Recruiting Warriors

Job Title: Prayer Warrior ("Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God" Philippians 4:6)

Qualifications: Personal relationship with Jesus Christ Calloused knees Be a righteous person (proverbs 15:29)

Job description: Applicant needs to be committed to pray fervently and without ceasing(1 Thess 5:17). They need to believe that their prayers have been heard (Psalms 6:9). To pray with thanksgiving and in faith.

Should you choose to accept this position you will be joining an organisation that has existed since before the beginning of time. Retirement benefits are excellent including full housing and health care.

Recently my Dad has been diagnosed with cancer. As you might expect it was a shock to our family. I personally responded with an attitude of lets just get that out. I tried to convince my Dad that his only option was surgery and radiation. My Dad has chosen to treat his cancer with alternative therapy including prayer. My parents are both believers and feel strongly in the power of prayer. After much research and lengthy discussions with Dad, I have come to a place where I support him in his treatment decisions. So now all that is left to do is pray. I ask that anyone that reads this will pray for my Dad. Pray for healing, for wisdom and for strength.

We know many others who are struggling with cancer or the effects of it. I ask that you would also please pray for our friends John and Tamara as they are going through a really tough time right now.

Daddy's Baby Girl - Mommy's Little Pixie

Just had to Share

I just have to share a funny Josiah story:

Last night after dinner Josiah says, "Hey Dad. Come play with me." Greg gets into the room to play with him and Josiah looks at him with a very serious expression and says, "Now, we can play rough, but if you hurt this arm again I will have to knock you out!"

Got to love boys!

Never a Dull Moment

Christmas was wonderful. New Year was tiring and this last weekend was relaxing. Monday was one last day of fun at home with Mommy for Josiah. We spent the day at the zoo because who knew it could be 70 degrees in January. We had a great time. The day was just wrapping up with Mommy at the computer updating some files and Josiah and Daddy playing superheros in the other room. Life was peaceful and I had been rescued several times by Batman and Concrete man. How fun it is to hear them play. Until of course I hear a screech and them uncontrollable crying.
Josiah very seldom complains of pain. He and Daddy were wrestling and somehow Josiah hurt his elbow. He would not stop screaming in pain. So, what could a mother do? I scooped him up and ended up at Urgent Care. Several x-rays later and several bouts of blood curdling screaming, the Dr declares Josiah is fine and should go to school on Tuesday. "These things have a way of seeming so much better when friends are around," he says.
After a very restless and pain filled night I, like any other great Mom, send my poor baby to school. I tell his teacher he is probably fine and to call me if he is in too much pain.
I pick him up from school at the regular time. Josiah says his arms is still hurting and his teacher tells me that he hasn't used it all day. He held his right arm at his side all day and refused to move it. Any time I touched it he screamed and cried. After lunch and several phone calls to Greg and my parents I scoop him up once more and go back to Urgent Care (the same Dr was going to be there). The Dr. takes one look at him and sends us to the Pediatric Orthopedic doctor in town. We spent 3 hours there waiting to be seen. Another round of blood curdling x-rays, a twist and a turn of the elbow from the Dr. and Josiah is now sporting a beautiful blue cast. Yes it is broken! Don't I feel like Mother of the Year!

Happy New Year - Wii had a blast!

New Year's Eve came and went in a flash and now we are paying the price for a really late night or should I say early morning. We spent the day cleaning and shopping and peparing for a fairly low key get together at our house. We invited a couple of our friends and family for dinner and an evening of Wii playing. Thanks Chris and Laura for providing the entertainment.
Early in the afternoon we tried to get Josiah to take a nap in preparation for his friends being here in the evening. This is something we fight about daily. He did not sleep and was wired at 6pm when everyone showed up. This along with plenty of sugar kept him going for a very long time. Can you say energiser bunny?
We had a spagetti dinner, lots of chocolate dessert and then settled in for a night of competition. We started off with bowling which as far as video games goes was pretty simple. We all bowled a little better than we ordinarily would which was a nice start to the games. I think the funniest game we played was cow racing. It was hard and hillarious. A big hit with the kids was boxing. I think it was a good alternative to the real boxing games Josiah and Max play on a regular basis. Everyone that was here last night agrees that everyone needs a Wii game in their home. It's way more fun than any video game should be and it's even possible to get a small workout while doing it. At 1am when everyone left we found Josiah passed out on our bed. He had only been there for about 10 minutes. Here are some pictures to enjoy.

