are you good at math?

*** Update: the puzzle is not solvable. Somewhere in translation it got left out that we needed a 0 in it. It can't be solved using 1 - 9 only. Sigh.***

I have a puzzle that is driving me crazy, see if you can help...

You can only use the number 1 - 9, no repeats. Remember multiplication comes before adding and subtracting. Here goes:

we danced. in church.

To the glory of God ya'll, tonight we danced! This will be a short post as it's 12:30 a.m. here but oh my goodness I have to tell you the joy my sweet God gave me tonight. Let me pause here and say, please read my earlier post! You'll catch the fever that is pure joy. Tonight we danced. Moonwalked. Lawnmowered (oh ya'll should have seen that!). Shook our booties to the beat of the Holy Spirit! I mean it. We danced and delighted in it! I even managed to get some of our more "conservative" folks to dance! Wanna know why?? Tonight at Judgement House we witnessed.... *drumroll inserted here* 18 (eighteen, ya'll!) people come to know Christ as their savior. Eighteen more new brothers and sisters in Christ were welcomed into the flock tonight. I was a giggling, smiling, bubbling, crazy woman by the time the night was over and I had to stop and dance a little with the PAH-TAY I knew was taking place in Heaven. Oh my goodness. It was so awesome! A couple of people laughed at me, but I told them... "if you can't give God some awesome praise for 18 salvations, something is wrong!" So we all did a little bootie-shakin' for Jesus tonight! Even got one guy to do the lawnmower with me. My Pastor may now think I'm certifiable, but my God just loved it! 18 souls saved in 3 hours. God is GOOD!

I'm still smiling. Still crying. Still loving on my Jesus. Oh the awesome joy He brings us. Brings me. I am so madly, deeply, over the moon for this guy.

special time of year

This is a special time of year for me. And despite my current situation (see previous post) God has been so good to me and given me so many things to praise Him over. One in particular I wanted to share with you. Each year our church does a program called Judgement House. If you want to know more about it click here. For the past 3 years I've been a guide. Taking groups from room to room, introducing each scene. And I have loved doing it! It's been amazing. But this year, something stirred in me to not sign up to be a guide. So I didn't sign up to work. Everyone kept asking me and I kept making excuses. Finally the Spirit inside me had had enough. He put His almight foot down and said, "young lady, you will help!". I didn't know where or how, they'd allready filled most of the spaces. Then in class Sunday morning our leader said he needed one LADY (yeah, God is cute that way!) to help in the closing room. To help counsel any women that might want to stay behind and talk. Sigh. Got me. But I've always thought the closing room was boring, not really for me. I'm too high-strung to be in there. It's serious time. Quiet, elevator music flows while a nice, calm, person talks about and delivers the gospel message one final time. Stick me in there and I'd stick out like a sore thumb with my loud mouth, bubbly personality, and constant need to chat. :) But stick me in there God did. To be honest I think I scared them. They didn't really know what to do with my chatting and giggling style. But I kept them laughing ya'll. And in a good way. They had fun with me. And to God's glory, I got to stand in that room group after group and watch as 17 people turned their lives over to Christ and were saved. It is the best feeling in the world to see those hands go up. To sit quietly and pray that each and every one of them be touched in someway by the hand of God, and then witness their hands come up, almost reaching out for salvation.... it gives me chill bumps. I can't even describe the joy my heart was filled with by the end of the night. Yes I was tired. Yes I had to haul sleeping boys to the van. Yes it had been a long night. But none of that matters. Even if it had only been one hand raised the entire night, folks, it would have been SO worth all that other junk. But to get to witness as God lovingly placed His Spirit into 17 new creations.... I just can't explain it. It was the most awesome thing.

