"Since I only had 6 grams of sugar, can I have another one?" he asked.

Michael and I got a head start on Valentine cards for his classmates.  We found ones that didn't have a super hero, pop star or a popular cartoon character theme (no easy feat!) and packaged them with a mini fruit roll-up snack. It was a total treat because I don't even buy those for my kids! We had a few extra and of course, Michael was salivating over them.  So, I let him have one with the strict instructions that we had to brush his teeth right after because they're a cavity-inducing sweet treat. After he had one, he turned over the package and read how many grams of sugar it contained and asked if he could have another one since there were only 6 grams of sugar! In your dreams, baby boy!

The other day, the eye doctor had given me drops to dilate my pupils for a screening. Unfortunately, I had to go grocery shopping right afterwards and discovered I couldn't read my list or coupons because the drops blur your vision for a few hours.  Aaarrrggghhhh! It was one of the most frustrating moments ever!!! I had to rely on Michael to read me the labels from the coupons and then find the right product with the correct ounce that the coupon listed! He also had to read my list for me---he was a life-saver for my sanity! He kept remarking, "Wow, mommy! I can't believe you can't even see that!" Yeah, me either! Boy was I ever so happy when my vision returned to normal later that evening!

I was reading Philippians 4 today and it struck me that when we get caught up in worrying about the future, our finances, our careers (or lack of one!) or get stuck in lamenting over what used to be or what could be, we're setting ourselves up for discontentment and turmoil. These negative and ungodly attitudes are like the eye drops that prohibited me from seeing clearly that day! We need the peace of God to guard our hearts just like the Word of God puts it in Phil. 4 to clear our eye sight! I love the NLT's (New Living Translation) version of Philippians 4:6-8...

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

So, in this new year, let's both strive to replace our discontentment, fears, doubts and worries with thoughts that are true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and things that are worthy of praise :o) Thanks, Apostle Paul for your timeless message!

"I can spell your grown-name! It's S-U-S-A-N" declared our six-year-old Kindergartener

I've been washing all the dishes by hand lately because I ran out of dishwasher detergent and am waiting to order some from Melaleuca later this month.  And although it takes longer, it gives me time to pray and reflect.  

This move has shown us that as long as we get plugged in and connected to a great community of believers, the trauma of moving away from the familiar is less painful. I love Andrew & Melissa Brownback (Andrew is the HS Pastor and Melissa is Krista's small group leader at youth group) and their hearts for teens.  I see Krista flourishing because of their leadership and love.  Promiseland and all its amazing staff (Mr. Jon was instrumental in persuading Michael to try out and remain in the children's program at Promiseland!) and volunteers have made such a difference for Michael now that he's more mature and adjusted to being away from us during church.

And since coming back from our trip down south over Christmas, we've had friends over every weekend.  I love having people over and having the space to accommodate everyone is a blessing!!!  It's been so much fun building relationships and getting closer to our small group and other sweet friends from church. When we first started going to Willow, several wonderful men and women intentionally reached out to us and introduced us around.  Now, it's our turn to introduce our different groups of friends to each other and it's been a blast discovering what a small world we live in (right, Linda & Lily?!?)!!!

Both Krista and Michael are adjusting well at school---a total God thing.  I have to confess that I wouldn't mind doing K12 with them again, but Michael surprised me the other day in this conversation.  He said, "I love my school! I don't want to home school anymore." This was surprising because he is such a homebody!  Of course, I asked him why and this is what he says, "You make me do more work when I'm in home school! In my school, I only have 2 1/2 hours of school, but with you, I have to do more school work like the whole day! So true, so true! It amuses me that he remembers that fact! And he added, "And now that I'm in school, I have so many more friends that I did in California.  I have a whole class of friends now and next year when I'm in 1st grade, I'll have even more friends!" Who knew I had such a social butterfly?!? Especially since he was so anti-social when we were in California! 

