Today, salvation has come to this house

It's been a long time since I've posted and while there have been numerous things that I would like t talk about, the one that stand out the most is that on July 3 at 9:25pm , our youngest daughter prayed to accept Jesus as her Lord and Savior!!!!!!!! Thank you Lord for Your love and mercy!!!!!!!!

What an incredible feeling it is to have her come to her mom and I and ask us about what being a Christian means and how she goes about doing it.

I know that the angels in Heaven are rejoicing over her decision as are mom, dad, friends and church family!

Yesterday, we started going through a workbook for younger children that helps explain what a Christian believes, why it's important to read the Bible, etc.

Thank you again Lord for your love and mercy.

Because Truth matters,
George

Reflecting Christ for Your Children

How are you living your life and faith in front of your children? Do you reflect a life of faith and trust in Jesus? Does your life reflect what you say?

The following is a short cool video about how kids observe what their dads do and what they learn and although it's a father and son in the video, the same applies for both mom and dad, boys and girls.

Sonic Car Show

This past Saturday night, I took the kids down to the car show at the Smyrna Sonic. It was pretty neat to see all of the cool cars that showed up, although I do have to say that the '57 Chevy was pretty much my favorite.

I think that the kids and I went crazy with the camera, but what a cool night out with the family!

Go Meat!

Today I received a funny email from Diana. She said that Jules is running around singing, "You hungry, you hungry. You Momma says you hungry!" which she squarely blamed on me in teaching it to her.

It's funny how certain commercials ingrain themselves in our heads. When we were over at a friend's house last week, the kids were in the pool while our friend was grilling burgers and dogs. Jules looks over and notices and promptly yells out, "I said a beef hot link!"... lol

She is too funny. I do have to admit that I am a fan of the commercials as well and they do stick in your head.

Sweetie, if your reading this, could we please place smoked kielbasa on the menu this week? :)

Happy Birthday Jules!

Today is Juliana's 5th Birthday!

It seems like yesterday I was in the delivery room with Diana, watching Jules being born. What a special blessing and miracle she was and continues to be.

As I look back on the past 5 years, I can't imagine what our family was like before her. She adds so much to all of our lives.

Diana has some incredible pictures from the past 5 years on her blog. You can see them here!

I think back to a poem that I wrote for Jules when she was born and it still rings true today...

"My heart it surely skipped a beat,
the day I saw her dainty feet.
I cannot get her out of my mind,
So cute and sweet, she's one of a kind.

My second daughter, born today,
Through this all I have to say.
My joy that she is ours to love,
An angel sent from Heaven above.

I saw my child begin her new life,
Brought into this world by my sweet wife.
Oh what a joy, this truly was for me,
To see my daughter who was born to be."

~Daddy

Today, her feet aren't so dainty, but the joy that she brings gives me just a glimpse of the love that God has for us for she is such a blessing.

Happy 5th Birthday, Sweetie!

Love,
Daddy

A-camping we will go...

It's been a while since I've posted, so I wanted to update the "goings on" around the house. Tonight, I will be taking the some of the kids camping. This is pretty cool because I haven't been camping for a few years. The last time was when Matt and I went on the Father-Son campout.

This should be a fun experience. We are going on a GA and RA combined expedition. Well, it feels like an expedition with all of the sleeping bags, chairs, lanterns, compasses, etc.

I do want to mention something funny. As we were loading all of the equipment into my little car last night, the kids were handing me things to pack. I look up from the trunk to see Matt standing there with an ax. He casually said, "Well, we're going to need to chop wood." I don't think the ranger at the park would like that, besides, we're bringing out our wood. He was a bit disappointed, but understood.

Whew... that's one less thing to cram in the trunk :)

The only thing that really stinks is that we are supposed to have thunderstorms over the next few days. I hope that it holds off.

Oh, well, it should be fun :)

New Lady Falcon!

Congratulations!

I just wanted to say how proud I am of Megan. She was one of 13 girls who were just selected to be a part of the SCMS Dance Team. In order to tryout, she had to attend a two-day camp to learn a routine as well as develop an ending of her own.

Congrats, Meg! I am proud of you and your talent and look forward to seeing you dance!

Better late than never

During the past 2 days, the kids and I have been getting the garden together. I know it's a bit late to start, however, I cannot let the season go by without a garden.

This year, we are planting tomatoes, corn and some spices. The garden sounds small by some standards, but given our time constraint, we will have to make due.

On Sunday, my two daughters and I went a picked up a load of free composted horse manure. What an incredible thing it is to have a neighbor willing to share :)

It was funny... I asked the girls (the boys weren't home at the time) if they wanted to go with me to run an errand. My youngest daughter, the 4-year-old asked where we were going. I told her that we were going to go get some horse "poo" to which she replied, "Horse poo? That's disgusting. Let's go, Daddy!"

