Abigail's 4th Birthday

Abigail celebrated her 4th birthday last week. I cannot believe how my baby girl is no longer a baby. The Lord has truly blessed us. Click on the link below for memorable pictures of her special day. Enjoy!

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Oh No....Potty Training Time!

Recently, I made the decision that I needed to start potty training James before Noah (baby #4) arrives. I knew that James was ready because he knew when he went & did not like to stay in his mess. So, I planned it all out & got the supplies needed. That morning, Micah left for school & Brent went off to work at the church. So, James, Abbie & I went to the bathroom to start the "potty training." I took out a pull up, gave it to James and explained to him that he is a big boy & will now wear pull ups & go to the bathroom. He looked at me and said 'pull up for Micah, Jimmy wears diaper.' So, I thought..........minor stumbling block, we can get over that. Next, Abbie & I took turn showing James how to sit on the potty and then it was James' turn. My Jimmy looked at me, screamed 'no,' jumped off the potty and refused to come back in the bathroom. Now that is a major stumbling block......I knew that we could not move forward if he is afraid of the potty & won't even come in to the bathroom.

I know that  I've potty trained the other two kids, but I cannot remember all that I did then (pregnancy causes me to be very forgetful). I went online and looked for ways to help him with this fear. I even tried some of them (i.e. decorating the potty seat with his favorite stickers). Nothing was working. When my husband called that afternoon, I told him about my problem. He calmly said to me 'I can get him to sit on the potty.'  I am not a betting person, but I told him no way & I bet that he couldn't do it either. Later that evening and after family dinner, my husband picked up James and carried him off to the bathroom. I heard him telling James that he is a big boy now & that he needs to start using the potty. I heard James objecting and seconds later I heard the two of them singing. I thought no way! Minutes later, my husband walked back into the kitchen without James. I asked where is James....he replied proudly 'sitting on the potty.' I was dumbfounded.........I don't know how he did it, but I was and still am very thankful for my sweet husband. I am also very thankful to God for His wisdom. He instituted marriage because He understood that we needed one another. Where I may be weak my husband may be stronger and vice versa. I gladly lost a bet that day....but I sure wish that he would finish what he started with James and fully potty train him for me.

Pray for me as we continue on this journey of potty training. Take care!

Happy Potty Boy

Abbie posing with her little red hiding hood sweater (she wanted her picture taken since I was taking pictures of James).

Ladies Conference

This past weekend, I had the privilege to take three ladies to our 1st Deep South Ladies conference. Two of the ladies are members of our church and the other is a very good friend of mine, LaQuita Gresham, who lives in Mississippi. It was a great time of fellowship, even better, it was a spiritual refreshment. Our speaker was Mrs. Francie Taylor from Minnesota. She spoke on 'becoming a better sister friend', 'the virtous woman', 'ruling over your emotions' and 'the secret life.' She was a true blessing! I pray that I will have an opportunity to hear her again.

Here are a couple of pics from the conference:

The four of us with the guest speaker, Mrs. Taylor (pink & black in the middle)

The four of us

Check out her website www.keeptheheart.com You will enjoy it!

Many Firsts

This past month, I have experienced several 1st time experiences. I am so thankful for them and what the Lord has done through these experiences.

First Day Of School:

My oldest, Micah, had his 1st day of school last month. Like most moms, I had a very hard time with that. I couldn't believe that the time had come for me to let go of him just a little bit. I kept thinking of the day he was born. I am so used to having him under my watchcare all day long. However, the Lord reminded me that Micah is trult under His watchcare and will always be. Praise the Lord for that! Micah loves his school, his friends and his teacher and I know that the Lord is taking care of my baby.

My little girl, Abigail, also started school this month. My Abbie is different from my Micah. Micah LOVES to learn, Abbie on the other hand is not all that interested, though she is a very bright girl. We homeschool for about 1 1/2 hr on school days. Yet, on Abbie's 2nd day of school and after her 1st 10min. lesson, she looked up at me and said "is school over yet?" She is not in love with school like Micah, but she sure loves getting dressed for it because she getst to wear a uniform (thrift store shopping).

First Hurricane in New Orleans:

The Lord was so good to us. We do not pay much attention to the news like we should (I think). So, we did not know that a hurricane Isaac was heading our way till the Sunday prior to its arrival (2 days before). When we did, my husband decided to that we should leave that Monday after taking care of the church and making sure the people we are ministering are well.. The Lord blessed us and we went to Houston,Tx. We stayed with strangers to us but brother & sister in the Lord. We thank God for the Sloans...they are true servants of God. The Lord also took care of our church and home while we were away. We receive no water damage to both and were able to be in our home by Saturday evening and have church Sunday morning. God is so good to us!

First Baptismal Service

To make a long story very short, the Lord blessed CBC with a baptistery. We only had to pay the price of gas to pick it up in Marshall, TX. Then on the 9th of September, we were able to baptize 2 individuals into the membership of Crescent Baptist Church. We anticipate many more baptismal services in the near future. God is truly good to us. My husband and another member had plans to build a baptistery from scratch to save on money. I tell you the Lord is truly building His House at CBC ("Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it..." Ps. 127:1a).

