1 to 1: my girls.

My sweet girls are so precious to me . . . I marvel at how Ican love them so immensely and then (like in a split second flat) want to deckthem because of their attitude, comments, behavior, etc…

Seriously, I wish they were more like their dad and lesslike me.  Anyway, the past 2 days I havebeen able to spend awesome 1 to 1 time with each of them; thank You Lord forworking that out!

So, yesterday, Emily stayed home from school with strep throat (bummer), but she got to stay at Grandma Shari's for the morning (super) and then her mommy who adores her spent the afternoon with a very well child and we made cupcakes (vanilla) with blue frosting (her choice) and brownies amidst a wonderful conversation of which i cannot recall . . . but i did love it, stuttering and all:)

Then, today . . . Miss Erin and i went to Wichita to get our nails done!  Erin has been begging for this, so at 12:15 we headed out (just her and me) and went to Towne East Mall, hit California nails for some french manicures.  Then we spent an hour looking around the stores at different things - bought 2 tanks at Aeropostle and didn't really find much else . . . oh, and an iced coffee for missy!
Drove home; picked up cousin Kourtney for grandma's Pink Pajama Party and then i was off to Dillons for 1.5 hours (ugh, but glad its done).

Side note - the $20.00 french manicure is SOOOO not worth it - no conversation, no hand massage, already chipping (less than 8 hours later) . . . but the time was well spent!  What's that mastercard commercial - its the memories, priceless . . .   (finger down throat now, but I had a great time with Erin).

Okay, then dear Ellen (after having been gone since yesterday morning) visited with me and told me all about the sleepover and Cody's wrestling and baby Libby for the next 30 - 45 minutes (before she got grouchy from lack of sleep). 

So, dear Jesus, thank You for ears to hear the ramblings of my little ones . . . all too soon, they will be rambling to someone else and I cherish these things; they are dear to my heart.  Bless the Lord Oh my soul, oh my soul . . . worship His Holy name . . . thank You.

Ants in the pants

How precious are Your thoughts of us oh Lord; how great is the sum of them!  I am sittin on bleachers once again, albeit this time not for basketball but for Miss Emily gymnastics!  I am patiently waiting for her as she bebops around like she has ants in her pants!  God thank you for the special way You have created each of my girls--for their unique talents and gifts.  May they work hard to honor You with them.  So I had a complete jabborbox on the way to Mac with me and I adored it!  Thx You Jesus!
Also, thank You for the gift of friends.  I cherish those girl relationships You have allowed to come into my life.  I am blessed with people that like me for me and care for my family!  Thx You.  I pray for Your safety in our activities and travels and claim victory in Jesus for these things.  Be with Ellen and Erin at WSU with Cara.

Let the words that I write and the thoughts of my heart be pleasing to You oh Lord; amen!

It hurts sometimes . . .

Okay, Lord, I know you are on Your throne . . . yet help my belief.  First, let me just lift praises high for the gift You have given of today; safety, worship, family, food, health, blessings galore . . . thank You for Your love & mercies to me.

Church was Family Sunday today and it was great!  I so needed a word and You gave me one; thank You, thank You.  Pastor Jay talked about Jonah and 4 things God is calling:
1) to believe
2) to be holy
3) to be light
4) to be mericful

Lord, I heard You when he talked about where I have put my hope at times . . . in things and people and they will always let me down . . . always let us down.  Only You, Jesus, are someone we can totally depend on.  So my prayer is to help me keep my eyes on You, You alone are worthy, You alone, Christ alone, thank You.

Help me to remember and be mindful of being set apart . . . You have sanctified me for a special purpose, help me to be mindful of the holy You have given me and choose to live in that holiness each day . . . to be mindful of the responsibilities.

Help me Jesus to be light in this dark world and to remember that when it is dark, darker, darkest, the light shines brighter . . . my warfare is not against people but against the powers of darkness . . . You Reign.  Alway, You reign.  Praise You God.

Lastly, help me to be merciful and to love people because it is Your way.  As Pastor Jay said:  "to shutup, stop complaining and start shining".  May I show mercy to those who have hurt me and show that life isn't fair - praise God, I don't get what I deserve, but I am blessed with grace from above.

