From my garden

Look what I found in my little garden last week:

My very first harvest!!!

I LOVE watching my cucumber plant grow; it's really the most amazing plant. It's little, skinny tenacles are constantly reaching out farther and farther, stretching and pulling the plant along with it, to new territory. What started as a little starter plant has grown into this long, beautiful, vegetable-producing plant:

How cool is that?!
Just a few days later, I found this little guy hiding under a leaf:

He's about the length of my pinky finger here. Yes, HE. Remember my rule switch - ugly, knobby, green things are male; beautiful, elegant flowery things are female. My plants, my pictures, MY rules :)


So, I peeled, sliced, salted, and ate that thing down, after taking pictures, of course. Immediately after, I wondered if I should have offered up my first fruits to God. But then I figured,that was Old Law, we are under grace of the New Law, which, coincidentally I said (grace, that is) before swallowing it down.

Yum!

Then, low and behold, more delicioso vegetabilio (just made that one up!):

Three whole tomatoes! That's more than I eat a year! I hate tomatoes, except for an occasional bite of Chad's juicy cheeseburger, or in ketsup. I grew these just to say I grew 'em. And to make my husband and father happy. Apparently no farmer worth their weight in grain has a garden without tomatoes.

I really enjoy watching little seeds and plants that I put into the ground grow and produce something I can eat. I love watching the circle of life that God put into order those first 6 days of Creation. Something He began so long ago is still feeding me, six thousand years later - how awesome is that?!

Here are a few more pics of my mini garden. I only have the tomato plant, cucumber plant, and pepper plant:

Blooms on the cucumber plant

Pepper plant - still no sign of a pepper, just yet. Also, I think it has a virus, aka, a bug. Should I spray it with some kind of pesticide? Anyone know of a good, all natural - or close to it - one to use? Course, I don't eat peppers either, so if you tell me about a dangerous, unnatural one, it's only Chad & Dad that suffer ;)

12 year old drama...

One of the greatest forms of escapism is to focus on someone else's drama for a few minutes, thus forgetting your own for a short time. And what better drama than that of a 12 year old. Remember how life and death everything was at the tender age of 12? When a trip to WalMart had the potential to change your life, where you sat in church could signal a crutial regime change, or when the smallest, silliest things could make or break your day?

Yeah, me neither ;)

But, my 12 year old sister Casey sure does!

So escape the hum drum of adulthood for a second and read what goes on in the drama-filled life of a preteen, via an email from little sister Casey to her older sister Louise (all grammatical errors are hers....sadly):

so i have a cold and my throat hurts its sore and i have sneezed about 15 times not kiddin and so today i woke up and katie and ethan were on the couch and i started to blow my nose and they both looked at me and started laughing and ethan says "you sound like a dinosaur" and they start laughing again and i still blowing my nose and katie says "hey look its a caseysaurus " and they start laughing again and ethan says "is the caseysaurus real and katie says "yea its real cause its standing right beside you " and i actually laughed at that one then shes like "she's not a dinosaur shes a dragon trying to blow fire out her nose" and they started cracking up again so i guess im a dinosaur and a dragon trying to blow fire out my nose.

Love Casey

Now, back to your own boring lives, right?

Here's your laugh for the day:


It's amazing how cute just flies right out the window as soon as you get on the phone, start the last chapter of a book, lay down to take a nap....then they show their true colors!

Deep Thoughts

I've been thinking lately - which usually gets me in trouble - about sin, weights, and what it means to be a Christian. I'm chock full of deep thoughts, so I'm gonna share them so I can move on to other things!

I realized when my brother got saved, he is only the 3rd person I've ever been able to watch as they are transformed by salvation. Meaning, I knew him before and he was definitely not living a Godly lifestyle, and didn't claim to be. Then, I was able to witness an immediate change in him after he accepted Jesus as his saviour. I know God saves, and radically so, but most of the Christians I know, I didn't get to witness their transformation personally.

But this time, I get a front row seat...and it's been amazing!

I gave my heart to God at age 6. Some people don't believe it's a true confession at such a young age, because your level of comprehension is just not where it needs to be to grasp what all that entails. But for me, I knew there was sin, I knew Jesus died to save me, and I wanted Him in my heart. I prayed with my mom, and it's one of my earliest memories. I cherish it. I was also blessed to have that same conversation with Katie at age four, which blew my mind, and then Ethan at age 6 or 7.

