All God's Creatures, Great and Small

This week-end we were graced with the presence of Veronica and Bella. Please let me introduce them. Veronica is Bryce's girlfriend and Bella is an eight-week-old Lhasa Apso that my son gave Veronica for Christmas. Of course, my younger children vied for Bella's attention. I must admit, this little creature has stolen all our hearts. She probably does not quite weigh a pound. The picture at left is of her peeking out of the pocket of my son's robe, and the picture above is a cell phone snapshot of Bryce and Veronica. As I watched Bella play with the children, I could not help but wonder what God was thinking when he created these little dogs. It is so amazing to watch Bella as she tilts her head to the side with big questions in her eyes and the next minute watch as she pounces on a toy. When we left the house to attend a youth rally, Bella's eyes looked so sad and she cried because we were leaving her. Not only did God create so many beautiful creatures, but he gave them feelings and emotions. As scripture tells us, He sees every time a sparrow falls. Obviously, God is emotional and therefore created things with emotion. Think about this - He said if we didn't praise Him (that does require emotion), He would have the rocks cry out. A rock being emotional?!?!? I am so thankful that God gave us such great feelings. There is nothing that compares to the hugs of my children, the embrace of my husband, or the joy I feel to return the same. Now all God's creatures, great and small, let's return some grateful emotions to Him.

Living Life to the Extreme

Extreme has become a frequently used word especially in the world of sports. The new rage is Extreme Sports. As I promised yesterday, I would blog/brag about my other children and today I want to focus on my "extreme" child, Blake. Good Looking, as he is called around our house, is a gifted child who excels academically and never misses out on anything in his surroundings. Blake lives "extremely." He can be very angry or very loving, very sad or very happy, but one thing for sure, there is no middle ground with him. An example of how loving he is, he will offer his arm to his little sister to escort her, he will rush to open my door, and he frequently tells me how beautiful I am. My favorite line is when I wake him for school and he says, "Mommy, why don't we forget school and just stay here and cuddle all day." Yes, all day - because everything is to the extreme. He has set very high goals and his father and I encourage him to dream "big." While reflecting on Blake, I was reminded of the scripture that says something to this effect: Because you are lukewarm - neither hot or cold - I will spit you out of my mouth. Well, to sum this up, I challenge you to live life to the extreme. You only have one chance, so make it the best. Dream big, reach for the stars, and please don't ever lapse into ho hum complacency.

How Proud Can A Mother Be?

This mother felt such great pride today after hearing some of the trax my oldest son Bryce just recently recorded. His engineer, Anthony Johnson of Nashville, Tennessee, sent us some previews via e-mail. (I might add that not only is Anthony Johnson an excellent engineer, he was also nominated in 1992 for keyboardist of the year by the Academy of Country Music.) Now Anthony is mixing Bryce's CD and when I heard some of his songs, I couldn't help but cry. The heartfelt vocals just pulled at my emotions. My husband and I were married nearly seven years before we were finally expecting after undergoing years of fertility treatments. That over nine pound baby boy, has now grown into a fine young man. At the age of 20 he is now a university junior and an excellent praise and worship leader. So how proud can a mother be?!?!? I think somebody needs to put a pin in my head and deflate it some so I can get out the door. My pride for Bryce is huge!!! I'll keep you posted to the spring 2007 release of his album. Of course I can't just brag on one, but I will save Bryn and Blake for another blog. In case you haven't figured it out, this is one proud Mommy!

I Don't Wanna Grow Up

The sun hid and rain came. What a day! It was back to the routine of work and playing catch up from taking time off. Yet, in the midst of all the work, I could not help but laugh as my 5 year old daughter and 10 year old son began to pray that it would snow in our central valley town. It has probably only snowed here twice in 40 years. Of course this made me think of the scripture that says something to this effect - Except you become as little children, you cannot enter heaven. Children have such great faith and forgiving spirits. As the jingle of Toys R Us sings, "I don't wanna grow up, I'm a Toys R Us kid...," I can't help but agree. I don't wanna grow up, I'm Jesus' kid!

Today was a lazy day. The children had fun playing with the many things they received for Christmas and I enjoyed the chance to relax. Everyone should take time out once in a while to unwind and let go of stress. Sometimes I get so busy I fail to take time for myself and then I pay dearly with the physical limits stress puts me under. Wouldn't it be cool if all businesses closed for one day a month just as they do for the occasional holidays and force the population to unwind?!?!? Wow! We probably would not need doctors so often if we gave ourselves a "holiday" at least once a month. Go ahead! Kick back on the couch among the many pillows, hug your teddy bear and relax. (Like my daughter Bryn-Anika in the picture at left.) Schedule a day for yourself!

I Wish Christmas Would Never End...

The sun was shining, a slight breeze was blowing, and the children were happily playing as family and friends came to our house for a most lovely Christmas. I couldn't help but think about a song my husband and I sing every year at Christmas time. The lyrics written by LannaMarie Wolfe are, "How I wish Christmas would never end, the joy in the air and the love that we share, as we gather with family and friends, when the snow melts away and decorations come down, I wish the spirit we share would still be around, how I wish Christmas would never end." My feelings exactly! Another line of the song tells how we could keep Christmas all year - - "If everyone would let the Christ of Christmas live within, the peace and joy that Christmas brings would never ever end."