What are you proud of?

So... this happened!  Yes that is right, the Colstrip Fillies are the Class B #3 volleyball team for 2015.  It is pretty exciting and we are so proud of the girls, the coaches, and all the time and effort that has gone into getting to this point.

The question is then, what are you really proud of? 

I am proud of the way my girls smile on the court.   I am proud of the attitude they have even when they are not winning.  When they make a mistake, I am proud of the fact that they take responsibility for the mistake and move forward.

It is so exciting when you meet these goals, like #3 in the state and that is AMAZING, but that is not what I am truly proud of for my girls.  I am proud of the hard work that got them there and the grace in which they accept the title.  These are the things that make me truly proud.

As we move forward into the basketball season I continue to pray for each of the girls.  I pray that each of them will follow the Lord, that those who love Jesus and know Him as their personal savior would be lights for Him both on and off the court.  That is what will make me proud!

What can God use?

I have been reading a book by Annie Chapman.  One of the things she talks about is our part of our relationship with the Lord.  It is an interesting concept to think that we sit back in our faith and "allow" God to work.  I think what really happens is that in our lazy flesh we expect that God with make all of these huge changes in our lives and all we have to do is pray and he will do this great work. (please do not take this as some sort of God can not do anything without my help)

The point is that God wants us to act.  We have our part and God does His part.  This is part of the free will he gives us.  He wants us to choose Him but this requires work on our part.

So, he asks us to go and tell.  Plant the seed, as we often say.  We pant but he is the one to make it grow.  The question is, what if we plant seeds differently?  Can God grow only seeds planted in a certain way?  Is one way "better" than another?  Do all seeds in all soils grow the same way?

It reminds me of planting corn with my grandpa.  We would fish before it was time to plant.  His planting plan was to have 1 fish with each plant.  You dug a hole, put in the fish, then the seeds, then the dirt.  It is not the only way to plant corn, but he liked to do it that way.  He always had a wonderful garden.

At my house I have to be careful how I water things.  If the water gets on the leaves of the pants it will kill the plants because of the sodium in the well water so I have to soak the ground instead of sprinkling the garden.

I feel like we have to be very careful to not tell God what planting method will or will not work for Him to grow our seeds. 

For seeds to grow we do have to have certain things.  If you want to grow corn, you MUST have corn seeds.  If you plant tomato seeds it does not matter how you nurture them, you will not get corn.  You must have water, sun, and dirt to grow anything healthy.  Now, certain things help, preparing the dirt can help.  The kind of water you have, a little shade here and there so it is not scorched by the sun.

I am so thankful that God made us all of different.  I am one of those people that took a lot of different "tillers" to make the seed take hold.  I was born and raised in the church, but it was a lot of different factors that lead to me actually having  a personal relationship with the Lord.

So, be very careful when you critique the way the message of Jesus Christ is delivered.  Some of us need a fish in with our seed, others of us need to be soaked, and still others need to be sprinkled.  Do not put my God in a box.  He is a great and powerful God and can use the most inept, misguided, attempt to share His saving grace.

He gave His gift of salvation and grace freely, we should do the same.

What makes you feel beautiful?

In 2003 my girls wanted to be "Beautiful" for Halloween and so I created 2 dresses from curtains purchased at a second hand store and added blue and white flower headbands with flowers purchased at a yard sale and they felt so very beautiful.  For several years these dresses were used from time to time to make them feel extra special when dressing up.

 
 
Now we flash forward to 2015.  Same girls 12 years later and just as beautiful!  However, the dress code has definitely changed as far as what makes them feel beautiful.  I am a very fortunate mother because my two most favorite girls are beautiful both inside and out.  (This momma is much more worried about the inside being beautiful!)  This particular day Abby was freshman homecoming princess and Emma was Junior Homecoming princess.  Love my girls!

Amazingness!

Pretty sure Amazingness is not a word, but that is what I see in my girls.

The hardest part of being a parent is when you see these moments of amazingness in your children and they can't seem to see what you see.  You see the potential, the intelligence, the kindness, the silly moments, the naughty moment, the joy, the pain, the work, the tears, all that goes into who they are and what you see is their amazingness.

So, here is to the young women they will become, and I will continue to pray that some day they will see themselves through the eyes of their mother that sees all of their amazingness!

Your Last Moment

When a tragedy happens we always talk about last words, the last time you saw someone, the last moment...

As you go through life you begin to collect last moments.  The last hug from my Grandma Lucile.  The last smile from my Grandma Dee.  There are many of these last moments I can list.

The problem with last moments is that you don't know which one will be the last one.  As I go through my days, I talk to my parents, my husband, my children, I have begun to look at our conversation differently.  What if THESE words are our last conversation?  What if THIS hug is our last touch? 

Will your last moment be a moment filled with love or a moment corrupted with selfishness?

As I begin to look at each moment I pray that God will help me to take advantage of each moment.  I hope to have many many more moments with my friends and family, but I want to act like each moment is my last so that when the last moment comes it will be one filled with love.

Blessings

Sometimes God speaks to us in different ways.  We hear His voice in His word, we hear His voice in a sermon, we hear His voice in silence, and sometimes we hear His voice in a song. 

Mercies in disguise... could it be that all these trials frustrations in our lives could be Gods mercies in disguise.  What is His plan for us?  Have you ever prayed that prayer, God what is your plan for my life?  The thing is, if we read His word, we know His plan for us.  He has only 1 plan, He wants to mold us into His Image.  All of the details of how He gets us there is different for everyone, but the plan is always the same. 

