prayer pager

I was reading the Hay's Family blog tonight and noticed that Ira now has a prayer pager. I called it tonight and it was really neat to think about Joe or Laura, whom I've never met, riding the Subway or something all the way in New York City receiving the page.

Here is part of what Joe had to say:

So the pager arrived today. The toll free number is 866.240.0163. You'll hear Ann's voice prompting you to leave your zip code. Once you do that, stay on the line to hear the concluding message and we'll get the buzz

Just thought you might be interested. I've linked their blog above if you'd like to read what else Joe had to say about it.

fevers & tagging

I haven't posted in awhile. Well, for some people Sunday 'til Friday without posting isn't that long, but for me it is. I've had a sick child this week who missed 3 days of school due to fever. She hasn't really felt too bad, but the fever causes her to need to miss school.

We already had a doctor's appointment scheduled because of her frequent complaints about headaches. The fever was also on our list of topics while we were there. After getting a Zrytec prescription (possible allergies causing the headaches) and a "viral" explanation (which I hate) for the fever, we left with a doctor's excuse for missing school and a "Come back Monday if the fever's still there." She has felt cooler today. I've decided I'm not even going to take her temperature anymore unless she feels really hot or feels really bad because I found myself taking it too often and driving myself crazy. Each thermometer would say something different and each time it would say something different even if it was just moments later.

Out of curiosity, what kind of thermometer do you rely on most often? (for a 5 year old & an 18 month old) What do you really consider a "stay at home" temperature....anything above 98.6 or do you allow for a little higher? When I asked, he said, "If it's above 101, no school." So does that mean if it's 99.5 or 100, she could still go? She had around 99.8 Wednesday night so we kept her home Thursday because of the "24 hours fever free" rule. She ran around 99.4, 99.5 part of that day. Thursday night, it shot up to 101.6 around 10:30 so that ruled out school again for today. *sigh* It about broke our hearts yesterday morning when she cried about wanting to go to school. I'm so thankful for a child who loves learning & her school so much, but it's heartbreaking to not let her go when she basically felt fine.

Anyway....

I've been tagged by Hope. This is just an interesting little thing to do. It was fun to go back through some of the old posts I've written. It didn't take much brain power and time and that's the kind of post I needed right now.

The Rules:


1. Go into your archive.

2. Find your 23rd post.

3. Find the fifth sentence.

4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions.

5. Tag 7 other people to do the same.


Here is my sentence:

*He is so sweet about writing little notes and sending me e-cards so I have special things to read while he's at work.

This is from our "Anniversary post."

Here are the people I tag:

1.) Kate
2.) Alissa
3.) Tracy (TMK)
4.) Kristin
5.) Malia
6.) Mandy (MDM)
7.) Elizabeth

Kids are color blind

I'm so thankful that kids are color blind. I wish the rest of the world was as much so. Since the beginning of the year, when Gracie describes classmates, she's proven her blindness to color. When talking about little girls in her class, she'll use descriptions such as "She's the one with the dark hair who has 1 braid on one side and 1 braid on the other side" or "She has light hair." She never mentions the color of their skin.

Tonight at Life Group, I heard a wonderful interaction between Gracie and one of her little friends who happens to be a different color. They were talking about a doll that they both have named "Annabelle." She's a baby doll that cries and coos and sucks her bottle & pacifier noisily. Quite the sophisticated baby doll. (She was the special gift that Gracie got when Katie was born.) I was putting a cd in to play music while they played with the toys and I heard them talking. It went something like this:

friend: "Oh, Annabelle! I have her, too. She's brown though."

Gracie: "Oh. This one's white."

That was it. It was all said so matter of factly. No question of which was better or even a question of why one was brown and one was white. It simply doesn't matter to them and I'm so thankful for that!

Dear Lord,
Thank you for our sweet innocent children. I think You must surely use them often to teach us lessons and I pray that we will learn from them.
In Jesus' Name,
Amen

allergies or something more?

Gracie & I are home this morning. She said, "I don't really feel like going to church this morning." This is extremely uncharacteristic for her. This is the girl who cried just last Wednesday when I told her she wasn't going to church because she needed to get to bed early because of not feeling well earlier in the day. I asked her about school tomorrow and she even acted like she didn't want to go there if she didn't start to feel better. I teased her that maybe she just shouldn't go to school anymore at all. She replied, "Well, I want to when I get better."