Jesus, we love You.  We want to daily make choices for You.  Give us strength, give us wisdom, give us love unmerited so we can be all that You want for us to be.  In Your great name, amen.

Mom, dad, Shari and Grandma Nikkel came over for lunch today for mom's birthday; good visit.  Took food out to Miss Suzy Que (she had knee surgery).  Had girls basketball games all day yesterday, then went to WSU men's game agains SWMissour State (met up with Craig's & Helms').  Fun times.  Be with us this week; thank You Jesus! 

Past my bedtime! For sure.

Chili, Vanilla & Coffee
luv u.

Um . . . we were at the Mdge vs Berean Academy basketball game tonight and Mdge won both boys & girls - so fun!  Ryan went with us; added bonus!  Emily was so adorable (my mom would have been mortified) because she truly had on neon.lime green leggins and a darker colored green shirt (from dear Lorena!) with a black tank that was SUPPOSED to cover her heiny; but alas, was secured with a pony once she found Avery and lost her mom.  So . . . I did what any normal parent would do and I blamed Ryan (he's the guy and no one needs to know that I really don't care what she wears so long as it does cover her patutie).  Oh, Miss Em . . .
And then there is Ellen who is a girl after my own heart--athletic pants & a hoodie (i mean really, a t.shirt and jeans and you can't go wrong) with her hair in a pony!  And then, you know who, Miss "change her mind every 5 minutes" in Miss Me jeans, an Aeropostale shirt and her North Face jacket like she was cool hand Luke with the collar turned up and one hand on the hip.  Literally, she curled her hair for the ball game but didn't like how it looked so she wet it down and scrunched it, then fastened it somehow with bobby pins . . . Oh Erin, what am I going to do with you?  love you:)

Emily & Avery were down on the bottem row and Avery has her sister Ali's old (broken) ipod.  So, her and Emily are videoing when Ryan Lorimor comes their way.  Okay, so at the end of the game, he is fouled and shooting freethrows and there they are videoing then after he made the, Avery points the ipod to herself and screams something about loving him into the video!  Oh my goodness, if i could just retain facial expressions and voices I would be a rich, rich woman.

One more thing, my Ryan is trying to get his skinny back, so I wrapped him this evening and i nearly peed my pants because we were laughing so hard.  God, you have so blessed me with the man I love and the one I need!  Thank You for giving me Your best for me, even when i so do not deserve it!!!
I am so grateful that Ryan is so secure in who he is!  He loves his girls and tells them how wonderful they are NOT because they look a certain way, but because they are his.  Amen sister!  Now, if i could just get him to put his clothes away--seriously, i am stacking almost 3 feet high now - Ryan, that is riduculous.  AND, if it wasn't so late and past my bedtime, I would have you put them away.  Good thing I love you so . . .
Praise You Jesus for loving me so . . . because I am Yours.  Amen sister!

Mama said ther'd be days like this, days like this, my mama said!

Ahhh, I am chuckling to myself because you either cry from exhaustion or laugh at your mess.  I choose to laugh. 
We had such a busy weekend, but I loved it!  We had sleepovers (i.e. extra kids) every night and we had so much basketball, my rear.end looks like to flattened, but fluffly ones - ha!
In the next room, I hear my girlies laughing then griping, then laughing again.  Praise You God and thank You!
Grace in Moundridge is going "Awesome" (imagine me saying that with an octave change and a slight singing).  It really is amazing how people of God come together from all walks, completely different walks, I mean we are talking some really crazy walks and serve Him--to the glory of Jesus Christ.  It just dumbfounds me and amazes me each time . . . it truly humbles me, because i am seeing such love poured out on people, on me because they love Jesus and our serving Him--not because they know me and want to help me (they do, because it is serving God first).  I am so immature and I am reminded of His Grace over and over.

Okay - funny thing:  we were at Ell.Saline for MAYB basketball games and Erin & Ellen were playing on 2 different teams.  Probably 70% of the time Miss Emily is done on the side of the bleachers, by the wall with 2 feet in the air doing handstands.  "Where is Emily" I would ask Melissa and she looked forward and said, "Well, there's 2 feet in the air - i think that's her!"  Goodness, that girl has got ants in her pants and she moves like it.

