Worship In The Woods (and a little Taco Bell)

Saturday night we took a small group of youth to Worship In The Woods.  Not sure why, but for some reason not a lot of kids signed up.  It's the first time we've ever gone, so none of us were quite sure what to expect.  I got to drive the church bus for the first time in a few years, so that was an experience in itself!  I'd forgotten how incredibly stinky those things are... 

Worship In The Woods is an outreach event hosted by a church in Smyrna.  We arrived to find a bouncy house, mechanical bull, rock climbing wall, LOTS of free food, and a mudpit tug-of-war competition!  They also had a fantastic worship area set up for the concert and the speaker. 

Franklyn clung to the youth the whole night and really wanted nothing at all to do with Mom or Dad!  I guess we know where we stand in the pecking order!

Franklyn and a few of the younger boys tried out the bouncy house first! It was dirty, sweaty, stinky and nasty....  All I could think about was the filthy socks I'd be bleaching later that night!

My brave little one even tried out the mechanical bull.  Now, that was a sight!  I wish I'd gotten it on video. 

After bull riding we decided to try out the rock climbing wall.  Unfortunately, they shut it down when we were about five people away from our turn.  So, no pictures of Scott flailing madly from 20 feet in the air.  Sorry.

We did, however, find time to take some candid pics.  I took a few and Franklyn took a few.  See if you can tell who took which ones.  :-)

Around 7:00, when it was time for the concert to begin, we started feeling a few little rain drops.....  Prayer ensued....  The rain drops died off... for a short time.  Adults ran for cover and the kids stayed in the rain while the band played.  However, by the time the speaker got on stage to share the downpour had begun! 

We all got slightly wet....  Well, this was a group of teenagers so some got SOAKED.  We waited around for about ten minutes and then decided the rain and cold were too much.  We decided Taco Bell was calling our name!

Scott and I walked in with the group and one lady turned around and said, "Wow, THAT'S a big family!" 

FALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My absolute FAVORITE season arrives in TWO days!!!  WooHoooooooo!!!!  Mums, pumpkins, changing leaves.....  Is there anything better on God's earth than fall?  Not to me!  A tad premature maybe, but I began putting out fall decorations this past weekend.  I had Franklyn pose with a few last night.  I think He loves fall as much as his mom!

The Dance

A couple of years ago I was at a point where I was completely disgusted with myself and with the sin I had allowed in my life.  I had gotten to the point where I was consumed with self.  All I thought about was me.  I was more concerned with my weight, my image, going on vacations, etc. than anything else.  God had completely been placed on the back burner.  Unfortunately, it took over a year of self indulgence and some discipline from the Lord before I stepped back and took a long hard look at the way I had allowed culture to infiltrate my thought process.  This is a poem I wrote while still completely immersed in the sin of selfishness....

I’ve danced ‘round this sin
And I’ve watched it take root.
How enticing these branches can be!
O’ I tangle myself in deceit as I dance,
Still I let it take lead willingly.


My embrace is so tight
Yet I long to let go.
This grip on my flesh is so real!
How can such pride be found in this dancing?
Could it be that I like what I feel?


I feign such perfection
With each step I take.
But my heart is not hidden from You.
I yearn for retreat from this willful defiance.
Yet this is the dance that I choose.


Lead me, my Lord,
Draw me back to Your sway.
Let my dance bring you glory once more.
Take lead, for the dancing is nothing without You.
Be, God, the One I dance for.


I am so thankful for a God who disciplines those He loves.  I'm dancing a new dance these days.  I'm holding tight to my Savior and letting him lead.   What a merciful Savior is He.

NFL Day at New Union Elementary

Franklyn has been so excited about going to school today!  It's NFL Day at New Union Elementary!  I spent my entire lunch hour yesterday running to Old Navy for Atlanta Falcons gear for Franklyn only to find out that Scott needed a shirt as well.  He's helping out at the school today.  I stuck around the house for a while this morning before leaving for work to get a picture of my boys in their Falcons shirts. 

