666 - Why I Smile

Wow - it just thundered and lightninged....  I didn't know that was suppose to happen in the winter!  Yes, today is my birthday as so many of you have wished sweet things on my facebook or email.  Thank you thank you thank you!  36 - uh oh - closer to 40!!!  

But today I wanted to give YOU something...  I have 2 books to give away and then I want to give you all an explanation of why I do what I do!!!  What do I do???  I don't know either!  

The first book is called "God in the Whirlwind;  Stories of Grace from the Tornado at Union University" by Tim Ellsworth.  My husband and I both went to school with Tim and he is also a fellow Illini or whatever you call someone from Illinois.  This is a book that my husband and myself could not put down.  It is account after account of how God brought each student or faculty through that night when the monster storm ripped through Jackson, Tn.  I would recommend this book to a believer that just wants to be reminded of God's protection and grace, but I would also recommend this book to a non-believer, one that might be struggling to know if God is for real.  You see Him all over the pages of this book!  You DO NOT have to be a Unionite to enjoy and truly experience this book to read it!  Wow - it blew me away - no pun intended!  

The second book is called "Pull Up A Chair;  You, Me, and the Gospel of John"  by Lorie Looney Keene.  I was able to meet this author down at the Women's Forum in Nashville a few weeks ago.  What a neat lady!  She made me feel extra special in that she is so calming and does not come across as better than or "I have arrived" that I feel so often from speakers and authors.  (Let me add that it is most likely not that they come across that way, but that I am so intimidated or insecure that I allow that feeling to overtake me.)  This is truly a wonderful book and very down to earth much like I found the author.  Anyone could pull up a chair and feel like Lorie was right across from you taking you through the book of John.  The book is very interactive.  You might even find yourself carrying on a conversation with yourself - in a good way though.  

I am not sure if you noticed, but today is my 666th post.  For that reason I wanted to talk about what my Jesus means to me!!!  That number has such bad connotations and because of that I wanted to do nothing more than make sure my focus was all about Him.  So that is what I have done on my video blog today.  It is long - i am sorry - in advance, but how can you be short about Jesus!  You might have to come back later today and see the video - maybe because of the rain it is having a hard time uploading, but please come back and find out what my Jesus means to me.  

Ok - for the giveaways - if you will leave a comment of any kind I will put your name in a pile for the giveaway!  There will be 2 winners since there are 2 books.  Spread the love -K?K!  

Love you all - thanks again!  

561 - Double Digits

Dear Jesus - today is the day! 10 years and just a few hours ago I became a momma to a gorgeous little boy, Clayton Tucker Gray. Wow - did it rock my world. After nearly 24 hours of labor he was forced into this world with the help of the forceps - old school doctor! Tucker already had the bright blonde hair with actually just a tinge of red. I pushed and pushed and pushed for it to not be on April Fool's, but it was too hard of a task. It was an extremely tough labor, especially being my first, and I think it is quite indicative of his personality.

Tucker is a smart boy and very disciplined. He is tough on himself and carries quite a realistic picture of the world - even though negative. His glass is not half full, but he is willing to try to help the situation to make it that way. He is very intense!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and quite shy all at the same time. He is getting more and more confident as the days go by. He is ok with prepared change, but all of a sudden change can send him into orbit. My Tucker still loves his momma much, but has a strong desire to be just like his dad. There is a terrible war going on over being a man and still a baby at times.

I am excited to see Tucker grow up. He has some great leadership qualities just like Clay. He is very gifted athletically and willing to work on it often. He is a one friend boy - crowds overwhelm him. He has a sweet girlfriend from a Christian family - he snagged her on the 2nd day of school at Carmi. Tucker and I butt heads often because I don't tread as lightly as i should or I change things up too often. He really is a sweet brother, but still a brother! My Tucker is growing into a man. I can hardly believe we have now have less time with him before he leaves. At least 9 years old was equal, but 10 years have passed and only 8 years to go. That saddens me greatly - even on frustrating days.

Thankfully Tucker does know the Lord as his Savior. He actually did that quite early. He was such a questioner as a little thing and so understood what Christ did for him in full detail early. He wants to grow up so fast and be much more older than he is - I thought only girls did that. I try to be the meanest mom on earth as I have been told it will pay off, but do we have enough fun? He is beginning to not look forward or even like church and that scares the momma. He is not rejecting all he has been taught, but definitely not thinking it is cool any longer. For some reason, even more than the other 3 kids, I have always prayed over Tucker "to love Jesus more than anything else. To serve Him in any form or fashion, to be obedient, and to have passion." He prays beautifully and does appreciate one on one prayer time. In the right setting he will tell sweet things and is so kind! My Tucker is a treasure - my only boy - dreams abound in him and for him - God will use this boy and I know full well. I love you Tucker - Happy 10 Years!!

Tucker I want you to know - more than anything - He is on your side!!

Psalm 121
A song of ascents. 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills— where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD watches over you— the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life;
8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

491 - This Little Light of Mine

All purses are free shipping from now until Christmas!! That is an $8-$12 savings!!

That means a beautiful gift, wrapped beautifully, and then sent straight to that person - and you didn't have to hardly do a thang!!!
Come on now!! Get you some!!