She has been complaining of a headache on & off for a couple of weeks now. Her throat has been bothering her some as well. No fever, though. For the most part, she's been acting like she feels okay other than the occasional complaint & "pouty" episode. Yesterday, we had a church picnic and were outside in the heat for quite a few hours. She got rather "wilted" while we were there. She does not handle heat well.

I was really hoping that she'd wake up this morning and feel fine. I wasn't even going to ask her how her throat felt because I figured if it felt bad, she'd let us know. She did. She doesn't really act like she feels too bad. She's been smiling and laughing, etc. She wanted to have "church at home." If she stays home from church at any time for being sick, unless she's deathly ill in the bed, she wants to have "church at home." We'll read a Bible story and pray and color, etc.

This morning, the first story we did was "The Wise Man & Foolish Man." I tried to explain the metaphor to my very literal 5 year old. I described how we're supposed to build our lives on God & Jesus and follow them. If we don't, then that's like building our lives on the sand. She said, "But we don't even live near any sand."

Alrighty. Maybe she doesn't get it quite yet, but she's gettin' there! LOL

One of us is going to take her in to the doctor this afternoon. We really think it's mostly allergies but with having the headache for so many weeks, even on & off and now having the sore throat, I'd like to get it checked out. Even if means another $20 co-pay. *sigh*

We're supposed to host Life Group tonight, so that may be changed. If it's just allergies, we'll still host. If it's something else, we won't. We don't want to infect anyone else (any more than we already did by having her at the picnic yesterday!) We had invited some new friends from the neighborhood to come to LG tonight, so I'd hate to have Chris meet them at the door with directions to someone else's house. The chances of them going, especially knowing that they'd be late, are slim, but I don't have their phone number to call them and I'm not sure which house they live in and the other lady I don't even know if she lives right around here. (I met them through school and one of them opened up to me about "looking for something" so I invited her then she told another lady who was very interested as well. Talk about an opportunity to invite someone to Life Group!)

We sent Chris & Katie off this morning with a "Be good for Daddy, Katie!" We'll see how that goes. That sweet girl is at the age where she lasts in church for all of 20 minutes on a good day. In our small congregation, having a nursery attendant is hit & miss, although it has been more hit than miss lately, thankfully. Chris is leading singing, so he was going to try to find someone (probably our minister's wife) to hold her while he did that.

Dear Lord,
Please let Gracie be okay. It is so stressful for me to have my children not feel well. I want a diagnosis and a plan to remedy the problem. Please help this to be just allergies so won't have to worry about something serious or worry about infecting any other children. In Jesus' Name, Amen

Ira Lester Hays

I would encourage you to watch the video of Ira Lester Hay's first few months of life. Only watch it if you are prepared to shed some tears. Honestly, it puts things in perspective. I've been a little worried lately about Gracie's head hurting and her throat hurting. I worry about Katie getting another cold. These things are nothing compared to what Ira and his family are going through.

I read The Hay's family blog often but saw a note about this movie on Kristen's blog today. I knew Joe had mentioned making this movie a few days ago. I'm glad he decided to share it.

Dear Lord,
Please be with Ira. Heal him, please. Be with his parents and his big sister as they, I'm sure, are struggling. Hold him in Your arms and comfort them all.
In Jesus' Name, Amen

school improvement meeting

I need to vent a little........

I went to a Title I school improvement meeting tonight run by the principal. *sigh* It's quite overwhelming. We looked at last year's test scores which were pretty good. We talked about our ideas for improvement within the school. One of the main things we talked about was how in the world to get more parents involved. Any ideas from out there in blogland?

Did I mention that there were only 5 parents in attendance? 5. only 5. The school has approximately 700 students which equates to about 400 families. That's a rather silly statistic don't you think? 5 out of 400.

So much of the success of children in education boils down to the involvement of the parents! We brainstormed ways to get more of them involved. We talked about things we might want to talk to the school board about as far as building improvements, etc. I won't get into all of that. Let's just say that our buildings need lots of work and other projects in the district are taking precedence. I could tell the principal was already a little upset over this and she got us kind of "riled up" about it then suggested that if parents would go to the school board it might help. I could tell she was trying to give us the hint that it might mean more coming from parents than from her. Not a bad strategy on her part.

