Things I just don't get...

Another friend of mine said that bloggers are supposed to write silly little lists about stuff so here are some random thoughts of an irritable mother:
1. Breakfast bars are the spawn of Satan. If you love them, you obviously don't have one. They just become a parking lot for crap.
2. Bratz dolls. Just think, some big company probably put a ton of money into these and they are just plain terrible and worthless.
3. The person who invented goodie bags for kids parties should be shot.
4. Kids with cell phones. Honestly, who does a 9 and 10 year old NEED to call?
5. Wording on the back-end of clothing.
6. Starbucks. Do you really need 5 million types of coffee?
7. Guy behavior in general. Why is it funny to hit each other in the privates? How come you have to fart so much? Go sit on the pot, already!
8. Clothing shopping for girls. I don't want them looking like a hoochie-mama! How can that be so hard? It will be a sad day when my girls start having to wear handmade dresses from the El Dorado compound.
9. ABC family channel has a new slogan: for a different family. Yep, that's right Buddy. A different family besides this one! TRASH!
10. Who cares about Bradgelina. This couple is working my last nerve!

Upward Rising

Gotta share something that is buggin' me. Our church is starting Upward. I am excited about it and just the number of kids who will be attending basketball camp (70 kids) shows that God is doing great things with this outreach.
Well, this friend of ours who will remain nameless, also belongs to this church and has mentioned that they will not be participating in Upward because it is not going to be competitive (just because they don't keep score). Now, I have heard this before from him and I just kinda "yeah, whatever." him but he mentioned it again to my daughter tonight and it just hit me that I am not liking this comment. At first I was fine with it, but I woke up from sleeping started sleep praying again and it came to me--this does not sit well with my heart. I knew God was prompting me to write about it.

First let me say that WE LOVE BASKETBALL in our house.

Here is my beef: I am for Upward for 2 main reasons both of which come down to opportunity. The first and most important is it gives my daughter one more chance to hear the Word of God from someone other than us and her Sunday school teacher. If this gives her one more opportunity to accept salvation, then that is the most important chance she will ever get. She can be competitive in basketball, lead her high school team to state, get a division 1 scholarship even play in the WNBA or professionally overseas but it doesn't mean anything if she spends eternity in hell! If my children do not have a heart for God, then Mo and I have failed them as parents.

Second, it gives her the opportunity for opportunity. She will have the opportunity to put the ball in her hands in a structured activity, the opportunity to play with different girls with different abilities to develop her skill for basketball and teamwork, the opportunity to practice those skills under the leadership of another adult who might be able to explain a skill better, the opportunity to cultivate a friendship with someone she has never met, the opportunity to reach out to a child who doesn't go to our church (aka a missionary on her "home court"), the opportunity to have some fun, the opportunity to learn what it means to do her best and leave it all on the court regardless of win or lose and the opportunity to sit her back-end on the bench and cheer for someone else with the understanding it is not all about me.

Trust me, I played all through high school and college. In the end, it doesn't matter. It will only leave you with bad ankles and jacked up feet.

There is plenty of time for competition. Let's talk about what time there is too little of, guiding the heart of a child to live for Christ.

What legacy are you leaving your child? A legacy that honors sports? A legacy that honors education? A legacy that honors money and material goods? or a legacy that honors Christ?

Sleep Prayin'

I have a confession. I sleep and pray at the same time or at least start praying and fall asleep. Now, I do love to pray and often pray during the day at various times, but when I lay me down to sleep, that is when I like to just let it all hang out. But the fly in the ointment is I don't let much hang out! I am usually asleep in no time.
Now not long ago I found a verse that supported this kind of praying and I am going to find it again and post it. You will see.
Here is how a typical night will go: lay down, start praying, nod off, wake up (yes, I wake up several times a night--I am a mom for pete's sake! I haven't slept through the night in 12 years!), check on the kids, lay down again, start praying, wake up again and start praying and so on.
I don't think God minds this so much since even the disciples couldn't stay a wake just so long as I keep praying. It doesn't have to be much of anything important we talk about. I am just sharing what is on my heart and lifting people up to the Lord or telling Him how great He is or sing a praise song that is stuck in my head. And before you know it I am back asleep.
Or sometimes I will be startled awake and will just start praying for whomever He lays on my heart at that minute, even if I can't put my finger on whom, I just start praying for whomever is hurting, not sleeping either, or worried or scared. I don't have to know their name. That's the beauty of sleep prayin'. He does and evidently He thought they could use someone calling out to the heavens in their name. So, the next time you can't sleep because your heart is troubled, ask Jesus to wake me up and pray on your behalf. And while you are praying, I will be praying and you won't be alone anymore. Like right now.
Good Night.