Anyway, so I wasn't a hardened sinner, or big sinner of any kind, except for the fact we are all born into sin. (Let me say, I don't believe children go to Hell if they die without asking Jesus into their heart. I don't remember the Scriptures right now for why I believe that, but I find it if someone wants to know.) So there wasn't a radical change in me that I can really testify about. My testimony has been how God kept me from a lot of things. I didn't always follow Him perfectly, but most of my life has been lived trying to please Him.

Now I'm watching Aaron. He was bored with life, sullen, depressed, listless, and unhappy. He was in and out of trouble, serious trouble, and his life was getting messed up before it really even got started. Plus - and he knows this - Aaron was a huge liar. He would lie at the drop of a hat. Rediculous, fat lies. It was the most annoying thing about Aaron. You couldn't trust a word he said. For instance, I told him we were buying a four wheeler. He called my sister up and told her I was buying THREE four wheelers. His lies didn't even make sense, as they were easily disproved...but he couldnt' seem to stop himself and it drove us all nuts.

But that has all changed!

He is saved!

The lying stopped immediately! Now if he even exaggerates a little, he corrects himself immediately. If he says he caught 10 fish - you can bet he really caught 10 fish (and we know how fishermen like to tell their whoppers LOL). He is happy, he suddenly cares deeply that his friends and siblings find Jesus, he actually wants to go to church, every service, which is a BIG switch for him! He is talking to me about prayer, what he read in his Bible, having his Grandma pray for his best friend to get saved, quitting smoking, singing with me & Beth in church...I mean, he has been radically changed in just ONE week!

Even if I didn't see all of these things, I know he prayed and accepted Jesus into his heart. But these things are just encouragement that God is cleaning out the old man, and installing a NEW Aaron. He's moving in and taking over - how exciting is that?!

But not everyone allows God to change them after that first step. You can fight those changes, and lose so much that God did for you with that very first prayer you pray.

For example: Aaron didn't smoke a single cigerette for about 18-20 hours after he got saved last Sunday. That is a record for him. He smoked about a pack every day or every two days. But he got home the next day (from NC, where he got saved) around his friends and brother that smoke, they asked if he wanted to go outside for a smoke and he said yes, probably without thinking too hard about it. He told me tonight that he has smoked more this week than almost any week before. Why is that?

I think he he was delivered of cigerettes that first night and without even realizing it, he gave in the first time he was tempted and allowed that habit, that spirit, back into his life. He told me he is going to quit, and soon. I don't want him, or anyone, to feel like they have to clean up for God - that's GOD'S job. He cleans us up on his schedule, at His time, and with His help. So, I told him to follow God's lead on that stuff. If he's convicted - if he feels that little prick in his spirit when reaches for one, follow that and let God take that desire to smoke from him. We can't give things up just to please people...it's all about pleasing God.

And PS, yes I know smoking is not listed as a sin in the Bible...and I don't think it will send you to Hell. There's a scripture in the New Testament about "sins and weights"...I think smoking, just like some other things (cursing, in my book) are weights that hinder us (weigh us down) from something God wants to do in our lives, not to mention the affect it has on our Christian witness. And we are ALL called to be witnesses unto Him.

Second, it defiles the body. I know people that wouldn't drink caffeine for the same reason, or take Tylenol. Again, some of that is between you and God. Paul, I believe, said if meat offends your brother, don't eat meat in front of him. Just common sense, really.

If you override a conviction to give something up, to YOU it is sin. You would be in direct rebellion to God to hang on to something He says to give up. But to impose your own convictions on someone else and cause them to stumble is ALSO sin: He said it'd be better that a millstone was tied around your neck and you were cast into the sea, than to cause one of his little ones to stumble.

That's how protective God is over His own! We can rest in how much He loves us, what lengths He will go to take care of us.

So, don't give up on your loved ones, don't give up on yourself. He loves you with an everlasting love and He will not fail you. He will not leave you lonely. He has a plan for you, and you are a part of His plan, the bigger picture that began with Adam & Eve in the garden.

Can you tell I went to church twice today?!?! LOL :) Also, I took a nap!

