Disney

Some pictures from Disney, the kids loved it. Shad had never been so he even like the parade. He really liked all the roller coasters. He's a brave kid for 6 years old, or too stupid to be scared:) Shad & Steve did alot of running around together. Folks I'm telling you have one kid early on and then wait 10 years and have the others:) It works out so well to have a built in baby sitter! Hey maybe the Duggers have it right!!! Going on the roller coasters really hurt Steve's back I ended up having to take him to the doctor for it.

We had some issues with Sam's handicaped status!!! Just because he is so little, I don't think people understand all his limitations. It was a mess. They offered us another dsy, free and I wrote an email to the head dept of Disney. I was so upset by the treatment we got, I hope no one else would have the same thing happen to them! But other than that the day was fine. Espicially for Steve & Shad!

More pics from HRSP

More pictures from our day at the river. I love going but I have no envy for the campers! I like to be able to come home to my cool & clean house. I'm an outdoor girl but not one for camping! Too many bugs & skeeters! I can stay outside all day but I want to know I can come home to a clean shower and a/c! Today the mosquitoes were so bad we had to go and buy spray and the little store. I really don't like spraying chemicals all over us but it beat the alternative! But it was beautiful today so it was worth it. We got a good hour hike in, thank goodness for the jogging stroller, it can go over everything. Sam loves for us to walk him, he sang/hummed a little song to us today so sweet!

Hillsborough River State Park trip 4/8/10

We had lunch then we went to the HRSP. This year we bought a year pass to the Florida State Parks and since HRSP is only about 10 miles from our house, it comes in handy. It's only about 4 miles from the prison so Jon can go and walk there during his lunch break. Most of the trails are very shady and cool, well as cool as it can get in Florida. We saw a big alligator today and some turtles. I'd love to be out there at night with a flashlight, I bet you'd be see alot of red eyes in the River. Red eyes are the alligator's reflection. We used to live on a lake and it was something at night to count the alligators! I like HRSP, it actually has a small rapids, that you can walk to. It's so pretty & peaceful!

Pics from our Easter Lunch and the new chairs for the church!

Sunday was fun and worked great in the new hall. It was so nice to have lunch in a cool clean new fellowship hall! I loved the big serving areas and we had hookups for crock pots and warmers! Yeah! Fun!

Today the new chairs are in the back of the sanctuary until we can get the pews out. Hoepfully we can sell them on Craigslist!

Easter 2010

Easter was great! Sam & the other boys loved their Easter baskets. For the first time Sam to some small extent, hunted Easter Eggs. He held his basket and would pick up an egg when Sam would take him to it. He was laughing alot. We had a great lunch at the church in the new fellowship hall and then we went over to some friends home and the boys played in the pool. Shad was so cold he turned blue but he wouldn't stay out of the pool.

The night before Easter Shad decided the barber had not done a good enough job on his hair so he cut it for himself! He has 3 huge chunks missing!!! I didn't mind so much that he did it but he would not tell the truth for the longest time. That really bothered me. There was black hair all over the bathroom counter & floor and eh was standing there with chunks out of his hair telling me he didn't do nothing...I sent him to bed and didn't let hi help with the Easter eggs for the egg hunt. I hope he learned to tell the truth!

We have new chairs for our church given to us by another church in this area! Yeah They are burgany & match the carpet better than the old pews did. I'm trying to sell the old pews on craigslist. If they don't sell soon, off to the dump or Habit for Humanity they go!!! When all the remodelling is done in the church, we'll have green chairs and these will go in the fellowship hall. It all worked out well. It's exciting to see things happen around here!!

By the end of this month, the work should begin on the parsonage roof and hopefully next month on the church. It's exciting to see our dream/vision for this church's facilities come to pass!!!

Easter Baskets- what I learned....

Early this week I was shopping for the boys' Easter baskets. I always make their own as they like certain candy and it's just more fun for us. I usually don't make Sam one. He doesn't like anything sweet except some real fruit. It's really hard to do some of the more traditional things with/for him. Even Christmas, he doesn't understand opening presents and usually gets rather bothered by all the noise confusion...

So I started getting very upset in Walmart! As I was walking around, I was so sad about life and Sam's disabilities...it swept over me like a flood. I was in the candy aisle battling tears & anger and really trying to deal with my emotions. I haven't had anything like that hit me for awhile! It makes me MAD that he can't enjoy all the things all the other kids do!!!!!! Not that I want him rotting out his teeth with candy but I want him to be NORMAL!!!!!! And that is never gonna happen-it's so hard to deal with sometimes!!

