What A Friend We Have In Jesus.....

Monday was a rough day for me, as I got call after call from friends....with heavy "issues" going on in their lives. I felt burdened for them, and my mood was downcast. I was preparing to have Bible study friends over and the old hymn, "What A Friend We Have in Jesus," came into my mind. I feel that the Lord put it on my heart! I looked up the lyrics, because the only part committed to my memory was the chorus. Wow! How this song rings true for me and my prayer life at times (much of the time, if I am honest). That night, the group of Bible study women was small, compared to our usual attendance. What a sweet time of fellowship and prayer it was. I believe that the Lord gave me this song, to prepare my heart for an amazing night of talking to Him....taking our burdens to Him...and lifting our requests to Him. What an awesome God we serve! Why don't I view prayer as a privilege all the time? Sometimes, it seems like "more trouble than it's worth." How this must sadden and grieve my Lord. And...the cool thing is that after I walk away from a sweet time of prayer....I feel as if I could have gone on and on. I feel totally, completely blessed. I feel refreshed and renewed. I pray that this song will speak to you as it did me.

WHAT A FRIEND WE HAVE IN JESUS:

What a friend we have in Jesus,

all our sins and griefs to bear!

What a privilege to carry

everything to God in prayer!

O what peace we often forfeit,

O what needless pain we bear,

all because we do not carry

everything to God in prayer.

Have we trials and temptations?

Is there trouble anywhere?

We should never be discouraged;

take it to the Lord in prayer.

Can we find a friend so faithful

who will all our sorrows share?

Jesus knows our every weakness;

take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy laden,

cumbered with a load of care?

Precious Savior, still our refuge;

take it to the Lord in prayer.

Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?

Take it to the Lord in prayer!

In his arms he'll take and shield thee;

thou wilt find a solace there.

**If you are looking for some great books on prayer, I suggest....Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire (By Jim Cymbala) and Intercessory Prayer (by Dutch Sheets). I have yet to finish the latter....but what I have read so far is awesome! My friend, Leah, has read it through and it completely changed her prayer life!! Also...my friend, Christy, recommended a book called To Busy Not To Pray (by Bill Hybels). I am planning to pick that one up soon!! If you have any recommendations, please feel free to share them!**

The Best Bundt Ever!

I found a recipe yesterday, that I must have written down a long time ago. I had never made it, so I decided to give it a try! It's a lemon bundt cake from Paula Deen! We had company coming over, and I thought that it would be a yummy, summery delight! Boy, was I right! This is the most moist bundt cake I have ever had! There is a lot left, and I keep walking past it this morning. I am really trying to exercise self-control, but I am not sure how much longer I will be able to resist it. It's a good thing that the Bible study girls are coming tonight. I am sure they will polish it off!! Anyhow, I want to share the recipe with you....

Paula Deen's Lemon Bundt:

1 lemon cake mix (dry)

1 lemon instant pudding mix (dry)

4 eggs, beaten

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1 can Mountain Dew

*Combine "dry" ingredients (cake mix and pudding mix), and mix together in a bowl. Mix "wet" ingredients together in another bowl. Combine wet/dry ingredients and blend well. Pour into a greased bundt pan. Bake for 45 minutes, at 325 degrees. Enjoy!!

NOTE: I am typically a chocolate kind of girl! I have to be in the mood for "fruity" desserts! If you are the same way, I just want you to know that you will still love this!!

Bryson's Quote of the Day

Yesterday morning was a lazy one for me. Bryson crawled into our bed to watch TV and I slept until Hudson woke up. I went to get Hudson, to bring him (and his blanket) into our room and when I came back to my bed....there was a Bryson boy on my side...laying on my (SUPER COMFY) body pillow. I share most everything with these kids, but I don't share my body pillow (or my Fiber One Bars, as you saw from a previous post). I asked Bryson to move over to Josh's side and he said...

Bryson: Mom, esteem others higher than yourself.

Me: Um....Bryson, I do...all the time! I take you places, I cook your food...I....

Bryson: Mom! That's what you're supposed to do. That's what God made moms for.

Touche, Bryson....

(I didn't have a comeback!)

