Fighter Verse

Romans 14:13

"Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide to never put a
stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother."

I decided to use Tim Challies' fighter verses for my memorization this year. He emails it on Monday. You can choose either a verse a week program or one that memorizes larger pieces of Scripture over a longer period of time. I am a wimp, I chose the short ones, but I will not despise the day of small beginnings! If you want to join me, let me know. It would be fun to know who is doing it!

Thy Word Have I (want to have) Hid In My Heart

As I began this New Year, I listened to some teachings on basic biblical disciplines. Piper is a great source, at the end and beginning of each year, for teaching on prayer and the Word. I was freshly provoked to pray more by his teaching on Dec. 28th and then very provoked to work on scripture memorization on the following week's teaching. In it, John Piper recites Scripture by memory for probably 20 minutes maybe more! Amazing! I am sure he could have gone on longer. I would have lasted about 90 seconds and all of mine would have been like "children obey your parents.." I recently studied Ps. 119. There are many verses in this one chapter, that teach the importance of and power in knowing God's word.

I, also, have often recalled a story my dear friend Arlynn told me many years ago. She shared with me that as her grandma's health was declining and her mind fading, the word of God was coming forth from her grandma's mouth. Arlynn challenged me to consider the thought that some day we may not have full control of what we say (as if I do now!) and what is in our hearts will surely come out. I shutter to think of every thought of mine being laid bare for all to hear. But, if it is God's word that is stored in our hearts, then what a blessed time that will be. For when I can no longer think clear enough to watch my words and my thoughts flow into words regardless of what they are, I want my words to honor the Lord.

I, also, think of the great benefit it would be to me right now to have God's word ever with me to equip, guide, comfort and defend. If every time I had a condemning thought, a worry, and unkind judgment etc. I faced it with the Word, think of the victories that would occur. Sin would be stopped dead in its tracks. Instead of all the things I could think about, I would think of how great and mighty my God is. How kind and sovereign He is. How He has given me everything I need for life and godliness. How He delights in me, loves me and empowers me. There is so much I could say here.

So, I am looking into a memorization program. I think I might use Piper's Fighter Verses, but I am not sure. Any suggestions? What have you found helpful?

Retreating

This Thursday I will get to go on a personal retreat. I will have 3 days to myself to pray and read and worship and plan. The Lord has given me a sense of anticipation as this year begins and I want to really seek Him for what He has for me this year. I have a couple of books I am taking and some teachings on my Ipod to listen to. I want to download some new worship music to take with me so that is where I need your help. Do any of you have a favorite worship CD or two that you could recommend? I have one I am leaning toward, but I thought I would ask. Also, if you have any recommendations of teachings or reading material that has really served you lately, I would love to hear about it. What is life to you right now?

Just Wait!

That has been the theme since the beginning of this year. It seems that every morning the Lord is reminding me to wait on Him. In my pride, I usually think I should do something about situations that don't seem right or situations I don't like. (notice these are situations I thing need to change, not the Lord). Like maybe I should mention them to someone involved..or someone not involved...or maybe I should fix it or share my keen insight and then surely it will be fixed...or maybe I should encourage someone along in something so it all happens quicker, after all isn't sooner better than later? I am amazed at how fast my mind works to "figure out" how to get things to go how I think they should, yet I can't remember where I slipped my keys! Yet, even with all my wisdom :) the Lord tells me to WAIT!

If you have known me very long you know that I am not one to relax and let things go. Sitting still is hard for me, I don't even like to sit through a movie. But, it would seem those days are ending. I think the Lord is really after me to just wait on Him in everything do, but especially in the areas that are bothering me that I want to somehow fix. It is so funny because I know I really can't change the things that mean the most to me, but I am so tempted to try.

Yet, each morning the Lord has told me to wait. Wait for him to do it all. Wait for him to accomplish His purpose in my life and those around me. Wait for strength. Wait for deliverance. Wait for resolution and an end to contempt. Wait for His action. Wait and sit back and watch Him work His amazing, perfect will. Wait in anticipation of the wonderful things He has for us. Wait with joy. This is all so hard for me, but I so want to do it right and honor the Lord and I can so look back and see how my trying to make things better often doesn't. Ultimately, it comes down to who do I trust? Myself or my amazing God who reigns over every single situation and circumstance and never allows anything to thwart His will for me? (the answer sounds so obvious, but is so hard) Anyway, that is the beginning of my year. I sure would appreciate your prayers if I come to your mind. I really want to sit still and just trust God. And I really do look forward to seeing what He does this year in our lives!