The girls did great and it was fun watching them play!  They are both so different, i marvel at how 2 people can produce such variety - truly vanilla & coffee beans and then there is a chili one thrown in, ha!
Seriously, i made no bake cookies and they did not turn out AGAIN - alright, scratch using that worthless recipie (seriously, how hard can they be?  I used butter the 1st time and tried margarine the 2nd and same result, so i have cookie crumbles for ice.cream . . . . hmmm, how can i be creative here?).
Oh, before i run to a variety of meeting tonight (4.h foods, 4.h-where i am helping host-rec board meeting) i need to relay what i learned this weekend.
IT PAYS!
It matters how you treat people always!  It pays to be nice and kind and make an effort with others!  I ran into a highschool opponent, who is a great person and it was neat to visit with her!  Sat by Damian's dad and had a neat conversation (love that kid); Ryan ran into his old College baseball coach - that was cool!  Touched base with my old HS BB coach, very cool.  Ryan ran into another BCCC baseball player, fun!  And, just some other neat connections.  Thanks God for your divine appointments; thank You for the grace You give.  Please help me to always be a better person because You are in my life; amen!

Honey, if you love me will you please, please smile!

Hellooooo World!

Oh my - it has been way too long and sooooo much has happened for almost 2 years now; wow!
My God has been so faithful and so loving . . . walking me (us) through valleys and carrying us to the other side - LORD Jesus, You are Good - Praise Your sweet, sweet name.

We have walked through some open doors and are part of planting a new church here in Moundridge through Grace Community in Newton, Kansas.  Glory be to God - help us to focus on Col. 3: 1-4 - setting our minds on things eternal; keeping that eternal perspective here and now in this world.

It has been very hard . . . there has been much loss . . . in this battle, satan has snuck in here and there and we know that prayer is the warfare against him.  Relationships have been shaken and changed and things are different in how we do church, where we do church, why we do church and they are good things, but different things.

People have a hard time with "different" because "different" usually entails change and we are a "hard.headed"people (forgive us Lord).  I am only beginning to realize the blessing God wants for me and my family; the growth He is allowing and the relationships He is forming . . . I wish I would have been fully obedient sooner because I am FREE of so many things that burdened me before.  Thank You Lord Jesus for opening the eyes of my heart to see things more like You.

We are serving because we are "saved to serve" and because we seek God's blessing and favor now, knowing we have life eternal with Him.  Give us strength Lord for the journey; give us wisdom (we ask believing); give us grace as we tarry at times and give us guidance Lord for the way we should walk.  Praise be to You.  We stand securely behind the shield and hold the Word high.  You know the needs, the desires, the hurts, the crys . . . we lay them at Your feet, Lord, Your pierced feet, Lord, Your bloodied, pierced feet, Lord . . . we lay them down.  Amen.

I cry out to You, Oh God!

My sweet, sweet Jesus. My precious Lord & Saviour.

"Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer.

From the ends of the earth I call to you.

I call as my heart grows faint;

Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe."

Psalm 61: 1-2

Father God, hear my pray and attend to my cry. I lift up my dear friend Carina and her family as they experience a new pain in the unexpected death of her father. I pray Psalm 61 for her. Lead her LORD to the rock that is higher than she.

I reviewed again Your promise that death WILL BE defeated and that death is the FINAL enemy and that CHRIST WILL PREVAIL and there will be death NO MORE. (1 Cor. 15:26 & Rev. 20:14). Your word is alive and powerful. Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!

Dear God,

I pray also for my husband. He loves You. He trusts You. He needs You. God, as his earthly dad is soon leaving to join You in the heavenlies, prepare Ryan's heart to rejoice in the fact that Love never ends and to dwell in the knowledge that he (Ryan) is loved by his dad and that his dad is loved by You! Prepare a place for us, LORD, where we will dwell with You forever.

. . . Praise, I will praise You LORD with all my heart . . . let my eyes be focused on You. Let my words utter kindnesses from deep within regardless of any circumstance . . . praise You!