M and Ms......................

Hello everyone! I promise we are not done in Mark, but I just had a total "mature mom moment" so I HAD to share! You will have to use your imagination for a bit, but I am sure most of you, especially moms, won't have a hard time. So you know when you get on the phone your children go insane. I often don't have to worry about chatting all day on the phone with my friends because Cross rarely gives me a good 5 minutes or seconds for that matter before life starts to fall apart. How I didn't understand that concept pre-kid or even pre-toddler, forgive me friends for I knew not what you were going through! So this afternoon (we are all tired, hot (yes HOT), hungry, etc) and I am TRYING to leave a message for this sweet lady at church about a meal I was making for her so use your imagination:

The phone ringing a voice mail message beginning,

Cross walking around touching anything and everything he is not supposed to touch and me trying to just move him away from thing to thing without speaking because I am about to have to leave a message.

Me losing my cool and in the meanest mom voice you have ever heard IN YOUR entire life I say STOP IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then: Hey Sherrie, this is Kelly (the sweet Christian) from small group. Just calling you about a meal I made for you (since I am just so stinkin sweet) and wanted to see when I could drop it by (before or after I talk to my child like a total demon possessed monster). Whatever works best for you is great with me (because I love to love on other people just not my FAMILY)!

Oh JEEZ! Thank GOODNESS for the cross and resurrection reminder this week! I for sure need me some GRACE!!!! Can I get a big AMEN!!

K

Hurry, hurry, we gotta catch up!

Hey gang, so sorry, I didn't log on yesterday so we are a day behind. Go ahead and read Mark 12 and 13 and then we'll take it from there tomorrow! I smiled so big at Jesus' teachings that last week. I thought of that "after Spring Break rush" that all the teachers have to get every single bit of their required curriculum in before the end of the year. I think that was what Jesus was experiencing! Just a few more days and so much more to teach! Pay close attention to His last lessons!!!!!

Love you guys!
K

Two Minute Miracle..................

Hello Friends! Our pastor gave us a great idea yesterday a.m. of a way to follow Jesus this Easter season through His journey from Palm Sunday to the Resurrection. I thought that would be so much fun to do this week on the blog, but I wanted to begin by sharing my personal two minute miracle. For those of you who I know personally, I may have shared my journey with the Lord already, but for any new readers, give me two minutes to share just why I, personally, get beyond excited about this thing we call Easter and I can promise you it has absolutely nothing to do with a bunny. And I promise, two minutes or less will be all I need!


As I share in my profile, I grew up in kind of a 1/2 and 1/2 childhood. 1/2 as loving and normal as the rest and another 1/2 that was dark and as far from God's plan as one could possibly be! I actually accepted Christ as a young girl in my hometown. Even from the earliest of ages I remember needing a SAVIOR in the worst kind of way. But, unfortunately, discipleship and a knowledge of the Word was not something that followed that salvation so that was where it ended. A knowledge of a need, but no practical tools to fight the fight this life requires. Ok, then fast forward several years to a young college grad who had everything going for her on the outside, yet everything falling apart and quickly on the inside. I was a full blown alcoholic in a horribly horrific and sinful relationship and then I met JESUS! That's it! He changed my life, rocked my world, freed me from my addiction, got me out of that relationship, gave me the BEST looking husband on the face of the earth and in a nut shell, I have never been the same since!


So that my friends is why I celebrate Easter! I was a mess, and He cleaned me up! Nothing deeper than that! Easter is the reason I have or have done anything good in this life! So join me in Mark, Start with Chapter 11 and feel the journey Jesus went on just for YOU! Happy Easter week everyone! Thank goodness this week took place all those years back!

K

You may need a break if.......................

Hey guys, I have about 10 blogs rolling around in my head at the moment so I am just going to start typing and see at the end where I be! Sorry grammar junkies, I just thought that had the nicest ring! Ok, You may need a break if..............

1. You hear of friends doing fun social things and you find yourself being resentful (basically that they have a life and you don't).

2. You start not enjoying your child and wishing that they would just "go away". This is totally normal, just a cue you need a break!

3. You think to yourself, "I HATE SPRING BREAK!" I mean I'm just saying, you MIGHT need a break!

4. You are mad at your husband for not reading your mind and planning a romantic get away (which would darn near make him a girl and I won't go there).

