Walking in Addyson's memory

Saturday, May 10, 2008 our family walked in the Payne county heartwalk. We walked in memory of Addyson Layne.
Everyone wore lime green shirts with Addyson's picture on the front. On the back it read, "Some people only dream of angels, but we've held one in our arms."

I'd like to think she knew we were walking and remembering her short life as a gift God allowed us for a while.

She is healed & being held by her healer, God. He held the other part of her heart and only God could complete Addy.

Walking 3 & a half miles wasn't easy and we were all tired afterwards, but that didn't compare to the struggle of an open heart surgery Addyson had at 10 days old. She is resting in the everlasting arm of our Lord.

So, we walked and remembered our sweet angel. She is unforgettable.

"This world is not our home; we are looking forward to our everlasting home in heaven." Hebrews 13:14

Tree-huggers unite!

In honor of Earth Day on April 22nd, I have decided to recycle!:)
I have a lot of friends who are "recycle conscience" and want as much organic as possible.
It wasn't that I didn't care before, because I did, but something inside me thought, "What if there are some things I can do to help the environment? I really want to provide my family with food that is good for them and is natural as possible. Maybe I'll try some 'all natural' products!"

So, since we have a curbside recycle service and a newspaper and magazine recycle bin just down the road at the school, I thought, "I can do this!"

I did some research on recycling and started saving the "recycle items" in the garage in the recycle bin.

When I went to Walmart and bought organic spaghetti, Hormel "all natural" honey ham, which has no added hormones, no added MSG, & it is REALLY GOOD!! I got some natural shampoo. I even bought some "all natural" Arm & Hammer deoderant without aluminum or paraben.
I wanted to buy some cute "earth friendly" t-shirts for me & the girls, but I thought I had bought enough!:)

It feels good to be "environemently conscience"! Maybe if everyone recycled and only bought "nautural" things, we could help our earth and our children & grandchildren would have a cleaner world to live in.:)

So I guess I've turned into a "tree-hugger"!

"The land you have given me is a pleasant land. What a wonderful inheritance!

Psalm 16:6

Caraline's glasses

Caraline got her glasses today! (look past the red eye)
She keeps them on ok if she is busy playing, but if she stops and thinks about them, she is trying to take them off!!
I'm not used to seeing Caraline in glasses yet! It took me a while to get used to them with Lydia too. Now Lydia isn't "Lydia" without her glasses!

We go back in June to see if they are helping.....

"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, & no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him." I Corinthians 2:9

good news and not so good news...

First, the good news:

We bought a "newer" car! We bought a 2005 white Honda Accord. We are pretty happy with it! (It has some interior issues, cigarette burns, but other than that...pretty good)
The back seat is a good size for all the carseats. (The backseat in the Galant was SO small, it was annoying & REALLY cramped!) We are excited!
Now I can put my "Addyson" sticker on the back window!

Now for the "not so good news"...

Caraline needs glasses! She is only 15 months old! We knew her eyes were not good. I thought that maybe the Dr would patch one eye for now, but, no, he said "She needs glasses."
So, we picked out some little frames (with a big price tag) and she should get them in Friday. I hope she keeps them on!
I will post pictures are soon as she gets them.

"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

2 Corinthians 4:18

Age of accountability?

What is the age of accountability? I think it is different for everyone. Some people, it may be 5, but for others, it may be 14.

Today something happened with Lydia and I hope that I handled it the way that God would have wanted me to. I saw it as a "teachable moment" that Lydia could internalize.
Scott was outside, painting the shed. Lydia wanted to go outside with him. I said that was fine, but to stay away and not to play in the paint.
A few minutes later, the back door swings open, Lydia is crying and Scott says, "She got paint on her hands!"
I took her to the bathroom, all the way saying, "What did I tell you about the paint?!" We washed her hands and the paint came right off but Lydia continued to cry. At first I thought she was crying because she hates to be dirty, but her hands were clean and she was still upset.


I asked her (and maybe this was a leading question) "Are you crying because you feel bad for getting paint on your hands after being told not to play in the paint?" She shook her head yes.
I thought this could be my opportunity to talk about sin and God's forgiveness.
I told her, "The Holy Spirit is telling you that what you did was a sin. But do you want to know the good news?" She shook her head yes. I continued, "If you pray to God and ask forgiveness, He will forgive you for your sin and He forgets it. Then you have to try really hard not to do that again." I showed her how to pray and what to say, but I also said that she had to pray it, not me.

