Unglued

I started a new Bible Study at church this morning with some dear friends.  "Unglued" is the name of the book, and it is gonna be a good one! I can already tell! 
The last couple of weeks have been crazy busy.  And things will not be slowing down anytime soon.  This study is sure to help me remember to ask God for help in controlling my emotions...using His truth to guide in how I deal with people...and PRAY for people!  Emotions can pretty much rule me if I let them.  So, self-control is something very needed!  I will be talking more about this study in the coming weeks!

Starting the School Year with Prayer

Some sweet ladies gathered this morning at Avalon Church and spent time praying for the upcoming school year.We prayed for the students, teachers/administrators, parents and schools.  One of my spiritual goals this year is to pray more in depth for my girls and their schools.  I'm excited to see what God does this  year!

Retreat is coming!!!

The ladies retreat is so close, I can taste it!  I am so excited about a weekend away with sisters in Christ - at a beautiful resort - with a wonderful speaker - and lots of fun times!  I am nervous, but I'm going to pray really hard that I don't get totally stressed.  What do I need to remember?  That this retreat is not about me, Melissa or Brandee (the planning team!)  This retreat is about God and bringing glory and honor to His Name.  Oh, Lord, let me serve the ladies of Avalon with love and may they see YOU and not me.

This year we are having break out sessions - for the first time ever!  So excited!  Our theme is "No Place Like Home."  Each breakout session is a little lesson on something to do with that theme.

I met last night with the session leaders, and God brought everything together so beautifully.  Praise His Name!  It's gonna be a great weekend!

Grown Up Girlfriends

This is the topic I am doing as a break out session for our ladies retreat in September.  I am so excited!  And nervous!  God has been convicting me of our need as women for real, honest friendships.  Not fake, surface relationships that leave you feeling empty and insecure.  But as sisters in Christ, we are to build each other up and learn about ourselves, and Christ, together.
I've already learned so much from the book I'm using, Grown Up Girlfriends, written by Erin Smalley and Carrie Oliver.  I can't wait to read the rest of it and develop some thoughts to share with the ladies of Avalon.
Here is a small excerpt from the book, just to get you excited!
"Be careful to avoid using your personality preferences as excuses for behavior that is not godly or helpful.  If I am an extrovert, I could blurt out angry-or accusing-sounding statements and then say something like, "That's just the way I am."  This is not acceptable.  We are never to use our personalieites to manipulate or control another person."  

See, I told you...good stuff!!!

Going Back to School? Read This!

A new school year is a new beginning.  Whatever you were last year, can now be changed.  You can dress different.  You can have new friends. You can be in new clubs, and try out for new sports.  If you weren't popular last year, you can try to be popular this year. You can get better grades.  You can do your homework on time.  You can study for tests in plenty of time instead of cramming at the last minute. 
If you're going back to school, you probably have goals...whether you've recognized them as goals or not, you have them.  It may be something I mentioned above, or it may be different.
If you consider yourself a follower of Christ, allow me to ask you a question.  Have you considered what your spiritual goals are for this year?  After all, our whole lives are about one thing: bringing glory to God.  Somehow, education seems to get in the way of that.  We start believing society...that education is the most important thing in our lives.  If we don't go to a good college and get a degree in something extraordinary, we are worth nothing.  What makes me so very sad is that many Christian parents have even bought into this.  Their goal is to bring glory to God, but their goals for their kids?  Well, their kids need to get straight A's, number one priority!  Then, excel at some extracurricular activity, art, sports, whatever...then somewhere down the list is God, youth group, church, etc.
How do we fool ourselves in this way?  We believe God is central to everything else except this thing!  We think society has everything wrong except this. 
I've worked with students for 9 years now, and it drives me crazy (crazy, I tell you!) that students bog themselves down with a million and one AP classes, athletics, clubs, etc. etc., to the detriment of their relationship with Christ.
If a student doesn't care about grades, then it's friends.  Or popularity. Or whatever...fill in the blank.
Am I saying getting good grades, AP classes, athletics, friends, are bad things? Absolutely not, and I believe we honor God by being diligent in our lives.  But I also believe that we miss the mark more often than not.
So, if we truly believe our number one goal in life is to bring honor and glory to our Creator and Maker,  how do school and academics fit into that?  Simply this: you are at your school for one purpose: to bring honor and glory to God. If you try out for a sport, it is for one reason: to bring honor and glory to God.  So before you try out, evaluate your purpose.  Am I trying out to be more popular?  Am I trying out because I think it will make me rich when I get older?  Or am I trying out because I have faith that somehow, I will bring glory to God and honor Him with all I do while playing this sport?  Maybe you'll meet someone that you are supposed to share God's love with.  I don't know why God has you where He does, but I know it's for His glory. 
Students, remember your purpose.  What are YOUR spiritual goals this year?

And so it begins...