New Year"s Eve

Happy New Year!! This year Megan and Hosanna decided to host a party at our house for all their single friends and a few married couples. Our home was transformed with metallic stars, tulle, twinkle lights and all sorts of festive decor for about 50 people. It was beautiful! One of the evening's events was a talent/no talent show. I thought you would enjoy Meg, Hosanna and Erin's talent!

New Dresses for the Cousins!!!!

It was so sweet! The girls have matching Christmas dresses and they wore them to church and to Mimia's (me) house on Sunday evening. We took literally over 100 pictures and mine did not really turn out, but here they are. Annie seems to be able to sleep through anything! (do you like her hair color??) She is so sweet! I anticipate loads of fun with Violet as we open gifts on Christmas Eve. As this year comes to a close I am so grateful to the Lord for these two little girls who have been such a delight to me!!

Violet's Little Words!!

Welcome Sweet Annie

Annie Kate has arrived!! Callie gave birth to her first baby on Saturday morning at 12:44 after about 7 hours of labor. It was amazing! Annie is so sweet. She favors the Payne family the most, though we think she has Callie's eyes and maybe her chin, but the shape of her precious face and the general look reminds us of Tim. Her hair is lighter than I imagined, but I only had dark haired babies. Her eye are blue for now, but I bet they will change. She is perfect!

I am so aware of the great blessings in my life. As I sit here this morning I am so aware of how kind the Lord has been to me. Oh, how different it all could be. Today I will go to church and worship with a heart filled with gratitude and awe for a God that loves to lavish His children with tremendous gifts that they could have never earned. Amazing!

I am sure there will be lots of pictures on Callie's blog, Erin's blog and Megan's facebook. Enjoy! ( I know this is a bad pic, but it will have to do!)

Thanksgiving Part 2

Well, everyone has gone home. The beds are stripped, the floors are washed, the leftovers are devoured and it is a bit too quiet around here! We had so much fun with the Lawler clan this weekend, we cannot wait for their return! Since, Tyler's request was that we had a low key weekend we spent most of the time at home. Erin, Dru, Violet, Tim and Callie were here just about every waking moment. We ate alot, played Wii alot, Blockus, Pit, Settlers and Farkle. We had a movie night and a round of disc golf. Trying to pick the pictures to capture the weekend is a hard task, but I will l try.

Wii watchers!!


Erin feeding Dru..notice the sweet potatoes flying in the
background and Violet covering her face!!!

Tyler showing affection to Mindy!



A round of Settlers....



Our guests of Honor.....



Dustin and Megan showcasing the layered Jello that took then 4 days to make!!?? A basic cooking class coupon will be in their stockings this Chrsitmas.

Thanksgivng Part 1

I don't have time to write about much this morning, but one of my joys this weekend is having the Lawlers and Tyler and Mindy here. It has been so great and I don't want them to go home!! Tyler and Mindy were also here a month ago and both then and now Violet has not really warmed up to Uncle Tyler. So, yesterday Tyler made a valiant effort to enter her world and win her heart. The pictures tell it all.....
He looks like a giant in the playhouse!!! His hard work paid off..Violet sat with him later that evening!!

More Thanksgiving updates later!

Been Tagged

I've been tagged..here's my photo....

This great photo of Tim ,Callie and Meg :) was taken in Nov. 2004 at Grandma and Grandpa Payne's house. It was Thanksgiving, Katy Korday had just called and said she was engaged!! Our family and the Payne's had spent the night there and had a wonderful holiday. Boy it seems long ago!!!!

Ok, I tag Jen Pazdur, Nancy Mandl, Lynette Myers, Michelle Tombrella and Christina Saull.

This is a Picture Tag and here's what the rules were:

Go to your Pictures file

Go to the 5th folder

Open the 5th picture and post it

Tag 5 people when you're done.

Catch Up Time!

Violet's first kayak trip!


Well, the whole month is almost gone and I have barely thought about this blog. We started the month off with a camping trip to Lake Ray Roberts. The days were perfect and the nights were cold, which I think makes camping sort of fun. We took our kayaks with us and enjoyed a little spin! I am really looking forward to more time on the lakes here. We had a group that came and spent the nights with us and then a group that came to spend the day on Saturday. It was so fun to be out there and relax. I think we will be doing this more often!