"Poop Makes Me Puke"

**Watch the videos posted below for a GOOD laugh!**

Hudson has a VERY strong gag reflux! We discovered this about him at an early age, and had to be careful to watch him while he ate. He would choke easily, which would cause him to puke a bit. (Sorry if the word "puke" bothers you. I prefer it over throw up, vomit, and upchuck.) Anyhow, fast forward a year.....We began potty-training Hudson and discovered that if he sees poop in the toilet, he will gag and throw up! No, I am not joking! I had to plop him on the pot and distract him, so that he wouldn't look in the toilet and wind up puking all over himself, the bathroom floor, a rug, etc.. Around this same time, we found out that if Hudson sees anyone else's poop, he will gag and/or puke. We were with my sister one day and she began to change Peyton's diaper, when all of a sudden....Hudson started gagging repeatedly. I had to literally pull him away, to get him to stop gagging. (Of course, he's gagging and I am laughing so hard that I nearly pee my pants!) From that time on, we started to make sure that he just didn't see any poop at all. I had forgotten about his "issue"....until we were at the park with Leah and her boys a few weeks back. Hudson saw Lukie's poop, as Leah was changing his diaper and he nearly hurled! Leah and I were laughing so hard that I could hardly pull him away in time. But, alas, Hudson held it together and there was no puke. Leah told me how funny it would be to videotape Hudson, and from then on I have been looking for the perfect opportunity to set him up. Today was my lucky day! Peytie made a poop and Josh was home to grab the camera. You might think we are sick and twisted....disturbed even. I would say that you're probably right. (My mom thought we were cruel, as she saw us preparing for the taping. By the end of the ordeal, she was laughing harder than any of us!)

**The videos are in reverse order, so work your way up! And....please don't call CPS on me!**

Love Those Lashes!

Our Weekend Recap

This past weekend was tons of fun for our whole family....

though we didn't spend half of it together!

I got to go to a slumber party, with lots of my closest Bible study friends. We had a blast...eatin' out, hanging out in the spa, sharing our testimonies, eating junk food, giving gifts to one another, staying up until after 4 am, sleeping in a bit, and making a big breakfast together. It was such an awesome time with the "girls!!"

While I was having my time away with the ladies, my boys headed off on an adventure of their own! All of my boys love the movie Cars, and Josh decided to take the boys to a motel that the Cozy Cone (in Cars) was "modeled after." It is the historic Wigwam Motel, on Route 66, and all of the rooms are individual "tee pees!" The boys got pizza from Brothers Pizza and ate it in the room, while they drank their "Route 66 Beer!" They stayed up late, watched TV, and went night swimming. The man that runs the motel (Mr. Kumar) gave each of the boys a Cars backpack and was extremely friendly. The boys got donuts the next morning and swam again, before heading home! Josh tells me that the room was clean and well-kept and it was pretty inexpensive to stay there! I know that the boys will treasure that time with their dad for years to come!! I told Josh to take lots of pictures, and he obliged.....

Bible study gals at BJ's!

We were in Wendi's jacuzzi for over two hours, sharing our testimonies!

Meanwhile.....

....the boys took off for the Wigwam!

...had fun jumping on the beds....

...posed for a picture with the coolest dad....

...toured the grounds....

....went to Brothers for some yummy pizza....

...said, "Cheers!"....and drank their "Route Beer".....

...went for a swim...

...took some neat photos of the Wigwam at night...

...dried off....

...chugged the last of the root beer....

...got cozy....

...posed again....before nodding off!

....went for another swim...

....and took one last pic before heading out!

**If anyone is interested in info on the Wigwam, please feel free to call us! A few friends made fun of Josh for taking the boys....but they absolutely loved it!! Josh didn't have one negative thing to say about it, and the service was awesome. The room was less than $80/night and was clean! Josh said that the grounds were kept us nicely, too! The boys keep asking when they get to go back!!

Love?? Hate?? Somewhere In Between?

WARNING: This post is all over the place. It sounded much better in my head!

I hate exercising?

I love to exercise?

I am still deciding which of these is true for me.

I think it might be a bit of both.

I hate exercising alone.

I hate pushing through the pain.

I hate rising early to do it, when I could be sleeping in.

However, there are things that I love about exercising as well.

I love how I feel after a good workout.

I love that when I sweat, I know I am burning calories!

I love working out with my friends. They are a major source of inspiration and motivation.

I love how time passes quickly when you are with friends.

I love how we develop systems and patterns that work for us.

I love how my "loves" outweigh my "hates!"

Anyhow, I got to thinking about some cliche sayings...like....

"No pain, no gain."

"What doesn't kill us makes us stronger."

