15 months

15 months. The number of months that separated you and Kirby. I am not a math genius, but it dawned on me today that as of tomorrow (I think), Kirby will have lived longer than his older sister. Do you still call her your older sis if you are the older one? Another matter of eternity I don't grasp.

15 months. The number of months that our hearts have been broken.

I still love you and miss you. I truly can't wait to see you again.

No Words

The breath of life was sucked out of me today. Our pastor and his sweet wife lost their oldest son. Unexpectedly. Shockingly.

My heart is so heavy. I have a taste of what they are feeling. It is bitter and nothing will ever taste the same. I don't wish this on anyone. Knowing there are no answers makes it sickening.

Don't be deceived. Satan is a vicious lion, seeking to kill. To steal. To destroy. We are in spiritual battle whether we acknowledge it or not.

Please say a prayer for rest. Peace. Faith. Grace. Hope. Protection. Healing. Freedom from condemnation. Sleep. Sound Minds. His Presence. More Hope.

Little Artist

Updates!

*The garage sale was a success! At 3:30 that morning, I listened to the storm roll in and wondered what on earth we were thinking! After in-and-out-of-sleep-prayer, I was PRAISING God at 5 am when it had totally stopped! The sun even popped out later, which brought a ton of people. Three families brought in around $800! Sounds good to me!

*I am getting my hair cut today. I have no vision for my hair right now. This means it will either be trimmed or chopped...I will leave that up to my hairdresser. Hair decisions are just too hard.

*Kris Allen SMILED AND WAVED AT ME during the parade! I have never seen so many people downtown...they are saying around 18-20 thousand! And our downtown area is not all that big! Kris had a dumbfounded look on his face most of the time and I kept seeing him utter the words "wow!" I was happy to see that his wife got to ride in the car with him...finally, she gets to be a part of it! We had AWESOME seats, thanks to dear husband, whose office is downtown. We were up in a breezeway thing and had A/C and didn't have to fight the crowds in order to see! Go KRIS! Vote for him tonight! :)

*The Biggest Loser finale is tonight! I love it when people realize their goals. I am sure I will shed a tear or two.

*I need to renew my driver's license...ick.

*I am in scrapbook/card making mode.

*I need some help: Will you tell me 1 or 2 of your favorite books...preferably Christian or light hearted or mystery...something you think would be fun for a beach trip?

I love you Mom!

I wish I could be in your presence today. I hope a week together on the beach makes up for it! I can't express my gratitude to you for mothering me...you were all I needed and still need.

I know I am your daughter...I become more and more like you! We both hate large crowds. We would rather listen than make conversation. We hurt when others hurt. We adore babies and wouldn't mind having a newborn at all times. We love music, but more than that, singing to our King. We love the Word of God, finding truth and learning to apply it. We enjoy steak, shrimp, good coffee, homemade desserts, and movie popcorn. We both love to go to the movies. We love to shop, especially for flip flops because they always fit. We love the beach and sand and waves and horizon. We love to read and relax and remember days gone by.

We are sometimes misunderstood..people taking our quiet spirits and equating them as snobbery. We often become absorbed in someone else's tragedy...wanting to make everything better as our emotions get the best of us. We hate change and getting out of our comfort zones.

Yes, I am definitely yours. I am so glad God made it that way. I love you and honor you today! To me, you are beautiful beyond description, inside and out.

Come One, Come All!!!

Hey friends!
I want you to know about our mulitfamily garage sale tomorrow (Sat.) at our house! It goes from 6:30-11 am. Here are a few things available:

washer
fridge
double stroller
tons of toys...all ages and gender
boy clothes
girl clothes
baby clothes
adult clothes
recliner
end tables
VHS & player
DVD
books
house decor
baby exersaucers
bikes
car seats
my dog Savannah (just teasing, this mud is driving me nuts.)
tons of other stuff being brought later on...

See you bright and early! Rain or shine. But, please, say a prayer for no rain! :)

Mud Bath!

Here is one little fella that doesn't care about all of the inches of rain we have gotten! When life gives you an endless amount of rain, have a mud bath!

Hometown Boy's Schedule!

KRIS' SCHEDULE*

THURSDAY
9:00pm - Kris appears live on FOX16 News at Nine

FRIDAY
11:30am - Kris performs live at Riverfest Amphitheater
3:00pm - Kris performs live at UCA
5:00pm - Kris Allen parade in downtown Conway
5:30pm - Kris Allen performs live at Simon Park in Conway

*Subject to change

Birging

Oh my goodness! Kris made it to the top three! My humble boy is pulling through! Beth Moore would tell me that I am birging which stands for: "Basking in reflected glory." I don't care. He comes from a kick awesome city and I am going to see him in concert! Whoo-hoo! Way to go, Kris!

Check out the "K" Kiddos!

look how cute they are!

http://www.luluphotographyco.blogspot.com/

Eli's Luau

Eli's favorite game...could it be because he was the fastest?

Nothing prettier than cut up cuties/tangerines.

Eli and his buddy, Burns! I never did see Burns's eyes! Ha! We laughed at their matching shirts...totally unplanned!

