The Most Excellent Mother's Day

Enjoy the photos of The Most Excellent Mother's Day!

Matt & Lisa's Kids:  Caitlin (13) & Alexis (9)

Jay & Amy's Kids:  Isaac (9), Josiah (7), 

Olivia (4), Hadassah (1)

David & Lindsey's Kids:  Ryan (8) & Addie (6)

Zach & Shanna's Kids:  Dax (1) & Gus (-3 months) 

...and Benjamin, my nephew 

(who thinks he's my grandson) (9)

Josiah, Ryan, Isaac & Addie

Hadassah

Hadassah & Olivia

Pretty smile!

Hadassah giving Andy the dog kisses

Addie & Olivia washing dishes

Amy & Lindsey

Isaac, Ryan & Josiah reading the Bible in Lego-style

3 Musketeers!

Gee/Guh, Olivia, Addie, Isaac, Ryan & Josiah at the movie watching The Pirates.

The kids all dressed up for the occassion....so cute!!

Pops and the magic show.

Where did those dots go??

Isaac, Benjamin, Ryan, Olivia (front), Addie, Caitlin, Josiah, Alexis

Caitlin, the beauty consultant for the cousins.

Alexis & Isaac

The gang.

Ryan

Beautified Olivia

Caitlin making Addie more beautiful.

Alexis

Ryan, Isaac, Benjamin, Josiah.

Caitlin & Alexis meeting Hadassah.

Two beautiful cousins.  Hadassah & Caitlin.

Two Ethiopian princesses:  Hadassah & Hannah.

Hannah teaches Amy some Ethiopian phrases.

Amy, Isaac, Hannah, Hadassah, Josiah.

Caitlin feeding Hadassah.

Alexis & Hadassah.

Isaac, Josiah, Olivia, Alexis, Caitlin & Hadassah.

Dax came after everyone else left!  But he got a quiet nap out of the deal.

Dax on the car.

Mama & Dax.

The only photo I have of Gus.  

A very tired mommy (Shanna) after photographing a wedding Saturday.

Zach colored a Mother's Day card for me at The Plaza.

I don't really know what it means--I just know I'm the LUCKY one!!

Thanks, guys, for a very wonderful Mother's Day!!

Blow that horn

 Amy & her kids are here for a couple of days.  Olivia had to try and blow the horn we brought back from Tibet.  Look at those cheeks!  And don't you love her haircut??

She did quite well.

She took a deep breath and let it blow!


...wait til the end!

Is it really about politics?

"Let every person be loyally subject to the governing (civil) authorities. For there is no authority except from God [by His permission, His sanction], and those that exist do so by God’s appointment.

Therefore he who resists and sets himself up against the authorities resists what God has appointed and arranged [in divine order]. And those who resist will bring down judgment upon themselves [receiving the penalty due them]." 

Romans 13:1-2

Bill Smith has been teaching on Romans in Sunday School and it's been awesome.  Not only does he know the Word, but he's also a history buff and really knows his stuff.  We haven't even gotten to these verses yet (we're taking the slow way--which I love!), but I had to ask him last Sunday, "Can you think of one instance in the New Testament where we're told to be politically active?"  None of us could think of an instance.  But Bill did go on to spell out what was going on in Rome at the time and how some verses referenced it.  (I know someone will come up with some verses for me!)

But my point was this:  I think we spend way too much time discussing politics and getting upset or even angry about our particular political stand.  Rome had some pretty nasty leaders and yet here they were told to submit to the governing authorities.  GOD had appointed them!  Now I also realize that sometimes God gives us what we deserve--there were some pretty bad kings in the Old Testament who were set up to bring discipline on a nation.  But if I'm reading this correctly, it's our own unsubmissive hearts which brings judgment.

This doesn't mean that I don't think we should be salt and light and affect our society.  But don't we do that with love?

I've also been reading Deuteronomy 30-31 this week.  Moses is giving a speech before he dies and the children of Israel go into the Promised Land.  Moses has been their leader for over 40 years.  I put myself in their place and thought, "They had to be afraid!  They'd put their focus on this one man for so long and trusted him.  That's why he keeps telling them not to be afraid."  In 30:20, Moses says, "And (you) may love the Lord your God, obey His voice, and cling to Him. For He is your life and the length of your days..."  Moses was trying to tell them, "Don't focus on me or Joshua.  It's not about us.  It's about God.  He wants to lead you.  Trust HIM!  Give Him your hearts!!"

I know that I've put a lot of confidence (or distrust) in men.  Even though this chapter in Romans is talking about civil authority, I think it relates to the church, as well.  CHRIST is the head.  Not man.  We like a pastor as long as he can be controlled or if he's doing what we think he should be doing.  Man may have voted, but it's GOD who put those leaders in those positions.  Many of us "leave" a pastor before God ever takes him out of that appointment.

