Cracks me up!

INCREDIBLE VIDEO

His son wanted to run an Iron man race but because his body was broken...his father said I will be his legs and feet and he.. can be the heart of our team. So now they have ran and done many Iron man marathons together. How awesome a fathers Love. Sounds like someone I know...AKA The Lord!


http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=8cf08faca5dd9ea45513

Blog illiteracy...help me!

Can someone help me...I don't know how to put links into my blog nor do I know how to add a video link in a blog. I guess that would be linking in both forms LOL! Anyways I could use some assistance in this matter thanks :)

Michael

Six Quirky things about me...

1. I don't like the sheets too tight on my toes...it makes me feel smothered.

2. I just discovered in the last year and a half that my favorite type of Christian music is Rock and soft rock...it took me so long to discover because I would always just listen to what Bryan would listen to instead of what I really enjoyed personally.

3. I made the baby bedding for both of my children's rooms.

4. I have never drank any alcohol before.

5. My parenting pet peeve is when parents give into their child after they have told them no about something.

6. My favorite class I took in school was Microbiology all the gross bacteria and parasites just fascinated me and it still does to this day. I should probably be a Epidemiologist.

So much on my mind...

Do you ever feel as though your prayer list is so long you could never fully pray for each need as long as you want to pray for it?... Then when you are finished praying (for the moment) you realize that you left something important out of your prayer. I guess that is what it means to pray without ceasing. For me it is pray until you have not forgotten anyone or anything to pray about. I have fallen in love with prayer which for some time now has not been a love of mine. It has almost been done out of duty or necessity. (true confessions) It is not fun to confess unless God has changed your heart and rerouted your desires. I have to say on this issue He has shown me in the last couple of weeks how powerful prayer really is...not only in transforming the lives of others but, praying for others transforms my life. I am reading the book the Power of the Praying Woman...it has invoked thoughts I have not ever had about prayer and the power God has in our lives. I know all this stuff and have been taught it all my life but I am just being given these epiphanies straight from the Lord and it is so refreshing. God is working in my life and doing some serious healing, construction, demolition and refreshing and I am being awakened spiritually again and it feels GOOD! Thanks God for your fresh wind in my sails. May I go in the way you would have me go. Amen

I love my MOM!

So I was sewing last night...while Bryan was at praise team practice and the children were sleeping. (moms break time) I was feeling all crafty so I wanted to make Sarah a dress so I proceeded. I got to the part of the diaper cover and it was all confusing. So I picked up the phone to call my mom...she is my "sewing coach" over the phone... to get some help. She is going to school in the evenings so it takes her study time to talk with me. But she so graceously answers my call and walks me through the confusement. I love that woman. So I successfully sewed the diaper cover which turned out to be too small :(. But it was done. I also finished the dress which turned out stellar! I love sewing I just wish I could go to school to become a pro and do some really awesome stuff. Then it might not be as fun if I have to do it...anyways enough rambling for now. Here is a picture of the dress on the most beautiful model Sarah Michael Paine!!!

Laters!

Hard Parental Lessons

I am now feeling Jana's pain with discipline at the table. Grayson is our graze eater. He never really eats a whole meal he just prefers to snack through the day or eat a bite of a meal every thirty minutes or so. He will work on a bowl of oatmeal from 8:00 am till we eat lunch. So needless to say it make me very frustrated at times when he doesn't eat well at a meal and thirty minutes later he is hungry again. So last night we decided that he was going to finish a meal which consisted of 20 pinto beans and two table spoons of hamburger helper. I made his portions small so that it would be an easy task. "riiiight!" Bryan and I decided, in code talk plus some spelling, after dinner we were going to go swimming. At this point Grayson was driving his beans around instead of eating them and he was seperating the rice and meat in the hamburger helper and asking for chips to eat instead of his food. So we made him the "deal" if he ate his dinner we would go swimming but if he didn't finish it he could not go. Good motivator right? Not so much...he cried and fussed about wanting to go to the pool and would not finish his dinner. So his daddy set a timer for him to give him a certain time amount to finish his food and he refused to finish his dinner. So needless to say, to follow through with what we said, Sarah and Mommy went to the pool while Daddy and Grayson stayed home. I pray that Grayson learned his lesson and that Mommy and Daddy mean what they said. But boy that was a hard punishment to carry out because he was so heart broken over the situation. * We don't believe that our children have to "clean their plates" but we do expect them to eat what we give them...if they eat a little bit but are asking for something else to eat instead of what they have been served then we know they are not full and can eat more of what is on their plate, most of the time they are just being picky and we don't want to raise picky eaters if they refuse to eat what .