As I was trying to deal with all of this in my heart, I thought about the things that Sam does enjoy and began focusing on the things he loves and I had an inspiration...I filled his basket with cans of black eye peas, soup, a ball and some toys for the bath tub. So I chose to focus on those things that make him happy and not be overwhelmed with the "normal kid things" that he doesn't care about and it really helped me.

Sure I'm still a bit sad, all holidays do this to me because he doesn't react like all the other kids but he's my boy & I would have chosen HIM over all the other kids in the world anyhow so it just makes him unique!

So focus your life on the positives rather than the negatives and believe me it will help. There are many things we can't change but we can learn to roll with life's punches- it makes life easier....

Being Real

Being Real is very important to me! When I see people who are not real it just turns my stomach whether it's Hollywood or Washington or Church! The hardest for me to deal with is people who are not real in the "church world". As a Pastor's wife I meet all kinds of ministers/missionaries/church leaders and it is so obvious when they are people who are not real. Nowadays it's all about doing ministry in certain ways, are you traditional, seeker sensitive, servant evangelism, "the Way of the Master"? Have you read this one's new book or tried this strategy...? Did you go to this seminar or that one? I know people who use some of these different approaches who are REAL people, and then others who just want to be somebody, the next big mega church leader.

Celebrity ministry is just not something I'm comfortable with. You know what I mean, the big names, the STARS of the Christian world. It makes me uncomfortable. I've gone many different types of meetings and have always tried to be open but I'm to the point in my life that I'm just not interested in being open or going to anything like that anymore.

I may be wrong but in the coming days in America, I do think the Church World is gonna be shaken. I feel that somethings are about to happen in this government, economy that is going to shake this country and the whole world. And I believe when that happens, all the slick talking ministries are going to crumble and what will be left is the local churches.

I'm not saying that every well known preacher/ministry is from the devil and not saved but I do feel that there is a tendency to run these big ministries like they are corporations and the ministry leader is the CEO. And many times a very prideful, showy attitude comes through. People who are NOT saved often see it before Christians and are so turned off by it! That said, we did go to a mega church for many years and it may have been run in some ways as a corporation but the people were real. There are things large churches and ministries can do for the Kingdom that a smaller ministry/church just can't do. So I'm not saying that they are all evil. I'm mostly talking about ministries who are not connected nor under any type of boards/other ministers.

I really hate the attitude of the celebrity ministry. I'm not really that keen on the sparkle, the big "manifestations", who can preach the loudest or have the most spine chilling stories... I really hate emotionalism, being worked up! I go in the opposite direction every time!!! It gets old when you deal with real life everyday!

I've had crazy things happen to me but I don't go around yelling and telling folks about it unless I feel I should. When I was in China, I was escorted back by an angel! It's the wildest thing that has ever happened to me and I still second guess myself to see if it really happened the way I think it did!!! When I hear some folks share, they give the impression they have all kinds of things happen to them daily. Even the disciples in the NT only had only a few encounters with angels, miracles etc...most of what they encountered was persecution, travel and lots of work! But in this day and age, persecution and work does rate high on the sermon titles!!!

So it really annoys me when I see that celebrity mindset! I've determined that as much as possible, I'm not going to be a part of anything like that. There's a balance in everything and I truly believe "All extremes are dysfunctional". I learned that at SEC and that's the one thing I've never forgot! Four years of college and I remember that the most! So anyhow I want to be balanced, but I am not going to be a part of something when I feel the balance is off. I'm not going to contribute by watching something on tv or going to a meeting or reading a book (well I might read it but it would NOT be the reason for what it was written- I would read it only to see what it said, NOT to apply it to my life!)

My life is real and raw. It's not a bad life at all but I just don't have time for silliness or "foolishness or mayhem"! Our church is very grace orientated but not as a gimmick, but just because that is who we are. We can't be anyone else. My husband is not gonna dress like he's a teenager and spike his hair a certain way to look more hip (that always cracks me up when I see ministers trying to look like the youth pastor) but he is not gonna just wear a suit & tie all the time either (in fact he really doesn't wear a suit and tie anymore at all except for funerals & weddings!) We don't force our kids in anyway to be different than anyone else except in their hearts & morality issues. Like any responsible parent we monitor what our kids watch on tv or go and see at the movies but we also try to teach them to monitor themselves!

So be REAL folks! Don't try to HYPE things up! It SHOWS when you do!!!!