Popcorn Movie Nights

This summer we have really enjoyed our popcorn movie nights. The boys all love popcorn and tonight we watched Garfield, which Lance bought at a yard sale for $3 this morning! Levi cracks me up eating his popcorn and after he's done, he'll help himself to his brother's bowls!

We Need Each Other: To Watch Out For

I just love my Purpose Driven Life Daily Devotional emails and feel like I need to share some. This one really speaks to me about the power of friendships. Especially as a mom, I know my mommy friends are so important. Mothering is tough and we have to have each others back!

I am also reading the Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren right now. I am only on day 8 but it has been pretty awesome so far. It's a 40 day daily devotional with only about 4 pages a day. If you haven't read it yet, you should check it out!

Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Philippians 2:4 (NIV)
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Each one of us needs other people to watch out for us – to defend us, protect us, and help us stay on track. In the book of Philippians, the apostle Paul tells us that we should look out for each other’s interests, not just our own. What a counterculture verse! In America today, it’s all about me – my needs, my interests, my wants, and my ambitions. But Paul teaches us to look out for others too.
Since September 11, 2001, Americans have been much more vigilant for each other as we are on the lookout for more terrorist attacks. But did you know you have an enemy far more destructive than terrorists? You have a personal enemy who wants to defeat you. His name is Satan. He wants to bring problems into your life, to ruin your relationships, and to hurt you as badly as he can.
Why does he want to hurt you? Because he wants to hurt God, but he can’t – so he goes after God’s children. On your own, you will never win against Satan. But when you have other people to watch out for you and help you, you can be victorious.
Here’s good advice from Ecclesiastes 4:12: “Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves” (NIV).
Does anyone have your back? Is anyone defending you – watching out for your spiritual welfare? You need a community of people who are saying to you: “We’ll be with you when you’re going through the tough times. We’re not going to let you get discouraged or depressed.”
Community is God’s answer to defeat. Ecclesiastes 4:10 says, “If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him” (NIV).
Remember: You can try, but you can’t live life well on your own. We all need other people – to walk with us, to work with us, and to watch out for us.

Click HERE for a free subscription to The Purpose Driven Life Daily Devotional, your daily inspiration via email.

Father's Day 2008

Lance lost another tooth!

Lance lost his 6th tooth and he's not even 6 years old yet! He was very proud of it and had to show everybody! The tooth fairy brought him $4 in quarters. He really likes quarters. He likes to look at each coin and notices the differences in them. I really hope he doesn't loose anymore teeth for a while!

Resisting Discouragement

I am really enjoying these daily devotionals. They really speak to me and I can't help but want to share! Please let me know if it speaks to you!

Resisting Discouragementby Rick Warren

So don’t get tired of doing what is good. Don’t get discouraged and give up, for we will reap a harvest of blessing at the appropriate time. Galatians 6:9 (NLT)
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There are many things that work to keep us from completing our life-missions. Over the years, I’ve debated whether the worst enemy is procrastination or discouragement. If Satan can’t get us to put off our life missions, then he’ll try to get us to quit altogether.
The apostle Paul teaches that we need to resist discouragement: “So don’t get tired of doing what is good. Don’t get discouraged and give up …” (Galatians 6:9 NLT).
Do you ever get tired of doing what’s right? I think we all do. Sometimes it seems easier to do the wrong thing than the right thing.
When we’re discouraged, we become ineffective. When we’re discouraged, we work against our own faith.
When I’m discouraged, I’m saying, “It can’t be done.” That’s the exact opposite of saying, “I know God can do it because he said ….”
Ask yourself these questions:
· How do I handle failure?
· When things don’t go my way, do I get grumpy?
· When things don’t go my way, do I get frustrated?
· When things don’t go my way, do I start complaining?
· Do I finish what I start?
· How would I rate on persistence?
If you’re discouraged, don’t give up without a fight. Nothing worthwhile ever happens without endurance and energy.
When an artist starts to create a sculpture, he has to keep chipping away. He doesn’t hit the chisel with the hammer once, and suddenly all the excess stone falls away revealing a beautiful masterpiece. He keeps hitting it and hitting it, chipping away at the stone.
And that’s true of life, too: Nothing really worthwhile ever comes easy in life. You keep hitting it and going after it, and little-by-little your life becomes a masterpiece of God’s grace.
The fact is, great people are really just ordinary people with an extraordinary amount of determination. Great people don’t know how to quit.

Fear & Grace

I wanted to share this devotion from Rick Warren. If you like it, you can sign up for his daily emails at www.purposedrivenlife.com. Hope everyone has a wonderful, blessed day!

Fear & Grace by Rick Warren

Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23:6 (NLT)
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God is watching over you.
When King David writes, “Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me,” he’s not saying, “Surely only good things will happen to me!”
The fact is bad things happen to good people. What David is teaching us is that God can take bad, evil, and difficult situations and bring something good out of them.
It’s one of God’s great promises to us: we can know that all things are working for our good “if we love God and are fitting into his plans” (Romans 8:28 LB). If you’re a believer, the Bible says all things are working together for good – not that all things are good, but that they work together for good. There’s no difficulty, dilemma, defeat, or disaster in life that God can’t ultimately turn toward good.

When you understand God’s grace and mercy, there’s no need to fear the future. God isn’t trying to get even with you. Jesus shouldered the penalty for everything you’ve ever done wrong or will do wrong. He paid for it on the cross. So when a bad thing happens, you don’t have to think, “God’s getting even with me.” That’s how God’s grace and mercy work.
Mercy, like goodness, follows us in life. Picture a parent following a little child around picking up after them; God is constantly picking up our messes.

Think about this:
· Christians go to the future, not with a question mark, but with an exclamation point. God will be with you no matter what happens. He will help you out.
· God’s goodness provides and protects;God’s mercy pardons and forgives. God’s goodness will supply; God’s mercy will sooth. God’s goodness will help; God’s mercy will heal.
· Goodness is the fact that God gives us good things in life that we don’t deserve.Mercy means God holds back the condemnation we deserve.