True Villans>>>>>>

Poncho and Ponchita! We are the true villans!

My BFF's!

Monica on the left.......Allison on the right. These two girls were at times the only thing that kept me going. They are die hard true friends and I miss them dearly. Two of my good friends that are not in the picture are Tiffany and Tisha. You know who you are you girls are so special to me also. Thanks for you all being such great friends to me. I cried as I looked back through the fiesta pictures. Jerusalem Baptist Church is the church who gave us wings. Thanks for helping us soar!

Part II

The Dating/Engagement Story

Bryan and I started hanging out in January 2003...our first unofficial date was to the basketball courts at Lamar U dorms. Bryan called me to see if I wanted to go play. Sure I was athletic and I liked hanging out and talking with this guy so I know I would like to play basketball with him. When we got out to the courts there was already games going on and all they need was one player so Bryan jumped in and I was left on the bench. I sat there for a few minutes waiting to see if they might need me to play....well they didn't. So I thought to myself I could sit here and waste time or I could go and study Psychology. So I got up and left. No problems I wasn't mad I just didn't have time to waste sitting there. So I got up and went back to my dorm. The next day I got a some what frantic call from Bryan he was apologizing profusely because he was sorry I did not get included in the game. He thought I was mad and that is why I left the court. We talked and scheduled another basketball day. That was the spark that lit the flame. We began hanging out, playing ball, watching movies, eating dinner together at the cafeteria. We became fast "friends". This friendship went on about three weeks and I really like this guy...I just wanted to go through a dating relationship that honored God, that was my goal. He asked me if I would be his girlfriend...so high school right but he wasn't proposing yet...LOL :). I told him "no" he needed to talk to my dad first. He wasn't expecting that one. I just wanted to do things right. Get my dads approval and all. Well he was like I don't know your dad. I told him here is his number call him. Well that didn't work out. About three weeks later it was Valentines day we still had been hanging out. Kinda awkward...I really, really liked Bryan. Finally valentines day he asked me out. I could not tell him "no" twice after all I was falling for him fast. That day Feb. 14, 2003 it became official we were a couple. The semester proceeded quickly. I was a bridesmaid in his sisters wedding. He escorted me down the isle and I remember thinking don't you get any ideas in your head. I have college to finish. Well we both were in pursuit of stronger relationships with the Lord so through the summer we decided to break up for a while to make sure our motives and relationship was pure. Bryan had a youth intern position he was participating in and I was headed to Germany for a mission trip. The separation was so hard. I missed him so much. We still talked pretty much everyday. There was a period in the summer that he stopped talking to me for two straight weeks. I moped around the house like a lost kitten. Darlene my summer mom told me "Michael just admit to yourself that you love that boy and get over it." He had gone to two youth camps and when he got back he called me to explain why he had not called he had to see if the feelings he had for me were real or if they were all emotions. I asked him if when I got back from Germany would he be at the airport with my parents waiting for me. He agreed to do so. I loved him. When I got home from Germany we were coming home from the airport and he asked me back out with him. I said yes. I loved him at this point I knew I did. He was who I wanted to be with forever. I was just scared of that. I was only 19 years old. How could I know for sure? That fall semester flew by. Bryan went into the ministry. Then he bought the ring. He asked me to marry him on October 10th. It was so sweet he proposed through 1 Corinthians 13. The love chapter. He asked me if we needed to work on anything in our relationship I told him we needed to work on all those aspects of our relationship. He said " I know we don't have it all figured out but I would like to spend the rest of my life with you trying to get it right." He pulled out the ring and what did I do...Cry! What every woman does! We kissed and then he took me to dinner at Olive Garden. We had a quick engagement...October to February. When you know you know...
To be continued....