A few minutes later, she stopped crying and peeked her head out the door at Scott. He said, "Hey, you stopped crying! Are you ok now?"

Lydia said, "Mom, I stopped crying, I ready to go back outside." I said, "Ok, let's get your shoes back on. Would you like to pray and ask forgiveness?" She said yes and prayed "Dear God, please forgive me."
She ran outside and NEVER touched the paint the rest of the afternoon!

Later that evening, I was talking to Scott about it and he told me the story: She was talking to him and asked if she could touch the green paint, and he said yes, it was dry, but the white paint was still wet. She got distracted and accidentally touched the wet white paint. She didn't do it on purpose, but I'm not really sure why she kept crying.

I hope I did the right thing with Lydia. I KNOW God has BIG plans for her! He reveals Himself to her often! I know my job as a mother is to teach her about God & what it means to be a child of God.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Matthew 5:8

Easter Sunday!

"The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly & tell his disciples: 'He is risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you. So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid, yet filled with joy, and ran to tell the disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him.

Matthew 28:5-9

Can you imagine what Mary Magdalene and the other Mary thought as they see this angel, sitting on the stone with clothes as white as snow, his appearance like lightning & the guards, like "dead men" probably laying on the ground?! Then the angel tells them that Jesus is risen!
As the women are running to tell the others, Mary Magdalene & the other Mary SEE JESUS!!!! WOW! That must have been the craziest and happiest day of their lives!
Only the ONE true God could conquer death!

Today is Easter Sunday or, some people call it, Resurrection Day. I really like that.
It's not about the Easter egg hunt or the Easter bunny, although that is fun! We love to have egg hunts and the Easter Bunny comes to our house, but we also love to look at our Resurrection Eggs and we talk about the REAL meaning of Easter; Jesus' resurrection from the dead!

I had a shirt that had some feet with a toe tag that read,
"I once was dead; I didn't like it"
That might have been a shirt Jesus would have chuckled at!:)

Jesus conquered death so I could be alive in Him! You have to "die to yourself" in order to live for Jesus!
God wants us to have eternal life in Him. To live forever & ever & ever & ever & ever & ever............ That will be so great!

I love knowing that I serve and have a relationship with the God who once was dead, but now, is ALIVE!!

Miracles happen! Believe in them!

Good Friday

I wanted to express my feelings about Good Friday.

I used to think that it was just the Friday before Easter. But as I learn more about God and develop a relationship with Him on a more personal level, Good Friday takes on a different meaning.

Good Friday was NOT GOOD for Jesus. It was a very painful day. A day that Jesus knew was coming. (And I doubt He was looking forward to it!)
A day that Jesus was beaten, spit on, yelled at, laughed at, nailed to the cross and died. The day an innocent man died for YOUR/MY sins.

In Matthew 27:45-46,50-51 it says
"From the 6th hour to the 9th hour darkness came over the land. About the 9th hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, 'My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?'
And then Jesus cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At the moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split."

Can you imagine being there the day that Jesus died? Losing a loved one is hard, in any way, but to watch your son, as Mary did, be beaten and nailed to the cross, must be the worst thing to be witness to. I have a hard enough time watching my girls fall down and bump their head, let alone seeing them go through torture, it would be horrifying!

As terrible as this day was for Jesus and everyone who loved Him, it was a day that God had planned even as Jesus laid in the manager as a baby. This day HAD to happen, God's wrath was satisfied. This day HAD to happen in order for you to have grace, God' grace poured on you.
To think that Jesus died for you can seem strange. I mean, that happened SO long ago, before you were a twinkle in your parents eyes. To ponder that you were on Jesus' mind as He died is mind-boggling!!

If Jesus could give His life for your life, what are you willing to give to Him? Your time? Your talents? Your kids? Your love?

This is not the end of the story.....remember "Joy comes in the morning..."

"When the centurion & those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake & all that had happened, they were terrified & exclaimed. "Surely he was the Son of God." Matthew 27:54