So the rest of the afternoon before church we shoveled and loaded and then pulled the truck up to our garden where we worked some into the area prepared for the tomato plants, unloaded the rest ( Hint: There's probably a compost pile coming soon) and planted some tomato plants with baskets. My youngest son expressed an interest in having his own garden, which is cool to hear about. I pointed to one of the plants and said that one is yours to take care of for now and that he can help with the rest (until we can get a garden going for him)

Monday afternoon, my youngest daughter and I planted herbs for Mommy and started some corn plants that we'll transplant later.

All in all, it was a pretty fun time.

A glimpse of love...

Last night, my youngest daughter was in the process of going to bed when she had decided that she was going to take a new toy, a Barbie car to bed with her. When I was tucking her in, she had several Barbies and this big vehicle with her in her little bed. I asked her to hold on to the dolls, but to put the car next to her bed because it was too big and I didn't want her to get hurt during the night.

Well, she threw a fit fit and cried and kicked and carried on while I tried to reason with her. It was at this time that I gave her a warning to stop her behavior, to which she rolled over and continued. When she rolled over, I spanked her once on her rear. She turned over, wimpered (which broke my heart) and I continued to tuck her in and say prayers with the girls.

About 5 minutes later, I see a tuft of blonde hair peeking out from behind the couch near their hallway. I called to Jules to ask if everything was OK and to see what she wanted. She came to the edge of the couch and I got up and met her and bent down. She reached around my neck and told me that she was sorry. I told her that I accepted her apology.

She promptly said, "Will you tuck me in again?"

"Of course."

We went through the tucking in process again, when Meg called me to her bed. I asked her if she had put Nanna up to apologizing. She said that she told her to, but Jules was afraid that I would not forgive her. I thanked Meg and went over to let Jules know that she can always come to me and get forgiveness and for her not to be afraid.

That whole episode got me thinking about our relationship to God. How we want our own way with things and when we are disciplined, we are sometimes hesitant to come to Him and ask for forgiveness. The really awesome thing is that God always meets us, hugs us and forgives us. There is no reason that we should be afraid of the process.

In that small example, God let me see a bit into the awesome love that he has for us.

God bless,
George

A Snow Day!

It never fails. It always seems to snow around George's birthday. It's something that I've almost come to expect. I love snow, the joys of winter, a warm fire, etc.

Well, today, we had a snow day! The county closed the schools, so I had to work from home so I could be home with the kids.

While Megan was content to stay inside and be warm all day, the boys were outside playing all day.... and yes, even with all of that snow, guess what the boys were playing with their friends?

Yup, football.

I'm beginning to think that Diana is right. There is no getting away from it... lol

The day was really nice. Matthew really learned to appreciate his ski mask and hot chocolate :)

Thanks, God for helping us to stop and see the beauty of your world!

Come and see!

"Come and see!" That was the call of our youngest daughter one night this past week. She came running in from outside and called out to me, "Come and see, Daddy! The sky is so pretty. It's beautiful!"

At the time, I was up to my elbows in chicken getting ready for dinner. I quickly washed my hands and ran to the back door. We opened the back door and there it was; a beautiful sky, just as I had been told.

She told me to take a picture, so I ran into thehouse, grabbed my camera and did just that.

How unaware I was at the beauty that was going on just outside our walls. Had it not been for Jules, I wouldv'e missed it. Sunsets seem to be gone in just a few minutes.

I wonder... Are there people that you are close to or see on a daily basis that need to see the light of Jesus? Are you excited about telling people about Him?

Who could you run to, grab there hand and lead them to "Come and see!" before it's too late?

Because Truth matters,

George

It All Happened In The Country

Diana recently wrote about a Christmas play that our family had the priviledge of being a part of this past Sunday called It All Happened In The Country. She has some great pictures and even a video up on her blog from the night. Meg, Matt and Jules, along with Diana and I were in the play, while G3 ran the spotlight from the balcony. I don't know what I could add to it, so I will just say that I feel so blessed to be a part of an awesome, caring church. I absolutely love children's plays, the forgotten lines, cute costumes, etc. The innocence of the children singing and talking about God is an incredible sight to witness.

I like to think that our Heavenly Father looks down on these little ones singing and telling the Gospel story and smiles. It's been said, and I believe, that Christmas and Easter are two of the times that people who never or seldom come to church - do come to church. What an awesome way to share the story of God's love through Jesus' birth to all of these people.

