My Testimony

I have a favorite song. The lyrics are the most beautiful words I have EVER heard in a song. It's old. I have never heard it on the radio...it was written by a local band here in South Carolina. I am going to post them. It describes my walk with Christ to a "T."

"My heart is so proud,

My eyes are so unfocused.

I see the things You do through me

as great things I have done.

And now You gently brake me,

I cry just like a baby.

You hold me as my Father,

and mold me as my Maker....

And I ask You, 'How many times will You pick me up

when I keep on letting You down.

And each time I will fall short of Your Glory,

how far will forgiveness abound?'

And You answer, 'My child, I love you!

and as long as you're seeking My face,

you'll walk in the power of My daily sufficient Grace.'

(Chorus again)

As I walk with You I'm learning

about what Your Grace really means.

How all of my transgressions were paid at Calvary.

So instead of trying to repay You...

I'm learning to simply obey You.

By giving up my life to You for all that You've given to me!"

I love, love, love the words to this song. I have looked for the track all over only to find that it was never available for purchase. HOWEVER, my sweet, sweet husband downloaded the sheet music off of the Internet and learned to play it on his guitar for me to sing! I am really excited. Now, we'll see if I can actually get through it! It is totally me. I fail over and over again. I am waiting on God to say, "Enough, girl!" This song reminds me that He will NEVER do that. He loves me and sees me as an unfinished piece of work! Thank You, Lord!

Little bit of Chuck E. Cheese AND tiny sneak peak of Spiderman! (to come when I download them)

Our weekend...

We have had a wonderful weekend so far. Thankfully for me and JP it is not over yet! Yippee! I am off again tomorrow, so we are gonna hang out and have fun together. Scott is playing in a school district golf tournament, so he will not be home. Good Luck, sweetie!!

We hung out around the house most of the day Saturday and today. Tonight we met Terry, Shannon and the kids for dinner. They've been in Tennessee visiting his mom and dad. I posted a few pictures of the kids. I hope everyone has a great day tomorrow...especially those of you who have to work!!!! Hehehe! I'll be thinking of you! :)

A little bit of Saturday

This is the day Scott has been waiting for! Gamecocks w/ his boy! My sweet boys.







Like father, like son!

FORCED pictures with mommy!

Had to tickle him to make him sit with me and smile. Oh well, I guess Saturdays are made for daddy!

FYI

The same little man I was frustrated with the other day just melted my heart!!! I was standing in the kitchen cooking supper....he was running all over the house playing. He came up to me and said, "Mommy, hold you....hug." NOW, if that wasn't sweet enough, when I picked him up to hug him, he said, "I wuv yuss" aka "I love you!" AHHHH! All you mommy's and daddy's know what that did for me! We always tell him that we love him and he always says it back. This was the 1st time he initiated it! That means he is not just repeating what we say..he actually understands what it means!!!!

Thank you God!

WANTED: Wisdom from experienced moms!!

Somebody help me!!!!! JP has had the croup this week. Thankfully, I did not have to miss work. His GaGa (Scott's mom) took great care of him for me!! Thanks, GaGa! Anyway, I called her just about every day to see how he was. Every day she told me the same thing...."he's wonderful," "he's a joy to be around," "he has been great!" And so on and so on. Now, what's my problem, you ask?! The MINUTE I walk in the door to pick him up, he turns in to the devil! This is not something that happened only this week. It's all the time. Don't get me wrong, he is a good boy and easily entertained, but for me and me alone, I get the pleasure of temper tantrums, screaming, throwing things etc...etc... NO ONE else sees this!!! What am I doing wrong?? As far as discipline, those who know me will tell you that I don't put up with much. I spank him often. So, I HONESTLY do not feel like he's being a brat because I've allowed it. However, I do not feel that spanking is effective in this area. I would spend the majority of my time with him spanking him. Does anyone have words of wisdom or suggestions?? PLEASE comment on this one. I feel very alone with this. Naturally, I would rather JP behave for other people, but it would be nice if I got to enjoy it as well! Let me hear from you....


P.S. This is not a poll to see who spanks and who doesn't, nor am I looking to see who agrees with it..I ONLY want to know how you handle the tantrums and attitude when they are angels every where else! It is making me crazy! (Now that I have said that, I do love my little Mayan more than life itself and he is a joy to be with a lot of the time. I am just super frustrated today!)

Controversy

All of you know that I do not normally use this blog for my (many) "soapbox" issues. However...I HAVE to say this.

