Special Day of Baptisms

On the Thursday night of VBS back in June, Lesa was riding in the van with me and said, "Mom, I gave my life to Jesus tonight." Of course I was excited, but I wanted to make sure she really understood what that meant. After talking about it awhile, she then said that when our pastor, Matt, was talking, she kept hearing a voice saying, "You need to get saved. You need to get saved..." With tears rolling down my cheeks, I told her that was the Holy Spirit nudging her to give her life to Christ.

It was sometime after that she asked us to baptized, so here are pictures of Lesa making her profession of faith on Sunday. Since Mike is a deacon, he was able to baptize her. What a special father-daughter moment!!!

What some of you may not know is that my father also was baptized on the same day. For some time he's been unsettled, but it finally took a health scare for him to confess his sins before God and accept Him as his Savior.

The change in him has been remarkable. He can't stop telling people what he experienced! Here is his public profession of faith...

What a blessed and miraculous day!!!!

Disappointment

Several times since last Tuesday (Election Day), I have walked down our steps to find my plaque turned around backward. I would turn it back around, only to find it backward again a few hours later. This happened for several days, so I finally asked who keeps turning my flag around.
Selah, age 8, piped up and said, "I've been turning it around, Mom." Relieved to find the culprit, but also amused by the game, I asked her why she kept turning it back around. She said, "Well, with Obama as president, we'll no longer be the land of the free..." LOL!

Seriously, though, I think many of you can relate to the feeling of disappointment after last week's election. I really thought that by some miracle the "good" would overcome the "evil," like most villian stories do. (I know, I'm being melo-dramatic.) I have reminded myself often, though, of Romans 8:28, "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." I know God was not surprised by the outcome of Tuesday's vote, nor will he be surprised by anything that will happen in the next four years. He is in control. That's why He's got the job, and not me.

Adam's Birthday

Adam turned 7 on Sunday, Nov. 2nd. He began celebrating almost a week before when Grandma Meyer took him shopping to choose his presents. Then, on his actual birthday he opened his presents from us.


We had a church group over that night, so he had lots of people singing Happy Birthday to him as he blew out the candles on his cake. Then, this last weekend, Adam had his "friend" party with a sleepover (or "farty party" as Mike calls 'em). The next morning, we went bowling at Retro Bowl in Liberty.

What a crew - adam, daniel, clint and colby.

He always sticks his tongue out when he's really concentrating. :)-

The boy also has quite a competitive streak in him. Even during the bowling party, we had to remind him to be happy in others' successes.

Spare!!!!

My boy is so big now.

We were looking at his scrapbook this weekend. I'm always amazed at how big he has become! I don't know if it's the fact that he's my only boy, or because he was the smallest baby...where has the time gone???

Adam is such a tenderhearted little one. I love witnessing some of those moments - whether it's him spontaneously hugging his sisters, loving on Noel or just sharing a toy. He often comes up and hugs on us. I'll watch him sometimes and try to picture what it will be like five to ten years from now when he's taller than me. Will he still come up to me and say "I love you, Mom," and then give me a big squeeze? Oh, I sure hope so...

Adam's Room.

Adam has his own room now, much to the older girls' chagrin. His room still has purple flowery walls, as we're still trying to finish the girls' room. I'm waiting on an order from Penneys, but once we get the bedspreads and curtains, I'll be sure to post a picture or two. I'm really excited about how the walls turned out! I'm still trying to decide on what to do with Adam's room. I do plan to paint a huge Jayhawk on one of the walls. But other than that, I haven't come up with many ideas. If anyone comes across anything, let me know!

November 4th - Election Day

I soooo wish I'd had my camera with me when I went to vote. I went around 11 a.m., hoping to beat the lunchtime rush. Our polling site, Northland Cathedral, has several districts voting there, so when I arrived, they actually had people directing traffic. I thought, "This is NOT a good sign. I wish I had brought something for the kids to do while we're waiting in line."

But, alas, we were able to bypass the long lines for other districts and walk right up to the Fox Hill District #13 section. The man handed me my ballot, and then I looked around for an open privacy stand, or even a table, but there was none. So, the kids and I found an open area of floor and had a seat. Now you know why I wished I had my camera. Picture this: me seated on the floor with all four kids gathered around the ballot. I started at question one - President/Vice President and went all the way to the end, explaining what the question was about and why I was choosing to vote the way I voted. Sometimes I'd ask the kids how they would vote for a certain initiative before I'd tell them my choice. The whole thing turned into a wonderful "Teachable Moment." (I'm adding another tally mark to the many points scored by Homeschooling.) :)

Forever Friends...this is what I tell the kids all the time. That friends may come and go, but as siblings you will be forever friends. Next to knowing Christ as their Savior, them being best friends is one of our biggest prayers and hopes for their lives. When they often bicker at each other, or say something mean, I always ask, "Would you say that to your friend?" They inevitably reply, "No." Of course, I can't tell you how many times I'm reminded to ask myself that same question when speaking with them or Mike. It's a two-way street, huh?