flying faith

i never thought i would be spending large portions of my day searching for crickets and grasshoppers in my backyard with my little girl, but alas, that's exactly what i've been doing for months now. i never thought i would learn about God's provision and his love via a super-sized flying cricket, but recently i did.

i caught a mammoth flying cricket. ( it landed right in front of me and my net.) but it escaped from the insect habitat when i tried to free a another cricket. emmy forgave me, but she was disappointed and asked me to catch another one. well, if you've ever seen one of these things you know that they are difficult to catch. afterall, they can fly. so after a half hour of searching, i half-heartedly prayed for a stupid cricket to fly into my net. guess what happened a minute after i prayed. yep, an enormous cricket flew right into my net. oh me of little faith!

emmy was thrilled to have a winged pet cricket. and i was thrilled to tell her that God does hear us and answer our prayers even when they seem ridiculous. God gave her the cricket. her response, "wow, so God told the cricket to jump into your net for me?"

"absolutely"

find your wings

It's only for a moment
that you are mine to hold
The plans that heaven has for you
will all too soon unfold
So many different prayers I'll pray
for all that you might do
But most of all I'll want to know
you're walking in the truth
And if I've never told you
I want you to know that
as I watch you grow
I pray that God will fill your heart with dreams
and that faith gives you the courage
to dare to do great things
I'm here for you whatever this life brings
so let my love give you roots
and help you find your wings
May passion be the wind that moves
you through your days
and may convictions keep you strong
guide you on your way
May there be many moments
that make your life so sweet
but more then memories
I pray that God will fill your heart with dreams
and that faith gives you the courage
to dare to do great things
I'm here for you whatever this life brings
so let my love give you roots
and help you find your wings
It's not living if you don't reach for the sky
I'll have tears as you take off
But I'll cheer you as you fly
I will give you roots and help you find your wings

mark harris

day 3

they did nothing

except...

the neighbor's dog, zoey, escaped and ran into the school. of course, the k-5 students were sent out to find the lost pup and bring him home.

i don't remember k-5 being so exciting and dangerous.

day 2

she did "nothing" again today.

tales from the kindergarten crypt

after further inquiry i discovered what happened on em's first day of K-5.
talk about having a bad day:
"during recess a girl swung so high on the swing that she hit a tree and had to go home. " (it's important to note, there are no trees near the playground.)
"then the rest of the class swung into the trees. some of them went home due to their injuries. some of them stayed. those who stayed got pinched by a mad crab who lives by the seashore next to the school." (indy is known for it's beautiful coastline.) "they all went home and i was left alone with miss lopez" - one tall tale by my little stephen king.

i wonder what will happen on day two.

12:00pm plus 13 years

"what did you do in school today, em?"
"nothing."

8:50-9:30am

"when will they let me in?"
"when will the bell ring?"
"why can't i go in?"
"what time will they let me in?"
etc...

she entered confidently.
no tears (from either of us)
no hugs (for me)
just a fleeting "see you later, mom."

growing up...

6:40am

"we're up at the same time!" - em on her first day of school.

tomorrow

school

west end

presenting our new dining room set:

where a kid can be a kid

chuck e cheese

emmy celebrated her b-daywith her cousins.
a good time was had by all. also a bit of advice,
go to chuck e's in the morning. they had the
place to themselves.

a bug's life reprise

with tempertures soaring into the upper 90's the bugs in our habitat are frying. anyone for chocolate covered crickets?

10:44pm

my ever-lasting splendor...

one













two













three












four












five
















I pray the Lord will hold you close
and keep you through the night
that you will wake up smiling
in the early morning light
that he will always comfort you
and make you brave and strong
i pray that you will follow him
your whole life long
i pray that you will grow up
to be wise and good and true
i pray that you will please the Lord
in everything you do
i pray that you will hear his voice
and learn to sing his song
i pray that you will follow him
your whole life long
i pray the Lord will bless you
with his presence every day
and i pray he will protect you
every step along the way
help you love what's right
and lead you far away from wrong
i pray that you will follow him
your whole life long.
twilla paris

a bug's life

one minute your hopping along enjoying God's green earth minding your own business and the next minute a giant leans down, scoops you up and places you in a little plastic bag. suddenly, the temperture falls and you become very drowsy.

such is the life of a bug roaming our backyard.

today we caught three grasshoppers and a cricket. let me re-phrase that. i caught them. a daddy long-legs and a unfortunate green ladybug joined one cricket and one grasshopper in the deep freeze. (i can hardly believe how quickly they "fall asleep" in the freezer.)

what's even more remarkable? i'm touching insects. what i'll do for my own little stink bugs!

jung

While on vacation i made nate's family take the test.
here are the results:
nate's parents: dad - INTJ and mom - ISTJ
joel and lauren: joel - ENTJ and Lauren - INFJ
oh, so fun!

