Walking Down Memory Lane

We just got home from spending a night in one of my most favorite cities in the world. Chattanooga, Tennessee. Not what some would call remarkable when compared to other places such as London, Paris, Rome (all really cool cities to be sure). But for me, Chattanooga holds my heart, because when I visit there, I am able to revisit some very happy times.

In Chattanooga, 11 years ago, James and I had our first date at the Tennessee Aquarium and the Big River Grill. One year after that, James and I celebrated our first Christmas as a married couple in Chattanooga. When we found out we were pregnant with Jack we celebrated by going to Chattanooga. Throw in a few anniversary trips, and to me it is a very special place indeed. We took the kids there for a quick overnight trip. We found out very quickly when we got to the hotel that Jack had never stayed in a hotel before and Caroline had not stayed in one since she was very little (I guess we always stay in condos or beach houses when we vacation!). They loved the hotel! Although Jack wanted to know ~ "where do we cook the food and where is the refrigerator?" We enjoyed a nice dinner at the Big River Grill. We had the opportunity to tell the kids AGAIN about our first date and how we met. After a walk downtown near the Tennessee River, we enjoyed a dip in the hotel pool, then got a good night's rest.

We spent the next day at the Tennessee Aquarium. Having been to both the Georgia and the Tennessee Aqarium this summer, our family overwhelming likes the Tennessee Aquarium better (although we do like the Beluga's that are at the Georgia Aquarium).

The children enjoyed touching the stingrays.

We saw some really neat Hyacinth Macaws. We also enjoyed the butterfly garden. Multi-colored winged beauties flying everywhere, such a magical place.

Jack loved seeing the penguins.

We got to see a real shark cage up close and personal.

One of our favorite creatures we saw was a 150 year old snapping alligator turtle. Caroline was shocked when we told her it was alive during the Civil War! (no picture of it, unfortunately)
We some really wonderful creatures. It is amazing how creative God is in designing so many incredible animals.

After an exciting day at looking at sea creatures, what is better than some yummy Ben and Jerry's!

We then went and saw a 3-D ~IMAX movie on Whales and Dolphins. Here we are before the movie, looking so hip and cool! Two tired and worn out children happily holding their animal souvenirs on the ride home!

Treasure Hunting

My son is a treasure hunter. Every where we go, he searches for treasure and amazingly he normally finds some. Sometimes a penny here or a nickel there, even the occasional quarter, but he almost always finds money when we are out and about (waiting for him to start finding those big treasure chests of $5, $10 and $20 bills).

But anyway he always goes out expecting to find money ~ treasure. And I started wondering do I expect to find treasures in my life. When I start each day, do I look forward to it with expectancy that I will find great hidden treasures? What are the hidden treasures that the Lord wants me to seek and find.

I try to always be prepared, to be scheduled and on time, hurrying from here to there to get it all in and get it all done. But often when you are an 'A' type person like I am, you rarely take the time to stop, breath, deviate from the plan. But if you never take the time to look around, you sometimes miss the treasures that are hidden in plain view.

For me one thing that I know I will find if I look, but seldom remember to search for is faith - trust. To truly trust that the Lord Jesus has my life planned out. That he has my steps numbered and my plans set, if I would just trust and follow Him. But I often don't rely on Him to begin with. Not until I am in the middle of a mild crisis or situation, then I remember - "oh yeah, trust God". But His treasure for me is so easily found in Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a hope and a future." Now that is some kind of awesome treasure. A hope and a future. You can't ask for much better than that. But when the bills pile up, or the air conditioner goes out (downstairs is kind of warm right now!), or I have a difficult day with the kids or James and I aren't on the same page, or my students at school are on my last nerve. Do I trust in that hope and that future or do I look on my life with frustration and despair?

Look for the treasure. A hope. A future.

