Another Weekend of Fun

 This weekend when the kiddos were here we had a great time:

• building forts, 
• enjoying yummy food, 
• playing at Ballocity, 
• going to an all-you-can-eat waffle fundraiser for some students, 
• movie on the big screen at dad's school, 
• church, birthday party for Great-Grandpa's 91'st birthday, 
• and of course, NFC & AFC Championship football games!

Fort Building in the Living Room 

20 Waffle Irons for the Waffle Man Fundraiser

Yum!

Everyone enjoyed their waffles for supper!

I cannot help myself

My family always jokes about how I like to organize.  My husbands family now likes to joke about how I like to organize.  It is true.  I cannot help myself.  To me, there is much comfort and security in organizing my world.

For example, I meal plan.  Each week or so I sit down, take stock of what I have in the freezer and pantry and plan meals based on what I have.  This allows me to use up food before it spoils and keeps my grocery bills lower.  Plus, I know that come dinner time, I have something ready to go and I don't have to worry all day about what I'm going to make when I get home.  Security. Plain and simple.

Now does this mean that if my husband calls me wanting to take me out to dinner I'm not flexible?  Well, actually sometime it does throw me for a loop.  How sad is that?  Sometimes I cannot see beyond my secure organized world to enjoy a spontaneous night with my husband.  But, usually, he reminds me that it is more important to connect with each other and that we don't eat out but once a month anyway.  I do love that man!


But while I do like things organized and like knowing what I'm making for dinner and what house hold task I will accomplish each night, I must constantly remind myself, or have my husband remind me, that this life is about so much more than organization and security.

Jesus did not call us to live a comfortable and organized and safe life.  In fact, quite the opposite is true.  And when I have stepped out of the comfort and allowed for some chaos in my world, that is when I have had the most wonderful adventures with my Savior and my family.  While I do believe order honors God, I do not believe it should take the place of listening to Him and being willing to have MY plans flex with what HE is doing around me.

Christmas 2011

We spent the Christmas holiday with Titus' family in Eudora / Kansas City, KS.  While we didn't snap too many shots this year, we did have a great time with all the family on Christmas Eve and a great, low-key day on  Christmas Day.

Abe with his new BB Gun

Grandma Nancy and all 10 grand kids

Nancy and her four children

Titus & Abe early Christmas morning

Estes Park on New Years Weekend

We spent a lovely night in Estes Park when in Colorado for New Years.  The day in RMNP was windy and cold - but still beyond beautiful.  We visited all the places that mean so much to us.  Where we were engaged, where we were married, the cabins that our family have stayed in for over 30 years.  It was a truly relaxing day.  So glad we were able to make the trip.

The Alluvial Fan - where we were engaged.  

Bundled up for Sprauge Lake

The Cold & Windy side of the lake

Happy 7th Birthday, Abraham!

This last week Abraham turned 7 years old!  To celebrate, we watched the K-State Bowl game, ate pizza, and cheered them on with our friends Keith & Becca!  Even though they didn't win, we had a great time celebrating Abe!  

Abe's Mater Colossal Cookie!

Blowing out 7 candles!

A Daily Meal

The local Christian radio station started a new campaign for 2012.  Last year they took a different verse each week and encouraged listeners to memorize it.  This year, they are encouraging listeners to spend daily time in the Word.  Something most Christians know they should do, but maybe don't always find the time or motivation to be consistent. 

After a great message from my friend and pastor, Ryan Ashley, about looking to the Bible not as a tool to use in study, but as a means for learning about who God is and truly getting to know Him through what He has written, I began to realize I needed to grow in that this year. And then I heard the radio's promotion of daily time in the Word and realized God times those events in my life to get my attention.

Yesterday I heard a conversation on the radio about how we should view our time in the Word as our daily meal.  We would never think of eating lunch on Sunday and then fasting the rest of the week.  We wouldn't make it through the week!  We'd be hungry, cranky, tired, etc.  We have to feed our bodies on reglular basis in order to maintain our health. 

But that is what so many Christians do.  They eat the meal of a Sunday service and then fast the rest of the week.  And then wonder why we don't grow or find freedom or overcome obstacles in our life.  We are not giving our spiritual lives what they need to maintian health or beat sickness.  We get caught in the rut of starting off strong on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday.  But by the middle of the week we are tired, cranky, depressed, and falling back into old habits once again.

So that is my challenge.  In a few weeks I start co-leading an online Bible Study through my church.  I look forward to this because I will be held accountable to daily read the assigned verses and log-in to post questions about the verses we read.  Daily in the word - and I'm the leader - so I better not drop the ball!  I pray that by the end of the study, it will be a habit for me that will carry me through long after.