Radical Faith = Radical Commitments

I have recently read the book Radical by David Platt. Our entire church read the book along with a six-week sermon and small group series. To say that it has changed my life is an understatement. It has changed they way that I look at everything in life.

Two weeks ago my family made five commitments.

1. Read through the entire Word.
This is probably the commitment that scared me the most. My four children make it difficult to spend any length of time in a 'quiet time'. I've found a couple of devotional books designed specifically for moms with small children and they were working for me...but now I've just made the commitment to read the entire bible in a year...that's about five chapters a day. Eleven days into it now, I'm loving it. My children interrupt some days more than others, but it's working.

2. Pray for the entire World.
We're doing this through Operation World. I love reading about specific things that I can pray for each country. The girls are also starting to ask each night at bedtime, "Mama, what country are we praying for today?"

3. Sacrifice our money for a specific purpose.
This is the one that we had to really brainstorm about. The word "sacrifice" kept giving me trouble. We can decide to give a certain about of money to a number of great charities, but where's the sacrifice. You know....the bills are paid for the month, this much is left over, so let's give it here. Not really a sacrifice. So we decided to first, not go grocery shopping for one week each month. It's amazing how many suppers and lunches you can make when you think you have no food in the house. We then chose a Compassion child to sponsor. As we thank Jesus for our (sometimes interesting combination) supper each night that week, we pray for Ama and her family who might be going to bed hungry. The money we would have spent on groceries goes to our sponsor child and family. This week was our first week to try this....It's Thursday now, and I can definitely say that the cupboards are getting quite bare, but none of us are hungry. And we've spent the entire week praying, talking, and thinking about a seven year old girl in Ghana.

4. Spend time in another context.
We committed to spend one week, 2% of our time in Gospel ministry outside of Middle Tennessee. I'm somewhat limited to where and when I can go since I'll be nursing a baby for the next year, but I'm really excited that my husband will get to go anywhere. He could go to Africa, or Belgium, or Mexico, or even just Mississippi or Seattle...but I'm excited to see how God is going to change the other 98% of our time because of this 2%.

5. Commit my life to a multiplying community.
We're very excited to join forces with Life Point Church to serve God and change our community.

I'm so excited to see what God teaches up through these commitments and what other commitments he shows us along the way.

So if you've not read David Platt's Radical, I highly recommend it, but just be ready for your world to be ROCKED!

The fat guy in red came!

First of all, I've got to got on my soapbox for a minute and talk about the controversial fat guy in red. We 'do' Santa at our house.

We know a lot of families who don't 'do' Santa because they don't want to confuse Santa's realness with Christ's realness, and they want Christmas to be all about the birth of Christ. I totally understand their decision and am grateful that we each can make decisions for our own families. We have decided to 'do' Santa at our house and that decision was not taken lightly. We talked and prayed about it before we had children. Here's why we 'do' Santa.....

-The birth of Christ is not downplayed at all in our house, and we teach our children that Christmas is celebrated because of the Christ-Child.

-We talk every day about the realness of Christ.

-We do not talk about the realness or the fakeness of Santa.

I got so frustrated this last Christmas with adults (who don't 'do' Santa at their house) talking too openly about the fact that they don't 'do' Santa in front of my children. Hang in there, I'm almost done with my soapbox! So...if you decide not to 'do' Santa in your family, please do not spoil the fun for mine! Whew, I feel better now...jumping off my soapbox.

Now, on to what Santa brought to our house.....
The girls got a new kitchen, earrings, boots that they had been asking for forever (thanks to the Gap commercial), and some new books.

Nana and Papa got them new dress up clothes.
Aunt Carey made them these fun outfits. Oh and btw, did you see their new haircuts?!
And here we are looking at their main present. We surprised the girls with a trip to the American Girl Store for the next day. We're looking through the magazine here trying to decide which dolls they want to get!

Up next...pics of them picking out their dolls in the store and eating lunch with our dolls too....so fun!

Motherhood Lesson #392

Remember this lesson from last winter?
Well, I guess this could be an addendum to it.....
If you have a newly potty trained child and hear, "I'm done...", take your scarf off first.

Worth it?

The heartburn....swollen ankles.....doctor appointments.....
...sleepless nights.....nothing to wear because of the 'baby weight'.....
...craziness and noise of having four children....and a hundred other inconveniences in the world's eyes...
Yep, it's all worth it!

