Disappointed

I was very disappointed to see that Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana) had posed for a racy picture in Vanity Fair Magazine. My girls love to watch the show and I have always thought it was a pretty good show. I am mostly sad because the says she is a Christian which Abby thinks is so cool. I guess this is just another teachable moment with my kids. You can't put anybody on a pedestal, because people will let you down. I do hope this is an isolated instance and she will not continue down that path. I also hope her parents will take more responsibility for her. She is only fifteen.

Thoughts on a Monday

This is the last week for our Spring Home Bible Fellowship. We have done the Tim Keller study "Gospel Christianity". It has been good and I have learned alot. This past week we really dug into why we believe the Bible. One of the biggest things I realized is how I knew the Bible stories I learned as a child and even as an adult but how sometimes I miss the Story of the Bible. You know the thread (Jesus) that runs from Genesis to Revelation. Those are not isolated incidents: Noah, Daniel in the lions den, Moses etc. You see Jesus in it all! I have realized lately how to have to see God in every situation. Yesterday I cooked this huge ham that my friend Sue gave me for Easter. Thank you Sue for thinking about our needs and being such a good example to us of giving. Today we went to Chuckie Cheese in Birmingham with our Girl Scout Troop. This is what they chose to do with their cookie money. We went I 59 instead if I 20 to avoid Talladega race traffic. So it seemed to take forever to get there. Samuel had 2 meltdowns on the way. One because he was "starving to death" and the other meltdown came when he had to go to the bathroom. We finally made it there and they had a great time playing.

Lisa

Late night ramblings

I really need to go to bed, but I need to ask this question first. What do we need to do about a dog that chews everything up? This has become a really big problem. He has chewed 2 of Dave's shoes and countless numbers of the kids shoes. He chews on baby dolls, action figures, clothes, dishes........you get the idea. EVERYTHING is in danger of being chewed up by Charlie. We really love this dog but he is eating everything. So is it too late to train him? If you have any answers I would appreciate your input. Thanks and good night!

Thursday....warm and sunny

I am officially half way though the book I am reading. Yay! I may actually finish it this week. My friend Kim mentioned a book yesterday that I am really wanting to read, but I will not start a new one until I finish this one and a few others.....maybe. The outdoors seem to call our names to come out and play. Its hard to stay focused on school work when its sooooo pretty outside. Dave has been working at the church a good bit this week. I wonder if its because we distract him......surely not. As he left this morning Samuel gave him the guilt trip of how he never spends time with him. That little boy can't get enough of his Daddy these days. We are working hard on memory verses and other things for our school open house in May. Abby is memorizing Psalm 8 and Erin is working on completing Psalm 1. Samuel learns by osmosis. He simply hears us talking and then one day out of the blue he will just recite the entire thing. They have all learned the Fifty States Song and the Books of the New Testament. We can learn it if you give it to us in a song! Our terrariums seem to be doing OK but we will see how they do in the days to come. Abby and I are reading Pilgrims Progress. We are up to Chapter 7 and she loves it. I was surprised that she liked it so much. It is really good. I would encourage you to read it if you haven't. OK so if you are reading this and have never said Hello to me please do. Just click on the comments button and tell me who you are. If not I might think you are a stalker!! :)
Have a great day.
Lisa

Terrariums

These are the terrariums the kids made today. They are filled with rocks, soil and a plant(weed) we dug up out of our yard. They are supposed to be self watering. Lets hope they live long enough for our open house in May. If not we will make another one.

Discipline

Today as I was gathering all those books I need to finish, I actually discovered three more books that I didn't finish. This is getting embarrassing! Here are the other books.......

• Love to Eat Hate to Eat by Elyse Fitzpatrick
• Lies Women Believe And The Truth That Sets Them Free by Nancy Lee DeMoss
• Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster

You know, when and if I finish all these books I should be really smart:) I am currently working on Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life. Hopefully I will finish this soon.

Apply your heart to discipline and you ears to words of knowledge. Proverbs 23:12

Lord please help me apply these disciplines in my life.

