Counting on God

Praying this Hymn often....



God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm.
Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never failing skill
He treasures up His bright designs
And works His sovereign will.
Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break
In blessings on your head.
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.
His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.
Blind unbelief is sure to err
And scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain.

Praying for My Babes

Recently, I have really been thinking and praying about what I think my children's really important gifts are.  These ideas are what I am going to pray we can nurture.

Knothead-  compassion! He really sees needs and likes to meet them.  He once noticed that a kid at school did not have a jacket in January.  The day that we went to ask the teacher if we could give him one, he showed up with one!  Still, I thought it was especially sweet for him to notice. He also has plans to give away a football with not much usage since he just got a new one for his Bday.  I am so proud of the joy he finds in giving and meeting needs. He was happy to give us 20 bucks out of his piggy bank to give away to Samaritan's Purse gifts this year.  He came up with that number on his own and I thought it was pretty generous for a 7 year old. 

Rooster-service. He loves to work hard and help others! He lives to assist Daddy on the farm and even helping me sweep and pick up around the house.  He prefers to be working then to be doing nothing. 

Skeeter--She is my encourager!    She is born cheerleader! She loves to say, "Good job bruder." or "Good running Je-Je."  She even encouraged me just the other night.  She called me and Daddy into her room as she always does to "tell us sumpetin," which is really a delay tactic, of course. When Daddy arrived she said, "I love you Daddy."  I said, "What were you going to tell me?"  She paused and thought... "You bootiful."  I melted. 

Flarp and Skeeter

 When anyone asks Skeeter what she wants this year for Christmas her reply is interesting, "a pooper sounder."  Yes, folks FLARP is a big deal when you have two "bruders" and one of them got his pooper sounder for his birthday in November and would only let you play with it sometimes!

Then, I was looking for a word to help us remember some of our family values J and J thought that FLARP was the right word, and though it really is "inappropriate" as little J likes to say, none of them are forgetting it.  So, we talk about FLARPing decently often these days and it does not mean what you think:

F--FUN--we are going to have fun together.
L--LOVING--our family is going to be loving.
A--A-team--we are going to work as a team helping each other.
R--RESPECTFUL-we are going to try our best to respect each other.
P--PEACEFUL--PROMOTING PEACE--we are aiming to be peace promoters in our home.

So, this 2nd week of trying to be more "flarpy" I decided to give out awards to the kids for meeting some of those expectations.  I thought it was a good idea until Skeeter wanted her "sword" and Rooster wanted something tangible for his award.  He still asked me this morning for his award.  I just can't make him understand after 2 days that some awards are just pride in making good decisions and being noticed! 

It has been a fun few weeks and my Christmas stress has been pretty low this year! Yeah! We even made our own homemade play doh and I am not crafty AT ALL!  Still, that is what they are busy doing even as I type.  I love our family and investing in our relationships.