I think our homes, our churches, our nation, our world would be a different place if we looked to God and not man...or politics.  It would be different if we gave God our whole heart and submitted to His plan.  In fact, the crux of the matter is just that...submission.  Do I think we should vote?  Absolutely!  It's a privilege we've been given.  But I don't think it's political.  It's spiritual.  We submit our hearts to God and trust His appointments.  If we resist and rebel, we bring judgment on ourselves.

Waiting

I am NOT a good waiter.  I'm a do-er...let's get things done...in a hurry!  I particularly dislike waiting in line or on inept people.  Pretty harsh, I know.  But God keeps taking me to those waiting rooms.  Today, I had to take some paper back to Sam's.  I inadvertently (ineptly?) ordered paper that feeds through a computer instead of copy paper.  How I did that, I don't know.  I didn't even know they still made that kind of paper!

Anyway, I had exactly one hour to get into Sam's, return the paper and shop for more paper and some things I needed at home.  And I got her!  The lady who pulled out the three-ring notebook with instructions on how to return charges on a credit card on paper which was originally shipped to us.  Not only were the instructions long, but she couldn't get the numbers to enter on the spaces on the computer.  She not only had trouble entering numbers, she couldn't stay on task.  She had to talk to every employee who came behind the desk and walk to the printer (when she wasn't printing) and put kleenex in a drawer.  After 20 minutes, I began tapping my credit card.  (And thought I'd been patient to wait that long!)  She apologized for her slow computer.  (Really??  It's not the talking and walking around?)  At 30 minutes, I was about to tell her to keep the paper, I'd just get more.  But God interrupted me before I spoke.  He said, "Bless her."  I was stopped in my tracks.  And...I began blessing her through prayer.  I prayed for her, her family, her relationships at work, her life.  And as I prayed and blessed, my heart changed....and then my attitude changed.

I got to test that out 2 more times before I left that store.  I had to wait in a long line at check-out.  And because I ordered an electronic that was locked up, I had to wait at the door.  And I blessed those on whom I waited.

I left Sam's in exactly an hour.  And with a different attitude.

Pirates on the High Seas

 There were pirates on the high seas while we were sailing!  Ryan & Addie got to attend Camp Carnival while aboard the Triumph.  They loved "Pirate Day."  They got their faces painted, got a pirate bandana and wrote their own rules.  Captain Ryan's rules were as follows:

• Fight when I tell you to.
• Never brush your teeth.
• Wear the same clothes every day, even if they are torn.
• Do what I tell you to.
• Be Mean

   Captain Ryan and First Mate Addie

Two mean pirates on the high seas!
Arrrgh, Matey!

Pure Pleasure

You know what was one of the best things about our cruise?  How many people were excited for us.  And one of the best things coming home was how many people were excited for us.  We're surrounded by a wonderful bunch of people.  Seriously.

Home again, home again...jiggity jig

We made it home from our cruise....exhausted!  Why are vacations so exhausting?  In this case, I think it's because we tried to cram so much fun and entertainment into such a short amount of time.  Our first day didn't get off to a rolling start.  (pun intended)  Our ship was about 4 hours late pulling away from the dock.  Add to that, we stood by our life boats waiting for instructions for about an hour (til we gave up and walked away with the rest of the crowd).  And no one told us to pack the kids' swimsuits on our carry-on luggage because it would be hours before we got our stowed luggage.  So...none of us were too blown away by the first day.

Finally pulling away from port!  We were all pretty excited.  And the sunset was beautiful from the top deck.

Ryan, the sailor man!

David & Lindsey in the sunset as we sail away--from a very ugly port.

Galveston port is nothing like Miami!

But then we had our first dining room experience and all was right with our world.  This, in fact, became my favorite time of the day on the cruise.   Knowing that Lindsey was taking some dressier clothes for the evening convinced me to do the same.  So we dressed up and enjoyed a leisurely meal each evening--eating everything we wanted.  And especially enjoying the warm chocolate melting cake each evening.  Wow!  That stuff was GOOD!

We only came home with our own photos.  I was sorely disappointed in the ship's photographers and the photographers at the dolphin experience.  I guess I've become critical after seeing the photography of all my photographer family and friends!  But we opted to spend our money other ways than on their grainy photographs.  (All of these photos are from my iPhone!  ha!)

We loved spending time with this family.  It was so special watching the kids do some of their firsts.  

• Riding a bus
• Riding a boat
• Seeing and touching a dolphin (and watching Guh swim with said dolphin and almost losing swim trunks!)
• Swimming in a pool on the boat (that was a little scary at first--the water was moving!)
• Swimming in the ocean

It was a great trip with some great highlights and we made some very special memories.