I was thinking about my workouts (yesterday's was especially challenging for me) and about how there is no "magic pill" I can take to firm up and drop poundage! Trust me, if there was....I'd be doing that instead! I was also thinking that the same is true for "life," in general. So much of what we go through is not easy. We go through challenging times. Painful times. Times of testing. Times of strengthening. The Lord prunes us, grows us, molds us, and allows us to go through certain things....so that we will grow stronger and closer to Him, deeper in faith. There is no "magic pill" we can take to fix our finances, our marriages, our children's behavior....etc.. There are many times I wish I could escape the lesson and the time of growth....but, (and here's another cliche saying) "Hindsight is 20/20"...and I can always look back on the lessons and the experiences....and see what the Lord was doing. I can see His hand in the lessons. I can see what He was teaching me. It may be SO hard to go through the trials, but through those times...comes refining. Strengthening. Perfecting. Correcting. I hate the trials as I am going through them, yet I love them for what they produce in the end. I am so thankful for a God who loves me and wants to grow and strengthen me. He loves me the way I am, yet He loves me too much to let me stay that way. And, He feels the same way about you!

Isaiah 48:10- "See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction."

I Peter 1:6-7- "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith- of greater worth than gold, which perished even though refined by fire- may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed."

James 1:2-3- "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance."

My New Fiber Fave!

I have recently become addicted to Fiber One bars.

(If you know me, you know that I have serious food addiction issues,

but I will save that for another post!)

Anyhow, I can typically pass up any type of granola/cereal bar....

but one taste of these suckers and I was hooked.

They are low in calories and HIGH in fiber!

You might think that I am a little late in getting on this train,

and you're right...I am. It's not like they are new, or anything!

But- they are new to me, and they are becoming a staple in my diet.

My personal favorite is their Oats and Caramel bar!

The only downside??....My kids love 'em, too....and I don't like to share!

**You can find these tasty treats at any local store! I recently picked up a few boxes at Walmart! They come six to a box and the price is $2.74/box!**

Snuggle Bugs....

Looking for God

I am often looking for God.

I look for Him in small things, and in big things, too.

With this whole adoption issue, I am often looking for "signs"...

or ways that the Lord might be speaking to me.

Well, last week....I was exiting the freeway and the license plate on the car right in front of me read: CHNAGAL. I don't know how you read it, but I read it as "China-Gal."

I have to admit that I was taken aback. I asked the Lord...."Is this You, God?? Or is it me...wanting it to be You??"

I need to keep praying to be certain.

Well, on Sunday night we attended a concert at our church.

We had VIP tickets and got to go inside early, for some Q & A with the bands.

One of the bands that played was Esterlyn, and one of the questions that was asked of all the bands was...."How did you choose your band name?"

So...the lead singer from Esterlyn answers and says, "Esterlyn was named for my niece, who was adopted from China."

Again....I freaked out a bit.

Now, maybe I am reading into things.

Maybe I am not.

One day, I will know for sure.

Until then, I will keep looking for God.

**I hopped onto Esterlyn's website/blog tonight and found this post. It was convicting and I thought I would share it with you. Enjoy....

Life is an unusual thing. We toil for seventy-eighty years or so then we die. Often I find myself asking the question of old “what exactly is the purpose of my life?” I entiltled my blog -Only One Life- so i guess I will begin there. I am only one simple person with one short life. I want it to have meaning. It seriously seems like just last week I was shoveling snow with my dad in the cold winter and getting up before dawn to start folding the newspapers for my daily route. But the truth is life is a vapor. It has all gone by so fast. I can’t help but stop and evaluate who I am and what I have or have not accomplished. Today my sister Sarah and I were talking about the importance of perspective in our lives. Sharing stories of people who have sacrificed so much of their comfort and even their normal lives to show a simple love to somebody else. It seems strange to me how we strive for this comfort while on the other side of the world many people are simply begging for a meal. Yet here we are seeking out the perfect job- the perfect house- the best experiences all to attain that glorious “comfort”. Ultimately though what is the end result? We attempt to make ourselves happ to no avail. So there you go…..Is that life- is that why I exist- Is that why God has put me on this Earth to make some money- have a family- enjoy life- and then die? To me that just seems so predictable. I don’t want to live that life. Im not saying those things are bad or even mundane, (they actually can be very beautiful). But in the end what is it all worth? I need perspective. Questions I ask myself………….

1. What drives me?
2. What have I done for someone else today?
3. Is this a good use of my time?
4. What have I accomplished for God’s Kingdom today?

I guess in all my rambling I just want to say to myself and anyone else- we have one short life to live. Lets not waste it living for ourselves. Jesus said it best “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.” A servant is a servant its that simple -they are not looking out for their own interests. Millions of lost people in this world. So many hurting and forsaken. Countless children who have been abandoned with no love- with no hope. Lets have an eternal perspective. Lets live a life that has true value. A life we will be proud of when we (not far into the future) leave this world behind…..

Love Somebody-

Luke

Out Like A Light

The other night, when I went into Hudson's room to check on him

and pray over him...I found him like this!!

"He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High

will rest in the shadow of the Almighty."

-Psalm 91:1