Creation Museum!

Our church group went to the Creation Museum last week and had a great time! The place is beautiful, and I love the way they explain how dinosaurs were part of the Creation!

I definitely recommend anyone that is near Kentucky to stop by! But give yourself at least 4-6 hours to go through it!

Angels, Explained by Children

Sarah, 7
" I only know the names of two angels. Hark and Harold."

Gregory, 5
"Everybody's got it all wrong. Angels don't wear halos anymore.
I forget why, but scientists are working on it."

Olive, 9
"It's not easy to become an angel! First, you die. Then you go to
heaven, then there's still the flight training to go through. And then
you got to agree to wear those angel clothes."

Matthew, 9
"Angels work for God and watch over kids when God has to go do something
else."

Mitchell, 7
"My guardian angel helps me with math, but he's not much good for
science."

Henry, 8
"Angels don't eat, but they drink milk from Holy Cows!!!."

Jack, 6
"Angels talk all the way while they're flying you up to heaven. The main
subject is where you went wrong before you got dead."

Daniel, 9
"When an angel gets mad, he takes a deep breath and counts to ten.
And when he lets out his breath, somewhere there's a tornado."

Reagan, 10
"Angels have a lot to do and they keep very busy. If you lose a tooth,
an angel comes in through your window and leaves money under your
pillow. Then when it gets cold, angels go north for the Winter."

Sara, 6
"Angels live in cloud houses made by God and his son, who's a very good
carpenter."

Jared , 8
"All angels are girls because they gotta wear dresses and boys didn't go
for it."

Antonio, 9
"My angel is my grandma who died last year. She got a big head start on
helping me while she was still down here on earth."

Katelynn, 9
"Some of the angels are in charge of helping heal sick animals and
pets. And if they don't make the animals get better, they help the
child get over it."

Vicki, 8
"What I don't get about angels is why, when someone is in
love, they shoot arrows at them."

Sifted Through The Hands Of The Lord

As a child of the King, you will sometimes face trials far bigger than you think you can bear. At times, they may shock you when you don't see them coming or you think life is simply not fair.

But there is no situation, circumstance or crisis that wasn't first seen by God on His throne. For it was sifted through His hands... previewed by His eyes before the details on earth could be known.

God allows the situations that come into our lives but holds back what He knows we can't take. We are left with a problem... but we're never left alone through any battles or decisions we make.

While it's true at the onset, we may not feel equipped for the difficult, new chapter at hand. If we reach in faith for the Father... He'll equip us daily for all the things that we don't understand.

And we have to realize and truly believe that the crisis was never meant to destroy.

But rather, God allows it, to deepen our dependence and show us truths that will then bring us joy.

The same hands that sift out, to allow what we're facing will give courage & strength to go on.

For God will bless us daily with His sovereignty and grace and in Him we're victorious and strong.

USA Puzzle

A friend shared this with me and I just had to pass it on:

A father wanted to read a magazine but was being bothered by his little girl, Shelby. She wanted to know what the United States looked like. Finally, he tore a sheet out of his new magazine on which was printed the map of the country. Tearing it into small pieces, he gave it to Shelby and said, "Go into the other room and see if you can put this together. This will show you our whole country today."

After a few minutes, Shelby returned and handed him the map, correctly fitted and taped together. The father was surprised and asked how she had finished so quickly.

"Oh," she said, "on the other side of the paper is a picture of Jesus. When I got all of Jesus back where He belonged, then our country just came together."

The Old Barn

Please take a moment to read this beautiful story about an Old Barn.
The Old Barn

GodSpeaks

You’ve seen the billboards along the side of the road, heard about them on the news, or perhaps a friend mention them? GodSpeaks is a billboard campaign started several years ago that had messages signed "God." The sayings were short and to the point.

The campaign was run again recently with new sayings, and the billboards can be seen at GodSpeaks. Well worth a visit!

Here are the new ones:

New Campaigns

As my apprentice, you’re never fired.

One nation under me.

All I know. . . is everything.

If you must curse, use your own name!

Need a marriage counselor? I’m available.

Life is Short, Eternity isn’t.

The real Supreme Court meets up here.

Feeling lost? My Book is your map.

And the originals:

Old Campaigns

Let’s meet at My house Sunday, before the game.

C’mon over and bring the kids.

What part of “Thou shalt not. . .” didn’t you understand?

We need to talk.

Keep using my name in vain, I’ll make rush hour longer.

Loved the wedding, invite me to the marriage.

That “Love Thy Neighbor” thing. . . I meant that.

I love you. . . I love you. . . I love you.

Will the road you’re on get you to My place?

Follow me.

Need directions?

You think it’s hot here?

Tell the kids I love them.

Have you read my #1 best seller? (There will be a test.)

Do you have any idea where you’re going?

Big Bang Theory, you’ve got to be kidding.

My way is the highway.

I'm a Good Parent. . .

I found two blogs yesterday when I was writing my Blogtipping post that had posts about admitting that they are good parents. I decided that I'd write my own post about being a good parent....

I have very low self-esteem... I always have. I have a hard time accepting praise. Why? I have no idea.

I've been watching my weight and have recently lost 28 pounds and only have about 7 more to go to reach my goal weight. I feel better physically than I have in a very long time. Hubby Frank and I celebrated out 20th wedding anniversary last summer with a trip to Gatlinburg and had a wonderful time. Our girls are a true blessing. They are both very good students, and very good girls. They are friendly to everyone and have lots of good friends. I've got a lot of very good friends too. I'm involved in a lot of the girls' activities at the school and very involved with our church. I work for an extremely understanding boss and love my job. Plus things are going pretty well on my blogs! Sounds pretty close to perfect, doesn't it? So why do I have such a low self-esteem?