Days like today make me long to be in kindergarten again! Carefree, fancy free, eat whatever you want because you will run it off in the next minute...those kind of days! All of Eli's kindergarten peers celebrated the end of the year by having a luau! (Which also made me long for Hawaii.)

Submission to Authority

Eric and I have been talking a lot about the concept of authority in the Bible. We have marveled at the story of the Centurion who had faith in Christ to heal simply because he understood the chain of authority and the power that resides in that.

I studied this topic a couple of years ago and thought I would blog about what I learned.

Submission definition: to lower oneself of your own free will. When you submit to authority, God’s blessings will seek to fill up that low place much like water seeks to fill up anything lower than itself. If you refuse to submit to authority, then you are raising yourself up and the blessing cannot flow to you anymore because there is no longer any receptacle or low place to fill up. As gravity pulls water downward, submission draws on and gives place to the blessing of God to flow down to you. If someone over you is making bad decisions, your act of submission and respect puts great pressure on that leader to change—submit even when you disagree as “unto the Lord” (as long as it is not illegal or immoral.) I like this definition: an act of faith, respecting divinely appointed authority out of respect for Christ. Since I know my KING is Jesus, it is easy to submit to the authority he placed over me…even if I am submitting and I think Eric is wrong, then I know there is someone higher than him, and HE will make it right.

From my own experience, I have found that Satan tries to attack my marriage by assaulting my thinking towards Eric. If he can get me to lose respect for him, usually because I don’t agree with him on an issue, or don’t think he is taking care of things in a wise or timely manner, then my marriage comes under attack and I open myself up to defeat in my thought life. A more funny and practical example was a few years ago. We were outside doing some yard work. We were trimming some azaleas with an electric hedge trimmer. Eric went inside and told me to trim a couple of bushes, but leave another one alone. He didn’t really give me a reason to not trim the certain one, and before I knew it, I was over there trimming it. Well, wouldn’t you know it, I dropped those silly electric blades and it grazed my finger. I had on gloves, or it would have been a lot worse. Now, I believe that I put myself out of the realm of God’s protection when I went against what Eric desired. Now here is a deep theological question…did Eric tell me to leave that bush alone because the Holy Spirit prompted him to…because I might hurt myself, or did God remove his hand of protection because I disobeyed? Silly, I know…but an example that has stuck with me. I have to really try to do as he desires…for example, he can’t stand it when I wash stray hairs down the sink. So, much to my chagrin, I wipe them out everyday. I HAVE to believe that even in the silly things there is blessing and protection when I listen to my God-given authority. I also try not to disagree with him in front of my kids very often. I REALLY try not to second guess something he told the kids to do/wear/whatever. I am constantly trying to instill in them that he is the Father, and we listen to him and always do what he says. If I am arguing with him, then my kids will have a reason to.

Here are some cool Biblical examples God showed me. I love that he showed me different examples of God given authority, not just husband and wife.

1. 1 Samuel 24 David has an opportune time to kill King Saul (after all Saul is chasing him and trying to kill him.) David humbly realizes that even if King Saul is evil, he is the God-appointed King, and he has no right to “take him out.” He realized if you don’t submit to authority, you lose your advocate (Christ).

Exodus 18:17-27 Moses has encountered the ONE TRUE GOD…and he is put in leadership over the Hebrew people. He is having trouble delegating, so he receives counsel from his father-in-law, Jethro. What is so cool about this is that Jethro didn’t recognize God as Yahweh at the time (he does later.) It would have been easy for Moses to say that he should shun Jethro’s advice since he wasn’t a “believer.”

Esther 2:7-20 Mordecai raises Esther, so he is her God-given authority. He adopted his cousin when her parents died. Esther listens to him when he tells her not to reveal her nationality to the King. Later, she still follows his instructions (v.20). She is able to save the Jews because she is obedient to authority...to the point of enacting Mordecai's plan...which could mean imminent death for her.

Ruth—she puts herself under the authority of her mother-in-law since her husband died. She listens to Naomi and does what she tells her to do. Her blessing comes---a kind husband, Boaz and she later becomes part of Christ’s genealogical line. (What a gracious blessing…she wasn’t even Jewish!)

Jesus—he submitted to his parents as a child, to the government (rend to Caesar), and ultimately to God his Father—to death on the cross.

I love that through all of the examples above, they were all recipients of huge blessing after they submitted to authority. David becomes King, Moses walks with God, Esther is Queen and saves her people, Ruth is redeemed from shame and a pagan past, and Jesus has everything under his command.

Our culture has made submission out to be some four letter foul word! The truth is that our protection and blessing lie in submitting to our God-given authorities.

A Tale of Mud and Muck

Growing up, I don't think I realized just how blessed I was. From the age of 2 til 14, we had 5 personal acres to navigate and discover. Complete with a huge pond, 3 large pasture areas, and a creek, we never hurt from boredom. I have countless joyful memories of my adventures, but I thought I would chronicle one that usually sticks out in my mind.