To opt-out or not to opt-out

I'm sure you all have heard about President Obama speaking to school aged children this coming Tuesday. Our school district is showing the speech in the classrooms but giving parents the option whether or not to have their children view it.

Evidently this is nothing new...Carter, Reagan, and George Bush all gave a speech to school children. Their addresses were on video tapes that were distributed to the schools. When I was in school (I sound like my dad now!), we didn't have a tv in every class room and the internet did not exist SO not every child in school was able to view those addresses.

With our current technology, all of the school children will be able to watch President Obama's speech live. That is an awesome opportunity for our children. About seven years ago I was able to see George W. speak in person at an NRB conference. Regardless of what I thought about him as a president, it was a really neat experience to see the President of the United States speak in person.

I would love for my child to experience a live speech from our president, but I do have a couple of problems with the situation.

First of all, Mara Lin's teacher has replaced me as the smartest woman in the world. I hear at least five or six times a day, "Ms. Cockrell says..." Mara really looks up to her and is very influenced by everything she says. (That's a good thing when she's trying to teach Mara to read or write or count.) A couple of questions on the government's list of suggested discussion questions both before and after the speech can be turned political very easily. I don't know Mara's teacher's political views but even if they were the same as mine, I would not want her to be influencing my child whether it be conservative or liberal....that's my job.

And finally, I do not trust President Obama to not have some hidden agenda with his speech. He seems to have a hidden agenda with everything else he does...one example being his healthcare plan to federally fund abortion....but I digress. I really don't want to get into a political debate here, I am just simply trying to figure out what is best for my child.

The government is releasing the entire content of the speech on Monday. I am waiting to read that and to talk to Mara's teacher about whether there will be any discussion in the classroom before I decide whether or not Mara will be viewing it at school. I'd love for Mara to see this speech and to see it live, but I am leaning towards opting out. If I do opt-out then we will watch the speech together Tuesday night as a family.

So that's my two cents. I would not advise any parent to opt their child out of watching the speech or advise any parent to allow their children to watch the president's speech. I would only advise every parent to be informed and choose what's best for their own family.

Boo!

Scared you, didn't I?!

You thought I had forgotten the url to my blog, huh?

Let me just tell you that life is kicking my booty. We're surviving but not really having fun yet. Sam is a fabulously easy-going baby, but a 5 yr old, 4 yr old, 3 yr old, and a newborn....yep, kicking my booty!

I have lots of pictures to share from the last month that I've been gone but will save those for separate posts so it looks like I'm blogging again.

Along with life inside my own house wearing me out, our church family has been dealing with a lot lately too. My pastor's father (and close family friend) passed away about three months ago and then shortly after that, we found out a sweet, sweet close friend has colon and liver cancer and is now going through chemo. As if that's not enough, my pastor's 17-year-old son died three weeks ago from injuries sustained in a car accident.

God has showed up amazingly within our church family.

I've definitely been saddened, disappointed, and even angry at God, but I know that God's will for my life is to be sanctified, be joyful always, pray continually, and give thanks in ALL circumstances (1 Thes. 4:3, 5:16-18). I exist for His glory, and even though it is hard to say, my children also exist for His glory.

I hold my children up to God with open hands wanting only His glory. I definitely could not have said that three weeks ago, but seeing my pastor praise God through the pain and wanting only His glory has taught me that God was waiting on me to surrender my hold on my children. They are not mine, they're God's. My single desire for their lives is to bring glory to God!

It's so good to be back blogging...putting my thoughts on 'paper' and helping to work through them in my own head. God is good and we are immeasurably blessed!

Mother's Day

I've had this post bouncing around my head for two years now (still CAN NOT believe that I've been blogging for two years!). It's actually been a 'draft' for a year now. I feel really strongly about this, but the problem is that I'm struggling to get it to come out right. Well, I'm going to stop revising it and just push post....so here goes!

I have such conflicting feelings about Mother's Day. I love my own Momma so much and love celebrating and honoring her every year...so in that view, I love Mother's Day.

As a woman who has struggled with infertility for many years, I know how painful Mother's Day can be. The pain of infertility is so deep and yet so silent...making it even deeper.

