Bragging on God

I just have to share this small little thing that happened in my life yesterday because I'm so very excited about it.   I had a decision I wanted to make and I prayed about and God clearly directed me.  I mean clearly.  Tapping-me-on-the-shoulder clearly.  And I guess the reason I'm so excited about it is because it's been awhile since I've felt that..... that thing in your heart when you know God is talking right to you right now.  And it also makes me feel kinda sad too - because I ought to be at a place in my relationship with God when I have those moments alot.   I hope I'm starting to get back to that place.  And to help in that quest, I'm going to try to record those moments here and share them with you.  Because I think the best way to say Thank You to God is to tell as many people as you can about how awesome He is.

So here's my story.

It's been a long time since I've been involved in a small group Bible Study.  I mean something in depth - where you have to do homework on your own, really study the Bible and not just coast on what I think I already know. I haven't done that kind of Bible Study since before Maggie was born.  Yep.  That's almost 7 years, people.

So since late spring I have CLEARLY felt God telling me IT IS TIME!  Girl, Get Thee to a Bible Study!  So I've been looking for the right one.  I knew I HAD to do SOMETHING this fall.  So I've been looking at all the options.  There were several..... Bible Study Fellowship, several offerings at our church..... I started researching yesterday. 

In between my researching, God brought a lady to my mind.  She goes to my church and I've known her for years but not very well because we've never had much opportunity to be in the same circles.  But I really started thinking about her - she has such godly character and I was just really impressed with how she carried herself and I thought "I would LOVE to be involved in something that she is involved with, just to get to "walk with the wise".

So I'm looking at all my Bible Study options at our church.  Narrowing down the list.  There were two that it came down to and I was leaning towards one.  I asked Ben about the book and he mentioned a friend had bought it recently for the class so I texted her and asked her who the teacher was.... it was HER!    Well, that sealed the deal!

So I had Ben bring me home a copy of the book, and can't wait to get started in a couple of weeks! 

Pardon the Interuption

And no, I'm not referring to that obnoxious show on ESPN.

We haven't posted on our blog in months but it's been due to technical difficulties.  It has to do with our old version of linux not playing nicely with the new version of blogger but apparently blogger felt bad for us old school people and fixed whatever was wrong. 

I've tried to update our list of videos and hopefully can start posting other things soon. . . 

Perhaps you are relieved.  Perhaps you are disappointed.  But either way, there it is. :-)

A Bubble Kind of Day

Today I was driving Maggie to school and she commented on the traffic and how heavy it was on one side of the street, heading downtown.  So we had a nice conversation about commutes and rush hours and things like that.   I told her about when I lived in Seattle and how bad the traffic could get there.  And she was appropriately impressed.  She made some comment about how bad it must be to live there with all that traffic.   I quickly spoke in Seattle's defense and said that it was a great city and that I got used to the traffic.

Then I told her a story about one of the ways I used to keep a light heart in the heavy traffic.  I attended many weddings while I lived there and when I received one of those little bottles of bubbles, I would keep it in my car.   Then, I'd wait for some REALLY bad traffic.  The kind when you aren't moving.  When people act like a tunnel is an excuse to forget how to drive.  When everyone is getting tense around you. . .

Then, I would roll down my window and start blowing bubbles!

And then I would look in my mirror to watch the expressions of the people around me.  They would smile!  Laugh!  In the middle of a traffic jam in morning rush hour in Seattle! 

Maggie loved that story.  And I always liked it too. At the time, I just thought of it as a way to lighten my mood.  Because you can't be mad and blow bubbles at the same time.  You just can't.  Go ahead.  Try it.  I dare you!

But as I related this story to Maggie I realized that there is a life application here.  As I told Maggie, bad things happen to us everyday.  Little annoyances, things that don't go our way.  And we have a choice about how we react to it.  We can upset.  We can let it ruin our day. 

Or, we can blow bubbles.