Same Different As Me (Ron Hall/Denver Moore)

I just finished this book. My neighbor gave it to me and her friend gave it to her. This book is AWESOME. What is so great about it is that it is a true story! It chronicles the lives of two men and how they meet and become friends.
Another great aspect of it is it mostly takes place in the DFW area so it is fun to catch all the hints about where they are and where things take place. Evidently it is a HUGE deal because the authors of who the story is about have been to the White House and such.
Also, if you know of someone who has been taken by cancer, it is a must read (which is just about everyone.).
Get this book. You won't be disappointed. It is rich with history and emotion.

HOLA SPAIN!

My best friend, Stacey, is moving to Spain. Long story short: they are missionaries for military stationed overseas. They run a hospitality house for the military. They have been to Korea and Mexico doing missionary stuff.
Anyway, here is a picture of our girls (that would be only 2 of them) and their 5 (yes, I wrote 5). We will miss them terribly and it was great to catch up with them.
I also want to put a link to her blog too when I figure out how to do that. She is super creative and you will like her stuff too. Plus she homeschools so she has some links to info on that too that might interest some of you.
I love you Stacey and dang you, Lanny Joe Groves for stealing her heart away many years ago and making her traipse the world!

"HEARD ANYTHING?"

Here has been the progress so far:
We got our first call on Monday, July 7 th, a baby boy just a few days old. Were we interested? We accepted the "placement" and let the celebration begin. I was calling people all over the place. The girls were through the roof. Mo raced home. People from work were texting him offering to help. It was so amazing the out pouring of help and love for a little boy we didn't even know yet. Then we got a call an hour later that he wasn't coming. "They went another direction." was what I was told on the phone. Needless to say, Mo and the girls were pretty upset. We decided not to tell the girls anymore about the calls unless the baby is on the doorsteps--but ofcourse they may read it here. I was actually doing fairly well. "He wasn't meant to be ours.", I kept saying. When I called my mom to tell her, she said, "That baby was so loved already and he didn't even know it." And she was right.
Then we got a call on Thursday, July 10th. Accepted the child, then it also got cancelled. Then got another call that morning. Accepted the child, then it got cancelled. Then got another call that afternoon, and accepted the child only to have the agency call us again that the child would not be coming.
At this point, my heart had been ripped out. I am to the point of tears and questioning everything I thought I knew about God wanting us to do this. "He wasn't meant to be ours." doesn't mean any thing to me any more when I have a room full of clothes, wipes and an empty crib. I wasn't prepared for any of that.
Our experience has been so different than our friends I mentioned earlier in this blog. They got a call before their license was even in and they have had their boys for almost a year now. But yet, we wait.
After a good cry, a hot bath, painting my toenails "always scarlet", large amounts of pizza and soda, and some praise music, my disposition was once again cheerful.
And now, we wait.

"GOTTEN ANY CALLS?"

This has been the question of the hour for the last 10 month, I think. All the wonderful friends and family we have been eagerly waiting for us to get our first foster child. If you haven't been able to keep up, here is a quick update of the last year.
I have been wanting to have more kids for the last 5 years but we took surgical steps when Kori was born to stop having any more biological children. Mo has been quite content with his girls. So, I prayed and waited for the Lord to change my heart. He didn't. About 5 years ago, Mo agreed to more kids but when we looked into surgical reversal it did not look promising. I brought up adopting and Mo was not feeling it. Plus, it was really expensive to adopt domestically or internationally so I thought it was a closed case. However, my heart was still longing for what I believed the Lord had placed on it. So, I kept praying and waiting. Years passed and nothing changed. There is a saying, "God is rarely early, but He is never late." There is so much truth in that.
In the meantime, Sandy told me of a co-worker who adopted her children through the Texas CPS system and it costs nearly nothing. I tucked that information away and kept waiting and praying.
Last fall, Mo had a change of heart and we began our classwork and training to get our license to be foster parents with the hope of adopting. As it would happen, we later found out that some friends of ours through church are also doing the same thing with the same agency.
So, at this point, we have our license and are waiting for "the stork to drop one on us".