Lent Is Here...

We were Catholic for many years, and although we are no longer practicing Catholic and we attend another Christian church, there are some beliefs of our Catholic background that still mean a lot to us. One of those beliefs is the idea of giving up something for Lent to glorify and Honor a God who gave up His LIFE for us!

We talk to the kids each year about why we do this, and we all decide on something that we can "give up". One year I gave up pop (yeah, that didn't work out so well!), Mike has given up cursing (a few time), and Kayleigh even tried giving up MEAT one year! This year we haven't really talked too much about it other than to toss around thoughts here and there.

Until today... A friend sent this, and I think it's what we've been looking for all along

Give up complaining - Focus on gratitude

Philippians 2:14&15 – Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure…

1 Thessalonians 5:18 – Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Jesus Christ.


Give up bitterness - Turn to forgiveness

Ephesians 4:31 – Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.

Ephesians 4:32 – Be kind and compassionate to one another forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.


Give up worry - Trust in God

Matthew 6:25 – “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life… who by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”

Matthew 6:33 – But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.


Give up discouragement - Be full of hope

Deuteronomy 31:8 – The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you: he will never leave you or forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.

Isaiah 40:31 – But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.


Give up hatred - Return good for evil

1 John 2:9 – Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness.

Luke 6:27 – “But I tell you who hear me; Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.”


Give up anger - Be more patient

Matthew 5:22 – But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.

Proverbs 15:18 – A hot tempered man stirs up dissension, but a patient man calms a quarrel.


Give up gossiping - Control your tongue

Psalm 34:13 – Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies.

Proverbs 21:23 – He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity.

I hope that this helps you during this Lent and Easter season to remember why we celebrate Easter, how much our God loves us, and ways that we can glorify and honor Him!

How Cool Is It...

Newsong on Stage

Our kids LOVE to sing and dance to worship and praise music!?!

My friend, Jenni, and I took our kids to the Winter Jam 2010 concert in Greensboro last night. Once there, we met up with another good friend, Kristen, with her husband Scott and son Ethan.

Kristen and Ethan

It was so worth the 45 minutes standing in a crowd of thousands in 30 degree weather, plowing through to find your own seat as others rushed to find and save theirs too, then being herded out like cattle after the concert!

Juli, Paige, Chase & Jake... FREEZING!

Seeing them all smiling, dancing, and laughing made it a great evening! It was way cool to see everyone of many religions praising and honoring a God who loves us ALL!

Juli, Jenni, Paige, Chase, and Jake

By the way... Devin went to... but in the crowds of thousands I had no clue where he was to get pictures!

Paige's April Snowman!

Paige had a project that initially sounded like it was going to be quite a headache. You know, one of those projects they assign to kids that the parents end up doing! She had to use a cube, sphere, cylinder, cone, and rectangular prism to make a snowman. And, if that wasn't enough, the snowman had a month them... hers was April.

She spent one of our snow days going through the house finding everything she thought she could use. I wrapped them all in white tissue paper, and she did the rest! Her original plan was to put a small Easter basket on the arm and put an Easter egg in it, but she was having trouble with the stability and being able to carry it. Daddy to the rescue... the ended up using an old Easter basket!

The kids will be having a snowman parade at school tomorrow and then their masterpieces will be displayed in the Media Center for a while. She's mighty proud of her Easter Snowman and so are we!

Snowboarding For the First Time

With school out the last few days... Devin was SURE he was going to be "amazingly bored" (his words, not mine!). That was until a friend of ours from church invited him to go snowboarding and skiing for the first time ever. Now, if you know Devin AT ALL, you KNOW that this was a big risk for him... which bone would he break, how was he going to get hurt?!?

Yep - somewhere up at the top of this hill Devin is FLYING down on a single snowboard. BUT, he shocked us all and came home uninjured... absolutely exhausted to the point where he can't even stand up on two feet and carry on a conversation.... but uninjured!

He had a blast with the Muellers and came home thanking us over and over for letting him go. He even gave me a big ol' hug! Love that kid!