Do I trust that the Lord will never leave me nor forsake me? How many times do we walk through life and feel like we are walking completely alone. That there is no one else there that could possibly understand. That we feel completely forsaken. And if we are completely honest, those we love the most will let us down, will not meet all our needs, will forsake us - not forever, but in the moment they will. But the Lord will NEVER leave us or forsake. He promises us in
Deuteronomy 31:6 ~ Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.

Look for the treasure. Never Forsaken. Never Alone.

What about when I'm scared (normally at 4am for some unknown reason!) Or I feel that I am being attacked on all sides. When things seem hopeless. Where is the treasure in those times.
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust. Psalms 91:1-2. What an awesome promise. The Lord God of the universe is my shelter, my refuge, my fortress. He gives His angels charge over me that I won't even strike my toe on the rock. He wants to be my safe harbor. The One I turn to when it is scary and I am fearful (and fortunately He is up at 4am!).

Look for the treasure. A Shelter. A Refuge. A Fortress.

What about when I don't know what to do? What about those times when there are choices to be made, but I don't know what the right choice is? I am confused. (Being that A type personality, I don't like to make wrong choices - they upset me ...a lot). And if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. Proverbs 2: 3-5. When I call out to the Lord and ask for insight, understanding, wisdom, I will understand and find the knowledge of God. Isn't that we all really want - to do the right thing. But when we don't know what it is - if we seek the treasure - the Lord will give the knowledge of the right thing to do.

Look for the treasure. Insight. Understanding. Wisdom.

What about other treasures ~ smiles that are shared with family, friends and even strangers, belly laughs that make your sides hurt, kind words - both given and received, hugs when we are hurting.

Those moments when you see CLEARLY the hand of God working in your life and you take it all in for a moment realizing the God of the Universe loves you enough to work and move in your life and in that moment it takes your breath away. TREASURE.

Who wants to go treasure hunting today? I am sure if go expecting to find it... we will.

Jack and Sarah

My son received his first phone call from a girl tonight. And not just any girl, but Sarah, his bff and future wife (we and the Crouses have already arranged the marriage). Look at that little grin on his face!

They have been close friends with each other for several years now ~ which in their younger years ~ when they were 2 and 3 ~ included hitting, fighting and always getting in trouble together at the daycare. Jack was so sad this weekend when we were at church for servant leadership training (post coming soon - such awesome information) and Sarah wasn't there. So he was so happy to hear from her this evening (Jack says thank you Ms. Robin). Very rarely are they together that they aren't holding hands, hugging (I am a bit ashamed to say they were caught kissing at church one Sunday not too long ago ~ we're definitely working on that!)

James and I are grateful for their great friendship, because it allowed us to become good friends with Sarah's parents and through their faithfulness to invite us to church we belong to such an awesome church and church family now!

Here are a few pictures of two kids that in my opinion (not that I'm biased or anything) are just about the cutest things!

I'm sure you'll be getting wedding invitations in about 20 years or so!

Lights, Lifts and Lasershows

Yesterday we spent the afternoon and evening having fun scaling walls, conquering ropes courses, throwing balls and relaxing under the stars. Time well spent at Stone Mountain. We went in the late afternoon (to save a few dollars and to miss the intense heat of mid-day). The children had a blast in the Great Barn~ fun was to be had around every turn as the kids climbed rope ladders, gathered and shot balls out of small cannon-like guns and mastered the obstacle courses. We then made our way to the large sky-lift. Taking us to the top of Stone Mountain. Such breathtakingly beautiful scenery and skyscapes of Atlanta. I could have spent many hours up there thinking, reflecting, writing. But not this trip... it was time to make our way to Sky Hike!
Sky Hike, a new attraction at Stone Mountain, is a large 3-level ropes course. Everyone braving the ropes course are hooked onto safety-harnesses that keep you from falling....too far. Jack and Sarah weren't big enough so, we stayed closer to the ground on the smaller ropes course.

Caroline was very proud of herself because she faced her fear of heights and made it through 2 of the 3 levels. She said she had to keep quoting, Phillipians 4:13 ~ "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." (can I tell you that I just love that she is learning scripture and using it to rely on the Lord when she is facing different challenges).

