If this gets Franklin Graham dis invited to the Pentagon's National Day of Prayer Service, we are undoubtedly in need of a spiritual awakening.

The exciting thing is that the gray is shrinking and the black and white is becoming more and more obvious. Choices will be made. The line in the sand is being drawn and people will have to pick a side.
The salt is about to get a lot saltier and light is going to get brighter and brighter.


Am I willing to suffer for the sake of righteousness?
Am I willing to loose my job because I speak my faith?
Do I boldly say, "Merry Christmas!" to strangers even though it's becoming increasingly unpopular to do so?
Should we be surprised to getting resistance to the gospel? It offends everything in humans on so many levels.
It's a free gift.---so there's gotta be a catch, right?
It's the only way in.---you mean you can't say, "to each his own"?
It's not about how righteous you are.---you can do some good things and not get in?
It's full forgiveness.---but I don't deserve that.
It's simple. Just yield.---if I don't look out for me, who will?!

I know how the story ends. He wins. His will won't be stopped. His plans will prevail.
That's the team I'm on.

I serve a God who doesn't forget His promises. He remembers His people and He is mighty to save. His grace covers me....and that's something to be excited about.

Happy Wednesday! My first two words are in honor of bakersdozen2
We've never met but I can tell I would like her instantly. It's apparent that she is willing to draw a line in the sand. To be marked for what she believes in. To take a stand. To be counted on the side in which she believes.  An ardent patriot.

: characterized by resolute fearlessness, fortitude, and endurance <an intrepid explorer>

— in·tre·pid·i·ty ˌin-trə-ˈpi-də-tē noun

— in·trep·id·ly in-ˈtre-pəd-lē adverb

— in·trep·id·ness noun

This is my own little made up word *slash* holiday *slash *new weekly tradition that my kids are thrilled with.

Main Entry: Tick-le Tues-day

Pronunciation: Tickle Tuesday

Function:  laughter 

Etymology: English 2010 

: to spend every Tuesday with the purpose of catching one's children by surprise as much as possible, tickling them relentlessly. <laughter is medicine which is why I've declared Tickle Tuesdays>

Have a wonderful rest of the week.

~Stacey

I've decided to have a "regular".  Hence, Wordy Wednesday.
Who couldn't use a little vocabulary expansion?

Let's get started. I've got three for you today.

1. brackish
This is a word that is just fun to say. I always thought it meant blackish....maybe because it rhymes....

2. dank
This is a word that when I use it, I always feel like I made it up. Like, "Is that really even a word?" It is.

3. juxtaposed

Apparently, everyone knew this word before I did. My Dad knew it, my brother- in- law knew it, my husband knew it but my Mother (queen of words) did NOT know it. I heard it for the first time about a year ago and in the following month I heard it in a random conversation. Crazy. But what a fun word to say!

If you find a way to work any of these words into conversation this week, type the sentence in a comment box. Would love to hear!

"A powerful agent is the right word. Whenever we come upon one of those intensely right words... the resulting effect is physical as well as spiritual, and electrically prompt."
Mark Twain

What a beautiful morning it is. Spring is in full bloom, the sun is out and I just got off the treadmill. I hear birds chirping, the rumble of the lawn mower across the street, and surprisingly, a sound I don't hear is our dog barking.

It's my little world and it's so easy to get lost in it. This is what it's looked like the past couple days:

Yesterday, one of the pretty canopies over the girls' beds got pulled down...again. So we had to make what I believe is the sixth hole in the ceiling. Hmm.

I spent two hours on the phone yesterday morning, making reservations for our first real family vacation. A trip to a little place called Disney World. Where to eat, when to go to what park, where to stay, what shows to catch. It's a real hand wringer.  And heaven forbid you don't wake up a 6:58 to be one of the VERY first people to call and reserve lunch at Cinderella's Royal Table. Missing that would be a travesty.

I spent the better part of the last two days suffocating in laundry and getting constant mini workouts running up and down stairs putting stuff away, changing wet sheets, and getting the baby up from naps.

I shoved dinner down the kids throats at 5:15 yesterday in order to get to baseball on time. Get Emma up from a nap, buckle her in those ridiculously heavy carrier car seats, herd the other three in the car, get out of the neighborhood by 5 minutes and realize I forgot a bottle for the baby. So, I turned around, got it, and headed back. Pulled in the parking lot, I got her OUT of her seat and start to feed her (because she's starving at this point) and traipse through the pollen filled grass, kids in tow to find Jake's team. Wandered around the fields for 10 minutes, never finding them. Well, at least I didn't know I found them. Apparently, we walked right past them two or three times. Again, a little frustrating!   Deciding I must have had the wrong time or day, we loaded BACK in the the car to head home.

I love almost everything about my  life and I believe it's important. I know it's what has been put in my hands to do. I also know that I don't have the grace to walk out anything that is more than what I'm currently experiencing. Nor am I supposed to. However, if I get so caught up in my, me, and I, it's really easy to loose perspective.
Little things start to feel like big things.
Looking outside myself, at what other people are living, not only makes me grateful, but it also presents an opportunity to see God's grace and mercy at work.
His promise to be faithful is true.
I've seen it. And I've experienced it.

