He Prays For Me

At Women's Bible Study this past week, we looked at 1 Peter 1:1-12. We examined the character qualities of Peter. Chelsea pointed out that he was...

• Called: He was seeking the Lord diligently
• Close: He was very close to Jesus, often one of the three allowed to be near Jesus during significant moments (a few examples are to the mountain to pray, to the garden of Gethsemane to pray)
• Child-like: Peter was child-like, yet, he was ripe for correction and instruction.
• Courageous: When Peter was in the presence of Jesus, he was BOLD and courageous. He denied Christ  - three times, yet, when he received word that Jesus was resurrected, he RAN to the tomb. He ran to his Savior. He was the one to step out of the boat to walk on the water toward Jesus.

Something Chelsea said struck me. She talked about how Jesus told Peter that He prayed for him. Jesus prayed for Peter.  

But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers." Luke 22:32

I wondered, does Jesus pray for me? Or, was this because He was here on Earth? Silly that I had never really thought about Jesus praying for others because it is in the Bible, but, it really made me think.

I have been struggling with the realization that His love for me is unfailing, unchanging, and will never dry up. He loves me despite all of my sins and failures, knowing each and every one. He died paying the price for each one - a free gift of loving salvation. 

The thoughts are still swirling in my mind....But, does He still bless us by praying for us? That doesn't make sense because He is God and we pray to Him.

I'm certain, He still does. Just differently. I've been discouraged, frustrated, and at the end of my rope. Jesus moved in the hearts of three of my sisters in Christ this morning to pray for me, text me, and encourage me. To remind me of how much Jesus loves ME. He does pray for us. Maybe not technically... But, I believe He moves in the hearts of believers to prayer, action, and encouragement. What an awesome, humbling realization!

It's hard to understand his unfailing LOVE because it is holy. It's different, set apart, unlike everything else we know. He discerns our hearts and is merciful, loving, and present.  He knows my pain, He knows my sorrow,  He knows the very number of hairs on my head. (Luke 12:7)

Psalm 13:5

But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.

He tells us of His unfailing love over and over in the Bible. Look here: Unfailing Love. 

Our Two-Year-Old

Christian is constantly cracking us up. He is quick and witty and loves to be the center of all the laughter.

The children attend AWANA, and we usually talk about what they learned on our way home. Christian is in Puggles this year, and LOVES being a big boy! He has a few teachers in his class, one being "Grandma age." This was our discussion on the way home last night:

Mom: "Christian, what did you learn in class today?"
C: "She doesn't have any mints."
Mom: "You asked someone for mints?"
C:"Yes, Grandmas have mints. But, she doesn't. She doesn't have gum, either. Grandma Huffman has mints and [Aunt] Tole has gum."

Apparently, last night was Christian's opportunity to inventory his gum/mint sources.

His Birthday Wish List:
A BIG shirt and a little jacket
2 markers
Makayla's headband
an  orange and green "present"
orange ear plugs
(I'm confident that he would add gum, mints, and a kitty to this list if he understood what we were really asking him.)

Keri taught him the song, "Peace Like a River", at Co-Op. You can often hear him singing,
"I've got peas like a river, I've got peas like a river..."

He is a constant source of joy, giggles, fun, hugs, and laughter!

The Best Concert EVER...

Makayla and I went to WinterJam last Thursday and it really was the BEST CONCERT EVER. She was over-the-moon excited about going and I was thrilled to join her. WinterJam is a concert tour featuring 10 bands for 10 dollars. No tickets were required, you just pay at the door. Makayla's favorite artists, Jamie Grace, Toby Mac, Group One Crew, and Chris August were playing. All of these artists are at the top of my list, too. The Taco Bell arena was packed full. We were a few minutes late, and ended up in the very top row of the stadium. It was so exciting to sing worship with my daughter and thousands of people. Nick Hall spoke, and the artists shared the message of World Vision. The concert production was the best I've ever seen!

I was moved to tears watching my daughter sing "I'm a God girl" with Jamie Grace thinking of how grateful I am that Makayla has role models in her life that love the Lord. I am grateful Jamie Grace uses her God-given talent to bless not only my family but so many others. I was thinking about how at Makayla's age I could sing the latest song found on MTV, which was far too young to be singing songs like "Material Girl" and much worse, you can probably guess. I was so blind. Oh, thank you Lord for your sweet, amazing grace!