During my initial infertile years, I clung to my Jesus more than ever. I cried out to Him on a daily basis, and that was the only thing that brought peace during that time.

The problem is that even though Jesus was my only comfort, the church seemed to only deepen my pain on a day that was very painful to begin with. Every aspect of the service, as well as everything before and after the service on Mother's Day reminded me that I was not a mother. It was very tough to go to church on Mother's Day during those painful years.

I don't have anything against celebrating Mother's Day (and didn't during my initial infertile years...I've already said that I love celebrating my Momma....and I loved celebrating her during those years as well). I guess I just have a problem with celebrating Mother's Day on a corporate level. On Father's Day, most churches have 'regular' services which they add an "Oh by the way, Happy Father's Day" to it.

Well, I'm not sure if any of this is coming out right so I'll just shush for now. I guess what I really want you to know is that if you know any women struggling with infertility...just give her an extra hug and let her know you're praying for her this Mother's Day.

Motherhood Lesson #391

When your three year old says, "Aww, that sucks!" twice in the same day....I think it's time to be more careful what comes out of my mouth!

Motherhood Lesson #390

My children are still going completely crazy. Here is more evidence...

On Tuesday, Emily put a pony bead up her nose at preschool.
Yep, one of these....Of course it got stuck. After much screaming it did come out, but I'm still amazed at why she would think putting a bead up her nose was a good idea. When I picked her up from school and asked her why she put it up there, I only got "I don't know."

But then latter that night when putting her to bed we were talking about it again and I asked once more why she put a bead up her nose. This time she said, "to keep it safe." I guess she wanted to keep it and didn't have any pockets.

Ooooo, I do believe that's another motherhood lesson....
Motherhood Lesson #390..... Always send your children to school with pockets. You do not want them to find an alternative place to 'keep things safe'!

A Five-Year-Old's Perspective On Heaven

Mara Lin has been asking tons of questions and talking a lot about salvation lately. Well, she doesn't use the term 'salvation', but rather says..
-Hey Mom, let's talk about sin again.
-Momma, does Jesus cry when we sin?
-When did you ask Jesus to be your forever friend?

She's really thinking a lot lately and learning so much. I'm not sure if she's 'there' yet, but if she's not 'there' then she's very close.

Several nights ago, I asked Phillip to talk to her to see what he thought and here's how the conversation went.....

Daddy: Mara, did you ask Jesus to be your forever friend?
Mara: I did, Daddy.
Daddy: What about your sin?
Mara: I told Jesus that I was sorry for my sins.
Daddy: How does your sin make Jesus feel?
Mara: It makes Him sad.
Daddy: That's right. So why do we get to go to heaven?
Mara: Huh?
Daddy: Do we get to go to heaven because we're good or because Jesus was good?
Mara: Huh?
Daddy: How do you get to heaven?
Mara: You die.

I was laughing so hard at that last response that the meaningful conversation was over. I LOVE all of her questions and her sweet, sweet faith though!

I must be in one of those Lost time warps...

...because there is no way that it has been two entire weeks since I have posted.

The real reason though is that life has just gotten in the way. We've been incredible busy...running from this meeting to that meeting, this birthday party to that birthday party, and this doctor's appointment to that doctor's appointment.

I am also not a worrier but am experiencing a whole new world of worry for this new baby. I miscarried last time around 16 weeks so the last couple of weeks have been tough. I did go to the doctor this week though and got to hear the baby's heartbeat fill the room at 162 beats per minute (sounding like another girl!). All three of the girls have also had Fifth's disease which is not a big deal for them but pretty bad for an unborn baby. I found out this week that I have an immunity to Fifth's disease so all is well with that too. Now only eleven more days until the ultrasound where we'll find out we're having another girl!

The busyness and lack of blogging lately has got me thinking about why I blog though. I have made some incredible friends that I never would have met outside of this blogging world, but the main reason I blog is to remember. I love that I have a 'scrapbook' (my real life friends have just gasped knowing how much I hate scrap booking) of sorts of this time in my life. God has blessed us immensely with these three gorgeous and hilarious little people. Although life with three preschool children is pretty tough some days, it is too sweet all of the time. Time is going WAY too fast and I know I'll forget this season of my life all too soon. How fun will this blog be to read when I'm sixty and have grown children and grandchildren on the way? Yep, that's why I blog!

