Happy Mother's Day!

I found this story online and wanted to share it with you all...

Tug-O-War
-Author Unkown

A family of three moved to the coast and bought a house on the beach. The only child of this family, really enjoyed snorkeling, so he went out with his friends shortly after the family moved in. The children were swimming and playing, and had no idea of the beast that lurked beneath the water.

Suddenly a 450 pound alligator grabbed the young boy and pulled him underwater. As the other children ran screaming to safety, several neighbors came outside to see what was wrong. Just as the child's mother arrived, she saw her son briefly break free of the alligator. He was racing as fast as he could to safety as his mother reached out for him. He was almost to shore, but the alligator was faster and was gaining on the boy quickly.

Just as the mother reached out and took her son's hand, the alligator grabbed his leg. At this point a tug-o-war began between the mother and the alligator. Finally, the adrenaline in this mother won, and she pulled the boy free of the alligator's jaws. The boy had several lacerations on his head and leg, and had broken many bones in his leg.

These wounds healed, but the boy would never forget the incident.

But when he told his story, he didn't show the scar on his leg or his head where the 450 pound alligator had attacked him. He showed the scars on the back of his hand, where his 95 pound mother had drawn blood with her fingernails pulling him to safety.

This story made me think that the devil and the world is after our children just like this alligator. We (as moms & dads) must fight with all that we have for them (with love & nails)!

                            Happy Mother's Day!!!

The Lord Must Build The House!

I cannot help myself, but I must brag on how God has been good to us. Psalm 127: 1 says "Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it:" God has been so good to us these past few weeks. Just a quick overview:

-Week 1 - Bro. Butler (from our home church) came down & blessed us with an 8-passenger van.

- Week 2 - Pastor Sebrell (home pastor) came for a visit & was a great encouragement to us. That week we had the greatest attendance in our Wed. night service (14).

-Week 3 - Lord blessed us with a building to rent (not the neighborhood we thought, but in the neighborhood where He wants us to minister).

We spent the next weeks preparing the building. We receive help from our dear friends, LaQuita & Daniel. Pastor Jackson & his wife, Mandy, from Metairie also came to help us in the project. We also receive lots of church items from different churches. Then this past Sunday, we had our 1st morning service. God answered my prayers and blessed us with 5 new visitors and that evening 1 soul was saved. Amen & praise the Lord!!!! I am so excited... God has shown us once again He is at work & this is His house He is building. All things in His timing.

Here are some pics (we accidentally lost some of our pics, this is all that I have):

Church Van

Preparing to paint!

Setting up chairs

Setting up nursery

Sanctuary 1

Sanctuary 2

Nursery

Pastor Givens

Attendees on 1st service

Nursery kids

New convert

Hope you enjoyed...talk to you later!

Me A Teacher?!

As I mentioned in my last post, I was asked about a month ago if I could step in for a kindergarten teacher at a nearby christian school. Well, these past couple weeks God has allowed me the opportunity to teach 12 little 4 & 5 year olds (including Micah). Through this experience, God has given to me a better appreciation for teachers and for the moms who have to work outside the home. With that, I have also learned a few things about kindergarteners that may help you if you ever have to travel down this road:
1. Be ready for tears, tears & more tears...tears over scratches, tears because I don't understand my work, tears because I want my mommy, etc.
2. Make sure your hair is always in place and not sticking up or it will be a major distraction during an important lesson.
3. Be ready for potty accidents, at least once or twice a week.
4. Never call them babies (I heard one say "did she just say line up, babies!").
5. Always, always, take several steps back from a little one who tells you "I'm not feeling well" with a hand covering his mouth or you might be covered in vomit!!

These are just a few things I have learned in the past few weeks. Please pray for me as I continue on for a little while longer in this adventure the Lord has allowed me have. Pray for my family as well during this journey. Lastly, please continue to pray for the Crescent Baptist Church....for the new converts and for a place to meet. We are still excited and encouraged here in NOLA....

Great Encouragement!

This past weekend was a great encouragement to me and my family. We had the Greshams (LaQuita & Daniel) spend the weekend with us. We know LaQuita from Heartland and they live about 1hr away. They were such a blessing to us. God knew that we needed that...it has been a little tough these past few weeks. It was just nice to fellowship with good godly friends. We laughed quite a bit this weekend and had a few heart to heart conversations. We also went out in the rain (just a little) and distributed at least 400 tracts on Saturday. That is hard for us to do in one week let alone in one day. That was a BIG blessing to us. Our children enjoyed them as well. Micah calls Mr. Daniel, James' friend...because James loves him. I am so thankful to God for giving us friends and knowing what we need and when we need it.