He cares for us and stands with us in these moments of pain, fear, joy, every situation you have been in, He is there in every situation, in every decision, in every single moment of every single day.

So, when you hear the song Blessings I challenge you to really listen to the words.  See how God is working in your life to mold you into His Image. 

As I have prayed for things in my life I have been frustrated when I was not answered in the way I wanted, but when I look back I can see His Mercies and His Grace.

We pray for blessings, we pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
And all the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love is way too much to give us lesser things

'Cause what if your blessings come through rain drops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt your goodness, we doubt your love
As if every promise from Your word is not enough
And all the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

'Cause what if your blessings come through rain drops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not,
This is not our home
It's not our home

'Cause what if your blessings come through rain drops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near

What if my greatest disappointments or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy
What if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are your mercies in disguise

Things we think we know

Remember that time when you were a young couple... you were sitting in a restaurant or walking in the store and you saw "that mom" or "that dad" or even "that couple" that had a 2 year old child that was throwing a HUGE fit.  And you said the words that go something like this "our child will NEVER act that way.  We will discipline our children!"

Then the day comes, you have this beautiful baby.  They are everything you ever dreamed of.  You say no as they grow and you ARE using discipline and love.  Your child grows and learns and is just as amazing as they can be... and then they turn 2.  You are now "that mom" , "that dad", or "that couple" that is walking through the store with your very own well behaved 2 year old child.  And then it happens, your child decides, for no apparent reasons, that they want their way.  They proceed to throw themselves into a fit to end all fits. 

You then realize something you didn't know before.  Sometimes a 2 year old child ACTS like a 2 year old child.  This is not because  you are a bad parent, they are a bad child, or because you do not disciplined your child, it is because at some point every 2 year old acts like a 2 year old.

I have found in my life that I have had to learn this lesson more than one time.  I now have teenagers that ACT like teenagers.  This is both exciting and frustrating. 

Now for what I know... I know that my amazing children sometimes get frustrated with life.  I know that they sometimes make questionable decisions.... I also know that they make the amazing choices and I look at them and think, what are you 30... I see them choosing to love the Lord and follow Him, I see them making good choices and serious life choices that show grace and maturity beyond their years.

So, yes, I had 2 year olds that lay kicking and screaming in Walmart, but now I have these amazing young women who have compassion for other, drive to accomplish goals, and beauty that radiates from inside of them and far outweighs any physical beauty they may have.

I love you Emma and Abigail, God has big plans for you both... follow Him!

Closing Chapters and Opening New Ones

It is always interesting to me that you can be both excited and sad all in the same moment.

This picture was from the first your my girls started home schooling... and the pictures they made me for my homeschool planner that I retired this year.

It was an amazing and sometimes very frustrating ride over the years, but I was so very blessed to be able to share my days with these girls.  I can honestly stay that I probably learned more than they did!

Two year ago Emma started high school.  It was sad to let her go, but she is such an amazing girl and did so very well.  I had 2 more years with Abby at home that just seem to have flow by.

That brings us to today.  Today both of my beautiful girls are back at public school.  Abigail is a freshman and Emma is a Junior.

I have prayed over these girls, cried over them, laughed with them (and at them) and have been so very blessed to call them mine.

I know that God has big plans for these girls and I will pray every day that they will follow him.

It has been so fun to watch them grow and change, an honestly sometimes painful as well, but there is no greater joy than seeing the beautiful young women they are becoming.  They are pretty to look at, but when I see their hearts I just melt a little more inside with gratefulness as I am reminded that they have only been given to me for a short time and that they belong to God.

Stages and Moments

Our girls are 2 year apart and I remember when they were 2 and 4 and I was completely overwhelmed my oldest sister assured me that it was just a stage in our lives and that it would change and we would be on to a new stage.

That was good advice.  I started to be able to see my life in these small pieces that were called stages.  One stage led to another and life moved on to new joys and new challenges.  With each stage came overwhelming problems that would again throw me for a loop and I would have to restart and think again of my life in these stages.

What I am realizing now that my children are 14 and 16 and I am looking back at all of these stages is that these pieces of time are such small moments.  I am learning to hold on to the moments and remember that the problems that seem so overwhelming are the moments that grow, build, and change us.

The true blessing in all of this is that I still have more time to enjoy the precious moments I have with my children and my family.  The key is to enjoy each moment in the moment and learning to do that is both a joy and a challenge.

The Rosebud/Treasrure County Fair is upon us

Haven't checked in for a while.  We have been so very blessed this year.  The girls are gearing up for fair this week.  We are working on making sure our projects are ready this week.

Emma is showing her dog, has made a quilt, and was also given the honor of showing a sheep this year for Sydney Hedges.

Abigail is showing her horse and has collected over 50 bugs for her indoor project.

Lets just say that our days are full and our family is blessed.

Off to school we go!

BBRRRRRRR...  Today we are back to school.  Emma had a 2 hour late start because of the weather, but drove herself to school (and promptly checked in when she arrived).  Abby is getting ready to start back up this morning.  Abby's school also had a 2 hour late start (don't tell the principal!)

We are so excited to be back up and moving and back to normal.

Please pray extra for Craig this morning.  He started a new position today.  He is now Leadman in scrubbers.  We are so proud of him for his willingness to learn new positions and try new things.