Her thoughtful taste of chocolate

We are getting ready to have Tyler and Mindy come for Thanksgiving and the Lawler's (Mindy's family) are coming too! It has been since 2004 since all my kids were with us for Thanksgiving dinner, so I am really thrilled. I am also hoping that the turkey puts Callie into labor and the baby comes that weekend. I was in the hospital for 2 births on Thanksgiving, so maybe it is hereditary!!!

Christmas shopping is well under way. Since the baby is due in the first part of December, Callie called for all wish lists to be submitted early which got all of us going early. We are still doing our traditional Day after Thanksgiving early morning shopping trip, but I wont have much left by then.

Laughing at her silly Papa!!

Our church is doing a series entitled, "Think Big." It is on living for something greater than yourself. If you have time, download (click here)the podcast and give it a listen. Craig just did the first in the series on Sunday and it was excellent. Our care group is growing and I love the people we have in it. The girls all seem to really enjoy one another and I am looking forward to building friendships with them.

Violet continues to be a complete delight to all of us. I get to have here on Wednesdays and I enjoy every minute of the day. I love hearing her call me when she wakes up or when she needs a treat!! (a healthy one of course) I go by "Mimi" but she calls me Mimia! So cute! Erin used to call me Mommia, so it must be in the genes. I can only imagine how much fun it will be to have 2 grandkids! (or more T & M)!!!

Well, I better get to my devotions. I used the online audio chronological ESV Bible plan (click here.) The guy reads the Word to me and I read along. It helps me to concentrate better. Well, recently, they must have fired the guy they use to have and they got a new guy. So, one morning I begin to listen and it is a new voice!! It was so weird! I kept feeling like I was missing someone!! It was hard to follow along. I miss the old guy and to top it off, the new guy makes mistakes sometimes and does not use his voice to make it interesting! I wonder if they knew how much difficulty I would suffer by them getting rid of the old guy!!

A Warning about Ipods

Yesterday was a beautiful day and we decided to open the windows for some fresh air. Fred had been outside working in the yard and as he came in he said "Let's put the air on...can you close the windows?" I said "Sure" and he went upstairs. So, I proceed to close a kitchen window. Now our windows are about 8 feet tall and go down almost to the floor, so I bent over to push the window down. Just as I finished closing the first window, the toggle from my bracelet got caught just as the window shut. I was trapped. I couldn't get my bracelet unstuck for anything and it was a chunky chain so I couldn't break it or wiggle my wrist out of it. And the windows are really heavy so I couldn't get it back up in the position I was in....So...I being to yell for Fred, after 5 minutes I realize he must have his new Ipod going and can't hear me, so I begin to scream"Help" over and over knowing the windows are open and maybe a neighbor will come to my rescue, but it was to no avail. I was stuck. I knew the girls would be home in an hour so I tried to get comfy...remember, the window is low so my wrist is 6 inches from the ground so my back is now aching!! I just began to laugh and then I remembered that mountain climber who cut his own arm off! I didn't think that was an option. I continued to yell from time to time and the I began to yank and pull and pull and yank and my wrist was killing me, but I got the toggle to the end of the window and was able to free myself. Once I was free I went upstairs to find my man just sitting there in at his desk listen to his Ipod...just as I thought. He looked at me and just said "What?"

Megan's Liberation Day!!!!!

Today is a big day around here. It has been 6 months since Megan went off her anti-seizure medication and she has not had one seizure! That means, that as of today, she is legal to drive again!!! This is huge in many ways. The greatest thing about it is that she has been free of those nasty brain storms. We know that they could return any day, but in the past she use to have them every 6 months and then she went 3 1/2 years without any of them. Going 6 months this time is huge because she was having them so often until last November, then they started to taper off and then they were gone. We are praying they never return. In smaller, but still significant way, it is huge beause Meg now can live a normal life going to work or play as she desires without having to wait for Mom, Dad, Callie, Erin, Hosanna or Courtney to take her! I am so glad for her! She left early this morning for work and as of 5:30 she has not come home yet!! I think she is having fun!

The Big 5-0!!!!!!!

Nope, I am not 50 yet, I have a few more years to go, but my favorite person in the world turned 50 this weekend. Fred turned 50 on Sunday. I had been so excited for this weekend because Tyler and Mindy were coming to join us for the celebration and Fred has no idea! They arrived Friday night while we were outside enjoying a fire. Fred was totally surprised and thrilled to have them with us. It is always so great when we have everyone together!


