Which end are you?

As I was doing some things round the house today I noticed a hammer. If you know Tanner at all you would know that he is absolutely fascinated with tools of any kind. So as we spot this hammer, he wants to pull it out and play with it, I am looking at it and I notice something.
Have you ever noticed that on one end a hammer "puts things together" and on the other end it "pulls things apart". How ironic is it that one item can do two drastically different things.
I was thinking about my walk with God when I looked at this hammer. On one end I have God, he is in my heart and soul, and in my walk with him I try very hard to let him "put things together".
On the other end, the enemy is working hard at "pulling things apart". I have felt like I was being Spiritually attacked for the last couple of weeks, and it is because of my unwavering Faith in God. For various reasons, late summer and early fall are a bad time for me, I tend to spiral a little. I decided this year that I wasn't going to let Satan "pull me apart". Instead I am choosing to let God "put me together"
I have also thought of it this way. In my family, do I "put things together" or "pull things apart"? I think lately I have really been trying to put things together, but when I let Satan get a hold of me, I start pulling things apart. Every time we yell at our kids or get in argument with our spouse, the enemy has won. I was asking God to show me a scripture that would speak to me and this is what I found. I pray that today you may be on the end of the hammer that "puts things together" at home, at work, with your friends and at church. I also have a new song that I am loving right now because it feels so good to sing it and let Satan know I am standing firm on the word of God. Here is a link to the video
Natalie Grant " I Will Not Be Moved" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyEMJBhCtU8
Ephesians 6:10-11
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.

Tyler's first Day of school- 3rd Grade !

Tyler was very anxious last night and began to worry about the first day of school. He usually does this every year, but is ok when he gets there. Yes I know he is just like his Mommy, but that is a good thing :) He worried and cried a little, he was worried about the work and how much harder it would be this year. I reminded him that they do not start doing work on the first day or even the first week for that matter. I also reminded him that the gradually work up to the new stuff, starting with things he did in 2nd grade. He is an awesome straight A student, but he is a perfectionist and wants to do THE BEST on everything, so if he even thinks he may not do well it worries him. I often feel bad for the worry he carries about doing THE best. I know that he was designed by God and he was designed by him perfectly in his sight , and for a reason. He is strong willed, he is a leader, he is compassionate, he is sweet , he is tenderhearted, he is a servant, and he is most of all, himself, and that is what I love about him.

I trust that God will help him adapt to this part of his personality and help him work thru it. I also reminded him that God is there with him all day to handle his worries and problems for him, so that he doesn't have to. I put a note in his lunch box, as I do everyday, but I wrote his scripture on it. It is the very first scripture he memorized at age 4, and who knew we would need this one so much for this little man. Anytime he starts to get worried or discouraged we say, I CAN... he will smile and finish the rest.

" I can do all things thru Him who gives me strength"

Philippians 4:13.

I walked him to his classroom as he requested:) He put his bag down and went straight to his desk. I asked him if I could take a picture and begrudgingly he said " yes" so I did. Then I walked over to tell him bye and asked " can I give you a hug and kiss or not" He looked at me very sweetly and said " NOT" Then he whispered " but I will give you lots of them when I get home" So Tanner and I walked out and I looked back at my sweet boy sitting at his desk looking so big. I am so very proud him !

Happy Birthday JD!

JD's Birthday was actually yesterday, but since I wasn't home, we celebrated today. Tyler wanted to take daddy to Saltgrass after church for lunch because he knows that he likes steak.
So, we went and ate lunch and then Tyler and I went to the store so he could pick out a cake for JD and get some ice cream. We found a chocolate cake and got some vanilla ice cream( Tanners favorite) and mint chocolate chip( Tyler's favorite) hhmmmm I thought it was JD's Bday?

We had Looney Tunes napkins and The Incredibles cups, and the boys were so excited to see his face. Tanner kept asking where all of the people were and kept wanting to hide and surprise him.

It was a good day and the boys had such fun celebrating their daddy on his special day.

Boogie Boarding Buddies

Tyler and Carson spent all day at the beach Boogie Boarding. I know that Carson loved it but wasnt sure if Tyler was going to even like it. Celeste had an extra Boogie Board, so Tyler took off with Carson and never looked back. They had a blast and were able to share something really fun and special. They are best buddies and they love to do everything together. I am so glad that we got to go visit and stay as long as we did, it was so much fun. Thank you to the Crumrine's and Cunningham's for putting up with us so long, we love you and miss you all!!

Milk in the Pantry and Peanut Butter in the Refrigerator

Ok, I started writing this about 2 months ago and never posted it, so here it is !!

