Speak Blessings to them

The granddaughter has started to Kindergarten.

As I drove her to school this morning, she informed me that I just needed to "drop her off", that I did not need to go in with her. (note- this is her third day and my first day to take her) "Oh, no!" I responded. "Dee, has to go in with you today, so I can see your room." So, she said, "ok".

Good thing she agreed.... because this "MommaDee" needed to go in. Not for her sake (obviously) but for mine. I needed to hold her hand as we walked across the street. I needed to walk down the hall with her. I needed to see her walk into her room. I needed to stand outside her room for just a minute - pretending to look at the artwork from last week- and pray.

And in that walk back down the hall and out to the car - my mind was FLOODED with memories. Memories of my first walk down the halls of Main Avenue School. (WOW - WHERE DID THAT COME FROM?) Memories of taking my three children down the hall to their first days of school. And here I am again.

And to be completely honest, I am not sure that I like it. Mainly because it is such a reminder of just how fast life happens.

So, once again I am reminded of the scripture, "to number our days. That we may gain a heart of wisdom. "

But the MAIN reason that I wanted to share this with you all today is to encourage you to Speak Blessings to your little ones. We started the practice with our children on the way to school.

The particular blessing that we spoke to them most often is taken from the passage in Deuteronomy chapter 28. And now, I am sharing the same with her:

"Aubrey, today I want you to remember that you are the head and not the tail, you are the first and not the last. And whatsoever you put your hands to do, the Lord will bless you. And also know that Dee and Poppa love you and that we are praying for you today."

Then there is a reference point when I see her after her day: "So tell me about how God Blessed you today?" At this point in her little life, she does not always have an answer to that question... but I want to plant within her little mind the awareness of God's blessings on her all day in "whatsoever she is putting her hands to do."

So, for the parents and the grandparents reading this today... I encourage you to find a blessing (or use mine) and speak it to your children/grandchildren.

Life is short. Our days are numbered. Take the time to plant some scripture and speak blessings in their little heads so that those words help to mold their little hearts. Hearts tender toward Him and His Word.

Sweet, Sweet Blessings to you all!

WFW # 19 Beach and Babies...

Psalm 78:4 (b)

"...we will tell the next generation

the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD,

His power, and the wonders He has done.

Songs of Praise...

Welcome to TUESDAYS TOGETHER (in the WORD). # 28

I am so glad that you have joined us.Our goal/purpose is that we are reading God's Word and we are sharing with each other a "nugget" of what we are learning. Join with us - at any time. We welcome your comments and/or your thoughts of what you have read and/or your link to your blog post. You do not have to be a "blogger" to join in on the encouragement and sharing together.

This week our reading (as posted on the sidebar under the button) was from Matthew 4-7; Psalms 68-70; Proverbs 16.

Lately our three year old grandbaby has been singing.

Constantly.

About everything.

Sometimes she is singing songs that she knows and that we have sung together. Sometimes she is singing about what she is doing. And sometimes she is just making up words to sing.

I thought of her as I read this particular passage - and several other verses in the reading from Psalms this week.

Scripture tells us to sing songs of praise to our God. And this is just one of those verses:

Psalm 68:4

"Sing to God, sing praises to his name;

lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts;

his name is the LORD; exult before him!"

Now, I want to share a picture of her singing. Her Dad took this with his camera on his phone.

She is singing to her rabbit and dog. That is her little Bible in her lap... notice her little hands.... (oh and by the way - she is in her bathing suit)

... she is singing praises to His name. It is sweet music to my ears.

I just know that it is a sweet, sweet sound in HIS ears too.

I pray that she NEVER loses that song that is in her heart.

Makes me want to sing...





Now, your turn.

Remember... leave a comment... share your thoughts... and if you blog - link with us. Also, please post a link back here so that others can come and read the other Tuesdays Together posts. You can use the button on the side bar if you would like.

Speechless...Wordless...

Jon loaded the bus this morning...

Hal has a short blog here...

Jen has a pic here...
(if you click on her picture - it enlarges - and you can get a small glimpse of the emotion... )

We all HAD it...

We all HAVE it...

Overflowing...

I will try to express more later.

Tuesdays Together (#17)

Welcome to TUESDAYS TOGETHER (in the WORD). I am so glad that you have joined us.

Our goal/purpose is that we are reading God's Word and we are sharing with each other a "nugget" of what we are learning. Join with us - at any time. We welcome your comments and/or your thoughts of what you have read and/or your link to your blog post. You do not have to be a "blogger" to join in on the encouragement and sharing together.


This week our reading (as posted on the sidebar under the button) was from I Peter 2-5; Psalm 38; 2 Peter 1.

II Peter 1:16-18

We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we
told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.

This account is also recorded in Matthew 17:5, Mark 9:7, and Luke 9:35. In each of these passages, we are told God said, "This is my son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. LISTEN TO HIM!"

Listen to Him.

I can only imagine what it would have been like to be there on the Mount with Christ... Eye witnesses of His Majesty. And what happens? Peter starts talking... planning... (imagine that????)

The Voice of God is heard... Do you know who this is? It is my Son. I love Him and I am pleased with Him. Will you just quit talking and Listen to HIM?

