E is for Encourage

Here are some of my favorite encouraging verses:

Revelation 21:4
He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

2 Corinthians 1:3-5
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.

Philippians 4:6
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God

Psalm 34:18
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit

There are so many verses that are like medicine to my soul. I have had many times when these verses are the only thing that speaks to me. I hope everyone spreads encouragement today! Tomorrow kind-of goes hand-in-hand with today. F is for Friends. Call a friend tomorrow and let her/him that you're thinking of her/him.

D is for Donate

There are sooo many things to donate to! I didn't have to think to long though...we will be donating to Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep:

Now I lay Me Down To Sleep - ~Infant Bereavement Photography

This was founded in 2005, two years after our Todd. If it wasn't for my family members I wouldn't have any pictures at all of Todd. I was able to make a scrapbook with the pictures taken. Well, this just seemed like the perfect place to donate to.

Tomorrow, E is for Encourage, I challenge all my family members and friends to say one word of encouragement to someone every day in December!

C is for Carols

Today we will be singing our hearts out! We are listening to Christmas music now, at 7:00 in the morning! Way to early to be up and going. Anyway, get out there and sing some Christmas songs today. I plan on going caroling sometime this month...maybe I can convince my extended family to go with me.

Tomorrow we will decide on a program to donate to. (D is for donate) Does anyone have any ideas?

B is for Blessings

So, today we are counting our blessings. Honestly, this was not easy for me today. I had to take my sweet baby to get his shots:( This is usually daddy's job. Plus, I had errands to run and house to clean and school to teach... Well, I decided not to run the errands and go to McDonald's instead. Caleb did really well and is now taking a nap. I still have a house to clean, but with three boys that will always be there! :)

That being said, my most precious blessing is my husband. He has such a strong faith in God and is a great daddy! He is very good about putting me first and teaches the boys to respect me. We've had some pretty tough times and it hasn't always been easy, but I wouldn't have chosen anyone else to share my life with.

Blessings number two, three, four, and five are my boys. Todd, I look forward to the day when we will be reunited. Adam, my big man, Daniel, my middle man, and Caleb, my baby man. They are so absolutely precious! Even on the days when they add more gray hairs to my head(yes, I said more). I have days when I just want to have a sit down with God and ask Him to explain to me how He thinks I can raise three boys! It's overwhelming at times. But, then He lets me know that I'm not on my own. I don't know why I have to always be reminded of this. God always gives me just what I need, exactly when I need it. Plus, He gave me a wonderful husband who is the best partner I could ask for. My family, stressful at times, definetly messy, but absolutely priceless!

Adam's blessings: Caleb, Daniel, and our whole family. I'm a Christian and I don't have to be afraid of stuff.

Daniel's blessings: football, food to eat, cupcakes, and McDonald's.

The ABC's of Christmas

This morning I was looking through some old magazines and found on article in Parent Life. The ABC's of Keeping Christ in Christmas. It provides a list from A to Z with ideas of things you can talk about and activities to do as a family throughout December. I remember trying to do this last year, we did some, but this year my goal is to do every single one. I will also be blogging about them, maybe every other day.

Today we did A: Accept- Accept responsibility to model your faith this season.

We talked about how we can show others how we love Jesus by the way we act. The idea of modeling our faith made an impression on Adam. He thought it was really cool that he didn't have to always tell people about Jesus, but he could show them. Here are some ideas Adam came up with to put it into action:
1. Let Daniel jump on the trampoline more than me.
2. Give Caleb a toy when he's crying.
3. Help clean up without complaining.
4. Tell people thank you and Merry Christmas when we are at Wal-mart.
5. Let others get in line first.

Tomorrow we will be counting our Blessings. The song Count Your Many Blessings has been on my mind all day.

Merry Christmas!

God smart

The other day we were taking a walk and I asked Daniel what color a leaf was. "Orange", he said with confidence. (It was green) I told him it was green and then asked him who made the leaf. He said "God did!" O.k. so maybe I'm bragging just a little. It's just that here lately I've been stressing out about the education of my boys. Do they know all they are suppose to? Will Adam be on track when he starts first grade? Does Daniel know all his shapes and colors? Apparently not :) But, even though Dan didn't know what color the leaf was, he did know that God made it. Which is more important? I guess it all depends on who you ask.

Deuteronomy 6:6-7 says; 'These commandments I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.' There are many, many verses on parenting. I have yet to find any that say my son should know all of his colors by the time he's three.

I do think their education is important, that's why I was stressing to begin with. It's just that God has a way of helping me put things into perspective. Sometime it's through my husband, sons, or other people. Most of the time it's through His scripture. I'm very thankful for the Bible today.

God and interior design

Wow, it's been a long time since I have blogged! Since than I've been very busy with homeschooling, potty training, playing with baby, Bible study, and lots more. I'm still doing those things, just learning to schedule my time better. That's kind of what the Bible study is about, more on that some other time.

Adam was having one of his conversations with God the other night, I was blessed to hear it. He was telling God exactly how he wanted his house in Heaven to look. He wants it to be blue, with two floors, and an Xbox in every room. He went on and on about the details of his house. It has a play room with one of those jump houses and no pink things are allowed.

It got me thinking...about Todd...about Heaven...about family...about what it will be like. I would like to think that I will know Todd and he will know me. Are his eyes blue like Adam and Caleb or are they green like Daniel? Will my sons still know each other? Will they get to met their big brother? Will I be able to ask God all of the questions I'm thinking of now?

God knows. We can't even begin to imagine. I think that's part of the joy, the excitment, the surprise, the anticipation of Heaven.