We took the girls to the fair after school on Friday. The weather was perfect, the food was yummy, and the girls had a blast! Enjoy the picts!
The girls also "won" three goldfish ( they were expensive little fish....), but that was towards the end of the night and after 5 hours of walking, eating, and playing games, I was too exhausted to take any more pictures!!! ;) Thank goodness the fair is only once a year!!! :)
For those of you who remember singing that song in Sunday school, you probably finished out the title of this blog with "Where? down in my heart, Where? Down in my heart...." And I will spare you the rest of the song! But today while I was running on my treadmill I was reading an incredible devotion. It was actually several devotions but they had such practical meaning to my life today that I knew I had to share! Maybe someone else needs to be reminded that God can restore your JOY!
The last few days I have had a heavy burden for a very dear person. Someone that I must shamefully admit I had given up on! My patience was spent, my help was exhausted, and I was ready to wipe my hands clean of the situation! But this weekend, the tides changed, my outlook has reversed and I know without a doubt that one day soon they will have their joy restored! They will soon be reminded of their significance to an amazing, loving God whom never left their side!
My devotion book is entitled "Fear not Tomorrow God is Already There" by Ruth Graham. I highly recommend this devotional it has been a blessing to me daily! The devotions I read today were entitled "He restores us with compassion, He restores us to our true value, He restores us through grace..." I loved the paragraph where Ruth Graham writes, "God gave us significance - incalculable significance. Why? He created us. He values us. He has purpose for us. "You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." 1 Peter 2:9
In her next devotion, she reminds us of such a simple verse with such enormous meaning: "Of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace." John 1:16
And one more, a verse I have repeated to myself so many times, "He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:6
So tonight, I know that God will restore this very dear person. Their joy will be restored, they will soon see their significance, their "incalculable significance" to a loving God who gives grace upon grace! I ask you to join me in praying for this dear friend, that tonight as they lay their head on their pillow, that tomorrow as they face what seems like insurmountable obstacles, that they remember their significance to God! May they keep their eyes on Him, may they fall in love with an AMAZING God who values, loves, and has a purpose for their life! A God who would love nothing better than to restore their JOY!
Since I started with a song, wanted to end with one of my favorite songs....
Never again will those words mean the same to me! Friday night while our family was out to eat, we had a couple sitting beside us whom we noticed gave us frequent glances and smiles. We figured it was because of our usual crazy commotion that accompanies our crew. Not to mention, we had an extra kid with us so we were probably even crazier than usual! ( if that's possible!) But before the couple left, they stopped at our table and said, "You can not imagine what those words Mommy! Mommy! mean" They told us that the lady had a brain tumor in 1995 and since then they had to give up their hope to have children. Oh how they wished they could hear those same words! Ashley and I both thanked them for the reminder and their words are still embedded in my mind tonight!
So today as the girls ran to me screamming, "Mommy, Mommy she hit me!" Mommy! Mommy! please fix me another snack" Mommy! Mommy! I don't feel good" - today I remembered a lady who longed to hear those same words and thanked God for the blessing of these two wild, crazy, misbehaved at times, dramatic little girls who call me Mommy!
It is one of our favorite times of the year. Time to get out the fall decorations and even more fun - time to visit the pumpkin farm!!!! Today was Abby's kindergarten field trip to Maple View Farms, it was a blast! She was her usual wild and crazy self and Ashley and I enjoyed watching her interact with all her many friends!
After we picked up Haley from school, we headed to our favorite place to pick up mums, pumpkins, and straw for our house - Ken's Produce - and then headed home to decorate the outside of our house!
This was a post from a few weeks ago - September 9, 2010.... Just getting around to posting it on my page!!! Enjoy!
What a day! Or what a week should I say! It has been a tough week, nothing has gone as planned, everything has ended up worse than I anticipated, but today while I was home with Haley who had strep throat, the Lord reminded me time and time again that His promises to me are ever present! That His hand never left my side, that His love is endless, and that if I keep my eyes on Him the prize is eternal!
While I was running on my treadmill today, Haley was writing.... She shares my love for writing, it is also an outlet for her, a time to release the constant commotion in her head! ;) She has not seen my blog, had no idea I had also written a letter to God, but here is what I found when I finished running... And I am typing it just like she wrote it!
Dear God
You blessed us with a great blessing that mommy had me and my great sister and you gave Kelly a wonderfull gift a baby girl and you new that was her dream to have a baby and you made our hole Family so happy, She wated for 12 years, you new just what to do you put the baby in Kelly's belly and you made it a girl. you are the best God we ever had in the world, we love you, your God of the Earth. We praise you we love you very much, your the God of all people. I love my mom my dad my sister. your the Best God. your the God of all Gods!
Love,
Haley
And it was sitting there with tears running down my cheeks that I knew without a doubt she reallys gets it! She has fallen in love with a great big God whom she knows cares about her! And if she "gets it" she will never forget it!
Proverbs 22:6
"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."
