Our Family Circus

A lady in our church had a vision for her neighborhood and the hurting people in it. She went door to door inviting children to AWANA. She said with each door the kids got excited and then followed her to the next door. She said she looked like the Pied Piper! At the end of the walk, she realized she needed help and enlisted, a more then willing, bus driver to collect the children to bring them to church. One specific family has 4 little boys whose names all start with the same letter. Last week, only one little boy came. I had those leaders asking me if I knew where the others were. This week I prayed specifically for that family. This morning at church, I popped into KIDS Church to help cover for teachers who would not be there. I was reading over the scripture preparing a lesson when I head the "NEWBIES" announced-those are the kids that are there for the first time. I heard a familiar name paired with another familiar name and then another-I turned around quickly...

Do you see your "name" on the wall? YOU ARE MORE!

There was a little confusion at our house recently....this strip sums up a similar conversation that I had with Miss B.

While we were in FL, we went to Orlando to meet Lien, a young woman I met in Vnam. We had to drive through all of the entertainment excitement. In doing so, the children noticed a skywriting and we guessed at each letter. They were thrilled to read "Jesus Loves U!" I wished I had taken a picture but I did not. Thankfully, a friend on Facebook had been there too and gave permission to use her picture. (Thanks Betsy!) Again and again, this plane would minister to all of those folks scurrying to get to what is likely to be the family entertainment capital of the East coast....all of those people! This pilot used what God had given them to go about their Father's business. Makes me think of 1 Corinthians 12, that we are all a part of the body with a different role. In Romans 12, we are reminded that we all have different gifts. No need for me to want to be a skywriter in FL, cause someone is already taking care of that and I will be real honest, I am so THANKFUL it is someone...

We usually leave our shoes at the door when we get home. All three of the children, as toddlers,made note of this and would ask us where we were going if we had our shoes on. I recall them telling My Dear to take his shoes off as soon as he got home to insure he would not be leaving. With cooler temperatures, the tile was cool yesterday and I wore flip flops in the house. As I was seated with my flip flops on, Miss B. sat at my feet and asked me to take my shoes off. She has been a bit needy and I knew she wanted me to stay put. She was so needy in fact that she had hauled her precious blanket around all day. The blanket is small and was pink, once upon a time. She calls it B.B. It is the essential tool for boo-boos, hurt feelings, and for a sleepy little girl. I explained to her that the floor was cold on my feet and I would continue to wear my shoes. She again asked me to take my shoes off. I repeated why I had my shoes on. She then took her precious BB and laid it at my feet and sai...

This is what we have been up to this Fall....so far, so good! Dolly lost her first tooth. She actually pulled it herself! It is that time of year, especially because it did not happen this spring-window cleaning! As a family, we participated in the Walk For Life fundraiser! Dolly's BFF and her mom joined us to make the walk even more fun (esp. for Dolly and me.) We, by far had the cutest wagon load there! The night before a birthday, we take some fun pictures of the birthday child while they are still "young." Miss B. turned 3!! She is still trying to form her little fingers into 2 for her last pictures as a 2 year old. This is my favorite picture of that night! She is about to be "caught" by daddy in a game of "You can't get me." Love that face! She and Dolly now have bunk beds and no more toddler bed. For our 3rd annual B Day, Miss B. chose to go to Monkey Joes! This picture is a reminder of why those inflatables are not always for adults. But th...

A lady invited me join her for prayer once a week. We met a few other ladies and since we live close to one another and the location. We decided that we would walk together to meet the others and pray. Our walk is about 30 minutes so we have that time there and back to talk with one another. As we joined together to pray, we share what we see God doing and what is on our hearts. We then pray-aloud together. Praying aloud seems so intimate. It is listening to someone else communicate with God-just them and their Savior and Lord. There is something about praying with a person, you begin to see their heart. In walking and prayer time with this lady, I have grown to love her. God spoke to my heart so clearly when I thought of this "grown" love. He said, "This is what I want....this love....this loves that grows from time spent with Me." God wants us to love Him, to know His heart, to enjoy fellowship with Him. For me to be in that love, I have to Show-Up! God is there a...