come find me...

Emma Grace and Bella love to play hide and go seek. I always smile when I hear Emma Grace say, "Ready or not, here I come!" because Bella always replies, "Come find me! I'm in the living room, Wubs!". I said the girls loved to play hide and go seek- I didn't claim that they were particularly good at it. But, it's adorable! wink!

I have been reflecting on the scripture, "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."- Jeremiah 29:14. Just like our little girls, I love to 'seek' but I'm not always very good at it. I sometimes forget that I will find the Lord when I am seeking whole heartedly. I confess to you that I get stuck in bad habits, like checking my email first thing in the morning, rather than first having my quiet time. (*gasp*- I know, I know. wink!) I also get trapped in sin's snare when I allow little lies to fill my thoughts, rather than the Truth. I know I need to take my thoughts captive, every single one.

So friends, I have been working on seeking the Lord, with all my heart. And guess what? I am finding Him, everywhere! He has been revealing His love to me in so many ways, and my heart has been encouraged greatly. God is always faithful.

"We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."- 2 Corinthians 10:5

Out of the overflow

Yesterday while we were driving home from the library, one of our children lost her temper and spoke unkind words to her mommy. I saw a gas station right up ahead, so I pulled into the parking lot. We needed to have a talk. It was a heart issue that couldn't wait until we got home. Her heart had filled up with anger, and it simply overflowed.
I gently repeated to my daughter what she had just said to me,and she dropped her head. She knew it wasn't nice;she immediately apologized, and asked for my forgiveness. I told her that I love her and I forgive her. I explained that I get angry sometimes too, and I have to ask for forgiveness.
"Did you know that Jesus says when our heart overflows, it comes out of our mouth? Do you know what that means?" "Well....no..."
"Overflow means when something gets soooo full, it spills out. If our heart is filled up with joy and love, our mouth speaks kind words. But when our heart is filled up with anger, our mouth speaks mad words. When we get home, I'll show you what Jesus was saying, okay?"
When we got home, the girls followed me into our kitchen. I got out my Bible and I showed them the red words in the book of Matthew where Jesus is speaking about the overflow of our hearts. Then I gave Bella a little empty glass, and I gave Wubs a measuring cup filled with water."Bella, that glass is just like your heart. Wubs, that water will be love and joy, okay? Now start pouring the love and joy into Bella's heart, but don't stop until you've poured all the water."
It didn't take long before Bella's hands were all wet, since the water overflowed from her cup!"Uh oh! Why are Bella's hands all wet?" "Because the cup got too full!" "You're right- the cup overflowed. There was SO much love and joy that Bella's heart overflowed. Now let's play again except this time... Wubs won't have love in her measuring cup. This time the water will be anger and sin. Let's try again."
Of course, the cup overflowed once again. The girls wanted to play one more round, except this time, Wubs wanted to be the 'heart' and Bella wanted to pour the water. So we played again.
"Do you want your heart to be filled up with love and joy so you can have kind words overflowing from your mouth?" "YES!"
"Me too. Do you know how we can fill up our hearts with love and joy? We can read our Bible and fill up our minds and hearts with God's words. Jesus is the only way we can have real love and real joy in our hearts."
I was thankful for this teachable moment with our children. I love it when God reminds me of His Truth through opportunities just like this!
"Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks."- Matthew 12:34b
ps- Nana, thank you for the new jammies!

For Monica in Texas

Congratulations Monica! Jamie told me your happy news! I will be praying for you and your sweet baby! I hope to meet you one day. Love, Sarah

ps- I thought you might like to see some pictures of Jamie during her time in North Carolina!Jamie and SarahJamie and Louise
Jamie striking a pose! wink!

"As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." -Proverbs 27:17

Rewards

When I blog, I am always hopeful that the Lord might use it somehow. I hope that someone out there will read what I've written and be encouraged, blessed, curious, or even challenged. It's always neat to look at the left side of our blog at the Live Traffic Feed and wonder who has been viewing our blog. Thank you for taking a minute to visit us! wink! However, I also blog just so I can take a few minutes to think outloud and process whatever it is that is on my heart. Today, my heart is wrestling with rewards.
I began thinking about rewards this morning during homeschool. Our girls LOVE stickers, and each time they finish a worksheet or an activity, they ask for a sticker to place at the top of the completed product. I have a whole stash of fun stickers, so I've been pulling out a different sheet of stickers every day. Emma Grace and Bella squeal with delight to see what type of stickers they will get to choose from- whether it's animals or princesses or stars, etc. They work hard to receive this small token from mommy...it is their reward.
I started wondering, what is my reward? What is it that motivates me? To be completely honest friends, there are (many) days that I am simply motivated by my own sin nature. Too prideful to ask for help, I will push myself to complete the task alone. There are days that I am motivated by my selfishness, wanting the end product to have 'Sarah did it' written all over it. I praise God for giving me the Holy Spirit to open my eyes and convict my heart of my impure motives. I pray that the Lord will continue to reveal this sin in me so that I can do everything for the glory of God. Whether I'm wiping a little runny nose, taking a minute to have a conversation at Target with a stranger, or cooking dinner...I pray that it's not about me. Because if it is about me, I might as well not bother doing it. The next time I'm passing out stickers, I'm going to remember to pray that my reward is always found in the Lord!

