asking THE question?

Ivy has a friend named Eli. Eli is a boy who is a few months older than Ivy and is one of Ivy's good friends/playmates/classmates from our former church. He is a boy that has a lot of controlled energy and is so well-behaved and well-natured. We have known Eli ever since he was born and have been friends with his family for a number of years now. One thing that Ivy's Daddy prides himself with is the fact that Eli (a four year old and prospective boyfriend and/or husband to Ivy) is afraid of him, and he intends to keep it that way! In fact, if Daddy had his way, Ivy would not date or get married until she was at least 50!

As we were sitting at the dinner table eating our supper, Ivy posed an interesting and very clever question to her Daddy. Out of the blue, Ivy asked, "Daddy, do you love Eli?"

After A LOT of thought and with much hesitation, Daddy responded, "Yes, Ivy, I do love Eli."

With many dramatic pauses, Ivy then asked, "Do you...want...him...to.................marry me...when we get bigger?"

(You can tell that Ivy really knows her Daddy as she already realizes that it will take some time to warm her Daddy up to the idea of her getting married so she needs to get started at the ripe old age of 4!) :-)

Eli is the boy wearing the princess dress...

What do you think her Daddy said? :-)

30!

Today, someone turned the big 3-0!



NATHAN!!!!



To celebrate, I planned a small SURPRISE party for him. BUT...first, we had to make it look good so he wouldn't suspect anything and gave him his presents as though we were officially celebrating his birthday at lunchtime.



Our friends needed help picking up a wood stove and moving it into their house. It just so happened that they needed help today so while Nathan went to help, I threw the party stuff together. I thought Nathan didn't have a clue what was going to happen, BUT being the awesome detective (and storyteller) that he is, he figured it out and then put on a facade as though he didn't know! (Ugh! It's so hard to surprise this man whom God has given him a great talent in figuring stuff out and finding the truth!)

Okay, back to the party stuff...food was prepared, decorations were hung, everything was ready, guests were arriving...then, a phone call! It was Nathan! There was a problem...Nathan and Justin (the friend Nate was helping) were pulled over by the police and Justin had been arrested for operating his vehicle after his license was suspended due to a ticket he didn't know he got from a traffic stop returning home from their recent trip to Florida or Maryland (I can't remember which state). They were going to be late. As to not let him know about his party, I tried not to panic about this news over the phone and just said calmly that it was okay and to get home when he could all the while I was screaming inside and my pregnancy hormones were raging wondering what to do with this news as I didn't want to announce that a friend of ours was arrested and in turn embarass his wife who was there. I then just turned on entertainment mode until they would arrive.

Then, ten minutes later, another phone call! It was Nathan, again! Nathan was able to talk to the police officer to get him to just give Justin a must-appear-in-court ticket rather than officially arresting, booking, and bailing him out so they would be on their way shortly. Perfect! I didn't need to stress out about the long-gone guest of honor at his party any more.

Nathan and Justin the convict finally arrived, and the party was on! SURPRISE!!!! It turns out the whole story about Justin being pulled over and arrested and the police officer just giving him a ticket was all a LIE!!!! Why? Because Nathan knew about the party and wanted to get me all stressed out and wanted to see how I would react to the added stress of the birthday boy not being at the party! What a bum!

Some gifts Nathan got for him turning the ripe old age of 30 were...


...a pink poof to use with his flowery scented pink body wash in the shower...


...the all-important little blue pills...
...a pair of black knee high socks to wear with his flip-flops as he goes out to get the morning newspaper...
...a can of Barbasol for shaving his back as it becomes hairier than his head! :0)

And, of course, what birthday isn't complete without cake!

All in all, I think everyone had a great time chatting, eating, playing, and celebrating Nathan's birthday with us, especiall Nathan!

Happy Birthday to my best friend, to my husband, and to the best Daddy anyone could have!

Royal Ranger Law Enforcement Day

Today, we hosted a law enforcement day for the local group of Royal Rangers at our home. The Royal Rangers is sort of like the Christian form of the Boy Scouts. Nathan got dressed up in his uniform and put on a lecture/demonstration of the ins and outs of being a State Trooper.

First, he talked about the history of the State Police and instructed the boys about the different uniforms he would wear as a trooper. He also explained the history and significance of each part of his uniform... from why there is a picture of a ship on his badge and brass buttons to why there is a certain number of buttons on his uniform. Very interesting!

Then, he showed the group of boys his cruiser and all of the bells and whistles that are in there. He even allowed them to speak over the loudspeaker and use the sirens. (I'm sure our neighbors LOVED that part.)

After he was done talking and demonstrating, he gave a quiz to the boys to see if they were really paying attention and learning from him. The boy who got the most answers correct won a State Police patch. (And, of course, Owen wanted to be a part of the boys too. He got to hang out with his Daddy.)