We all know that there are countless illegal immigrants here in the United States. Recently a local plant was "raided" and bus-loads of hispanics were taken from their jobs and are being deported. I found out today that a large number of them were from Guatemala. NOW..here is where my soapbox comes in to play. I understand why immigrants are sometimes frustrating to us here in America. I, too, believe that if America is going to be your home, you should become a citizen/pay taxes etc. ON THE FLIP SIDE, I have spent a lot of time in their country, as many of you have. They are poor. They are not looking to become citizens or spend the rest of their lives here. They just want to work and send money home. We cannot imagine what just one week's salary could pay for in a third world country!

I am not going to go on and on, but I just wanted to remind everyone to pray for these people. It's easy to judge when you are unaware or ignorant to someone's situation. For someone who has a child from Guatemala, it was quite painful to hear about these people being "shipped back to where they belong" I believe that's how I've heard people put it. YUK!

Okay, I'll stop now. I was just a little surprised at how this affected me. It made me really sad. I love that country and I am going to pray every day for the people who have had to leave.

(I realize there are exceptions to every rule. I'm sure there are those from the hispanic community who may take advantage of their freedom here. So, please, noone comment about this. I am only speaking of those who truly are here, illegal or not, because they are wanting a better life or to earn money for their families back home.)

Surprise Party for Kathi

My mom, Dave and I threw a surprise 40th birthday party for Kathi at Gattitown! It was so much fun and she was really surprised. Me, Kathi and Rachael
Kim, Kathi, Rachael, Me and Angela (Kathi and I worked in a classroom with Kim at the Meyer Center)

Crowning the Bday girl with the flashing 40 birthday crown!

Mom, Rose and Kathi

Pictures from a Sunday play-date

Sunday afternoon, we had the exciting pleasure to have dinner with our friends while they were visiting in Greenville. Most of you know them, but for those of you who may not....this family adopted their little boy from Guatemala. We had the SAME agency, the SAME lawyer (unfortunately for the both of us!) and our boys were in the SAME orphanage!! They have become very special to us for this reason. We met through the internet blog world and mutual friends here in Greenville. There are countless families JUST in South Carolina who have adopted children from Guatemala, but for us to be blessed with the opportunity to have contact with a child who actually shared the same home with our JP is amazing to me!!

While we took lots of pictures, most all of them are of the boy's backs! The only thing worse than trying to get a two year old to pose for a picture is trying to get TWO of them to sit!!!!!

The boys had a wonderful time and began playing within minutes of being reunited! We enjoyed the food, fellowship and conversation! Thank you, guys for a wonderful afternoon! We can't wait to do it again soon!

Deuteronomy 30:19-20

This is my new favorite passage in the Bible! I read a page out of my new devotional last night (thanks, Kathi!) and these were the verses that went along with it.

"This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now you choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to His voice, and hold fast to Him. For the Lord is your life." (emphasis mine!)

Did you get that??!! Moses was talking to the Israelites as they were headed to the Promised Land. Basically God has handed us this life. We get to choose how we want to live it. If we choose to listen to Him, we will experience the blessings He has for us along the way. He's not going to force us. He loves us too much for that.

The very last sentence is what hit me hard. "For the Lord is your life!" If the Lord is REALLY my life, then my life makes sense! Not that it's always gonna be pretty. A lot of times it will hurt. I may not always experience security or satisfaction, the things the world tells you brings happiness. But if I look at the Lord as being my life, then none of it matters. I am only here for one reason! My coworker who lost her son...as tragic as that was, our children never really belong to us anyway. They are on loan from God. I am not minimizing ANYONE'S pain, I am just saying that if we change our perspective, maybe we can at least attempt to understand and allow God to handle our pain for us.

I have been smiling since reading these verses last night. I want the Lord to be my life! I want that for everyone. I encourage you to read this passage, if not the whole chapter. It's awesome!

I hope everyone is having a great week. Things are good here. JP is spending the night with my mother in law and sister in law tomorrow night. That's a prayer request for them! Good luck, guys! I'm sure Scott and I will appreciate actually sleeping in the same bed together. Friday night, we are going to the movies w/ Terry, Shannon and my cousin Jamie and his friend, Jennifer to see FIREPROOF! I am really excited about this! I will be sure and give my review of the movie! Tomorrow is my girl, Kathi's 40th birthday, so stay tuned for a bday post tomorrow and if you know her be sure and wish her a happy day!

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