M.I.A. Update

I've had a few people ask me about the current status of the missing python. Well...all is well again!

Yes, we did find the snake! And, thankfully, it wasn’t quite frozen, although it was extremely cold! It was actually a really cool God moment for me! I couldn’t sleep that night, as I was so worried for Caleb that the snake wouldn’t survive. I prayed half the night for that dumb snake! Anyway, the next morning we searched again, with no luck. I took a shower late in the morning, and as I did, I just cried out to God. Not really about the snake, but just telling God how much I needed to experience Him and know that He really does hear me and act on my behalf. To know that I can pray to Him, and that He will make Himself known. Anyway, after my shower, I went back to the basement, checked behind the couch, didn’t see the snake, then turned around, and there he was! I just started laughing and thanking God, partly because I found the snake, and mostly because God showed up! I just felt like God was telling me that I can search and search under every rock and crevice, but until I cry out to Him, it’s all in vain. Anyway, it was awesome to be reminded, again, that God does care about the details of our lives, and that He is intimately involved in all of it.

M.I.A.

You know you are a mother of boys when....
Your son loses his ball python somewhere in your basement, and you don't blink an eye at the fact that a 2 1/2 foot snake is slithering around somewhere in your house. Apparently, C set Corwin down while he was playing a video game around 1:30 yesterday afternoon, then promptly forgot about him. 7:30 that evening, C suddenly ran downstairs in a panic. We tore the basement apart, to no avail. Our biggest concern is that the snake is supposed to stay under heat lamps, around 100 degrees. We are in a cold snap right now, and it got down to about 0 last night; our basement stays quite cold. Oh, how I hope we don't discover a snake popsicle in the days to come...

World Race Adventures In Missions

Do you know any 20-or-30-Somethings? Are you one? Watch this video! Adventure in Missions is an organization we partnered with when we went to Swaziland, Africa last summer. It is an incredible ministry doing amazing work all over the world. The World Race is an arm of AIM that takes people on a pilgrimage through eleven different countries in eleven months, and changes their lives in the process. This stuff gets me excited!

from the World Race Web page:

"The Race is calling you…

Most young people have more questions than answers. They’re looking for an adventure, a context in which they can find themselves and come fully alive.

The World Race is an opportunity to travel to 11 different countries, share the gospel of Christ with the lost, and see the kingdom come with power.

World Racers don’t just learn it;
they live it. Do you have what it takes?"

Same Journey, New Chapter...

On January 1st, I started working at our church part-time. I am working about 20 hrs/week in the Children's Ministries. My official title is Partner's Director, but even I don't know exactly what that means! Essentially, I am over anything that doesn't take place on Sunday mornings: Wednesday night programming, monthly newsletter, baptism classes for children, family ministry, all special events, and VBS! Yikes! It feels like a lot, but I am in the process of putting together a wonderful leadership team, that I hope will greatly reduce the work I personally must accomplish. I am really excited about my new role, but it has been 14 years since I worked outside of the home, so it is going to be an adjustment! My biggest passions for my ministry are within the family ministry... I feel God is stirring in my heart a passion to see families praying together in powerful ways, not just the mealtime and bedtime blessings. I want families to learn to pray with faith and certainty, knowing that God will move on their behalf! I also want to develop more opportunities for families to minister together, both in their neighborhoods, as well as family mission trips. So, I have a lot to do to get to that point, but I know God will guide me according to His will. I would love your prayers as I seek out how to begin in these areas!

The kids love the fact that I am working at the church, and want to spend as much time there as they can. They want to go early, stay late, and be my "helpers" at all times. It's wonderful to see their desires to serve and be a part of the ministries at church. N and C work in the coffee shop every week, and M1 can't wait until he's old enough to help, too. Ministering within our local church is so important to Bob and I, and it is awesome to see our kids following after us!

Goin' It Alone

For all of you single parents, or those of you who play the role often...My hat is off to you! My hubby has been out-of-town since early Sunday morning, and won't be back until early Saturday morning, and it has been a long week! We are managing, even having some fun times along the way, but we are all weary at this point. In the beginning, it's a fun adventure, having cereal for dinner and all, but after 3 or 4 days, it just gets plain old. We were definitely meant to parent as a team. Any one who has been a parent for more than a day or two knows all about tag-team parenting.... I'm exhausted, I'm not handling this well, I'm just not in the mood to do this... TAG! You're IT! There's no one to tag this week, so it's up to me. Tag's no fun when you don't have someone to tag.....

Journey of Prayer

I'm on this journey, and I'm not sure where it will take me. God has begun to speak quietly to me about my prayer life (or lack, thereof). I have always prayed, but thought true intercession was for those gifted in that area, which I obviously am not. Sure, I pray for my family and friends, ask God for help in my own life, and tell Him how great He is. But, as I watch others around me, you know, those that are really tight with God, I see their determination, their power, the FAITH in their words. I know there is something different there, something I long for in my prayer life. For the first time, I truly long for a prayer life. I long to pray with power, believing, KNOWING, that God can and will move mountains because of MY prayers! Wow! So, I have begun this journey, determined to learn how to pray. I have been reading E.M. Bounds works on prayer, and I am being transformed. Bounds lived during the Civil War, and I am blown away by his teachings. I highly recommend his books (often sold in a complete set), and I will share tidbits that I glean from him along the way. Here's a taste...

"The man is the most immortal who has done the most and best praying. They are God's heroes, God's saints, God's servants, God's deputies. A man can pray better because of the prayers of the past; a man can live holier because of the prayers of the past, the man of many and acceptable prayers has done the truest and greatest service to the incoming generation. The prayers of God's saints strengthen the unborn generation against the desolating waves of sin and evil. Woe to the generation of sons who find their censers empty of the rich incense of prayer; whose fathers have been too busy or too unbelieving to pray, and perils inexpressible and consequences untold are their unhappy heritage. Fortunate are they whose fathers and mothers have left them a wealthy patrimony of prayer." (from the book, "Purpose in Prayer")

So, moms and dads, grandmas and grandpas, uncles and aunts, are we pouring the foundation for the kids in our lives to pray better, to live holier lives, by our prayers today? That is my heart's desire as a mom...

Don't mean to brag, BUT.....

I have started to dabble in cake decorating with a neighbor. We actually thought about starting a business, but looks like we won't pursue that, after all. Anyway, C is having a birthday party today at Laser Quest, so it's birthday cake time, again. C continues to LOVE all things snake, so, of course, Mom had to rise to the occasion and make the "coolest snake cake ever!" C has a pet ball python named Corwin (after Animal Planet's Jeff Corwin), so I thought I'd give it a whirl. It worked! C is thrilled with his cake, we are off to Laser Quest, and my boy thinks the world of his mom!