Happy Reformation Day

I do not celebrate Halloween. I believe it is an evil day. For starters, candy in the amounts that kids usually haul it in this day, isn't good for you. I know, it's tempting. I love candy, chocolate to be specific. But, that's how they draw you in.

You start by telling yourself that you and your kids won't dress up as anything evil.

Then you have your adorable kids, dressed as a princess or maybe a pumpkin, prance around begging for candy.

Then your kids grow up, and want to dress as a monster, or a villian.

Then they are teens, and want to go out with their friend on Halloween. What do they dress like? Do you know? Are they half naked, or appropriately dressed?

Your kids are also being subjected to all the evil that takes place this night.

There are more crimes that take place on Halloween night, than any other. Mostly vandalism, but there are others as well.

I for one am not celebrating or supporting this holiday, if you can call it that.

Instead, I celebrate Reformation Day. On this day 493 years ago, a man named Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of a church. He taught that salvation is not earned by good deeds but received only as a free gift of God's grace through faith in Jesus as redeemer from sin. He challenged the authority of the pope of the Roman Catholic Church by teaching that the Bible is the only source of divinely revealed knowledge. He started to Protestant Movement.

Luther was asked to renounce or reaffirm his beliefs, and said this, "Unless I am convinced by proofs from Scriptures or by plain and clear reasons and arguments, I can and will not retract, for it is neither safe nor wise to do anything against conscience. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen."

Gavin 6 months

I can't believe I missed it. Gavin turned 6 months old on the 9th of October. He is such a happy little boy. We enjoy his smiles and his giggles. He is now sitting up on his own. He tries to crawl, but hasn't quite got it down yet. He gets up on his hands and knees, and stays there rocking. It's adorable.

Jameson is 5 (yesterday)

Today is your 5th birthday Jameson. I remember the day you were born. You were born 5 weeks early. Your lungs weren't ready yet. God helped you get better earlier than expected, and we took you home when you were 10 days old.

You grew up so fast. You have always been a happy little boy. Your smile and your laugh are contagious. You say things that we can't help but laugh at. You have a great sense of humor. You have grown into a very smart, and very aware big boy. You have grown to love God and Jesus. Our prayer for your future is this...

Dear Lord, please help Jameson to continue to grow in his faith and spirituality. Show him that you are always with him. Lord, protect him from evil, and help him to make the right decisions.

We love you Jameson. Happy Birthday.

Things I Learned

There are certain things I have no control over, and there are other things that depend completely on me. Out of everything that could go wrong in this evil world, my problems are minor ones. Things could be so much worse, and I am thankful to God for teaching me this.




I have had my share of difficulties. My life has by no means been easy. It actually seemed to get worse once I made a commitment to the Lord. I have been under attack. The enemy doesn’t like that I switched sides, and is fighting for my return. Bad news for the enemy. I am completely devoted to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.



We are currently having some money problems. I have been frustrated and confused and outright angry. I don’t understand why we don’t have enough to support our family. We are trying so hard to stretch every penny to make ends meet. For some reason, it doesn’t work. There are more bills than money coming in. The numbers are far from even.



We are also having issues with our transportation. This, I think, has caused more anger and doubt than any other problem I have faced. I think it’s because I have no control. I have no choice but to hand it over to God. This was hard for me. I thought I could handle it myself. God showed me that if I hand it over to Him, things will change. I did, and they did. The van still hasn’t been returned, but I feel a lot better about it. Something changed in the way that I am looking at the entire situation. I no longer have doubt. I know that God will do what is best. I no longer pray for the van to be returned. I pray only that He will give me wisdom, and the strength to accept what happens. He has given me peace. The enemy was using my anger with the situation to gain control of my actions and words. I admit, I did and said things I am not happy about. I was wrong. Now, God has shown me that it isn’t all about me. There is a reason why we have been without this vehicle for four months. There is a reason why we haven’t been able to get it back. I don’t know what it is, but I KNOW it is for God’s Glory. I KNOW God will use this situation to teach us to honor Him.



