"We aren't millonaires, we aren't billonaires, we're just blessed"

Jachin said the above line, and we thought it was very concise. We try to tell our children that we have so much more than most people in the world. This helps when they complain about not having a certain toy, candy, movie.....or whatever. I didn’t say it cured all that greediness. :)

I was sitting in the kitchen today feeding Bo his beef soup--and it hit me. How blessed are we in America, that we have meat, milk, & soup EVERYWHERE. In Haiti, Bo barely had enough nutrition to stay alive, and he lived in an orphanage. He was one of the lucky ones. He had a huge “rice belly” due to the lack of protein. And now everytime I throw leftovers out, I am reminded of how blessed we are.

This was especially true this Christmas for me. I of course wanted things for Christmas, but it was a bitter/sweet thing for me. I actually felt guilty this year for how much we were given. I am very grateful for my wonderful family who wants to show their love for us through gift giving. And I am grateful that my entire family is taken care of financially. I never want to be ungrateful to God for what He has given us, and I never want to forget those that don’t have it. I made fun of my brother-in-law for giving my sister a goat for Christmas. But they have it right. My sister gave him a TV (out of their blessing she showed him love) and he gave money to WorldVision (out of their blessing & love they helped others).

Christmas 2008

We had an amazing Christmas this year! The kids went to the Christmas Eve service with Andy while I went to work. Such is the life of a hospital RN. We had Christmas at our house (just the kids, Andy, and me) Christmas morning after I got home from work. We put the turkey in the oven, opened presents, and I went to bed. Three hours later the turkey was done, I got up from my nap, and we loaded up to go to Nana and Papa’s house. We ate with Jeremy & Mel, and Grandmother & Papa Cross. We stayed up late talking. It was a lot of fun. All we were missing was Jenny & Jacob and the girls. We were able to celebrate Thanksgiving with them this year though.

Late Christmas night we went home to sleep for a few hours before we would get up and pack to leave for Houston. Jachin’s birthday (Dec 26th) is always a lot of fun because family is always around. He opened his birthday presents before we started our 7 hour drive. It was great trip except for one thing, we almost got a ticket. I made the mistake of giving Bo a Zicam, he got car sick, and I was drapped over the seat trying to clean up. At that moment we saw flashing lights behind us. The policeman informed us that being in the car without a seatbelt was against the law. However, he felt sorry for us and gave us a warning for “speeding.”

In Houston we stayed in Mimi & Pa’s new house. Heather and the girls made it to Houston a few hours after us. It was fun all hanging out together. They even played Lasertag for Jachin’s birthday. We always feel like we get too much every Christmas, and this year was no exception. We have so many people that love us, and spoil us! THANK YOU!

OU vs Texas Tech game

Andy and I went to the OU game and loved it! Thank you Dad! I loved the energy that you could hear and feel from the crowd. It was freezing but so worth it. What an exciting game. I didn’t know what to expect, but certainly not that score! Now onto OSU....

The Real Prayerwalk!

OK, so on Monday I thought it would be a great idea to teach the kids about prayer. I truly am not all that great at it myself, so I thought I needed to make a special effort. I had read about a prayer walk recently, and I adapted it to my project. Now before I go any further, I have to explain a little something about myself. I am a project person, not a long term goal kind of person. I get really excited and honestly obsessed with one idea, and I run it into the ground. Then I quickly lose interest and bail. I wait about 6 months, and then I have a new fresh obsession. Case in point, the McDonald Mission. I made lesson plans and calendars on how to teach my kids about Missions. I bought maps, checked out books from the library, and ordered videos. I had a new country planned for each month. Ask me how long that lasted.....2 months. And so it went with soap making, sewing, scrap booking.....

So back to the prayer walk. I had envisioned my children walking the neighborhood, praying for their friends, and eventually praying for the people we hadn’t met yet. So I thought, baby steps, we will just walk our block and pray at the houses where their friends live. They were so excited! And so we took off. And about 10 feet into the walk, before we had whispered one prayer, Kimberlyn fell and scrapped both her knees. She then of course, wanted me to carry her the entire way. She was crying, loudly, and said she did not want to pray. Jachin, my firstborn, was oblivious to his hurting sister, and was walking up to every house with the prayer hands to pray for his friends. He would say “God, please keep them safe. Please help them have a great life, for the rest of their lives.” Bo was just running.

We walked past a neighbor that we haven’t met yet. He was sitting outside with his son to watch the garbage truck go by. We smiled, and then Jachin said, “We are on a prayer walk!” The man smiled and said something like, great buddy. I was embarrassed thinking that this man thought that we thought he needed prayer. Like we were righteous and everyone else in the world is doomed. And then I was ashamed that I was embarrassed to be praying. And so our prayer walk ended. It was a Reality Prayer Walk. This is how I should have expected it to go, not some pie in the sky idea that all my children would get into it. But I think we will try it again; it is worth a shot.

So what is my next project....?

I am sure this will happen again

We went to the mall, Kimberlyn, Bo, and Me. I took a little umbrella stroller for Bo. Kimberlyn was tired, so she sat in it, while Bo pushed her. After awhile, Bo got tired of pushing so I pushed and Bo walked beside us. So we were just walking leisurely through the mall when a man came running from across the mall, yelling “There he is! Where is your mommy little boy? Where is your mommy?” I just smiled and said, “Right here.” He just looked at me and it slowly registered. He said, “Oh” in an embarrassed sort of way. I told him it was OK, that I completely understood. I mean he was just trying to be nice and help a lost child! But inside I was rolling. :) I am sure this will happen many more times.

Halloween 2008

All three kids dressed up for halloween. This was Bo’s first halloween, so he really didn’t know what to expect. Jachin was Indiana Jones, Kimberlyn was Sleeping Beauty, and Bo was Spiderman. We went to the church fall festival on Sunday and then trick or treated in our neighborhood on Halloween. Bo got into going up to the door to get candy. So much so, that when he came home, when the doorbell rang with trick or treaters, he would go running to the door with his bag. I guess he thought they were there to give him candy!

Roadtrip 2008

Jachin went on the College Roadtrip with Andy. They drove up to the OU vs Kansas State football game on the church bus. He has been so excited all week. He went on the trip last year and played Cody’s DS the entire way. This year he brought his own DS. He is growing up! :) They had a blast, although Jachin was verrrry cold!