eventually london bridge came down

That's how I feel this week. Trapped. You know when you're kids and you play London Bridge and you trap someone between your arms when the bridge comes down? I used to hate that. I hated feeling trapped. I always wanted to be the one that snuck by, skated through, just before the bridge came down. Oh how I hated getting stuck. I still can't bring myself to play the game with my boys. I can't stand being stuck. No where to go. Arms pinned. Can't move. It still gets to me. But right now, I'm stuck. The bridge fell on me, and I can't move. I have something weighing heavy on me. So heavy it leaves me tired and dragging each day. I feel it when I wake, when I sleep (IF I sleep)... I feel it all the time. I know satan is upon me. Attacking my every step. Coming down on my so hard at times it's hard to breath. I spent a good 20 minutes bawling in the car the other morning because I just didn't know what else to do. Why am I sharing this? I have no idea. Probably not a wise choice. I just feel a huge urge to reach out. I need some prayer. I mean, serious prayer. Knees to the floor kind of prayer. I know I'm not one to tell you how to pray. I just know when I have a sister who's down like this, my knees hit the floor. So that's what I'm asking for. Deep prayer to pull me out of this state that I'm in. I can't stand feeling the way I feel. I just wanna break out of the arms that are pinning me down. No amount of struggling works. These arms are sealed tight. I keep begging God to make it easier. Make my choice easier Lord! But I know this is something He doesn't want to be easy. It's hard on purpose. And I think I dislike that even more. Why do I have to go through this? I feel like I might burst. I want out. I want out from under this pressure. Free from this weight. Break me free Daddy! Get me out. I know I can't take much more. But I also know I'm not done until you say. Give me strength Lord. Strength to get to my feet and fight. To get away from what's trapping me. I know Your will is perfect. Give me strength to understand that. Give me peace when I rest. Quiet my mind and calm my nerves. Let me rest Father, and wake up ready to fight. I love you Lord. Whatever You have for me, I will do it for You.

my weekend in photos

So we had a very busy weekend! (and stressful, but it's getting better) Friday night we had a fall festival at David's school. Didn't get to take pics cause I worked the cake walk. The other ladies working it with me decided it would be fun to have the kids dance for cakes.... Sigh. I'm sorry girls. I had to do it. The "Macarena" came on. I'm so glad my child wasn't watching. I might have scared him. I scared myself. But I had a great time doing it! The on Saturday I took the boys to Boo at the Zoo. We had a great time! The line was insane but didn't take too long and once inside we had a blast! The boys got to see all the zoo animals and hit up almost every candy booth. They came home with halfway filled buckets of candy! (good loot too!) :) And then on Sunday David's class at church won a picnic for reciting the most Bible verses, and so we went after church to the park for hot dogs and swings. It was a great time despite the 90 mph winds we Texans are so fond of. Sigh. Big hair and Texas really DO go hand in hand. Okay, so here are some pics from our fun fun weekend!

praise the Lord I can finally have two Spidermen!

and here they are taking a candy break...

this is David (right) at the picnic with his friend Jeb (left)

and this is my favorite photo of the weekend. this is Daniel playing on the playground Sunday afternoon. I'm not sure why I like it so much. maybe the angle or all the clean lines... can't quite put my finger on it, but I love it.

the spider cake lives!

I did it folks! I managed to make the spider cake! It does not look exactly like the picture and I'm okay with that. But it did turn out darn cute! David was so excited he asked if we could keep it home so he could eat it. :) I made 2 of them, both will be headed to the cake walk later today, and then home with new owners. I may cry to see them go. Haha! Just teasing. Those little suckers took me an hour each, but I think they are worth it. Here are a few pics of my creations. :)

this is cake #1:

here are the "baby spiders" made from spiced gum drops and icing:

this is cake #2:

what's doin'??

Okay, so it's not Wednesday but what the heck, let's do "What's Doin' Wednesday" today. Share some thoughts about what God is doing in your life this week.