5. And finally, if you skip down the steps of your in-laws after dropping off your son and then later stare at the picture of him on your cell phone like you are totally in love!

I, my friends, NEEDED A BREAK!!!!!!!!!!

K

An eye opener....................

Hey guys, I read something this morning that has totally made my jaw drop and my eyes begin to open. I am seeing so much about how at my first encounter with the Word and with Christ in 2003, I had this in me. I even had it in me at my very earliest memories of salvation as a young girl. But now my STUPID "socially acceptable" Christianity has managed to snuff out that spark! Let's pray that we (who call ourselves Christians) will get back to the missionaries we were born-again to be!

Spirit-inspired evangelism

"As you read Acts, put yourself in the place of the disciples: Identify with them as they are filled with the Holy Spirit, and experience the thrill of seeing thousands respond to the gospel message. Sense their commitment as they give every ounce of talent and treasure to Christ. And as you read, watch the Spirit-led boldness of these first-century believers, who through suffering and in the face of death take every opportunity to tell of their crucified and risen Lord. THEN decide to be a twenty-first century version of those men and women of God."
(Life Application Study Bible page 1812)

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This may only pertain to me, you may be rocking in this calling, but as for me personally, I need to start staying way more focused on this awesome calling from the Lord!

Love you guys!
K

Ok moms, I need some HELP!!!!!!

I don't do this often, ask/beg for ideas from anyone willing to share. I am usually too type A, even about my research, but I am at a LOSS! Here is the problem! Cross, going to bed, at night, in the big boy bed. FYI, naps, no problem, 99.9% of the time, not one!! Let me tell you how this has gone, week one in big boy bed, super consistent and it worked. No problem! We were rocking! Then Cross got sick (this was like 3 or 4 weeks ago now though just for the record) so obviously I checked on him a hundred times, took temp, snuggled, you get the point.

Now to bring you up to date: I have tried later, I have tried earlier, I have read books, I have spanked 101 times (if you don't agree with this detail it is not up for blog discussion so don't bother), heck I have tried not spanking even. I have tried EVERYTHING!!!!!!! We have/are sat in the door way and watched him. He has currently been in the bed for 1.5 hours and is still trying to get up some and seems wide awake (yet he was yawning like crazy 3 hours ago AND we were out last night and didn't put him down til much later and he did the same stinking thing. I am DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!! HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Please!!!!!!!!!! I will try just about anything!!!!!!


Calling all moms,
Kelly

These are a few of our favorite things (part 2, see below).........

Hello readers! I am certain the world will be less excited about my favorite things, that is why I put Cross' below, in hopes of tricking you into reading mine. Maybe I just want to have them documented to remind myself that I have interests too (you know)! hahhaha Ok, so I will need a list to keep from staying on here for hours. I have MISSED you guys and could ramble forever, but will try to refrain.

1. Naps! Mine, Cross', well mainly just mine and/or Cross'! That is a side note really because for some odd reason Cross is WIDE awake right now and all who know us well can agree, we are a sleepin family so I am hoping he will stay put as I say hello.

2. Africa-Ok, here is where I will have to resist camping for 2 solid hours straight, but I AM GOING TO ETHIOPIA this summer! I haven't even told my family yet so I promise more details will come! I am so excited and am going to journal everything on another blog that will hopefully be up and running in the next few weeks. I want to remember and share every single God story detail, but for now, just pray for me to get my funds raised and my Passport paperwork in ASAP!

3. Cross Fit! Ok, favorite may be a tad bit of an exaggeration, but after years of baby fat, unfortunately I mean mine (not Cross') and back problems that could be prevented with strength training, I am thrilled to be back on a workout band wagon. We have a dear friend who trains in Cross Fit and she is doing a mighty fabulous job of kicking mine and the hub's BUTT! I love this story, on our first day when we were both about to die after like oh, 5 MINUTES, she said (in the sweetest and most sincere voice ever) "oh do I need to open the garage door again in case you guys need to THROW UP". That's when I knew God had sent an angel into our lives to officially kick our rears back into shape. J and I both used to love working out but with life in the way it kept getting shoved to the side. We have also never worked out together and that has been so fun! I know it may sound silly but this really is a total God send. We both "wanted" to get in shape, but really had no clue where to even begin. Now I have to begin running on a treadmill for my warm up before the 20 minutes of _ _ _ _, that is where I begin! But afterwards I really do feel like an Olympic champion!!!!! I am giving you the link in case you would like to join the fun! And please pray we STICK WITH IT!!!!!!
http://www.crossfit.com/

4. Sunshine!!!! Ok, if any of my northern gals are reading and the sun has not come poking through where you live, just know that it is coming and that it is GLORIOUS!!!!!! These last few weeks I have had a new skip in my step!

