A Sad Week

Seems like I went MIA again on the blog. Sorry.

Last Sunday morning, my sweet mother-in-law passed away after a battle with pneumonia. We really expected her to get well so it did really take us all by surprise. We had gotten up Sunday morning to get ready to go to Georgia to visit with her because she had been so sick in the hospital. We never thought we would be going to her funeral.

The whole week seems like we moved in slow motion but yet it flew by. So many of Mark's family came into town, it was pretty cool to be with everyone. We took our camper to avoid hotel costs, but probably should have just gotten a hotel. Found out the camper has some serious Florida only insulation, we about froze to death! Yesterday on the final 1.5 hour stretch home, the winds were so bad we almost lost control a few times. I know that wore my hubby out keeping that thing under control.

Anyway, we enjoyed being with family. The funeral service was sweet and very well done. But it was a very emotional and sad week as well. I know Mark's mom would have loved to have been there with all the family together. She was such a sweet woman, I will miss her terribly.

She used to call me faithfully about once a week, just to talk to me. I loved our conversations and will miss them so much. I really wish we could have visited with Mark's parents more.

When we got home yesterday, we were flooded with cards from our church and friends. That was so sweet! We had a call on our machine from our pastor. I had some wonderful friends who emailed or texted or facebooked me everyday to see how we were. Our camping buddies even sent flowers.

I think Mark's mom would have been honored to know that so many people loved her and loved her family....to see how much everyone cared.

One thing is for sure, she is in the arms of Jesus now, free from pain and hurt. One day, there will be a sweet reunion and we can take comfort in that. The next few weeks will be hard. This past week, even though we had the funeral and viewing, was filled with comfort from the family all being together. Now we are all back to our lives and the slow motion days are over. We have many hurdles to face over the coming year (holidays will be hard). Yet, there is an indescribable comfort that comes from knowing the Lord and that He still has his hand in our lives.

May the way we cope, grieve and heal bring God alone the glory to which He is due. Soli Deo Gloria!!

Finally Reading Six Ways

I had posted several months ago that I had ordered Dannah Gresh's book, Six Ways to Keep the Little in Your Girl.

Well, it turned out that Amazon kept putting the book on backorder. I finally cancelled my order with the intention of purchasing it someplace else. For some reason, that just never happened.

When I got my iPad for Christmas, I searched of it in an ebook form, but it wasn't until last week that Amazon's Kindle store finally had it. So I bought the first ebook for the iPad.

So far, can I say WOW!! You can really see Dannah's heart for little girls, tween girls and teen girls. She is affirming some things that I do. And opened my eyes to a few things I need to start doing. Here are a few:

1. Cut back media time. I have been guilty of allowing the kids way too much TV, video games and computer time. On the way home from Karate last night, we talked about this as a family and decided to set a 1 hour limit a day - for everything. This will teach the kids moderation and to choose wisely. I'm sure Caleb's hour will be spent playing Epic Mickey, Tron or Super Mario Brothers! Taya will fall in the middle. She of course will still want Webkinz time. Delena will choose TV. Something else to work on....

2. I think its time to cut out some shows we have allowed them to watch. I think the newer episodes of "The Suite Life" are a bit much for tweens. They started watching a new show called "Pair of Kings" or something like that. He has Oliver from Hannah Montana as the star. Again, young kids, no parents. Time to nix it. I'm still torn about iCarly, but Delena rarely watches it.

3. Encourage the girls to play more with dolls. Honestly, neither of them are big doll fans. Even though I have tried to cultivate a love for dolls. Both girls even have American Girl dolls but rarely play with them. But reading Dannah's book, I see a real importance in that. Even if they never carry them everywhere they go, I do want to see both of them play more with them. I think I have made a mistake in thinking that Delena, who is turning 10 on Saturday, is too big for dolls. As I was pondering what to get her for her special 10th birthday, I raced to iPod touches or Kindles or Nooks - electronic gadgets because she is too old for "toys." Then I rememberd back to when I was 10 - fifth grade. Do you know what was popular for me in 5th grade? Yes, the Cabbage Patch Kids! I was CRAZY about them! I played solidly with those dolls until the 8th grade. No, Delena isn't too old for toys. And I need to do a better job encourage that and stop pushing iPods and Kindles. Those days will come fast enough! With that, Dannah endorses Groovy Girls as an alternative to Barbies. I had never heard of them before, but plan to have a couple for her at her birthday party. I also encouraged her and Taya to plan a tea party today after school for their dolls. They were excited about that!