P.S. Aaron doesn't read my blog, but I also would say everything I just wrote to his face, and he would totally agree. We actually have talked about most of this stuff already. God is so good!

Ya'll Come back now!

Mt. Airy, NC, is the home of Andy Griffin. If I'm not mistaken, they actually filmed the show there, back in the day when it was on location and not a bunch of studio sets in California.

Aunt Bea has a restaurant named after her, as does Goober. Then, the downtown area has his barber and other tourist traps. One of our faves is The Emporium. 3 stories of shopping and eating. Normally, I would not take 4 kids to a knick knack haven, but Beth thinks I am Super Mom and she is Super Aunt, so she talked me into it. I'm amazed we didn't get kicked out...it wasn't exactly kid friendly:

They had a whole section of dog stuff - Katie found her Happy Place:

See the Monkey Backpack/leash? See it NOT doing it's job?
That rocker, by the way, was like $250!

Seriously, Katie's "happy place"

And this is my happy place :)

I have a friend that cut his twin boys' door in half, and put bars up the top half. He didn't go all the way up, and woke up one morning to find the couch, carpet, and walls covered in syrup, ketsup, and all kinds of fun stuff. They had climbed OVER the bars. That is totally a story I could relate to.

Mock up of Andy's police desk:

Hello? Hello? Could you imagine still using one of those?

Oh! funny story!
My mother in law laughed so hard telling me this: One day, when Katie & Ethan were with her that 3 weeks , after Chad's grandma died, the phone rang. Jody was talking to a friend on the phone when Ethan walked up to her and said "WOW! Grandma, how'd you do that?!" She whispered, "What are you talking about?" She said he just kept saying, "Wow, that is so cool! How'd you do that Grandma?" She finally realized he was pointing at the cord attaching the phone to the wall. She had one of those rotary phones mounted to the wall, with the cord plugged into the jack, and a cord to the handset. Ethan has grown up with cordless phones and cell phones -he was in awe and wanted to know how she did that. Now, don't that make you feel OLD?!

I just remembered...we did have one of those in Japan. Most cordless phones wouldn't work on base because of signal issues. But he was 4 years old when we moved here and apparently he doesn't remember it.

After a hard day of window shopping...cupcakes & Sprite!

This was our home for 5 days - Knights Inn:

I was very happy with the room and service. Especially with the cable tv :) It's been a looooong time since we had cable tv at our fingertips - and it showed!

Katie & the boys slept on the floor the last two nights, saying it was "more fun". I was made to sleep on the floor as a kid...I didn't think it was fun at all!

A little friendly wrestling going on :)

I think he was getting even with his big sister by making her smell his diaper.

Thank God for vacations. And cable tv. And tent meetings. And family. And vans with vcrs. And tylenol. Amen.

Vacations Rock!

You won't believe how many times I have been disconnected from my computer today! I've been trying to post this since yesterday but I am experiencing technical difficulties...which leads to computer rage. A lot like road rage, but with the ability to chuck stupid offensive car/laptop through window. To avoid that, I'll just publish what I have for now and try again tomorrow :)
Here is just ONE fun thing we did on our NC vacation last week:

Snow Cone Time!

Casey and her sour ice. Notice all of the yummy flavors on the little building behind her:

Ben got "Spiderman" flavor - whatever that is LOL:

Micah got MaMaMaMa (Ninja Turtle). I reallly have to get him in speech therapy.

He was loving his green tongue. But not that direct sun in his eyes.

She had wedding cake with cream, but didn't like it. Switched to something green.

Ethan stayed at the camper to play Mario Kart with Aaron. We took him a Spiderman, which he loved. And that is what we did on Friday of our NC vacation :)

You're so vain...

but you are right...this song is about you!

Sunday was my sister Melissa's 19th birthday. Most of us were recouping from our vacation to NC, so we didn't celebrate until the next day. The sisters (and Josh H & Aaron, our honorary sistahs) took her out to eat at O'Charley's (jealous, Jacklyn?), and then home for cupcakes & ice cream, and my homemade turtle brownies. It was loud, fun, and drama filled, as usual. Each grandkid thought the cake & candles were for them...as usual.