When I ask Michael what my name is, he always replies, "M-0-M-M-Y!" Since Kindergarten has been in session, he also enjoys spelling words in conversation with me.  It can go like this... "M-o-m-m-y, can we s-t-o-p at Trader Joes and get a s-n-a-c-k? Y-E-S or N-O?" And then for the first time yesterday, he excitedly told me how he knew how to spell my grown-up name! I was curious over what he considered my "grown-up name" to be, so I asked him to spell it and he did! Of course, I had to ask him if he knew daddy's grown-up name and he proceeded to spell Jacob's name correctly. I wonder when he made the connection about "grown-up" names? 

While driving back from school a few days ago, Michael and I had an interesting conversation.  It went like this...
MICHAEL: I wish I was Peter Pan. And I'm thinking, how in the world do you know about Peter Pan?!?

ME: Why?!? I didn't even know you knew about Peter Pan!

MICHAEL: I know about Peter Pan.  He never wanted to grow up and I don't either!!! Wow. I wonder what else goes through his little brain...?!?

It's already the 16th day of the new year and I'm wondering what happened to the other 15 days of the month...?!? It has gone by so fast!!! I look at Krista and I can't believe she's going to be 16 on her next birthday.  Michael is 5 6 (going on 36...!) and soon he'll be a little 1st grader and not just a cute little Kindergartener.  His logic can surprise us or make us laugh! He was pushing and squirming his way between Krista and I on the couch and this is what he said to her, "Krista, I get to be by mommy.  You've had her longer than I have so I want to be next to her now!"

The other night Krista and I turned off the lights, lit the candles and just sat on the couch sipping our tea while talking.  I love uninterrupted time with her.  Nowadays, interruptions from Michael and a constant boatload of homework take up the majority of her time so I savor these moments.

I'm reminded that every moment is a God moment (from my Age of Opportunity book study by Paul David Tripp).  As parents, who've been given the gift of our children, we have a responsibility to remind them that we live to glorify God with every moment of our beings through His power! So I'll end my blog with Ephesians 1:18-19 from the Amplified Bible...

"By having the eyes of your heart flooded with light, so that you can know and understand the hope to which He has called you, and how rich is His glorious inheritance in the saints (His set-apart ones),
 

And [so that you can know and understand] what is the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His power in and for us who believe, as demonstrated in the working of His mighty strength,"

I also like how the NLT version puts vv 19b-20: "This is the same mighty power ²⁰ that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms." Now, that's some power, right?!?

 

43 Is The NEW 23!!! Hmmmm... Okay, Maybe Not...

Yes! It's another birthday which means my new year begins....TODAY!!! I had a fantastic day reading (I just finished Love's Journey Home by Kelly Irvin and I started Amanda Cabot's Waiting for Spring), eating out, talking with friends (I was blown away by all the birthday wishes so thank you!!!), napping with Michael (we were awakened at 5ish this morning when he needed help with his bloody nose), shopping (not for me, but for Krista!), reading my FB birthday messages (thanks, friends, you blew me away with your birthday greetings!) and not doing any household work (my mom would be so horrified to hear me say that, but oh, well!!!)!!! 

It's weird to realize that I've been alive for 43 years.  Whoa.  That sounds so old!!! But age is just a number and I've realized that after a while, as you grow more comfortable in your own skin, you can pretty much mingle with any age group and feel like you fit in perfectly... except for the one exception last night...

I've been searching for the perfect boba tea place here (oh how I miss Half and Half, Coral!!!) so thanks to Grace Z (my North Shore "know-it-all-in-a-good-way" source) and Lily M, Jacob and I decided to check out Liquid Fusion after 9pm. Oh. My. Stars.  Nothing prepared us for the awkward reception and stares we got from every young adults hanging out there.  They stared at us as if we were the parental units they were trying to escape from and it made me feel like we were intruding in their young adult bubble world from Planet Grown-Up or something! We got our order to go and I think I found the perfect milk tea boba drink! Yum! I'm not going to let Liquid Fusion's clientele intimidate me so I. will. be. back. So there! :o)

Okay, in past birthdays since I started blogging late in 2010, I've shared 41 things about myself and 42 things on my "bucket list." So this year, I think I'll share 43 Bible of my favorite Bible verses/passages that have impacted me through the years.  Boy, this was SO hard to narrow down that I think I may have to do a Part II in my next birthday blog...!

