Through their eyes

My kids are 6 and 3 years old and are absolutely in awe of the whole Christmas season. Yes, they understand it's celebrating Christ's birthday (and Daddy's) but they also love the lights, the trees, the smells (yes Christmas has smells) and the overall excuse to let ordinary-every-day-life become a little magical and special. My son doesn't remember where he set his back pack 5 minutes ago but he can tell me a play by play of what happened the last two years during Christmas. So even though decorating and planning ahead aren't my strong suits I put up the tree and lights, sing Christmas songs in the car on repeat, bake green and red snicker-doodles, buy and eat candy canes (which in turn equals horribly sticky mess), sprinkle glitter on the walk to show where the elves walked (even though I'll be sweeping it up for the next 7 months), watch old Christmas cartoons, tediously wrap presents that will just be torn open, set out cookies and milk for Santa and some carrots for the reindeer, and take some time out to see Christmas through their eyes... Merry Christmas.

I still exist :o)

Here I am... "studying in the library"

I realized just how long it has been since I blogged when a friend mention one of my most recent blogs the other day... which was around Valentine's Day. So.. I thought I should update :o) 

I started school at the very end of March (probably the culprit for the lack of blogs) and have been loving it. I am doing my pre-reqs for the nursing program, which for this term involves Math, Writing, and Medical Terminology. (I'm also taking a gym class for fun... and to boost my GPA ;o) 

Allie is going to the daycare/preschool here at the college and she loves it (except the moment I drop her off) and Isaac is finishing up his kindergarden year. Chris is pretty much doubling his work load by helping out around the house and cooking dinners etc. He's amazing!

 So that's the gist, I feel really blessed and can't wait to be a nurse but for now I'm just enjoying the ride.

Bridge the gap...

This afternoon as I was stopped at an intersection I witnessed an older lady react to the fact she had to walk past a couple of teenage boys. She was crossing the street and noticed their paths would inevitably cross and she literally jumped (as if quickly trying to decide whether to risk walking past them or deviate off course to avoid them) Did she have the right to judge them this way? I don't know maybe she's had a bad experience with young people but it broke my heart. Maybe we can't change the entire world's view of young people but we can sure try! Let's step it up and start going above and beyond to respect our elders, and people in general. Jesus asked us to love others, not just people that are easy to love and not only when it's convenient. It doesn't have to be huge; hold the door open for someone, offer to return a cart at the store, look them in the eye and say hello or good morning. Just a thought...

Isaac's Point of view

1.What is something mommy always says to you?
to share

2.What makes mommy happy?
when I listen

3.What makes mommy sad?
when i don't listen

4.How does your mommy make you laugh?
say something funny

5.What was your mommy like as a child?
i don't know

6.How old is your mommy?
I give up (25)

7.How tall is your mommy?
I think she's 22 inches tall. (5'10")

8.What is her favorite thing to do?
play

9.What does your mommy do when you're not around?
play with daddy

10.If your mommy becomes famous, what will it be for?
dancing (hahahaha)

11.What is your mommy really good at?
jumping jacks (?)

12.What is your mommy not very good at?
head and hand stands (again... random)

13.What does your mommy do for a job?
uh... work, boss, clean, cook... nothing else

14.What is your mommy's favorite food?
I think ice cream... that's my favorite food too!

15.What makes you proud of your mommy?
That I help her do something, if it's too heavy I can get my muscles out. :o)

16.If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
I think Elastigirl and if I was a cartoon I'd be a rockstar

17.What do you and your mommy do together?
spacemen (?)

18.How are you and your mommy the same?
We supposed to wear the same shirts... and the same hair and the same eye and the same everything...

19.How are you and your mommy different?
Mommy's taller than me

20.How do you know your mommy loves you?
She tells me

21.What does your mommy like most about your daddy?
that daddy loves me as much as mommy does

22.Where is your mommy's favorite place to go?
McDonalds (funny all my favorites are his favorites too! hmm...)

Allie's Hospital Adventure...

Yesterday, while with babysitters, something happened to Allie's left arm. The story is still slightly foggy to us since it is coming from the mouth of a 5 year old. Chris and I brought Allie to the ER thinking the arm was probably broke (and praying it wasn't)  It turned out she had only dislocated her radius. (They call it Nurse Maid's Elbow...) Anyway, the doctor easily put it back into place and within 5 minutes she was using it again like nothing had happened. Thank you everyone who prayed with us :o)

The mind of a kindergardener

Yesterday I went to Isaac's class to help with their Valentines Party. One of the teacher's husband surprised her with a barbershop quartette. They sang her two songs from her husband in front of the whole class (both said "I love you" ) Then at the end one of the singers said hi to one of the students and pointed out he was her bus driver (apparently he hasn't quick his day job yet) So later the little girl says to me "Oh my gosh! My bus driver is in love with Mrs. Shepherd!!!" It was priceless!

Word!

"Sticks and stones will break our bones, but words will break our hearts" -Robert Fulghum

"Death and life are in the power of the tongue" -Proverbs 18:21

With our words we can make or break, paralyze or propel, build up or tear down, defend or destroy, heal or kill... we often talk about the detriment of speaking negative words. I fully believe that we should absolutely think consequentially about the words we speak before we speak. Most recently the thing that has been biting at me is the responsibility we have to speak positive, truthful, uplifting and encouraging words. I greatly appreciate that I have had people say something to me that has changed the course of my life in a positive way, have you? I want to build people up, propel them in their dreams, defend them, heal their hurts, lead them to the truth (Jesus!), and change the course of their lives for the better with my words...

Pursue your dreams.

If you have been following this for awhile you may have read about my challenge in leading worship last summer. Long story short God really taught me to lean on HIM as my confidence and not myself. This lesson took me 24 years to learn (don't try that at home) 

So the newest adventure for me is going back to school. This last month has been full of challenges that would have crippled me if faced only one year ago (I'm not kidding, I would have been eaten alive)  yet now I can fearlessly pursue school, placement tests, going after scholarships, FAFSA... somethings so simple! I realized how awesome God's timing is. I have wanted to go back to school for 5 years to become a nurse but God knew that I wasn't ready. Now I am. I think sometimes we want to keep God in a "spiritual box" and only learn the lessons He teaches us as they relate to our "spiritual lives" but God wants us to be confident in Him in every aspect of life. Is there a dream you have that you have been afraid to achieve?  I recently heard a quote that I loved... "Fears are simply self imposed limitations."

Random...

I recently went to a birthday party and accidentally left my purse on top of the car. It survived!! but my carmex took a beating.

My family is infatuated with "fat lights" (the big Christmas lights) and when I finally went to put them up (on Christmas Eve) I dropped them and a bunch of them broke. Oops! 

I found out that I love love LOVE the Crunch wrap supreme with no tomatoes from Taco Bell <3

I made an appointment to take college placement tests this coming Friday... oh dear?

Chris and I are currently reading "7 Practices for Effective Ministry" I'll leave you with a quote that really got us thinking...

"Your ministry is perfectly designed to produce the results you are currently experiencing. If you are satisfied with those results, you don’t need this book. If not, it’s time for a change."