After braving and conquering the challenges of Sky Hike, we were so excited to see James. All the men joined us for a picnic dinner on the main lawn at Stone Mountain. After dinner we enjoyed the laser show and fireworks. The music was great ~ We heard everything from Devil Went Down to Georgia to High School Musical. Lots of fun.

Definitely was a great way to enjoy one of our last adventures of the summer!

You Dye, We Dye, We all have Fun with Tie-Dye

Today we got together with several friends and enjoyed the morning being creative and turning plain white shirts, pillowcases and socks into lovely works of wearable art!

We started with lots and lots of rubber bands - 3 packs worth - and tied our garments up.

After tying everything up, we then soaked them in the dye solution. The children were very creative with the different color combinations they chose.

Here are some of the final products that they created.

Caroline and her pillowcase in her new school colors! Aiden's blue and green shirt.

Jack's blue, yellow and green pillowcase.

Loads of fun and an inexpensive way to create some fun lasting (until they grow out of the clothes!) memories

Whatever is True....

On Sunday, our pastor taught on the book of Philippians. Over the last year, each week we've been focusing on a different book of the Bible. This past week was Philippians which has always been one of my favorite books of the Bible. My love of Philippians probably started in 5th grade when I had to memorize, Philippians 2:2-11~ Make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose....

Philippians is a positive book to me. One about choosing to have a good attitude and choosing to be joyful. We learned Sunday that Paul when he was writing Philippians was in prison and not just in prison but chained 24/7 to a Roman guard. And yet, he still was able to say he had learned to be content in any circumstances (Phil. 4:11).

We then went on to focus on Philippeans 4:8 ~ Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. .

I think too often it is easy to focus on what isn't going right and what we want to be different or how we want things to change instead of focusing on what is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good repute, excellent and worthy of praise.

Sometimes things are just rough and it is hard to focus on those things. We are hurting and it is difficult to find joy in the midst of those times that are so trying and hard. And I think God understands that and walks beside us and truly carries us through those really difficult and sad times. It is not during those hard, heartsick times that I am talking about.

But I also think, sometimes people just find it easier to dwell on the things that irritate or bug them. I know I do. It is easy to let my frustrations get the better of me. To not have grace for those people who do not meet my expectations in JUST the way I want them met. To put my own requirements, standards and expectations on others, and to be frustrated when they aren't fulfilled or I find out the standards of others aren't the same as mine. And then from there ~ the anger, bitterness, resentment can start and get a foothold in my life. I think it is important and very critical (for me at least) to really watch my expectations and emotions and make sure I'm not judging others because their personal preferences are different than mine. (and then secretly thinking I am better than they are because to ME, my choices are ALWAYS better). Of course, I am not talking of those things that are explicit in God's word, but more those things that are ambiguous, gray areas, and personal preferences.

When I take the time to focus and set my heart on those things that are true, honorable, right, pure and lovely, I know I am much more joyful and probably a much nicer person to be around. I am a better witness to the Lord's love for us all. And it is all about the choice that I make each day regarding my attitude. What do I CHOOSE to focus on. Do I find the good, honorable and lovely aspects of others or the situation I am currently facing or do I focus on the negatives. They are both there in each one of us, it is all about what we focus on.

One of my most favorite sayings is by Charles Swindoll.

Attitude

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.

Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill.

It will make or break a company... a church... a home.

The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable.

The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude... I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.

And so it is with you... we are in charge of our attitudes.