1. Numbers 6:24-26 (Amplified Bible) "The Lord bless you and watch, guard, and keep you; The Lord make His face to shine upon and enlighten you and be gracious (kind, merciful, and giving favor) to you;

The Lord lift up His [approving] countenance upon you and give you peace (tranquility of heart and life continually)."

2. Joshua 1:8-9 (NLT) "Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

3. 1 Samuel 16:7 (The Message) But God told Samuel, “Looks aren’t everything. Don’t be impressed with his looks and stature. I’ve already eliminated him. God judges persons differently than humans do. Men and women look at the face; God looks into the heart.”

4. 2 Chronicles 7:14 "If My people, who are called by My name, shall humble themselves, pray, seek, crave, and require of necessity My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land."

5. Psalm 139:13-16 (NLT) "You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.  You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed."

6. Proverbs 4:23 (Amplified Bible) "Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life."

7. Proverbs 12:18 (NLT) "Some people make cutting remarks, but the words of the wise bring healing."

8. Isaiah 26:3 (Amplified Bible) "You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You."

9. Isaiah 41:10 (Amplified Bible) "Fear not [there is nothing to fear], for I am with you; do not look around you in terror and be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen and harden you to difficulties, yes, I will help you; yes, I will hold you up and retain you with My [victorious] right hand of rightness and justice."

10. Isiah 43:2-3a (Amplified Bible) "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned or scorched, nor will the flame kindle upon you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior..."

11. Isaiah 43:18-19 (Amplified Bible) "Do not [earnestly] remember the former things; neither consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs forth; do you not perceive and know it and will you not give heed to it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert."

12. Isaiah 54:10 (Amplified Bible) " For though the mountains should depart and the hills be shaken or removed, yet My love and kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of peace and completeness be removed, says the Lord, Who has compassion on you."

14. Jeremiah 29:11-14a (Amplified Bible) "For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome.

Then you will call upon Me, and you will come and pray to Me, and I will hear and heed you. Then you will seek Me, inquire for, and require Me [as a vital necessity] and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord..."

15. Joel 2:12-13 (Amplified Bible) "Therefore also now, says the Lord, turn and keep on coming to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning [until every hindrance is removed and the broken fellowship is restored].

Rend your hearts and not your garments and return to the Lord, your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in loving-kindness; and He revokes His sentence of evil [when His conditions are met]."

16. Micah 6:8 (NLT) "No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God."

17. Nahum 1:7 (Amplified Bible) "The Lord is good, a Strength and Stronghold in the day of trouble; He knows (recognizes, has knowledge of, and understands) those who take refuge and trust in Him."

18. Matthew 11-28-30 (Amplified Bible) "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.] Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest (relief and ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet) for your souls.

For My yoke is wholesome (useful, good—not harsh, hard, sharp, or pressing, but comfortable, gracious, and pleasant), and My burden is light and easy to be borne."

19. Luke 1:37 (NLT) "For nothing is impossible with God."

20. John 3:16 (Amplified Bible) "For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life. "

21. John 16:33 (The Message) "I’ve told you all this so that trusting me, you will be unshakable and assured, deeply at peace. In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I’ve conquered the world.”

22. Romans 5:3-5 (Amplified Bible) "Moreover [let us also be full of joy now!] let us exult and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance. And endurance (fortitude) develops maturity of character (approved faith and tried integrity). And character [of this sort] produces [the habit of] joyful and confident hope of eternal salvation. Such hope never disappoints or deludes or shames us, for God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who has been given to us."