Finally, Nathan got to be in the hot seat as well answering any questions that the boys and adult leaders had. I'm pretty sure the boys found the time with the Trooper interesting.

favorite friend

Ivy's "favorite friend" Emily came over to play today. The weather was so nice that we were able to play outside. They played house and babies pretty much the whole time. They are going to be great moms as they are getting a lot of practice now.

It's so much fun to see Ivy have so much fun! A friendship is building here!

cows

Our kids LOVE animals and LOVE to visit Farmer Webby Jones's farm. Farmer Webby Jones has always been so gracious to us in allowing our kids to visit and sometimes feed his cows. These calves were actually born earlier in the day.

Don't you just LOVE our kids' muddin' boots!

Aren't they cute? (Ivy, Owen, and the calves, that is!)

that's our boy!

Where there's a mud puddle or water, you will without a doubt find our son, Owen, playing in it!

AND, so Ivy doesn't feel left out, here's so sweet pictures of our little girl, too!

boogers

Who wouldn't want to read a post entitled "boogers"? :-)

Ivy and Owen have a book that I believe their Uncle Dave and Aunt Natalie and two cousins Nathaniel and Ashton got them (well, got Ivy as Owen wasn't born yet) entitled God Loves Your Nose. As Daddy was beginning to read the book to Ivy this morning, he started by reciting the title of the book. After Ivy heard that "God loves your nose," Ivy remarked, "Really? Do you think He even loves the boogers too?" :-)

As I was thinking about how to answer the question, I thought, "Well, God did create our noses complete with all of the boogers in them :-P, and He thought that EVERYTHING He created was very good." SO, the answer to Ivy's question had to be, "Yes, God even loves your boogers!" :-)

"And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good." ~Genesis 1:31

feelings

Our feelings right now could be described as...

...dumb-founded/bewildered
...discouraged
...resentful
...beaten down
...bitter
...uncomfortable
...angry
...down in the dumps
...disheartened

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. ~Ephesians 4:29-32

Today, Nathan and I had decided to go and visit our first church since we have felt led to leave VCC. It has been hard to go visiting churches as Nathan does not always have Sundays off from work (he usually gets 1 sometimes 2 Sunday mornings free a month). I am 7 months pregnant with a 4 year old and almost 2 year old, and we don't know who is taking care of our kids in the nursery and they would be too distracting and noisy to those around us to leave them in the church service with us so me going with our 2 kids by myself wouldn't be helpful or useful in trying to determine whether this is the church we are to attend. Our strategy would be that I would be in the nursery with our kids and getting a chance to ask questions to the nursery workers about the inner workings of that church while Nathan would sit in on the pastor's sermons to discern whether the preaching is Scripturally sound.

I had done a lot of searching for churches to visit in our area and have only found a couple in the town we live in and a hand full out of town but requires some travel time to get to. I found some information about a Baptist church 25 miles away so we decided to go try it. I googled the address to get directions, and we were off.

The directions led us to a neighborhood of houses and where that church was supposed to be, there was nothing but a grassy lot! Bad directions! Ugh! On our way to find that church, we passed another church and thought we could sneak in on that, but it was just letting out as we were coming! Double Ugh! :( So, while we were in the area, we decided to go to a favorite store to look around. As we pulled in to the parking lot, I saw a sign for the church we were looking for! Yeah! Thinking we would only be 10 minutes late, we pulled in to attend that church. As we walked in through the door, a few adults were talking, and we found out that their church was way earlier than what the information on the Internet had indicated and that they had just finished church and Sunday School. Triple Ugh! (I guess that makes 3 strikes, and we're out!)

As a side note that really pulled at our heartstrings today as well, this happened today...

While I was helping Ivy get ready this morning, Ivy turned to me and said, "I hope they will like me."

I asked Ivy how she felt about us not going to our old church (the only church she has ever known), to which Ivy replied, "It makes me feel really unhappy."

We have found it to be so hard to stay encouraged as to what to do regarding our corporate worship to the Lord and study of His Word, but we will continue to go to the throne and lift our discouragements up to Him and continue our daily devotions to Him.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. ~Romans 8:28

fun times

It was so nice to spend some time with some good, encouraging friends. We were able to have dinner and fellowship with Todd and Nancy.

We met Todd and Nancy while attending our old church. We spent many many months together meeting in our home on a weekly basis praying and discussing the search for a youth pastor. They shared in our joy and excitement when we announced to the youth pastor search committee that we were expecting our first baby...that was over 4 years ago!

Todd is a serious and thoughtful man who is always thinking while Nancy is fun-loving, kind, tender-hearted, caring, and young-at-heart. Together they know how to be real and genuine. They know how to encourage others and how to laugh and have a wholesome good time.

Our kids think they're pretty fun too!