I may have talked myself into running a PTA program. The PTA president happened to be there. I didn't know she was the president. I figured it out when I started making a little critical comment about the PTA. *oops* I made a comment about wanting to be involved but not knowing what to do. I had signed up for PTA but didn't know about meetings, etc. Another lady backed me up on my confusion over some of that. She started telling me about this big family night thing they like to do and how she hasn't been able to find anyone to run it, etc. hmmmm Could there be a reason for that? Is it a yucky job? I told her to email me about it. I do want to be involved. I'll think about it. I want to know what I'm getting into before I commit to running a program.

One of the moms there was so cynical sounding about things. I didn't like that. Apparently, she doesn't like her child's teacher. She made that pretty clear. I said something about getting some papers sent home in Gracie's folder about signing up for things. She waved her hand dismissively and said, "Oh. That's Kindergarten. You're in your own little world there." As if to say that in the older grades it's much less "hand holding" blah, blah, blah. I just looked at her and said, "And I'm enjoying it while I'm there." I mean, come on. I know the teachers aren't going to do as much for the kids in the older grades, I used to teach the older grades~I know this!, but don't try to burst my bubble for being happy with where my child is!

This same lady said something about her child's teacher telling her that she didn't like parent volunteers. It's too much work. I said that Gracie's teacher has everything lined out for me to do when I go and is very organized. A different mom said, "Well, that's because your teacher doesn't sleep!" I said, "Well, that's good for my child!" Again, don't try to burst my bubble because I'm happy with Gracie's teacher. One of the moms did follow up with, "She's a good teacher." She does such an excellent job and give 105%. That's a good thing! My friend Kate used to tease at the beginning at the year that maybe she doesn't really "have a life." We found out she's engaged so she decided that she must have one! lol

Anyway. It's just so overwhelming to think of all the things we could do to improve the schools. Don't get me wrong. We have been very happy with this school and Gracie's experience in Kindergarten these first almost 2 months, but when I go to one of these kinds of meetings where they're asking for improvement suggestions, I guess I should be prepared to hear about things that need improvement which would suggest that I'll hear some complaining. right?

I just wish I had "bookoos" of money to give to make some of the "physical" improvements. I also wish I could get every parent to be involved. I wish everyone could be as happy with their child's teacher as we are. I wish every child was as excited to go to school as Gracie is. I wish things were "fair" throughout schools.

Dear Lord, Please help Chris & I to be involved in such a way that we can make a difference. Please help us not to be overwhelmed but to look to you, take a deep breath, and jump in where we can to help Gracie's school to be successful. Please help me to have a good attitude! In Jesus' Name, Amen

See You at the Pole went great!

"See You at the Pole" went great! We had about 50 people in attendance.

Yesterday when I dropped Gracie off at school, there was a large professional sign posted on the marquee in the back parking lot where people do carline. I was surprised to see it and wondered who had put it there. I had passed out a few flyers I'd "homemade" on my computer but had done nothing professional like this sign.

This morning we showed up around 7:00 and there were already quite a few people gathered. There was this other couple who looked to be "in charge." I had prepared my husband, Chris, to be in charge if noone else seemed to be, but apparently these people were ready to get it started.....which was fine with us!

They had sheets printed with the words to some songs and we all sang together. There were probably about 7 or 8 different people who prayed throughout the time we were there. A couple were planned, then at the end it was opened up to anyone. Chris did actively participate in that part.

Afterwards, we talked to the man who was in charge and we all agreed that we need to do this every year. As far as he knew, it was the first year to be done at this school which we thought as well. His wife had gotten the professional sign made.

I do have to admit something. This is hard for me to admit out loud here because some may think badly of me but one thing I've learned in reading blogs is that people are usually very open & honest when writing them. In what I consider to be my conservative upbringing, there was a time when I would have been uncomfortable singing along with a guitar and praying with people who I'm pretty sure don't share my every belief on every subject. However, as I'm maturing I'm realizing that some things are just okay. I still consider myself to be quite conservative and I wouldn't probably feel comfortable with instruments when I worship at church and I probably don't agree with all of those people on some faith issues, but I can gather with them to pray for our children and their teachers and their school and I am so thankful to God for all of these people who love God and want to seek his protection for their children.

