25 uses for a wipey....

1) the obvious - diaper changes! :)
2) clean the counter
3) wipe faces (get all the stickies off!)
4) wipe hands (specially when you've just used a port-a-potty!)
5) clean mouths (I know this sounds like it should be included in #3 but I promise it is entirely different! Keegan calls pacifiers "mouths"! so this # is talking about cleaning off a dropped plug, usually in the instance that your mouth won't do, like when it has been dropped in sand! lol)
6) wipe off seats before you sit
7) wipe off the table before you eat
8) clean off clothes when you want em to look nice and you aren't going straight home and you don't have a change bc somehow one didn't make it in the diaper bag. (this doesn't work on diaper blow outs though, in those cases they either have to go clothesless or a wal-mart trip proves a necessity!)
9) wipe of cuppies
10) clean toys (specially ones that have just been bought at a garage sale or goodwill and can't wait to be played with)
11) clean the car (inside, not the outside! specially cupholders that a McDonald's cup has leaked in!)
12) wash window (not perfect but will do in a pinch)
13) wipe noses!
14) sponge baths when a real one isn't an option
15) get yuckies out of hair!
16) clean shoes
17) wipe off buggies
18) clean pay phones or borrowed cells
19) wipe off the spoon or fork that belongs in the diaper bag, we usually try to carry ones for the littles that aren't quite ready for the adult size ones but insist on having their own bc they want to feed themselves.
20) clean a tongue (ok, I know this sounds cruel at first glance but please let me explain, this method has been used when they have eaten something they think is NASTY or have put something in their mouth they shouldn't have and I didn't have anything to eat or drink for them to get the taste out of their mouth and they were crying and all upset, sticking their tongue out and looking at me like mama, aren't you going to do something!? so I said here let me see your tongue and wiped the nasty taste off with the wipee, hey it worked, they were happy after that!) (another slight disclaimer: this is NOT an everyday occurance! it has only happened a few times!) :D
21) clean books (the board ones)
22) clean nasty, sticky, little-fingered DVDs to get them to work again!
23) wipe off my iTouch or the iPad after sticky fingers have touched them! They have screen protectors on them so the little bit of wet won't hurt em.
24) they also make a most excellent toy (so thinks my very littles!) pull out and throw, pull out and throw, pull out and throw, over and over again, nevermind that we spent good money on those! :)
25) last but least, they also make a good decoy for the little that wants to help clean but can't be trusted with the clorox wipes yet. They don't realize the difference! :)

Hospitality

H elping others find the love they seek
O organizing a space for comfort and healing
S nacks - food is a way to the heart
P ersonally making others feel welcome and cared about
I nviting others to be a part of something special
T aking your mind off of yourself
A nswering others questions and needs
L iving an example of giving and service
I is not in SOMEONE ELSE
T ruly being loving and caring, polite and kind
Y ielding to leading and authority of God our Father

I didn't write this but I had it in my journal and thought it needed shared, I'm not sure where I originally got it from. Sounds a whole lot like how we are as mothers and what we strive to accomplish for our babies, doesn't it? We all fulfill it in different ways, wouldn't this world be boring if we were all the same, all of our babies have different needs that only we can meet, not the mother down the street but us! God knows when he places your children in your home, He knows those things that are not "like everyone else" and that is why you got the little ones you did. I'm not saying that there aren't basic needs that every child has, every child needs fed and clothed and housed and loved but the other things that we tend to compare and beat ourselves up over, we need to let those things go and just love and cherish our babies. We don't have to wear the best clothes or always be manicured with the latest haircut (not saying there is anything wrong with it, we don't need to feel guilty if we ARE manicured and styled either!) or bake everything under the sun or always have a homecooked meal, or the perfect curriculum and schedule. Let's help encourage on another, let's lift each other up. Let us learn to cherish our own strengths and better our weaknesses with God's help and His leading and enjoy our families. And practice HOSPITALITY! :)