God is giving me some amazing insight into his word. I can not express how blessed I am through BSF. The women are so nice, my son practically leaps out of the van when we pull up to the church, and I get to meet God each Wednesday. Not the god I want Him to be, or the god I've perceived Him to be, but God. The one and only God. My Father, Savior, Friend, Redeemer.... I get to meet with Him each day in my homework and each week in lecture time. Sometimes I feel so close I can hear Him breath and I get chills. It's awesome! So what God is doing with me this week, is teaching me how to have a one-on-one encounter with Him amongst a room full of amazing gals. He meets me where I'm at and then sits with me. It's awesome.

Your turn! What's God doin' in your life this week??

the lofty goal of an amteur baker

Okay. I have a goal. It's a big one. David's very first school organized Fall Festival, of which I'm on the PTA planning team for (very dutiful parent might I add, LOL!), is this Friday. I happen to love cake walks. Don't love being in them, but love baking for them. I love baking period. Okay, so here is my goal. I want to make a cake I've never tried before. I got this idea from our local H.E.B. stores latest "Showtime" ad. It's a spider cake. If you've gotten the ad, you know what I'm talking about. If not, you can view it here. Now, although my cake won't look quite that neat, it will still be cool. I've gotten some Hostess Ding Dongs for the spider body, Mini Milky Way bars for the head, black licorice for the legs, and gum drops for the smaller spiders. It will be green, will have a black web, and will have lots of little spiders on the sides. :) My lofty goal is that I will make 2 of these beauties along with 10 miniture pumpkin cakes, iced and made to look like real pumpkins, complete with stem an all. Whew. I'm tired just typing all that out! So pray for me gals! I've baked all the cakes allready and have frozen them, (little side note - freezing a cake before icing them makes the icing process MUCH easier!), and will do all the decorating and icing all day Friday. The festival is Friday night. David is so excited it's all he talks about. I am having to make him his own cake here at the house because he wants one of my cakes "sooooooooo bad!" he says. :) Way to make a momma feel good baby! :) I'll post pics when I get them all iced and pretty!

This is Our God

this just might be my new favorite song. Take refuge in your Father. He wants to be your comfortor.

the boy did good

Ah yes, my son the star! David will be receiving a really neat award at school tomorrow. He had been given the "Star Student" award and there will be a ceremony and reception tomorrow at school. Each six-weeks teachers pick one student who has been a "star" student for the entire six-weeks. They'll have an assembly and announce the students one by one and read a short letter that each recipients teacher has written about them. Then they'll get their award and have cookies and kool-aid after all the awards are handed out. I can't wait! I've allready got my camera ready with fresh batteries, and have an extra set tucked away just in case. Maybe a little over-zealous you might say, but hey, I'm durn proud of my kiddo ya'll! He's been so excited about school and loves getting to go each day. He loves his teacher, his class, his friends, loves it all. Well except the lunches, but who among us hasn't hated cafeteria food at one point. :) I am so stinkin proud of my boy! I'll be sure to post pics of his award moment tomorrow afternoon! They may be a little shaky, I'm a bawl-bag at stuff like this. LOL!