Dear Lord, Thank you for all of the people who gathered today to pray for our children, their teachers, and their school. Please be present in our public schools. Some say you can't be there, but we know you are there anyway! Thank you for that! Please be with all of the teachers and administrators at Gracie's school as they work to teach the children. Please keep the children safe & mold their minds into what you want them to be!

not 'til I'm married

We hosted life group at our house tonight. Gracie and one of her little boy friends (I'll call him "Phil") were spending quite a bit of time back in her room. She doesn't play with this friend very often other than at church and I've heard stories about him trying to kiss one of his little girlfriends so I was kind of keeping an eye on them to make sure the door was kept open. I just had this feeling that I needed to do this.

After everyone left and she went to get her p.j's on, I noticed she was kind of quiet and acted upset. I honestly just thought she was upset that she had to go to bed. I asked her what was wrong. She said, "Phil asked if we could draw but he didn't." I explained to her that there were so many things he wanted to do that he probably just couldn't decide. Gracie is the type who will sit down for long periods of time to read and draw. I don't think "Phil" is this type of child.

I kept asking her if anything was bothering her. Then, it came out. She said, "He kept telling me to kiss him."

*gasp!*

Part of me wanted to laugh and part of me wanted to cry. I said, "What did you do?" She replied, "I told him not unless I'm married." (Yes, yes, we have told her that she can't kiss a boy until she's married. Perhaps it's a little white lie, but I don't want her to start kissing boys! One day we'll explain it in more detail.) I asked her what else he said and she said, "He said he wouldn't come back anymore if I wouldn't." I asked her what she said and she said, "I told him I couldn't."

Okay, at this point I was so busy hugging her and kissing her and telling her how proud I was of her that I couldn't help but laugh a little, too. I had to be careful though because if she thinks we're laughing at her, she gets very offended and will begin crying.

So then Daddy came in and I had to recap the story for him. He was also very proud of her and winked at me over her shoulder. Of course then he said, "And you were worried about public school?!?" because this boy goes to our church and attends the Christian school we considered for Gracie to go to.

Now, I'm not so naive as to think that she will really wait until she's married to kiss a boy, but we're very proud of her for doing the right thing as far as we've taught her.

Also, don't think I'm condemning "Phil" either. He's only 5. It was just a great example of how Gracie is listening to us and learning and obeying. I know it won't always be quite so easy, but I can hope, right?!?!

Now Katie........what was she doing while all of this "almost kissing" was going on with Gracie? She was chasing her friend Bryson all over the house! You've never heard such squealing and giggling....from both of them! They were truly big buddies tonight! She may be the one asking for the kisses in a couple of years! Oh, the difference in these 2 girls of ours! We love them both!

Dear Lord,
Thank you once again for Gracie and her sweet heart and spirit of obedience. Help us to teach her the things we need to. Please keep her safe. Please be with Katie as well and help us to be the kind of parents she needs. Thank you for her spirit of energy! In Jesus' Name, Amen

May they grow to be women of God

After Katie was born, I bought a cd that quickly became my all time favorite in the lullaby category. You know how listening to mere seconds of a song can shoot you back in time & give you a sense of de ja vu? Well, this cd does that for me. It shoots me back to when Katie was a "just born baby" and I'd sit in the rocker nursing her.

After Katie had gone to sleep listening to the cd for a few weeks or so, Gracie asked if she could have a turn listening to it while she went to sleep. She had been listening to it some while it was on in Katie's room and had listened to me singing the songs (and had even begun singing one herself) and she decided she needed to have a turn with it. I readily agreed as I was anxious not to leave her out during those first few months of having a new baby in the house, and I thought it was sweet how she picked up on how this was a special cd. Even now that Katie is 18 months old, we still find the cd floating back & forth between their cd players.

As I was walking down the hallway tonight, I checked on Katie and made sure she was breathing....even risking waking her up by walking into the room far enough to hear her sweet breaths (surely I'm not the only mommy who does that?!?!?). I noticed that Gracie's music was up a little loud when I walked into her room. I also noticed that it was this special cd playing and a song that I especially love the lyrics to was playing right then. I decided to sit down at her little table~in the dark~and listen to those words as I also listened to her precious breaths and watched her sleep. I couldn't help but have a few tears in my eyes as I listened to the words and as I pleaded to God afterwards. The words apply to both of my girls as I'm sure they do to lots of Christian ladies who have precious princesses in their homes.