Lisa

To finish this book, or to start a new one

Today as I was beginning to read this new book Dave bought me at Together for the Gospel, I got to thinking about how many books I have started but never finished.

• Pilgrims Progress by John Bunyan
• Don't' Waist Your Life by John Piper
• The Search for Significance
• The Life You've Always Wanted by John Ortberg
• What does God Know and When Does He Know It by Millard J. Erickson
• Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp ( I started this today!)
• The Shaping of a Christian Family by Elisabeth Elliott ( I think that's the name)
• A Chance to Die (about Amy Carmichael)
• Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald Whitney (My dear husband was nice enough to remind me of this one! :)

That is all I can think of now. I think there are more, those are just the ones I started this year. That makes me sad that I started so many books and never finished them. I am going to try to complete all those books before the end of the year! Maybe I should start with the Spiritual Disciplines book:) On a positive note, I have actually finished a few books this year. They are.......

• Family Driven Faith by Voddie Baucham (Loved it!)
• A biography on Martin Luther (can't remember the exact name)
• Lots of Junie B. Jones and Fairy Tales (do those count?)

OK. So tomorrow is a new day and I am going to finish some books soon. Its not that I don't want to read.... its just I always seem to find a book I want to read more than the one I'm reading (hence all the unfinished books). So feel free to keep me accountable to reading , especially to reading my Bible .....I've never even finished it..... that's another goal to aim for!

Have a good Sunday!

Lisa

Fun Friday with the Fish

These are some of the statements we heard a lot today.... Look at those big fish, look at those little bitty fish, what are those called?Wow look how big that shark is, those are so pretty, will that bite me? We went to the Aquarium in Atlanta today with the Harcrows. It was great. We have been to the one in Chattanooga and Gatlinburg, but I think this was my favorite. The whale sharks were definitely the highlight. They were huge! I think one was about 22 feet long. There were also Beluga whales that were huge. There were divers in a lot of the tanks cleaning or filming or something. Julie said she would like to volunteer for that. Not me!!!!! I like to look at fish, sharks, whales, jellies, sting rays or you name it, through a BIG glass window. When you stand in front of those huge walls of glass looking at all the different kinds of fish you wonder how anyone could say there is no God. They are all so different and so complex. "The heavens declare the glory God, and the firmament shows his handiwork." Psalm 19:1

Lisa

New Look!

I know I have not had this blog long but I thought it needed a new look. I like rearranging things. I have always moved the furniture in my house around alot because I get tired of the way it looks. So don't be surprised if you come to this blog and I have changed the look again. I hope you enjoy the new look but most of all I hope you like the content. I really love these verses.......

O Lord, our Lord

How majestic is your name

in all the earth

Who have displayed Your

splendor above the heavens!

From the mouths of infants and babes

You have established strength

Because of Your adversaries

To make the enemy and the revengeful cease.

When I consider your heavens the

work of your fingers, the moon and the stars

which you have ordained;

What is man that you are mindful of him

and the son of man that You care for him?

Psalm 8:1-4

Remembering.....

Giny with Brady and Ruthie!

Today I was with my friend Alicia and we were talking about her baby's eye. He is just two weeks old and he is going to need some testing done on his left eye. I saw the doctors name on her calendar and it was the same doctor my sister Giny used and maybe still sees sometimes. She had an eye injury when she was little which required alot of doctor visits, surgeries, patches, contacts, glasses, crying and patience on her part and our family. She wrote this poem several years ago about her experience. I have it framed in my house and like to read it every now and then.

A Little Girl’s Eye


The story began when she was six years old
Little did she know it would be such a long road.
The day was sunny, not a cloud in the sky,
But she would never have guessed what would happen to her eye.

Not long had the family been home from church that day,
When her sisters and she would go outside to play.
While they were playing, something took place,
That none of them were prepared to face.

There were about five of them playing in the yard,
When it happened then that the little girl was caught off guard.
One of the boys was slinging a metal tent stake
And the little girl ran into it by mistake.

When the metal hit the little girl’s eye
It was then that she began to cry.
She was rushed into the emergency room
Where she would be cared for very soon.