I am starting to look at my life differently than before. I’m not just talking about from before I was saved, but also from the way I perceived things just a few weeks ago. I have been selfish. I have been wanting God to serve me. I wanted Him to do whatever it took to make me happy. I need to turn things around. I need to do whatever it takes to make Him happy. It doesn’t matter how I feel. I am here to bring Glory to God. It’s not about me, it’s all about Him.

Haircut

We shaved the boys head a couple days ago. Jameson wanted to use the "cutter", as he calls it, on Daddy's hair. Scott actually let him.

Look at that concentration.

He did a pretty good job.

I had to finish up, and make sure there weren't any patches left. After Jameson was done, he asked if he could do Mommy's hair next. I had to draw the line. Mommy's have long hair.

Week Update

My parents just left, and I am alone again. I miss them already. Though we couldn't really go anywhere, we still had fun. The boys are really going to miss them. We will be going back to Minnesota for Christmas though, so we will see them again soon. Here are some pics from our week together.

We celebrated Jameson's Birthday a little early, so Grandma and Grandpa could celebrate with us. Jameson got a bat and some balls to practice with.

He did a pretty good job. He will still need some practice, but he had fun.

Teagen didn't really know how to hold the bat, but tried anyway.

Gavin had lots of fun. There were a few times that he was put down, but otherwise he was in Grandma's arms. She was able to rock him to sleep, and he loved it. I think he may miss them the most. He learned how to sit up by himself while they were here. Grandma and Grandpa loved his smile, and his happy nature.

Jameson got a blue birthday cake.

It was yummy!

Teagen thought so too.

There were quite a few times that we were all in tears, laughing at something the boys had said or done. There was a lot of comparing my boys actions to myself as a child. Teagen trips over everything, just like I did, and still do. He is my little clutz. They really enjoyed listening to Jameson's stories.



Message From Above

Sky Writing

There is a sky writer flying and writing directly above our home.

It has to be God speaking to me, because of all the frustration and trials I have right now.

The first message...

God = : )

The second message...

TRUST JESUS

The third message...

LOVE GOD

There hasn't been a fourth message, but we are sitting outside watching, just in case.

Jameson is outside screaming "TRUST GOD!"

Jameson also said "God is smoking."

Parents

My parents come in today from Minnesota to visit. I am really excited to see them. My boys, I think, are more excited to see them. We don't have anything big planned, but I know we will have fun anyway. Mostly I think we will just hang out and talk.

These are my first visitors from our family, and I am a little nervous. I have been cleaning the apartment all week, to get everything perfect for when they get here. I think that is what I want to talk about the most.

Why do we clean our home so much when we know someone is coming over? If they stopped by unexpectedly, would they be offended by what my home looks like?

I have a major problem with clutter. There are school books and paper all over the kitchen table. I tried really hard to organize them all. There are toys everywhere. That was the boys job for the day. They have been trying to organize them by color. A little extra school activity that accomplishes chores as well. I actually made a significant dent in our laundry pile. It's gone. There are no dishes in our sink, or on the counter.

I can't believe how organized and clean everything is. I just hope we can keep it this way.

Content

My post today is a short one. I was reading some random blogs, and found one that I will now have a link to on my blog. Please check out what this wonderful lady has posted on her blog. She has the right idea. I agree with her whole heartedly. She writes about what she wants for her children. Wow! I don't want my children to be happy either.

http://itsalmostnaptime.blogspot.com/2010/02/i-dont-want-my-children-to-be-happy.html

Can you imagine what the world would be like if everyone lived like this? Can you imagine? Oh how I strive to teach my children that certain things don't matter. What does matter, is the impact they can have on the world, in God's name. What does matter, is how much they strive to do God's will. What does matter, is God.

I love you my boys. You will learn from here on out what it means to be content versus what it means to be happy. I pray for you to be content.