Scott looks half awake and Franklyn looks like he's been crying.  Boy, we are NOT the most photogenic family!!!!!

TOOFLESS!

Franklyn had a front tooth that was loose for over a month.  Dr. Taylor had to pull his last loose tooth back in March because it simply did not want to come out and the permanent one REALLY wanted to come in.  Same situation this time.....  So, Scott picked him up from school today and I met them over at Dr. Taylor's office so he could work his magic.  Franklyn was a little nervous at first so I knelt down and prayed with him before Dr. Taylor came in the room.  Once Doc Taylor gave him laughing gas, the nerves were gone, gone, gone!  Out came the tooth!  Of course, being the awesome Mom that I am (wink wink), I took him directly to Baskin Robbins for a cool treat to soothe the gums.  He was all smiles. 

 

Better Focus

It's been a realllllly long time since I've posted anything to this blog.  I apologize.  Life has been busy, and too many things have taken precedence.  Some good things.  Some bad things.  Overall, the last year has been a mixture of joy, sorrow, pain and struggle.  I haven't blogged because my life has been so full of so many insignificant things and so much of the unknown that I was kind of afraid some of that would leak out!  Oh well.  I guess I'll just leak!  God has done some unbelievable work in my life in the last nine months.  It's been painful and I have to admit that I was fighting Him with all that was in me for a long time.  But, He saw fit to show me mercy and to continue to draw me to Him and draw me back to the close relationship that I missed and desired deep down for so long.  I can remember, over the last five years or so, thinking "When's it gonna happen?  When is God gonna say He's had enough of my selfishness and pride and just let the hammer fall?"  I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when it finally happened.  A series of events last winter literally brought me crashing to my knees.  God is so good.  He allows things in our lives that are painful only to bring us to His feet where we find ultimate peace and unbelievable joy, even in the midst of the pain.  At one point during all that I was going through, I told someone I was thankful for my thorn.  I said that I was glad God had allowed me to go through the things that I had been going through.  The person pretty much thought I was nuts to say that.  She said that I should be glad for where it brought me, but not be thankful for the pain.  Well, I know that the ONLY way God ever brings me back and humbles me the way I need to be humbled is through the kind of pain He has carried me through over the last nine months.  I HAVE to be thankful for that pain.  And, I am.  My relationship with Christ is so much richer and so much deeper.  I go to Him with each fear as it comes and each insecurity.  I trust Him and rest in Him.  I fill my mind with His Word and His promises, guarding my heart at every turn.  I can honestly say that I would rather lose this life than lose the intimacy and the passion that I have for Him right now.  He is my closest friend and my only hope.  He is good.
The other night Scott and I were watching an episode of The Love Boat on dvd.  Franklyn wasn't too excited about the show, so he decided to sit and draw and color at the pub table in our den.  When the show was over, he came over to me with his writing tablet.  He held up a page and asked, "How's this, Mama?"  I glanced his way thinking it would be another picture of SpongeBob or something similar.  That's when I realized he'd written out some of the words to a song he sings in children's choir at church.  So precious.  Franklyn became a Christian on Mother's Day of this year.  Since then he has honestly had such a heart for God's Word.  I do a devotion with him every night and his insight sometimes amazes me.  All I could think while I stared at this page of verse written by my six-year old son was, "That's what he's had on his mind this whole time?  We've been sitting here immersed in a flighty seventies tv show, and he's been sitting thinking about God....?"  The words to the song, shown above, are:

He is my rock
He is my shield
He is the hub in the middle of the wheel

Franklyn spoke my heart with those words.  All that I've been through in the last year brought me back to where I could truly say those words and mean it.  He is my Rock.  He is my Shield.  He is most certainly the hub in the middle of the wheel.  Without Him, my wheel would be extremely off balance.  I thank Him for securing me, defending me and drawing me back to the center of His will.  God is good.