the mind reels

Oh folks. Can I just tell you how awesome Wednesdays are for me? I wake up around 5:30 a.m. because I'm so excited to get my day going. BSF is the biggest blessing of my week. I can't believe God lets me go! It's the best Bible study I think I may have ever done. Please don't take offense to that. It's just that God knew exactly when I'd be prepared for this. He knew the absolute perfect time in my life for me to begin BSF and now I'm salavating each week with what I will learn and what the lecture will be like. The lecture... oh the lecture! I think it's safe to say that if I could stalk these girls and soak up every bit of their Biblical knowledge without getting weird looks, I would. They are so stinkin' smart! I'm like a kid in the candy store during lecture time. I know they must think I'm a HUGE nerd! I scribble and scribble away so much that my wrist hurts because I'm taking so many notes. I carry away so much from them my mind reels to catch up with everything I've just taken in. It's been absolutely amazing! I'm in love. I love everything about how BSF works and the content of the homework is awesome. I don't think I have to tell you how much I love the lectures, but I will. :) I LOVE them! I just keep thinking about how lucky I am to get to sit in with all these amazing, smart, women and I get to learn from them. It's so exciting to see what jewel God has for me each day. And it's there, as promised, waiting to be dug out. Somedays are harder than others to find it, but the thrill of the hunt is there! I am having the time of my life. It's been so neat to take in each part of Jesus' early life and drink it in bit by bit. And then turning it around and applying it to my life today... Ya'll there's no joking when you hear the phrase "Living Bible". Each and every part of the Bible has some meaning to today. Even if it's just something that happened to put today in motion 300 years ago, it's got an impact on today. I think the most amazing thing I'm learning is that what happened 2000 years ago, God meant for me to learn about and apply today. It's just so cool! There's no way my mind would have been able to handle all this a few years back. God is amazing ya'll. Simply amazing. I'll be sharing more thoughts as the week goes on. And if you've never heard of BSF please check out www.bsfinternational.org and find a host church in your area. You will absolutely love it! I encourage everyone to at least try it. You'll learn so much more about the Bible, God, Jesus, and yourself than you ever thought you would. I thought I knew the Bible pretty well. Not as well as some, but not as little as others. In doing this study I've realized I really didn't know much at all! I know the "blanket" stories, but haven't ever really gotten to the meat of most of them. BSF takes you there, and then some sometimes! Look it up, check it out. You won't regret it!

Lord I'm in awe of your work in me this past month. It's been a rollercoaster to say the least, but one I'm happy to ride on any time! It's so exciting to open your word each day now. Our time together is what I look forward to each morning. I can't wait to wake up tomorrow and see what you've got for me. Thank you for the amazing women you have put in place at BSF. Thank you for their dedication, knowledge, and care for each participant. And thank you for the wonderful woman you sent to tell me about it. I am blessed to be able to go with two amazing friends and sit among such great women. I'm even starting to enjoy the hymns! Thank you thank you thank you Lord! My desire is to know you and become more like you. I hunger for your word each day, and can't wait for tomorrow!

Oh girls. Somebody shout an Amen with me!

couple of thoughts

I finished up this weeks BSF homework just now and I'm mulling over a few scriptures that I read. I just love when the Lord does that to me! So I've placed them on notecards and will meditate on them over the next few days. But I want some of your thoughts on one set of scriptures in particular. The passage is from Luke 1:13-15. It says:

But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son and you are to give him the name John. He will be a joy and a delight to you and many will rejoice because of his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from birth."

What struck me as odd was that this passage was filled with the joy of a new birth, a long awaited son that Zechariah thought might not ever come. (he was gettin up there ya'll) And then mysteriously the sentence, "he is never to take wine or other fermented drink", was added in. Why warn Zechariah of that? Look at what follows, "and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from birth". So here are my thoughts, take them for what they're worth. :) I think that God warned Zechariah that John was never to drink wine, because it would inhibit the work that the Holy Spirit would do through John. There are many things in our life that de-rail us from walking the path God has for us. Be it alchohol, drugs, addictions, even gossip. Anything that would take the place of what God wants us to do, could be our "fermented drink". I think God warned for John to not partake in the wine because John had an amazing job to do. John was part of God's plan for the life of Jesus. John's ministry would be instrumental in the carrying out of God's will for Jesus' life. Therefore John could not be inhibited by anything. Basically the boy had to have a clear head in order to do what God wanted him to do. (that's Texas talk ya'll). I like that God got right down to it. Laid it out and said, don't let him do that because he's got ME in him. (emphasis mine) Makes me think of the dumb things I do that I know are not in God's purpose for my life. What "fermented drinks" have I put between myself and following God's direction? Is there something, even one small thing, that I have allowed myself to partake in that would muddy up the communication line from God's lips to my heart?

