Who are you?

This maybe long....so stick with me! this is what I get waiting so long to blog:)

The Lord is really challenging me in a lot of areas right now. One of those areas is with my kids. You ever feel you are crusin down the road of life...things are good and your just living life. I'm really not paying attention to things around me just checking things off my list for the day. (I love checking things off lists:) don't you?) I recently went to a Pricilla Shier conference. I was convicted through a passage of scripture that Priscilla Shirer taught out of in Genesis 28:10-17. HE has used this passage to teach me so many things this month.

Briefly,
Jacob left a comfortable place (Beersheba) where he pretty much had anything he wanted and had to leave because his brother Esau was going to kill him. He left and traveled toward Haran and set up camp at a good place. He had to stop because the sun was setting and he could not travel anymore. He was probably thinking "how in the world did i get here? He got a stone to rest his head and the Lord reminded him of who HE was and what He was going to do in Jacob;s life. The things she shared that stood out to me was:

a stone
reminds us that we are not where we are suppose to be
in the mist of the hard stuff there is good stuff

It was in the middle of the the hard stuff in Jacob's life that He reminded Him of who He was. How many times do we ask for the hard stuff to be removed when God could use the very things to mold us into what He wants us to be and remind us of who He is.

I know that I am not even doing it justice of what she taught but this is how the Lord spoke it to me. Have you ever had times like this...This was my "wake up call"

Jacob woke up from his sleep and said, "surly the Lord was in this place and I wasn't even aware of it.

How many times have i been right in the middle of something and not even recognized that the Lord was in it???? I was convicted that I had missed times or opportunities with my husband, my kids and those that the Lord had placed in my path way. I was so consumed with my everyday life that i wasn't paying attention to what he wants to show me. My prayer is that He will continue to help me to be sensitive to those everyday things in life so that i will not miss Him.

ok, the story.....
Breck usually takes Reagan and Micah to school in the morning. He loves this time with Micah and Reagan in the morning. He has to leave at a certain time to get them in 2 different locations before 7:40.

Last night, we had washed Reagan's hair because she had gone swimming. well, if you know Reagan, you know she has a lot of hair and it is also curly. I straighten her hair because it is easier to manage. She does not appreciate her hair right now but she will one day:) It really is beautiful! So, I straighten her hair this morning for her because she cannot do this yet. Did i mention that she is only 8 and can fix her own hair? After i straighted her hair, i parted it for her so she could put it into in pig tails.

Have you ever had one of those conversations with your kids about putting things back where they go? Ok, Reagan and i have had MANY talks about putting her hair brush back so she can find it the next time. Have you ever known a hair brush with legs and walks to different parts of the house. I really have never seen a brush do this but hers apparently does. She likes the hard bristly one that if she put that brush to her head without it being straightened it would make her hair stand about 5 inches taller:) She likes this brush because it smooths out those bumps in her hair. She does not like bumps:)

It is about 6:57 at this point and they leave in 5 minutes. Micah and Breck are getting ready to gather their things and Reagan comes out of the bathroom with her hand wrapped around her hair holding it into place and she cannot find her hair brush.

Reagan: Mom, "where is my brush?"

Me: Reagan, I do not know where it is.

She is frustrated at this point because i am not helping her look for it. I hear saying in the bathroom that she is going to be late for school and that she will have to use this other hairbrush that puts bumps in her hair. I proceed to continue what I am doing. She hears the car crank up and starts to panic. This time she cannot find her hair bows. oh no, this is going to get UGLY!

Reagan: Mom, where is my hair bows?
Me: Reagan, i do not know....where are your hair bows?
Reagan: They were in my backpack and now they are not.
I can see the wheels turning as she is thinking, "where are they?"

I feel a lesson coming on, don't you? I simply say

Me: Reagan, why does mommy ask you to put things back where they go?
Reagan: Well, because so i can find them?"
Me: You are exactly right!

She proceeds to cry and tell me that she has not eaten breakfast, cannot find her bows, and that she has bumps in her hair. I lean out the door and tell Breck to leave so he can get Micah to school. She REALLY starts crying because at this point because she will be tardy. I ask her to gather whatever she needed for school because we had plenty of time and we would talk about this on our way to school. It also gave me time to calm down and regain my cool at this point:) Her emotions are in a downward spiral. I load Abby Kate in her car seat and Reagan comes out the door holding her bows. She ask me to put them in her hair. I do.