One problem is, I can't help but compare myself to others. Even though I'm now in a smaller clothing size, I still picture myself as big. Outside, I manage my marriage, kids, friendship and job, but inside, I'm struggling to handle balancing it all.

Outside, my life probably looks pretty good, but if people really knew. . . my oldest dd Becca has been struggling with some pretty serious health issues. For the past two years, she has a headache on a daily basis. We've had her to every doctor imaginable both here locally and in Pittsburgh and were finally told there is nothing they can do... she just has to learn to deal with it until it someday goes away. Then she was diagnosed with bladder cancer last fall. Talk about your world falling down around you! We got that taken care of only to find she has PCOS (that's a whole other blog! lol!). She started having more health problems two weeks ago and we've been back and forth to Pittsburgh again dealing with them. Jillian, our youngest, has had asthma since she was 18 months old and still has occasional flair ups. Frank travels a lot with his work... sometimes having to be out of town 3-4 days a week. I volunteer for way too many things and end up with a To Do list a mile long! Work gets very, very busy during the spring so I often have to work longer hours, yet I've needed to take a lot of time off because of Becca lately, which hurts the paycheck a lot... I could go on and on, but I won't. I think you get the picture.

So how do I deal with it all? I cry out to God. I do a LOT of praying! Proverbs 3:5 helps me a lot, "Trust in the Lord with ALL your heart. . ." When I start feeling down again, I realize that I have been relying on me, not God. Another verse is Jeremiah 29:13, "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with ALL your heart." Why do I keep forgetting that??? When I remember these truths, these treasures from God's Word, a calmness comes over me that I can't even begin to explain.

When I rely on His strength, and not my own, I feel better about myself, and I can breathe again. I turn my fears about Becca, Jillian, Frank, work, and every day pressures over to the only One who can take care of them.

How does this help me be a good parent? Because I can be there for my girls... really be there. I can give them the support and encouragement they need because of my inner peace. My girls and I have fun when we are together, whether it's a trip to Walmart or to the doctors in Pittsburgh. We all laugh at the dining room table when we eat dinner together. We share stories and laugh. They confide in my about boy troubles and girl friend troubles. I provide a loving home, they have a strong Christian upbringing and they are good kids. Really good kids.

I'm proud of them, and I'm proud of Frank and I as their parents. Yep, I still suffer from low self-esteem, but I work on it constantly! And I am very proud to say, I am a Good Parent.

Blottipping!

It’s Blogtipping Day! And it’s also the first anniversary of Blogtipping! The first monthly Blogtipping Day was exactly one year ago today. Time flies when you’re surprising other bloggers with free praise and blogging tips!

Blogtipping Definition: Blogtipping is where you publish a blog post in which you link to three unsuspecting blogs and offer three compliments and/or one helpful tip to each blogger. (Or adapt those numbers to your own preferences; the principle of selflessness is what matters most here.) Blogtipping is a refreshing and useful surprise that can start a blogger’s month with a huge smile!

The first calendar day of each month is a new Blogtipping Day. Who will you sneak up behind and tip next time?

I plan to surprise three bloggers on the first calendar day of each month and offer each one three items of praise. The idea behind blogtipping is to give a tip as well, but I’m still very new to blogging myself and will hold off on the tipping and just give praise this month.

Since the purpose of blogtipping is simply to help and encourage other bloggers, please feel free to blogtip whenever, whomever and however you wish.

So, on to my list!

Blogtippee 1: Life in the God Lane: Things on My Mind

1. This is a great blog that has been around for almost two years! She has lots of life story posts that are very well written and thought out. I very much enjoy reading it.

2. A tear came to my eye reading her story about Stinky... we had to give one of our cats away when our oldest daughter was born and I know how hard it was for us....

3. Her post about losing her anxiety over financial problems hit home... we had severe financial problems about 7 years ago... the only thing that helped was prayer. I had such a sense of calm after praying and was able to think things out so much clearer...

Blogtippee 2: Just a girl

1. Lots of great scripture spread out through the blog! I also love the song lyrics. As I read the lyrics to El Shaddai, I was singing along....

2. Cute stories and picture of the kids!

3. The post about her husband and his illness really hit home with me as we struggle with health problems with my daughter. I will be praying for his healing...

Blogtippee 3 - Graced by Christ

1. Love, love, love all the great pictures of the kids!

2. Many great stories about family and friends. Another one that touches the heartstrings about illnesses, this one with kids. Prayers are going out to the whole family!

3. Another blog with scriptures throughout. Very inspirational!

That's it for this month! Check out the links above and pay them a visit! I'm sure you'll be happy you did!

Noah's Ark

I wanted to share a news article with you about a Working Replica of Noah's Ark that opened in the Netherlands yesterday. Johan Huibers did the work mostly with his own hands, using modern tools and occasional help from his son Roy. Construction began in May 2005.

Reckoning by the old biblical measurements, Johan's fully functional ark is 150 cubits long, 30 cubits high and 20 cubits wide. That's two-thirds the length of a football field and as high as a three-story house. Visitors on the first day were stunned.

"It's past comprehension," said Mary Louise Starosciak, who happened to be bicycling by with her husband while on vacation when they saw the ark looming over the local landscape.

"I knew the story of Noah, but I had no idea the boat would have been so big." This replica is five times smaller than the Ark described in the Bible. Can you even imagine how large the real Noah's Ark must have been?

If I were to ever visit the Netherlands, this is one exhibit that I would love to see.