Christmas Service

We had our Christmas service yesterday! We are so blessed and felt so joyful to have some friends visit, I was so excited when they called to say they were coming, I had thought my babies only audience for their program was going to be their daddy. :) I think having someone here was God's gift to me! I was having a hard time bc I just love to celebrate with people! We worked on a program and cleaned our house and made sure everything looked festive. The Christmas dishes were ready and the cloth on the table, the tree up and presents underneath, everyone was bathed and in Christmas attire, breakfast was ate, scentsy was on and coffee was brewed, also the visitors had arrived, we were ready for service (a tad late but ready none the less!)! :) We began with the children's program, Cayden told us about the colors of Christmas even though he froze for a minute or so after the first color! Then Joy to the World, a reading of the legend of the Christmas tree (that really is a neat story!) and We Three Kings. We Dressed up Chris, Cayden and Keegan using safety-pinned blankets and homemade construction paper crowns and had them walk in carrying wrapped gifts from under our tree while we sang. Then Chris read a story and we sang Silent Night (I found an awesome video of it on YouTube performed by Sixpence None the Richer). Kirsten read Luke 2:1-20 and we sang Away in a Manger. That concluded the children's part and Honey preached his message. He showed a YouTube video about if Mary and Joseph had facebook. Really made you think. Then we had lunch and fellowship and just enjoyed some laughter and fellowship with God's people. I so enjoy our relaxed atmosphere and seeing my babies enjoy worshipping with us. I really feel closer to God. May you be blessed this Christmas. I just love Christmas! Thank you Jesus for being willing to come to earth so humbly and small to fulfill Your Father's will!

25 years from now

Kirsten will be 36, Chris, 34, Cayden, 30, Keegan, almost 28 and Kayson, 26. I really just can't imagine having adult children! That just seems so incredibly far away. I had a paper of journal starters and this title was one of them but really how much can you say about that far in the future? I mean I know I could make a bunch of predictions or say a bunch of grand things and we all have dreams but we really don't have any idea what the future holds and we need to live in the now. I do pray that each one of our babies are happily married and serving God and following His will. I know Kirsten dreams of being an artist. I wonder if everyone will be driving electric cars by this time? if gas would ever become obsolete? Think facebook will still be around? I wonder if I will have a clean house? lol maybe I will actually be able to keep up with the laundry? I would love to be able to crochet better and someday we dream of building a house. I think it would be fun to own a Christmas tree farm. Maybe I will feel like I can think straight, sometimes I feel like my mind is going crazy, like I can't remember anything. I wonder if that's a normal mommy feeling? I hope it gets better. I just feel so tired all the time too, I hope that gets better as the babies get older. Well, I think I am out of things to say. maybe my next post will be better?

5 years from now........

Let's see in 5 yrs Kirsten will be 16, she will be learning to drive, now that's scary! I just can't imagine having a teenager, it scares me a little bit. Chris will be 14, now that's even scarier....2 teenagers!!! The longer I homeschool, the more I can't imagine sending them to school in high school, I don't think I will be ready to let them go! I love having them home with me. I love being their mommy! Cayden will be 10, hopefully he will be an excellent reader, that's what he is learning now, I think we are doing ok with it! Keegan will be about to turn 8 and Kayson will be 6. Wonder if anyone else will make an appearance by that time? God knows :) I do wonder where Hallsville Family Fellowship will be by then, if we will have other families joining us, where God is going to take this journey, I hesitate to even make any wants or predictions on that point, I want God to lead and guide, I want this to be His work, not ours. I just want to live in His will because I have that to be the best place, when we are out of His will things are just crazy mixed up. I am also learning that when we delay to do His will, there are consequences. My prayer for the next five years and beyond is that our family will continue to grow in our knowledge of our Heavenly Father, that we would continually draw closer to Him and always seek to learn from His word.

Sermon Part 2: Youth ministry

There are three problems with youth ministry: 1) there is no clear mandate in the Bible that we should have youth ministry 2) It takes the God-given responsibility from the parents and then also from the church as a whole 3) youth ministry has not accomplished what it started out to and now needs to be "reformed". Many churches have switched from having a youth group (ages 12-18) to what they now call "Students Ministries" and has expanded to include the college age "kids" too. Seems young adults no longer want to grow up and join "big" church bc there are no games and the songs are boring and the elders "just don't get it!" So a church within a church has been created, a sub-culture that does not include parents. They are being taught, whether out-right ot inadvertently, that "big" church is not relevent, the pastor doesn't understand you, only the youth minister fully understands, there is simply no place for you with the "big" church or place for your parents or church elders in your service. That the old ways no longer work, everything has to be new. No hymns, I think hymns are very relevent to us and it saddens me that so many churches simply refuse to ever sing a hymn anymore. See Colossians 4:2-6, Ephesians 2:10 and 4:11-14. I find it interesting regarding that last reference that some use these verses to back up "student ministries" but they cut it off before verse 14, that clearly states there comes a time to put childishness behind you. Hmmm..... We cannot find ant scripture supporting age seperation in church, instead we see many verses that would support integration instead. For example the Titus 2 mandate for the old women to teach the young women, you cannot have that happen if the older women are never around the younger women. You cannot OUTimpact a parent! Someone named Christian Smith did a survey on the theology of our youth to see what they believe: 1) a god exists - created and orders the world and watches over life (note though that this does not define God as the one and only, the Alpha/Omega, only acknowledges that a god does seem to exist) 2) God wants people to be good, nice and fair as taught in the Bible and most world religions (but there is none good - no not one, none righteous except God! This basically states that today's youth believe all religions are basically equal, that we all serve the same god, but this is simply not true! There is only one true God, the God of the Bible, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob! The Great I Am!) 3) central goal of life is be happy and feel good about oneself (what about all the verses about serving others and not seeking self?) 4) God does not particularly need to be involved in one's life except as needed to resolve a problem (so we just ignore Him all other times?) 5) good people go to Heaven when they die (but the Jesus clearly states in the Bible, "no one comes to the Father but by me") This is the product or our youth ministries. I want to leave you with a few more thoughts. If you win a father's heart, you will gain his family! but churches try to do this backwards, they want to gain the children to get through to the parents, when it should be the other way around. Let the fathers lead their families, teach the fathers and encourage them! Trust that the Word, God's Word, is sufficient!