Lord how I pray that you would show me what keeps me from doing what you have planned for me to do. Show it and remove it, Lord. I don't want anything, big or small, to stand between me and the awesome plan you have for my life. I don't want the "fermented drink, I want You! Help me each day to stand up and make the choice for you and not creature comforts. Take those things I put before myself to stumble on and toss them aside. Whatever cup you have for me, I want to drink it in.

what is it about Trinity?

Our church recently purchased a really nice bus and sadly vandals decided to make it their latest victim. You can click on the link below to see the story, just scroll down to the video with "vandals" in the title.

http://bigcountryhomepage.com/content/news

The bus was purchased this summer. They have estimated over $30,000 in damages. It's almost unbelievable. Our church was broken into and electronics were stolen back in the spring, and now our nice, new bus has been torn apart like this. It just doesn't make sense. I think when things like this happen it must mean satan knows something big for the kingdom is about to happen. I don't it's any coincidence that right when we're preparing for 2 of our largest outreach ministries of the year, something like this comes along. And it makes me sad for the people that did this. Sad that they had nothing better to do. And sad that they don't realize that there is something so much better in the world for them. They can be and do so much more. So tonight I'm choosing to pray for them rather than be upset or angry. It's heartbreaking that something like this has happened again to our church, but when something like this happens you can either let satan win and be angry, or you can love these people like Jesus and pray that one day their eyes be opened to the all-encompassing love of Jesus. Please pray for our church and for the vandals that did this. They need some love from God.

ps - the man you see on the video is our Pastor, Kevin Kennedy.

fall festival

Well here it is. My favorite time of the year for our church. Don't get me wrong, we do some fun things, all of which I love. But October... oh man. October. Just saying the word gets me excited. I get to witness first hand the love of God on our church an community. It's the neatest thing to watch and be a part of! Each year I have been in charge of getting donations for our Fall Festival. Sometimes it is a little challenging, but in the end people come through and we end up with fantastic prizes! It always blows my mind the people God sets up to help support this endevour. But then... oh then. To get to see the faces on the kids whose names get drawn! That makes it all worth it! Some of them run and stand right in front of the microphone towards the end of the night because they know we draw until we see a hand shoot up. It's the coolest gift God gives me! At the same time, our teens (who have allready been hard at work) put on Judgement House. If you've never been to one, you must. It's amazing. Our teens have worked hard year after year, sacrificing a lot of their time to evangelize to our community. Watching it all come together and being able to be a part of it... I can't even explain the blessings that come from it. And then to hear the final salvation tally... Girls, it's enough to make you swoon. So yes, October is my favorite month. It's when our church comes together to help each other minister to and serve our community in two very unique ways. And all for the purpose of reaching out and showing others the love of Jesus. Can you smell the harvest? I can. And it smells amazing!

please pray

Please pray for one of my best friends and cousin, Annette. She recently had a miscarriage due to some complications. This was her first pregnancy.

Thank you girls, I know there will be some serious prayers going up from you all. It means more than you know.

water water everywhere

Okay, can I just tell ya'll how proud I am of my kids?? All 20 of them. Yep, that's right, on Wednesday nights I have 20 kids. I direct the Kids 4 Christ choir at our church and it's become so much more of a priviledge than it ever was a job. I can't believe I get to do this every week!

So here's why I'm so proud of them. We're doing a Christmas program about a little girl who started a food and toy drive for the needy in their town. So with that in mind, we're doing our own food drive to benefit our local food bank, which will in turn help the needy in our community. The kids were super jazzed about it when we announced it on the first night. So our first mini-contest was a 3 week bottled water drive. I am so stinkin proud of those kiddos! They managed to bring in 300(!!!!) bottles of water! They did great! So Scott and I will be dropping the water off today and then we'll get a certificate mailed to the church saying how much was donated, which we will of course frame and hang for the kids to see. :) So the next thing we are doing is a peanut butter drive. I expect LOTS of PB to come our way! The best part about all this though is seeing the kids get so excited about giving to others in need. They're thrilled to get to bring in something each week and it's a HUGE blessing to me to get to see their faces light up with excitement over what the next drive will be. I think I just may have the best kids in the world!

what's doin?