The doctors that day saved the little girl’s eye
But they could not have done it without Jesus the most high.
It seemed like to her it was a very long sad day and
She really didn’t know what she wanted to say.

Each day that came, it started all over
She would want to hide like a little clover.
It bothered her a lot for people to have to see
What her eye looked like and what it couldn’t be.

As the days rolled on and the years went by
The little girl couldn’t help but ask “Why?”
It seemed sometimes that it wasn’t right
For her eye to have lost its precious sight.

Throughout the little girl’s life she suffered with pain
Not knowing that it was only for her gain.
The little girl now is several years older
And because of this injury, she is a lot bolder.
Giny Burk April 14, 1998

Daddy and Samuel

Dave has gone to the Together for the Gospel Conference this week. He has been very excited about this trip. I don' t think Samuel realized he would be gone for several days because when he left Samo was very upset. He loves his Daddy.

Samo likes cuddling with him at night and never lets us go without our nightly devotion. Lord let Dave be just like you, because Samuel wants to be just like him!

Abby and Erin's Project Completed

Look how beautiful their baby doll bed turned out. They each made a pillow and worked together taking turns to make the blanket. I helped with pinning and set up but they did all the sewing themselves. Pretty good for their first project!

Learning to Sew

This week I was working on making some cushions for Ruthie's room and finishing some curtains for Brady's room so the girls decided they wanted to learn to sew. They pulled out the little Barbie sewing machine. It doesn't really work other than giving them practice pushing the presser foot and running the material through. So they did that and I showed them a few hand stitches. Today we are making pillows for their baby doll bed. I'm glad they want to learn to sew. I have always enjoyed it and its nice to be able to make things for around the house. I love the satisfaction of being able to say I made something. Plus it does save money too! So I will continue teaching as long as they are interested. Charlie the dog had to go to the vet today for his "surgery". He was sad this morning and wouldn't get out the van. I think he may have thought we were giving him away.....who knows what dogs think.

Happy Birthday

Today is my Momas birthday and yesterday was my Daddys birthday. So Happy birthday Moma and Daddy! Daddy is 57 and Moma is 55. I know they would love for everyone to know their ages:) The picture above is of our entire family except for Ruthie(1) and Brady(10 months). I hope you both had a very good birthday.

_

Oprah's Church?

Read this and see what you think. I was very disturbed when I saw this on a friends blog this morning. Make sure you pause the music at the bottom of the page so you can hear the video.
Lisa

Chasing the rotten dog

OK. Try to visualise this scene. I am cleaning out the garage, The kids (Abby, Erin, Emma, Samuel and Andrew) are playing outside and Charlie the dog is frolicking around the yard. Charlie does not usually get to be out of the fence because he runs into the road, but today he was out. I hear the kids yelling at him and go to see what is happening. He is down in the road. Samuel chases him trying to pick him up. This just makes Charlie run further away. By this time we are all at the edge of our hill screaming at Charlie. He is in the neighbors yard which is on the main busy road. I send Abby to run around the other side of their house to try and stop the dog. But instead he runs across the busy road into someone else's yard. So now I run down the hill, down the street and across the busy road. So do you have this pictured? Samuel and I are across the busy road and Abby is standing at the end of our road crying. We all think at any moment Charlie the dog is going to get run over by a speeding car. So here comes the police. He passes me and Samuel then sees Abby on the side of the road crying and comes back. He asked me what was going on and I proceed to tell him we are chasing our dog. About this time the dog runs back into the busy road and back to our street. I asked the policeman to wait in the road until we caught the dog. So he did. He pulled onto our street and watched me catch Charlie and spank that rotten dog. So all this time I am thinking I know this police is wondering why all these kids are not in school. I did not take the time to tell him that we home school and this is our spring break and I am keeping my niece and nephew today who are sick. My appearance during this episode was horrible, sweaty and dirty, I wasn't planning to see anyone while cleaning out the garage. But everything turned out OK. Charlie did not perish by way of motor vehicle but he did get a bad spanking. And I managed to complete my spring cleaning of our garage.

Lisa