As Maggie got out of the car at school, we prayed that when faced with the choice of how to react to something today we would choose to blow bubbles!

Field Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday Maggie's grade took their first field trip.  The went to a great pumpkin patch in Saraland put on by College Park Baptist Church.  At first I was wondering why were were going to one so far away when there are other closer, cheaper, ones near by.   But my questions were soon put to rest.

The church really does a GREAT job with their field trips.  They had several activies for the kids - two story times, a pumkin decorating area, a general store where they could choose their snack, a "hay" ride (although there was no hay but I wasn't complaining), individual pictures of each and every kid (including a print out!) and a group photo for the teacher! All the stories and even the hayride had biblical truths in them.  Their many volunteers were WONDERFUL with the children - so engaging and creative!  I was impressed.  And the kids had a GREAT time.  And they were so well behaved throughout the whole experience.

But my favorite thing of the whole day was really just getting to be with the class - to put faces with names, meet a lot of the parents.  I've been feeling very disconnected from the class since I can't volunteer at the school that much with Abby.  So this was a special opportunity for me.  (Siblings aren't allowed on field trips, so Ben took off work and stayed home with Abby so I could go - thank you!!)

Class Photo:

(one child was home sick.)

 

 One of the Storytimes:

 Yes, Maggie was enjoying herself:

 Hayride took them to the baseball field behind the church:

They had a story along the edge of the field to read as you rode along:

Maggie with Reagan (left, tablemate) and Blakely (center, buddy for day - we rode together)

 Of couse we had to take one home.....love that smile!

So what do YOU do with YOUR leftovers?

This small trifle was made from leftover birthday cake, leftover cool whip and some chocolate pudding.   I put it in a hurricane vase because my trifle bowl would have been too large - made for a nice presentation!   I almost forgot how fun leftovers can be!

Nursery Rhyme Day

There was a little bear

Who had a little hair

Right in the middle of his forehead.

And when he had fish was very very good

And when he had none he was horrid!

Wait.... that's not how it goes.... let's see if Maggie can do it right:

Top 10 Favorite Things about OctoberBaby

The movie October Baby opens this weekend in Alabama and Mississippi (sorry everyone else! You have to wait till next spring!).  So if you are looking for something to do this weekend that DOESN'T involve costumes.... here's my top 10 things I liked about this movie...

10) The oil rig  - almost every beach scene has this one oil rig in it.. . .no matter what beach they are supposedly on. :-)

9) Alabama Theatre - this is an absolutely beautiful theatre - if you've never been to one of their movie nights I highly recommend it.  Watch the OctoberBaby trailer and you'll see it in the first scenes....

8) Evelyn - who doesn't love a good road trip movie?  Especially one taken in a VW Bus? Evelyn, the VW, rocks.

7) Mobile and Dauphin Island - home, sweet, home!  It's fun to watch a movie on the big screen and say "Hey! I know where that is!"  "I've been there!"  The bad part about knowing the locations is knowing that it doesn't really take a day to travel from DI to Mobile.


6) Truman - the comic relief.  He's so funny and his timing is great! 

5) Jasmine Guy - any Different World fans out there? Can I get a shout out?  I loved seeing Jasmine Guy in this role.  She was great!

4) Birth Mother - the actress that plays her has an amazing story.  Watch it here.

3) Jason - I LOVE that Jason does things the right way.  He treats Hannah and her father with respect when it counts the most.  Most Hollywood films wouldn't have played it that way.

2) Directors' father - he was at the screening in Mobile and told us a great story.  When his two sons were small, they said "Dad, we think God is calling us to make Christian movies".  Did he say "That's nice, boys" and pat them on the head?  No.  He bought them a camera and a computer.  Now they've won Dove awards for their music videos and have created their first motion picture which hit it out of the park.   Way to nurture your kids' dreams, dad!

1) Helping a good cause - 10% of proceeds will go to crisis pregnancy centers and orphan agencies.  Can't beat that!