Catching Up on Other Things

We recently participated in our local AWANA Grand Prix. This is a very anticipated event in our AWANA schedule! The kids get very excited about making their cars and racing them. Even the adult and youth leaders get in on the action!

TNT clubbers' (3rd - 6th graders) cars

Will placing his car on the track

Mike, ready to release the cars in the TNT races

Will was SO excited to place 1st in Design! He's been trying to win 1st Place Design for a couple of years now. He made a submarine this year. He christened it the USS AWANA. If you look closely to the left side of the submarine, you can see that he even made a little propeller (by taking apart one of his dad's fishing lures) and attached it to the rear of the sub.

Kate (participating in the leaders category) builds her car for speed. But she always manages to come up with a pretty cool design as well.

Kate ~ the double winner ~ won 1st Place in both Speed and Design!

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How do you celebrate Valentine's Day in your home? I certainly don't like the way it is such a commercialized holiday (like all holidays). I don't like for my husband to feel undue pressure to run out and spend money buying things just to convince me of his love for me. 

On the other hand, I don't think it's a bad idea to set aside a day to focus on showing our love for each other. So... in our house, we meet somewhere in the middle. We do give gifts, just little expressions of our love. And we try to focus on becoming more loving to others, as well as trying to develop characteristics that make us more lovable.

This year we gave our daughter a beautiful red rose, to tell her that like the rose, she too is beautiful all year long and not just on this one day. My husband and I want her to know that she is special, that she is created in the image of Almighty God. And that she is a treasure to us. This is a turbulent time for her--those teenage years--when she is forming in her mind an idea of what true beauty looks like. We want her to know that it is so important to focus on being beautiful on the inside... of being conformed to Christ's image. We want her to find her beauty and her worth in Christ alone.

Don't we all need to know that? That what this world says about us doesn't matter. That despite what the media tells us, beauty and worth are not measured by our dress size, or by whether we are wearing the latest fashions. That we are created in the image of God, and that we are to reflect His glory... that's what true beauty is. If you are a daughter of the Most High King, then you are the apple of His eye! And that is beautiful. 

Pondering

Pondering God's wonderfully magnificent creation...

Marveling at His majestic creativity... how everything has an intricate design... how He weaves a beautiful tapestry of nature... just because He can.

Thanking Him for choosing to display His glory, His splendor in such a way that I can enjoy it... enjoy Him.

Reveling in the fact that He has chosen to reveal Himself to me... to make His glory known to me... to bathe me in His mercy and grace.

May you delight yourself in His glory and goodness this day. 

Simple Things

I just finished reading a friend's post over at At His Feet.... She has posted some pictures of her girls in a sunflower field. Simple things...that's what she talks about. How right she is! It is amazing how much joy we can glean from the simple things in life if we will only take the time. So many times I feel like I am rushed or on the go too much to truly appreciate life's little treasures (provided by God, of course).

Lately though, God has been speaking to my heart about this. You know from my previous posts how my children and I have been trying to make a little sanctuary in our backyard to attract birds. We have truly had a delightful spring and summer from that little bit of effort we put forth. We sit outside on the patio or at the kitchen table and watch the birds come to our feeders and birdbath. We keep a basket with bird guides and binoculars handy and when we see a different bird, we pull out that field guide and learn all about the bird. What joy we have found in this simple little act!

Another "simple" act we enjoy is just sitting outside with the puppies. They are so playful, we all sit and laugh just watching their antics...it's hilarious...and so good for us as a family. Laughter is good medicine...it bonds us together.

Another simple pleasure for me is a daily walk my husband and I take each evening down our dirt road. Sometimes the kids accompany us, sometimes it's just the two of us. And lately, the puppies have been tagging along. It's amazing how much joy I have received from just taking a walk! But really, it is more than a walk...the talks dh and I share...the flowers we see on the side of the road, the bugs we see (and try to identify, lol) scooting across our path, and lately the deer tracks that my husband stops and points out to me ("let me show you how to tell if it's a buck or a doe," he says). I don't know how much of our walk is truly exercise (lol), but I do know that it is definitely food for the soul.

God knows this, and He wants us to slow down and enjoy the simple things in life. It is His way of blessing us. I don't know about you, but I sure feel alot less stressed and alot more blessed when I use the eyes He gave me to enjoy the simple (yet amazing) beauty that is all around us.

Blessings!