My sister, Keri, ran several flights of stairs to the tip, top of the arena to find us during intermission so that we could join her family and the Hills in an awesome section, much closer to the stage [THANK YOU, KERI!!]. Keri & family had to leave a bit early (I was very impressed by my two awesome nephews who managed to last as long as they did). Just a few songs after they left, Toby Mac came singing up the isle and down OUR ROW and shook our hands. It was a pretty spectacular moment. Makayla giggles and teases me saying I was star struck (She is absolutely correct). In my opinion, she froze and under-reacted and I may have, {cough, cough} over-reacted. We stayed late and met Jamie Grace, what a sweet, beautiful young lady! She shared that she, too, was home-schooled, which was another encouraging moment for Makayla.

So, after a wonderful night shared with my daughter, we came home, flopped on my bed and shared all of the exciting details with dad.

The Plank in My Eye

So, I've discovered that Nathan doesn't just "like" stuff. He is obsessed with them. This can be an asset and it can be a challenge. I believe it's my job, as his mom, to help him harness this obsessive quality to his benefit. Yes, I agree obsession in itself is not good. Balance is good. Yep, got it. But, for some people this is more challenging than others. For Nathan, his obsessions include: sports, the show "Wipeout," Super Mario Brothers, all video games in general, and a few other things.  Wipeout was eliminated from our house a while ago and my couch is no longer fashioned with an imaginary sweeper arm, and Christian is no longer a sucker punch wall...well, for the most part. The latest obsession to bite the dust was the DS and Super Mario Brothers.

The other night I asked him to shut it off and get ready for bed, and he came unglued. This was not a first time offense and I knew it was time to put it away until he was ready for this privilege. He had long crossed over the "enjoy this activity responsibly" category to "I can't possibly live without my DS and I will punch you if you take it from me" category. I had to act.

Alligator tears ran down his face and bitterness stirred in his heart as I swept him into my arms. Then, it hit me like a ton of bricks.

³ “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? ⁴ How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? ⁵ You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. Matthew 7: 3-5

I've got a big plank in my own eye - in the form of a mac. A shiny, silver plank. A plank with many facets - facebook, email, pinterest, and the ugly "I'm busy, I'll help you later" side. When we see our sin for what it really is, it stings. It hurts to know that my priorities haven't been straight and that I was being a hypocrite. I apologized to Nathan, told him that I would be putting away my distractions during free time and would be spending that time with him - playing games, reading books, teaching/learning. What I should have been doing all along. His sweet heart softened and I was softened.

We spent our free time yesterday playing games, baking cupcakes, and strengthening relationships. I am so grateful. Does this mean that we are now perfect? ABSOLUTELY NOT. Will I mess up? GUARANTEED. But, once again I have been lovingly directed back to the path set out for me.

I thought I'd add a few pictures too. :)

 Julie makes going to the dentist fun. We love her!

 Makayla's 8th birthday scavenger hunt from Aunt Keri. She had so much fun!

 Our "Elf on a Shelf" - This really makes me giggle.

 I managed to sew my finger. I'm much more careful when I sew now. ;)

 This is how the 'real' pros install motors.

 Studying the sun in Apologia Astronomy class at Co-Op. So fun! We are so blessed to have Jaclyn teach the class!

 "You're my favorite, Trevor Swan" - A note I found that Nathan had written. <3 p="p">

 Christian's favorite part of the pumpkin patch was feeding the goats. 

 He's a fashionable guy.

 Kia's wedding was beautiful. Hope we get a chance to spend more time with them!

 Jason and I spent the weekend in McCall for our 10 year anniversary - zip-lining, jet skiing, hiking, hot pools, fireworks, fun.

 Makayla is now a seasoned dunk tank dunkee. Here she is with some of the sweetest boys we know.

 Nathan braved the dunk tank at the annual 4th of July party this year. 

 Our friends are serious about their tug-of-war games. ;)

 This is the look on a dad's face when he realizes he can go fishing with kids, but, he shouldn't expect to catch anything when you've got two little ones doing this...

When you go camping and Dan Park joins you, you know you are about to have some serious fun.

 The kids enjoyed checking out Great Grandpa Pendlebury's name on the Potato Hall of Fame plaque at the Idaho Potato Museum. Thanks to the hard work of my mom and several other relatives, he was this year's inductee. 

 We LOVED spending track break with Brandi and the kids doing Science Club!

 Good cousins/teammates give mid-game energizing back punches. :)

 I am starting to be convinced that Nathan's facial expressions have a direct correlation to his stellar athletic skills.

 He claims this is his boxing "mustache."

 Chuck-E-Cheese parties rock. period.

 Oh yeah, we got a tramp too.

 See, the facial expression....I think I'm on to something. 

 It might enhance your coaching skills, too.

I guess that was a more than a few...we had a lot of catching up to do. 

"hey"

So, it's been a while and I can't figure out how to keep the "older posts" on the front page...So, if you are just joining the come-back party, please click on the link below that says, "older posts" for a more in-depth catch-up if you'd like. :) It's good to be back.