Why? Why a family-integrated church? Part 1

Here are some of my notes and thoughts on my Honey's Sunday sermon, please keep in mind, these are MY notes and MY thoughts on what he taught. :) There are two reasons for a family-integrated church: 1) The Bible shows us a family-integrated example, 2) we want our babies to know what the Bible says about how a family should operate. In this day and age of professionalism, it seems like the trend is to trust everyone but yourself. You need to read better, hire a tutor; you need to build a house, hire a contractor; you need to be healthier, do everything the doctor tells you; you need to your children to learn the Bible, hire a sunday school teacher! Society has this mindset of leave it all to the professionals, forget using your brain or searching out answers for yourself, leave it all to the professionals and that attitude is seeping into our churches. They are the professionals in theology, they have ministry degrees and parents are left with the belief that these are the ones who should be teaching their children. That we need to leave our children to the experts, it's for the best, parents no longer believe that they are equipped to teach and nurture their own children. I hear it over and over in reference to homeschooling; "I could never do what you do", "I just don't have the patience", "I'm not that smart". It saddens me when moms tell me these things bc I just want to say but YOU are what's best for YOUR children, God chose you for them! He knew your weaknesses and wants to strengthen you for this task. I am not always patient! There are plenty of days that just fall apart! Don't think I don't question our decisions, sometimes weekly! However, I trudge on, I pray, I cry, I laugh and then I look at my babies and there are moments when it all works and in those moments I have the peace that we are right where we are supposed to be and that God is with us on our journey and has not left us alone, that He and He alone eguips me with all the things I need and all the things my babies need. The church (in general) is trying to conform to an unbiblical society. Instead of shaping society, the church is letting society shape it! We are supposed to be seperate from the world, we are supposed to be light in the darkness, to shine out! The professionals will do it for it, so you can sit back and just relax, leave everything to those who know what they are doing. The church will teach a politically correct view of Christ, the schools will teach government propaganda, and the cops will be our protection, no need to study your Bible, worry about what your children will learn or to bear your own arms! Children NEED correction and this is the parent's God-given responsibility. Psalm 78:1-8, Glenn stopped at verse 5 and asks, "What is this saying?" and Kirsten answered, "that you are to teach YOUR own children" and she added an emphasis on the your! Deuteronomy 6:6-7 We are to teach our children at all times, in all things. Then my mind wondered from the sermon a bit and I wrote this in my notes, feels so peaceful this way - Kayson is sleeping in my lap, laundry is going, lasagna in the oven, kiddos coloring while listening, Mama and Daddy are here too. Then I tuned back into the preaching. :) Is this only an Old Testament concept? Ephesians 6:1-5 fathers, bring them up in the NURTURE (not nature!) and ADMONITION (instruction) of the LORD! Salvation is NOT genetic! Our children need to hear the gospel. They need to know Christ! in their own everyday lives! They need to see Him in their parent's everday lives too. There are two differences in the traditional church and the family-integrated church. 1) There is no segregated sunday school. One person, among others that has influenced age segregration is Plato. In 380 B.C. he wrote that children should be seperated from their parents, he even went so far as to say that children should not even KNOW their own parents! That children should be raised by the state and they would be better for it! This goes directly against Biblical principles and mandates that fathers are to teach their own children in the ways of the Lord! I know children will not understand every thing they hear in every sermon every week but that's not really the point, The babies benefit from learning how to sit in service but also from seeing the example of their parents sitting in church, by seeing their parents engaged in the sermon and soaking up Biblical learning, they may learn more from witnessing their parents' reactions to church than any sermon could ever teach them. :) 2) There is no youth ministry. To be continued, Honey says, "come next week to hear why I changed my belief on youth ministry (what I believed I was called to)" I am looking forward to hearing what he has for us next week, he has already been working on it! :)