"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."- 1 Corinthians 10:31

Three Months Old

We all love this little boy so much! He is such a blessing! I can't help but smile when I see his sweet toothless grin. Here are a few tidibits about JJ at three months old:
Favorites- Our little man loves taking a bath, watching his sisters play, giving wet kisses, and his blue pacifier. (No other paci will do, even if it is the same style. He'll only accept the blue one! ha ha!)
Sleeping- JJ sleeps one six hour stretch at night, then wakes up about every two hours until morning.
Dislikes- His carseat...
Movement- No rolling over yet, but JJ does move! While laying on his back, JJ uses his feet to push on the floor and scoot himself forward.
Personality-JJ is an easy going baby. He rarely cries- only when he's hungry or tired- and he smiles often! We all enjoy his new giggles and happy squeals.

Thank you Lord for our son! We are so very grateful for the family You have given us!
"Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty."- Zechariah 4:6

Wordless Wednesday: 1st library card

"Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him."- Proverbs 30:3

Fabulous

When you've got it, you've got it. wink.

"I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers,"- Philemon 1:4

A peek at our 1st week...

This was our first week of homeschool! The girls have transitioned so smoothly into our new routine. I was a little concerned about what homeschool would look like this year, but wow! God has really blessed our family. He provided everything from curriculum to crayons. Bella loves, loves, loves doing her 'work' and Emma Grace happily picked up right where we left off last year. We are so thankful that JJ is such a sweet baby; he is perfectly content sitting on mommy's lap while she teaches his sisters! Here is what a homeschool day looks like for our first grader:
This is a picture of our 20 minute mid- morning break. The girls enjoy playing a computer game (Starfall.com) while we eat a special snack. We purchased a few snacks that can only be eaten during homeschool, so that has made snack time fun. Our refridgerator always displays one of our subjects. This week our memory scripture was the first half of Proverbs 9:10, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom..." so we made a little craft and posted it so we could practice. This is what a homeschool day looks like for our three year old:(Bella is so funny! She always wants to sit on the kitchen floor to do her work! )Let me explain the picture above of Bella at the kitchen sink. Each day, the girls both get a folder filled with their work for that day. At the back of the folder, I've been slipping in a special card. (I made cards that are laminated and labeled with fun activities, such as playdough time, puzzles, window markers, games, computer time, etc.) Bella's activity card said 'water play' so she got to play at the sink for 20 minutes. She loved it! The girls have both really enjoyed these special activities at the end of their school work!

The next set of pictures were taken while we made clay jars. We've been learning that the very first Bible wasn't written in a book, like the Bibles we have today; it was written on scrolls! The scrolls were often stored in clay pottery jars. So, we mixed up some clay and made our own little jars. We are currently working our our alphabet scrolls to go inside our jars!And here is what a homeschool day looks like for our little man! When he's not on mommy's lap, he's usually dreaming about going fishing with daddy. wink! (Okay, just look at those sweet little rolls! Oooooh, I love this little boy!!) "I am with you always."- Matthew 28:20

Perspective

Before I get started- I am sorry I haven't been blogging much these days! I have lots I would love to share but the days have been flying by. Things are busy at church right now as we are recruiting volunteers for children's ministry and preparing for the new discipleship year, which is just around the corner. Plus, we started our homeschool year today! Bella is joining in on the fun with some pre-k lessons, and Emma Grace is in first grade. But now, I'm going to get down to the real reason for this post! wink! I have been wanting to write about something we heard on the radio last weekend. It was a pastor sharing a message about perspective. We missed the beginning of the sermon, so when we tuned in, the pastor was saying, "C plus P equals E." Huh? Let me explain...
C + P = E. The C in the equation stands for circumstance. The P stands for perspective, and the E stands for experience. Our circumctances, plus our perspective, will determine (or equal) our experience. Wow. Even if our circumstances are filled with challenges, trials, or temptations, as long as we have a Christ-like perspective (resting in the assurance that God is sovereign, loving, and in complete control) our experiences can be filled with joy and peace. I tell you what, I felt like that pastor was preaching over the radio waves just for me! I need that message daily. I have to admit, my perspective can be swayed all too easily by my circumstances. When I've had a 'good' day- our children are making wise choices, I've enjoyed a great conversation with my husband, the laundry pile has disappeared, I've gotten plenty of rest, etc- my perspective is wonderful! wink. But when I'm functioning on little sleep, my to-do list didn't get finished (again),and I realize I haven't had a shower in almost three days... I confess that my perspective isn't what it ought to be. Then the Holy Spirit gently whispers to me, and I remember: This is not where my eyes should be focused. I shouldn't have such a horizontal perspective, looking only at what is in front of me- the here and now. Instead, I need to have a vertical perspection, gazing up at my Heavenly Father who loves me more than I can even imagine and He has planned each and every day of my life!
I'm going to try hard to snap a few homeschool pictures this week to share. For now, here are pictures I took before we tucked the children into bed the other night. Oh, I love my precious family with all my heart!


"Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul."- Psalm 143:8

Wordless Wednesday-A Trip to the Dentist

"Gold there is, and rubies in adundance, but lips that speak knowledge are a rare jewel."- Proverbs 20:15