Valentine's Day

With hearts on the mind, a wonderful discussion happened in the car with my four year old daughter, Meg. She told me that she had invited Jesus into her heart and I asked her if she really knew what that meant and how to do it. After explaining to her that He took the punishment for our sins by dying on the cross, I asked her if she believed that He did that for her. I asked her if she wanted to pray with me to invite Him into her heart, She said that she wanted to invite him in but didn't want Him to live there. I can't imagine what a four year old must think in trying to comprehend that. I'm just excited that she has found Jesus to be someone she wants in her life.

What a blessing it is that we (Nick and I) are in a place spiritually to introduce to our children from the earliest time some of the greatest blessings of knowing HIM!

Today is also her Grammy's Birthday! What a neat memory for Meg to share her Spiritual Birthday with her Grammy!!!

Struggling with Puppy Love

Spencer is my dog. He is only 7 months old. We bought him as a puppy (12 weeks old.) I paid a whopping $150.00 for him. Then, all the money for the shots, the neutering (poor thing), the puppy training classes (and some of the babysitting we paid for to take him to the classes), the collar, the leash, the food, the dog treats, the dog toys for him to eat so that he won't eat our furniture and the girls' toys. You can probably hear already the regret I have in buying a puppy. So I begin to struggle on getting this dog to obey when I can't even get my children to obey. I can't get rid of the kids, so I contemplate getting rid of the dog?! Nick says he loves the dog and the girls do to. Do I love the dog? I just did a whole scrapbook layout in our family album for crying outloud!!!! How long do I have to hang in there for the dog to outgrow his chew on everytihng stage? I hope this stage passes quickly as this daily testing is getting old.

In My Head

I'm starting this space as a place to gather thoughts with the intention of growing in my relationship with the Lord. See, when I'm at the red light, I've stopped enough to actually pay attention to the Spirit living within me. I believe if we would all just hush ourselves enough and write down some of what He's teaching us, we'd all grow in amazing ways. I'll take what randomly (or Sovereignly) comes into my head and form a journal allowing growth to take place.

I've often times thought that I should write a book because of my life experiences and my gifts. See, I have the gift of transparency and honesty. I have bumps in my journey that I'm not afraid to talk about. I desire for God to be glorified in talking about them and for growth to take place in other people because of them. But, because of blogging, I no longer feel that I have to write a book. I can express thoughts and join in with others in discussion. It's like a live article. I'm so excited about the sense of community that happens here!

Introduce Yourself

1.WHO are you?
2.WHAT do you do? (like job)
3.WHEN did you start blogging?
4.WHERE are you from?
5.WHY are you here (in blog land?)
and
6.HOW OFTEN do you visit?

My answers:
1. Rachel. I am a mother that struggles on a daily basis to die to self.
2. I stay at home taking care of, disciplining, and training 3 girls.
3. In Feb. 2007 but not seriously or consistently until September of 07.
4. Oklahoma
5. To grow. To process. To learn.
6. Every couple of days.

Your turn to answer :)