So, the day starts our fairly normal, actually better than normal. I have really trying to work on my patience lately, or lack thereof. Which is ironic since Jeff's sermon was about patience this last weekend. He said " Patience is............Enduring without Exploding" Wow, I had to write that one down, that his hard, I mean REALLY hard. So, we got to up and to school this morning without any major occurrences, no hissy fits, no yelling and with what I thought was great patience on my part. I even pointed out to Tyler that this morning was different, it was good. He actually said back to me " Oh, I didn't notice anything different" (hhhmmm) Anyway, I get Tanner ready, I am running a bit late but we make it. He has an end of year program at 9:15, where all the classes sing a few songs each. Long story short when they came into the auditorium he saw me, wanted to sit with me, wigged out when I told him to go on stage and then he started slapping me. I sat down to watch Tanner's class sing, with Tanner in my lap. I kept my cool and my PATIENCE, told him I was proud of him for trying. He did stay at school and I went on about my day, this is my last day of total freedom before they are both out of school. I did a few things then decided to go grocery shopping. I don't like going to Wal Mart anymore, they are to busy and I don't care for the entire atmosphere. However, I needed a lot of Non Food items, so I went. I feel like this should about a 5 part story, kind of like Colin and his Pi (read Celeste's blog), but I need closure now :)


I spent about 1 1/2 hours at Wal mart, enjoying my freedom and giggling inside while other people's children were screaming. I decide I better go checkout, I have a time frame I go by on how long it takes me to checkout, load groceries and get back to Tanner by 2:00. OK, Wal Mart , Tuesday, middle of the day, it was so busy. Every lane that I could go in with my heaping basket full of everything under the sun, was packed. I decided to pick the one with the people whom had the least amount of stuff. So, I waited..... and I waited..... and I waited ..... and I waited.


Those of you who shop at Wal Mart will probably know what I mean by the term comparison shopping. People bring ads from other stores and get the same prices at Wal mart. But it has to be the EXACT same thing and there are rules and etc. You have to have the ad, you have to have the item and you have to show each one to the cashier. Then, usually these same people are using coupons... ENDURING WITHOUT EXPLODING, ENDURING WITHOUT EXPLODING. It was getting harder and harder, I mean I was biting my tongue, how inconsiderate of them. I had been in line for 20 minutes already and the 1st "comparison shopper" wasn't done because she was questioning and arguing about the prices, there was another "comparison shopper" behind her. The other lady in front of me was getting mad, the guy behind me was getting mad, I was trying to be PATIENT :).

I finally decided that I had to leave and that I would have to shop another day. As I started walking I saw the manager. I stopped to tell him my dilemma and tried to speak without exploding. He offered to take my cart back to the cooler and hold it for me until I got Tanner and could come back to the store.

I leave.... mind you, I am on FIRE !!! I am late getting Tanner, by only a few minutes. As I am getting him he says " I need to go potty",(this is fairly new so I am excited) I say "OK, lets go" So we went into the bathroom in his class and he says " I have to poop" I say " GREAT" . He sits down and I kneel in front of him to help him point "himself" down as to avoid being sprayed, and before I know it we are both soaked. I get his bag change his clothes wipe myself off and run to the car. Mind you this is after 2, and Tyler gets out of school at 3. I drag Tanner back to the store with me, walking into Wal Mart with a 3 year old is an adventure in itself. I had forgotten something and ran with him to get it. My basket was so full that it had not a spot for Tanner. Tanner says, " I wanna walk like a big boy" Well, I have no choice in the matter unless I put him on my shoulders. Well, those of you who know sweet little Tanner know that he is very adventurous and loves to "explore". If I tried to hold his hand I could not push the cart and he would scream bloody murder. Every time I let go he ran or stopped or just disappeared.

I was quickly losing my patience.... ENDURING WITHOUT EXPLODING !! YA WHATEVER. I am trying to remember that there are video cameras and I needed to wait to beat him until I got to the car... HAHA :)

By the time we got what I needed and about 5 things Tanner had to have , we headed to check out. We checked out fairly quickly and I realized that it was almost time for Tyler to be home from school. I race to get home and my carpool friend is pulling into the drive with Tyler, WOW, good timing.
The point to the story is that when I finally got all the groceries in the house and started putting them away, I noticed something was out of place.
Instead of milk on the top shelf, there was peanut butter. I do not keep my Peanut Butter in the fridge. So I opened the pantry and what do you know. In the place where my peanut butter usually is, I find milk. There was only a little left, no biggie.

But, I found it funny and I laughed and I laughed. I thought, "wow does God have a sense of humor today". He knew that I was going to have a crappy day and he had prepared me that morning. He knew that when I got home that day I would need a good laugh and it worked.

So, next time you have one of those days, look for the peanut butter in the refrigerator and remember that God is in involved in every detail of everyday of your life !