Sprained ankle... Blessed heart!

You know what stinks?..............Stepping out of your storage building and spraining your ankle. With two small children caring for them with a sprained ankle is impossible. We were headed to the swimming pool for a leisurely swim and I went to the storage building to get Sarah some water wing floaties. When I stepped out of the storage building there was a hole and well you guessed it, my foot found it and my ankle couldn't take it so....wham I hit the ground writhing in pain. So much for swimming...so here I am rolling on the ground and my sweet husband runs to my aid. You see he sprained his ankle the day before we moved...so this pain is fresh in his memory. That was almost a month ago...he is still recovering from his sprain. He knows to let me lay there until the initial pains subsides. Then in his sweet caring concerned voice he says lets get you inside and get some ice on that, it is already swelling. He is a gem! At this point I am still on the ground patiently telling Sarah to get off mommy's tummy and fighting off the ants that have now claimed me as there new log playground. Ok getting up with a sprain ankle when you are a large woman is no easy feat. So Bryan patiently stands there waiting as I am figuring how to get my wazoo off the ground and not hurt myself more in the process. Well I wound up scoonching up the stairs and crawling inside to the couch where I now reside. Thanks to grandparents that live close enough to come to our rescue and glean the children for a few days so I can recover. They are awesome! I do miss my babies. I don't like getting a break from them under these circumstances. It is really not a break it is a forced separation. But we will all make it through and they love going to Pepaw and Kay Kay's house. So now Bryan is so sweetly waiting on me hand and foot...I don't like it (well sorta) but...I have no choice. This is really no fun having a injured limb. Take care of those things all you mom's out there! Thanks for listening to me reveal the last hour and a half of our day. Thanks to a wonderful husband willing to help me out. Love you Babe!

Our new Church Family

We love this church we are at now...Hillcrest Baptist Church. God has truly blessed us to be a part of this wonderful church. Thank you to all of our new friends that have helped us feel so welcome. We appreciate how this church is so willing to serve and give their all in helping out with whatever needs to be done. You all have such wonderful attitudes towards each other. It is such a blessing to us. Thank you so much we love you.

Bryan and Michael

Family 4th Celebration

We went to Beaumont last night to celebrate the 4th. It was so much fun we went with my mother and father in-law and our whole family. It was a great feeling to be sitting there and actually run into people that we knew. We never did that before when we lived in Louisiana. If we ran into someone we knew from our past we would think "man it is a small word." When you move back to your stomping grounds you almost expect to run into someone you know. Anyways it was fun! We were the cliche matching family...but we were stinking cute! Sarah and I might have our picture in the Beaumont paper. So sometimes it pay to be cliche! LOL I love it and Sarah looked so cute. Hence when I looked back at the pictures I took most of them were of Sarah. Boy do I feel like a bad mom. Although Grayson was so busy it was hard to get a snap shot of him standing still. We had fun watched the fire works and celebrated our expensive freedom that has been bought at a high price but, man we are so grateful to live in this free country!

Fire Cracker...fire cracker...boom...boom...boom!

...Conviction Hurts...

But I am so glad that He convicts of sin! I have so many spirtiual...parental...spousal sins it clouds even the brightest of days. I have just browsed over about five blogs of random women and in each one I found something so convicting...I feel the need to share it with you. My prayer life stinks...large boisterous odor. I have been reading through this prayer devotional and yesterday it talked about asking God to convict you of your sins so you can confess them...that way you can pray more effectively for others. So I obeyed the suggestion and immediately He brought just that day's sins to mind...ouch I was praying asking forgiveness for like 30 minutes. I am so awful...now I really see what He meant in His word there is none who is righteous no not one. Throughout the day the Lord has continually been bringing different sins to light in my heart it has gotten me all depressed. I believe that alot of depression is caused by sin. Our sin should depress us. Please pray for me my biggest pitfall is anger...this emotion that never surface in my life until I had children...how terrible is that. I never got angry...well only at my sister growing up... Why in the world would I get so upset at the things that God has so richly blessed me with? I get mad at the silliest things. I am constantly asking my childrens forgiveness at blowing up about something silly... I really need to get a handle on this. I came across the Duggars blog (what a cool and God fearing family) I found their family guidline which I liked but they convicted me as well ... because I need to follow them before my children can be expected to follow them. My goal from now on is to use soft words with my children and husband no matter the circumstance. Raising my voice is not the most effective way of communicating with children. I have noticed them hollaring at each other and it is so "ugly". God always uses my babies to show me how I should not act. Thank you Lord I know you love me because you are chastening me! Forgive me Lord...I know and read about women who have lost children and would give anything to get them back and here I am taking my precious, healthy, alive, children for granted and stomp all over your grace. May I be changed by your mercy and renewed in the morning.

