At Mealtime this past Friday, as I introduced our topic, one 6th grade boy raised his hand and asked if Jonah was a king. “No he wasn’t,” I responded.

At the conclusion of the Bible Study, same boy raised his hand and said, “That story  sounded just like Pinocchio and his dad!”

Like I said, It’s why we do what we do!!

Here’s Jason on his 1st birthday in 1981.Even in hand-me-downs, he’s a cutie-pie, isn’t he?

It’s so interesting to look at a baby and not even begin to guess what God has put in that child: talents, personality, skills, potential. But one thing we know about Jason 30 years later is that God filled him to the brim: he’s artsy, musical, creative, a problem-solver, funny and kind. Not to mention he’s a faithful husband, dedicated dad, God-lover, obedient Christ-follower, loving son and hard worker. 

Happy Birthday Jason! I love you!! You’re the best!

4 point nutritional breakfast

didn’t take the time to exercise this morning because traffic has been SO bad and I didn’t want to cut it close for a 9 am meeting (now is that a lame excuse for not exercising or what??)     it did take 50 minutes to get to church though

meeting; lots of details, good plans for important ministry ventures

prayed for lots of hurting people     

11 point (yikes!) totally high fat lunch     it did fill me up though

3 or four mini-meetings in the afternoon      not much else accomplished

hurried out of the office to get to Jason’s 30th birthday dinner!!        left my phone on my desk….oh, brother

ate with the family at The Union Restaurant      yummy, eclectic, good service      i had “thin beans,” delicioso creamed corn, buttered broccolini, roasted fingerling potatoes      hmmm…estimating a 6-8 point meal

jason opened birthday presents as we (actually, the fam minus me!) feasted on cappucino ice cream and homemade donuts for his “Birthday cake”

had fun with the kids      asa looked like he was 3 with his new haircut….he’s 5 days short of 2!     lydia and nora are just in love with each other and it’s a joy to watch them having so much fun together     all three kids had spaghetti which added entertainment value to our meal!

came home to catch up on e-mails and record today’s meals     3 points over so i’ll use 3 weekly points as a bonus for celebrating jason’s 30th!

america’s got talent…..final 4….finally!

nite!

Fairy Balls

For 99 cents, I snagged several packs of “Seven Color Crystal Ball” at an Asian market shop. For those of you are into this kind of thing, here are the directions for use:

1. add water (400 g) on the product, about 4 hours it will grow up

2. one clear beauty satiety face will grow up

3. when the flower want to oxygen and nutrition I will help you too much

Clear as a Seven Color Crystal Ball? Or maybe clear as mud! Who writes this stuff? Someone who learned English from a book, I guess. We got a good laugh out of the instructions. But immediately I thought this would be a fun little project for Nora and Lydia. They spent the night with us and I told them we were going to make “Fairy Balls.” Initially, they were less than impressed. All we did was take the label off a water bottle, pour in the tiny package of Seven Color Crystal Balls, filled it with water, capped it and set the bottles on the kitchen counter over night. But the next morning…well…look at the results:

They loved it! It was magical.

Darrell surprised me with the prettiest flowers for our 36th wedding anniversary yesterday. He always sends me flowers in the colors of our wedding. These were especially pretty, I though. Thanks, honey! Click here for the wedding photo (don’t get scared!!)

As we celebrate our country’s birthday, the colors of our flag could make us think of these qualities:

RED reminds us of the courage of soldiers as they defend our country

WHITE reminds us of purity and the right decisions we pray our leaders are making on our behalf

BLUE makes  us think of “justice for all” and the opportunities and freedoms we’ve each been given

And when we think of Jesus, our flag can remind us:

RED stands for the red blood of Jesus shed for us on the cross

WHITE shows us that only the blood of Jesus can cleanse our hearts from the dirt of sin

BLUE makes us think of the true-blue faithfulness of Jesus when he tells us He will forgive our sin when we ask.

OK….now all that said, all I wanted to do at the end of this devotional time was to hand each child a mini-American flag to wave as we sang “God Bless America.” And since we do live in America and it is the 4th of July weekend-no problem-right? WRONG!! There is not a small flag in Atlanta. And not because they are all sold out- but because the stores aren’t carrying them. Not Wal-Mart, not Party City, not Walgreens, not Kroger. I didn’t see a single Happy Birthday, America sign or poster or red, white and blue bunting or hat or FLAG in any of these stores to celebrate the 4th. I did see a few fireworks…whoo-hoo!

I guess what makes me mad about this whole thing is the obvious, dis-heartening, sickening lack of enthusiasm for the principles upon which our country was founded, the patriotism of a generation ago and commonality of  honoring our country as the absolute best in the world is quickly waning. I suppose a lack of small flags at WalMart is not the end of the world- but it just seems like another indicator that the country I knew until really quite recently has changed drastically and quickly for the worse.

One bright spot of this 4th of July weekend was the patriotic celebration at our church, Mount Paran North, on Friday night. The Cobb Symphony played a patriotic package of music with our choir joining in on a few songs. Nearly everyone had pulled out their red, white and blue clothes which added to the festivities. The evening was fun, patriotic and full of pop style orchestral pieces of music. Best of all though was the obvious honoring of our country and the veterans and current military for sacrificing themselves on behalf of the citizens of our country.  At a point in the program, the theme song for each branch of the military service was played while veterans and currently enlisted service persons filled the front of our sanctuary. It was a moving reminder that these men and women have experienced and been through situations I can’t even imagine. Take a look below:

Well- all said, I still continue to pray, “God Bless America!”

Friends at Children’s Pastors Conference wish my cute-pie granddaughter a Happy 4th Birthday. Featured are the Donut Man, Yancy, Jeff Smith and puppeteer Todd Liebenow, owner of One Way Street. Thanks everyone!

PET CARE                                                                                                                            Watered and fed Charmin                                                                                         Cleaned Charmin’s paws                                                                                            Walked Charmin                                                                                                                     Fed ducks, peacocks, goats, rooster                                                                           Slept with a pet dog

BIBLE EXPLORATION                                                                                                   Crossing of the Red Sea                                                                                                    Jesus Cooks for his Disciples

BIBLE PROJECTS                                                                                                                   Red Sea coloring sheet                                                                                                       Fish on the Beach snack project                                                                                       Red Sea snack project for our parents

HIKING BADGE                                                                                                                   Learned safety rules                                                                                                        Used a bandanna and whistle                                                                                       Found a stick in the woods                                                                                              Sanded and decorated sticks                                                                                         Went on a hike with sticks                                                                                               Extra Credit: hiking in the rain

SWIMMING                                                                                                                   Swimming three times                                                                                                   Noodle fun                                                                                                                              Extra credit: swimming in the rain

Take a look at some of the highlights!

We don’t know who has more fun- Grandmama and Papa or our two campers!