Here are the words to this particular song:
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Bless My Daughter

May she have the faith of Sarah

May she be as loyal as Ruth

May she have the wisdom of Deborah

Always seeking truth, always seeking truth

Father above, bless my little one

May she grow to be a someone of God

May her prayers be heard like Hannah's

May she have the favor of Esther

May she be a helper like Priscilla

Always sharing love, always sharing love

May she have the joy of Elizabeth

May she have the strength of Abigail

May she have a heart like Mary

Always praising God, always praising God

Father above, bless my little one

May she grow to be a woman

A woman of God

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I stood there in Gracie's bedroom and asked God to please let this happen...to please let my daughters grow up to be women of God...to please let them question things enough to strengthen their faith but not enough to turn them away from it. I don't know if that makes sense. What I mean is that I want them to question things enough as they grow older so that their faith becomes their own, but I don't want their questioning to be such that it gets them off track. Anyway. God knows what I mean.

Here are a few of the lyrics from some of the other songs on the cd.

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"May you live in the circle of God's blessing, completely surrounded by His love....."

"Lord, I dedicate, yes I consecrate, my daughter to You, for Your purposes, for Your perfect plans....."

"In God's perfect time, He made you who you are, and in God's perfect time, He placed you in our arms.....in God's perfect time, You'll take your Father's hand, and in God's perfect time, You'll be everything He planned."

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The cd this song came from is called Bless My Little Girl:Songs of Love & Blessing from a Mother's Heart. I got this at a Christian bookstore here in our small town, but I've seen it at Family Christian Stores, also. They have one of these for boys also and I think a "generic" one, too. I highly recommend it.

*sigh*

As I was driving through the neighborhood directly next to Gracie's school, I glanced to the right while turning left. I saw a lady quite a ways down the street walking & carrying grocery bags. I thought to myself that I should stop & offer to drive her home. I went down some other streets because I was trying to find a house that some people from church had just moved into. By the time I got back to my street, I met up with this same lady again. Again, I thought that I should offer to drive her home.

I've seen this lady many times walking towards the school. She had a granddaughter at Gracie's school. She has always been very sweet although she seems a little "rough" around the edges. Not rough like she was ever rude....just not the "type" of person I would normally hang out with. For example, I don't think I've ever seen her with real shoes on....it's always slippers. One time, she lifted her arm and....well, let's just say....maybe she ran out of razors. She usually has these tiny puppies with her that she would show to Katie when we were picking up Gracie. Like I said, she was always very sweet but just somewhat rough.

Anyway, I couldn't completely avoid her without seeming rude, and I didn't want to be rude, so when I got out of the car in the driveway, I waved and said hi. She said hi and asked how I was. I asked how she was. She sighed and said, "tired." Then she proceeds to walk across my yard towards us and tell me about how she had to take her husband to the hospital and they said he had the flu but she doesn't think so and they sent him home.

I'm feeling bad and still thinking I should get back in my car and offer to take her home. She had Kroger bags in her hand and although Kroger is close if you're driving, it's still quite a hike if you're walking.....especially with bags in your hand.

I told her that we'll probably see her that afternoon at school, but she says that her daughter and granddaughter have moved. She then starts to tell me how her husband is depressed and he thinks they moved because of him and his mom gave him up for adoption when he was 3 and his mom & brother and sisters don't come visit him. All this just because I said, "how are you?"

As she was leaving, I told her I hoped her husband would feel better, and she said, "Thank you for asking."

*sigh*

These are the things I'm asking myself right now:

• How many times do I simply ask "How are you?" without really wanting an answer?
• Should I have offered her a ride home?
• Would that have compromised the safety of myself & Katie since I don't really know her?
• How do you balance the safety of yourself & your children with wanting to help people in a situation like this?
• Is it unChristian of me to think that she's "rough" based on the things I mentioned?
• Why am I not more grateful for the things I have because compared to this lady, I probably have alot?

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Update on "See You at the Pole."

Well, yesterday I had sent a note to the teacher & aide asking if they knew anything about SYATP. I was disappointed in the reply I got. So disappointed that I didn't even post about it because I wanted to wait until I had better news to report.