We are going down the road and she says, "mom, i FEEL like a horrible, bad kid." I looked at her in the rear view mirror and said, "You do?" knowing she was frustrated with herself because she knew how she acted and she let herself get to this point. I know this was the Holy Spirit because i said, "Reagan, is this (horrible, bad) from the enemy or the Lord?" She responded with her head down....the enemy. we proceeded with this conversation

Me: What do we do?
Reagan: I do not know?
Me: quiet for the moment and saying to myself...What? she does not know what to do?
Me: Who are you?
Reagan: I'm Reagan. (i'm glad she knows her name:)
Me: who does God say you are?
Reagan: she looks at me like she does not know? and she doesn't:(

I had being ready a book on "Spiritual Protection for your children" and i had just read on finding their identity and security in Christ. I had just thought to myself that this would be a good idea for the kids to learn these scriptures...and did not do it. missed opportunity but He redeems it. Thank you, Jesus!

I keep this book on the middle console in my car so i grab it and hand it to Reagan. She looks at me like what do you want me to do with this?It was flagged so i told her to open it and start reading.

Reagan: i do not want to do this
Me: you have no choice! read
Reagan: i don't want too
Me: I know you do not want to read it but you are because what the enemy was telling you this morning is not who you are. Who you are in Christ will never change. The way you acted this morning does not change who you are
Reagan: I am God's Child
I am Jesus friend.
I have been justified (made good in God's eyes)
I am united with the Lord and one with Him in spirit
I have been bought with a price. I belong to God

It is so powerful to hear them say this over and over!

Me: i told her to read 5 times
Reagan: MOM!
Me: Do you know what justified means?
Reagan: no
Me: made good in God's eyes
Me: What was the enemy telling you this morning?
Reagan: I was bad kid
Me: What does God say you are
Reagan: good
Me: I proceeded to tell her that as girls our emotions tell us all kinds of things and we cannot allow them to rule. The only things that can rule is God's word in our hearts. We have to begin to recognize those lies and remind ourselves who we are. I also reminded her that i did not know these things at her age and so wished i did so i did not have to struggle so much as a adult. Reagan you are made good in His sight because of what He did on the cross. He did it for you!

Is this not true about us girls? We allow our emotions to say who we are and go about our day not even recognizing the lie that was just passing through our minds and eventually in our hearts. I know this to be true in my own life. This was her hard place this morning (like Jacob) and God was going to show her something good out of this situation.

Thank you Lord for the seeds that were planted this morning in her heart. May she never forget who she is in You no matter what she does in life or how she acts. It does not change Who we are.

Reagan, you are so special to us and so thankful that He placed you in our lives. You are so beautiful on the outside but the true beauty is what lies within!

Oh, and Breck called to check on us after our morning extravaganza. He told me that they were pulling out of the driveway and Micah said in his own sweet way, "dad, I'm so glad that I'm not a girl with all that hair fixing stuff." Only a boy would say that:)

we made it to school on time...Whew!

Scavenger Hunt

Nana made a scavenger hunt for all the kids BIG and small. She had heard from a lady in her class about them doing this at Easter so she decided to try with the grand kids this year. I think it is a keeper when you look at these pictures.



Veggie Tales Bible Stories


Judy Bloom Books


Sesame Street Friends

Another Easter Tradition....
Every year we go to Georgia for Easter. Who is we? Breck's parents; Nana and Pops, my family of 5; Breck, Christy (me), Reagan, Micah, Abby Kate, and Erik, Sarah (his sister) and their 2 kids. Why GA? Breck's family is originally from GA and both of grandparents are still living and lots of family. We start out with a egg hunt at Oma's house which no one wants to miss. Yes, we do dye eggs but she hides well over 200 eggs filled with prizes, candy and money. Yes, you heard me...money. Nana and Oma (the easter bunnies)get up early while everyone is still sleeping and hides these eggs. We actually saw the curtains pulled back where Micah and Reagan were sleeping but no one has confessed who was peeking yet??? This year we let the 2 younger kids hunt first in their own section while we waiting patiently for our hunt. Reagan and Micah got to hunt with the adults this year because they are getting as good, if not better, than the adults when it comes to finding these eggs. They ran a pretty close race with all of us. The winner for the 2010 Annual Egg Hunt: my brother-in-law, Erik! Thanks Oma for a wonderful time and lots of fun memories.

Then we go to Granny's house where we eat lots of food again and visit with family. The kids so enjoy visiting with their cousins. The boys usually play outside with a good ole game of baseball while the girls just sit around and talk. It is the good ole fashion kind of hanging out with good ole southern food and sweet tea. We are so blessed to be apart of a wonderful family. Happy Easter!

Easter Traditions


Gammi (my mom) or as Abby Kate says "mammi" always makes a Easter cake for my kids at Easter. My kids look forward to this cake every year. As you can see, it is very detail right down to the dyed green coconut for the grass, which is Reagan's favorite. I took a picture of this cake before we ate it so i could document this special event. so every time we ate this cake, Abby Kate would ask me to take a picture of the cake before we ate it. She was all about this bunny cake! Thanks Gammi!