BTW: Please pray for me. I will be substituting in a kindergarten class soon (when the teacher goes into labor) at a nearby christian school.

Beyond My Expectation Once Again!

I'm sure you've heard me say this before, but, we have been holding Bible study in our home since the end of January (I think). Well, we started off with 3 people, then 4, then 2. It went back up to 4 and then dropped down to 1. That following service, it was just us. Boy that was hard! Then for the following services, it was us except for one other time when we had 1. Part of me started getting used to it being us and hearing my kiddos ask me if anyone is coming to "our church" tonight. I would reply the same thing "we pray that someone will come." I would tell them that, but not truly believing that the Lord will bless. So this past Monday and Tuesday, we were at a conference in Baton Rouge during Mardi Gras celebration in NOLA. Our time there was what we needed...a great encouragement to us. One of the message that spoke to me was out of Judges 20 on not allowing your handicap stop you in the work of God. In vs 16, the 700 Benjamite didn't allow their lefthanded handicap stop them from going out to battle. You might be thinking...what does this have to do with your Bible study? Well, I know that I have some handicaps (i.e. excuses) that I have allowed to keep me from doing all that I can for the Lord. That Wednesday, Brent set out to go pick up people who have said that they would come as usual and as always I asked him to call if he picks up someone. We knew that there was a great possibility (80%) that one would come. I started doubting as I've done before, then I decided to go ask the Lord and believing Him for at least that one person to come. Brent didn't call me, so I called him. When he picked up the phone, he said "I just picked up Larry and I am on my way to someone else's house." I thought "praise the Lord, thank you for answering my prayer!"  The story does not end here. When Brent returned home, he walked in with 3 other people behind him. The Lord blessed once again beyond my expectation!! It was a great service and the message was just what we all needed.

A Heritage & Reward!

Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. Ps. 127:3

In the ministry (though quite a babe in it), it is so very easy to get so busy that you forget to make intentional time for your most important responsibility...your children! There are so many couples out there wanting to have children but the Lord have chosen otherwise. Brent and I have been blessed to have the opportunity to raise up a heritage for the Lord...and we do not want to loose sight of that. Like so many have said...they are only this young for such a short time.

For that reason, we have purposely set aside one night a week to have a family night. We had our 1st family night last Friday. It was awesome and fun. We made individual pizzas (the kids now love helping in the kitchen), watch an old movie about a dog name "Benji" (some of you can remember Benji) and then we all snuggled in our bed together. What a night it was! Although, Brent & I did not sleep well or comfortably that night....the kids had a great and memorable time. Micah asked me the next morning if we can do it again...I replied "not for a long time baby". May God give me grace when that time comes once again...

Here are a few pics from Family pizza making Night...(if you have any idea of fun and inexpensive things to do such as this one, feel free to pass it on).

The making of their indiv pizza with Daddy

Micah & Abbie's pizza - before going into the oven

Micah is pleased with the result & ready to eat.

Abbie shared hers with Jimmy

.

Jimmy was so hungry that he stuffed the pieces in his mouth.

This past Wednesday, we also had a sweet visit with the Newburger family (know them from HBBC). Our kids are about the same age and they had such a great time together. Here is a pic of the kiddos at the end of the visit, close to nap time (some need the nap time more than others - per pic).

Micah, Taylor, Maggie, Abbie, James & Hudson (not in pic)

Hope you take lots (quantity) special (quality) time to enjoy your kiddos...talk to ya later.

Her First Date!

My baby girl went on her first date today. I shared with her the day before that she will be going on her first date tomorrow after nap time (lol). She was so excited and would not stop talking about it. When she woke up from her nap today, that was the first thing on her mind. We went up to her room to pick out an outfit and it only took two outfits to agree to one, but it took 4 pairs of shoes to finally agree on one. The main shoe contender was her Dora sneakers. She believes she can wear them with any outfit. When her date arrive, she ran to tell her brothers bye and went downstairs to meet him. Just like most date, the date didn't go perfectly. Yet, when she came home, she told me how she had so much fun on her date with her favorite man....her Daddy!

Posing before her date.

Abbie going on her first date with her Daddy!

I am so thankful to God for a husband who takes the time to make little moments like this so very special in our little ones eyes,