Maybe it is often the same way with us in our prayer/study times. We get so busy talking that we do not take the time to listen. Often we even try to tell God how to handle situations. Like He needs our ideas. I wonder how often He speaks to us and says, "Will you just quit talking for a while and listen?"

A few days ago, while keeping our almost 3 year old granddaughter, it was getting late and she really needed to go to bed. I have learned to give a little warning that her play time is almost up and that soon we will be going upstairs.

I was telling her, "Aubrey, it is almost time to go and put our pajamas on and read our books and sing our songs and go to bed."

"Ok?"

"Aubrey, did you hear MommaDee?"

"Aubrey, you have just a few more minutes...."

She turned around from playing... walked halfway across the room, put her little hands up (like to motion stop) and very politely but firmly said to me, "No More Words".

What?

I think she just told me to hush - it was polite but the message was there. Hush. No. More. Words. She then returned to her play...

NO MORE WORDS....

I have been thinking about this alot lately when I have sat to read the Word of God and pray. I really believe I need to quit talking so much... and listen. Realize that I am in the presence of the Great I AM... Maybe I just need some time with NO MORE WORDS.

...Oh....from the mouth of babes...

"Speak Lord, for your servant listens."

Now, your turn.

Remember... leave a comment... share your thoughts... and if you blog - link with us.

Also, please post a link back here so that others can come and read the other Tuesdays Together posts. You can use the button on the side bar if you would like.

WW # 19 Joyful Noise

(the little one in the purple is our Aubrey... with her friends, Piper and Ainslee)

I love the house being filled with praise... and joyful noise :)

Psalm 100
Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands...

WW # 18 Egg Hunt

I know there is one here somewhere :)

Tuesdays Together (#15)

Welcome to TUESDAYS TOGETHER (in the WORD).

I am so glad that you have joined us.Our goal/purpose is that we are reading God's Word and we are sharing with each other a "nugget" of what we are learning. Join with us - at any time. We welcome your comments and/or your thoughts of what you have read and/or your link to your blog post. You do not have to be a "blogger" to join in on the encouragement and sharing together.



This week our reading (as posted on the sidebar under the button) was from Proverbs 9, Psalm 36, Mark 7-11. (If you are reading something else - that is perfectly fine... just share with us.)



As I mentioned in this blog post from our Helping Homes Blog a few months ago... I am also reading in a Bible that will one day be my granddaughter's. I purposely bought a wide margin Bible so that I could write notes to her along with prayers that I am praying for her. I plan to do so with all of my grandchildren. This is another reading plan other than the one for our Tuesday's Together. How interesting that this week, part of my reading was the same in both plans.

So, I share with you the verse that has jumped off the page to me... twice.

It is the passage from Mark 10 about the rich young ruler. Specifically from verse 21.

And Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him,

"You lack one thing:

go, sell all that you have and give to the poor,

and you will have treasure in heaven;

and come follow me."

This is the part that I am not sure I have ever thought about before... Jesus looking at him.... LOVED him.

And this is the note that I have written in the margin of Aubrey's bible:

"Look at this Aubrey, isn't it precious that when our Savior looks at us - He loves us - even when he knows the condition of our heart. Always remember that. How much HE loves you - and also, how much I love you."

And that is my thought for you today too.... Even though Jesus knew that this young man would walk away and not follow him (because of his great wealth)... He loved him. His love was not conditional... And the same is true for us.
He looks at us and He loves us.
He loves us.
He loves us.

Really it can be hard for our earthly minds and hearts to completely understand such love, huh?

But how wonderful.

I have had several songs posted from u tube lately.. and that really is unusual for me - but I have been singing this song... and wanted to share it with any of you have time to listen to it today. Maybe you will be singing it along with me all day.




Now, your turn.


Remember... leave a comment... share your thoughts... and if you blog - link with us.

ABC Bible Verses

I am working on my verses for this year. And right now I am in Psalms 91 - working on the whole chapter. But I will have that post up before the weekend is over...

Today, I want to tell you about my "precious Aubrey". She is memorizing verses too. I bought the book by Susan Hunt, My ABC Bible Verses . I wish you could hear her.

A - "A soft answer turns away wrath." Proverbs 15:1
B - "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." Matt. 5:9
C - "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right." Ephesians 6:1
D - we are working on this one....

So, in reality - I should know my 26 verses for 2009... and then I should know 26 more, as I teach Aubrey.

I pray that this will be a practice that she will continue all the days of her life.

And I will have good review as I start all over again in a couple of years with Barrett...and then on and on and on...

Loving my babies...
Loving hiding God's Word in my heart... and helping to hide some in theirs too.

WFW # 16 New Life...

The Spirit of God has made me;

the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

Job 33:4

The miracle of birth still amazes me...

the blessing of offspring...

the joy of family...

Blessed beyond measure...

WFW # 14 Peaceful Rest

"For so He gives His beloved sleep."

Psalms 127:2b

Sweet Rest - with all of her friends. She calls them, "everybody". Then has roll-call to make sure she has everybody.

