THY kingd*m come, THY will be d*ne

We will be voting for a new leader soon. I wanted to remind us all that God will hear a humble heart and will continue to bring healing to our land. Our country can be unified too! We can make a difference in the choices to come. In case we are oblivious and lest we think we are fine - no need to worry. I wanted to share this:

Judges 2:11-12, 14 And the people of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. And they forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers, Who brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods of the peoples round about them and bowed down to them, and provoked the Lord to anger. So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel..

There are some who think God is mean and cruel. Think about that. Any choice we make has a consequence. We cannot avoid the natural consequences of our choices. Maybe we can for a season, but it always catches up with us in the end. God had shown up for Israel many times and proved He was there for them and proved He was on their side. But they still went their own way. God can perform miracles in our lives. God chooses to when the benefit is eternal. He is far more concerned with our character than performing for us. So, when we reject Him and when we do not turn to His ways for our lives. We will face consequences.

The Israelites had God looking out for them, and even when they rejected Him - He was still listening and longing for them to turn back to Him. God cannot tolerate or allow our rebellion. Our choice to rebel ALWAYS brings separation between us and Him. It is the consequence. If you jump up, off of the roof of your home, the natural consequence IS that you will fall down. It doesn't matter if you intended to jump UP - you WILL fall down. Natural consequence!

Judges 2:16 - 17 But the Lord raised up judges, who delivered them out of the hands of those who robbed them. And yet they did not listen to their judges..

I say all of this to say, that God gave the Israelites judges to judge justly. They were not satisfied with honest judges. They then cried out for a king. God so granted their request. God was their king but they wanted a king like the others. So he obliged. Sometimes we get what we ask for, even when it isn't God's choosing for us. He isn't cruel, He is wise. When my daughter asks for something she wants (but she doesn't see the harm in it), I tell her no sometimes but their are other times I give her what she asks. The lesson is often more memorable and lasting if she experiences the consequence of the request rather than me constantly guarding her every choice.

So, for example - If she doesn't willingly share her toys with her brother when he asks her to share, there are times I will let her say no! I won't FORCE her to share, the benefit would be temporary. Then (it always happens) my son will have a toy she wants to share. She will ask him to share with her and he will say 'no'. She comes running to me to say 'Mom, JB is not being a nice friend. He will not share his toy with me.' I then remind her that she refused to share with JB too. I tell her how JB probably felt the same bad feelings she is feeling when he refused to share. I tell her she is allowed to have special toys she doesn't have to share, but she should be willing to share her other toys with JB (if she wants him to do the same). She then realizes I am not a dictator barking rules at her, she realizes the BENEFIT of my suggestion. It sinks in and she chooses to share with her brother.

That is how God works too. He does allow us to have exactly what we ask for (or even give us the less desirable scenario when we don't really care either way) just to show us how important those matters are. To remind us that every detail of our lives DOES matter. He wants to give us good things. Sometimes we are not mature enough for the good, or sometimes we don't even want the best He is offering. We may be spoiled brats who don't care enough to even care. Bottom line is He does care and He wants to be in our day to day lives. He wants us to come to Him with our prayers. He has the answers.

We are voting for a new leader in about a year. What better time than now to begin praying for God to give us a godly leader. 'A man after God's own heart.' The one He sees best and not the one we so choose (based on our personal checklist). Pray now for our future President. We need to seek God's direction on this, or we may go our own way, or even go the way of the others. (The others being those who are opposed to anything being God's way.) The worst case scenario is to not care, to do nothing and to just push a button randomly.

I don't know who I will vote for yet. Thank God I am not voting tomorrow. There is time to listen and learn more about the candidates AND, God can lead me in that journey if I allow Him to do so. He knows all of the candidates and He knows the best one in the mix. I have seen numerous news bits on the candidates lately; I am as unclear now as when they first began the process. I can remain aware, I can pray and I can seek out information. That is the least that I can do! So today I remind you to consider this year ahead of us. Prayer does reach God and through prayer we can let Him know that we want "Thy kingd0m c0me, thy will be d0ne. In earth as it is in heaven." (God ALWAYS chooses best!)

Let it be so!

Wednesday Hero

Army Spc. Eric S. McKinley
24 years old from Corvallis, Oregon
Company B, 2nd Battalion, 162nd Infantry Regiment, Army National Guard
June 13, 2004


An avid outdoorsman, Spc. McKinley worked as a baker at Alpine Bakery in Corvallis, Ore. Upon his return from Iraq, he hoped to open a juice bar in the college town to provide a drug and alcohol-free environment for young people. Friends and co-workers remember Spc. McKinley as a quiet, caring young man who dyed his hair, sported several tattoos and loved ska and rock music. His senior yearbook picture showed a grinning young man with spiked hair dyed red and green. In other 1998 yearbook pictures, he has purple and blue hair in a mohawk.

Spc. Eric McKinley was killed when a roadside bomb north of Baghdad detonated destroying two vehicles and wounded four other Oregon soldiers. They were identified as Staff Sgt. Phillip Davis, 23, of Albany; Sgt. Matthew Zedwick, 23, of Bend; Cpl. Shane Ward, 23, of Corvallis and Pvt. Richard Olsen, 23, of Independence.

Almost 500 people attended the memorial service for Spc. McKinley at Starker Arts Park in Corvallis. There was a mix of people dressed in either military or punk attire — including McKinley’s six-year-old cousin, who, in tribute, wore his hair in a bright green mohawk.

