Inauguration Day 2009

I can't believe I've spent most of my morning watching Fox News and the events of this day. To be honest, I only watched to see what everyone was wearing and to hear the prayer of Rick Warren. He said the name of Jesus--good for you, Rick! Even though I'm not at all thrilled to say President Obama, I am still trying to teach my kids that he is our president and God would want us to respect his position of authority. And that is really hard to say and do!

I found this letter this morning on another mom's blog (http://www.lotsofscotts.blogspot.com/) and thought it was very good. I cannot take any credit for it, but it is encouraging us all to pray for the new President. Our family has made a committment to pray for our new leader and I hope you will too.

"My Letter to the President

Dear President-elect Obama,
Today is truly a landmark day. It feels trite to even write about it because the press coverage has inundated us with reminders of what a shift this marks in the turbulent race relations this country has experienced throughout our history. I am proud of the advances we have made.

I did not vote for you, but I believe in a Sovereign Lord who appoints leaders. I will respect your position and your office. I do not hold ill will towards you, but instead I pray for you.

I pray that you will submit to the authority of The One who put you in office in the first place. There will be constant public opinion polls, water cooler chatter and talking heads espousing their views of your performance. I pray that the approval you seek will be from God alone.

I pray that you will remember the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr and Abraham Lincoln, the two leaders you seem to seek to emulate the most. I pray that you will embrace their quest for equal rights. I pray that you will come to understand this as a call to protect ALL LIVES equally--including the unborn lives in this country.

I pray that you will be protected from the lies and the enemy, the intoxicating ill-effects of power and the human tendency to think of ourselves more highly than we ought.

I pray that the astounding swell of public support that you have (both from the media and many citizens of our world) will not go to your head but will, instead, go to your heart. I pray that you have appropriate confidence, but that you do not believe the hype about yourself. May you be a leader people follow not because they have to, but because they want to.

May your wisdom and strength come from the Lord. May your heart be tender towards the love and will of our Father.

I pray for your marriage and your family--that despite the intense glare of the media spotlight you will be able to have a home that is a haven of love, peace and rest.

May you be a leader who models integrity--who stands for things that count.

In short, I pray you don't blow it. But when you do make the inevitable mistakes, I pray you will be able to own up to them.

And finally, I pray that you will find your identity...not as a black man, a mixed race man, but as an American...and more importantly, as a dearly loved child of God placed in this position at this time for specific purposes. May you find your purpose and embrace it."

For more letters to the next president, visit http://www.letterstothenextpresident.com/

Please Pray...

I've been following this family's blog for several months now, so I don't know them personally. They are a strong Christian family and are asking for people everywhere to pray for their daughter Harper, born Friday evening with a serious case of pneumonia. The baby was flown to a hospital in Tulsa and seems to be improving slightly today. My boys keep asking me why I'm praying and worrying about someone I don't even know. My answer to them is we do know them as our brother and sister in Christ so that makes us family and we need to pray for them. If you get a minute, click on this picture and visit Kelly's sweet blog. You too will be drawn to the faith of this family in this difficult time and don't forget to say a prayer for sweet baby Harper's healing!

Popsicles in January?

This is exactly what I feel like today:

It's freezing cold outside, even though the sunshine is beautiful! There's so many productive things I should be doing today, but I think it's a perfect day to stay in by the fire and catch up on Facebook, my blog, and my latest Karen Kingsbury book. That sounds so lazy! But, the chores will still be there tomorrow, right?

The kids are back to school from break so that means we're back to our busy schedule again. Indoor soccer is finished for the boys, but now Levi starts Upward basketball and a new jump rope club at our fitness center. He and Mark have been busy this week designing his pinewood derby car for his first race this Saturday with Cub Scouts. He's very excited, but I think it's a good thing Mark designs heating and plumbing for a living and not cars! I'll let you know how Levi does at the big race.

Mark made it home safely from his mission trip to Mexico last week. His team had a great week with 4 decisions for Christ at a home Bible study and about 100 prospects attending the Family Conference. No major catastrophes here while he was gone, only a toilet that wouldn't flush! My dad helped us out with that one! We survived the week without Daddy pretty well, but I do have a great respect for all of you single moms out there who do this 24/7 without relief! My hat is off to you and you are amazing!