The initial response I got was simply, "no. Dr. B said we cannot do this." That was it. (I think it was the aide who wrote it because I know it wasn't Miss S's handwriting. )

Anway, my first response was to march into the office and start telling them that I know my legal rights. However, thankfully God held me down from doing that and I drove away from the school....talking to myself aloud the whole time of course. (My children are so used to me doing this!)

So, I called my friend Kate who teaches at a local high school and got her suggestions and listened to her telling me that yes, this could be done as a student led activity. I also called Chris, of course. I was going to call the principal but I was so nervous about that and wasn't sure what to say. I felt I needed to think about it longer and pray about it, too.

I decided to call the secretary at the local middle school. She goes to our church and is a wonderful Christian. She confirmed for me that the students at the middle school do participate in this and then proceeded to tell me to call the asst. principal (Mr. D) and talk to him. Again, I thought about it then decided to wait some more. I was really rather emotional at this point and didn't want to come across as silly or rude.

I emailed the parent of another student in Gracie's class who I know goes to church and we've become friends. She emailed back and said that she was familiar with SYATP and had participated in high school. She also said she knew Mr. D and would talk to him if I wanted her to.

Well, Chris ended up calling Mr. D this morning. I thought it might come over better coming from a man (is that silly or what?-really I'm just a wimp!) and Chris had personally met him last week at the MENtor breakfast also. So, Mr. D called Chris back and said it was fine for us to do this! We knew it was but felt it was a courtesy to inform him that we were going to do this. Mr. D also said he would tell the principal about it. (*whew*) I was a little nervous about that part since she initially said no. I really think that she thought I was asking for this to be a school led activity or done as a whole class. Certainly, I know a public school won't do this (unfortunately!)

Mr. D gave some suggestions on what time we should do it and when we had to be through. He also said he would be out there with us if he could but his hands are tied.

So, it looks like "See You at the Pole" at Gracie's school is set! Now we just have to let other people know about it. I've already contacted one lady from church who has a child at the school and there are a couple of other parents I plan to talk to. Word of mouth is the name of the game.

Here's what I'm thinking about this situation:

• If the administation had refused to allow this, would it have been right to push it? Like WAFJ's website says, "The goal of SYATP is to pray to God, not fight with man." So, should we have "fought" over it? Anyway, it didn't come to that, thankfully.
• I'm so glad for the way God answers prayer! I had prayed that God would give me some kind of sign that this whole public school situtaion was okay because I was really disappointed yesterday. Less than an hour later, Chris tells me that Mr. D will support us in this!
• How can I get word out about this?
• I need to pray about this alot for the next week. I want this to be a positive experience for everyone! I don't want it to come across as us being these "freaks" who will throw legal jargon in the administrations' faces if they oppose us. I want it to come across as a group of Christians who love God and want to pray for the students & faculty.

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Any thoughts or comments for me? I could use some suggestions on some of these things.

sweet kisses

We usually have Life Group on Sunday nights, but 1 Sunday a month we meet all together and have a fellowship meal. There was no one in the nursery and Katie was actually behaving rather well for her age, so she stayed with us the whole time. She was giving me the sweetest kisses. She just kept smiling at me and leaning in to give me sweet little wet kisses. I was melting! Our little 2 year old friend sitting behind us told her mommy, "Katie is loving her mommy!"
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Thanks to those who commented about "See You at the Pole." I sent a note to her teacher this morning to ask if she knew anything about the school participating. I look forward to her reply.

I walked Gracie into her classroom this morning, which I rarely do, because I needed to check on something and Miss S asked me if I'd be interested in working with students this week when I come help. Previously, I've just been tearing out workbook pages when I go on Wednesdays. I'm really excited to start working with the students! I'm not sure if it'll be one-on-one or a small group. She said she'd have an agenda of things to work on and with which students, etc. Gracie's school is actually a Title 1 school, so they have been really pushing parental involvement. I think maybe part of their funding depends on it or something. Chris actually went to a "MENtor" breakfast on Friday and signed up for what he wanted to do to help, too.

I'm so happy to have this opportunity to "get back in there" with teaching. Although it's just a little here & there and purely voluntary, it's still going to be fun to put my education to use again with someone other than just my own children. I'm also looking forward to seeing if I think I might want to go back to teaching full time when Katie starts school.

