The Attitude of I Refuse

Yesterday I had the privilege of speaking at the Sunday morning service at our church.  I've decided to share my notes with you.  It was an exciting topic that I hope will inspire you to make a choice this year.

New Year's Resolutions date back many, many years to a Roman god named Janus.  He is usually pictured to have 2 heads, one that looks forward to the new year and one that looks back to the past.  Making resolutions usually was about forgiving your enemies and looking forward to your successes in the new year.  This Janus guy is where we get January from. 

Modern day resolutions vary from getting in shape, improving finances or careers, becoming more organized, reducing stress and volunteering to help others.  Research has shown that, while 52% of participants were confident that they would succeed, only 12% actually achieved their goals.

Last week, while listening to the radio, I heard the song, I Refuse by Josh Wilson.  The words struck me and as I prepared for last Sunday's service I was lead to read them aloud.

Sometimes I just want to close my eyes
And act like everyone's alright, when I know they're not

The world needs God, but it's easier to just stand and watch
I could say a prayer and just move on like nothing's wrong

But I refuse
'Cause I don't want to live like I don't care
I don't want to say another empty prayer, Oh I refuse

To sit around and wait for someone else, to do what God has called me to do myself
Oh, I could choose not to move, But I refuse

Those are thought provoking words.  God has called each of us to a certain time and place, He doesn't change His mind regarding that which He's called us to (Romans 11:29).  Our family, friends, neighbors and co-workers need the hope of Jesus.  We are called to be the light to the world (Matthew 5:13-16 and 1 John 1:5).

So in addition to whatever self improvement goals you are setting for yourself this year...

I challenge you to adopt (take something and make it your own) the attitude of I REFUSE...

• not to show God's love
• to be a bad example in my attitude, words or actions
• to let another day go by without letting 'that' person know they are loved by God and myself
• to ignore the Spirit's leading
• not to take the opportunity to pray with someone when I know they have needs to be prayed about

We attended a marriage seminar this past spring, it was an incredible study about marriage and what it should look like according to God's Word.  We learned there are three characteristics that are essential to every successful marriage, but these are also the things that we need to reach people for God.

1. LOVE - 1 Thess. 4:9b - you, yourselves, have been taught by God to love one another.  Paul said it so well in 1 Corinthians 13 - without love, I am nothing!
2. FORGIVENESS - Col. 3:13 - Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.  Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
3. ENCOURAGEMENT - 1 Thess. 5:11 amp - Therefore encourage (admonish, exhort) one another and edify (strengthen and build up) one another.

Reminding ourselves to engage these characteristics in our relationships will lead to positive PR for God.  We are walking advertisements for Him.  If we claim to be His children, we should ACT like it!

Statistics show resolutions don't have sticking power...adopting something is making it YOUR OWN.

The challenge...adopt the attitude of I REFUSE to let someone else do what God has called me to do.

The prayer...God, you have called us to be your children and the light of the world.  I refuse to leave you out of every day situations and I choose to share your hope with those around me today!

Some things you just don't want to forget...

Their goofy expressions and sweet smiles

Their ability to sit still for mere moments

That they can always do that which you asked someone else to do and do it so well

 Participation is sometimes optional

That 4 kids under the age of 5 1/2 will never cooperate at the same time

That my son has worn his snow boots everyday for at least seven weeks, almost before the first snowfall

That they all have a sweet side

Presents for 4 kids create enough mess to have me picking up small things off of the carpet for the rest of the day!

That one year they'll look like this...

And 12 months later look like this!

This day started out around 6:45 am.  Hosanna and Judah burst into our room this morning proclaiming that Santa had come and there were presents under the tree.  "And I didn't even hear any sleigh bells!" she added.

Last night before they went to bed, we told them when they woke up in the morning they would find presents and they weren't to touch them.  They could however, play with the toys that were on the table, which they received last night at their grandparent's house.

That plan was genius.  It bought me about an hour and 15 minutes this morning, although last night I was silently cursing the toy company that thinks it's necessary to attach anything to a box using 29 plastic ties and 2 screws!  Honestly.

We had a relaxing day today and ate ham, candied sweet potatoes, stuffing and rolls for dinner.  Although tearing them away from their new treasures to head to bed proved a little more difficult than usual, they were tired from the excitement of the holidays.

I was tucking Zoe (who insisted on wearing her dress up shoes to bed) into her bed, she said, "I need Jesus!"  Which, for a while we had been singing 'Jesus Loves Me' to her before bed, but haven't recently.  But it made me laugh to hear her say that and it gently reminded me that we should all be saying that before we hit the sheets at night.  She then requested that I sing her latest favorite song, Awesome God. 

We are thankful tonight for our MANY blessings and the biggest blessing of all, that Our Father God sent His Son for us!

What cards will you be sending this Christmas?