5. Cleaning out projects. Ok, I know I am a super big dork and most normal people don't find cleaning out a storage shed to be the thrill of a life time, but I DO! I have been waiting for a pretty and free Saturday for months to go tackle our storage shed and this past weekend it was here! Jeremy didn't begin as enthusiastic as myself, but when it was all said and done he was thrilled. I did not take pictures (before and after) I am sad to say, but the most glorious part of it all was catching glimpses of our stored decorations and dreaming of one day again having a "home". I know "home is where the heart is" but for me, home is where I get to paint my own walls, hang all my stuff, and put down some roots with no intent of leaving anytime soon. I am trying everyday to live fully in this wonderful rental, but I still long for the day to hang my pictures and stay awhile!

Ok, I think 5 is enough for today! Hope everyone out there in blog world is having a great week so far and by all means, share with me a few of YOUR favorite things!

Because of Him,
K

These are a few our of favorite things..........

I first wanted to start with a few of Cross' favorite things. I think this theme will for sure take two posts! We have many obsessions or super favorite things right now, but here are the top 3! Play-doh, which he calls "swarks" for "sharks" because there is shark cut out. I am so serious this kid could play play-doh for HOURS on end. He does much better if you will sit and roll it out for him over and over and over and over.......you get the point. But he is starting to slowly get the hang of that part as well! So sweet!!!! The next is "wa wa". In our house this means I want to pull my chair up to the sink (kitchen or bath, no preference) and play with the water. It is a great pouring tool and as a type-A mommy, I go ahead and wrap my mind around a small mess and just try to look at it as an extra mopping! He has the best time and learns fine motor skills and drinks about a gallon of water along the way. And finally, cars and trucks and trains. Our living room blankets have been transformed into tracks and now serve as a combination of race track/train track and give for hours and hours of imagination! It is so sweet now when he is "too quiet" and I go in the living room and he is just moving his trucks all over the blanket as patiently as can be! Those moments make for mommy bliss. You must also pay close attention to the concentration tongue. It is always slightly out when there is a need to focus!

So here you go readers!!!! Tons of Cross pics for the pickin! Love you guys!

K

March Madness, Crackberries and a New Way of Life

Hello all! I was dying to get on and say hello, but I had no clue what I would share. Then as my completely ADORABLE hubs kept yelling at the television, I at least knew how I could get started. Even Snick got a harsh word (which never happens) because she was whining for her ball during a VERY important overtime. My man pays NO attention (or at least none that I am aware of) to basketball until March Madness and then I catch him chasing a television everywhere we go. Today I awoke from the mandatory Sunday nap to a husband who was trying to quietly cheer. Now he is making comments about going after some one's mama. It really is an odd phenomenon this March Madness thing! I mean HOW MANY PLAYOFF GAMES DO YOU REALLY NEED? Even though it drives me a bit crazy, it is still attractive and manly all the same!

Ok, on to Crackberries. We are the new and very proud owners of two fine Blackberry Curves (I think). I have ALWAYS made fun of stay-at-home moms with a "smart phone". My biggest thing on the books this week is a Birthday Party at Chick-fil-a which I can promise you I will NOT be forgetting, but now I have a fancy phone to remind me all the same. Jeremy has taught me all that I know, but I still haven't managed to let go of my paper calendar. I told him it was just too much change all at once. I need to take it slow. But now, if I need to get ahold of you, I don't have to wait until I am at home with my WIRELESS, I can email you (instead of texting you) from my car. Again, makes no sense what-so-ever, but J sold me when he told me that mine would be purple (not to mention that it wouldn't cost us any more per month). Actually, that my friend is the weird part! Men watch March Madness, women buy phones because they are purple!

