Wednesday night was a tragic night in our little town in south.  A church bus carrying children from a Wednesday night church service back home crashed with 10 children and 1 bus driver inside.  The bus tumbled down a steep embankment and pinned the driver inside against a tree.  Most all the kids went to the ER but one has broken his neck and has no brain activity.  Except through God’s intervention he will not live.  Please pray for him.  His name is Austin.

Thanks,
julie

Yesterday my daughter (age 3) and my oldest son (age 8) both stole my camera.  Now the little one stole my “not so nice camera” but the older child had my Canon XTi on the trampoline!  AGH!!!  My husband is the one who casually said, “Do you realize the kids have your camera on the trampoline?”
“UHHHH………  That would be a NO!”

So after my cardiac arrest here’s some of what ended up “on film”….

Very somber photo of my son and our neighbor taken by my 3 year old.  Not bad on the focusing, huh???

My daughter’s shot of her foot while we were in the car.  I could just eat those feet!!!

Some strange woman at my computer.  Looks like she is thinking very hard!!! (taken by my 8 year old son)

And this taken by who knows?? on the trampoline….
Oh, the trampoline is our children’s Christmas this year.  And yes, it’s already up.  No use in wasting all this nice weather (60s)
This is my second-born son and our neighbor.

And this one I took on the day we got the trampoline assembled.  It wasn’t very difficult.  Anyone getting one for Christmas and need a little help???
Oh, that’s my biggest kid there in the orangish shirt trying out his handiwork.

Merry Christmas!
Julie

That is the biggest thing I learned in my Beth Moore study Believing God.  I’m learning more and more to believe He is who He says He is, He’ll do what He says He can do, I am who He says I am, I can do all things through Him, and that His Word is alive and active in me.

For any of you who have done the study you know what an impact these 5 statements have made on Beth’s life.  And they are continually making a huge impact on my life.

God has been moving in strange ways here lately.  He’s had me looking at land.  And yes, land has always been in my heart, He knows that.  But affording land and a house, now that’s a different story.  Moving with four kids?  Different story.  Moving without my husband’s company paying for it all?  Different story.

He led me to this house less than a week ago.  And out of obedience we have done what He has asked us to do up to this point.  It’s scary.

And He knows that.  This morning my husband called me to tell me he had something he believed the Lord wanted me to know.  It’s verses out of Joshua, chapter one.

And in all this I’ve thought so much about how we limit God.  Do I allow Him to be huge in my life?  Do I allow Him to be huge in my finances, in my kid’s lives, in my marriage, in my relationship with Him??

We are following in what we believe to be obedience to Him, the one we serve.  The one who cares for me more than I could ever imagine.  The one who hung the stars and the moon and called the sun into existance.

I’m not ready to tell the whole story yet but I hope to be able to tell you of his love, his grace, and his glory more and more in the coming days.

“Be Huge God”
Julie

The

I had my second EVER mammogram
yesterday.  Although not as unpleasant as some describe having
another woman handle THOSE is a little uncomfortable.  Can't you
imagine her “after work” conversations……

“I'm going to start selling IVORY soap as a side job.”
“Do you know how hard it is to get NOTHING squeezed between two pieces of metal?”
“I had no idea those things can be shaped like bananas (cantaloupes) (watermelons) (peas).”
“This one chick screamed today when I got her all mushed in there like I was killing her or something.”

Her comments to me were…..
“Someone should have told you we don't do mammograms in the winter we do freeze and squeezes.”
“We're going to do three pictures of one side because it's not good to freeze and rethaw meat that many times.”

So I can just imagine the “over dinner” conversations.
YIKES!!!!

julie

Do you ever feel like that's
the way we live?  No wonder so many of us struggle to hear God's
voice.  We have to be still and quiet to hear His whispers of love
to our souls.  “I love you.  You are mine.  I created
you.  I know everything about you and still you are the very
essence of Christ to me.”

I really think we're onto something here!!!
Adios televisionitis!!
Julie

So today I'm trying to explain to my
almost 7 year old about the roots that hold our teeth in because he
just lost his third tooth.  When we pulled it there was no root
but he knew one was there, holding his tooth firmly in place.  His
tooth was very wiggly but still had a strong root holding it in. 
As I'm explaining about the new root and the new tooth that will soon
grow God gave me a wonderful spiritual truth to share.

“Son,
the old root and tooth are like our hearts before we ask Jesus to come
live there.  The baby tooth is wiggly, (just like we so often come
to Him…anxious and unsure) and the root begins to prepare itself to
die.  Once we ask Jesus into our hearts and lives He gives us a
bigger stronger tooth (life).  The tooth will not survive without
the root (Jesus) because it gives the tooth life.  God replaces
our baby tooth (old heart) with a new one.  Our new tooth is
strong and is firmly secured in our mouths by the new stronger
root.  Just as we are held securely in God's hand after asking
Jesus into our lives.  We are firmly rooted into the family of
God.”

So, I tell him, “Son, each time you have a wiggly tooth
remember that's how we are without Jesus.  And each time a new
tooth grows in remember that's what we're like with Jesus.  Big,
strong, and firmly rooted.”

Wow, I think I taught myself something today.