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The sleepover went well! I think they were both asleep by 9:30. Someone forgot to tell them that they're supposed to talk us into staying up late. I sure wasn't going to inform them of this rule. They'll figure it out soon enough!

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Saturday, I went to the library and checked out some movies. Oldies but goodies. Remember "The Shaggy Dog"? Gracie thought it was so funny when the dog was driving the car! I also got some "Gidget" movies. I love those and watched one last night by myself. Chris declined viewing it with me! I wasn't sure if they would be appropriate for Gracie or not. She probably wouldn't get some of the "inuendos" (I don't think I did when I watched them when I was young!) but I decided not to let her watch them yet. I have some Shirley Temple movies too and would like Gracie to see those. I love old movies!
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See You at the Pole

September 21st is the day for "See You at the Pole," the day when across the nation students will gather at the school's flagpole to pray before school. I've heard of this in the past and have been online trying to find more information about it.

Does anyone know if elementary schools have ever participated? If so, let me know what you know, please. Thanks!

first sleepover

We had Gracie's 5 year pictures taken last weekend when we visited my parents in Atlanta. Here are a few of them. She is turning into such a big girl.

She is having her first sleepover tonight! Her best girl friend is coming over to spend the night, and she is so excited! We've got things to make pizza, popcorn, Little Debbie cakes, pancake stuff for in the morning, and we're planning a trip to Blockbuster after we pick up her little friend. I bought them each a disposable camera to take pictures and I got them each a little "princess crown thingie" at our local craft fair this morning. They're also going to sleep in the Princess tent in the living room! Tomorrow, we'll take them both to their other friend's birthday party. They're going to be worn out!

Of course, Gracie had a few concerns about the evening. 1.) She was concerned about the movies at Blockbuster being 'inappropriate. ' I assured her that Blockbuster has children's movies and that one of the reasons God made Mommies was so we could make sure things were appropriate. 2.) She was concerned that they would get scared when they heard the refrigerator making sounds since it's so close to the living room. I assured her that if they get scared they can just remind each other that it's only the refrigerator and they don't need to be scared.
Dear Lord, Thank you for the sweet friends that Gracie has. She's had this little friend, and others, since she was around 9 months old and I pray that they will be life long friends and encourage each other in a positive way throughout their lives. In Jesus' Name, Amen

recommended blog

I would recommend you reading this blog from September 7th that SG wrote. It's really good.

The Bible in public school

Last week was the letter B for Gracie's Kindergarten class. They have Show & Tell each Friday based on the letter of the week. Since B was the letter, I suggested that she take her "Beginner's Bible." She readily agreed.

I know what some of you may be thinking, "What?!? That's not allowed in a public school!" Well, phooey on that is what I say! I taught in the public school system in Texas for 3 years and saying the word "God" was not as taboo as some may think. It's not like I taught Bible lessons or anything, but if a situation arose where saying something about God fit in, I did it. I never once got fired for it or even reprimanded for it.

Some of you may remember the Texas A&M bonfire accident a few years ago. After school that day, a group...a large group...of teachers & aides gathered in one of the classrooms to pray. There was always a prayer said at our beginning of the year breakfast for all employees, also.

Anyway, I was nervous about sending the Bible. I wasn't really nervous that Gracie or I would get in trouble, but I was nervous that her teacher would have a negative reaction that would make me like her less. I asked Gracie what they said and apparently they just said, "Oh, you have a Beginner's Bible. That's great." I think she even showed them the pictures of Noah's Ark. I think she said she didn't get to show the other pictures because they didn't have time and everyone was getting up to leave. Basically though, it went well and she didn't come home confused about a negative reaction or anything like that.

As far as broaching the subject of not being "allowed" to talk about God in a whole class setting in public school, Chris & I have taken the stance of not mentioning that to Gracie. She'll figure that out soon enough. Like I told a friend earlier today, we just want her to be her sweet self and talk about Him whenever/wherever she wants to. Of course, I'm not expecting the teacher to start teaching Bible lessons, but I figure any little bit of influence she can have on anyone who sees how she acts and her doing things like bringing her Bible for Show & Tell is a good thing. We just want her life to be so full of thinking about God & Jesus that it will just be natural for Him to be constantly in her thoughts & words & deeds. Not sending her to a Christian school, I think we're maybe being more mindful of how often we speak of Him in order to make sure He is constantly talked about in our family. Her little 5 year old faith is certainly growing based on the questions she asks, etc.