We did *not* sing "Happy Birthday" to each and every one of them, like last time. Thank GOD! That makes for a long night. And headaches. And yelling "NO MORE SINGING!"

So, Melissa, take a bow and enjoy your moment in the "Smith" Spotlight...it happens only once a year!

I was going to call DCS about poor Mady being made to dress like a floosy...then I noticed my pantsless wonder. Conner was posing. Naked. But, that's like the pot calling the kettle black ;)

19 candles almost brought the house down. Did singe some of Josh's arm hair ;)

Isn't it sweet how they all "helped?" Unsanitary, but sweet.

Isn't she pretty? Ben just wants me to hurry so he can hit that icing:

Louise is such a smarty pants; she tries to ruin my pictures. So, her tongue goes on the blog for her grandma to see. Ha!

Now THAT was yummy!

Miss me?

I didn't get to do regular updates from Mt Airy, NC, like I had planned. The motel boasted about it's free wifi but forgot to mention it offered just ONE BAR of connection! Then, my little broadband stick was hitting only 2 bars, and my pages took forever to load, much less upload a picture. So, I was basically internet-less for 5 days. It was a LONG five days, in that aspect.

Here is my quick update, until I can get some quiet time to actually think deep thoughts ;)

I played the organ every night I was there, and my sister Casey kept Ben while Mom watched Ethan & Micah. Katie is good on her own. She constantly checks on me to see if I'm giving her my "evil eye." She's so me!

My view from the organ:

I love playing the organ because I get to view ALL the action from a front row, elevated seat. And trust me, there is ALWAYS action at these camp meetings! I'm talking, a guy knocking preachers' hands away when they tried to pray for his girlfriend - I mean, you knew it was a Pentecostal meeting when you passed that big sign at the entrance that said HOLY GHOST TENT REVIVAL. And yeah, we like to lay hands on anything that moves. If it moves suspiciously, like you did, we lay hands it TWICE.

Then, of course, there is always shouting. Flailing arms-busted lips-shoes flying through the air kind of shouting.

There is nothing like a Holy Ghost Tent Revival - especially campmeeting style. I'm so glad I went.

And then, there are healings. A wonderful lady from our church, Sis. H, has walked with cane for 4 or 5 years. She has to sit through the entire service, even when she comes up front to sing. But Friday night, she got miraculously healed without anyone touching her, and is now cane free! She walked up to me Saturday night before church and I just about did some shouting of my own. She has wanted to be healed and talked about the day she wouldn't need that cane, since I met her. God is good!

Thursday, July 2, 2009
We ended up filling this tent by Friday night, over 275 people there:

Then, my little boy. Ethan came to me about 2 weeks ago with a deep punture wound on his hand. He said he had scraped with with lego, but as the sore continued to grow and eat away at his flesh, we all had the same thought: brown recluse spider bite. The skin was green, black, and infamed and red, circular, and spreading very fast. Here's what it looked like Saturday night (PS this is not for the weak stomached!):

I took this Saturday night, right after they prayed for his hand:

See how big? How red, green, and black? It was breath-taking to see for the first time, and every morning I dreaded seeing how much it had spread.

And this is what it looked like the very next morning, after they prayed! Today it is
even better but I'm too tired to run take a pic and do all that. I'll update again as it totally heals up. He definitely got a miracle! Thank you, God!

And last, but certainly not least, my baby brother got saved! So many friends and family have been there with us as we sat in the hospital room with Aaron last year, when he was so messed up on drugs that he didn't even know what had happened. We prayed and God moved for him. Over the past year he has been in and out of trouble, with such an aimless, restless spirit in him.

But Sunday night, he gave his heart to God! He was with my parents in NC and at the altar call, he went forward and accepted Jesus as his saviour. I wasn't there, but my parents and friends said he cried and cried for about 15-20 minutes, then went between laughing and crying for the rest of the night, his whole body shaking like a leaf.

I think God knows what each of us needs, what it takes to get our attention, and what we need to feel when He comes into our life. He totally overwhelmed Aaron's emotions, totally cleaned him up and out, and gave him an experience he will NEVER forget.

Isn't He good to us?

So, that is my fast update. I will have more later, as I unpack, look at my pics, and replay it all over again in my head :)

PS Congrats, Michelle, on your new job!