Challenges and Chuckles

Caroline often encourages me and challenges me with her heart. We live in an area where people are often seen holding large wooden signs advertising for open houses, sales, etc. Don't know why the signs can't be put into the ground, but nonetheless, they aren't. Living in Georgia it is really HOT this time of year. We were driving home from church today and Caroline saw one of those guys standing near the entrance of our subdivision advertising for an open house in our neighborhood. He was a young guy in his 20s I would guess. I made the comment that he must be hot. On the way home Caroline asked if we could go back and take him a bottle of water. I hemmed and hawed. Told her I thought I had drunk the last of the bottles. I was tired and wanted to go home. But when we got home, she was persistent. I agreed and took her back to the spot where he was standing. She was so cute as she jumped out of the car. I heard her say, "Would you like a bottle of cold water?" and handed it to the gentleman. He repeatedly said thank you in broken English and she waved and skipped back to the car. I was very challenged by her servant heart who desired to help someone she didn't know. I think I get carried away sometimes with thinking of what BIG thing I could do to help someone. I often forget, that sometimes you just need to offer a cup of cold water to someone on a hot day.

On to Jack. Jack is starting Kindergarten in a couple of weeks. They have a behavior management system in place at school where they start each day on purple then if they continously make poor choices they will move their clips with their names on them to green - yellow and then red. He already knows this system from last year, but we haven't talked about it at all in a while. Yesterday in the car, Jack said to me, "Mommy, God made me good and bad.". And I had to correct him that God only makes good things, but we are the ones who sometimes make bad choices. He shook his head slowly. "Mommy, well, it is just super hard to make good choices all the time and have 'purple' behavior. But I'm going to keep on trying."

Edited to add: Jack and I were just going over his letters and what different words start with different letters. We got to the letter Oo and he said, "I know what word starts with Oo ~ 'Oh, No you didn't' ".

Heading down towards the end of the road

Summer is almost up. This is the time of year, I begin to dread. As much as I like my job, and enjoy it once I get those little buggers trained, I thoroughly LOVE my summers with my family. So with 16 days left before I have to report back to school, I start thinking of all the things I still want to do.

With that said we've got lots planned for the next couple of weeks that I am excited about. I hope to make as many memories for us all the way up until the very last minute! What we've got on tap for now (in a somewhat chronological order)
~ Date with James, birthday party for my nephew~ Noah, Stone Mountain and laser show, tie dying party, planetarium and observatory trip to Fernbank, 2-day visit to Chattanooga to go to the aquarium and possibly Rock City, cook-out for our church life-group. Throw in several more trips to the pool, at least one more trip to the indoor jumping house, shopping for school supplies, school hair cuts (for me and Caroline), wedding shower, wedding and at least 2 more movies and then we'll call it a day. Forgot one - Caroline and I are going to go see my neice, Allie, in the local production of Wizard of Oz.

After that, the kids have a week at their grandparents in Tennessee to enjoy. Caroline gets to play an extra week after that (lucky dog). So she'll spend some extra time at the lake with her cousins.

What I'm not going to get in ~ the never-happening garage sale and painting the upstairs hallway and our bedroom. I feel like I should have gotten more accomplished this summer around the house, but honestly, the house will still be here. The time with my family is far too precious.

Off to enjoy these 16 days!

Friends, Fish and Fun

We have had an enjoyable 3 days with our friends, the Blumes, who came to visit from Orlando. We packed in as much as we could in those couple of days and had a blast doing it.

We had a lot of fun getting out some energy and playing at Kastle Park. Lots of room to run around, climb, swing, play and have fun!

Caroline, Jack and Jayce looking up through the tires. Jack and Ian, best buds. Caroline showing her super-human strength!

My dear friend, Mandy and I, got to have a "girl's night out". We went to dinner with my mom and sister, Heather. We had fun laughing, talking, catching up and spending time with each other. The food was really delicious too!

The highlight of their visit was our trip to the Georgia Aquarium. We had not been in several years and it was a lot of fun revisiting all the wonderful sea creatures that live there. Looking cool, waiting for the 4-D movie to start! (Caroline, Jayce, Jack, Ian, Cody and Luke)Jack was fascinated by the jelly fish and how they move through the water. Caroline enjoyed talking to Nikko the Beluga Whale. It is so neat seeing all the cool creations that the Lord made and how different and wonderful they all are.