I'm going to try to start a new "column" on my blog. It's called "What's Doin Wednesday's". Please feel free to post anything that God is doing in your life. I think it's very important for us to seek Him out each day. To find that hidden treasure He has for us in each little set of 24 hours. It's there. We may have to dig, but when we find it, it's worth it! So what's He doing in your life today?

For me, today God has given me peace over a broken relationship. Yesterday I experienced the most awesome gift of forgiveness and healing. Second only to the reconcilliation of my sister and I. It was a relationship that I definatly had an equal hand in souring. Sometimes WAY more than my share of damaging. The friendship went caput in a hurry due to gossip and grudges, of which I definatly carried my share. Over one tiny incident, and the gossip gates opening wide, I let my opinion of this woman get tainted which opened the flood gates for satan to come in and have a field day at the expense of a new and fun friendship. And so spanned years of resentment, gossip, false reconciliation, hurt, tears, pain, and heartache. The bulk of which I'm ashamed to say I caused. To her and to myself. What God is giving me today is a realization of how far He has brought me from that place. To say I was a new Christian back then is an excuse, but the truth. I didn't know how to handle that situation and so let others tell me what to do rather than go to the One that I should have. But now everything is different. I can look back with maturity and humility and say, I did do my fair share of causing things to escalate and stay that way. But I can also look back and say a big THANK YOU to my creator for getting me to a much more healthy and mature spot. Where now I can reach out to her, humbly apologize (we're talking tail between the legs apologizing here girls), and ask forgiveness. Which came, to the glory of God. I think we made some angels dance ya'll! Or hopefully at least made God smile. And so today I claim peace over that relationship. And I'm praying that God lets a new one blossom there. One not clouded by the past, but bright and sunny with a newness that only God can bring.

Okay, so let's here it! What's God doing in your life today?

Marvelous Light by Charlie Hall

another awesome praise song. Lift those hands and run into some Marvelous Light!!

dancing with the stars

Does anyone else watch this? I am hooked. Watched ever since season one. This season though is my favorite! (cept I think Wayne Newton needs to GO) Sabrina Bryan is on fire! She gets those legs moving and, watch out folks! Do you watch? Do you have a favorite? I just love seeing celebs get out of their zone and do something new. It's going to be a great season! Although poor Kim Johnson having to teach Mark Cuban to dance... let's just say the rhythm didn't get him.

What do you think about the show?

mother's day out

Well the boy will be starting Mother's Day Out next week. I am really excited about it. I have been pretty stressed over the past few weeks and have been finding it hard to get some "me" time. So I called and the class has ONE open spot and if we want it, it's ours. So he's signed up and will go every Tuesday from 9:00 - 2:30. And now that it's set and he's in... I have to admit I'm feeling some guilt. False guilt, but it's there none the less. I know to be a good mother I have to take care of myself, and being stressed out most of the day doesn't do any of us any good. So I know that's a plus. I just feel a bit guilty that I'm doing this more for me than for Daniel. He will love it, I have no doubt. I had a choice to either do Music day or Motor Lab day and I didn't even think twice. The boy loves music. With a passion more on fire than mine, the boy LOVES his music. I guess it's just that I haven't ever sent him to something like this. I know we both need it though, so we're excited! And the best part is that his Moms Day Out class will be at the same church that our Wednesday BSF is at. So he'll be in the same place both days. It's worked out great and so I guess instead of allowing false guilt to cloud this fun day, I'm going to put on some music and praise God for working this all out in the span of 4 hours. Man, He is FAST! Pray for deliverance from stress and, BAM - here it is.

What will I do with my time?? All of you that have had kids in Mother's Day Out... what did you do? Clean house? Read? Shop? Gimme some ideas!