Stars on Ice

Michael Weiss

Dubreuil and Lauzon

Sasha Cohen

The infamous Jeffery Buttle!

See how close we were??

So yesterday Stars on Ice came to town and I took Andrea for her birthday. I know! I'm such a cool friend! (ok, so I wanted to go really bad and her birthday was the perfect excuse to go. satisfied?) :) So we had an enormous amount of fun, and had awesome seats! The seats were all God though, let me tell ya! I called to get tickets and not only did I get them half price (AAA discount) the very nice man on the phone (who I suspect was flirting with me, but look what it got me!) gave us 2nd row seats. That's right 2nd row seats! The view was amazing, and I so totally *almost* touched Jeffery Buttle! (can you tell I've been saying that alot in the last 12 hours??)

Kids Say the Cutest Things!!!!

Sunday School

Me: (10 minutes into a 15 minute lesson)

Sage: (raises hand) Miss Jessica, I know what's happening in the picture!

Me: (in a delirious, sleep-deprived state) What's going to happen in the picture Sage?

Sage: They are all lined up for Jesus' autograph! And then they get to drink chocolate milk out of the fancy cup!

Me: .....ummmm no, honey that's not what's happening.... um, let's just finish the story, okay??

Sage: Okay!

Just a sampling of what goes on, on a weekly basis, in my Sunday School class of 4-6 year olds!

Last week's gem??

Elisha

We've had a rash of Elisha stories in Sunday School. But, in all the stories we have never had a picture of Elisha, just the other people in the story. So the last story of the quarter we finally get a picture of Elisha! Now in this picture, Elisha is in the background going up the steps to a house, and in the foreground is a donkey. The donkey is the first thing you see in the picture because it's right up front. So now you know what the story card looks like. In class: Jessica, Sage' Lizzy, and Zechy. All the girls go to school together. (and yes, it does get confusing sometimes having a student with the same name as me!)

Me: What do ya'll think is going to happen in our story today?

Lizzy: Are we going to learn about Elisha again??

Me: Yes Lizzy!

Sage: Oooohhhh! I get it now! Elisha was a donkey!

Me: Wha... NO! Sage, Elisha was not a donkey, he was a prophet, one of God's special helpers.

Sage: But he wasn't a donkey?

Me: No Sage, the donkey in the picture is Elisha's donkey that he rode on.

Jessica: It would have been cooler if he was a donkey!

Sage and Lizzy: Yeah!!!

What are you supposed to say after something like this??? It's always a struggle to maintain order and not burst into hysterical laughter! It does keep Sunday School from getting boring and stale!

So enjoy a giggle on behalf of my class full of clowns!

Miss Jessica (the coolest teacher ever according to my students! I think they just like the marshmallows I give them for learning harder verses than their older siblings..) :)

Snow, Snow, Snow

This is what 12.9 inches of snow looks like. The side view of the house. The side without the drifting from the 30 mile an hour winds.

The front of my house!! Everything looks so clean and innocent and white, but there is about 2 inches of slush and ice underneath the snow. Just wanted to show ya'll what the snow storm's almost aftermath looked like! It was still snowing and the wind was howling while we were out there. I have come to the conclusion that I hate snow!! It's cold, wet and a nuisance!! :)

Happy Birthday to the Girls!!!

Contentment in the Here and Now

I love this song. It's been playing in my head a lot lately! It's all about that perfect moment of contentedness that we all want to be at. So many of us (me included, see I said us!) fall into the trap of thinking that having that special person in our lives will make everything perfect. Little do we realize.... :) But, listening to the song all the time got me to thinking about the lyrics and about contentedness! We should all strive to be content in the "Here and Now", and not make it reliant on one person or thing. Wow! is that a hard one! It's one I struggle with daily, yes daily! Every morning I wake up to freezing temperatures I wish to be anywhere warmer! So anyways, back to where I was heading with this.... I got to thinking one day, if you just change a few words, capitalize a few pronouns, you have the answer right in front of you! We run all over the place searching for something to fill the void in our lives, relationships, possessions, experiences, money. And all the while God is patiently sitting right in front of us waiting for us to realize that He's what we're looking for! And honestly, looking back, who can say that they wouldn't go right back thru all that pain to get to where you are today? It makes you want to get back to that "first love" too. So enjoy the words, and if you know the song, I hope it is now stuck in your head.... :) he he he!

Philippians 4:11
Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

There's a place I've been looking for
That took me in and out of buildings
Behind windows, walls and doors
And I thought I found it
Couple times, even settled down
And I'd hang around just long enough
To find my way back out
I know now the place that I was trying to reach
Was You, right here in front of me

And I wouldn't change a thing
I'd walk right back through the rain
Back to every broken heart
On the day that it was breakin'
And I'd relive all the years
And be thankful for the tears
I've cried with every stumbled step
That led to You and got me here, right here

It's amazing what I let my heart go through
To get me where it got me
In this moment here with You
And it passed me by
God knows how many times
I was so caught up in holding
What I never thought I'd find
I know now, there's a million roads
I had to take
To get me in Your arms today

In a love I never thought I'd get to get to-here
And if that's the road
God made me take to be with Him

Then I wouldn't change a thing
I'd walk right back thru the rain
Back to every broken heart
On the day that it was breakin'
And I'd relive all the years
And be thankful for all the tears
I've cried with every stumbled step
That led to You and got me here, right here

Just a Reminder

Psalm 138:8
"The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth forever: forsake not the works of thine own hands."

So I've been running across this same theme in my Bible reading all week, and it hit me that all of us could use this reminder! God doesn't just care if things in our lives work out okay, He's going to perfect our lives! How cool is that! So all this week when I've been tempted to be discouraged about how things are going in my life, or to worry about how things will work out, God has brought this verse to mind. He's going to perfect the things that concern me! Not just me, but things that affect me as well! So awesome! But then, we have an awesome God, don't we? :)
Enjoy your weekend!
*me* :)

God Answers Prayers! (but we knew that already didn't we?)

Even the small "insignificant" ones that you were almost not going to pray, because "God has better things to do than care about that..." I just love when He does that! :)
So why am I so happy??? I am officially, no way out, no refund, booked, for my vacation with Becci and Andrea in June! I have been looking for plane tickets for about a month, not just any tickets though! We have a very tight schedule between 2 working girls!
We have certain times we have to leave, and it wasn't looking good. I had found the *perfect* ones about 3 weeks ago for about $150, but I have commitment issues when it comes to booking non-refundable plane tickets. I just can't seem to make my finger hit that button... what if there's something better out there? What if the prices drop tomorrow?? I know, I worry too much.... :) But anyhoo, today I was doing my daily check, and for some reason I changed my approach. I searched one-ways instead of round trips, and changed the day we came back, and whaddaya know? I found tickets for $150 when all is said and done, and then, just to make sure I got over the commitment issues, God ('cause it's only Him who could do this) popped in a $12 per ticket discount upon purchase! Leaving me with a price of about $135! I am sooooo excited!
So, I just had to share my crazy answer to prayer, so when you see my grin from however far away you are (or the glow on the horizon from it) you know what it's about!
I promise I'm trying to reform and not count down the days as referenced in a previous post, but it's 122 days 'til departure! :) Ok, ok, I can't help it if the website where I manage the reservations has a countdown! Be thankful that I didn't list the hours, minutes, and seconds! :)