Up above, I have shared a picture of some of her writing. It says, "God is a Christian." She loves to write and the daily journals they do at school are such a great tool for practicing that. I bought her a little 'Madeline' journal that she can take to church & write in. I gave it to her Sunday and she has hardly put it down since! She is spelling very phonetically and I love reading it! I know it's not all spelled correctly, but for being 5 years old and only having been in K for 4 weeks, I think it's great. (She also told me later that she is spelling 'Christian' because of one of the songs on a cd we listen to that spells out the word. She is pretty close to getting all of the letters.) This picture is something she wrote in church on Sunday. It brought tears to my eyes. Not just because I'm amazed at how well she is writing but because of the subject matter. It's true that she obviously doesn't fully understand what a Christian is, but her heart is thinking about God!

Dear Lord, Thank you for my sweet Gracie. Please help her to learn & grow more and more everyday. Although it's so hard to see our babies growing up, it is also so wonderful to watch! Please help Chris & I to be the kind of parents You want us to be and to follow Your will and not our own. Thank you for our precious Katie also! She makes us laugh daily with the sweet things she does. Thank you for Chris who is such an encouragement & help to me. In Jesus' Name, Amen

those without faith

$5.87/gallon.

My mom confirmed for me that in Atlanta (where they live) this was what they saw reported on the news. She had told me earlier in the day (yesterday) that it was at $2.79 then Dad told her when he came home from work it was around $3 something (with people waiting in lines) then later, they saw the $5.87.

She said it was because someone started a rumor that the gas stations were closing at 4:00 and not opening all weekend. Even here in Aiken where the highest I saw was $2.99, there were people waiting in lines. Chris says this compounds the problem because the more demand there is, the higher the prices will go. His little truck is 1/2 full and he says he's not filling up. He could be wrong, but I think he has a point. He also says when the refineries open again, which should be rather soon, that it will go down some.

We are going to Atlanta this weekend and taking some friends with us. We had talked about waiting until Friday to fill up. However, she told me yesterday that her husband had told her to go ahead and fill up because he'd heard the prices were rising. She told me this so I filled up too. I sure am glad I did because I was able to fill up for $2.69 which I thought was alot. We'll be able to make it to Atlanta and drive around there. We may have to fill up before we leave on Sunday. Maybe we can at least make it part of the way back where it may be cheaper.

What do you think of these high prices? Does my husband have a point about "supply & demand"? What are you paying?
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I do have family in Mississippi-Great Uncle Bobby & Great Aunt Nette. I think they live in a small town called Lena, an hour or so from Jackson. Mom talked to them and they had gotten power back but still had no water. They're really not anywhere near the ocean so I guess they didn't have any real damage but still no water. It seems insignificant compared to what others have lost, but I still feel for them.

Apparently, my grandmother also has a cousin who lived in Gulfport. They heard that they had gotten out but are assuming their house is lost.

My grandparents used to live in Gulf Shores, AL. I'm glad they've moved to Hunstville. When in Gulf Shores, they only lived 2 miles inland and I don't think they ever left for a hurricane. Mom said this time she thinks she would have been down there dragging them out. I don't know how hard Gulf Shores got hit, but I heard Mobile is underwater and it's not too far away.
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I don't understand why so many people stayed in the face of such danger & devastation.
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I have faith in God. I know He's in control. I know if it's "well with my soul," I need not fear danger & devastation. Even with this faith, I am still finding myself questioning God. I did this after 9/11 also. I feel kind of guilty for it, but I do question. I wonder how people without faith get through times like this. Does it bring them closer to having faith or farther away?
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Dear Lord, Please be with all of the people affected by Katrina. Please give them peace & comfort and help them to rely on You! We know you are in control...please help us to remember it! Please protect these people from any further loss of property & life. Especially be with the little ones who really don't understand why they're not going home. Please help us to be there for these people who need help. Please help us not to take our own safety & possessions for granted. Please help us to teach our children compassion in situations such as these. In Jesus' Name, Amen