So with all of that said, let's just pretend that I've not been gone for two weeks, and your google reader has been full of lots of memories from the Three Girl Circus!

Oh, and I have to confess that I totally did not learn Motherhood Lesson #389 cause I changed a poopy diaper again yesterday...with a scarf on!

Motherhood Lesson #389

Never change a poopy diaper with a scarf on!

Sweet, Sweet Family Time

Last weekend we went on a live nativity hayride at a local church. It started with cookies and hot chocolate then continued with a hayride to several 'scenes' around the church grounds. We saw the prophets foretelling the coming Christ, the wisemen complete with real camels, and the shepherds with real sheep and angels in the sky (Hmmm, the angels were in the sky but the sheep were on the ground!). It ended with a sweet experience up close with the Christ Child.
That's me and the girls in the foreground of this picture. We had a great night to remember for a long time. When we were leaving, Emily asked if baby Jesus was going to get to go on the hayride too. We know what was her favorite part!

Yeah, what she said.

Cindy said it so beautifully; I couldn't possible say it any better. So just go here and read it.

Kiss from the King

A friend of mine talks about "kisses from the King"....just little no reason happies that seem to come at the perfect time.

I've had a rough couple of weeks. Phillip's been working a lot, I've not been feeling good, and Emily's not been sleeping good (which means Mommy gets no sleep either).

On Friday Phillip brought home a gift certificate to get a pedicure. Whoo Hoo, that was definitely an unexpected happy.

Then I got some 'good mail' from Hollee Ann on Saturday. Man, you'll never know how much that meant to me, Hollee Ann!

And wait, that's not all.....Yesterday after church there was a bag hanging on the mirror of my van. Inside was some yummy cookies and yummy yummy pumpkin air freshener thingy....and I LOVE me some pumpkin. The little note just said, "Thanks for your ministry."

Man, any one of those would be a sweet sweet kiss from the King, but instead I got a triple kiss!

God knew I needed a triple kiss cause today I'm taking care of a puker.... Her face is saying, "Momma, why are taking my picture when I'm fixing to puke?"
Oh, and I'm taking care of another jealous, feeling fine, non-puker!
Thank you Phillip, Hollee Ann, and my mystery person for encouraging me and loving on me. I think I'm going to make it....no, I know I'm going to make it!

Irony

This picture just cracks me up.
Look at that face...she has no idea that this book is going to rock her world!

Look out little strong-willed one, Dr. Dobson is already working on your little self, and Mommy is only on page 50!

Hero

Is there any other job on the planet where moving some kitchen chairs and throwing a blanket over the top can make you a hero for the rest of the day?

Nope, I didn't think so.

I love this job!

Well, most days I love this job.

If I forget about the fits, failures, and whining of yesterday then yes, I love this job.

Guess that's what life is about....Keeping your eyes forward and pressing on.
Philippians 3:14

She's gone and done it again....

...made me cry that is.

I'm talking about this post from Jenni at One Thing.

Man, she has a beautiful way of writing and often describes my heart to a 'T'!

I got nothin'.

Nothin' at all.

I know I've been MIA from my blog this week but I've really got nothing.

It's that 'I' word again....still sucks and I'm struggling. I'm trying desperately to hold on to Philippians 4:6, but I'm struggling.

Take me out to the ballgame....

Mara and Emily started baseball last Saturday. Mara loved it, and Emily...well, not so much. Here's Mara with her 'boyfriend' (she really calls him that) Caiden.
And I love this look on her face.
Oh yes, and this look on Em's face too. They just look like they're contemplating life.
Here's the only action shot you'll see of Emily cause she threw her hat and glove down and quit just a few minutes after this picture was taken. Not like she was actually looking at the ball being thrown at her though!
Here's Mara running the bases with the coach.
And her first time hitting a ball off of a tee.Run Mara, Run!And we HAVE to call DeeDee and Grand afterwards to tell them all about baseball.Yep, still giving them a play by play.Hopefully Emily will play more this coming Saturday. She did ok last week until she realized that people were looking at her, and then I kind of forced the issue and made her stay out there. (Imagine that, Emily and I butting heads!) It was all downhill from there. I'm just going to leave her be this week and let her warm up to it if she wants...and if not, then that's ok too. Anyway, could they be any cuter in their little uniforms?!?