We are looking forward to a pretty calm weekend with a day off of school Monday for MLK day. Weren't the kids just home for 16 days? We have the derby race Saturday and Mark's annual Mission meeting luncheon at church Sunday, other than that we're free! I'm hoping to get to the sidewalk sales at the mall and maybe Mark will finally put away the Christmas tree!

Stay tuned for our Valentine blog coming soon.....Have a warm and cozy weekend!

Christmas Pics 2008

Levi and Lydia sampling the Oreos and milk they left for Santa


Lydia and cousin Abby with matching pj's from Nana


Lydia and cousin Ellie excited to ring in 2009!


Levi, Lydia and all the girl cousins ringing in the New Year at midnight (11:00 p.m. really)


Caleb & Levi shooting confetti poppers at everyone!


We finished the holiday break with Levi's birthday party with about 30 of his friends. We're at an indoor pool here in our town, not Hawaii!


Lydia, Daddy and her little church friend at the party

Hungry swimmers having snacks with the birthday boy who is actually 10 years, 1 month!

4 Down, 1 More to Go!

We are waiting for my brothers and their families to arrive today so we can celebrate our 5th Christmas! It all started on Christmas Eve with a trip to visit Mark's grandma and his mom's side of the family in Illinois. Then Christmas morning we woke up in our own beds and had our little family celebration. We then went to my parents' house to spend the rest of Christmas day with them. We spent Christmas night in the ER with Lydia who had some sort of viral infection with a cough and high fever. The next day we had Christmas with Mark's family. Tonight we have our final Christmas gift exchange and then we'll ring in 2009 at midnight. It's been a great Christmas despite the fact that Liddy got sick and couldn't wear her Christmas dress to church! The kids got way more stuff than they deserved and we ate way more food than we should have. The boys got a Wii game system and have had fun playing and watching the grown-ups try to play it! It's pretty bad when you wake up with sore muscles from playing a silly tennis video game! I'm posting from Mom's house now so I can't upload any pictures from Christmas to show you, but I'll do that soon. In the midst of the craziness, I hope I didn't forget to take a few! Have fun tonight as you ring in the new year with family and friends. Happy 2009!

Our Star Performers!

Here's a few photos of the kids' performances this Christmas season. Between church and 3 different schools, we were busy!

Lydia's preschool performance. She's in the back row with the black hairbow!

After they sang, they had a birthday party for Jesus. Here comes His cake!

Please hurry with the cake and punch!

Caleb acting goofy before his school choir concert. Thank goodness he didn't behave like this in the performance. Singing is not really his favorite thing to do, but he's in stage choir this year so he can act in the spring musical, Cinderella. Therefore, he had to endure this performance of "Handel's Messiah" for his final exam in the class!

Caleb needed a little help from Dad to tie his necktie before the show!

Here's Levi as King Herod in the church children's play. He had a hard time being mean and telling them "to kill all the baby boys". He did a great job!

King Herod again. Lydia was an angel in practice but didn't get to perform because she was sick!

Pause the playlist to the left and you can listen to Lydia singing "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" in this video. So cute! She's in the back row with the black hairbow!

HELP!!! "I Need a Silent Night"

I can't believe it's been 2 weeks since I've had time to post an update. So sorry to all my tens of readers out there! This time of year, who has time to read blogs anyway? It's too crazy getting ready for the biggest birthday celebration of the year! We've had sickness here again, tons of school parties and performances and now 3 slick snowy days stuck inside and I'm starting to panic about Christmas being a week and a day away. I still have cards to mail, presents to buy and wrap, parties to give and attend. My house is a wreck since Mark is building a mantle for our fireplace so we can mount our new TV we got for Christmas. I'm feeling a little like a new Christmas song I heard from Amy Grant called "I Need a Silent Night"! She talks about how in the midst of all the chaos she needs a silent night, a holy night. The words are perfect for all you moms and grandmas out there who are stressing out right now about getting it all done on time. Pause the music on my playlist, then relax and enjoy.......