Although we don't get to see them too often and talk with them on a regular basis any more, we are thankful for their friendship and to know that they are always there.

For the fun of it...

...Ivy, Owen and I made a tent out of blankets and chairs the other day which turned into our reading tent. We sure do love our books!

shopping spree

For Ivy's birthday present, her Grammy Lou and Auntie Lily took her on a shopping spree. In planning this shopping trip (which occurred directly between Ivy and Grammy Lou), Ivy convinced Grammy Lou to take her to her favorite place to eat - Old McDonald's - for a happy meal and to play on the playground (which Ivy even went down the yellow tube slide for the very first time!) before heading off to the shops.

Ivy had been saving a special outfit to wear on her shopping trip. Take a look at our shopping diva...


Ivy was definitely SPOILED with ALL of the gifts she got which included anywhere from shiny pink Dora shoes to clothes to hair and clothes accessories to Snow White and Cinderella toys to a DVD to a very special breakfast treat Lucky Charms. (I don't think Grammy Lou even knows how to say that big word NO! to Ivy!)

Ivy had a blast getting to hang out with her Grammy Lou and her Auntie and getting to shop until they dropped. Thank you so much, Grammy Lou and Auntie, for being so kind, generous, and giving!

when it's just a little too quiet...

tough

Recently, Nathan and I have had to make one of the toughest, if not THE TOUGHEST, decisions we have ever had to make not only as church-going believers in Christ but as parents. Realizing our decision could certainly turn our little 4-year-old daughter's world upside down, this decision was not reached out of haste but from a time of examining the issues at hand and seeking the Lord's direction through prayer and through Godly counsel.

An incident happened within the church where the church elders made a decision to not report a crime committed to a minor by another church leader. The church elders were charged by the local police of this crime and now face trial. For a few months before this all came about, Nathan and I have been feeling some unrest and started to question whether we should be attending the church any more due to some other decisions and actions the church leaders had made. Those decisions weren't exactly wrong, but they weren't how we would have. This final incident was the thing that the Lord used to put our decision into perspective.

BUT...

Our little girl is 4 years old. She has been going to this church for the past 4 years. She loves going to Sunday School, to church/junior church, and to Pioneer Club. Church is HER WORLD. Her friends are there. She wakes up in the morning and asks if today is church day or if that day is Pioneer Club. Our little girl's world is being turned completely upside down all because of a heinous act done by a church leader and because of a poor and stupid decision made by four other leaders in the church.

Nathan and I have tried so hard and thought we were protecting our children as much as possible...who would have ever thought that the actions of 5 ADULT men who know better would hurt and disrupt our little girl's life so much! We felt that the Lord was leading us to leave the church.

If anyone out there reading this post is close to these issues, please know that I am not writing this post or using this blog as a sort of soapbox in which to judge or condemn anyone or to sway anyone's opinions in these matters as I know that the Lord has us all in different positions and areas in our lives and works in us in different ways. As is the main purpose of this blog, I am merely writing this post for the purpose of preserving a part of our children's history, and we consider this decision a very significant part of our family/children's history.

Now that I am editing this post over a year later, I must say that to read over ALL that I had originally written and the raw feelings I felt and wrote about was something (and I must say that I eliminated a lot of what I wrote). Although I don't think I will ever understand everything that occurred and why decisions were made the way they were and although the many many months following our decision to leave the church were SO HARD, I know that the Lord was at work in it all and still is working in it. I see that God had other plans for us and was seeking and still seeks to test our faithfulness and obedience to Him. I am encouraged and feel so blessed to know that the Lord still is at work in my life. I also know that everybody's walk with the Lord is so different and He works in us and uses us in so many different ways. In no way do I want my words to make others feel differently about their decisions and in the way the Lord led them in this situation.

May I leave you with a verse that has brought encouragement and a sort of closure to this whole thing for me...

Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the eart, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. ~Isaiah 55:6-11

a special date

About a week ago, Daddy and Ivy planned to have a "special date," and today was the day! First, Daddy and Ivy made their specialty - supreme pancakes - for breakfast this morning for the whole family. Since Mommy doesn't like pancakes, Daddy made her some eggs and toast. Ivy insisted that today was Mother's Day (even though we kept telling her that it wasn't), and Ivy insisted that Mommy needed to eat her breakfast in bed (which actually turned into being the couch). I certainly wasn't complaining about the special treatment today!

Later, the duo went "shopping" at the dump store and at the local thrift shops, while Mommy and Owen enjoyed some special time together.

Before Daddy and Ivy left for their shopping trip, Daddy nonchalantly grabbed his gun to put in his pocket as he normally does before leaving the house. Ivy noticed this action and asked, "Why are you bringing that?" Daddy replied, "Oh, I just take it with me." Then, Ivy remarked, "Oh...just in case a lion jumps through our window." :-)