Sweet.
(for more WFW's visit with 160AcreWoods)

WW # 17 Making Cookies - sorta

Sharing our Evening at DISNEY ON ICE

We had a wonderful time....

So, I share a few pictures of the evening.


Aubrey is waiting patiently...

Here she is calling,

"MICKEY - MINNIE - COME SEE ME!"

And they arrive ... In all their glory!!!

Granddaddy, Granna, Mom, Aubrey and Dad...Mom, Aubrey Dad, Momma Dee and PoppaCAN YOU TELL THAT SHE IS EXCITED! It was a good evening...

But I have to tell you - After a trip to the Christmas Section at LOWES last Wednesday with Granna... that has become the new favorite place to go!

So, when Poppa came into her SS Class yesterday to get her to tell her teacher about the night at Disney On Ice... He said, "Aubrey, tell Mrs. Tami where you went last night." (Thinking that she would want to tell all about this wonderful evening that we all spent together.)

She proclaimed, "LOWES" or in her words, "ROWES". LOL We could have saved all of us a lot of money- had we just gone to Chick-fil-A and picked up a quick supper and then made a trip to ROWES.

If only we had known.

OH, the life of a 2 1/2 year old.... and her silly parents and grand-parents trying to entertain. Our style.

Regardless, we DID have a good time. Just did not make the impression on her that it did on all of us.

So, today we are on our way to 'ROWES'.

Just thought you would want to know.

M I C K E Y MOUSE

Just a quick note to tell you all that we are going to Disney on Ice tonight!
Momma Dee and Poppa
Granna and Granddaddy
Mom and Dad
......and Aubrey!!!

What fun... I think I am more excited than she is .... and that is saying a lot!

I am sure that I will have pictures later... and MOM too.

But I just had to tell you.

Cause I knew you would want to know.

"PaPaw-isms"

My dad was never at a loss for words. When he did not know the correct word or could not think of a word - he would just make up his own... We began calling those words - "PaPaw-isms".



I will try to give a few examples...

---instead of Highway Patrol - he would say Highway Control.

instead of UFO's - he would say PQR's
(go figure that one - I guess he just knew it was three letters)
and as I re-read this before posting I also want to explain - not that he ever saw an UFO - just when he talked about it. Oh.... the more I try to explain -the worse it gets -LOL

---instead of "I am going to relax" - he would say "I am going to exlax". :)

---He had a hard time saying "Hal" for some reason... so he just call him - "hoot". (or Pope)



So,the cycle of life continues.

Our precious Aubrey (now 2 1/2) does the same thing. And I love it.

---I told her I was taking her to Pottery Barn..... later she wanted to go to "Barn Door". No hesitation - no thinking about it...
I guess in our home-Pottery Barn has a new name.

---When we go to Cracker Barrell - she really likes the hushpuppies. She will tell you - I want "puppie doggie".

And there are more - but I just can't think of them right now. (for both generations)

Maybe I will update some more later.

Those are the times that I miss my Dad so much. I would love to pick up the phone and call him to tell him the newest "Papaw-ism" that Aubrey has just said. It would have tickled him so much.

It has been seven years since Dad went to be with His Savior. Seven years since we heard some of his "-isms".

Until now...

Now, the grand-baby carries on the tradition. And I have a feeling like this is just the beginning.

To be continued...

WFW # 8 Children's children

Read the T-Shirt...

And we have just recently found out that it is a boy...

"Children's children are a crown to the aged..."

Proverbs 17:6a

I need to go buy something blue :)

(for more WFW's visit with 160AcreWoods)

A Broken Leg

(With a friend who has a Broken Arm)

Is it true that misery loves company?

I don't think they look too miserable.

Much harder on the parents (and grand's) than the children themselves.

This outfit was one of the many gifts she got when she broke the leg.

Certainly it was an Alabama Fan...

(Her Daddy was not very amused :)

But Isn't She Cute?

Some are telling her that this means "TOUCHDOWN!"

...but MommaDee is telling her it means "Thank-You, Jesus!"

This is Dee's Precious!

A precious gift straight from the Heart of God!

WW # 13 The "Terrific" TWO

WW # 10 Grandbabies are GRAND

More Photography

and the learning continues....

Our first question this week, was "Could you please give us some tips on how you take pictures of an almost 18 month old?" When she just laughed.... we knew that this was not just drama for us.

I really wish you could see us - well, no, actually I do not! Up until now, all I wanted was just cute snapshots. And I have succeeded to get some. But, when I know that I have to take samples for the entire class to see, and when I know that they will be critiqued, and when I am supposed to be getting certain angles, certain lighting.....etc.... all of a sudden our Precious Aubrey does not want to accomodate. It is as if she knows we are trying hard - and she is avoiding the camera. When she sees us coming, she turns her head or runs away.

It was a scene. I was laughing so hard I could hardly see through the lens. I finally reached the point that it really did not even matter any more - I was just snapping pictures and hoping that with the editing that I can do - I would come up with four decent ones to take to class.

Regardless, I am having fun....and I really do think it will be much much much better when I get the new camera. At least then, I can zoom in and she may not even know that I am taking her picture.

More to come.... :)