There is no guilt here
There is no shame
No pointing fingers
There is no blame
What happened yesterday has disappeared
The dirt has washed away
And now it's clear

There's only grace
There's only love
There's only mercy and believe me it's enough
Your sins are gone
Without a trace
There's nothing left now
There's only grace

You're starting over now
Under the sun
You're stepping forward now
A new life has begun
Your new life has begun

And if you should fall again
Get back up, get back up
Reach out and take my hand
Get back up, get back up
Get back up again

matthew west

jonah prayed to the Lord his God:
in my distress i called to the Lord,
and he answered me
from the depths of the grave i called for help,
and you listened to my cry.
when my life was ebbing away,
i remembered you, Lord,
and my prayer rose to you,
to your holy temple.
those who cling to worthless idols
forfeit the grace that could be theirs.
but i with a song of thanksgiving,
will sacrifice to you.
what i have vowed i will make good
salvation comes from the Lord


then the word of the Lord came to jonah a second time...

and jonah obeyed and went to ninevah.
the ninevites believed God.
He had compassion on them.

there's only grace
there's only love
there's only merecy and believe me it's enough
your sins are gone
without a trace
there's nothing left now
there's only grace

what i did on my summer vacation

DINOSPHERE - children's museum
emmy and maddie dressed up as dinos.
the dome ceiling had hogwart's dining hall characteristics. however, the very realistic thunderstorm terrified maddie and we were forced out of dinosphere



























examining dino fossils














manning a sub














CHESS - first kill














HAPPY 4TH














maddie lifted the sparkler over her head a couple of times. thankfully the falling sparks missed her eyes. her angel works over time.












INDY ZOO
emmy relaxing on a python













aunt lauren and hannah-bear petting a goat














emmy's goat














checking out the chickens


















pecked by the chickens


















LAKE MONROE
watching sissy tube













"i can do it myself"
(we didn't let her but i'm sure she could.)













grandpa, captain (uncle joel) and emmy













ahoy, mates!














emmy loved tubing and swimming in the lake















maddie did not! maybe next year.
(but we made her try twice. that may sound cruel, but boldness is a learned skill.)












the family soaking in the rays. notice hannah soaking in everything!












maddie loved to "drive" the boat.


















so that's what we did on our family vacation!

keswick at play

a couple of days ago em and mad were busy playing with their rubber reptiles. (no sugar and spice in our house) maddie took her snake and wrapped its body around a turtle and shouted, "snake killing you, turtle."
emmy took her lizard and exclaimed in a deep voice, "stop snake. i will punish you." she grapped the snake and threw it under the table. "i've punished you", she yelled.
so i asked, "emmy, why are you yelling at the snake?"
and here's the reply i received..."lizard is God and HE punished the snake who disobeyed HIM. "

my little keswickian.

so i said, "you know that God does more than punish. He loves us and take care of us and gives us what we need."
"yes."
*sigh of relief on my part*
"but lizard is God and he punished the bad snake"

moments later maddie retrieved the snake from"hell" from which the lizard god had sent it and entwined it about the turtle's body again.

this time the lizard god asked in it's lowest voice to "please stop killing the turtle."
the snake agreed and lizard god boomed, "good snake. i knew you could be good."

vbs

is over...
we survived

spiritual gifts

ok, our pastor has been preaching on the body of Christ lately. some good stuff that i never heard during my "fundy" childhood.

for example, (and maybe some of you don't know this :-), but there will be more than just baptists in heaven. it was nearly surreal hearing that taught from the pulpit.

last week, he taught an easy way to discover your spiritual gifts. ask yourself the following two questions:

what's in your heart? (God-given passion)
+
what's in your hands? (God-given abilities) God asked moses this ? at the burning bush.
=
spiritual gift

spitiual gifts aren't limited to the few mentioned in the Bible. they are examples. which makes more sense. God is too creative and multi-faceted to hand out the same couple gifts to everyone within the body of Christ. woo-hoo - that means i have a gift and so does everyone else.
now i must place it in God's hands and let him use it.