Coventry Pacheco, McKinley’s fiancee, sat in the first row at his celebration-of-life service. They hadn’t set a wedding date, but were planning to get married.

He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star for meritorious service, a Purple Heart and the Oregon Distinguished Service Award. U.S. and Oregon flags were presented to his parents, Tom McKinley of Salem and Karen Hilsendager of Philomath.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your blog, you can go here.

Family, Food and LSU

Our last two LSU games have been filled with family visiting. Two weeks ago my parents were in town and took some time to visit us. We watched LSU win over Auburn. The kids were sooo surprised to see Nana and PopPop.

The kids were thrilled and eager to show them their rooms and the things they've learned since they last saw PopPop and Nana. Here is JB showing PopPop how he can hit the baseball. JB was SOOOOOO excited to show off!

HC was content to show off her room and her toys to Nana. They played with her babies and listened to a few Barbie CD's. Girly fun!!

Here is JB with PopPop. JB was drinking all of this attention in!

I couldn't resist sharing this shot! Pretty good huh?? Look at JB's eyes - right on the ball! Just like they are supposed to be! Daddy is proud of this shot. JB is learning the fundamentals.

This weekend we watched LSU win over Alabama with my baby brother and his wife. They were on their way home from a trip to Tennessee and stopped by our place on their drive home. My kids affectionately call my brother's wife Uncle Jill. :) They had no idea we were having company and were beyond thrilled to see Uncle Michael and 'Uncle' Jill. Jill is the only Aunt they call Uncle. They do know about Aunts. :)
To top things off, MY Uncle was in town for a different game. He and his son stopped in on their way home and watched the first half of the LSU game with us. This was an unexpected treat! HC was eager to take a picture with Uncle Bobby. JB takes a little longer to warm up and so he didn't have a picture taken. JB did warm up to him a teensy bit when I told him that Uncle Bobby is PopPop's brother. JB then began calling him Uncle PopPop. :)



Here is HC, Me, Uncle Bobby, Michael, Bobby (my cousin).

Daddy and JB in their LSU gear, watching our Tigers!!!

It has been so great having time with family. Most of our family is 6 hours or more away from us. So the recent visits have been refreshing. A taste of the familiar! Makes us look forward to the holidays!

Fall Y'all Pillowcase Dress Winner

The result of my 'Fall Y'all Giveaway' is in! I hopped over to Random.org and the number they generated was number 37. The 37th comment was Chelsey! Congratulations Chelsey, you won the Pillowcase Dress !! Please send me an email with your mailing address and I will have this out to you asap.

I have to share how I ended up with a size 2T dress. I was making a pillowcase dress for my daughter and I was guessing at how much fabric I needed. My first cut was a little short, so I had to make another one. The first cut of fabric is what I used for the dress Chelsey won! My error was not a waste. I hope she and her daughter will enjoy this dress as much as my daughter enjoys hers!! Thank you all for participating in my first giveaway. This has been a lot of fun!!

Thanks again to Rocks In My Dryer for having this fun idea!

A Victory!!!!!!!!

I will be nice and simply say 'What a great game. I am glad thrilled we won.' I think my week will begin better now. Whew. :)

GEAUX TIGERS. LSU!!!!!!!!!!

Fall Y'all Pillowcase Dress Giveaway

Please click this Fall Y'all link to see more participants. Thanks again Rocks in my Dryer for a great Carnival!

I am getting into the fun a little late but I am giving away this Size 2T Pillowcase Dress. It is in Brown Courdaroy with hot pink trim. I made this dress, it is not store bought. I know my daughter LOVES the comfort of this type of dress. Thanks for stopping by my blog. If you are interested in participating in this contest, please leave a comment. I will post the winner to this contest on the morning of November 5th. Here is the actual dress that is up for grabs.
Here is how it looks on. My daughter wears hers with leggings and a turtleneck when it is cold out. The one below is not a 2T. The one in the picture below is only meant to show you how the dress looks on.
****Update - comments closed and the winner will be announced in the morning!

More Pill*wcase Dresses

Once I get started I can't stop!!! I am finally sewing HC's fall dresses!!! WooHoo!! The weather has just begun to be cool within the last week or two. So I guess I am not THAT late! :) I love the cheeriness of this fabric!!! So bright and colorful! This fabric is one of my favorites!
This fabric is another fave!!
I am not sure why HC wears her tiara when posing for these pics, but I love it!
I just thought I would share some of my latest dresses!!! When I took sewing classes the teacher said "The #1 rule to sewing is to choose a fabric you love. It is much easier to get going when you love the material." That is SOOOOO true. I could not wait to do these two dresses!! Anyway, I will have another post or two on sewing soon! :) I love it when the dress or pattern is easy and fun.

GEAUX TIGERS, BEAT BAMA!

This song is dedicated to you Annie, and all the others of your kind! :)

GEAUX TIGERS!! BEAT BAMA BIG!!!!
LSU LSU LSU LSU LSU LSU LSU LSU LSU

P*tty training problem

How do you p*tty train a child who is scared of public t*ilets?? My son covers his ears when we bring my daughter to go p*tty and has ever since one of those automatic t*ilets went off when he least expected it. My daughter was frightened when that happened too but she realized I had her and that everything was ok. My son panics when I put him on the big p*tty at home and when I asked him to try to go while we were out running errands yesterday, the fear in his voice concerned me. Has anyone out there dealt with this??

I personally love the automatic flush of the public t*ilets but they have brought fear to my son. We use a tot-sized p*tty at home but what about when we are out?? Any ideas??