Lord Jesus, It is an early Saturday morning. We have some fun things planned for today and I wanted to get a jump on it. Yesterday was quite busy. To start the day off we showed the house to a couple that is coming back for a second look TODAY at 2pm. That is encouraging! Thank you for that! We are going to see a realtor anyway on Tuesday this week, so this would be great to get it done before we had to do all that - that is believing thinking!!

Then last night we had another birthday party. It was a ton of fun! All of my kids just ran crazy all over this church - along with the other kids too. It was the perfect place for a party! AND Courtney gave me some homemade, world famous fudge for my birthday. This will be my secret stash!!! So today my girls are going to a cheerleading camp in Carmi where they will perform at the end of the week in front of everybody at a ball game. Tucker does the same kind of thing with playing basketball on Tuesday. He is pumped about that! And then tonight my husband planned a neat birthday kind of drive by kind of party for me. He has just called some people to just stop by and say hello, eat fingerfoods, and say happy birthday. He did that all on his own, but did not try to keep it a secret. He and his mom went to Evansville yesterday to get all the supplies and food and came back and cooked, etc. It has already just tickled me to death! Sweetie! And then I am so blessed to be able to speak at 2 churches in town on Sunday on my birthday. I can not think of a better way to start my birthday - speaking the Word!!! Wow, how awesome!

So I have been thinking about something and then the Lord gave me a verse that I received in a birthday card from Becky Clayton!! I love when the Lord does that - confirms a thought with scripture!! Thank you Lord!! Proverbs 13:9 "The light of the righteous shines brightly, but the lamp of the wicked is snuffed out." I am not a put your Christmas tree up and never turn the lights on except night time kind of girl. When I put up my tree the lights stay on all the time. I even most nights leave the lights on throughout the night. It is most beautiful when it is all lit up and so I leave them. And yes, I leave them on even as I go out the door. I would hate for someone to drive by and not be blessed by its beauty just because I am not there or just simply asleep! Now how selfish would that be of me!! I can hear someone now saying, "but what if your house burns down.............." Then it was meant to, I guess!!

But that is what I have been thinking about the last few weeks. In the messages I am preparing about Reflecting His Light or Image - about abolishing the idols in our lives - I have been thinking about how we are never to turn our light off. The verse above can be translated as "The life of one that is honest with others and obeys the law of God shines brightly, but the lamp of those that are morally bad, wicked, wrong - those that are living in sin and plan to continue doing so - will be snuffed out." Wow, I love that!! This Little Light of Mine is to shine all the time - not hidden, not under a bushel tree, no! I gonna let it shine!! And certainly don't let satan sssshhhhoooooo it out - NO! I gonna let it shine!! All the time!!

Lord Jesus - I don't want to be one that shines when it looks pretty - just to stand out in the dark, but have no real purpose otherwise. I don't want to be one that chooses when I will shine or not - I want to always shine for you. I don't want to be one that can turn on and off my light for you!! Lord, I don't want to be selfish about when I shine either. If it is inconvenient to shine in the middle of the night on the phone with someone in crisis - please help me to rise above and still shine! Lord, I don't want to be snuffed out!!! Oh Lord, help me to shine so brightly!! As bright as the 35 candles on my cake!!! yikes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My Carmi house is coming along really well!!! Yeah!!!!!!!! The third floor is having the floors redone on Monday and then that floor will be done except putting in light fixtures, doors, and light switches - kind of stuff. Oh and the bathroom!! So I guess it does have a bit more to do in there - but we could possibly move something in there on Friday week!!! WOW!!!! My friend Patricia surprised me with an early birthday gift. We had gone to a Christmas tree farm - can you believe there is a Christmas tree farm in the middle of farm land. I was amazed too - and I made a comment about loving a particular wreath. They were all fresh and just gorgeous!! Well, we walked outside of aerobics and lo and behold she pulled out that very wreath and said in her not get too excited, stay calm cool and collected way - Happy Birthday!!! Wow - that was a huge shock!!! Oh how i wish I could remember to do things like that for others. So I hung that on my Carmi door so our house would not be the only one without lights or any kind of Christmas attire! I will post a picture of that and more house pictures later. I have no idea if Patricia reads this, but thank you!!! And yes Dad, I will send her a thank you card too!

Last bit - I think there are about 2 weeks left until Christmas. Last i heard the kids say it was like 19 days left and that was a few days ago. Anyway - from now until Christmas all purses are free shipping!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is like anywhere from $8-$12 off!!! Come take advantage!! I will post more pictures soon!! Thank you thank you thank you!!!

Tucker Man is 9!!!

What a handsome little dude!!

Clayton Tucker Gray

Sarahjane 5, Tucker 9, Elleigh 3, Emmajoy 7

This is picture really says a lot!!

Sarahjane - mad just to be mad, me - I just love a crowd, Tucker - dreaming of a day with no sisters, Elleigh - thinks she is cute, and Emmajoy - in La La land, and Daddy - just taking it all in. That is my happy bunch!

My baby boy is 9. 9 more years and he will be gone. Oh that is such a thought... I just won't go there. He is such a great kid and of course his momma would say so. I love my Tucker man!