Thanksgiving

Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
                                                            1 Thessalonians 5:18

Wow, there is so much in this one short verse.  I taught a children's lesson last week about this verse, and as often happens, God ended up teaching me!!  This verse is encouraging and comforting to me, because it gives instruction to each Christian about God's plan for our lives.  Maybe you are a college student struggling with a career choice.  Maybe you are a woman struggling with infertility.  Maybe you are a senior adult struggling with what God would have you do after retirement.   No matter what God's specific plan is for each of our lives, this verse says that there is one thing that we can all be sure is in God's will for our lives.......to give thanks in all circumstances.  So, whether we know God's specific plan for our lives at this moment or not, we can be actively living in His will.  Whatever circumstances we find ourselves in, we should give thanks. 

This brings up some tough questions, though.  We all know that it is easy to give thanks in the good circumstances, but what about the hard times that we all find ourselves in sometimes.  What about that woman that is struggling with infertility?  Or what about a widow that is alone during the holidays, remembering times past?  What about a mother that has just unexpectedly lost a child in a random accident?  Do they have to give thanks in these circumstances as well?

This is the really cool part that gets me excited!!  You see, it is the last three words in this verse that are the secret ingredient, if you will.  When tough times come, we as Christians, can have hope and are able to be grateful, because we are in Christ Jesus.  We know from experience that God can be trusted and even when our hearts might be breaking, we can still have faith in His love and have hope for our lives in Christ Jesus.  And oh, what a testimony it is to the people around us when they see a Christian giving thanks during a horrific circumstance.  Of course, God doesn't say that we have to give thanks for the circumstance, only to give thanks during it!  :)  There are specific Christians in my own life that immediately come to mind when I think of someone who gave thanks during a tough circumstance.  This causes unbelievers to do a double take and consider the power of this person we call, Christ Jesus.  That is what it's all about.

So, this Thanksgiving season, no matter what circumstances you are in, I encourage you to give thanks and to have hope.  Remember, if you are a Christian, you have an unmatchable power inside of you just waiting to be tapped into.  If you are not a Christian, maybe this is the day that God has chosen to invite you to accept him into your life.

Thanksgiving Lunch

Today the kids and I went to Victoria's school to eat Thanksgiving lunch with her.  They had the traditional turkey and dressing meal.  Victoria didn't want to eat in the cafeteria, so she just ate her packed lunch!  :)  I personally thought the turkey and dressing looked pretty good!

This is Victoria with her friend, Reece

I am looking forward to having a memorable Thanksgiving and spending special time with family....also looking forward to some good eating!  My hubby makes a mean sweet potato casserole!  :)

Look who got glasses!!

Victoria had been complaining about not being able to see the TV without squinting and her teacher has been letting her go to the floor by the board to read things.  So, we decided her eyes needed to be tested.  Sure enough, she can not see at a distance very well.  He said anything beyond eight feet was fuzzy!  She was amazed at how clear things looked when she put on her glasses.

Here she is on Sunday with her friend, Emma.  I'm so glad that Emma had to get glasses recently also, so Victoria isn't embarrassed.  She was actually very excited about getting glasses! ;) 

Courageous

A few weeks ago Robert and I went to see the movie, Courageous.  I knew that it was a Christian movie, so when we went to the theatre, I convinced Robert to let us watch it to help support it.  He agreed!  What I didn't know was that the whole movie was about fathers being good dads.  I felt bad at first, because it appeared that I had convinced Robert to watch the movie as an "intervention."  Ha!  While we were driving home, I explained how great of a dad that I thought he was.  His response to the movie was, "Watching that movie reminds every good daddy why he does what he does and encourages others to do better."  So, either way, I would encourage any daddy to watch this movie.  It is very sweet.  If you have not seen the movie, you can view the trailer below.

As the credits were rolling after the movie, something special happened.  In the last scene of the movie one of the dads is sharing his testimony at a local church.  He asks the question, "Who will be a man of courage?"  Men in the congregation begin to stand up and say, "I will."  There in the pitch dark movie theatre, a man down front stood to his feet and said, "I will."  Then another stood and said, "I will."  Men all over the movie theatre stood and made that promise.  Oh my, what a moving and incredible impromptu moment!!  It was amazing...I definitely witnessed a special moment and I feel very blessed that the man that God gave my children has promised, "I will."

Mother of Four

I have been the mother to four blessings for two weeks now.  l remember the fear that I had those first few days.  I knew that being a mother to four kids would be different; it would require me to be different.  I knew that who I was would evolve and change; I could almost feel it happening inside of me and it terrified me a little bit.  I wondered if once the tranformation was done, would I still feel like myself?  Would I still be me?  Or would I be so different that I regretted the change and longed to go back to the way that I was.  This may sound completely ridiculus, but none the less, it was how I felt.  I can remember feeling something similiar right before I was to give birth to Carson.  How would it feel to be the mother of two instead of the mother of just one?  Would the new responsibilities and demands change me?    Would it change my relationship with the first?  Change always brings unknown.  Oh, but God is good.  And He is undoubtedly shaking His head at my worries.  "My Child, if you will trust in me, I can bless you."

And blessing me, He is.  Fortunately, I am successfully becoming the mother of four and yes, I am happy to say that I do still feel like myself.  Ha!  Is our family changing?  YES!  Is it good change?  YES!  After only two weeks, it is becoming hard to imagine our life and our family without them.  I feared that adding two more children would change me and I would not feel like myself; I am quickly realizing that now I would not know who I was if I wasn't the mother to these four.  God chose to bless our family with these four specific wonderful kids.  We were made for them and they were made for us. 

Happy Halloween!

Carson got to wear his Halloween costume to school on Monday.  He was so excited and they had a blast.  They had pizza for lunch and a fun party!  Carson sent Halloween sugar cookies as his treats for his friends.

Mrs. Tata's class (Carson is the Red Ranger)

Carson with his buddy, Carter, aka Batman

The whole group again!  So cute!

Our Beautiful Cleopatra.......Queen of the Nile  :)

Our brew!

A fun time was had by all!!