G is for Give

Today is, G is for Give. It simply says, "Remember the gift God gave to you- Jesus! Give to others this Christmas."

I don't give as often as I would like. I don't have the money or don't know who to give to..... Well, I found out about this ministry through Angie Smith's blog http://audreycaroline.blogspot.com/ (She's the wife of lead singer Selah) Anyway the ministry link is http://nilmdts.com/start.php It's a non-profit photography organization, infant bereavement. I'm not explaining it very well. If you'd like to know more visit the site. Anyway, I have a link at the bottom of my blog that you could use as a search engine. Every time you search you help raise money for NILMDTS. If you go to IGive you can get the same thing for any cause you like.

I have some really cute pictures of the boys I plan on posting soon. Today my baby is sick:( So, till tomorrow...

What's a friend?

So, F is for Friend. For me a friend is someone you can talk to about things you're going through, no matter what it is. A friend is someone who will listen and be there for you. A friend is someone who wants to know you...all of you.

This song came to mind today:

What a friend we have in Jesus,
 all our sins and griefs to bear!
 What a privilege to carry
 everything to God in prayer!
 O what peace we often forfeit,
 O what needless pain we bear,
 all because we do not carry
 everything to God in prayer.

2. Have we trials and temptations?
 Is there trouble anywhere?
 We should never be discouraged;
 take it to the Lord in prayer.
 Can we find a friend so faithful
 who will all our sorrows share?
 Jesus knows our every weakness;
 take it to the Lord in prayer.

3. Are we weak and heavy laden,
 cumbered with a load of care?
 Precious Savior, still our refuge;
 take it to the Lord in prayer.
 Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?
 Take it to the Lord in prayer!
 In his arms he'll take and shield thee;
 thou wilt find a solace there.

Today we are celebrating Danny's birthday! He has been singing "Happy Birthday" to
himself all morning. It goes something like this; "Happy birfday to me happy birfday
to me happy birfday to Danel, happy birfday to me!" It's just not the same without
hearing him. Too funny :)

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!