First grade is quickly approaching, and there's not one thing I can do about it!  So I'll stop complaining and remember to "cherish the time..."
Carley was so excited to meet her teacher...a little nervous, but excited.  Her teacher just graduated college in May, but she did her internship with the lead first grade teacher last year at Stone Lakes, and they liked her so much that they hired her!  So we feel pretty good about her.  Carley is in the same class with 2 classmates from last year, Isabella and Zach.  Back in April, a new family with 3 children moved in a few doors down from us.  We found out their son, Tanner, is also in Carley's class! Praise God for new friends!
We got to visit Carley's teacher from last year, Ms. Michalopoulous, who came back to teach after taking a half year to take care of her mom.  Carley diligently prays for Ms. M's mom every time she prays. 
We are excited about what this year will bring - we are praying, just like we did last year, that we can be a light at Stone Lakes Elementary to all of the families that need the Lord, and an encouragement to those that do know Him!

Baby Teeth and Growing Up

Carley went to the dentist last week.  They did x-rays on her, and afterward, I sat next to her while the dentist looked at her x-rays on a big screen by her chair.  And I almost cried.
Call me sappy. Call me over-emotional.  Call me what you will.  But let me explain.
Carley has not lost any teeth yet.  Much to her dismay, she still has all of her baby teeth, and seemingly, no loose teeth.  She so desperately wants to get a loose tooth, and have the Tooth Fairy visit her and leave $1 under her pillow.  It's happened to her friends, but it hasn't happened to her yet.
I am also a mom that is not a huge fan of my kids growing up.  I know, I know.  You told me it would happen.  When I was pregnant, you said, "it goes by so fast! Cherish every moment!"  But, I, like so many other moms, didn't totally believe you.  After all, my pregnancy stretched on for what seemed an eternity.  Day after day, week after week, month after month, of a stretching belly that I am pretty sure almost popped right open before I could even go into labor.  And then she was born, and as precious as she was, and as in love as I was, I kinda wanted her to grow up.  I loved her sleeping on my chest, I loved feeding her bottles. I can't say that I loved panicking that she wasn't breathing in the bassinet or worrying that I was ruining her by letting her sleep on her belly after she turned 2 weeks old (gasp!).  So, I kinda wanted her to grow up...I was excited to see her crawl, for her to eat baby food, to see her toddle around the house and play with toys.  All of that happened quicker than I thought.  You kept telling me how fast it would go by, and I was starting to maybe believe you.  At least a little.
Pretty soon, we added another little girl to the mix, and I will say I was less anxious about her growing up than I was with Carley.  I had learned my lesson.  Kinda. Sorta.
And then I blinked.
Carley turned four. She started and finished VPK.
Then I blinked again.  She started and finished Kindergarten.
Which brings me to (almost) crying at the dentist.
Have you ever seen a child's mouth in an x-ray right before they start losing their baby teeth?  Well, I hadn't.  It turns out that you can see all of their grown up teeth up in the gums just waiting to come in.  All of them. Perfectly aligned.  Waiting to come in. To Carley's mouth. Grown. Up. Teeth.
So there it is.  A symbol of her grown up life, sitting right there in her mouth.  But wait!  I was just pregnant with her for (what seemed) 52 months!  And I was just lying next to her staring at her new born face, making sure she was still breathing! And we just went to the big sister class where they taught her how to get ready for a new little sister!  And I just took her to her first day of kindergarten!
Where did my baby go?
She's starting first grade in less than a week.
In five years, she will be in youth group.
Then she'll drive.
Then she'll move away.
And get married.
And have kids.
And I'll be a grandmother.  And I will tell Carley to cherish every moment, because it goes by so fast.
...and she won't believe me. 

Back to School Shopping

Lesson learned last year: Do not take the kids back to school shopping!  So today, I have lined up my dear hubby to watch the girls while I venture out to do some back to school shopping.  I hope I find some good deals! 

Summertime, Vacation, the Beach...FAMILY

I love summer.  I've loved summer since I was little and it meant being out of school for 3 whole months.  I love summer now that I have a school-aged child, because it means spending time with my Carley girl when I feel like I didn't see her all year.  I love the lazy mornings, sitting around and sipping coffee and letting the girls stay in their pj's for an ungodly amount of time.  And I love.love.love. family vacation!
Since I was a baby, we've been going to New Smyrna Beach.  Now as an adult, we've chosen to vacation at St. Simon's Island with my family, tagged onto the end of a trip to Sea Island with Dustin's family.  We do this trip at the beginning of June, and then at the end of July, we take a trip to NSB with the girls in the family and our kiddos.  You would not believe the fun the kids have together on this trip.
Our family has been through a lot.  I recently re-visited some emails back from 2008...yes, I saved them.  I have emails between us girls and devotions we shared and words of hope that God would not see fit to take Leigh Anne yet.  We know now that He did take her.  And we've struggled with that.  But we are still family.  And we still have fun together.  And we still know the importance of loving each other.  Friends come and go, but family is always there for you.  Maybe that's why we have such a bond to each other.  We know that no matter what, we will defend each other.  No matter what, we will love each other.  No matter what, we will support each other.
I see this same loyalty in my husband, and I am so thankful for it.  I pray that my girls have the same bond to each other and to their families.