Merry Christmas

Christmas was so much fun this year. Josiah is at the age where everything is new and exciting. This year for the first time in many years we made cookies. Josiah helped of course. We made a cookie that is so rich even Greg could only eat one at a time. It is Oreo cookies mixed with cream cheese and dipped in chocolate. They were good!
We spent many conversations debating Santa or no Santa. Greg and I finally decided that we would go a ahead and do Santa. Some good friends of ours gave us a Santa's cookie making kit on the Sunday before Christmas and we put it to good use. Thanks Laura for the yummy cookie recipe. The three of us had so much fun making and decorating the cookies. I think we will do this every year.
Christmas eve was spent at Greg's parent's house this year. After a wonderful dinner the children exchanged gifts. Josiah and Leah were so excited they could not contain themselves. A funny Josiah story: He has been telling us that he wants to play the guitar. we have in turn been telling him that we thought it would be a good idea to learn to play piano first. Grandma got Josiah a play guitar for Christmas and one of the first things Josiah said was, "Mom, I told you I didn't have to play the piano first!"
When we got home from Grandma's house we put out cookies and milk for Santa. The next morning Josiah was so surprised to find that the glass was empty and the cookies gone. In their place were presents under the tree. It was great to see the expression on his face. Watching open his gifts was so much fun for me. He was excited about every single thing he got. We could not get him to sit still for even a minute to eat any breakfast because he was too busy bouncing from one new thing to another.
Christmas day Greg's parents came over for lunch and brought a seminary couple who was not able to go home for Christmas with them. We had a grand time.

One if by Land, Two if by Sea

Last week Tuesday Greg and I left for a 4 day break in Boston. Actually, Greg was at a conference and I went with him. We arrived late Tuesday night and after dinner we went to sleep.

Wednesday morning Greg had to be at his conference to register by 7am. After registering he returned to the room and ordered room service breakfast for me. I ate breakfast in bed then got an hour or so more shut eye (unheard of at home!). I got out of bed around 9am, showered and then strolled along the canal for about an hour. The time alone was so peaceful. I had time to think, pray and read my Bible uninterrupted! After a quick lunch at the food court at the mall across the street I went over to the Science Museum. I have a membership to the Science Museum in Louisville, so I was able to get in free. The afternoon at the museum was so much fun. I had forgotten that I could enjoy just being alone. I went to see a talk on stem cell research that was very informative, I saw the largest Van de Graaf generator in the world at work and I saw a presentation on making weather. I also spent an hour in the math room. Greg was surprised by this. By the time I got back to the room at 4:30pm I was tired. I rested for an hour and then Greg and I went to Quincey Market for dinner. Getting around on the T was a piece of cake. We got back to the hotel at 9:30 and both of us were exhausted.

Thursday I met my friend Deb, who now lives in Massachusetts for a couple of hours. We got manicures and went for lunch. Right at lunch time the snow began to fall. By 1pm it was really coming down and we were supposed to be getting about 7 inches in the next several hours. Debbie decided to take off early so that she did not get stuck in the snow. A wise decision I think. I had a 5 minute walk from the train station to the hotel and was the ground was completely covered by the time I got there. I spent the entire afternoon in bed watching TV and napping. Oh how glorious that was. And by the way, I didn't have to watch anything that had a cartoon in it. By the time Greg was done with his conference there was 4-6 inches of snow on the ground. We decided to eat at the Cheesecake Factory across the street even though it broke Greg's rule (no eating at chain restaurants when in Boston!) Back to the room to watch Survivor - yes I am addicted.

Friday Greg had the day off. We met up with Deb and Pete and toured Boston. We had so much fun seeing the sights. First we went to the Prudential building observation deck to get the lay of the land. After that we went to the North end for lunch at the authentic Italian area of town. My only request for lunch was good seafood. Pete delivered! I had the most awesome seafood risotto. It had clams, mussels, scallops, shrimp and risotto and it was goooood. I don't know what everyone else had - all I know is mine was good. After lunch we followed the Freedom trail. Visited Paul Reveres house and the Old North Church. We had to go into the gift shop to find the story of Paul Revere, since I didn't know all the details and needed an American history lesson. We bought pastries at Mikes Pastry shop and then took a train to Harvard Square. We bought hot chocolate at the Harvard bookstore and ate our dessert. By the time our sweet treats were gone it was time for Pete and Deb to head back on the commuter train home. Greg and I went back to the hotel for an evening of laying around. We arrived back home late Saturday night and while the time away was grand we are glad to be back to our routine and home cooking.