23. Romans 8:1 (NASB) "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."

24. Romans 12:1-2 (NLT) "And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect."

25. Romans 15:5-6 (ESV) "May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."

26. Romans 15:13 (Amplified Bible) "May the God of your hope so fill you with all joy and peace in believing [through the experience of your faith] that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound and be overflowing (bubbling over) with hope."

27. 1 Corinthians 1:27-31 (The Message) "Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got called into this life. I don’t see many of “the brightest and the best” among you, not many influential, not many from high-society families. Isn’t it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, chose these “nobodies” to expose the hollow pretensions of the “somebodies”? That makes it quite clear that none of you can get by with blowing your own horn before God. Everything that we have—right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start—comes from God by way of Jesus Christ. That’s why we have the saying, “If you’re going to blow a horn, blow a trumpet for God.”

28. 1 Corinthians 10:12-13 (Amplified Bible) "Therefore let anyone who thinks he stands [who feels sure that he has a steadfast mind and is standing firm], take heed lest he fall [into sin]. For no temptation (no trial regarded as enticing to sin), [no matter how it comes or where it leads] has overtaken you and laid hold on you that is not common to man [that is, no temptation or trial has come to you that is beyond human resistance and that is not adjusted and adapted and belonging to human experience, and such as man can bear]. But God is faithful [to His Word and to His compassionate nature], and He [can be trusted] not to let you be tempted and tried and assayed beyond your ability and strength of resistance and power to endure, but with the temptation He will [always] also provide the way out (the means of escape to a landing place), that you may be capable and strong and powerful to bear up under it patiently."

29. 1 Corinthians 10:31 (ESV) "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."

30. 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 (NLT) "All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ." 

31. 2 Corinthians 2:14-16a (The Message) "In the Messiah, in Christ, God leads us from place to place in one perpetual victory parade. Through us, he brings knowledge of Christ. Everywhere we go, people breathe in the exquisite fragrance. Because of Christ, we give off a sweet scent rising to God, which is recognized by those on the way of salvation—an aroma redolent with life. But those on the way to destruction treat us more like the stench from a rotting corpse."

32. 2 Corinthians 4:7-10 (NLT) "We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure.This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies."

33. 2 Corinthians 4:17 (NLT) " For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!"

34. 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NLT) "This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!"

35. 2 Corinthians 5:20-21 (ESV) "Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

36. 2 Corinthians 6:14 (NLT) "Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness?"

37. Galatians 6:9 (NLT) "So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up."

38. Ephesians 4:29-32 (Amplified Bible) " Let no foul or polluting language, nor evil word nor unwholesome or worthless talk [ever] come out of your mouth, but only such [speech] as is good and beneficial to the spiritual progress of others, as is fitting to the need and the occasion, that it may be a blessing and give grace (God’s favor) to those who hear it. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God [do not offend or vex or sadden Him], by Whom you were sealed (marked, branded as God’s own, secured) for the day of redemption (of final deliverance through Christ from evil and the consequences of sin). Let all bitterness and indignation and wrath (passion, rage, bad temper) and resentment (anger, animosity) and quarreling (brawling, clamor, contention) and slander (evil-speaking, abusive or blasphemous language) be banished from you, with all malice (spite, ill will, or baseness of any kind). And become useful and helpful and kind to one another, tenderhearted (compassionate, understanding, loving-hearted), forgiving one another [readily and freely], as God in Christ forgave you."

39. Philippians 1:6 (Amplified Bible) "And I am convinced and sure of this very thing, that He Who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ [right up to the time of His return], developing [that good work] and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you."

40. Philippians 2:3-11 (NLT) "Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names,that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

41. Philippians 4:8 (Amplified Bible) "For the rest, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of reverence and is honorable and seemly, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely and lovable, whatever is kind and winsome and gracious, if there is any virtue and excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think on and weigh and take account of these things [fix your minds on them]."

42. Colossians 4:6 (NASB) "Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person." 

43. 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18 (NLT) "We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. So encourage each other with these words."