A Winter Surprise

I read somewhere yesterday that 49 out of 50 states had snow on the ground over the weekend.  It's not been a "normal" winter, has it? 

This picture is what we woke up to Friday morning.  We'd already had several inches of snow on Thursday, but when we went to sleep Thursday evening had no idea we would wake up to even more snow.  This is the 10 inches or so that we recieved as seen from our front door.

I know that for those of you that see snow on a regular basis, it can get a little old after awhile.  After all, it's cold, harder to get around on the roads, etc.  But, for those of us in Texas that don't see snow quite as much, this was a special treat. 

For me, it brought back many childhood memories of snow days.  The kids were just beside themselves with excitement, which is always so fun to see.  They were in and out of the house for two solid days... playing in the snow, coming in to get warm, building a snowman, coming in for hot chocolate, going out for a snowball fight, coming back in to warm by the fireplace.  All in all... a really great couple of days.

So very unexpected, but such a wonderful diversion from the normal day to day!

Learning From Some Funky Monkeys

We had the opportunity this week to see Dennis Lee and The Funky Monkey Bunch. Our church hosted this very talented ventriloquist and pupper master Wednesday evening.

If you have never seen him before, you must check him out. Our kids laughed themselves silly and learned about how their lives are a special gift from God all at the same time. There were moments when I wasn’t sure who was funnier… Dennis Lee or my children enjoying themselves so much!

At a time when so many in our world do not see how valuable their lives are and what a gift God has given them, this was a very special message that I think all children should hear…. over and over and over again. Dennis Lee and his cast of characters spent about an hour sharing with the kids about the gift God has given us in our own life and how important it is that we treasure it and fully enjoy each and everyday. He stressed the importance of keeping our lives out of the garbage (bad TV shows, bad attitudes, etc) and putting them in the garden where they are cared for and nurtured and cleaned. A great message combined with great fun…who could ask for more?! :)

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Not much going on around here this weekend except fun and relaxation – and probably more laughter as the kids are already planning to spend some time watching the DVD we purchased Wednesday night at the show.

Have a great weekend!!

Thru the Eyes of our Children

Originally posted December 16, 2008:


The Christmas my son was about 3 years old he helped me put up our family nativity scene. As we unpacked the pieces and put each one in place he began asking me questions about each person in the scene. As I began to answer his questions I found my eyes begin to tear up and my voice begin to quiver.

A year or two after that my sister gave my kids the book “You Are Special” by Max Lucado. This is the story of a village of wooden people and their creator, a woodcarver. It shows us how we are created specially by God and how he loves us unconditionally.

And, you guessed it, this is another story I can barely read to my kids without tearing up. As a matter of fact, the last time I read it to them I choked up so that I almost couldn’t finish reading the book. At the end, my husband had to take over the conversation we always have about God and how very much he loves each one of us and how very special we are. It seems that since my kids were born I have become a bit more emotional about my faith and my relationship with God. Have any of you experienced this, too?

I think, for me, it is probably a combination of several things. The first being that I am just a bit in awe of this responsibility I have to teach my children about God. Each time there is an opportunity to show them or teach them something about God I realize anew that there is no greater responsibility I have than this very one.

The second reason I think is that I am being given a chance to re-experience all the wonder and amazement of learning about God for the first time. I was raised in a Christian home and was taught from the day I was born about God. I have been in church my whole life. And, while that is great, I think that over time I have let go a bit of that “newness” and excitement that I first had as a young child hearing the Bible stories for the first time. The amazement of learning that God loves even me… me with all my flaws and “humanness”… he loves me and I AM SPECIAL.

However, I have found that through my kids I get to experience all of that for a second time. I can’t even begin to put into words how great it is to hear my children tell me a Bible story or to hear them pray. Or, as my daughter has begun to do, walk places exclaiming, “Look, Mom, God made that! Mom, God made EVERYTHING!”

It puts tears in this Mom’s eyes. Tears of joy. Tears of amazement. Tears of thankfulness that He loves me and that I AM SPECIAL. Tears of thankfulness that God has entrusted me with these two sweet precious treasures, my children.

Thru the Eyes of our Children

The Christmas my son was about 3 years old he helped me put up our family nativity scene. As we unpacked the pieces and put each one in place he began asking me questions about each person in the scene. As I began to answer his questions I found my eyes begin to tear up and my voice begin to quiver.

A year or two after that my sister gave my kids the book “You Are Special” by Max Lucado. This is the story of a village of wooden people and their creator, a woodcarver. It shows us how we are created specially by God and how he loves us unconditionally.

And, you guessed it, this is another story I can barely read to my kids without tearing up. As a matter of fact, the last time I read it to them I choked up so that I almost couldn’t finish reading the book. At the end, my husband had to take over the conversation we always have about God and how very much he loves each one of us and how very special we are. It seems that since my kids were born I have become a bit more emotional about my faith and my relationship with God. Have any of you experienced this, too?

I think, for me, it is probably a combination of several things. The first being that I am just a bit in awe of this responsibility I have to teach my children about God. Each time there is an opportunity to show them or teach them something about God I realize anew that there is no greater responsibility I have than this very one.

The second reason I think is that I am being given a chance to re-experience all the wonder and amazement of learning about God for the first time. I was raised in a Christian home and was taught from the day I was born about God. I have been in church my whole life. And, while that is great, I think that over time I have let go a bit of that “newness” and excitement that I first had as a young child hearing the Bible stories for the first time. The amazement of learning that God loves even me… me with all my flaws and “humanness”… he loves me and I AM SPECIAL.

However, I have found that through my kids I get to experience all of that for a second time. I can’t even begin to put into words how great it is to hear my children tell me a Bible story or to hear them pray. Or, as my daughter has begun to do, walk places exclaiming, “Look, Mom, God made that! Mom, God made EVERYTHING!”

It puts tears in this Mom’s eyes. Tears of joy. Tears of amazement. Tears of thankfulness that He loves me and that I AM SPECIAL. Tears of thankfulness that God has entrusted me with these two sweet precious treasures, my children.