happy birthday zachary!

My Zach had a birthday this weekend. Now he is 11 years old and going into middle school. I thought I would write some things I love about Zach.

Zach is very passionate! He does not really care what people think about him, so he is not afraid to lead.
He loves justice and is very very loyal.
He has this very sensitive and loving side of him. Big hugger and big animal lover.
He is a networker! He has things planned out and people organized for his big plan.
He has a heart for God and for people.
He loves baseball and is a gamer--so fun to watch him play!!
He is one of the most determined people I know.
I love his beautiful blonde hair! (I have to pay to get mine that color.)
Zach is very witty and constantly making us laugh.

Happy Birthday my buddy! I am so proud of you!!!

count it as what?

This morning I was reading my Dad's newly published book (Journey by Max Mills.) It is a book about character building; and today, I read about perseverance. This was so good, I just thought I would quote it. "The phrase, "count it all joy" in James 1:2 does not mean that we are to be happy because we are having tough times. The word "count" is an accounting term, which means "to enter into a ledger." So we can enter our difficult experiences in a ledger under the heading of "Joy," not because they are fun but because we know "that the testing of our faith produces perseverance."

If you are looking for a small group study--this one would be great! You can find it at amazon.com or barnesandnobel.com. It has a leader's guide and quizzes available for high school homeschoolers!

Irena Sendler

Have you heard about her? I recently received an email about a German lady named Irena Sendler. She died recently at 98 years old. During WW2, she worked in the Warsaw Ghetto with plumbing and sewer. This job was a cover-up, as her motive was to help the Jews by smuggling infants and children to safety in the tool box and burlap sack found in the back of her truck. She trained her dogs to bark to cover the children's noise when she passed the soldiers. She managed to smuggle 2500 kids to safety and kept a record of each child in a jar buried under a tree in her backyard. When the Nazi's finally found out what she was doing, they broke her arms and legs.

In 2007, Irena Sendler was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, but she was not chosen. Al Gore won for a film on global warming. What do you think about that?

not much "in between" in these ballgames

I thought I would share just one day of our summer baseball schedule with you :) Yesterday, Taylor had a three hour work out from 8am till 11. Then, he had two ballgames back to back. He was at the field from 2:30 until 8:00. Zach played from 8:15 pm until 11:15 pm!!! We thought the concession stand might start serving breakfast, but they didn't.

There--a little peak into the summer baseball schedule!! Loving it, and ready for a vacation :)

Living Water

Ancient cities, under siege, often were defeated without a fight. These walled cities were surrounded until their food and water ran out. Then, the weakened people would give up. The city of Jerusalem, however, hosted a rerouted spring of water from outside the city walls. The spring flowed into the city, giving it life and confidence during battle. I read about this last week in a devotional book by David Jeremiah. He states that God's living water gives us hope during the longest siege of the enemy. The Holy Spirit is our indwelling source of life!!

congrats to taylor

I am so proud of Taylor!! He made the high school summer baseball team. Go Wolfpack!

freaky dream

Last night I had a freaky dream! I actually woke up praying in my dream I was so freaked out! You know how dreams are, once you start to tell them, they don't make sense. However, every now and then, a dream makes you think differently about reality.
Because I was awake, I took the dogs out. It gave me a chance to think. In my dream, I was battling some very crazy demonic wackos, how's that?! I realized that in real life we are battling crazy demonic wacko stuff as well. The difference is we usually can't see it. We are in battles for our marriages, our kids and the truth of God's powerful Word. When we add the pressure of everyday schedules, emotions and just dealing with people, we often see a clouded version of what is really taking place. In my moment of "after scary dream panic" I realized that I was not prepared to handle what may be UNSEEN REALITY. I felt thirsty to fill up on God's Word which gives us power over any unseen circumstance and realized that I have not been doing enough of that! UNLIKE a bad dream, when you are calling out for help and no one can hear you, we can call out to the ONE who hears and rescues! Jeremiah 33:3 says, Call unto Me and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things.