When we first started sending out Christmas cards eight years ago (!) there weren't all that many options.  Most of the layouts were 1 photo, the designs were average at best.  The photo card market has increased in popularity over the years and rightfully so, I remember my mom always including a picture of my sisters and me when mailing out her yearly Christmas cards.  So making a photo card is the perfect solution for the family who wants to share holiday greetings with friends and relatives and include photos of their family.

These days the options are endless and I'm excited because I can't choose just one picture to share with the ones I love.  Shutterfly asked me to tell you about some of the great cards and gifts that they have this year.  The card pictured above is one of my favorites, I love the layout, the colors and the message.  I think our little family will look terrific on the front of it.

And this one here, is fabulous because you can put up 7 to 8 pictures on it and a personalized message from your family.

Shutterfly also has great photo gifts.  Over the past couple of years, we have given my parents and in-laws photo books that were made up of photos from the past year.  They LOVE these and now look forward to getting them year after year.

These coasters would be a great grandparent gift as well.  Way to put pictures of the kids front and center!

Everyone uses calendars and you can add your important dates to the calendar that you create so that no special occasion is ever forgotten.

Shutterfly has great cards and gifts for everyone (especially the hard to shop for) on your list this year.  Head over to their site to see everything they have to offer.

**Disclosure - Shutterfly is providing me with 50 free cards for writing this post about their products.  The above is my honest opinion and experiences regarding their products.**

The View...

from the front window on this really-nice-play-outside-kind of afternoon:

 A five year old riding on a toddler bike  

while pulling a doll stroller that was holding a pumpkin.

 Here she is again waving when she realized I was taking her picture. 

Yes, she's wearing a dress, purple leopard print leggings and Nikes.

 Her brother is wearing shorts, snow boots and riding her bike

which he claims is his own.  

These three are quite the trio.

 Her younger sister, who has been in constant need of having her nose wiped 

all day long, and stubbornly insists that her name is "Me" not Zoe.

All the while, Shiloh stands inside longing for this time next year 

when she can join the ranks of her bike riding siblings.

Goodnight Stuff

 It's Harvest Time and we are keeping pretty busy around here.  Hosanna made this sign to put on the door to the basement.  We are planning to have a Harvest Party tomorrow night, the kind where we carve pumpkins and eat all things pumpkin.  I'm excited and so are the kids.

For homeschool, this past week we were learning about the letter M and moon.  We read the children's book "Goodnight Moon" then the assignment was to find pictures from magazines and create your own book saying goodnight to things.  Here's what she came up with:

Goodnight Stuff

Goodnight crayons.  Goodnight stuffed animal penguin and ducks.

Goodnight hot dogs.  Goodnight heart.  Goodnight clock.

Goodnight shoes.  Goodnight daughter, goodnight books.  Goodnight cousin.  Goodnight ice cream.

Goodnight swimming glasses.  Goodnight puzzle.  Goodnight cupcake.

Goodnight food.

The end.

I wrote the story as she told it to me.  Quite the writer.  She just now came up to me and showed me a picture she drew of her family (we were all astronauts) on the back was our farm with a rain storm and a cow named Jessica America Elizabeth Felicity.  Wow.

Well, now I'm off to make chili for the party tomorrow.  Next week I plan to post pics of harvest time things that we've been doing 'round here.  Have a great weekend!

The Latest Adventure

We began school last month - homeschool that is.

For Hosanna's kindergarten year, I chose to do a curriculum called My Father's World.  I liked this particular program because it's a unit study, meaning there's 26 units that revolve around a subject (i.e. the sun, leaves, apples) and you are teaching math, language arts, writing, science and Bible for 6 days.  And then the subject changes.  So far it's working out well.

With homeschooling, there's always room for extra activities, especially ones that interest the student.  The kids get Highlights Magazine for Preschoolers. While reading it, Hosanna spotted a craft and she asked me if we could make it.  I was trying to figure out when and how it would work out.  She asked me for at least a week.

Finally, today I had a brilliant moment and this is what we came up with.  The original craft used cardboard and fabric to make stick-like figures and cats.  We used a shirt gift box, like the one pictured at the top of this post and colored paper to make the clothes.

While I was cutting out the pieces, I was asking Hosanna questions like how many arms did each 'human' (that's what they called them) need.  Then she glued them on and chose the color of paper that we made their outfits out of.

We are talking about the sound the letter s makes, so skirt and shirt were perfect to practice working on these sounds.  She colored flowers on the clothes and later said we needed to give the cats 'style' - so she colored them.

A cat

The 'humans'

This was a great activity for both of them.  And I believe we'll be elaborating further with hair, socks and shoes.

At the Park

Yesterday we spent some time at the park.  It was a beautiful day.  I had to camera, so I took a few pictures while we were there.

These kids LOVE it outdoors, it's just getting them to stand still long enough to get a good picture.

Look at those CHUBBY fingers!  So cute!

My person favorite from the day!
Zoe (25 months) and Shiloh (10 months)

Toothy grin!

He honestly said, "Here Hosanna, CATCH!" as he pushed Shiloh towards her.