Fishers Of Men!

This morning my husband decided to teach a lesson to the children that obedience to God produces the right fruit (out of John 15) during our family devotion. He went on to ask each child a question to get his point across....it went like this:

Dad: Micah, what kind of fruit will an apple tree have?

Micah: Apple

Dad: Abigail, what kind of fruit will an orange tree have?

Abigail: Orange

Dad: Now, what kind of fruit will a follower of Jesus have?

Micah (with much enthusiasm): Fish                                     

 He was so very proud of his answer and all we could do was laugh. We knew that he was thinking of the song "I Will Make You Fishers Of Men." I sure love the way children think...so very simple!

Givens Summer Update!

I am not a great blogger. It would be easier to blog while my kids are napping or late at night, but I find it to be the time to fold laundry, clean house, etc. So, I'll try to update you on all that has taken place in our lives these past several weeks and of course with some pics. We left at the end of June to go to Virginia to attend the Conference Of Evangelizing Black America (COEBA  - www.coeba.org) and for my hubby to stand before an ordination council. Part of me was hoping that it would be somewhat of a vacation because of all that we had to do to prepare for the trip, but it was not so. It was hard for us to leave the work and go away for any amount of time. Yet, it was a busy and purposeful-filled trip. The conference was great and a blessing. Pastor Bud Calvert preached a wonderful message to encourage the hearts of all in the ministry. Pastor Micheal Baldwin also preached a phenomenal message titled "Breaking Your Box" - whatever your box may be. There were many other messages that blessed my heart.

The last day of the conference, my husband stood in front of a dozen of pastors for 2 1/2 hours answering questions. I thought it would never end and was on the edge of my seat the whole time. The Lord blessed....the council recommended him to be ordain and I am thankful to God for His goodness. That chapter of our lives is now over and we are so thankful for that.

The Lord also saw it fit to allow our youngest James to turn "2". I'm not sure what to say about that, I cannot say that he is becoming a "big boy" because he is a big 2 year old (lol). I cannot say that I must prepare myself for the terrible twos because there's no terrible twos with James....he is just James (those of you who know him will understand what I mean)!  I am sure glad thankful to God that he is well, healthy & active little boy. He is a comedian and loves to perform. Yet, he can be the sweetest little boy (especially with his hugs and kisses). I am thankful for all my rugrats. Speaking of all my rugrats, well, the Lord has also decided to bless us with another little one....#4. I cannot believe that He is this good to us. When I think of the the number of women who want to be a mom, I am speechless on God's goodness to our family. My concern now is which prayer will God answer....Micah is praying for a baby boy & Abbie is praying for a baby girl.

By the way, the Lord blessed the work in our absence. We are now averaging an attendance of 16 (including in our absence). We are also seeing souls saved in the services. Please continue to pray for us. We have many needs, but one major need is for a portable baptistery. We know the Lord will take care of His children and His work! We also returned to NOLA with a young man (Zechariah Butts) who is here to help us for a couple weeks. He has been an enormous blessing to us, especially my husband. In addition, the Lord has added a young family (Aaron & Vivian Smith) to our church. God is so good and knows just what we need. I'll tell you more about them at another time.

Well, here are some pics from these past few weeks. Enjoy!
 

Saw my li'l brother, Jacques, on our way to Virginia

Kids with Uncle & Auntie Cindy

At Chuck-E-Cheese for James' birthday

Eating cupcakes for James birthday on the streets of Norfollk, VA

Micah (white & blue) singing in COEBA Kids - Past. Kenny Baldwin leading.

Football lover & cowboy James doing some serious thinking.

The Givens & Leakes Kids (friends from Oklahoma)

 

Two special princesses, Hannah Leake & My Abbie

Friend Shamica, son Vincent, my Abbie & I at dinner

Laying of the hands/prayer at Ordination Service

Talk to ya another time....

Micah!

My oldest, Micah, just had another birthday. I cannot believe that my firstborn is now "5". However, this was not the most wonderful thing that happened to Micah recently. On Friday, June 1st, he prayed and asked God to save him. Praise The Lord! It all started a few days prior when he started praying daily asking God to save him so he can go to heaven. That Friday, we sat him down and asked him a few questions to see if he understood salvation. At the end, Brent and I realized that Micah just didn't know what to do next. So, we asked him if he wanted to pray and asked God to save him and he replied "yes." The day following his salvation, he came to me and said proudly "mommy, my name, my name is written in the song book of life! M-I-C-A-H is is in the book of life." I truly believe that the Lord is going to do something great in his life, please pray for my young little man!

Here are some recent pics of the kids including Micah's birthday:

The boys at church

Kiddos at the aquarium

The Givens family

Feeding the birds

Silly pic

Movie night after the aquarium

Blowing out his candle

Enjoying the cupcake

Abbie is really enjoying it.

Its obvious James had a little bite.

My babies...

Hope you enjoyed & please continue to pray for us. Take care!