Let's Play a Game....

So, Allie (3) was with her dad the other day and told him they were going to play a game. Then she said that the loser has to go in the lake. Her dad asked her what if she was the one who had to go in the lake? Allie said, "I'm not going to lose. I am a winner!" You go Allie! We should all have that attitude! 1 Corinthians 9:24 states "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize." God created us to be winners! Now, I'm not saying we should push the losers in the lake, but instead we should bring the losers with us, so that they too may know what it is to be a winner. We should love others, that doesn't mean that you have to like everything about them, just love them because they are God's creation, just like you. He finds them important, He finds them special, so we should too! The difference in our race, is that there is more than one winner, everyone can get the prize, if they just reach out for it :) I am so excited about where our race is leading us this year! A man of God gave us a Word the other day that this year our borders are going to expand, our ministry is going to grow, God is going to do a work in our lives and that He was going to blow our minds! I can not wait to see what God has in store for us this year! I can not wait to run the race that God puts before us!

Do I still have hair?

I began observations for my first practicum class today. I am observing my seven year old's first grade class. Wow. When I got there they were coming in from lunch. They have to sit in the classroom for fifteen or so minutes before they get to go back downstairs and have recess.... ??? The class had been working on a four square writing assignment. They had a topic and had to write three sentences on the topic and then one more to wrap it all up. Brianna had written three or four sentences in each square and a closing paragraph in the fourth square. The teacher took it and Brianna around to the fourth and fifth grade teachers to show off how great she had done, without any help or prodding. She asked me to keep an eye on the class. Sure.... except  you need more than one eye to watch them, you need more like fifty. By the time she got back around to the class, there were three in the office (one hurt, one in trouble, and one that was a self-appointed escort), a couple at the water fountain and a couple in the bathroom. The rest were running around the classroom and acting crazy. I just looked at her and said AAAAGGGGGHHH. She said do you still want to be a teacher? I said maybe fourth or fifth grade. She laughed. I told her she may want to take count, because I wasn't sure I had not lost a couple of kids. After recess, the class settled down some, (some), and I got to help them make Christmas cards.... I didn't really learn anything that I need for my practicum, but what I did learn, is that our teachers need a little more appreciation that they get sometimes, and hey, if your child comes home telling you the teacher yelled, or something, they probably did, but give them a handclap for restraining it as long as they did, you try a day in their shoes....  Oh, another proud mommy moment, Brianna's teacher told me that she is always drawing pictures that say Jesus loves me and stuff like that. She said that many conversations get ignited in her class because of Brianna's Jesus pictures. She is witnessing without even trying. How great would that be if we would all be witnesses without having to try.... that means that we have to live our lives so that our lives are a witness for Jesus.

WalMart... Enough Said :(

So, I was getting things at Wal Mart for Brianna's Birthday party and found a doll she had been wanting at a really good "RollBack" price. I put it in the buggy and did the rest of my shopping. It took me maybe twenty minutes to get from the toy display to the check out.... the doll rang up regular price. I told the little pregnant girl at the checkout, bless her heart, and she walked all the way back to the toy section and back. She said they weren't on sale and asked if I got it from the display by Gardening. No, I got it on an end cap. So, I walked back there. They had already changed out the display to some other toy. The toy lady got the manager and by this time Allison is screaming for every toy she sees.... The manager lady tells me that they changed it out and that it wasn't on sale, but just this once she would give it to me at that price. She acted like it was my fault that I didn't get to the register quick enough.... seriously it was just twenty minutes! I do believe that it is a bad idea for stores to change out displays and especially prices during the busiest time of the day. If it is displayed at a certain price when it goes in the buggy, that's the price you should get to pay. I do want you to know that while WalMart does challenge my ability to be a good witness, I remained calm and polite to all involved :)

March, One, Two

So, this morning the kiddos got out the door to go to the bus a little later than normal. They were walking really, really slowly down the driveway. When I say slow, I mean a turtle could have passed them up. So, I hollered out the door for them to pick up their feet and get to the end of the driveway before they missed the bus. They then promply began marching, the three of them, all the way to the end of the drive. They didn't go very much faster, but they did pick up their feet and they did it in formation. Now, I don't think they misunderstood me and what I was getting at, I think they were being smarty pants. But, isn't life like that sometimes? We mean one thing and say another, or someone tells us something and we take it so literally? We need to be aware of the things that come out of our mouth. Not everything that is misinterpreted is going to end up being funny like marching down the drive.

What's Your Issue?

So, at church Wednesday night Pastor was teaching about Sneeze Evangelism and how we should be contagious. It was really a great message. At the end of it, he passed out those little travel packages of Kleenex to everyone as a reminder to be contagious and spread the Good News! This morning, Allie had one of the packages of Kleenex and was going around to everyone passing them out. "Here is your issue, and here is an issue for you." She gave everyone "issues". It was so totally funny at the time, but it got me to thinking, what kind of issues are you passing out to the people you come in contact with? Do you make things better and build them up? Or do you add to their burdens? Just something to think about...

Magical Potty

What is it about public toilets that produces a magnetic pull to toddlers? It's like they have some sort of magic to them. Granted some of them do flush by themselves, and this can be a really exciting thing to witness, or a totally terrifying one, depending on the child. But, really, why is it when you are potty training, that the children always want to go when you are out somewhere away from home and never want to go at the house? We were gone for the entire weekend to the family reunion and Allison only used her pull up twice (once does not really even count, because she was asleep). The rest of the time she used the potty. I celebrated, thinking that she had finally gotten trained, yay. Went through all of Monday without one accident, and now today she is back to using the pull ups. AAAAGGGGGHHHHH!

Hungry?

So, Allie and I were riding around town today, running errands before picking up kiddos, and she starts talking about food. She says, "We eat cookies and broccoli and macaroni and cheese..." and a few other things were named. She said, "We eat all kinds of stuff. We eat all the things I like. Except we don't eat toys and poop and things like that. And we don't eat Makalen's shoes, or my shoes, or Nanna's shoes, or your shoes, or daddy's shoes, or anybody's shoes! And we don't eat their hats because they would tear up." So, if you were wondering about any of those things and whether or not they are edible, there you go. Keep posted for future wise notions from my two year old...