On Saturday we had a family breakfast at our house and just hung out until the ladies all left for a baby shower for Callie. It was nice that Mindy and Mom Shaw were here for it. While we were at the shower, the guys went and played disc golf, a favorite past time of Fred's. Then we all met back up and went to dinner at LaHa, a Texas favorite. Then off to the annual Frisco Storytelling Festival, which was a bit disappointing, but none the less fun just to be together.


On Sunday we all went to church together (a favorite thing for me) and then home for birthday dinner and hang out time. Tyler had to leave in the evening and Mom and Mindy flew home today.

All weekend I was so aware of the kindness the Lord has shown my family. They all love each other and love to be together and most importantly, they all love God. It was a true joy to all be here celebrating Fred. As I drifted off to sleep last night my only prayer was "Thank you, Thank you so much for my family."

Breckenridge

Fred and I were given the opportunity to spend some time at a condo in Breckenrdige. I was reluctant to go because I felt like there was so much to do at home and I have been gone alot and when will I get those blinds cleaned if never stay home. But, as usual, Fred talked me into going and I am so glad I did. The weather has been amazing! I forgot how blue the sky is up here in the mountains and I forgot how beautiful the autumn aspens are! We have taken many walks everyday enjoying the quaint town and the awesome surroundings! It has been cool, so in the mornings we bundle up and even wear our down vests! We walk to Starbucks, get our brew and walk the town. Oh, I would love for this to be an annual tradition!

Today, we were out walking and the sky began to cloud up. I guess we didn't really pay attention and all of a sudden there was a HUGE clap of thunder! It scared me and I was reminded of how dangerous the lightning is in the mountains, so we quickly headed home. We were no soon back to the condo when it began to snow and rain!! I love it! We hunkered down and had some lunch, Fred watched the market continue to fall and I watched "Little House on the Prairie" while I read my book. The just when the heat in the condo was finally warming things up..the sun popped out and it is time for another walk!!



Oh and all that work I was worried about...Hosanna cleaned the blinds at home for me while I was vacationing! I need to go away more often!!

She Makes Me Laugh!!!

Good thing this Mimi has a sense of humor and is not given to being overly sensitive. Today, I arrived at Erin's for my weekly day with Violet. As I came in, I was greeted by the usual, cheery "hi!" with the wave included, from Violet. I then proceeded to encourage her say "mimi" in which she obediently pointed at me and said "Dog!" Then, while I was feeding her lunch I asked her where Auntie Callie's baby was, she promptly point to my stomach. (hhmm, note to self, google a new diet.) Thankfully, I did not dissolve into a pre-menopausal breakdown but laughed! Gotta love that girl!!

I found this great flag while we were on vacation. As you can imagine..I laughed and Fred shook his head!!! :) I think I have made history more times than he desired!! I wish I could have gotten it for a few of my girlfriends!!

Hurry Home Boyfriend!!

Well, the past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind. I was gone for 5 days visiting a friend and then while I was flying home Fred called to tell me his mom's husband had died. We were prepared that Bill would be going home soon and I had just prayed tht evening before that the Lord would display His mercy and take Bill home soon. I got home and Fred left.

It is amazing how much I miss my husband. I want to sit and tell him all about my trip, share with him some things the Lord has been showing me, snuggle and watch the game tonight. I want to hear all about his time in Ohio with his family. I can't and it will all be fine. But, I miss him.

It is good to have this time to reflect and appreciate how much God has given me and how much I love the guy. So often, I am prone to look at what is missing and grumble. Having these weeks apart has reminded me of what is important and what a wonderful gift the Lord has given me. I am also aware that, God willing, I will see my husband this week. My dear mother-in-law has had to bury my father-in-law and now her second husband. I can't imagine what that kind of missing must feel like. I hope I don't forget to continue to be grateful once we are back to our normal life.

Last week we dove in and bought a kayak! I am so excited about this new hobby of ours. We will get the second one shortly, but the store was out of the one we wanted. We are exploring all sorts of places in Texas to kayak! There is a place right near our house to put in, so I think we will go often. And since we have a very mild winter, the season for being on the water is longer here than most places. It is so relaxing to go along and chat with one another and enjoy the beauty of God's creation and it is hard to find a sport Fred and I can do together (though he is almost 50, he is still playing baseball with the young guys and we KNOW he has a marathoner's heart!). Fred has his eye on some of the rivers down in the hill country of Texas, I bet those are beautiful rivers! We will keep you posted on our adventures! I will posted pictures of our first time out as soon as we get the second one and we actually get out there!!