Idolatry. I like this point that she makes - virtually every stronghold involves the worship of some kind of idol. For example, pride/worship of self; addiction/worship of some substance or habit. Other things become the "god" of our lives, things that get our primary focus. She goes on to say that as our minds rehearse the strength of the stronghold (false idol) over God's strength, we suffer. However, when we focus on God's infinite strength, truth begins to eclipse the lies. We are reminded that in our weakness He is strong.

I am so grateful for these reminders. I need to work more on the "A" in the ACTS prayer model, and this chapter in her book is perfect for this. Here are a couple of my favorite scripture prayers so far:

"The earth is Yours, O Lord, and everything in it, the world and all who live in it. (Ps. 24:1) For You, my Lord, are a great God, the great King above all gods. In Your hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to You. The sea is Yours, for You made it, and Your hands formed the dry land. (Ps. 95:3-5)

I like this one especially because it emphasizes God as creator.

"Lord, I know that You are great - greater than all gods. You do whatever pleases You, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths. (Ps. 135:5) Although You are sovereign and You do what You please, You are righteous in all Your ways and loving toward all You have made. (Ps. 145:17)

This one very much appeals to me because after praising God, it mentions his love for us, of which I am in constant awe. He is the creator of all things, omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, and yet, loves each and every one of us. ALL of us! Each human who has ever, is currently, and will ever live on this earth. No matter who you are, where you live, what you believe, what you have done, it doesn't matter. HE LOVES US. He is our Father, we are His children, and despite anything and everything, He loves us.

Train Ride

I went on my first train ride last Friday with my parents. It was out of Etowah, TN. 

 It was about 4 hours, we went out and then came back on the same tracks. The colors were beautiful! My favorite spot on the train was standing on the back in the open air.

 I have a lot more photos, which I plan to upload to FB. I want to write more, but naptime has suddenly ended!

Olive Garden with my toddler... and a happy ending!

Every Thursday night Isaac and I have dinner with my husband's grandmother (Grammy), his aunt Melissa (Aunt Zissa), and a few of their girlfriends. Since Isaac has become mobile it's gotten more difficult to go out to eat, especially to "sit-down" restaurants. Many nights Grammy cooks at her house, which is wonderful! She's a fabulous cook and her house is definitely toddler friendly. She adores Isaac and has lots of toys there for him to play with. 

Well this week they asked us to come to Olive Garden. I've turned them down probably the last 3 or 4 times they've invited us to go out on a Thursday, because I wasn't up for the experience of chasing an energetic toddler around a nice restaurant while my food gets cold and I get increasingly embarrassed and frustrated. 

Well they are so sweet and promised to help with Isaac that I thought, let's try it. I was so surprised! I was so PROUD of my son. He was a little angel! He sat in the highchair the entire meal. He never got loud or fussy. He colored with the crayons until the food came and then ate with us. It was amazing! Aunt Zissa did take him to go outside after we were all done eating and the rest of us stayed to get our checks and to-go boxes. But I was just so proud and pleased. Perhaps we've turned a corner? Perhaps I got lucky? I definitely think it helps to have my 19 month old planked on either side by family members who absolutely adore him and haven't been with him all day. But regardless, it was a wonderful experience. 

Isaac playing in the rocks outside Olive Garden

Quite a Musical Wednesday

Tonight at church was awesome!

First, I got to lead praise band rehearsal. We learned 3 new songs! Everyone did great and I just had so much fun.

Then, I lead children's choir. We're singing in church Sunday. It's the first time the kids are doing something in worship service since I took the job. So I am excited and a little nervous. But I know they'll do great. We're doing a song titled "Child of the Universe." I found it in one of the old file folders. The kids really like it, and I totally dig the imagery - sun, stars, grains of sand. I hope the congregation receives it well.

Finally, we had adult choir rehearsal. Tonight was different because this Sunday is UMW (United Methodist Women) Sunday, so the entire service is being done by women. We had a great turnout for the all-women choir. I think worship this Sunday will be fabulous.

Visitors welcome! Memorial United Methodist of Clinton TN. Worship is 10-11 Sunday morning.

Guitar for beginners

We had a yard sale this past Saturday. A friend of mine offered to bring some stuff she was going to just give to Goodwill, and if we sold it, we could keep the money. Isn't that awesome? One of the items was a guitar. We had it out on a table to sell for a while, then I thought, hey, I've always wanted to play guitar. So I pulled it off the table and brought it in the house.

3 days later, I've leared 3 chords. I can play John Denver's Leaving on a Jet Plane!

...well, not exactly up to speed, but I'm so encouraged!

I've tried guitar before and given up pretty quickly. It's SO much harder than violin to me. Two too many strings, such different technique, and my fingers are killing me. But, I'm motivated this time. I think it's because I realize what a blessing it would be to be able to play guitar. The portability, the campfire opportunties, the ability to contribute in worship. That is what motivates me most.

The 3 chords are G, C & D. I just looked up free online guitar lessons and was pretty happy with my first. Maybe tomorrow I can find time to do free online lesson #2.

Recipes from this morning's Bible Study

The food went over extremely well at Bible study this morning. Here are the recipes:

Creamy Dreamy Pie

• 4 oz cream cheese
• 1 1/2 c powdered sugar
• 3/4 c crunchy peanut butter
• 1/4 c milk
• 1 c cool whip
• 1 graham cracker crust 

Mix the cream cheese and powdered sugar until creamy. Add the pbutter & milk and mix well. Fold in the cool whip. Put in the crust and refrigerate overnight. You can add some additional cool whip on top if you like.

Simple Ambrosia

• canned pineapple in juice (chunk, tidbits or crushed, doesn't matter)
• canned mandarin oranges
• sweetened coconut

Just add these together, in whatever ration you like best. Super easy!

Easy Cherry Turnovers

• tube of crescent roles
• can of cherry pie filling
• powdered sugar

Put a tablespoon of pie filling into each crescent roll, then roll and bake according to directions on tube. Allow to cool, then sprinkle with powdered sugar. That's it!

Bible Study yummies

It's my turn to for Bible study food! Along with another Bible study member, we've been given the honor of preparing grub for our lovely ladies of Faith Filled Women. My partner in crime is doing breakfast burritos and juice. I quickly volunteered for something sweet, probably my favorite thing to make. I opted for Creamy Dreamy Pie (super easy, super yummy peanut butter pie recipe, taken from the Mini-Pages in the Oak Ridger probably two decades ago), a new Cherry Turnover recipe (from my Busy Woman Cookbook, all recipes have 3-4 ingredients), and my version of Ambrosia. Recipes and pics to come. I'll let you know how these go over with the ladies.