4. Both of my girls are crazy about makeup! While I let them play with it, I have gotten a bit lacks about allowing Delena to wear it out of the house. Time to totally cut that out. Play is one thing. A very special occasion is another. For example, we are having a very special surprise party for Delena on Saturday. My old childhood friend, who happens to be the best hairstylist in the whole entire world, is coming to do the party. Total makeover with beautiful hair, makeup, nails, etc. Well, it turns out that my friend secured us tickets to WinterJam Saturday night - in a luxury suite! Kutless, DCB and Newsboys!! Since it is Delena's 10th birthday, and she will have had a fabulous makeover - we will allow her to go to the concert with her new "do." But this is not something that will occur on a daily basis. No more trips to Wal Mart with eye shadow!

Anyway, I am not finished yet with the book. And, Dannah's blog has started a reading club for the next six weeks. I am ahead of the reading group but plan to join in to see what other moms think and what their experience is. I would encourage every mom of a tween to read this book!

Ok, I really need to get on with my day! It is almost time to start school......more on the book later.

BTW, I did watch the Made To Crave webcast last night (well, as much as I could considering their website crashed). Very good, I am looking forward to more!

Made To Crave

Lysa TerKeurst, who is President of Proverbs 31 ministries, has a new book out called Made To Crave. At first I thought, just what I need, another how to diet book! A former Bible study teacher of mine who used to live here in Tampa, moved to North Carolina a few years ago and began working for Proverbs 31 Ministries. She posted on Facebook the other day about the book.

Because I am curious by nature, I followed the link to the website and began snooping around.

Well, I honestly found the idea of the book intriguing. It isn't a diet book, but rather a helpful book to encourage us to reframe our thinking about healthy eating. I noticed on the website that Lysa will be having Monday evening webcasts starting this Monday, January 10th. So I decided to join along. It can't hurt, right?

There is Bible study material available but I am not going to do that. In fact, I haven't even purchased the book yet. However, there was a devotional book available the other evening for FREE at Amazon's Kindle store. I did download it and have been reading it everyday. So far, I am encouraged and enjoy what she is saying. I am actually looking forward to the webcasts.

Just FYI, I can no longer find the devotional book....anywhere. So I am not sure what that was about.

So that to say, I wanted to share the link in case anyone else is interested in the webcasts. Visit Made To Crave.

What about you? How are your New Years Resolutions coming? Lets say, I am really glad I didn't try one of those read your Bible in a year plans, I am already way behind. On the flip side, I am learning so much about 1 Samuel and loving using my Logos software, even if I only get through a few verses a day!

Find God at the Beach

Its my turn to post over at Laced With Grace. You can join me here.

Bible Reading Plans

I wanted to share a couple of links that we are promoting over at Laced With Grace. Its funny that I posted last week about studying more and that seems to be a common theme among bloggers.

Laced With Grace will be doing a monthly scripture desktop. This month is John 14:6. Here is the link and you can download to your desktop.

There is also a link to Kathy Howard's blog for different reading types of reading plans. You can read that here.

We've been challenged to come up with a verse for the year. Honestly, being gone this weekend and staying busy the whole trip (even though I hoped to have lots of down time), I haven't thought about it. I am going to take a few days and think and pray about a verse for the coming year.

I wholeheartedly agree that studying God's word has to be a priority. While it seems like a good idea to read through the Bible in a year, I don't want to rush the readings just to say I read through the Bible in a year. For me, I can't read through it in a year because I would simply read it, not study it. Reading 4 chapters in the Bible is a lot of reading for one day. Realistically at this stage in my life, that leaves little to no time to study. I want to study and really understand what I am reading.

I hope to have more to add on study here in the next few months. Its a little writing project I'm working on and would love to share soon!

Anyway, with that said, we had a great trip! I will try and get pictures posted on my camping blog soon. The kids are learning to fish really enjoyed the weekend. Our next trip is in just a few short weeks. YEAH!!