I was in fourth grade. My best friend was Amy, who was home schooled. We saw each other at church and whenever our Moms got together. We shared a love of the outdoors, horses, Jesus, and boys. At the time, we also disliked our older siblings, and getting together probably didn't aid in the unity, but that is OK. We were best friends.

Back to the pond. One day (while Amy was around) my Dad spontaneously got the idea to bulldoze in the pond. In other words, he would create a trench and allow all of the murky liquid to escape. I really don't know why he did this, after all, I was in fourth grade, and the "why" is not always so important.

What seemed like a lazy day quickly turned into a day of the utmost adventure! At first, Amy and I were unfazed by it all. I mean, what would a pile of mud and muck have to offer us? We would much rather be on our horses or laying out working on our fourth grade tans. Yes, we would be the envy of the whole fourth grade. Well, I would. Amy, being home schooled, would be the envy of her older sister and only peer.

To our utmost surprise, we glanced over at the draining pond and quickly saw fins flailing and tails flopping! What on earth? Who knew our pond was stocked with fish?! I mean, I could have been fishing all this time? Well, I know my Dad didn't know, that is for certain! He would have never deprived his LuLu of fishing in her own backyard!

Tans the last thing on our mind now, we put on the shortest shorts and the tallest black rubber boots we could find. We now had a mission. Did I mention we were both animal lovers and both had deep soft spots for anything that was in pain?? We had to save. the. fish. It was our new life calling. And we would not disappoint.

Mom helped us gather any kind of container she could find. We had buckets and lots and lots of Mason Jars. The Mason Jars would house the endless number of tadpoles we found. I think after a little bit, we ditched the tall black rubber boots. Needless to say, we were thigh deep in mud and muck. And loving every minute of it. We saved lives to the best of our fourth grade abilities. We set the small fish and tadpoles free in the creek. But our "life" agenda didn't end there.

I put as many fish and tadpoles into Mason Jars as I knew I could carry to school the next day. I begged my fellow students to take them home and give them a fresh start. I don't remember who took the bait, but luckily, Mrs. Whitlatch, a fifth grade teacher, had an aquarium in her classroom, and she became savior of the day.

Sometimes I miss my childhood so much, it hurts. Other times, I am glad to have all the ugliness of girl cliques behind me! Thank you, Mom and Dad, for allowing us to have big adventures.

garage sale nazi

We thought it would be great fun as a church community group to have a garage sale together! I only allow myself one every 2 years or so becuase it turns me into a money making nazi. I scour through every crevice of my home, looking for things that just might be worth a nickle or a dime.

As the day gets closer to the sale, I will start staring at the clothes on my husband's back and will bite my tongue lest I tell him to rip them off and sell them to the highest bidder.

I am a garage sale nazi.

Hopefully, after the sale, you will be able to walk in our home, sit on some furniture, admire the fact that we are wearing clothes, and have a glass to drink some lemonade in.

Pray for me. I want to sell it all. I am a garage sale nazi.

Mr. Toad

It is Toad Week! We have a wonderful festival called Toad Suck Daze that draws thousands of people every year! The festival is complete with craft booths, chicken on a stick, rides, "stuck on a truck," and of course, toad races! The boys got to practice racing toads at school. We decided to set the toad free...living in a card board box is hard on the little guys. Eli about bawled his eyes out...but realized later it was the only way the little fella was going to survive. He perked back up when Uncle Zach informed him that there are tons of toads in his backyard. What is your favorite part about the festival?

Cousin Time!

Lee and Kelli made the trek down here and we had a blast this weekend! Photo shoots, baseball games, birthday parties, and a trip to Soaring Wings Ranch filled our days. The Ranch had an appreciation day and the kids had a blast! Hamburgers, hot dogs, oreos, jump thingies, face painting, pony rides, and fishing took precedent over the day.

The only girl...notice her crown on her cheek. She isn't afraid to tell you she is a princess. Poor Sam called her "he" instead of "she" all weekend...I don't think he has ever had to use the pronoun "she!" Ha!

Isn't it crazy how Sam favors Sloan more than his own brothers?!

Maybe we will have better luck next time! Landon wasn't up for it! Sam really wasn't either...but he managed to take a bribe and be good for 7 pictures. I have ruined him forever.

Here Tia is throwing her gangster "these are my homies" sign. Nice.

First Maternity Shoot!

Check out Heather here! Yeah for bellies!

http://www.luluphotographyco.blogspot.com

Bye Bye Birdie.

You can imagine my surprise when I noticed that our mailbox became full of all kinds of "nesty" things in the span of one morning! These birds are efficient! Not having the time to really know what to do with the babies' future home, I walked out the door. When I came home later, their home was gone! I decided to not disclose the name of the home wrecker. I have to admit I am shocked that they haven't tried again! Bye Bye Birdie.

Enough Already!

Ummm, Mom! If you can't bear to throw away your camera then at least stop pointing it at my face. If you don't, I swear I will leave my new rubber snake (that my Aunt Mini sent me) in your bed and when you crawl in at night, you will remember to stop pointing that thing at my face.

With all the love I can muster,

Sam