"God never gives strength for tomorrow, or for the next hour, but only for the strain of the minute. The temptation is to face difficulties from a common sense standpoint. The saint is hilarious when he is crushed with difficulties because the thing is so ludicrously impossible to anyone but God." ~Oswald Chambers

Reese cracks me up.  It was so bright she couldn't hold her eyes open but she was sure gonna' try. Then there's Jake, kissing Avery off the cuff. Make my heart melt.

~Stacey

This is the kind of day it is and I'm stuck inside doing laundry.

Trust me. If there were any way around it, I would leave it.
BUT. When at seven o'clock in the morning, your son has no matched socks and your husband says, "Honey, do I have an undershirt?", you sorta have to remedy the situation.

Happy Wednesday!

Stacey

My faded, black yoga pants have spit up on the left leg. The kitchen table where I sit is nearly covered with bills I was just paying, a clipboard with Reese's artwork, cd's I've been burning, and my hot Eight O'Clock coffee.

I went to bed last night a little defeated and perplexed. I had worked hard. All day. I can't say that every day but yesterday, it was the case. Lunches were packed, a shower was had, groceries were bought, laundry was cleaned, folded, and put away for hours. Kitchen was cleaned more than once, den was vacuumed, homework was done, baby was fed, held, rocked, and loved on, kids were retrieved from the neighbors, pants were delivered to the cleaners as promised, and dinner was made and served. Oh, and three games of Trouble were played. (Which was the best part of the day, but it took an hour. Nobody could roll a 6!)

Guess what? All that and at 10:00 last night, I looked around and saw countless things still undone. The table didn't get fully cleared and the dishes didn't get completely done. I still have a suitcase on my bedroom floor full of clothes from a weekend trip. I could go on but I would rather get on with the good part of this story.

As I fell in bed, my mind was flooded with not so happy thoughts like:

Why can't I get it all done?
I should be able to get it all done. Proverbs 31 says so.
What am I doing wrong?
I must be missing some fundamental in Wife/Mom 101.
Why can't I measure up?
Does everyone else feel like there is more work than time or am I the only one doomed to failure?
Why don't I stay up til midnight doing housework like some other amazing women I know?

I woke up, determined to press on, attack my kitchen, pray for strength and encouragement, and not be beaten by yesterday's frustrations. I woke up a little before 6, fed my hungry baby, loaded the dishwasher, made eggs for the kids, and dressed one very sleepy six year old.

I went to the bathroom and there I heard a divine, gentle whisper. "Remember Mary and Martha? Read it again."
Oh the grace that He gives me. The sweet mercy of meeting me at my point of need, no matter how silly or insignificant that need may seem.
 
"She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.....
'Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.'"  (Luke 10)

You are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. 
Such a gentle correction. I don't think Jesus was mad that she was upset and worried.
Martha was doing things that "had to be done"! Legitimate preparations. Things that were expected of her.  Things that were in her job description. But had they all gone undone, it would have been okay.  Better, even.

Only one thing is needed.
I don't want to miss the boat on doing that ONE thing.
Every thing else is cream. Not critical.  Not necessary.
I am perfect IN Him but not in my humanness. I DON'T measure up in my own strength. Not supposed to. That's what makes being redeemed so sweet.

So as I sit here with my Bible on my lap, I'm not so worried about the three little juice cups surrounded by crumbs that still sit on the bar from breakfast. I'm not upset by the box of saltine crackers or the unpacked lunch box from yesterday that are still on the counter. The fact that both my washer and dryer have clothes in them, despite my valiant effort yesterday, isn't so important. I'll get all those things done because I want to. But I wouldn't trade the love and encouragement I received this morning for a clean kitchen or done laundry. Ever. I'll be perfect one day, but until then I would do well to love God and love others. (The only eternal investment I have.)

After all, the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.

As for the people who sit at His feet AND get everything else done.....I'm going to pretend those people don't exsist.

~Some people I love:~

~Her hands remind me that this is not our eternal home~

Going to play more Trouble with a four year old, then clean the kitchen. Yet again. And I don't mind one bit.

~Stacey

I've decided I'm just going to have to be tired for a few days.

#2 Try on pre-baby clothes at about four weeks postpartum.

ATTENTION PREGNANT PEOPLE: Don't do it. Huge mistake.

Stacey~

Our first two and a half weeks with little Emma have been surprisingly smooth. I have heard that after three children, it doesn't matter how many you have....I believe it.
 (Not that we'll be testing that theory out...)

The best thing I've read in a while....

~Stacey

Emma Livingston. She's absolutely precious. Mine have all been content,good babies ...but this little thing is oddly easy. She just doesn't cry unless she has an obvious need. I think she knows she's number 4 and just has to go with the flow!

Oh and for anyone who wants to know, she weighed 8lbs 12 oz. At least we think she did. There was that weight then one a few minutes later that said 8lbs. 6 oz. Doesn't matter much.
She was probably my hardest labor but the easiest recovery. I delivered her about 6 hours after I started having pretty good contractions.
It's funny how I forgot how little they are...and how precious....

~Stacey