And moving right along, finally, to something that may resemble a point. A new way of life. This may be a bit dramatic and a total contradiction to my last paragraph, but I have had to organize my life a little more. I love the entire concept of time management, but because of my mostly home, mostly free time schedule, I am finding that I am not being a good steward of my time. So the new way of life consists of small things, but big to me. It first began with the whole couponing thing. I kept saying I didn't have time to do that, but I DO! It IS going to save our family money, but it does take time and planning. I have had to set up a little more of a weekly schedule (doing a few certain things each day) just so I don't wake up on Wednesday when I have to work and need to clean the house, plan the meals, clip the coupons, go to work and the grocery all in one day. I get super pumped when I know I am operating at an optimum level and yes, although I still make jokes, I do not take lightly my job to run this household like a well oiled machine. I always think about it like my man is the boss and I am the manager and I always have liked to be the best I could be at whatever role I was assigned. SO..........today is coupon cutting, meal planning, bill organizing, and maybe even an hour of at home work after Cross hits the hay!

I guess with all that said I should actually exit blog world and get to work. I like starting the week off right! You guys have an awesome week as well. I pray you got filled up with some great Jesus this a.m. and are ready to go out and conquer this hard life until the day listed below is revealed! We are servants on earth and I want to serve well, how bout you? And if your man is following a basketball everywhere he goes, know that you are in good company and at least in theory, it is half way OVER!!!

Hahahaha
K

Here is my problem...............

This week, this month, this year, this life time..........................

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. Hebrews 11:13

The ransomed of the LORD will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away. Isaiah 51:11

One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb." And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long. He measured its wall and it was 144 cubits thick, by man's measurement, which the angel was using. The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass.

I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.
Revelation 21:9-27

Hello Friends!

Have I mentioned lately that I HAVE MISSED YOU GUYS! I have been a bit under the weather, just trying to get by so I haven't stopped to say hello. Right now, my house is a wreck, my hubs will be home in an hour, dinner is not in the making (but it is at least in the brain) and my son is banging on his train table and could use a pep talk, but INSTEAD I am saying hello to YOU! How fun to walk away from the "shoulds" every now and again. Ok, I have several thoughts running through my mind, but a smart thing to do would be to keep it short and sweet and assume that I am not going to be able to chat for long.

1. I went to the most amazing class today. All week I have been calling it "a coupon class". What a dumb understatement that turned out to be! I got Jesus empowered and encouraged and I loved the lady who taught, did I say loved, because I mean LOVED! She was such a godly, fun, "cool", smart, loving her home and fam, lady who has an awesome ministry. Below is their blog and if you are in this area and can get to a training by all means and if not go to "getting started" and take an hour and read up and change your entire financial situation! I am so excited about one day having an extra few hundred dollars a month. As for now I am on a huge learning curve. I have never stockpiled or clipped a coupon in my life so I have lots of planning ahead!

http://www.faithfulprovisions.com/

2. The pics above: The other day as I scooted the boat over to get to the coffee and saw the letters in the water dispenser on the frig, I thought of you guys, smiled, and ran and got my camera. This is the glorious world of motherhood. Some days I am digging in my purse for some lipstick and find a low rider car or a fruit snack and those are the sweetest, most wonderful, mom moments. I love my little guy.

3. This a.m. as Snick (our puppy dog in case you haven't had the privilege of meeting) leaped from the bed to join me for my quiet time (she doesn't like to miss ANYTHING), I thought how sweet she is these days. I thought, "just the shortest time of training and then so many years of enjoyment". MAN is that a word for parenting a toddler. I got excited about Cross and I b-bopping around town one day WITHOUT "Mr. Spoon" having to be in my purse (or my hand for that matter) and all the hard work paying off! Oh what a glorious day that will be!!!!!!!!!! I have heard several moms lately with 4 year olds talking about their "buddies".

4. Jesus, have I mentioned lately that Jesus is it? He is EVERYTHING! Several, not so enjoyable, life circumstances have happened this week and I have NO idea how on earth I would have gotten through had it not been for His grace being so timely that I knew it was HIM! Even the lady's testimony today in the class made me want to bawl my eye balls out right there in the front row. I refrained so she wouldn't come up and hug me and say "honey it is only grocery shopping". I am sure I would have proceeded to tell her my whole life story and she would have thought/known that I was CRAZY. Ok, that is a rabbit trail. Regardless, sometimes Jesus does not allow us to avoid the troubles of life, but HE ALWAYS gives us the grace, love, mercy, and support needed to daily walk through them! Thank you Jesus for giving me all of those things today. It was much needed (as You knew) to say the least.

Better go now. There are some hands that are meddling cause mommy is in la-la! Love you!

K