Sunday is for Resting.... Right?

Not so much at our house!

I got up at about 6:30 after crashing hard on Saturday night. So I made muffins and got myself ready for church. Then I woke the boys up one at a time, and bathed them and got them ready and fed. Then I went and got Sophie and Hank up. I fed Sophie one of the chocolate muffins......then had to give her a quick bath before she was ready! :) We were ready to go pretty early.

After church, I would love to say that afternoon naps are a priority, but they are not! With some of our yard sale money, and some money that the boys had saved up over the previous months, it was necessary to stop at Toys R Us. Tres got a new DS, and Bryant got an Indian Jones Lego set.The rest of their afternoon (and Daddy's!) was spent putting together LEGOS and playing on their DS's.

After Toys R Us, we went the longer way home, and swung by my favorite CVS. Since I had clipped the appropriate coupons from Sunday's paper, I wanted to pick up (3) Dove deo, (2) Dove body washes, (1) Schick Razor, (1) 4 Cartridge Schick, (2) Nivea Extreme Comfort Shaving Gel, (1) Nivea for Men Senisitive Skin Body Wash, (2) Smart Rinse, and (2) Brut Deodarants. Thankfully they had everything I wanted.I spent $2.34. On these transactions, I generated more ECB's than I spent thanks to coupons! So that made up for yesterday.

I plan to return at some point this week for some make-up and softlips and a couple of other things! Does anyone know where I can get a Revlon coupon?? I need some concealer! :)

Funny story... I got myself ready sporting my nice red farmer's tan from the yard sale, and I guess I didn't really look in the mirror after I got ready... cause the line for my shirt and the tan line were way off! I led praise and worship like that!

I ask You, Father...

to give me a wise mind and spirit that is attuned to Your will, so I may gain a thorough understanding of the ways in which You work. I desire to live well for You Master, making You proud of me as I work hard in Your orchard. As I learn more and more how You work, I will learn how to do my work. I pray for strength that endures to stick it out over the long haul... It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy.
I thank You, Father for making me strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that You have for me.

Another prayer from Pastor Tommy based on Colossians 1:9-14. I have decided to focus on one prayer a week... to really get in down deep in my spirit. I especially like the "I desire to live well for You..." part and the that prays for strength to "stick it out over the long haul." And I LOVE the part about being "strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful" that God has for me!!!! I like direction. I like to know how to direct my prayers and I like the fact that my pastor gives me 'homework.' Because although I sit down and read on my own, I like knowing that I am in agreement with my church... that I am working towards something that others are working towards also. I think this not only builds me up spiritually as an individual.... I think it builds us up corporately and prepares for days... good and bad... to come.

Cross-Eyed Cutie

Ava Sophia got to wear one of the little dresses that was once Sierra's this past Sunday. She looked so cute in it! It almost made Aunt Tonnie cry! :) I took this picture at church. But I wasn't satisfied with how her head was laying crooked. So I straightened her head, and took this one:Focus, Ava... focus!

Our 'REFRESHING' Sunday

Yesterday was also a special day for our family. Our church, Crosslife (a church plant from Cathedral of the Cross), had it's first baptismal Sunday. Pastor Tommy got special permission to baptize people in the lake at Oak Mountain. We had 10 people get baptized... including Hank!

I was so proud of him! Hank made a very well thought out decision to do this. Some of you may not realize this, but Hank was raised Catholic, and has been attending Assembly of God churches only since we got married! He considers everything logically, looks at what the Bible says about it, and makes his decision. He decided he wanted to take part in this baptismal service as an outward sign that the 'old' Hank was gone, and God has control over the 'new' Hank. I get emotional just typing this. But when I asked him what he was feeling when he was out there, he said he wasn't feeling anything. He was concentrating on what he was doing and telling the Lord that he was going to do this right.The only thing he said was that he wished he could have done it on his birthday (today).