Whipped Cream Par-tay

You count this as dessert too, right?

Pink and Blue

These two. The youngest two. 20 months apart.

I didn't know or think that the bond between them would be so strong. I think because I'd only had boys, I thought the boys would stick together.

These two love each other fiercely.

Sunday morning, I carried Annika downstairs where Levi was sitting at the breakfast table. She "uh-uhed" to be let down.

Levi said "Annika! Give me a hug!"

She toddle waddled over and hugged him.

Melt me.

Favorite Things 2

Another one of my favorite parts of Bayou City Fellowship, is that I get to serve.

Everywhere.

I serve in the Littles.

I serve in the Kids.

Mostly, I serve as a door greeter and an usher.

The two places I was most reluctant to serve, passing out communion and praying  up front with people are the two that I most enjoy.

The way we pass out communion is we have five couples stand up front and then everyone files up and takes the bread, which I hold and say "The body of Jesus, broken for you."

Then they dip the bread in the juice and Drew says "The blood of Jesus shed for you."

The first time I did it, I was nervous. I thought I might forget what to say.

I thought I might stumble through the words.

But then, the words came out my mouth and I thought about them.

And I thought about each person as I said this to them.

It's deep. It's raw. It's truth.

Without it, my life would be in shambles.

As I said "(Friends name), the body of Jesus broken for you."

I got a lump in my throat.

My voice got shaky.

And then, I would say the same thing to the next person in line.

I might know them, I might not.

But, it never fails, the lump comes in my throat, my voice gets shaky, I sometimes squeak it out.

One of my friends said, "Can I give you a hug?"

A precious senior man came through my line. After I shakily said "The body of Jesus, broken for you.", he looked me in the eye and said "And for you!"

I almost lost it, I almost did the full on ugly cry.

The next person, who was this man's son, I could only look at and get out "For you."

Another lady said "I receive it. I receive it."

I could hardly handle it.

If you are ever at my church and we serve communion, maybe you'll choose a different line!

Favorite Things

One of my favorite parts of Bayou City Fellowship, our 16ish week old church plant is prayer.

I know every church prays. I hear them pray. I see them pray.

But, our Pastor has set an example of prayer.

"We will be a praying church." He's said that too many times to count.

When we were an itty, bitty baby church and not open to the public, we practiced praying.

That sounds weird, to practice praying, right?

But we did.

Pastor Curtis told us, we're not here to pray just to hear ourselves speak. We're going to pray powerful prayers. Sometimes, the word "short" was before the word powerful.

And then, he modeled it for us.

And we joined.

We would all pray out loud together.

Pastor would be walking around with his arms open or lifted, in prayer.

And all our voices join together and lift up to our Lord.

Before the service begins, after every baby item, and kids table, and sign pointing a way to go, you will find us in the chapel, heads bowed or lifted up, praying.

Sometimes, we pray in a big group, sometimes, we pray individually or in two's.

We pray for the Holy Spirit to fill the chapel.

We pray for the lost to be saved.

We pray for each chair and each person sitting in those chairs, for their life to be changed.

We pray that our lives will be changed.

At the end of service, it's not uncommon for us to stand and join hands and pray together.

After church, it's not uncommon to see groups of people standing around, heads bent, sometimes a hand raised, in prayer.

Jesus loves it.

Is there anything that I can be in prayer for you about?

It's Not My Season

I want to do it all.

I want to be everywhere.

I don't want to miss a tweet.

A party or a girls night out.

A blog post.

Or an opportunity to serve someone.

I want to be the best wife and mom.

For the last thing to happen, the others, can't, not all the time.

And which of those things are the most important to me?

The last.

Hands down.

God has put a calling on my life. To be a wife and a mother. I know that is what I'm supposed to do, it's what I've always wanted.

And He gave me the desire of my heart.

I don't want to squander it.

So, for now, my mantra is "It's not my season."

I'm quitting my bunco group.

I'm saying no to training and running a half marathon.

I'm saying no to mentoring a girl in the public school down my street.

Because I have a super, duper, most important job.

I have 4 souls to raise, 4 people to pour Jesus' love into, 4 kids to read to, do homework with, answer questions, and a million other things.

And I don't want to miss a second.

I get each of them until they are 18 years old. Sage is already 7. I only have 11 years left with him.

I used to think (still kind of do) that this is a cop out. I should be able to do the things listed above and pour into my family.

I can't. Maybe you can.

I'm calling my bluff.

I'm giving myself an out.

I'm shaking off the guilt.

And it feels freeing.

This season won't last the rest of my life. Maybe it will be shorter than I think. However long it lasts, I'm going to enjoy it.

I choose to enjoy it.

A Boy and His Bike

Sage and I went to Goodwill after basketball practice and we walked out with a bike for him.

He started practicing right away.

And with no help from me or Drew, taught himself how to ride.

With only a few falls. 

Kolby and Levi riding their bikes for one of the first times since we moved into our house.

They continue to love riding on the driveway.
Pictures of Kolby and Levi were taken in November.

A Boy and His Dog

 Coco was the first present the kids opened on Christmas Day.

 Annika likes the kennel.

I've already threatened to give her away. Puppies are a lot of work! Who knew?! But, then I look at her cute face and change my mind. At least I don't have to wipe her bottom. 

January 4

I want to try to take the kids' picture every month on the fourth. I really did take these on the fourth!

 The best one of the four of them and Kolby is out of focus. Kolby is still in his school uniform and yes, I did grab that bow right before I took the picture. And yes, it was off right after we were done.

 Annika decided she didn't want to be touched, which is pretty normal. 

I said pose funny.

Two seconds after these pictures were taken, they started running around the backyard having a grand time. Two seconds after that, Kolby tripped and landed in a pile of dog poop.