Because Truth matters,
George

I Love Sugar!

I just had to share something cute about Juliana. She says the most cute and wonderful things, but while I was in my bedroom today, she found a container of candy corn. There were only a few left in it, but she brought it to me, opened it and took one. Then she looked up at me and asked, "What are they made of?"

"Sugar," I replied.

Without missing a beat she smiled and said, "I love sugar!"

On a side note, she is watching me post this and just said, "That's what I 'eated'."

Deep inside the forest...

Tonight Diana and Megan left for a GA camping trip. This is a really cool time as Diana hasn't been camping since she was a little girl. Megan has been camping with me and the boys in our back yard.

During this trip, they will spend time cooking, hiking and riding horses.

The boys, Jules and I will "camp" in our livingroom tonight and roast mashmellows tomorrow.

I'm excited to hear about the all of the "adventures" of what will happen.

National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

This month, October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month. It's a subject that I feel compelled to writ a bit about.

It is a cause/subject that is very important to me for a number of reasons...

1. My mom fought breast cancer twice, finally dying from it.


2. My mother-in-law is currently fighting it.


3. Breast cancer can affect men, too.


4. My wife and I have so many friends that are fighting breast cancer.


5. Breast Cancer is beatable. We have a very close friend of the family that fought breast cancer and is a survivor.


6. My wife and two daughters now have a family history on both sides of breast cancer.


7. My wife is a hardcore supporter of awareness and I love her for it. Please visit her post here on awareness month.

Knowledge, early detection and HOPE are the keys!

Because HOPE matters,
George

See You at the Pole

Today, I took my oldest son to school early because of an event called "See You at the Pole". For those who aren't familiar, I quote from their website.

See You at the Pole™ is a student-initiated, student organized, and student-led event. That means this is all about students meeting at their school flagpole to pray—for their school, friends teachers, government, and their nation. See You at the Pole™ is not a demonstration, political rally, nor a stand for or against anything.

See You at the Pole™ is scheduled annually on the fourth Wednesday in September...

It was very inspiring to see about 40 other kids already there as we pulled up to the school.

I think that I was just as excited that my son wanted to participate in this as he was in participating. I can't remember this event being around when I was in school. The thought of young Christian girls and boys, organizing and leading this event in praying for their school, each other and their country is incredible to think about. Wow, what an example kids can set for us adults.

It is really cool and exciting to see the wonderful ways that our Lord is maturing our children and I pray that He continues to mature them and draw them all closer to Him for His glory.

Because Truth matters,

George

Celebrate Jesus, Celebrate!

This past week, I had the privilege of seeing a preview of what beautiful girls I have. Yes, I know that they are always beautiful. I also know that God has blessed me with wonderful boys as well. This week, I just had the chance to see our girls practice for an upcoming performance at our church.

It was wonderful to see these girls freely showing their love for God.

Gems for Jules, Part II

Here are the pictures that Diana promised that I would post of Juliana :)

I hope that you enjoy them.

Gems for Jules

It's such a great title, so I borrowed it from Diana's blog. Yesterday, while my wife and youngest daughter were out shopping, Juliana expressed an interest in getting her ears pierced.

Now, this has happened before and when Juliana shows an interest, Diana would usually ask Jules, "Would you like to get your ears pierced?", to which she usually replies, "No."

Yesterday was different. Jules wanted to get earrings. Diana let Jules pick out a pair that she wanted. Then it was time...

I had always thought that Jules would cry when she got her ears pierced. I remember Diana explaining the process to her and what it would feel like.

To my surprise and relief, the piercing went very well with no crying, just a precious 4 year-old admiring her new earrings.

Juliana later told me the story, pointing to her newly pierced ears and I realized just how much like her mom she was... strong, able to withstand pain and able to see the joy in the little things in life.

Go Forward and Be Ambassadors for Christ

This year our two "middle children" are involved in Girls In Action and Royal Ambassadors. These are both missionary-oriented organizations that our kids are priviledged to be involved in.

This is new ground that we are forging as our children were not involved in these organizations in our previous church as they weren't offered.

Megan was so happy and proud the day that she brought home her sash from GA's a few weeks ago and Matt was excited that he earned his RA vest last night.

Now, with the foundations layed, the kids will work on Bible memorization and other projects to help them grow in the Lord and learn more about missions. I am proud that they are taking such an interest in values and goals set forth in these organizations. While there is recreation time now and then at church, I am also glad that our children are involved in learning the truths of the Bible. The great thing is that they love it. I pray that the Lord takes the love for missions and learning that they have now and builds it into an intense desire for Him.

Go boy. Go girl. Go be a witness all over the world!...