I have sewed!

I got my sewing area set up and ready to go. I got some shorts made for myself and got Sarah some capri's made for the fourth weekend! I plan on taking some pictures of our family in our cliche outfits... as I bought all of us cheapo matching shirts to wear. We will be so corny and cute all at the same time :). Be waiting for that picture!


By the way getting my sewing area did turn into cleaning my bedroom just as I expected but thank goodness it didn't take long to get it all done. Now we can sleep better in a clean room and Mom is happy she can sew! I love to be rewarded by something I made. I also like being a weekend warrior seamstress because I am allowed to have crooked seams LOL!

Until next time...

Michael

Part 1

I want to share a bit of our story from my point-of-view. I can't write forever you would get so bored. We do not have an exciting story but we do have one.



The Meet



When I graduated I was college bound and headed to Lamar University. I had my "goals" in mind and my heart set on having a better relationship with the Lord. As I arrived both of those task began happening. I loved college life. I loved to learn and go to class. I loved to go to church and the Baptist Student Ministries (BSM) it was the spiritual explosion that happened in my life. God became more real to me in my first semester of college than He had ever been and I was raised in the church. All I knew is I was so hungry for His word and wisdom and He was satisfying my every need and desire. It was a great time. The first semester comes and goes and I have met some amazing Christian friends that I never really had while I was in high school. It was an awesome time. I didn't think it could get better. Then I met him...Bryan. We met as friends in passing, occasionally if there was no one in the cafeteria that I knew we would sit together. We were just common acquaintances, nothing special. Until...one night I was at the BSM after our worship rally in the spring semester of 2003 and I had walk there from my dorm by myself and was kinda creeped out because there had been reports of some rapes on campus and I was scared to walk home that evening by myself. So I looked around the place and no one was left that lived in the dorms but Bryan, well I walk over to him and asked him if he wouldn't mind walking with me back to the dorms because I was a little scared. Him being the polite chivalrous guy he was he gladly accepted to be my "knight in shining armor" without him even knowing that he was. LOL isn't it funny how God works everything out. As we walked we talked...about what I can't remember but I know it was a nice conversation. He was such a nice guy. As we approached the first set of doorms I expected him to veer off and go to his doorm after all I was safe now. It was lighted and gated nothing to worry about, instead he totally surprised me. I told him "see you later" he said what are you talking about, you asked me to walk you to your dorm I am going to see to it that you get there safely. WHOA! Blow me away a guy with such respect for a lady, he did not know, to make sure she was safely at her dorm out of harms way. (*First hook!) The dorms were apartment style so I invited him into our living room and we sat and talked for about 3 hours or so. Exchanged numbers and bid our goodbyes with no future of each other in mind (at least not mine). (It was love at first sight with him.) haha! I am not sure about that one but I will ask him tonight when he gets home...

To be continued

Not feeling inspired

...I want to sew... but I know when I go in there to get my sewing machine prepared for the task ahead, it will turn into cleaning my bedroom instead of sewing. I am ready to finally have my house in the order that I want it. As I look around the living room and kitchen I still see about eight totes that need unpacking. Plus "homeless" items all around. They need a home but where do you put them. I need Allison Hoopes help in getting this place organized. HELP! I guess it just slowly gets done over time. I guess now that the kids are both sleeping YEAH! I will go in there and attempt to get some kind of order to my sewing area so that maybe tomorrow during nap time I can get some real sewing done. I guess if the room needs cleaning I will do that also. Can't cook in a dirty kitchen...can't sew in a dirty room! I know this has not been a real inspiring post but thanks for listening..or reading anyway!

Michael